It's a new year (but things are still the same)

Now that the silly season is over, and with three weeks of school holidays left, I am so looking forward to what this year has in store for me.

I am looking forward to both girls being at school. Finally, time for me. 

Everyone keeps asking what I'm going to do with myself. I don't have a clue. Have a clean house for more than five minutes. Time for my brain to uncrazy itself. After that, who knows.

Yesterday Izzy had the pleasure of helping me wax my toes (riveting school holiday fun). I know my toes! Only the big toe and the one next to it.

I was sitting on the back steps, pondering life with a cup of tea, when I noticed how black and coarse the hairs were. Do they get worse when you get a bit older? They seemed worse. 

Usually I reserve my wax strips for my chin, upper lip and my threatening mono brow. 

It doesn't seem so bad, until I actually look at the hairs on the wax strip. How can I have so many stray hairs like that growing on my face! I am totally going to be the old lady, asleep in my chair at the old folks home, with a ripper white goatee. I dread. 

The girls are loving the pool they got for Christmas. So have the kids next door! Pool party time at number 8. They are eating me out of house and home too, hungry buggers! They're all having a ball though.

I got a new camera lens for Christmas, not that I have used it a hell of a lot, but I couldn't help but pull over and take some photos of hay cutting season along the road as I drove to Pelican Point the other day.

I love country scenes like these. If I pulled the car over every time I wanted to, I would never get anywhere. I have found a lot lately, that when I'm driving, I am looking out the window and seeing things as photographic scenes, waiting to be captured. I need to pay more attention to the road!

I am still undecided about a mantra or word for 2017. I do know that I need to take better care of me, instead of putting everyone else first. It's been that way for too long, and it is taking a huge toll. 

I know I need to practice gratitude more often. I find it really helps to remember at least one good thing that happened during my day, to turn around negative talk and feelings.

I need to be patient, and present when it comes to the kids. I think it comes back to the fact that I need some time for me. I have been a snappy McChappy lately and I hate it. 

We've been as busy as shit too, I am reeling most of the time. It was soooo good to have some quiet days at home last week, even though it was kid city in the pool for some of it.

Maybe I need to change some things. Maybe that needs to be my word. Hmmm.



Tell me. What's your focus for the year? 

I'd love to know what you got for Christmas too!!

An InLinkz Link-up

Done and dusted - school holidays week 1

We had a strange first week of holidays. 

Tuesday was as cold as buggery. A top of six degrees for the day, hail and rain. The reverse cycle was working hard that day.

For some reason, maybe because we were confined to the inside of the house, I had the urge to spring clean. For a while I hadn't been bothered doing a thing around the house. All of a sudden I wanted to do stuff, like dust and get rooms ready to paint. I began tearing the wallpaper freeze from the toilet wall, and had the bright idea the kids would like to finish what they had slowly but surely been doing, for the last couple of years. Peeling bits of it off. They loved it and had it finished it no time. 

Mum gave me this polar fleece, she had been intending to make Gran a dressing gown. She thought better of it (because, sewing) and gave it to me. We made a knot blanket with it. Izzy helped at the start and at the end, lost interest in middle, so more or less, I made a knot blanket.  'Soft' - #fmy52weeksofmemories

Isabel reveled in collecting hail from the trampoline, much to my dismay. She kept in the freezer to for later, when her friend from next door came to play. Kids feel cold so differently. Bugger that shit. I was frozen.

Later in the week, we headed to Adelaide. We drove four and a half hours and the kids were swimming outdoors, in a heated pool before dinner! Who would have thought.

This was before the snot had started pouring out of her face.

The jumping pillow was a hit.

We had a gorgeous couple of days in Adelaide, blue skies and sunshine. It was awesome. We went shopping and silly me didn't buy a single thing for myself. It didn't really bother me either! I sure knew though, when the kids had enough of traipsing around, it was time to go! 

Brett doesn't get it though. He could have kept going and was oblivious to the fact that the kids were playing up because they were tired, and hungry.  He only sees naughty kids, and not good kids that need a break. He gets narky at me because the kids are being shits, so I have double barrels pointing at me while trying to keep my cool for everybody. It's bloody exhausting!

