Freezing

It is sooooo cold here today, winter has arrived.  We had a top temperature of 13 degrees in Warragul today, which is nowhere near warm enough for me.  This cold, dismal, rainy weather is making me dream of a tropical holiday.  Bali, I miss you !  I long to feel your oppressive humidity hit me like a ton of bricks when I step off the plane at Denpasar.  I yearn to drink $1 Bali Moon cocktails whilst watching the sun set over the ocean.  I dream of the smell of frangipanis filling the air.

What makes the need to go to Bali even worse is the fact that my parents are currently there on holidays and sending me text messages telling me how lovely and relaxing and hot it is there.

It has been too long since I have experienced Balinese hospitality.  Eighteen months to be exact. Here are some photos of our last stay in Bali.

This is Abbey enjoying being beside the pool.

This is the view from the Sunset Bar where I enjoyed numerous Bali Moon cocktails.  For $1 each.  Did I mention already how much I love Bali ?

This is Abbey and I at the swim up bar.  Abbey loved her fresh pineapple juice as much as I loved my cocktails.  Well, nearly as much.

Abbey enjoying her breakfast.

Oh beautiful Bali, I will come and visit you soon.

If I don't freeze to death first !

These are a Few of my Favorite Things

Things have been fairly boring around here, nothing particularly exciting to report.

Our house goes on the market next week and once it sells we will pack up and move to Newcastle. I have been spending a bit of time researching the area and trying to work out where we should live and which schools are good.  We are planning a fact finding trip in a few weeks time so hopefully I'll know more after I visit Newcastle myself.

But since I don't feel like blogging all that boring stuff like Abbey's latest tantrum or what I had for breakfast I've decided to do a bit if a random post about some of my favorite things around my house.

Just incase anyone is interested !!!

First of all is Bloom Vanilla Bean Liquid soap.  It lathers beautifully, smells absolutely divine and doesn't dry out my hands, which is a good thing because my hands look twenty years older than I am.   And the packaging is gorgeous, it looks lovely in the bathrooms. 

I absolutely adore my apple macbook.  It is easy to use and lets face it, it is one good looking laptop.  I often have to beat the kids with a stick to get them away from photobooth so I can use my mac.  It is very popular in my house.  Even David who was a Mac hater has come around a little.

I love my Pandora bracelet, it is gorgeous and every bead on it was a gift and has meaning.  A charm bracelet for grown ups is a brilliant idea.  Since it is full I am now thinking of getting some different coloured glass beads, I saw a bracelet the other day that looked great and it had white and grey glass beads in it.

My navy blue wall.  I must admit some people look at me strangely when I tell them a have a big navy blue feature wall in the middle of my house, but i love it.  I think it really works with the white furniture and as my house is very light and open  it doesn't make the house seem dark or small.  And yes, that is Annie on the TV, my girls are obsessed with it.  It plays all day at my house.  Even Abbey who turned two in March can sing a lovely version of "Tomorrow".

Cassidy's bed.  What little girl wouldn't love a bed like this ?  I think it is beautiful and I love making it every morning and arranging the cushions.  Cassidy likes to have the netting closed when she sleeps, it makes her feel like a princess.

Abbey has only recently moved into a bed but I've had this doona cover for nearly a year, I fell in love with it when i saw it and I knew Abbey would love it as birds are one of her favorite things.

Tom's computer skills.  If there is ever anything I can't work out on the computer Tom can more often than not sort it out.  And it doesn't matter whether it is a PC or a Mac, Tom can work out either.  He recently received "student of the week" at school and the reason was he fixed his teacher's computer when she couldn't get it to work !!!  He is a very handy boy to have around.

I LOVE this kitchenaid mixer.  Unfortunately it is not mine, it belongs to my Mum who has kindly let me use it while she is holidaying in Bali.  She will be lucky to ever get it back.  I have become very attached to it, it makes kneading bread so easy and homemade pasta is a breeze.

And last but absolutely not least (actually probably most) is my washing machine.  I did fall out of love with it a little when it blew up but now it is working again I love it more than ever.  If  I had to do washing the old fashioned way I would never have time to sleep.  Of all modern conveniences I think the washing machine is the best by far.  I really do try to not take it for granted !!!

PS.  Abbey is probably my favorite and my best thing in my house at the moment because she is cute, soft, cuddly, chubby and so funny.  She keeps me laughing all day.  And her dress sense is just so interesting !!!

 

Circus

That's what my house was tonight, a circus.  

I am surprised I haven't been carted off in a straight jacket by now.

I could not, for the life of me, get my children to go to bed.  Then I couldn't get them to go to their beds.  Then I couldn't get them to stay in bed.  Then they wouldn't go to sleep. Aaaaarggghh, what the hell is going on ?

Eventually I got Abbey off to sleep in her own bed and then I managed to get the big kids asleep but they are both in my bed.

So now I am trying to figure out whether I will move one or both of them and sleep in my bed or will I just admit defeat and sleep in one of their beds ?

I think that they are a bit sad that David has gone away for work again after having him home for two weeks.  I for one am glad he is working again although his new job is in Newcastle.  For three years.  So that means that realistically we need to move to Newcastle.  Which is quite exciting really, Newcastle is lovely and I would love to live on the coast but it all seems a bit too much like hard work to move interstate away from our family and friends.

So Newcastle, watch out, we are headed your way.  The real estate photographer is coming to take photos of our house tomorrow and then it is only a matter of time until we have to pack up everything and move north.  At least the weather will be better, it gets quite cold here in the winter and the summer was so hot, I never want to experience 46 degrees and raging bushfires again. 

