It's the Innocence I covet

Just to be a child again. Totally innocent to the "real" world that is out there. If only we could shelter them forever.....

Some summer Icy Poles

I tried making these for the first time last night and they worked out really well and so I thought I would share the recipe here : ) With summer well and truly here I thought it was time to make up some yummy summer icy poles for Flynn to have on those really hot days.

So for my Icy Poles I used-

A tub of vanilla yogurt

Raspberries

Strawberries- washed and quartered

Some honey

I just threw it all in the blender and whizzed it all together. I then used the Tupperware Icy Pole holders to put the mixture in to freeze. These are not a regular range Tupperware item so if you see them out on a monthly special grab a few for yourself. I have 3 sets which makes 18 icy poles, this is a lot more economical than buying them and also a lot healthier as well, which is always a good thing !!

Thankful Day 4

Today I am grateful to have spent some great family time together this afternoon in our backyard, kicking the ball and having a picnic- Life is good : )

Christmas Traditions.

I have been a busy little beaver over the past few days making all of the Christmas cards for our family and friends- I will be sharing some photos when I am done : ) I am hoping to have all of the cards finished over the weekend to post first thing next week. Making these cards has become one of our traditions along with including a family photo and newsletter of what we have been up to over the past year. It is a great summary for friends and family especially those we might not see frequently.

Once we had our own family Christmas took on a whole new meaning for us. It meant the start of our own family traditions. These will change constantly and we will add and remove things as our family grows but at the moment our Christmas Traditions look something like this-

*Dec 1st or the weekend before put up the Christmas tree together.

*Make Christmas cookies, cupcakes, fruit mince pies, lollipops and any other yummy goodies we can find.

* Special stories with Flynn on Christmas Eve- Cookies and milk out for Santa and water for the Reindeer.

*Christmas crafts and activities throughout the month of December

*Hand make the Christmas cards with newsletter and family photo

*Christmas BBQ for close friends to catch up with friends the weekend before Christmas

*Watching the Christmas Pageant in the city

*Visit Santa land in the city and ride the mini train

*Local carols by candlelight

*Christmas Eve dinner- immediate family

*New Pajamas on Christmas eve for the family.

*Then we do the family gatherings for lunch on Christmas day and Boxing day

These are a few of the things we will be getting up to over the next month, and I can't wait to share this years journey with you : ) Today I made our traditions into a scrapbook page which will live on the fridge for the next month to remind us of all of the fun things we have to look forward to over the next month !!

Thankful Day 3

Today I am grateful that everyone in our house is happy and healthy. After all your health really is all that matters- I have been reflecting over this for the past few days.

I also just wanted to say that I am grateful to all of my wonderful blog followers and readers. When I started this blog about 5 months ago I did so as I was getting a lot of organizing type emails from people wanting help with things and so I thought I would start a blog so everyone could read my organizing adventures!!! I honestly never believed after such a short time I would have close to 40 000 hits on this site, it amazes me that anyone is remotely interested in reading my dribble : )

And so when I was having a look through some of my followers I thought I would share with you some of their wonderful blogs which will hopefully inspire you even further.

Getting Organised and Clean

Magical Cake Creations

KBA Designs

And many many more. So thank you blog readers and followers- I am grateful to you : )

Project 365 photos

I know a lot of you have purchased the kit from the Becky Higgins site called Project LIFE previously called Project 365 this year. I thought I would post some of my recent photos so that you are able to get some ideas ready for next year. Remember that everything about your life is interesting- you might not think so but through someone else's eyes or as you look back throughout the year you will be so glad you captured that everyday life stuff- I know I am : ) If you need some extra ideas check out this fantastic list from Creating Keepsakes (a scrapbooking magazine) they posted this last year when they launched 365.

Both the boys posing-

Breaking in some new thongs, summer is well and truly here-

Feeling thankful for our little boy who brings us endless amount of joy-

Looking very pregnant already-

Some toilet training time-

Thankful Day 2

Thankful for such an awesome job that sometimes allows me to take a much needed time out for a few nights and enjoy a change of scenery- especially in such beautiful beach side towns : )

For your Laundry

I have been using this little checklist in our laundry for a while now and it has been working quite well and so I thought I would share it here : ) I have printed out a Stain Removal Guide and laminated it adhered it above my sink in the Laundry.

