Alphabet obsessed

Jasper is so hugely obsessed with the alphabet at the moment. Its such a delight & his learning is becoming a daily activity that he really concentrates on & enjoys. He is choosing a lot more to not sleep in the day now & do a slow, calm activity like his learning books or Alphablocks magazines. He has always had a bedtime story even when he was a newborn, I adore reading & would love my enthusiasm for it to be filtered down to my children. Ducky has already shown us this year how immensly brilliant her reading is & is above average for her age in reading. She can read shop signs to me & likes to look at labels when we are shopping & tell me the price. Jasper is now getting into this. He for months has been interested in street, picture & road signs. He likes to find the letter J anywhere, last week he read out Grampys work van letters. All the ones he could remember, we stood for 10 minutes with him shouting look mummy B for Bella, D for Darcey, & of course J for Jasper. He loves it!! Now the weather is turning colder we will stay in a few more days a week than usual & im excitied for this year seeing as he is so enthused by my teachings & all his precious books he has for learning. His favorites being his Letterland book & is Usbourne lift the flap tales. He is so brilliant at recognizing the letters of the alphabet & can tell me two or three things that begin with the letter he had remembered. He struggles with a few still. C & K sound the same in phonics so that slightly confuses him. He is enjoying learning his alphabet too by poeople he knows. So we have been spelling his friends & family names this week. I tell him the letter to find with his little letter shapes & he knows now to place each letter to the right of the last one. He is learning so much so fast its astounding. Im enjoying learning lots about such interesting topics too by reading educational books to him & he loves all the pictures his National Geographic kids magazine & often asked me or daddy to read to him. Both him & cherub love the library & choosing new books. Selecting books not just purely on what the cover looks like but the vibrancy of the colours inside & the font & words they maybe recognize. Its such an exciting, joyous time. Im so enjoying it & my darlings are just growing so well. So blessed . 143**

St Judes findings...

So living on the south coast we were battered by some pretty harsh winds on Monday 28th, I was so tired that I actually slept through it all even though i wanted to witness the bad weather. Turns out it wasnt so bad in our area. A few street signs were blown down & a tree in a garden behind ours had fallen. I thought that was it. With Jasper in the buggy & me jogging, we went on a run & I decided our local park was a good idea as its has a circular track for runners.It was freezing so Jaspey was snuggled up & we were just getting out of home for some air as we both have been a bit poorly this week. When we hit Homefield park Jasper was saying "Oh no mummy poorly trees like us." The branches had snapped off so many trees & whole huge chunks of the trees were blown off onto the ground. This genuinally upset Jasper & tbh me. These trees are great big trees, years old, some that I climbed as a youngster & my mum in her childhood. This park means so much to my family. Jasper decided he was going to rescue 3 big branches, huge branches actually and I couldnt say no. They are now in his bedroom for a night but tommorow he knows they are going to live in the garden. He has such a sweet heart my lil studley. He did get some time out after my run to crinkle some leaves with his wellies & climb some banks that I didnt realise would be so much fun. So we have found new play zones too. It was nice to see him so energized by his surroundings & being outside. We have had a slow week. A hard week. Its half term & I so needed it to be, i needed to be with my gorgeous son for days on end just hugging him. We so sadly lost Garys grandad last week. What a fine gentleman he was. My heart hurts, for Gary, for his nan & for my children not getting to indulge in their great grandad for years to come. He was just such a good man, a holy man who believed he was going 'home' & I was honoured to be asked to read at his funeral. Nothing means more to me than my family, given & chosen. I adore Garys Nanna, she is a welsh beauty who is just so beautiful to be around. On this day just as we so needed, Jasper & I bumped into Nan when we went to our local shops & I can proudly say she cried happy tears that day for being blessed with seeing her dear great grandson. Such an emotional one, but i can still see the blessings. Night night grandad <3 143

in the last picture we had found a brilliant new tunnel hedge of fun & hiding. Jasper said to me he was going to hide & I was to find him. 

"But Bubba I still see you trying to hide!" 

