Shopping Trolleys

I need to rant.

And given that this is my blog and I can write whatever I like, I'm going to do it here.

What is the deal with all the lazy people who won't put their trolley in the trolley bay???

I mean, how hard is it to walk up to 10 metres to put it away?

And then, once you're there, why wouldn't you push it into the other trolleys so that they don't run away or get all tangled up together?

Am I so strange that I think this is how it should be?

I've heard that some people say, "why should I do it?  I don't get paid for that!".

To which I say, "you lazy bum!".

Just because a store pays someone to come and collect them doesn't give you license to be lazy and leave your trolley in the middle of the car park, where other cars can run into it (if, for example, it's left between two parked cars and you don't see it), or where it can run away and crash into parked cars.

And what ever happened to being a part of the world community???  You don't get paid to put your rubbish in the bin, or keep your spit to yourself, or smile at others, or use your manners, or help someone out.

Bah!

Stop being so immature and pathetic and give 5 seconds of your time and a tiny bit of effort, and put your trolley in the bay!

Another step

This week my Little Big Fella took another step in growing up.  On Wednesday afternoon, he had his first Prep Transition Day.

Here in Queensland, Australia, children can attend kindergarten in the year before school.  In most cases the kindy is a separate location to schools, but sometimes they have their own area in a school.

The first year of "official" school is called Prep and my not-so-little son will be starting that at the end of January next year.  To help the kids get used to the school and the routines and rules, they're joining with this year's Prep students for three afternoons this term.

The Little Big Fella is pretty excited about going to school next year.  They've been talking about it at kindy and we've talked a bit about it at home as well.  And we've spent some time at the school for various events since moving here, including Kindysports this term, the school fair a few weeks ago and other events since moving here last year.

He has a lot of friends at the school already, and knows most of the kids who will join him in Prep next year, so he doesn't seem to be anywhere near nervous about it all.

In fact, when we arrived at Prep Transition the other day he didn't even turn around to look at me when the teacher came out and told them what would be happening.  She asked if he wanted to give me a kiss and cuddle!  It's such a contrast to dropping him off at kindy, where he still wants me to come in and sit with him for about 10 to 15 minutes before he's happy for me to leave.

We have two more Transition sessions over the next two weeks, and I'm hoping it goes as well as this one!

During the hour he was there, Miss I, his teacher, read them the book, "The Very Cranky Bear".  It's one we've borrowed from the Library previously, and I'm certain they've read it at kindy a few times as well.  It's a really good book.

They got to do a painting after that, and told Miss I what their favourite part of the book was.

When he came out of the classroom at the end, he was SO excited and wanted to tell me everything they'd done.

Instead of going home (the Big Fella was sleeping), I hung out in the canteen with our next door neighbour.  I saw all the Prep kids holding hands with the Transition Preps, going around the school and showing them where everything was.  It was gorgeous!  I wanted to get a photo, but didn't want to distract the class so you don't get to see how cute they were.  Sorry!

Now I need to start thinking about school uniforms, backpacks, pencil cases and so on.  Hello Christmas stocking fillers and presents :-D  Yep, this marks the start of practical Christmas presents like socks and jocks!!!!  Mwah ha ha haaaaah!

While the cat's away...

I've had lots of things to tell you all, but I've had no time to tell it!!!

The Big Fella was away fishing for a week.  So, to keep myself from getting sad and lonely, I planned a few things to do.

I've cleaned almost as if I was moving house (we're not, by the way) including exhaust fans (bleuch!) and windows (double bleuch!).

I've woken up my (very sleepy) craft bug.  I think it's the time of year.  Halloween is a little bit of a deal here in our little town, so I've made some paper mache pumpkins, I'm still working on some luminieres made from tin cans, and I need to paint my window silhouettes.  I'm also working on a costume for the school fair/ladies' pink night/Halloween walk.  And all of that gets me excited about Christmas so I've been planning and buying stuff for that too.  But there'll be more about my crafty capers in another post (possibly next week).

And what else should you do to fill in time without your husband, but hang out with friends???

We've had playdates and craft sessions and buy-at-home parties.  And I had a few of the girls around for an evening on Friday.  No, there'll be no telling!  But I think it's okay to say that none of us has had a late night drinking and laughing with the girls in a while, and it hit us a little hard the next day.

I have to say that I have some brilliant friends, too!  I love that we talk about a wide range of things and we can say some pretty outrageous stuff and not be shot to pieces for it.

And laughing!  Oh my goodness I love laughing!!!

But I often get so caught up in the busy-ness and stress of daily life that I forget to see the funny stuff.  Life shouldn't be so serious!  Keep reminding me about that, okay?

It was my nephew's 5th birthday the other day!  I got to talk to him on the phone and I miss him (and his brother, my sister and brother-in-law) so much!  That's definitely one of the sucky things about living away from family, and friends too.

