New Years Resolutions ~ 2014 Here We Come!!!

 

 

I'm not usually one to write down lengthy resolutions, I used to as a teen, but found I'd rarely stick to them and I guess it was a lot easier to keep my room clean & stop flirting with boys at 14 than it is to now lose 20kg & give up chocolate. But I guess I get a kick of scribbling a few down each year, they give me an outline of the goals I want to achieve in the new year; so here goes; 

1. Lose 20kg by Christmas 2014. Plenty of time! I intend on doing this by walking & getting back into roller-blading. I felt great losing 10kg in 2013, so I have to keep going (and lose the 5kg Iv gained over Christmas! ~ that May or may not be an exaggeration as I haven't actually checked, but all of those Ferraro Roche's had to have gone somewhere!) 

2. Ditch Coke completely & drink more water! I was doing fabulously at this until the school holidays, so it shouldn't be too hard to kick this sugary habit. 

3. Take 2 holidays.. I did it last year & I plan on doing it again. I love holidays, they are so relaxing even with 5 fighting children in tow. They open up the world for me & escaping to the beach is my ultimate de-stressor. 

4. Spend more time with the kids doing kid things.. Sometimes I feel guilty of getting to the end of the day & life has been so busy busy that I haven't got to engage meaningfully with the kids. In 2014, I need to set aside quality time ~ time to just be Mum. 

5. Spend more time with the Husby, doing Wifey things.. Not that!  (although I'm sure he wouldn't complain if I resolute to do more of that) but just hang together more, chat, watch telly, help him more & maybe catch a movie or dinner (we haven't had a night out or outing together since Mr 2 1/2 was born) 

6. Me time... I'd like a few minutes every day to gather my thoughts so I can be a better Wife & Mother. Sometimes my head is just so busy, I'd love to just chill & just be.. Me. 

7. Save money.. I'm a terrible spender.. This year in 2014 I'd like to save.. 

8. Cut down the electricity, gas, water & grocery bills.. Last year an exorbitant amount of money got poured into these areas of the household budget, it is my aim to lower these bills. 

9. Call family often.. Particularly my Grandparents. 

10. Blog! Now that Hubby surprised me with a new blog address of my very own at Christmas I'd like to spend the time on the blog that Iv always wanted to. So that means more regular posts from me! The new blog will be up & running soon, it's just facing some teething difficulties. But in the meantime I'll keep posting here! 

So there you have it.. 10 posts to guide me on my 2014 journey. Wishing you & your families, a Wonderful, Safe & Happy New Year xoxo 

Christmas Crazy!

 

I'm distracted, and will be until the 26th December, you see I am addicted to Christmas & lately I can think of nothing but Christmas.. Christmas Day, Christmas Presents, Christmas Food, Christmas Lights.. You name it, I'm thinking about it.. Geez I even briefly thought of entertaining Hubby's crazy idea of a Mrs Claus outfit, very briefly & not very likely.. {Sorry Hubby} 

I must admit I was a little 'Already?!' When I saw the first Christmas tree back in September, but by October I was itching to start my Christmas shopping & started buying things to put away for both December 1st & Christmas Eve/Day itself. I made a pact with myself that I wouldn't venture into the speciality Christmas stores or the Myer Trim shop (my weakness) until November 1st & I'm doing pretty good because its now the 12th November & I still haven't visited! 

I love popping things away early though, that way you are guaranteed that you don't miss out. I have already bought the Advent Calendars (including the Lego City Advent Calendar) The Christmas T-Shirts, some books, ornaments & deco items and have tucked them away securely (mainly to stop me prodding them daily)  Last year I had all of my Christmas presents purchased by the end of October & I found it such a weight off my mind, rather than running around till the last second (As I did the year before when I found myself at Chermside at 3am in the morning shopping madly!) 

Some of the items I've squirrelled away; 

 

                    Hubby's Christmas Tshirt.

       Lego City Advent Calendar for Mr 8 & Mr 10.

Elf on the Shelf for some Elfish Antics.

       Night Before Christmas, Little People for Mr 2.

