010. 70 days of hand lettering - Day 7 & 8

I've been busy the last few days so I've not shared a new 70 days of hand lettering post so here's 5 & 6 in 1 post!

 

 

009. Happy Mail - L'oreal pure clay face masks

I was lucky enough to be chosen by Bzzagent to review the L'Oreal pure clay face masks for free!

They finally arrived today and I can't wait to try them! 

Once I've tested them for a few weeks I will give a more in depth review!

 

008. 70 days of hand lettering - Day 4

 

007. 70 Days of hand lettering - Day 3

 

006. When you just know somethings not right...

So, for as long as Isabelle has been able to talk she has always spoken with a very nasally sound to her voice! She has never had a problem with talking (unless talking too much is a problem?) so I never thought anything too serious of it, and whenever anybody asked me "why does she talk like that" I would just reply, because that's the way she talks! 

I never even considered it to be a problem, or something I should take her to a doctor about because I thought she would just out grow it as she got older! 

When Isabelle turned 4 her preschool teacher mentioned maybe getting it checked, so off I went and booked an appointment and we went to see the doctor! He told me it wasn't really possible to see anything wrong because she had a cold but to give it a few weeks for the cold to clear and come back! 

Months passed and having the busy schedule we do I didn't take her back, I also still felt a bit silly thinking maybe I'm making a big deal out of something that really cannot be helped! 

Fast forward to end of June and I decided to take Isabelle back to the doctors and get another opinion. 

The doctor had a look and said she couldn't see anything but it was obvious Isabelle's voice wasn't "right" so she suggested we go to the speech and language drop in at our local children's centre!

That's where we went today, after a long wait we saw the speech and language therapist! 

She noticed straight away that something was a little strange about the way Isabelle spoke and after playing a few games and trying a few things to get Isabelle to talk she suggested she may have something called velopharyngeal dysfunction! 

She explained it to basically mean when Isabelle makes the sounds with her voice her soft palate doesn't close against her throat like it should so the air is still able to escape from her nose!  The therapist told us before she could continue to help Isabelle we needed to see an ears nose and throat doctor to rule out it being a structural issue, if it is then that's a route we have to go down with them and if it's not then we can go back to speech and language and discuss further options for Isabelle to help with her speech! 

Hopefully we won't have to wait too long before the referral comes through! 

But to anyone who is feeling silly for the worries they have regarding their children, don't hesitate to get them checked, it could be nothing or it could be something as the sooner you get the ball rolling to find an outcome the better!

005. 70 days of hand lettering - Day 2

 

004. No better friend than a sister.

Isabelle had just turned one when we decided to think about having another baby. We liked the idea of a small age gap in the hopes that they would be close siblings growing up.  Our plans to turn our family of 3 into a family of 4 became a reality quicker than we expected when the very next month we discovered we would soon be reliving the not too distant memories of sleepless nights, dirty nappies and baby cries! 

When we were told at our 20 week scan that we would be giving Isabelle a little sister we were over the moon! What better than a ready made best friend. I started having fantasies of matching outfits, hair bows and girly days out with my two girls! 

Isabelle was still too young at this point to really understand what was happening but she was so excited telling everybody about her baby sister in mummy's tummy. 

Before we knew it Amber was here and Isabelle finally got to meet her sister for the very first time.

Isabelle was the best sister anyone could have imagined, she idolised Amber from the moment she set eyes on her, always wanting to cuddle her, help feed her and give Amber her dummy when she was sad. Our wish was granted Isabelle had her ready made best friend.

The age gap between the girls is perfect, they are 22 months apart and now Isabelle is approaching 5 years old and Amber is 3 years old their friendship and love for each other blossoms day by day!  They squabble constantly, they always want what the other has and it really does make me dread teen years but when they are playing together, creating their games or cuddling each other when they are sad its times like these i treasure them more than ever. 

Isabelle doesn't remember a time when Amber wasn't around, we are just our little family of 4 and even if Daddy is a little out numbered he adores them both and we couldn't have planned it better if we tried.

003. Uglybugdoes July Subscription box - Rockabilly theme!

If you're not part of the planning underworld community that is all over facebook, youtube, IG and Etsy then you're seriously missing out! Purely because you probably haven't heard of the lovely Michelle from Uglybugdoes. 

Uglybugdoes is an Etsy shop that sells handmade gifts, stickers and planner accessories but they have also just recently started doing subscription boxes. 

Each month is a different theme, and the themes that Michelle comes up with aren't your usually cute, pink sparkly themes you're likely to find when browsing Etsy. 

They've been designed with everybody's inner geek in mind, they're quirky, edgy and just a lot more fun! 

