Week-a-Boo

I've been missing! I do this a lot! Get taken away by different parts of my life that leave me with no time to blog! Usually it is school holidays as they are the busiest time for me with work. But I am back and boy oh boy have I missed my writing! I never knew how much of a big part it played in my life. I know this sounds silly but it was almost like something was missing! I love sharing my stories, my feelings, my life and my journey with you all and when I can't write something just isn't right. So here I am back with my favourite time of the week with my blog...WEEK- A- BOO

I had a wonderful weekend this weekend and enjoyed the special moments that I created with my husband and family. On Saturday we woke and the weather was just too beautiful to work or stay at home! Rob works most Saturdays but this particular Saturday we decided to throw everything out the window and enjoy the glorious sun that was peaking through our bedroom blinds! So Rob packed up the boat and I packed up a lunch and we headed down the coast with our wonderful neighbours. We arrived at the gorgeous Paradise Point and oh my goodness it was picture perfect! The water was crystal clear, the sun was shining and the ocean was screaming our names! We launched the boat and headed out for a day of fun in the sun. I love going out on the boat. Which for people who know me may think this comment is crazy as I get severe motion sickness. But with a dose of qwells and plenty of snacks I deal with the sickness. I just love being surrounded by water with the wind and slight ocean spray hitting my face. It is the best feeling in the world. We pulled up at our own little paradise. It was heaven. It was a little island in the gold coast waters and we had it all to ourselves. We talked and ate and enjoyed a massive dose of vitamin D. It was such a glorious day!

Saturday we headed off to a special 30th birthday party for Rob's boss' wife. It was 'red carpet' themed so we dressed up and headed out for a night of glamor. I had never met anyone there but it was nice to meet some new people and spend some quality time with Rob's new 'work family'.

 

This photo completely describes our Sunday....well our Sunday afternoon. We had a massive sleep in til 12.20 pm (woops) so we totally missed Sunday morning. In our defense we didn't get home from the 30th until 2.30am so we needed to catch up on our sleep! :-P We had some breakfast lunch and then got our butts into gear. We decided to do a massive cleanup of our house. From top to bottom we scrubbed! We scrubbed those ceilings, architraves, walls, skirtings, and floors like nobodies business. It was so disgusting to see the dirt that was on our walls. YUK! I never noticed it until we actually wiped it off! After the house was completely scrubbed down I went a bit crazy with the eucalyptus oil and water in a spray bottle. I sprayed it on every curtain, carpet, matress, pillow, lounge and fabric surface. Our home will be dust mite free! We have a huge job ahead of us as we are totally rearranging our home. Moving rooms to different rooms, changing furniture around. So although the house is free of dirt, dust and mould we still have a HUGE job ahead of us with de-cluttering and moving.  At the moment it looks like a bomb has hit it but hopefully by next weeks week-a-boo I can report a completed house :-) Fingers crossed! Wish me luck! 

Sunday nights are always spent at my parents house for 'family dinner'. It is a nice ending to the weekend where we can sit back, enjoy a beautiful dinner cooked by mum and dad, talk about our weeks and spend some quality time together. I also get to see my beautiful baby Roxy. She was my first puppy I bought who now lives with mum and dad.

 

~ My beautiful baby girl Roxy ~

 

 ~ Enjoying a cheeky ice cream ~

 ~ Mr Murphy - Mum and Dads Westie ~

So that was my perfect little weekend! 

It had a mixture of adventures and chores but the laughter didn't stop and the fun was never ending! 

How was your weekend? Did you have some special moments? 

Head over to Claire's special blog and share all of your joy with us! 

x S.K.K x

Grateful for L.O.V.E

...that special kind of love that comes hand in hand with my job!

I am so lucky to look after 3 beautiful children who light up my days!

For valentines day this year I received 3 very special cards...

 ~ from Mr 6 ~

 ~ from Mr 3 ~

  ~ from Miss 8 ~

These are so special and I will treasure them forever! They are a special reminder that my days are worth it and what I do each and every day for them is appreciated by them. I'm not their mummy or daddy but I'm there with them 5 days a week and we have a very special bond that can never be broken! I'm 'their Sarah'. It's a hard job...but this makes it worth it.

I am so grateful for their special love!

x S.K.K x

Back on the court

Last Thursday night I tied up the shoelaces, put on the orange singlet, put on the 'WA' bib and hit the netball court for the first time in ohhh ummmm 9 years I think it's been now! Driving up to the sport center I must admit I was so nervous! I started playing netball when I was 7 years old and it became my life! I was hooked! I don't know what it was about this game but I loved it! I loved being a part of a team, working hard and being the best. I made some AMAZING friendships through netball and I am still friends with most of them today! I trained hard, worked hard and it paid off! I still remember every coach I had and everything they taught me! You get where I'm going - I LOVED IT! 