What I'm hoping I buy today; 

And the list goes on... (It really is endless) 

At this rate, I plan on being finished by the end of November ( I didn't do as many toy sale lay by's this year) which still gives me early December to wrap (another thing that Hubby & I no longer want to do on Christmas Eve!) & just ENJOY Christmas with the kids. I still go to the shops at Christmastime (too often really) because I love the atmosphere at Christmas, it's just so nice with the lights on & music playing.. Aside from the odd ba-humbug, people even seem happier at Christmas. 

And This is the first Christmas that the kids will be home all day (next year my 3 Stepkids won't be here for Christmas so instead of halving Christmas, we get 1 each) so I'm sure there will be lots of excitement in the lead up to Christmas & a very crazy Christmas morning ! Definitely looking forward to it as its quite hard/rushed to cram Christmas Day into 1/2 a day ~ particularly when visiting family etc. 

Iv also just started The Organised Housewife's 'Organise Yourself a Merry Little Christmas' challenge. It started last week (I started yesterday) so I'm madly catching up! You can see my progress on Instagram & after iv finally completed the first week ill pop up a post here :) 

Oh well best get back to it.. Have a lovely day, humour me, comment & reassure me that I'm not the only one whose caught Christmas Crazy! 

Wordless Wednesday 30th October 2013 {Halloween}

Up until a few years ago, Halloween wasn't something I acknowledged.  I always made sure I had lollies in the house for Trick-or-Treater's {who never came a knocking mind you!} but aside from that it wasn't a celebration we 'got into' but a few years back, I threw up my hands & said 'why not?!' The result, a fun time each year on October 31st..  Above is a glimpse of our Halloween decorating this year.. Simple but effective for a very eager 2 year old :) 

Tomorrow we plan on watching the Nick Jnr Halloween Cartoon line up, Trick or Treating at home (the kids can trick or treat us.. Unfortunately our neighbourhood doesn't get into it) and having a little Halloween party after school. All in the name of fun of course! 

Does your family celebrate Halloween? 

Thanks for stopping by! 

Why not pop back to yesterday's post to enter my 2kool4skool.com.au giveaway :) 

Linking Up with Trish from My Little Drummer Boys for Wordless Wednesday. 

Thinking of my Nan... Happy Birthday Nanny Berl.

Today would have been my Nan's 73rd Birthday.  It's been 21 long years since my beautiful Nan grew her angel wings & was needed elsewhere & everyday I think of her & how different the family would be if she were still here. Nan or Nanny Beryl (Bubble or Nanny Berl) was the first person whose death made me realise we won't be here forever. It made me at 11 question everything I believed in & hate Cancer more than anything in the world. 

Yes, I had friends at school whose elderly Grandparents had died, but as a child you think, my family is young, they are going to be here for a long while yet. But that wasn't to be the case, because Nan died at 52... 52 is far too young! It is the age of my Mum now. This year really hit home, thinking of Mum at her age now no longer being here... Thinking of me, at my age now, without my Mum (as Mum was) was very hard to think about. 

We virtually lived at Nan's, Nan was with us all the time, we loved going to Nan's & Pop's place and would do so daily. Nan looked after us whilst Mum worked & because Nan didn't drive, Mum would take her grocery shopping with us every week. Such beautiful memories I have of Nan & will always hold dear. I remember their house more than my own growing up & I remember all the games she taught me, movies we watched and places we would go. 

One year Nan & Pop won a family holiday to Seaworld Nara Resort, they took my Mum, Brother & I along and we had the best time, we went on other holidays together to the Coast. Beautiful memories... 

I feel for my Pop, my heart breaks for him to lose the love of your life, your wife when you are 53, must feel like a lifetime of sadness & what ifs.. His house is filled with pictures of Nan & reminders of her such as soft toys, trinkets & even her dressing gown which made me cry to see hanging next to his after all these years. I never saw or heard Nan & Pop fight, never saw them say a harsh word to each other.. Just saw 2 people very much in love, enjoying life together, getting by & having a blast with friends & family. 

It breaks my heart that she didn't get to meet her third & final Grandchild, my cousin David. She loved us Grandkids so much, spoilt us absolutely rotten & I know she would be so proud of all of us today, all 3 of her Grandchildren & I so wish she could have been around to meet my kids, her Great Grandchildren as I know she would have adored them just the same. 

