Lazy blogging using old (but adorable) photos.....

Charlie found Del's police helmet not too long ago, and couldn't resist trying it on.


'Allo, 'allo, 'allo! What's going on 'ere then?

PC Charlie is on the case.



Look, I'm just like Daddy! I'm off to fight crime and restore order to our neighbourhood.



But first..... hmmm.... I think something's not quite right with this helmet.



Oh.



A little adjustment.....



Ah, there we go! No-one pulls the wool over this policeman's eyes.



I'm the best policemen ever!



But you know what .....



.... I think I've had enough of this. Fighting crime and dealing with oversized headwear is exhausting.

I'm off for a nap. I'll leave the police work up to Daddy from now on.

Living in the moment.

As I pass through the door to go outside, carrying a basket of freshly washed clothes to hang in the blossom scented warm air, I stop, breathe and remind myself that this is the now, to just live in the moment.

How wonderful it is.

I hear the calls of the black cockatoos feasting on the bright red Callistemon flowers outside my home, so I stop for a moment, unbolt the front door and stand on the front grass (still in my pajamas!) and watch the magic of nature.

How wonderful it is.

Checking on my littlest boy, finally sleeping soundly, I gently kiss his cheek. Checking on my two older boys, stretched out long and lanky in their beds, one of them snoring quietly in his sleep, I also gently kiss their cheeks, and marvel at the joy of being a mother.

How wonderful it is.

Wandering outside to pick fresh produce from my garden, ready for our simple, natural and tasty family dinner that night, the freshest of fresh lettuce leaves, sugar snap peas that really snap, and delicious parsley to flavour our meal, I am thankful for the bounty of this Earth.

How wonderful it is.

Snuggling into warmed sheets at night, content that my family is tucked up safe and warm dreaming their special dreams, knowing that all I need to focus on is this moment, nothing else needs attention, my mind and body are free to rest. And dream. And hope.

How wonderful it is.

Another Fabulous & Fashionable Friday post

Friday! It's Friday everyone!

*insert happy dance here*

Not sure why I love Friday so much, since I don't work Monday to Friday away from home. Instead I work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, so weekends aren't much different really from any other day.

But Friday is the day of love, named for Norse goddess Freya. So we have to love Fridays.

And being Friday, there's also something else to love.

Fabulous and Fashionable Friday posts!!!

This time I bring you something a little different. A sneak peak at another part of my life. My husband Del, runs his own business as a Dog Trainer extraordinaire. Every second Saturday he runs a group training session for clients and their dogs who have completed the initial training, and I take our dog Trooper along, to socialise and put him through his paces. He loves showing off!

Lately we've started to introduce some basic agility exercises, just for a bit of fun, and because I've been practising with Trooper at home, I've kindly been promoted to guest trainer for the agility side of things. Thanks honey! It's been great fun and the dogs, and owners, all seem to enjoy the fun of working the agility equipment.

So what's this all got to do with F&FF I hear you ask?

Well...............


.......I get to show you my Guest Trainer Extrordinaire outfit, of course.

Do I look like I mean business, command respect and can get those dogs jumping and weaving in no time at all?


Or do I look like a pushover trying to look the part?

Del says I look like a German Stormtrooper. Not sure if that's a compliment. You never know with my husband.

But I think it's all in the boots.


"The boots maketh the dog trainer." Leiani, 2011.

Anyway, just to finish off, here's the hand signal for 'sit'.

(BTW Trooper responds to spoken commands as well as silent hand signals, both on or off lead, close by or far away. He'd want me to let you all know that, show off that he is).



So sit down a while longer, have another cuppa and enjoy your Friday.

Good girl/boy! *pats your head affectionately* Well done!

Update as promised...... told in lazy-ass bullet point style.

• It's been the season of illness and injury. I'm very much over playing both nurse and patient.
  
• Currently, Charlie has an ear infection, so we got antibiotics. No biggie, except it turns out he is allergic to penicillin. At the moment we could easily play dot to dot on him, but the rash is so big we'd get bored before finishing.
• Recently found out that Corey needs shoulder surgery. At 13 years old. Seems he's one of the rare few lucky enough *sarcasm* that his shoulder dislocates in one of three possible ways (back, forwards and down) whenever he lifts his arm. If anyone waves at him and he doesn't wave back, he's not ignoring you. He's just trying to prevent his arm falling off.
• Kaiden turned 16 yesterday. OMG 16! Mentally, I still feel the same as I did at 16. Physically though I feel older. A lot older. Scary that your child is the same age you were when you considered yourself a grown up.
• Now he's 16 I get to teach him to drive. I'm both excited and terrified at the thought.
  
