• Silently cursing my neighbour for waking me up when he started tinkering with his van on the driveway outside.
• Gazing up at the ceiling.
• Wishing I could drift back off to sleep again.
• Listening to Jesse clamber out of bed next door.
• Peeling back the bed covers so he could join me for a cuddle.
• Creeping downstairs to watch a movie with him while the others slept on.
• Polishing off a huge mug of tea.
• Exchanging Valentine’s Day cards with Mr. LA in the kitchen.
• Sneaking two envelopes on to the doormat in the hallway when the children weren’t looking.
• Feigning ignorance as they did their best to identify their secret admirers.
• Making scrambled eggs on toast for breakfast.
• Slipping into the shower while the children played.
• Pulling on my clothes and twisting my wet hair into a messy bun.
• Looking forward to a day without makeup as I slathered on my moisturiser.
• Pottering in the kitchen. I spent most of the morning working on a little food story. I hope you’ll all enjoy it when I get round to sharing it later this week. That bean sprout salad is all kinds of delicious.
• Panicking as the sky clouded over and I began to lose the natural light I needed for my photos.
• Falling in love with Mr. LA a little more as I watched him fashion a makeshift reflector from tin foil.
• Relishing a few firsts. My first time making spring rolls from scratch and my first time deep-frying anything at all. It was fun.
• Tucking into the food we’d spent so long preparing.
• Feeling full.
• Pausing for a cup of tea before tackling the mountain of dirty dishes I’d created in the kitchen.
• Whiling away the rest of the day with movies, games and a few household chores.
• Making the children cheesy pasta for their tea.
• Plunging them into the bath.
• Reading bedtime stories and giving goodnight kisses.
• Settling down for dinner with my love.
• Drinking too much red wine.
• Watching Before You Go To Sleep, a superbly chilling film with stellar performances from both Nicole Kidman and Colin Firth.
• Collapsing into bed.
• Waking up with a hint of a hangover.
• Slipping downstairs with Jesse for a mug of tea and a cuddle on the sofa.
• Slowly getting ready to face the day.
• Heading into town for a mooch around the shops.
• Stopping for hot chocolate and a stroopwafel in Starbucks.
• Helping Izzy spend some of her birthday money in Waterstones.
• Window shopping and mentally wish listing. You always see things you want when you’ve barely a penny to your name, don’t you?!
• Treating the children to lunch at the new Pizza Express in Cabot Circus.
• Deciding their Carbonara Pizza might just be the greatest culinary invention of all time.
• Coming dangerously close to falling into a pizza coma. So sleepy, so full.
• Wending our way home.
• Snoozing on the sofa.
• Being called upstairs to watch the children’s latest talent show in Izzy’s bedroom.
• Admiring Jesse’s handwritten sign announcing their performance. ‘Welcome to our talent show, it will begin at half past ten’.
• Slurping my mug of tea as they entertained me with their singing and dancing.
• Somehow finding the energy to make supper.
• Stir frying leftover veg.
• Surviving the usual mealtime madness.
• Putting Jesse to bed while Izzy raged about something or other. It’s hard being ten years old.
• Retreating downstairs.
• Letting the peace and quiet wash over me as I settled down to write this post.
• Hoping half term goes off without a hitch.

Love Audrey xxx