Simple Things Sunday

Today I'm joining in with Simple Things Sunday over at Simple as That Blog. 

I love the idea of capturing ordinary everyday moments that most of the time we overlook and I'm so glad I've found this linky. 

Schools are back and we are settling into a routine after having such a lovely summer together. 

Things are starting to slow down and yesterday I was having a lazy afternoon with our Teen and our Little Fella whilst Mr P and our Inbetweener were swimming.

I'm enjoying simple moments of play and affection between a big sister and her brother, afternoon walks with just me and our Little Fella now that the older two are back at school, rainbows, shopping trips with our Teen - just us girls and a cinema date with Mr P.

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Weekend...

I hope you all have had a great week. Everyone here is back at school and I feel so much more organised with a routine back in place. I did miss having the older two about though at the start of the week but now as I reflect on the week I've got loads of little jobs done that have been put off over the holidays and it's been great having some fun times with our Little Fella.

With the first week of September drawing to a close it's now officially autumn. The chill in the air arrived just in time last weekend and it's time to think about changing the wardrobe. Even this morning we had a slight frost here and it looks like the seasons might just be returning to normal here.

It's interesting that many people here in Ireland including my dad still follow the old Gaelic tradition

that autumn starts in August. But that makes the summer too short for my liking so I'm sticking with the rest of the world.

This is definitely one of my favourite times of year and already my mind is drifting towards comfort foods, warmer clothes, cosy nights in front of an open fire and a good book or two to read over the dark evenings.

Everything homely and comforting just the way I like it.

This weekend I will be busy getting things organised for a very special first birthday which is coming up in the next two weeks. I will have some posts to follow on this shortly so please stay tuned.

Hoping that you have a great weekend, what are your favourite or maybe not so favourite things about the change of season?

Art Journal - Children's Craft

If your a mother you will most likely have lots of pictures works of art created by your children displayed proudly on a door, a fridge or on a wall somewhere in your home. In ours one of the doors in the kitchen is our display area because that is where we spend most of our time.

When I was out buying stationery for the two older ones for going back to school I spied these hard backed books and decided to buy a few not really knowing what to do with them at the time but they weren't expensive and I knew they would get used for something.

Over the weekend I've been clearing out cupboards in the kitchen, decluttering and getting organised for the first school term. I found loads of art work, pictures and certificates that had been taken down from our kitchen door to make room for the more recent things our Inbetweener was bringing home.

I didn't want to just lift it from one cupboard to another or worse still throw it out so I decided to use these hard backed books that I'd bought earlier to create an art journal.

I love this idea because our Inbetweener can help to assemble it and draw on the spare pages. It belongs to him and is filled with his creations and shows off his imagination.

I know it's not possible to keep every scribble but these little drawings that they make at school always have a story behind them and they love to tell you what they were doing the day they made it. He is thrilled to bits with his own art journal.

My mother has kept lots of things from when my sister and me were at school. I love looking back on them from time to time and we have some great memories. 

Sometimes we can forget about small things like this and before we know it they can get thrown out or mislaid. 

Documenting these small things is something I must get better at and that will come with being more organised now that they are back at school because I've really been taking things easy during the holidays.

Do you do something similar with your children, I love to hear your ideas and tips.

August in Pictures

iPhone Photos from August

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Highlights from August have been;

Our first holiday as a family of five to Edinburgh, sunny days and long evenings. Celebrating our 6th wedding anniversary, with a gorgeous sweetie tree from my chief bridesmaid. A beautiful new charm from Mr P for my Pandora bracelet and the most fabulous book of Afternoon Tea.

Birthday celebrations for Mr P and my dad. Enjoying the last few weeks of the summer holidays with day trips, picnics and creating wonderful memories.

Feeling happy and content. Sweet smelling flowers from my mums garden.

A girlie night to the cinema with our Teen, enjoying a glass of wine at the end of a busy day, drinking coffee on a shopping trip.
Sitting outside in our back garden admiring the last of the summer skies, watching our Little Fella on the move and having the best fun with his big sister and brother before they go back to school.

I hope you all had a wonderful August, what have been your best bits?

Weekend...

We are having a fairly lazy weekend.

Staying indoors mostly, getting things ready for going back to school and having a de-cluttering session throughout our home.

It always feels good to get little jobs done that I've simply put off because we've been trying to make the most of our summer holidays with the children.

Autumn is now upon us, the transition from warm to cold weather although here in Ireland it's often hard to tell what season we are in most of the time. Today I've noticed a chill in the air and I'm sitting here writing this post with a heavy woollen cardigan. 

I do love this time of year.

This week has been lovely, we've been making the most out of the last few days of the summer holidays. Our Teen is back at school since Wednesdays and settled in already. I love the way that she takes everything in her stride.

We had a lovely evening together Thursday night just us girls and a cinema date - something we must do more often.

Our Inbetweener starts back on Monday and we have labelled all his books, bag is packed and ready to go. He is so eager to get back that his uniform is sitting out ready to put on.

Our Little Fella is just so much fun and hard work all at the same time. We've had lots of giggles this week and he is trying really hard to stand up - he's just so eager to walk - all in good time.

