February at The Cupcakes!

At the start of February our little pooch Peppa went in for an operation to remove some lumps on her stomach. Everything went well and the lumps were nothing to be worried about. The only thing that wasn't so healthy was the old bank balance! I've been visiting my Gran and Aunt every week for a while now, one week I went at the weekend with Midge and A to visit their Great Aunt and Uncle. It was a lovely day, we all caught up and ate some picky foods.

My Uncle passed away last month and it was tough for many of us. I traveled to Portsmouth with  Mum and Dad. We met my sister there and stayed with our grandparents for the night. Although sad, the ceremony was lovely. On the way home Dad treated us to a breakfast at a Little Chef which I haven't had in many years!

Peppa all better//Little A with his Great Uncle//Card I made for my grandparents//Uncle M's rose//My cousins boyfriend holding the beautiful flowers at the end of the funeral//Breakfast at Little Chef//Costa in the afternoon!

Little A turned six! We celebrated by going to Paradise Park a few days before. They spent 2 hours in the play area and then we enjoyed looking at the animals and riding on the little train. I loved the owls, I think I must have missed them when I last visited. I was sad we didn't see the red pandas but they don't come out too much, I think they have young. Such a beautiful day was had and you can read all about it by clicking the link at the bottom of this post.

We also visited Grandma and Pop's house on A's birthday to unwrap gifts and have a big family roast.

Flamingos and owls at Paradise Park//Penguins sunbathing//A on the tractor//Midge and I//A on the train//Mr B and Midge recreating an old image

 Baby A//Blowing out his candles//Opening gifts//A cut his own cake with hilarious results!//Big smiles from Little Man//Birthday cake//Kindle book The House of Screaming Skulls//Book review all wrapped up so pretty

 I got to bake a fair bit in February, pancakes featured heavily too! I spent a lot more time reading books and since signing up to a book reviewing site I've had to learn to embrace Kindle reading! I've really enjoyed reading more, I hope I can keep it up through March.

I hope you all had a lovely February. Do check out my posts from February which are all linked below! Here's to March and some Spring weather I hope!!

Midges Birthday Sleepover!

Giving Ourselves Something to Look Forward to This Valentines Day

January at The Cupcakes

Family, Money and Me- February

10 Good Things January

Making a Rented House a Home

I Don't Know Me

Paradise Park Birthday Treat

Recent Reads

Little Man, Now You're Six...

Book Review ~ One Little Mistake by Emma Curtis

How to make Gluten Free and Vegan Pancakes

Cupcake Mumma

The Adventures of the Wishing Chair By Enid Blyton ~ Review

So the other day I wrote about introducing Little A to the world of poetry (a great success!) and now I want to share with you Midge's book from The Book People: The Adventures of the Wishing Chair written by Enid Blyton. I wanted to show Midge some of the books that I read when I was a little girl from famous authors. After just finishing Matilda by Roald Dahl and both enjoying it again very much, I chose this book by Enid Blyton for our bedtime reading.

Midge has been really trying with her reading lately and enjoying it so much. She's been reading her own books at home and gaining confidence. If you have a confident reader this book will be no problem with them, Midge read a few pages and was very surprised to learn she was actually able to read a 'big book.' Mostly though we shared the story together at bedtime with me reading to her. There are some larger words in this book that at 7 years old she hasn't come across yet in school, which is always good. 

What we love about this book as well is that although the front cover is a very modern illustration the inside is full of wonderful old style illustrations in every chapter.

Overall this book gets a 5 out of 5 from Midge!

Cupcake Mumma 

The Mouse & The Crocodile by Lorraine Catterall ~ Childrens Book Review

Hey everyone, today I want to show you this beautiful book I was sent for Little A to read by the author herself, Lorraine Catterall. This book, The mouse & The Crocodile is going to be a part of a series of books titled The Unlikeliest of Friends. 

Each page is written with short paragraphs, features easy to read print (so my 7 year old, Midge, can read it) and flows beautifully from page to page thanks to rhyming and the opportunity for plenty of character changes (I'm not the only one who is a fan of doing the voices am I?)

All illustrations are by Fanny Liem and they are so beautifully done. They are bold and appealing to my 4 year old (even a tarantula called Terry which my son quite liked and considering he's not a spider fan (not even in books!) I thought this was a plus!)

The story itself is all about a rather sweet crocodile called Master Croc who befriends a mouse when he becomes lost trying to find his home. Along the way they encounter several other friendly animals and together go on a journey to find Master Croc his home and family. They share sadness, fear, excitement and happiness together despite the fact you wouldn't think they could . What a lovely tale!

