US

We have been playing in the cubby

Swinging as high as we can go on the swings at the beach

Planting vegies

Making up games 

Enjoying the sunshine

Playing with friends

and dancing to the very gorgeous new Clare Bowditch album

I have been drinking coffee ... with sugar and its been delicious!

I have been dreaming about our new kitchen and extra bedroom renovation (the possibilities!)

I have been thinking of all of the wonderful things that we can do on these school holidays and as the warmer weather comes our way

I have been happy with US

What about you ... what have you been up to?

Friday love and boredom

Today started out as one of those lovely special days - 

Fathers Day breakfast at kinder where my gorgeous son Joe came as Maggie's Dad (as Chris had to work and we didn't want Maggie to be sad!)

Coffee with a friend at our local jaunt, actually 2 coffees cause hey I'm tough

Story time at the library with Edie and her friends, watching them sing, dance and create crafty wonderfulness

BUT THEN

Home and bored bored bored

Some days are just like that 

BORING

Luckily I have the AMAZING album by Birdy to keep me going as without it my day would have been boring and quiet

Lovely tunes by one very talented 16 year old helped me through

What do you do on those boring days?

Maggie

Dear Miss Maggie
You are gorgeous in so many ways
You are equal parts cheeky and kind
You are very maternal and love a cuddle with every baby in town - both those we know and those we don't
You love Hot chocolates ... well chocolate in general
You love to dance and be crazy
You love to learn
You love to play at the beach
You love your family - and to you there is no one quite as special as your brother Joe and sister Edie
You get hurt feelings but recover quickly
You love to giggle
And we love you so
Happy 5th Birthday our special Maggie moo
x

Who needs white?

As the spring days are on their way I have started to think about packing away all of the wintry cushions and covers in my house and make way for something new - and FUN.
The first place for me to start is always my bedroom - I am not sure why I start there, I just do.
And who needs a white bedroom when you can have cool colour like this!!
Kip & Co is a new business (one of the very cool chicks is a friend of mine) and they have been getting such a fantastic response to their new range of bed linen.
SADLY this is not a paid post (but Hayley if you read this I am IN LOVE with Desert Caviar!!)
Go on treat yourself to something special - I mean Christmas is really not that far away and I think we all need a little bit of colour in our lives - don't you?
Follow the ladies on facebook ... go on I know you want to.
x

Lately and loving

Lately ....

Lots of cups of tea

and stories being read

Newborn babies being cuddled

A really funny girls night out

Dreaming of adventures 

and thinking a lot more about what I want to do when I grow up

Loving ....

My new Hello Milky cushions

and my Emily Green necklace

Loving watching the kids dress up and having wonderful imaginations

and hanging out with new friends

Loving being inspired to do new things

That's me ... what about you?

**

I didn't know that when we imposed a "no treats / no electronics till Friday" ban in our house it would mean that I wouldn't blog ... it just kind of happened.
And while I have sneakily taken a little peak at a few blogs over the last little while I haven't felt the need to post anything.

By having this ban in our house the kids have
Played more
Created more
Read more
Laughed more
Had more fights
And they have learnt to appreciate sitting down to watch a family movie
(I have also realised how often I would just say ... "oh alright just put the TV on and leave me alone for a few minutes to do .....")

Together we have written more stories
Done treasure hunts
Talked
Made cubbies
Snuggled under blankets
and Potions (do you remember making potions as a kid?)
And wandered to the park

I have had a spring clean
Bought new cushions to freshen up the house
Got myself some new threads (on a trip to Melbourne on my own - thanks Mum for having the girls!!)

Over the past couple of weeks we have gotten over yukky colds and coughs
and Celebrated my 11th Wedding Anniversary

So while this "no electronics (TV,computer, ipods etc...)" ban exists at my house it looks like I will be blogging less .... but that isn't such a bad thing at all.
And I know that it won't last, but hopefully we will find a better balance than we had before, cause in my house things had gotten a little out of control with the old TV!

So that is what we have been up to .... what about you?
What have you been up to?

x

PS ...that dress in the photo is one of the things I bought myself while in Melbourne (on Sale)
 - although on me its a top and not a dress, and I am so excited about it I will be smiling when I wear mine, not like the girl in this pic!

PPS ... Hubby read this and thinks that this post may come across a little bit preachie (is that how you spell it?) about how you shouldn't let your kids watch TV ... but that is SO not what I mean at all ... I just mean that in our house it had been out of control and I am trying to only allow it on a Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
I am not the preachie type x

Cant take my eyes off this ...

I am not sure who took this photo, so if it is yours (or you know where it came from) please let me know and I will credit it, because lets face it - this is STUNNING and I can not stop looking at it!

