Things I'm Loving

I can tell you one thing I'm not loving this week - the weather. Man it's been shocking. I haven't been able to get out for a walk at all. But some fun things have gone on...

I'm loving the confidence in my big girl. Two months ago at the same playground she was terrified of climbing on this and needed a lot of my help, as she wanted to give it a go, but was scared. During this visit she was nothing short of a spider monkey and poor helicopter mummy had to keep on asking her not to go to high lest I have a heart attack. It's bittersweet to hear the words, "I can do it myself mummy, I don't need your help". What a clever girl.

I'm loving American Horror Story: Freak Show. I've watched all the seasons of this show, I love horrors, and had found the original series 'Death House' the best. I didn't particularly like 'Asylum' at all, but did really like the last installment 'Coven', although it didn't really have too much of a scary vibe. This season though, I'm scared. I think it could be good enough to become my favourite season. How scary is Twisty? I haven't even got a fear of clowns and this guy gives me the hebe jebes.

Loving Cloud Dough. Is so easy to make and was probably the first messy thing that Leah and I have made that she really got stuck into.

 I love my Halloween nails so much, we all know I like sugar skulls... I may have to find some more designs that have them because I just love these so much.

Loving how we're moving from newborn to being able to do some things other than stare, lol. She has a beautiful smile and coos like a trooper. This morning she did a roll, but I think it was a fluke. Her neck is getting so strong. She's just a delight.

Now, I don't love what he's doing, but I sure love how cheeky this dog is. Jake loves sleeping on his or our bed during the day, but when Willow is sleeping in there, the door is closed. I had kicked him off the couch about 10 times and then couldn't find him. He was on the end of Leah's bed trying it out. Cheeky boy.

 

And lastly, I love my little ladybird, all ready for her first daycare disco. She's too cute, this kid. I love her so much.

 

What are you loving this week? 

xox

Three Year Old Thursday - Obstacle Course

This was one of my favourite things I've done with Leah. I had such a great time designing the course and it was fun seeing her use it, deciding what to do at each station, especially the teddy pick up/drop off station.

Leah got her new trike and scooter for her most recent birthday, she's had her smaller push along style bike for a while and still likes to use it (although she's getting a bit tall). She liked using all the 'vehicles' on the course and I would love to make a bigger one in future, perhaps with some input from her of what to have from the course, as with this one I set it up before she arrived home.

This is what she arrived home to:

Here are the features...

And here's some shots of the action.

Words for Wednesday

Tasty Tuesday

With my new healthier lifestyle I've tried not to make it at all 'diet-y' because they never work. Because of this I've been making dinners similar to what we normally have, but eating less, or substituting a side dish for something else. It's been working really well. You just wait for my next update! It also means I ensure that I'm not compltely cutting out any of the things I love, but working around them and being more aware of what they mean for me in the way of calories etc. Which is why there is a delectable cheesecake on the list this week!

So today I share....
This Toblerone Cheesecake was so decadent, and super dooper easy.

This Month at a Glance - October 2014

I saw this idea on another blog and I usually love to give credit in that case... but I can't for the life of me remember where - if it's you, please let me know! Great idea!

This post is a cool new addition of many levels. It's a nice easy post to write and it allows me to look back through what I've accomplished this last month. At the moment it really showed me how much little Willow has grown, she's not a newborn anymore, that's for sure! It also gives readers another chance to see a post they may have missed for one reason or another and highlights what I think are the best ones. A digest if you will.

My favourite Weekly 10 of this month was the first. It was a mixture of getting some things done and also taking some time for myself - a nice turn that Weekly 10 has taken from now on. There was also a couple of Chirstmassy things in there which makes my heart sing!

I love watching Leah play make believe and the Three Year Old Thursday post about the Make believe tea party was all about that. So cute.

The most recent Things I'm loving was the best this month - best weather, best outlook on life at the moment. I've been feeling a bit dull during October and this week had a change in that. It's nice to be out of the fog again :).

