September? How the dickens can September be over already? This month has just shot by and I think in part it’s been down to the lovely stuff we’ve done. Also I don’t know about you, but for me the year always speeds up in the Autumn. Maybe it’s because of the darker nights, maybe it’s because of the many festivities to come. As they say, time always flies when you’re having fun!
Anyway whether I can believe it or not, the month is coming to an end and therefore it’s time for Our Favourite Five, linking up as ever with the lovely Suburban Mum. So here we go:
1.Ragdale Hall
At the beginning of the month you may have seen myself and my chum Bethany swanned, yes there really is no other word for it, swanned off to the health spa Ragdale Hall for a long weekend. We left our children with their fathers on the Friday morning, took three trains to Melton Mowbry in Leicestershire and had the most amazing weekend of relaxing, pampering and laughing. I’m planning to write a full post about our time there, but I couldn’t not include Ragdale in my favourite five for September. In fact it’s probably in my favourite five for the year!
2. Baths
I’ve been a big fan of baths for a long time. I love a good soak and I love my Lush bath bombs. Recently, I’ve not been having them so often (too tired, no time, insert rubbish excuse here), but last Saturday morning I just decided instead of a shower I really wanted a bath and I really wanted one with my Lush Butterball Bath Bomb. So I got the bath ready and was just getting in when Oscar and Daddy came bounding in. But instead of getting annoyed, I just decided to go with it and when Oscar asked to get in with me, I just couldn’t refuse. We never had baths together when he was a baby. I’m not really sure why. I think I was too scared. All the medical staff told me I shouldn’t (just as they told me not to do loads of other things I now realise were actually my choice to make) and as a new mother I just did what they said. Ahh well. Any how back to our bath. We dropped the bath bomb in together and had so much fun watching it fizz and melt. Then we spent a good hour just playing together and chatting to Ben who sat on the floor next to us. Oscar was just so relaxed. It was a great bonding experience. Rather than feel sad that we didn’t do it sooner, I’ve ordered some more bath bombs from Lush and am hoping to make our family baths a more regular occurrence.
3. Lunch
We’ve been all about packed lunches this month. Firstly we got Oscar’s gorgeous, personalised Dabbawalla lunch-bag from a friend in America, then I got to meet Grace from Eats Amazing at the Capri-Sun #PackedLunchLove workshop. Ever since, I’ve been using my cutters to make all sorts of exciting things, such a cheese and carrot coins and moulded eggs. Oscar has started staying for lunch at preschool one day a week and it’s been great to see him eating the bits I put up for him, but also to hear that his teacher loves what I’m doing (she really liked the coins 🙂 ) Nice to know that the effort is not going unnoticed, so thanks for the inspiration Grace!
4. Boden
The boy had something of a growth spurt over the summer. I knew that and had bought him some new clothes recently. Only, it never occurred to me that his coats were now also too small, until it chucked it down with rain and we had to walk to preschool as week. Suddenly his raincoat was more like a jacket! It was time to upgrade – and fast! I looked about and saw nothing that I liked. Everything seemed a bit, well, boring and he’s got a lifetime to wear dull navy, grey or green. So when I found this coat from Boden I fell in love with it and with a 20% off & free delivery voucher I got through the post, I knew it was the one for us. It came super quickly (thankfully) and the boy loved it as soon as he saw it. So much so that he wanted it on straight away despite having nothing but a tshirt underneath! I got it in a size 4-5 and while it’s a little bit big, I’m hoping it’ll last. He does look so very handsome in it!
5. Top Knots
I’ve got pretty long hair. Sometimes I like to wear it down, swept over one shoulder. But some days I just can’t be doing with it all round my face, so I just scrape it all back. I’ve got pony tails down pat but boy can they get boring after a while. So this month I took it upon my self to learn how to do a messy top knot. They seem to be all the rage, but I just couldn’t figure out how to get that volume and look. Enter the trusty Pinterest, who told me to do a whole load of back combing and invest in some bobby pins/kirby grips. And to actually knot the hair. I always thought the knot bit was a figure of speech, that it was just a bun by another name, but no! You actually knot the hair. Some days the grips stay in all day, other days they’ve fallen out within the first hour! But I’m getting there. I like it as a look and it goes really well with knitwear. A great combo for Autumn!
I do love looking back at the month like this. It reminds me just how much fun we’ve had. What in September has made you and your family happy?
