December 2021

shopping centre for how to get into the Christmas spirit post

How To Get Into The Christmas Spirit

I am someone who really gets excited about Christmas and can’t wait until the decorations hit the shops. But with that being said I know from experience that some years getting into the Christmas spirit may be harder than other years. Perhaps you might be going through a challenging emotional time. Or maybe you just feel plain tired and overwhelmed with so many things on the to-do list. Feeling jolly and bright might just feel a little too difficult. So here are some fun practical ways for you to get into the Christmas spirit this year! How To Get Into The Christmas Spirit WATCH CHRISTMAS MOVIES Put your pyjamas on and make Friday nights the night for your family to get together and watch some fun Christmas movies. Even if you don’t really feel like watching at first. I can guarantee that you won’t be able to resist laughing and enjoying a good fun Christmas movie. So if you’re having trouble deciding which one to watch, here is a list of some suggestions! LISTEN TO CHRISTMAS MUSIC Spotify has some great Christmas music or you could try iHeart radio’s Christmas stations. I love having Christmas music on during the day. Sometimes I enjoy singing along to the carols.  Other times I like the soft instrumental Christmas music and lately, I have really liked listening to Christmas saxophone music. Listening to some Christmas music can be a sure way to lift your spirits and get you into the mood for celebrating the holiday season. BURN SOME CHRISTMAS CANDLES There is no doubt that smells have a huge impact on us. Evidently, smells can trigger memories of happiness and excitement. Two feelings that can be clearly associated with the Christmas season. So why not go ahead and fill your home with the warm delicious smells of Christmas. Burn some candles that have scents like cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, and peppermint. BAKE AND DECORATE CHRISTMAS COOKIES Find a simple sugar cookie recipe and decorate them with icing and sprinkles. It’s such a fun and practical way to get creative. In addition, your house will smell like Christmas too. Get your friends and family involved. Nobody is too young or old to enjoy such a fun activity. Make it a yearly tradition and don’t forget to play that Christmas playlist while you are at it! GO SHOPPING Try and go Christmas shopping when you are not in a frantic last-minute rush to find a gift for someone. Instead, try going shopping just to enjoy the atmosphere. Big department stores like Myer or David Jones have beautiful Christmas decorations and displays. You won’t be able to resist feeling Christmassy when you are at the shops enjoying the Christmas music, decorations, and the general buzz of excitement in the air. DON’T FORGET SELF CARE Indeed there is always so much to do when you are getting ready for Christmas. Especially when you are the one hosting. It’s easy to forget to look after yourself when you are so busy trying to get all your preparations underway. You might even find yourself wishing you were planning on going on a cruise instead just like the Kranks. Remember to get adequate rest, drink water and do the things you would normally do as part of your self-care routine. Don’t be hard on yourself and become overwhelmed with trying to be the perfect Christmas host, just do your best and remember that you can’t always please everybody. REMEMBER THE REASON FOR THE SEASON Yes, indeed Christmas is a lot about the decorations, food, music, and fun. But the real reason for the season is all about God’s plan of salvation for us and you can read all about this in the Bible. The Christmas story is found in the New Testament Luke 2:1-20. TAKE A DRIVE TO ENJOY SOME CHRISTMAS LIGHTS Take a drive or a walk around your neighborhood and appreciate the magical Christmas lights. If you go by car you can also enjoy some Christmas music. Maybe stop off somewhere for a sweet treat afterward. This is sure to lift your mood and help you get some Christmas spirit. GET A CHRISTMAS MANICURE Take some time out to enjoy a manicure and pick some festive colours like red. If that’s a little too bright for your taste then you could go for some clear nail polish with a touch of sparkles. But if you feel extra daring you could try shimmery gold! DELIGHT IN SOME SEASONAL TREATS There are many treats that you will only find during the Christmas season so make sure to take full advantage of these! Enjoy yummy treats like egg nog, panettone, peppermint bark and Ikea Vintersaga mulled fruit drink to name a few. BUILD A GINGERBREAD HOUSE This is such a fun activity to do. You can find many ready-made kits at the shops that will make this activity easy to organise. You can even sneak in a few lollies while you are at it! DONATE Remember those who are less fortunate and in the need of assistance. After all, Christmas is a time of giving. You could donate canned goods to churches or organisations that pack up hampers for the needy. Or buy toys to donate to your local wishing tree or places like Barnardos. Get your whole family involved and find a charity to support. Christmas spirit is found in giving!          

