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This day I love.......

It was a rather early start for me today after a very unsettled night with Little Man and truth be told I really did not want to get up.  After dragging myself out of bed I got myself ready and headed to parkrun.  I am so pleased I did as it was such a lovely morning


My time was one of my slowest, although on a plus side the fastest this year [also my first this year!] but it left me feeling ready for the day ahead.  I had planned an afternoon of sensory play but unfortunately J had other ideas.  

J was rather poorly on the way back to the car and as a result I took him to the vets.  We spent the majority of our afternoon in the vets, and when I did return home it was nap time for Little Man so sensory play had to wait until the evening.

Our sensory play was inspired by our new book from Maverick books, Woodland Hedgehugs activity book.  The book is full of facts about the woodland and has lots of different activities.  There are things to make, playdough ideas and recipes, games to play, puzzles to solve and even scavenger hunts to complete.  Woodland Hedgehugs activity books has something to do whatever the weather and ideas that can be adapted for different ages.

My original plan was to go on a scavenger hunt, but due to the trip to the vets it was dark when we sat down to play.  We then wanted to make playdough so we could create animal tracks in it, but I was missing a few ingredients.  The girls then decided to make their own woodland creatures using beads.


After creatures the girls moved on to leaves and flowers, my youngest remembering the Hedgehug story with the hedgehogs rolling in blossom to make themselves beautiful and wanted to replicate this herself.


My youngest spotted creating woodland animals in the book and she wanted to make an owl.  We have an owl in the woods in our garden and we hear him every night.  I think the desire to make an owl was formed on this.


She took a lot of care with her owl.  Thinking about what colours to use and how she wanted it to look.  We have never seen the one that lives in our garden only heard it so she went on the ones she had seen in the book.  When she had finished she requested two things, the first was a photo and the second was more cardboard tubes.


Both girls soon became very busy.  My youngest started looking for white crayons as she wanted to make a badger.  Much to her annoyance we didn't have any so she made a pink badger instead.  In fact the girls got so creative we soon had a woodland of animals!


The Woodland Hedgehugs activity book inspired an afternoon/evening full of creativity and fun.  The girls are now frantically wanting to save all cardboard tubes to make more animals and cannot wait to pick another activity out of the book to do.

Thanks Maverick for sending us Woodland Hedgehugs activity book, the girls have had loads of fun and I cannot wait to see which activity we do next! 

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Maverick books are set to have a very exciting year. They have recently launched their storytellers scheme and whilst I have not been asked to write about it, I think the scheme is fantastic and wanted to share. As you know we have a real passion for reading and a scheme which helps to promote the magical world that books can open up is one which needs to be shared. I may look into joining the scheme after Thing 3 arrives and more details can be found here.

January has also seen 3 books published.

Maverick January books

The first is Hopping Hot which is the third book in the Hedgehugs series. The girls are already familiar with this series and have loved all the Hedgehugs books to date, Thing 3 also has the hard book books ready for them to join in the fun. Hoppin hot follows the story of Hattie and Horace who are the best of friends and want to hop.  

Strictly no crocs is by debut author Heather Pindar. It sees the crocodiles not receiving an invite to the party. They come up with a clever plan but will they see it through? The illustrations in this book are by Susan Batori and remind me of Quentin Blake's style of illustrating. They are fun and quirky characters who add real humour to the story. The girls find the story rather funny and it is a nice quick easy read for those nights when you want an enjoyable fun story.

The third book is Professor McQuark and the Oojamaflip.  This is the girls favourite of the 3 books and one which has really inspired their imagination.  As a result they have both been busy building Oojamaflips out of random boxes and materials they can find.  I love books which inspire this amount of thinking in children and also ones which encourage them to be active or take an interest in a subject like science.  

Three really wonderful books and something for everyone.  Thank you for sending them Maverick books, we love them.  
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Thing 3 is feeling very loved this week.  Items have started to arrive for Thing 3 and once Thing 3 has arrived we will be doing some more in depth reviews of some of them

#Weloveforest

Whilst not specifically for Thing 3 we had a wonderful package arrive from the Forestry Commission.  Within the package was a wonderful wooden toy.  Thing 3 will love this and it is currently the only toy Thing 3 has

Miffy milestone cards

Both my girls have baby books which I have recorded the milestones in.  Everything from their first smile to their first day at school.  I love the milestone cards as they record everything that is in my daughters books, but in a different way.  The images of Miffy are colourful and each one represent the card.  
When Thing 3 arrives I will be taking their picture with each of the cards and sharing the milestone on my Instagram feed.  I will then have a photo and the milestone card to place into Thing 3 memory box for when they are older.  This is going to make a wonderful keepsake and I cannot wait to share.

Maverick Books

Maverick books have just launched a new range of board books.  The girls already love the Hedgehugs stories and these two new board books are based on the Hedgehug stories.  The stories have been shortened and the illustrations changed slightly but this makes it perfect for younger readers and fro Thing 3.  

I love that Thing 3 is building up a book collection as reading is something we all love.  The Maverick Books are also gloss laminated so I know that if Thing 3 has sticky fingers the pages can be wiped clean.

SlumberSac

SlumberSac specialise in baby and toddler sleeping bags.  Sleeping bags replace the use of blankets and sheets.  My girls used to kick of blankets and wake up cold and sleeping bags were a great way to combat this.  The SlumberSac is in neutral colours, as we don't know if Thing 3 will be a boy or girl.  I have also selected a light weight tog, as it is easier to add additional clothes to Thing 3 should the room become cold, and this also means it will be useful for summer months.  I am looking forward to Thing 3 sleeping in their SlumberSac.




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On our recent holiday to Portugal the girls took 4 new books with them and one of their favourite books. We read a book every night and so we wanted to take enough to cover all night time reading but not pack too many. Here are the books the girls took:

Hedgehugs - Horace and Hattiepillar

This book has a certain cuteness to it. Horace had Hattie are the best of friends who do everything together. You can't help but fall in love with them as you read the story. The illustrations are beautiful and it is such a gorgeous book to look at. The girls love the story, which follows the transformation of a caterpillar into a butterfly, with an added colourful twist. This is one of those books the girls like to cuddle up and listen to so is perfect for bed time

A gold star for George

The girls like this book as it helps them to see their reward chart, and why they get their stickers. They like George and the other characters in the book and seem to relate to them. Particularly with the girls at school and nursery they are beginning to see the importance and value of friendship. The book helps to reinforce the importance of helping others which is great for these early school years.

Pirates don't drive diggers

2 things the girls love are pirates and diggers, which makes this book perfect. The book has a lovely rhyme to the story which often grabs the attention of my girls. We can tell it was written by the same author as my youngest favourite book, as she has really taken to the story.

A box of socks

This is a follow on story from a scarf and a half. The illustrations are the same which adds continuity so the girls can relate to the characters. The story had the girls laughing as the characters get the wrong socks and they do look rather funny.

yuk said the yack

If you ever hear my youngest saying 'eggs, or peas or cheese' she is talking about yuk and yack. She simply loves this book and she talks often about Alfie as if he is her friend. It was a book we had to take with us on holiday, in fact she takes it pretty much everywhere.

the girls holiday reading

Thanks to Maverick books for sending the girls such lovely books for their holiday.

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About me

About Me

Welcome to This Day I love.

My name is Leyla, also known as Mum to my 3 humans and dog Mum to J. I have a passion for the outdoors and love to run. I can often be found off road exploring the trails and fells and covering distances all the way up to 50 miles. As a family we love travelling and discovering new adventures, as I try and run around the world!

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