I was really surprised about the number of people who were brave enough to take a break from blogging over Christmas and devote some time away from their laptops to the festive times.

A little break has left me swimming with ideas and I hope this post can help a few others, who may feel stuck in a rut or lacking the motivation to pick up their blog again after the holidays.

I love reading blogs and stay up until the early hours most nights catching up on my favourites. The reason I love them is their variety. It's easy to get pigeoned holed into a bloggy corner and whilst this blog features the boys A LOT, I want it to fully encapsulate me rather than just being a "Mummy blog". Not that there is anything wrong with that (it is big business), but being a Mummy is one part of me and I want to share all the different aspects of our life, all in one space (I am in awe of those who can keep up several blogs at one time - I bow to you!).

I keep a notebook with ideas in for blog posts, which helps when I want to look for inspiration.

I have created 12 inspiration envelopes for each month of 2013 each with a good few ideas to help kickstart the weeks in that month. One idea always leads to another.

I love the thought of opening them at the beginning of each month and seeing what I had planned back in January. For example there were loads of things I didn't quite get round to photographing before Christmas or making at all, so those will be saved for Christmas 2013!

Those are a selection of a few of the things I have planned for this year, I don't want to give them all away! It was a great excuse to use my new vintage looking number ink stamps that my husband bought me for Christmas!

How do you collate your ideas? I hope to post a new article every day but that takes some planning and organisation. I usually have the next 4 days or so ready to go but sometimes they shift around if I get distracted!

Share your blog inspiration tips too and we can all help each other. Happy blogging!

Anyone who reads this blog regularly will know I am going to be an Auntie this year!

But before the baby arrives, there is first going to be a baby shower! How exciting!

I met all my sister's close friends on her hen weekend in 2010 (I will post some photos next week so you can see what we got up to and it's a hint of what's to come for the shower) and I am really looking forward to seeing all her work, as well as old and new friends in March to celebrate her baby shower.

I have been collecting things for months and there was only one theme we could have. The baby is affectionately known as Baby B (as in bee) as their surname begins with B and their house is known as The Beehive!

Etsy is like a bumble bee paradise. What's even better is, with my brother living in America I have a US shipping address. We are going to visit him and my sister in law in February and I think I will end up with a suitcase full of party bits for the shower and the boy's birthday parties (Circus and Doctors) this year!

I want to send the invites out in the next week and looked into printing my own from printable files you can buy from Etsy. It's a great way to get a super professional look if you are not a photoshop pro.

I toyed with all sorts of ideas, had several conference and Skype calls to Mum who is co hosting and eventually settled on a sweet but modern honeycomb design on heavy linen lined card. They are quite the modern design couple so I am going to incorporate different elements of the other designs into the buffet table in paper treat bags, striped paper straws and table linen.

I have bought an ink stamp set to pretty up the envelopes and will use the stamp on the food labels and party bags.

There is a surprise envelope in the girls invitations with an activity for each of them I have made, a request and a prepaid envelope (I'll fill you in next week) back to me.

My sister is a big supporter of this blog so I have asked her not to peek this week! She has been very anxious through her textbook pregnancy with first time nerves and she really deserves to be spoilt, especially as she will have to return to full time work, shortly after the baby is born. Mum and I can't wait to spoil her rotten!

If you have any honey ideas please share them! I've been jotting down a list of games to play too but any suggestions would be lovely!

You can follow my Pinterest board here.

I hinted yesterday that our New Year's Eve wasn't quite as we had planned. Like Cinderella without the ball. The house was all dressed up with no where to go!

Our big boy Sammy came down with an awful sick bug which meant we were house bound for 24 hours and had to cancel our best friends coming over for a sleepover! How disappointing! The menu was written, the mini bar adorned with fairy lights! We even had the countdown cocktails tried and tested. But as is the way with best friends you can just save it for another time. So New Year's Eve was a dress rehearsal for a belated New Year celebration at the end of the month which actually coincides with two of their birthdays!

I'll post the menu and mini bar later this week as I was so proud of how sweet they looked! I found an old Big Ben stencil which made the perfect milk cocktail for Sammy complete with chocolate powder, a sprinkle rim and frothed milk. He really deserved a treat after being so poorly.

Our neighbours treated us to an impromptu firework display (right over Sammy's bedroom) at 9pm, not sure if they meant for them to all go off in the space of a minute that early!

As Sammy seemed back to his usual self we headed to Clevedon for a New Years Day walk on the pebbly beach and pub lunch complete with the glasses I painted and party hats. Surrounded by smiling faces from the rest of families on the beach we balanced on the rocks for a photo. What superstar friends!

It's back to routine today! Dogs have haircuts, Ollie is at nursery and I need to catch up on work whilst keeping Sammy entertained as pre school doesn't start again until Monday!

It's been wonderful these last few lazy days but the children could do with getting back to normal life, bed times have got a little later and they are both obsessed with the iPad after all the travelling around we have done. Are you secretly looking forward to getting the decorations down?! Mine will be coming down this weekend and I'll have post of how to brighten your house when it looks so bare after the tree and cards come down.