The school is running a fair this Friday and I've offered to do balloon animals for them.  I was trying to get my juggling skills back in time, but it just hasn't happened.  I think I stress out about it too much and end up throwing the balls all over the place!

I'm excited to do some kid-based stuff again, though.  It's been quite a while!  I'm hoping to get half an hour to practice some of the trickier ones before then.  Or at least jump online and look at a few!  I think my very basic repertoire of a dog/giraffe/monkey/elephant and a sword won't quite cut it.

We're off to the big town 2 hours away tomorrow.  The Big Fella has a specialist appointment for the first time since we moved here.  It's been very exciting lately, because his most recent pathology says that his weight loss and exercise are improving his kidney health, significantly reducing his potential need for intervention.  I just about did a happy dance in the doctor's office when he said that!

While we're over there, we're going to be doing a spot of shopping (hello Spotlight (fabric/craft store) and Bunnings (hardware store)).  Just a tad excited about that one.

Anyway, I need to go finish the dishes and get to bed.  The Big Fella is working tonight so there's a decent possibility that I'll be driving tomorrow.

Okay, side note:  I want to kill my dogs!  Obviously not literally.  But when that stinking cat comes by every, single, night, and they bark like there's no tomorrow every, single, night and it doesn't matter what I do they do it EVERY, SINGLE, NIGHT.  Sheesh.

Right.  Time to post this (sorry, it's been a while and this really hasn't been a very exciting post) and get to bed!

Damn you, hormones!

We had a wonderful day today.  We took a drive to our nearest "big" town, did some shopping, had a lovely lunch then came home and spent the afternoon/evening with friends.

That's if you take out the damn hormones that side-swiped me today!

I got up this morning and did my workout.  No worries.

Got ready and we drove to town.  No worries.

Got there at pretty much the exact time we wanted to.  No worries.

Started looking at a new mobile phone for me (my contract is about to end).  No worries.

Went to Big W and picked up almost everything on my list.  So far, so good.

Went to the other phone company to look at mobiles.  The Big Fella took off to do check out some stuff and left the Little Big Fella with me.

No worries.

Until 10 or 15 minutes later when the Little Big Fella wasn't getting enough attention and started jumping all over the place and whatever else, scattering all coherent thoughts and causing my stress levels to rise.

Okay.  Finished up the conversation, having got the info I needed and headed to the next place on my list.

The Big Fella catches up with us and asks a question about the phone place and I nearly tore his head off.  What the???

I apologise, explain what happened and we move on.

For the rest of our time in town I was on the edge and every little thing the Little Big Fella did just about drove me nuts.

We did have a nice lunch though.

When we got back home, we unpacked then headed to our friend's place to chill out.  After about half an hour I was daydreaming of sleeping on the grass and feeling sick in the stomach.

I ended up coming home and trying to sleep but had a very restless nap.  I'm pretty sure I was having nightmares but I can't remember.  Eventually gave up, got up (still feeling completely wrecked and sick), watered the plants, fed the dogs and prepared some dinner then took it back to our friend's place.

Had a lovely dinner with them then came home.  The Fellas went straight to bed and now I'm nearly sleepy enough to join them.

I just hate it when my hormones attack me and ruin what would have been an awesome day.  And even though I spent the whole time fighting them, I just wasn't winning at all.

Bleuch!

Melbourne trip - Last days

Our last two days in Melbourne ended up being pretty busy!  I guess I wanted to squeeze in as many visits with people and activities at the same time as I could.

But, we "squeezed in" a sleep in first :-D

Most of the morning was unplanned so we had a sleep in and did a few domestic duties, then jumped in the car and went to find a motorbike gear shop.

See, since the Little Big Fella has started riding his motorbike by himself, my heart has often been in my throat watching him.  And while that will probably always be the case, safety gear can go a long way to making me feel a bit better about it!

We found the shop and found these funky motorbike pants (with appropriate padding) and a pair of little gloves.

We've since found some elbow pads that fit him, and decided that the gloves are actually too big for him, so found some that fit even better.  For now, we've decided that we're not getting boots.  Partly because they're ridiculously expensive and his feet are growing an an equally ridiculous pace, but mostly because he's riding pretty slowly still and there's no logs or anything where he rides, so covered shoes are okay (for now).

After the motorbike shop, we went to a camping place and found me a new winter jacket.  I'd bought the jacket I had when I first arrived for my year in America - in 1998!  Definitely time for an update.  Sorry, no pics for this one, but it was a bargain $50!!!

We got a call from the Big Fella's sister and partner and agreed to meet at a nearby shopping centre for lunch.  We ended up at a place called Outback Jack's.  There was a big crocodile hanging from the ceiling!

