Friday Favourites

Nine Favourites for this week- Hi friends, I am so happy to welcome Friday again. This week I have felt like I have just been playing catch up! It’s been busy at work and at home. We have one more week left before the spring school holiday break. Which is a good thing because I feel like I really need to press the reset button. My meal planning has gone out the window and I am starting to feel inundated with ‘all the things.’ I think that it’s probably because I am running out of steam. Which is what usually happens toward the end of the school term. But it’s ok only one week to go and then it’s the holidays. Amen!! Anyway, enough moaning and groaning, thanks so much for being here today and letting me share with you a few of my favourites for this week. Number One I found some American cereal at our local petrol station just in time for the school holidays. I like keeping our tradition of choosing a sugary cereal for the holidays. My boys used to pick which one they wanted when they were younger. But I think that it’s my turn now haha! Number Two I made a super easy guacamole the other day to go with our nachos. So delicious, tangy, and healthy. Yum! Number Four Last week’s seafood dinner at our local motor boat club was so good that we went back for more this Wednesday. This time we were treated to a beautiful sunset just as we were arriving. We managed to get a table by the window. So we enjoyed the view as we sipped our bubbly wine and had dinner. Number Five I’ve got a few preschool favourites too this week. On Wednesday we had a visit from the toy truck. We haven’t seen the toy truck in years because of covid. So we were all extra excited because who doesn’t love a truck full of fun toys? All the staff took turns coming out to the truck to have a look and pick out a few things. Number Six We bought a new set of furniture for the doll’s house from the toy truck. So the kids had fun unwrapping the boxes and setting up the house with some nice new furniture. Number Seven We had some new dress-up costumes for the kids in the home corner this week. One of the little preschoolers was having the best time wearing a wizard costume and granting wishes. When he came over to grant me a wish, I jokingly wished for a million dollars. About fifteen minutes later he came back and surprised me with all this ‘money’. Haha!! How cute!! Number Eight We’ve been trying hard to set up a fairy garden for the kids to play with. We are gradually adding bits and pieces to make it look fun and inviting. I think it looks lovely and if I was little I would really love to play with all the tiny things. We have to remind the children to keep all the fairies and props in the garden. Instead, of wandering around the preschool playground with them. Where they can easily get lost or buried in the sandpit. Another thing that we are constantly trying to do is to remind the children to be careful and gentle with the fairies and small pieces. These two fairies look like they had a rough day! And this one just didn’t make it. Number Nine I was really excited when my google home hub gave me this weather forecast on Friday morning. It was fantastic to finish off the working week with a gloriously warm day. I am so excited to get started on my spring bucket list during the school holidays. That’s A Wrap That’s it – nine favourites for this week. I am only working three days next week, Monday to Wednesday. The Government announced that next Thursday will be a one-off public holiday to mourn the death of our lovely Queen Elizabeth II.  And I had already planned to take next Friday off from work because it’s Sam’s graduation….gulp! Yes, my Sam is nearly 18 and he finishes high school next Friday. HOW??? I know we all say that time goes by so quickly. But I’m saying it again……TIME GOES BY SO QUICKLY!!!! I think that I am in denial that he is just all grown up and I’m happy and sad all at the same time. I feel excited for him but nervous too. My mama heart is just all over the place at the moment. So I’ll be sure to take an extra packet of tissues to the graduation ceremony. Anyway, I’ll let you know how it all goes next week. I really hope that you have a most wonderful weekend! Happy Friday! Linking up with Andrea and Erika for today’s post.          

