Hello Again!!!!

So I have spent the last month sorting out some personal issues so have accidentally neglected this blog! I think I am all sorted out now(at best for the moment) so I can get back on track!

Over the last 2 months I have been trying to get my head around how to reorganise/sort out the enormous amount of stuff that we have accumulated for both our children. We have been so blessed as to be given heaps of second hand clothing and our families have spoilt both our children with great amounts of toys and clothes. Here is the product of that 'mess'

 I have always wanted my children to share a bedroom and to have a separate playroom. So this is my task today. Hubby knows he is coming home from work to help me rearrange. The futon that is in front of the play area has been put there as recently we have been hosting a bible study at our house. As this is the biggest room this is where we have been having it. So the tv/dvd, blackboard and table will all go into the playroom and the chair will be put against the wall.

I have always been the type of person that when I do a big clean up I reorganise and change things around. This always gives me the feeling of success as it is new as well as clean.

I can't wait to see the finished product of the playroom and bedroom! I am sure Master E will be so excited to have his sissy sharing his room! Will share when it is complete and clean!

What are your ideas on playrooms? Do you have one or are all the toys in the separate bedrooms?

Signing off

Procrastination....only three things???

So I have just been over to visit Lisa from Life as we know it and have been inspired to write about three things I am procrastinating over....  hahaha if there were only three things.

Top three thing though are:

1. Cleaning up little Miss E's room. There are nappy boxed full of clothes that are too small, clothes that are too big and hand me down clothes from her big brother and cousins. This pile goes all the way along the wall and about 3 boxed high. I feel sick every time I look at it so I have just decided that if I don't look then it isn't there.... hahaha the art of ignorance. I have now been doing this for 3 weeks. Maybe I will sort it out next week.... or maybe not.

2. Sorting out our home study/craft room. This room is always unorganised clutter, no matter what house we have been in. It is the room that things that don't have a home get thrown into and the door closed. Tomorrow we have this on our agenda to deal with... if we don't find something else to do instead.

3. Making the decision about what goes to charity and what I want to keep. I have always had the problem of saying 'maybe I will use that for....' but it never happens. We have a corner of our garage with 'stuff' to give away to charity, but for some reason it just never gets there. I think I am just waiting for it to disappear!

Well that is a short list, I could go on forever about things I procrastinate about, but that would just be depressing.

Signing off
Andrea

Finally Catching up...Family Values

So after getting very behind in the 52 week challenge I am finally motivated to catch up! So I am not going to take short cuts and just start from this weeks, I am going to do a couple of posts a week to get there.

After discussing our family values for a couple of weeks I have finally come up with a list that defines where we are at in 2012.

BE POSITIVE

LIVE IN EACH MOMENT AND MAKE IT COUNT

TRUST IN GOD FOR EVERYTHING NO MATTER HOW SMALL

MAKE TIME FOR FAMILY EVERY WEEK

SUPPORT EACH OTHERS IDEAS, DREAMS AND VALUES

So there you have it, I have finally achieved something that I have been putting off for a couple of weeks. Not sure why I was scared to put this in writing but I suppose to a degree it makes me accountable for them!

Signing off

Andrea

Life goes on in 2012!

The last two weeks have been absolutely crazy! I have not even had a chance to sit down and think about last weeks challenge yet! Am disappointed in myself for falling behind so early but it can't be helped.

Some exciting happenings in my family over the last two weeks were as follows....
My beautiful baby girl was dedicated back to God on the second Sunday in 2012. It was such a beautiful ceremony done by a special friend. We were then truly blessed to have family and friends join us for a simple lunch on such a hot day.

My sister-in-law and brother-in-law (who were ordained as officers in the Salvation Army in November) left for Bathurst after a family Christmas holiday!

My husband held his first holiday kids camp for primary aged children in our town. It was such a stressful time for him but worth every moment he sweated over it as it was a huge success. It is so nice to see him enjoying his job again and actually being acknowledge for his hard work!

