I’ve been thinking a lot about my blog over the Christmas break – how to take it forward in 2016, if anyone beyond my family and friends would ever want to read it, and whether when I look back on it in the future, it’ll really take me back to life as it is now with my little ones.  One thing I’m very conscious of is that I only tend to write on the blog when we’ve done something special or significant – like a holiday, day trip or milestone.  And my posts nearly always present a super positive impression of life in family Agar! But, of course, most of the time our lives are much more mundane – I just don’t share the tantruming children, boring Sunday afternoon chores or the struggle with balancing full-time work and childcare!

So, I thought I’d challenge myself with participating in some blogger projects to make me write some different posts this year – to capture what life is really like day to day!  One I’m keen to take part in is called “Ordinary Moments” and is hosted by Katie at her wonderful Mummy Daddy and Me blog.  She summarizes it really nicely like this:

{the ordinary moments}

‘The simple things in life are often the sweetest. While the fancy days out, weekends away or holidays are fun, it’s the ordinary moments I will miss when my children are all grown up. The snuggling in bed reading a story. The giggles as they run around my overgrown garden with the grass that desperately needs a cut. Even the naughty ones. The ones we all have.

Just a photo from your week. The simple. The exciting. The imperfect. The Ordinary Moments.’

It’s so true.  Alex and Sophie are growing and changing so fast at the moment.  I don’t want to forget the ordinary.

My first “ordinary moment” is the family dinner!  After a series of frustrating and stressful meals out as a family, Matt and I decided to make sure we sit down together for at least one meal a week.  It means we have to eat much earlier than normal to coincide with the kids (and forgo the pleasure of cooking together after they are in bed!) – but I’m so glad we’ve made the effort.  We’ve been doing it for a couple of months now, and over the Christmas week have managed it quite a few times.

When we can, we get the kids involved in cooking and laying the table, and we try and make a bit of an effort and light some candles or crack open a bottle of wine (for us of course).  And it’s been a good way of introducing new meals to our fussy pair – although yesterday we played it safe with a classic spag bol!

Before you think it’s all rosy – with candles, wine and conversation – with our crazy duo, it can be quite an effort.  Before we managed to properly sit down yesterday, we had complete hysterics from Sophie – including a tantrum over which chair she had been assigned and a time out as a result of the rage she got into over her big brother sprinkling some cheese on her pasta (which she had asked for in the first place).

But once she’d finished hyperventilating, we did manage to sit down together and finish our plates!  Here they are in full conversation (sorry about the massive pile of mess behind them – I need to tidy up our art and colouring supplies after a massive influx of new things to do from Santa!)

Here’s a shot I love of Alex helping his sister to cheese (before she decided she didn’t want it after all!)

I love this pair of photos below – Sophie covered in bolognaise being crazy and Alex completely exacerbated by his silly sister (this was during the cheese incident!)!

For all the tantrums, complains about not liking what’s been cooked, and fidgeting to leave the table at the end of the meal – I’m so glad we’re making the time to eat as a family.  With us working full-time, we never eat with the kids during the week so it’s nice to have this to look forward to.  And who knows, maybe they’ll cook for us soon!

Linking up to Mummy Daddy and Me’s Ordinary Moments.