Tonight we are having Chinese takeaway and a bottle of wine.

Hoping your weekend is great xxx

Summer Holiday - Part 2 Beautiful Edinburgh

Edinburgh is one of the most beautiful cities I've been to and I would love to go back and explore it in more detail.

We had a fabulous time and there was loads of things to see and do for all the family. Both myself and Mr P were delighted that we had chosen to come here because everyone got to do a bit of what they wanted and believe me that's not always easy with our Teen and Inbetweener who do not like the same things.

Steeped in history you can easily transport yourself back a few centuries when you are walking along the cobbled streets taking in the amazing architecture.

Here are some photos from our visit...

Weekend...

It's Friday and I'm looking forward to the weekend.

Weekend is one of my new regular posts here on the blog. 

A summary of what's been happening in our lives throughout the week- the good, the bad and the ugly.

It's been a busy and expensive week getting the last bits and pieces ready before the older two go back to school. I'm glad that everything is ready because there's nothing worse than having this hang over your head.

Our Teen starts back into her fourth year at secondary school next week and the week after our Inbetweener goes into third class.

It was very exciting here last night when our Little Fella stood up on his own, for about ten seconds then fell back down again. He is itching to walk and I'm sure it won't be long.

Our Little Fella has not been sleeping well this week which in turn means sleep deprivation for me and Mr P - lots of it. I think he is teething. Thankfully things have settled a bit as the week has gone on but I'm fairly sure I could pack the contents of our house into the bags that are under my eyes.

We have a busy weekend planned with a birthday party this weekend for Mr P's mum, a teenage disco and a spot of shopping before the schools re-open.

Somewhere in the middle of all this I plan to grab some time to relax and open a bottle of wine.

Last weekend we went to the Giant's Causeway and this photo is of all of us but as you can see it's virtually impossible to get everybody looking at the right time.

We took about eight shots here and none of us are looking at the camera at the same time, maybe though these make for the best photos.

I hope you have had a great week and enjoy your weekend whatever your plans xxx

Our Day Trip to Giant's Causeway and Carrick-a-rede Rope Bridge

On Saturday we headed off on our monthly day trip to the Giant's Causeway in Co Antrim to walk in the footsteps of giant's.

It's been a few years since we've been here and it was great to go back again with our Little Fella in tow. The drive along the famous Coastal Route is simply stunning and luckily enough the sun was shining for us yesterday.

When your driving along taking in your surroundings there's something calming about the landscape around you and it really is a great day out.

The first stop of the day was Dunluce Castle. This medieval castle was the headquarters of the MacDonnell Clan and dates back to the 13th Century. The views here are stunning and we all enjoyed taking in the scenery and having the wind blow through our hair.

The Giant's Causeway is truly beautiful and even though it was packed with visitors you still get a sense of peace and calm here and you would be surprised to find that a few hours go by in a flash.

It is great to see so many tourists from all over the world flocking here in vast numbers to appreciate the natural beauty of the area. 

As most of us know the Causeway was formed by an ancient volcanic eruption however it's much more fun to follow the legend of the great giant Fionn MacCumhaill. You can read the legend here.

The audio guide that was provided at the entrance was really well put together and our Inbetweener had great fun spotting all the features on the walk down and enjoying the story. On the other hand I'm really a child at heart and never grow tired of hearing this story myself and who's to say it's not real?

After we had some light refreshments in the visitors centre we drove towards the famous Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge.

Now this is not for the faint hearted. Here is the link to some more information about this fantastic place.

The bridge which is about 20 metres across and 30 metres above the sea links the mainland to the island of Carrickarede. We paid our entrance fee and walked just under a mile towards the bridge.

Mr P had our Little Fella in the baby sling and he was happy to be outside having the wind blowing in his face while the rest of us deliberated whether or not we were brave enough to actually cross the bridge.

I've said before I have a fear of heights and water. It was a bit stormy and after some time and assurances from the tour guides we all apart from Mr P and our Little Fella made our way across.

Our Inbetweener almost buckled when he first set foot on the bridge but we had come too far to turn back. The people who had already crossed the bridge were brilliant encouraging everybody along.

There's nothing like fear - fear of falling, fear of dying to make you move.

My legs were like jelly when I got across and I was a sickly shade of green. Our Inbetweener threw his arms in the air and shouted 'We've done it''. It's funny now writing this but all I could think of was that we would have cross it again to get back.

Anyway we lived to tell the tale it was truly a thrilling experience, not that we were in any real danger, nobody has actually ever fallen off the bridge!

After all that we drove into Portrush to have dinner, homemade ice-cream in Morelli's which is a must if your in the town and a bag of candy floss.

So all in all we had another great day out. The Giant's Causeway is one of the most beautiful places, right on our doorstep and perfect for a family day out.

Everybody was exhausted on the way home from all the walking and with our lungs full of lovely fresh air we had a great night's sleep.

Don't forget to check back next month for our latest adventure.

Joining in with Country Kids at Coombe Mill Blog. Please take some time to click on the badge and check out some of the other great adventures.