Thankful Day 1

I lot of the blogs I read are from American writers and I have been inspired this week by a lot by posts surrounding being thankful for things in our lives. I think a lot of my project 365 posts can be related back to what I am thankful for in my life at the the moment but I am going to take more time this week to think about all of those wonderful people and things and celebrate them. I love the tradition of taking a day to have dinner to celebrate family and what you are thankful for- this is an American tradition I wish we could adopt here !!

So here are a few blog who a doing a photo a day of what they are thankful for Ali Edwards and Becky Higgins.

So for my first photo for the week- Monday's photo, I am thankful for all of the modern medicines it takes to keep my severe morning sickness at bay and hopefully allow me to get through the day without being sick and allow me to start to put on some weight to grow a healthy baby.

So what are you thankful for today?

A little file folder

On Friday night I put together a little file folder as I was sick of little papers getting crumpled in my handbag for things I needed to keep in there like prescriptions, flyers, doctors referrals etc. I got this little folder from a scrapbook shop and it is the prefect size. I covered a piece of card with some patterned paper and then added a photo of the new little boy and some little embellishments : ) It looks pretty and it really practical especially for all of the baby related paperwork I now seem to have endless amounts of now!! I have added an A4 folder to my existing folder system that I talked about here- File Folders for all baby and pregnancy related paperwork but I am going to use the small folder for when I need to take something into appointment.

Here is the back of the folder-

Like father like son

Do your children like to copy everything you both do? I know Flynn does, he mimics everything we both do and say, but none more so than Simon. Anything that Simon does- Flynn wants to be there, it is so sweet to watch. He is starting to get to a great age for photos where he will follow a basic instruction which is really fun!!! Simon is learning through time and mistakes that he needs to be really careful with both what he says and does as he needs to set a good example (and I keep on threatening to start a swear jar!!)

I have started to seriously think about Christmas cards over the last few days they need to be finished by the end of next week so I need to get a move on. I only have about 40 to make this year which is not too bad and I have the photos all ready to go- now just to get started on the cards !!!

Was I really that big???

I was sorting through some photos yesterday and stumbled across my pregnancy album from last time with Flynn. We took a photo every week from when we found out I was expecting and I am so glad we did as it is so wonderful to look back on and reminisce back to those times. It was not something I looked forward to or enjoyed at the time but I am so glad that we did it now. We are doing the same thing this time around and it is also fun to compare the two pregnancies.

So far they have been quite similar, I was sick with Flynn for 20 weeks and was hoping that this time would be different but it does not seem to be relenting yet and looks to be actually getting worse. This is a bit of a shame as I was hoping I would get lucky this time and have one of those wonderful healthy pregnancies where I felt wonderful and floated through like some other women I know do (so jealous!!) But that was just not meant to be, oh well the result is well worth the sickness : )

The photo below was taken about 24 hours before I gave birth and was as we were walking out of the door to go to the hospital. So glad we grabbed this shot as it brings back so many memories from this day, and now the scary part- doing it all again!!!

What's a pregnant girl to do?

When you have a craving for something, but make it yourself !!!! I have started feeling a lot better over the last few days and I even felt up to baking again- I have been less over the past few months. So yesterday afternoon I felt like some muffins and put these together- Banana Raspberry and they were a really great combination, I need to go and have some more before they are all gone !!Have I posted this recipe before ?? I just went and had a look and yes I have !! Just in case you want to have a go here you are.

http://superorganizer.blogspot.com/2009/07/banana-and-rasberry-muffins.html

A linen closet

I know I said I was going to post this last week but things have been a little crazy around here !! Every time I remember I have to photograph this it is dark, so I got onto it this afternoon. I apologize in advance for the photos as our linen closet is a U shape and it's impossible to get a decent photo so sorry about that : )

We obviously built in quite a large linen closet when we designed our house but a lot of the same principles can be adapted any any size linen closet so below are a few tips to adapt to a smaller sized linen closet.

1. For smaller item such as tea towels and pillow cases buy some white storage boxes from Ikea, you will fit so much more in the space on your shelf and it also looks a lot neater that having little things falling all over the place.

2. If you have a small space get some vacuum sealer bags for the larger things like pillows and quilts- you can then put a few bags in a white box- again just to make it look neat and create a feeling of space.

3. Get a light over or near the closet- make the space light will help you to easily find things and keep the area tidy.

4. If your family struggles to put things back in the right place label the actual shelf as to what goes there ie- King size sheets, quilts etc.

