A seaside break

We have recently returned from our annual week long seaside holiday. This was our 3rd year of heading north and it would have to have been the best yet! Every year it is getting that bit easier (last year we took our surprised package Angus as an 8 week old so that was interesting)

The kids loved the beach and boogie boarding, the weather was gorgeous (in the 40's but perfect for a beach holiday) and my parents also stayed at the same cottages for 5 days . Perfect

There isn't much to do other than go to the beach , or take the kids to the park on the foreshore but that is exactly what we like after the busy festive season!

I'll let the pictures do the talking (photo overload!!);

Playing 'Duck duck goose' with other kids staying at the cottages

Vodka lime and soda, yummmm

And for New Year, the little town put on a wonderful Family Concert on the foreshore grassed area.

The kids had a ball and it was nice to have something to do. We were home by 9:30pm (the down side to having kids that go to bed early is that they want to go home early too!) but a lovely night was had!

The most beautiful children x

The final sunset of 2012, another year, another chapter in our lives and the best is yet to come!

We are booked in again next year and the kids are already talking about it.
The simple things.

A New Year

As hit the final day of this year, of the amazing 2012  , I am left to ponder. To reflect and to cherish.
Ponder all the things I would change , given a time machine. Reflect on the amazing times, lots shared with loved ones and cherish. Cherish these memories as our treasures for the rest of our lives.
Pretty special really.

This year has bought with it many challenges and personal issues for me.
Situations that I placed myself in that I regret. And although my husband has always told me to not live with regret. I find that very hard advice to  use sometimes.

Writing has always been a love of mine, ever since a was a kid. I used to love writing books and letters and often pretend to be a library teacher at home. Placing all of my own books in my room in alphabetical order, and I wasn't very old either!
I have really really enjoyed writing this blog. Its been good for the soul, and often makes me think clearer and feel better after I have debriefed.
But this blog has also proved that not all things are read as I write them. Not all things are interpreted as I meant them. I guess that is the joy and sorrow that comes with a written word.
I feel so grateful and blessed that I have 4 amazingly beautiful children. A gift that not everyone is lucky enough to receive and I count my blessings each and every day. I feel so lucky to be able to be at home with them, to be able to love and nurture them all day as a stay at home Mum, and I can not think of a more rewarding or joyful job in the world.

I have recently started to take some time out for myself. Something that I have always struggled with , but am thoroughly enjoying now. I am playing sport again, scrap booking and taking opportunities to duck to the shops 'childfree' more than I have during the last 5 years, just of late.
I am never going to be a person that can go to something during the day, guilt free, but I have accepted that. Sometimes I wish I did, or could, but I am happy with what I have been achieving without the kids. It is quite liberating!

As we head into a New Year, I want to wipe the slate clean. Free myself from any baggage and negativity as we start a new year over.
As far as New Years Resolutions go, I would love to catch up on our family scrapbooks, create some time each week/fortnight to keep up to date or finish any existing projects that I hadn't managed to with the children around.
I would love to continue to play team sports, its hard yakka to get out the door but its all made worth it with the fun that I am having .
I would love some more (we only had 2 this year) nights out with just my husband, to go to a quiet movie, grab a pizza and beer at a cafe or just go for an after dinner and peak hour coffee.
But really, above all else, I just would love a happy and positive year. A year of love and laughter. A year of friendship and family. A year of telling and showing the people I care for, just how much I appreciate them.
A year for random acts of kindness, for forgiveness and for self growth.
What more could a person want , if not to be happy and healthy. A factor of life that unfortunately , not all people are lucky enough to have x


So, as we head into the year 2013, may you cherish your loved ones, make the most of every opportunity and have a happy and safe New Year!
I am so looking forward to a year of blogging, of spreading the love through the web and sharing the journey with you.

Whatever you may be doing tonight, stay safe xo
Much love

Twas the night before Christmas ......

Our Christmas Eve was magical. After years and years of working right up to the death knock of Christmas and hours and hours through the season, I am relishing in fact that I can be with my children at this special time and experience everything with them.

Our day started with the kids finding their Elf , Alfie, and reading his note etc as explained in this post HERE. Thats when the excitement started brewing!!

