Show and Tell - Dinosaurs

Little Owl's nursery have a show and tell session every day, and the children are encouraged to bring in items from home on the theme of the week.  For one reason or another, this week is the first time Little Owl has been able to participate in the show and tell since she started at the nursery in November.  The theme for this week is dinosaurs!

It just so happens that Mummy has a degree in Geology....

This is my best find after three years of field trips.  I am rather proud of it.

Next week's theme is EARTH.  Any ideas?

Owlfit of the Week

It's Christmas!!!  I've been a bit slow on sharing the old Christmas jumpers and now I realise I have lots to share and little time to do it!  I have a December birthday, so growing up, Christmas didn't start until the day after my birthday, which meant no decorations, Christmas song or clothing for the first two weeks of December... then WHAM straight into the Christmas spirit!

So here's how Little Owl has been going about for the last few days!  The hat was knitted by LittleOwl's Fairy God Mother for her first Christmas, so chuffed that it still fits!

I'm in love with the Snuggle Fleece from Frugi.  All Frugi snuggle fleeces are reversible, with printed cotton on one side, and this lovely snuggly fleece on the other!  Until this week, Little Owl has been wearing this the other way round, but the fluffy white fleece feels very festive!  They are quite expensive at £30 but hard wearing and a generous fit so I'm sure we'll get a lot of wear out of it.  I was lucky to pick this one up in a flash sale that Frugi had about a month ago, I think I got 20% off.

The trousers are from the Little Bird range at Mothercare.  You might have noticed by now that I have a soft patch for cord trousers so couldn't resist these flares from Little Bird for £12.

Finally, Little Owl's beautiful boots from Livie and Luca!  You may remember me debating over whether to get the pink or blue pair a few weeks ago, well I went for the blue.  These will feature loads over the coming weeks, so expect a more detailed review soon, for now, just know that I love them!

Oh - there is one more thing - you might just spot a red bell on Little Owl's boot, it was one of the gifts in her advent calender, and its bit of a tradition of having festive bells on your boots in the Owl household!

Owlfit of the Week

I love it when an Owlfit comes together unplanned and looks amazing!  The brown 'bear' dress is a hand-me-down from Gap and I've just been unsure as to whether I like it or not.  Its been in storage for a year or more, been washed at least twice, moved around in the wardrobe and finally been sat in the 'dress drawer' all lonely for several weeks.

My mum bought the top from Boots a few weeks ago as part of a set of 3, and this one is my favourite.  I know I don't normally go for pink, but the grey stripes and the mustard edging on the neck are great, so when I spotted the matching tights I grabbed them.  The tights also came as a set of 3, but the other two pairs don't match the other tops!

Anyhow - I'm dead chuffed at how these all look together - and her mustard shoes from Livie and Luca set if off perfectly!

My Sunday Photo

Owlfit of the Week

Little Owl has been a very poorly owl this past week and so was barely out of her pjs!  Luckily these gorgeous snuggly clothes had recently dropped through the letter box and were ready for just such an occasion!

The top is the Little Mia Pointelle from Frugi.  I bought it their recent flash sale, but its still available at full price of £14.  I've had my eye on this for a while, as LittleOwl had one last year and is honestly the softest item of clothing she has owned!  It was the top I always reached for when she was going to spend a long time traveling, and the one she wore when we flew to India.  This is the age 2-3 top and still has lots of room to grow! 

The trousers are from me&i and cost £20.  I've been toying with getting these for a while and I'm so pleased I have.  They have a thick waist band which is adjustable.  The long ankle cuffs give the trousers a lovely shape but also mean that they aren't obviously too big at them moment.  They are sized 98/104 which some brands say is 2-3 while others say 3-4.  Either way, she'll be in them for a while!

So that's my poorly LittleOwl.  Apologies if I didn't get round to commenting on your posts last week, I'll do my best to get round everyone this week.  Meanwhile...

Frugi in India

... here is LittleOwl in India wearing last seasons pointelle top, which still fits, in the first ever Owlfit of the Week post!! 

Owlfit of the Week

I love the bright colours in this owlfit!  In the words of Chandler "could it beee any more colourful?"  Sorry, shouldn't be watching Friends while blogging...

Back to the Owlfit!  The top (kirta) and legging are from Westside, India.  LittleOwl hasn't worn the kirta too much as when she first got it, she was still lacking in the hair department and looked quite boyish in it.  

I've teamed it up with the pixie hoody that I bought in Lille, France that I shared with you a couple of weeks ago.  On her feet, LittleOwl is wearing her Ladybird wellies from Tesco.  If you haven't seen the wellies they have in stock this winter you really should, I couldn't choose between these, the crocodiles or the giraffes - so I let LittleOwl choose!

Owlfit of the Week

You know when you arrive home to a package like this, that its going to be a fab Owlfit week!  I am a big fan of me&i having first discovered them at The Baby Show when Little Owl was a baby.  If you haven't discovered me&i before you should take a gander at their website.  The concept behind the me&i brand is that the clothes are all bought through home parties, however, if like me you don't have a rep local to you, you can just order through one of the reps. 

