Definition of a holiday

Everyone has very different ideas of what a holiday should consist of. Some people love the thought of going overseas to exotic locations and relaxing on glorious beaches with a cocktail in their hand with one of those little umbrellas in them. I had a friend of mine who loved to spend every summer holiday going to the movies as much as possible, it was just what their family did. As we get older our idea of a holiday changes so I have decided what my definition of a proper holiday is made up of.
Firstly it must have family there. This is an essential part of any holiday: my amazing husband Chris, 4 year old James and 18 month old Mia. This also means if we go away anywhere, even around the block, we seem pack an extraordinary large amount of "essentials", an entire car load of crap, portacots, buggies, food, bottles, wipes, nappies the list goes on and on...
Another really important element are spending time with friends as well as family. Friends provide a good sanity check and a valuable moaning tool when the school holidays are really driving you mental and you just wish the sun would shine for a bit!!!
Plus during the school holidays they are often in the same boat, we do "child swap days" where you each take a turn during the hols to have their kids over to play, while their parents have some time off. Then you get the same in return which is a wondrous thing!
Another element which is big in our family are books - we always go away with some and make sure a trip to the library is made before the holidays start. The kids each get to select a few books each (see photo above) while Chris and I take time selecting our books of choice. Chris usually goes for the more intelligent read - a biography, non fiction or historical book or else one of those award winning books. And me??! Well a holiday to me MUST involve a trashy novel of some sort. These holidays my friend Bex came to the party by loaning me a huge pile of books - it has been heaven for me!!
Our holidays are always made up of "adventures" - these can be as simple as a trip to the local cafe, library or friends house for the day. It can also be more elaborate with visits to playgrounds, trips away to beaches, trips to the movies and roadtrips to families houses to stay for a few days. Of course using the word adventure generally means excitement for the children and the word can often be used to "sex up" a trip to the dentist or doctor!!
Food is a really important to our family, it makes up a large part of our lives and we do like to eat well. Holidays also means that you generally eat very well - we snack more on inappropriate food, drink loads more and generally indulge in everything going. Lollies, ice cream, chippies and lets be honest, nothing says holidays like chocolate!! xx

Celebrating my mum

I've been thinking - I know we celebrate Mothers Day in May, but sometimes I think we need to celebrate our Mums on other days as well ... therefore today is my "extra Mums Day" day ... I think that makes sense.
My Mum is choice. She's just been down to stay for a long weekend and it was just lovely to see her, spend some time with her and really hang out. Mum decided to visit us at the last minute (thanks grabaseat!) so it made our weekend a bonus weekend and it also meant that Chris and I could have some much needed alone time. We had two hot dates out - dinner and a movie (I fully recommend The Hangover, funny as!) and then on Sat night we went over to a friends house to watch the ruggers. It was so nice to go out and not have to worry about rushing home to relieve the babysitter, cos our babysitter was asleep in the spare room! Mum and I did the usual things, went shopping, hung out at malls, went for walks and chatted - it was superb. My Mum was even the extra coolest Nana in the world ever cos she would just take James out for the afternoon to spend some time with him, one on one, just him and her. On Saturday they went to Kilbirnie Pool, James had a ball and was knackered after ,(bonus!) and then on Sunday arvo they caught a train into town and went cruising, ending up at Westfield for a while before making the trek home. Days like those are the ones memories are made of - I certainly remember hanging out with my Nana when I was younger and those days are still some of my fondest childhood memories. My Mum never judges, never (really!) passes comment and leaves you to make your own mistakes. She knows eventually I will figure it out ... eventually!! Mum, it was simply glorious to have to come and visit, stay for a few days and spend some time hanging out - I love you and think you are one cool Mum and an awesome Nana - thank you and Happy Mothers Day! xx

Here is a pic of my Mum and James having a good ole snuggle!

Cough, cough, sniff, sneeze!

Oh the joys of the seasonal changes.
The change from summer to autumn is quite a tricky one and this year it feels like we have skipped autumn and jumped straight to winter, brrrrrrrrr! As soon as the temperature at night changes I can feel the difference in myself and also with the beautiful sounds of our children, sniffing, sneezing and the yukky dry cough. Blah. We've already had the first proper colds, Mia and Chris both came down with cranking coughs/snotty noses and Chris' seemed to go straight to a nasty case of the man flu - and nobody likes the man flu! I am reminded of a brilliant video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXLHWmjA5IE have a look when you get a moment cos it is all true!! Seriously though Chris has soldiered on through his flu and now we are on the other side. Mia on the other hand ... well the snotty nose just keeps hanging in there. I blame the two new teeth that have just started poking through the gums, they are huge and they look so damn sore! 3 solid weeks of teething is enough to make any sane person go craaaaaaaaazy. (And I never said I was sane.) Winter officially starts on Monday June 1st which makes me wonder how long it will be until the first ice on the window in the morning? May also be time to get the old poly props out for those chilly mornings so both children can be all rugged up and hopefully, fingers crossed, not have a cold or a sniffle for at least two weeks... we hope! xx


This is me with James and Mia smiling in the face of the cold virus!

