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!

source

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!

source

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!

source

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 !!!

I know it is completely illogical but....

...I am convinced that something terrible will happen if I let my girls go to Wet and Wild...there you go I've as good as said it out loud now....


So yeah I know that this makes me a little bit crazy, neurotic even...but I can't help it...hear me out here...

For one thing Wet and Wild is man made...to a deadline....what if in a mad rush to meet that deadline they didn't quite tighten every nut and bolt, what if there is a bolt jiggling its way loose as we speak...yes see... it is possible yes?

source

Oh and what about heat stroke...waiting in those never ending queues to even reach the rides there is a risk of dehydration, sun stroke...heat stroke is a medical emergency people!

source

And another thing....there is water there ...it is everywhere....high risk of drowning when there is water....what if one of the girls hits their head and plummets below the waters surface...unconscious...and they are unseen by the crowds....yes what if...

source

Yes see I am not sounding so crazy now am I !!!!  Well maybe just a tad!  You can't blame me though...I'm a western suburbs girl through and through...water just isn't my thing...and don't even get me started on sand and the beach (I'll save that for another blog!!).

Sadly though Miss 13 has plans to venture out to Wet and Wild with her friends on the weekend and no matter what slightly ridiculous and unfounded phobias and fears that I may harbour I guess I'm just going to have to let her go....after I give her the talk about reapplying sunscreen every hour, drinking plenty of water, wearing her rash vest at all times, not speaking to any strangers, not going in the water for two hours after she eats...yeah you know that talk...and I think I'll throw in a phone call to the supervising mum to casually ask her to make sure my daughter doesn't drown at Wet and Wild....I might phrase it a bit more subtly than that though...what do you think?

It's going to be a long day waiting for her to return home safely that day!

(Just to be clear this post is more about my neuroticism brought on by parenting than it is about any real dangers that exist at Wet and Wild.....I know that thousands of people go there and have a really good time...in fact friends of ours go there all the time and absolutely love it...you should go check it out some time...it caters for all ages with different levels of rides and it even has a beach...with waves!!!  I simply tend to feel the same away about all amusement parks, shopping malls, cinemas, restaurants, the beach.....yeah pretty much anywhere that one of my girls can go!!!....there's that crazy mumma coming out again!)

Please tell me I'm not the only one who has a few slightly crazy fears when it comes to our kids...please, pretty please......

My Liebster Blog Award

One of the great things about blogging is 'virtually' meeting so many wonderful people along the way.  Victoria from Boiled Eggs and Soldiers is one such lovely lady.  If you are a busy mum or just someone in need of dinner inspiration then you should definitely check out her blog for some fabulous quick dinner ideas...and a whole lot more.  Anyways, Victoria nominated me for a 'Liebster Blog Award' which is essentially an award given by bloggers to fellow bloggers as a way of recognizing each others blogs.  


So today I am going to answer the 10 questions that Victoria gave me..a few weeks back now...oops....here goes!


If you could be anywhere in the world right now where would it be?
South of France....my dream would be to run away from the day-to-day for a year or two (or maybe forever!!) with hubby and the girls and live in a lovely little villa in France.

When I grow up I want to...
see the world

What is your favourite thing to eat?
As  infrequent as it is...lobster mornay....yum!

What is the best gift that you have ever been given?
Of course all of those precious handmade gifts from the girls would have to get a mention here!!  But really it was those gorgeous earrings from hubby!!

What colours would we find inside your wardrobe?
Red and black

Since you've started blogging what are the top 3 things you have learned?
To be yourself, to enjoy what you are doing and to be consistent....oops has it really been two weeks since I blogged..again!!

What were you doing a decade ago?
I thought I had my hands full back then being mum to 3 daughters and pregnant with my 4th!

Describe your perfect day....
Would it be wrong to say 'child-free'????

A picture says 1000 words, but in 3 words how would you describe you
Argh this is so hard!  I guess....wanna be 'creative'....'funny' well I always laugh at my jokes even if no one else does and a little 'shy'!!

What is one random thing that most people don't know about you?
Well not one of my family or friends know about this little blogging adventure of mine!  It is my little secret...sssshhhh !!



Oh my gosh, who knew that answering 10 little questions about yourself could be so hard!!

Thank you so much for sharing the Liebster Blog Awards love Victoria !  I will do some research and hopefully find some new blogs to share the love with real soon!

Easy To Make Christmas Gift Idea...

source

With only 6 weeks til Christmas it is a good time to get working on your handmade Christmas gifts.

I saw these cute Christmas mugs when I was doing my grocery shopping and  I couldn't resist buying one of each...okay so it was 4 of each...but hey they are so cute!!!!

Everything I needed for this project was easy to find...I bought my supplies at my local Woolworths store...

Here's what you will need...