On my wedding day, I wore Nan's charm bracelet, I held the bible that she carried & I cried every time I looked at it cause I felt she was there... Sharing in my day & I wished she was there in person but knew she was there watching down over me. I have the charm bracelet in my jewellery box as a present on my 21st Birthday from my Pop, I take it out & look at it often as all the charms have a meaning & I remember playing with it on her arm & Mum and her collecting their charms together. 

Mum hasn't been the same since Nan died, Nan was a huge part of her & she lost a lot of her sparkle and security.. I guess her whole world changed.. Christmas' which were always spent together lost their sparkle, Mothers Day (which was the day they realised something wasn't quite right) never felt the same again & even Birthdays... I think Mum fearing each one that bought her closer to 52... Mum always said she was going to die at 51.. That she wouldn't live to see 52, but on October 6th this year she turned 52 and I drove home with her on the eve of her Birthday, late after a wedding  to make sure she made it to 52. She had me that worried.. 

Nan lived before computers, before fancy gadgets. Pop embraces all the new technology and I sometimes find it hard to think just how much things have changed since she passed. How the world was different... But how that we haven't changed, that we still miss her oh so much even though 21 long years have passed.  

Happy Birthday Nan.. I'm sure your partying up there with Great Nan, Grandad & every other special person who is no longer with us. Have a great big piece of cake & know we are all thinking of you on this day {and every other} I hope you loved your flowers that we chose for you.  xoxox 

2 Weeks Flew By...

I love Term 4!  It just feels different. I find it hard to keep the momentum going as we near the end of the year & feel like slipping into holiday mode by mid November. Right now I'm still in full swing though & organised and raring to give term 4 our best shot! 

A short 8 week term, I only have Mr 2 & Mr 8 at home because its the other kids term to be with their Mum {we do 50/50 ~ term on/term off} 

Initially it felt strange after having them home & having such a busy house for 12 weeks and it's terrible to say, but obviously there is going to be lots of difference between 2 & 5 kids! Where I was running out of milk & bread last term,  I now find myself having to use it up quickly before it goes stale ~ I even had to throw 2 loaves of bread & a 1/2 full bottle of juice out in the first week back!  I made too much for dinner & would often take out too many plates, cups, spoons etcetera.. But now 2 weeks on, I have adjusted.. 

I felt at the end of last week that I'd FINALLY caught up with the washing & the housework from the holidays, just in time for our weekend that all the kids return! {we get every 2nd weekend Fri-Mon in our 'off term'} but the weekend went well & it was great being the 'fun' parent again, with less discipline to contend with and no school work/homework drama's. But geez the fighting, the bickering, the volume (my stepchildren are quite loud) & the difference in their personalities become apparent after they have been away. For example they are heavily reliant upon the TV & Technology & that drives me bonkers! Disconnect! & when we do ask them to tune out they look at us like we've grown another head! 

But all the differences & the chaos aside, when we get the kids every other weekend it's nice to spend some quality time with them. We usually do things like board games/movie nights, parks, the beach etc. This weekend we managed to squeeze in breakfast out both days, the park, the Zoo yesterday & today, being a pupil free day, Mr 13 and a friend went to the movies whilst Mr 2, Mr 8 & I headed to see Turbo & do the shopping. Miss 11 & Mr 10 had to go home because their weekend ends at school commencement Monday, whereas Mr 13 as he's getting older stays till Tuesday all year round. 

So tomorrow it goes back to our family of 4 agaib for 2 weeks, which is never really 4 because you are always thinking of the others, cleaning, ironing & buying/paying for them. So whilst they aren't here physically, they are always technically here. But I guess during this term it gives me the chance to get on too of things before they come back for the Christmas holidays. :) 

A Change is as good as a Holiday..

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So last night I decided to take the plunge and changed the name of the blog from A Wishful Whimsy to Several Kinds of Crazy!   It has been a change I have wanted to make for some time, yet never got around to, but now that I have I am so glad.   I feel the name Several Kinds of Crazy holds more relevance to myself and to my family, which is the basis for my Blog.   So please feel free to follow along,  follow me on Facebook or check out my Instagram.