I just wanted to start by acknowledging the loss of our lovely Queen Elizabeth II. On Thursday night there was a statement from The Palace expressing that they were very concerned about her health. Friday morning I woke up to the very sad news that she had passed. I have always admired the Queen’s grace and dignity, her commitment to serving her country, and most of all her faith. Today is a sad day and marks the end of an era. Rest In Peace, Your Majesty. This sweet picture came up on my Facebook feed. After such a sad loss I am feeling a bit flat. I guess for me, today’s post will not just be about favourites but also about the things that I am thankful for this week. Life is short and precious, and I want to always appreciate all the blessings that I have experienced throughout the week whether they are big or small. #1 The first thing I am thankful for this week is our lovely Monday night dinner with friends at our local club. I think a designated monthly get-together is probably one of the best ways to stay connected with friends. We’ve been catching up once a month with this group of fun friends for quite a few years now. I’m so glad that we do otherwise, we might have easily lost contact with them because life just gets so busy! We usually like to drink sparkling wine during our dinner. My friend who I was sitting next to ordered a Canadian Club. I remember that I had tried one earlier in the year and really liked it. So I decided to have one too, it’s really smooth, sweet, and low in alcohol which I really like. I had my usual steamed barramundi with rice which I love! I always think about ordering something different. But then I don’t because this is just too delicious! For dessert, we had a super moist orange cake served with ice cream. It was so good!! #2 I bought this fold-up shopping bag during my shopping trip to Ikea last weekend. This bag is the best because it comes with two handle options. You can use the short handles to carry it like a normal shopping bag or you can use the long handles to carry your things over your shoulder. It folds up super thin and I can carry it in my small cross-body bag. The NSW government banned single-use plastic bags this year which is a good thing. So I always like to have a fold-up shopping bag with me just in case I need one. Haha, funny how a small practical thing like this can make me so happy! #3 Steve and I went out for dinner on Wednesday night with another couple who we have been friends with forever. They are more like family than friends and we enjoyed the best seafood platter! Each gigantic platter was for two so we had two of these towers on our small table for the four of us. It was a great night and we had no problem at all getting through all of that seafood. After such a lovely meal we just had to have dessert! #4 It was Educators Day on Thursday so one of our thoughtful colleagues brought some delicious sweets to celebrate! I had an almond biscuit with a nice cup of tea during my lunch break. It was exciting to have something other than playdough and vegemite in the staff fridge! Haha #5 I have been buying this sourdough from the local fruit shop that I walk past every day. It’s so delicious and I find that when I eat it I don’t feel bloated like I do sometimes when I eat regular wholemeal bread. #6 I am trying to have at least one meat-free meal during the week. So I made a very easy lentil pasta on Thursday. #7 A nice reader asked for some more Spring photos. So I was more than happy to snap some pics of all the lovely flowers that I have been spotting on my walks to and from work. I just love all the colourful flowers that are popping up everywhere. #8 Friday afternoon when I was walking home from work the sky went dark and the thunder started to rumble. I had to grab a few things from the fruit shop along the way. Luckily I made it inside the shop just before the rain poured and the thunder came crashing down. So I grabbed a few things that I needed and by the time I came out which would have been maybe 15 minutes later, the sun was shining and there was even a rainbow in the sky. I snapped a photo of the rainbow and sent it to my lovely friend. Ever since my mum passed away earlier this year. My sweet, kind friend sends me a photo of a rainbow whenever she spots one. She lost her beloved mum many years ago and she shared with me that when she sees a rainbow in the sky it’s like a sign that her mum is sending her love from Heaven. I love this so much and it always makes my heart sing when I get a rainbow photo from her. And so now we say that both our mamas are sending us love all the way from Heaven. I am truly thankful for being so blessed with friends like her in my life. She sent me this photo of her adorable little boy with a beautiful rainbow a few months ago. It’s so special and I am so happy that I can share it with you today. Isn’t he just the cutest? My friend also has two other children and I love them so much!! ********** I guess that wraps up eight things that I am thankful for this week. I can hardly believe how fast this week has flown by.