Coffee Mugs

·        Hot Chocolate sachets

·        Marshmallows

·        Chocolate biscuits (individually packaged works well)

·        Plastic spoons

·        Baking paper

·        Chocolate melts

·        Cellophane

·        Ribbon

Step 1

Collect all of your supplies together

Step 2

Lay out your plastic spoons on some baking paper.  Ensure that they are as level as possible.  Melt your chocolate.  You could use any chocolate that you like such as white chocolate or dark chocolate…I have used milk chocolate here.

Step 3

Fill your spoons with the melted chocolate…do not overfill!  You could use a piping bag for this step or simply spoon the chocolate into your plastic spoons.  Tap your spoons gently to make sure there are no air bubbles and to help the chocolate spread.  Pop your spoons into the refrigerator.

Step 4

While your spoons are setting in the fridge you can divide up your marshmallows into little packages and tie them up in cellophane using curling ribbon.

Step 5

Once your spoons are set you can wrap them also using cellophane and curling ribbon.

Step 6

Fill your mugs with one chocolate spoon, one hot chocolate sachet, one individually wrapped chocolate biscuit and the marshmallows.  Then wrap with cellophane and your gift is ready to give.

So easy to do and these look great!  They would make a great gift for pre-school teachers, swimming teachers, neighbours etc...

Christmas Gift Guide for Teachers

Eeeek ...keep calm....I don't think I can!!  The weeks are disappearing so quickly!!

This week for my countdown I am putting our beach holiday aside for a minute and focusing on teachers gifts ....mostly female gifts (coz we do girl stuff pretty well around here!!) .....but I will try to throw in one or two male gifts....I really need to get my teacher gifts sorted!!

So here are a few of my favourite things to buy for teachers...

A few years ago I stumbled upon Shack Stuff at a local market.  I fell in love with their stuff instantly...and of course I couldn't leave without something....you can check out my first purchase from them here and you can check out their website here and their facebook page here.  One of my favourite things from their range for a teachers gift are their memo boards.  These are the most gorgeous memo boards you will ever see and they are made with so much care and attention to detail.  These memo boards feature a calico background with a hand sewn motif in a timber frame with glass.  You can use a non permanent  marker to write on these but I particularly love using the chalk marker that you can buy from Shack Stuff and they come in a variety of colours too.  We have bought a variety of these for teachers of the last few years and they look great with a handwritten Christmas message on them from the girls...and it lets's the teacher know what they are for too!  These are great value for a handmade item with the smaller ones $20 and the A3 size $30.  From Shack Stuff you will also find beautiful magnet boards, wooden trays and glass jars that make stunning displays...and a whole lot more!  Haha can you tell I am a little bit obsessed!!

You can't go wrong if you do your teacher gift shopping at Kikki K...well I'd love it if I was a teacher!!!!!  I love these 2015 diaries for $39.95...you can check out the range here...

I also love Kikki K's Thankful Journal gift pack...and they are great value at only $19.95...take a look at them here.  In the pack you get a Thankful Journal, a pen and a mini card and envelope set.

Your teacher might love this Hanging Wall Storage from Typo...check it out here... perfect for getting organised in the classroom...or at  home....hmmm I could really use one of these myself!  Good value...currently on sale for $19.95...gotta love a sale!!

A great gift for the preschool teacher or perhaps kindergarten teacher are these range of stickers from mysticker4u...you can check out their website here  You can get your teachers name printed on these stickers which make them so adorable!  And these are perfect for male and female teachers.

Another gift perfect for both male and female teachers are these personalised notepads from LivLoveCruz on etsy....you can check out their shop here.  You get 2 notepads for $10 USD and each has 40 pages....you even get to choose the font type and ink olour!

My tip is to get to know your chids' teacher a little...if they are going on a trip in the holidays then perhaps you can buy them a travel journal like this one from Typo... or you could pick up some travel accessories at Kathmandu.

If they've had a stressful year then maybe a little pamper pack from The Body Shop to treat themselves.

If you are still stuck for ideas then maybe a movie voucher or a voucher from a local gift store or craft shop.  And if all else fails....chocolates...who doesn't love chocolate !!!!!!!!!!!!

What do you buy for your childs' teachers?  Is there anything above that takes your fancy??

6 Years Ago Today...

Six years ago today hubby and I had planned to sit back, put our feet up and enjoy a day of racing on the tv...maybe even pick the Melbourne Cup winner  It was going to be our last chance for a restful day before bub number 5 came along in two weeks time.

Hubby arranged to take the girls to school so that I could have a sleep in...gotta love that man!  

6am came around, I got up to go to the loo...as you do when you are 38 weeks pregnant!! Then I returned to bed to make the most of this sleepin...god knows it would probably be the last for quite some time!!  For fear of telling you too much information I couldn't get back to sleep due to a weird 'trickling'...down there :-0

Eventually I got up and decided to have a shower.  I suspected that this baby was not going to wait til her due date....now to break the news to hubby that his day of relaxation might be slightly interrupted!!

