Friday 27 February 2015

Day Surgery....



So today Miss 6 is scheduled for day surgery....and yes I am mildly freaking out!

Without boring you with too much detail,  Miss 6 experiences significant stomach pains when she poops and it just doesn't seem quite right to me.

Whilst the surgeon has assured me that what they are doing is a standard procedure with very little risk involved that does nothing to stop my wild imagination creating multiple worst case scenarios which run over and over in my head!

Argh hubby would be so much better at dealing with these situations.....I'm not really the master of the brave face....though I have mastered uncontrollable tears!  But today I will put on my best brave face...even as they wheel her away to surgery....eek no guarantees!!

I have a bag packed with a few things to keep her mind off things while we wait for her turn in theatre and I have a bag packed with a few things to keep my mind off her being in theatre when I am sitting alone waiting, waiting, waiting!


Miss 6 is devastated that she will miss her class performance at the school assembly this afternoon.....seriously of all the afternoons her class could have done a performance it had to be today!!

Oh well, here's hoping that all goes smoothly and that Miss 6 can move forward from here with no more tummy aches.

Please keep miss 6 in your thoughts and prayers today and I'll let you know how she goes!


Wednesday 25 February 2015

Would You...or Wouldn't You?



Miss 14 was bursting with news when she arrived home from school yesterday but she said she had to wait til Dad was home to hear it too...

In the meantime she wrote this to use as her presentation...

"My friend C has invited me to go to watch Manchester City play Real Madrid...in MELBOURNE!!!!!

When:  July...around 28th...or maybe 24th?
How long for:  2 or 3 days in total

Reason why you should say yes....
*  everything is FREE...game tickets, accommodations, flights...yes that's right, all FREE, no money, zero dollars.  The only money I will need is for food.

*  There will be parental supervision at all times and not just 1 parent, but many because a lot of family and friends are going.  

Who is going?
C, her brother and me plus family friends and C's dad and his two friends

So in conclusion I would really love to go to this once in a life time opportunity and it would not only be fun but it would be very educational as I would be viewing a very popular and cool soccer game and staying in a hotel (with parental supervision at all times remember) and it would all be for FREE and the only money I would need would be for food.

I have agreed that if you (great parents) allow me to go to Melbourne (for FREE) I will attend every day of school no matter what.

So please can I go???"

The minute hubby walked in the door she hit us with her presentation and then stuck the paper up on the fridge as a constant reminder for us!

I think hubby was just in awe because he is soccer crazy and would love an opportunity to see these teams play. 

I on the other hand was thinking more clearly about the finer details...such as the fact that we don't really know these people very well......Miss 14 has been to 2 sleepovers there with a group of friends and I am aware that C lost her mother a few years ago to cancer so there is C and her two younger brothers and her dad...but that's all I really know about them.

This would be Miss 14's first time interstate though not her first time on a plane so she should be fine with the travel side of things.  And her sister did travel to Japan at around the same age with school, albeit with 3 female teachers!




So whilst I am bordering on being the overprotective mum let me ask you ....
would you or wouldn't you let your daughter go?  
What type of things would you want to know before committing
(eg sleeping arrangements!)?  








Friday 20 February 2015

My Liebster Award 2015


Earlier this year the lovely Willisa from  Willing Me 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 belatedly answer the 11 questions that Willisa gave me....a few weeks back now....here goes!



1. What’s the best part about having a blog?
The best part for me is that it's my own little space....because in a tiny 3 bedroom house with 7 people and 2 cats there's no room.....so the blog is my little retreat!
2. Where do you live?
Sydney
3. What’s your favourite time of the day?
When the girls are all asleep.....sigh of relief!!
4. What is the best piece of advice you’ve been given about life?
Definitely that life is short so make the most of it....
5. Favourite Breakfast food?
Mmmmmm bacon.....I love bacon!!
6. Best job you’ve ever had?
Well I haven't really had that many but one of the best would have been organizing training courses...love organizing other peoples stuff, just not so much at home lol!!