Asthma and sisters

Yesterday Maggie woke with trouble breathing
She had a cold but the wheeze and struggling to breathe was new
A visit to the doctor saw us being sent straight to the Hospital Emergency department
Medicine and Ventolin were given to her and she was monitored over and over
5 hours later we were allowed to go home
After a night of coughing we are tired but on the mend
And now we have a little girl with asthma

I was so proud of how she just got on with it in the hospital and did what was asked of her
She was hooked up to machines
She listened
We learned
And we cuddled
And I was also proud of Miss Edie and how as a 3 and a half year old she sat there for the whole 7 hour ordeal (doctor and then hospital) and didn't complain once, just rubbed Maggie's back and told her to take the medicine to make her strong.

Its lovely to see Sisterly love kick in so early
And we are so relived to have Miss Maggie breathing properly again
x

A Gorman virgin

I am sad to say it ... but I am a Gorman virgin
I have never even been brave enough to enter a shop
The clothes are gorgeous, fun, cool and a little kooky ... and I have never been truly sure that they will love me as much as I love them
BUT when I saw these photos of the upcoming range my heart started beating faster and I knew that I would no longer be a scaredy cat
All women should own as least one thing from Gorman don't you think?
I will be purchasing something from this range as soon as it is available and I can get my hands on it
The hardest part will be picking just one thing!
Does Gorman already have a special place in your wardrobe or are you a virgin like me?

Giffords Circus love ....

Held on a village green

On a beautiful sunny evening

Wonderful performances

Stunning costumes

Great music

Funny and breathtaking

Wish I could go every year 

Giffords circus is so fantastic  - a must see!!

Our new view

While we were off gallivanting around the UK my lovely Dad came and dug up our old garden that was full of weeds and not so wonderful plants and replaced it with these 3 veggie boxes ready for planting.
And the best thing is that this is what I see when I look outside our kitchen window so when I am in desperate need of cooking inspiration I know just were to start!
At our old house we had a great veggie patch that kept us going off and on but now ... now we are set.
Next step is to work out what to plant to compliment the fruit trees (apples, apricots, plums, lemons) so that we have a well rounded garden supplying us in lots of yummy goodness.
We are a bit excited!

We have the London look

British flag love

Giffords circus was a total highlight for all of us

Miss Maggie's cheeky "I am sick of being in the car" face

A visit to Peppa Pig world at Paulton's park was FUN!!

Enjoying the playground in Henley

Picking strawberries at Grandad's allotment

Inside the flying car at Harry Potter Studios (which was AMAZING!!)

Inside a stinky red telephone booth

A visit to the boys beloved football (soccer) team

And this was only the beginning
We have now returned home and while it is wonderful to be home I do miss being away as a family having adventures 

Giffords circus was my highlight
The girls loved the double decker bus through London and seeing Big Ben and Buckingham Palace
Joe loved Harry Potter Studios (and I must say it really was brilliant)
Edie loved Peppa Pig world
And for Chris ... there is nothing quite like seeing your bestest friends and family.

Jet lag has hit my kids hard therefore meaning I am getting very little sleep
But I wouldn't change it (OK I would cause I am REALLY tired but you know what I mean)
I have lots of new clothes thanks to Monki, COS, Primark, H&M and Topshop
And we have wonderful memories that will last us forever

Sadly I ran out of time to catch up with Miss Lou ... kinda bummed about that!
But over the next few days I will be reading all of my favourite blogs to catch up on all that I have missed
Hope everyone is happy and having fun
xx

Look out UK here we come

We have started packing
Passports at the ready
I am getting my hair cut today
My nails are painted (all the important things!!!)
And in 2 sleeps we will be boarding a plane to London
I will be sure to take lots of photos and let you know about all of the fun that we have
Until then though, have fun, take care and enjoy every day xx

So far ....

The tea pot is full
The radio is on
Its cloudy but not too cold
The beds are made
The dishes are washed

The girls are playing nicely
Joe has his friend Romy over and they are doing Harry Potter word search puzzles

And all is well
Hope your day is peaceful, easy, fun and full of laughter just like mine is going to be x

pic

Wye river chill out

As some of you may have read my kids gave me instructions to Chill out
And that is exactly what we did on the weekend ...
We took a day trip to Wye River (on the Great Ocean Rd) for lunch and had a wander on the beach
The windy roads nearly got the better of the kids tummies but we made it and a wonderful adventure was had
We ate at the Wye River General Store (above - pumpkin/feta/rocket pide - delicious!)
Joe navigated his way across the rocks
Edie wore her favourite outfit - because all girls should wear their tutu's to the beach!
Maggie just wanted cuddles with her dad
A wonderful day and just what we needed!

ps - please excuse my bad flat and in desperate need of colour hair - am visiting the hairdresser next week before heading to London (cant have bad hair for fancy London can I!!)
pps - must buy myself some eye wrinkle cream, I look about 50 years old!!

Sass and Bide love

I may not be able to afford their clothes but I love their style
Actually I love them full stop!
I am not sure what it is about them that makes me love them so much but I just do.
The clothes, the hair, the friendship
And seeing these photos of Heidi's and her house (found here) WOW!
And this video (by Style Me Romy)
Do you love Sass and Bide too??