 

The blog address has changed to www.severalkindsofcrazy.blogspot.com.au

 

With the new name I am hoping to make more regular posts and will update the blog design when able.  I look forward to making Several Kinds of Crazy the blog I have always hoped it would be.. :)

Happy 2nd Birthday

Today we celebrated our youngest Son, Charlie Oliver's 2nd Birthday.  I can hardly believe he is 2 already, the last couple of years have been so busy that Birthdays seem to come around so quickly & all the kids seem to be growing up daily right in front of our eyes! 

Dear Charlie, 

At 2 you are such an adventurer, a busy bee all day long. From the moment you wake, till the moment we finally manage to convince you to sleep at night you are on the go. You fill our days with laughter & love. Saying the funniest things with the cutest voice & always give out lots of free hugs & kisses to Daddy & I.  You can say lots of words now ~ your favourite being 'either' as in 'no bedtime either' or 'no breakkie time either'. You love to count to 16 & a little while ago you would count all day!  You also love to sing, you can sing the alphabet, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star & Banana's in Pyjama's which you sing every time you see stairs or we go up & down stairs. You also sing Rain Rain go away when it's raining ~ you make my heart melt with your cuteness. 

Your favourite ways to spend your day at the moment are playing Little People, playing 'car race' (because every car is a 'car race') and playing with your Duplo Lego. You love all your toys and play happily all day long. You hate to have to stop playing for lunch, dinner or the dreaded bedtime! 

You like to watch a little TV now, Nick Jnr just plays most of the day & your favourite shows that you stop to watch are Dora the Explorer, Team Umi Zoomi, Max & Ruby & Bubble Guppies. 

You love your food and try everything, but your favourite lately seems to be 'meat' followed by a close second, cheese. Lately you have gone off carrots & peas. 

2 weeks ago we bought your 'big boy' bed, a racing car bed. Or as you like to call it, your 'car race' bed. You have slept in it a few times now and love to play on it during the day. You love to rest the iPad on it & play Dora Apps or watch Masha & The Bear a Russian cartoon on You Tube. 

So our dear Little Charlie, we wish you a fun & fabulous birthday. We hope you enjoy your Birthday Day spent with Mummy & Daddy, opening pressies, playing with balloons & going to the shops to play on the playground. In the afternoon Grandma & Grandad joined us & we all ate Train Cake. 

We look forward to the exciting year ahead. 

Love 

Mummy & Daddy 

Our Trip to Sydney - June 2013

Last month I travelled outside of QLD for the first time!  I don't know how I made it to 32 having never been outside the confines of my home state, but finally I branched out of my comfort zone and arranged a trip to Sydney for Hubby, myself and the 2 boys.  We decided on a driving holiday, so we could see the sights on the way and for the better part of the trip, I'm glad we decided to do that.. It was fantastic checking out places like Byron, Coffs Harbour (for an overnight stay) and Port Macquarie on the way.   We left home on Tuesday morning at about 10am and travelled to Coffs Harbour by 4pm, we obviously had lots of stops on the way and I made Hubby take the tourist route much to his disgust ~ but I was in no hurry, I was there to do the tourist thing and the tourist thing we did!

 

We left Coffs on Wednesday morning at about 9am and arrived in Sydney at 5pm that afternoon after a couple more stops on the way.  We stayed in the Sydney Boulevard Hotel very close to the Sydney CBD in a room on the 16th floor, we had great views of the City and our room was a comfortable size with 2 double beds.  That first night we walked down to Darling Harbour and did a 5km hike around the city sights, admiring all of the old buildings and the beautiful lighting.  The next morning we awoke early and walked down to Martin Place to check out the Sunrise broadcast at the Channel 7 building (Mr 8 loves watching Sunrise, so he got a kick out of it) it was the same day that Mel Doyle announced her departure so that was pretty good timing.  We wandered down to Circular Quay and indulged at the Lindt Café, walked through the park lands, visited the Chinese Peace Gardens and scoped out the crazy market scene.. After a night and a morning of walking, we were quite exhausted or at least my feet were (bad idea wearing new shoes..) so we headed back to the hotel for a respite. 

