Wishing you a Happy New Year

Image found here

 

I hope that you had a very Merry Christmas & that 2013 has got off to an excellent start?

 

I had hoped to blog more in December, but things got in the way & I've come to the realisation that 2012 kicked my backside in many ways last year. I think I spent most if not all of the year trying to keep my head above water, & not become overcomed by all that life threw at us. It was not the hardest year that I've ever encountered, however I dont think I actually dealt with a lot of the emotions from those bad years & those emotions certainly let themselves be known in 2012.

 

I've seen many bloggers post about their word for the year. The idea of a word to live by has always intrigued me but I've yet to feel inspired to choose a word for myself. Until now.

 

I think my word for 2013 is Positivity.

 

I need to remain positive, to stop becoming overwhelmed by all the crap life likes to throw at me. To not become angry at situations which are out of my control. To no longer worry about what others think of me, as the people who truely love me, love me for who I am & dont want me to change. To surround myself with positivity, to not let others negativity drag me down. To let the positivity help build my confidence in myself, as my beautiful daughters need a strong confident Mum.

 

In other words, I need to kick myself up the backside & pull myself out of this rut.

 

I am planning a blog makeover soon, a new year needs a fresh start/look. Im feeling the need to simplify & prettify. I'm also going to break out the big camera (well ok, big to me, not quite an SLR, but maybe I'll save lots of pennies & treat myself this year) & start capturing life properly instead of relying on my Iphone.

 

Wow, this was only going to be a post wishing you a New Year, didnt expect to be pouring my heart out. If you havent fallen asleep by now, then I thank you for reading! LOL!

I would like to take a moment to thank you for reading my blog,& for leaving such lovely comments. They make my day :-)

 

Another of my plans for the New Year was to go to bed earlier & rest so Im going to stop rambling on & get some sleep.

 

I wish you a very Happy & Lucky 2013.

 

xxx

 

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!!

 

Christmassy crafting has begun.

 

 

It's officially Xmas when the Coca Cola truck arrives!

 

 

The tree has been put up (this was just with the lights, before we decorated)

 

 

The front door has been Christmassified (I think I made that word up!)

 

 

Chrtistmassy films have been watched by the light of the tree.

 

It does feel like Christmas has just crept up out of no where, & all of a sudden we are less than 2 weeks away! The gift shopping is almost done, the gift making is underway, next week is full of Nativity plays, Christmas discos, carol singing. Wow! Im tired just thinking of it!

 

How prepared are you? All done? Or starting to panic!!

 

xxx

Getting Organised

 

 

 

One of the major issues in my life is that I am so unorganised. I just cannot seem to get on top of everything. I feel like Im constantly treading water & trying to keep my head above the crashing waves (Im also feeling slightly overdramatic today!!) In the last few years, I've really come to realise how being so disorganised really adds to stress levels & how stress can really make you ill.  The ongoing issue seems to be how to not only get organised, but how to stay organised, especially with a Husband & three children who chose not to be organised but also expect me to not only know everything going on in their lives but also where everything single little thing in the house is. They also chose to keep every single piece of paper, cardboard box etc etc.

 

 

As you can imagine, the house is a mess, & the stress levels are high, sky high.

 

 

So getting this house & our lives more organised is high on the list of priorities. I set up a Organising Board on Pinterest to help me keep track of the ideas Ive found whilst browsing the net (see! Im getting organised!! LOL!)

 

 

One of my major bugbears is the counter & cupboard by the front door, it seemed to be the dumping ground for everyone & everything in our house.

 

 

Want to see? I'm warning you, its not pretty.

 

 



Yep, not pretty. & very embarassing since this is the first thing people see when they come into our house.

The cupboard above was not much better.

In fact you pretty much took your life into your hands opening it!!

Take a deep breath.

I know.

 

Now dont get me wrong, Ive attempted on quite a few occasions to get this under control. But I was fighting a losing battle, as within a day, things would start piling up. Paperwork, toys, keys, purses/wallets, screws/cable ties/nails/whatever the Husband emptied out of his pocket when he got home.

 

So in order to get this area more under control, I had to change what it was used for, & be brutal when it came to decluttering. Under all this clutter there was a wooden organiser, apparently this is supposed to be used for organising paperwork etc? We tended to use it for shoving whatever paper needed to be dealt with, receipts, take away leaflets etc into it. I decided to remove this from the counter, it wasnt being used properly, therefore there was no need for it.In fact I ended up clearing everything from the counter. All that the counter really needed to be used for, was somewhere to put keys when we came in. I knew that an empty counter would bug me (I have a need to be surrounded by prettiness), so I got rid of the ugly metal bucket that previously held the keys & swopped it for a little wooden tray that was sitting on another shelf being unused. I added to it with a cross stitched picture I made 2 years ago, a oil burner, some HOME blocks & a speaker for the Ipod.

 

Much better, so much better. Still room for improvement though. I think a plant would be perfect here, but it doesnt get much sunlight, so I need to research that idea a bit more. I'd also like to swop out the oil burner for a candle in a jar. Preferably a Yankee Candle, but we'll see how funds are.

 

 

Want to see the cupboard? Ive got admit that I managed to be brutal with it & threw out an entire rubbish bag full of crap.

 

 



So much better :-) & now you dont take your life into your hands when opening said cupboard.