We had a great (BIG) lunch and a good chat then headed into the shopping centre.  While the girls were sorting some stuff out with their phones, the Little Big Fella was entertained on a car ride and by going up and down the escalators a million times.

We picked up some gorgeous pork chops to cook up for dinner then it was time to say goodbye until our next visit to Melbourne.  Obviously the adults wanted this to last just that little bit longer, but the Little Big Fella strongly believes that when we say goodbye, we're actually going.  So he headed up the stairs toward our car!

So we said our goodbyes and had one last hug.  I hate goodbyes :-(

We had a bit of time before needing to be "home", so we dropped in on Cadbury J and her kids for a last play.

You know the saying, "two's company, three's a crowd"?  There was a little bit of that going on for the first while, but thankfully (after a fair bit of frustration) it settled and they played well together again while us mums caught up some more.

Then it was time to say goodbye.  Have I mentioned that I don't like goodbyes?

Sigh.

Back at mum and dad's place, I made dinner, then my sister called to say she'd be coming over.  We ended up watching Origin 3 (kind of like a grand final for rugby league), which is kind of funny given that my family isn't very sporty at all and Victorians don't tend to watch rugby.  Dad totally got into it!

Just for the record, Queensland won, making it 8 years in a row :-)

Afterwards, my sister wasn't really keen on leaving and we ended up talking till pretty late.  Dad also pulled out a bunch of old letters between his parents.

I found out that they lived in a suburb of Melbourne when they first married, and we found the place on the map.  That area is now very hoity toity!

Eventually it was that time again.  Time to say goodbye.  I really hate saying goodbye.  Hanging with my sister (especially at P!nk) was really awesome.

But that's just the reality of life when you live in a different state, isn't it?  Goodbyes just become part of your life.  I guess they're a part of life anyway because even if you stay in the one place, others come and go.

Okay, time to move on again.

The following day, our last in Melbourne, was another friend day.  In the morning the Little Big Fella and I met up with my best friend to see Despicable Me 2 at the cinema.  Definitely a movie that will end up at our house!  It was very funny and entertaining.  Unfortunately, my friend hadn't seen the first movie, so some of it wasn't as fun for her.

After the movie, the Little Big Fella got excited about the games in the foyer and pretended to drive the cars, ride the motorbikes and shoot the guns.  We had a game of air hockey, which was pretty funny because he could only reach the smallest part of the table.  Obviously I tried to make it fun for him and not get the disc in the hole too many times ;-)

Again with the stinking goodbyes!!!

Then it was into the city to meet up with another friend.  K was my best friend for about a year in high school before I moved towns.  We met up last time I was in Melbourne, when the Little Big Fella was 1.

It turned out that the place we decided to meet had some snow for kids to play with/on.  The Little Big Fella would have literally spent the whole afternoon there!!!

Thankfully he got hungry so we went and had some lunch and had a really good catch up.

One thing I found difficult by the end of our time in Melbourne was being constantly in parenting mode.  At home, the Big Fella is there to take some of the weight of parenting, and the Little Big Fella has kindy so I get a break then too.

But in Melbourne I was constantly in parenting mode - thinking about distances and how far the Little Big Fella would be happy to walk, thinking about what kinds of food he'd actually eat when we were out, finding toilets in a hurry, dealing with the fact that he gets bored with stuff I like doing.  It's all part of being a parent, but it got a bit wearing by the end of our trip.

After lunch it was straight back to the snow to play, while K and I chatted some more.  I'd noticed a little earlier that the sky was starting to get quite dark, but hadn't paid that much attention.  All of a sudden it let rip!  The rain came down hard and fast and we ran to find some cover.  Thankfully it settled down a little so we made our way to K's car, because it was closer.  Then she drove us around to our car (although, I was a bit disoriented and we went the wrong way initially).

Then there was another goodbye.  Sigh.

You know, my biggest problem with goodbyes is that I'm a terrible long-distance friend.  I try to keep in touch, but I'm really just not good at it.  Life gets busy and it slips further down the to-do list.  And I'd understand if my friends felt that they weren't important to me.

But I honestly treasure each of you!  At various times in my life you've been the very reason that I love living!  Friends (and family - but they're my friends too) are my favourite thing about life.

So, I'm sorry that I'm such a terrible long-distance friend.  I will try harder to make time to call or write or text or send you a Facebook message.  Because I think you're awesome and I'm incredibly grateful to have had you in my life.

Back to the story ;-)

We managed to head home in peak hour traffic.  Woo hoo!

Okay, another side note.  I don't know how you guys stand driving that far, in those conditions, all the time!  I mean, I only drive a couple of days a week, for about 15 minutes each way, on the highway and it's plenty of car time.  But you guys drive up to an hour each way, often in the dark, with crazy people all around you!  Hats off to you!

The saving grace on this particular drive was the massive double rainbow!