Hi everyone It’s so good to be back today sharing with you some favourite moments from this week. As usual, I am linking up with Andrea and Erika for today’s fun post. Thanks so much for stopping by I always appreciate each and every one of you! It’s a quick 10 favourites for today, so let’s jump right in. #1 My number one favourite this week is that we have finally hit spring! It’s so good to see the flowers starting to bloom and feel the days starting to warm up. Oh, it’s just so wonderful I feel like skipping!! #2 Last Saturday was super relaxed and I spent the whole day at home wearing my favourite top that pretty much summed up my day. #3 I tried a new candle and I am loving it. Best of all it was half price and I got it from Woolworths when I did my usual online shop. I had never tried this scent before but I gave it a go and I am so glad that I did. It’s really lovely and subtle. Best of all it was discounted from $25.00 to $12.50. #4 Another one of my favourite moments for this week is sharing dessert with Steve while binge-watching some TV. This was his creation and it tasted great. Ice cream, chocolate-covered peanuts, crushed cookies, and caramel syrup. #5 On Monday I blogged about my weekend shopping trip to the city. I picked up a father’s day present as well as a couple of things for myself that I couldn’t resist. #6 I had my eye on this cute leather hand sanitizer case from The Daily Edit (tde) for ages. So I went ahead and bought it. I got my initials monogrammed on the case as it was all included in the price. The lady in the store laughed when I told her that I wasn’t sure about my initials because unfortunately they could quite easily be read as RIP. Haha!! #7 These pastries from David Jones are just the best. So I bought one for each one of us. I was very popular when I got home and presented these goodies to my family. #8 On Thursday I shared about some sustainable beauty products from my friend’s online shop Aroma Of Earth. This body scrub is just amazing and I can’t stop telling everyone about it! My knees and elbows get very dry, especially during winter and this scrub is working a miracle on them. If you check out their website you’ll find that it’s full of gorgeous handcrafted beauty products. #9 I bought my favourite chocolate bar for my weekend treat. This bar is full of delicious nuts and Cadbury chocolate is just the best! #10 A preschool favourite for this week- During our music group time, we often end with this beautiful song called ‘I am Australian’. The children form a circle and link arms as they sing along. I really wish that I could show you our preschool kids doing this. It’s just so special and I get all choked up every single time. I have linked the youtube video that we sing along to below for you to see. It’s only very short but I just love the lyrics and the music. Oh my goodness I’m getting emotional typing this! I guess that just about wraps up my favourite moments from this week. Wishing you all a wonderful weekend. And I look forward to being back here on Monday. Happy Friday!    

Hi everyone! I hope that you all had a great week and thanks so much for stopping by and letting me share with you a few of this week’s favourites. Isn’t it great to say hello to Friday again? It’s almost hard to believe that next week we will be saying hello to September already! Like seriously how did the months just fly by like that? Sweet Tea On Tuesday the day started off with all the promises of a Spring day. It was warm the sky was blue and it was glorious. Then at midday, the clouds rolled in and the temperature plummeted. It even hailed for a bit! In the evening I warmed up my hands with a nice big mug of sweet tea. I drink coffee without sugar but sweet tea on a freezing cold night is my favourite. It’s the simple things! Wireless Bra Here’s a favourite that many of you ladies might relate to. Isn’t it great when you find a comfortable bra? I was so happy to find these buttery soft bras from Uniqlo. And best of all, they don’t have that horrible underwire. I’ve always had bras with underwires and the other day I noticed that I had a small bruise on my chest from where the wire had been digging into me. I had tried wireless bras before but they didn’t sit very comfortably as they slid up and were just plain annoying. These Uniqlo ones don’t do that. They stay where they should and they are super comfortable. They also have padding (which I need) and they give me some shape. I only bought one bra just to make sure that it was going to be comfortable. It passed the test so I will be heading back to buy some more and I will definitely be getting rid of those nasty underwire bras that I own. Fun Midweek Dinner With Friends Our friends Marianne and Daniel invited us over for dinner on Wednesday night. Our work schedules don’t really help when it comes to doing fun things on the weekend. So a midweek catch-up is usually what works well for all of us. It was such a lovely fun night and we had so much to eat. Our friends made a lovely meal for us which we really enjoyed over a glass of wine and some great conversation! We started off with some delicious cheese, crackers, and sourdough for dipping in olive oil and dukkah. Dukkah is a Middle Eastern condiment and it’s a yummy mixture of herbs, nuts, and spices. I had never tried it before but I really liked it. Daniel is a very keen gardener and he grew these cute cocktail avocados. Again, this is something that I had never tried before. They tasted just like normal delicious creamy avocados but they were so teeny tiny! We then tucked into some lasagna, salad, and garlic bread. It really was the perfect meal for a cold night. For dessert, we finished off with individual sticky date puddings and ice cream. We were so spoilt!! Thursday We had a staff meeting after work on Thursday. I have to admit that staff meetings after a long preschool day can be a bit challenging because I always feel like I have run out of steam in the afternoon. Luckily I managed to get on top of meal planning this week so I knew that I was going to cook a very easy dinner when I got home late on Thursday. I didn’t have time or energy to fuss around with cooking. So I quickly threw together some super easy tortellini, Barilla pasta sauce, garlic bread, and salad. Done in a flash! Preschool Favourites This Week Kinetic Sand Another one of this week’s favourites was Kinetic sand!! I had heard of kinetic sand but I had never actually played with it before. Our new director at work ordered some for our classroom and friends it is so much fun! It moulds so well, it’s easy to clean up and it feels great to touch. I just wish the kids would give me a turn to play with it at preschool! Haha! Book Week This week was Book Week! Book Week is all about schools and libraries celebrating books and Australian children’s authors and Illustrators. The children brought their favourite books to share with their friends at preschool. And many came in wearing dress-ups from their favourite book characters. We had so many little girls dressed up as Elsa from the Disney movie Frozen running around preschool. I guess Frozen is a book too! A Mini Tea Party We have a fairy garden in the playground at preschool and I spotted some of the children having a little tea party with the miniature tea set. So cute! Fathers Day Cards It’s fathers Day on the 4th of September in Australia. I’m really not quite sure why we celebrate it in September when most of the rest of the world has their Father’s Day in June. But anyway we do and so this week we have been busy making Father’s Day cards. That wraps up a few of this week’s favourites it was a nice week but I sure am glad that it’s the weekend. I hope that you have a wonderful Friday. Take care everyone and I look forward to being back here on Monday! Linking up with Andrea and Erika for today’s post.      

