Creating Christmas

I love Christmas.  Being the youngest in a family of six I always felt that everyone grew out of things a little earlier than I would have liked, and  I always wanted Christmas traditions to go on longer than my older siblings.  So one of the great blessings of having my own family is the chance to create our own christmas traditions and scenes.  Baby boy is old enough now to really understand and grasp all the Christmas stories and symbols, so its made this year even more special.

This is how our first week of the Christmas season went:

The first thing to come out was the Nativity scenes.  On the last Monday night in November I bought out a beautiful wooden nativity scene and we went through all the characters and how they related to christmas.  We sat as a family and talked about Mary and Joseph, and of course baby Jesus.  It was a great start to the season.   

That Friday night we put blankets on the floor, popped some popcorn, turned off the lights and watched a christmas movie. (This year we watched 'Arthur Christmas').  It was so much fun!

Then on Saturday we put up the Christmas tree and lights outside.

Did I mention that I love Christmas?

 

Spring Inspiration

(Image source)

I like to think that things in my home fit the description above.  I like the power of deciding what resides in my home, and having the power to remove 'stuff' if I want to.  I like having memories and stories connected to everyday things.  I recently replaced my newish and pristine mixing bowls with my mothers and grandmothers used and memory filled bowls.  I liked replacing the new with the old, becuase they have a story and are now part of my story - long after their owners are no longer with me.

cleaning the medicine cabinet

 (Image found here)

When spring arrives I always feel a little extra motivation to clean and organise my home.  I love the extra sunshine, the warmer weather and the hope of my favourite holidays to come.  This week I cleaned out and re-sorted my kitchen cupboards.  One of the last of the day was the cupboard which holds all our medicines.  Taking stock of our medications has been a regular occurance for me since an 'indicent' we had in our first month of marriage (...Imagine me, waking up my new husband at 2am in the morning as I had a really bad headache, there is no pain killers in the house, so I send him out to find some.  On his return I am fast asleep...thinking he didn't drive all that way for nothing he wakes me up and tells me his home with my medication).  Since then we have always had panadol in the home :-)  

So in sorting and cleaning my medicine cabinet, I check use by dates and put aside medicines we no longer need.  Disposing of them is the important thing- I always take them to the pharmacy and have them disposed of safely.  Medicines of any kind should not be put in the bin, or flushed down the toilet.  It can cause lots of problems for our waterways, and you never have to worry that someone might pick them up and take them.

This program gives more information:  http://www.returnmed.com.au/

Keeping my garden green...or not?

Six months ago we said goodbye to our three little chickens (to be honest I was suprised they were still alive, I am the laziest pet owner in history...evidence that I should never buy a pet with a life span of 3 years +).  I did love fresh eggs, and the noises they made when they were laying, but after three years I was getting a bit over cleaning up the poop, them digging up all my plants and spreading bark all over the patio.  I knew I wanted to do more gardening this year..and in our backyard the two activities just didn't seem to go together.  

So I have been spending a lot more time in the garden, and am loving this time of year where its perfect weather to just sit and weed.  Yep, I am a little addicted to weeding.  I get to sit outside with baby boy and just zone out and pull weeds.  Very therapeutic...until I realised I am losing.  The weeds are winning, and no amount of hand weeding is going to save my front yard from bindii's.  So today I sucummbed and bought some weed killer...is it sad that I felt sick pulling it off the shelf.  I hate the thought of spraying chemicals on the grass where my son and I play, but if i don't spray it I can't see how I can stop my grass being taken over by the bad guys.  UUGGHH!   Can someone please commercialise a safe and effective weed killer.  I read this book last year, and unfortunately it has fueled my weed killer guilt trip.  But still a great read :-)

My go to recipes (for this month anyway)

I am not much of a cook, and I really hate going to the effort of cooking something new and either not liking it or it just not turning out right.  So i have started a list of my 'go to' recipes for when I am asked to bring something along to an event.  These recipes have to be easy, work everytime and I have to like eating them.

For something sweet, I have been loving Chocolate and Coconut Slice.  I follow this recipe exaclty and am always pleasently suprised.  And the bonus is, I always have the ingredients in by cupboard (no fancy stuff).

