No Flynn, Its Not Christmas

• Its that time of year again - toy sale time! I will freely admit that i love the annual toy sales from the big department stores : anything that saves me money on Christmas gifts, makes it easy for me to hide said gifts ( just leave them on layby until the day you want to wrap them! ) and, thus, makes Christmas that bit less stressful is a winner with me. I even enjoy browsing through the catalogues multiple times and picking out what gifts the children in my life might like. What i dont like is trying to get Flynn to understand that he isnt getting those gifts for a long while yet.

  
  

  

  
  

   All the parents out there will feel my pain - trying to explain to a very small person that yes, it IS a Christmas catalogue but NO it isnt Christmas is very, very frusturating. At 3.5 years old Flynn is old enough to want to trawl his way through the catalogues, marvelling at all the cool new toys, and very helpfully directing me to the pages which contain something he would like ( for the record.... that means EVERY PAGE ). However, he isnt quite old enough to wrap his head around the idea that things on sale so you can save money for a time of year that is still months away.  Everyday for a week i've been asked:

  " But Mum - is it going to be Christmas tomorrow ?"

  " No Flynn, Christmas is still a long time away "

  " But Mum, Aunty Pippy already bought me some toys. Do i get them tomorrow? "

  " No Flynn, those presents are for Christmas "

  " But Mum - is it going to be Christmas tomorrow ? "

  
  

  ....Cue eye roll and tearing out of hair. I have started explaining to him that there are 7 birthdays in our family before its Christmas time, so he'll just have to wait til all the birthdays are over and done with before he can even think about getting any gifts for himself. I plan on hitting up the Big W toy sale the day after it starts, so once my shopping and lay-bying has been done the already dog-earred Big W catalogue may have to go mysteriously missing...

  
  

  Are you a Toy Sale-r? Do you lay by or pay outright and then hide the gifts from little prying eyes? Has your husband also picked himself out a gift from the 'toy' catalogue, like an adult sized child?

All Wired Up!

• I'm just throwing this out there but has anyone seen the episode of " The Big Bang Theory " where Sheldon drinks heaps of coffee and ends up running around the apartment, high as a kite on the caffeine, thinking his Flash Gordon? Yes? Well my friends - that was me on the weekend, all hopped on caffeine so i could drive the return leg of a long roadtrip and stay awake at the wheel. I dont normally drink caffeine ( yes, you read that right, this here lady does NOT drink coffee ) so the mega can of Mother energy drink my husband bought me worked a treat!

  
  

  Long story short, we had to drive roughloy 4.5 hrs down to Wagga Wagga to pick up our new truck. Obviously, we travelled together on the way down, then Mick drove his truck home, leaving me to man the ship ( as it were ) in our car. Its not that i havent driven long trips before - i used to do it all the time in my early 20's, visiting friends who had left town - but since becoming all domesticated and having my husband do all the driving on roadtrips i've become accustomed to snoozing away in the passenger seat. That just wasnt an option this time, so a big can of caffeinated, guaran-ed energy drink and a refreshed IPod playlist and i was raring to go.

  
  

  So raring to go in fact that my husband wondered what was wrong with me. I think he may have been able to see me in his rear vision mirror, going full rock star kareoke style behind him in the car, all loopy on energy drink and pretending to be auditioning for The Voice. Which, mind you, i would totally have made it on because i am an awesome roadtrip kareoke singer.

  
  

  And, for the record, i would definately be Team Ricky ( swoon ).

  
  

  Tell me i'm not the only one - roadtripping solo is the BEST place for your best rockstar impression.... right?
  
  IBOT time again over at EssentiallyJess .... Come join us!

  
  

  
  

What A Week!

Don't you just love when things ( finally ) come together? In the space of a week we have a) sold the large truck we have been using in our courier business for the past 18 months; b) bought a smaller truck ( we'll be travelling 4.5hrs to take delivery of it tomorrow ) that will be more suitable for us and save money in the process and c) accepted an offer on our duplex. Though I'm trying not to get too excited until the contracts are signed and there is money in my bank account....can I just say STRESSES BE GONE!

The only down side is that Miss Tully has picked up a little cold, is all snuffly and snotty and not quite herself. Though, even with that, I have been privy to some wonderful ' I'm sick and I just want my mummy ' snuggles and I have to confess I've loved it. Ooh, ooh....and Tully is finally crawling, though not in the traditional sense. She moves her hands in the 'proper' manner but she gets up on one knee and just drags the other. Even so, after only about 10 days of confidently moving about, she's starting to get quick! No more leaving things on the floor anymore because nothing is safe.... Which Flynn learned when Tully tore up 'his' very special Myers toy catalogue. Oh, the devastation....

And so tomorrow we road trip to Wagga to collect the new truck, and next week its all about waiting for contracts to be signed. Things are looking up people, things are finally looking up!

Two Peas

• Two peas in a pod - thats how most people described my children just after Tully was born. Despite Flynn being a boy and Tully a girl, they did look very much alike when she was a brand newbie, so 'two peas in a pod ' it was. However, now that she is almost ten months, its becoming apparent they are not as alike as some people first thought.

  
  

  For starters, Tully is growing into her own face - she looks much less like Flynn than she did when she was first born ( and, in fact, is starting to look very similar to myself at the same age ). They've also hit - or not hit - milestones differently. Flynn crawled at 9 months; Tully is 10 months this week and has developed a hybrid crawl/bum shuffle type thing, but can pull herself up and cruise along the furniture like a pro ( which Flynn couldnt do til just before he turned one ). Flynn got his firs tooth at 6 months old and had 8 by the time he turned one; Tully got her first teeth at 7 and a half months ( the bttom two popped up within a week of each other ) but has had nothing since.Tully hit the first words milestone before Flynn did ( though both are proving to be very vocal regardless of vocabulary! ).

