#686 Happy 2018!

As we enter a new year…

Do whatever you were doing before.

But this time, add more passion, more oomph, more pow, more grrr.

And if you don’t wanna do that, just make sure you’re happy, and doing what you wanna do.

Life is too short to treat it as a dress rehearsal.

The time is NOW my friends.

Tonight I am happy for making the most of the night with family and friends… dancing, drinking, laughing, being silly, even swimming… because us sisters need to be by the water, one way or the other.

Here’s to a fantastic 2018 🙂

#685 Baby girl and besties

It’s a beautiful thing to catch up with old friends. It’s even better, when your child welcomes them with open arms.

And hugs.

And kisses.

And jumps all over them.

And plays with them.

And tells them they are her best friends in “whole my world.”

Not ‘my whole world.’

WHOLE MY WORLD.

That is more special. Or should I say, special more.

It was a great night for us all, and every time we vow we won’t leave it so long ’til the next catch up… and then LIFE catches up, but still, we keep on trying. That is the thing with real friends, no matter what, you always try.

You are together for the night, and time flies and you don’t realise how much time has passed, because time feels like nothing at all when the company is so precious.

There was talking, laughter and music, and baby girl took photographic evidence to document IT ALL.

See, this is our Christmas tree all lit up

Then this was some of our song selections for the night

This is the side of Bestie, her hubbie Hubbex, and Hubbie all chilling on the couch.

This is her foot

And this is me, with her lego so conveniently sprawled along the coffee table, the tree behind me so beautifully hiding the inconspicuously placed fridge that has still not been moved into place following the kitchen reno (have you ever tried to move a fridge?!?!)

I know, right? You will have to all form an orderly line and wait to see the entrepreneurial photographic genius that is my daughter. Go on. Take a ticket.

Who else posts blurry photos online? NO ONE. See, we’re already winning.

Happy New Year’s Eve EVE everyone. Hope yours was lit up with joy and friendship too.

 

 

#684 My little doctor

I was in a ‘zone’ – a zone to clean the house as deeply and thoroughly as I could.

The house has not had a proper clean since the kitchen renovations started, so I was really keen.

I walked from the bathroom to the laundry with an arm-full of cleaning products. Because of this, and also, because of SmikG clumsiness, my protruding elbow collided with the handle of the door.

“Ahhh!” I gasped, half-wheezing, half-shrieking, throwing the products onto the nearby bench so I could clutch at my elbow. The impact had sent shock waves into my bone, and it was reverberating, there were pins and needles, and deep, deep agony. I rubbed it wildly, trying to get a grip of myself, but the sounds still came out.

“OW! Oh oh oh, ouch, ohhhhhhh!”

I knew what would come as soon as I became vocal, and sure enough in amongst my canine-like yelping, came the sound of small running footsteps.

Thud thud thud thud thud.

Baby girl flew past the laundry door, before coming to a halt and backtracking when she saw where I was. She came over quickly and looked up at me all wide-eyed as I held my elbow, grimacing.

“Mama you ok?”

“Oh, Mama hurt her elbow very bad, it hurts!”

She held my arm and kissed it once, looking up at me all patiently and calmly, full of love, the way I look at her when I am trying to calm her down.

“Feel better?”

“Oh, a little bit. Here kiss it some more.” She immediately obeyed and planted more sweet kisses on my elbow.

“Oh honey, that’s much better, thank you so much my darling.” It still hurt like hell, but my heart was now brimming with love and joy, and that kind of outweighed that pesky elbow pain 😉

#683 Super Play centre

They’re upsizing everything nowadays. Not just for the adults, but for the kids too.

They are getting fun in huge doses as well, in the form of huge jumping arenas and floor-to-ceiling play centres where anything and everything is possible.

We were in such a play centre today, for those playing from home (Melbourne that is) it was at SuperZu. And, we came prepared…

And that means, WITH SOCKS.

Baby girl and I met up with her cousin and Mum, and us Mums were just as keen as the girls to get in and amongst the fun. There were tube slides, something baby girl and I have recently grown accustomed to, yet which never grows boring, climbing net-like contraptions, motorised cars, mazes and ball pits and shooting platforms and ALL kinds of activities you can imagine, scaling 2 to 3 levels, maybe even more, I can’t say, that’s how much of a web the centre was.

And then there was a volcano-like climbing wall. It was pretty steep, and I watched baby girl try to scale it a few times, sliding down the slippery surface each time.

She was growing frustrated, and was hard on herself as she generally is when trying to do something new. I encouraged her and told her to keep holding on to the white steps with her hands and feet, and bit by bit, she worked her way to the top, teetering ever so closely to the edge as she got there and giving me a fright as I willed her to throw her legs over, but once she had I was breathing a huge sigh of relief.

She then proceeded to climb the wall confidently at least another 25 times in the next few hours.

My monkey. She had fun, her cousin had fun, us Mums had fun because they were having fun, and everything was just FUN.

Here’s to places designed to keep our kids happy 🙂

#682 Work Air Con

At our home currently, we do NOT have air conditioning.

This may not mean much to an Eskimo, Santa, or any person currently not experiencing an Australian Summer.

However, in Melbourne tonight at the time of approximately 10:30pm, it is about 28 degrees in the city centre.

And it ain’t dropping heaps overnight my friends.

Earlier when I spoke to Hubbie he told me it was boiling in our house. There is no breeze, and there is sweat on baby girl’s face, reminiscent of that time we went to Port Douglas and she was mostly cranky pants in the 40 degree heat, only satisfied when in a pool/ocean.

And yet, I am grateful. Not for the sauna awaiting me at home when I leave here shortly, no. But for the fact that in this moment, I am in a cool climate of possibly 18 degrees, the industrial work air con working brilliantly in my surrounds.

🙂

#681 Boxing Day fun

You need a champion breakfast to set yourself up for a big day ahead.

A big, Boxing Day breakfast.

A breakfast such as this allows you to make the most of the day and fill it to the brim with as much activity and fun as you possibly can.

It helped us put together this INSANE barbie van

It helped us get to some post-Christmas day shopping, and work the crowds.

And then later on it helped us perform some interesting ballet moves.

Ok, so the toys were baby girl’s not ours, and she had basic weetbix while we indulged in the above-shown breakfast… but with energy like hers, we sure as hell need a special boost every once in a while to keep up with her…

🙂

#680 Another Christmas at my parents

I don’t care how many times I post the same heading. Because I will always be grateful for it.

Each time there will be joy, but each time it will be different too – the fun will come from an unexpected avenue, we will sing different songs, eat different food and our time together will always be more cherished than the last time…

Because all of life is fleeting. We don’t know what is around the corner, and so when we are given something precious, a beautiful moment, or a special someones

Take stock, grab hold, and run with it.

This morning at our home, there was loads of presents…

and in turn plenty of wrapping paper to show for it.

Baby girl assisted Hubbie in their present to me –

And I LOVED the personal red touches and care given by baby girl, as much as the present itself.

The tree at my parents house is now smaller than it used to be…

But the same joy and love and good times remains. The alcohol still ‘goes’…

VERY quickly. But that is how we do things around here.

And there is dancing alright… not in the kitchen. But the GARAGE. Parents house, old school style.

And I love it all. I hope you too had an amazing and memorable Christmas with your loved ones… and if you don’t celebrate, well I hope your day was special anyway 🙂