Mr Tiger & Mr Snake

 

First the orange plate...

...and now the green plate...

Potato Races

 

We have been getting ready for Pancake Day (March 4th) in our house. Only we don't practice with pancakes we do it with potatoes! The kids love it and it seems to keep them occupied for ages. They often ask to play it after school as it means they can run around and burn off some energy. We just play it outside our house on the street.

What you need -

some potatoes or onions or boiled eggs or what ever you have in the veggie cupboard
some chalk
some spoons - Zephy uses soup ladles and Elfin uses big silver spoons

What you do -

draw a start line and a finish line on the pavement with the chalk and then start the races - get them to run, hop, skip, scoot, flip the spuds, do all the previous in slow motion, time the races and then get them to think of their own variations.

Its actually like egg and spoon races but it feels like pancake practice as its nearly here....woop woop, cant wait ....pancake recipe coming soon.

Happy potato racing x

Mini Beds For Mini People

We'll stretch it out as long as possible, but one of these days Stevie will have to move up to a big girl bed. Hopefully if I can make it as nice as these she won't want to escape from it!

left, right

left, right

left, right

left, right

above

left, right

above

left, right

Dreaming of Sunshine

4/9/13
What a beautiful sunny day in Wish Park, playing chase with Frankie the whippet.

Wild

 

As an illustrator you sometimes come across work that you truly wish you created and Wild is definitely one of those for me. From the moment I picked it up in Waterstones and saw those beautiful creatures come to life across every page I just knew it was to become a classic, in our house at least. The words are very simple yet the illustrations are incredibly detailed and we always find lots of things to talk about. The story follows a girl who is whisked away from her forest home by strange beings, otherwise known as humans and forced to live by rules that don't quite fit with her wild nature. It's a charming idea, one that I'm sure many children and parents can relate too and although my little girl is most of the time quite amenable I still recognize (and positively encourage!) that firey independent spirit that inspired the title. Kx

Get your own copy here

Visit Emily Hughes website here and blog here 

Fingerprint Trees

   

Elfin was really inspired by all the love on Valentines Day and wanted to do something with a heart on, so I suggested a fingerprint heart tree.

 

She drew a tree and some branches.

Then she got out her Christmas paint set, some water and a wet sponge (to wipe fingers and keep the paints from getting mixed up) and started fingerprinting her heart tree.

I left her to carry on....

...and when I returned this is how it looked. Lovely. x

Supermum

You know that moment when your kid decides they don't want to walk anymore?

I snapped this picture before I had kids and I didn't understand why, having offered, Tess didn't insist they let me carry one of them. Now I have my own I completely understand.

Kx

A Simple Soup

Mini persons soup

Big persons soup

I wanted to share this soup as it is souper (sorry!) and really quick to make. My kids really love soup and its always a good choice on a cold and wet swimming class day as Zephy and I make it before we go then we just warm it up when we get back. It's great too as you can add a bit of spice for big people at the end.

Slightly Spicy Carrot and Lentil Soup 

3 tsp cumin seed

pinch chilli flakes

2 tbsp olive oil

750g carrots, washed and coarsely grated (no need to peel)

1/2 a small celeriac (not essential) chopped or grated

200g split red lentil

1 litre hot vegetable stock

125ml milk (optional)

plain greek yogurt and bread to serve

So first of all put the cumin seeds into the pan and toast them for a few minutes until they start to jump around and release their aromas. Then scoop out half of the seeds and set aside in another little pan.

Whilst doing this ask a little helper, if you have one, to grate the carrots (and not their fingers!)

Then add the olive oil to the pan with the remaining seeds along with the grated carrots, celeriac, red lentils and stock and bring to the boil. Simmer for 15 mins until the lentils have swollen and softened.

Now whizz the soup with a stick blender or in a food processor until smooth (or leave it chunky if you prefer). Stir in the milk to the required consistency.

While the soup is cooling add a little olive oil and chilli flakes to the reserved toasted cumin seeds and heat for a few minutes until the oil is infused. 

Season the soup to taste and serve with a dollop of plain greek yogurt and for those who like it spicy a little bit of your spicy oil.  

Serve with bread, toast, cheese, flat breads or anything else yummy you fancy.