The right hand side of the closet- chair pads, picnic rugs, fold away coolers and bath mats. The top shelf is just used for extra house stuff we are not currently using.

Ok so the last photo is the left hand side of the closet. This is where we store a few suitcases, extra quilts, our extra sets of sheets and beach towels. Again the boxes up the top are miscellaneous bits and pieces that don't really have homes, extra cushions, candles, baskets frames etc.

At the moment I keep Flynn's linens separate as he has a big closet so I will share with you soon what I do for his stuff. This will change over time but for the moment with changing bedding so frequently especially when he is sick etc I find it easier to have all of his things separate.

A Christmas Gift Idea

Well with Christmas around the corner I thought I would get started on some little gift add ons to give to our family with their presents. I bought these little 4 by 7 inch canvases from our local newsagents for $3.00 and we did some handprinting. The grandparents love getting little projects and it adds a personalized touch to any present. I decorated the back of mine with some cute cardstock and a photo of Flynn. They could rest these against a shelf or on a desk at home etc.

A new baby in the mix : )

Well I said last week that there was a reason behind my lack of organizational posts of late and this is why!!! I am 12 weeks pregnant : ) We went together as a family for my 12 weeks scan today and they were 90% sure it is another boy. He was super healthy and all of this results came back perfect.

And Flynn loves his baby brother already !!

A free printable chore chart

I stumbled across this fantastic customizable chore chart on a blog the other day and I just love it !! I love the idea of being able to fill in your own "chores" and adapt it to each individual child. I am going to start using this next year for Flynn (2 1/2 years old) and I will being adding things like packing away toys, doing a wee on the toilet, using his manners etc etc. Not so much "chores" for a toddler but more boundaries as to what behaviour is expected at home. I think I will laminate the chart and Flynn can colour in the circles- that way at the end of the week we can just wipe it clean. This option means that you will not have to remember to reprint the chart every week and have stickers all over your house !!

Here is the link- enjoy : )

http://www.modecokids.com/index.php/2009/10/21/free-printable-chore-chart-for-kids/

I am a complete contradiction

Well my scrapbooking desk is anyway : ) It my place in the world where I allow myself to be totally messy- and I love it. The more messy it is the more I am usually creating and coming up with ideas and projects that I want to start or complete. So at the moment as you can see by the stack in the middle of my desk I am mini album focused at the moment. This is because I am currently up to date with our family, Flynn's and my 365 project (this rarely happens!!) and so this allows me extra time over the next few months to start and finish some extra projects.

One of the projects that I have decided to take on this year for Christmas is the December daily album. I am so looking forward to doing this as I have felt way too overwhelmed in taking on such a massive project over the Christmas Holidays in previous years- but this year I am going to give it a go : )

You will find a lot of detail on the project examples here on this blog-

http://www.aliedwards.typepad.com/_a_/page/2/

But basically you document your December in photos and journaling and create a mini album. The idea is that you complete the base of the album before December 1st to make it nice and easy to compile throughout December. My album is the top green mini album in the pile and I will post some photos once I have finished compiling the album.

It's for sale : )

I had a lot of people email me regarding the Project Life kit and I just looked on the website and it is for sale !!

Here is the link

http://www.beckyhiggins.com/projectlife/

Just be warned though shipping to Australia is pretty Expensive !! The kit is still worth the money though when you look at everything that is included you would pay about $70 alone for an album in Australia and Page protectors are about $10/12 for only 10- you get 54 in the kit. The box is fairly big and heavy which is why I would assume shipping is expensive.

It's open

We were so excited to see that our local water park had opened over the weekend and so we headed down there this week in the afternoon to check it out. This place is truly awesome, there is so much for the kids to do and Flynn had a absolute ball. It is great being water sprayers and not an actual pool they literally run around the entire time.

We were there for over an hour just having fun and enjoying colling off after a hot day. Here are a few photos-

When I knew it was time to head on home !!-

Start to plan Christmas

Ok so I like to get a lot of Christmas planning and buying done by the end of November. I try to have most of my presents bought and wrapped so they can go straight under the tree on Dec 1 when we decorate.

This year I am going to use the Martha Stewart Christmas checklist to get started and help to keep me on track throughout the next 6 weeks leading up to the big day. So far getting things done early in previous years has worked really well as there is a lot less stress getting to the end of December.

