Presents for teachers

So this year I decided I'd try do 'thoughful' presents and stick to a budget! As a teacher I genuinely love getting presents and lovely cards that the children have so carefully written their name in their neatest writing for teacher!! I especially love when a parent write a few nice words, I figure they must mean it or they wouldn't have gone to the effort on the first place! 

My son is finishing third class, he has had an amazing substitute teacher over the last few months so this is the gift he is giving her...

                                 

....along with a bottle of wine and a card. 

I printed the thank you card off from online and I also got the 'smart cookie' label online (I must check back where and link it!) I think it's very cute! 

There is also an SNA in my sons class who I know he gets on great with so he is giving her a bottle of wine...

                                           

My younger son attended crèche for 2 days a week since Christmas and is finished up for the summer now so we dropped in this home made gift....

                                 

I filled old jam jars (I am a chronic hoarder so I was secretly delighted a finally found a use for them!) with sweets, glued on the label (also printed from the Internet) and added some ribbon. The card is also printed,,,a great way of keeping costs down. 

Like I say I went for a 'thoughtful gift' and hopefully they'll be liked/enjoyed! :) 

Do you agree with giving teachers presents? 

TJ @ 20 months!

My baby is 20 months old!! And I have to admit I just love from this age on, I way prefer it to the baby stage. I just love watching them in awe of the simplest things! I feel like his little personality is really beginning to shine through! He's a little messer, a stubborn little boy too! 

FOOD

TJ seems to eat most things. Although bananas are perhaps his least favourite! 

I would like if he ate a breakfast cereal such as porridge or weetabix but he won't! Every morning he has chopped fruit, usually melon, pineapple, strawberries and blueberries with a few raisins thrown in. 

These are some of the foods he might eat for lunch or as a snack: youghart, a cheese sandwich, ham, apple, orange, apple and pear purée, beans, scrambled eggs, they're the main ones. 

Dinner is usually whatever we are eating, shepherds pie, spaghetti bolognaise, spuds, veg and meat, he loves pizza and chicken goujons! And there is always a spare jar of baby food in the press, he has been known to get on occasion! 

SPEECH

So, I'm not hugely sure where he ment to be at but he has the usual Mama, Dada, bye-bye, he seems to have a lot of the -uck words, truck, buck, duck, stuck. He hasn't grasped his brother Senans name yet but he is starting to put 2 words together 'Hiya Dada' 'All gone'. 

SLEEP
TJ is a nightmare when it comes to sleep!! He usually ends up in our bed by 4am! He has a great bedtime routine and goes down easy, but he will not sleep the night through! I'm told this should improve naturally by the time he's 2...I'm waiting patiently!! 

At the moment he is obsessed with tractors and lorries and trucks! (Not as interested in trains as his big brother was at that age.) He is really starting to enjoy looking through books and pointing t the pictures, hi favourite is a farm book he has. He loves playing outside. He isn't very interested in TV, I know most parents would be happy with this but he wudnt even sit and watch a cartoon so you could load the dishwasher!! He enjoys going for walks in his buggy. He's starting to throw the ball to his brother! He really does seem like a little messer, full of divilment! We love him to pieces!

Hen Party!

In April we had my sisters Hen Party! As one of 4 bridesmaids I had surpringsly little to do with regards organising the event! The credit really has to go to my sister Doreen who did an amazing job, the effort and attention to detail was unbelievable! None of us want to be her bridesmaid now if that's the standard we have to live up to!! 

We stayed in the Strandhill Lodge, it was fabulous and the staff were fantastic, so so helpful and friendly to us all weekend. Our room was fab and we had a gorgeous view of the Atlantic Ocean!  

The first night we went for a gorgeous dinner in The Strand Bar. The food was very tasty and the staff were again so friendly and attentive. 

On Saturday afternoon the bridesmaids transformed the breakfast area of the hotel to cater for High Tea complete with fine china and lace tablecloths. Here are some pictures of the afternoon...

It was such an enjoyable afternoon, lots of tea (and prosecco!), cucumber sandwiches and cakes! 

That night we went to the same restaurant again for an equally delicious meal as the night before! Here is a picture of me and my 3 sisters, the bride to be is in white!