7. Where is your ultimate holiday destination?That would have to be Europe and the UK...I adore the history and the architecture of these places.
8. What is your Favourite colour & how does it make you feel?
I'm not a real favourites person but I am loving blues at the moment...I think they are calming...
9. What is the last book you read?
Every year for Christmas my mother-in-law buys me the latest Mary Higgins Clark book...this year it was "I've Got You Under My Skin"....it was excellent.  I can never put her books down until I am finished!!
10. Describe your favourite pair of shoes.
Ugh I'm not really a shoes person!  Most days you'll find my in my thongs...yes even in winter!  But I do love me a nice pair of boots....and some cosy slippers!!
11. It’s 9pm on a weeknight, What are you doing?
Probably making everybodies lunches for the next day, checking homework, signing notes and ironing!!


Oh my gosh, I always find answering questions about myself so difficult!

Thank you so much for sharing the Liebster Blog Awards love Willisa!  Make sure you all pop by and check out here blog here

I will do some research and hopefully find some new blogs to share the love with real soon!








Wednesday 18 February 2015

10 Things I Am Grateful For Right Now....



Yesterday I was reading a post from Jess over at A Little Part Of The World ..... {you should totally pop over and check out her blog!}  ....the post was 10 things she was grateful for that week.....{you can read it here}

At the end of her post Jess invited readers to join her by sharing 10 things they were grateful for.  Sometimes with all of the rushing and chaos that is life here my grateful-ness can be a bit neglected.  It is so easy to focus on the things that aren't going right, all the stuff that's not fair or not going to plan....so as a little medicine for my soul  I decided to jump on board and share with you 10 things I am grateful for this week.


Here goes....


being a stay at home mum......yesterday miss 6 was home 'sick'...yep you know the kind of sick that gets better at about 9.10am.....yeah that sick.  And whilst I had to change a few things around since she was home it wasn't really a big deal because I am a stay at home mum and that is what I am here for.  Being on a single income with 5 children isn't easy but it's what we have chosen so that I can be at home for the girls so we may not have a large house or the latest model car etc.. but I am here for them if and when they are sick, I am at school for them when there are things on and I am home for them each afternoon.


hubby.....because every day he gets up and goes to work to provide for us.....what should be a 50 minute trip to the city becomes a 2 hour bumper to bumper struggle most mornings, and evenings are not much better.  He comes home exhausted everyday but still listens to all of our useless stories lol !!


blogging.....because it is like my own little space...a little place where I can meet others, share bits and pieces and the kids can't find me there!!


uninterrupted sleep.....the girls have always been pretty good sleepers, generally sleeping through of a  night from about 8 months of age....and it is only if they are sick now that I might be met with an interrupted sleep...but touch wood that hasn't happened for a while and I am feeling all the better for it! {Hang in those of you who are not there yet...it will come!!}


sisters.....last week I caught up with my 3 sisters for a lovely lunch...this doesn't happen nearly as much as it should due to everyone's busy schedules but perhaps that makes it all the more special when it does happen!


chocolate......because a girls gotta have a vice right....and chocolate just seems to make those less than harmonious days a little bit brighter


sat nav systems......because last night I had to take Miss 17 to a work placement meeting and we had been warned that the organsiers of the meeting were less than tolerant with late comers....so thanks to hubby's trusty sat nav we got there on time and cool, calm and collected!!  Now fingers crossed that she gets offered a position......


frangipanis.....because we have three frangipani trees growing right outside our kitchen window and looking at them whilst preparing meals distracts me from the mess that is our backyard.....the place that time never seems to let us get to!


teachers.....this year my daughters have lovely teachers and it makes their learning so much more enjoyable and their days so much more fun.


health....we have the usual coughs and colds, the tummy bugs here and there, we've had a few broken bones, one case of appendicitis and some troubling migraines but we are so lucky compared to so many others



So there you have my 10 things that I have been grateful for this week....and this has been a wonderful process to stop and think about these things, to appreciate them and to be grateful for them.....so thanks to Jess for sharing her thoughts with us and encouraging us to do the same!




Let's keep the process going...tell me something you are grateful for this week....



Monday 16 February 2015

I am Totally Loving #2



Last month if you recall I was loving flowy pants {you can read about that love affair here...