This Words for Wednesday sums up my outlook on life - always striving for better, more or less.

And I'm SO excited for the start of my new healthier lifestyle. I think that's the biggest reason for my mood change this week. Whether it's the healthier food or the attitude that I'm so doing this, it doesn't matter....I love it!

So there's October, hate to leave you but I hear November is looking good and the weather is on the up.
Ka kite Whiringa-ā-nuku. Haere ra.

Silent Sunday

Weekly 10: 25 - 31 October

For me:

1. Follow morning and night routines skin routines.
Every single day! So proud of myself.

2. Start my healthy eating lifestyle (:
And I'm feeling proud of myself again. Feeling like I can really stick to this, at this stage - loving it.

3. Listen to music during the day.

For Work:
4. Finish off organising and purging school stuff. Sell the stuff that is in the 'nuh uh' pile.
Patiently waiting for a buyer...

For our house/garden:

5. Do one thing in the garden everyday that I can get out there. 
Nailed the passionfruit vine and tidied the washing line area. I also weeded the front gardens. Still lots to do. I'm really enjoying getting out there which is unlike me. Lol

6. Create a cleaning schedule.
I know I know... it's been on two weeks in a row and I haven't done it, but I REEEALLY want to. I made a start last night. So will pop it on next week's list and make it a priority.

7. DUST and VACUUM! 
I nailed the house yesterday. Completely. I had a huge list of things including 4 loads of washing and pretty much cleaning top to toe and I did it all in between bubba's hour sleeps and piggy feeding schedule. Whoop!

For our family:

8. Have everything ready for dinner so that I'm able to spend some quality time with Leah after daycare.
Quality time, it would seem, is Leah teaching mumma a thing or two.

9. More walks with Jake, and with Bubba.

10. Spend some time on the photo books.

I'm feeling a lot more productive than I have in the last little while for some reason. Which is strange because my output isn't as much. Maybe the quality is better? Or maybe I'm just happier because I'm not running myself ragged. Whatever it is, me likes it. This week I'm sticking with trying to vary my goals, but not putting them under headings.

1. Look into power companies. Is what we're paying OK or should we change.

2. Take Willow's Month 2 photo.

3. Write a 'month at a glance' blog post.

4. Make jobs board and inside fitness cards for school.

5. Clean showers.

6. De-fruit and prune lemon tree.

7. Finish Cleaning schedule.

8. Complete physical baby books and plunket calendar.

9. Do the first 52 list.

10. Choose 5 cocktails I'm going to learn to make for my 30 before 30 cocktail goal.

Things I'm Loving

I've been feeling pretty fantastic this week....although, I was just thinking back through and looking at my photos and I've lost a day somewhere. I can't remember Wednesday at all. Lol. Love how all the days mesh into one when you're not working!

This week I'm loving my new lifestyle (after 5 days it hasn't become boring, or difficult - don't worry, I'm waiting (and prepared) for it). Getting out and exercising, eating well.... it's going goooood :)

 We really loved our big walk through the Awhitu Regional Park. It was a beautiful morning (the weather turned crappy in the afternoon) and it was lovely exploring. We saw Rainbow Lorikeets, Tuis and Kingfishers. It was delightful. Will definitely be doing it again.

Loved making an easy kite with this girl this morning and running around with it.

And also doing a bit of baking. Leah loves licking the spoons. What a cutie.

Loving that we can (sort of) hold our rattle, we're learning.

Loving this design that I found. Hoping that my nail lady will be able to pull it off next Thursday!

It's the long weekend! What's not to love?

Three Year Old Thursday - Reading Picnic

My girl loves to read and she adores her teddies. We bought these things together (and threw in some snacks and a lovely sunny afternoon for good measure).

We took our friends on a wee reading picnic in our backyard. Mummy read, Leah read, Jake rolled around a bit and gave us puppy dog eyes trying to steal our snacks. We had a great time, and what an easy way to get a bit of sun and enjoy books together. A great idea for all the sunny days we're going to be having over summer.

