A new year, a new chapter...

OH MY! I knew I haven't been here a while but when I actually got on and looked I almost fell over!  I have been completely out of bloggersVille for so long.
My little family and I have had a crazy year, busy busy year but it has a been a good year.

In October we hit the high seas and went on a much longed for cruise holiday.  It was AH-mazing!!
We went on the P & O pacific Dawn.
We left Brisbane dock on Saturday 19th October at 2pm.  We sailed to 'Isle of Pines' then 'Mystery Isalnd', next stop was 'Suva, Fiji' then 'Port Denarau, Fiji'.  After that our final stop was 'Port Vila, Vanuatu' .  Honestly, it was the best holiday EVER!
The kids had an absolute ball as we adults did too.  We ate, swam, snorkled, got dressed up for dinners, saw shows and just had an awesome time!  I FULLY recommend it anyday!  The service too was 100% five star.  I honestly couldn't fault it.

 

 

 

The holiday was the best.  It was well deserved and we had the absolute best time.


Another BIG thing that has happened in our lives is that we have made the decision to move home.
It was a HUGE decision that encountered hours and hours of thought, discussion and forethought.
It was huge as I thought we'd be here, in 'our lil nest' for a very, very long time.  We have lived here for a tad over 7 years and have transformed our home from a 1990's rental to a beautiful, homely, snuggly nest for our family of 4.  It is bitter sweet.
There have been so many memories Good and bad here, but mostly all good.

We've had tons of kids parties, farewell parties, anniversary parties, bbq's, and good times in our garden.  Our children were babies when we moved in.
 Miss mimi was 4 and little T was 20 months old. Now they are big kids (8 and 10). 
We have painted, planted, built and changed this home with our finger print on it.  We have layed concrete with our names in it, buried our Jojo under our big tree and collected eggs from our chookies we had around the side (and sometimes finding them in the most bizzare spots). We had many nights in the back yard with the kids looking at the stars, having a backyard fire or playing soccer.  setting up cubbies in the loungeroom, baking many, many yummy things in my kitchen...with and without the kids. Playdough being rolled out on the dining table and having it walked through the house.  Just sitting with my husband out the back with a glass of wine, nibblies and catching up on the day whilst watching the kids swim in the pool with the neighbours kids..  I will forever remember constantly having cousins and kids run around this place making lots and lots of noise and mess.  I love that!!!
 Yep, I even at times,  envisioned seeing Miss Mimi walk out of here in her wedding dress when the time came.  I never actually thought we'd leave.

  Here are some recent pics of 'our nest'...

BUT...as I said with much mulling over what to do we have decided to sell our beloved home and move on. 
The reasons are very positive!
I know it will be ok.
The day the sign went up out the front, my heart shattered into a thousand pieces.  We had one open house.  That day we had 24 families come through and had 4 offers put down.  We were in utter shock.
The final offer we got was above and beyond what we ever though we would get, so all that hard work we had done certainly paid off.

The selling process was quick and easy...Just as well as I think I would have pulled out.  LOL!

As of next Tuesday, 17th December our lil family of 4 will be starting the next happy chapter of our lives.
We aren't moving far.  Just two suburbs over.  I will be honest, I don't cope well with change.  But I am looking forward to this as we have done this all for the right reasons and everything so far has just fallen into place.  Although it has been a hard decision to make we are super happy we made it.

We are about to make some new/more memories to carry with us forever!

Im going to continue this blog.  I'm kind of excited as I get to start again.  (décor/garden wise that is).  I hope you all stick with me and continue to follow me on this new journey...

Clean eating (and french toast recipe)

For some time now I have been dabbling in the whole clean eating thing.  To me it just sounds so good.  I Love the whole idea of not eating processed foods, sugary foods and fatty foods.

The whole idea behind eating 'clean' is just that...foods that are fresh, healthy, tastey and CLEAN.  The less ingredients your food has, the closer it is to its natural state is the way I want me and my family to eat.

Also, Ive never been one to label read...but Im learning.  The reason Ive never really been a label reader is because Ive never really understood what it all says entirely.
The beauty with clean eating is that if there is somthing on the label I dont understand, cant say or has numbers...ditch it!

Usually good food has normal, naturally grown ingredients.

Also, Im a shocker for calorie counting...yep, Ill admit it.  Ive always hated "dieting" and hate that you need to deprive yourself.

I love food and I think that everyone should have a good relationship with it.  Its our fuel.  What we eat REALLY is what we are.  Im such a believer in this!!

With my family having several health problems I decided that I would look into the whole clean eating way.
 None of us have ever been diagnosed with any food allergies or intolerances however the more i read about food and additives etc I firmly believe that food contributes heavily on our moods, emotions, energy levels, headaches, body aches and general funtioning of our day to day life.  Obviouse, I know but it took me a while to fully 'get it'.

My son tends to get very Hyper.  He has also been diagnosed with severe dust mite allergy.  He also suffers with asthma.  He also wasnt sleeping due to all this which I think then contributed to the hyper.  I realised that although we had to get the dust under control...I thought I would also try food elimination to see if it made any difference.
I cut sugar (replaced it with natural alternative such as as coconut palm sugar, xylotol and agave) cut back wheat and dairy (replaced with almond milk and with the exception of Natural greek yoghurt) and started usuing alot of healthier alternatives to most foods.
  For example cooking air popped popcorn instead of buying the rubbishy packet ones in the super market. (just pop a handful of kernals in a brown lunch bag, place in the microwave for 2.5 mins, spinkle lightly with celtic sea salt...done!)