"Well close your eyes & find me mama."

best boy ever** 143

the sweet most happiest boy, my studley harrison*

I feel almost boastful sometimes on this blog as I am just such a proud, happy mummy. My children have made my life excude happiness passion, love & adventure & ignited my child like fun & silly side. I adore my hubbs so much more seeing how he is with our children & feel so blessed in the lifestyle he so eagerly provides for us working so so hard at being a success in his career & coming home even when shattered with an amazing energy & adored character that makes Jasper leap from his seat to greet him. We are just a very happy family. Our hearts ache each day though for the desire to have Ducky here too, that will never go away. But in all we as four are what Ive always desired from family life. I work but my shifts suit very well to Jaspers school & my mama has a day with Jasper which she asked for in return for helping me get back to work. They have their own adventures & studley is so spoilt with love & fun & just adores nannys house & the excitement of who may be there, especially if the boys all have an early leave from work then he is greeted by Grampy & both uncles. We are so very close as a family unit & Jasper & Darcey are so lucky to be adored by four aunties & four uncles on just my family side alone. Going off point anyhow* So we spent the afternoon at nannas. He has a whole chest of toys & bookshelf of books there so is always well entertained by toys he forgot he had. He & Ducky had coin pots from my dad for our holiday in June so they had savings for all the ice creams they wanted. They used to do dances or sing a tune for coins & made alot of money between themselves & the pennys are back. Jasper found a huge bowl of them & so we pretended to count them using the numbers Jasper remembers as we go. He still jumps from 15-18 & is starting to realise the routine & pattern that comes after twenty. He then started making shapes & what he called trains, fire engine & a transformer out of coins. So i got involved & it was the most easy fun hour with my bubb. I spelt our names, he is obsessed with the letters in his name so he made these himself too. He danced on the coins, he rolled them, he made music with the sounds of stepping on a pile of them, he just adored this simple activity born from a pot of coins. He really is just the happiest, most darling boy to be around. He has a lil temper sometimes that is so easy to control & he is easily led out of a strop. He seeks fun & happiness & has got very accustomed to saying "I love you mummy & I make you happy coz your smiling arnt you"!!! So cute. I love his amazing character & the soulful joy he expells. He is just such a passionate beautiful lil studley. Seeing him so content playing solo & then playing with me just makes me realize how incredible this young beaut is. Hes just happy. He has great friendships with some dear lil cuties that he is always so kind to & shares amazingly with & just last week he was allowed to bring Rainbow bear from playschool home for a sleepover as he had behaved so wonderfully with his friends at school. What a gorge angel** Im so proud* Love you millions Jasper Casey <3 <3 <3 143

flashback friday**

This was a snowy, winter trip to Holbush farm. Bubba was so confident with all the animals & held a mouse & guinea pig in the pets corner. The darlings loved the indoor soft play & we even ventured out for a small snowball fight & a climb around on the awesome outdoor area that was filled with inch thick snow. Chilly adventure*

Another snowy, cold day out so me & the studley stayed in & snuggled warm & happy in each others arms. I loved his Moose christmas print babygro so much, i wish they done this still in his size hehe...143*

