Christmas Wrap-up

It seems such a shame to have Christmas over in just one day. All that preparation for months, then, quick as a wink, it's all done and dusted. But oh how beautiful it is! It's a truly magical time of the year, wouldn't you agree?

Our Christmas day was lovely. Quiet and peaceful. We had three lots of separate visits from family, and all were absolutely beautiful times. We made lots of memories, shared lots of laughs, and of course ate lots of delicious food! 

As most of us do as home makers, I found a lot of enjoyment in decorating the home, particularly the dinning room table. The hints of shimmering gold, the poinsettia red and that pine green all just makes my heart sing! 

I can't decorate without berries, poinsettia flowers, vintage op-shop treasures and candles!

Our four children loved the table too, my girls especially!

I hope that your Christmas was beautiful, with many new memories made with your loved ones!

I'll be back sometime in the new year, another year of adventure awaits!

Clowning Around

This weekend we have a combined birthday party for two of my nieces. The theme is 'clowns'. So I scoured the two dollar shops the other day trying to find wigs. They are so expensive! So I formulated plan B, buying sparkly hats and decorating them ourselves. All together it cost the same amount as four wigs, but it gave us supplies for six hats, one for each of us! 

So, if you're wanting to make your own clown hat and costume yourselves, you will need ...

• Hats for the amount of people you need
• Your choice of wool (colour and amount)
• Pipe cleaners (thick and thin)
• Large flowers
• Sparkly star bows
• Bright Feathers
• Glue gun and LOTS of glue sticks!

We made bunches of wool for the hair and hot glued them to the inside of the hat. Then added decorations and made pipe cleaner bow-ties and glasses. It was a lot of fun. I like knowing that we have tried our best to make the birthday girls day special for them. It's a fun part of life!

I'm going to be painting everyone's faces too! I'm really looking forward to taking lots of photos of the kids all dressed up and clowning around! Here's some of their creations before they get face painted  on the day! ...

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I think I have the four cutest clowns around! Can't wait for the party!

I hope you're having a fantastic week!

Cliff Jumping And A Birthday Boy

I've taken a huge leap. Yesterday was my 'baby' boys fifth birthday. I still can't believe he's five and there will be no more little feet gracing our halls and stumbling over words; no more grubby, chubby fingers, no more tiny people.

I can always look back on this date and know that it was the date that my life began heading in a new direction. I've been thinking and praying seriously about studying and working outside the home. I find myself already 'twiddling' my thumbs with Mr R now being in kindy only a couple of days a week. So, I made a decision after talking to my husband, and I'm now studying, through local Tafe, to become a Teacher Aide. I start on this coming Monday.

Am I scared? Yes. I haven't worked in over twelve years! But, the Lord guides all our ways. So, I'm taking this step of faith, that somehow feels more like jumping off the edge of a cliff, trusting that God will bless the decision that we've made for this family He's given us.

I'm also excited to be able to provide some finances through eventual part-time work. I'm excited to know that I'll be assisting teachers to educate our children, and encouraging the kids too!

And, just in case you're wanting to see our big birthday boy, here he is! ...

 I love the little man that he's becoming. He's so kind, funny, thoughtful, smart and smoochy.

He's just so cute and I love those lips! 

Well, one chapter has closed, and another one begins ... and I'm so grateful I have my God, my family and my friends to enjoy it with!

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!