Biggest Loser Challenge

Today I felt like I could almost make the cut on the Biggest Loser TV Show.......or not!!!
Our wood arrived today for the decking project we have begun. I thought I would be useful and move the wood from the verge into the garage while Derek was busy preparing the footings. Well what a task, it required me to keep saying both to myself and Meg who was diligently helping just take one at a time and we will make it to the end.
Phew it is now safely tucked away behind closed doors where it totally looks like a bomb has been exploded.

The little guy was mostly happy just digging in the dirt!

A surprise package

What a nice surprise I received today...my youngest sister who lives in Tasmania sent me my birthday present. What made it all the more special was that she had handmade it using an idea in a book we bought her for her birthday (the day before mine).
These are beautiful thrifted linen material coasters.
Thanks sis i love them.

Weekend

Hope your weekend is full of treasures.....

If these boots could talk

While I was off putting a days work in at the office these boots and a much smaller pair teamed up and begun creating havoc in our back yard....
I know they say that you need to create a mess before you can enjoy the beauty?!!
We are in the beginning stages of decking our entertaining area.

So if you were waiting for your summer BBQ invitation you may have to put it in your diary as a winter dinner date..... or maybe for just a couple of weeks.

That was not all those boots did today...I was greeted at the office with "come on just ONE more treasure hunt for the day...oh don't worry about your sandals you'll be fine , I'll watch out for any snakes!"
I am glad they have had so much fun together today.

The sights you see..

The things we expose our naive children too....

Before you think I have lost my moral compass it was all in the name of finding a very strategic cache...and no we didn't venture down to the beach we lurked in the dunes....on the other side of the path to the beach!
We did find what we were looking for and we left with the kids having quite a few questions about what that really meant for anyone wanting to swim on that beach.

I decided to use an idea out of one of my craft books I received at Christmas time...Handmade Home by Amanda Soule..the treasure bag.
I found some "pink" netting that came with some floral arrangement ( I had kept for such an occasion as this) and created a treasure holding bag for our geocaching trips. We will leave it in the car so we will always have an endless supply should the need suddenly come upon us to go searching...also I know where to keep putting all those little toys that float around the house.

We ended the day with birthday celebrations for Derek's brother @ Hog's Breath much to the utter delight of all the kids.

There are so many interesting things to explore and the curly fries are yummy to boot!

Sew for me.

I ventured into the world of sewing something for myself way too late last night....and I surprised myself at how much I like the outcome. I used the pattern from this book...

The Reversible Wrap Skirt..I picked up the material when I was "thrifting" the other day and it was the perfect size for this skirt. The material was a cover for something so I used the backing fabric for the inside of the skirt.
Next time I would make it a touch longer for me and I did add my own extra touches to the front being some vintage doilies and buttons.
I am really loving this book as much as the ones I got for Christmas...I will have to stop loaning it from the library and make my own purchase.

Hot Hot

I am not sure what has come over me in the last two days.....I am so not a heat /hot girl but the garden has been a nice space to be in....and our garden is a place that could do with a lot of being in .
Today we planted out all 14 of our rescued roses. Derek has done such a fine job of nurturing them so that most have had a flower or two on them. So we made some space in the middle of the garden for them to do there stuff in the sunshine.
After all that hard work it was time to slip away for some foot care( ooooh a pedicure with a friend)
And to finish off this most hot day a few evening treasure hunts to get the kids out of the house for some fresh air and space...oh and maybe so mum could notch up a few finds in the unofficial competition ( only kidding Sis!)

Today

Hope you were able to stay cool today...(or warm if you are far away)

To Watch or Not..

This mumma has had enough sun for a few days so the rest of the crew headed off to the beach for some more swimming....while they were gone I got to work on a project that I had started some time ago and now will complete in the hopes that it will be the right colour for my soon to be Tasmanian nephew or niece in which case I had best get on and do an alternate colour!

Fraser and I have found ourselves home alone tonight while Derek and Meg go in search of some crabs! So what else to do but have a movie night...it was really lovely to sit together and enjoy a pretty good movie.

oh and some special goodies to go with it!

note: the crabs were running and now there are a plenty in the pot on our stove.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to you!
Our celebrations were very low key this year... at home with some sparklers..

The question we were all asking this morning is what to do on the very first day of a brand New Year?
Hit the sands on a very non- populated beach (this little mumma was quite happy on the sand looking after the ball!)
We then filled the afternoon treasure hunting in new and undiscovered places-well to us anyway.
It was the only way to continue combat the TV free zone thingy we have going on around here...although I do feel the need for a movie night tomorrow night coming on!

Have you given any thought to how you see this next year? I have pondered some of the things that I would like for me, and us as a family

• A simpler and less incumbent way to live
• friendships that are rich and vibrant
• time to foster those rich friendships
• wanting less and loving more of what I already have
• lots of creative time and spaces in my life
• a family that is hopeful, happy ,secure and content with who we are.
• a whole bunch of new adventure with people, places and life changing experiences
• peace within

Here's to 2010

Finally a Birthday!

Anyone that knows me has probably heard me say " I wait the longest than anyone for a birthday to come around!"...well it always feels like it being the last day of the year....but it is always worth the wait.
Yesterday my lovely family met on our beautiful beach front for a gourmet cooked Breakie by this wonderful guy.

I couldn't have asked for a more perfect day the weather was divine and we were all on holidays with not too much demanding our time...except for those blue waters that contain a myriad of treasures to explore...

Nothing like a crazy sister to talk you into some silliness.

and finally a cake full of way too many candles (although they were much kinder to me than they could have been) to see away another year.

Thank you to all my family and friends that gave wonderful gifts and sent very kind texts and well wishes.

Crafty Books

I was very excited to receive these two books for Christmas and have wasted no time in marking all future projects...

This is the first I have finished The Towel Rug...made from a bath towel no longer in use and a thrifted sheet. So easy to complete and I think just the thing for our bathroom.

Friends and Games

We wiled away a good part of the day today catching up with friends who are on summer break from Christmas Island...it is always lovely to spend time with friends and chat about everything and nothing even though time passes between visits.
The visit was made all the more enjoyable watching the kids play so well and happily together.
We also have a family challenge going on for the next three weeks.....did I say challenge I meant enrichment exercise.
No TV for three weeks...I thought this would be easy -I don't watch much TV! How hard can it be!
Well I guess every habit needs three days to break....the kids are going through a little withdrawal- no movies Fraser!(well maybe we will have a family movie night on the weekend) so until then we will continue to stay busy going fishing, playing lego, reading books, finding treasure, swimming at the beach and maybe just a little WII playing (technically not TV watching!)
So to help us along we have some new games to help enrich our time...

Oh but the house is so quiet at night...what is that you say ? Just like it ought to be?

A warm day after Christmas

It was time to take down the tree and pack it up for another year....for this week we have a birthday to celebrate!

This evening we met Derek's brother and his wife on the city river banks for some dinner,rock skimming,black swan watching and then finally to see the sun set.

Just one of those evenings where we found ourselves saying " why would we want to live anywhere else?"

Just chilling

The week between Christmas and the 1st of Jan is a great time to take things a little easier and go with the "flow"...the rush of Christmas is gone and the pressure of "back to school" hype is yet to begin.
I took a walk with my sister today and our two little guys along the beach...oh alright we had an mission to find "treasure" but it was still nice just to meander along the sand with the little guys in and out of the water's edge.
(and we did find what we were looking for!!!)
Hoping the next few days will have a similar feel to them even if they will be hotter.