Mum and dad have recently moved and now have a couple living across the road from them that they get along with really well.  So this night we had dinner at their house.

G & K are pretty cool and it was great to finally meet them in person (we would have met them when we were heading back to our old town, the day we had our little roll).  I can see why mum and dad get along with them so well - they're the same kind of crazy, as one poster I read recently put it.

We had a lovely dinner, and the Little Big Fella had a play with their dogs, then we retired to the front room and sat around the fire.  K had bought some American marshmallows and made some awesome little marshmallow toasting sticks.  So the Little Big Fella cooked them up for everyone (he only likes them uncooked) until we all felt kind of sick.

Then it was time to say goodbye and go "home" to finish packing, ready to head home the next day.

Melbourne trip - end of week 1

Okay, I think we need to speed these up just a little bit!

The day after the P!nk concert I got to sleep in a little (yay!), and we had a relatively slow day.

When I was a late teenager, my family had a great girl/lady live with us for about 3 years.  We'll call her Cadbury J because of the regular late night runs to the supermarket we'd have to collect junk food, particularly chocolate.  Cadbury J is now married with 2 gorgeous kids - a 6 year old boy, and a 4 year old girl (only 6 weeks older than the Little Big Fella).

After a sufficient sleep in and slow morning, the Little Big Fella and I went around to Cadbury J's house and ended up spending the rest of the day with her and the kids.  The kids got along brilliantly for the most part (after a slightly shy start), and the Little Big Fella wanted to play with them every day after that while we were in Melbourne.

On this particular day, we ended up making and decorating cupcakes - a slightly messy affair (cooking with kids always is), but definitely fun and delicious (has to be when Cadbury J is involved)!

The boys had a go at a Wii dancing game and did surprisingly well.

And all three kids ended up with gumboots (galoshes?) on, playing in the mud outside.

The following day we ended up at the big park near mum and dad's place with my sister, and Cadbury J  and the kids turned up too!  Again, the kids played well together and the Little Big Fella was not impressed when it was time to say goodbye and go "home".

That morning we'd joined my parents at their Ulysses brunch - checking out all the motorbikes and saying "hi" to some of mum and dad's friends.  I expected that the Little Big Fella would be excited by all the bikes, but he was focused on wanting to play with Cadbury J's kids and was a bit of a cranky pants.

It was amusing hanging out with the "bikers", because the Little Big Fella told everyone he met there that he rode his own motorbike, and they were all suitably impressed.

The following day Mum, my sister, the Little Big Fella and I went to the Queen Victoria market (after meeting my sister's cat).  It was a very different experience to when we lived in Melbourne, mostly because the Big Fella wasn't with us, so we went to other areas of the market than just the deli :-D

Of course, we did go to the deli because that's a complete experience in itself, but it wasn't the same without the Big Fella's enthusiasm.

Going around the general part of the market was good fun!  We looked at art and clothes and bags and whatever else happened to catch our attention.  The Little Big Fella was just starting to get antsy when we spotted a toy stall.  They had a pack of superhero figurines, including his favourites Thor, the Hulk, Wolverine, Batman, Spiderman and Superman, for only $10!  My sister decided that she needed to buy them for him and for the next hour or so, he was completely engrossed in them and happy to be dragged from bag stall to clothing stall :-D  Thanks sis!!!

We decided it was time to eat and ended up at a little dumpling bar.  We ordered a selection and shared them, enjoying the food, company, sights and being out of the wind.

A little more market-ing then we headed back to my parent's place.

That evening was a family dinner at mum and dad's.  My brother, sister and her husband came and we all hung out for the evening.

I'm sure I've mentioned it before, but I love my family.  I love that we get along so well and that being together is fun for us!  And I think each and every one of them is pretty darn awesome, actually.  I'm super, super lucky!

That was the end of our first week in Melbourne!  By this stage I was happy, exhausted, having a blast and missing home (particularly missing the Big Fella).  And there was still four full days plus a day of travel to go!  Time to get some sleep for it, hey?

Melbourne trip - Part IV

After a day with the Big Fella's family, we got to spend a bit of time (when we weren't exhausted even!) with my parents.

Mum had taken the day off work and Dad ended up meeting us for lunch, which was awesome.

One of the local shopping centres had a dinosaur display for the school holidays.  There were large and small dinosaurs, all very realistic, as well as some that moved!  They were pretty cool!

Unfortunately, there was a very long line to see them up close.  Double unfortunately, the Little Big Fella wasn't in the mood for queuing.  We got to the end of the line and within about a minute he'd started losing the plot.

Just at that moment he spotted Toyworld.  And that was the end of us lining up to see dinosaurs!

We went to Toyworld and he conned Nanna into buying him a Spiderman glove that makes web slinging sounds when you put your hand the right way, as well as an Optimus Prime costume (incidentally, he was wearing his Iron Man costume at the time).