This month I am totally in love with the Sony Smart Lens....







Now the Sony lens was a family gift from Santa.....we must have all been very, very good ;-)

The Sony Smart Lens is a wireless lens that connects to your iPhone.  The model that Santa gave us is a 10x optical zoom.  

The girls have a real interest in photography, especially the eldest three who have done a few courses etc... but a new camera was way out of our  {I mean Santa's!}  budget this year so this seemed like a great option....and it definitely is!!

For me it has rejuvenated an interest in taking photos....just ask hubby and he'll tell you that I took hundreds of photos using the lens whilst on our Christmas holidays.

The quality of the photos is fantastic and the zoom of the lens produces a much clearer photo than the zoom of the iPhone camera.

More often than not our existing camera gets left at home due to it's size but with the smart lens I can easily pop it into my bag or even my pocket so it is much more likely to come on outings with us and more moments can be captured!

It is so easy to use {my girls taught me lol !!}  and attaches to the iPhone in seconds. It comes in black or white but Santa liked the black!





A great feature is that you can take the picture using the button on your phone or the button on the lens and you can also take photos with the lens not physically attached to the phone which I have really loved playing around with!




Here are a few of the photos that I took on holidays using the lens....believe me I had to work hard to only feature 9 photos {I literally did take hundreds!!}





























So there you have a few of my favourite pics from holidays using the Smart Lens.  And the Sony Lens has been getting a workout since we got home too.  All of the photos in my next 10 on 10 Photography circle project are being taken with the lens so make sure you keep an eye out for that on 10th March!

{by the way this was in no way a sponsored post....just something I am totally loving and wanted to share!!}



Do you have a camera or a lens that you love?  
Or do you take most of your photos on your phone...{if you do I hope you are better at backing them up than I am!!!}?





Friday 13 February 2015

Holy Shit....I'm an Old Fuddy Duddy..!!



So you know what....today I realised that I am totally an old fuddy duddy.....who knew!




Do you know how I came about this realisation?  

Well today I had to take miss 6 to a specialist appointment and the waiting room was the same waiting room used by the pregnant women waiting for their antenatal appointments....  I surveyed the room whilst waiting the insane amount of time that you always wait for specialists despite the fact that you have an actual appointment!!  Anyways in doing so I decided {in my expert opinion} that the young couple, each playing on their phones for the entire duration of their wait, are far too young to be having a baby.  Yep I was able to tell this just by a quick glance from across the room.

And earlier this week I found it ridiculous that children in miss 6's year 1 class at school were attending the One Direction concert....seriously 6 year olds {and on a school night  to boot...oh crap only an old fuddy duddy would say 'to boot'!} Again in my expert opinion I think that kids are getting everything too soon, too early, too fast......seriously what is there to wait for when they grow up?  Oh no... old lady rant !!!

About two weeks ago now.....it was an unseasonably cold morning.....and do you know what I saw?   I saw a young mother take her small baby out with not so much as a bonnet on his head......are you as gobsmacked as I was?

Far out it's true isn't it....I'm a fuddy duddy....oh my gosh!!   When did this happen????  How did this happen???

Oh it's 8.00pm....time for bed.....

Shit....it's undeniable isn't it!!!!!














Tuesday 10 February 2015

10 on 10 Photography Circle - February 2015



So by now you all know that I am pretty hopeless at doing things on a consistent basis.....you know like regular blog posts, or  routine house cleaning, or exercising more than once a month......so like ya do I've gone and joined me a monthly photography circle with some lovely blogging friends!!!!

Here's a little bit about how it works....

On the 10th of each month we will each share 10 photographs on our own blogs.....be it photos from one day or perhaps over the course of a few days....photos that were inspired by our day to day living, our everyday lives.  At the end of each blog post we will link to another of the blogs in the circle so you can pop by and check out their contribution for the month and hopefully find yourselves some great new blogs to love!

I am by no means a photographer and more often than not I take most of my photos on my trusty i-phone {where I then store them for so long that I end up deleting photos to take more photos lol !!}  But I'm willing to give it a go and learn a lot along the way.