  
  

  But the one difference that has hit me most this week is a difference in personality - Flynn, at 10 months old, was a very affectionate baby. He was always up for a cuddle, gave the biggest, sloppiest kisses and if he was even remotely tired he would burrow his head into my shoulder, stroke my hair and fall asleep. Tully? Well, she seems to be more of the Miss Independent type. She does give cuddles sporadically but her version of cuddling is to nuzzle her head into your neck - no arms involved - and her kisses, though as equally as sloppy as Flynns, are very few and far between. Dont get me wrong - Tully does show affection, by reaching out to be picked up, or cruising along the furniture till she's tapping happily on your legs, or by calling out and waving. Its just that, after having a super affectionate child like Flynn ( who, at 3 and a half, still randomly kisses me during the day or asks for a hug ' just because ' ), Tully seems obviously less so.

  
  

  Sometimes i do wish she'd just curl up on my lap and snuggle, or that she'd give me a big, drooly smooch hello when i pick her up from daycare, and i'm hoping she may grow into that behaviour a little more as she gets older.... but i may also have to acknowledge that the Miss Independent thing is just her way. In the meantime i'm going to relish the chance to rub my cheek on her fluffy head while she has her bottle, to give her cheeks a few tickly kisses everytime i pick her up, and to lie my head on her tummy after a nappy change and let her play with my hair, while i still can. Goodness knows time flies that quickly i dont know how much time i have left before either of my kids are too big for that sort of thing....

  
  

  Are your kids affectionate, or quietly standoff-ish? Do you have 'peas in a pod ' or very different little people? Do you sometimes wish they were different either way or lovingly accept them as they are?
  
  
  Linking up with IBOT over at Essentially Jess!

  
  

A Heavy Glass

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  I read something yesterday that really struck a cord with me - that our problems are like a glass of water. That is, a single glass of water may not weigh all that much, but the longer we hold onto it the heavier it will appear to become. If we only hold it for a minute, it wont trouble us much. Hold onto it for an hour, our wrists may start to ache a little. Hold that glass of water up for a whole day and our whole arm will begin to fatigue. So it is with our problems - if we think on them only for a minute and then let them go, they dont trouble us too badly.... but spend the entire day holding onto them, pondering and wondering and fussing over them, and they will begin to seem very heavy indeed.

  
  

  I HAVE to learn to let things ago. I've always been one to think too long on things, to twist them and turn them, exploring every possible avenue and outcome, until they start to weigh too heavily on me. Thats whats been happening the last fortnight or so - i've taken an idea and run with it, and the more i mull it over, the more scenarios seem to occur to me. Like everything, it has its potential positive and negative outcomes, but of course i can only seem to focus on the worst. Its giving me headaches, heart pains and many nights of fitful sleep. ( Nevermind that Tully is teething and i havent been getting much sleep anyway ).

  
  

  So .... i have to learn to let things go. To pay them some attention, just for a minute, and then move on until they actually NEED the attention again. If i cant learn to control my over-active mind, my physical health will suffer. I know that sounds dramatic, but its the truth.

  
  

  Who knew that wanting the best for your family, and wanting it so badly, could be so bad for you?

  
  

What Do They Say About Change?

* Please note that this post contains products that I was gifted. Opinions are, of course, all my own.

Oh yes.... They say change is as good as a holiday. And, after the past two weeks I've had I could use either one, or the other, or possibly even both. Seeing as a proper holiday is not due to happen until Christmas, it was a pleasant surprise to find an email waiting for me from the good people at OO.com.au, offering me my choice of a complimentary home wares product.

Home wares, without my own house to put it in? At first, I thought it was the Universes idea of a cruel joke but then it dawned on me - the one space Mick and I do have to ourselves at the moment is our bedroom. And the best way to change up a small bedroom in a house that isn't yours? A brand spanking new quilt cover!

 I had a look through the OO website ( which, for those not in the know, is pretty much a virtual department store. Its for everything! ) and settled on a pretty set in teal, green and white.

Luckily my husband isnt overly fussy - he's not one of these blokes who can't cope with ' girly ' prints - but even if he was? The quilt cover is reversible..... Winning!

So now, thanks to OO.com.au, i've discovered a great new place to shop online and I've had a little change to what is my only sanctuary at the moment.... Now - who wants to gift me a holiday?

And, because its Tuesday, you should join me over at EssentiallyJess for I Blog On Tuesdays!

Old Mc-Tully

Just a quick one for today because its waaaaay cute and I feel the need to for people to see it. I have already posted it to my personal Facebook page not if you didn't see it there here is a short video of Tully singing ' Old McDonald Had A Farm ' , ably accompanied by her Pop, as filmed by her aunt, and featuring a last minute cameo from Flynn towards the end. Turn your volume all the way up and enjoy!

And Then Life Got In The Way

Crazy, messy, stressful life. I haven't posted in a fortnight because all those daily happenings have felt somehow magnified into huge obstacles, big stresses that have been getting me down and keeping me busy.

When I have had a free minute I've been choosing ' Game of Thrones ' over the blog ( surely you can forgive me that ), or watching a little TV or torturing myself running hypothetical numbers through online calculators, and fretting over possibly having to live with my parents FOREVER.

In short..... I've been very much preoccupied. It won't happen again. Promise!