A little dose of Sunshine

This week Melbourne has turned on the weather and it has been fantastic! I'm the first to admit that I hate winter so having 5+ 20 degree days smack bang in the middle of it has been quite enjoyable.

Before I had the little man in my life I think my hate for winter wasn't as passionate but as any parents out there would know - with winter comes sickness and to be honest I am SO over having a house full of snot :) The little man has had an on/off runny nose and cough since April and for want of a better word it SUCKS!

So because of the never ceasing sickness and lack of sunshine over the past few months there have been few opportunities to get outside and enjoy the weather. Last Saturday with the sunshine gods turning it on B and I decided to take the little man for a play at the park - and also to suss out a place suitable to have his birthday party.

We packed the pram and some lunch, tried to find a hat that fit the little man and off we set. The place we found would be perfect if it wasn't for all the graffiti (note to self - email council about that). It has a BBQ area and seating and an awesome playground for the kidlets. The most important part though was that the little man gave his tick of approval.

It was only his second trip to the park - but I think that he is definitely going to be an outdoorsy kid! He had so much fun bouncing around, sliding and even playing in the sand.Afterwards we took him for a nice walk around the lake, it was a lovely family day out in the sunshine. I am so looking forward to many more of these throughout summer!

The sunshine this week got me thinking about how a little vitamin D improves my mood. I found it easy to get out of bed every morning and hit up the gym (something that I constantly battle with) which in turn increased my motivation and energy levels! I had such a lovely week - but am I the only one who feels these effects from sunshine and beautiful weather? Anyone else have these feelings?

Keep it up Melbourne - I'm loving it

xx

Party Time??

I am starting to organise the little man's 1st birthday party. I have always said I wasn't going to go huge - but when I sat down to make a FB event write a list I was amazed at how big it got so quickly.

I do have a big family but am I going overboard? I want to invite friends that have already played a big part in his life too. Clearly I know the little man is not going to remember the day but isn't it also about celebrating us? a year of being a family? The year that our lives changed for the better?

I don't know......

Well anyway my ideas for the day go like this. A BBQ at a local park where there are playgrounds/skateparks etc for the older kids. This way I dont have to make my house spotless, nor will I have guests still hanging around well into the night!

We will do drinks/sausages/salads and have a pinata and maybe some lolly bags if I get around to it :) Mostly I just want to have a low key day celebrating the first year of the little mans life.

I have never organised a kids party before so I really don't know what else I should do. Any ideas for me? I'm feeling a bit under pressure, particularly when speaking with the mums in my mothers group! They all have such creative ideas.
I'm thinking of going with a NEMO theme as that is what is on the little mans walls (and his daddy is a obsessed fisherman!) Think blues and greens and maybe a splash of orange.

And then comes the big part - THE CAKE!?!?!?!?!?!
Think I might have to cruise the net for a Nemo cake :) It is going to test my chef skills thats for sure.

So if you have organised kids parties and have a tip or two for me please share. I need all the help I can get!
xx

I love Tony.... and the mailman

Last month I celebrated my birthday :)

When I say celebrated I mean I woke up and little man was sick so B had to take the day off. I went to work and B didn't get me a present because he used up his good idea for Mothers Day (the negative to a birthday/mothers day in the same month I guess). However he did clean the house!

So when I received a birthday VIP email from Tony Bianco I decided I was owed a present. And with a 30% off birthday discount it hardly felt like spending!
Now I love Tony Bianco shoes - I am however a tightarse when it comes to buying shoes though as being a teacher my shoes do yard duty in mud/rain/heat so generally I buy cheapies for work and have some expensive staple shoes.
Last birthday I bought myself a pair of Tony Bianco flat brown boots to wear with leggings and dresses to work hmmmm I see a theme here......

So I bought them a couple of weeks ago online and today the postman came a knocking.......

Shiny white boxes........

I bought myself 2 new pairs. One of them is a little adventurous for me (the name of the shoe suckered me in).

The wedges I bought because they are blue! I haven't seen a whole lot of blue shoes lately so I thought they'd be a bit different to everyone else - and they are not black which I tend to stick to!

Front on view

The heel is pretty high........

My foot is a size 10 and I love the way these shoes look smaller - I hate being noticed for big feet.

see how the bottom of the shoe is smaller because the length of the foot is elevated in the heel ;)

I am in love

Now the second pair I bought were a sucker purchase as I mentioned before. I still love them - but they are very different from what i usually wear. I don't often wear heels so I can't imagine that these shoes will get 'worn out' but nevertheless I still love the different style. I feel very fashionable!

Ignore my jeans..... 

off centre

The photos are a bit crap - I was using self timer...but you get the idea.

So clearly you can tell how excited I am about my 'Birthday Presents'.

What was your latest exciting purchase? Anyone else loving Tony and the postman right about now?

xx

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday.

Playing along with My Little Drummer Boys

Little man wearing a MeGuy bib @ a birthday party :)

xx

Flowers, pretty flowers.

Once upon a time I received a bunch of flowers for my birthday. They were pretty. But I made a mistake. One that B is still punishing me for reminding me of :)
We were away, staying in a caravan for the weekend of my birthday when I received the flowers, and I didn't have any vases to put them in. B and I had only gone away for a few days and were returning home on the day of my birthday and so I thought I'd wait to get home to put them into water. That was the first mistake.

Then we got home and excitedly I put down everything in the lounge room even the flowers. Then my parents took me out for dinner to celebrate my birthday and when we got home I went to sleeeeeep.

My little sister ended up putting the flowers into water for me. To B this was significant. He didn't believe me when I said I simply forgot to put them in a vase. Which I honestly sort of did. Anyways I did feel guilty about it. He was really upset that I hadn't looked after the flowers.

So since then I haven't received any bunches of flowers at all from B. I really miss that occasional surprise that I used to get -  mind you it has been over 6 years! I get kind of jealous when others share their stories of getting flowers. I wish I could rewind the clock and put them in water!!!
It's been a long time - obviously he isn't upset about it anymore. He says it's the principle of it. He's very stubborn huh!

* B does give me a rose on our anniversary. One for each year of marriage :) So that's sweet.

Help me - What do you think I can do to change B's mind? Is there any hope of me getting flowers again?
Do you have a similar story? Is your partner stubborn?
xx

Happy Valentines Day

Happy Valentines Day everyone!

In our house Valentines Day is celebrated on the 14th of March. This is because the 14th February is B's birthday :) He decided fairly early on in our relationship that we would separate the two days - this way we have two celebrations (I also think it is because Roses are cheaper in March!! - and B. is a frugal man).

So my day went something like this - went to the plaza and bought some prawns, oysters and several other ingredients to make B. for dinner. Then came home and in between all the other mummy tasks I completed, I sat our little man in his bumbo (if you don't know what that is click the link!) on the kitchen bench and prepared Oysters kilpatrick, marinated the prawns and whipped up some chocolate mousse for dessert - all whilst entertaining him :) I was quite proud of my efforts!

So when B got home we hung out together as a family - Little man gave his card to Daddy and we ate our entree of oysters while listen to the romantical echoes of Hi-5.....

Then bath/feed/bed for the little one - and we indulged in pasta la prawns and some champagne - Deliciously whipped up by me!

To top off our night we had the chocolate mousse pictured below - and yes I did make it in baby bowls! - While we watched last nights episode of The Biggest Loser on our IQ.

A fantastic night spent with my wonderful man. So here I am posting this and then signing off for Valentines Day :)

Hope you all had a wonderful day.

xx