Mum and I decided that it was time for a coffee, so we headed for one of the cafés and partook of some very nice beverages.  The Little Big Fella was happily distracted by his new Spiderman glove :-)

After that we thought we'd have a little walk around, but first my son had to have a play on the digger.

We wandered around Myer and a couple of other places, and I ended up buying a new top (which I wore to the P!nk concert - post coming soon!).  Then we met up with Dad and grabbed some lunch.

Have you ever been to a food court in a shopping centre?  It's an area where there are a bunch of tables in the middle, and a range of fast food places around the outside.

They tend to be very loud.

Especially at the lunch rush hour.

Especially at the lunch rush hour in school holidays!

Thankfully we got a seat very easily and the noise started to settle when we were about half way through our meals.

After lunch Dad had to get back to work, so Mum and I wandered around a few more stores before the Little Big Fella started losing the plot on us again.  On the way home we stopped at Spotlight (a large craft store), which really pushed the Little Big Fella a bit too far.  He'd pretty much run out of patience for shopping.  That, and he wasn't allowed to put on his Optimus Prime costume until we got "home".

So we took him "home" and he was quite happy.

While we stayed with my parents, the Little Big Fella developed a couple of routines in the evening.  These included setting the table in the "winter room" for dinner with Nanna, lighting the candles for dinner, saying grace (which always includes holding hands and giving people a kiss after "amen"), blowing out the candles when everyone is done, then having a bath (definitely the most exciting part of the night!), and putting on Superman pjs.

We don't have a bath in our current house, so going to my grandparent's place in our old town, or now going to my parent's place has to include a bath... preferably with lots of bubbles!  And mum's bath is a spa bath, so lots of bubbles can become even more bubbles!!!

Grandma gave the Little Big Fella a Superman onesie (all-in-one pyjamas).  They're fleecy and very warm, and suited sleeptime in Melbourne.

They even came with a cape!  The Little Big Fella was in love :-)

A couple of nights Nanna got to read a book to the Little Big Fella.  They had two favourites; a book about a digger trying to find home, and a book of funny poems (which he's been partially repeating ever since - Oodnadatta, Paramatta, and Triantiwantigongalope!).

Some nights it was a little too warm for a fleecy Superman onesie and Batman covers!

I was very relieved that the Little Big Fella settled into a happy routine at Mum and Dad's.  Not only did it make night times that bit easier, it also meant that there was no stress when it was time for me to go to the P!nk concert!  But more about that in the next installment ;-)

4 year old vaccinations

Here in Australia, when a child turns 4 they get to have their last vaccinations (until year 8 - about 15 years old) and a developmental check.  What a way to celebrate, huh?

Yesterday was the Little Big Fella's day for it.

As I was thinking about it last night, I realised we'd kind of been preparing him mentally for this for about six months.  When our little dogs had to get their vaccinations in December we talked about what a it is and why we have them.  The Little Big Fella also learned the word at that stage, which blows me away as well!

Also in December, January and February I received some vitamin B12 injections, and then had a blood test, and the Little Big Fella came along with me once or twice.  He got to see that it's no big deal (yes, that was a bit of an act on my part, given that I'm not great with needles), and he even got a chocolate with the blood test for being "such a brave boy watching Mummy".

Last week we went to the doctor's surgery to make the appointment so we got a chance to talk a little bit about what would be happening today.  No big deal, and he promptly forgot about it.

Yesterday morning I thought it would be a good idea to let him know that it was vaccination day.  We talked about it just a little, then he went off and played.  After lunch we jumped in the car and I noticed that he was a little quiet on the way to the next town.

"Are you okay?" I asked him.

No real answer.

"Are you a little bit nervous?"

"Yeah."

I told him it's okay to be a bit nervous and we also talked about the other things the nurse would do - check his eyes and ears, maybe watch him play and ask him about stuff.

When we got there he was weighed (22kg) and his height was measured (118cm), then the nurse sent us into the next room while she prepared the needles.  The Little Big Fella was really relaxed while we were waiting.

When she came in, the nurse asked me to take his top off (we couldn't push the sleeves up high enough) and sit him on my lap, with his hands in his lap, and mine over his.  The other nurse came in and recognised him, making a big fuss over how big he was etc.

Then 1, 2, 3 and the needles were in (one in each arm)!

The Little Big Fella was a bit surprised that it hurt, I think.  He watched one of the needles all the way, and kind of squirmed very slightly.  Then he just said, "that hurt a little bit".

The nurses made a big fuss of how brave my boy was, then second nurse left and the Little Big Fella was given 2 chocolate frogs!  He ate one and we put the other in my bag for later :-)

Then the nurse asked a bunch of questions to both me and the Little Big Fella and we were done.  I'm happy to let you know that there are no indicators of developmental issues.

