Grateful and Happiness Project

I am so lucky! My life is rich with beauty, magic, love and happiness. In the last 2 years I have found a new 'hobby' 'passion' in my life that makes me unbelievably happy. And that my friends is "Social Media". Facebook, Twitter, Blogging, Instagram...I love it all. I have met some unbelievably amazing people through the connections of social media and I love seeing and sharing everyone's journey. One thing that I love about all my "online" friends is that we all share one common component that brings us together. We all like different things and live different lives, we have children or pets and are married or divorced or engaged or single, yet we all share and support together. I love meeting all the fantastic new people here in the online world and I thank you for sharing my journey.

One main aspect I love about social media is that it allows me to share and introduce you to a side of me that I don't normally share with everyone I know! I am learning to love myself and really open up to the person inside and allow myself to not worry about what people think. I am me and I am so proud! Social media and the gorgeous people I have met have opened my eyes to the real world and have shown me that its ok to be me! I love the fact that I can status update, tweet and post photos about the joys in my life. The things that make me happy. Those moments that I want to shout from the top of a mountain!

A challenge that I have set myself this year is the "Grateful and Happiness Challenge" A photo a day of something that makes me happy, makes me smile or something I am extremely grateful for. I think this will really push me to really open up my eyes and search deep within myself and my life. We are so lucky. We are blessed with so much that I think a lot of us take advantage of. Yes we see our luck in the big things and the expensive materials things, but I love the idea of looking beyond that and finding the good in every day. Life is tough, Im not going to deny that. I also have a very big and challenging year a head of me so I think by finding the happiness and joy in the little things will drive me to look beyond the tough hurdles and see the good. This has been my philosophy of my 'new life' and this blog. "Life is busy - so stop and appreciate those special moments - they will be the memories that last forever" and that's what this challenge will do for me every day of this year. I will be able to document every day and record those special moments or people that make me happy and that I am grateful for.

Here are my first 2 weeks - My first 15 "Special Moments" that I am grateful for and that makes me happy. 

 
 Day 1 - Happiness is the first sunset of the year! We had an amazing day today! 4wding. Fishing and catching a brim and a shark. Witnessing the most amazing sunset. Watching a large turtle make its way from beach to sea! I am so grateful to be exploring this beautiful island!
 
 Day 2 - Happiness is watching him fish! He loves it and it makes him happy! This makes me smile!
 
 Day 3 - Happiness is the beach at sunset! I am so grateful to live in such a beautiful place!
  
 Day 4 - I am so grateful to be able to inspire! I am so happy to share this year and gratitude journey with you all.


Day 5 - I am grateful for my camera! It is capturing all of our special moments that I want to remember forever
Day 6 - Happiness is our first full frangipani bloom! I'm so grateful for my husbands green thumb!
 Day 7 - I am grateful for my family. They are my heart and soul. Today I was happy! I was at peace! I was surrounded by everyone I love!
 Day 8 - Happiness is a 4 hour drive with my family! Grateful for the amazing weekend we got to spend together!
 Day 9 - Happiness is a wind chime made by my grandpa and mum which is now hanging on my grandmas favourite tree! Grateful for their love!
 Day 10 - Happiness is PERFECT chocolate brownies baked for visits. I am so grateful to have 2 beautiful friends in my life that love and support me!
 Day 11 - Happiness is Ruby singing on my shoulder in the car!
 Day 12 - Happiness is pink skies at work! Grateful for the special places I get to experience with my job
 Day 13 - Happiness is morning tea by the rock pools. How could you not be grateful for beautiful fresh food and stunning scenery! Not a lot of people get to experience this! A simple thing we take for granted every day!
 Day 14 - Happiness is SKINNYGIRL! I love Bethanny and was so excited when I found her product here! Grateful for wonderful nights with wonderful family who we call friends!
Day 15 - Happiness is sleeping in and having a big cook up with my husband! Grateful for the couple of hours I got to spend with him this morning as I haven't seen him all week! :-(


I am recording all of my photos in an album on Facebook! I have a 366 days of Gratitude and Happiness album on my Special Moments page. Head on over and like it and share my year! I will also do a weekly grateful blog post each Sunday.

