In between the rain

Autumn has arrived here, with bursts of rain through the day. TBone took Master Z outside in the brief periods of sunshine yesterday to play some soccer.

 Most of the time he looked the part

 But sometimes he showed that his co-ordination genes may have come from Mummy.

Game ended with an intercept from the dog. Princess K 1 : Humans 0

Hope you had a lovely weekend.

Chantel x

Handwriting

linking up today with Eden's new meme Fresh Horses.


Happy weekend xx

Time for Myself

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The house is tidy and presentable, the washing piles are slowly going through the process from dirty to clean, so when Master Z has a nap this afternoon noon (please, please nap Gods make this happen!) I will have a few blissful hours to myself.


I am going to curl up in bed, with a cup of tea, and my laptop and read through the blog posts I have missed out on as time has gotten away from me this last week. I hate not having time to read and comment on my favourite posts. I am sure I will laugh, cry, commiserate, congratulate and nod my head in agreeance as I read through the amazing stories and opinions that get posted every week in the blogosphere.


 And I can't wait.

What do you do if you have a spare minute to breathe? Have a wonderful weekend.

Chantel x

Christmas Tree of Memories

This last week, I have been in a real 'funk'. Not impressed with life at all, and I think at the heart of it, was my angst over not having our Christmas tree up yet (I know, first world problems!) We had chosen our tree last weekend, but as we didn't have a towbar, or access to a ute, we were unable to get the tree to our house - and I didn't really want to part with the $75 it would have cost to have it delivered (only $5 less than the tree........)


Thankfully, this was all rectified on Friday and our tree was delivered and positioned in its rightful place in our living room.


As I have mentioned many times, I am not an organised person. Nothing I do would be classed as 'put together'. I dream of having a house with decor that matches, but this is unlikely to happen. Our Christmas tree decorations reflect this. But when I was putting them up today and telling Master Z about what I was doing, I realised that they are a reflection of our lives so far.


Each of the decorations is embedded with a memory-


Our first trip to Prague:

Apologies for overuse of filters - could not get the light right on any of these photos

From my sister-in-law when we went to Edinburgh with her and my brother:

A present from Disneyland from a special friend:

My favourite Van Gogh painting:

From a cute little shop down a cobbled street in London:

From our Bratislava trip with 3 wonderful friends:

From Lhasa, in Tibet - our 3 week trek to Everest Base Camp, where TBone proposed:

To celebrate Master Z's first Christmas:

A representation of our little family from a dear friend:

The one time I asked TBone to choose something and this is what he came back with - it looks nicotine stained and pretty creepy - I try to put it at the back of the tree.....

And they all go together to form this higgledy, piggledy tree, that we love. They don't need to match, they don't need to follow a theme. They represent our life so far and tell a story of our journey to where we are now.

What does your tree look like? Do you go for a colour theme? 


Just found this to link up to - check out other trees.

Chantel x

Christmas Traditions

I love Christmas. We are not particularly religious, but Christmas has always been a time for family and friends. A time to all get together and eat so much food.

Now that Master Z is in our life, I want to make sure we keep our extended family at the heart of our Christmas celebrations, but I also want to start some new traditions for our little family of 3. Things that we can do together, to bond us and become part of our family story.

Living in England for seven years, we got used to our friends all having 'real' Christmas trees each year and that is something I wanted to keep up here. It is a bit of a different experience chopping down a tree in 40 degree heat, swatting millions of flies away, compared to trudging through snow in zero degrees to find that one tree. Regardless of the temperature, nothing beats that beautiful pine smell that seeps slowly through the house once the tree is up and for the past few years, that smell has meant 'Christmas' to me.

Last weekend, we took Master Z one of the Christmas tree farms that have popped up over the last few years in our Northern suburbs. 

Oh so cute in mini Blundstones!

They have such a great, customer friendly set up, where you are able to walk through the plantation looking for the 'one'. 

Unfortunately it wasn't marked by a light shining from the sky like the Griswold's tree was in 'Christmas Vacation', but we found one that suited our purposes. A nice, 7ft tree that was a great shape and had the right 'look'. You wouldn't believe how picky you get going along the rows - I mean really, surely they all look the same......

This year, I probably was a bit (OK, a lot) more excited than Master Z about the whole experience, but it is the beginning of what I hope will be one of the lasting traditions of our family.

What Christmas traditions do you have in your family?

Chantel x

Did the Doctor Really Order This?

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I'm baaaacck! It is great to be home and back into a routine, but I want to know how can one week be so stressful and so therapeutic at the same time?