When he got back from school drop off I mentioned the possibility...his first question was would we still be home for the Melbourne Cup...haha isn't he adorable!  Rethinking his comment he then asked if there was a tv or radio at the hospital...better question darling!!

Even though this was bub number 5 I was pretty confident that we had a fair bit of time up our sleeves...let's just say that I will never be the mum caught out giving birth on the side of the road because it all happened so quickly that she couldn't make it to hospital....long labours here!

Around lunch time we called my sister to come over and mind the then miss 4 and to pick up the other girls after school.  With regular contractions we went to the hospital around 1pm. And once checked in and settled into my room..well then it all slowed down didn't it!  But it was confirmed that that mystery 'trickling' in the morning was probably my waters so things were underway...slowly!

Well let's cut a long story short and just skip a lot of monitoring and checking and jump a few hours ahead to when I decided an epidural would be advantageous!  After it was all administered the midwife came in and said that this baby was ready to come....it was about 9pm by this time!!  At this point she said that we'd wait until the epidural wore off to start pushing...what the..??!  Wait for the pain relief to wear off then push....no, no,no....I think I'll start pushing now thanks!

I remember the anesthetist saying that the epidural would wear off in about 50 minutes...so I was determined to push this bub out within that time frame!!  I watched the clock continuously!

So approx. 10pm that night...bub number 5 was born...two weeks before her due date but definitely not in too much of a hurry that day!!

Now I might not be able to tell you her exact weight or length at birth...but I can tell you that the Melbourne Cup winner that day was Number 10...viewed!!

Now this is the part where I should have a beautiful newborn image of my now miss 6, perhaps a collage of cute moments over the last six years...but yeah when I say I am disorganized...I mean it lol !!!  So watch this space...maybe I will come back and update it with a photo...hopefully before she turns 7 lol !!

But here is a picture of the birthday girl this morning !!

Happy Birthday Miss 6!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Race that Stops the Nation....

source

Yes tomorrow is the big day....'the race that stops the nation".  I will admit that I do love the Melbourne Cup...hubby tries to take the day off work when he can and we spend the day watching the races and eating cheese and crackers!!  So much better than housework!!

I love the feel, the atmosphere, the excitement, the fashions, the horses.....albeit all through my television screen!!

You could study the form guide for hours and still have no idea which horse to back...or is that just me!!??  So that takes me to the million dollar question....how do you go about picking your horse?

Well here's a few methods that might bring you some luck in the big race...


LUCKY NUMBER

If you don't have a lucky number of your own then saddle cloth numbers 4 and 12 have been the luckiest over the history of the cup.  So perhaps Red Cadeaux or Who Shot The Barman are in with a chance this year!

source

JOCKEY COLOURS

Most often the Cup has been won by a jockey wearing blue, followed by black and then yellow/gold.

So perhaps there is a good chance for Admire Rakti whose jockey Zac Purton will be wearing blue tomorrow!!

source

HORSE COLOURS

It seems that Bay coloured horses are most likely to win the Cup, probably because that is the most common colour of horse!   This is then followed by brown and chestnut.
Did you know that there have only been six grey horses to win the cup..so perhaps it is Fawkners time to shine tomorrow!!

source

BARRIER NUMBER

If your horse has drawn barrier 5 or 11 then perhaps you are in with a chance as these barriers have produced the most Cup winners.  So Unchain My Heart and Protectionist might have a dream run!

If your horse has drawn barrier 18...then my condolences!!  No horses have won from barrier 18 to date...!! 

source

ODDS

Only 3 horses have won at 3 figure odds with the last time being in 1940...so just maybe we are due for a big win!  So although the lady at the TAB might give a chuckle when you put your money down on Mr O'Ceirin, it will be you laughing all the way to the bank if he somehow manages to "do a Bradbury"....never say never !!

source

And if all that fails then I guess there is eenie meenie miney mo !!


Here are my current picks...though there is still plenty of time to change my mind lol !!

#8     Junoob....because it's a funny name!
#3     Fawkner....go grey horse!!
#17   Mr O'Ceirin....because he is currently 201/1 and if he won we could go out to dinner!!
#10   Gatewood....because tomorrow is my daughters birthday and on that day 6 years ago            #10 won the cup!
#1     Admire Rakti....because everybody is talking him and I don't want to miss out!!

So yeah as you can see I have really put some serious thought into my selections !!!!!

Do you love or loathe the Melbourne Cup?  Do you use any of the methods above to choose your horse?  Would you care to share your hot tips?

The information above was obtained from the following websites
http://www.races.com.au/melbourne-cup/melbourne-cup-history/facts-and-statistics/
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-11-03/melbourne-cup-horses-results-interactive/5862140
and is all just a bit of fun.  Make sure you gamble responsibly.