The story of us - by Bex

One of the great things about Laura Aziz taking photos of us is that she likes to tell stories with her photographs.  And she's really good at it!  On the morning she came to us, we were unprepared and running late as usual.  In fact, the last time she came to our home to take photos (exactly 2 years prior, to the day, when the twins were just 15 days old) we were in roughly the same situation, eating breakfast late (it was veggie sausages back then that we'd shoved under the grill from the freezer in a hurry) after dealing with K & P all morning.  This time, it was chicken sausages from the freezer although we were at least dressed this time.  The twins weren't and were soon demanding sausages (they'd already had their proper breakfast) and wanting up to see.

Laura was chatting with us, it was all very relaxed since we're lucky to also have Laura as a friend but she soon ran off saying she had to get her camera out already as they were being too cute sat up on the side.  I'm so glad she did!  Even though I hadn't prepared for photos in the kitchen and there was a pile of stuff on top of the fridge and there were old magazines lying around, the photos are just gorgeous and really show some of the little details which make up our every day.  Like K leaping off things into my arms, Priya's cheeky look, Nik holding on to her feet while having a cuddle, them sticking their fingers (or forks) into the spout of their beakers (which is why they now leak!)...

These are the little things Laura notices and captures.  When I saw the one of P sticking her finger in the beaker, I was like oh - they're always doing that!  I didn't even know Laura had taken it but it's one of those little, easily forgotten things that they do which I now have stored in a beautiful image to look back on.  This is basically what I love about photography and why I myself take SO many photos and insist on us having a professional shoot every year to let me be in the pictures as well as getting someone else's view into our lives.  Not to mention that Laura's photos are so much more beautiful than mine and it takes the pressure off me capturing those little moments for once.

I love that Laura sees us and so many of these little things, like I mentioned when I quoted her in my previous post - she knows what matters even if it may seem insignificant like a finger in a cup or putting shoes on or the way K hides behind his arm when he's feeling shy.  I love her so much more for those little snippets.  I also love her for sending me so many extra photos over and above what we expected.  Although I have had trouble choosing the very best ones (they're all just so good!), it means I have so many of these treasured memories to keep.  It's amazing how easily you can forget the little things as they grow and I stress so much about not writing enough down for me to read back and remember.  Photos are the perfect way for me to hang on to these early days of tears and joy, little fingers and toes, cheeky smiles and full on sulking.

The following photos basically show a typical day (be it somewhat more organised and tidy for Laura coming), not necessarily in the usual order as we tend to do the bouncing, tickling and chasing round the landing every evening before bed. (Our bedtime routine is far from relaxing and more about winding up than down!  It works for us and is one of our favourite times of the day!)  Since we hadn't managed to dress the twins yet, we ended up doing all this in the morning instead and I'm so glad as they have produced some of my all time favourite photos of Kalyan and Priya!  We eventually left the house and went on our favourite walk down our path (christened Apple Alley by Laura when she and Arla joined us for fun one day) to our favourite cafe.  Nothing special, just us, doing what we do as a family and with the added joy of Laura's company and talent.  It is the story of us, the chaos and the quiet moments, a little peek in to our life with toddler twins.

I therefore refuse to apologise for the sheer volume of stunning photographs you now must scroll through ;)

We then had a play around in the living room with "Row Row" and "See Saw" and a bit of reading before heading upstairs to get the twins ready.  We still had some of their birthday party decorations up with all their cards.  You can totally tell who is the show off and who is the shy giggly one!

I also love that the smudgy fingerprints all over the glass door are in there!  #reallife and all that ;)  (I also hate these books from Santa at playgroup but they love them!)

I think I should leave the upstairs and outside photos for another day, the ones jumping and tickling on the bed are some of my all time favourite photos of the twins ever!!

Absolute ultimate favourites!

She did it again.  So choosing my favourites is really super duper hard because Laura sent me so many absolutely beautiful photographs of our everyday.  I cannot express just how much I love her for not just seeing these moments but for capturing them so beautifully.  Laura just gets it, how the small moments that make up our days are sometimes the most special.  And when she makes them look even more special, well that's just magic!  

Laura said it even better herself:

"that's part of the thing with telling a story, so many little moments that you could be tempted to edit out, but actually are so important in the grand scheme...

I was trying to explain this to my husband when editing; there is a photo of you helping K with his shoes, and the light was lovely and you look so beautiful doing this everyday mundane task, and as a Mother I know how many mundane tasks your day is filled with but this just captured that there is still something beautiful in it."

I truly believe that Laura being a mother (and she's SUCH a good one, I've seen it first hand) makes her talent even better as she knows, she really knows what's important to families and she captures it all, both the highs and the lows of toddlerism, the smiles and the tears and she makes it all look stunning!  I can't recommend Laura enough!  The photos speak for themselves, this is basically a snippet of a day in the life of us, sulks included...

 

(This face is why she often has messy hair!)

I will do a full post of our day very soon I promise!  Laura's photos need to be shared!!  

Also, Laura, could you please just move in with us?

Black Forest Cheesecake Swirl Brownies - recipe by Bex

I made this recipe for my Baking Club Christmas do recently and was really pleased with it despite having preheated the oven for 3.5 hours!  (The kids woke from their nap far too early and I kept trying to get the brownies ready to bake, including the kids in helping, but I didn't manage until they went to bed again that evening - an hour early!!)

