12/52 - Get Ready To Wiggle!

Tully - cheeky chops

Flynn - getting his Wags on

This Sunday just gone our family went to see The Wiggles ( or the 'new Wiggles ' as Flynn called them ) while they were in town. If you can't tell from the photo Flynn was a little bit excited - partly because he likes The Wiggles, and partly because Daddy was coming this time. He asked to wear his Wags the Dog costume and set me the task of making a bone to give to Wags aswell ( twisted paper, tape and watercolour paint.... Just call me Mr Maker ).

He was even happier when Anthony, the Blue Wiggle noticed him in the crowd and asked his name in front of everybody... You could not wipe the cheese grin off his face! With a road trip down to Sydney planned for this Easter long weekend, and a special surprise activity planned for Saturday, I think we might be able to get a few more cheesy grins out of the boy yet.....

Linking up again with the 52 Project over at CheAndFidel...

A Fresh Coat Of Paint

I missed my usual Monday post yesterday because I was far too busy on the weekend to schedule one....and had my painters hat on yesterday, trying to beautify my house.

Being up a ladder is not that much fun! ( image )

I spent a good 5 hrs up a ladder ( or, alternately, squatting on the pavers ) painting our front verandah area. I must have looked gorgeous, perched precariously up a ladder, wearing on of my husband's old work singlets and a pair of yoga tights! And I do mean 'perched precariously ' - the rungs on the ladder were pretty narrow so the only way I could feel balanced was to have one foot either side of the top..... Which meant I had to squat down and reach for my pot of paint every time I needed more paint on my brush. On the upside, I probably did like a bazillion squats and had to engage my thigh and abdominal muscles to keep steady, so I'm going to have buns and abs of steel by the time I'm done!

With my sister volunteering to watch Tully tomorrow, I should be able to get my painting finished. And then I can start tidying up inside ( again.... ), the deep cleaning, and get busy 'dressing ' the rooms in preparation for having the duplex valued and, ultimately, sold!

So - are you hands on? Are you willing to risk life and limb up a dodgy ladder in order to get your house ready for sale? Or am I the only mad one around here?

Tuesday again - find this post at EssentiallyJess for IBOT !

11/52 - Down By The River

Flynn - a boy in his element

Tully - a girl wearing her brothers cap!

This weekend my sister and her boyfriend invited us to spend the afternoon down at the river with them, just relaxing on the bank and generally watching the world go by...and, seeing as it was a beautiful day we packed the kids, some snacks and some tunes in the car and followed them down to one of the local reserves. We'd never taken the kids to the river before but we shouldn't have worried about anything - that boy of mine could not have been more comfortable if he'd tried. He really was in his natural environment. It was safety vest on, gumboots off and then he was splashing along the rivers edge, throwing rocks into the water, taking his first ride in a tinny and having his first attempt at catching a fish ( we caught some leaves, but that was it ). To be honest, we all had a great time and I can't wait to do it again - only this time I'm catching me a fish, whether they like it or not!

 Linking up again with CheAndFidel for the 52 Project...

Creating A Village

You know how they say it takes a village to raise a child? Yea, well, Mick and I are creating that village by.... Moving in with my parents.

Unfortunately, this is NOT the village we will be living in....

Gasp!No!An almost 30 yr old couple with two children moving in with their parents.... Its a giant backwards step! Or so you may say but, for us, its a stepping stone to something much better. Remember how my physical  goal for the year was to qualify for a decent sized home loan? Well, I'd thought on that prospect for a while, run some numbers, pondered likelihoods and then sat and had a serious discussion with my husband. Without going too much into our financial particulars, we have business loans and my mortgage on our current duplex holding working against us. We figure that if we sell my duplex and move in with my parents, we'll have that mortgage monkey off our back and we'll be able to save that amount per week towards a deposit.

We plan on staying around 6-8 months, however long it takes to save a certain amount we have in mind. With three spare rooms, it means we each get our own room ( we meaning Mick and I, and then Flynn and Tully have their own aswell ), and we'll share the living costs equally with my parents.  Plus, I think its far to say that Flynn is beyond excited to move in with Grandma and Poppy!

To be honest, I'm actually looking forward to it myself. I love my parents, I get along with them incredibly well ( Mick has even confessed to being perfectly at ease with his in-laws ) and living with two extra adults will definitely have its perks. Such as? Two other people to split the chores with; two other people who enjoy cooking and will no doubt be happy to do it on the days I work ( while I'll be more than willing to do my share on my days off ); and two loving, caring family members who can look after my kiddies while I get in a bit of me time, or a bit of couples time with my handsome hubby.