• Kaiden chose to have KFC as his birthday dinner. I chose not to partake of it.
  
• Kaiden had a caramel mud cake for his birthday cake. I did partake of it.
• Charlie hasn't slept through the night for about 2 weeks due to being ill.
• I'm tired.
• Very tired.
• I've neglected my home shamefully (please don't tell anyone). And no-one open any closets or closed doors, you never know what I may have stashed there.
• My dad had an accident moving house, crushing his hand. He ended up having his little finger amputated, and the next one screwed back together in the hope of saving it. He's doing fine, and is most upset that he may no longer being able to hold onto the paddle strongly enough to continue using his stand up paddle surfboard. Priorities, you know.
• Have been struggling to balance work commitments, keeping up with the housework, spending time with the family, study that never happens, getting enough sleep etc etc. Is achieving all this even possible for a mortal woman such as myself?
  
• The sleep part never seems to happen enough.
  
• I haven't baked in a LONG time. So much so that when I did go to bake everything was past it's use by date. Even the flour. Bad stepford wife.
• I've thought of a bajillion blog posts to write in recent months. Usually while washing dishes, driving or showering. I think to myself, that's fantastic, best post idea ever, well done self! Then promptly forget it two seconds later.
• Charlie and I have been enjoying the warmer weather as we head into Spring, and have been having a picnic lunch in the back yard most days. Just a short time out from the busy-ness of life, soaking up the sun, listening to the birds, hearing the breeze blowing in the trees. Aaaaahhh.....
• Currently, watching big grey clouds rolling in, ready for a thunderstorm to happen on the first day of Spring.
  
• Just remembered I have washing on the line...........................
  

My days.....

This is kind of like my days, only I'm less productive.... and less funny at writing about it:

Nothing Happened Today. Let Me Tell You Allllllll About It.

Will attempt to write a catch up post, stemming from now back to, oh hell, I can't even remember when I stopped blogging regularly, but to back then sometime anyway.

So much to tell, so little time. Might have to make it a bullet point update.

Just to save you the time in reading too of course.

I'm thoughtful like that.

Somebody turned 3 today!!!!

Today is Charlie's 3rd birthday. Here is where I make the comments such as 'where has the time gone', or 'my baby is growing up' etc etc.

It's all true, where has the time gone, and where has that little baby gone?

But it's not a day for looking back, it's a day for FUN, and we had a fantastic day.

Here's a few of the highlights......


A brand new train set.



Then playing racing cars in the box the train set came in.



A new soccer ball.



And testing it out.



Birthday cake!!!



Making a wish.

3 is a very important birthday. Especially to the person turning 3!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHARLIE!

Fashionable and Fabulous Friday - The Sexy Red Dress Edition

And here we are at the best day of the week! Yay for Fridays.

Let's get straight into it today, shall we?


It's the Lady in Red (looking a little severe in this particular photo).

Actually I wore this outfit on Monday when I went to work, but I really wanted to take pics of it to show you all, so I saved it for today.

Today I'm at home dressed a little more casual as I don't usually wear foot ache and limp inducing high heeled boots around the house all that much.


This lovely red wool dress is my attempt to brighten up winter a little. It's a new purchase from when I took myself on a bit of a spending spree last week. I love to wear red so I just couldn't go past this particular dress.

I usually wear jeans or long pants in winter as I feel the cold, but I wanted to be a bit different so this warm dress is perfect teamed with thick black tights and previously mentioned, foot pain inducing black boots.

(As a cute aside : when I wear tights or stockings, Charlie can't help constantly touching my legs and asking why mummy's legs are black. For some inexplicable reason he just can't fathom why I would want to wear such a thing).

So there you have it - Warm, Fashionable and of course, Fabulous!

And just to finish off, the obligitory final photo :


Soon he'll be taking the F&FF photos for me.

Have a Fabulous weekend people!

How do you spend a sick day?

Today our home is over run with illness. The horrible runny nose, annoying sore throat and irritating cough type of illness. People seem to be dropping like flies.