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jar of cookie mixture for my favourite week of the year

Favourite Week Of The Year

Happy Friday friends! This week was the final week of preschool for 2021 and it feels like I might have just crawled over the finishing line!! We had our end-of-year parties with the children, watched the concerts and slide shows I put together, and we farewelled some lovely families we have known for a long time! Then we spent the last two days doing lots of classroom cleaning. Yes indeed it was a HUGE week and now I can happily say…..I’m on Summer break! So I’m excited to share with you some highlights of my favourite week of the year. Number One I received some beautiful gifts from some of the preschool families this week. I am always so overwhelmed by their kindness, generosity, and creativity! Look at this jar of beautifully presented cranberry choc-chip cookie mixture. The ingredients have all been added in layers and the jar also came with a cute tag of instructions. How clever!! So all I have to do is add the egg, butter, and vanilla. The super clever mum who gave us these cookie mixture jars even added some ready-made cookies on the top layer of the jar. I love this so much I almost want to keep it just to look at and not use it. Ha! But don’t worry I will make them sometime next week. I recently did a blog post on Christmas Gift Ideas For Teachers and now I’m thinking that I might have to go back and add some of these gift ideas to the list. I also received some decorated cookies in gift boxes. Luckily I managed to take a photo before Sam ate one (or two). He loves all the sweet treats I get to bring home and I think that this is his stomach’s favourite week of the year! We also received a big box of juicy red cherries which we divided amongst all the teachers. They were incredibly sweet and big! Number Two Sam recovered nicely after his trip to the emergency department on Sunday night and after taking it easy for a couple of days. He was able to catch up with his friends on Tuesday night. So Steve and I went out for dinner and then picked Sam up from his friend’s place afterward. We had a huge steak each! So Yum!! Number Three The weather has been a big favorite this week. We have finally had some consistent sunshine and warm weather. Wednesday night I made a colourful salad full of tomatoes, beans, and crunchy celery to go with our Salmon. I usually make teriyaki salmon which everybody loves but I was in the mood for something lighter. It was a nice change to go with the change in the weather. I will definitely be making this again. Number Four Thursday and Friday of this week have been pupil-free cleaning days. Now even though cleaning is not a favorite, I have to admit that doing it as a team isn’t so bad. We put some fun music on and get to work. There is time for a chat and a good laugh and we also get the opportunity to all eat lunch together. We had a staff meeting on Thursday and then our director ordered us some lunch. We had a variety of wraps, sandwiches, and fresh fruit. Number Five  Every year on the very last clean-up day we have what we affectionately call a Maccas run. This means that instead of bringing our own lunch to work we go and get some takeaway McDonalds. One of us will usually take everyone’s order and then “run” up to our local McDonalds. Funny how this has now become a bit of a tradition for us. Number Six See my little cat Sushi here saying goodnight to me. She used to always come up to my husband and reach up to high-five him every night. But he works night shifts now so I get all the high fives from Sushi instead. She’s so cute and affectionate, I wish you could hear how loud she was purring when I snapped this picture! That’s It For My Favourite Week Of The Year! Well, I’m signing off for now and hoping for miracles next week as I do all the Christmas prep. Hopefully, all the stars and planets will align nicely for me and I will also get my Christmas shopping finished! Good luck to me!! Happy Friday!   Linking up with Andrea and Erika for this weeks Friday Favourite post  

