Proud Mommy, Half Term, and Getting back to it #littleloves

Last updated on November 19th, 2023 at 12:39 am

We are coming to the end of half term with only the weekend ahead of us until it’s back to routines and homework time. I love having time to chill with the kids but I think they are ready to see their friends and get back to routines too. Since we stayed home this May half term with no plans the kids have had that time to lie in, be lazy, chill out with their toys at home, something we rarely do. I had itchy feet to travel somewhere at first but then I chilled out with them and got back to spending long hours just playing, being silly, baking, and reading with them. I do think sometimes it’s hard to wind down but then it’s also hard to jump back too it. I think come Monday we will all need a little nudge including Mommy.

We have been lucky over half term and the bank holidays week with a few sunny days too. Giving us time to lounge about the outdoor pool at David Lloyd near us and swim. It was the mini break we needed to recharge. Now, I am looking for motivation to spring me back into the crazy world of social media, blogging, emails, writing and work in general along with life as a mother. I usually take this down time to think about where I want my business to go and how I want to keep moving forward with it. Once I think I have figured it out things shift or change and it’s back to thinking the next plan up. Is this just me or do all bloggers feel this way? 

THIS WEEK I AM LOVING…

This week I have had the chance to finally make myself finish A Boy Made of Blocks. I am sure you are all sick of me mentioning it for a few weeks. For me, it was a lovely story but too slow. Not enough what happening to keep me interest long enough to call it a page turner. At the moment I am saving my pennies for my trip to America this summer so I am trying not to get on Amazon and buy a ton of books. This one I starting reading last Spring. It’s full of short stories, advice and chapters on various parenting topics so you can dive in and out when you just want something light to read. It’s been fab for a lazy week and a bit of reading here and there in the sun. (even got my tan legs back, feels good). 

I heard this little missy has been moving to the big gymnastics group and a bigger facility. I can’t wait to see how she comes on there when we start next week. She has been doing it for a few years now but in toddler gymnastic classes and progressing so much lately. She puts her whole heart and sole into it too. I am the proudest momma ever seeing her do her beams last week all on her own and jumping off into a big foam pit off the end of the beam which is as high as my shoulders without any help or holding my hand. She is fearless and so independent recently. Yesterday her new “proper ‘nastics” clothes arrived (her words not mine) and she was ecstatic. She literally went and got my camera and said be sure to send it to everybody in the family and her friends too. I was beaming. I loved gymnastics growing up myself so it’s great she is interested in a sport I have always been interested in. 

I know I shared this a week or so ago, but if you have watched it yet, would love if you could pop over and give a quick comment and thumbs up. I am working hard trying to get my youtube channel up and running and working on my vlogging skills. I have a long way to go but everyone has to start somewhere right? 

I am sure you saw the Next mother/daughter matching swimsuits going viral this week. We are no different we love a good twinning opportunity and it hasn’t been long where MM is big enough so I could match her so I am excited for the next few years we can match before she is old enough to laugh at the thought. We have been wearing these to our swimming days out during half term and can’t wait to share them with you on the beach in America come this summer. Let’s not forget this awesome hat too and these stylish shades for MM from Next to complete our holiday look. 

Since we were being lazy this week, we had a Family Netflix movie night and Netflix inspired pizza to go with it. We watched Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and made a killer Meatball Pizza for dinner. The kids helped put the pizza together and helped me choose what to put on it from things from the movie. I thought it was such a simple and fun family night in. I hope you all caught on my IG stories us wrapped on the living room floor in a big duvet together too.

There are a lot of rumors going around about Instagram as much as there are changes happening slowly but surely. A few weeks ago some of you may have witnessed the extreme drop in likes and followers and since then numerous of us that didn’t feel the effects it finally hit hard and some that haven’t got there yet, warning, it’s coming! With their new AI program and turning more into Facebook algorithms it’s left the lovers like myself of IG frustrated to say the least. I started a conversation on FB about it and the general knowledge is that if you are a business account you are more likely to gain followers than more engagement and likes but if you are personal account you are more apt to gain more likes and engagement than followers. So I guess we can’t have it all so we have to choose sides for now. I am sure in a few weeks it will change again. This seems to be true with my own account too as I have been recently switching back and forth to see the difference. 

Another blow comes that hashtags won’t be as important as it turns to key word search in your captions and AI to figure out what the photo is about. I don’t like the sound of any of this especially as I worked so hard to put together my hashtag community #lifecloseup. But for now… I am still LOVING my community, the support, the engagement, the stream of new snappers each week, and the loyal taggers too. 

So either way, let’s share our zoomed in captures of life whatever they may be of and share some love for this week’s favorite features here too. Click grid photo below to visit community! 

Linking up with Coffee Work Sleep Repeat for #LittleLoves roundup!