I have a confession. I LOVE all the insta clichés. I don't care about being the one in the street, with passers by wondering what on earth you are doing taking a picture of your feet, I find nothing more therapeutic than arranging a pretty cup of tea in amongst some random flowers (doesn't everyone drink their tea like that?!) and getting the boys to stand up against a nice big wall.

A couple of my favourite accounts are dedicated solely to the love of your own feet and where you are standing! Check out @viewfromthetopp and @ihavethisthingwithfloors and you will see what I mean. They are almost hypnotic!

So last week's #capturingcolour theme got us all looking down at our toes, our boots and with all the sunshine there were pretty flowers, beaches and at last some flip flops gracing the Brit accounts joining in! 

This was my week. Yes that's a snake. We were in Christchurch walking through the grounds of the Priory on holiday with friends and we saw a man talking his pet snake for a walk. A walk! Rich ran off in absolute terror and jumped on a park bench and the boys were fascinated. The nice chap wants to educate people about the slithery creatures about how gentle they can be and help people not be so scared. I did ask whether it was legal to take your pet snake out to a public place for a bit of sunshine and he said, yes, as long as it hasn't bitten anyone. Eek. Rich didn't fancy being the first and kept about 30ft away! It was a very gentle giant and I instantly thought, ooh a fab #capturingcolour moment!!!

And look at all the fabulous feet who joined in! I love how sharing the ground beneath you tells such a story about who you are with, what the weather is like, where you are in the world. 

There is so much creativity in these little squares and I love how everyone has taken just a few extra seconds to appreciate where they are at that moment. 

But my favourite just has to be this one from Sara in Portugal. Look at those silver shoes! I love that she seems so calm in amongst the chaos of the multicoloured balls flying everywhere! I remember that so well, Sammy used to throw them everywhere and they would fly for miles! I would keep finding them behind the curtains, under the sofa, children just adore a home ball pit don't they?! Check out her gallery here.

This week show me your Spring blooms! There's so much blossom and colour around everywhere you look, in gardens, in high streets, everywhere seems to have embraced Springtime.

This tree in our garden just blows me away, delicate and powerful all at the same time!

#capturingcolour is a weekly theme on Instagram. Tag your Floral SPRING BLOOM photos this week. (Even if it's not Spring where you are!) Favourites will be featured next Monday :)

We have been totally fooled that Summer has arrived early this year. Barefoot boys running in and out of the house, Rich has been cutting the grass once a week and the dogs have barely moved, choosing to bask in the sunshine by the french doors. My feet want to wear nothing but flip flops and we have an unstoppable urge to eat bbq food! What is it with the Spring sunshine that makes you want to whip out your Summer wardrobe, banish the opaque tights and eat copious amounts of slightly burnt meat?!

But yesterday we tried an alternative to the traditional bbq. A mini fiesta in our back garden with tapas and lots of different dishes to challenge the boy's taste buds and a complete feast for us grown ups.

I have been a long term fan of Lidl, I join in with their clever campaign #lidlsurprises and am consistently impressed at their commitment to improve the range and quality of their stores. Our local store recently underwent a complete refurbishment and I've commented on several occasions to the staff how much nicer a shopping experience it gives you. Less pressure at the checkout so you can pack your trolley, they now accept credit cards, which is great if you collect points like we do, an in store bakery, the best cut flowers at incredible prices and my favourite, two sizes of trolley to save the almost broken arm syndrome you get with an over filled basket. Over the past few years it's seemed to become trendy to shop in Lidl, but it's not a novelty for me. It's a way I've saved hundreds of pounds over the year on a weekly shop.

They also run interesting promotions each week. Limited editions which you can find across the store, in the grocery section, in the home ware aisle and in the freezers.

Until the 15th April it's Iberian and Spanish week with a variety of delicious tapas, meats, accessories for your whole family to try something new. Lidl asked us to try out a selection of their range and everything went down a storm! We made a few of our own dishes too, simple ideas to try for your next family get together.

