What Royal Wedding?

I wasn't that interested but I got totally sucked in and I'm sitting here like a romantic fool with tissues in hand. I just wish Princess Diana could have been there to watch her son get married. She would have been so proud of her two sons. As a mother of two boys it just makes me so sad. I can't imagine missing out on my sons wedding.

I guess I'm a romantic fool after all.

Just had to share this that I just saw on Facebook. I thought it was hilarious.



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To Birkenstock or not

This is the question I've been trying to wrap my head around for a couple of weeks now and I've finally caved.

For those that don't know I've got a pretty severe spinal injury which I'm getting operated on hopefully in June. Anyway throughout the journey that has been this last year of back pain I've often been told that I need more supportive footwear but being a little bit of a footwear snob I kind of refused to put comfort above fashion. Call me a materialistic snob but it also came down to price. I couldn't bare to part with $250 for a pair of very ugly shoes.

But I think I've finally been converted with Birkenstocks. Living in sunny south east Queensland I practically live in Haviannas in the warmer months and ballet flats and boots in Winter. So these Birkenstock Gizeh thongs will replace my old faithful havis. And then coming in to winter I've got myself some ridiculously comfortable insoles which I can then slip in to my boots and ballet flats.

During my research of these Birkenstocks I discovered that these comfortable thongs were not only slightly ugly but also very expensive. I'm talking $120 for one pair. Then my friend got me on to This Website where you can purchase them directly from Germany for half the price. Gotta love that.

So I think I finally get the addiction to these slightly ugly but very comfortable shoes. I remember putting something on Facebook a few weeks ago and I couldn't believe how many of my friends swore by them. It certainly put my mind at ease. Now let's just hope these thongs really do correct my posture and ease my back pain.

I decided on these two pairs if Gizeh thongs in the black and silver.







And I've even decided to treat myself to some comfy slippers as well. I figure they'll be great for the hospital and for around the house after my surgery.



And what's even better about buying them directly from Germany on the Foot Shopping website is that if you order over $400 in product you get free postage. So a few of my friends are getting a pair also so we get free postage and even better still apparently it only takes 4 days to get here.

I can't wait to try out these new shoes. I'll be sure to review them once they're here.

Do you own Birkenstocks? If not, do yourself a favour and go and try a pair of these on. They're like heaven for your feet.

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Wordless Wednesday

Image found here

Playing along with Faith Hope and a whole lotta Love

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And the award goes to......

Me!!!



I had almost forgotten about this. Yes shame on me. This was such a nice surprise. I always get quite excited when someone leaves me a comment or I get a new follower so you can imagine my excitement when I discovered someone actually thought my blog was deserving of an award.

Thanks to the lovely Kirri over at Happy Mums At Home who forwarded on the love. And yes I'm definitely feeling the love, so thanks.

Now the rules are that I have to share seven somewhat unknown and presumably interesting facts about myself and also pay it forward by nominating 15 other newly discovered bloggers for the same award.

So, seven random facts about me. Here goes.

1. I was brought up as a Vegetarian and only started eating meat when I left home at 17. I now only eat white meat but I secretly want to give up meat all together but I'm just not sure I could say goodbye to chicken or seafood. Mmmm prawns.

2. I am a Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do and practiced martial arts for over 10 years as a kid/teenager.

3. I am obsessed with the colour Coral. Some people call it watermelon. Whatever it's proper name it doesn't really matter I just love it. I have clothes, shoes, jewellery, nail polish, ornaments, scarfs, candles, pillows in this colour. I am very drawn to anything in coral. It's actually a joke amongst my closest friends.

4. I collect buttons. Yes weird I know. I think I got this from my Mum. I have an entire jar full. Not only do I keep every button that comes with clothing but I also buy random buttons that take my interest to add to my collection.

5. I have a fascination, some would say obsession with the Damask pattern. I've been known to buy fabric or even scrapbooking paper (I don't scrapbook) for no reason other than it's in a damask pattern. My most recent purchase was two gorgeous turquoise damask pillows for my bed.

6. I will always buy natural or organic products wherever I can. I'm very serious about one day living a completely organic life. I'm talking the whole nine yards with a big home in the country with a fruit orchard, vegetable garden, chickens and even my own windmill.

7. For a so called 'tree hugger' as my friends tease me I have way too many handbags. What can I say I'm a sucker for accessories.

Now the extra fun part – to pass the award on to 15 other newly discovered or deserving bloggers. Some of these blogs I've only just discovered but others I've known about for a while but just wanted to let them know how much I love their work. They can include mummy bloggers, photography and style fanatics, eco-conscious devotees and people with a huge social conscience.

Check them out!

1. A Little Delightful
2. Mama of 2 Boys
3. Wanderlust
4. An Aussie Mum's Guide To Eco Friendly Babies
5. Another Donkey Design
6. Catch The Kids
7. Cinderella at Brindabella
8. retromummy
9. DIY or Don't
10. Emmmy Lizzzy
11. Mummahh
12. Oesch and Doots
13. The House that A-M Built
14. The Roseland Family
15. Life on Planet Baby

Thanks again Kirri. That was lots of fun.