The kids went to their grandparents for a few hours (as they are going away and won't see them for a week or so) and this gave me time to clean the house (general vac, mop, dust, bathrooms etc) all the baking and cooking I needed to do for Christmas Day and also the last minute wrapping and organising.
I also set up a special Christmas Eve dinner for our family. This is the first year we have had a special little dinner, with just us,as we are always with extended family but we really enjoyed it and so did the kids , so it may just become a family tradition.

No Christmas dinner is complete without a pavlova , right?

Lacey certainly enjoyed herself!!

Alfie spent his last night with us before flying away on Father Christmas' sleigh, at the dinner table , climbing the tree!

Then came the customary kiddy photo.

Pffft as if!

So sweet, even though Angus wasn't playing the game!

Time to put out the reindeer food and Father Christmas' snacks!

And because we don't have a chimney, he needs a key to get in!

Ahhhh all nestled all safe and warm in their beds. The stockings were laid, the presents were wrapped and Father Christmas visited our house.
Bless

Homemade Christmas Goodies

As I do every year, I baked and made some goodies to pop in bags and give away as gifts to the people that I wanted to say 'Merry Christmas' to but not actually buy a gift for.
Not only that , but I think that a little home made gift is better than anything that you can buy in a shop. It was made with love, thought about with care and packaged with joy.

After my husband bought me a Thermomix a few months ago, I have been dieing to make some jam, and thought of no better reason.
So a batch of Strawberry, Apple and vanilla jam was created and bundled up in cute jars with fabric and ribbon. Totally delicious and I hope people are enjoying them!

I baked a few batched of sweets and packaged them up for our daycare lady and ironing lady (women worth their weight in gold, and even though our twins are only in care a few hours a week, and we only get our ironing done once a fortnight, they make my life so so much easier than it could be!)

Smaller versions were packaged up in these super cute Kikki K bags and tags for close girlfriends/godparents and neighbours.

The sweets included;

Top deck rocky road

Gingerbread  biscuits

Chocolate cherry, hazelnut slice

Rum balls

Oreo Puddings

I also made some white Christmas (and it wouldn't fit in the bag)

and a mango fruit cake for a few back up gifts for those unexpected visitors that you feel the need to gift to.

Each package was tied with some cute string and popped inside the bag.

All traditional, simple yet effective (and YUMMY) baking but its sure to bring joy to those I care for.

Do you bake special gifts? A traditional item every year?

The lead up

In the last week leading up to Christmas Day, we crammed a fair few activities in to fill up our days (and nights) and enhance the joy and spirit. Here is a SMALL snippet;

As a child, every year before Christmas, my big cousins, my sister and I would spend an afternoon making rum balls together. Our parents would supply the ingredients, some 2L bottles of Cool drink and Salt and Vinegar chips and we were in seventh heaven!! And they got to have a tidy supply of Rum Balls!! Alcohol free of course!

So this year I thought we could start the tradition again, only with our children.
So a morning (as its better for young kiddos like ours) was spent laughing and having fun making little balls of Christmas spirit.

LOVE

.

Stella and I went on a Mummy, daughter date to the carols and my Mum came too! 3 generations of girls , singing sweet carols and spending some quality time together.
LOVE

No carols are complete without fireworks , right?! haha not quite.

 

Some more Christmas Crafting was done. This time we created Christmas trees out of paper plates. The kids painted them one afternoon (when it was hot and they were playing outside and had water play too!) then the decorating was done a few days later.

Some Christmas stickers, glitter, sequins and confetti shapes certainly made for pretty trees!!

Once completed and dry, I stapled them to some ribbon and created a cute Christmas bunting for the reading corner in the toy room. Extra trees were given as gifts to the Grandparents on Christmas Day.
LOVE

We went on a family Christmas light tour on a bus (Poppy was driver). It was such a brilliant night. Everyone sang carols, the kids giggled and had fun. That's how childhood memories are made.

LOVE

 

As you can see, we have kept busy and certainly created quite the build up to Christmas Day. Our kids were beyond excited and it was just so magical to witness.