 

 



 

 

Is it weird how happy this is making me? 

 

 

 

Well its a start, a pretty good start I think! Unfortunately its highlighted the rest of the house as being a complete shambles. Next on the list is either the cupboard where all my baking stuff etc is kept, or the bureau which is currently stuffed full of unecessary paper work. I'm hoping to turn this into a Family Command Centre.

 

 

xxx

Where did October go?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ok, what happened to October? I seem to have blinked & missed it! Doesnt time fly when you are really busy & so much is going on?! LOL!

 

I have to admit Ive lost my blogging mojo (& my creativity mojo seems to be awol too). I kept thinking Ive got nothing interesting to blog about, until I sat down one day & made a list of changes I want to make to the blog. I thought I'd take a look around & see if I have anything lying about that I havent blogged yet. Turns out I have nearly 20 'projects' that I havent blogged! I cannot begin to think why I havent!! So,over the next few weeks I shall be attempting to photograph & blog these projects, so that at some point soon there might be something interesting to read about here, woo hoo!!

 

Well, I'd better get on then. Its cleaning/housework day, in preparation for having a relaxing weekend with the family.

 

What have you got planned for the weekend?

 

xxx

Checking In......

.......to say Hi!! How are you? Everything good?

My older girls have been back at school for 2 weeks now, Miss M had a sad start to term with the news that 2 of her best friends were moving that week. It was heartbreaking to watch her try to deal with the news, I dont think I have ever seen her cry so hard. But every day I think she is finding it easier to deal with. I think as adults we forget how huge things are to kids. As adults, we deal with friends moving by agreeing to stay in contact via phone, email, facebook etc. Also I guess with busy lives, we dont see friends as often as we'd like. But as a kid, your friends are there every day in school, its a constant in your life. Them moving away is a huge upheval in their life.

Miss K has dealt pretty well with the new term. She suffers from some health issues (not majorily serious but enough to impact her day to day life) & she is on the Autistic Spectrum, so change can be a tough thing for her. We've had some tears when trying to deal with homework, remembering teachers & what she needs to do. Plus a nasty bout of hayfever/virus has seen her having to use her inhaler.

Miss L-R starts back to school tommorrow. She'll be going in the mornings rather than the afternoons for this year, which should be easier on our schedule. Its going to be weird not having my little sidekick around, but she loves school so all is good.

That gives me just under 3 hours a day to myself, which is strange. But good. I need to lose some weight & get fitter, so with the time now available I have no excuses!! I also have some other things in the pipeline, but all will be revealed at a later date :-)

Autumn is in the air. I love Autumn, its my favourite season. I'm starting to think about what to plant for spring as some bulbs will need to be planted soon. I cant quite believe I like gardening. For years it was of absolutely no interest to me, & now, I love it!! Im definitely a novice though!! But I guess the best way to learn is to actually do it!!

I havent had much time online to visit blogs etc, but 3 that I have spent some time on lately have been very inspiring so I thought I'd share them with you. (Although they are so good, you probably already know them but I'll share anyway!)

The first is Posie Gets Cozy. Alicia's site is full of beautiful photos, quilts, embroidery, cooking, etc. Its one of those sites that just makes you want to slow down, curl up on the sofa in front of a fire, sew/embroider/crochet something pretty. She also sells some really cute embroidery kits for Christmas.

The second is Heart and Handmade which is full of beautiful photos of beautiful things. I always come away feeling very inspired to make something or somewhere very pretty!!

Finally visit Cherry Menlove. The lovely Cherry has a book coming out soon, which I really want to buy. Her site is full of interior loveliness (she has just moved into her forever home & is in the process of decorating), gardening knowhow, beautiful recipes, lovely crafts & beautiful photos of her lovely twins! Cherrys site was the inspiration for my new kitchen shelves which were made by lovely husband last week, then painted & decorated by moi. I'll use some of my new found time to myself this week to photograph & blog about them.

So thats it really for now. I've got washing & ironing on the schedule for today (Joy!!), plus the usual cooking & cleaning. Miss K has a party this afternoon, so I think some crafting time for me & the other two is in order. I might squeeze in some baking, Im thinking lemon cake maybe?

I hope that wherever you are, all is good with you. Have a Happy Sunday :-)

xxx

Sunday

All is good :-)


Xxx

The end of summer.

 

My older girls went back to school today :-(

 

I really thought that I'd be looking forward to them going back, but I wasnt. We have had the lovliest summer. Dont get me wrong, there have been lots of whining & arguing. But the bad times were definitely outweighed by the good. We didnt complete all of our list (finances are not good right now), but we achieved quite a bit & spent lots of time doing nothing together. Its been really nice.

 

I still have my youngest at home as her school doesnt start for 2 weeks.

 

I am looking forward to getting back into a routine, actually starting a brand new routine which works better for us than last year! & getting the house under control (Im waging war on clutter!) Ive been busy reading organising blogs & pinning ideas. But then I find I have too many ideas & dont know which ones to use!!

 

Do you have any good tips? Or blogs that you read that you can suggest?

 

I am also looking forward to having some specific crafting time for myself. Im toying with the idea of making some bits to sell. Plus before we know it, it will be Christmas!!! I really dont want to be finishing making stuff on Christmas Eve, that was not fun last year lol!!

 

xxx