So for starters I have booked in a shopping day for next Saturday and I should get most of my present shopping done there. I will go with a list and just stick to that. As soon as I get home the presents are wrapped straight away. I need to start my Christmas cards ASAP as I make them all and include a photo and a family newsletter I need to make this a priority over the next 2 weeks as they need to be out no later than about the 25th Nov.

If you would like to download the checklist for yourself and use it as a guide to get you organized here it is-

http://images.marthastewart.com/images/content/web/pdfs/2009Q3/ms_checklist_holiday.pdf

I hope that helps you to start to get organized for Christmas.

Project LIFE

How cute is this new kit?

This the new version of the 365 kit for 2010. I am so excited as I was not sure if there was going to be a kit for this year. I so loved doing this project this year- I cannot even begin to explain how much I treasure all of those extra special memories I have captured this year by shifting my focus to capturing the everyday moments that make up our life and not just the "events" like birthdays etc. In the years to come I think I will treasure and love these albums even more as you can so easily forget all of those details that make up you life- especially when you are so busy working and raising children etc.

I think this kit is going to be a little more flexible than the last one in that you don't necessarily have to take a photo every day maybe just once a week. But to be honest I love taking a photo a day and I have not really found it that hard to keep up with. I print the photos every 2 weeks or so and try to complete the journaling at about the same time- I try to not get more than about a month behind or can become very overwhelming to catch up.

I encourage anyone even if you are not a scrapbooker to try this project even if not for an entire year why not capture a month in your life? You literally take your photos and slip them into the divided page protectors as per the above photo and then journal on the cards and slip them in- easy !!

Just to add the kit will be sold online on this website-

http://www.beckyhiggins.com/blog/2009/11/project-life.html

It is due to be launched this weekend at some stage- I will post as soon as I know : )

My oh my : (

When Flynn came home like this on the weekend after going for a walk in the forest with Daddy I was sad : ( My whole life of dirt and mud and mess flashed before me, then I realized it is just one of the joys of having boys !!! (He did actually have sandals on this is how dirty they got with shoes on)

Apologies for the lacking of organizing posts my reasons for this will soon become clear, but rest assured there will be a post on linen closet organization later on this week and also getting organized for Christmas so look out for those : )

A quiet weekend

It was a refreshing change for our family this weekend to purposely plan to do nothing and stay at home. We were tempted many times through the weekend though with invitations of BBQ's, dinner and time at the beach but we said no to everyone and took some time out. It was great : ) We looked at our schedules for the coming weeks and with Christmas approaching it is sure going to be busy around here with everyone having their own things on in between Christmas as well. So with that in mind we took this weekend off and chose to spend it at home- doing nothing just spending time at home.

My time consisted of stories with Flynn, some naps, water play outside, some baking, a little scrapbooking and just spending time out in the sun.

Now to get my head into work mode for the rest of the week : )

Why didn't I think of that ?

Sometimes you see/buy something and think exactly this. This little invention is pure genius. It cuts up your sandwiches into cute little dinosaurs and cutting off the crusts at the same time. I bought this a little while ago from a local kitchen shop and pulled it out over the weekend for a fun twist on lunch. It worked a treat Flynn thought his sandwiches were really cool and talked and talked about them.

MMM now why didn't I think of that?

Enjoy your Monday : )

Water play in summer

For Flynn's second birthday he got this great water play table for his Nanna, unfortunately due to the cold winter was have not been able to get it out to play until this week !!! And boy does he love it !!! I think this will be staying out all summer, there is heaps to do on it and there is a cute little umbrella to protect t he kids from the sun : ) Oh and don't you love the choice of footwear? Flynn has obviously started wanted to dress himself

Freezer Stock up

So last night when I was waiting on Simon to get home I wrote out a little Bulk cook up freezer list for myself as I was to start to replenish our deep freezer stores for next winter. We have let it run low to use up everything we have in the freezer and to try some new recipes.

I bought this great cook book awhile ago called Frost Bite by Susan Austin. All of recipes from breakfast to dinner to party food all come with specific freezer instructions and have been designed with freezing in mind. It is a fabulous book and all of the recipes I have made so far had turned out fantastic.

So I have chosen 14 meal recipes so far of which I will be making 4-6 family sized serves per cook up. So thats about 2 months worth of family meals for winter : ) I am also going to trial cooking up a load of snacks like muffins and cakes to freeze. The plan is to cook one extra meal per week for 3 1/2 months through summer and one extra snacks per fortnight. This means by the end of May the list should be complete.

