Why Daddy’s Always Get To Be The Nice Guy

Over the weekend we had the chance to get outside and enjoy the beautiful weather. For the first time in many weeks we didn’t have to go anywhere, no one was sick or injured and it wasn’t raining miserable weather. With Luke being away all week I have noticed we are all making the most of our time together, more so than we do when we see each other daily. Saturday we had hoped to spend the day on the boat and have a picnic on one of the nearby islands but it was still a little cold for that. Since nanny had come over to visit we decided we should still take the boat out even just for a little while. Nanny had a great time showing Skye how to fish even though we didn’t manage to catch a single thing.

I Finally Did It–Bye Bye Lavender!

It would seem that the best way to get yourself motivated to finish things is to announce it on a blog or some other kind of public domain so you can’t keep procrastinating. Well, it was a pretty good kick in the pants for me anyway because I have already ticked one of my tasks off the list and painted our bedroom!

After living here for almost 8 years and removing almost all traces of the wall to wall purple paint that once adorned every vertical surface in our home we had not managed to fix our own bedroom. I started every day slightly agitated because it was the first thing I saw every morning. It’s also the first room you see when you come into our house so it was a little embarrassing for people to be greeted by this…

A Whole Big Bunch of Grateful

Hooray for Grateful Saturday with Maxabella Loves… a time to reflect on all the things that have brought a smile to my face this week.

This week I am feeling grateful for…

A Celebration for Things I Know

Its a bit of a special week for me this week, I have hit my first blogging milestone by reaching 100 posts! (cue applause and wooting). When I first started I had no idea how long I would stay with it and whether it was something I would enjoy doing almost daily, now it is a normal part of my day and something I look forward to sitting down to work on. In fact this exact post will be my 100th so it seems only right that I link up with Yay For Home’s Things I Know to share what I have learned since I started blogging last April.

 

Happiness Is…

The fresh scent of jasmine in the air

Image Credit

It can mean only one thing, Spring is just around the corner!

The No Excuses To-Do List

There are so many little (and big) things around our place that I would love to make improvements to. Some things like the kitchen require big dollars and careful consideration while other things like painting our bedroom and updating some of our decor are fairly inexpensive and straightforward, but can make such a big difference to the overall feel of our house. I have been procrastinating about some pretty minor changes that need to be made so I am hoping that by listing them here I might be more accountable and get on with it already!

 

Things I DON’T Miss About My Pre Baby Life

One of the first posts I published talked about some of the things I miss about my pre-baby life. I am sure I am not the only person who has experienced days as a new mum where you wonder how you ever thought you were qualified to handle your new role, but just when it starts to all get too much, I remember a few of the things I have left behind...

Grateful For… Finding a New Doctor

It has been a bit like Groundhog Day here this week and just like Groundhog Day, I wasn’t going to move forward until I made some changes. I had planned on having a quiet week to get over the flu, not going out too much and just enjoying laying low around the house. Skye it would seem, was not keen on that idea and made sure that we did in fact have to go out everyday, I am just not sure why she felt going to the doctor was so exciting that it was worth having to repeat daily. Allow me to elaborate…

 

Unhappiness Is...

A little girl missing a couple if toenails




But it is healing nicely and its not bothering her much at all xx

Wordless Wednesday

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Listography–Guilty Pleasures

Kate said it herself, this week is a hum-dinger of a list. I have to admit, at first I thought maybe I was a bit too cool (cough) to have any guilty pleasures to share. After all, I despise girly movies of any kind, I don’t eat a whole lot of ‘naughty’ stuff or have a hidden collection of ABBA on my iPhone so really what was I going to confess to? Um, things far worse than the aforementioned that’s for sure…

Where’s Daddy?

This post was supposed to arrive a little earlier today, but since I have been feeling a bit fuzzy with the flu I wanted to wait until I was able to write something meaningful. This post is also a little removed from my original topic, but I guess life is what happens while your writing blog posts in your head…

It occurred to me today that Luke has been working away for roughly 6 weeks now. At first it didn't seem like such a long time, if anything I think I have adapted pretty well to running my own schedule and we have been so busy on the weekends that I hadn’t really noticed the weeks ticking by.
Today however, it hit me.

Happiness Is…

Ditching the gym to soak up the sunshine and fresh air xx

mmm Pizza

Since my last post on Mexican Pizza our homemade pizza’s have been pimped out with thanks to an oh-so-delicious pizza base discovered at my old friend (ahem), Aldi.

 

My $200 Kitchen Make Over

If you are reading this hoping for “wow factor”, or dazzling before and afters done on a teeny budget,  or really any kind of inspiration for updating your own kitchen – sorry, you might be disappointed. If you are reading this to see how a couple of small and inexpensive additions can make a world of difference to your cooking happiness, then you might just be in luck. You may have seen my post recently on my dismay about my kitchen and my conundrum as to whether to spend money on renovations or wait until we buy a bigger house (someday). My kitchen has many faults, some of which require a complete overhaul, but some, like the ones I am talking about today, have such simple solutions I am kicking myself I didn’t do them years ago!

