Halloween.....I just don't get it.....

So it's Halloween tomorrow night and the shops have been full to the brim with pumpkins, witches and other scary-ish paraphenalia.  I don't know what it is, but I just don't get Halloween at all.....what's the go with it? I know it's huge in Northern America, but I never knew anything about it as a kid, but now it's taking over.  Thank goodness we are going to a BBQ tomorrow night so I won't be home for any trick or treaters....lol  I'm all for getting into costume at any possible opportunity - I LOVE dressing up, but why would you want to dress up ugly and scary? Hmmm.....oh well, at least it means that we are on the countdown to Christmas, which is my absolute favourite time of year.....I've already started my shopping, half planned my table decoration and mentally decorated my Christmas tree - obsessed much?

Oh my....look what the cat dragged in....

Well, it's been months dear readers....and I would not be surprised if nobody is reading anymore....I have been inexplicably and inexcusably absent!  Ok, not inexcusably - my little boy has been keeping me VERY busy!! I'd forgotten just how much time (and how little sleep) is needed for tackling the demands of a small person.  I'd become used to a very independent nearly 4 year old and the newborn/infant phase was a huge shock to my system.  However, we are getting back to something like normality, and that means blowing the cobwebs off my poor neglected blog and re-injecting life into it....or so I think at this hour of night anyway.....

That's all for now....no profound thoughts, no witty repartee....but I am back and intend to remain so!  Hello to all who are still following and if you do happen to spare a tiny moment to comment, you know I'll love you forever!!

Things that make you go hmmmmm.....

Well, at least it would be if I could remember all the things that have been happening! We've had our house on the market (yuk!) and had offers accepted and fall through, offers rejected and lots of houses not worth offering on.....it's an incredibly stressful process!

On a brighter note, I am completely besotted with my gorgeous little boy Wesley.  He is 6 months old now - yes 6 months (and I have no idea how it went that fast!!).  A little ray of sunshine - such a smiley, happy wee thing and his big sister Sophie is totally in love with him too.  It's so gorgeous to watch them together.  Makes me so thankful that I can stay at home and just be a mum.

I was thinking the other day after someone corrected me for saying, when asked what I do for a job "I'm just a mum"....they said "Just? far out - hardest job in the world.....say you're a mum and people's jaws should drop if they had any idea what you do!!" Apart from being VERY affirming, it did make me think.....often the things that we struggle with are the things we label ourselves with.....so I'm making it my mission to chuck out labels in my life!

Try it - it's really liberating!

Me Time Monday....on Thursday....a few weeks late...oops!

Oh my, I guess the demands of a newborn are a little more than I remember! Too busy playing and enjoying my gorgeous wee boy (and negotiating with his big sister!) to get online as much as I used to....this will probably be the norm for a while now.....must try and blog more, but feel like I have mush for brains and nothing much to say!

Hopefully one day I'll be that intelligent, insightful woman again, but for now.....haha

Me Time Monday - 25 January

It's hot and humid and I'm feeling a bit meh....top it off with being very tired from inexplicably waking up almost on the hour every hour last night and today I'm feeling a bit precious.  I need a hug!

Me Time Monday - 18 January

Well, oops gain! Me Time Monday somehow got lost in cyberspace last week.....it was the day before my birthday, and I guess I was distracted - oh well, it's not like a lot happened that day anyway!

Tuesday however, I was woken by my daughter singing Happy Birthday - so cute! And I was spoilt all day long with phone calls, texts and gifts from friends and family - I am so blessed to have all these wonderful people in my life!!

So, now I'm 35 - I don't feel it, I've been told I don't look it - what's a number?

Me Time Monday - 4 January

Well, Happy New Year!

Here's hoping it's fantastic....I love the feeling at the beginning of the year when it's like a clean slate, full of promise and expectation!

I've written a long list of things to accomplish this year.....we shall see what actually gets done....lol

Hope it's a great year for all in bloggyland!

Oops! "Me Time Monday"....on Tuesday!

Well I kinda slipped up already.....it's Tuesday, but yesterday (and last week) were kind of hectic.

We had a fabulous Christmas and hope you all did too. We were very spoilt with gifts, ate lots, slept lots and generally loved catching up with friends and family.

I love Christmas and it's my aim this coming year to bring a bit of the magic and special nature of Christmas to every day - celebrate year round!

Me Time Monday - 14 December

We are officially in the countdown to Christmas mode in this house. Every day my three and a bit year old daughter wakes me up with the question "Is it Christmas yet?"....it's kinda the yuletide version of "are we there yet?" and is repeated with alarming frequency for the rest of her waking hours...I'll be glad for the day when I can say "yes!!". And then it's all over too soon.

Personally, I love the whole festive frenzy - people rushing around the shops with a manic grin on their faces, carols ad nauseum, everything sparkly and bright.....ah, it's Christmas!! The weekend before last hubby and Sophie made a gingerbread house - it's the cutest thing and we've decided to open one present each on Christmas Eve and eat the gingerbread house and sing Christmas carols - it will be the start of our little family tradition.