Our friends and our snacks

Words for Wednesday

Tasty Tuesday - A Round Up

There is nothing more satisfying than using the pin that you pinned on pinterest. It's right up there with a cold drink on a hot day and your vacuum head perfecting fitting between two pieces of furniture - a great feeling.

So, in not wanting to steal from my fellow bloggers I would like to send some traffic their way over the next little while as I use my pins and try out ttheir yummy recipes. Rather than reblog the recipe here I will simply link the recipe I've used. That's good blogging etiquitte (for any blogging newbies (:).

Over the last little while we've been chomping on...

Creamy Honey Mustard Chicken

Cheesy Smoked Sausage Skillet

Better-than-crack Brownies

I've just embarked on a more healthy lifestyle to help out with one of my 30 in 30 goals.  I do plan to have a cheat meal each weekend, but you should see a lot more mains and perhaps less treats in the next wee while. I'm trying to cook up (hah!) an idea where I can still bake my goodies and get them out to people. We'll see how that goes.

Enjoy xox

"Those who think they have no time for healthy eating will sooner or later have to find time for illness"

I'm going to put it out there...I love food. I love making it, trying new things, I love sugar, I love bread and cheese and all the things I shouldn't. And for way too long I've allowed myself to just eat what I want, when I want. It's not for lack of knowing about healthy choices, calories, input in and output out, 3kg of muscle equals so much fat and blah blah - I know it all, I've just chosen to disregard it, and in the process neglect myself.

I got away with it for a little while. I've never been thin, ever, but I look back on photos of myself when I was 18 and wish I was that skinny. I've always liked that quote I see hanging around online - "I wish I was as thin as I was when I thought I was fat" - and that is so true for me. The Wednesday - Saturday nights dancing up a storm in clubs kept me a size I would be very happy with now, but alas, for the last 10 years I've ballooned to a size that hinders my confidence.

It's not about a number for me, that's simply a way of tracking how I'm going. It's not about any number: not on the scales, no on a measuring tape, not on a label on a pair of jeans. For me it's about confidence. I see lots of beautiful clothes that I'd love to wear, but, if I can fit into it (and that's often a long shot),  I lack the confidence to wear it. It's also about my health. I'm not 18 anymore. I can see the lack of good health in my skin, and if I can see my skin is awful imagine what my insides are like.

Today I've started on a long journey, a change. Not a diet, because I've done that before, and it never lasts. A lifestyle change, as cliche as that sounds. Putting all of those things I know into action.

So here we go....
Here's to a change.
Here's to being able to choose something in a store and be happy with how it looks.
Here's to not always wanting to take selfies on a certain angle.
Here's to showing my girls how to be healthy and love their bodies.
I'm excited!

I've gone gung-ho on my juicer, again. Every time I use it I love it. I have a million juices pinned and a huge recipe book of juices so that I don't get bored with one kind. This is the juice of choice this week, and look at how organised I am!

I have an experiment with some of the cut up fruit later on in the week to see if the bags that have been pre-frozen are as good as the fresh ones earlier this week. Look at this yummy green concoction.

I've also got back into using the Myfitnesspal app. It's such a motivating tool.. and it's free! I'd totally recommend it. I use it on my iPhone but you can download it on any smart device or if you don't have one you can use it directly on the web.

Adding in foods is so easy and my favourite part is that at the end of every day when you submit your eating it tells you how much you could potentially weigh in 5 weeks if you continue the way you have that day. So motivating!

Another way I'm tracking things is with this cute little idea. The cup on the left has 50 stones in it (I'm wanting to lose 30kg initially but between 40 and 50 would be optimal). Each kg I lose, I move a stone over into the other cup. I like how visual it is. I've made the following signs to go above the cups too, just waiting for them to be printed.

I don't think I have all the answers, far from it, but I'm keen to share my journey to help myself and to hopefully motivate somebody else.