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glasses clinking

How To Entertain In A Small Space

How To Entertain in In A Small Space– If you live in a small house or apartment don’t let this stop you from opening your home to your friends and family for a fun dinner party or casual get-together. Here are some simple tips you can follow so you can entertain in a small space and create special memories with your loved ones during these holidays. REDUCE YOUR CLUTTER Before you think of anything else consider reducing your clutter as a number one priority. When you have something fun to look forward to like entertaining. Then even the task of decluttering will feel less daunting. Your small space will feel and look bigger if you minimise your clutter. Take the opportunity to get rid of things you no longer need. Try and find a place where you could move things to, for example, a garage or basement. Temporarily store things like appliances, non-essential decor, or small clunky furniture. MAKE GOOD USE OF ALL YOUR AVAILABLE SURFACES When you live in a small home then every bit of space or surface is very important. If you clear your kitchen countertops then you can use this area as a buffet space. Empty bookshelves can be used to hold cheese platters or can even be a drinks station. Similarly with coffee tables, once they are cleared they make perfect spaces for snacks, dips, or charcuterie boards. Coffee tables can even be used as an alternative to a dining room table. THINK CAREFULLY ABOUT YOUR MENU It’s a great idea to start planning your menu as early as possible. Consider things like the amount of fridge space you have. Don’t be afraid to ask or accept any offers of bringing food. Guests are more than happy to contribute when it comes to food or drinks. This not only reduces the amount of work for you but also means that you are not taking up valuable fridge space storing numerous ingredients. Another good idea is to buy ready-made things like salads, sushi platters, or even entree platters. In addition, you don’t have to be a superhero in the kitchen. It’s probably best to stick to cooking dishes you are familiar with as you don’t need the added stress of experimenting with any new, fancy or complicated food. You want the dinner party to be a fun time for you and your guests. MAKE A BIG BOWL OF PUNCH Instead of offering a variety of drink options why not go ahead and make one big bowl of punch instead. There are so many fun recipes for a delicious and colourful looking punch to suit any occasion. Those big 1970 style punch bowls will add a really cool retro vibe to your next gathering. Or if you prefer, you can also serve your punch in a tall fancy pitcher! ALLOCATE A PLACE FOR COATS AND BAGS Consider investing in a coat rack or stand and placing it close to your entryway. This is a much better alternative than having guests place their belongings on valuable seating space. MINIMISE TABLE DECOR Avoid large and overwhelming centerpieces instead try a few smaller decorative pieces. Like a small bunch of fresh flowers. Then you can add cute details like votive candles or even candles of various sizes. This not only looks really nice it also creates a nice ambience. CREATE A COMFORTABLE AND INVITING MOOD Small soft glowing candles arranged around the room will always create a warm and inviting atmosphere. Avoid harsh overhead lighting and use a combination of candles and lamps instead as this will create a much more relaxing atmosphere. Small spaces can very easily get quite hot when it is full of people. Just be aware of this and keep guests cool with open windows, fans, or air conditioning. Also, try and remember to turn the oven off at least an hour before guests arrive. This will prevent your small home from feeling uncomfortably hot. Once the heat is trapped inside a small space it is difficult to cool it down, especially when it is full of people. Play some fun music you know your guests will enjoy. Remember to keep the music at a comfortable noise level so people don’t feel like they need to shout to be heard when they are talking. MAXIMIZE SEATING AND TABLE ARRANGEMENTS If you really want to have a sit-down dinner then just be mindful when it comes to the number of guests you invite. It might be best to keep numbers lower if you have your heart set on a sit-down dinner party. If you have a smaller home this might mean that you don’t have a large dining table. You could always invest in some sturdy fold-up tables. These are great to have and they don’t take up a lot of room to store. If not then consider setting up different areas around your small space where guests can sit comfortably when they are eating. For example, you could use a coffee table and guests could sit on the sofa. A desk could also be easily transformed into a table by covering it with a table cloth. For a super relaxed dinner party don’t be afraid to use large pillows, ottomans, or poufs. They may not be fancy but they can make great seating. GET CREATIVE It’s necessary to be as creative as possible when planning to entertain in a small space and sometimes you might need to improvise. You could do things like filling the laundry sink with ice to keep your drinks cold. Don’t be afraid to rearrange your furniture to make space for your guests. Push tables together to make room for a sit-down dinner. Use things like tiered platters when you serve the food to your guests.  This will hold a variety of dishes without taking up too much valuable table space. RELAX AND ENJOY! Remember to enjoy yourself and spend time with your guests. If you are confident and relaxed then your guests