Michelle has a design team that she works with to create these subscription boxes and they are all so beautifully made and well thought out.

Each box is £15 including P&P and they are worth every penny.

This month is my 2nd subscription box from Uglybugdoes.

Last month was a superhero theme and this months is a Rockabilly theme.

Firstly in this months kit you get 

2 x rolls of washi tape

1 x Diamond paper clips

1 x pack of writing markers 

1 x personalised tattooed leather charm

I love the added extra of the personalised charm this month, it's one of those things that puts this subscription box above and beyond others in its category. 

Next in the subscription box is the sticker sheets

you get 6 sheets of stickers in the box.

The first sheet has a total of 9 full boxes, 6 are ombre checklist boxes and 3 of them are decorative boxes.

The second and third sheet is headers and half boxes and has 2 washi strips with an anchor design, 8 x to do header stickers,  8 x today stickers, 8 x little things stickers and 6 x half box stickers all in 4 co-ordinating colours.

The forth sheet has a range of washi strips and decorative stickers related to the theme all in co-ordinating colours and patterns.

The fith sheet of stickers is for the monthly overview. It contains 1 x month header, day of the week headers, notes, to do, 1 x weekend banner, numbered day dot stickers and 3 x decorative boxes. 

The final sheet of stickers has a range of page flags, banners, bullet point hearts, decorative stickers half boxes and long flags/checklists.

All of the stickers and planner accessories that come in the Uglybugdoes boxes are fantastic quality and beautifully made. 

For those who missed out on the box though, you can still go to the uglybugdoes etsy store and buy the sticker kits. You can buy them as individual sheets or you can buy them as a 6 piece set. 

I have already attached my charm to the front of my Travellers notebook. 

It goes perfectly.

002. 70 Days of hand lettering - day 1

I have recently started teaching myself hand lettering so when I watched lindseyrem's YouTube video "70 days of handlettering" I decided I would give it a go too!

So I am going to try and post a new picture every day of my hand lettering practise 

 

001. Them, Me, Us!

When thinking about how to start writing a blog, or how to put yourself across to people for the first time its always tricky. You want to make yourself stand out, seem interesting and spend an age thinking of a witty and catchy blog title that will give the best impression of yourself and what your blog is about! 

I've been sat here, flicking between facebook, youtube and instagram whilst nursing a cup of semi-warm coffee thinking of what to put in our my first blog post.  We are your fairly average family of 4, no fancy pants stuff here, living the simple life, enjoying what we have and dealing with what life has to throw at us.

We might not have everything together, but together we have it all!

I should probably start by introducing myself.

I'm Charlotte, 27 years old young. I am a working mum and that's how we like it. I am lucky enough to have the perfect job as a preschool teacher, i get to spend school holidays with my family but also get to do real grown up stuff on a day to day basis that keeps me sane.
When I'm not a maid, chef, chauffeur, boxing referee and piggy bank, I enjoy planning, hand lettering, reading, writing and spending way to much time pinteresting things that i plan to do but never actually get around to.

This man is the love of my life, a fantastic dad, my absolute rock. He drives me totally insane 89% of the time but i wouldn't change him.
We have been together for 8 years, we met when we were 19 and way back then if someone had said to me he would be the person id be spending the rest of my life with, i would have probably laughed at them, told them i was too young to settle down and forget the whole thing.
Yet, here we are 8 years later, 2 children, a home together *although still no ring*.
There aren't many words i can use to describe how much he means to me.

Now on to our beautiful daughters

Isabelle is 4 years old, she will be 5 on 7th September. Just 1 day after she makes the big jump to big school.
She is so excited and so ready to go! My little clever clogs with the most amazing imagination!
Isabelle is not your typical girl, there are no Disney princesses or pretty pink fairies and sparkly things here.
Isabelle loves all things animals, especially cats and pandas, she loves Pokemon, Harry Potter and Yo-Kai watch, she loves make believe and pretend play and all things messy.
She does has a slightly girly side though, she loves dresses and pretty things in her hair but she'll do it all whilst jumping in puddles or up to her elbows in mud.
Isabelle has an outlook on the world where nobody can do any wrong, she sees good in everyone and wants to be everyones friend. She cant imagine why anybody would want to hurt someone and has a very sensitive soul.


Amber has just turned 3 on 16th June. She is my little whirlwind, she entered the world in a rush and her whole life has been go go go ever since!
She is full of mischief and always up to no good, where there is trouble you can guarantee amber is right there in the middle of it!
She loves superheroes, monsters and dressing up.
She is always out to make everyone laugh and loves a sing and a dance!