I can not wait to find the good in every day!
Why don't you join me! 

x S.K.K x

Introducing...

...my Christmas present from Rob

Isn't she a beauty! Rob wanted to buy me a camera as he knew how utterly and completely obsessed I am with taking photos. Most you will probably know this by now if you follow my "intsagram" (skk25) So Rob, bless his heart, bought me one for Christmas...and by bought I mean on Christmas Eve he said "now don't get upset in the morning when you don't have a present to unwrap but I am buying you a camera and we are going down on Boxing day to buy one together so you can choose" hahah what a good man. He knows me well. He's not silly...he wouldn't buy one without getting my approval first. But this came with a bonus...boxing day sales + I could use my birthday and Christmas money to get a more expensive camera then we budgeted for. SCORE!

I love it so much! The quality of the photos just blow my mind. I'm used to taking all my photos on my Iphone so its a massive change! I still have no idea how to use it! We haven't stopped from the moment I got it so there has been no time to sit and read and learn. But I've been learning the practical way! I must say I'm impressed with my photos so far and if they are this good when I have absolutly NO IDEA what I'm doing I cant imagine how cool they will be when I sit down and learn!

The sales man asked me what type of camera I wanted. My answer was simple...

"I want to capture the beauty of sunsets and the silliness and cuteness of my animals"  I don't ask for much ;-)

 

 I love it! 
Thank You so much hunny!
A lot of Special Moments will be captured beautifully now!

x S.K.K x

The most annoying mother in the world



Last week I took the Tsunamis to Taronga Zoo. Fresh air, giraffes, water play, family time, education, picnics and views. What more do you need for a brilliant day out?

Of course, there are the crowds, the heat, the stairs, the hills, the smells and the ‘big day out’ melt-downs to contend with. The zoo is not so much an outing as an expedition. Previous zoo visits have resulted in trying to convince the staff that the three over-stimulated, over-tired children they see before them do not actually belong in the monkey enclosure.

Not last Wednesday. Last Wednesday, I was the most annoying mother in the world. Not to the kids, but to the other mothers.

I took the three on my own and it was the best day ever. The Tsunamis were beautifully behaved, mostly because their mother was calm, patient and organised. Of course, I had to manoeuvre my way out of a few Badoo At Large moments, but she soon bought into our perfect-family-moment.

I remembered the wet wipes. That pretty much sums up how annoying I was. Especially when I insisted on handing one across to the mum whose child was absolutely covered in ice cream. She was equal-parts relieved and horrified.

While other parents screeched at their kids to stop getting so wet in the water play trench, I called out, “I’ve bought your swimmers, children. Do you want to go in?” The mum with the saturated child shot me a look that could kill. I handed her a towel.

The snaking line for the hotdog stand involved a very hot wait, but we sat at our shady picnic table (of course we got a picnic table) and ate our sambos and fruit and crackers. A mother jungle fowl (only at the zoo) stopped by to show us her three babies and, in a moment that I commissioned Disney to script, we fed them with crumbs from our sandwiches. A mum in the hot dog stand line curled her lip at me.

At day’s end, the line for the Sky Safari was long and involved and I thought our perfect day must surely come to an end. All around us children melted-down and complained of boredom and dehydration. My three played i-spy and complained that the water from our insulated bag was too cold. The mum behind us was very grateful when we offered to fill one of her bottles, but I know that she secretly wanted to stab me.

As we winged our way over the zoo in our little Sky Safari pod - after a quick flip to fold up the stroller (envious stares from the mum next to us with the gigantic three-wheeler) - I looked over at my three beaming children neatly on board  and I thought to myself, “I am surely the most annoying mother in the world”.

And I liked it.

Would you have killed me?
Do you, like me, notice those ‘perfect’ families wherever you go?

[Image found on weheartit - please let me know if it belongs to you!]

