• Waking up before the children.
• Shaking my fist at the ceiling and shouting ‘WHY GOD, WHY?’
• Trying desperately to drift off to sleep again.
• Cuddling up to Jesse as he slipped in beside me.
• Heading downstairs for a cup of tea.
• Administering cold and flu remedies. I seem to have shared my germs with both Izzy and Mr. LA.
• Making scrambled egg for breakfast.
• Jumping in the shower.
• Searching my nonexistent winter wardrobe for something that would keep me warm. I really must go shopping.
• Coaxing the children into their clothes.
• Stepping out into the rain and quickly walking to the bus stop.
• Getting very wet in the process.
• Stocking up on DIY supplies in Homebase.
• Letting the children pick out some bird feeders for the yarden.
• Browsing a few shops before lunch.
• Enjoying a festive sandwich in the M&S cafe.
• Desperately trying to force myself to start thinking about Christmas shopping. I need to be organised this year.
• Riding the bus home.
• Failing at DIY.
• Exchanging cross words with Mr. LA.
• Calming down.
• Making up.
• Slowly preparing a huge pumpkin stew.
• Marvelling at how therapeutic it feels to carefully peel and chop vegetables.
• Sitting down to enjoy a cup of tea while dinner bubbled away on the stove.
• Ordering tile samples for the kitchen.
• Daydreaming about decorating our bedroom.
• Wishing I’d been a little more careful with the cayenne pepper. The stew was quite fiery, even after stirring in a whole pot of cream!
• Eating too much.
• Dunking the children in the bath.
• Reading bedtime stories.
• Sipping wine and munching crisps.
• Enjoying every second of Place Beyond the Pines. Incredible film.
• Collapsing into bed.
• Waking up when Jesse climbed in next to me.
• Leaving Mr. LA to sleep.
• Fielding a barrage questions from Jesse about the female body. It should be illegal to quiz your parents about their genitals before they’ve had a cup of tea.
• Getting cosy with the children beneath a blanket on the sofa.
• Watching Miracle on 34th Street {a colourised version of the original} and not regretting it one bit.
• Fixing breakfast.
• Giving the DIY another go.
• Standing back to admire our handiwork.
• Falling head over heels in love with our String Pocket Shelf. The dreamy ‘Life is a Bed of Roses’ poster is from Dot & Fox Print Shop.
• Feeling like the best wife in the world when I let Mr. LA place his strange Game of Thrones dragon egg thingy on the shelf before anything else.
• Throwing together a meal in the slow cooker.
• Getting washed and dressed.
• Tucking into fish finger sandwiches for lunch.
• Delivering Izzy to her drama class.
• Snapping some photos in the last of the day’s light. The downs looked truly beautiful in the hazy winter sunshine.
• Killing time in Clifton.
• Sampling a honey and almond hot chocolate in Starbucks. It tasted like marzipan. Anything bigger than the smallest cup will probably make you sick.
• Ambling back up Whiteladies Road in the dark.
• Collecting Izzy and making a run for the bus.
• Gazing out the window at the Christmas lights on Park Street.
• Tumbling in through the front door and letting the warmth of home wash over us.
• Sitting down to supper. Huge Yorkshire puds topped with sausages in onion gravy. Perfection.
• Sorting laundry while the children splashed about in the bath.
• Reading to Jesse and tucking him in.
• Helping Izzy with her homework.
• Saying goodnight to Mr. LA as he retreated to bed, full of cold and feeling very sorry for himself.
• Settling down for a quiet evening alone.

Love Audrey xxx