30 March 2010
Noah's first tooth loss!
Noah's first tooth fell out at school yesterday! He brought it home and the tooth fairy visited last night.
Free tip
If your husband happens to leave an online video site up on your computer (LiveLeak to be exact) and you happen to glimpse the title of one of the videos on the front page and you happen to see that it's a video about a huge spider-bite cyst being lanced ... don't watch it. Walk away, no matter how COMPLETELY OVERCOME with curiosity you are. Because there is not enough eye bleach in the world for the after effects, and even if there was then there is not enough brain bleach to eradicate the video that will then play on continuous loop in your mind, causing extreme nausea and regret.
I'm just saying.
I'm just saying.
29 March 2010
What I wore to church today
I know my blog is looking a bit sparse and I haven't done a proper post in ages but I really don't have anything to blog about! I'm sorry my life is so boring.
Cardigan: Mexx outlet
Brown vest top: Tesco
Floral panel skirt: Tesco (on sale)
Shoes: eBay (new)
Green glass necklace: Matalan (on sale)
Cardigan: Mexx outlet
Brown vest top: Tesco
Floral panel skirt: Tesco (on sale)
Shoes: eBay (new)
Green glass necklace: Matalan (on sale)
22 March 2010
What I wore to church today
Cardigan: Bhs
Black tweed skirt: charity shop (thrift store)
Red patent shoes: Tesco
Red necklace: I can't remember
18 March 2010
Pinkness
"Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough."
- Oprah Winfrey
16 March 2010
Happy birthday, Noah!
Can you believe my baby is 5! A glance at the clock reveals that he was born 5 years and 5 minutes ago.
Happy birthday to our sweet, loving, stubborn, funny, smart, adorable Noah!
He's having a small party this afternoon (just 5 friends). Here's his birthday cake:
Happy birthday to our sweet, loving, stubborn, funny, smart, adorable Noah!
He's having a small party this afternoon (just 5 friends). Here's his birthday cake:
Command central
I had this idea for a central place to store all of my trackers and household routine things - this is what I came up with: First, take a cheap cardboard ring binder ...
And pull hard on the ring binder mechanism - it should just yank right off:
Next, decide what size you want your organiser to be. My pages are A5 (for those who don't work in A sizes, it's half a standard page size, so similar to half of an 8.5x11 inch sheet of paper if you're in the US). My organiser is 17.5 x 23.5 cm.
Cut the cardboard binder to the correct width (in my case 17.5 cm):
Then cut that piece to the correct height (in my case 23.5 cm):
Cover the cardboard in pretty paper. I spray mounted the cardboard to the paper and then used double-sided tape to fasten the paper at the back. You can see here that I have already punched holes in the cardboard for the next stage, but it can be done after covering
Voila, pretty front:
The back will look like this - don't worry, we'll pretty it up in a minute:
Now take your binder mechanism and place it at the top of the covered board. Mark the holes and punch them - I used my Cropadile. Attach the binder mechanism with some hot glue and a couple of coloured brads (paper fasteners):
Here is how the back looks - I smooshed some hot glue under the legs of the brads to make sure they stayed firmly attached:
Now cut a co-ordinating piece of paper slightly smaller than the board. Round the corners if you wish and glue to the back of the board (I used spray mount):
Voila, my cute little organiser:
So what did I put on it? Well, first up is a sheet detailing my routines. I like this to be on top so that anyone else in my household can see what needs doing without being asked and hopefully chip in to help (hey, I can dream, right?)
This sheet is laminated so I can cross things off with a dry-wipe marker if I want to. I left a little tab on the side for easy turning, and added a red epoxy sticker for fun:
Next up are my Weight Watchers trackers. I make my own trackers. They include the correct number of daily points for me (19), a place to track my servings of fruit / veg, how many glasses of water I've drunk, whether I've taken my EPA supplements and even a spot to jot down how many steps I did if I'm wearing my pedometer:
See on the right, I've made some little tabs to easily turn to the next section:
Next up are my Motivated Moms trackers - printed on lilac paper for fun:
The next section is for meal planning and it's a system I've not actually tried yet so I'm not sure how it will work for me. It was inspired by this blog post. Basically I've gone through the recipe books that I cook from (all Weight Watchers books) and made little cards referencing the recipes that we like:
Each card has the name of the recipe, how many points it is, which book it's in (and on which page), how long it takes to cook, any notes I have and then at the bottom is a list of ingredients that I need to put on my shopping list. I've not listed all of the items in the recipe because most are basics that I will always have in the house - I've only noted the ones that will need to be bought in in preparation for making that meal. On the top right is a symbol showing if it's a recipe made with beef, lamb, poultry, pork, fish or vegetarian.
