Lessons learnt!

Well it feels like it's been one of those days where I should've stayed home...

Lessons learnt:

Don't attempt to go out to a breakfast with friends in the pouring Darwin rain when you have a 2-door car, trying to get a baby buckled in, while attempting to get your mini chihuahua out of the car because she's scared of the storm & wants to come with you...only for her to hide further under the foot pedals; then give up & get in only to have the umbrella unfold itself!

Kayla patting Midori in the middle of the storm while she 

hides in the corner of the bathroom shaking :-( 

You can see why I gave in & let her come with me to breakfast...

Next...low fuel when I'm already running late - yes this happened the other day but I refused to fill up at Woolies without a discount fuel voucher last time.

Awesome start to my Sunday but I must admit that it was made better by enjoying the lovely breaky with friends!!

Just one of the cutest kids I know...

MJ showing off his Baby-chino Choccy-mo @ breakfast :-)

MJ & Kayla playing a 'game' where Kayla drops things on the floor 

& MJ picks it up! Much more fun watching this game than playing it :-)

Then the mistake of accepting an invite to go to a fun afternoon tea with all of the Army WAGs (& what felt like an Army of children) when your baby should be napping, only to come home to a more grizzly one! Kayla did have a great time with the kidlets though, which was fun to watch.

Kayla & the Neagle Boys (Ethan & Daniel) 

playing in Lucy's Cubby House at the Afternoon Tea!

Note to all Darwin Crew:
I'm no longer available for catch ups between the hours of 10-11.30am & 3.30-4.30pm. Yes, I've become one of those parents whose life revolves around nap time...at least for the next 2 months while hubby's away & there's no one to share the grizzly baby night time moments with ;-)

Last lesson learnt...just deal with a grizzly baby through her dinner & bath time until as close to her usual bedtime as possible, instead of putting her to bed at 5pm only to now have to go wake her for dinner...hmmm...unless...surely one skipped meal can't hurt...can it? What to do....

I hope tomorrow is a better day.

Ahhhh.... I feel better already just from venting!

That is all!

xoxo T

P.S By the time I finished completing this post my baby girl awoke.  Dinner was smooth sailing & now she is at my feet enjoying some playtime with my shoes while I finish up.  Let's hope bath time & back-to-bed time are just as easy.

Goodnight all...

Minus one Hobby!

So, while thinking about what to do with all of my hobbies I forgot that there was another one in the cupboard that I had waiting for my time as well...Scrapbooking!!! Crazy, isn't it! So last night with the help of my dear friend Candice, I went through a few drawers & came across my scrapbooking supplies, along with the BAGS & BAGS of things collected since Hubby & I have been travelling together! I was tempted to get cracking & start them all...but I know that I don't have the time, & with a little pep talk & reminder from Candice about my 'lack of time' situation, I have decided that is the first hobby to go!!

Here's what I have been storing...
I think I could have been close to becoming a victim of hoarding if it weren't for me meeting my wonderful Hubby & having to cull my possessions 6 times in the 11years that we've been together :-)

I'm a little excited about it being gone actually.  I bought this fantastic book on Amazon.com to help me cull my sentimental collection down.

Just the Ticket: Ticket Stub Organiser [Ring-bound]

So let's see how long it takes me to sort through it all & see how much 'stuff' I have trouble parting with!!

Wish me luck!

xoxo T

Hobby OVERLOAD!!!!!

I have finally found a few minutes to write a quick post... I know, I know... I am still needing to fill you all in on our upcoming adventure of moving to the U.S of A! It's all very exciting!! For now though... I have been thinking lately that I have too many 'hobbies'...

With my MbellishD jewellery hobby & finding time to make my jewellery, as well as fine tuning my cake decorating skills & my neglected blog 'i love the sweeter things', I am a little overloaded with hobbies... Something has to give...but which one??

I mentioned to my dear hubby the other day that maybe I need to hang up my beads & be done with MbellishD for now, & start to concentrate on other things...his reply...FINALLY! Haha.  I guess he's noticed I have too many things on the go too.  I love making my jewellery but I just don't seem to have time for it anymore...unless I stay up all hours of the night.  But for those who have partners who travel away from home alot I am sure you can understand that I choose to spend the time after our baby girl goes down, to have our own down time together.

Then there is the cake decorating! I LOVE baking & decorating my cakes.  Everyone loves cake & it's definately a wider market than jewellery... Also I think my cakes taste damn delicious & I love making things look pretty...even if Darwin heat isn't the best place for cake decorating :-)

And lastly...my newly started & newly abandoned blog! When I started this blog I had no idea what I wanted to write about, but I knew I wanted to write...strange for someone who used to gossip in English Class instead of writing... With the amount of travel that we have done & all of the fantastic opportunities that we have coming our way with our move next year, I know that this blog is one of the hobbies I want to keep.  So where does that leave me...?

I am thinking that MbellishD may need to go..... Can anyone offer any suggestions or even any tips on how I may be able to keep it all going?? Maybe I just need to stop jet setting & settle in one place for more than a month & I may find the time to keep it all up...?

I'M BACK!!!

I'm Back!

My apologies for the limited posts of late - I have had a fairly hectic past few months since my last post.

