it's all about A. in France

We had a great time with our friends in France. Little Anya turned 2 couple of days ago and from the photos I taken it seems, everything is about her. My sweet daughter was swimming like mad, peddling with her little feet and running around markets with a baby push chair, me ...slept healthy 8 hours a nigh, sunbathed, read, ate and drank a lot. very nice. Now back to rainy England :)

These last photos are from our bathroom and dressing room of the gite we stayed in. It's owned by our friends and I just LOVED this room.

luscious green parks

We had an absolutely glorious warm day yesterday. Stayed outside all afternoon, wearing short sleeves for the first time this year and enjoyed walking and spending time together. A. is now incredibly adorable, talking, singing and running a lot. She is going to be 2 in June, wonderful age.

One thing about England I really like is the amount of parks and luckily we have one huge one just around the corner. I love going for walks. Ideal Sunday morning starts with big breakfast, long walk, reading papers and lazing around with family or friends. What about you? how do you usually spend your Sunday mornings?

we came back

Hi there! sorry for not being around but we got back last Thursday (after paying extra ridiculous! money for our flights) and I haven't stopped since then. The catalogue keeps me really busy. Here are some snaps from our holidays at my parents last couple of weeks. Once more it was great...wedding, friends, great food and wine, time with my family and visit to zoo as well... how exciting for two year old! how have you been?

this weekend

Thank you everyone for Birthday Congratulations and yes I had a great weekend. I dined, danced, ate lot of chocolate, spent time with family and friends. Wonderful. Although I didn't managed to do any Easter decoration, yellow tulips and new cushion cover slipped into our house. and little A. really enjoyed her egg hunts, at grandparents and in Ham house. How about you? how was your Easter weekend?

little project and tips for reading!

We had a wonderful weekend, pottering around the house, visiting another National Trust side, gardening and doing small projects in our home. One of them was to create better space for A., for her reading, drawing, playing.

In my spring clear out, couple of months ago I had to let go my beloved sofa (which I only bought back in summer:(, but by creating the work space in the kitchen we lost some space and one thing I can't live with, is lack of space and clutter. I love to look at other's people homes, at their open shelves full of stuff and ornaments, but I'm just not able to function around it.

I put up the Lack shelf from Ikea for the books....and brought this old A's. moses basket from the loft as Anya uses it for her dolls as a bed...and sometimes for herself to read...and finally I put more doors on this big built-in cabinet. There is a lot of stuff behind there, believe me! and two of the rows hides all the other toys. I just leave the doors open in the morning and close it when A. goes to sleep...

So with all the books around I would like to share some with you. I'm always interested in new children's books so these are some of my daughter's favourites. I'm not really good at describing things in English so ...little comments only. Anya is 22 months.

Orange Pear Apple Bear by Emily Gravett. Simple, easy, fun story.

The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle. Great touch and feel book, good for practicing animal noises.

Have you seen my cat? by Eric Carle. A little boy goes around the world to find his lost cat. A Slide-and-Peek board book, nice story, good for practising memory.

Ten Little Ladybirds by Gerth & Huliska Beith. One 3D ladybird disappears every page.

The Wheels On The Bus by David Ellwand. Sound book with cute pictures.

Rainbow Rob by Jo Rigg and Simon Mugford. Funny rhymes, touch and feel, colourful book. Very educational story.

My Dad by Anthony Browne. Wonderful! present for dads from children. My husband was very touched:) and A. loves it too.

Dogs by Emily Gravett. Soft, beautiful illustrations. Nice and simple story.

Monkey and Me by Emily Gravett. As they say :Perfect for little monkeys everywhere!

Where Is My Teddy? by Jez Alborough. We read and read this book probably 1000 times. It comes with story CD as well.

Charlie's Cook Favourite Book by Julia Donaldson and Alex Scheffler. Funny rhymes, unusual story, entertaining.

Splat The Cat by Rob Scotton. Great fun, nice and soft illustrations.

The Great Paper Caper. I love , love, love anything from Oliver Jeffers. I have to admit A. might just a little bit too young for this book. But the illustrations! are just awesome!

Little Beauty by Anthony Browne. Wonderful, kind, sweet story and even better illustrations.

ABC's . This book is dedicated in memory of Charley Harper. What else to say...beautiful A-Z.

Animal Flash Cards by Eric Carle. A. spent the whole Christmas playing with them. Very clever and beautifully done.

huh...are you still there? Once I started....I couldn't finish:)...I hope, you have a toddler yourself it might give you some tips or ideas.

More favourites if you still want to :)

The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson

The Smartest Giant in Town by Julia Donaldson

The very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do you see? by Eric Carle

Puff the Magic Dragon by Peter Yarrow and Lenny Lipton

Meerkat Mail by Emily Gravett

Where's Spot ...and Spot Bakes a Cake by Eric Hill

and once again anything by Oliver Jeffers:)

All the books should be available on Amazon or in your local shops. Thanks for reading everyone!! have a good day

see you later

Last week was my busiest ever week (sarah&bendrix) and it was very hard. It's becoming increasingly difficult to balance family, my work, little Anya and to be honest, normal life. I'm not complaining, no no ...I'm extremely grateful, but I have to change some things. To make everyone around happier and myself included. A. is so sweet and she is growing so fast! She likes to ' cook ' with me at the moment. She has got her little pots and pans..

Yesterday we had arty day. We were well prepared, but it didn't last long. A. doesn't like to be dirty:) After 15 minutes of painting she was closing the pots and cleaning her arms, and whinging ...."dirty..dirty" ok then..I just tried..

So we went back to safe territory and started drawing. She loves it. And the second picture? Her work after few hours. She is very patient for her age...:) just joking:) my 11 year old stepson's work.

I have to go pack now. Tomorrow Portugal! Lisbon! can't wait. Going for weekend with my sister! just us two. nice. See you later everyone!

this weekend

The sun came out for a bit on Saturday, which was wonderful, I so hoped the spring is here. We went to a local park with promise of a long trip on Sunday, but the weather was awful. It has been raining and raining and raining. Never mind, I'm getting super organised here in our house and lists are getting smaller and smaller:). I went out for a dinner with M. as well, so this weekend was...great!