So - are you with me? Would you move in with your parents, or in-laws, if it meant you could have a better life for your own little family just that little bit sooner?

And,because its Tuesday you can find me over at IBOT at EssentiallyJess !

And Now For An Update

A proper update, on my continuing fitness challenges.

To be honest, I'm in two minds here at the half way point - I'm proud of what I am beginning to achieve, but I had hoped for more. However, I know that the only way I could have achieved more is if I had pushed harder and put in my effort, which I quite obviously did not. Let me elaborate..... With dot points!

* I have started jogging again and though I'm not 'running ' yet, and I can't jog for as long as I used to be able to, I am proud of myself. I'm getting out there and I'm trying. So far I've built myself up to being able to jog for 7 minutes at a time, then walk for 3 or 4 minutes ( or one full song on my IPod ) and then jog for another 7 minutes.
* My short term goal is to be able to jog the whole way from my house to my parents house. I'm not sure of the exact distance, but I estimate that if I jog the whole way it would be a 15 - 20 minute jog.
* The number on the scale hasn't changed much - and even though the numbers on the scale don't mean everything ( seeing as my starting weight is only 6 kg from my ideal BMI weight ) its still disheartening. I have only lost 1kg in 6 weeks and I'll be honest and say I would have liked it to have been at least twice that. However, I can only blame myself, as I haven't stuck strictly to the recommended exercise programme.
* However, I have lost 20cms overall ( across all body measurements ) and I can see a difference in my shape. I also feel more comfortable on my clothes, though I haven't actually dropped a full clothing size.

So, you see - conflicted. I haven't stuck to the exact recommended exercises because I 'failed ' at one session early on, and it scared me off a little. However, I picked myself up and instead of pushing to the absolute limit, Biggest Loser style, I've taken bits and pieces and adapted them to something that is working better for me and my schedule. I'm a 'slow burner ' type of person I think - I like to build towards something slowly, evenly, and at a level I can work at comfortably. I know the whole ' go hard or go home! ', gung ho, all-or-nothing thing works for some people, it just doesn't work for me. It only serves to make me feel like a failure if I can't do as much as the programme says I should be able to do ( high expectations and anxiety and all that ).
So for now, its a slow burn, slow jog to a fitter, healthier me!

10/52 - Eyes Wide Open

Flynn - my morning time helper

Tully - getting fluffy

I can't believe I managed to take two photos of my children this week where they are BOTH looking at a the camera and BOTH have their eyes open! Admittedly Flynn was busy - both eating his toast and helping me make Daddy's morning cup of coffee ( if you look closely you can see the coffee dripping into Daddy's favourite mug ) - yet he still managed to spare five seconds to look up and grin.

And Tully? Well she is starting to pay more attention now when you call her name so we had fun taking some bath time photos. And what happens at the end of bath time? She gets all wrapped up in her towel, gets dried and gets her hair made fluffy!

Linking up once more this week with the 52 Project over at CheAndFidel

That Old Feeling

I think its been pretty well chronicled here that I've had a few platonic relationships go sour over the last few years. Its left me feeling alienated and sometimes sad but, more than anything, quite lonely at times. Though I'm back in a better place with my ex-best friend, that circle of four best friends that I used to be quite firmly in is now only a circle of three, and I'm not in it. I keep thinking that I've come to terms with that but I haven't - I'm still, on occasion, quietly grieving the loss of that tight circle of girlfriends and, though I know I can never go back in time to when it was all perfect, I often wish that I could.

I think i do a pretty good job at keeping a lid on things.... But then there are those times like Sunday morning when it all comes bubbling up. One of those girls was having her 30th birthday party this Saturday just gone. I was, happily, invited but I couldn't afford to travel over to the town she was having it in. I was torn.... I really would love to have gone, to get out of my house and out to something fun, but deep inside I knew that even if I did go I wouldn't have fit in anymore. The fact that I couldn't afford to go just made that internal struggle a bit less intense as the decision to go or not was essentially made for me. I sent the birthday girl a text message Saturday evening, hoping she was having a good time and apologising again that I couldn't be there.

Then there was Sunday morning... And the resulting photos on Facebook. There was that old feeling, that pang of jealousy, that wish that 'they' were an 'us' again. And then there was the photo of the three of them, looking beautiful, smiling and happy, captioned as ' besties '.... And that was too much. I sat in the dark with Tully on my lap and bawled my eyes out. Sometimes that loneliness just gets too overwhelming....

Seeing as its Tuesday, you can find this post linked up at IBOT over at EssentiallyJess....

