Car Kits

A few weeks  before Christmas, I finally managed to organise and complete one of the tasks on my never ending "Must Do" list. You know the one that you think "Oh I'd like to do something like that one day", well creating a car kit was one of mine.

Obviously, having 4 kids, the chances of a incident or reason for needing a kit , is increased , hence my reasoning behind the kit, before the bulk of our Christmas parties, functions and BBQ's started.

I tried for a few days to think of all the things I thought I would need "if....happened". Hmm the possibilites are endless and unless we want a Mini Van full of "STUFF", not precious kiddie cargo, the list had to be narrowed down. Not only that, but space was an issue. We may have a wonderful Kia Carnival, but we also have 4 kids, 4 carseats, 3 rows of seats, a pram and all the luggage and bags we take on outings on an everyday basis. 

I just repurposed baskets we already had around the house , the brown spotty one is from Red Dot I think and the reed one is from Target ( I got a few on clearance some time ago but I am sure they still have similar).

The spotty kit is for inside the van, inbetween the 2 front seats (there is a gap between them where a tray can flip up or down , and we always have it up, so I stash the basket underneath) and the Square basket is for the boot area , with less used items. 

The car kit contains;

- a few nappies for the twins,

- a packet of wipes

- a box of tissues

- a few disposable change mats (can be used as table cloths, toilet seat covers, or... a change mat!)

- a small box of disposable bibs ( for those times when you decide to have an icecream etc at the park)

- a plastic zip lock case with some nappy sacs and a few plastic bags (bag repurposed from a travel pack of shampoo and conditioners)

- a larger zip lock case (repurposed packaging from a set of kids PJ's from Cotton On) containing some Anti Bac Gel, a few plastic spoons, some Curash cream, a few tampons etc

- Some suncream ( I try and put this towards the bottom of the basket, as sometimes the heat and direct sunlight in the car can make suncreams ineffective) however I always have suncream in my nappy bag and pack a larger tube for park and sun trips

- a calico environmentally friendly shopping bag

And I have since added a few bottles of water and my Spotlight enviro bag (as I go there ALOT!)

The boot basket contains;

- a first aid kit

- a towel

- some plastic plates (for impromtu picnics and dinners when out)

- a blow up head support pillow (just incase you know! ha)

The basket sits neatly in the boot space , and on top of a fold up picnic blanket, which are always handy.

So there you have my simple car kits. As I said, the possibilites are endless as to what they can contain, but they are just simple kits, that will hopefully help in case of an emergency or spontaneous trip or event. The items might not help ideally but some improvisation never hurt anyone.

I also have a basket that gets taken inside and any items that need to go in the car, get put into. Like library books that need to be returned, things that need to be delivered or dropped off, items that need to be returned to a shop, catalogs that I like to use when shopping during sales , things like that. And I also try and put a spare change of clothes for the kids in this basket to save room in my very full nappy bag.

On the back of the 2nd row seats is a seat backer,small and purchased from Target. In this we have a  few books and some simple toys for the girls in the back row, also a small box of tissues, all within an arms reach of Stella as I can not reach them. The tissues are well used for sticky hands, water, noses etc and the toys and books are on rotation as the kids please. When the light is better I will photograph them for you, I forgot today!!

I hope this helped those that had this task on their "To Do List" , and for the clever ones that have already got car kits, whats in yours?

The Night Before Christmas....

For the first time EVER, this Christmas , I had Christmas Eve off. Infact I had every day off, if you don't count my hugely demanding and pretty stressful job of a Mum of 4 young kids, but it was the first year I did not have to work at the salon, as a hairdresser. Battle with staff, Eftpos machines that think its a great day to stop working, cranky and highly stressed customers that have too much left to do , and people that think 3pm on Christmas Eve is a good time to decide to get a spontaneous haircut.

Not this time, yippppeeee!

So... we spent the day , getting ready and into the festive spirit.

It was lovely.

It started with some crafting. Simple Christmas baubles that we coloured in, ran a few stamps over and glued some pretties to, finished with some laminating.

                                       Then some Christmas flowers for a few special people.

                                                     Ahhh a beautiful little vase with our flowers!

 

                                                  And we made a few bags of Reindeer food.

Set out Santas snacks

And the reindeers food and water bucket, all ready to be filled and put out after we returned home from a yummy dinner at my parents house!

