Creating better days.

I often wonder. What would be the ratio of peoples complaints vs compliments?

 

Everyone always seems quick to ask for the manager to report someone, email a complaint and spread the word to family and friends to avoid a certain business, person or place.

 

But when do we show gratitude to good service, wonderful help, or someone just being a positive influence on every day life?

 

I try to always focus on being thankful and showing gratitude in my own family and life.  But now I have made it my mission to extend that to my surroundings and encounters.

 

It began yesterday.

 

I have been feeling very positive about Ace's childcare that he started attending one day a week this year. It hasn't been the easiest of transitions for us both but we have found the centre to be overwhelmingly caring and made it so much gentler on us both.

 

I decided to write an email to the manager expressing how happy I was with Ace's care. That she has wonderful staff and that I could not be happier having him there... It went into it a bit further than that, but you get the gist.

 

The response from her was so heartfelt. It was beautiful. It also said that what she received from me was so rare that in fact, she couldn't recall the last time it had happened.

 

I hope it made her smile. She  then forwarded it onto Ace's carers, I hope it made them smile. And  I know it definitely made me smile.

 

It was just showing gratitude. That's all it was. It took less than five minutes.

 

Is there something you are thankful for?

 

 Tell the person. Tell the place.

 

Just a thought.

 

 

*** Picture credits to: http://www.honeybearlane.com/2011/10/giving-thanks-thanksgiving-printables.html ***

 



 

A wedding that I will never forgot

On Sunday, Dad'n and I got dressed in our best, we had a wedding to hit up.

 

 

For me, attending this wedding felt "awkward".

 

I had never met the bride, nor the groom. And no, we weren't wedding crashers, Dad'n worked with the groom.

 

I knew this wedding was going to be different to anything we had ever been to, there were over 500 guests!

 

That point did make the idea of not knowing the couple a little easier.

 

They were Macedonian and Italian. So everything was big, loud and amazing.  I feel so blessed to have been invited to witness something that could only be called a spectacular. It was seriously the most amazing, beautiful, exciting and fun wedding that I have attended.

 

 

 

Where do I start?

 

The ceremony was so interesting for me. I had never witnessed an Orthodox ceremony. There were so many different traditions that all symbolized the marriage. Each one so beautiful and the vibe so AMAZING even though I could not understand one word.

 

To move onto the Reception.

 

These guys know how to party.

 

The food... so plentiful. Five courses, for over 500 people. WOW. And it was some  of the best food I have ever tasted.

 

Drinks, flowing freely. Not one glass in that room was half empty. Ever!

 

Dancing. Holy moly. I LOVED the Macedonian dancing! They hardly sat down the whole night. They had an amazing Macedonian band that made every fibre in your body want to dance. If you wanted to or not. Most was traditional music, some was not. Every song was dedicated to a particular person which lead the dance around. Oh and not to mention the $100 notes that were being placed on the band! They must of been good? Or maybe another tradition? 

 

The one feeling that left me going WOW, was the family love in that gigantic Grand Ballroom. I have never seen or felt anything like it. It was displayed. It was felt. It was emotional. It was something I had never seen before. All of this celebrating was exactly that. Celebrating their marriage and love. Celebrating life. Celebrating their families.... In a huge party kind of way!

 

 This was definitely a wedding that I will never forget.

 



 

 

Three O.



I have a birthday coming up. It's a milestone one. So they say...

 

Three O. 30.

 

I am not a very big birthday person.

 

Never one to have a fabulous party. Not one to shout it from the rooftops. It just usually slides by with some warm and fuzzies from the family and quiet celebrations. That's what makes me happy.

 

But this one feels different. This one, I'm actually quite excited for!

 

Our proper celebration for this birthday will actually be 5 weeks late.

 

We are heading off to Thailand to celebrate with family, as it is also my brothers 40th birthday in May. We decided to meet in the middle... April, and have a tropical birthday bash, my 30th, his 40th.

 

As you do yes?

 

I also got advised by a girlfriend last week to add a date in my diary, a date for a girls night out for birthday dinner and drinkies. Hello! I don't think I can remember the last time I did that. Sad but true.

 

So turning 30 definitely has some excitement surrounding it.

 

Things feel right, as if I am exactly where I should be. Life is good.

 

No crisis in sight here. Bring on 30 I say.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Making it on the kid scene...

I've done it. I've made it on the kid "scene".

Let's start from the beginning.

When we made our big move, I knew no one. It hit home that I had left behind everyone I knew and had to face the reality of being a loner.

My friends and I now joke of how I used to stalk the supermarket isles for mums with kids in hope that sparks might fly and I could make a friend. Don't laugh, it's kind of true LOL. Actually, not even kind of. It was true.

At the beginning of last year I had all my hopes of meeting all my "new friends" due to the fact the kids were in swimming lessons, dance lessons and daycare. I thought for sure, that with all these opportunities, I would be meeting SO many fabulous people. Turns out, it didn't really happen the way I intended. It didn't happen at all.

No sparks. No friendly chit chats. Nothing!

I won't lie, it left me pretty down and out, feeling worse than I did to begin. 

As it turns out, the universe had a fabulous group of girls waiting for me a little bit further down the track.

Throughout the second half of last year, I  bonded with these girls. I enjoy spending time with them. They are now familiar. I feel blessed to call them my friends.

Why was I writing this again? Back to the point Steph!

Kid scene... That's right.

Well, last night, while waiting for Boo to finish dancing. I had a moment, a moment that I realised I had finally made it on the kid scene!

I had a friend to talk to while I waited at dancing. While chatting,  three other Kinder mums arrived to drop their children off and came over to say hi. Things were finally familiar, including me to others, and others to me.

It was just a moment that I smiled inside. 