For my first 10 on 10 photography circle project post I had some fabulous ideas for photos to take and share but then as usual I left it to the last minute and so decided that I'd take all of  my photos on the 9th and share them with you today....

So here's a glimpse of how my 9th of February looked!



Woke up...not to the sound of my alarm {I use my phone for my morning alarm}...but to sunlight much brighter than it should have been at 6.00am....grabbed my phone...battery flat!  Leapt (ok slight exaggeration!!)  out of bed to find that it was in actual fact 7.10am....quick calculation....20 minutes to get the three high school girls out of bed and out the door for the bus.........






Half ironed the school blouses whilst making toast and packing lunches {how many times have I told myself not to leave things til the morning...argh!!}





Having a luncheon date with my 3 sisters, which only happens about once a year at best, I was eager to get all of the girls off to school....so Miss 6 insisting that she had various ailments was not met with the highest level of patience....leaving home with not enough time to make a stop at the local chemist for throat lozenges we made a stop at the local chemist for throat lozenges...  go figure!





Arriving at school just after the bell rang we had the misfortune of running into the principal {figuratively speaking} as we rushed towards the class room...mummy fail!!

Then I was off to a quick appointment that would just allow me to be home in time to get dressed for lunch.....appointment ran 15-20 minutes behind schedule!!!!

Got picked up by my sister, picked up other two sisters along the way and went out to lunch where a bottle of coke helped to forget about the chaos of the morning!!







We caught up on the past few months that we hadn't seen each other for, reminisced about old times {most of which I don't remember or I wasn't even born for being the youngest by far in the family} and put on a few games of Keno...because how good would it have been to go home with a share of $73,689...!!!  Sadly that wasn't the case!!







Eventually we remembered that we had better order lunch....good idea considering I had 5 children to be at school pick up for lol !!  It was delicious....and I was sooo full......it'll be a get your own dinner night here!!







Back to school by 3.30pm for a meet the teacher afternoon at primary school.....and our first week of homework...and so it begins!!    :-(






Nearly forgot that Miss 10 had girl guides as it used to be Thursdays last year and is now Mondays....







A quick trip to the supermarket was unavoidable if there was to be any food in those lunchboxes the next day!!!!






Let's just say that I was more than a little thankful when it was time for the girls to brush their teeth and go to bed.  I will be checking that battery level multiple times before bed tonight...and maybe I should get a wake up call from hubby...just in case!!!






These were pretty quick snaps taken on the run.....not really a photography technique amongst them...but they are a pretty true glimpse into our crazy lives!!!

I look forward to participating again next month...and if I do that will probably be a personal best in sticking with a project from me!!!


Please check out the other blogs in this photography circle....there's a lot to love in our 
wonderful group....  
I am linking to Julie over at  indospired.com       
Be sure to check out her great photos from the St Kilda Festival
by clicking here



Monday 2 February 2015

And Now The Birthdays Begin....



So we've just gotten through the Christmas and New Year celebrations, survived 6 weeks of school holidays and have fallen back into the back to school routines....

.....and now the birthdays begin!!

First up in our household we have Miss 13...two more sleeps and she will be 14!!  And just in case you weren't sure what to buy her...problem solved...she has created a Birthday Board over on the girls pinterest account!

So if you want to know what 13-14 year old girls are into and what presents they would like then check out her board here....


If you want to see what she is actually getting then read on!


I picked up this cute little bird ornament from Kmart for $4.00 this will match her room well....





Every so often she has a fitness craze where she adds fruit to her water so I saw this water bottle that opens in the middle which will make it a lot easier to add the fruit...and to wash the bottle...






At 14 I let the girls have a little bit of makeup....so here's a few bits and pieces for her....





She loves nail art so I picked up this nail art book and tools from Sportsgirl and some nail polishes from Gloss....





And last but not least a replica Kartel storage unit from Kmart for $35 that she can use as bedside storage...



So hopefully she'll be happy with her gifts...even if none of them are from here pinterest board!!




Do you have birthdays rolling around already in your household?  Does they come thick and fast or are they spread out across the year??