Finding Smiles: Half term & finding my words at last

I’m struggling at the moment. A few close friends have spotted that I’m not my normal self and they’re not wrong. There are a few things going on, nothing significant, but I suspect how I’m feeling right now is part of the grieving process.

It would be easy to say I’m depressed but I don’t think I am. I can still find joy in most things, it just that every time I think about my Dad I burst into tears. Missing him is causing me significant pain, but I guess it will for a while. I’m fine, really I’m fine, I just need more time to come to terms with being without him.

This year I’ve done some brave big step things with my family. We scattered my Dad’s ashes and we’ve cleared his house ready for it to be sold. We talk about him every day to try and make the gap feel more normal, but we all miss him. How could we not?

2017 has brought with it some big, interesting things which have been keeping me busy, which is great. But really when it comes to every day things I’m really struggling to focus and be especially productive.

If you read my blog much you may have noticed that I’m not blogging as often, and when I do I’m not really writing about personal things. I’ve tried a thousand times to write something, but I couldn’t manage anything beyond a paragraph. I’m looking at the 250 words I’ve written so far for this blog post and wondering where they have come from, because so far 2017 has given me no words.

I sat down to put together a blog post, mainly based on photos of what we’ve done over half term, and I’ve found some words at last. At least I know I’ve got some in me now, I hope this has broken my block. Fingers crossed. Anyway, here are a few nice things we did over half term. Thanks for sticking with me and reading my little Sunday night brain dump.

Finding Smiles: Half term & finding my words at last

We embraced a bit of half term Hygge, baked some biscuits and built a den.

Finding Smiles: Half term & finding my words at last

We went to The Lowry and watched The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show. Thanks to Colette for snapping this lovely picture of me and the boy.

Finding Smiles: Half term & finding my words at last

We did some crafting.

Finding Smiles: Half term & finding my words at last

We just chilled out at home, sheltering from Storm Doris and eating spaghetti.

Finding Smiles: Half term & finding my words at last

And on Saturday we met the Smurfs. We are now quite obsessed with these little blue chaps and we’re looking forward to seeing the film when it’s released in March.

We had a pretty laid back week, but I think it did us all a bit of good and helped us find some of our smiles. What did you do over half term?

Family things to do – Half Term Hygge

The February half term is upon us and despite a gloriously spring like weekend, day one has been wet and cold. We had a quick trip to the park with friends this morning, but the afternoon demanded a bit of warm cosiness and gentle fun. Thankfully Plusnet had sent us a box of Hygge style activities for such an occasion, so we got to work on creating a bit of Half Term Hygge at home.

Hygge is something which comes from Denmark. It means creating a nice, cosy atmosphere and enjoying the simple things in life with the good people around you.

Our Half Term Hygge box contained a lovely assortment of Hygge style goodies and inspiration including –

• Decorations including fairy lights and instructions for building a cosy fort
• Hot Chocolate & marshmallows
• A recipe card for Snobrod (Danish butter biscuits)
• Family film night poster and popcorn

February Half Term Hygge activities

It’s got winter stamped all over it. For me that might mean a nice cup of coffee and a good book in front of the fire. For children that probably doesn’t cut it. Armed with our Plusnet Hygge box, we whipped up a batch of delicious Danish butter biscuits and while they were in the oven we made a cosy den.

February Half Term Hygge activities

This wasn’t any old den, it was filled with cushions, cosy blankets and finished with a string of fairy lights. So good was this den that he spent the afternoon in there reclining, colouring in and watching cartoons on his tablet.

February Half Term Hygge activities

I was very impressed with the Danish butter biscuits too. It’s a really easy recipe. He loved helping out and we will be making these again very soon. Be warned though, they are too good and as a result they didn’t last very long!

February Half Term Hygge activities

The boy is very sold on Hygge. I can see us having a few more afternoons like this over half term. Who doesn’t love a blanket fort, a mug of hot chocolate and a cosy afternoon of loveliness?

February Half Term Hygge activities

Thank you to Plusnet for our Half Term Hygge box. You can find out more about Half Term Hygge on Twitter by searching the #HalfTermHygge hashtag. You can find our more about creating some half term hygge of your own on the Plusnet website.

Are you planning any lovely half term hygge activities?