500!

It's taken me three years almost to the day but I've made it to five hundread  posts!
When I started I was pregnant with Charlie and had two little boys that both had afternoon naps. I thought my life was busy then. Pfft. If only I knew then what I know now.
So this is a round up post, a few favourite or important posts, go check out these it really has been a crazy busy three years! Bring on the next three years!

Michael turned 28

Baby Charlie is born

I became a school mum. The first time.

Mr. Messy

My James

That time we got stuck

The beginning of James dino obsession

I smashed up our new car

I took half naked photos and posted them around the internet

We spill the beans about Bubba Will

Big health scare

We found out what colour baby we were having

I snuck off for 24 hours

Bubba Will joined the family

I choped all my hair off like a royal idiot

So there you go three years and 500 posts and here is the express version in just 15 posts! Ha!

Cheap kids fun

Well it's been two and a half weeks since Michael and I started our money detox. I haven't blogged about it, but were doing pretty badly. Before we even started this happened. Now because Michael hadn't officially started his job he didn't have any holidays up his sleeve so taking a week off to drive fourteen hours away for one day then drive all the way home means we have been chewing through our savings instead of adding to them. That's why you have saving though right? Anyway we knew Michael wouldn't be getting paid for a few weeks and we'd have to be careful so I've been avoiding the shops as much as possible. The end of year sales are killing me!

It's been school holidays here this week (and next week) so to keep the boys busy and happy I bought some cheap crafty activities and they are loving them.

I got this idea from Pinterest, it was done with plastic eggs but that looked like an expensive pain. James is doing so well with his reading and writing since starting Prep and his teacher suggested letter and word games to keep him busy over the holidays so this is my take on that. Find the upper case and lower case letters and put them together. I love craft stuff that doesn't make a huge mess that the boys can do independently. 

So a 100 packet of paddle pop sticks costed about $3. Cheap right? 

My Charlie needs to be in on whatever is going on so I grabbed some $4 textas and made these real quick. It's simple just put the two sticks together to make the shape. He spent ages at the table doing this and telling me 'mum! circwle!' 

Cheap picture book stuck on paddle pop sticks, wait for it to dry cut the sticks apart and tada! Simple easy puzzle. 

Patterns and colours. awesome right? Ice cube trays were $4 for a pack of 2. Pom poms were $2 a packet and mini tongs were $5 for a pack of 3. 

He's got his concentrating face on. 

I love activities that they can get out and put away themselves, is some what educational, and covers all three age groups. This one has been on high rotation this week. Gotta be happy with that! 

Sleep is for the weak!

It's been ten days since I've blogged and I'm feeling so out of the loop. 

William and I had sorted out a bit of a night time routine bath, bottle, bed by 6pm. I wouldn't see his little face again until 3am-ish, and I was happy with that, I could sit and eat dinner with my big boys clean the kitchn, get everyone to bed, fold washing maybe knock out a blog post. Then last week William decided he was missing out on some family time and started waking after an hours sleep and would scream the house down until he passed out (see above picture) or I fed him back to sleep. This means that I am basically passing out once I get him to bed and not even considering opening my computer or my dishwasher which we all know just makes the next day so much worse. 

Who ever knew having four kids would be so busy? 

Fashion Fun~The Animal

When I got dressed for school this morning I decided Monday morning needed a little animal print fun. 

A little animal print on my shoes

A little more in my hair. 

A plain black singlet a short sleeve cardi, some skinny jeans and I'm ready to go

Well almost ready to go, just have to take some selfies first. Obviously. 

Running

On Friday my big boys had their sports carnival, neither of my boys won a ribbon but they had such a good time and really that's all that mattered. I was so busy trying to keep up with both of them thankfully Michael was with me so he could chase after Charlie and watch the kid that I wasn't watching. God knows how I'll do it in a few years when I have to keep an eye on all three of them. 

I won't bore the hell out of you all with a million pictures but these are some of my favourites.

He cracks me up this kid. 

Go!

Two hours following around your mum and dad, cheering on your big brothers is hard work. Must have a sit down on someone else's chair. 

House Love Part 1

Michael and I have been together for almost 8 years. In that time we've lived in no less than 9 houses. The maximum time we've ever lived in one house was 12 months. I know, you want to be me don't you?

So we've just signed another lease so from next month we will have been in this house for 12 months. So instead of packing and bond cleaning I have this need to re-organise and clean. I have such an exciting life don't I?

So on my list is the pantry, the linen cupboard, my clothes and this mess. 

This is what it looked like before, and no matter how much I tried it kept creeping further and further out towards the rest of the house and in the words of Marge Simpson, I spend 23 and a half hours a day in this house you cant escape me! 

In case you couldn't tell it was all me that was doing it the boys were just watching me like I was a mad woman. Which to be fair is probably what I looked like. 

It took two hours but I managed to cull an entire toy box of stuff and the joy I got from getting the dust and dirt from behind the bookshelf and toy boxes was not proper. 

The finished product! It's been a few days and it still looks pretty much like this. 

And if they do make a mess and don't put everything away its not staring at me. 

Next a big vinyl sticker for that blank wall above their little chairs and I'm done. 

Now what to do next pantry or linen cupboard? 

Crazy Week

This is not my story to tell, and usually I wouldn't tell it but I can't stop thinking about it which means I need to spew it forth.