Lately Ive been a bit blugh! I work by myself with no peers or adults around. Day in day out its just me and the 3 kids I look after. I get home and Rob is (80% of the time) asleep or not far from it! Let's just say my life lacks that adult conversation and fun! Yes I love playing building and ninjas and cheering on football and giving tips on ballet but I'm not a mum and Im only 25 so this should be MY time where I can let loose and have fun and be an adult with no children! So last week I decided that I wanted to start a team sport! This way I knew that once a week I can catch up with friends and have fun! We don't need to talk - just have fun - adult fun! So I rang up and signed us up that day and we played our first game last Thursday night! 

OMG I SUCKED - 9 years really does change a person! hahah I couldn't catch, I couldn't throw I felt like a 'newbie'! In my defense we are playing mixed netball so catching and throwing to a boy is a lot harder than a girl hahah THEY THROW SO HARD :( arrr toughen up princess! This week was a little better! I caught a few more balls and got a few good passes in hahah I'm sure I will improve a bit more every week as I gain confidence! I have a fantastic team and we have fun together! I also get to play with my husband which is a DOUBLE bonus! Looking forward to a great season of fun, laughter and hopefully some wins ;-)

 

~ After my first netball game 1993 ~

x S.K.K x

SMILE!

CHEESE!!!

Have a 'SMILEY' day everyone ;-)

x S.K.K x

Drawings

We were drawing at work and I asked the kids to draw a picture for me to put on my wall! This is what Miss 8 drew for me! Their minds are so beautiful x

I will treasure this forever

x S.K.K x

Let's Build!

The weather has been crazy here in Brisbane lately! The heat over the past few days has been off the charts yet this morning there was a crazy wind that had a very cool breeze to it! Its hard to plan days at work as I don't know whether we can go outside or have to stay inside. Mr 3 is going to a 5 day fortnight Kindy and today was his Wednesday off. Monday's we have Sport and Tuesday's we have swimming and every second Wednesday is a free day to explore, play and learn. It's been hard though since the floods as all of our favourite places to go have been closed or extremely damaged or dirty from the floods. I don't mind playing in mud and the kids actually love it but we have been warned to be careful of the mud that has been mixed with flood water as it can be very toxic! My mind always buzzes on the way to work. I have a 40 minute drive (2 hours in traffic) so I have a lot of time to think. This time is always taken up with ideas on how to make the kids day better than yesterday. I strive to make each day happy and joyful for them. They are in grade 3 and 1 and kindy and that age they have big long days at school so it's my job and mission to make from 3pm - 7pm SUPER FUN! Sometimes there is a lot of pressure on our kids and I find they are growing up so quickly. After homework and ballet lessons and footy training and Cello lessons and tennis lessons (my list keeps going) there seems to be no time left for play! I am savoring every single day I have with Mr 3 as he will be off to school next year so this is our chance to squeeze every last minute of fun and experience we can until he moves into his next journey of pre-prep.

So today I did something different...

Now we all know children have their obsessions. They all have their loves that their little worlds revolve around. I remember when Mr 6 was 3 we could not leave the house without him wearing a spiderman costume! Shopping, gymnastics, school pick up whatever we did he had to be spiderman.Well Mr 3 has his and it's TOOLS!!! This love affair started around 18 months. He has about 100 tools in about 5 different tool bags, boxes and belts. He has every building toy from every toy store and even has 3 sets of real tools. Crazy! But I go with it! He can name every single tool as well. Several days we go to the park and he just sits there watching the builders. No playing just sitting watching them build. So today we took a trip to the hardware store. We were on a mission. We were going to do our own building. I don't know why I haven't thought about this before! I used to do it all the time with the 'schoolies' at my old work. I think I thought he was too young. Well if your old enough to have 3 real sets then you are old enough to build. We went into the store and his gorgeous little blue eyes lit up! He was in heaven! He just kept giggling! So cute! We walked around and around and around! You should have seen the reaction when we went into the power tool section. I swear he grunted and beat his chest hahah Is he really only 3??? 

The men in the shop were so nice! They sent me in the direction of the "off cuts" and even cut me off some more...they could see we were on a serious mission as we had a serious builder on our hands. Mr 3 got to choose all of the wood and nails himself and I let him take it to the counter and pay for it himself. He was on cloud nine. Even though the weather was a bit on and off I decided to take our tools and building supplies to the park so we could do some serious creating! 

 

Well I did some creating and Mr 3 was just in heaven hammering nails into the wood haha

 

He kept telling me that I had to be careful when hammering because I could hit my thumb.  He hit his about 4 times and when I asked if he was ok he would reply "Im very fine thanks just keep hammering"

YES SIR :-) I would do anything to see his little face light up the way it did today!