We had visitors for the Dry Season, followed by a bit of drama trying to fatten up my daughter (all sorted now), along with a very sad passing of my Pop, RIP Andy.  Andy's passing entailed a trip to Brisy to visit family for a few weeks...all this with my hubby being away, uncontactable & dealing with a soon-to-be 8mth old who doesn't like doing any one thing for more than 15mins (tiring)... Oh & did I mention we recently found out that my Hubby has recieved his next posting.... & our little family of 3 is moving to the USA in January!!!?? Breathe...

Now... all that has passed, our visitors are making their journey back home, hubby is back in Darwin & at work (although he leaves us for a short trip again tomorrow morning - sad face), & I am trying to get on top of things at home & wondering what to do with my Mbellishd Jewellery sideline when I move...Oh & I have an order of 50 cupcakes to bake for this Friday....

I think that's enough for all of you to process for now... I know it's all I have time to write about at this moment as Kayla is bored with her toys & wants her Mumma's attention again... I think I am now realising why some women choose to go back to work early... drafting is a breeze compared to being a full-time Mummy...

I wouldn't change it for the world though... xo

I promise to post again soon!

xoxo T

Finger-painting with a 6mth old :-)

A delayed post...written last Friday Night & I had too much trouble uploading photos... so here it is finally!!

This is just a quick post seen as I am enjoying my Friday Night in with hubby.  We are preparing to watch some TV Series recordings, I'm planning on yet another night with ice cream (disregard that comment if you've read the one previously where I mentioned I was trying to be healthy....ice creams healthy right?) & after a late night last night, I am not feeling in the mood to be in front of the computer for too long tonight...

What a fun day I had last Sunday!  I lazed around in the morning, breaky in bed, read a little more of my fave book 'Mom Inc.' (which is very inspiring), & did some shopping online for Kayla at Amazon.  A Fisher Price Jumperoo is on it's way! Yay!! I'll let you know how much Kayla likes it once it arrives...

Then craft time! I made a 'memories box' for Kayla that will hold all of her cards in - welcome baby girl, birthday cards etc.  I will post pics shortly on that project...in the meantime, the most fun part on Sunday, was doing some hand painting with Kayla & Hubby. I just had to capture her teeny tiny 6mth old hand & foot prints for some frames we were given from friends when she was born.


Tip: If you are going to attempt this with your bubs, I highly recommend a 2nd set of hands :-)
I have so much more to catch up on 'blog-wise' but my Little Miss is awake & ready to have some playtime before lunch :-)
xoxo T

My 1st Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all of the mummies out there & especially to those celebrating their first Mother's Day like I did yesterday! What a fantastic day.  I am so happy that having this special day breaks up the whole count down process to my birthday in August, yes I am one of those... I try to have a 'birthday month' but that has slowly worn off over the years I've been with Jase.  It slowed down to a birthday week, & now it's pretty much just a regular birthday...unless it falls on a weekend & then I claim the ENTIRE weekend!!! Anyhow, back to Mother's Day...

Pressie & cuddle time in bed for Mumma xoxo

Even though my baby girl is still just a teeny tiny baby, I am so lucky to have such a wonderful hubby.  He went to get Kayla up in the morning, changed her & brought her into bed for cuddles with her Mumma.  Gave me my pressie - a photoshoot for Kayla & I to capture our time together before she grows up too quickly, then we did the usual morning routine for Kayla & went back to bed for a nanna nap ourselves while Kayla had her morning nap.  After our fantastic sleep in, it was a cooked breakfast in bed for me!! Yummo! Then I also had a roast dinner cooked for me that night! Super spoilt or what!

What better way to end Mother's Day than having cuddles 

with my precious little girl before bed.

So now that hubby has set the high standard of gift giving & spoiling....I'm going to have to start thinking long & hard about Father's Day...bugger!

What did all of you other Mummies out there get from your precious little ones this year??? Hand made cards? Pasta necklaces? 

xoxo T

Mandorah Island...?

Ok, so who in Darwin thought that Mandorah was an island?? Please say yes! Haha! I am embarrassed to say that I did.  My hubby, daughter & in-laws all took a trip out to Mandorah for lunch last Sunday, as we have been in Darwin for quite some time now & had never been before.  I was chatting on the phone to my lovely sister-in-law (who's baking my very first little niece at the moment - due in July) on the drive to the ferry, when I mentioned we were going to Mandorah.  She asked where was that...I answered, it's a little island off the coast of Darwin... Hmmm... I look over to hubby who's driving, shaking his head, laughing at me, & I'm sure he was thinking - where did I find this woman?! :-)

Anyhow... so I learnt a little that weekend as well as enjoyed a fantastic day out with family doing something a little different for a change.  Here's a few happy snaps of our outing.

Good bye Darwin!

Kayla's first Ferry Ride :-)

Taking it all in, in the comfort of Daddy's arms. 

Kayla & Jase with her Gran & Gramps

A quick snap before docking at Mandorah Jetty.  

I think Kayla was over pics by this stage.

We had a great lunch & enjoyed the view of the ocean for a few hours before heading back to Darwin. It's amazing how a quick trip like this can make you feel like you're on a holiday. Oh, & it's a 'hot chips free zone' for those looking forward to a pub meal...don't expect to get hot chips with it.  I highly recommend the burgers though! Delicious!!

Are there any places in Darwin that are good to go for a quick getaway that you know of?? Tell us your fave spots in the comments below.  I'd love to check them out!!

xoxo T