This week has been a crazy week. Every week is a crazy week but this week was bigger somehow. Michael's roster fell on a bad lot of days and he was gone over the long weekend, I had two kids with nits, 2 snotty kids, swimming lessons. You get the picture.
I was cranky, crabby, frustrated, I'd had enough of it all. I was caught up in my own mess. This morning Michael rang me early and I knew something was wrong. A cousin of his had passed away over night, same family that this happened to last year. That's unimaginably awful. I stopped what I was doing and gave all my boys an extra big cuddle, the fear of getting nits put aside. These small people make my life crazy but I love them big time and I know its cliched but I'd do anything for them.

This afternoon at school pick up I was still thinking about what had happened earlier in the day, while I stood there waiting for the bell to ring, (I just wanted to see my school kids and cuddle the hell outta them) I watched a mum lose her shit at her kid. Big time. It all started with a playground argument between two little girls. Not anything that doesn't happen everyday, except today this mum decided to get in the middle of it. Now what she did was inexcusable and from the looks on the faces of the mums around me I wasn't the only one who thought so. If I wasn't too shocked to move I would have scooped up that little girl and run. I know all parents lose it sometimes and those who say they don't are lying. I don't know what happens behind closed doors or in their family but it was major, and so not excusable, no matter what is going on.

I'm a worrier and everyday I worry that the boys haven't eaten enough veggies, drunk enough water, spent enough time outside with their friends. I worry that I haven't given them enough time to tell me something or show me something. I worry that Charlie isn't interested in toilet training. I worry that the three older boys  will resent William because he is always attached to me.
I did say I was a worrier.

After today I realise what I'm worrying about it what loads of mums worry about. It's a normal thing to be concerned about your kids whether its always or sometimes.
Now I have until 9am tomorrow morning to decide if I say something to this mum.
It really has been a crazy week.

5 Months

How did we get to 5 months already? 

This boy really is keeping me on my toes. Were still in no routine and he is defiantly running the show, I know the other three were in a fairly normal routine by 4 months but they were all having formula at every feed where Will is still only a bedtime formula baby. Will is also our only dummy loving baby so it's a whole new ball game. We haven't started solids yet but he has a taste of banana and spat most of it out. Soon enough he'll be eating us out of house and home and spraying everything in food. I'm happy to just pop a boob in is mouth just a little longer. 

I thought Charlie was stubborn but I think William is in a league of his own! 

Love the giggles that come out of this little face.

I love this picture, trying to catch the sunlight. Life looks so cool through the eyes of a 5 month old. 

See his 4 month photos here

Detox

If you know Michael or I you know were bad at saying no to each other. This is cute and funny when your talking about what movie to watch or what to have for lunch but when it's about important stuff it becomes a big problem.
Now Michael's got a proper permanent job we need to stop spending like it's all going to finish and get in a proper saving habit. We had a great plan of not spending any money, only spending money on  the essentials but there was always something, birthdays, mothers day. There's always something. So instead were giving ourselves pocket money for all those little things (Thankfully Dani is out of town for a month so no lunch dates for a while)
For a whole month starting Wednesday we are on a Spending detox. We have a target on how much we want to save (enough to buy Michael's 'new' car). If we can do that I'm going to put us on a slightly more flexible budget and we will save a house deposit.
Over the next month I'll be doing some posts on how to do things on the cheap and how to still have fun without spending so much and how were going.

So who wants to join in? Does a spending detox sound awful but necessary for you? 
Do you have any tips on how the hell I'm going to do this?!

My husband-the model

Check out my spunk of a husband. 

I'm equal parts embarrassed and proud to say he dressed himself. 

I may have bought it all for him, but he put it together. I was tempted to give him a gold star but realised it would ruin his outfit. 

K Mart pose anyone? 

His only request while I was taking his photo was we took one by his 'vessel' fair deal I guess. 

Sssh don't tell my husband

I love this guy. 

I love him lots. 

Even if he does put wine in the sodastream so he can get busy with the boozy fizzy. I'm very sorry Sodastream. 

For most of our relationship he has been working away and were used to it. At the moment he works away for five days and is home for five days. It takes a few days to get used to him being gone, and then it takes a few days to get used to him being around again. When he's gone I miss him like crazy and count down the sleeps til he is home. By his last day at home I'm sick of the chaos and mess and I'm ready to send him back to work. 

When he is at work our life runs much smoother and the house is much cleaner. How is that possible with double the adults in the house is still beyond me.  

When he is at work I am the only adult and what I say goes. I decide what were doing, where we are going, what time were going. I decide what were having for dinner. What were watching on TV. Everything. 

When Michael gets home everything seems to turn into a tornado and for most parts I quite like it, we go out to eat or he takes us or a drive, he is more spontaneous and makes me smile most of the day, and it's great until he goes back to work and I have to spend the next day cleaning up after cyclone hubby whilst muttering obscenities under my breath* Then after I've got the last boy to bed I get to sit in front of some trashy TV with some chocolate and my laptop and it's quiet. Oh so quiet. 

I really do love him, but its nice to get rid of him.

Now to figure out what I'm going to do when we retire. Apart from kill him, obviously. 

*Not so much under my breath, maybe more huffing and puffing and yelling. I don't know where my kids get it from.