Elle Steer 
This week has been a little less ordinary than most with the Mr taking the week off work, it has been a busy one with time together and has also meant lots of jobs around the house being tackled, our bedroom has finally had a makeover and we set to sorting out the little jobs, the ones that get put off as life with two children, school and jobs takes over and wanting to fill other times with fun and adventure.
We are lucky here in the fact that although we live on the outskirts of a town there is so much countryside all around and you only have to drive a few minutes before there are fields and trees adorning the landscape everywhere you look. There is something about the countryside, the open air and the view for miles that instill a sense of calm for me, a contentment that nothing else can match. I always feel like I could easily just plant myself in the middle of it on a picnic blanket with a book and have the children running around me in their own little world of adventure.
For us as a family the prospect of a big celebration, Christmas, Easter, birthdays, they always come with a degree of trepidation. I have written before here about E, she has multiple allergies including food allergies and in a society with food and specifically chocolate and treats dominating celebrations more and more every single event comes with forward planning here. Unfortunately we do receive a tricky response to her allergies sometimes and especially since E started school in September it has been tricky that she isn’t invited to parties or that the parents or even the school are worried about what she may or may not be able to eat and feeling different. Yet here, in her own house she is just like the rest of us, her safety net, her happy place.