A Break In Proceedings

So normally I write a few blog posts over the weekend and then schedule them for during the week. However, I have been a wee but distracted this weekend last so today I'm just popping in quickly to say....

* I have been busy cleaning out cupboards and drawers, a spring cleaning in autumn, if you will.

* All this cleaning and sorting is in readiness for a plan that I am yet to reveal to y'all... Stay tuned!

* My duel fitness challenges are going... OK? Maybe? I have hardly exercised at all in the past fortnight due to everybody in my house being ill, and then all the cleaning is taking up my time, but I'm sticking with the low calorie eating.

* I haven't lost much weight at all so far but I have lost 6cm from my waist in 5 weeks, so that's something.

*  I will be back to regular IBOT programming tomorrow - as long as I can find time this evening to write a post!

* But now - to tackle Mt Washing-ton!

9/52 - Swing Time

Tully - maiden voyage in the swings

Flynn - staying still for 5 seconds

I forgot to do this post yesterday because we were too busy playing at the park ( and spring cleaning the loungeroom - that bit wasn't as fun ). It was a beautiful sunny day so, after being cooped up inside all last week with the ugly weather, we headed out for the morning.

Tully had her first ever go on the swings, and the slippery dip ( she didn't exactly giggle her head off, but she didn't cry either. Give her a month or two and I'm pretty sure she'll love them ); Flynn run around like a chicken with its head cut off ( as usual ); Grandma and I ate morning tea in the sun; and then we all fed the ducks.

Overall, much better than the cabin fever we were suffering last week and, if the weather stays nice and mild for another month or two, I predict plenty more mornings playing in the park....

Linking up again this week with the 52 Project over at Che and Fidel

( Junior ) Masterchef

The weather has been pretty much craptacular along the entire east coast this past week and, consequently, we've been cooped up inside. With the added bonus of being a bit sickly. Which means one certain little boy person has gone a little stir crazy ( read: feral ). But, no matter how feral he gets, and no matter how much his house bound craziness gets on my nerves, there is one activity I LOVE doing with my son.... And that's cooking.

What? You've never heard of the 'Naked Chef '?

I always loved cooking with my parents - as a little girl it was making simple things like pattie cakes with my mum, but as I got older I loved being in the kitchen with my dad - so now I'm really glad that Flynn enjoys being in the kitchen with me. He's only 3 years old, so he can only help with the simple things like stirring or pouring ingredients into the bowl, but for now that's enough. 

He drags a chair to the kitchen bench, and stands up on it so he's the same height as me; we talk about what we're making and how we're going to do it; he asks questions about the ingredients ( what's that Mum? Where does it come from ? Can I have some? ) and I do my best to explain; I let him smell, and touch, and taste. He got a bit carried away the other day and decided he would smell the cinnamon by himself, which ended up with the lid being yanked off and half a bottle of cinnamon spilled all over my kitchen floor like very fine, very sweet smelling dirt.... But that was all part of our cooking adventure.

We made French toast for breakfast on Sunday morning - and my proudest moment was when he asked ' Dad - how was your toast? Did I make it nice? '. I hope his love for cooking doesn't dwindle anytime soon, and I can't wait til Tully is big enough to start joining us in the kitchen....

You can find this linked up again with IBOT over at EssentiallyJess !

How To Brighten Someone's Day

* this is a sponsored post in which I was gifted a product. Got it? OK, let's proceed....

If you follow my personal page on Facebook, you would be well aware that everyone in my house has been suffering from some horrible cold/flu/buggy thing for the past week. It started Sunday afternoon with Flynn and Mick snuffling and coughing; by Tuesday poor Tully had a nose like a dripping tap; and then Wednesday evening i felt a sore throat coming on and knew I had succumbed to the dreaded lurgy aswell.

So come Thursday morning it was lovely to receive these:

And what may those be, you ask? A beautiful arrangement of flowers from Interflora.  On the card, the team from Interflora had written ' we hope these flowers brighten your day! '..... And they sure did! After four days straight of crying, snotty, coughing, miserable children and a husband who was snoring like a freight every night a sweet bunch of oriental lillies was exactly what I needed to cheer me up. I sat them in the lounge room where I could see them every time I got coughed on, or sneezed at, or felt like my head was officially going to explode. And a beautiful bunch of flowers is the gift that keeps on giving because over the next few days they went from that up there, to this:

So pretty! So sweet smelling! So pink and girly and fun! So the next time you want to brighten someone's day, whether they live in the next cubicle, around the corner or on the other side of the country, head on over to the Interflora website and choose that person something special. And pretty! And pink!