So do you want to see what I got?!!

Matching hat and skirt!  I fell in love with this pattern when I first saw it, and quickly added it to my pinterest board of this seasons top toddler clothes, but it was looking a bit too pink for me and I wasn't sure what I was going to put them with.  After they arrived, I realised how much red was also in the pattern so off I went to H&M to buy the top and leggings (which are part of their 3 for 2 basics range).  I was really impressed to discover their winter leggings slightly fleecy on the inside to make them nice and warm for winter!

I've teamed them up with boots from Mothercare.  If you want to see what other little ones are wearing this season, click on the badges below to find links to other blogs. 

My Sunday Photo

Robertsbridge Bonfire. Last of the season.

My Sunday Photo

Owlfit of the Week

 

I'm so excited to be sharing this Owlfit from Little Bird at Mothercare with you!  I've had the skirt for a while now but the rest of the outfit has been surprisingly hard to come by!  I hadn't discovered Little Bird before this season and I so wish I had listened to my friend when she said to nab stuff quick!  

I bought the skirt first, but they didn't have the cardigan in the shop at the time, so I thought I would order on line when the weather got colder... BIG MISTAKE!  I didn't even wait for the weather to get cold and yet they sold out everywhere!  And trust me, I've been looking!  I eventually found this one in the Lakeside store, a mere 70 miles from home, and it's aged 4-5.  Little Owl is 2.  It is baggier than I would like but I've missed out on weeks of potential wearing time already!

The socks - well they really are hard to come by, and if a shop get them in stock, members of the Little Bird group on Facebook buy the lot and then sell them to other members of the group at cost plus postage.  Others sell them on ebay for twice the price.  I am not kidding!

I got these socks from an old school friend who happened to post on Facebook that she was going to a baby group at her local Mothercare.  I cheekily asked her to look and she found them!

So that's the long awaited Little Bird Owlfit.  Having waited so long to get the Owlfit together, I couldn't wait to take the photos, but it was raining... so I tried to take some at my friends house... it wasn't successful and Little Owl wasn't really in the mood when we got home... here are some outtakes!

Love my Little Owl!

Little Owl @ Two and a Half!

Two and a Half!  Isn't that so terribly grown up! 

@ Two and a Half, Little Owl is starting to use the potty completely on her own, occasionally presenting us with a full pot.

@ Two and a Half, Little Owl will climb the stairs on her own to fetch something from her bedroom (believe me, this is a long way and lots of stairs!)

@ Two and a Half, Little Owl has just grown two more molars, only two more milk teeth to go!

@ Two and a Half, Little Owl can swim several meters on her own, but hasn't worked out how to breath while swimming yet!  Little Owl can jump into the water and swim back to the side on her own, without any buoyancy aids.

@ Two and a Half, Little Owl has some concept of past and future, telling us that things can happen "later" "in a minute" "tomorrow" "Tuesday" "Friday" "next week" or if an event has already taken place it happened "yesterday" whether it was this morning or months ago!

@ Two and a Half, Little Owl is convinced that she is a "cheeky monkey" and therefore isn't a "good girl", "clever girl" or indeed any other type of girl.

@ Two and a Half, Little Owl has started asking "why" again but now has better comprehension to follow the conversation too.  "Why has the sun set?" led to a conversation starting with the sun being tired and going to bed, through the Earth rotating on an axis around the sun right up to God creating day and night.  Not sure how much she took in but it was quite fun exploring the subject!

Little Owl, to borrow your words, I love you "all much"!

Owlfit of the Week

Raaaah!!!!  This was a bit of an accidental outfit which I actually quite like!  My mum came home with this funky Bear top from Boots (£7) a couple of weeks ago and I wasn't sure as it was a 'boys' top.  I don't mind dressing Little Owl in unisex or boys clothes but I have found that some boys clothes are just a bit too wide for my skinny girl, but as you can see, the fit is great! 

I've teamed it up with some cute cub gloves from Mothercare, for £5, which I was disappointed to find were labeled 'boys'. Little Owl's fingers do just fit and she's very excited to own them!

The trousers are hand-me-downs and the labels have all been cut out so I've no idea where there came from, but I do quite like them!  The shoes as ever are Livie and Luca... which brings me to my next thing...  I want to get Little Owl so new boots for the winter, I've kinda fallen for these lovely boots from Livie and Luca

Aren't they the most beautiful things you have ever seen?  The only problem is which ones should I get?  I was thinking of the blue ones but I made the mistake of showing Little Owl and she wants the pink ones!  I'm gutted, I thought I had at least another year until Little Owl discovered pink, but maybe it is just because these pink boots are actually gorgeous? 

Pink or Blue?

Blue would go better with the oranges and yellows in Little Owls wardrobe maybe?  But the pink is just fun and bright...

Pink or Blue?