Anyway, I had the idea of brownies with cherries and had always wanted to try baking something with a swirl of cheesecake so I googled and combined a couple of recipes I found.  One from the American/Ukrainian Let The Baking Begin Blog for the cheesecake part as I liked the sound of adding sour cream but I couldn't be bothered converting all the measurements for the brownie batter too so I used one from Olive Magazine for the main brownie batter, although I did adapt it slightly by adding dried and tinned cherries as well as changing the method after a wasted pan of seized chocolate mixture!

Below you will find my combined and adapted recipe for my version of Black Forest Cheesecake Swirl Brownies:

For the cheesecake filling:

225g cream cheese
80g sour cream
70g sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 egg

For the brownies:

200g butter, plus extra for greasing
225g light soft brown sugar
200g golden caster sugar 
125g cocoa powder
100g dark chocolate, broken into chunks
¼ tsp salt 
2 tbsp kirsch or cherry liqueur
4 eggs
125g self-raising flour 
100g dried sour cherries
1/2 tin cherries (optional), de-stoned & halved

For the cream:

whipping cream 300ml
kirsch 2 tbsp (I added 4)
icing sugar 3 tbsp, sifted
1/2 tin cherries (optional), de-stoned and chopped

Method: 

Combine cream cheese, sugar, sour cream and vanilla extract and beat together until smooth, scraping down sides of the bowl as needed.  Add the egg and beat until smooth again.  Put aside.

Preheat oven to 170oC.  Butter a 20 x 30cm baking tin and line with baking parchment.  (I only had square tins so split my mixture between two 20cm square tins, I still baked them for 30 mins.)

Melt the butter in a large saucepan then add the sugars and continue stirring until they start to dissolve.  Remove from the heat and add the chocolate, stirring occasionally as the chocolate melts.  Add the cocoa powder and stir to combine.

Cool for 5 minutes then beat in the salt, kirsch and eggs until smooth again (I did this part in my Kitchenaid).  Stir through the flour and cherries, then scrape into the prepared tin(s) and bake for 30 minutes.

While the brownies are baking, prepare a roasting tin of iced water that will fit the brownie tin inside it.  When the brownies have a crisp top and only a slight wobble to the centre still, lift the tin from the oven into the water bath – this will keep the centre soft, but set.  Cool completely in the water.  Run a knife under hot water before drying and using to cut smoothly.  The brownies are nice and gooey which makes them stick to the knife.

To serve, whisk the whipping cream with the kirsch and icing sugar until softly peaked then stir through the cherries.  Dust the brownies with a little icing sugar and cocoa if you like, and add a dollop of kirsch cream with extra fresh cherries to serve.

I was really pleased with how these turned out!  They were squidgy, gooey and rich.  The Kirsch/cherry brandy was a nice addition and the dried sour cherries add a lovely bit of chewy bite to them.

Rag 'n' Bone Man for Christmas No.1!

You have probably heard of Rory Graham aka Rag 'n' Bone Man by now, he just won the BRITs Critics' Choice Award for 2017.  His single Human is just amazing and was recently covered on The X Factor so you might recognise it as it's been getting even more radio play since then.

I don't often write about music but I do love a good tune and Human is one I adore!  Not only that but Rory is a local guy from Uckfield, my new town.  We love it here, it's a wonderful community and so many people are behind him so I wanted to do my bit.  If you haven't yet heard his current single, Human, give it a listen here and then go and download it on iTunes for just 99p!  ;)

I love his soulful voice and the lyrics!

He is currently in the No.2 spot and in with a real chance at being Christmas Number 1 so I thought I'd see if I could help round up a bit of support for our local musician who deserves so much success!  

Dragon Tails by Tired Bear - A review by Bex

I recently came across a local company called Tired Bear who make absolutely gorgeous costumes for little ones.  They caught my eye at a Christmas Fair, I loved all the bright colours and had a look on their website that evening.  I absolutely love the designs and completely agree with Anna's philosophy about bright colours being for all children.  "Most of my costumes are a bright mix of colours that aren't gender specific because boys shouldn't always be blue and girls definitely shouldn't always be pink!"

The next day we went back and had a chat with Anna who is just lovely and the twins each chose a dragon tail.  As if to prove our point, Kalyan chose Pink with yellow (pink and orange seem to be his favourite colours) and Priya went for purple with green.

On Tuesday we went for one of our favourite walks to take a few photos of the tails to really show them off.  I adore them!  They'd make fantastic Christmas presents and would last such a long time as part of a dressing up box.  The dragon tails cost £20 and with wings are £35.  They come in red, blue, yellow and green as well, each with a contrasting colour for the spines.

The twins absolutely adore their tails!  They love to wear them and they look pretty comfy too.  I am very impressed with the quality.  They're made from lovely soft fleece and have a nice thick waist band with velcro most of the way around so they'll fit for years.  They can also be machine washed at 30!  They are all hand made by Anna and you can tell a lot of time goes in to the making of each one.

My brave little pink dragon was quite happy wandering off down the path which leads to cake!  (Oast Farm Cafe is this way!)

And into mystical dragon caves...

Until we realised it was Tuesday and Oast Farm Cafe is closed on Tuesdays - eeep!  

What do you mean there's no cake?!

And Anna doesn't just make dragon tails.  She has wings to match, as well as butterfly wings, shark and killer whale costumes complete with fin and tail, angel wings, dinosaur tails and even a unicorn with a rainbow tail, wings and pink horn.  She's even made an awesome Toothless from How to Train Your Dragon!  The dragon tails do make good shadows though!

They've worn them loads already.  I love the fun they add to our walks, pretending to be dragons exploring.

We received two dragon tails from Tired Bear in return for writing an honest review.