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chocolates

A Weekend Of Ups And Downs

Happy Monday Friends! Well, it certainly was a weekend of ups and downs. Friday night started off strong with a fun Christmas work dinner but unfortunately, Sunday night was a real low as we ended up in the emergency department. But thankfully everything worked out all ok in the end! Friday Night Fun For this year’s staff Christmas dinner we all went to a fancy Greek restaurant. I just love Greek food and there was so much of it I almost wished that I had worn big elasticized pants!! I had worked at preschool on Friday and admittedly I was a bit tired after a full day. So when I got to the hairdressers for my appointment to have a quick wash and blow-dry. I found it so hard to not fall asleep! There’s something about having my hair done that almost sends me into a sleepy trance. Speaking of hair, oh my goodness, am I sure glad I went to the hairdressers. As you may know, I am in a constant battle with my frizzy hair, and because Friday was such a miserable rainy day. There was no way that I could have tamed my hair, as well as my hairdresser did!! So Much Delicious Food! All the ladies looked beautiful and I think everyone enjoyed being out of their usual preschool teacher clothes. We were all starving and excited for the entree of Greek dips and bread. We indulged in some delicious cocktails Followed by more dishes. There was salad and halloumi drizzled with honey. I have never tasted such delicious halloumi. Then Balmain bugs Grilled octopus Scallops Carrots with fetta and lastly, a shoulder of lamb slow cooked with delicious herbs !!! See what I mean by so much food? We ended up sharing the lamb to take home. We finished off with pannacotta and coffee for dessert. Phew, what a food marathon!!! Saturday Luckily we had no Saturday plans so I slept in for a bit longer and then in the afternoon, I went to Bunnings to exchange a clothesline. My husband had bought a bright sunny yellow one to replace our old broken grey one. He couldn’t understand why I preferred the grey one?? Anyway, after I changed it for a grey one I went home and with the help of my younger son Sam, I managed to rewire the clothesline. I did get a bit tangled up and had flashbacks to when I was putting up the Christmas lights. My husband was at work and probably very happy to avoid this task. He’s a great chef but when it comes to handyman jobs, let’s just say it’s not his thing! Ha! In the evening I filled my Christmas tray with chocolates that I had received as a present from one of the lovely preschool children. I was very good and I only had two and then settled in to watch a Christmas movie from my list of favourites. Sunday Sunday started off strong but then fell apart in the late evening. It was another nice lazy morning and I spent much of the day just pottering around the house. Steve went to work in the afternoon and I watched not one but two romcoms. I love this one and then while I was making dinner I watched Bridget Jones Diary for the first time. I really enjoyed it and I’m not quite sure why I have never watched it before. I’m pretty sure everyone I know has. After dinner, I surprised my mum by taking her out to look at some local Christmas lights. This house was definitely the best one and funnily enough, it turns out that I knew the people who lived there! On the way home we stopped off at Mcdonalds and I bought some fries for my mum (she loves fries) and I had a Happy Meal with a strawberry milkshake. A Trip To The Emergency Department I got home and was just about to go to bed when Sam, my 17 year old showed me an abscess on his leg. Without going into any yucky details, let’s just say that as soon as I saw it I knew we needed to see a doctor. He had shown it to me about three days before and I thought it looked small enough and would probably go away but boy was I wrong. Then I got all the guilts because I honestly forgot about it (cringe!!) Sam had fun plans to go to his friends for a sleepover. They like to pitch a tent in his friend’s backyard and have a campout. So I thought that if we went to emergency and got his leg seen then he might have been ok to go. Well, that was overly optimistic!! We arrived at the hospital around 11.30 pm Sunday night and didn’t leave until 6.30 am Monday morning. It was so strange walking out and seeing daylight. By that stage, we were both wide awake and completely disoriented. I almost felt jet-lagged. The doctors and nurses at the hospital were great but it was a busy night so we had to wait for what felt like forever! No Sleepover for Sam Anyway, they did what they did to the abscess and now Sam is on strong antibiotics. And unfortunately, he had to miss the sleepover. His friends were so sweet, they dropped off a handmade card and a note for me begging me to let him go and promising to take care of him. But it really wasn’t up to me, he was under the doctors’ orders to rest. Anyway, his friends have assured him they will do the sleepover again soon! Poor little Sam. He’s over 6 foot tall but he’s little Sam to me. So that’s it, a weekend of ups and downs for sure!! Today I ended up taking the day off from work. There was no way I could have gone to work with no sleep. Well,

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me with a Christmas decoration

