Life After Lockdown

Well I haven’t done a family life update on here for what seems like forever. Life has been super busy and we’ve been adjusting to a new routine of late. So what’s the news…

The Boys

The boys are doing really well. Olly loved going back to school and has really enjoyed being back amongst his friends, catching up on news, chatting about YouTube, Xbox games and Minecraft. He’s started a new after school sports club which he is loving. I am so proud of him for going as it was well out of his comfort zone but he has tried lots of different sports and he loves trying everything out.

Freddie has started nursery school and is really enjoying it. He goes for 15 hours a week over 5 afternoons (which is an actual blessing) and has really settled in well. He’s made lots of friends and enjoys playing with all the different toys and taking part in the activities. He goes to a different school to Olly so logistically it’s difficult but nothing we can’t sort out with their grandparents help! Thankfully there are no tears, just lots of smiles when Freddie walks into nursery so I am so pleased and hugely relieved.

Working from home life

Despite the boys being at school, the time seems to go quicker than ever. I am working from home on my Etsy biz ‘On the Nice List Designs’ which is going well. I’ve had over 1200 sales since I started back in late September which I am hugely proud of. I needed a different focus than being online all the time. It can be a very negative place with people only showing off their highlights and it was becoming a place I didn’t enjoy spending time. There was only so much content you could create during lockdown with a very limited timeframe and my time was best spent elsewhere. There’s lots more to come with my Etsy shop, I love crafting and creating products. It is hugely satisfying and that feeling of seeing someone love something I’ve made is second to none.

I am still working with clients on their social media and I’m really proud of the work I’ve created for them. The next few months are going to be quieter with contracts ending but I’m pleased I’ve been able to help their businesses grow online.

My husband Greg is still working from home out in our home office in the garden. He’s had a stupidly busy time of late with his students on school placements, arranging online meetings and visits and Ofsted paid them a virtual visit so he is well in need of a break. He cannot wait to get back on campus. The working from home life was good when it needed to be but he’s a people person and desperate to be back in the swing of normal campus life chatting face to face with colleagues and enjoying the banter with students. Hopefully one day soon!

Family time

We have love spending time outdoors seeing family. Every weekend we’ve been going over Cannock Chase and enjoying the fresh air, catching up and seeing each other in person. I have really missed spending time with my parents and my sister. We FaceTime practically everyday and that is something I am so grateful for. My 1am chats with my Mom over FaceTime whilst we both work are brilliant!

All the family have now been vaccinated against the virus (both Greg and I had our second AZ vaccines this weekend, thank you NHS). We cannot wait to spend more time with our family. The boys have missed seeing their Grandparents, Aunty, Uncles and cousins on both sides of the family.

We also cannot wait to see friends, meet new babies born over the last year and just enjoy a little bit of normality again. I cannot wait for coffee, cake and catch ups!

Around the house

At home we’ve had some work done on the stairs. We’ve had the broken stairs repaired so we can now safely walk up and down them. This then prompted us to redecorate with the help of my fabulous Dad and we’ve had new carpet. It looks fantastic and now the top half of the house is just how we want it.

We are debating spending any more money on the downstairs of our home despite some of the rooms needing redecoration as we are considering moving house. We need more space for our growing boys and space for me to work. There’s lots of hurdles in the way until we can do this but it could be a possibility in the near future, watch this space!

Future plans

I’m hopeful I can spend more time writing our favourite days out posts on the blog. We went to Blists Hill Victorian Town in Shropshire, we’ve recently been to Warwick Castle for their Zog and the Golden Star event and we’re planning more weekend days out and about now we’re allowed. We cannot wait to visit Wales in the next few weeks and even a trip to the beach! So excited to take in that sea air!

I’m hoping to get more personal content on here in the next few weeks too. I feel I need to emerge from the lockdown version of me and I think the blog might help me do this. I just need to be brave and crawl out of this comfort zone from behind the screen.