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Back to school tomorrow

Today is the last day of the school holidays and I know most parents would be relieved to be seeing their kids go back to school but I'm actually quite sad. I've really enjoyed having my big boy home. Even if it was only for 12 days. I've really missed having him around. He's grown up so much since he started Prep this year and he was a joy to have home. We jammed packed the holidays with as much fun and adventure as we could. Well as much adventure as this Mum with a spinal injury awaiting surgery could cope with.

My stand out day was the day I decided with Blake in kindy I'd take him to the movies. Unfortunately Blake is very much a typical 2 1/2 year old with the attention span of a goldfish and is still too young to sit through a movie. Especially at the cinemas anyway. We went and saw 'Hop'


It was such a fantastic kids movie. In fact I think I enjoyed it equally as much as Cooper. He was so excited to be having a date day with Mummy. We both had a yummy ice-cream in hand and during the movie he kept leaning in for a cuddle. It really was heaven. It's moments like these......

We then headed down to the cafe's to find a place to have lunch. And of course we came across this.


And how could I say no. It was our special date day after all. He loves those bungee trampolines and it was worth the $12 to see the massive smiles on his face as he jumped and goofed around on it.

We found a cafe we could both agree on and had a lovely lunch together. Cooper wanted to go to Max Brenners. I'm not a fan so thankfully he compromised and we went somewhere were I could get a salad instead of well, chocolate.


It was such a lovely day and we certainly made the most of it. It's days like this that I'll miss now that he starts back at school.

Although he's super keen to get back to school and can't wait to see all of his friends which is great. He really does love school which makes me the happiest mum.

We had plenty of other lunch dates over the holidays. Including the day we went to Sushi Train. We both love Sushi.



We also had fish and chips in the park one day. Blake was with us that day. Is there anything cuter than a fishy face eating fish and chips?



And just so that you don't think I took any photos of Blake these holidays I thought I'd share this beauty.

I don't think he was too happy with the T-shirt the Easter bunny picked out for him?


Ooohhhhh gotta love 2 year old attitude.

Hey Blake! Guess what? You have to go back to kindy tomorrow.


Hahahahaha oh the many faces of my Blakey Boy. Love this kid.

So back to reality tomorrow. Back to packing lunches, ironing uniforms, rushed mornings trying to get out of the house by 8am and school pickups where you have to fight for a carpark. Oh the joys.

But the one positive. At least my house will stay cleaner for longer.

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Happy Easter

I'm not sure I'll have a chance to blog again this weekend as we have a busy couple of days coming up but I wanted to quickly share a few more of our Easter projects we've had fun with this week.

I've got lots of inspiration from Bianca over at A Little Delightful for some great craft and baking ideas. Check out her blog, it's just 'delightful'

We made these gorgeous Easter bunny faces which were so easy and the kids had a blast making them.

All you need is some paper plates, pink paper, white cardboard, felt (which I used for the bunnies eyes) pipe cleaners, cotton balls, glue and a pen. Oh and of course four human feet.

Check it out.











-









And you have two gorgeous bunnies. I think Blake's bunny needs to see an optometrist don't you?





How cute are these little easter egg chicks. The boys just thought these were hilarious. I used peppercorns for their eyes and carrot for their beaks but you can also use black sesame seeds as eyes.


We also made a batch of Easter egg biscuits. Once again so much fun for the kids and super easy. You can get really creative and make your own egg shaped biscuits but we cheated and just used Milk Arrowroots.












We've never really got in to easter in the past as much as we have this year. As the kids get older and more aware it's a lot more fun to celebrate these holidays. Sure I know it's mostly just a commercial load of you know what but while the kids are still young and innocent its fun to do these kind of things. Especially now that Cooper is at school and actually has a holiday for easter it's nice to make a big deal of it if you're not going away.

We even had a little Easter display in the house this year.



And I just had to share these last two photos of my gorgeous little bunnies.

Gosh I love these two cutie pies.








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Location:Happy Easter

Chocolate and peanut butter birds nests

We've been doing lots of Easter craft and baking this week but I wanted to share this one first because it's not too late to make some tomorrow for your loved ones. We didn't buy any of the grandparents or cousins Easter eggs this year, we made everything instead. Much more personal and so..... much yummier.

These easter baskets or birds nests are always very popular and they look great too. Plus they're super easy to make and the kids love getting involved. Well for Cooper it's more because he loves licking the spoon. And what kid wouldn't? I even like licking the spoon with this recipe.

Now keep in mind I actually double this recipe because I wanted to make a big batch as we were using them as gifts. Plus I use half milk and half dark chocolate melts because I think it tastes a lot nicer.

Ingredients:
200g cooking chocolate melts
1 pkt Chang's crunchy noodles
4 tbsp crunchy peanut butter

Method:
Microwave the chocolate in a heat proof bowl for 20 second intervals until it melts.

Stir in the peanut butter and add crunchy noodles and stir until its all coated in chocolate.



