After Christmas, comes Easter

I am so tired. Being sleep deprived is a pass time for me. Lately, I get up and get the kids to school and then I come home only to find myself falling asleep again. The other day I sat down to write a list and fell asleep.

Confession 1: I only just took this banner I made before Christmas, down a couple of weeks ago. I had all our other Christmas decorations packed up in the days after Christmas day, but this stayed up. I was too lazy to get a chair to stand on so I could reach it. I liked it up though. It was going to be the whole first verse of the carol but that actually took a really long time to make so I just did the first line. It was also still up because since renovating, I haven't put up any pictures and so it was a nice wall decoration.

Now that it is down, the wall above the TV looks boring. I am starting to get photos printed and finding the right frames because I want a photo gallery wall up there. If only these things would work out easily and be done so I could already be enjoying it. :-) All in good time.

So Easter is nearly here. How did that happen? Confession 2: I still have 3 Christmas CDs on rotation in my car. What? I really like Christmas carols and music. Actually, this is pretty bad for me. Half way through February is late for me. So I am at a new personal best. Ha!

Easter. I had planned to have the house a bit Easter-y but that hasn't happened so far. I got the Easter basket out of the cupboard but the kids just spread it all over the floor and house. And not in a way that could be described as decorating!

I have been doing bits and pieces of crafting lately but I haven't got as far as to take pictures. I will try to do that before the school holidays start again. I am not remotely ready for them to be so close!

I will leave you with my current favourite song. A Christmas one of course.

Felt toes

My first project for 2013. Some felt toes. Well... they are more like, um... claws. I will share more pictures when I get closer to finished :-) Any guesses who this might belong to?

Starting school 2013 (aka My year with "so much time on my hands")

Well this is a great beginning to the year, isn't it? It's already half way through February and I am only here for the second time. Oh well. Even if I only post once a month this year, I am probably doing better than last year. :-)

Esther and Ellamay started Grade 3 at the end of January. And Amelia started Grade Prep the day after. So the photo above is Amelia's first day but Esther and Ellamay's second. Doesn't Amelia look pleased with herself? Esther and Ellamay were insisting I hurry up and take the picture before their friends came along.

I must admit, it is strange not having any kids left at home during the day. I didn't cry when I left my littlest girl at school. I thought I would. It has been a bit of a ride so far though. After two and half weeks at school, I have had two phone calls in two days to come in and pick Amelia up. She has been having tummy troubles again. *sigh*.

The teachers have been fantastic after their crash course in Cystic Fibrosis (CF). It has only been since I have had to go through all the things they need to be aware of, that I have realised that I have a lot of stuff to remember and do each day. I guess I should be a little easier on myself for having the peaks of Mount Laundry sitting in our bedroom waiting to be folded and the mountain ranges of Unclean Laundry still waiting to be washed.

The most favoured question people ask when they find out that your youngest child is off to school is: "What are you going to do with all that time on your hands?" I thought up a list of responses because, you know, I was going to have all this time on my hands. I am not sure when that will kick in. It hasn't yet. Maybe once there is some kind of routine? I live in hope :-)

One of my plans for the year "with so much time on my hands", is to work on my inner (and outer) domestic goddess. In theory, between school times I should be able to have a tidy (ish) house, bake up a storm and enjoy a little "me time" (another phrase people have been throwing around!).

Okay. So I am still in survival mode. One day though... :-)

I finally had a go at changing my blog a little. Not sure if it will stay this way but it is another thing to work on in my abundance of spare time now :-)

Day One: 2013

Welcome 2013. I am looking forward to you.

There are so many things that I want to achieve in 2013 that just didn't happen in 2012. Like blogging. And making pretty things.

It is going to be a big year for me. Not only do Esther and Ellamay start grade 3 but Amelia is starting school. Grade Prep. I will be child free for school hours and I am looking forward to it. I will be a little lost for a couple of weeks probably. Prep kids get to have each Wednesday off as a rest day in the first month of school so that will make the transition for both Mum and Amelia a little easier.

This year, I am going to be more realistic with what I can achieve. I will get back to blogging and making. I will make a schedule that includes time for both, along side the rest of life. I will be busy sometimes but that is okay because there are times when that is life. I will tell myself I am doing okay even if I am having trouble believing it.

We are still renovating our house, so there will be more stories about that. Hopefully, it won't be quite as consuming as it has been. We have finished the kitchen, dining and lounge rooms now so everything else should be on a smaller scale - one room at a time (hopefully).

Looks like my previous years resolutions will continue to be goals. One of these years I will achieve some of them. :-)

I have already finished one project for 2013. That is pretty amazing. I will have to remember how to use my camera so I can share pictures. :-)

2012 had a total of 11 posts. I do hope 2013 has a few more than that.

God arms me with strength and makes my way perfect. Psalm 18:32

Happy New Year.

Happy Christmas

I love a flash mob video. This one is fantastic. Enjoy.

Have a fantastic Christmas. Stay safe and enjoy your time with family and friends. And remember the greatest gift ever given, the Rescuer who came as a baby and saves us from our sins, if we will just ask.

Making all things new

Hi. I wanted to drop by and let you know that I am still here. I hope to make a return to regular blogging in 2013. Amelia will be starting school then and I will have more child free hours in the day. It is my hope to turn those hours into productive and efficient times of utter domestic goddessness - HA! I can dream.

Anyway, this year has been full of house renovations and lots of driving. Amelia has been at kinder and Esther and Ellamay at school, it seems all I have done is drive.

We now have a new kitchen and laundry. The renovations continue as we try to finish off bits and pieces. We have been making all things new. Changing so many things has been hard work and the kids have had trouble adjusting. Especially since so much time has been spent falling over boxes and tools. I can't wait to find some kind of normal again.

I have painted until I can't paint any more. We are doing most of the work ourselves which means it takes longer and we are limited in our times to work... mostly when the kids haven't been home or if we can manage to be awake after they go to sleep.

It is looking wonderful though and it has made such a good change to our daily lives. Maybe when I get back next year, I will be able to show you some pictures.



I really haven't even been in what you could call Mid Craft because the closest I've been to crafty for a long time is pinning crafts onto my Pintrest boards. And I must agree with the line going around, Pintrest is electronic hoarding. But what fun it is!

I actually managed to catch up on my google reader finally so there is hope that I might get back to this part of my world :-) In the mean time, I hope you are all well and being craftier than I.

Have a wonderful and safe Christmas and I will see you in the new year.

Amelia's new room

Amelia's room has been finished for a while now, and by finished I mean close to done. I would still like to get some kind of shadow box/display boxes for the wall in her room as well as Esther and Ellamay's.

I am really happy with how it turned out. Amelia loves it too. It took a long time to paint this room for one reason and another. Things like running out of ceiling paint in the middle of the ceiling and then finding that the new can was matt when the previous paint was gloss. The wall colour is Fresh Cut Grass by Taubmans if you are interested.

Amelia's new house for her LPS Blythe dolls. And the little cubbie under her bed.

I am always on the look out for cool stuff for the bedrooms but I don't want to hurry to clutter them up with unnecessary stuff either. About 12 months before we did the kids rooms, I had bought a bunch of stuff (on sale - of course!) that I thought would look good in their rooms when we did them. I have put that all out to be donated somewhere because it is not right for their rooms now that they are done (almost). I am trying to be a bit more careful about what comes into the house as once its in, sometimes its hard to get it out. I really wanted them to live in their rooms for a few months or more so we could see what works and what doesn't. Then we can plan how to fix it.

I'll be back another day with some more about the LPS (Littlest Pet Shop) Blythe dolls that my girls are all crazy about.