4 Month Photos

4 months Blog copy
4 months 3 blog copy

4 months 2 blog copy watermark
4 months 1 blog copy

4 months 4 blog copy4 months 5 blog copy

click 'grow baby' tab to see prior months!
previous post has updates and stats!

The Paper Mama

4 Months

My little four month old! 
You are 13lbs 11oz and 24inches; 50% weight and 25% height.
You are in 3 month and 3-6 month clothes & size 2 diapers.

A typical day
ha who are we fooling there is no 'typical' day with you ;) 

But here's what I consider normal right now...
You eat about 3 1/2-4oz every 2-3 hours during the day. Every once in awhile you still fight your bottles, for no apparent reason.

At night you have a bottle around 9pm, Mommy reads you Goodnight Moon with only the light from your glow-worm, I kiss you goodnight, and then watch you in the monitor play with your hands until you fall asleep. You wake up around 2am for a feeding then 6am. You usually go back to sleep until 9am :) Patiently waiting for the day you decide to cut out the 2am feeding...

You are your happiest in the mornings, by far. You coo and smile non-stop when you wake up. Our morning are always pleasant. You sit in your high chair while I clean your bottles, eat breakfast, and feed Roxy. Then you have your bottle and we go on with our day.
DSC_1505-2

You like your vibrating chair, your swing, Sophie the giraffe, Jacques the peacock, and your blankies.

You dislike NAPS. Oh baby girl how I wish you would nap more! Two 30 minute naps are not enough! When you nap good you are in a better mood! Just something to think about my little one... plus your friends say it's the cool thing to do ;)

This month you have been sucking on your hands and drooling a lot. You still have that crazy tongue that you're always sticking out. & You are getting much better at tummy time! You also flip over to your back!



You're getting to the fun age. Playful and curious. I love it! I can't wait to see what you learn to do this month. You watch me eat and mimic my mouth. I gave you a little rice cereal and you seemed to really like it. We may try that once a day now and hopefully at 5 months try some veges!



enough instagram photos for ya? no? well here are more.

official month 4 photos coming soon~

Icing my bird cage shaped cake

Icing my bird cage shaped cake

Several weeks ago I shared with you my Christmas cake, shaped like a bird cage and then how to marzipan bird cage shaped cake. After putting off icing and decorating for as long as I could, I finally iced and decorated it just in time for Christmas Eve! Decorating my bird cage shaped cake coming next Saturday!

How to ice bird cage shaped cake
Ingredients


Method
Icing my bird cage shaped cake steps 1-4

  • Lightly sieve icing sugar on to your work top
  • Knead 500g of white icing until soft and pliable
  • Using a tooth pick, add a drop of food colouring
  • Knead icing until the colour is completely even


Icing my bird cage shaped cake steps 5-8
  • Roll icing into a round shape
  • Using a rolling pin, roll out icing, turning the icing so it stays in a rough circle and does not stick to your work top
  • Roll until about 5mm thick - I used rolling pin measures to get a super even layer of icing
  • Using a cake smoother, buff the icing until you have a nice, shiny, smooth circle big enough to cover your cake


Icing my bird cage shaped cake steps 9-12
  • Position cake onto cake stand or plate
  • Lightly brush cake with cooled, boiled water
  • Carefully lift up icing and place on cake
  • Very lightly run your hands over icing so it adheres to the marzipan
  • Using a sharp knife, cut off excess icing from bottom of cake

Have a sweet day!

Ribbon storage finds

Ribbon finds

From left to right: The vintage looking divided wooden cotton reel box, a selection of brightly coloured yarns on vintage spools by House Doctor DK, old fashioned wooden ribbon spools, vintage looking wire storage box by House Doctor, with a traditional sweet shop design the Heritage Hill storage jar, large glass storage jar, large scale optic glass storage jar and a retro blue bobbin & binding made from sustainably sourced mango wood.

After Monday's post, Ribbon storage, I ordered some wooden spools from Jane Means and have been wrapping my disorganized ribbons around them ready to find a new storage place for them. If you too loved the pretty ribbon storage ideas from Monday you can find all the key elements above!

Have a sweet day!
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