Ohhh the blogging pressure!

I love reading blogs, I like writing them ... but sometimes I suffer from blog envy. Some bloggers seem to be able write pages and pages about their lives, their thoughts and I wonder how they find the time?! Once you post a blog, there is a countdown til your next one is due, you can almost hear the clock ticking and people checking to see if there is a new update. I've decided to go at my own pace and at my own speed ie. slow!! So when in doubt, always post photos - such as this fabulous one of James and Mia. I find if I stare at the pic for a while it makes me smile and remember something cool which made me laugh today. This weekend we are in Auckland visiting family and on Saturday we are dropping the children to my Mum who is going to look after them for an entire week - cool eh!? I am feeling slightly guilty though as I will NOT be seeing my own children on Mothers Day. Does that make me a bad mother? Or should I just embrace the excitement of being child free for a few days and try to celebrate? Recently we were lucky enough to meet the Wiggles when they came to town - I am not sure who was more excited - Chris and I or the children!! Happy day everyone xx

A new fangled invention...

I have a confession to make. I am a lazy Facebooker.
I blame weekend laziness, I know I should be checking our Dave and Camille Facebook page, clearing emails and seeing what my friends are up to via their status updates. BUT it seems that the moment Saturday hits, I just run out of motivation and I can't for the life of me turn on the computer. I have friends in England who are still waiting for pictures to be posted of Mia's birthday ... which was in January. Oops sorry John and Belinda. Now I find that because it takes me so long to check and update my Facebook that I am desperately behind the 8 Ball; one of my friends was in hospital and I had no idea! Another one of my friends had been having serious issues with her husband and Facebooked me to tell me the full story cos she didn't want to ring me too late at night! I think the moral of the story here is don't trust me to update my status, just try that new fangled invention called a phone - who knows I may even answer it!! xx

Rain, warmth and the love of a heat pump...

Do you remember singing the words to "rain, rain, go away, come again another day"? Today we are having the first proper rain here in weeks and I am excited about it because for the first time ever ... our house is WARM and toasty!! When our amazing landlords (yes grease, grease) agreed to put a heat pump into our house we never thought it would change our lives this much. Warmth and comfort is an incredible thing and one which I will never again take for granted!! I don't know how we have lasted two winters in this drafty, old villa without decent heating but those days are over now for us now, thank goodness. So today I embrace the rain, the southerly nip in the air and I will even celebrate the end of daylight saving because I don't mind - we are toasty in here. OK one thing to confess .. we haven't had our first power bill yet, so let's see how much we love the heat pump then!! Hahahaha!! xx

James getting ready for winter!

The inaugural rant about nothing

Today is a Sunday masquerading as a Monday.
It's a day pretending that it is a real day off, when really, the paper and computer beckon and convince you to start thinking about work ... just a little bit at at time. Then while I put off thinking about work for a while, silly little questions pop into my mind, such as:
- What colour is taupe and why do so many blog sites use it? (Apparently taupe can be a variety of colours but is defined as a dark grayish-brown color. Blah)
- Can you wear slippers over to a friends house to babysit? And what is the comfort vs style line with your slippers?
- Why do children only want to snuggle you when they are tired, grumpy or just seem to want to wipe their nose on your once was clean tee shirt?
- If you stop the washing machine before the spin cycle has finished, will it eventually break the machine?
- And the BIG question after the easter weekend ... why does it feel like chocolate easter eggs are not so delicious as they used to be? They just don't seem to taste as nice, as memorable. When I was younger for easter I would always ask for icing eggs as my easter treat. Yes, incredibly elaborate decorated eggs which were solidly made of icing sugar ... YUMMY!! Now it's all about the chocolate, and the chocolate just doesn't seem that good anymore. Mind you, it didn't stop James and Mia going crazy for chocolate this easter!!
Happy Easter ... xx

The photos are of Mia trying her first ever chocolate (YUM!) and James showing off his lollipop and easter bunny soft toy!