 

That afternoon we drove to Bondi Beach, checked out the homes around the areas, some of which were unbelievably beautiful and stooped in so much character! We went to the Westfield Shopping Centre at Bondi Junction and I was gobsmacked by the size of the shopping centres in Sydney, the local QLD centres have now lost their shine to me.. I wandered across to Pottery Barn and Pottery Barn kids and ogled their range, I was a little disappointed at the size of their store in comparison to what I have seen online for many years, but at the end of the day, size doesn't matter does it.. they still have gorgeous things and I still felt right at home in their beautiful store.

 

Friday was our last full day in Sydney as we had planned to leave on Saturday morning to drive back home so on Friday we were a little disappointed when we awoke feeling a little under the weather.. instead of catching the ferry to Taronga Zoo as we'd planned we decided to drive as it was a little cold and draughty outside.  Once at Taronga the animals soon perked Mr 1 up and Mr 8 was excited to see animals we don't usually see in the Zoo's closer to home such as Elephants, Lions and my favourite the Giraffes.  We spent a full 6 hours at the Zoo before taking a slow drive back to the hotel admiring more gorgeous homes, parks and showing Mr 8 the Prime Ministers Home (which was then Julia Gillard, but now Kevin Rudd.. but that's a whole different kettle of fish!) We stopped back at the Harbour and took more photographs of the beautiful bridge, quite vast in size, not at all what I'd envisioned from pictures in magazines and television. 

 

On the way home on Saturday we stopped by the Packed to the Rafter's home they used to shoot the series, that was pretty cool and Mr 8 was chuffed when I pointed it out to him in the show the other day.. we saw that! he exclaimed proudly.   And then we made our long drive back home.. On the way there we stopped midway at Coffs Harbour, we decided to do the trip home in one go, but we made plenty of small stops along the way to stretch our legs so we left Sydney at lunchtime and got home by 1am. 

 

Happy to fall into our own bed and thankful that the kids stayed asleep when we transferred them from the car to bed!  They were so well behaved on both of the long drives, they did really well.  We had the dual screen DVD player for them to watch movies and they both had an Ipod to play from time to time, but most of the time we encouraged them to enjoy their surroundings and take a good look as it was a sight we wouldn't see often.

 

All in all I'm so glad I planned a trip to Sydney and next year we're planning a trip with all 5 kids to Melbourne, that wont be as peaceful in the car I'd imagine (or I know for a fact.. lol) but after all it will be a great family adventure, just like this one the 4 of us had. 

 

 

Wordless Wednesday - Wednesday 29th May 2013

Today's pictures come from the past two weekends! We purchased some 'end of season' VIP passes to Seaworld, Movieworld and Wet & Wild, so have spent the past couple of weekends visiting each of the parks.  So far we have been to Sea World twice & Movieworld once.. it's a bit too cold for Wet & Wild so we probably won't get to that before the end of June when the passes expire! We've been to all the theme parks before, but the kids never tire of it and it was exciting taking Charlie along as he's older and could go on a few of the rides in the kids sections (these rides are more my style anyways!)

Enjoy :)

Connecting with Trish from My Little Drummer Boys for Wordless Wednesday!http://mylittledrummerboys.blogspot.com.au/?m=1

Day 6. What Do I Do

Growing up I was always certain of 2 things.. I was going to be a Teacher & I was going to be a Mum. I had never had an inclination to be anything else and had my goal firmly set at the young age of 8. In 2005 I became a Mum and in 2008 I graduated Uni with a Bachelor of Education in Primary Teaching. So today I am a Mum first & foremost and In the past I have done relief teaching. I am still hoping to return to relief teaching although I realised just this morning I let my registration lapse 2 days ago! Eek. I guess amongst the cleaning, cooking, tending to a crazy puppy, playing with Mr 1 and playing nurse to Mr 8 who is home with a cold I will now need to find time to re-apply! I find both of my jobs rewarding although I find being a Mum the harder job of the two.. You constantly wonder what you can do better, what you did wrong & if your doing enough. The pay rate is better for relief teaching, I love to think that every minute of my time is worthy of $1.00, however, the love of my children is payment enough for being a full time SAHM.

In the future I'd love to return to teaching just so I can start saving towards a bigger house & a bigger future for my family. But for now I'm happy staying at home with the kids.