My Sunday Photo

This cheeky monkey is two and a half!

Isn't that so terribly big?

Love her!

Owlfit of the Week

I can't tell you how long I have waited to share this dress with you!  Actually I can and I will!  I bought this fabulous Me&i dress at The Baby Show in February 2013!  Little Owl was just 9 months old but I fell in love with it and the smallest size they had was 98/104!  There's a range of opinion as to what age 98 is, some say age 2 while others say 3.  Little Owl is two and a half next week and I'd say she is a 98 currently and is growing out of her size 92s.

I've teamed it up with a pair of orange tights which matches the neck as well as the stems in the apples, and her mustard shoes from Livie and Luca.  This is definitely one of my favourite Owlfits of the moment!

Work Life Parenting Balance

Just over a year ago I made the big decision to leave my permanent job in order to find something more flexible to allow me to parent little owl.

I had a great first year as a supply teacher although I always seemed to be working on Fridays when my mummy friends were off.  But I did manage to pack in lots to the 3 days Little Owl and I would spend together.

However, the money wasn't great, and because I only worked two days a week, it took me nearly the whole year to do my 12 week probation period and for my money to go up to a more reasonable amount.

September came around and the work didn't. Not until October. So now we were really skint. Finally a job came in. It could be a permanent job too if I want it to be (and I guess if they like me).  But its lots of hours.  The money really is great but my weeks aren't.

For the last 3 weeks I have worked for a couple of hours on a Monday lunchtime, Tuesday afternoons, Wednesday & Thursday all day leaving me with only Fridays off.  By the time I have got to Friday on the first week I was shattered and had had a lazy day with Little Owl.  A whole week gone and we'd done nothing special, no little outings, no friends seen, to trips to the swings, no baking or craft at home.

I felt very much like it on the second week too but I had plans, Little Owl and I had a mammoth 6 hour drive to get to Lancashire for the Friends of Sangam Gathering.  I was tired but it was great to spend some quality time with Little Owl and by the time I was driving home, I made the decision that the Monday lunchtimes had to stop.  Its a rush to get from swimming, drop Little Owl with my mum and then get to work.  At first I thought I would have the afternoons to catch up with friends but if I skipped lunch the earliest I could meet people was 2 o'clock.  It really wasn't going to work.

Little Owl is nearly two and a half.  That's two and a half years of fun we have had together.  This time next year I will be filling in her school applications and the following year she will start school.  Our adventures will be even more limited.  I don't want to loose a year of this precious time together.  I might work longer days on the days I am working, but until Little Owl goes to school, I'm not planning on working more than 3 days a week.

I realise that I am in a very lucky position to have that as an option, it has come at a financial cost, but one that we can cope with.  I'm also pleased that I have had these few weeks of working so much, I think it will make me appreciate what time I get with Little Owl.

So now I have plans to make!  Its time to sign Little Owl up for a playgroup or nursery for the days I work.  I think she will love it - just got to find the right one!  And then I need to find some new groups or activities for us to go to on the other days.  Exciting times ahead!

Owlfit of the Week

Orange is happiness!  Seriously - is there a better colour?  Or is it just my dutch roots talking?  I bought this lovely outfit in India (surprise surprise) and I love it!  Both the top and the leggings are from a department store called Westside and are aged 3-4 as Indian children tend to be a bit smaller, especially across the shoulders where Little Owl is quite broad.  

The kurta or top fits perfectly and has lots of pretty detailing in pink, the opening of the neck is lined with pink and there is a pink tab which buttons up the sleeve (unfortunately this had been pulled down by Little Owl before I could take the photos).  The leggings are very baggy around the ankle which is the fashion in India but with the elasticated waist, it also means there is PLENTY of growing room - at least 6 inches in height!  The leggings were a complete bargain at Rs250, about £2.50 so I bought 4 pairs in different colours - look out for the others over the coming weeks!

Finally, the shoes are from Livie and Luca, and her socks are from M&S.

Silent Sunday

Owlfit of the Week

Pinch Punch its Bonfire Month!

I know its early for most people, but here in Sussex we take Bonfire seriously (notice the capital B?). Every Saturday from the end of September to the end of November you can find at least one bonfire taking place in Sussex, usually 2 or 3!

Eastbourne Bonfire took place last weekend, and this was as usual the first bonfire of the season for Little Owl and I.  We are members of Hastings Borough Bonfire Society and wear stripes in the Hastings colours of red, blue and yellow.  The jumper in the picture is the one I knitted last year and is much too short for Little Owl now but the one my mum is knitting wasn't finished in time!  The leg warmers are also the ones I knitted last year, while the hat is one from Little Owl's first bonfire season!

The trousers are from H&M and I guess are jeggings - but they are much softer than normal jeggings.  Little Owl is also wearing a black long sleeved t-shirt under the jumper which is from H&M.  The boots are new and are from Mothercare.  I really like the detailing with the buckle and zip on the outside and suspect they are going to go with lots of Little Owls autumn and winter clothing!