2022 Happenings

January

We started the new year with a lovely quiet night.

Eljay lost his fifth tooth on the 15th.

Tiger changed jobs on the 24th and switched to a four day week

We did a sleep study with Flinders University.

School started on the last day of the month. My babies are in year 6 and year 3!

The rail line that links WA to the East was damaged in severe storms.

February

The school year started well, both boys have lovely teachers.

Chai did swimming lessons at the beach.

Mask mandates commenced and adults had to wear face masks at all indoor public areas.

My Mum and Step Dad were here for a few days which was nice.

Chai has been losing so many teeth lately! He lost 3 this month!

I joined the school board and attended my first meeting. 

I did my first days paid work in 11 years.

The damage to the rail line is causing food shortages. There are a lot of empty shelves and stock shortages. Meat and eggs are in short supply as is toilet tissue, tissues and most packaged and canned food. We can still get fruit and veggies.

The rail line has now been fixed but we're told it'll still be weeks before shelves are fully stocked again.

March

WA opened it's boarders and let people from interstate and overseas enter WA.

Mask mandates were introduced for children from year three upwards. The boys both have to wear face masks at school and any indoor areas.

I did a few more days work. 

Chai graduated from his OT. He's now officially too tall to work with her anymore.

Chai turned eleven! We spent the day in Busselton and all had a great time. In the afternoon Poppy and Uncle S came over for afternoon tea then we went out for a pizza dinner. It was a lovely day.

I'm having to shop every day as the supermarket shelves are quite bare. 

I did a few more days work.

I became the Vice President of the P and C.

COVID is everywhere.

Eljay lost another tooth. It came out while he was at school. This was tooth number six. 

Food prices have gone up drastically.

Petrol is now over $2 per litre.

April

Despite the rail line being fixed the shelves still have bare patches.

School holidays! Eljay wasn't happy about the holidays as he loves school. Chai was happy because he's not enjoying school.

Petrol prices have gone back to a more affordable level (around $1.70 per litre). 

Easter was lots of fun.

We're still wearing masks and COVID is still everywhere.

Chai's psych is very worried about his tics and thinks that he need a new assessment done. If only we could get in to a paediatrician.

My StepDad painted our living areas, it looks so good. White and fresh and lovely. 

The weather is starting to cool down, it'll be fire weather soon.

May

I worked a lot this term. It was fun, I'm really enjoying it. 

Covid got us all this month. Chai bought it home from school and within two days we all had it. It was a very wet, cold week so being in iso wasn't too bad.  

The fatigue lasted for about six weeks, that was tough.

June 

Uncle W is now with us full time. It's lovely having him around. 

Both boys ran their school cross country and did really well. Chai improved his place significantly. Last year he beat one person, this year he beat seven people.

Eljay came second which meant he got to go to the interschool cross country.

Chai saw the paediatrician and had another diagnosis added to his list. 

July

This month the boys discovered roller skating. I'd never taken them as I didn't think they'd like it, but we had a birthday party at the skating ring and they loved it, so now we go there regularly. 

Eljay ran at the interschool cross country and did so well that he was invited to the state cross country.

The July school holidays were wet! 

The new skate park opened in the second week of the holidays so we spent every non wet day there.

August

Eljay turned nine!

He also ran at the state cross country and did really well. I think he has real potential and he loves running so we're going to practise more and see how he goes next year. 

Hubby turned 49. 

Eljay had a birthday party to go to. 

We all got a cold but it was mild, thankfully. 

The boys had book week at school. Eljay dressed up as pikachu and Chai dressed up as Lazerbeam. They both looked awesome.

I applied for the pool recruitment, it was not fun. I really don't like writing selection criteria.

Fuel has finally gone down in price a little. 

Food prices have gone way up, it's ridiculous. 

Dad broke his foot when a lump of wood fell on it.

September

I got into the pool recruitment!

Chai lost another tooth.  

The big skate park opened.

Term three ended and the school holidays were here. 

Mum and SD came to visit for a few days.  

The boys had their school disco.

