Sub Categories and Linkies

So here I am ready to start my first new official blog post and I don't know where to begin!! I have sooo many ideas for topics and they are racing around in my head!

Image By Awesome-Kathi @ Deviant Art

So I was thinking that until I catch up I'll break it down into 5 categories and then I thought hey why not start up some crazy linkies and then I can find out who does what I do and I can start following their blogs too! So although I know this is going to start off slow I am going to start up some weekly blog posts and linkies.

1: Pimp My House

This is where I am going to be telling you about all the house renovations/decor I have done/doing/going to do! And OMGoodness I absolutely want to see what you guys are doing because I NEED all the ideas and tips I can get, maybe we can all help each other, start a support group called "I can't stop renovating my house"

2: I {Heart} Being a Mum

I am, like a million other mothers out there, overwhelmed with my job as a mother. I sometimes suck and I make major mistakes and I have regrets, but without a doubt I love my kids unconditionally. They are my whole world. This is where I'll talk about my kids and my life as a mother who juggles 500 hats just like every other mother I know. I'm not perfect but I am a FANTASTIC mother to my kids. Yep and I want you to all feel the same way about yourselves so this is where I want YOU to celebrate how awesome YOU are as a mother too!

3: Heading Off The Grid

I have future plans of living in the middle of nowhere as self-sufficiently as possible only doing the things I love and the things I need to live.  I am becoming more passionate in wanting a cleaner life for me and my family. I want to share my journey with you in this dream. If you are living this lifestyle or trying to I absolutely want to know about it all!!! I'm new at this and I absolutely want to learn as much as I can. I also really want to start being so much more environmentally friendly and start trying harder to make my families Eco Footprint much much smaller.

4: Crafting Keeps Me Sane

I started this blog as a craft blog, it has evolved into more than I could have imagined, but I am still a passionate crafter. So please as I share mine I want to see yours too! Any kind of crafting counts I don't mind, I just love seeing people making things with their own hands!!

5: Free to be Me

Life has changed for me a lot over the last 6 years and I have changed in many ways, I've made life choices that were great and some not so much, I have experienced a whole lot of new challenges and obstacles that I have worked my way through.  I have grown and I feel like I'm in a good place in my life right now. This is where I will share my life journey in finding out who I am as a person, take away the mother label and who am I? Lets find out together!! And please share with me who you are too!

I'm really looking forward to getting back in the blogging world and sharing and learning with the blogging community again.
Please if you stop by make a comment, even if it's only a 'HI' I'd love to be able to repay the visit and get to know you too, if you have blogs or otherwise.

So thanks for coming along for the ride!! I hope you enjoy it as much as I hope to!

Domestic Goddess - Dream? Or Reality? - UPDATE

Well I think for me this is actually a dream!! My house is not spotless, I have not had amazing dinners set out on the table at meal times and my husband is still not walking through the door .... but in saying this there has been improvement in some areas.
While my Daily schedule hasn't been followed perfectly (I blame being sick and the silly season) I have become more organised in the mornings. This is my Basic Daily Routine ....

7.30am Get Up

Get kids breakfast
empty and load dishwasher
Put washing machine on
Decide on dinner & get meat out
Make School lunch & pack school bag
Make sure everyone is dressed
Make beds & pull curtains
Clean up after Breakfast

8.30 School Drop Off
9ish Home again

Hang out washing
Clean one room in the house - each day is different mine goes
- Monday - Kitchen
- Tuesday - Lounge & Dining
- Wednesday - Bathroom
- Thursday - Bedrooms
- Friday - Craft room

now that means dusting, moping/vacuuming wiping benches etc so a GOOD clean, if I was on top of things and did this every week I estimate no more than 1/2 hour - 1 hour for each room

Abbey time until she goes to bed 11 - 12ish depending on if she goes to Kindy that day

While Abbey is asleep ME time, so it can be whatever, crafting, sleeping, reading, watching TV, Computer anything.

