Do you use the old ‘Santa knows if you’ve been good or bad, so be good for goodness sake’ thing with your kids at this
time of  year? Would Santa REALLY not stop by your home if  your child was misbehavin?’

I don’t like feeding that line to my 4 year old daughter because, let’s face it kids have their moments, but is it being
naughty? I even try to avoid that word. Whatever the behaviour, it is a child expressing something that they can’t verbalise yet and does feeding them the ‘be good or else’ line really change their behaviour? Me thinks not. (more…)

What to do when waiting for a meal at our favourite restaurant? Shake a little fibre optic light about and take photos to see what the effect is. I’m quite happy with this result. We’re heading to the same restaurant tomorrow night for a bit of Christmas Eve entertainment. It’s a hop, step and jump from home and weather permitting, we’ll walk there and stagger back. Okay, so we’ll walk or even run back and play chasey which is often what ends up happening.

Blessings  & happy holidays to all especially 5minutesformom Thanks for all the Wordless Wednesdays.

Awaiting a fine meal

We had some wonderful rain today. Don’t worry, this post isn’t going to be all about the weather. When Charlotte was  younger She LOVED stomping in puddles whilst it was raining, but then somewhere along the track and sadly,

Having fun in the rain

She stopped enjoying it. I am thrilled to say that lately She has started loving it again. Only in the past month or so and today She bounced on the trampoline, in the rain with not a care in the world about getting wet. I joined Charlotte on the trampoline and whilst it rained I gave it a much needed clean. (more…)

Here She is. My pride and joy

I am proud to introduce to you my grown up, beautifully shaped Christmas tree. She has strong qualities.  I can hang heavier baubles and lights from her limbs and She doesn’t crumple under the pressure. Her shape is beautiful because it has some flaws, but despite these She still stands tall, erect & proud and oh how She sparkles during the day and at night.

I’m bursting with pride. My life lights up when I walk into my loungeroom now. With ‘My Poor Old Christmas Tree’ (see post) I felt down and gloomy walking into my lounge. And the other thing about my new tree, the smell is intoxicating. I’m in 7th heaven.

I’ve been taking my time to decorate this one. Tweaking her here and there. I shall continue to adorn her with finery until She is looking  just the way I want. No matter how much I tweaked the other one, it just wasn’t going to get any better.

I can rest easy at night having made the decision to buy a cut tree. It is somewhat at odds with my feelings about cutting trees down, but at least this one hasn’t been wasted, given the pleasure I have derived from her thus far.

Adorned with lights & tinsel

I’m liking  this Wordless Wednesday gig. Heading over to 5minutesformom to add my post.

Charlotte and I simultaneously decided that these leaves needed to have some Christmas sparkle added to them. Lots of glittery mess later we had five beautiful decorations for our tree or for in a vase.

It’s no secret that one of my favourite places to be online is MomMasterminds and I am doing the Blog Internship with Kelly McCausey. When I check into the forum there to catch up on the news, ask questions and learn more
from the wonderful women, I see that quite a number of them get together for various business functions.

Now, that is a problem for me to participate in seeing as I am all the way over here in Australia and they are mostly from Canada and America. When these functions are talked about, I have this longing  to want to be there meeting up in the flesh. I feel quite isolated.

Finding local WAHM’s

Since getting together isn’t possible for so many reasons apart from the distance, I decided I needed to find some WAHM’s in my neck of  the woods. There must be some over here, surely? It’s funny how you can think something, then it comes together. As part of my research for the Blog Internship I came across the perfect place to be.

It’s called WAHM Network Australia. I headed straight there to investigate and liked what I saw, so I’m signed up and enjoying connecting with the community. It has the same warm, supportive feel to it as MM. I’m thrilled to have found this network of women and as it happens, one of  them lives not far away. In fact it’s a place we visit regularly for pizza nights with Peter’s brother and his family.

Future Possibilities

Looking to the future, I’m excited at the thought of getting together in person at some of  the meetups just as they do at MomMasterminds. It’s nice not to be feeling so isolated now.

I’m always open to getting together with other WAHM’s so if you are in West Gippsland or thereabouts leave a comment. I’m not into exclusivity, though, so I’d love to hear from you wherever you reside.

Happy Networking

photo credit: Robin Hutton

Poor old (young) Christmas tree

I was so looking forward to having my real, growing in a pot Christmas tree indoors this year. I love the smell and it is indoors and decorated, but I’m calling it my Christmas tree ugly at the moment. It has potential for next year, but at the moment the new growth hasn’t filled out near the top, so it is bushy down the bottom and leggy up higher.

