I love Halloween! Not for the dressing up but for the decorations and all the fun activities, growing up in London Halloween was the best thing about summer being over, and it also meant half term, something we don't have here in Portugal, all 3 of my brothers birthdays are around halloween and I always loved getting them ready for trick or treating and threw them a halloween birthday party always!

unfortunately trick or treating is not really a thing here in Portugal, but every year the kids always dress up and we decorate the house, carve pumpkins and all that fun stuff but this year I was determid to throw Petal a Halloween party and I did! it was super fun, bless River he was the only boy amongst 9 girls but he also had loads of fun, I promised him next year that he could also have a little halloween party with his friends once they are a bit older, so yeah it was super fun the girls painted pumpkins, watched a movie while eating pop corn filled gloves, danced around the house ate mummy pizza and grave yard Oreo mouse, at the end of the party we glued google eyes onto their painted pumpkins and they took them home with them, Petal and River were so happy it was definitely worth all the hard work I put in to this party happening.








 By the time the film finished they were starving! and I had the spookiest lunch ready for them!
 I'm so glad one of the mums surprised us with this super cool pumpkin because I didn't have time to make the one I was planning one making, it was kinda like this but with a big pumpkin and fruit salad  :) maybe for next years party!

 my wonderful make by Petal
 Graveyard Oreo mouse, doesn't look anything like the ones that inspired me on Pinterest,  but I'm pretty proud of my self for having done all this on my own in the space of 2 hours.
 oh my goodness these made my day! one of the girls mums messaged me asking how many children were coming because she was going to make some biscuits, when she showed up with these my jaw dropped! they were so beautiful I couldn't even bring my self to eat them hahah



 after eating we had a little disco then it was home time

I love River´s face in this one, as you can see I had way too much fun! I think from now on a Halloween party will be added to our traditions.


What do you have planned for Halloween?

oh how I have missed this place, if only a day had double the hours and I had triple the energy then I could actually accomplish so much more of what I want.


but thats not the case, as soon as I get the kids in bed after the day is done all I want to do is chill on the sofa with my man, I leave the dishes for the next day and if there is a load in the washing machine, well lets say, ill give a quick rinse the next day, because the last thing I want to do is miss out on "our time" even if we both fall asleep 10 mins into the movie we took an hour to pick, I prefer that than to be wasting my time cleaning stuff that I could just do the next day. But now all is going to change because my Baby River has started Pre school, today is actually his first day, I keep looking at the clock to see how long till I can go pick him up, I'm nervous to know how his day was, but I'm excited to drop him off again tomorrow and watch him grow and learn a whole bunch of new things just like his big sister did, I'm also really happy he's actually in the same pre school Petal went to and not only that but also the same classroom with the same teachers, so I know them and they know me, my heart is so much more at ease knowing he's with them.


There is so many things I can do now that I have a few more hours a day free just for me, I keep thinking oh I can go do groceries alone! you may think huh,  but with kids everything takes for ever and a simple nip to the shops takes me an hour or more with River and now I'm in and out in 15 mins :) I can clean the house and most importantly I can get my head in the game and finally sing up for driving lessons, something I had wished I had finished when I was 17 but when your 17 and live in London you don't need a car for anything because London transport is amazing! well compared to the Portuguese transport system at least, so yeah two kids and no drivers licence in a country were you really can't rely on the transport, learning to drive is definitely at the top of my list,



I also want to make this space here more of a daily thing, I want to write more and read more and cook more and make more things and of course document them and share them with you!

I'm off now to finished organising the rest of the kids clothes, hope you all have a lovely day!

Oh it feels good to be back!

I have been meaning to blog a lot more than I have, but life just happens, so I haven't had time or motivation to be honest, this kinda always happens to me, the begging few weeks of January I feel really bumped to start the new year and everyone is so inspiring with all their New Years resolution, that it rubs off on me and I feel the same way, but then its cold and the days drag on and on and they are grey and rainy and my mood just becomes grey and my body wants to hibernate until spring comes.  But January has finally come to an end and I can welcome February with open arms, I'm finally feeling more productive even thou River has a cold that I can't seem to get rid of and all he wants is to be held by mama or papa, February is going to be a good month!!!

Here are a few pictures from our Sunday and a recipe for the Moroccan chicken stew I shared on my Instagram 












We had a pretty slow Sunday, we made pancakes and a lemon pie, we sat at the window taking in each sun ray we could and our little fury family did the same, I did a little house work, but mainly just chilled and spent my day in the kitchen making yummy foods for us to eat, (wish a I had a dish washer thou) for dinner I made a Moroccan inspired stew, and it was so yum really hit the spot! so I'm adding it to my recipe book and thought why not share it with you all too :) so here you have it!

A Moroccan Inspired Stew



-What you will need-

• 3 skinless chicken breasts, cut into chunky cubes
• 1 onion 
• 3 cloves of garlic
• thumbnail piece of fresh ginger
• 4 small carrots cut into rounds 
• 5 small potatoes cut into wedges 
• olive oil
• salt and peper
• 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon powder
• 1 tablespoon cumin powder
• 1 tablespoon coriander powder
• 1 can of crushed tomatoes 
• 1 litre of good quality vegetal broth 
• 2 tablespoons fine brown sugar
• 1/2 cup red wine
• 1/2 cup dates, seedless and cut into bits 

-Lets get cooking-

1. Cut your chicken breast in to large chunky cubes and season with salt and pepper, heat up the olive oil in a large pot, and brown the chicken cubes for a few minutes just to seal them, once done remove chicken from pan and reserve for later.  
2. In a food processor or with a handheld blender, blend the onion, ginger, garlic and tomato to crest a paste. 
3. Add a splash of olive oil to the pot you were using, once warm add all your spices, turmeric, cinnamon, cumin and coriander, mix well to form a paste, don't let them burn! now add your blended tomato paste and mix well to combine with all the spices in the pot! 
4. Once the tomato starts to boil add your browned chicken, wedged potatoes and rounds of carrot, mix well to incorporate everything nicely.
5. Pour in your chicken broth, red wine and brown sugar, mix well once again to incorporate all the flavours bring to a boil, reduce the heat and cover for around 30 minutes. 
6. At this point you can make some cous cous or plain rice to serve with your stew, we just had it as it is with lots of bread and butter.
7. Once your 30 minutes have past, check that the potatoes and carrots are done, and remove the chicken from the pot, add the dates and mix well.
8. With a fork roughly shred the chicken and return to the pot, mix well let cook on a low heat covered for a further 15 minutes and its done!

I love stews and this one really warms the heart, Pedro loved it and Petal had about half her bowl, River didn't even touch it lol but he has been ill so maybe next time he will try it. I hope you give it a go and if you do make sure to tag me in your pictures :)

I adapted this recipe from one I found on Pinterest here