The last three weeks have been incredibly busy for me. Let’s be honest, life is always busy! But whenever school holidays roll around, I always make a to-do list of things I’d like to get done because the days are freed up from drop-offs and pick-ups.
The first week of school holidays was my week to get a few things organised before Jacob would have two weeks off.
I had been counting down till Jacob had time off work so we could tackle some jobs around the house. It would also give me time to get ahead with my blog, because I’ve taken on extra work and have been offered training in an area I had never contemplated doing. But I enjoy it and I’m good at it (I think!) and so I’m going to do the training and see where it takes me.
As a result, I’ve expanded my thinking to dream a little bigger and off-center. And it’s kind of cool and exciting, yet it still works in the framework of utilizing my skills as a plumber and blogger.
While I managed my work, Jacob and I got some key projects done like painting Esther’s room and giving it a mini makeover as part of her Birthday present.
The preparation took nearly half a day because there were stickers and residue left on the walls that needed to be scrubbed hard to remove. We decided on a grey feature wall for Esther’s room with gold polka dot wall stickers. I will share the reveal at a later stage. Unfortunately we can’t add the wall stickers for at least 4 weeks on the newly painted walls. Despite it not being quite finished, Esther is loving her new room and her desk. I love watching her sing as she draws and writes. I love seeing her content and happy.
Another project we finished was Maggie’s makeup vanity and stool. Originally this was in Esther’s room, and she had been using it as a desk. I wanted to restore it and remove the daggy stickers which took a bit of elbow grease. I will share more about that project this week.
The third project was adding a strawberry patch on one side of our house and adding new veggie seedlings to our vegetable garden. We have so much rocket and lettuce that has sprung up, and I’m loving adding this to salads each day. It’s saved me buying it from the grocery store.
We also have oranges on our orange tree. We’ve got one orange to try before we start to pick the fruit off. I think I will be baking a few orange cakes by Create Bake Make. I may also change up my Mandarin Meringue Pie and use oranges instead.
Another thing to do on my list was to tidy my office. It’s the place where I dump paperwork, products for review and anything else I don’t want in the living room. A good tidy up was needed. And I feel like I can now breathe with a clear desk.
Interspersed amongst all the projects was fun stuff like
Watching Frozen’s Disney on Ice show – so good!
Shopping with great grandma and pa for Birthday presents.
Clothes shopping at Harbour Town.
Heading to the Gold Coast to see Kidz Fashion Week.
Staying at Royal Pines Resort for the night.
Checking out the Brickmans Experience Lego Display.
Celebrating my Birthday.
Celebrating Phoebe’s Birthday.
Two special gifts I received for my Birthday – one I bought myself was this gorgeous Vanessa Bean vase. (I’m giving away one of these cute vases here).
And the other was this gorgeous portrait painting of Bentley by Deb Mostert. Mum and dad gave me this and we’ve hung it up in our living room as a way to remember him.
After all that’s been going on these last few weeks, I was happy to have a quiet weekend to just be at home and relax. Although I couldn’t help myself in sorting through the kids toys!
Tomorrow, it’s back to reality with Jacob at work and me juggling the kids drop offs and pick ups and work and general family life.
Life is busy, but it’s full and good.
Despite the craziness in the world, sometimes zoning into our own little place can do wonders for the mind and soul.