The idea is that each week I will choose 6 recipes and jot the ingredients onto my shopping list and pop the cards onto the front of the meal planner - I've used double sided tape to stick some punched circles on, the cards slot in behind the circles:
The rest of the cards are stored behind in a cello envelope - I just stuck the envelope to the meal planner with the adhesive on the flap:
So each night I will flip to my meal organiser, decide which meal I'm making the next day, take whatever necessary out of the freezer to defrost, and return the card to the back of the meal planner.
So that's my organiser! I had considered including my to do list but decided I prefer to take it everywhere with me (I use an A6 spiral notepad). I also considered including my weekly shopping list but prefer to leave that in the kitchen drawer where my family is used to finding it. But what I love about this organising system is that it is totally customisable and can evolve with my needs!
And pull hard on the ring binder mechanism - it should just yank right off:
Next, decide what size you want your organiser to be. My pages are A5 (for those who don't work in A sizes, it's half a standard page size, so similar to half of an 8.5x11 inch sheet of paper if you're in the US). My organiser is 17.5 x 23.5 cm.
Cut the cardboard binder to the correct width (in my case 17.5 cm):
Then cut that piece to the correct height (in my case 23.5 cm):
Cover the cardboard in pretty paper. I spray mounted the cardboard to the paper and then used double-sided tape to fasten the paper at the back. You can see here that I have already punched holes in the cardboard for the next stage, but it can be done after covering
Voila, pretty front:
The back will look like this - don't worry, we'll pretty it up in a minute:
Now take your binder mechanism and place it at the top of the covered board. Mark the holes and punch them - I used my Cropadile. Attach the binder mechanism with some hot glue and a couple of coloured brads (paper fasteners):
Here is how the back looks - I smooshed some hot glue under the legs of the brads to make sure they stayed firmly attached:
Now cut a co-ordinating piece of paper slightly smaller than the board. Round the corners if you wish and glue to the back of the board (I used spray mount):
Voila, my cute little organiser:
So what did I put on it? Well, first up is a sheet detailing my routines. I like this to be on top so that anyone else in my household can see what needs doing without being asked and hopefully chip in to help (hey, I can dream, right?)
This sheet is laminated so I can cross things off with a dry-wipe marker if I want to. I left a little tab on the side for easy turning, and added a red epoxy sticker for fun:
Next up are my Weight Watchers trackers. I make my own trackers. They include the correct number of daily points for me (19), a place to track my servings of fruit / veg, how many glasses of water I've drunk, whether I've taken my EPA supplements and even a spot to jot down how many steps I did if I'm wearing my pedometer:
See on the right, I've made some little tabs to easily turn to the next section:
Next up are my Motivated Moms trackers - printed on lilac paper for fun:
The next section is for meal planning and it's a system I've not actually tried yet so I'm not sure how it will work for me. It was inspired by this blog post. Basically I've gone through the recipe books that I cook from (all Weight Watchers books) and made little cards referencing the recipes that we like:
Each card has the name of the recipe, how many points it is, which book it's in (and on which page), how long it takes to cook, any notes I have and then at the bottom is a list of ingredients that I need to put on my shopping list. I've not listed all of the items in the recipe because most are basics that I will always have in the house - I've only noted the ones that will need to be bought in in preparation for making that meal. On the top right is a symbol showing if it's a recipe made with beef, lamb, poultry, pork, fish or vegetarian.
The idea is that each week I will choose 6 recipes and jot the ingredients onto my shopping list and pop the cards onto the front of the meal planner - I've used double sided tape to stick some punched circles on, the cards slot in behind the circles:
The rest of the cards are stored behind in a cello envelope - I just stuck the envelope to the meal planner with the adhesive on the flap:
So each night I will flip to my meal organiser, decide which meal I'm making the next day, take whatever necessary out of the freezer to defrost, and return the card to the back of the meal planner.
So that's my organiser! I had considered including my to do list but decided I prefer to take it everywhere with me (I use an A6 spiral notepad). I also considered including my weekly shopping list but prefer to leave that in the kitchen drawer where my family is used to finding it. But what I love about this organising system is that it is totally customisable and can evolve with my needs!
I'm a winner!
There are quite a few giveaways in the blogging world. Some people love anything that's free, but I only enter a giveaway if I really, really want the item. When I saw this beautiful Bliss necklace on the Metallo Bianco Jewelry blog I fell in love and posted my comment on the giveaway post.
Imagine my delight when I won! Here is the exquisite necklace - it is so delicate and pretty and I love the slightly brushed finish.