We had some food shopping to do before coming home.  In the supermarket, the Little Big Fella was really well behaved, but just kept getting louder and louder!  He was saying "hi" to everyone we came across, and telling them that he was 4 and he'd just had his "vaccinations".  I was starting to think we'd have to go for a bike ride or something when we got home because he had way too much energy and volume!

But, wouldn't you know it?  He fell asleep on the way home and had a half hour nap!  (I used to kind of love vaccinations and chiropractor appointments when he was a baby because he'd always have a big sleep that afternoon!)

So it turns out that my big boy, who cries when his friends bump into him, is brave when it comes to vaccinations.

Living area reveal!

I know, I know!  The furniture arrived on Tuesday and it's taken me this long to show it to you!!!  So instead of wasting more time writing about it, I'll just show you the pictures :-D

Here's when we first moved in.  Bit of a mess and hard to see the actual furniture, but it gives you half an idea :)

And here's where we'd moved pretty much everything out:

I think everything is gone in this pic:

And here's the new stuff :)

The plan is that we'll sand back the coffee table and stain it to match the rest of the furniture.  The TV is loving being on a proper stand, rather than on top of a box (albeit a lovely box) with the stereo stacked on the side looking very untidy!

And yes!  That is a wine rack over there :-)  Looks like I'll be stopping in at Dan Murphy's next week (darn!).

You can't see it very well, but there's a rather large buffet in the corner behind the dining table.  Somehow it fits SO much more in it than the last one (probably partly because of the huge drawers!!!), to the point that I still have room in it.  Between the new kitchen and the new furniture, I feel like I actually have space for all of our "stuff", especially now that we've purged a lot of it anyway.

So there it all is!  We have a plan to replace the lounge suite some time in the next 12 months, and I'd like to get some new table cloths and runners, an up-light (we only have flouros and sometimes you just want a bit of mood lighting), and some art for the walls.

Last night we were watching a little TV and the Big Fella says to me, "you know, it feels like a real house now".  I guess that means we've chosen the right stuff for us :-D

Re-assessing my style

I am not a fashionista.

It's not that I don't like fashion (well, sometimes I don't like some fashions because I think they're completely ridiculous), it's just that fashion isn't all that important to me, especially as a stay-at-home-mum living essentially in the middle of nowhere, where trackies (track suit pants) and moccies (moccasins or slippers) are just as acceptable as a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.

But I've been thinking lately that the style of clothing that I keep going for is either too old for me, or 10 (maybe even 20) years ago.  And even though I don't have the opportunity to get dressed up very often, I'd like to shake up my daily wardrobe anyway.

So I spent some time looking at pages responding to the Google search "how to change your style".  One that really caught my attention talked about having a 10-piece wardrobe!  Now that is my idea of a wardrobe :-D  I've ordered her book and will let you know if I find it interesting and easily applicable ;-)  And she has a website if you want to check it out.

I worked out that in summer the styles I love are Bohemian and Surfy/Sporty, but in winter I like Classic or Preppy styles.  In summer I like to wear floaty, lightweight, light coloured, relaxed clothes.  But in winter I like to go for the crisp lines of well-fitting pants, or a gorgeous pencil skirt, shirts and jackets.

Then I wasted a LOT of time looking at websites like Gap, Kathmandu and Birdsnest, pinning the outfits that got my attention.

As I looked through, I realised that some of the items of clothing in my wardrobe are still the style that I want to wear - I just need to wear them differently or pair them up with other things that what I normally wear.

And accessorize.  I'm really bad at that these days.  I think when I had the Little Big Fella I started to ignore all of my jewellery in particular, because having it pulled is a big fat pain in the butt!  But it's time to get back to accessories!

So now with my new styles in mind, along with the current pieces I own, next time I go shopping I'm thinking I'll be coming home with something a little bit different.  (Excited little squeal!)

Visits and shopping

As promised, here is another "catch-up" post from all that we've been up to this month.

The week after my brother was here, the Fellas and I drove back to our old town to visit family, for the Big Fella to get a root canal, and to collect the last of our belongings that had been stored in my Poppy's shed.

My grandparents moved interstate when I was four or five years old.  As we were growing up, I only got to see them about once a year, and I felt that I'd missed out on something really special because of it.

Then, when the Big Fella and I first moved to Queensland, we ended up living with my grandparents for two or three months.  It was hard for everyone initially, but we got to know each other well and became great friends.  It is an absolute pleasure to me to now watch my son having the opportunity to know and love his great-grandparents!

Anyway, when we first arrived at my grandparents' place, I had quite a shock.  Poppy has just recently had a knee reconstruction and managed to get blood poisoning in the hospital.  They didn't pick it up and sent him home.  Thankfully he had a checkup with his surgeon a couple of days later, and was readmitted immediately.  By the time we got there, Poppy had been back home for a few days and was on the mend.

