Thursday, December 29, 2011

Photos for ya!









Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Work

I have officially entered the workforce. And it was goooood. :P Lewy asked me this morning "Aren't you nervous?" Me: "No way! I'm finally getting out of the house, woohoo!".


You can take the blogger out of the house, but you can't take the blogger out of the girl. Did that make sense? I'm tired and it's the best I can do :P Basically, what I'm trying to say is that even though I'm all 'responsible worker' now, I still had to take photo evidence for the blog.

That's enough Tracey, you are too tired to try being clever. It's completely not working.

Here's my cute little desk.


Oh and this is no ordinary pen. My mother in law Sharon kindly gave this to me as a 'congratulations on getting a job' present. Sweet huh?


I apologise in advance for traumatising you with a close up photo of my chest... I just wanted to show you the detail on my shirt. I love it even though it might be a little 'piratey' :P


I accidentally forgot to take my depression medication this morning, which was pretty bad timing on my part! Withdrawals... they are hard! I felt like my brain was trying to grow out of my skull all day. Never fear, I am happily medicated now and starting to feel my brain calming down :) Nothing could bring me down today!

I have hit the wall now. It's been a big day, but oh so satisfying. I cannot tell you how good it feels to be more 'myself' again.

In other news, even though Sam's birthday isn't until the end of February ... I've started to jot down ideas and start some planning. Is that over the top too early? :P I spent some time with Sam last night, going through the Party Cake book so he could choose the theme he wanted. We have the theme sorted and I've got some brilliant ideas for a special day.

Sam must have had his birthday on his mind too, as he quietly came to me in the middle of the night and whispered in  my ear "is my birthday party tomorrow? will there be presents waiting for me in the morning?" Oh bless him. After a little chat, he was happy to wait for the real day.

The boys did really well at daycare today with the extended time. They seemed to adjust perfectly, although I was told that 30 minutes before I arrived to pick them up, Sam got a picture of me (that the daycare keep on a wall for the kids... not just of me, photos of other parents too.... I don't think a photo of just me would make the other kids that happy...enough Tracey, enough).. um, anyway Sam got a photo of me and cuddled it until I arrived. So sweet but breaks my heart a little!

Lewy went back to work today as well. Long service officially over! He was very ready to get back into things though... the only shame was that it was a 39 degree day and he had to work outside. Ugh!

So when we all got home today, we let the boys cool down in the little pool and we chatted about our day. It was lovely.

I'll sign off before I go to sleep :) Evening all and sweet sweet dreams xx

Monday, December 26, 2011

Boxing Day

It's nice not to have number my posts any more. The small things in life huh?! You'll have to excuse me, it will take a while for me to get out of the habit of not updating the blog every day... they say it takes 21 days to form/break a habit. Well this blog has been going on for 365 days so I sure do have a habit to break!


The inevitable has happened. Sam is now unwell too. He ventured into our bedroom for reasons unknown, and when I went to check up on what he was doing.. I found him like this. Teddy tucked in and all.

We have cancelled our plans for today for a family catch up, in the hopes that our boys recover and feel much better soon... I hate seeing my boys unwell, but I am enjoying the many cuddles... hopefully they are back to their energetic, happy selves very soon.

Sunday, December 25, 2011

The Evening...

It's 8pm, my boys are fast asleep, I have a glass of wine in hand, my belly is full, my heart is full :) It's been a perfect day. 

Apart from my poor chicken, who went to bed at 3pm and slept right through dinner, and is still fast asleep now. Something tells me we won't see Jacob until the morning. Sleep is just what he needs right now though. 

Our afternoon consisted of napping right through the hottest part of the day, watching TV and playing with the kids new toys. As the weather was cooling, we got working on prepping our dinner and getting ready to enjoy a whole new celebration! 


Our before dinner food platter. Oh yeah!


As promised, I did consume a glass or two :P


Entree (not all mine, I'm not that greedy). Our marinated prawns, they were lip smackin' delicious!


Our dinner guest, my Father in Law Alan.


I didn't even get a picture of our meal, by the time I remembered half of it was gone.. oops :P It was beautiful, you'll just have to trust me :)

We are about to dig into some berry and apple crumble.... then as luck would have it, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation is due on TV in a few minutes, the icing on the Christmas cake :)

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

I did it :)

365 days. Who would have thought I would actually make it to the end?! Where to start to explain this last year...

How about blatant honesty? This year kinda sucked. Don't get me wrong, there were loads and loads of wonderful things that happened and precious memories made but I can safely say 'life journey' wise... I crawled through this year, sometimes I didn't even crawl, I just laid there motionless! I think this blog only captured a very small portion of how hard I found it.