We had a wonderful week, we stayed in a small chalet down south, among the forests, beautiful green rolling hills and wineries. We were able to relax, unplug - forced I might add, as there was no mobile reception and only one channel on the TV. It was a great opportunity to enjoy each others company and reconnect after a long 5 months where TBone has been working stupid hours 6 days a week and going to bed at 8.30pm each night as he had to leave at 4.30pm the next morning.

But, poor Master Z was the sickest he has ever been. He was full of cold, conjunctivitis in both eyes, croup at night, had a mouth abcess, was teething his 2 year old molars and had an ear infection. He was so unwell, but was such an amazing little trouper and just slept most of the week without too much complaining. He would get up for a bottle of milk -wouldn't eat anything else due to a sore throat and mouth - and then take himself back to his cot. This meant we weren't able to leave the chalet much, so the planned wine tours and nature walks went out the window. Holidays with little ones are definitely a different kettle of fish to what we are used to!

But, I wouldn't change it for the world - except his sickness of course. It forced us to have down time, to relax (when I wasn't worried about him), we talked, laughed, had long Master Z cuddles, made plans and spoke of our dreams, drank lots of wine and caught up on many dvd movies that we haven't been able to see for the last two years.

It was a great recalibration and now that Master Z is on the way to recovery, I can appreciate it as being exactly what the Dr ordered for us.

Have you had a holiday that was not quite what you planned, but in hindsight was wonderful all the same?

Chantel x

Thankful Thursday - 30 minute special

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I am just not finding any time to write blog posts at the moment, so decided I would have a crack at writing one in the 30 minutes I have for my lunch break. I figured that linking up with Kate for her Thankful Thursday would be a good way of keeping myself to a time limit.

I love this time of the year. It seems as though once we hit November, we embark on a whirlwind of social events, holidays and sunny days, with no let up until after Easter. This week I am thankful for:

• Holidays - we are going to spend a week in a chalet on a farm down the south of the state. Can't wait! TBone has been working long days with only Sundays off since June and it will be so nice to spend some time together relaxing, drinking some wine, reconnecting and enjoying Master Z.

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• Christmas - November 1st means I can get out my Christmas planner and start using my christmas mug and breakfast bowl. I love Christmas. I love the decorations, the festivities, but most of all I love the family traditions. This year, I am excited that we can start our own little family traditions as Master Z is old enough to understand. We will be able to go and choose a tree to chop down, we will be able to decorate it and he will be able (sort of) to understand the whole Father Christmas and present thing.

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• New Cars - we pick up a new car on Saturday. I love the smell of the interior, the excitement of putting the first kilometre on the clock (yep, saddo here!) and finding out all the new features. And this one is red - so surely it must go faster???!!

30 minutes almost up, just enough time to link in to Kate's page.

What are you Thankful for this week? Head on over to check out everyone's week.

Chantel x

Why hello 'No', Haven't seen you around these parts before.....

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We have had 22 months of bliss without hearing 'No' from Master Z. I was thinking how lovely and positive a life without 'No' actually is. Imagining a world where you don't say 'No' to anything, imagining the opportunities that could come of it - I suppose a bit like Danny Wallace's book 'Yes Man'. 


I was initially worried when all the other babies at Mother's group found 'No' very early just like they say in all the developmental texts and they used it to it's full effect with the head shake - Master Z didn't seem to know it, or even need it, quite happy to go along with whatever was happening or suggested at the time. All his other speech has developed normally, "No" has just been lacking from his vocabulary. 


Then this week, 'No' has arrived in our house with a vengeance. With that full head shake and defiant tone. "Z, do you want some yoghurt?" "No!" "Z, can I please change your nappy?" "No!" And it's only just this week that I have realised that we haven't met "Yes" in the last 22 months either. And it has yet to appear. When a question is asked, we get the defiant "No", or a smile and babble that I am presuming is "Yes".


I had thought I would rue the day that "No" came into the house, but having it here and seeing his personality bloom so much in the past week with the empowerment that it has brought him, it has made me realise that it is essential for him to show us who he is, what he wants and how he wants to go through life. Some things I won't agree with and the Mummy card will be played (the one that trumps all) and I know that the word will become tedious many, many times, - and those of you with two or three teenagers will be laughing at my naivety - but it is nice to know that we can now get a glimpse further into the little person that is developing before our eyes.


Has there been a particular word / words your child has learnt that you think helps to let their personality shine?

Chantel x

Grateful for Spring Picnics

   

Today was a wonderful spring day in Perth. The sun was shining, there was a gentle breeze and we went on a picnic! I love picnics, I always have. I have such fond memories growing up of our family picnics, which used to be the greatest adventures.