Hi friends, it’s week five this week at preschool. So it’s officially ‘Hump Week’ for us and that means that it’s only five more weeks before the end of term and then it’s Spring break! I can not wait!! We have had a taste of some gorgeous warm weather this week. Some days I have even been able to get by without wearing my big warm jacket in the playground. Warm weather makes me so happy! It’s been a funny sort of week and I guess some weeks are just like that. I had a couple of challenging days but thankfully I also had some really great days. As usual, I am linking up with Andrea and Erika for today’s Friday Favourites post. Thanks so much for stopping by and letting me share with you a few things that have been going on in my corner of the world. The favourites and the not-so favourites! The Not So Favourite An Ocular Migraine I can hardly remember what happened on Monday as it’s a bit of a blur. But Tuesday definitely stands out! I was feeling a bit out of it and tired all morning and then just as I was going on my lunch break. My vision went weird! Everything looked blurry and then I felt like I was looking through a kaleidoscope. Turns out that I had an ocular migraine which didn’t last very long before my vision went back to normal. I  didn’t feel great so I left work early and went home. When I got home I went straight to bed and I slept for about five hours. Even after all that sleep, I was still feeling a bit bleh. Blog Technical Issues In the evening my lovely friend messaged me to say she couldn’t access my blog. I jumped on the computer to have a look and was met with this Technical issues sometimes come up with blogging and they are definitely NOT a favourite!!! I had a mini panic and then calmed down. I even referred back to my blog post about Ways To Feel Instantly Happier for some help Haha! Everything got resolved in the end and so that was a huge relief!! The Favourites Steves Birthday We celebrated Steve’s birthday on Wednesday! I mentioned before that I am always a bit stumped when it comes to getting him a birthday present. So I usually just get him some things that he needs and he likes that a lot! This year I got him some slippers because his other ones (which are exactly the same as the new ones I got him) were all worn out. Then I just filled them with some things that he always uses. Working in hospitality means that he is on his feet all the time. So he loves using a product called Zen for joint and muscle pain relief. I also added some essentials like a new toothbrush, nail clippers, gum, and socks. He was super happy with all his goodies! Birthday Dinner In the evening we all went out for dinner to one of our favourite Italian restaurants. There were six of us in total and it was so lucky that everyone had the night off from work or school commitments. Luke our oldest son and his lovely fiancee met us at the restaurant. Sam and his sweet girlfriend came in the car with us. We had such a lovely time and enjoyed the most amazing meals! I forgot to take a photo of the birthday boy at the restaurant but I did get a pic of my big boys. After dinner, we came back to our place for cake! This year I bought a baked chocolate cheesecake and served it with some strawberries to balance out the sweetness. I had a chuckle remembering the cake that I ordered for Steve’s birthday last year. This time last year we were in complete lockdown. I ordered him a birthday cake along with my usual online grocery shop. But I forgot to check the size and I ended up accidentally ordering this tiny cake for one!! Hump Week Chocolate Our very kind and thoughtful preschool director got us some chocolates to celebrate Hump week. Puffy Stickers! My lovely bestie surprised me with some puffy stickers. I just love puffy stickers, they remind me of when I was little and my mum would buy me one for 30 cents. I could never have dreamt that as an adult I would be the proud owner of two whole entire packets of puffy stickers! Bubbles Today at preschool we enjoyed making some bubbles! The weather couldn’t decide if it was going to rain or not. But these bubbles kept some of the kids super entertained and happy for about an hour!   I guess that wraps up my hump week! Bring on the weekend! I really hope that you all have the best Friday!      

