Blue house

Imaginary friends are a common part of childhood. When I used to teach I had an amazing child in my reception class who had an extensive knowledge of birds. He had an imaginary friend that was a Heron, called Whisper. Whisper was part of our class for the whole year. He was called each morning at register time, he lined up for assembly and he came with us for p.e. lessons. He was also responsible for a few naughty incidents. When that child (Seyin) finished in my class he gave me a bird watching book. He knew every bird in the book. He wrote in the front of the book for me. I still have the book and it is a treasured posession.

My own children have been imaginary friend free. Recently my twins have been having  in depth conversations about the fact that they both have their own homes. One is painted pink, the other is blue. They discuss the things that are in their houses and the things that they do there. They invite each other over to play. Whilst my little girl knows this is just a game, my little boy has become convinced that his blue house is very much real. He has been asking me to take him there over the last few days and has been truly upset when I've said I can't. He says "I want to go home now, Mummy." He is furious when it is suggested that the blue house isn't real, and only in his imagination. The sad thig is that at his house it is Christmas. He has decorated it and there are presents under the tree and he needs to get back home to open them. Suggestions of building the house in lego are drawing it have been taken with great offense. 

I have drawn the house for him though. I doodled whilst chatting about it. When they were asleep I traced it with black pen, scanned it in and then did a bit to it on photoshop. I'm gradually getting my head around it - I filled shapes and selected different brushes and colours. The next day they helped me - T was very quiet and thoughtful about it - they chose colours and clicked into the shapes. 

Nowhere near to taking the pain away but it made him smile.

Happy Valentines day!

I think Valentines day is an opportunity to be unashamedly pink and fluffy! This is part of an illustrated alphabet I made before my twins were born. As part of retraining my poor baby brain I have printed out my original drawing, worked on top of it with pen and ink, scanned it back in again and worked on it a little bit in photoshop. 

Hope you like it, and hope you have a lovely valentines day with whoever (or whatever) you love . . . 

Happiness

I came across Gretchen Rubin's blog a while ago called "The happiness project." It's a bit of a treasure trove of quotes. Gretchen has done loads of research into factors that influence happiness, and I think there are some gems to be found. I downloaded the book onto my Kindle and I'm reading it at the moment. It's about a year spent on her own personal happiness project. I'd recommend having a look - at least at the blog. Its good for getting you thinking about your life and how to value what you have. It is easy to be swept up in day to day things and how busy/stressed/tired I am. Since reading this I've been really aware about the things in my life that are truly happy - there are lots. 

I love this quote. I think it's so true. I've definitely been guilty of bringing rain to my picnic a few times. I was testing out my new calligraphy pen (something that makes me happy!) and this phrase had been rolling around my head for a few days. It's from a writer called Harlan Coban that Gretchen Rubin had interviewed. Have a look. See what you think. And please bring sunshine to your picnic!

Watch this and feel happy!

I have watched this so many times! Hope you love it as much as me!

My number one all time favourite cookbook - Fay's family food

My name is Robyn and I'm a cook book-aholic.

In my mind I am the domestic goddess . . . in reality by 5pm fish fingers are regular visitors to my kitchen table and the marks and spencer ready meals department has been pretty much kept in business by me alone.

Amazon is dangerous . . . I just can't resist. So I have accumulated a shelf full of books, lovely, lovely books, but many of them are abandoned and unloved. I am proud to say that I have destroyed one cook book through using it SO much! A miracle indeed! The pages have fallen apart. The dust jacket is long gone and many pages are stained and sticky. Fay Ripley: I love you. For those of you who don't know, Fay Ripley is a british actress who starred in a brilliant series called Cold Feet. She wrote this cookbook when she had children and wanted to make food that everyone would eat. Her recipes are manageable, yummy and I have had a near enough 100% success rate. 

We had a Saturday morning cooking session - pretty much perfect happiness for my twins! I let them loose on my mixer . . . which they are slightly scared of, so it gives the whole cooking thing an air of danger and excitement!

 Theo made lemon shortcake biscuits - these are always brilliant. We make them in different shapes, and ice them if we're feeling particularly flash/if I have the energy! I have to stop my three from eating the mixture before it's cooked. 

This - in case you haven't guessed - is Theo's proud face. Please note the pyjamas. Cooking (especially icing) is best done in pyjamas as they can be removed before guests arrive.

Oh, they make me so happy!

So now Florence's creations . . . she made meringues. She chose these because they are pink, of course. I have decided to separate cooking sessions between children, as we have had a few aggressive incidents over the mixing bowl. We now decide who is making what and have small sessions of cooking spread over a day or two to keep people happy.

Not bad, eh?

These were a BIG hit! Very yummy, very girly . . . my boys loved them too!

So, if I ever meet Fay Ripley I will behave in an embarassing way and tell her that I love her and that I have cooked every single one of her recipes. I'm also waiting in anticipation for her next book, so that I can destroy that too!