But walking in and seeing him was a shock!  His skin was grey and he looked 10 years older than when I'd seen him in December.  Talk about confronting!!!

Thankfully within a few hours he was looking more like himself.  I think that the Big Fella had a lot to do with that - they're great friends, which is kind of amazing given that they didn't like each other when they met!

Over the next three days, I noticed that Poppy's knee was less swollen and he was able to do more.  So he's definitely mending, which is such a relief.

Okay, lets move on to other things.

The Little Big Fella had such a good time playing with his cousins!  He misses them so much, and that really is the thing I feel worst about with our move here.  I've no doubt they'll be great friends, but I guess when we lived closer they were almost like siblings.

I've been reflecting a little over the past few months that it would have been wonderful for the Little Big Fella to have a sibling.  Unfortunately I wasn't mentally capable and now that he's just about to start school I'm not willing to go back to the baby and nappies stage.

Oh my goodness, this post is getting rather dreary, isn't it???

Let me tell you about the very fun part of our visit!  We went shopping!

Now, when I say "we went shopping" I don't mean a little bit here and there.  I mean we. went. shopping!!!!

We finally found office furniture that we like (I've been looking for months!!!), and a dining setting/buffet/entertainment unit that we both like.  I ordered the office furniture as soon as we got home and it arrived the other day.  I'll show it to you when I've got it all together :-)  The other stuff will be ordered in a few weeks I think.

We went to the sports store and ended up with two pairs of shoes each, a footy for the Little Big Fella, some extra dumbells and weight plates... I think there was something else too.

The Big Fella went to our old butcher and ended up buying, literally, a deep freezer full of meat!  Here comes the jerky :-D

I bought some black beans, which are a little difficult to get here and are expensive to buy online.

Okay, I bought a lot of black beans.

I'd never used them until recently, but I have a recipe from the Dessert Angel for "Belly Fat Burning Brownies".  They have no flour and no sugar but are high in fibre and protein, and they taste FANTASTIC!!!  Even the Fellas love them!  And everywhere I've taken them people have loved them too, and asked for the recipe.

So, I bought a massive bag of black beans :-)

The Little Big Fella and I went to Bunnings.  I love that store!!!  Apparently there's a little one opening in our closest large town sometime this year.  Guess that'll make it heaven :-D

From Bunnings I bought new fittings for the bathroom.  I know, we're in a company house!  But I wanted fittings that suited our lifestyle and matched the rest of the room so I bought some.

I also got some paint.  Our playgroup was getting rid of a few bits and pieces when we moved to the CWA hall at the start of the year, and I decided to keep a stand/rack for hanging up costumes and hats.  It needs a bit of cleaning up, so I decided to buy some bright, dark blue paint, which will go really nicely with the Little Big Fella's new bed, and the freshly painted walls. Don't worry, I'll show you pics when it's done :-)

So, obviously, as well as all this shopping we spent time with my family and everyone had a great time.  I absolutely love that spending time with my family is fun, not a stress.  I feel particularly lucky!

Okay, that's the end of this update!  But don't worry, there'll be more!!!  :-D

Oh my goodness!!!  I totally forgot to put in the photos from our visit!!!  I ended up taking my camera, specifically with the CWA photo competition in mind - not because I think I'll win anything, but because it's another way to support what's happening in our local community.  I took a bunch of pics of the Little Big Fella playing in the playground, and had a go at some more abstract-style photos.

Anyway, here you go!

This is my youngest nephew when we were op-shopping.  He really didn't want to get out of there when it was time to go, either!

Oh!  This is at home.  My brother gave the Little Big Fella his birthday present and he's played with it for hours!

 

There you go!  Hope you enjoyed it :-D

We're ba-ack!

Oh my goodness!  It has been a hectic couple of weeks around here!!!

Okay, not quite around here I guess, but in our lives generally speaking.

The Little Big Fella and I have spent the past 10 days in our old town, staying at my grandparents' place and helping my sister in her post-operation recovery.

Well, that was the plan!

Amazingly, they think we helped out plenty, so that's good.

To me it felt like I shopped my little heart out (and totally emptied my bank account!) and squeezed a million things into each day!  And it was absolutely fun!  And absolutely exhausting!!!

So here's a few of the things we got up to:

• Playgroup Christmas party
  Super Carer just happened to have the Christmas party on the first weekend we were in town so we got to join in.  And the kids had a ball!
  
  The Little Big Fella's cousins were there, and his friends, and a few new kids that we'd hardly met before we left.  And they all got along brilliantly and had a great time playing together.
  
  Which, of course, means that the adults get to sit around and chat without stress about the kids.  Yay!
  
