Are We Crazy ???

This morning it was -4 degrees here. Of course the most sensible thing to do on freezing mornings like this is to wake up ... in your backyard tent. Yep, we camped out in our backyard for two nights in a row. Are we crazy? Probably! It was so cold, our kids had four layers of clothing on and were covered in four thick blankets each, they were toasty! 

Ice made itself at home come morning, blanketing the side of our tents, the blades of grass, covering leaves and chairs, and the clothes on the clothes line (don't judge me!) with tiny sparkling crystals. I know a lot of you may wake to snow, but we don't have that delight here, so sprinkles of ice is the next best thing. 

The boys shared a tent, and the girls shared a tent. They were all so excited to be camping in the backyard! 

The icy ground crunched under our feet and we went exploring the yard, discovering little frozen treasures that are just so beautiful ...

It was like a small little Ice world, well at least that's what the kids said!

And, of course because he was freezing cold (and because I'm a softy) Ollie just had to come snuggle in the tent with me. He's just too cute ...

Making family memories like this is something that I just love doing. It cost us absolutely nothing, just our time setting up ... and the best part was waking up together in our small magical ice covered corner of the world ...

... I hope you're making beautiful, sweet memories with your loved ones too.

Our Perfect Day Fishing

Our perfect day fishing ...

Peaceful. Quiet. Still. Fresh. View. Perfection.

Cool. Squish. Gather. Laugh. Excite. Squirt. Together.

Tiny. Courageous. Pretty. Determined. Sweet. Smiling. Her.

Beautiful. Funny. Explorer. Giggler. Singer. Grinner. She.

Strong. Stable. Intelligent. Sweet. Nature. Discoverer. He.

Cheeky. Fun. Chuckler. Helper. Outdoors. Animals. Him.

Digging. Collecting. Free. Boyhood. Mirror. Treasures.

Serene. Stunning. Shimmer. Glory. Beauty. Calm.

Glory. Clouds. Heaven. Creator. Filled. Awe-struck. Praise.

Unexpected. Precious. Amazing.

First. Proud. Natural. Happy. Adorable.

Squeeze. Clever. Enjoying. Scrumptious.

Thankful.

Can't wait until next time! ...

(Linking up with http://www.mittenstatesheepandwool.com/ ... beautiful)

Taking In The Moments

Taking in the moments. That's what I would really like to do more of these school holidays. I have the joy of my four amazing children home and I'm wanting to slow down time. So far, we've enjoyed our traditional end of term night, watching movies and eating pizza. It's our way of loosening up, relaxing and getting into the mind set of enjoying each others company.

On that note, today I wrote down a quick list of some simple activities that I'd like to try and enjoy this holidays with my family ... hopefully, this way, I won't forget. Making memories together is a priority for me, and I know that unless I write things down, I'm likely to not remember all the things that I really want to do!

My 'taking in the moments' list as follows ...

1. play card and board games
2. read lots of books
3. make a teacup bird feeder (or a couple!)
4. sculpt little clay houses (for the kids to enjoy!)
5. enjoy around the world dinners
6. journal about my children
7. roast marshmallows
8. photo collage art
9. chalk photos of kids (great on a rainy day on a garage floor!)
10. have tea parties
11. make a kite
12. star-gazing
13. light candles around the home
14. write letters
15. plant herbs
16. fire-side dinner with MR S
17. make home made apple pie
18. have a lounge room sleepover
19. read aloud together
20. balloon painting (if I'm game enough!)
21. make wood oven pizza
22. enjoy using the fire pit while drinking hot chocolate
23. play chin puppets
24. take lots of photos!

Now all that's left to do is write out a good copy with check boxes and stick it on the fridge!

I apologize that there's no photos on this post, I have none taken as yet. Don't worry, I'll be sure to make up for it in the posts to come!

May God beautifully bless your week!

Our Extended Family Visit

Our visit to family turned out to be a much longer stay than first planned, eleven days instead of six. Our car decided it was going to break down and so we waited for it to be repaired. We really enjoyed the longer opportunity to catch up with our loved ones.

There was so much laughter with the cousins (all nine of them) creating many imaginary games together, and having such a great time! My Father in law had a huge garage sale over two weekends where he sold all the plumbing gear that he'd 'gathered' over forty years (you can probably imagine just how much that was!) and now no longer needs due to retirement. 

We had combined birthday celebration cakes and pressies, and a birthday dinner for my Mother in law with her favourite food for dinner, curry! I cooked dinner one night with one of my brother-in-laws, roast chicken with our own stuffing. We chatted and cleaned and cleared out and worked hard, we drank coffee and peach iced tea and (the men) kept coke in business. Dad claims that the Wolter's are 'aqua-holics', we laugh at him, not with him! It was such a great time!

The photo above was taken by my sweet, beautiful sister in law.

Dad enjoyed reminiscing of years gone by during the garage sale. Each tool that he sold to people, he told them the story of it and it's use, really making them feel valuable and important. I like that about him. Dad has a nickname for me, it's 'Old Girl'. I like that too. 

I really couldn't have been blessed with more amazing in-laws and extended family.

Mum and Dad blessed me with some vintage goodies, some of which I will re-vamp and some I'll keep original. I'm still deciding, I'll show you in another post. We scoured second-hand book shops and op-shops, which was fantastic! We played card games and MR S and Mr S watched the State of Origin with Dad.  We ate ice-creams at a beach front cafe. We visited the beach and watched the sun shimmering on the water, the boats sailing along the calm surface and the birds scuffing in the sand for snacks. Our kids enjoyed the beach playground. On the Friday we went fishing, just the six of us (as no one else wanted to tag along), it was incredible, but that will be another post too!

It was a constant state of busyness, yet still wonderful times to remember.

Mr S and Little Miss J having fun together!

Mr R and Little Miss P laughing and playing!

... admiring the beautiful view!

Visiting the beach is always a bonus part of going down to visit family. Living in a sweet country town far from salt water, we often find ourselves craving sand between our toes and fresh cool sea water.

I think I'm almost back on top of the washing and unpacking, the dreaded reality of holiday returns! Oh well, we're having a garage sale this Saturday (seeing as we're in practice now from Dad's!) and the unpacking has got me in the mood of 'culling' unwanted and un-needed items, so I'm off to a good start! 

I think it'll take a few more days to recover from such a huge long week, but it was worth every minute, I absolutely love my family!

Hope you're having a beautiful time with your families too!

Have a wonderful week!