When Abbey wakes up - either Kindy drop-off or School pick-up time is again Abbey time

2.45 school pick up
3.15 - 4ish (depending on Kindy Day) Home

Afternoon tea
Homework
Bring in fold & put away washing
dinner prep & cook

5.30 - 6ish dinner

after dinner clean up from dinner
Homework if it hasn't already been done
watering garden

7pm bath time
7.30ish bedtime

And then again Me time

Now I DO NOT stick to that, obviously or I'd have a spotless house and 100% happy and content children and mouth watering dinners. Anyone who has kids knows nothing can be concrete, and there are often other things that need doing on certain days etc. One thing I have noticed though is I do pretty much get everything on the list done that needs to be done before School, pretty good achievement I think!! So maybe next week I can work on getting the before school stuff and the after school drop off stuff, and eventually by the end of next year I might be sorted???

Like I said I think me becoming a Domestic Goddess is a Dream - and hey Dreams are Free right!!???

Domestic Goddess - Dream? Or Reality?

I've always wanted to be one, I always dreamed that I'd have a mouth watering dinner waiting and a spotless house when my husband walked in the door.
It never happened that way, I always wanted it to happen that way but well I'm just lazy! And I also get distracted REAL easy! On occassion it happened, but not ALL the time like I wanted it to.
I still strive to be a Domestic Goddess, even though I no longer have a husband to walk in the door. So I wrote up a daily scedule. I HATE house work, I never have time but my Mum keeps telling me if I do a little every day I'll be right so tomorrow MONDAY! I am going to try and become a Domestic Goddess, if not for Jase, for my kids, I don't want to be the lazy cake Mum, I also don't want to let my grief swallow me up, so writing about it makes me responsible for it ... right!??? I did say I was lazy and distract easy aye!
Another thing I want to do is become that fun Mum my kids had before we lost Jason. I really want to start having fun with my kids again so watch this space for a little idea I'm gonna make to help me with that, and any ideas .. ALWAYS welcome!

Busy Busy Girl :)

I have been very busy today ....

I have completed two Lo's, made Homemade pizza for dinner and a lasagne for tomorrow night. I have baked a choc/coconut slice and we spent the afternoon at the beach with the kids, I feel like a domestic Goddess today hahahaha
Here are my LOs ... it has been a day for Riley :)




Now off to decide if I am going to cook a banana cake, ice my slice or curl up on the couch with a movie!?

Getting the groove slowly

I haven't had much luck with scrapping of late, had a HUGE scrappers block period, and the whole smashing clock incident wasn't very good!! But At least I am creating again. I have been trying to spend more "quality" time together as a family on the weekends, as we seem to have become a family of couch potatoes!! Today we spent the day at the Auckland Museum and feeding pigens at the Domain after our picnic lunch, it was a fantastic day :) And I have also been trying to spend more quality time with Jason, as I'm usually in the garage in the evenings scrapping, so I need to find time where I just scrap now!! Things are a changing in the Palmer household!! I'm not really sure how some women do everything, they craft, are wonderful parents, amazing wifes, their house is ALWAYS immaculate. I can do maybe 1 really well 1 pretty well and the others half-assed!! But anyway I digress away from the layout I did this weekend it was while doing this layout I got frustrated with the lack of Halloween scrapbooking stuff in NZ. Halloween has always been a big favourite of mine, and my friends and I Have been having Halloween paties for a long time. So of course marrying an American gives me an excuse to throw a big Halloween bash every year for the kids. So we will end up with a Halloween layout for each kid every year. So I NEED Halloween scrapping stuff!! And this is where I say "I LOVE THE FISKATEERS" I asked and 11 wonderful Halloween packages should be making their way to me!! I am sooo excited!! But I'm not a beggar and I don't expect something for nothing so there will be 11 NZ goody bags winding their way back to these generous ladies!! I am soo looking forward to making some awesome Halloween pages for the kids :)