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Center Parcs Dream Holiday

Published by Oana

As a young family we have learned to adjust our holiday time to suit Emma’s needs. We were foolish enough to try and take her for fancy breakfasts in five-star hotels in the beginning, oh yes, indeed! But once she started pouring her cereals on the flour and generously throwing bits of toast to appalled middle-aged couples who were trying to enjoy their Saturday breakfast in peace we knew our holidays needed a fresh approach.

So now we do short city breaks and stay in family-friendly hotels and spend our summers in Greece in a rented apartment, not too far from the sea.

What I have realised recently is that,although hubby has been living in the UK for 18 years and I have been here more than 7, we have never had the chance to explore England and all it has to offer in terms of holidays and places to see!

So when I saw the Centre Parcs January Challenge launched by Tots100, I knew I had to have a go at it. It would be lovely to go and explore a bit of what England has to offer, especially for young families like ours and their video An Adveture with Little Ones gave me enough inspiration to write this post!

If we were so very blessed to win a holiday with them, I would choose Whinfell Forest Centre Parcs in Cumbria. The 400-acre forest would be ideal for us and the little ones to get some much needed exercise and explore a new environment. The comfort lodge accommodation would suit us perfectly, I can almost smell the pine trees and hear the wind blowing soothingly at night! The Subtropical Swimming Paradise would be the perfect place to unwind for Emma and hubby, they both LOVE the water and I could use the time to bond with baby! Of course, the most appealing feature for me personally is the Aqua Sana Spa, it’s been so long I had grownup treat time that I would beg, bribe and plead for a few hours of relaxation and a body treatment :-). Probably I won’t have to do any of that since the children’s clubs may keep the kids entertained for a couple of hours and we could actually both go and enjoy a soul-refreshing treatment and time in two! And as for eating out, how exciting it is that you can actually have a pizza night as a family or sip a Starbucks coffee and enjoy a bun without worrying the children will wonder off and disturb the other customers!

Oh, I am getting positively upbeat about this, I truly hope we win!

‘This is my entry to the Center Parcs and Tots 100 January challenge. If I’m chosen, I would like to visit the Whinfell Forest Centre with my wee family for a short break. ’

Living Arrows: You are Loved

Published by Oana

This is the first time I am linking into the Living Arrows project but I love the idea behind it and the Kahlil Gibran’s poem with the same title reflects so much my parenting view and philosophy. I am linking into it rather late into the week also, but hey, rather late than never. I am linking into it as I stand on the brink of change, with another baby ready to pop out any minute now(hopefully!) and I feel the need to capture somehow the emotions, feelings, fears and excitement of these moments.

I am also linking into Holley Gerth’s Coffee for Your Heart although I really struggled with the theme this week (You are Loved) and decided to bring into it the parenting perspective.

So, here we go, beautiful girl, you are now 4 and two months and you make my heart sing every time I take the time to sit down and observe you. These last few months, from September, when you started your drama and ballet classes, your imagination blossomed. You seem to find rest in playing imaginary games, you always need to pause after a trip in town or a long morning in playgroup and just play princess games. You do it quietly, so quietly and gently that sometimes I can hardly hear the conversations your princesses have. Not that those conversations were meant for my ears, anyway…

You have become a very sensible girl, eager to help when you can, with small things like making the beds and unloading the cutlery from the dishwasher. You are a girl, alright, as you can gauge my moods and limits from miles away and usually would offer sensible advice like “You go and have a rest now,mummy, you will feel better afterwards.”

But you are a strong-willed little madame too, when need be and say hilarious things like :”Mummy, you always boss daddy and me around.” When rules seem nonsensical to you, you challenge me and ask questions about their fairness. I am still winning at the moment, but just about, little clever one 🙂

You look forward to your little brother’s arrival. You were patient and kind and at every clothes’ shopping trip you remembered him and tried to pick something nice for him: an outfit, a toy…

You are smart and understand things I understood much later in life, like the rotation of the earth or how digestion works but you are so very innocent in so many other ways and I love you for it! The other morning your daddy and I were wowing about possible stretch marks on my tummy and you rushed out of the room, shouting “Call me when he’s out!” You see, you still think babies literally pop out of their mummies’ bellies and you just couldn’t stomach the possible sight :-). I had to reassure you this gets done in the hospital and the baby won’t spill out on you any time soon.

We look forward to see you grow and develop in your new role, as a big sister. But even when you will struggle, with jealousy and fear, even when we will struggle with sleepless nights and exhaustion, please know, little one, you will still be very much loved. I keep reminding you the fact these days, hope it goes deep into your heart and will sprout out patience and grace to us and reassurance to you whenever you will need it.

You are loved, little one!