The Last Week Of Preschool

Hi friends and Happy Friday!! It’s so nice to see the weekend again. I can hardly believe that next week is the last week of preschool! How did that even happen?? We’ve had such a lovely class and I’m sad to see the big kids go off to big school. We do have some of the younger children returning for another year, so it will be great to see them again. This past week has been super busy as well as fun and I’m happy to share with you some of my favourites. So let’s jump right in!! #1 Having the house decorated is a huge favourite! I was running a bit low on energy and time so I’m really glad I finally got it done. On Monday I shared a little Christmas home tour. The other night before I turned off the lights I was looking at some of the decorations on my tree that some preschool children have given to me as gifts over the years. Many of them are well and truly grown up now!! I’m so glad that I made sure to write the name of the child who gave me the Christmas decoration and the date. #2 Sunday morning I went out for brunch with Steve. We just went to a local cafe and enjoyed a bagel with scrambled egg, bacon, and avocado. It was supposed to come with salmon instead of bacon but they ran out of salmon. I was actually a bit disappointed, it was delicious but I would have definitely preferred the salmon. I was so hungry I nearly forgot to take a photo. Then I only remembered after I had already started eating. We enjoyed listening to some live music while we ate. There was a music festival run by the local community youth theatre group. So all the little cafes in the street hosted some very talented singers. Normally I like to have a coffee but I ordered a chai latte instead. I’m glad I did, it was yummy!! I finally started some Christmas shopping. It’s so easy for me to get distracted and start looking at things I like. The Pandora bracelets were so pretty that I was very tempted but I resisted. Then thankfully I snapped myself out of it and got into some serious Christmas shopping for my family and friends. I spotted this sign and it made me laugh! #3 During the week I made some burgers and they were a big favorite. According to my son, they were the best I have ever made! Cool! I’ll take that compliment any day!! #4 I bought this creamy vodka pasta sauce from Williams Sonoma for a quick and easy pasta meal. I had never tried it before and to be honest I rarely buy ready-made sauces as I prefer to make my own. But every day has been so busy that I thought I would give myself a break and try this sauce. I didn’t expect it to be so good!! It tasted amazing and I could kick myself for not buying more. I don’t go to Williams Sonoma very often because it’s about a 30-minute train ride to get there. The pasta sauce is worth the trip there so I will have to go back in the school holidays. #5 We went out for our monthly pool supporters dinner at our local club. The club had some fun Christmas decorations and my friend took a photo of me with this handsome guy we met in the foyer. #6 To celebrate our last meeting of the pool supporters for the year we had some cocktails. I enjoyed a cosmopolitan which came garnished with some dry edible flowers. #7 I finally did what I had been meaning to do for months!! I got rid of all my DVD covers and put my DVDs inside this case I ordered on Amazon. So many DVDs were able to fit into such a small case it was amazing! This task was on my list of things to get rid of to declutter my home. #8 I have been going through my list of favourite Christmas movies and thoroughly enjoying them but I felt like watching this the other day. It’s an oldy but a goody! #9 We had party day today at preschool. Our preschool runs by sessions so that means that children can only come on set consecutive days and we don’t offer five-day places. Children can either attend one, two, or three days. Anyway, today was the party for the children who attend from Wednesday to Friday. We have another party planned next week for the children who come to preschool at the beginning of the week. We enjoyed some pizza for lunch, the children watched the concert video we filmed of them last week. There was a game of pin the nose on Rudolph, and lots of dancing. So much fun!! #10 Tonight we are all going out for our staff Christmas dinner. We’re going to a Mediterranean restaurant and getting all dressed up!! Working with kids all the time means that any occasion which requires dressing up is a big deal and a cause for much excitement!! Happy Friday Friends! Linking up with Andrea and Erika for today’s Friday Favourites post        

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family at Star Wars fan event for favourite traditions post

Favourite Traditions

I think that one of the things that makes a strong positive impact on a kids life is traditions! Traditions are fun they strengthen family bonds, foster a real sense of belonging and create long-lasting special memories. Traditions can be big or small, they can be yearly traditions or traditions that occur often. Here are some of my favourite traditions from my own childhood and some traditions that my family and I do now. My Favourite Childhood Christmas Traditions My family is from Peru and they migrated to Australia in the ’70s. So growing up we celebrated Christmas Peruvian style. We got together with family on Christmas Eve and ate very very late. So late that as a kid I could barely keep my eyes open ! I don’t know how Peruvian children manage to stay awake Christmas Eve but they must be made of much stronger stuff than I was. Christmas dinner included the traditional turkey, salads and of course rice. Peruvians eat rice with everything! Then we would count down to midnight and at the stroke of midnight we all kissed and hugged wishing each other “Feliz Navidad”. Afterwards, we would open the presents and then lastly we would enjoy some hot chocolate with the traditional Italian Christmas cake, panettone! Fun times!! On Christmas Day we just slept in and ate leftovers. My Favourite Childhood New Years Eve Traditions Ok, so this is where things got a little crazy. It’s a Peruvian tradition to eat 12 grapes once the clock strikes midnight BUT you have to eat each grape with each stroke of the clock. Each grape is supposed to represent one month and one wish that you make. Do you know how hard that was?? I don’t think I ever got past five or six grapes. And I certainly didn’t have time to think of any good wishes because as I shoved those grapes in my mouth I was just wishing I didn’t choke and die! It was fun though!! Then I’m not sure if this is really a Peruvian tradition but it was definitely my Mums tradition. You see she was a keen traveller and she believed that if you grabbed an empty suitcase and ran around the block just afer midnight then that meant that you would for sure travel overseas that year. So just picture this for a minute 12 grapes then a sprint around the block. Easy peasy! Sure enough, we did this year after year.  We probably looked like we were on the run from someone who was trying to stab us!! But hey, we did travel, I got to go to Disneyland not once but twice!! Surviving my childhood traditions has meant that now my own family traditions are much much tamer. No more running around the block or potentially choking on grapes in the hopes of gaining a year worth of wishes. No,we do calm things like Eat A Non-Healthy Sugary Cereal During School Holidays. That’s right! Every school holiday my boys were allowed to pick any cereal they wanted. Fruit loops was a big favourite. Then one year my cousin gave us three boxes of American cereal for Christmas and we all just about lost our minds with excitement. We had Reece’s Puffs, Lucky Charms and Cinnamon Toast Crunch. That was probably the best year of my kids lives!! Star Wars We are all huge Star Wars fans and have of course seen all the original. But we’ve made it a tradition to watch the latest ones together first as soon as they are released at the cinemas. We’ve even done things like go off any social media so we don’t see any spoilers. We want to make sure we all have the same reactions together! I love that we do this! A few years ago I managed to nab some free tickets to a Star Wars fan event held at the Sydney Opera House. My boys got some Star Wars merchandise signed by Harrison Ford and I touched the sleeve of his shirt ahhhhh…….sigh. I’m giddy just thinking about this! Haha. Going to this special event together cemented our love of Star Wars as a family forever!! Visit David Jones For Christmas Every year we visit the Australian department store, David Jones to see the Christmas window display. It used to be very elaborate but recently it’s been quite low-key. But we still go to have a look because hey it’s tradition! Years ago when my kids were little we would also visit David Jones to have “Snacks with Santa”. I would get some tickets for this event and we would get all dressed up to go. The ticket included party food and then a Christmas show followed by photos with Santa. My boys are all grown up now, but they do remember this very fondly. Family Movie Nights As a family, we like to pick a movie to watch together regularly and it’s usually a classic. We watched all the Godfather movies and gangster-type movies last year. With my husband’s new job working such long hours we haven’t done this so much recently. But it’s definitely a favourite tradition and something we need to do again soon! Take Turns Choosing Take Away We don’t get takeaway very often so it’s always special when we do. To keep things fair as well as fun we take turns choosing where we are going to order takeaway food from. Kiss Goodbye, Kiss Goodnight Traditions can be daily, for us kissing goodbye is what we do every day. None of us ever leave the house without kissing each other goodbye. It’s the same with bedtime, we always kiss each other goodnight too. Well just to be clear, I get all the kisses, my son and husband give each other a handshake and a pat on the back. Man style!! Traditions Are Special! Indeed, traditions are definitely special. They help lift us out of the ordinary everyday grind and help create

