Where is my witty title? - VERY photo heavy!

Well, what has been going on here lately??

Not to much apart from everyday life - busy busy! I don't seem to have much time to get on here and blog - as much as I want to! The days seem to be flying by even with daylight saving. By the time I get everything done around the house its time to head to bed it feels like!

I have had a few minutes here and there which has been spent reading mostly. Organising a few last minute handmade gifts and organising some Christmas food ideas. Today I have spent a bit of time with this.....

Although I don't usually buy this magazine, this issue had some super yummy recipes in it for Christmas. I have found myself spending a bit of time hovering around this page

Looks like Christmas dinner might have some delicious dessert!

But I'm really keen on this too!


I thought this idea was cute...

Might even try it! I certainly have plenty of baby socks hanging around here!

I have been loving the 'practical uses' in this book (and have been using a lot of them too!)

Cleaned the microwave with a simple wipe after boiling up vinegar, water and bi-carb for a few minutes. Adding vinegar to my rinse cycle in the washing machine to cut down lint and even smells. I especially love using vinegar with my MCN's now. No more lingering 'smells' that make you think somethings gone on down there when it really hasn't.

Yesterday I had a lovely prize arrive in my mail box. A sweet smelling package from the lovely Angelique from No life without Wife! When I entered this giveaway I never thought I would win anything (I never win anything). Well I in fact came second, and only through luck as even having a second prize winner was never mentioned.

Take a look a this lovely fabric and some absolutely beautiful smelling soap! You could smell it before you even opened the package! Devine!


THANK YOU Angelique! The package has arrived and it is loved!

Lately I have been spending some time in my garden with my camera, I am loving spring. This is our first spring here and I can't get over how this garden comes alive in spring!

The beautiful flowers that adorn our carport - complete with little bees!

The gorgeous pink flowers that are growing in a corner by the pond - which is now full thanks to Mitchell and the hose today!

We have heaps of rose bushes around , all producing lots of lovely flowers...


We have an old shoe cleaner by our back steps and I thought this would make a lovely 'antique' photo. (Thanks to Coffee Shop Photography Free Actions and Tutorials!)

Just enjoying the sweet clear sky and.....

...the beautiful view from our back deck.


I have also been loving the water shots over at Sarcastic Mom. I thought I would try some out myself.
Lots of fun!

We also took a little trip down to see 'Pop' at the farm. I did get some lovely shots while there. Loving the blue sky! It was a beautiful warm sunny day!

See for yourself! When I say warm - I mean warm!


Mitchell did some 'fishing' in the river. Brett and 'Pop' fixed the water pump.

And its always fun throwing rocks in the water too!

We also marvelled at the circle of life...

I think that is about all for this post. I decided not to join in this week with 'Not Me Monday' as I was just Not Me. Feeling unwell and lacking for words. Lets hope this week goes a bit better.

We are heading to Canberra this weekend too! Looking forward to seeing everyone again....

Catch you all later!

Going's on at our home - in pictures! (warning PIC HEAVY!)

We have been mildly busy here. Still trying to come to terms with our recent news but also trying to move on - if you know what I mean....

Saturday: Decided to do some painting, well for the kids to do some painting. Zach and Anna were sleeping so it was the perfect time. I proceeded to have a cup of tea and relax for 5 minutes while they were doing this. It was great! The paint we used was home made from this recipe found here. Although I was in a bit of hurry to make it so it could have been better but the kids enjoyed it and the paintings turn out alright. The other great thing is this paint is totally eat-able! Totally toddler friendly!

Here is the painting session: in pictures (well a few anyway)


Excuse the boxes in the back ground I was also in the process of unpacking a few (more)

Mummy's sweet little boy

I also decided to take a few photo's of the beautiful flowers that have been popping up in our yard lately. They are all so lovely I just had to share!

Who's hiding in there?!

Here is a few pictures of Anna modelling her new shorts (thanks to mummy). She loves them.

And Ashlee on the other end of the camera ...this is what you get....ENJOY!

{ More coming - Photo bucket is just playing up on AGAIN! }

Very pleased with myself

I made a decision a little while ago to cut down on some unnecessary spending and to also try to help the environment a bit. When I sat down and had a bit of a think about what exactly I could do I found a huge amount! A bit of web surfing also helped. I wanted to 1. Spend less cash on things I really don't need to buy 2. Reduce the amount of rubbish we output here and 3. Be more environmently friendly. We already do a HUGE amount of recycling at the moment to the point were our recycling bin is over flowing and our rubbish bin isn't even half full but there was still more I could do.

First things first, I went from disposable nappies to MCN's (Modern Cloth Nappies). First we started out with about 40 Mandy Mac fitteds with Snappi's and 9 BBH (Baby Beehind) PUL covers. I loved them so much I moved onto AIO's (All in ones) and pockets that don't require a cover and come in amazing different fabrics and designs. After that came my obbession with making my own AI2's (All in two's) as I found that they dried alot quicker. We have now built up a stash of about 70 nappies (and the addiction continues!). Zach and Anna are in full-time MCN's at home and out 'n' about, Mitchell even wears one to bed with a Bamboo booster! I haven't purchased any disposables for months!.

The next thing I did was decide to use cloth wipes. Having twins and a 3 year old we would go through an enormous amount of wipes that aren't cheap! I was given a stack at chrissy time so I finished those off and went using fleece wipes. I purchased 24 fleece nappy liners from Oztion , cut them in half to make 48 and there you have it, all for only $4!! We just use water or a little bit of JnJ cream and it works great.

Other ideas for money saving that I have taken on board are:

• 
  
  Shopping at Aldi instead of Safeway or Coles
  
  


• 
  
  Buying in bulk - I now purchase most of my meat in bulk at great savings
  
  


• 
  
  Walking more places - living in a smallish town has its advantages
  
  


• 
  
  Ashlee catches the busy home from school - cost less then driving
  
  


• 
  
  I make most of Ashlee's lunch stuff i.e Muesli bars
  
  


• 
  
  Homemade snacks and yogurt
  
  


• 
  
  We converted our 4x4 to gas a little while ago - we have a late model Prado and it was really consuming the petrol. Brett has a late model LC Ute that is diesel - not so cheap :(
  
  

To name a few.....

I make my own cleaning products (its amazing what vinegar can do!) and have begun sewing a lot of the kids clothes. Ashlee thinks this is great as she gets what she wants in the fabric she choses.

So that is my contribution to the environment and also our hip pocket!

Some excellent sites to help you out if you would like to make some changes are:

Saving Mums - A1 Top Site!

Simple Savings

Green Living Australia

Thrifty Fun

Till next time, take care everyone!