wet, cold & stupidly happy*

The past weekend we had plans to meet up with my sisters at our local park early so they could see the sweeties. Bella being the best twinny ever got me coffee :):) & we all had a giggle on the swings & messing about reminising on Homefield park, the park we all played in when were'd visit our Nanny & Gramps. Our childhood park, another nanny park on the list. (I live so close to where my nan & G lived). Its very different to how it used to be & newly refurbished as a space & rocket theme which is a bonus as its so so close to us & had seen better days. Us girls had a good gossip & the bubbas climbed trees & hills, searched for spiders & found an 18 spot ladybird & very friendly cat before were'd even got into the park. They see adventure & fun in the simplest of things its fascinating & just so inspiring to me. The babes are both at an age where they can tackle each park activity solo if needed & they both love the zipline installed so Im only really called to join in when it comes to this, other than that they wanted to be transformer & power ranger together. The weather has taken a turn but it was dry & welly boots on I wasnt too fussed but only 10 minutes into being in the park it started to drizzle. Both bubbs not stopping at all but us girls taking cover under a tree & wincing at how fast Ducky ran across the wet path. The roundabout got wet & the slide gained a puddle in an instant even though the rain didnt seem to heavy. My sisters decided to leave & i contemplated leaving for home too but they were having so much fun in the park with just a couple of other children they had free rein of each space. I asked if they wanted to leave & of course they said no. I relaxed a little, rationializing that Jaspey gets a sniffle at nursery off other children, a few rain drops wouldnt hurt as it was strangely warm with it. And just like that, we had one of the most awesome fun trips to the park ever. Ducky & stud could not believe that I was letting them stay out in the rain & revelled in the drops on their hands & faces. They were careful but energised & fiesty on aparatus they havent been quite so confident on. They just loved going down the slide again & again getting their gorgee tushes soaked in the puddle formed & encouraged such frivilous, fun play of each other, jumping the trampoline harder & climbing with high fives at the end, best friends having the best morning. I snapped away enjoying the moment so much, soaked, calm, totally content in the autumn wild weather!! When they decided they wanted babychinos from home we left. They explored a little more investigating webs & clinbing through overgrown trees. Daddy got the call to put warm milk & bath on & our morning was complete. Just the best, spontaneous, silly time with my sweet cherubs. The hubbs was genuinally gutted he'd not been invited after showing him how much fun we had on camera. Love my darling family so much & I just adore how wonderfully close my sisters & bro's are to me. Im so very lucky*143

J is for Jasper

So Jasper just loves his playschool Rainy Days. I love seeing how mucky he is when they called him at pick up time, I love how excited he gets when I tell him its school day & I love his little skipping, dancing excited jog up to school. He just loves all the new experiences, the mucky crafts, his friends, the dress up area, the garden is his happiness & they now have a mud kitchen which he just loves. And of course he enjoys his teachers & all they teach him & the knowledge they feed him. He is very intrigued by letters & numbers & we love doing his learning books & his Usbourne activity books that Nanna gets him. We also now have National Geographic kids on subscription more so for my excitement just now & Jasper gets an Alphablocks magazine fortnightly & loves his time when he has mummy at the table, snacks & milk beside him ready for some doodling with letters. He knows J is for Jasper & has got brilliant skill in writing his initials now & recognizing them, including his middle name that he know begins with the same letter as Mummys real name Cara. Often walking along the street, in the supermarket & in the most random spots he points out his J's. He has started with a b c & d now too. He knows M is for mummy. He knows for now the difference between b, d & p which to a young child is so very confusing as same shape but different positioning. Darcey still struggles with this on occasion. For his lunchbox snacks of fruit I have been cutting his apple, carrot & cheese in the shape of his initials. This was the talk of lunchtime on Wednesday & inspired the school to spend an our talking about Letterland letters. I read actually that Jaspers catchment school has Letterland as a daily phonics activity & the next day Jasper found the Letterland book for 70p in a charity shop & begged me for it. I of coursed agreed haha. Today he called me in at snacktime to show me he had created J from his grapes & his crisps. I displayed his snacks as his full initials & he took photos so happily telling me he cant wait to show them to daddy & Darcey Im so in awe of this little darling sponge brain I created. He is amazing to me. He is so intelligent & so interested & explores fearlessly. Such a stud. 143*

autumn colours snacks :)

Spider crafts

I had a comment on a previous post from the lovely Pinkoddy at Pinkoddy blog about Jaspers fascination with spiders & she suggested some crafts she had done inspired by the critters. So today with just an hour to spare before Auntie Jojo came to collect the lil dude for a sleepover we made a paper plate Mr Spiderkins & we doodled some spiders onto scratch paper. Jaspers doodle explanations were so sweet as many of the squiggles are unrecognizable but to him they are webs, spiders with eight legs & one with a jumper on. Time ran out too quickly, i was so enjoying a crafty moment with my stud. He had been asleep all afternoon due to early start from his horrid cough hes got just now. Its quite unsettling to me, he has 15 hours at playschool allocated to him now & he so adores his school Rainydays and his friends there but I have dropped a days work as my schedule conflicted with Garys new job, and I just miss him. I appreciate the time to concentrate on our home & essential family stuff & of course time for myself but its definatly lonely without him. We get Monday mornings, Tuesday afternoons & Thursday & Friday full day together but it doesnt seem enough and very very soon he will be at school. EEk...I had papers through the post this week explaining the open day times at his catchment school & I actually cryed. I dont want our amazing adventures to be so limited, I dont want the transition, the huge transition that school entales for me & Jasper & I dont want to miss out on my precious time with him. Missing Darcey every single day is an ache to me, I think of her all the time & wonder whats she has been up to. So I know the absence Im sure to feel when Jasper goes to school full time. Again eek...