Hey friends I have a few random favourites for today’s Friday Favourites post. I really hope that you have had a great week! And are looking forward to a great weekend. We don’t have any plans so I’m more than happy to just hang out at home and stay warm. #1 I was chatting to the admin lady at preschool during my lunch break on Thursday. We both agreed that we are so ready for warmer weather and can hardly wait for Spring! I think it’s going to rain again this weekend so it will be great to stay home, be cozy and catch up on some more great binge-worthy TV shows. On Monday I blogged about some favourite TV shows that I have watched. You can read all about it here. I also have a list of recommended shows that I want to start, so this will be the perfect weekend for it. #2 Last weekend my lovely cousin hosted our monthly family dinner. The theme for the night was Mexican food and it was so delicious!! It was such a fun night and like usual we just laughed so hard!! Someone in the family will always have us in stitches over a funny life story. And my cousin Ben has the best contagious laugh so we often end up laughing even more!! I really am so lucky to have a very close family. There are 15 of us in total when we all get together and I love them so much! Haha! yes, that’s a table full of tortilla chips!! There was so much delicious food but believe me we smashed through it pretty fast!! #3 I picked up this surface Organic Choice spray for the kitchen from Costco. It’s made with Lemongrass and Australian Myrtle and it smells so good! It also cleans great too. #4 Look at this cute guy! On Monday this kookaburra was just sitting on our preschool fence. I saw him when I was about to leave work for the day. I crept up slowly so as not to spook him and grabbed a quick pic. It’s funny that I refer to the kookaburra as him as it could have been a female kookaburra. I just always think of them as being male. And it’s probably because of that Australian children’s song about a kookaburra who is the king of the bush. #5 I tried this Maggi Butter Chicken Recipe Base for the first time and it was so easy to make and tasted delicious! It had just the right amount of spice for me which is not much because I can’t handle spicy food. If I accidentally eat anything too spicy I start to cough, my eyes water, and then I panic that I’m never going to get rid of the burning sensation. Weird I know! Anyway, my family loved it too so I’m excited to make it again soon. #6 One of my favourite things about working in a preschool is listening to the hilarious things that children say. Our home corner was set up as a doctor’s surgery again this week and the kids have really been enjoying it. The other day I overheard one of the little girls in our class pretending to be the secretary in the surgery. She asked her friend who was playing with her ” Are you here today for a fake appointment?” hahaha!!! So cute! Then I spotted this in the sandpit! Not quite sure what was happening here but it made me laugh! I asked the kids why the animals were buried head first like that ” Just because that’s how we like them Ruth” was their response. Ok, that makes sense I guess! #7 I picked up this bag of sweet and salty popcorn based on the recommendation from one of my little preschool students. We were having our morning snack and he was telling me all about how delicious the popcorn was. He literally had my mouth watering as he was describing the taste! So I added it to my online order and I will be having some tonight as a Friday night treat!   I guess that wraps up this week’s Friday favourites! Thanks so much for stopping by and letting me share with you a few random favourites of mine. I really hope that you have a most wonderful weekend and I look forward to being back here on Monday! Happy Friday!!      