Thankfully, I'm still healthy. Someone needs to be well enough to dish out sympathy and tissues.

So what did I do to entertain a disgustingly snotty almost three year old stuck indoors due to bad weather and illness?


Played cars (of course!).



Picked the meagre winter vegetables from our garden in between rain showers.



Practised our letters.



Ate lots of yummy healthy fruit.



Did some cooking.



And used lots of these.

Got to Love a Husband that Cooks

Things around this lovely home of mine are busy, busy, busy (nothing new there!).

So busy I didn't get to post the fantastic Fashionable & Fabulous Friday post I had ready for Friday. Or get to on Saturday like I'd planned.

Or Sunday.

And now today being Monday and all, I'm so over it, that I'll just save it for this coming Friday! Bonus post prepared in advance. Yay!

I meant to do that!

So things are busy as I try to catch up on a mountain of work that's been looming over me *sigh* but I have resolved to try to change things around a bit, you know the old saying "Work smarter, not harder"? Well, I plan to try to make that happen. Umm, yeah, sounds too easy, right?

I'll let you know how it goes.

Due to my over busy-ness my wonderful husband made dinner last night, and displayed his culinary skills to beautiful effect.


Mmmm.... chilli con carne.


With homemade garlic bread.


A little portion for Charlie.

And to make this even better, there was enough left that I'm reheating it for dinner tonight with rice and crusty bread.

I get out of cooking two nights in a row, and still get a home made meal.

Got to love a husband that cooks. Thanks honey!

Making It Through The Day One Teeth Gritting Episode At A Time

Lately I've found it difficult to get back into the swing of blogging regularly.

One or two of you may have noticed. No? Oh, you're too kind!

My last post mentioned I hardly know what day or week it is at any given time. Christmas could be tomorrow for all I know these days.

Or Easter.

My days went from long tedious stretches of days at home, too tired and ill to do anything, to BAM, you're well again let's fill every available minute with something to do! Swimming, music, martial arts, story time at the library, working 30 hrs a week from home, housework, cooking..... every damn second of every damn day.

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and all the way through to Sunday.

Then repeat. And repeat. And repeat.......

Most of these activities are either for this particular person, or are done with him in tow :



His social schedule is busier than mine (an easy thing to happen given my social schedule is pretty much totally empty these days). But the alternative is being stuck at home everyday, where he gets bored and mama goes a little bonkers.

You know, I think I need a holiday. Somewhere warm and tropical sounds good right now. Possibly without children, or at least where I can escape for long periods on my own.

Or if I must have someone with me, let it be a highly skilled massuese.

Look at this innocent face. How could anyone need a break from such an angel, I hear you wonder?



Well, let me tell you that this little 'angel' woke 4 times during the night, and then for some reason known only to him, decided that 5.30am was a great time to start the day.

I didn't agree with him on that point.

Then because he didn't sleep well and then got up at stupid 'o' clock, he's been grumpy as all hell this morning, and I don't have much patience for some strange reason.

But in between all these things, he does something so silly and cute that I can't help but smile and cuddle and love him.



And then I grit my teeth once again, and get back to the latest task at hand. Which right now is catching up with multiple work projects whilst toddler wrangling.

I do love my life, but right now I'm tired. I need a change, I need a break.

But instead it's back to work for me. Hope your day is as exciting everyone!

It's still Winter.... I think.

All weekend I kept on thinking to myself "must find time to blog, must find time to blog". And do you think I found time?

Nope.

Days seem to fly by of their own accord leaving me reeling and trying to remember which day and even which week it is.

I do know it's August, and I do know it's still winter despite the sunshine we got recently.

How do I know, I hear you ask? I think this speaks for itself....


Clear skies and cold mornings = frosted up windows that provide endless fun.

Especially as it means I can continue to snuggle under a blanket on the couch and stay warm whilst watching Charlie and hearing his running commentary on everything he's drawing.

That boy never stops talking!!!

And this is where my lovely husband would interject that Charlie gets that particular trait from me. Hmmm.... he may be right.



Charlie was so pleased with his 'artwork' that I decided to get up and get the carmera to record it for posterity.

And so you all out there reading could also appreciate the masterpiece. Enjoy!

Fashionable & Fabulous Friday

As I sit here at my computer this morning, looking out on our slightly soggy front garden after last nights wonderful thunder storm, it suddenly hits me.

