Family Dynamics are interesting and challenging.

We are very much the modern family. My parents divorced when I was at university and my husband is the only child of a happy second marriage. He has a half sister and brother who in turn have children and step children from a first marriage of their own.

The boys are lucky that through this familiar family set up, they are blessed with extra cousins, and a wealth of Aunties, all of whom they love and adore.

In one generation of our family, there is an age range of almost 18 years. From the eldest cousin, leaving home and choosing a university to spend the next 4 years at, to the youngest, our little Ollie, who cannot write his name.

You would think that the fact that one quarter of the family live in Penzance, one in Southampton, one in Poole and us in Weston super Mare, the distance could lead to distant relationships.

But no. Despite only spending what amounts to a few precious weeks together across a whole year, last weekend we watched as they all became as thick as thieves. It was the first time we had all been together for about 2 years, yet by the end of a jam packed day, all of them were contented in each other's company, all on Apple products, legs splayed out on the sofa!

We went for a lovely Spring walk on the beach at Branksome Chine, close to my in laws and it gave me the chance to show you the beautiful boys jackets by Joules.

How smart are they?! Like proper little gents! 

I love the quilted fabric and the fact that the coats are longer length than your typical coat. Protecting their bottoms from the cold winds. The poppers are really good quality and there are more pockets than Sammy has little figures to stuff in them!

They received lovely compliments from strangers and the high collar gives their necks some added warmth. The lining is unmistakable Joules and it makes me wish their wardrobes were exclusively from their collections! 

The coats are a slim fit in style so I would recommend going up a size to get the maximum wear out of them. I ordered an age 6 for Sammy, who usually wears an age 5 and an age 3 for Ollie. 

They are absolutely worth the extra investment against a supermarket or high street brand. They scream quality and luxury and are made to last, beautiful sticking and the attention to detail is beyond compare to their cheaper competitors.

It was great to see how the eldest children knew exactly how to charm the little ones, jumping on rocks and running along the beach. Maya, who is 11, is a natural carer with a maternal instinct that puts me to shame. Her half sister Ellie has grown into an eloquent and captivating young woman, who I will always remember as the 5 year old on holiday in Spain, who kept pinching our aviator sunglasses and looked cooler than we did!

Matthew who towers over them all, is patient and willing to let them wake him up in his makeshift bed on the lounge floor, far too early for his teenage body, to watch Lego Star Wars, for the 10th time.

Gemma is on a pedestal, having found a selection of new games for the iPad with repetitive theme tunes (Thanks Gem!).

It made me feel incredibly proud and incredibly old, seeing them all lined up, hand in hand for a 'cousin's photo', the last being when Ollie was born.

Although the hand holding may have been more than slightly encouraged, I realised the secret to building successful family relationships is to not try so hard.

Children have a far greater ability to find a common wavelength than grown ups. Sometimes we all are so busy worrying if everyone is having a good time, forcing the fun, that you miss the opportunities for the natural relationships to blossom.

What you need is time. Time to just be together, not feeling like you have to watch what you say, all be on your best behaviour. 

One of my favourite parts of the weekend was actually just sitting in silence together.

Comfortable in each other's company. 

Marriage, divorce, remarriage, doesn't have to divide a family, it can unite it. Forever.

Oh and Joules didn't forget me! I actually chose a fabulous poncho from their brilliant women's range because it's exactly what my wardrobe is missing. Easy to fling in the boot as it folds into the front pocket, lightweight, rainproof for trips around family theme parks on days out and on the walk home on a soggy school run. Plus I look super cool right?!

What are your tips for nurturing close relationships in extended families?

I was kindly sent the boy's jackets and my poncho for the purposes of this post.

Rich and I don't get many opportunities to go on dates.

We are both working (what feels like) all the time at the moment, I'm buzzing here there and everywhere on freelance jobs and he is pushing hard to agree the packaging for the tea company, we hope to launch very soon.

We also have absolutely no family locally we can call on for babysitting so little dates are a rare, but lovely occurrence.

In the past Rich has sent bouquets of flowers to my office, we've spent a small fortune on presents but over the last few years we've realised the more thoughtful, less expensive presents are actually more important.

Both boys are in school and pre school on a Friday and as Rich and I both work from home, we decided to make the most of a child free couple of hours and headed to a village near us over lunch time.

Winscombe is a sweet village with more than your average village high street. It has a brilliant charity shop at the top of the hill, a bustling village pub and lots of little independent shops in-between. 

We stopped at The Pantry, owned by a lovely couple who have 3 young children at the local school and grabbed a sandwich whilst we sheltered from the blinding rain. We somehow got chatting and within a few minutes were discussing their plans for the future, website and food photography. Umm hello! ;)

We then ran up the high street into the RSPCA shop and had a rummage around, Rich found the record section and I headed to the bric-a-brac. I spied a handmade ceramic lemon squeezer which will make a great photo prop and look lovely in the kitchen on the window ledge. 

I walked around the corner to the children's section and couldn't believe my eyes.

Something I have been searching for for weeks! Top of Yasmin lu's wish list for a christening/first birthday present is a rocking horse. But they really would love a plain white one to match her delicate pink, grey and white bedroom decoration.

So my challenge for the coming weeks is to strip, sand and paint! It's big enough for both the boys to ride it!

£10 - what a bargain. I'll show you a photo of the finished horse as soon as I have got him back to his former glory.

We ended our date with a quick visit to Eden, a sweet independent florist. We picked out a few blooms and for the same price as the rocking horse, came away with a beautiful bouquet.

It just goes to show that if you shop local there are some treasures to be found.

We ended our Valentines evening with a double dinner date over Skype! Us with a noodle box from the local Noodle Bar, Tokyo Wok (I adore that it comes in American style cardboard boxes & is the cheapest take away you can buy) and my sister and brother in law with an M&S dine in for £10 meal deal.

It was perfect.

Linking up with #MagpieMonday, #MagicMoments and #whatsthestory

I adore these sorts of posts when I read them on other people's blogs.

I love joining in with link ups which collate photos of your weeks, or little things you've discovered and loved lately.

It gives you a snapshot into someone's days and week and let's you a little bit more into their world.

I am very conscious that my blog has become a place for pretty pictures, perfectly placed crumbs in food shots and whilst the photos I post are absolutely a reflection of me, life isn't always so staged.

So I am starting a new feature dear readers!

As well as a few photos in these round up posts, I am going to record a Podcast that you can listen to here or download and listen to later.

Life Lately.

I hope it will feel as though we are sat together, having a cup of tea or glass of wine (Depending on when you might listen to it!) chatting together and catching up on the week's news and events.

I will have a little library on iTunes so if you miss the early ones, you will be able to go back and find them.

Whilst I get all the internet bits sorted, was there anything you wanted to ask me? Anything you want to know?! 

I would like to include any questions in the Podcast so speak now! Any photography issues you are having or is there a burning blog question, or something totally random? Ask away!

For now.... here's my week in photos...

Life has been full of rushing around! A trip to London to photograph school dinners, a gallery evening date with my sister, sweet cakes, sweethearts, muddy walks, helping a friend and her nail business and birthdays. And new hair eek!

How was your week?