On the way home from dinner (to try and settle a VERY VERY excited Stella) we went for a drive looking at some pretty lights, and sang some songs.

When we got home, the sleeping twins were put to bed, and Stella sprinkled the Reindeer food.

And made sure Santa could get in!!

And finally it was time for bed.

And we got to work, playing Father Christmas......

It was such a magical day with our beautiful family, its the stuff memories are made of!

Christmas Goodie Bags

I know I know, I am rather tardy with the Christmas posts, but its such a busy time of the year , some things have got to give! However, it was only 3 weeks ago, although it seems alot longer, so if you can cast your mind back a few weeks, we can just pretend a little ;)

Every year I like to do some baking/ Christmas cooking, and give away little bags to my friends as a Festive gesture. It gets too expensive and OTT if you purchase gifts for everyone, however something small is always nice!

This time, as I have been rather busy giving birth and stuff, I didn't get around to ordering any cute bags, so I had to create them for myself.

Remember when we did some Christmas potato stamping?

Well to put them to good use (other than the kids art folders and a few scrapbooking pages) , I simply cut out some pretty Christmas cardstock and glued the stamping pieces to the front. Finished with a cute gingham ribbon in a bow and voila!

In the bags I put a few choc chip cookies (one for each child that my friend had ) as above.

A few pieces of White Christmas, a few pieces of different types of chocolate fudge (Rum and Raison and Cherry Ripe) , a rather large chunk of Rocky Road and some Peppermint Bark, pictured in front of above.

The bags were received quite well and I actually managed a few rave reviews about the fudge!

I was also lucky enough to receive a few baked goodies from my friends also.

A few were eaten a little too quick for photographing, but how cute is this one?

My clever girlfriend, who is also an amazing bake of some pretty yummy deserts and cakes, gave me this little package, with the piece of chocolate brownie being made into a Christmas tree.

Cute and clever!

I just love giving little goodies to my friends, the gift of giving is a special thing .

There is always one!

The day we went for the annual Santa photo a few weeks back, also happened to be the day that we took the cots out of Max and Lacey's room and hadn't yet put their beds together.

What better opportunity for a quick photoshoot of my 4 cherubs , in a white room with pretty good natural light?

Hmmm perhaps the task is a little harder than it sounds, right?

There always has to be one , right?!

Max, the little boy with a big personality and lots of character..... and emotion.

Bless his cotton socks!

Angus' Room

As promised, a peak inside our little mans little room, not quite finished but always a work in progress!

 

All items and furniture were repurposed or already in the nursery and we borrowed a cradle from a dear friend, as the twins were still in the cots.

We have nearly completed a photo wall and have now got some free art printed so they are still to come!

So far, I am really please with the space we have created for our Angus Frankie, very serene . 

The "jobs" List

So we are back from holidays, and returned to a house (having left on the 27th after a busy Christmas and Boxing Day) that was still covered in festive cheer, with lots of toys to find homes for and a few piles of stuff that I was meaning to get to once Christmas was over!

So began the list! Darling husband is always complaining and making fun of me, because I have lists everywhere and for everything, but to be honest, they make me feel better. Even if the list is a few pages long, with some pretty big jobs on it, just to have it down on paper, feels like you are half way there. Like its been recognised!

Anyhoooo, between the jobs, lots of play was had, and lots of destruction! Evidence below!

One of my favourite jobs on the list, was setting up my new Project Life Album for 2012! It FINALLY arrived on the 3rd January, after being Pre ordered in September. I am absolutely in love with the Clementine kit, and so pleased I ordered it (but I also order the Cobolt aswell, to finally get our Europe holiday from 2009 into an album to enjoy!)

 We managed to swap over the frames of our gorgeous baby photos in the hallway, and add Angus' to the wall aswell. I just love the effect, and being able to compare the kids in similaritites and differences. Not only that, they are a reall talking point for anyone who visits.

More frames were also added, and photos changed on our Photo wall in the living area (this opposes the kitchen). For anyone who knows me, knows how much I love photographs. I love having them around and love to take them , for everything..... We had a family session with an amazing photographer in the first few weeks home with Angus' so I was able to put some of those into the wall and love it to bits.
Sorry about the light, but its just a sneak peak, more to come when its finished!