Please click on over to the Metallo Bianco Jewelry shop and have a look around - you will be amazed at this talented artist's work. And no, she didn't ask me to big her up on my blog, I just wanted to show off my beautiful necklace!
Imagine my delight when I won! Here is the exquisite necklace - it is so delicate and pretty and I love the slightly brushed finish.
Please click on over to the Metallo Bianco Jewelry shop and have a look around - you will be amazed at this talented artist's work. And no, she didn't ask me to big her up on my blog, I just wanted to show off my beautiful necklace!
12 March 2010
NZ update
Grant has emailed asking when he can resit the maths test and has had a reply that they will get right onto it and let him know a date a.s.a.p. We are hopeful that it will be soon!
P.S. I've had some enquiries as to how Pukekohe is pronounced - no, it doesn't start with "puke"! It is Pook-a-ko-hee. So I guess it starts with "poo". Hmm, not sure that's any better!! LOL
P.S. I've had some enquiries as to how Pukekohe is pronounced - no, it doesn't start with "puke"! It is Pook-a-ko-hee. So I guess it starts with "poo". Hmm, not sure that's any better!! LOL
9 March 2010
Neat Ideas
I had a lovely weekend scrapbooking with my friend Karen, so no "what I wore to church" post this week. No layouts to share either since I haven't photographed or scanned them. But I had a fabulous time and we managed to demolish a large banoffee pie between the three of us (Karen, Grant and me) - I'm not sure that I want to look at the scales at Weight Watchers tomorrow!!
I wanted to share my new venture here - I've decided to put up a website for my organising business. I had originally planned to launch it in New Zealand but then I thought what the heck, it costs so little to put up a website and if clients call then great, if they don't then it's fine. So here it is (CLICK HERE launch the site):
(I wanted the name Neat Freak, since most people think I'm a freak for getting excited about organising when they just feel completely overwhelmed, but there's already a Neat Freak professional organiser in New Zealand and since it's a small pond I didn't want to duplicate that name.)
I wanted to share my new venture here - I've decided to put up a website for my organising business. I had originally planned to launch it in New Zealand but then I thought what the heck, it costs so little to put up a website and if clients call then great, if they don't then it's fine. So here it is (CLICK HERE launch the site):
(I wanted the name Neat Freak, since most people think I'm a freak for getting excited about organising when they just feel completely overwhelmed, but there's already a Neat Freak professional organiser in New Zealand and since it's a small pond I didn't want to duplicate that name.)
4 March 2010
The penthouse suite
I think we've mentioned here before that Grant's parents invested with us in buying the house we're in now and they use the "penthouse suite" - the three bedrooms (one of which is converted to kitchen / living room) and bathroom on the top floor - when they are over here visiting from South Africa.
I decided to share some photos here, now that I've photographed all of the rooms for our real estate listing. First, here's a floorplan of the top floor:
This is standing at the top of the stairs facing back towards the landing - you can see our bedroom below (orange quilt on the bed). The guest room is straight ahead, Grant's parents' bedroom is to the left of that (you can't see the door) and the door you can see on the left is into their kitchenette / living room. Behind me is the bathroom.
On the landing facing the bathroom (standing in the guest room doorway). You can see the bathroom at the top of the stairs and the living room door to the right. I love the skylight, the light just pours in.
The bathroom. There's a shower over the bath and a glass screen. We fitted the towel rails - long enough to take bath sheets.
The living room / kitchenette:
The guest bedroom (I've shared these pictures here before):
Grant's parents' bedroom - these are old photos. It now has different curtains and there is artwork above the bed:
Anyone want to buy our house? We've had two buyers come and view so far - one of them came back for a second viewing yesterday. No offers yet.
I decided to share some photos here, now that I've photographed all of the rooms for our real estate listing. First, here's a floorplan of the top floor:
This is standing at the top of the stairs facing back towards the landing - you can see our bedroom below (orange quilt on the bed). The guest room is straight ahead, Grant's parents' bedroom is to the left of that (you can't see the door) and the door you can see on the left is into their kitchenette / living room. Behind me is the bathroom.
On the landing facing the bathroom (standing in the guest room doorway). You can see the bathroom at the top of the stairs and the living room door to the right. I love the skylight, the light just pours in.
The bathroom. There's a shower over the bath and a glass screen. We fitted the towel rails - long enough to take bath sheets.
The living room / kitchenette:
The guest bedroom (I've shared these pictures here before):
Grant's parents' bedroom - these are old photos. It now has different curtains and there is artwork above the bed:
Anyone want to buy our house? We've had two buyers come and view so far - one of them came back for a second viewing yesterday. No offers yet.
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