I'm excited about Wesley's first Christmas too - he's only 7 weeks old, so he won't remember it, but I'll have fun with it all. Have bought him the cutest little bib that says "Mummy's little pudding" and a Santa hat - so adorable!! I'll try and capture a photo when he's awake and not feeding.

Right, well better go - have lots to do while the little man sleeps - see you next Monday!

Alrighty then....I'm coming out of the fog!!

The last 8 weeks have been a bit of a blur really.....I became a hermit in the last few weeks of my pregnancy and just mooched around at home in a nesting frenzy. Then of course there was the birth of our gorgeous son, and then those first six weeks just flew by in a haze of feeding, not sleeping and wondering how on earth to get through another day with a high energy toddler to cope with!

But, we made it, and now he's starting to sleep, so I can get some semblance of 'me time' back into my life!! Starting with - my poor, neglected blog!!

So, from now on I'm going to try and post once a week - I'll call it 'Me time Monday'....it may not be interesting, and it might not even make sense, but I'm going to try and be accountable.

Wish me luck!

Seriously lost my blogging mojo....

I've been so busy with being pregnant and nurturing a new life that I've lost my blogging mojo. Hopefully it will come back at some stage, but until then, I'll continue to lurk, occasionally comment and if the mood strikes me - post!

Take care out there in bloggy land!!

Joanne
xx

Sock Monkey

I have been wanting to make one for ages seeing as they are so expensive in the shops, but hadn't gotten around to it until earlier this week. I think it's pretty good (if I may say so myself and especially because I had to do it all by hand because my sewing machine decided to chuck a tanty!) for a first attempt, and now I want to make more!

Sophie loves it and has carried it round everywhere (and I mean everywhere - it has to sit on the potty when she is on the toilet!!) for the last few days and taken it to bed every night. She told me she loves it like she loves Mummy and Daddy - awwww!

Next I want to make a stripey one for a friend's baby shower - I figure it will be something quite original!! For the baby though, I'll embroider the eyes and nose instead of buttons - safer I think!

Thanks to Heather for her instructions so very long ago....I finally did it!!

Without further ado, here is the as yet unnamed sock monkey...

Progress on the '34' list - almost done!!

1. Declutter the house – 1 room per month should be quick enough!! (All done!)
2. Clean out our garage and sell/donate what we don't use (this goes for #1 also). (Done!)
3. Make our bedroom pretty and functional. (Done!)
4. Stick to the budget – create weekly shopping lists/meal plans. (Done every week so far)
5. Plant (and maintain) a garden for and with my daughter. (Done! and she loves it!)
6. Do one activity per term with my daughter (dance, swimming, music etc). (Swim T1, Music T2, Playcentre T3 and 4 - so Done!)
7. Go on date nights with hubby – aim for one per month......this one isn't going so well - we've done 3 this year!
8. Sell our house.
9. Buy a bigger house.
10. Wear nice lingerie under my clothes. (Did so, well until I got pregnant anyway!!)
11. Listen, instead of just hearing, what people say to me. (Trying....)
12. Read 50 books. (Up to 46 so far - nearly there!)
13. Create an artwork.
14. Frame all the pictures and artworks that are waiting to be framed. (Done! and finished the picture wall too!)
15. Socialise more with friends – make an effort! (Have definitely been doing this!!)
16. Start Christmas shopping early in the year. (Almost finished Christmas shopping - only have hubby and Gran to go!)
17. Take a family holiday. (This is in planning stage...)
18. Blog more often. (Oops!)
19. Cut and colour my hair. (Colour is done.....cut I've decided not to do now...)
20. Do something every week that's just for me.
21. Start sewing again. (I've been doing quite a lot of sewing for Sophie)
22. Get to goal weight by the end of the year (that’s 6kg to lose). (This one is on hold until AFTER the baby arrives!!)
23. Exercise one hour, at least 3 times a week. (Same as #22)
24. Sort through my wardrobe – be ruthless! (Done!)
25. Take my daughter to the zoo. (Did and it was awesome!!)
26. Visit my gran every week. (Loving this one!)
27. Spend more time with friends and family – enjoy them! (Yes if Mum isn't busy!)
28. Practice more ARK (acts of random kindness). (Done!)
29. Sort out the garden – make it low maintenance – and then actually maintain it! (Done!)
30. Find a pair of sunglasses that actually suit me. (Done!)
31. Write in my daughter’s journal more often. (Have done so every fortnight so far)
32. Play more and be silly more.
33. See at least 2 movies IN the movie theatre – perhaps with hubby?
34. Try a new recipe at least once a month. (Have tried quite a few new recipes this year, so yes!)

Ups and downs.....

The downs: Sophie fell into the corner of the deck on Sunday afternoon, split her lip open (top and bottom - no stitches thank God!!), and knocked a tooth back (so far it's staying in).....then developed an infection during the night Monday night and has hardly slept, ate or had much fun all week. She seems to be on the mend a bit now, the antibiotics seem to have kicked in. Spent most of Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights in her bed comforting her and holding her while she cried herself to sleep.....poor bubba! (Thank goodness we forked out on her mattress though - it's really comfortable!!).