You can purchase Lorraine's book here on Amazon and follow her site Lorraines Books. You can also find Lorraines Books on Facebook. I hope you love it as much as we have! Let me know what you think of The Mouse & The Crocodile!

Cupcake Mumma

Quiet Time...A to Z Challenge

Today has been really rather lovely. I had a lay in (a quiet one too as both children were sleeping in, one in her room and the other in my arms.) I made a cooked breakfast and I also made my Husband a sausage sandwich to help his hangover along. It must have worked because he was out painting the front of our house after a shower for 2 hours! He even mowed the lawn and I got to do some blogging and read this fab new book by Caitlin Moran (above) It's a really good book. Not the best I've ever read granted but it's still a good read that I'm kind of reluctant to put down. It's nice to read a book about a teen again, I'm so used to reading books now that are based on much older characters and sometimes it's nice to go back a bit.

I hope your Sundays were as good as mine whether they were just as quiet or much more noisy!

Cupcake Mumma

A-Z of Me: B

You may have seen that a while ago (okay, ages ago) I started an a-z of me, my first post being about my anxiety. I'm now finally able to write my second post after spending all this time thinking what on earth B could be for! Originally it was baking but despite thinking about it a lot I don't actually do much of it so to say it was a part of me wouldn't be strictly true and in keeping with the concept of these posts. So finally, I have chosen something that is much more me:

Books.

I adore books. Whether they are story books or notebooks they are completely loved by me. My first book I ever read from front to back was Matilda and I have loved it ever since and still own the very copy I had when I was a small girl.

I'm very interested in World War Two and in particular the stories written by those who were in the concentration camps. My top reads from these books so far have been The Man Who Broke into Auschwitz and I was Doctor Mengeles Assistant. I have of course read many titles based on these atrocities, too many to remember in all honesty but I know most of them are either in my cupboard or borrowed from my local library.

Then we have my favourite author Phillippa Gregory. Phillippa allowed me to fall in love with books again after a long break due to tiredness and small children and 'stuff'. I adore her Tudor novels and have a large collection of novels from the same era by different authors which I simply can't let go of! She also writes other novels which are just as un put down-able!

Of course my Harry Potter books are well loved and I am saving them for my children to enjoy (and I read them over and over!) I also have notebooks which I adore. Notebooks and dairies slipped onto shelves by my computer or stored in my room waiting to be used.

I'm really not one for reading books on screens and i always forget to look at typed up lists on my phone. I prefer handwritten notes and lists, bursting bookshelves and cramming a novel into my handbag to read should I get bored on the train or need to slip off to Costa for an hour.

So that's B! Are you a book lover? Do you find time to read a book or are you a collector of notebooks that catch your eye and consequently threaten to overtake your home? I'd love to know!

Cupcake Mumma

#Dicraftswap Book Swap!

Julys theme for the Dainty and Ivory craft swap with Hannah was books! I love books. Novels, notepads, notebooks all kinds of books! My partner was Claire who took a lot of time and effort in thinking of the perfect swap gift for me. Here's all the beautiful goodies together:

I was sent this lovely notebook which has been hand decorated by Claire. Inside I can record all the books I read and leave some notes about them. I love this idea. Inside I had some pink note pages with envelopes to add to my collection.

Claire remembered I loved anything to do with the Second World War and sent me these reproduced items. A numbered ticket, junior ration booklet and Identity card.

I was sent this very sweet mouse which will be re homed with little trouble! She's so cute!

Here's what I sent to my partner:

I took the book swap quite literally and sent my partner a book I had finished reading. I like to pass books around and hopefully this one will be read and enjoyed. I made the cards myself, added a gratitude angel which I am loving making at the moment. I thought I'd a little vintage mirror with nail files for something special and some toffees, well, just because! I loved the woodland embellishments and felt they fitted the theme really well. I'm so pleased with both what I sent and what I received this month just like I have been since this project started! 

This month I'll be blogging about the Disney swap which has caused me no end of trouble! Buying was fine, making has been different!

Cupcake Mumma

Papery Love! #2

Today I am sharing some papery love (inspired by The Reading Residence's #bringbackpaper) I have notebooks, stickers and books to share with you all. Enjoy!

What I've Read:

Very different from my normal book reading, I've gone with a bit of harmless chic lit in the form Fiona Niell's The Secret Life of The Slummy Mummy. I can never identify with these novels although I think you're supposed to in way (at least to make you feel better) but I have laughed out loud a few times and certainly cringed, I managing myself as Lucy in a few of her highly embarrassing situations.