When the lights are flashing at night, it helps a fair bit. I love flashing lights, always have and always will. The exception to that is if they’re on top of a Cop car, Ambulance or Fire truck.

My tree does have some lovely, creative bends in it, but it just doesn’t cut it as a Christmas tree just yet. It needs to grow up and mature before taking on such a prestigious role. I’m so disappointed. I wanted something much neater, not perfectly neat, but it’s just a big old mess and it adds to the mess that my loungeroom sometimes  becomes.  See my ‘Tackle It Tuesday’ post for pics on that issue.

To Buy Or Not To Buy, That Is The Question?

So, I’m contemplating buying a more well established, cut tree but the money factor comes into it. It would probably be money well spent mind you, if it brightens my Spirits. What do you think?  Would you just cope with the tree as is knowing it will be better next year? I’ve redecorated 3 times so far and it’s about as good as I can get it. The branches are not too strong either, so I can’t go over the top with decorations but sometimes less is best  on that score.

My poor old, wonky tree.  At least it has some character, I guess. How is your tree looking this year, that’s if you have one and celebrate Christmas?

Footnote : After looking at the photo’s here, I went out and bought a cut Christmas tree. Just awaiting its delivery and looking forward to having something more aesthetically pleasing.

Slightly more acceptable with lights

I’m participating in Wordless Wednesday for the first time ever. For more great Wordless Wednesday posts, check in with 5minutes for mom I’m quite particular as a rule about the types of photos I post of Charlotte, but couldn’t resist this little series. Note the fan – it was a hot day. lol.

Uh Oh! No traction.

That's it, I've had enough

I'll just go back to my Neanderthal roots

And 'NO MORE PHOTO'S!'

I am participating in the 5MinutesforMom.com blog meme, Tackle It Tuesday.

My project for this week is…my loungeroom after decorating the Christmas tree.

There were dead dinosaurs, overturned cars & tinsely bits everywhere. Okay, so the other things were already there, but the tinsel just added to the complete mess and I couldn’t stand it any longer.

Now it’s safe to walk about without the risk of  breaking my neck and I can’t tell you how much more relaxed I am feeling.

A few posts back I wrote  ‘Household Tips To Lessen Stress In Your Life‘.  At the end of it I mentioned there would be some more tips, so without further ado, here they are.

Tip #5

I make my own spray deodorizer very simply by adding about 10-15 drops of essential oil into a spray bottle of water. You can add as many drops as you like depending on how strong you like the fragrance to be. The bottle is kept  handy in the laundry which is also where our toilet happens to be. I know, we have an older home, so no ensuites or separate cubicles in this household.

I give the bottle a good shake to disperse the oil before spraying  into the air and/or into the toilet bowl and around the base. It smells so sweet, I could almost spend the day in there.  Of course, the spray can be used anywhere in the home. I’d be careful about spraying near your good furniture given that it is oil droplets being dispersed into the air.

Tip #6

This next one is pretty basic and you may already be doing it, but put those empty ice cream containers to use for playdough, craft knick knacks, pens & pencils or even hair accessories. I find also that they are great for when you’ve had a small spillage, say in the loungeroom and you don’t want to lug a bucket around. Just keep the containers handy so you can put a bit of water in quickly at the kitchen sink, throw a cloth in and off you go. Not at all awkward like the bucket.

Tip #7

Another great item to recycle is the cylindrical Pringle container. Pringles are potato chips in case you weren’t sure. Delicious ones, too. I don’t actually buy them, but Mum does, so I pinch hers. ( The container AND the chips) Well, I do have her permission, so that’s not pinching, is it? I cover the container in pretty paper and use it for storing pens & pencils once again. Every now and then if something has been leaking I’ll wipe the inside with a cloth that has been squeezed thoroughly. Too much water will ruin the container because they are made from cardboard.

That’s about it for the moment, but before closing, one of my friends had a suggestion in the above mentioned post and She left a comment. I have been aware of this lovely tip, but for some strange reason it slipped my mind. If you take to using a damp cloth for dusting you can add a couple of drops of  your favourite essential oil and your whole home will be sweet smelling. If you’re concerned that it might ruin your furniture perhaps you may need to do a little research to make sure your particular choice of oil is okay.

Happy cleaning and recycling.

photo credit: jetalone