My go to salad at the moment is Roast Pumpkin and Spinich
I see this salad around quite a bit but I have adapted it to my liking:
-Cut 1/2 a butternut pumpkin into 1 cm cubes, coat in olive oil and salt and roast on an oven tray for approx 25 minutes.
-Once the pumpkin is cooled you can make up the salad.
-Mix lightly in a flat salad bowl, one medium sized bag of fresh spinish leaves, 100 grams of broken up feta, roasted pumpkin and 1/2 cup of pumpkin seeds.
-Dress with olive oil and salt and pepper.

Enjoying where I am

I am really trying to enjoy what I have at the moment.  It always suprises me some of the hard stuff that people have to go through, but the more I get some life experience I realise that everyone goes through hard stuff...no one is immune, and you have to find your own way to pass through it.  At the moment I am loving having a toddler, a loving husband, employment and a home to live in.  Much more than many others have.  

I am embracing having one child, and making sure I enjoy every moment of it, just incase i don't get a chance to do it again.  And its a lot of fun!

Getting involved...with my toddler in tow

This month I started studying to be a Breastfeeding Counsellor.  It is something I have wanted to do for a long time..and I am so excited to finally get started.  It is a lot more study and work than I expected, but that isn't such a bad thing.  Today baby boy and I went together to visit a local hospital and some obstetricians to hand out Breastfeeding Education Class information; it was fun to go together.  And that is something that I really love about the ABA, you can always bring you kids along...to anything.  So I am looking forward to more excursions with baby boy on my counselling journey.  Plus we loved our sneaky peak through the windows of the special care nursery together (where we both had visited 3 1/2 years earlier).

The small things

We have been pretty busy over here, with all the life important things that can fill your days and nights if you let them.  Fortunately, I have also been able to find time for some 'slow' activities with baby boy.  And have remembered how much we loved doing things together (just the two of us).  Play dough is now his activity of choice, and he will happily sit for hours if only I will sit next to him.  I forgot how simple structured activities can fill his mind with wonder, if I do them with him, and focus my attention on only him.  

If you haven't read this post yet, i highly recommend it.

Earth hour

We were traveling for earth hour this year, so I was presently suprised when we sat down at our hotel restuarant to find these lovely candles burning and lighting our delicious meal.  I would name the hotel and write about how great the food was...but they charged us $35 just to park our car so I don't feel they warrant my recommendation.  We did have a great time though :-)

2012 goals

So I thought it was about time I put in writing my 2012 goals
This is what I have come up with so far:

• Make more whole foods from scratch (particualry snacks and lunches).
• Have a fun routine for baby boy (inspired by this one).
• Gardening and everything that includes in my out of control backyard.
• Walk more, and get out in nature as a family at least once a month.
• Take a learn to sew class (I do sew, but would like to be better at it and use the correct techniques).
• Send more letters and postcards to family and friends accross the world.
• Family History...
• Practice random acts of kindness.
• Be Happy!

Down-to-earth

I recentley read an article on the benefits of 'earthing' or fancy word for walking barefoot in the grass, that talked about all the benefits both mental and physical that 30 mins walking on grass in barefeet can make.  I have been testing it out this week...and am nearly converted.  I have been working in the office a lot lately and on Friday afternoon after work I felt like I was craving a walk on the grass.  'Scientifically' it is supposed to have something to do with grounding the excess electricity in your body, but it just really feels good.  Apparently its also a great cure for jetlag?  So, I am going to keep doing it...whilst carefully avoiding the prickles and ants nests :) 

2012

Baby boy turned 3 last week.  Those three years really have flown by; which makes me realise its been three years since I had my own little baby in my arms.  He is now a walking, talking little man!  He definately isn't a baby any more (sad face).  But it is exciting to think that next year he will officially be in Kindergarten, and the year after starting school...I really need to make the most of this year. 

I am looking for what 2012 will bring.  What do I want to achive and what do I want to do...and so far I am coming up a bit blank.  So over the next week I am really going to try and nut down some goals and achievements...and will hopefully post them here to make sure I stick to them.

In the meantime, I attempted a rainbow cake for the 3rd birthday party, and despite the icing melting and dissolving into the cake I think it turned out ok.

(party inspiration from here)