The ups: Due to not sleeping much, Sophie is chatting to herself late into the night (read 11/12pm!!). Last night, both hubby and I were exhausted and getting a bit frustrated that she just wouldn't go to sleep.....then we heard her singing.....the alphabet song - a,b, c, d....etc - so, so cute!! I didn't realise that she knew how to sing it and she sang it perfectly - all the letters in the right order and everything!! We were lying there listening to this tiny little voice singing out and both just filled with pride - it's moments like that that make it all worth it!! Then I said to her "Go to sleep Sophie" and she yells out "ok Mummy!".....wish it were that simple!!

The Polyvore Challenge......

Seen it about on a few friends blogs, so decided I'd jump on the bandwagon.

The challenge is: create an outfit based on jeans, a top and whatever accessories you want to add - what is your twist on this basic outfit? Show your personal style.

My outfit is classy and feminine with just a bit of quirk and sexiness - all that I aspire to.....lol

Jeans etc by mummabee featuring True Religion jeans

In a baking frenzy!

Have a friend coming over tomorrow, and will be baking carrot/ginger muffins with cream cheese icing and chocolate chip cookies....but the baking bug has hit me big time so I can't wait until tomorrow to get started!

Came across this fantastic recipe for super easy scones recently on a forum I frequent and will be making these today (in a few minutes actually!).

3 cups self raising flour
1 cup cream
1 cup lemonade (must be fizzy - doesn't matter if cold or room temp)

Mix all ingredients together to form a sticky dough. Cut into individual scones and bake at 220 degrees celcius for 10 minutes.

There you go - easy peasy! I'll report back on how yummy they are!! With pics if I can stand the wait!!

Feeling a bit low actually.....

Just feeling a bit sooky lala and sensitive at the moment, and it doesn't help when you have comments like this given to you:

Re: discipline of a very challenging two and a bit year old "I find that 'X' only really acts up when I don't pay enough attention to her....are you ignoring Sophie a lot more recently?" Yeh, that's helpful....thanks.

Re: toilet training "My eldest was toilet trained at 18 months but of course she was a much loved and wanted child"....oh, so my child not trained at 2 1/2 years is because I don't want her or love her enough....thanks for that.

Re: a present given to someone "Oh that really wasn't necessary....you should have just given me a card....but maybe that would have cost you more"....yeh, yeh, I know you're joking, but that's not nice.

So, after a week of being kicked while I'm down, I'm just going to the bottom of the garden to eat worms.....see you when I get back.

OOPS! and Blog This Challenge #5

Everyone loves Holidays. Everyone has had a holiday - be it a great big backpacking adventure, a luxury weekend away,a caravan trek as a kid with the family taking in Big Bananas, Big Prawns, Big Pineapples et al, Camping in the neighbours yard under the stars for a few nights. Elaborately planned holidays, impromptu 'let's get out of here' holidays. Blog about a holiday you've had that stands out - adventure, relaxation, family, friends, disaster, hilarious events! Who were you with? Where did you go? What made it so memorable? Share a photo if you want!

Well I guess I've been a bit awol with the blogging challenges, somehow I keep missing out the announcement of the challenge and then forgetting to check....anyway....somehow we are up to challenge #5 and i thought I'd better jump back in!
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This one's an easy one for me - the best holiday I can ever remember is one of the first family trips we went on. We had to get up at midnight and be shifted out to the car, which as a 7 year old is horrendously exciting in itself and then travelled all night to get to our destination, which was the not so nicely named Coffin Bay in South Australia.....lol.

On the surface, this holiday should have been an absolute disaster - miles from anywhere, no entertainment, no tv, rained the whole time, stuck in a little holiday house with my family and not even close to the beach......but it was wonderful. We talked, played games, painted and got time to just 'be' which was exquisite and rarely done! I have no photos from this holiday, except the pictures in my mind, which I often refer to on a rainy day.

Wedding Anniversary update

Had a lovely lunch on the weekend with hubby, just the two of us! It's been ages since we've been on a 'date'. Lunch at a restaurant by the water, quiet and intimate - lovely food and great conversation....oh, and Tiramisu to die for!! Almost made up for being sick on our actual anniversary!

Wedding Anniversary!

5 years today.....some days it feels like forever (in a good way) and in some ways it seems like we are always discovering something new about each other. Love you babe!

We were supposed to be going out to dinner tonight with Mum and Dad babysitting and I've been looking forward to it all week, but wouldn't you know it, this morning I wake up sick as the proverbial dog - must be a growth spurt in the bubba.....argh!

Will have to postpone it until the weekend and have a long leisurely lunch and maybe trawl some baby shops if I can convince hubby....lol

The 5th anniversary is traditionally wood, so I've bought him an olive tree and a gorgeous big terracotta pot to put it in until we move to a bigger house (this year hopefully!!). He's been wanting one for ages, and despite asking a million questions over the last few weeks, I hope he hasn't guessed what it is and is surprised!!