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A Christmas sign in the entry way

Christmas Home Tour 2021

Christmas Home Tour 2021 Hi Friends and happy Monday, wow the weekend sure flew by! I finally managed to get my act together and I finished decorating the house. So I thought that it would be fun for me to open my door and welcome you into my home for a little Christmas home tour. Christmas Lights! Saturday afternoon I decorated my verandah with some solar-powered fairy lights. They are so easy to put up as I don’t have to muck around with any electricity. I don’t think they are as bright as the electric ones. But I’m happy with them and they have lasted quite a few years which is great These candy canes and Christmas trees are really cute and the little trees change colour! I wrapped the verandah with some multi-coloured fairy lights. I know I said that the solar-powered fairy lights were easy but even so I always manage to get myself in a tangle. Grrrrr! I am so impressed with houses that have a ton of lights. How do they do it?? I didn’t take a nighttime photo because the solar lights are still super faint. We’re back to cloudy rainy days and the little solar battery hasn’t had a chance to power up yet. I’ve had this festive sign for a long time too. Every year I stick it in my tall pot plant that’s just outside my front door. I bought his Christmas wreath from Ikea a few years ago, it’s simple and I really like the bright red baubles. I do think that it is starting to lose some of its shine so I might change this one soon. The Entry Way The first thing you will see when you come into my house are these two stars hanging on the wall. They are also from Ikea and they have a timer. Every night they turn on at 6 pm and then they turn off at 11 pm. How clever!! The garland over the door frame got a bit of a makeover, it was looking really dull. It had a sad-looking gold ribbon on it. I was so tempted to throw it out but in the end, I’m glad that I didn’t. To fix it up I cut off the ribbon then just added a few more small baubles and wrapped a string of tiny twinkle lights. I was happy with the end result, a much livelier-looking garland! This small entry table has a few Christmas knick-knacks. The nutcracker is from David Jones and I bought it about twenty years ago. Back then it was a bit of an extravagant purchase. Now it’s easy to find nutcrackers everywhere, but all those years ago you couldn’t. I picked up this sign from a two-dollar shop years ago. Dining Room I usually have some eggs made from stones in this bowl but for Christmas, I like to fill it up with some red and gold Christmas balls. These twigs have fairy lights on them all year round but for Christmas, I add some white decorations that I have collected over the years. Noel Noel! The Living Room When I put the tree skirt around the Christmas tree, my little cat instantly thinks it’s been laid out for her comfort! She’s so funny. The stocking holders in this next photo are from Pottery Barn and the stockings I had monogrammed from Vistaprint.   These two pillows are a new addition this year. These other two I bought from TK Maxx last year. When my husband saw them he asked me why I had bought a pillow that said falafel ??? Bahahahaha!! This gorgeous nativity is from Willow Tree, I love how simple it is. The shepherd’s staff is so delicate, I accidentally snapped it last year when I was putting it away. I was so mad at myself but I fixed it straightaway with super glue and you can’t even see where it was broken. phew! Look at this miniature Peruvian nativity. My aunty gave me this and I just love how cute it is! Kitchen There are only two things going on in the way of decorations in the kitchen. I wanted to keep things simple so all I did was place a few gold balls and a string of lights into a glass vase. I bought this new sign on Saturday. It sits nicely on these open shelves above our tiny breakfast bar. That’s it, friends, that wraps up my little Christmas home tour. I always like to see how other people decorate for Christmas, It’s a great way to get some ideas and inspiration. Plus I’ll be honest, I just love having a sneak peek inside people’s homes. I hope you all have a great week, Oh my goodness! I can’t believe how close we are getting to Christmas. Eeeeeeeks I have to get onto my Christmas shopping quick smart!!! Happy Monday!    