Chai got a head injury and seven stitches at the skate park.

Eljay went away with Uncle and cousin for a night. It was his second night away from me and his first night being away without Chai being there. 

The fuel excise cut ended and fuel prices went up again. 

Food is still difficult to find. Tissues are always out of stock and other things are randomly unavailable. This month capsicum, cucumber and cheese have been difficult to find. 

The boys Grandad (FIL) was admitted to hospital with a chest infection.

October

The weather started to warm up then changed it's mind and cooled down again. 

Term four started. It's Chai's last term of primary school!

Chai started a gradual transition to high school.

I'm still working two days per week. 

Eljay started Little Athletics.

The boys Grandad had a small stroke whilst in hospital.

Our local skate park opened. The boys love being able to go there after school.

Eljay quit Little Athletics after two sessions.

The boys had their sports carnival and both did really well.

Grandad had a small stroke. He's recovering well.  

We finally got another trampoline and the boys were thrilled.

I got a contract at work!

The boys loved halloween. Chai went to a party at a friends house, Eljay, H, Tiger and I went trick or treating. It was really cold so H and I went back to her house whilst Tiger and Eljay drove around.

Chai had a great time at the Halloween party and didn't want to come home. 

November

Aunty K moved into her new home. 

The train lines have been damaged again so mail is taking ages to arrive and food shortages are back again (not that they ever went away).

I went out to dinner with my work ladies. They're such a lovely group of women, I really like them. 

I got a permanent position at work! At this stage it's one day a week but who knows what will happen next year. 

I'll be working 3 days a week, 1 day is a permanent day and the other two days are under a contract. Hopefully they'll become permanent too.

I was asked to take over as the chairperson of the school board. As of next year I'm the new school board chairperson.

Chai has been doing a transition to high school which cumulated in two full days there.

The boys Grandad got covid but thanks to antivirals is recovering okay. 

 

December

Grandad got out of hospital. 

Covid cases are rising again.

Mail is still taking up to 4 weeks to arrive.

Food shortages are still happening.

Summer is here. We didn't get Spring, we went straight from 15 degree days to 30 degree days.

Chai graduated primary school!

School holidays started! 

We spent a lot of time at the beach, the boys love it and are getting really good at boogie boarding.

Grandma, Grandad and Uncle S came down for a few days over Christmas.

Christmas day was busy, we had a house full of friends and family.

New Years Eve was spent with good friends. It was the perfect night and the first time we've seen in the new year in about 12 years. 

Happy New Year everyone! Here's hoping 2023 is kind to us.

 

Nourish London Antioxidant Multi-Tasking Super Balm

 

A few months ago I was sent the Nourished London Antioxidant Multi-Tasking Super Balm to review. Now that I've been using it daily for over two months it's time for my review. 

It's no secret that I love a multi-purpose product. Anything with multi-purpose or multi-tasking in the name gets me every time. I love a product that I can put on my bench or in my handbag and use for lots of different things.

My skin has been struggling lately. I'm not sure if it's allergies, peri menopause or stress, but my skin has been really sensitive and irritated. Everything I put on it stings and even rubbing in lotion can cause a reaction. I've stripped back my routine to absolute basics. This Nourish London balm has been one that made the cut. 

This comes with a muslin cloth and can be used as a moisturiser, cleanser and face mask.

I've been using it as my cleanser, day cream, night cream and once a week I'll put on a thick layer as a face mask. It's very gentle and soothing so doesn't irritate my skin at all, even when it's super sensitive and irritated. 

I've also been using it on Mr 9. He has sensitive skin that's prone to irritation. At the moment his face is really sensitive so I've been using a light layer of Super Balm on his face at night to hydrate and ease the sensitivity. 

 

Despite daily use I've barely made a dent in my pot so I'm hoping it will last a long time. 

You can purchase Nourish London products from TVSN or from their website. 

TVSN currently have a great set on clearance for $59.95 that has the Super Balm, a pillow spray and a face roller. I'm so tempted to get it!

FFS Friday - Battery exhausted

Hello beauties. How are you all? Holding onto that last shred of sanity? Same.