I noticed after 2 weeks of this way of eating his allergies settled down, he was sleeping and he was so calm and happy.

After the 2 weeks I let he and his sister get macdonalds as a treat.  Within 1 hour he had headaches, felt sick and slept all afternoon.

My point has been made!  I need no more convincing.

My daughter very simular.  Although she doesnt suffer from the allergy side of things she is an extreemly emotional child.  Cries at the drop of a hat and cant controll herself.
After 2 weeks...I noticed improvements.

Now, with my husband its kind of a different story.  He has stomach ulcers.  He seems to have a sensitive stomach so I have had to be carefull with foods in general anyway. 

Again, I cut back all the dairy, wheat, sugar processed crap. 
I made sure I sent my hubby to work with a proper healthy protien filled morning snack, a healthy clean, protein filled lunch and again another afternoon tea that was healthy and clean.

He too has been noticing more energy, less lethargy and honestly...he just looks better in his skin, eyes, hair and also moods (hehe...dont tell him though)

As for myself...well I also suffer with allergies, asthma, sleeplessness, chronic tiredness (contradiction...I know, but its true) Ive also had chronic adrenal fatigue, depression blah, blah, blah...

Anyway, along with a load of other things (natropath, acupuncture, vitamins etc) I have found that eating, food, lifestyle exercise has really played a huge role in helping me feel better.

Although Im not 100% Ive come so, so far. 
Honestly, food CAN be used as medicine.  I used to be a little scepticle and thought yeah ...too hard.  Even though I knew it to be true it was always a bit hard to 'change' a lifestyle.

Ive never been a bad eater, big (alcahol) drinker and Ive always like to keep fit.  But I wasnt educated!!  What I thought was right in fact wasnt...well, I was on the right track but not hitting the mark.
Web sites such as www.sarahwilson.com.au have been kept in my favorites for super quick reference. 
Im not wanting to be a super waif super model with abs of steel, however I do want to be a 'fun' mum with loads of energy, happy and take pride in myself...to look AND feel great!!  I want shiny hair, good skin and nails, bright eyes and healthy weight...with energy to match.  I dont want to be depressed and miserable...which food CAN do!
 I want my kids and husband to be proud of me but most of all I want to feel happy within myself...which Im getting there.

Dont get me wrong.  My kids are still kids.  And unfortunalty have a sweet tooth. I still let my kids have chocolate on occation and let them go to parties...BUT in each and everyday at home we eat well balanced, healthy CLEAN, unprocessed foods.  Breakfast, lunch and dinner as well as snacks I strive to eat clean.


With that in mind...I would like to share what I made for my family this morning...

Clean French Toast...
Soak gluten free or sour dough bread in egg whites till soaked through.  Then fry you bread in coconut oil (which is very, very healthy) untill golden brown on each side.

Once cooked top with natural greek yoghurt, berries, goji berries, chia seeds and agave...sooooooo YUM!

 

 

One thing I want my kids to know is that you dont have to sit down to a plate of mung beans to be healthy...you can still have your sweet, savory, snacks, dips, burgers all that kids love but made with a healthy alternative...They too are getting it and I love that.  My kids Love to eat healthy and they do eat most of what I give them...high 5's to them!!

My market finds

About 2 weeks ago my husband and little T had a "day with the boys" doing boy things like surfing, fishing, bbq-ing and just well, being boys.  So Mis Mimi and decided 'why should the boys have all the fun?' so we put on our prettiest dresses, our summeriest (is that a word) sandles on and headed to the markets.
We ventured to The Village MarketsLocated at Burleigh Heads state school at the beautiful Burliegh heads.
We had such a nice time.  Checking out all the vinatge clothing, homewares and food.

This was some gorgeouse glass bottles with Feathers attached...simply beautiful.

  This absolutly gorgeouse find was at a vintage stall selling genuine vinatge items...how totaly cute is this tray??

I thought these little photo props were cute.  Someone had made Glasses, red lips and mastouches on sticks...a bit cute I think.
It was so nice not being rushed by the boys.

After our wander around Miss mimi and I headed to James street  for a wonder around and some lunch which we had in a nice little vegetarian cafe...was delicouse!

After such a lovely day we came home and did a bit of plesant gardening, as the boys walked in deleriouse from exhaustion...all in all it was such a beautiful day!

Friday Brunch

Hello Friends!

Well how have your holidays been?  It has been so wonderful having my wonderful husband off work for a few days. 

Last friday, I had the extended family over (brother/wife/daughter, sister/husband/son & Daughter) for a long awaited family brunch.

It was a really nice day.
Everyone arrived at 10am.
We ate at 10.45am.  I had the newspaper, coffee and fresh flowers ready as I made the Hollondaise sauce for the eggs benadict,  while miss Mimi made the pancakes...all was wonderful as the morning progressed. 

Here are some pics...

 

I had a vintage, fresh, summer theme with lots of white, lace, glass and flowers.

 

I even used some of my own nannas milk jugs for vases, they were so pretty.

 

This particular one was my favorite!!!!.....

 

 

Here was the menu, placed on each plate...

 

 

 

I also had a mix of old plates to add to the vintage charm...

 

 

We had a very loverly morning/afternoon.  After brunch the kids swam in the pool and us adults lazed around, read, chatted and laughed.  It was so wonderful catching up with my siblings.