I’m Emma.

I am a mama… to 2 amazing little boys… little rascals but also little gentlemen.  I am their caregiver, their disciplinarian and their entertainments coordinator.  I’d love to say I’m a superamazingawesomeace mummy… but I’m not perfect at all!  I’m super lucky to have the opportunity to be a stay at home mum to said boys.

I am a wife… to him… my handsome, 30 something, kid at heart, BFF.  6 years married… 9 years together.

I write this blog, I take photos… I doodle.  I talk a lot.

I over analyse EVEEEEERYTHING and I worry a lot.  I like knowing exactly what is happening, when and where and why.  I am both insecure AND confident and I take things personally but I’m positive and upbeat (most of the time ha!).  I’m not shy.

I am happy with who I am and where I am in my life right now… even though I know that there is room for me to improve on myself.  I love my life.

A couple of weekends ago, a Sunday, we woke and asked Ollie what he would like to do that day.  The weather was set to be nice so I thought it would be nice to spend it outside.  His big eyes lit up and the first thing he announced that he wanted to do was go on a train!  How could we refuse!?  What started as a super simple question… ‘what would you like to do today?’… turned into an awesome daytrip for the four of us!

We got ready super quick… packed a bag with toys and snacks for the boys… packed our coats and the pram and we set off for the train station!  We decided to go to Bangor because the weather was nice and Bangor has a lovely play park, ride on train and candy floss.  The biggest reason though, was that it was a nice place to go by train.  We could have driven there, but the train ride was the thing Ollie wanted to do most.

Ollie stared out of the window for almost the whole journey.  He held the ticket and gave it to the Inspector… he was so excited.  Nate didn’t seem much fussed on the experience… he has a real dislike at being strapped in his pram, so James took him out and held him on his knee, but to nate this is the same thing.  He just doesn’t want to sit haha!

When we got off the train we dandered down the mainstreet in the direction of the marina and stopped for lunch at Little Wing.  We have been to a few different Little Wings and we love the pizza there.  They also do a great kids option that comes with breadsticks and garlic butter, a tiny pizza, an icecream and a hot chocolate!  I got the garlic mushroom pizza….. so good.

After lunch we walked on down to the marina.  I took Nate out of his buggy and put his Littlelife backpack on him.  It’s a cute tiny rucksack that has a rein attached so he can feel all big and independent!  Both boys looked at the boats and Nate chased a couple of birds.  The boats in the water all looked so lovely and Ollie really wanted to go on one.  To bad a boat isn’t as easily accessible as the train.

Near the marina there is a playpark, splashpad, cafe, ride on swans and a miniature train ride!  We headed that way to spend the rest of our time.  Ollie had his first go on the miniature train ride ALL BY HIMSELF… normally one of us has gone on it with him, so he thought going by himself was a real treat… and we got some candyfloss.

It’s so hard to keep an eye on Nate in the park these days because he is so fast and independent, he wants to climb things himself and it is hard to keep him in reach… the swing is the only thing he goes on and I know he is in one place!

Both boys were super tired by the time we got back to the train station.  We did a huge amount of walking for such little legs… and they both fell asleep for the whole train ride home!  We had such an awesome day out thanks to Ollie’s brilliant suggestion and we were so lucky that it didn’t rain once!

I’ll definitely be asking Ollie if he wants to plan our weekend again in the near future!

…well the weather here really keeps you guessing!  We have been having a proper full on heatwave for a couple of weeks… it even reached right up to 24 degrees at one point (75.2  farenheit for all of you who use F rather than C!).  This might not seem like a big deal to some people… but for our little Hughes family, it was HOT.  It made Nate super cranky and Ollie would come inside to cool down after spending just 15 minutes outside ‘sun waving’.  The boys walked around pretty much half naked and a couple of times, Ollie dipped into the paddling pool completely starkers! Haha.

We had awesome weather for our wedding anniversary and awesome weather for Ollie’s birthday .. we had the paddling pool out multiple times, spent hours in the garden and even got to have a BBQ!

I bought pocket sized suncream because each year I buy big suncreams and they don’t get used.  Suncream can only be kept for 12 months and then it isn’t as effective anymore.  It just so happens that the year I buy tiny suncreams, they are nearly finished!!  I also had to go out and buy the boys sandals and shorts… items we don’t really have in this household, in this country haha!