What I'm Reading:

I'm currently reading another nursing book titled 'Catching Babies.' Since reading The New Arrival I have fallen in love with these real life accounts of nursing, health visiting and midwifery in the 70's and onwards. I really recommend this book, as I did the previous title.

Up Next:
Back to the usual stuff for me with more Tudor related reading. I'll be picking up Betrayal in the Tudor Court as my next book to lose myself in.

Now some papery love! I bought some dessert themed stickers to add to my letters from Fox and Star who is a fantastic seller and has lovely items on her Etsy store. I purchased a gorgeous notepad from Waterstones for just under £3 whilst I had a break from a recent blogging event to explore Exeter a little.

 Finally, I ordered a selection of vintage inspired cards to make some cards for swaps and special occasions.

I purchased a pack of vintage cards for a recent gift swap.

Do you like any of my recent buys? Do you have any papery love to share? Leave me your posts below!



Cupcake Mumma

Papery Peep! A New Link up!

My lovely penpal and fellow blogger Jocelyn from The Reading Residence is on a mission to get us all writing letters, cards and reading more books. I love reading and have never been a fan of these electronic readers (although my app has come in handy on long train journeys!) I will always prefer having a paper back in my hands. I also have a number of pen pals whom I love writing to and since I started letter writing again I love buying gorgeous stationery. Sadly, my budget doesn't really allow room for lots of lovely stationery so when I see a bargain I grab it with both hands! Here's a photo of my new paper set, case and blank cards (because I'm getting back to making my own cards again!)

Now onto reading. I've read a few books over the last few weeks. Firstly there was The New Arrival by Sarah Beeson.

My New Arrival Selfie!

The New Arrival is a novel about Sarah's career and time as a trainee nurse in the 1970s. I have loved this book and have been inspired by Sarah's belief in helping others and standing up for the rights of mothers and their families. I have the second book on pre order and I can't wait to read about Sarah's journey in a new roll.

The second book I wanted to share was The Third Reich. I'm a big fan of history books (World War II, Titanic and Tudor history in particular) This book is great because it's based on the politics behind The Nazi Party which I knew next to nothing about. I read a lot about the actual war and the concentration camps but I've never read anything like this and I enjoyed it a lot.

My current book:

Mary Berry, Recipe For Life

I hope you've enjoyed this post! Do check out The Reading Residence for more on Bring Back Paper!

Cupcake Mumma

Love the Little Things #4

Ah it's Friday again and time for me to share the little things I've loved over the past week.

Read

I tried reading that crime novel I wrote about last week but do you know what? I see enough violence on television in the news or in the papers, why read imaginary violence too? I just couldn't read it so picked up a real paperback this week; Dairy of a Hapless Househusband. It's light and easy to read and Hopefully I'll finish it by next week. I also read Psychology Magazine. Why did no one recommend this sooner! It's ace!

Watched

This week I watched Coach Trip which I love! It's so funny how bitchy they get with each other but I love the activities they get to do too. I also watched the new Outnumbered on catch up which was okay. Seeing the three children now grown up made even me feel old! I plan to catch up on the Channel 4 show My Tattoo Hell with Katie Piper. It'll be good I reckon!

Wore

It's been very, very cold this week. Thursday night was the coldest so far and saw me wearing a shirt, hubby's jumper, 2 pj bottoms and my slippers in bed. I was underneath a duvet, quilt and throw as well! Attic rooms are not my favourite thing right now ! I'm going to put plastic sheeting over my skylight tonight!!

Heard

This week I've heard lots of screaming and crying from my Little A. We're still dealing with Night Terrors and sleep disturbance. I've been doing a lot of research into this and tonight I start a new 'technique' to see if things can improve. Hopefully the next 7 days will give me some hope!

Made

This week I made mini dragon heads and Chinese lanturns to celebrate Chinese New Year. I did the basic drawing and cutting stuff and let the little ones stick and colour. Well, I coloured A's dragon, he wasn't that interested! I also made some chocolates for a review, check them out!

Apologies for the bad photo!

Less crafty is this Just Giving page I made to raise funds for Julian House. I'm sleeping out for 1 night in a park to raise money for those who sleep out every night in much worse places. Do share if you can, thank you!

And Lastly

It's Saturday tomorrow so I get a lay in! I'm hoping to bake fairy cakes later on and watch a movie with the children. Hubby is out tomorrow night but fingers crossed I get my fish and chip dinner! On Sunday we're actually visiting a friends house for a family roast. Im not sure if people do this anymore so I'm looking forward to it!

Cupcake Mumma