But you know what? That's life! There will be good years and bad years. It's all apart of the journey. I wouldn't change this year for anything though and you know why? This year has taught me so much. SO MUCH. I feel stronger, more content about my place in life, happier and settled. I know I wouldn't have come to this place if it weren't for these past 365 days.

Another positive? Friendship. This year has given me a whole new appreciation and gratitude for the wonderful friends in my life. It's been a very new experience for me, opening up and showing my vulnerability. But you guys, YOU GUYS have all made such an impact in my life, words don't describe.  I can't thank you enough. My heart is full :)

My family. My family are my rock. My little family here at home and also my parents and sisters. The harder life gets, the closer we get. The more we struggle, the stronger we are. I'm blessed a thousand times over for my parents and my sisters. They are the kind of people where I don't even need to speak... they just know, love and support me no matter what.

And Lewy? I feel teary just thinking about how lucky I am to have him. He is my soul mate and my best friend, and even though this year has been tough - our relationship is even stronger. The hard times have cemented our marriage in ways I could never imagine. And thanks to our marriage, we have two of the most gorgeous little boys I've ever seen (I'm not biased, no way!). They teach me more about trying to be a better person than anything else ever could. I love their beautiful little faces. :)

Apart from friends and family, I would have to say this Blog and my photography hobby are also things that have gotten me through. I know it might sound a little silly, but I think having an 'outlet' of sorts through this blog has been a bit of a life saver. It kept me going. I felt like even though I was feeling so lost and overwhelmed, I was 'contributing' to something. Ummm it's hard to explain :P It was good for me. That about sums it up :) And it wouldn't have been the same if you guys didn't keep reading and supporting me like you did. Thank you. 

And photography... well, you know...I love it. :P

I'm starting full time work soon. Words don't describe how excited I am about entering back into the workforce. I NEED to go back to work for my sanity. Before I had kids, I found a lot of fulfilment through working hard, climbing the ladder even if what just a few steps at a time, I found my identity in my work. So when I left work to have kids, I also lost a major part of 'me' and I well and truly felt lost and out of control.

I'm very much looking forward to finding that part of me again, the efficient, well dressed, well presented, focussed person that I used to be (boy, did she go missing!!) but I've also learnt that there are many parts of me and they are all very important. The wife, the mum, the worker, the friend ... I feel more balanced.

Next year is going to be better. I know it is. I'm not making any wacky New Years Resolutions. My only goal is to work hard, do my best as a mother, a wife, a member of my family.. and enjoy the small things.

As for this blog, I'm keeping it! Don't stress, I'm certainly not setting another crazy project! But I'll update it like most normal people do, not every day, but when something of interest actually happens in my life! So be sure to keep checking in every now and then (or every few days, as you all know I love to write random mundane things about my life, ha!).

Thank you all for being YOU. You've all had an impact on my life, without even knowing it :)

What a year huh?!! Here's to a fantastic, amazing 2012!

Lots of love,

Day 365... yes that's right, DAY 365!

MERRY CHRISTMAS! 

It's a wonderful day! If you are wondering why I'm blogging in the middle of Christmas Day, it's because we're doing things a little differently this year. We have made Breakfast and Dinner our main meals, which leaves a whole afternoon of peace, rest and relaxation.... and we like it!

This Christmas has a very relaxed vibe to it and our little family is soaking it up. Poor Jacob is out of sorts and still not quite 100% so it's a good thing that we are taking things easy today so he can rest up.

Watching Sam this morning was a real treat for us. His excitement was contagious :) I tried to take a few snaps of him opening his presents, but he was a blur in all of them as he was moving around so fast and ripping that paper so quickly, the camera couldn't keep up :P


Please note, the tree had way more decorations on it when I first put it up. Thanks to two kids and a puppy, most of the baubles have fallen off and rolled to the back.. ha!


While Sam was being The Flash, Jacob sat in one spot, feeling unwell and looking in a daze... poor chicken :(



This train set is awesome, when Sam isn't playing with it, I may or may not make up my own little town and get a train system up and running to improve productivity of the community.


The table setting. Yes, I know. I should have smoothed out the creases. :P This photo doesn't really do the table justice, it was a vision of colour and fun.


Fresh coffees provided by my Mother in Law, Sharon. What a treat!


Ray and poorly Jacob. He was a little koala bear who wanted lots of cuddles. Jacob I mean, not Ray. :P


Breakfast time! Lewy was in charge of the bacon, eggs and sausages on the BBQ, and Sharon and I were in charge of flipping pancakes in the kitchen.


Digging in..

Oh wow. Berries, bananas, maple syrup, whipped cream. Need I say more?!



Christmas Breakfast = a success! Lots of laughing, enjoying the good food and company.

