This Week...

 I am thankful this week for.....

* Our little guy reaching 11....and how so easily he was pleased for his birthday.

* Technology that at times brings us together rather than keep us separated. 

* That the joy of snail mail never gets tiring

* Inter school cricket days that fall on a birthday

* No work offered on the birthday so I could indulge in a little cricket watching

* Impromptu coffee catch up with my sister on that same day off.

* Two weeks of my new fitness goals achieved....beautiful mornings with a cool breeze provide the perfect backdrop for exercising

* Lazy Saturday mornings

* Celebrating a month of birthdays with cousins bigger and smaller.

* A Laser tag birthday get together shared with a friend sharing the same birthday.

* Big open spaces for 10 and 11 year old boys to run off some excess sugar energy.

* Simply put together cakes that go down well.

* The great group of friends my boy has in his life.

* My fitness goal achieved at the end of a busy weekend...shared with my biggest supporter.

#1239 A sunset to end a busy week...reminding us that we have so much in our lives to be thankful for....and right under our noses.

There was a good amount of work thrown in this week....hanging with my new friends at The Wishing you well store...and probably not as much housework as should have been done.

So here's to another week....short one.....Easter is coming....have a great one. xxx

Belly Laughing

Belly Laughing is good for the soul......Hey it is good for the family.....

These two discovered a "face swapping" App and it amused them greatly....

Sometimes the very technology we curse for keeping us all in our separate corners can be the very thing that brings us all out to share a moment.
 

Silly Mess

There is only one occasion when it is perfectly OK to cover someone in toxic smelling silly string and in the process cover the whole kitchen too..........

Happy 11th Birthday to our boy.

We are all shaking our heads at where the last 11 years have gone.....

May there be much more silliness to come. xxx

This Week

It has been a quiet emotional week, physically challenging and full of great things to be thankful for.....

Including...

* A beautiful memory card made for Meg marking that 17th birthday she has just had

* A batch of homemade soap and a lovely morning tea with the friends that made it for us.

* Scone to share with others for a spontaneous morning tea at my favourite little thrift shop.

* Visits to grandpas with extra fun duties while there.

* Our healthy eating plan this week full of delicious easy to prepare meals

*A first- taking myself to the local pool and exercising as part of my fitness goals

*The beautiful flowers and support on remembering our big girl's birthday .

* The lone lunchbox left on the counter meant that his focus was actually on remembering to take a photo of his big sister to quietly show his mates at school....how could I not run it off to him at school.

* Loving my time spent hanging out at the "Wishing You Well Store"....and a quieter working week that allowed me to help out two mornings this week.

* Some song learning this week......song choices had us all giggling.

* Tender rare moments between our two.

*The most stunning sunset at the end of the weekend on a scorcher of a day.

*Ending my week of pushing my physical limits with a 28 minute soft sand walk.

# 1224 No walking for these two just enjoying the beautiful coolness of a early evening swim.

So we head into another week...another birthday to celebrate this week, some more fitness goals to achieve, maybe some work will pop up, hopefully squeeze in a coffee date or two...and the last of our three's birthday party to plan for.

Have a good one. x

Adding to my thankful list

Happy Birthday......

We are each thinking of our big girl as we go about our day today....

We will come together tonight the four of us...gather in from school and work to share a nice meal and talk about her......share, laugh...maybe even a little tear as we remember funny things she did and said.

I can remember her 1st birthday like it was yesterday...funny cause on that birthday I would never have even dreamed on her 20th Birthday we would be here or the last 11 birthdays for that matter....

But it is Ok...we are Ok....she changed our life forever and will continue to impact it every day...till the day we see her again,. xx



 

This Week

* Not only were there two in the room.....there was five of them on Skype....the noise was too much to bare. I do love hearing their strategies though.

* I have stepped out and done something I have never done before...hopefully this number will help me achieve a small personal goal beginning tomorrow.

* Oh sweet chickens...they are on a roll now and even the eggs are growing in size too.

*Love the time spent over a cuppa either with sisters or friends.

* Yummy lashings of butter on fruit toast....well until tomorrow

*A prestigious school award for the Year twelve student in our family 

* This week I was many year teachers....more work than I could accept

* One of my favourite days was the "art teacher for the day" one and oh and the class of 7 year one students!

* Time to notice the sunset while out for an evening walk.

It has been a hectic couple of weeks.....work is pouring in, friends have been caught up on, birthday party planning under way and a movie date with the hubby...lucky for us all it is a long weekend here.