I had made it on the kid scene! 

Just another thing that feels right now. 

Joining in today with EssentiallyJess with my first #IBOT

Next month...

Next month, our move will have been two years ago. Two years!

I love what it has given us.

I love what it has given our children.

I love that this is not our holiday.

It is our home.

It is our life.

Muesli Bars

This was a recipe that my sister gave me a few months back.

It came home with me with good intentions then got filed in the overflowing "must try" folder.

With Kinder lunchboxes high on my priority at the moment, I decided to dig it back out and give them a go.

I'm not sure how long they will last in the pantry though, as I have taken quite the liking to them! Must.save.for.the.kids!

They are easy. I like easy.

It's the kind of recipe that you get to chuck in whatever you have in the pantry. Love those recipes.

Ingredients:

1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup of oats
1/2 cup of sesame seeds
1/2 cup of sunflower seeds
1 cup of sultanas
1/3 cup of sugar
125g of butter
140g of honey
Other optional ingredients: chia seeds, dried apricots, pepita's, wheat germ, LSA ect....

Method:

• In a fry pan, dry roast all your dry ingredients for about 7 minutes until they are nice and toasted (not the sultanas or dried fruit).

• Let that cool down a little and enjoy the delish smell in your kitchen ;)  Time to add your sultanas / dry fruit.

• In a saucepan, bring your butter, sugar and honey to the boil then bring it back to a simmer for 7 minutes while stirring. Don't take your eyes off it.

• Pour your sticky butter into your dry ingredients and mix it well.

• Pop the finished mix into a lined slice tray and refrigerate.

• After a couple of hours your free to slice and dice it as you please. The kids liked theirs chopped into little mouthful squares.

• (Note: This recipe is quiet sweet. Especially if you have the sultanas or dried fruit. So feel free to drop the sugar / honey amount, I will be next time.)

Now we needed the perfect spot to hang the masterpieces!

This morning brought yet another trip to Bunnings, we are frequent flyer's there that's for sure!

While we were there I sprung it on Dad'n that I wanted him to whip us something up for above the kids craft area. Somewhere that we could hang paintings to dry or show off what pretty things the kids had created.

Here is what he came up with. I love, love, LOVE it!

 

 



Here is a list of what we used:

2m of Braided wire rope ($5.60)

Zenith Screw eyes ($4.30)

Zenith Wire rope grips ($6.40)

So it came to a total of $16.30. Not to bad at all.

 





Now Boo is working over time so she can change all the pictures over. Bless.

A little corner to create a masterpiece...

After researching (ie. scrolling through Pintrest) playrooms, I had come to the conclusion that I liked the concept of creating zones within the playroom.

I liked that the kids could focus on that one task and have everything there in that space that they need to keep them engaged. They can then they move on to another area once they were over it, and hopefully tidy up before they do so. Wishful thinking that last point.

At the moment, I am on my way to finishing their first zone. Their little corner to create a masterpiece. A few more little finishing touches to go, but I can see the finished product.

Boy has it been getting a work out. The kids LOVE this spot. So much drawing, colouring in, sticking... It's been amazing how much it has encouraged them to create by just having the area set up to use as they please.

I know that it may not be appropriate for everyone to have crayons and texta's available on hand as some little cherubs may take to walls ect. I have given my two the benefit of the doubt and until they abuse the privilege of having free run of the crayons... they can stay.

Where is that wood to touch?

 

 

Now to move on to their second zone. The kitchen / pretend play area. Waiting on Dad'n to approve the plans I submitted, just like council approval here LOL. Not really, but I need his builder hat on to get it finished. Beyond my scope of practice it is ;)

 

 

 

When kids say things that could be taken the wrong way!

You know the one when your kids say something that makes you cringe like crazy and want to explain yourself for the next 20 minutes?

Yep. That one. I've got a bit of a scenario like that happening at the moment.

It all started weeks back.

We were all in the car. Dad'n, Boo, Ace and myself. We were driving and half way through a round about decided to change where we were going, so continued around the round about in a full circle and go back the way we came from.

Kids thought this was great that we were going right around and Dad'n was adding to the excitement by yelling "Woooo round and around we go... it's circle work!" This is where it all began.

Now I already feel the need to explain here. It was definitely NOT circle work. Dad'n does not do circle work, and I most definitely do not do circle work. It just came out of his mouth LOL.

I now have a situation on my hands with Boo.

Every time we go around a round about or do a U turn, Boo feels the need to yell out "WOOOO MUMS DOING CIRCLE WORK!!" I sometimes just randomly get requests from her while driving to "do circle work Mum".

Oh dear. So so SO awkward!

I've explained to her so many times that it is NOT called circle work. It simply driving in a circle, and that we should stop saying that.  Apparently, circle work, as it is now known, is stuck.

So please, people that know us, people that live around our area, maybe go to our Kinder? If you hear a delightful little 4 year old girl divulging that her Mum always does circle work in the car, remember this post.

I promise. I don't!

Any things that come to your mind that kids have said that make you go "wha tha?".

If you liked my cleaning schedule, here it is for you to save and print out...

Last week... Possibly the week before? I shared a cleaning schedule that I had just made up to help keep my sparkling new house in order.

I had a few messages asking for a copy so thought I might pop it up on here so you could follow / save / print it out.

If I was a fabulous blogger, computer whiz banger, I would have it available as a downloadable for you... but I'm not :)

Has the schedule been helping here?

Absolutely!

My housework has been completely up to date.

Still early days yet, but I am liking only having the few tasks to do each day. I can get them done while kids are having down time, instead of trying to rush through a never ending list.

It really has helped us free up a lot of time in  our household.

Is there anyone else that follows a cleaning schedule? Has it helped you?