A couple of days ago the rain came.  It came down HARD!  I guess the grass and stuff must have been thirsty after all the sunshine and heat haha!  Today, when I was walking Ollie to Squirrels, we could see the most crazy looking storm clouds right above bright blue sky.  It was eerie looking.

Apparently we are set to have a 5 week heatwave at some point in the summer.  On one hand I’m thinking BRING IT ON…. I look good with a tan and love getting to spend time outside with the kids… and on the other hand I’m thinking… gosh isn’t 24 degrees HOT haha.  We will wait and see what happens.  If the heat comes again, I hope Nate gets used to it pretty fast… might have to move naptime to later in the day when it’s hottest.

To anyone who can stand heat into the 100′s (F that is… in C that is 37)… good for you!  The hottest heat I’ve been in was approx 36 degrees and that was in flipping India!!

(Also… talking about heat and how I totally could not handle temperatures into the 100s, I know someone who lives in Arizona!  You should visit his blog that he started recently.  Carl used to live here in Northern Ireland but moved to Arizona like 12 years ago and since moving, he’s got married, had 4 children and gained a proper American accent!  So anyway, go see his new blog aptly titled ‘From NI to AZ‘.)

Not only is it awesome to be able to have a party someplace and then come home to a tidy, undisturbed house… but it is also an awesome place to spend a couple of hours.  There are two sections of play, one for toddlers (so Nate was super happy) and one for aged 4 and over.  Full to the brim with slides, ball pools, tunnels and all sorts of fun things.

He invited his 2 cousins, 2 friends who he has known since he was tiny and 3 friends from his class (including his bestie, Max).

He chose his own clothes for the day because he wanted to look ‘cool’!  Because he is 5 and all…

After the kids ran off steam and played for and hour and 15 minutes, we were served little lunchboxes of fries and either chicken, sausages or fish and a carton of juice.  Everyone sat around the table and chatted to each other.

As per Ollie’s request, I made him another Lego cake.  This time I made a Lego man’s head with a smiley face!  I was so worried it wouldn’t turn out but he knew what it was immediately and that’s the main thing!

Everyone had cake an ice-cream and then they all went out to have one last play before going home!

He gave out little partybags to everyone and they had a bouncy ball, crisps, sweeties, stickers and some funny glasses in.

When we went home, Nate and I crashed while James and Ollie built some of his new Lego.

Later in the afternoon, Ollie’s Uncle Jason and Uncle Ryan came over with Jason’s girlfriend Clare… Grandpa Harry and Grandma came and so did Nanny.

Jason and Ryan bought Ollie a football net which I’m sure will get a ton of use this summer if the weather keeps up!

We placed the HUGEST Domino’s order and spent the evening relaxing together!

Ollie had a hawaiian pizza with olives, as he always does.

He loved the MASSIVE card Nate got for him.

James made amazing french toast with bacon and maple syrup (no-one else in the house cooks this… and it is always a treat breakfast for any of our birthdays).

Both boys (and mummy and daddy) loved it!  There wasn’t much left on anyone’s plate!

When breakfast was finished, Ollie opened his presents.  He got Ed Emberley’s Fingerprint Book and an inkpad… it’s so cute… it shows you how to make hundreds of pictures using your fingerprints.

He loved the scooter we bought for him… and the Hexbug Warriors!!  He also got 2 sets of Lego, a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle and Moshi Monsters!

Unfortunately, Ollie had to go to school with it being a Wednesday,  but he was alright with that.  He was excited to see his friends and tell them all that he was 5 now!  While he was away I got the house tidied and decorated for him.

…and we turned up at school with this huge 5 balloon sitting in his car seat haha!  He didn’t know what to say!

He had asked for a Lego cake, so this is what I came up with.  A Lego coloured cake with 2 Lego men holding bunting with his name on it.  He loved it!

The day was a scorcher so we decided to have a BBQ for his birthday dinner, we filled the paddling pool and stripped the boys!  It was 20 degrees!  So not used to that sort of weather.

James fixed us a ton of food on the BBQ.  We had chicken, piri piri pork steaks, 5 spice pork kebabs, sausages and grilled sweetcorn (salads too… but they’re not that interesting).

It was so good!

Nate had his first corn on the cob.  He chewed on that thing for a good half hour haha!