Here you were playing planes going to Greece with your ever patient daddy

Keeping the time

Published by Oana

I am a punctual person. Actually, if you want to stress me out completely, just give me an appointment and not enough time to make it in time for it! I am the sort of human being who knows EXACTLY how long it would take to get from A to B, mishaps, possible traffic and delays carefully considered. Also, as a driver, I would know PRECISELY the perfect route for your type of morning. Slightly delayed? Take the dual carriageway, but not after 8.55, as there are trains going past around the time. Leisurely paced? The top road but try and avoid the North Road, schools and possible delays there…

It took hubby a while to get used to me and my way of being, especially since he is the exact opposite! He leaves everything for the last moment, and I mean, the last! If you lived next to us, you would see him permanently dashing through the door, harassed look on his face and all. If you lived with us, you would have to get used to strange things, like him running upstairs several times before we leave the house, to retrieve lost keys/phone/grocery bags. Waiting for a good 10 minutes for him to finish “one last urgent thing” on his laptop and sometimes, well, him making sure he will NOT need the toilet when he’s out :-).

The difference between us? Wearing a watch to keep the time.

Hubby is adverse to wearing anything that encumbers his movement, he can’t even wear a wedding ring as “it catches in things.” He bought himself a couple of watches in the seven years we have been married but he chose them for decor rather than practicality and managed to break or lose them within weeks :-).

I can’t live without my watch. I still remember the first watch my parents got me as a primary school-end of year-well done-present and how I wore it until the straps literally fell apart. How as a young wife my favourite Christmas present would have been, you guessed it, a watch! How at some point I had one to match every outfit (I know, the vanity!). And most of all, the lust I felt during my summers spent in Switzerland while out window shopping and admiring all those gorgeously precise Swiss watches and their beauty, elegance and variety!

I thought I had grown wiser with time, since I have worn modest and moderately priced watches since I became a mum. But the whole lusting thing ignited again today when I had a came upon The Watch Hut website and found myself fantasising about their gorgeous watches! Here is one of my favourite ones:

I love the colour, the sparkly bits, the size…Oh, you know what? I have heard people talking about eternity rings and other trinkets gifted to wives when they give birth. I wonder if hubby would consider a watch as a possible “birth gift”? I will have to find a moment when he doesn’t dash towards one thing or another and ask him :-).

Romanian Deviled Eggs

Published by Oana

As I said in my previous post today, it was my birthday yesterday and since hubby worked late and we didn’t get to celebrate (I got the promise of a lovely meal out once baby is born :-), I decided to make something my mum would have always made for our birthdays and other special occasions: deviled eggs, Romanian style.

I know that January is a “diet” month and everybody is trying to post healthy recipes but this one isn’t actually so bad if you decided on a paleo diet rather than a traditional, low-carb and fat diet.

My mum taught both my brother and I to make our own mayonnaise and I do it gladly knowing that I get to choose the produce going into my food and there are no hidden nasties. Here are the ingredients for my homemade mayonnaise:

one boiled egg yolk, minced with a fork so your mayo doesn’t come out lumpy
one fresh yolk, organic preferably, as it makes your mayo nice and yellow
sea salt
olive oil (we actually use vegetable oil in Romania but I don’t buy it in the UK since we almost never use it)
lemon juice ( I squeeze as a go along, I used less than what is in half a lemon this time as I made a small quantity).

You mix the yolks first and then gradually add olive oil, one tablespoon at a time. Don’t be tempted to add more as you run the danger of getting it to go funny on you. You can fix it from that point on but you would need to add another boiled egg and a bit of elbow grease :-). Keep alternating olive oil, salt and lemon juice until your mayo has the consistency and taste you want (I love mine quite lemony and rather salty).

Once your mayo is ready, you can prepare the filling for your deviled eggs. Add the egg yolks of 6 boiled eggs and one can of sardines (you can add tuna or salmon if you prefer, I love the taste of sardines!) to your mayo. Check for taste, add chopped parsley if you like the taste.

Here is my filling, ready to go into my boiled egg halves! If you have any left, don’t discard it, it is absolutely yummy on pitta bread!

My prettied up eggs! I served them on lettuce leaves so they would make a perfect starter/snack for a paleo dieter as it has enough good fats to keep your energy levels up for a while.

What’s the Story?

Published by Oana

Exciting days in our household: yesterday was my birthday and I was so relieved baby didn’t make an appearance, it would have been a bummer( for me, especially) to have to share a birthday with him, when there are other 36o-something days to choose from :-).

Today is Georgie’s due date but he doesn’t seem to be in a hurry so I am taking it easy, relaxing and enjoying the last moments of calm and quiet before the big arrival. I have also used these days to reminiscence about Emma’s baby and toddler days, with their bad, their ugly and their magical moments.

In my rummaging through old files and pics from long-dead phones I came across this one. I remember the day it was taken, it was an autumn day and we decided to take Emma on a short vintage train ride around the country. She must have been a bit over a year old but as you can see, she was very aware of her surroundings and boy, did she enjoy that ride and the whole experience! I remember that we were both wrecked from a long week and waking up early in the morning with her, but hey, wasn’t this gorgeous smile worth everything?

I suppose what I am trying to say is that I know baby(and even toddler) days can be atrocious. I am truly hoping this baby will be relaxed and a good sleeper and…and…But even if he isn’t, even if we’ll have to do the whole reflux nightmare and months of sleeplessness and the rest, I know now that the rewards are greater than the pain. Looking back in retrospect, that is 🙂

Linking in to PodCast’s What’s the Story, do pop by and check what other mummies have been writing about this week.