Gallery

Me Right Now

Posted by cafebebemama on Feb 1, 2012 in Blogging, Gallery, Motherhood | 0 comments

Inspired by a photo blog prompt from Tara Cain’s Sticky Fingers Gallery, I took a picture of “Me Right Now” last week Friday. I think it’s a pretty accurate photo of the REAL side of motherhood…the one we all go through from time to time!

This was taken on Friday night. We had had a LONG day, Daddy hadn’t arrived home yet. It was about 6:30pm, I was tired, worn out and slightly down. Sam, as you can well see, was not entirely pleased at that moment. Rest assured that I took this self-portrait and settled my son post haste. It’s real…it’s life…it’s motherhood. It was me, right then!

Just a reminder, for the month of February I am closing comments on Cafe Bebe. I’m getting back to the heart of why I blog. Because I enjoy sharing and writing. You are more than welcome to find me on Twitter (@cafebebe) to leave me a comment or to chat. You are welcome to find me on Facebook to do the same. And you can always contact me through my personal email or the contact form on my About page. Thank you for your patience this month. I hope you enjoy the writing and I’ll see you at the end of the month to report back on my experimental findings!

T is for Training

Posted by cafebebemama on Nov 2, 2011 in Blogger Love, Gallery, Little Miss Adventures, Motherhood, NaBloPoMo | 19 comments

Ella is nearly 3 1/2 years old. She’s WAYYYYYY behind some of her friends on learning technology because I’ve been a bit hesitant to start the process with her. We don’t have an iPad or iTouch or iPhone and a BlackBerry doesn’t quite cut it for a toddler. I mean, she spells everything wrong for starters!

We had the opportunity to review an iPad this summer and Ella took to it like a duck to water. She LOVED it and wanted to play with it all of the time. I didn’t have the same passion for it, however and hesitated in handing it over readily as it was just a loaner. Ella was surprisingly good at using the iPad, however, without any real instruction.

I’ve begun looking at kiddie versions of the iPad as I simply cannot justify a £300+ purchase for a 3 year old (yes, Mummy would manage to use it too, no doubt). There’s the LeapFrog LeapPad and the V-Tech InnoTab and of course the good, old-fashioned iPod Touch which seems like perhaps the best option, albeit not the cheapest. This may end up being one of Ella’s Christmas presents so I would appreciate any input and reviews on any of those listed above and how your children get on with them.

In the meantime, we’ve taken Mark’s old laptop, cleared it of grown-up software and started to teach Ella how to use the mouse and play games on sites like Channel 5′s Milkshake, Cbeebies as well as Fisher-Price and Lego-Duplo. She LOVES it and has picked it up very quickly. It still makes me twitchy, seeing her clicking and pointing and poking at a laptop (not MINE for sure) but I do know how important it is to get her started on this path. Surprisingly, Mark has been the one to instigate the laptop with her. He has far less patience than she does but it’s been good training for Mark as well.

So, this week’s Gallery Theme is “T”. The Cafe Bebe take on that theme is “T” is for “Training”!

The smile on your face

Posted by cafebebemama on Oct 26, 2011 in Blogger Love, Gallery, Little Miss Adventures, Motherhood | 21 comments

I managed to capture this precious face two weeks ago when we were in the perfect cafe garden enjoying the Autumn sunshine.

What I love about this particular photo is that it’s not one of her “cheese-for-the-camera” smiles…it’s genuine joy with a sparkle in her eyes and a proper laugh coming out of her mouth.

I can’t believe that we made this gorgeous girl. She’s become such a big girl lately and has changed so much this year.

This face has changed our lives and we’re so much better for her.

We can’t wait to see what the new Bebe’s face is like…if it’s anything like Ella’s, we’re in for a whole lot of joy!

Colour by Lego-Duplo

Posted by cafebebemama on Oct 5, 2011 in Blogger Love, Blogging, Gallery, Little Miss Adventures | 14 comments

This past weekend we had the pleasure of having the Westfield Lego-Duplo store all to ourselves (along with about 8 other bloggy families)! We were treated to various set-ups of Duplo stations, viewed new adverts, were allowed to play Lego-Duplo games on the computer and may have had a snack or two. As a part of the Lego-Duplo Expert group, the Cafe Bebe family has been allowed to be an “ambassador” for Lego-Duplo for the last year and have loved every second. Most recently we were proud to receive & trial the Lego-Duplo Cars 2 sets. Although Ella has never seen Cars, she’s loved playing with the cars and then deconstructing the race course to make her own “free build” with all of the Lego-Duplo blocks.

In addition to the usual fun that Lego-Duplo brings, there were some Danish Lego-Duplo employees on hand to let us in on the 2012 prototypes which will be introduced in January 2012. We got a sneak peek of some LOVELY Lego-Duplo which will please the boys AND the girls in your house next year and let me tell you…you’re gonna be pleased! But shhhhh, it’s not out until next year so you’ll have to wait (or bribe me with loads of cash).

This was our adventurous weekend in glorious London in the unseasonably warm October weather…surrounded by unnatural colour but rather vibrant colour nonetheless!

**As a Lego-Duplo expert, our travel, accomodation and lunch were compensated by Lego-Duplo. The love that we have for Lego-Duplo is not bought, however, and the words and opinions of Mark, Ella and Mummy are heartfelt and honest.**

My kind of home

Posted by cafebebemama on Sep 28, 2011 in Blogger Love, Gallery, Motherhood | 14 comments

No matter where we are, as long as we’re together, we’re home!

Remembering an old friend

Posted by cafebebemama on Aug 31, 2011 in Blogger Love, Gallery | 9 comments

In December of last year, we had to say a very tearful goodbye to a dear friend. My black lab Sinjin had been in my life for 14 years. I was there the day he was born (5 September, 1996) and there the day he died (6 December, 2010).

Sinjin was my constant companion for so many years. When I travelled to France in 2005 and subsequently stayed in England afterward, Sinjin waited in American with my Mom. He went through the stress and strain of “emigrating” to the UK in May of 2006 to take up residence with Mark and I AND 2 cats! Sinjin never made an aggressive move toward them despite their snooty, nasty attitude towards him.

But that was Sinjin through and through. He was loyal, gentle, slightly paranoid and thoroughly dedicated to us. He would chase a ball until he could no longer run; he would swim and swim for hours no matter how cold the water; he would run and run in his dreams, driving me to distraction and he would wait, not terribly patiently for us to return home to him. He was the best friend you could ask for and we miss him terribly.

Ella adored him as much as he adored her. When we had to have him put to sleep in December, we told Ella that Sinji had been very poorly and had to stay at the hospital. He was too poorly to come home with us, we said. We weren’t ready to talk about death and dying yet. Ella still asks about Sinjin and he’ll never be far from our thoughts. Sinjin is buried in my inlaw’s garden. I still go to say hello and tell him what we’re up to. I hope he’s running and swimming in Heaven…I’d like to think so.

Now, go visit Tara Cain’s Gallery where this week’s theme is: Animals!