After we had eaten and the boys had had enough of playing outside in the heat, Ollie came in to try out his fingerprint book and managed to make a long fingerprint train!

…and then we had his cake.  I’ve honestly used the exact same recipe for everyone’s birthday cakes, for the last 6 years… and the same Betty Crocker frosting.  Why change something that’s perfect haha.

Both boys went to bed SUPER tired from the excitement, food and heat!

You’re 5 today and I can’t believe how much you have grown in the last year… OR how fast this year has gone.

You have waited for this day for months… the big FIVE.  I guess it has been hard for you waiting for your birthday when mostly everyone in your class has had their’s already… you’re the youngest.  Even though you are the youngest in you’re year, you honestly wouldn’t be able to tell.  You shine with so much confidence and intelligence and you befriend everyone that you meet.

Five is a big age, Ollie.  Already, you are starting to ask me questions about the hard stuff… sometimes I know the answers and sometimes I don’t… and sometimes your questions take me by surprise!  You have such an inquisitive mind and that is such a good thing!  You should always ask questions!

The biggest thing to happen to you since your 4th birthday is that you started school in September… in fact you are very very nearly done with your first year of primary school.  You are lucky to go to such a lovely school with lovely teachers and good friends.  Your best friends are Max and Yasmine (who you asked to marry you), but you are a good friend to everybody.

At school, you love to do your show and tell each week… you really enjoy the opportunity to tell other people about the things you like!  You can READ AND WRITE now.  It’s been an amazing thing to watch this past year… you have learnt so much.  You’ve loved your school trips and you love it when it’s the day for you to be in buddy group and you have become SO independent.

You’re also a really good big brother and are learning how to have patience with you little brother… sometimes he gets into your toys and stuff and you remember that he is just a baby and doesn’t mean any harm… you find him as funny as he finds you!

Things that you currently love include lego, the iPad (and pretty much all technology haha!), Minecraft, Hexbug Warriors which you got today… you make up awesome stories with your lego men.  Your imagination is awesome!  And Ollie, your drawings!  They are seriously wonderful and nothing makes me prouder than putting your artwork and writing on my fridge and walls.

So Ollie, with all my heart I wish you the happiest 5th birthday and I hope that your next year is as crazy exciting and brilliant as this last year has been.  I’m super proud to be your mummy.  Keep being yourself Ollie.. you’re growing up into a lovely little man and I love you forever.

BFFs x 100.  Mummy.

It was done relay style so they were in teams for the whole thing… nobody won or lost by themselves… and in every single race he cheered each and every one of his team mates on as they took their turn.  When it was his turn, he made sure to check I was watching and would do a thumbs up!

Nate fell asleep about a half hour into the day… so I got to watch Ollie in peace and quiet and I stood there proud as punch of my biggest boy.  He gave it all he had.  There wasn’t an ounce of effort left in him.

Some of you have followed this blog since it was Toddler Awesome and then Boy Oh Boy… and you are still around today!  Others have come across this blog more recently!  Some of you I know in real life and some of you I know, only through blogging.

But no matter how long you’ve been reading, or how I know you in life, I’m so very thankful for you coming to visit… read what I have written and for the comments you have left.

You have left me comments of support in hard times and comments that shared in my happiness… and comments on day to day happenings.

I first started this blog when I was pregnant with Ollie, after my husband suggested it.  I’ve always been one to keep diaries and this seemed like a good idea!  I had no idea then, that I would still be writing it more than 5 years later… documenting my life as a stay at home mum to two little boys.  I also had no idea that people would actually read what I had to say, that I would make some lovely friends and that through my own blog, I’d find some of the best blogs to read.

So thank you!  Please keep coming!

Emma.

My mum is the absolute PRO at making me feel confident and good!  She always has been.  I mentioned before that I learned a lot about parenting from my mum.  She was a single parent to me and my two younger brothers from I was 16… and she did an amazing job at raising us.

Anytime I’ve been upset, run down or lacked confidence… my mum has always come through and been there to pick me up and make me feel like I’m brill!  She hasn’t only told me once, but countless times, that I’m a brilliant mum and that she is proud of me and she instills in me the fact that I can do anything I put my mind to.

Having someone who is the prime example of what an amazing mum is, tell you that you too are brilliant, is a super feeling