Once I have printed off my menu plan I will post it on here.

Once apon a time.....

There was a little boy born into a family of just 2. He was a gorgeous little thing who had the cutest little tooshie. Then one day out of the blue a few years after he was born he said to his mummy "I want to use the big boy toilet". Although this was a very proud and memorable moment it also meant to another step out of babyhood : ( I find this transition incredibly sad, I do want Flynn to experience all that is toddler life but I also want my little baby back.

But then today when we put his big boy pants on for the very first time my heart swelled- it was still the same cute little tooshie. And boy was I proud of him today- he took to the toilet like he had been doing it forever and seemed so happy with himself.

Onto another phase in his life and we are just so proud.

A typical toddler breakfast in our house looks like...

Porridge : ) This is my photo of the day I am usually way too busy in the morning to take any photos at all and so this morning AI made an effort to capture a bit of the morning madness for my 365 photo.

From about 12 months we moved on from having rice cereal for breakfast to porridge. Flynn has always loved porridge and it seems to really fill him up. I add pureed fruit (today was apricot and pear) and also any chopped fruits we have that suit (today was blueberries and strawberries). I am so glad I captured this morning shot as I know Flynn will not be eating the same foods forever- they grow up so quick!! As the year draws to a close I am trying to capture all of the photos left of my list, to finish off my 365 album.

Have a great day : )

Just so that we are clear....

No way, no how is my house tidy all the time !! With a 2 year old tornado nothing stays tidy for long around here but there are a few things we do to make life easier and clean up quick.

Make your toddler help- Flynn had to clean up the above mess before he was allowed to go outside and start playing out there.

Get into the habit of trying to get them to pull out one thing/box/toy at a time. We are still working on this one, but we are getting there!!

Have ample and easy storage for the kids to be able to pack away themselves, for example this basket of toys sits in our family room under a coffee table and toys are changed regularly. It is nice as easy for Flynn to be to pull out and pack away on his own.

Make it fun!! Sing a pack away song and lead by example help the kids pack away as well instead of standing over them barking orders, they are a lot more likely to oblige of you make it a fun game.

I don't think it is easier to just do it yourself when the kids are in bed- it does not teach them any responsibility and you will soon get sick of cleaning up after everyone.

These are just a few things we have done at home to make packing away the toys easy !!

A bit more on activities

My post last week about doing activities during the week struck a cord with a few of you who felt the same way, especially the working parents and so I thought I would expand on why I do this and what it means to me : ) We all feel that terrible thing called Mothers guilt and this seems to be amplified when we choose to or have to go back to work, we feel guilty about everything already and then compounded on that is the guilt about returning to work.

I have gotten better not feeling so guilty over the last nearly 2 years I have been back at work and I want to share a few things I do to help with that. Doing activities with Flynn before/after work is one of the those things. I am lucky enough to have a really flexible job where I come and go as I need and my office is at home- this helps a lot. I have tried to make sure that along with the normal after work stuff dinner, bath, stories and bed that we attempt to fit in some play dough, colouring, crafts etc. This does not always happen it just depends on how busy we are but we really try. This really helps me not to feel so guilty about walking out the door the next day.

Cooking our meals in bulk helps with this as it allows us the time in the afternoon to do this- like this afternoon I put a pre made lasagna in the oven to cook and we all went outside and watered the garden together and then played with musical instruments- such a nice way to spend the afternoon.

I have always believed in quality time whilst parenting and not quantity- you could be a stay at home parent and spend all week shopping and having coffee instead of quality time with your children (most SAHM I know are fabulous and don't do this at all this is of course just an example!!), therefore it is not about how much time you spend with your kids but making that time great!!! Since understanding that I have come to realize that as long as every moment we are together I do the very best parenting job I can then I am doing the best thing for my family- regardless whether I work or not.

And here we were this afternoon having a tea party in the backyard. I hope this inspires you to change the way you think about that precious time when you are at home : )

The rest of our Halloween #2

And some gorgeous cupcakes that my great friend Jemma and her mum made- so cute !!!

Lolly bags for the party guests-

Some bat inspired Quiches -

The rest of our Halloween #1

Adding a little orange to our friends party last night, I picked up these cute plastic orange houses from our local newsagents last week.

Our little love bug : )

We packaged up some cookies into these cute little bags to give out to friends and family-

I used the basic sugar cookies recipe for these and just made them look a little Halloween like : )