• A morning at the indoor playground!
  This is something I've been missing since we moved.  The indoor playground is fairly small compared to others in larger cities, but it's perfect for smaller kids.
  
  The Little Big Fella and his cousins literally ran the whole time we were there!  Then we got to feed them a little bit of junk and juice, let them run a bit more then crash in the car on the way back to my sister's place :-)
  
• Lots of playing with cousins
  This was probably one of the best parts of the whole 10 days for the Little Big Fella.  He's really missed his cousins - one is 6 months older than him, the other almost exactly 2 years younger.  They get along really well and there were probably only a handful of times that we had to get involved (mostly to settle down the Little Big Fella whose game of "fighting" got a bit rough a few times).
  
• A sleepover!
  Another major highlight for the Little Big Fella - he got to sleepover one night at his cousins' house.  He absolutely adores sleepovers and asks for them any time he wants to spend more time with any of his friends.
  
  So a few days before we were due to come home, my sister and brother-in-law were feeling well (brave) enough to have a sleepover.  Apparently it went very well, especially because all the kids were exhausted and went to sleep pretty easily!
  
• Shopping!  LOTS of shopping!
  Before I left here, I had a list.
  
  I thought it was a small list.
  
  I was wrong!
  
  To fulfill my list (including all of my Christmas shopping, plus my in-laws' birthdays) required shopping every morning before I got to my sister's house, and every afternoon between leaving her place and getting back to my grandparents', and two or three other mornings/days where my nephews were at daycare and my sister didn't need me around.
  
  Then there was the day that the Little Big Fella and my nephews went to Super Carer's place so that my sister and I could shop together!  We kind of forgot to do the shopping we'd intended to do and ended up trying on and buying a whole lot of clothes.  And my sister got a new printer too!
  
  Sorry whoever misses out on Christmas presents because of that!!!!
  
• Another Christmas party!
  My grandparents live in the caretaker's cottage of a large church (Poppy is the caretaker).  The church runs a playgroup and they happened to be having a Christmas party on a day that my nephews were at daycare with Super Carer.
  
  The Little Big Fella follows Poppy around everywhere when we visit them (poor Poppy was a little exhausted, okay, a lot exhausted, even though he loved it).  So Poppy went over to the church to open up and help set a few things up for the party.
  
  One of those things was a jumpy castle!  So guess who didn't leave when the party started!!!
  
  We did get to catch up with a couple of friends while we were there though!
  
• Christmas carols
  The church also had a Christmas carols service, just after Super Carer's Christmas party actually.  So we went over and enjoyed a little bit of singing and so on.  Unfortunately, the Little Big Fella was pretty tired by this stage so we ended up coming back to the cottage and bathing him and putting him to bed.
  
• Looking at Christmas lights
  After having dinner with my sister's family one night, the Little Big Fella and I decided to drive around and have a look at the Christmas lights displays around town.  There are some fantastic ones and we both really enjoyed it!
  
• A spot of cooking and cleaning
  I got to cook for my grandparents two nights.  I did a chicken dish one night and it was okay, but I did soft tacos with homemade salsa another night and that was definitely a hit!
  
  I also got to clean a little for my sister and my grandparents - dishes, clothes, and just a little bit of this and that.
  
  It was really nice to be able to do something to help out and my reflections of my life at this point in time suggest that I don't do enough of this to make me happy.  I'd really like to include a bit more "helping" in 2013 - for individuals and for our community - because it makes me feel useful and much more fulfilled than just living life for myself and my two Fellas.
  
• A family BBQ
  Unfortunately my brother-in-law was quite ill with a migraine, but the rest of us got to hang out together and eat yummy food.  The thing I always love about a BBQ is that it's so much less stress than other types of meals.  You cook a bit of meat (and sausages or kebabs are simple and quick and no one stresses about rare/well-done levels), have a bit of salad, maybe some bread, something to drink, maybe a dessert and everyone is happy!  And you just get to spend some time together, enjoying each others' company and having a chat about everything and nothing.  LOVE it!
  
• Toad hunting
  I know!  Some people will be horrified by this, and for that I apologise for making you feel uncomfortable.  However, cane toads are a pest species in Australia that have assisted in the endangerment of some of our native species.  So, although the method that we use may not be appealing, the necessity of toad removal is there.
  
  Okay, having got that out of the way, our method of toad hunting is by use of golf clubs.  The toads generally sit with their head up, almost like a ball on a tee, so knocking them off in one hit is really easy.  The little boys especially enjoy walking around the 40 acre property with torches, although their interest in actually hitting the toads varies.

So there's the brief run-down of our week and a half away.  We were quite ready to come home yesterday, even though we'd had a great time away.  The Little Big Fella was really missing his Dad for the past few days, as was I, and it is as they say; "there's no place like home".