Hey, friends hope you are all well and have had a really great week. I’m so glad to see Friday again as I’m sure you all are too. It’s been a really busy week and so now I am just so excited for the weekend! We have a couple of fun things planned and I am really looking forward to having a bit of a sleep-in. I’m so bad at going to bed early, I just love staying up late. So I think I need to catch up on some sleep! Anyway, as usual, I am so happy that you have stopped by and I am linking up with Andrea and Erika for today’s Friday Favourites post so let’s jump right in with the first Favourite for this week. It’s Been So Sunny! The weather has been so gloriously warm and sunny. I can almost smell Spring in the air and I can not wait!! But in saying that I am fully prepared and expecting that we will see more cold days before we settle into the warmer weather. But that’s ok, not long now and we will be hitting spring soon. Amen!! My pot plants in the courtyard have been happy to see the sun too! Loving My Walks I have been walking to and from work every day this week. So that’s about 6.5km each day from Monday to Friday! I have even closed all my rings every day so far. I know people do this all the time but I was never one of them! The Birds Every morning I walk past a particular house that always has a line of birds perched above on the electricity wires. Reminds me of that Alfred Hitchcock movie called “The Birds” haha!! I’m not worried that they’ll attack me as I know that they are just waiting to be fed. One morning I was walking along and some bread pieces came flying over the fence of the house. I waited till whoever was flinging all the bread stopped and then I kept walking. Every time I walk past this spot I’m half expecting to either get showered with bread or get poop on my head! A Favourite Cleaning Hack I have always used window and glass cleaning products to clean my mirrors and shower screens. And I have always ended up with annoying streaks!! I recently read an article by a hotel maid who shared secrets that some big five-star hotels use to clean their mirrors and shower screens fast and effectively. Apparently, they use a damp microfiber cloth and then wipe the glass over with a used pillowcase! I’m not sure if this happens at all hotels but anyway I went ahead and tried it. I didn’t use a used pillowcase because that just grosses me out. But I did use an old cotton tea towel and it worked a treat!! There were no streaks left behind at all. Making Leftovers Interesting I made a chicken casserole on Tuesday night and we had some leftovers. I like leftovers and so does my family but I thought that I would jazz things up a bit. Instead of just reheating the casserole I turned it into a pie! I had some frozen puff pastry and then all I did was mix together the chicken casserole, and leftover rice added some grated tasty cheese, and used this mixture as the filling. It was a big winner!! I also do this sometimes when we have leftover beef stew or even beef stroganoff. Next time you want to change your leftovers up a bit to make them more interesting turn them into a pie! Stovetop Potpourri We had fish for dinner earlier this week and the house smelled so fishy. so I threw some leftover lemon, a cinnamon stick, a good dash of vanilla essence, and a slice of pineapple into a pot with some water. I made some stovetop potpourri to make the house smell much fresher and nicer. Thankfully it got rid of that cooking smell. I did a post on stovetop potpourri recipes that you might like to try. It works a treat and it really leaves a lovely long-lasting scent! That wraps up this week’s Friday favourites. Yes, indeed I am so excited that it’s Friday again! Wishing you all the best weekend.

Hey everyone, hope you are all feeling great on this fine Friday. It’s the last Friday of July, can you believe it? I’m really happy to be linking up again with Andrea and Erika for today’s Friday favourites. Thanks so much for stopping by to have a read of a few of this week’s favourites. A Funny Favourite Earlier in the week, I was busy in the kitchen and I noticed that Sam was looking for something. He’d been going back and forth between his bedroom and the laundry quite a few times. So I asked him if he needed something. He said he was looking for his favourite blue tracksuit pants. Just after he said this he burst out laughing. He realised that he had been wearing them the whole time!! Hahahaha!!! We both had such a good laugh. It also made me feel a whole lot better about all the times when I have been searching high and low for my glasses. Only to realise that they have either been sitting on top of my head or I had been actually wearing them the whole time! A Yummy Favourite I received a delicious box of chocolates from one of my gorgeous little preschoolers last week. I saved them up and we had them as a weekend treat. Believe me, they didn’t last very long. They were so delicious and it was such a lovely kind gift. I was super touched! A Sunny Day After so many rainy days it was just so good to wake up to the glorious sun shining so brightly! I walked into the kitchen on Monday morning and the lovely sun was peeking in. Hello, sunshine!! Flowers Monday just kept getting better and better! One of my Sweet little preschoolers gave me some pretty flowers. I took them home and put them in this cute vase. So special!! I Posted More Than Usual This Week I’m really excited that including today’s post I will have posted four times this week on my blog. It’s a goal that I had set for myself this week and heading into the future. Monday I wrote about my One Year Of Blogging on Hello Monday. On Wednesday I joined the monthly What’s Up Wednesday link-up. Thursday my post was all about How To Make Your Home Smell Amazing on Encouraging Hearts And Home Blog Hop. And I’m back here today for this week’s Friday Favourites. Yay!! Preschool Favourites We had a pretend Doctors surgery in the home corner this week. So the kids were very busy writing up important medical reports. They also worked on puzzles. Built train tracks that went all around the playroom. Drew pretty rainbows Enjoyed fun sensory play with shaving cream Friday we cooked pizzas!! The kids had so much fun rolling out their own dough. They sliced up the vegetables. This poor capsicum was a bit smooshed. It’s hard for little hands to cut tricky vegetables! Don’t worry they used safe kids’ knives The mushrooms were much easier to cut. The children got to choose three healthy toppings. We’ve been discussing healthy choices at preschool this week. Then it was time to eat! Cooking is a super fun activity and the kids always love it. It sure made the morning go fast and both the classroom teacher and I were so busy making sure everyone had a turn and that no one cut themselves. We also kept reminding the children to please not sneeze all over the ingredients! Haha. So that wraps up the last week of July! And it sure went by so fast. I really hope that you have the best weekend and I’ll see you back here on Monday! Happy Friday!      

