Are you ready.................

........This is a bit of a big catch up post:

A late December breakfast at a favourite breakfast place in Southend on sea.

The lovely Leigh on sea. We stopped off for a quick mooch around some shops and got some treats each from the sweetie shop. I love coconut so i chose these rather yummy M&M's.

I love having a separate living area in the dining room, it means i can escape the lounge full of noisy boys. I sit with a cup of tea and normally a homemade cupcake or some yummy biscuits and look out at the garden - mmmmm bliss!!! Sometimes even for as long as 15 minutes!!!!!

I took part in a secret santa instagram swap. These were the very lovely gifts i received!! All sooooo me!!

Mmmm tea and cake for breakfast too:

A christmas tipple:

Christmas eve dinner after the christingle church service - pie, mash and peas:

Treats for santa:

In our house, we, give the boys lots of wrapped presents. The lounge tree has all the gifts for me, hubbie and the boys........

and then santa brings normally 1 main unwrapped gift for the boys and leaves them by the dining room tree near the fireplace. This year the boys wanted Skylanders. This tree also has the gifts for others under it.

My gifts from the hubbie. I got a cardi, jimmi jammies, a beautiful anthropologie mug, ink stamps, soap, body butter, soap and glory set, My L'occitane perfume, two anthropologie candles, a fab camera necklace, some chocolates and a gorjuss notebook:

Christmas day was spent with family, eating and joining in the fun by wearing onesies (I had a reindeer for Christmas day and this one for boxing day) and playing games.

Sadly most of my Christmas was spent with me feeling ill. It started off with a cough and cold and then a few days after Christmas ended up being a chest and ear infection :(

Yay i finally got a hamper!!!! A small one, but a hamper none the less!!! I have been after a huge one made with lots of lovely things after watching The Railway Children as a child. There is a scene where the children slowly open the most amazingly beautiful huge hamper - its gorgeous.

My beautiful mug:

Hubbie had to work for two days after boxing day. He took my youngest with him and then i met up with them. We went to covent garden and saw Shrek (again!!!!!) Twice in two weeks!!!! Its a great show. Sadly this was the first day i felt really ill. I carried on, but goodness i felt rough!

Sleeping boy on the train home:

My lovely new cushion

So, this was me for about 7 days. I felt awful!!! Really cross that it was over the week that my hubbie had off work too :(

My cousin in law appeared in panto. I dragged myself to see her, but felt so rough!!! I couldn't even hang around to see her after and fell asleep as soon as i got home. She was great though xxxxx

Once i started to feel a bit better, although still dizzy from the ear infection, my Mum took us for lunch. I put some lovely Dr Seuss bookmarks in some of the childrens books in the shop as part of my Kindness challenge for myself this year.

I bought this rather cute vintage elf. I have been looking for one for a while so it really cheered me up

Hmmmm that wore me out:

My Mum, hubbie and boys cleared away most of the Christmas decorations for me and once i felt better i finshed up and gave the house a good clean:

I got out my crochet again, after a break for a while as my hands have been hurting. This is me in slobby mismatched clothes sitting on the bathroom floor watching the little one at bathtime.

We had a yummy lunch and then took the boys bowling.  

I didn't bowl as i still felt dizzy but it was nice to watch the boys:

I stuck a pound and a random act of kindness note on a childs toy dispenser whilst we were there:

When we got home, i was gasping for a good old cuppa

My new bedding is so so gorgeous - i never want to have a plain mattress sheet again!!!!

This Saturday was my 9th wedding Anniversary. Thankfully i was feeling quite a bit better. We went to Cambridge for the day. We do this every year. We went and sat together for a while on 'Our Bench' . 13 Years ago my hubbie proposed to me on this bench. I left a book like i did last year:

We ate in Browns for lunch. We hadn't been to this one since we got engaged. We were even seated at the same table!!

We wandered around all day. Before heading home we grabed a mezze plate and scones to share at Bills.

Each year we give a themed anniversary gift. This year it was pottery. This was my gift from the hubbie. The date we got married and a little sign that means something to us:

In Cambridge we bought choccies and a few sale items:

Mmmmm i do love Christmas but i also like getting back to a clean tidy home:

We had friends over for a buffet on the weekend. I had bought this lovely chutney spoon from hope smiles for the hubbie - its a bit girly i guess, so i got him this hunky chunky chutney to man it up!

 The boys were back to school Monday. The first Monday back consisted of us waking up late, the boys arguing and the car not starting!!! typical!!

Ahhhhhh peace.....when i arrived home!!!

I spent the morning setting up a postcard swap on instagram whilst watching Mr Selfridge - oooooo i loved it!!!! In the afternoon i went to pilates...much needed, but goodness i woke up aching the next day!

Monday night called for leftover buffet dinner - yum!

Breakfast - before heading up to little ones room, to chuck, sort, bag for charity/car boot, tidy and clean the pigsty that was my little ones room.

Look at this cutie on my printer tray. Just one of the many lovely gifts i recieved in the advent swap where i was partnered with crafts at home

Last night i put together my sons playmobile boat whilst sipping on a dark hot chocolate with a good glug of Baileys:

A recipe in my bag for tonights dinner and a teeny tiny peak at the first postcard being sent off today for my IG postcard swap.

I had a lovely day with my Mum today, i went into our town for a browse around the shops and lunch.

Now....time to make the above dinner!!!

Evening all!!

xx