Changes....

It may start to get a little quieter here on my little blog.

You see, I'm starting a new adventure this week.

After 2 years of maternity leave.... I'm heading back to work! Eeek!!!

I can't believe that it has been 2 years since I left work to have my baby boy. I remember at the time, thinking that 2 years was like forever...... yet the time has just flown by so quickly.

 

Words just can not express just how grateful I am to have an employer who has allowed me to have 2 years away from work to be at home with my family. I am very aware that 2 years of maternity leave is rare and so I am most grateful. I must also mention how thankful I am for my hard working husband who has supported me emotionally, and the four of us financially so that I have been able to stay home for all that time.

 

 

It has been most wonderful to be able to watch my little boy hit all his milestones... I was there when he crawled, he said his first word and took his first steps, among other things. I have also had Madeleine home with me for those 2 years as well. I feel so blessed to have had all that time with her also. I have been able to spend lots of time crafting with her and playing, and I have been able to settle her in to kindy. Not only have I watched both my babies grow as individuals, I have watched them form their bond as siblings. They just adore each other, even though they do argue at times (as I know all siblings do)....

Being a full time stay at home mum has not been easy. It has had its challenges, but I have still loved it. And truth be known, if I could, I would continue to stay at home with my children. They grow so quickly, and this is a time in their lives that I will never get back. But, David and I have goals that we want to achieve, and I need to work for us to achieve them.

I know from past experience when I went back to work after having Madeleine - life seems to travel so much more faster when you are a working parent. I will look forward to the weekends and those extra two days I have off with them even more.

And so, it is very difficult to send my children off to child care for the first time as I head back to work 3 days a week. We have had a few visits to childcare to settle them in, and I think on the whole (despite some tears) the kids are both doing quite well settling in - better than I expected them to. I am hoping that Madeleine and Christian will enjoy their days at child care, and will have great stories to tell me about what fun they have had when I collect them in the afternoons.

So, please excuse me if gets a bit quiet on here for a while... I'll be trying to find my feet as a working Mummy!

Teresa x

Weekend Getaway

Are you a planner, or are you spontaneous?

David and I are planners. We like to plan everything. We like to research purchases and ask advice. We don't usually make spur of the moment decisions, though there are always exceptions to this, and so on the odd occasion we will do things on impulse. It's a refreshing change when we do. It's nice to do something out of the ordinary sometimes.


This weekend, the opportunity to have a spontaneous weekend away was presented to us, and we grabbed it with both hands. Who wouldn't!


We really needed some family time. The kids have been missing Daddy, and so have I.... You see, David has been helping out with the build here and there, and so we haven't seen as much of him as we usually would as he's been doing these jobs after work or over the weekend. So getting away was the only real way to get it, though.... We had planned a family day out for over the weekend, anyway, and we were offered somewhere to stay in the local area where we had planned our day trip. So it couldn't have been more perfect, and we packed our bags and headed off to to Port Elliot for the weekend.

We spent the day the the Goolwa Wooden Boat Festival yesterday, which was a lot of fun. The highlight of the day was a cruise on one of the paddlesteamers, and we even caught up with friends from home for dinner last night. It was a lovely, relaxing weekend which couldn't have come at a better time, as life is about to get a whole lot busier for us (but that's another post!)

At The Goolwa Wooden Boat Festival. View from the P.S. Marion. The kids just loved the cruise.

 

On the P.S. Marion

A little bit of fun. Driving a mini boat!

Playing in the playground this morning.

It was nice to get away. The weather was hot, but just gorgeous. The kids got to have some alone time with Daddy, while Mummy got to sleep in! That's always a bonus! And we got to spend some time together.

I hope that you had a lovely weekend. What did you get up to?

Teresa x

All in a day's work!

So the carpenters arrived at the block yesterday (I think we're going to have to start calling it 'the house' soon!!!) and David and I are so impressed at how much work they did.

All the floor trusses are in! Yes. All of them. Well, all the ones that they could put in! The brick pillars for the balcony have not been finished yet as the brickies ran out of bricks, and so they will have to come back. The carpenters are off to another job and will come back next week, so there won't be much happening, but yesterday's progress put a big smile on my face :)

Here are a some pictures of how it is all looking now.

The front. Looking forward to seeing the framework for the second level go up.

The garage wall. This wall divides the garage from our front entrance. The door way is there on the far right, and when you open this door, the staircase will greet you.

 

The 'storage' space in the void under the house. There is a massive amount of space down here, and David has finally admitted that he just might not need a big shed out the back anymore... Hallelujah!

 

The upper level

 

 

I am starting to think about how the spaces in the house will work. I have always had an idea of where I would place furniture, but I have avoided thinking about it any more than that, because this time I didn't want to jinx anything!

 

I am most looking forward to decorating the children's rooms. Madeleine had a beautiful nursery in our own home, and since we have been living in rentals for such a long time now, I haven't been able to actually properly decorate. A lot of our things are in storage as we initially didn't think that we would be renting for very long, so it will be like Christmas to open all the boxes of goodies - Madeleine has so many lovely things. I haven't been able to do a proper room for Christian as yet, either and so I am most looking forward to creating a beautiful space for him.

To be honest, I am just most looking forward to having somewhere we can truly call home. It's not been so bad renting, but we haven't been able to decorate the way that we would like, and also we just don't have all our stuff. It's going to be a chaotic time when we are moving in as moving is always busy, but we just can't wait to see this place finished - get all our stuff in it and then relax.... for hopefully many, many years!

Teresa x

There's a house with a wall, with a wall, with a wall....

It's been a little quiet here on the blog, but the work at the house has been continuing along.... There are walls up now!

The brickies have been real busy - the retaining wall is almost finished and they have made good progress on the downstairs walls.... Look! The place is starting to look just a bit like a house now...

 

You can now see that the house is a T shape.

 

 

 

 

                                             The windows for the guest bedroom will go here!

I was delighted to see the doorframe for the front door go in. Excuse the scaffolding, though!

Hubby has also been very busy core filling these besser blocks in places where they need to be, as the brickies have been working hard, but have fallen a little bit behind.

Today the floor trusses were delivered, along with the timber for the frame.

The carpenter starts work on Monday, I am told.... It is so very exciting to see things moving along so quickly!

Banana and Sultana Bread

 

It's been a long time since I've posted any recipes. I thought it might be nice to share a simple banana bread today. This one is so easy to make with the kids. I've made it many times and the children love to help with this one. I have made it with both my 4 year old and my not even 2 year old helped me in the kitchen to make this today!

This banana bread is really yummy and freezes perfectly for school lunches. When the loaf has cooled, I just slice it and put the individual slices in to sandwich bags and pop them in to the freezer. Instant snack! I have been known to defrost a slice and warm it in the microwave for afternoon tea for myself as well!

Of course, banana bread is an excellent way to use up those over ripe bananas you may have lying around. The other benefit of this recipe, is that if you are watching your waistline, I don't think that there is all that much to feel guilty about when you have a slice of this, as there is NO added fat! The recipe calls for low fat milk and a couple of eggs as well as the bananas for the wet ingredients, and apart from a bit of sugar, I think it's pretty guilt free.... I'm sure it's not allowed on many diets, but I think it's a good compromise for cake, lol!

My gorgeous little helper!

 

 

 

If you would like to make this yumy banana bread yourself, the recipe is from here.

 

 

Teresa