I'm feeling very relieved. The school year is over, I've done my last day of work for the year and now I can relax. There are a few things to do to prepare for christmas but the mad rush is done.

 

My big boy has finished primary school! There was a while there I didn't think I'd say that. I thought we'd be homeschooling so he wouldn't get to graduate primary school. How lucky we are that he got to finish out his primary school years at such a gorgeous school. 

 

Going there has been truly life changing for us. The boys have thrived, we've all made new friends and I got a job there! I had no idea what I was going to do for work after I had the boys, but now I find that I love working at a school. It's not something I would have ever considered, how lucky am I that I stumbled into it.

 

The last few weeks have been crazy. The boys had so much going on at school, I had a lot going on at work and I was trying to get everything finished for christmas. Thankfully the boys last present arrived yesterday. I just have to pick up one more thing for them, get a little gift to add into my bff's present and then other than christmas lunch I'm done.  

We don't have much planned for the holidays. We might go away for a few nights but other than that I just plan to enjoy the boys, laze around the house and relax. Next year is already looking like it's going to be busy, so I want to be well rested and ready to go. 

Have a lovely weekend.

FFS Friday - Cherry on top

Hello beautiful people. How are you all? I am tired. Tired, drained, mentally and emotionally exhausted.

I've decided that Christmas sucks. It's just way too much hard work. All done by the women.

 

Whilst the men sit around happily doing nothing, the women are left to organise everything. We organise the presents, the school events, the secret santa gifts, the teacher gifts, the Christmas lunch/dinner, elf on the shelf and everything else that goes along with Christmas. It's so much hard work and I'm just not here for it. 

 

Last Sunday we went to a Christmas event for the kids. I had to buy a gift for both of the boys so they could get a present from Santa. When we were waiting for Santa to arrive hubby asked me if the boys were getting a gift. I told him they were and he asked me how much I had paid them for the gift. I told him that I'd bought the present, wrapped it and given it to the staff (whilst he was standing right next to me). He'd been oblivious to it all. I'd emailed to say that we would attend the event, I'd sent back the registration form, put it on the calendar and made sure we were all there on time.

 

If I did nothing, there would be no Christmas. No events, no meal, no guests, nothing at all.

 

As if all the organising wasn't stressful enough, school has upped the ante this year. Chai has had three excursions in the past two weeks. Next week (the last week of school), they've pulled out all the stops. Chai has his grade six graduation plus a birthday party. Eljay has two fun play days where he has to wear bathers, take a change of clothes, give a secret santa gift to another student and take dishwashing liquid for a slip and slide. 

This weekend we have to find a birthday present for the party Chai's going to, get the secret santa gift for Eljay and make gifts for seven teaching staff.

Added to all that I'm working every day next week and stupidly agreed to go in the work secret santa thing so I have to bring a gift for a colleague two days next week. 

Did I mention that my car isn't running at the moment? Thursday it started making a really awful noise which turned out to the the brakes. Tiger is a mechanic so started fixing it on Friday, but as it's VW it's not as simple as that so what would normally be a quick job has turned into a huge deal. Poor Tiger. I will never again buy a european car. They're way too expensive and complicated to fix. Having said that, it was Tiger would bought this car, I would have happily stuck with my Commodore. 

I'm also in the midst of organising for next year. I have to sort out the boys uniforms and books, figure out Chai's therapy schedule and work out how I'm going to manage to be in two places at the same time Monday to Friday next year. 

I need a rest!

I hope you are all surviving the silly season with a little sanity in tact. Have a wonderful weekend beautiful people and always remember you are perfect exactly as you are and your presence is a gift to the world.

Thoughts of the week

1. Two weeks until school's out. Not that I'm counting or anything.

2. Summer has arrived with a vengeance. I was not at all prepared for it.

3. Have you ever thought about how much Christmas sucks for Mums?

4. On that, I don't know what it's like at your house, but in my house nothing would happen for Christmas if I didn't arrange it and that sucks.

5. Who's been shopping lately? Bought anything fun?