24

 This weekend has marked my 24th birthday. Spent with family, we have eaten out far too often, gotten frozen to the bone on more than one occasion. I was spoiled with some more lovely gifts (all opened by Mr Bee!) and recieved countless cards.
For the day, we visited Upton House, a beautiful estate encapsulated in 1930s glamour. Decidedly less colourful than our last visit, we walked the gardens, playing in the snow. Nana and Grandad were very taken with the house, enjoying the paintings and relatively mod cons!

  

We hurried home, ready for my big surprise (as outlined in the crossword!). Dinner for two, at seven, followed by a good nights sleep and breakfast at our favourite haunt, Mai Yango (which you may remember from our anniversary last year).
Compliments to the chef for the most fantastic meal we have ever tasted, followed by a bottle of bubbly and a film back in our huge bed.
A perfect birthday.

Be ready for 9 o'clock and don't eat breakfast

This morning we were up bright and early with no clue as to what our day had ahead. Anna arrived at about 9, we were ferried off into town to meet Becka at an undisclosed destination.
Greeted with a large star balloon and starry confetti all over the table, we had a lovely breakfast and then headed back home.

In my balloon!

 My lovely bridesmaids arranged a lovely craft afternoon, decoupaging wedding memory boxes! What a great idea from my wonderful friends :) I loved the story of the hat box having its own seat on the train back to Leicester....!

 I was treated like a princess with an amazing hamper from Anna, special coffee, cheese, delicious crisps, chocolates and biscuits, my word, I can not WAIT to tuck in!! And a gorgeous top from Becka (who has amazing taste...!) and a copy of the Velveteen Rabbit, these girls know me so well.

Stars, food, collared blouses and childrens books. Perfection

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 Not to mention the homemade chocolate cake which we devoured so fast that I didn't even get a photograph but guess what... it was a star. Isaac devoured two slices and even licked the plate clean, I think it had the seal of approval!

Thank you so much to my favourite ladies for spoiling me today! It was just what the doctor ordered :D

Three Tomorrow

 

Tomorrow, my little beauty turns Three! So today has been an intense day of birthday preparation.  Early morning shopping, preparing lots of party bags, making treats and starting to decorate the house. Now all of Louie's presents are waiting for him on the breakfast table and this is his last night as a two year old. Goodness how time flies!

 

Christmastime Snippets

 Playing with new toys.

 Showing off my lovely new jumper.

 Angles Mummy, I want Triangles!

 Cowboys vs Knights.

 Mommar and Louie.

 A birthday Pizza Express lunch.

 Annual (albeit early) New Years lunch at our favourite ever restaurant, the Three Fishes.

 Poorly sleepy boy.

 Scary giraffe.

And of course, ending with a wedding party!

Christmas Hampers

 Merry Christmas everyone, this is a scheduled post, but I hope everyone had a truly wonderful day yesterday!

This year, Dan and I decided to hand make the gifts going to most of our friends and adult family members. We made a list of things that we could make with Louie that we could give, and ordered lots of everything and got cracking!

You can see how we got on here, here and here.

They may not have been quite as amazing as Becka's amazing hamper, but I hope the recipients appreciate all the love, care and time that we all have put into these little token gifts :)

Christmas Day

 Oh what a wonderful day! So many gifts for everyone, including extra special surprises! A day of playing, cooking, eating and laughing!

 So much for Mr Bee!

 And so much for me! And that isn't even all of it! Mother Hen bought Papa and I a huge box and filled it to the brim with kitchen essentials. Whisks, sieves, saucepans and spatulas, it had everything you would need!

 Then came the extra special gift. A belated engagement present from Mother Hen, a Kitchen Aid mixer of our very own. You can't understand how overwhelmed I was, I cried for a little while! Such an extravagant gift, but very, very welcomed!

Then a huge meal, cooked by Papa and I for everyone. It was just perfect! Everything from scratch and utterly beautiful! We can't wait to do it all again next year!

I hope you have had a wonderful festive day too :)
Merry Christmas!