To make a alternative to the traditional bbq salad mix together a Lidl 3 colour tomato selection pack, a chopped and diced ready to eat mango, a red onion, drizzle with olive oil and honey, season well and garnish with a sprig of mint. I grabbed a little from the garden as it's just started to sprout!

Next you could try making your own tapas. I used the 3 pack of Iberian bowls that are on offer for 2 sets for £10, 2 fresh sliced chorizo sausages, a generous handful of the nachos cheese, a few slices of chopped onion, season with salt and pepper, spindle with oregano and add a squeeze of lime. Bake in the oven for 20 mins and serve immediately. 

The boys tried all the dishes at our Friday fiesta! I bought tropical and apple and raspberry juice drinks, wrapped fingers of avocado in parma ham, and tore up slices of chorizo over the warm potato tortilla. The frozen tapas selection, complete with clay bowls takes 25 minutes to cook in the oven and are perfect to share or for an individual dish. The meatballs have flavour but are not too spicy that the boys wouldn't try it, the chicken and peppers were delicious with a cheesy crust on top. 

And the puddings, oh the puddings! Perfect if you are like me and are not keen on creamy desserts. I did a selection of the Torta Imperial nougat, Ensaimadas which left a delicious icing sugar moustache on the kids and we made jam biscuit sandwiches from the Palmeritas. Just add a layer of jam, some half sliced raspberries and sandwich together. Easy for the kids to make but they look fab. 

The boys loved the frozen calamari rings and I made a sticky tomato and onion chutney dipping sauce.

I combined a tablespoon of the Lidl tomato and chilli chutney, the caramelised red onion chutney. a generous spoon full of their sundried tomatoes, seasoned it well and sprinkled with a pinch of oregano. 

So why not check out your local Lidl and see what surprises are waiting for you. Swap that bbq, coleslaw and potato salad for an Iberian feast this weekend! 

In collaboration with Lidl

We are home tonight from an almost magical time away in Southbourne. 

Simple times with best friends and when we asked the boys at bedtime, what their favourite part of the holiday was, Sammy replied "I can't pick, I loved it all!"

It turns out, our boys need nothing more than their buddies and a beach. We spoilt them with a few meals out, a swim, an afternoon forest adventure at Moors Valley, we hired a boat to go up the river at Christchurch and had a picnic at the play park. But the most pleasure for us as parents, was watching their little toes racing in and out of the sea, trying to beat the waves and climbing over a sand mountain. Just them and their imaginations. Magic.

I have a few photos to share from our Easter away but first I want to share some cracking (boom boom) photos linking up to #capturingcolour over on Instagram. I seem to have had a bit of a thing for bunnies this year!

And the gallery was flooded with eggs of all descriptions, excitement, and masses of chocolate! I loved the burst of all the vibrant colours of the rainbow.

But I also adored the calming tones of these inspiring galleries. They all really felt just how our Easter break has been. Calm. In the midst of the most hectic period of our lives I was determined to really soak up every minute away. Time to read, talk into the early hours with a best friend I wish I saw every day and time as a family. Can you believe I didn't open my laptop for 4 days?!

The one photo and feed I want to share with you this week is Darren's who blogs at One Dad 3 Girls. A natural talent for photography, he captures his beautiful family and their adventures (And the most stunning florals!) . I loved this image from their holiday break away.

I hope you all had a lovely Easter, wherever you may be in the world. 

Easter for me this year is about new beginnings, starting over with old habits, taking more control over general life and hatching new plans ;)

This week I want to see your feet! You can spot an Instagram addict a mile off, because they are the strange people standing on an interesting bit of pavement (Or like me next to a river bank waiting for a swan to glide past) capturing their shoes! I love seeing how looking down at where you are standing can tell such a story. So come and join in! 

#capturingcolour is a weekly theme on Instagram. Tag your 'FROMWHEREISTAND photos this week. Favourites will be featured next Monday :)