Spoon the mixture into patty cases and mould into birds nests with the ends of two teaspoons. Refrigerate until set.



For these ones we made them smaller for the kids and used peanut m&m's instead of Easter eggs.

Here's the after shot. They only need about half an hour in the fridge to set.




I couldn't find the speckled eggs at my local supermarket this year so we used white chocolate eggs instead. I think they turned out ok.




We also did a few with the wrappers left on for some colour.




As I said earlier we actually doubled the batch and it made about 20 baskets, small and large. Here are a few of our combinations on how we decorated them.




Now I just have to hurry up and hand them out to everyone because they're way too tempting to have sitting in my fridge. For me and the kids.

Enjoy!

I've linked this post to Sweet as Sugar Cookies. I've never done this before so let's see if it works.



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Let's test this baby

I think I may have found a way to upload photos to my blog using my trusty iPad and it didn't even take that much research. It's just a simple app called BlogPress. Why hadn't I thought about this before? I am still blown away with some of the things we can do with computers and the technology that is available to us. Now I just sound like an old fuddy duddy who's only recently discovered the humble pc. But to think I only got my first laptop 3 1/2 years ago as prior to that, the good old home computer did just fine. And to think I'm now posting on my blog via my iPad is pretty funky. I think I'm addicted to gadgets. First it was the iPhone which completely took over my life and consumed my time when I first got it, now the iPad. And don't worry I'm not rushing out to buy the latest iPad 2 just because its the latest thing. I don't think I'm that bad, or am I? And yet this year I wanted to get back to basics and simplify my life. Hmmm maybe next year? But I guess I am simplifying things because if this BlogPress really does work it's magic and posts this photo for me, well then it's pretty 'simple' isn't it?

Okay let's test this baby.




Do you like my new glasses? I thought it was about time I ditched my 10 year old wire frames which I was to embarrassed to wear and get something slightly less geeky. And yes I've changed the colour of my hair yet again. My hair has had so many changes this last year. I think it's decided to have a 3rd life crisis along with me. In fact I think I might even dedicate an entire blog post just to my hair. Well only if this magic photo thingy works.

Edited with a big woohoo. It worked. See nice and simple. The other thing I'm slightly obsessed with at the moment is editing all my photos with these cool looking filters using apps like Instagram and Hipstamatic. It's all very exciting. And to think what I'll be capable of once I get my new camera and actually go and do this photography course I'm contemplating. New career maybe?

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School holidays and Easter craft

Well it's official my big boy has finished his first term of school. Holidays are here and I'm so excited to have him home. I've got so much planned and I'm really looking forward to spending lots of quality time together. I just hope the weather is nice to us. Although even if it's not I've stocked up on enough craft supplies to last weeks. Plus I have lots of Easter goodies I want to make with the boys. We have already done a few exciting things which I will be able to share with you once I either figure out how to post my personal photos from my iPad or get my laptop fixed, whichever comes first.



For those who have a printer at home check these out http://www.stylemegorgeous.com.au/store/pc/colour-in-d7.htm

I can't wait to share our Easter craft and baking with you but I'm also after some more ideas so please feel free to share.

Blake goes to kindy tomorrow so Cooper and I are off to the movies. I'm not sure Blake would sit still enough for a movie at a cinema yet but I'm already feeling guilty that he's missing out.

10 things I'm grateful for

It's been a really tough week for me. The pain, frustration, restriction and anxiety that comes with having this chronic back pain is really taking it's toll but as usual I'm trying to look on the bright side of things. There is always someone that has it worse right? Only one more month until I see the Neurosurgeon so possibly only two more months until surgery.

So today I'm actually feeling very grateful for the things in my life. Trying to focus on the positive in such dark days.

I am grateful for-

1. Having two darling little boys who give me the nicest 'rub rubs' and understand that Mummy isn't her usual self at the moment so I can't do as much as I used to with them but are equally as happy to do craft and playdoh so that Mummy can sit and watch.
2. My amazing parents who have helped me out so much the last six months and even more so the last few I just couldn't do it without them.
3. Having lovely friends who make me meals to freeze because they know that standing at the kitchen bench for longer than ten minutes at the moment is a massive task or walk my son from my car up to his classroom because those stairs just about kill me.
4. My amazing friend who even though he lives thousands of miles away gives me the most amazing emotional support and always knows the right things to say to pick me up.
5. Fresh flowers that brighten my day.
6. The boys father who without question or hesitation steps up whenever I've needed him to these last few months.
7. This week discovering the magical Liquid Chlorophyll which even though I've only been taking it for three days has made me feel wonderful already and hopefully giving my liver some relief from these dreadful pain killers.
8. Prunes, need I say more.
9. Having the best physio I've yet to find. Did I mention he's super cute oh and the brother of a famous Gold Coast sports person.
10. The blogging world. It's been my best friend on the days that I cannot get out of bed. I love disappearing in to other peoples lives and reading everyones stories. It makes me laugh and cry and is a great distraction.

I hope everyone is having a great weekend.