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tray of Christmas sweets

Getting Ready For Christmas

Hi friends, happy Friday to you all!! I’m so excited to see the weekend as it’s been such a busy week. It’s all systems go at preschool as we spent the week getting ready for Christmas concerts and parties. At home, I have also been busy with all the things!. So let’s kick things off as I share with you some favourites of the week We finally put our Christmas tree up! I had big plans to decorate last weekend but we didn’t get a chance. So instead we decided to do it on Tuesday evening. It was the only night this week when we were all be home, and everyone likes to pitch in and help. So it worked out better this way. After work on Tuesday, I popped into the supermarket and picked up some egg nog to enjoy that evening while we decorated the tree. It always feels so festive to drink egg nog and my family can never get enough of it! have never tried to make my own, so I don’t really know how different it would taste from a store-bought one. But this Pauls brand is a favourite. On the way to the supermarket, I spotted some panettones at the deli so I bought a brand I had never tried before. I’m not really a huge fan of panettone like the rest of my family are, but I really liked this one! A Fun Christmas Movie We like having a Christmas movie on while we decorate. So we chose “Christmas With The Kranks”.We stopped decorating so many times to have a good laugh at all the funny bits. This is such a great movie! Usually, I start my Christmas movie viewing on 1st December. So on Wednesday and Thursday of this week, I watched a couple on Netflix that I really enjoyed. But every year I like to make sure I watch my favourites. On Tuesday I shared with you a list of my favourite Christmas movies and TV shows. These are the ones that I absolutely must watch every year because they are so good!! and you can find them here. Delicious Treats And A Lovely Gift Well, the kind and generous parents at preschool have started bringing us some yummy Christmas treats as gifts. This week we received a huge tray of delicious sweets. It was full of chocolates, biscuits, lollies and mini cakes. So good!!! It was so hard to resist grabbing a handful of something every time we walked into the staff room! By Friday it looked like this. A lovely parent also gave us a tray of mangoes to share. She even tied each mango with a cute little red ribbon. What a nice touch! We each also received a handwash with a lovely decoration tied to the bottle. It’s made by an Australian brand called Thankyou. A Sunny Day! Another HUGE favourite this week was finally seeing the sun make an appearance!! We had not seen any sun in what seemed like forever. It had been rainy, cloudy, and gloomy for days on end. I have to admit that we are usually pretty spoiled in Sydney when it comes to blue skies and sunshine. Even though it had been forecast to rain on Thursday and Friday it didn’t which was such a fantastic surprise! The kids were out playing in the sunshine and the teachers were all grateful not to be cooped up inside like we were last week and the beginning of this week!! A New Hairdresser During Covid lockdown, I cut my own hair which worked out ok. But on Thursday it was really bothering me because it felt long and tatty. I googled some local hairdressers as I felt like I needed a change from my previous hairdresser. I found one and I gave them a call. The man was so friendly on the phone and asked if I wanted to come in for a chat about what I wanted to have done to my hair. So I did just that and when I got there I met his wife who put me at ease instantly. She trimmed all the dead ends and suggested I stop using the flat iron and just stick to the hairdryer. Sigh! So many battles with my hair to be straight!! I’ve decided to go with the frizzy hair on really wet days but I have my work Christmas party next Friday so I was keen to make sure I could get a wash and blow-dry for that evening. I will not be embracing the frizz that night!! Anyway, the new hairdresser was really nice and I like that she didn’t cut too much of my hair off. She didn’t do anything drastic, just fixed it up. I was also happy with the way she blow-dried it too. So I have made an appointment for next Friday. Not having to muck around trying to get my hair straight for our night out will be fantastic!! All The Christmas Craft Today we had so many fun Christmas crafts! The kids were busy decorating, painting, playing with playdough, doing puzzles and having the best time. It’s my favourite time of the year for sure!! So that was a peek into my busy week friends! Busy but sprinkled with many enjoyable and special moments getting ready for Christmas. I hope you have the best weekend. I’ll see you back here on Monday where I will give you a little tour of my house all decorated for Christmas!! Linking up with Andrea and Erika for today’s Friday favorites post.    