Master 2 is definitely in his terrible 2 stage. Refusing to do anything that is asked of him. He has also gone backwards in his potty training. He thinks that because he has jockys on he can wee on the floor, or he is being too lazy to even go to the toilet when he is running around in his birthday suit. It is making one mummy crazy as I am constantly stepping in then cleaning up little puddles of mess everywhere I walk. (Any ideas?)  As if I don't have enough to do as Miss 3months is having teeth troubles and crying constantly and chewing on everything when she isn't feeding. On a positive note though Master 2 is finally eating food after 6months of living on cruskits, biscuits and bananas!

Sorry about the ranting but needed to get that out.

This week hubby and I have also gotten serious about loosing weight, paying off debts and getting back into routine. I am also trying to get all of the kiddies clothes that are too small sorted out. At the moment they are all just thrown into nappy boxes (and spilling out of) in no particular order. My plan is to sort into boys, girls, unisex then each size. Not sure how this will go or how I will put them away. I have a lot of girlfriends that are starting to think about having a family so don't want to throw away or give to charity just yet. Any ideas on storage??? Will post photos when I get started.

I have so many projects that I want to embark on this year, so at the moment I am looking at my diary and trying to fit them in. My project after baby clothes will be sorting out our little study/craft room so that it is an efficient space but also a haven for me let out my creative side. I have art/craft boiling through my veins at the moment. We are bringing my husbands old corner desk from his mums to our house and painting it white to give it a new lease in life. I am so excited about this as it will mean my love (pazzles inspiration) will have a place to live and room to be used!

I am also dreaming of my 10+ acres of land with my beautiful shed home on it. Believing that it will happen in the next 5 years. Trying to convince my hubby that working in the mines for a couple of years wouldn't be a bad thing (;-P).

So in the meantime I will keep dreaming and trying to save. (If that is even possible with 1 wage, a car and a personal loan to pay off?)
Looking forward to keeping you updated!

Signing off
Andrea

Values - Week 2

My values define the way I live my life and the order in which I prioritise.  I don't generally do this willingly, it is mostly a subconscious thing that just happens.

This week in the 52 wk challenge we have been asked to take a look at ourselves and discover our values. Thank you so much Deb. Although most of us probably know what our core values are, who takes the time to sit down and reflect on them. I know I never have and I have surprised myself in this process to discover how strongly I feel about some of my values.

So here goes my top 5 values.
1. Faith
2. Love
3. Family
4. Passion
5. Learning/growth

#1. This value of FAITH underpins everything that I do. It defines who I am and how I live. My faith in Jesus Christ gives me the assurance of eternal purpose and life. My faith creates in me a reason for living and a reason for dieing. Without Christ in my life I do not know who I would be or if I would be. I love singing my praises to him for the provisions that he has given and continues to provide my family and I.

#2. I believe that LOVE is something that is written into our DNA when we are created. But because of my faith I am called to love my neighbors as well as myself. I truly value the love I have for both my family and friends and also the love they share with me.



 #3. I was bought up with a very strong emphasis on FAMILY. Everything we did growing up revolved around it, and it was always number 1 priority. I can now say that even though this was something I was taught, it is truly something that I value very highly. My family is everything to me (both immediate and extended). They are my best friends, councilors, advocates, advisers and critics.


#4. I am a strong believer in PASSION. Anything that I do I feel I need to give 100% to. But if I don't have a passion for it, I find it very difficult. I have many passions, some that are idle at the moment due to spending time at home with my children and others that are waiting to explode out of me. I am very passionate about memory keeping so I love photography, scrapbooking and journalling. I am also passionate about justice. Something that I hope to be able to devote some time to in the near future.

Master 2's first photo shoot

#5. Although some might say this is a cliche as I am a teacher, LEARNING/GROWTH has always been a part of me. As far back as I can remember I have enjoyed taking classes in one thing or the other. I believe learning not only makes you a stronger person, but also helps you discover who you are. At the moment I am learning more about photography as my adorable hubby has purchased me a DSLR camera for my Birthday...  SOO EXCITED!!!!!

Yet again thanks to Deb at Home Life Simplified for this challenge. It is only week 2 and I have already learnt so much about myself. I can't wait to see what next week has in store.

Week 1 of 52 wk challenge!

First photo shoot as a family of 4

I am still getting used to this 'blogging thing' and finding my style. So please have patience with me if this is all over the place. I will get there one post at a time.