#1210 A great movie seen on a rare movie date with the hubby ( recommend The Final Hours)

Thankful list  growing

 

2015 Reading list

Just so I can reflect back on the great reads i had for 2015
{I have starred the favourites if you are after a good read} 

•  Inside the O'Briens - Lisa Genova  **
• Outback Midwife - Beth McRae
• The Dress - Kate Kerrigan   
• A Man Called Ove - Fredrik Backman   **
• Palace of Tears - Julian Leatherdale  **
• A Double Shot of Happiness - Judy Sharp
• The Priority List - David Menasche
• Born Survivors - Wendy Holden  **
• Through the Eyes of a Lion - Levi Lusko
• The Reader on the 6.27 - Jean-Paul Didierlaurent  **
• Outside the Lines -Amy Hatvany  **
• More than just the talk - Jonothan McKee
• The Chocolate Promise - Josephine Moon
• The Country Wife - Anne Gorman
• Claiming Noah - Amanda Ortlepp  **
• Green Vanilla Tea - Marie Williams  **
• Who Knows Tomorrow - Lisa Lovatt-Smith  **
• Gallipoli Street - Mary-Anne O'Connor  **
• The Year of Magical Thinking -Joan Didion
• The Seafront Tea Rooms - Vanessa Greene
• Before I Go - Colleen Oakley  **
• All the places to go - John Ortberg
• Lost & Found - Brooke Davis
• The Arrivals - Meg Mitchell Moore
• The Tea Chest - Josephine Moon
• Notes from a Blue Bike - Tsh Oxenreider
• A Story of Seven Summers - Hilary Burden **
• Love Your Sister - Connie & Samuel Johnson  **

28 in total

This Week

Thankful this week.....

Our wild seeded pumpkins have produced the early signs of first fruits

Roast lamb dinners cooked an extra delicious way...thanks to my clever master chef.

Awesome performance opportunities for our dancing girl with rave reviews

Finding out the neighbors dog is not all that ferocious after the most inquisitive of our three chooks headed over the fence to say hello

Spending our last work free day together at our favorite eating hangout

Work for us both...after months of time off..the same week we both landed work, a total blessing.

Homemade scones with jam and cream to share with friends 

Eggs arriving regularly now from our little inquisitive brood

Pizza night shared with family

With the now regular help of glasses enjoying some slow time to read

#1200 A smooth transition back into the classroom... 

Well another week ticked off...it was a busy one...readjusting ourselves after many months off to breathe in the space....suddenly we are now all in the kitchen making lunches , eating breakfast and giving instructions to the smallest of us all to lock the door behind him on his way to school....

Thankful list

Drill Performance

So Proud of our girl......great night last night...

You can check her out here




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Not rocket science...

Luckily both our kids like fruit.....but I have struggled a little getting Fraser to eat it while at school. He does have a "crunch and sip" time but his 1 piece of fruit would bounce back home in the lunch box each day.

He would then eat it right before bedtime...

So in an effort to create some more interesting lunchboxes and get the piece of fruit eaten during the day, I had a light bulb moment.

Take two pieces of fruit (most days it is 2 pieces of fruit and 1 vegetable). 
Cut into random bite size pieces. 
Place in a zip lock bag......or fancy little bento container.
Add to the lunch box.

......and just like that 2 pieces of fruit and 1 vegetable eaten a day. ( and still the piece of fruit before bed eaten too!!)

The psychology of cutting up bite size easy to eat pieces of food.

We are trying the more "bento" way of packing our lunchboxes...we just haven't quite managed to get the true lunch containers yet but none the less our lunch boxes are looking way more exciting this year.

Here is a great local to us company selling all things "Bento" if you are interested.

Excuse me Miss.....

Today I packed up my lunch box and headed out the door right before my kids.....

for my first day back in the classroom ...in a very long time.

I found the office, got my directions and was shown to my class for the day.

Any worries I may have had about whether I still could do it...dissipated as soon as I stood before a room full of Year 3's who were looking at me with anticipation of what lie ahead for the day.

Once a teacher always a teacher I have been told by my husband many times...usually when I use a certain tone in my voice!

Well it was just like getting back on the bike....I remembered how to do it.....and really enjoyed it.

I am excited by exploring this new little journey, who knows what each day or every other day.....or maybe just a day here and there will bring....

Woohoo for my parents insisting that I get that piece of paper at university all those years ago.....it really has come in handy right over the years...and even if it is a bit dusty it is still valid and worth brushing up on.

Big week as my man packs his lunch box too in a days time for his next adventure.....

Tomorrow is hang out day!