We attended TBone's company picnic at a local winery and the setting was magnificent. The grounds are immaculate and the grass runs for miles with beautiful, old trees providing much needed shade. There are several picnic benches and tables dotted around the grounds, but we were content with the good old picnic rug - which has seen better days - and camp chairs.

We ordered a wonderful platter of local produce and sampled the vineyards best wine. It was the perfect setting for a wonderful family day out and Master Z had the best time running away from me. Such a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon - bring on more Spring picnics!!!!

How did you spend Saturday in your neck of the woods?

Linking up with Maxabella's Grateful for.... hosted today by Sonia from Lioness Lady

Chantel x

Priorities

Saturday was my birthday and we had the whole weekend planned with fun stuff to do. I love birthdays. I love to make a big deal of people's birthdays and I love to celebrate my own. We had planned that when TBone got home from work at 2pm Saturday, there would be a quick turn around and we would head off for afternoon tea at Koko Black (I know, a cafe devoted entirely to chocolate - could you get any better!!!) then shopping for my presents, followed by a quiet dinner at home with candles and an expensive bottle of red we have been saving for a special occasion.

But....

Poor TBone came home at 7am Saturday with a stomach bug and spent the rest of the day in the bathroom. Seems he caught Master Z's bug of the week from day care.

Now, I am usually very laid back and caring - I am a health professional you know :o) - but for some reason, all care and compassion left me and all I could think was that my birthday had been ruined! I was close to tears even though I knew perfectly well that there was nothing he could do about it. The poor thing was feeling terrible not only for the lurgy, but as he felt he had ruined my birthday. 

I spent the morning huffing and puffing, playing with Master Z and feeling very sorry for myself. What a waste, as it was a beautiful day in Perth. Once Master Z went down for his midday nap, I thought, right, going to go and buy my own presents. First, I decided to get my finger and toe nails done, so headed to a local salon. I asked for the special pedicure and manicure and got shuttled to one of the booths. The guy started sanding my nails and then clipping them back - that was then I started to pay attention to what was going on. He then pulled out acrylics and I pretty much melted into a blubbering heap. My fingernails had been cut right down. "I don't want acrylics, I only wanted a manicure, its my birthday and everything is going wrong!" 

The poor people in the salon didn't quite know what to do with this stranger with tears running down her face and mascara following them. They were very lovely to me, fixed my now very short nails up with a manicure, dealt with my elephant like feet and toenails with a pedicure, not even commenting on the fact that my legs were hairy like a bear.

As I was relaxing I decided I needed to grow up, act my age and make the most of the day. I can be very Pollyanna when I need to be. So I went home, picked up Master Z and went to have the day we had planned, unfortunately without TBone though. I had a lovely afternoon being escorted around Claremont by Master Z and TBone was well enough to have a low key version of the dinner we planned - but we have saved the wine for another time.

The next day really put things into perspective for me. TBone was well, the weather was fantastic, despite predictions otherwise and we headed to one of my favourite places in Perth, the zoo. Master Z had the best day, his smile was beaming the whole time and he chattered away throughout the day. He was so excited to see the lions, tigers, elephants and the meerkats up close and spent the afternoon imitating the monkeys. I had the such a lovely time just watching him happy. We let him spend most of the time out of the pram, wandering around the zoo at his pace.

That's when I realised that what happened Saturday didn't matter and I am embarrassed at my tired and fatigued reaction. The day we had Sunday, a simple activity, the three of us together enjoying each others' company, Master Z soaking up new experiences, that is what deserves to be celebrated. And that is how I will remember my birthday for this year.

Check me out!

Never thought I would be saying that, ever! But wow, I am so happy with the changes to this blog courtesy of Sass at MooZoo Designs. It is so pretty, and girly and I love everything about it. Thank you so much Sass!


I mentioned in my last post that I wanted to make this a pretty, girly place. The things of beauty that I want to embrace, but don't often get a chance to in my real life. I want some part of this blog to be about celebrating things in our natural world that are beautiful and to highlight things I find that are just 'pretty'. 


The work I do has a lot of negative energy surrounding it. Dealing with people with illness and injury in a litigious environment often brings a lot of resentment, cynicism and anger. I am trying to rid my life of its negative aspects as much as possible, and I want to use this blog space to help to neutralise some of the negative energy I absorb from my work on a day to day basis. 


I have also changed my domain name, but am still waiting for that to transition, so at the moment things will be a bit out of sorts.


So, here's the new me, doesn't this space look fabulous? Make sure you stop by MooZoo Designs if you are looking to inject some life into your blog. 

Chantel x