  Happy one year of blogging to me!! Wow one year already, that sure went by so fast!!  I actually forgot that I wrote my first post back in May of last year. So it’s really one year and two months since I first started blogging. I had been toying with the idea of starting a blog for many years before I actually plucked up the courage to just go ahead and do it. I have always really enjoyed reading blogs from so many lovely ladies living in all different parts of the world. I loved hearing about their day-to-day lives and seeing their kids grow up was so much fun to read. I almost felt like I was reading about a friend living out there in the big wide world somewhere. So a really big reason why I was keen to blog was that I saw it as a fantastic way to document some special moments in my life. I also thought that it was a great way to have a record of the average day-to-day stuff that happens in life too. Sort of like keeping a journal. So after a very long time of just thinking about it, I finally plucked up some courage and jumped in. COVID Lockdown 2021 was a year of restrictions and lockdowns. So I found that this was the perfect opportunity to get really get serious about starting a blog. I honestly think that if it wasn’t for COVID lockdown I might not have been able to give blogging a good go. Because it just took way longer than I had ever anticipated! And I’m really not at all sure that I could have managed to get my head around the technical side of blogging as well as work full time. Start A Blog In Five Minutes They Said I had no clue where to start so I did what I always do when I’m trying to decide something. I asked Google. Some articles that I read assured me that it was easy peasy and that I could get this blog up and running in five minutes. Ahem……no!! Yes, I could download WordPress but that was THE only thing that took five minutes. The rest was a whole lot of technical stuff and I have to admit. I really felt out of my league and my head was exploding with so many new things that I had never heard of before like widgets, plugins, template choices, web hosting, domain name…….aaaaaarrrggghhh!!! I watched a LOT of YouTube tutorials and I did a lot of reading. Bit by bit things started to make sense. And slowly and I mean very very slowly my little blog started to take shape. I had envisioned myself setting up my blog quick as a flash and then starting writing articles and posts straight away. No way did that happen! So to find that I had to spend so long doing all the technical stuff was such a huge surprise! And not always a fun one. At one point I remember that I seriously had to resist the urge to pick up my computer and just hurl it out the window!! But on the plus side, I didn’t lose my mind, and I think that I may have even developed some more neural pathways in my brain. Win/win. Being Brave! Once the blog looked sort of ok I wrote my first post and my heart was thumping so hard when I hit that publish button for the very first time. I’m really quite shy and putting myself out there is such a huge deal for me! I wanted everyone to read my blog but at the same time, I wanted no one to read it!! haha, talk about being conflicted!! I didn’t tell anyone about my blog for quite a while and then one day I felt brave enough to confide in my bestie and she was SO encouraging. She cheered me on and made me feel like I could actually make this little project of mine happen. Everyone needs a friend like her and I am so lucky to have her in my life. Favourite Things About Blogging Blogging Is A Fun And Creative Outlet! Blogging has become my favourite hobby and it doesn’t feel like a chore or something that I have to do. I would love to dedicate more time so I could post more often. Way back when I first started I was posting every day! I loved it and had a really great rhythm going for a while. Sadly when I lost my dear mum I just couldn’t bring myself to even look at the blog. So I gave myself some time off and then I slowly started to post about twice a week. Just recently I am beginning to want to really get back into posting again more often and that makes me happy. Reading Other People’s Blogs Reading other people’s blogs was what actually inspired me to start my own in the first place. So I still love reading blogs from so many fantastic writers and getting to “know” them. A Great Blogging Community I feel like I am part of a really nice community of bloggers. I love how many of them take the time to read my blog and when I get comments they are always so kind and encouraging! I know everyone is busy so the fact that people take the time to comment means the absolute world to me. Thank you so much!! So there we have it! My one year of blogging and happy blogging birthday to me! I am so glad that I started this fun journey and I am really excited for the future and to continue posting. Hopefully more often! I love you guys and like I always say and really mean it. Thank you so much for stopping by to have a read. Linking up with Andrea and Erika for today’s Friday Favourites

