Christmas has come and gone...

Well Christmas has come and gone for another year....

So much time and thought and shopping and planning goes into that one day....and then it's over!

This year we are lucky enough to be on holidays for Christmas...for a while there I thought we wouldn't make it what with a lot of money going on plumbing issues and specialists appointments during the year...but we made it...just !

It took a few days for me to be able to relax into the holiday as I was still mentally counting dollars and allocating them to bills and groceries etc..  but after a day or two I decided to move on and enjoy the holiday and the family time....and get into the Christmas spirit!

We decorated our Christmas tree and put baubles and tinsel everywhere!   

Christmas eve was spent with everyone prepping food, chopping and grating and mixing! We didn't have an oven in this property so we just went for cold meats and salads with pavlova and jelly and icecream of course!

Hubby was very proud of the salad he threw together...

and miss 6 was very proud of the fruit salad Christmas tree that she and hubby put together...

We opened pressies, we ate and ate, and we swam at the beach.  It turned out to be one of the most relaxed Christmas days ever....and maybe one of the sandy-est.....argh sand!!!

1 week til Christmas...and signing off til the new year!

Wow....1 week....7 sleeps....yep, just 7.....oh my gosh!!!!

There is still a little shopping to do, still a lot of wrapping to do....and a whole heap of holiday planning and packing to do....eeek!!

The lead up to Christmas this year has been a sombre one....there seems to have been one tragedy after another, what with the tragic death of Phil Hughes, the poor abandoned baby near Blacktown, the reported finding of a deceased baby at the beach, the terrible news of the Sydney siege....

It has been a sad, sad time and this Christmas I pray for everyone who has been through a recent tragedy.....large or small.....for everyone who has someone missing from their Christmas celebrations.....

As I finalize our holiday and Christmas arrangements I will be leaving my internet behind so I will take this chance now to wish all of you here a joyous and memorable Christmas and a truly happy new year.  Stay safe and take care of those around you.

I will be popping in on Facebook and instagram here and there when pocket wi-fi allows...because I just can't resist!!  

Thank you for visiting throughout 2014....I still can't believe that you guys come here and read this stuff!!  I look forward to sharing 2015 with you all!!

2 weeks til Christmas...

Two weeks until Christmas...just under two weeks til we go on holidays....my head is in a constant state of turmoil !!

Trying to get to all of the end of year events, ensuring we have all the necessary Christmas presents, packing for 7 people to go away for a few weeks, ensuring the cats are up to date with vaccinations so they can go into boarding ....OVERLOAD !!!!!

I am going to bed later and later and getting up earlier and earlier in an attempt to get through each days 'to-do' lists!

Whilst I love Christmas I don't necessarily love this time of year....it is just crazy!

But at least I have done a good part of my Christmas shopping in a 5 hour Westfield marathon!

But now it is time to get wrapping while these girls sleep and hubby is at work....busy busy!!!

3 weeks til Christmas

This quote is so me right now....I am freaking out!!!!

In less than three weeks we will be heading off on holidays and in three weeks it will be Christmas day!!

So to date Christmas shopping is incomplete, packing for holidays is not started, house is out of control and each day is filled with extra activities....panic stations!!!

This week though I did focus on putting together a hamper for St Vincent De Paul to distribute to the needy this Christmas.

I struggled with what to put in the hamper as all I knew was that it was for a family of at least 4 people...I did not know ages, gender, number of children etc...  

I wanted to hamper to be a little bit special rather than just full of $2 shop tinsel and decorations so I rummaged through my fabric stash and found some Christmas prints. I decided to make a bunting with this so then they would have something to keep from year to year.

I had also purchased yarn and other bits and bobs once upon a time to knit a wreath for our front door....I decided to knit the wreath for the family instead.  And yes I hope you are sitting down because I actually did finish it!!

Two craft projects finished within one week...a record I would say!!

Not quite a craft project...but still worthy of a mention...I also made Christmas cookies in a jar from The Organised Housewife for the hamper...I thought that perhaps it would give the family a fun activity to do together in the lead up to Christmas day.

I was glad that I was able to include the homemade items in the hamper to give it a more personal touch. 

I wanted to include items that could bring the family some fun so I included the Upwords board game and a packet of Uno as I figured both of these covered a reasonable age range and they were gender neutral.  I also included a frisbee...great for fun in the backyard!

I popped in some hand cream and bath bombs as well as a pretty little bird candle that I found at a local shop.

Then I filled the rest with food items such as biscuits, pringles, lollies etc... to hopefully make their Christmas day special. 

I really hope that this hamper brings a bit of Christmas joy to the family that it goes to.  It was really nice to focus on those who have less than we do at Christmas and to try and make their Christmas a little bit better.

