Posts in category: Personal

I don’t wear all that much make up.

My morning routine is pretty quick and simple; it’s basically just bb cream, concealer and powder to reduce shine.  If I feel like I want to look a little more polished I might pop some mascara on, but that’s about it.

However simple my routine is though, Nerys still loves to watch me do it.  And at the weekends when we have more time in the mornings, she likes to do her own make up in front of the mirror.  She has a little set that Father Christmas gave her last year that she loves to play with.

She’ll cover her eyelids in bright blue and yellow eye-shadow and then put on her red lipstick.  She’s getting pretty good at it to be fair, and I love watching her experimenting and having fun with it.

We went to her friend’s birthday party at the weekend and it was just girly, princess heaven for her.

She went wearing her Rapunzel dress and absolutely loved walking outside in it.  She said she felt like the real Rapunzel when she had just escaped from her tower when we first got out of the car.

Then at the party itself we were all surprised with a special guest appearance from Elsa.

Nerys was a bit scared at first (she’s not keen on anyone dressed up in costume) but after a while she got braver and went and joined in.  She had a glitter tattoo put on her arm, her nails painted in pretty glittery colours and lipstick and glitter put on her face.

She loved every second of her sparkly makeover, and was so excited when we got home and I told her that the stickers in her party bag were actually stick-on earrings.  I think she’s used them all now, carefully picking out which pair she wanted to stick on next when the last ones fell off.

I wonder how long it’ll be now before she starts asking about actually getting her ears pierced.

Do you have a little one who loves experimenting with make up and dressing up with jewellery?

I have no idea how the end of the month rolled around so quickly.

It was only when I spotted someone else’s ‘me and mine’ post this morning on Facebook that I realised today was the last day of September.  And then I realised that after being on the ball with it last month, I had let things slip again this month and we hadn’t taken our family photo yet.

We didn’t have any plans for the day other than swimming lessons for the children, so decided to just grab a few family photos in the garden rather than drag everyone out somewhere just for the sake of taking them somewhere a bit prettier.

Sometimes I worry that when we do these kinds of quick photo sessions that I’ll be a bit disappointed by the results.  That it’ll feel like we’re just taking them for the sake of taking them and that they just won’t be all that good.

This time round, I really didn’t need to worry.  We only spent a few minutes out in the garden but I’m so happy with the photos we got.

I think the fact that these photos were taken last minute sort of sums up September for me.

It’s been such a busy month, with the children being back at school and the parties and homework and everything else that comes along with that.  I feel almost like I’ve been playing catch up all month, trying to keep on top of things.

Hopefully with the new month we’ll get more into the swing of things, and I won’t feel like I’m chasing my tail quite so much.  I think we’ll all be ready for the half term holidays when they roll around at the end of the month though!

After a bit of a wild, wet and windy week we finally had a day of sunshine yesterday.

It was still pretty windy out but it was so nice to see some blue sky and to be able to get out as a family.  We’ve all been feeling a bit under the weather recently so we headed to the beach for a good dose of fresh sea air.

We spent a good hour there, digging holes, finding shells and throwing stones into the water.

And flossing.

Well, what would a trip to the beach be without a bit of flossing!

I honestly think it did us all the world of good.

We’re a few weeks in to the school year now and I think it’s catching up with all of us a bit.  The tiredness is starting to creep in and we’re into the time of year where the children are bringing home all sorts of bugs.  And Steve is bringing home a different set of bugs from work at the uni now that the students are all back.

Some days when we’re all feeling a bit bleurgh the answer is to stay in, wrap up in blankets and watch too much TV and YouTube.

Other days we just need to get out.

To take deep breaths of soothing sea air.  To blow away the cobwebs.  To stretch and move.

And floss.  Apparently.

I am a rather proud mum today.

Yesterday both my children completed the Junior 1K race as part of the Swansea Bay 10K event.  Rhys has been doing it for a few years now and this year we decided Nerys was old enough to join in too.

Rhys really wanted to go for it this year so we said he could go ahead and run on his own, while Nerys ran the whole way with their Nana.

We waited by the finish line to cheer them on and were so proud to see Rhys when he came along, he looked so determined and so focused.  Then not that far behind him came Nana and Nerys, who had done really well too, running the whole way without stopping or slowing down.

As you can tell from the photos it was a pretty grey, wet and windy morning in Swansea yesterday, but I’m not sure either of the children really noticed.  They were just so excited to do the race and to get their medals at the end.

They’re both so proud of them, I have a feeling they’ll be taken to school this week to show to all their friends.

Nerys in particular is thrilled to have her very own medal.  She’s watched Rhys take part in this run for the last few years and was so excited to be able to join in this year, and to get her own goody bag and medal at the end.

I just found it strange watching them both, rather than having Nerys standing with us, cheering Rhys on.  It made me a little bit emotional if I’m honest, just another reminder of how they’re both growing up.  The years really are quite short in the greater scheme of things aren’t they, so I’m just going to try and soak all these little moments in as best I can.

We’re only two weeks into the new school year but already seem to have slipped back quite nicely into the routine of it.

Things are a bit different this year, with Rhys being in the Juniors and Nerys still in the Infants.  It means that their classrooms are at other ends of the school building, and also means that they don’t actually get to play together at breaktime.

I was pretty sad for them when I realised this, but they don’t seem to be too bothered to be honest.  Nerys is just excited that she gets to play in the ‘big yard’ and Rhys is loving the new equipment he gets to use over in the Junior yard.

And I suppose not seeing each other that much during the day means they’re happy to see each other in the afternoons!

I managed to get a few different sets of photos of them for this month’s siblings project which I’m thrilled with.  The first few were from our walk around Parc Le Breos a few weeks ago.

Then I couldn’t help myself and took a few more of them when we went for a stroll through Clyne woods.

I really love this top photo of them, I think partly because Rhys looks like such a protective big brother with Nerys cwtching in to him.  I do like the bottom two photos too, but the children seem to be channelling ‘The Shining’ a little bit, don’t you think?

I think it’s a combination of the pose and the dress that Nerys is wearing that just reminds me of the children standing in the corridor of the Overlook hotel!

We’ve been to Clyne woods quite a few times but still seem to find new parts of it each time we go, and ended up spending nearly 3 hours walking around last time.  We’re always surprised when we go by how quiet it is down there.  I think we saw about 4 0r 5 people the whole time we were walking around, which is just really surprising.

Not that I’m complaining though, it’s lovely to feel like you’ve got the place to yourself and I think the children quite like feeling like little explorers when we go.

Are there any places near you that are quiet like this, or is everywhere always a bit busy and crowded?