Today is Friday!

Fashionable and Fabulous Friday to be exact.

And, oh dear. I'm wearing my dressing gown and pink slippers and feeling decidedly un-fashionable, though perhaps still just a little bit fabulous inside (always!).

It seems I'm woefully unprepared for gracing the internet with my personal take on fashion today. What to do?

A quick look back through my draft blog posts and hooray! A very old, pre-written F&FF post I have ready on standby.

So without further ado, everyone enjoy this one while I slip off to get myself looking Fashionable and Fabulous and better prepared for next Friday!
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14 Oct 2010

Today's outfit isn't actually today's outfit. It's a back up outfit.

One I wore a little while ago, just in case, dare I say it, I perhaps wore the same outfit twice on a Friday? SHOCK. HORROR. We can't post that now, can we? Back up plan to the rescue!

This outfit isn't one of my favourites, I guess that's why it was on standby. I'm not really sure why I don't like it as much as others.

Perhaps because it's just..... a little bit plain. For me.



I tried to jazz it up with a lovely red necklace that my mum gave me, and my best ever pair of trusty red high heels (not actually in the picture. Terrible photographer I am).

The outfit looks nice, it's comfy and it's a little bit business-like, to try to get me in the working mood so I can hopefully accomplish some work for a change.

Working from home is a blessing and a curse, it's so tempting to slack off and then before you know it it's 9pm and you've achieved nothing except for finishing off a pack of chocolate biscuits and a half hearted attempt at cleaning up the dishes. From breakfast. Let alone managing to complete any paid work on the computer, not when there's Facebook, Twitter and Blogs to read instead.



But on the upside, I get to dress up and take photos of myslef all day long.

And I do love the detailing on this shirt.

But still.... not my favourite.

Maybe next Friday will be better.

Stay Fashionalbe people. And Fabulous goes without saying.

And We're Back In Business Again......

Well, now that I'm finally back in this space, my dear neglected blog, where I can write whatever I want, I really don't know what to write.

It's been so long, too long.

I guess I could write about the trials and tribulations of the past months, the illness, anxiety and stress. But that's all in the past, I want to look forward and to focus on the positive.

Who wants to read about depressing stuff like that? Certainly not me!

So, focusing on the positive, what have we been up to these past few months, I hear you all ask?

Well, lets just have a little look, shall we?

Picnics in the back garden, making the most of the last of the warm Autumn days before Winter extends her cold fingers around our home and garden.

My two biggest boys took part in the ANZAC Day celebrations as part of their Army Cadet unit. I'm so proud of them.

Not least for braving a very chilly autumn morning in thin cotton shirts.

(Not really fair that I was nice and warm in a coat and woollen scarf, was it?)


Someone finally got a big boy bed!

At first he was so overwhelmed he burst into tears at the sight of it. Then once Daddy showed him how much fun jumping on the bed and pretending to sleep to trick Mama was, he loved it.

And even though he's been sleeping in the big boy bed for months now, he still doesn't get out of it when he wakes up. I guess it hasn't yet occurred to him.

Thank goodness.

Though the yelling of "Mummy I want to get up NOW!" gets a little tedious at 6am every morning.


We've made numerous masking tape racetracks for Roary and other assorted vehicles to race upon. Giving Mama a much needed 5 minutes quiet time to work/tidy/doze off. (It varies on any given day).


Another favourite game is stealing Daddy's boots to show us his impression of Jake the Peg by Rolf Harris. We then find discarded boots all over the house.

(Yes, my husband owns multiple pairs of Union Jack Doc Martins)

(Don't even ask!)


And lastly, there has been lots of this going on.

Shmushy face Charlie cuddles are simply the best.

That's it for now folks. Hope you enjoyed the picture heavy update.

I'm off for some more of those shmushy face cuddles.

After what has been such a very long time, I think the timing is right to get back to this poor neglected blog. Is anyone out there still?

The past months have been difficult, filled with illness after illness and such a long recovery time. Being kind to myself was my main focus, not too many demands on myself (apart from the usual kids, husband, house, work etc).

I have been so drained, and lost a total of 5 kg in the space of 6 days with one illness, which may not sound too bad except at 50kg normally, that was 10% of my body weight. I was extremely run down, fatigued and ill so much self nurturing was needed, lots of rest and good food soon followed. Natural supplements too have helped me along, Olive Leaf extract for energy and well being and Inner Health Plus for the digestive issues as well as for the fact that part of our immune system is located in the gut.