Argh Schoolies!!!!

Okay so do you want to know one thing that scares me more than Wet n Wild (you can read about that crazy phobia here)....it is SCHOOLIES.......aaarggghh !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Are you familiar with Schoolies.....it is generally considered by year 12 students as their rite of passage as they descend on Surfers Paradise, and other locations, to begin their ultimate summer vacation with friends before starting their post school lives.

Sounds okay in theory hey!

But to me as a mum that translates to something like letting your daughter travel some 850 kilometers from home to spend a week of days at the beach and nights at parties fueled by alcohol and possibly drugs and attended by thousands of virile young men with no parental supervision!!

Now it is not sounding so good hey!

I dread the day that one of the girls tells us she wants to go to schoolies week....I dread it so much that I may have to ground each of them once their final HSC exams are done!


I will hope and pray...and even bribe them not to go if I have to !!!!

I can trust my girls to the moon and back but that doesn't remove all possibility of something terrible happening to them....and when you put tens of thousands of teenagers together, throw in alcohol, testosterone, mind altering substances...well then you have one 'shit scared' mumma sitting at home counting down the days, minutes, hours, seconds until her child returns home safely....and if you have multiple children then you face it all again a few years later.

So I don't mean to rain on your parade schoolies....I just don't want my kiddies to go to the parade!!!!

Argh it's gunna be hard to let go one day!!!!  Are you a fan of schoolies?  Did you go and survive to tell the tale??

4 weeks til Christmas

Oh my gosh that is so me....I need to get some serious shopping done !!!!!!

Less than 4 weeks til we go on holidays....and currently no planning or packing has been done...I work well under pressure so will probably get onto this the day before we go!!

And only 4 weeks til Christmas and I have only just made some Christmas present purchases...still so much to do!!!!!

The girls are writing their lists for Santa this weekend so that should give me some direction.....I hope!!  And yes, they all still write lists lol !!!

This week I hit the shops and came home with some beach towels and beach bag for some friends....and I've got to say I was pretty impressed with myself because they were all on sale!!!

But my favourite purchase this week is this Selfies book....it is totally my Miss 13.....my iPhone is overloaded with her selfies!!  And just for a laugh I bought her a selfie stick too!

The Selfies book is like a baby brag book/photo album designed just for your selfies.  Here's a look at a few pages....

 'Me'   'Me again'

 'Looking cute'    '#nofilter'

'In the mirror'    'Moi!'

Excuse the poor photography but I was trying to hide from everybody which is not easy in this house!!

Hubby thought this was such a classic present for Miss 13......I can't wait for Christmas day to see her face!!!

I bought this book for $24.95 from WOW Designer Giftware in Rouse Hill....you can check out their Facebook page here.... be warned...they have so many awesome gifts!!   I could have stayed in there for hours!

I get a little over excited when I find such a good present!! So now I am one awesome present down...but still so many more to go!!

How's your Christmas shopping going?  What great gifts have you found this year?

5 weeks til Christmas !!

Well Christmas is well and truly on the way...only 5 weeks to go....I've gotta admit I'm a little freaked out now!!  Still so much Christmas shopping to do....well in fact nearly all of it still to do!!  Pressies to be wrapped, menu to be prepared....oh and then there's the packing for our holiday!!!!

It is knowing that in just under 5 weeks from now that I will be looking out at this view for a week that is keeping me going with the school uniform washing, blouse ironing, lunch making....the Christmas concerts, the hot food day, my canteen duties, the homework, ALL OF IT!!!!!!!!

I think I'll have to make this beach pic my phone screen saver for the next few weeks to help get me by!

So this week I am a little bit focused on holidays....I saw this car seat organiser and thought that it would be great for Miss 6 to keep her entertained on the drive...even though it is only an hour and a half to our holiday destination.  In fact the amount of time that we spend in the car some weeks this would come in handy all year round.  I know a few friends with kids for whom this would make a great Christmas present!

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Now since we are off to the beach for a few weeks swimwear is in order!  I love these rash vests from Sunuva in the UK....I love that they are long sleeves as I am one of those over protective mums at the beach...pretty insistent on the slip,slop, slap kind of thing!  I also love them because they are such bright colours...and when you are trying to keep track of five children at the beach or pool bright is good!

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Now I am thinking that hubby and I might need to invest in two of these!!  Looks like a comfy way to supervise the kiddies...even has a drink holder and adjusts to multiple positions....best be careful not to nap on the job!

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I am so looking forward to holidays....and Christmas !!!!

Are you getting excited about Christmas getting closer....or are you just getting freaked out...like me !!!