I should have bought something for me.

The whole purpose of our trip to Adelaide was so Izzy could compete in the Gymnastic SA country championships.

She did well, I was so proud. She earned a silver ribbon in vault, and three bronzes for floor, beam and bars.

I am looking forward to this coming week with a few days of sleeping in and relaxing again before we are off to the snow this weekend coming.  After that? We ain't going anywhere for the rest of the year!

An InLinkz Link-up

A few quick things

Although it means having to entertain my own two kids for two weeks straight, I am ready for school holidays.

I could have easily stayed in bed this morning. 

After Masterchef last night I went and layed down with Summer, my cuddly girl. She always stays awake a little later than Izzy does, but also likes to sleep in. With no intention of falling asleep myself, I did, and woke at half past one in the morning. 

Having not written anything for this mornings post, here I am doing with a cup of tea at half past seven in the morning. When I should be packing a lunch box and making my breaky. Thank goodness the darlings are still asleep.

Brett and I squeezed in a night to ourselves over the weekend. We watched Independence Day Resurgance, had dinner, and were home by 8:30pm! 

There was totally a time, not that the movie was bad, that I could have closed my eyes and had a nice little sleep. I almost did, and thought I'd better not.

We tried leaving home about 2pm, but a comedy of errors, on Brett's part, nothing to do with me, we were pushed for time. We had plenty of time because of the twenty minutes of ads and crap at the start of the movie, we were never going to be late. But Brett was stressing out. 

With me quoting him in front of the kids and Izzy egging Summer on to repeat it, I caught some comedy gold on video, which had us cracking up at dinner. 

That is just typical, watching videos of kids at dinner on our own. We have to have something to talk about.

Fingers crossed I'll be able to have some time away to myself this weekend. Just have to work around and election and having to help Brett pick up an outdoor setting, I may just get one night. One blissful night.

An InLinkz Link-up

The best beach in the Limestone Coast

Driving this stretch of beach is just the best day out. 

We drove onto the beach at Southend. There were families everywhere parked along the first few kilometres of beach, swimming, fishing, boogie boarding and surfing.

We stopped along the way for a play. Brett sold his Land Rover. We were in his new fishing bus. It's a real shit box, but at least we have a four wheel drive we can take on drives like this.

It's about a 15 kilometre drive to Beachport along the beach, where we ate a fish and chip lunch. This time of year Beachport swells with tourists, and it was packed. 

Back to school and an easy Chocolate Slice

We've just gone back to school this week in South Australia. Izzy started back at kindy yesterday, a full day. Just what you want after two weeks of having both of them home. There's no worrying about if she was ready, I was ready.

We had a great holiday break, got some easter craft done, too much chocolate consumption and a catch up with our mothers group mates. It was great that easter fell IN the school holidays this year.

Sunday I had a bake up. There wasn't much to put in a lunch box. Instead of taking money out the bank to buy stuff they day before our big fortnightly shop, I baked with what I had in the pantry. Simple stuff. Nothing fancy.

I made my sultana loaf. Tea, sultanas, sugar and flour. I used a spiced chai tea in this one, and iced it with half a teaspoon of golden syrup mixed with little boiling water, then mixed with icing sugar.

Homemade crackers, these are very moorish. I will post the recipe soon, these are before I had cooked them.

This chocolate slice is easy to make with ingredients everyone should have in the pantry ready to go. It is also scrumptious.

Chocolate Slice

120 grams butter or margarine
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup self raising flour
3 tablespoons of cocoa
1 cup of coconut

Mix dry ingredients together.
Melt butter, pour over dry ingredients and mix well.
Press the mix into a slice tin. I greased my tin with oil spray.

Bake at 180C for 15 minutes.

When cool, ice with chocolate icing, sprinkle with coconut and slice!

Never have a problem finding someone to lick the spoon.

Joining Jess for #IBOT on this very wet tuesday.