My boys are napping now after all the excitement of the morning. Which is just the ticket for them to get some energy back to enjoy our special Christmas dinner. As for me, I plan on finding a cheesy Christmas movie on TV to watch while I put my feet up :P

What's for Christmas Dinner you ask? Well, well.. I'll tell you! Steak and sausages for the boys, Salmon for me, prawns marinated in Garlic and Sweet Chilli Sauce, finished off with some special salads. For dessert we will enjoy Berry & Apple Crumble with cream. Oh and I'm pretty sure there will be a glass of wine or two added in there somewhere :P

This year's celebrations are going against the normal traditions a bit, but we like to mix things up and keep it interesting :P Lewy and I are rebels like that. Ha!

I may be back later with a wind up of our day OR I may end up falling into bed after a day of celebrations. We shall see what happens :)

I'm going to post up a final note (ha, note it's more like an essay!) as a close to the nutty 365 blog challenge! Before you think I had nothing else to do today but write posts for this blog, I actually wrote my little closing note out a few days ago :) How's that for organisation? Work.. I'm ready!

Have a excellent Christmas Day my friends, enjoy your celebrations and soak in the magic.

Happy Days!

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Day 364 So close.

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house... the little boys were sleeping and their parents were chilling out watching DVD's :P

Today was full of those last minute things....a final tidy of the house, prepping the centrepiece for the Christmas table, catching up on the washing and

...one quick trip to the shops for a few things...

Haha! It doesn't take much to amuse me :P

I picked up these adorable place mats with matching coasters. I'm broke now. They cost me a massive $1 each. :P

Finally, Sam set out some treats for Santa and carrots for the reindeer, using the special mug decorated by Jacob at daycare with his little hand print. Santa is set for a nice treat when he stops at our place tonight :)

Have a very merry Christmas my wonderful friends and readers of this blog!! I will be back tomorrow for post 365! WOW.



P.S I know I bombard you guys with photo links sometimes.. but trust me, you won't regret looking at these: http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2011/12/50_best_photos_of_the_natural.html They are truly spectacular!

Friday, December 23, 2011

Day 363 Friday Fun

Buy some work clothes - tick
Clean house - tick
Pick up poor sick little chicken from daycare - tick

My sweet Jacob was running a fever and was all out of sorts, so I went to pick my little guy up early. Oh I wish I had my camera with me to show you guys how absolutely adorable he was when I walked into the Toddler room! Laying on the bed, fast asleep, with a pink wet flannel on his forehead to keep him cool. Bless.

I got him ready to come home and told Sam what was happening.. and poor Sam got tears in his eyes and said he didn't want us to leave without him. Oh, break my heart. So we packed Sam up too and said our farewells early to daycare until after Christmas. :)


Sam and Lewy went on a very important errand, to buy meat and seafood for Christmas Day - tick

An afternoon of rest for the kids is on the cards. We need healthy, happy children for Christmas Day!

Food Shopping - tick


Berries & Whipped Cream... waiting to top our pancakes on Christmas morning along with some maple syrup and bananas....oh yeah!


A little sneak peek of the desserts I plan on making for after Christmas dinner... Berry & Apple Crumble.


Now.. time for one of these, while we start our BBQ. Marinated prawns in sweet chilli sauce, yes thank you :P


Only 2 more sleeps :P

Happy Days!

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Day 362 Hair

I really enjoyed today. Life is winding down and I'm loving this special time.  It won't be like this for long, so I will treasure it! Lewy went to work for their wind up Christmas BBQ, so it was me and the boys chilling out at home. 

Cuddles on the couch... I looked down and realised Sam had fallen asleep. 


We spent lots of time outside, the boys playing under the tap, Marley and I watching them. Sam then donned his chef uniform and invited me to come to his 'restaurant' for chips, toast, cake and coffee. Delicious! It was loads of fun :)


Here it is! The new hair cut. My hair isn't actually that short, it's just tied up at the back in normal Tracey style. When I actually DO my hair, I'll be sure to take a picture :) So, hello fringe, I like you. And blonde colour? I love you, you are here to stay.  :P


Hair - tick. Next on the list, some work clothes. That's on the list for tomorrow. Tomorrow will also involve our big food shop for Christmas Day. Then.... nothing. Just waiting for the big day to arrive!


Guys, I cannot believe that there are only 3 days left until I complete this crazy year long blog challenge. I have plans for a very long, very emotional and very sappy post for day 365, so either grab the tissues or a puke bag... :P

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Gavin & Stacey rates as highly in my book as say, The Office (English Version) and Extras (come on... please tell me someone else loves these shows as much as Lewy and I do? Ricky Gervais.. he may be our most favourite comedian ever). So anyway, Lewy and I are massive fans of Gavin & Stacey... so getting in the Christmas spirit last night, we watched The Christmas Special.

Here's a little part so you can get in the groove as well :P



Only 3 more sleeps. :)

Happy Days!