Playing with Chalk | Baby-Toddler Ideas

Aloha Sprinklerinos,

As the Summer draws on and Darcy becomes more and more active, we are increasingly looking for fun, easy things to do. 

My criteria for at home fun is always- easy to prepare, interesting and affordable. 

Drawing with chalks is all three- woop!

Whilst in IKEA a few months back, we bought a pack of chalks on a bit of a whim. Darcy has only recently started showing an interest in crayons so I they were a bit of a gamble. Since Spring (when these pictures were taken, hence the wellies and coat), we have been spending a lot of time outside, renovating our overgrown, crappy backgarden. Whilst we chop and dig and moan about the hard work (mostly me!), Darcy potters about on the raised patio area playing.

We introduced the chalks to her thinking she wouldn't bother but we couldn't have been more wrong! She played for agggggeessss. And by 'aaggggesss' I mean over 10 minutes, which is like 4 years in Tot-Terms. 

As you can see, I was pretty enthralled too. 

I love, love, love the 'naughty' element of not using paper and the fact that with the rain the pictures will be gone.

Since we took these snaps Darcy has decorated the outside bricks and we have bought and installed an outdoor blackboard with holders for her colours, which she LOVES. You might have seen it on Instagram if you follow me over there. 

So there you have it, an easy toddler activity that costs nada (providing you have the chalks in of course) and is completely fuss free! 

Last year we did THIS and THIS, so if you have teeny tiny ones, they might be worth a read. 

What do you do in the Summer to keep kiddies occupied? What did you enjoy doing as a little one? I'd love to hear your ideas in the comments. 

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Toodlepip!

xx

Motivational Monday #22

Aloha Sprinklerinos,

Merry Monday lovely ladies (and gents) of this glittering community. Did you have a good week while I was away? I did. I needed it.

I didn't really see it coming because I'm the type to bulldoze through things with my head down, carrying on, but all of a sudden I just felt like I couldn't.

Image

I am quite sure that to a great many people (and I'm not at all cross if this is you), blogging and vlogging looks very easy. In some respects they are. They are fun and enjoyable past times and they allow you to release and enhance your creativity in a really positive way. 

Sometimes however, they're not. They require far more work than the audience sees and take up a lorra lorra time (I might do a dedicated post on this soon). For the last six months I have really been pushing myself in all aspects of life. I'm not sure why but I constantly feel as though I must set and achieve all my targets, I must be dedicated to ALL fields (Motherhood, being a good wife, being a great hostess, being a good friend, building my main channel, developing my second channel, improving this blog and of course, finding the perfect regime to leave my skin flawless) and frankly, it's exhausting!!

I could feel myself growing tired but kept pushing, kept striving and kept going. Until something had to give. I knew it wasn't going to be Mummyness since that's my number one job, so just for a week it had to be this blog and I tell you, I was gutted. I was annoyed at myself because since February, apart from the 7 days I was out of the country, I have posted consistently and I felt like I was dropping the ball.

I needed to.

Sometimes the way to make things work isn't to hold as tight as you possibly can and never let go. Sometimes you have to let go so that you can breath a bit, refresh your resources and then get on. 

I can and I will achieve the goals I set myself and it's alright to take a breather here and there.

I think that it is easy to misinterpret resting as failure but having taken just a few days away, I feel full of vigour and ready to pick myself up and do all the things I want to. Sometimes when we really want something, we need to down tools before we get there.

If there is anything you are striving for and you are finding yourself on the brink of exhaustion, before you get there, stop. Take a moment to say, 'Will I be better at this with renewed energy?'. The answer is probably yes. 

Is there anything in your life that you can and will achieve? What steps are you making to take yourselves there?  Encourage in the comments. 

Other Motivational Monday Posts

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Toodlepip!

xx

Plus Size Summer Lookbook

Aloha Sprinklerinos,

As a lot of you will have come over from my video to find out where all the clothes are from, I shall start with that. If you have time to read on though, I have talked a bit about body confidence and what I wanted the message of the video to be. 

For now though, enjoy my snazzy screenshot collages!! If things are still in stock, I will link them for you. Excuse non HD-ness, they are video snaps. 

Chunky Necklace- Accessorize

Stripey Top - H&M

Yellow Skirt - ASOS - link! - In the sale now!!

Navy Shoes - Primark
Bracelet - Primark

Floral Necklace - Accessorize - link! (Exact one sold out, linked one is similar)

Black Vest - H&M

Demin Jacket - Primark

Pink Skirt - ASOS - link! - In the sale now!!

Bracelet - Primark

Black Slingback shoes- Miss Selfridge - link! (Sold out but here are a selection of black flats)

Green Pendant - Accessorize - link! (Green sold out but pinky/cream available)

Pink Cardi - H&M - link!

White Vest - H&M - link!

Floral Skirt - ASOS- link!

Champagne Pumps - F&F and Tesco.

Pink Biker Jacket - New Look - link! (closest match)

White Vest - H&M - link!

Denim Skirt - Primark - link! (closest match)

Rose Gold Pumps - Primark

Lucky 7 Necklace - Accessorize

Pink Cardi - H&M

Floral Dress - ASOS - link!

Rose Gold Pumps - Primark

Spangly Earrings - Forever 21

Dress - Ted Baker (No longer online but THIS is similar. Size 5 is a 16)

Shoes - Next

ALL ABOVE ITEMS WERE BOUGHT WITH MY OWN MONEY. 

All clothes worn are between a size 16 and 20. I have wide hips and a small (in proportion to the rest of me) waist so I vary between 3 sizes- what fun I have in changing rooms! Not. 

You can view the video HERE 

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It may come as no surprise to a lot of you that I am a fat woman. Let's call a spade a spade. I am plus size, curvy, chubby, cuddly, volumptuous, fat. I use none of these terms in a degrogatory fashion and take non of them as an insult. I am what I am.

I'm not going to shout from the rooftops, 'I'm proud to be chunky!', but nor am I going to hide away and feel ashamed of myself or dirty in some fashion. Reasons people are overweight and what should be done about it are not for this post, nor is any debate as to whether I'm promoting obesity (I've had that one before- I'm not. I want you to be healthy and happy). This post and video is to say- If you are larger, for whatever reason, you can wear nice clothes. If you are unhappy with a part of your body, take comfort in the knowledge that a LOT of other people are too and it's not as big a deal as it feels in your head.

I would consider myself a glamourous person (and modest too haha), but I am fully aware of my flaws. I have a funny blue-ish lump on my inner calf of my left leg from where I was abused as a child, I have cellulite on my thighs from where I have eaten more calories than I burn, I have a wobbly tummy from where I grew an entire human being, I have tiny red dots on my upper arms (I think this may be an allergy thing), I have naturally rosey cheeks that often show through foundation. Saying all that though, I have a cinched in waist, great (in my opinion) boobies, fun hair, both my legs, both my arms and am able to do and dress as I please- a luxury many women are not afforded. 

Let's set aside our body hangups for 5 minutes (literally in your head, put them in a bag and pop that bag outside) and think about what we do like. Now remember it. You're alright. It's only flesh and bones, it's not the end of your life. You are a beautiful woman. 

What do you love to wear? Has this video/blog post been of any use to you? Tell me in the comments if you would like to see more of this kind of thing. 

To find new ways to stalk me or learn about my discloser policy, click HERE. 

Ultimate Advertiser - It's A Blondes Life. Click HERE for more info. 

Toodlepip!

xx