Our bedrooms (the 3 kids ones) are quite small in our house, so to try and create more space and an uncluttered look in Stella's room, the bookcase was removed (and put in Angus' nursery) , and some Book racks put up on the unused wall just inside her door , at the end of her bed. They are fantastic, absolutely LOVE them, available HERE for $6.95, after a few coats of spray paint, they look awesome.
We placed them tall enough so the little ones can't reach them but so Stella can still stand on the end of her bed and reach ( not ideal, but better than the booiks getting wrecked during the twins "destructive" stage!!)

                                                        And her little reading nook, so cute!

I also reorganised her dressing table , and coralled everything in this tray , to make doing her hair before school (sob!) a lot easier and quicker!! I can already imagine how hard its going to be getting out of the house with a baby, 2 x toddlers and a stubborn nearly 4 year old! ARGH!

These have been up for a while, but I just wanted to share with you a few other storage solutions in our home.
I love these over the door hooks, available from Ikea ! No drilling holes, but still adding more hanging and storage. I have used them inside my Laundry cupboard, and this is now where Noel's sports bags hang, easy to grab and go when on his way to training or a game, a sunshade for the kids and a small backpack cooler bag.

                                 This is what they look like when the cupboard is closed , from the outside.

Stella also has one in her room, that hangs on the outside of her wardrobe door, for all her pretties and precious necklaces, and Max and Lacey have one on their bedroom door for their small backpacks. Great space saver, and cheap too!

Stella's clip holder was moved, as it was on the bookcase, and now hangs off the curtain rail. Yes, this girl has some clips!! But in my defense, I have only purchased a few for her, the rest are gifts. Thankfully we have a gorgeous clip holder, made by my talented sister , and they are displayed brilliantly and all used because of it!

And finally a sneak peak into dear Angus Frankue's room. I finally mnaged some time while Noel was off to get in there and make a nice space for our gorgeous boy. Again, its not finished, but I will share more photos tonight!

So there you have it, just a few of the jobs completed around our home, and I love the difference they have made. With 2 ute loads culled and chucked, a trip to the tip and over $200 made from selling unwanted items creating clutter, we certainly had a busy, yet productive end to our holiday.

Unfortunately its back to the norm today, DH at work and me back managing the 4 kids.

I am in the process of planning some Australia Day crafts and activities for the kiddos, and have about 10 posts lined up for the coming week, a few by request, so more busy times ahead!

What a year!

Firstly I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas! We sure did! The kids , especially Stella , are at a wonderful age, it made the day truely magical!

I had so many posts planned pre Christmas, half written and pictures taken for , yet time simply got away from me and spending time with my beautiful family took priority! I will post some, albeit a little late for the festivities but for some light reading anyway in the next few days!

Yesterday we returned  from our family summer getaway to a sleepy seaside town pretty close to home.  The internet and phone reception was sporadic and the kids had a ball, swimming, building sandcastles, playing footy and burning up lots of energy in the fresh air.

Surrounded by the people I love most, we welcomde in the New Year with a yummy BBQ dinner, in bed at the stroke of midnight, however still joyous in the fact we had an amazing year!

2011 was a turbulent one for me and my family. With the good came the amazing and with the bad came the devastating.

We lost 3 beautiful family member in the space of 3 weeks, Noel's gorgeous Grandad, my lovely Uncle and Noel's Grandma on the opposite side of the family. Emotional and testing but we take comfort knowing they are all now at peace and pain free.

We also sold my first baby. My salon. I worked like a Trojan for many years and we reaped the rewards from an amazing business with beautiful clients, lots whom I will treasure as great friends forever. This was bittersweet but I could not be happier with my new found job description as a Stay at Home Mum!

On a happier note, we were blessed with the most Devine surprise package in the form of our beautiful Angus Frankie,  9 weeks old. truely devine and I couldn't imagine my life without him. The best baby who is loved so dearly by everyone.

We have taken family holidays to Horrocks, Shark Bay and also a child free pre-baby trip to Bali for DH and I for 4 days.

We decided to start making the house , our home, and installed more storage throughout, a new laundry, TV unit and finally got the Leather Lounge we have always longed for (thanks GE !)
An amazing year, with some beautiful memories and a whole lotta love!

Thanks for following, reading, commenting, your support is so ovewhelming.
I can't wait for the journey that is 2012, and taking you along for the ride!
Goodluck to everyone for this year, its going to be a goodie!
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