Listography–Things I’d Change About Myself

The lovely Kate at Kate Takes 5 is asking us to look inwardly this week and list a few things that we would like to change about ourselves. She hasn’t made it easy either, she has specifically instructed us to not focus on physical appearance but rather examine some of our perceived personality flaws. As I read through her list I realised that I probably would have listed these things too especially to be more affectionate and more patient, but lucky for you it turns out I have quite a few things that could use a little work…

Hooray for Colour!

Ok, so I am no fashion expert and I have no intentions of trying to keep up with likes of Styling You or Fox in Flats but after months of jeans and a thousand variations of grey something I am so excited to see all the bright colours being previewed in the new Spring Fashion Collections. A couple of weeks ago I was most displeased to see that the summer clothes were starting to hit the shelves but as the weather has warmed up nicely I am ready to shed my winter woolies in favour of a little fun.

I blame this handbag really, I was quite happy in my muted tones and heavy boots until I spotted this beauty from Country Road. The colour is so bright and happy and I have long had a love affair with their beautiful bags. I wonder how long it will be before my Aldi savings can pay for one of these baby’s…

Once I saw this I was on the hunt for as much colour as I could find, and it would seem that this season is not going to disappoint. Everywhere right down to the budget friendly Big W is getting in on the action, check out this cute skirt, I am also a little bit in love with the red shoes.

I defy anyone to be cranky whilst wearing a pair of yellow shoes (Wanted Shoes)

Of course some items may not totally fit my current lifestyle, but I still thought this kaftan seen in the latest David Jones catalogue was too special to not mention. What? You think it might be a bit much for hanging the clothes out or ducking down the street for some milk? Yes okay, fair call, but in my head I would totally rock it.

Have you ventured into the new bold colours of summer yet? I would love you to share your favourite new finds.

I’m Grateful For… Thoughtful Neighbours and Random Acts of Kindness

I have to say we really lucked out when our new neighbours moved in next door. Our previous neighbours were lovely too, but we mostly kept to ourselves apart from the occasional nod and wave over the fence. Our new neighbours aren’t really that new, they have lived there for almost 2 years now, but they have been so easy to live with its hard to believe it’s been that long.

As they are retired and are home most days (when they are not travelling around in their massive campervan), when Luke and I both worked full time and were rarely home they would always keep an eye on our place to make sure that Bundy (the dog) had not escaped, or felt too neglected while we were out. If any council work or blackouts had happened during the day they would always make a point to pop over and let us know. We collect each others mail if either of us is away and I know that if I ever needed anything while Luke is working away that I would only have to ask. Things that I imagine were probably standard neighbourly behaviour at some point, but that doesn’t happen so much any more.

Happiness Is…

A mummy reaching the bottom of the basket…

Even if it is only temporary.

Have a great weekend x

I Like to Nude It, Nude It

Don’t panic, I’m not going to post any unsavoury photos of myself in the buff. Today I am talking about my nifty little Nude Food Movers lunch box that I use for Skye’s Day Care day. Now I’ll admit, I am a little uneducated when it comes to lunch boxes and the like and I only happened upon these by accident, but it has worked out to be the perfect way to package Skye’s enormous array of lunch and snack options.

Who Is She Trying to Impress Part 4

Following on from the insightful and thought provoking posts by Gemma at My Big Nutshell and Daisy at Daisy Roo and Two this week I wanted to share my own experiences of taking on too much and not knowing when to ask for help. As Daisy said, the concept of motherhood as a sacrifice is fairly common even though she herself does not see it that way. I sometimes feel I have sacrificed a few of the things that I once thought defined me, but each day I discover new rewards for the things I gave up. I know there are times when I resented having to be the responsible one while those around me continued to live their lives seemingly unaffected by my shift in priorities. But like anything, with time comes confidence and through this confidence I have been able to embrace being a mum.

Aldi: Reloaded

I feel that the Matrix reference is apt since it’s kind of like entering an alternate world and you have to be able to move like Neo to keep up at the checkouts. Its been a little under a month since my first venture to Aldi and while it still freaks me out a bit, I am starting to come around. I learnt my lesson and have avoided going there on a Thursday when crazy Kill Zone sales begin and I have found the list making facility on their website quite useful in planning and comparing items. I have also had a chance to do some research via Aldi Mum and some very helpful reader responses since my last post and I have felt better prepared on my subsequent visits, to the point where I could almost say I am converted!

 

I Think I Just Outed Myself

As I have mentioned before, I have been keeping my blog on the down-low from most of my family and friends (and hubby) to avoid the questions about why I bother and the smart remarks about having too much time on my hands. I am fairly happy with this arrangement and don’t really have any plans to change it, but it seems that a little alcohol impairs my judgement (who knew?) and I may very well have blown my own cover…