Anyhow, more crafty autumn fun I recently saw a post about an Autumn bucket list that I thought was just amazing as did Darcey so we have made the tree cut out & written down adventures we want to take until Winter kicks in. Some are very traditional autumn ideas & some are ideas that we have done each year this season comes round ever since I first met Darcey. One certainally being running into the sea even when the water is freezing & the waves angry. I plan to look at tide times this year since I was scared I'd loose a bubba last time. We are also going to get a much needed family photo taken, only by a friend with a good camera, but one we can display on the wall proudly. Quite a mission as Darcey only really likes to pull faces in pics but im thinking photo of the back of us all holding hands walking along the low tide with sun warming us in the chill. Were'll see though as with kiddy winks everything is uncertain & unpredictable. Link to Autumn bucket list with Catch a single thought. Lovely blog** I linked this on my facebook & had so many mama friends ask me about the awesome idea & have promised to send me pics of their creations soon.

flashback friday* the mummy & daddy version

My gorgee baby daddy Gary W.C.D Harrison, our love story is so amazing to me. I love you beyond measure. You have given me the most enchanting existence as a mummy & have blessed me with the honour of being your daughters step mama. There are just no words to describe the love my heart holds for you. ILY 143 baby. 

reminded me*

So my amazing mama & pops live right on the edge of the lush south downs. Just outside their garden gate is my mums horses field where Miss Chloe & Bonnie live. As if that isnt amazing enough they then follow a gate through straight onto the wonder that is Sompting downs. A wonderland of nature, fun & exploring. As a child who grew up in this house & enviroment I have such fond memories of my life here & being so lucky to live such a life with adventure & fun at our garden gate. The area that is off my parents garden is very secluded so it almost feels like our space. Blackberries grow full & huge here, we played rounders & cricket everyday in the summer here & i learnt to ride a bike on the curve of the hill here. Such amazing memories with my absolutly amazing family. For Darceys birthday weekend she didnt want a party, she wanted to see her cousin Skye. So we went on a trip to flying fortress playzone & the bubbs spent 4 hours gettin very sweaty & exhausted from so much play. Jasper kept up with them & had me, Gary & my brother in law Craig in stitches with his techniques to master the bigger, harder areas of the incredible play area. Its a huge maze of fun in an old airplane bunker. With a lil cafe inside for us to enjoy a slush puppy & sweeties from as a treat. After this & the bubbas having a snooze in the car we headed for nannas house with Darcey & Jaspers scooters in tow. Darceys being a new inline, 2 wheeled big girl scooter with her own Ben 10 bell! My very intention being that they can tick off the list another of my favourite past times as a child, scooting/biking/running around the local graveyard. It sounds a bit morbid & maybe disrespectful but this is a very secluded graveyard with few visitors each day & many paths to choose & hills to scoot down. I as a child visited this spot daily & was always very respectful same as today if visitors came in. We picked a great time as only a couple of people where in the yard across the other side. We had so much fun scooting around & then climbing the chalk pit & exploring the views. It was such a perfect few hours spent outside with my brothers, sisters & partners all joining us & reminising. It so amazing to me to see my darlings enjoy the same exact activities that my childhood consists of, their love of the outdoors & nanna & Bellas horseys & their fearless exploration of creatures, different flowers & leaves. Such a location to some would seem strange but to me this was such a huge highlight in my childhood & seeing Darcey & Jasper put a pretty stone or a daisy on their great grampys grave & enjoy the space like my siblings & I is just so incredible to me. 143*

(my bro & sis in law in the pic! lots of precious people in this graveyard)

 view from the top!! I can see the sea* 

my darling neice Skye, cherub pie & studley!!