Hi friends, Happy Friday! Yes, I do love Fridays but this week I am a bit (a lot) sad because it means that this is my last weekend before going back to work on Monday. I haven’t gone out a whole lot during the school holidays. Mainly just a couple of outings here and there. But I have really enjoyed my routine free days. Still, I am very grateful that I do enjoy working at our little local community preschool. I work with a great bunch of ladies and it’s only another ten weeks before the next holidays haha!! So here I am again on this fine Friday and happy to share with you a few of this week’s school holiday favourites. A Super Fun Party Last Saturday we managed to pull off a surprise Star Wars-themed birthday party for my cousin’s 30th. I will get around to doing a recap soon. It was such a fun night and I think that I must have danced the whole time. I couldn’t stop, the music just kept calling and calling me! I dressed up as Boba Fett for the party! Painting I am so happy with myself because I did a lot of painting! A while ago I mentioned that I wanted to paint my bedroom during these school holidays. My goal was to paint my bedroom and maybe the small hallway. Well, I just kept on going and did way more than I had originally planned.  I painted my bedroom, the hallway, the entryway, and the dining room. I painted in the afternoon and well into the night when I was home by myself. Sam went to the library in the afternoons with his lovely girlfriend and then back to her house afterward. They are both busy with schoolwork and upcoming exams. Steve was at work and painting is just so much easier when there is no one around. Now all I have left to do is the lounge room which I might do either this weekend or the next. I have to tell you that our house is small and that’s why I could get so much painting done. But still, there was a lot of prep work (ugh) and two coats on each wall. The walls in our house were painted with a colour called Grand Piano but this time I painted it with Casper White Quarter. Which is just white if you ask me but if you compare it to other whites it’s a different shade of white. My goodness so many whites to choose from!!!! I like white. it feels so fresh and bright!! We want to get the floorboards redone eventually. Which is a good thing because I was on my hands and knees cleaning up afterward. I used a drop sheet but I still managed to get some tiny annoying paint spots on the floor. Not Much Time For Cooking I was so determined to get a lot of painting done which meant that I didn’t have time to do much cooking. Normally during the school holidays, I like to bake some treats. And I have been really wanting to make my delicious jam drops. I didn’t even have time to make proper meals on some days. Steve would have cooked but he works afternoon/evening shifts every night except for Tuesday. So for a couple of days, we survived on pizza! oh yes, and coke (which is a school holiday treat). I did a whole post on Monday on how I keep healthy. But while I was busy painting this past week we really didn’t eat a very healthy diet on some days! But oh well, you just have to roll with it sometimes and do the best you can. The pizza was very delicious and a welcome treat!! A Delicious Breakfast I took Tuesday off from painting and Steve and I went out for breakfast. We went back to the local cafe that we visited a couple of weeks ago. Then in the evening, we binge-watched more ‘Line of Duty’. Such a great show, I really recommend it!! A Coffee Catch-Up I caught up for coffee with my friend on Wednesday morning. We went to a cafe that is not too far from where we live, maybe about a ten-minute drive. I have been there before but not for ages. This time we were seated in the courtyard, which I think might be a new addition. It was really cute and cozy. They had heaters there so even though it was a cold day we felt warm sitting under the heaters. A Quick Trip To Ikea I made a dash to Ikea to pick up some frames. I had some photos enlarged and wanted to hang them in the entryway. While I was there I picked up some bits and pieces that I needed. Like candles, storage things, clothes hamper and of course meatballs!!   I guess that wraps up this week’s Friday favourites. Thanks so much for stopping by to have a read. I really hope that you have a wonderful weekend! See you on Monday. Happy Friday Linking up with Andrea and Erika for today’s Friday Favourites post.