2011, definitely a year to remember. So many things have happened which have caused me to grow both spiritually and emotionally. Starting the year on a sad note through loosing my Grandma was definitely a challenge that I would have rathered avoided. But through this tragedy, our family has grown closer and we now see each other regularly.

There are definitely many things that I am grateful for in 2011.

I fell pregnant (after a miscarriage in Dec) and was so happy as we had moved home (after a year of living away due to my hubby's job) and I would now have the support of my friends and family that I had missed the previous year. My husband transferred back home and is now working as a youth pastor in our home church.

We started the year out by living with my in-laws as we were waiting for our rental house to become empty. I was so grateful when we moved in as it felt like home immediately.

Although the I was fairly sick throughout my pregnancy I am so blessed that my little one was healthy
throughout the whole pregnancy. Miss 3mths was born in October a healthy 8lb 4oz (I couldn't believe that as Master 2 was only 6lb) after only 3 hrs of intense labour with only gas and air. I was so proud ofmyself as I am such a wimp and never thought that would happen.

In August we had the pleasure of spending a week camping at Cania Gorge. It was such a relaxing break before the arrival of our second child. If you are ever up this way and like a getaway, this is a beautiful escape with so much to do!

Master 2 enjoying the outdoors at Cania Gorge

                                              
At the end of 2011 (after Miss 3mths was born) our family was very privileged to spend 2 wks together at home.Family time is what 'fills my tank', it doesn't matter what we are doing as long as we are together sharing laughs and
closeness. I love seeing my hubby spend one on
one time with Master 2 teaching him things. For example Master 2 received a big boys bike for
his birthday and hubby has been teaching him how to ride.

 2011 was definitely the year of holidays. At the end of November we embarked on a road trip to Sydney to see hubby's sister and bro in-law be ordained as Salvation Army Officers (pastors). I was so apprehensive about this trip as it was such a long drive and we were traveling overnight (as to give the kiddies the most chance of sleeping). Master 2 decided after 2 hrs of sleep that he could stay awake. I am so thankful for Car DVD players (installed the week before) as this kept him occupies with his favourite movie 'Cars' until his eyes could no longer stay open. Miss 3mths slept most of the way and we only had to stop enough times so that she could be fed. This trip was crazy busy, but we were so grateful that we were capable of making the trip. For the first time in a long time my long time friend group were together in the same place. Also during the trip one of the girls gave birth to her second child, although we were not able to see her after, I was thankful for the time I spent catching up with her that morning. On the way home from Sydney we also stopped off for a couple of days to spend time with some family and also introduce Miss 3mths to her great Pa (hubby's Pa). Was such a special moment that I will never forget.

Waiting for the train into Sydney

So although there were many challenging situations in 2011, as I look back and reflect I have so much to be thankful for. I have learnt that I need to rely on God more for my provisions as he will always provide when things are tough. I have learnt that I need to concentrate on ME more and stop worrying about others and what they think. I have learnt that no matter how cranky, upset or depressed I feel I just need to look at my children and see their smiles and it brightens my day! I am truly a BLESSED MUM!!!

Signing off!

Welcome 2012

 What an exhausting end to 2011. For the first time my husband and I braved the post Christmas sales! What a crazy experience!!! I was so relieved when all mispurchases (not sure if that is a word but will use it anyway) were returned and replaced.

We celebrated NYE our traditional way, with friends, family and fun! This included Nerf gun fights, Xbox 360 and lots of yummy food! I read somewhere today that the way you spend New years day is the way you will be all year. Well I am definitely going to prove this saying wrong as today was spent watching movies and relaxing with my beautiful family. I ignored the housework and all the things that I knew really had to be done (washing, dishes, mopping) so that my hubby's last days on holidays could be nice (I tend to be a nagger when I am cleaning, if I want something done it has to be right then and there). Tomorrow will be the beginning of a year of clutter free organisation....I hope.

Right here I am making my promises for 2012.
1 - Eat healthy. Change mindset so that exercise is fun. LOOSE BABY FAT!
2 - Declutter house and life.
3 - Stop stressing about small things and appreciate what I have.
4 - Have fun!!!

I hope that these promises are not too difficult to keep as I think they will be really life changing if I can keep to them.

Night all!!!