I feel so much better now, am regaining my strength and my optimism (which took a hell of a beating recently) and am ready to slowly get back to living this eccentric life of mine to the full.

This isn't a very interesting post today, but hopefully many much more interesting posts are to come soon.

Thanks for sticking around anyone who's still reading!

I'm here.... just.

Drowning....... gulp..... going under ..........a mountain of work. (Make that a mountain range worth.)

Send help.

Or margaritas.

Either will do right now.

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Sorry for the recent absenteeism. Hope to be back soon, but have so much work on right now I just can't cope. Not happy.

Two and a half.

Yesterday Charlie turned two and a half.

Two and a half years that he has filled with smiles and laughter, frustrations and sleep deprivation.




But I wouldn't have it any other way.

This boy has changed all our lives, his Daddy loves him to pieces, and I love to see both their faces glow as they go off to play together after Charlie insists "Play cars with me, Daddy" for about the hundrenth time that day.

I see the impact he has had on his two big brothers. Charlie brings out the caring, tender side hidden in the heart of my teenage boys. He's taught them it's ok to show tenderness, he's taught them patience and responsibility and he shows them every day how much he adores them both.

Even if he does call them "stinky willy" on occasion.

I have no idea where he picked up that particular expression from. I think he just made it up himself.

Sometime he's too smart for his own good, is that boy! We're constantly amazed by his language skills. To date he can count in 5 languages already.

Truly.

1. English
2. German
3. Chinese
4. French
5. Japanese

Not just rote learning and repeating the sequence, oh no, actual counting and adding. Even to the point where we can start counting in one language, stop part way and ask him to finish in another language. And he does.

I'm getting slightly concerned that by the time he's five he'll be smarter than me.

He's come so far in two and half years. From the helpless little baby, born with an asymetrical cranium who couldn't feed because is jaw was out of alignment, with a torticollus (crooked neck) and various other problems, to a baby who slept no more than 40 minutes at a time day or night but who learnt sign language at 7 mths old, to a rumbunctious toddler running around at hundred miles an hour who could talk at 12 mths and read at 16mths, to the little boy he is now who greets me each morning with "Good morning, darling, how are you today?" as I lift him from his bed.



I'm so thankful that he's in my life, and that I get to be his mama.

Fashionable and Fabulous Friday

It's Friday again everyone!

And you know what that means, don't you?

After work drinks? Big night out? The weekend????? Well yes, all those things (if you're lucky!) but most importantly it's .......

......... Fashionable and Fabulous Friday time.

I know you wait all week for this moment, people.

Last weekend, Del and I went to a cocktail party. I feel so sophisticated and, umm... I don't know.... something going to a cocktail party. Doesn't it just sound so glamorous? And it was in the city, no less. Such an un-suburban mother of three thing to do!

This is what I wore :


Not quite sure but I felt this outfit had a bit of an 80's vibe to it.
Maybe the pearls and cut of the top part of the dress are bit 80's Madonna-ish?


This fabulous little cocktail dress was a gift from my in-laws for my birthday last month. It fits like a dream and I've been eagerly anticipating an occasion to wear it.

And this cocktail part was it.


Look matching shoes and handbag everyone!
Red, just because I like red.


Actually, I think I may have over hyped this party. Just a wee bit, perhaps.

It was a small get together at the apartment of one of my dearest friend's, to celebrate her upcoming birthday. But there was cocktail food there. I swear.

So we celebrated her birthday, out on the balcony over looking the river. A birthday which she will be away for. She always is.

You see, every birthday she plans a holiday, and this year her birthday rolled around with me slaving away at work, looking after my monsters and keeping up with the drudgery of housework (who am I kidding? I love housework!), she was off cruising the Caribbean. Ah well, I guess someone has to do it.

Jealous? Not me. Much.



But at least I felt I looked good in my new dress.

A big heart as well......

Not only does my boy Kaiden have big muscles, he also has a big and loving heart. Especially when it comes to his littlest brother.

He is so fantastic with Charlie, it makes my heart just swell with pride to see them together. The love and trust between them is awesome to behold.





















It's enough to make me weep tears of happiness.

Perfect days.