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how to stay positive in a negative world

How To Stay Positive In A Negative World

Some days staying positive can be much easier than other days. You might do all you can to start your morning with a positive frame of mind. Then you find that your first interaction of the day, whether it is with a family member, work colleague, or even a stranger sets you off. Bam! Your positive bubble pops and you feel deflated, annoyed and the whole day is a struggle. So what are some things you can do to avoid this from happening to you? Here are a few tips for how to stay positive. Even on those days when you find yourself surrounded by negativity. 11 Simple Strategies For How To Stay Positive 1. Choose To Be Positive Positive thinking is a choice. Therefore we can choose to be positive in any given situation or moment. But firstly, we need to rewire our brains and make it a habit to respond in a positive manner whenever we are faced with negative situations or challenges. It is impossible to control everything in our lives and really the only thing we can control is how we choose to respond. We can choose to get down and pessimistic or we can choose to be calm, and optimistic. 2. Limit The Amount Of Negative News In Your Life Staying up to date with what’s happening is important, but try not to spend too much time on the news via TV, radio, or the internet. These days, scary, attention-grabbing headlines are everywhere and can rattle even the most resilient and positive people. 3. Surround Yourself With Positive And Loving People Make sure to surround yourself with positive people who will lift you up and bring comfort and joy to your life. Try and minimise contact with those who are always in a bad mood, gossiping about others, or looking at the negative in everything. Negativity is contagious and unfortunately, if you spend any length of time with people who are like this. You will catch their negativity too. 4. Practice Gratitude Practicing gratitude has so many benefits. Being grateful makes you feel positive emotions such as happiness. It improves your health and helps you build strong long-lasting relationships. As well as reducing stress and anxiety. You could get into the habit of taking the time each day to stop for a moment and think about the things that you are thankful for. Or you could have a gratitude journal where you jot down daily three things that you are grateful for and why. It is almost impossible to be negative if you have a grateful attitude. 5. Look For The Positive In Life Life can be challenging and messy. It is very difficult to be positive when you are facing obstacles and problems. However, try and focus on the blessings in disguise no matter how tiny they may be. Do take time to process your thoughts and feelings about the challenges you are facing. Once you have done this then it will be easier to find positive opportunities from these adverse situations. 6. Laugh If you have had a particularly tough day try and stay positive and upbeat by turning to laughter. It is easier to leave behind the worries of the day when you get lost in humour. You could watch an episode of your favorite comedy. Maybe ring or message a friend who is sure to bring a smile to your face. Laughter is great therapy as it reduces stress and anxiety. It will instantly boost your mood and help you cope better as well as helping to improve your self-esteem! 7. Practice Positive Self Talk Self-talk refers to the thoughts that are constantly running through your head. If your thoughts are constantly negative then the way you view life will probably be quite pessimistic. However, if you can control the negative self-talk and replace it with motivating and productive self-talk then your confidence will increase making it easier to wipe away any negative feelings. Remember to talk to yourself as you would talk to a friend. With kindness, compassion, and encouragement! 8. Have Something To Look Forward To Having something to look forward to acts like ammunition to fight against negativity. Thinking about something positive that you are excited about will diffuse the negative effects of a bad day. It’s fun to look forward to big weekend plans. But if you find that you don’t have any then looking forward to something simple is just as beneficial. For example, you could think about having a nice warm bath or shower at the end of the day. Followed by reading a good book or curling up in front of the TV. Think of anything that makes you happy and takes the focus away from any negative vibes. 9. Practice Self Care Practicing self-care by exercising, eating, and sleeping well will have a huge impact on how you deal with any negative situations that you may come across in your day. It is much easier to think clearly and have a more positive outlook when you are well-rested and not “hangry”. 10. Don’t Take Things Personally Sometimes people who behave in a controlling, negative manner are in fact feeling anxious, fearful, and insecure themselves. They may be dealing with difficulties in their personal lives or they may even be struggling with health issues. It is so hard not to take their behaviour personally, but it’s important to remind yourself that the way they act towards others is really about them and has nothing to do with you. 11. Be a Good Citizen Online Stay positive and make a real difference by being a good citizen online, just like you are in real life! Join online conversations with kindness and encouragement. Your uplifting words can change the tone of debates and set a new, positive standard for everyone. Great internet services, like nbn® Home Fast, keep you connected, but what really matters is how you use them. By bringing respect and positivity to

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