Doing it the Italian way...

Cooking has always been a massive part of my life. Coming from an Italian family, there were always big gatherings with lots of wonderful food. And the fond memories I have of my Nonna and my mother in the kitchen, laughing and joking whilst cooking up a meal (and usually prancing about and indulging in general tomfoolery) will always stay with me.

Both Ethan and Daniel love cooking and experimenting with different recipes, from the complicated to the down right easy.

Here is Ethan deciding he wants some pasta for lunch. Which is certainly a breath of fresh air when most kids will be more than happy to grab something pre-packed, or fill themselves up with fatty snacks.

He is quite a stickler for detail, and so enjoys making written reports of what he does when he cooks. Each recipe has to be down to the letter, and the method is as precise as any I have ever read.

At least he wont starve to death when he finally makes his way out into the big wide world!



Beautiful Cotswolds...

Ethan has completely surprised me with his budding interest in photography. He has always been keen on images, drawing, painting and graphics etc, but had never really given cameras a fair crack of the whip. Here are some of the early attempts he made, whilst trying to capture the essense of the village we live in.




The River Windrush

                                                                                                                                                                                              This is my favourite, it's the village church. It has such a rich history and a really imposing presence, which I think Ethan has managed to capture with this striking upward perspective of the tower.                                                

I like the way he has got the sunlight coming thorugh from behind the sign on this one. It would have been a pretty boring photo without that added interest to it I think.

Hopefully on 3rd December, when the village has it's victorian night, and the Christmas lights get switched on, it will provide Ethan with plenty of excellent photograph opportunities. I just wish I had a better camera for him to work with.

Arghhhh...Christmas...!

Trying to get any ideas out of a 3 year old for what they would like for Christmas is usually such an easy thing. You open the Argos catalogue, flick through the pages and take note of the many things they point at and say 'I like dat one..I like dat one...'
Unfortunately, Laurence seems to be the exception to that rule. We sit nicely and go through each page, and he talks intently about everything, but each time I ask him, 'do you want that one?' he pauses...then says no, and turns to the next page.

I can quite confidently say, that after twenty minutes of scouring the Argos book..I am still none the wiser as to what to get him.

Still, and before I get my knickers into too much of a twist about it, at least we have had absolute success with weaning him off of the dummy >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
(affectionately known as row-rowf). The dummy fairy came, effectively stole his comforter of 3 years, and left him something instantly forgettable in its place. However, we have now had 4 dummy free days, and surprisingly little upset about it. So I'm proud of him for yet another reason. :)


Loz x

The joys of decorating....

Well, we moved into our new house nearly 6 months ago now, and slowly but surely we have been applying our stamp to the place, but it never fails to amaze me, the surprises you unearth when decorating a new home.

Yes, what you see here is indeed a few nice paintings of Tinkerbell, and Ariel the Mermaid...and yes, these we found under some lining paper in what is now the master bedroom!

Don't get me wrong, I am sure that who ever decided to make this delightful mural had the very best intentions of making the room some kind of girlie Disney wonderland..but seriously...it's hideous.

This is where I get on a soap box to some extent. Some would tell me to look at it and think, ah, at least they tried to make it look nice blah blah blah. Well, no. What they actually achieved is a half finished mess on the wall that is painted with industrial strength poster paint, which is impossible to cover (hence the lining paper on that wall only). The background painting is ridiculous, we have a tri-stripe effort of light blue on the bottom, dark blue in the middle, and purple on the top. I mean...really? they don't even blend in together, and the quality of the painting itself, when you get up close is horrendous.

Ariel looks like she has suffered a stroke, Tinkerbells' arms look like those of a heroine user, and the sad effort of a pirate ship silhouetted against the moon is just laughable.

I know, I know, in a world already full of hatred, cholera spreading UN workers and grossly overpaid England footballers, you would think that I should be giving a little credit to the person that tried to cheer up an otherwise perfectly normal and decoratable room. Well, all I have to say about that is this..you try to sleep with psychotic looking fairies and mermaids staring at you all night, then let me know.

Loz x