My Beautiful Boy

My eldest child Tom is an absolute joy.  He a such a kind, thoughtful boy always happy to help and thinking of others.  Well, mostly anyway.  He is a nine year old boy with nine-year-old-boy attitude at times but on the whole he is a wonderful child and I feel thankful he is mine.

This week Tom came home with a Mother's Day card that he forgot to bring home in time for Mother's Day.  Inside was a poem he had written all by himself.  Here it is :

Dear Mum,

If you were a star

And I was your shine,

I'd wrap you in my gold coat

And make you mine.

If you were a book

And I was the pages,

Dad would be stuck reading 

For ages and ages.

If you were a tree

And I was a leaf,

I'd hold on to you tight

So you don't come to grief.

If you were a volcano

And I was the gas,

We'd blow up together

And really annoy Cass.

I love it.  It is lovely and funny and a little obscure.  It warms my heart and makes me even more proud that this gorgeous boy is mine.  I also like the way that he was a little mischievious and teased his sister a bit.  She read the poem and was annoyed so I guess it had the desired effect.

It has been a busy week here with David still home, still waiting to start on his new project. Hopefully he won't be waiting too much longer, the time off has been lovely but after two weeks of being at home he is keen to be employed again !!!

Abbey and I did some baking today.  We made my favorite muffins, Raspberry and Coconut Muffins.  They are really yummy but they had a rather strange effect on poor Abbey.

How cute is that ?

From the Mouths of Babes

Every night before I go to bed I go and smooch my gorgeous babies.  They are so scrumptious when they are all snuggled up in bed and there is a certain amount of truth in the saying that you love your kids a little more when they are asleep.

David really likes to snuggle them too.  He will go so far as to actually pick Abbey up and cuddle her, breathing in her yummy babyness. 

He talks to them too.  I usually whisper a quiet "I love you" in their ear but David likes to have a full conversation with them.  I would be petrified I might wake them but he is fearless.

Last night he was enjoying a snuggle with Abbs when he whispered "Love you Abbey".

And do you know what that precious munchkin said ?

"Love Mum !!!"

Bless her.

Office Makeover

The office in our house has always been far from perfect.  It is one of those rooms that no matter how hard I try, it never looks the way I imagined.  I have wanted to move it around a bit and get rid of some clutter for quite some time now so when David announced that he had a week at home (or maybe even longer due to not having a job, but that's a story for another day) I decided it was the perfect opportunity to sort out the offending office.

It has turned out really well.  We managed to condense all our stuff into one shelving unit (we previously had two) and cleared up quite a bit of desk room. 

 

We used to have the desks next to each other but have separated them so essentially one side of the room is David's and one side is mine.  I personally think mine looks better but my mac laptop is far funkier than his Dell so it is probably unfair to compare.  If he went mac he too could be funky but since it took me two years of whining to get my own mac I'm not holding my breath.

I especially like the addition of the floating Ikea shelf.  We have a few of these in our house and they always smarten up a room.  And for $49.95 each are an absolute bargain.

Also love the photos of my gorgeous munchkins on the wall taken by the oh- so- talented Nicole Finlayson.

And the best thing about the office do-over is that it was super cheap.  The only things I bought were the Ikea shelf and an extension cord.  I think it looks great, I am one happy camper.  My photography on the other hand, well that definitely needs some work.  I apologize for the shocking photos.  One day when I have some time I will learn how to take better photos.  I promise.

More of the same

Oh, I am a bad blogger aren't I ???

Nothing too exciting happening around here, just more of the same really.

Had a lovely weekend, started off Saturday with a visit to the local grammer school open day and I have to say I had no idea that schools could be so wonderful.  I was beyond impressed.  The facilities were amazing and the junior school coordinator answered every question we asked with ease.  Abbey adored the Early Learning Centre, she played for ages and did not want to leave. 

The only question now is do we move the kids or wait until they reach secondary school ? And if we do move them now will they hate us for the rest of their lives for moving them from their friends ?  I've put it in the "too hard" basket for now.

My parents and my brother and sister came for dinner Saturday night and I made Nonna's Crostoli.  It was delicious but I was in a big rush and didn't take photos or measure all of the ingredients so I will have to promise to post the recipe another day.

On Sunday I got to go for a big walk with my gorgeous friend Ellen.  We had heaps to talk about and I barely noticed I was exercising.  And whilst we were walking Ellen's lovely daughter Laura did my washing !!!  She is an angel.

David is home this week due to his project being finished up early so I decided to get out for the day without Abbey.  

After a horribly slow trip on the Monash I picked up my sister Lissy and we hit Ikea.  I needed storage containers for the kids and various other bits and pieces.  As always I picked up a few items that I deemed absolutely necessary at the time but now that I am home I am not so sure. 

We then drove to Chapel Street and did a little more shopping and then had lunch at the beautiful Cafe e Cucina.  I had amazing gnocchi with roast pumpkin and duck meatballs in a parmesan sauce.  Yummo, I would like to eat here for every meal.

On the way home I dropped in on my sister in law and saw my beautiful niece and nephew Riley and Bella.  They were so cute, they had so much to tell me that they were talking over each other.

And I arrived home to a lovely meals of roast chicken.

I think I need to leave more often !!!

Tomorrow I am going to look through a house that Ellen is thinking of buying.  I love nothing more than going through houses I have never seen before and this one is going to be impressive, what I have seen of it online is amazing.