A New Project...

I'm always looking for new projects to complete and when I read about one that would be perfect for Nathan and I to do together I quickly jumped on board.

We are just about to begin a 16 week photography project/course together.  It is called Little Side Klick and it is specifically designed for parents to complete with their junior photographers.  Each week we will be given a task/assignment to complete and then upload our favourite photo to the gallery.  At the end of the course we will receive a photo book of all our pictures.

This is a completely new course and they have had a few bumps this week getting it up and running but  Nathan and I have printed off our PDF instructions for this week so we can get to it on the weekend.

If you would like any info about the course you can read about it HERE.

You also get the first 3 weeks for free and then I am sure it is $8 a week (with a 15% discount if you pay upfront) for the rest of the weeks including your photo book etc.  The good thing about that is if you sign up and then decide it is not for you then you don't lose your hard earned dollars!

I think I'll post about our progress on here although I don't promise anything...we all know what my blogging is like lately!

Easy, Delicious and Healthy...

I'm really conscious about staying on track with a healthy life style and good clean eating (well mostly anyway).  I am determined to live for a long time and to see my kids have kids and grow into adults.  I know there are things that may hinder this along the way but I really do try to have a good balance.  I still enjoy the things I like but keep my diet clean most of the time along with keeping active.

I thought today I would share my favourite go to snack which I usually have a handful of once a day.  For afternoon tea I have a handful of this yummy trail mix with a green apple.  I make it myself so I can cater to what I like and I just think the shop bought trail mixes are way too expensive for what they are.

Home Made Trail Mix:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup almonds
• 1 cup dark chocolate chips
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup pepitos
• 3/4 cup sunflower seeds

Method:

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir to combine
2. ENJOY!
3. Store in a sealed container

You can adjust the recipe to suit yourself I just made it up to suit my taste.  

Great Work Nathan...

Nathan makes me proud pretty much every day.  He is growing into such a mature and responsible and all round nice boy.  

I was super proud of him on Monday night when he was invited back to Cub Scouts (which he moved on from and up to Scouts at the start of the year) to receive his Grey Wolf Badge.  This was special because it is the highest badge you can earn at Cub Scouts and not something that everyone chooses to complete.

Such a great achievement.  

And here is a photo on another proud day.  Nathan got up and headed to the Wamuran dawn Anzac Day service to play in his school band on April 25th and then after a quick breakfast at home he went along to Caboolture and marched for Scouts, staying for the service so he could help pack up after everyone had left.  

Emma marched with the Cubs at Caboolture too, her first time marching.

Pinterest Love...

It's no secret the I love Pinterest, it's one of those things that you wonder what you did before you had it.  When it comes to work I find it easy to search for new and different activities and I don't have very many paper copies to file because they are all on the computer!

I also love to use it for ideas and patterns and tutorials for my crafting.  How easy is it to just click onto Pinterest and put what you want to make into the search box to have hundreds of ideas pop up.  

I always try to post things that I know I want to make and I have every intention of making most of what I have on my boards.  

Here is a favourite that I have made lately.

I used this pin to make Caty some heart bunting for her room.  I had heaps of hearts so I was able to make a mini one for Emma with the hearts I didn't use.  This is the photo from the original tutorial.

And this is Emma's mini version.

I used a cookie cutter to get the heart shape and I blanket stitched around each heart before threading them onto some natural twine.  They look so cute.

I've run out of time, I need to go and pick up the kids from school so I'll be back with some more Pinterest love later!  Oh and if you would like to follow me on Pinterest you can use this link HERE.

Emma Loves to Dance...

Emma loves to dance, she really does.  When we go shopping (or anywhere really), Emma doesn't walk around the shops she tap dances.  You know that saying 'dance like no one is watching' that pretty much sums Emma up.  At night we sit down to relax before bed and watch t.v while Emma dances around the room behind us, usually doing her jazz routine. You wouldn't believe but very often on Tuesday when I pick her up from school to actually go dancing she will say 'I don't want to go to dancing' yet I am sure if we went home that is what she would spend her afternoon doing!

Anyway, last weekend Nathan stayed with my sister and Emma and I packed up the car with her new flash dancing bag and headed off to Wynnum for her very first competition.  She performed in 3 dances - all team efforts and all jazz.  I know I am biased but I have to say she danced her butt off and did an awesome job.  She also looked gorgeous.  I had to share some of our photos with you.

She is a cat in this costume.

This one is Broadway Baby.

And this one she is a farm girl, for Old MacDonald's Farm.

The team got a highly commended for their Broadway Baby dance which was a real achievement, they were up against a lot of very big dancing schools.  Here she is with her ribbon.

You can see by these photos that Emma hates posing LOL!  I always find she is in most of my photos because she is the one willing to pose for me!  

Where to from here...

Once again here I am blogging after such a long time away.  You see I think about my blog all the time, I am always thinking that I should share this and that and then I tend to think to myself...why bother?  Does anyone read it anyway?  Is anyone interested?  And then I feel like it is just a bit of a waste of time.

I've thought a lot about what my blog should focus on and what I want it to be like.  I look at all the other blogs I read and think about their purpose and I feel like this blog has lost its purpose over the last year or so.  I used to be heavily into my sewing and creating but I rarely get time to do much of that these days and life has changed a lot so I decided to start blogging again but with a new focus for me.  I was actually very inspired by Kelly of Sewing in No Man's Land who seemed to have the same issue and has just created a brand new blog to suit her new situation.

At the moment I live in a house where I am the only parent most of the time.  I have a wonderful husband who works away from home and who I miss terribly when he is gone.  I have my two amazing children who are growing so fast and who take up most of my time with their extra curricular activities and interests.  I have work to go to and a house to keep up with as well as my exercise and my focus on eating well.  I do still love to create and I sew and crochet and knit whenever I can (I tend to do things that I can take with me to dancing and soccer etc).

In reflection, this blog has always been a way for me to record life, if others want to share the journey with me then that is great and I would love to share.  So my blog will be updated much more often from now on sharing and recording the things that happen around here, even if they seem small and not important to some.  I'll share my creations as they happen but I cannot guarantee that it will be often.

I am really hoping that this shift in focus helps me to blog more often and share more of the great life we live in our house and I really hope that you choose to read along and share the experience with me.

I'll be back soon...with some of what's been going on and a look to see how my things to do in 2013 is coming along - hope to see you then!

A little more December Daily...

I thought I would pop in tonight to share a few more pages of my December Daily album.  You can read about my first few pages here.

6th - writing our letters to Santa

7th - receiving a reply from Santa (this actually did not happen this quickly but I was blank for this day so I slotted it in)

8th - I bought Nathan this tree that you grow (I got it in Overflow for $3).  It turned out to be very successful and Nathan loved it. I just used the packaging as part of my page.  Emma also watched our new Christmas movie with popcorn this day.

On the 9th Anthony and I went to witness my friend get married, it was a gorgeous morning, it needed a double spread,  I used the invite as the small page in between.

10th - Nathan said goodbye to his time in cub scouts.  It was a bit sad, he has spent a long time there. He wasn't leaving completely though, just moving up to be a scout.

December is such a super busy month, I am happy that I recorded it last year.