 I think we have a serious construction worker on our hands!

x S.K.K x

Wordless Wednesday

Head over to Sarah to see more "Wordless Wednesday" Joy 

x S.K.K x

Special People

If you ask the people who love me to describe me in one word I can guarantee you they would say ‘Corny’. Everything in my life is big and beautiful. Adjectives are my best friend and the absolutely most amazing thing ever invented. How could I ever describe the colour of a sunset without stunning, gorgeous or amazing? How could I tell you about the sunflower without divine, special or captivating? How could I describe a song without magical, soulful or heart wrenching? Everything I see, everything I do is magical. I see the beauty in every sight. I see the joy in every situation. I see the special qualities in every person. Yes things get me down and I go through very hard and painful situations. But the minute I look to the sun, feel the breeze against my face, hear the laugh of a child or the smile of my husband my heart feels warmth and nothing in the world can bring me down. Life is sometimes hard, Life is sometimes painful but I believe every day is a gift so we should celebrate every minute we have. If you believe in yourself and the power of your thoughts you can get through absolutely anything with a smile on your face and a strong, healthy and happy mind. “Believe in yourself” “Never Give Up” Two short but powerful quotes that I try to live by every day. If you want something – Go for it! We tell children everyday “can’t is not a word” maybe we need to start telling the adults as well. So everyone I am telling you right here, right now! I love being corny. It makes life fun and it make me happy.

Life is short – Life is crazy – Life is beautiful

 Make the most of it – Make every moment count

Every now and then you meet a special person that touches your heart. You read about a special person who motivates you to be yourself. You listen to a special person who encourages you to succeed. I am so lucky to have such beautiful people in my life. I have an amazing husband who is my perfect and we live and love passionately. I have a loving a supportive family who is there every step of the way and loves me for me. I have special and unique friends who I laugh, cry and have fun with. Lately I have found a new circle of friends. A new bond that I never thought I would have. Beautiful souls that have touched my heart in more ways than they will ever know, yet I have never met them ‘in the flesh’ I am talking about the gorgeous beautiful and truly amazing people I have met in this crazy online world. 

There are 3 ladies that I would like to take the time to thank and express my gratitude for their zest of life, their love of all things beautiful and for sharing their positive outlook on life with me and showing me that it’s ok to be ‘corny’ and that life is beautiful and we should celebrate this. 

The first lady really was the first person who really spoke to me through her words and showed me that it was ok to be me and was ok to think, feel and act the way I do. She taught me that it was ok to believe in beauty and magic and that life is special. Claire from Scissors Paper Rock is a very unique and special lady with a heart of gold and a sparkle in her eye. She has overcome pain and some hard times with belief in herself and has created such a beautiful and special life for her husband and 3 year old daughter. She has shown me to live outside of the square. She has taught me to be myself and to shine every day. Her words touch my soul and warm my heart and I thank her for being herself in this crazy world and truly seeing the beauty in every moment. Thank you Claire. You are very special.

The next lady I have stumbled across on the fabulous world of You Tube. I must admit I have taken a month off blogging as every couple of nights I get on here and fall into the world of Jewelchic. What can I say? How can I describe this amazing woman? She is a funny, down to earth, special person with a whole lot of love and positive energy to share with this world. Her energetic outlook on life is contagious and her spirit is just heartwarming. Megan encourages me every day with her positive thinking and her outlook and belief in the law of attraction. It’s not always easy to be positive in a world of negativity and pain. But Megan has shown me that it’s ok to believe in what I believe and to put trust in myself and show the world that life is beautiful and if we believe in ourselves then nothing can bring us down. What a beautiful soul Megan has and I am truly grateful to have ‘stumbled’ across this amazing lady and I do hope that one day in the future I will get to meet her. She is a such a joy.

And finally the amazingly beautiful Kelly from Enjoying the small things Words can not begin to describe the strength, love and kindness of this very special women. She is an incredible lady with a heart of gold and a magnificent, strong and inspirational human being. She is an amazing mother to her gorgeous children and I can only pray that I can be just like her. If I am half the mother to my children that she is to hers than I know that I would have succeeded 100% and my children will be the luckiest kids on earth. Thank You Kelly for sharing your story, your love, your life. You are so inspirational.

x S.K.K x

Red Center Day 3

Our second day in the red center was just amazing! Words just could not describe the joy and excitement I was feeling as I went to bed at the end of our amazing day! I didn’t think anything could have topped the first two days that we had and the things that I achieved…but it did. Our third day started bright and early once again at 3.30am. We were back on the coach heading towards one of Australia’s famous icons, Uluru. There was no way that I was going to fall asleep for this morning’s trip. We dodged and braked for the wildlife again but for some reason this morning I did not even notice. I was watching that tiny orange line that was rising from the ground in front of us. It was so beautiful. We could see Uluru in the distance and the excitement and anticipation was building as we got closer and closer and it got bigger and bigger. We finally arrived at the sunrise viewing station. We pulled up alongside several other coaches, buses and cars all full of eager travelers excited to see this beautiful sight. And boy was it a beautiful sight. 

It was the first beginning minutes of sunrise. The warm air blew around us we hopped off the bus and we were greeted with a hot chocolate and biscuits to enjoy while watching the view. I remember giggling. Not really believing that I was actually there! In the distance was this amazing icon that I had read and seen so much about my whole life and there it was at the most beautiful time of day. Everyone was getting their prime spot! Setting up cameras, taking photos, enjoying a laugh as we greeted the new day with excitement and wonder. As the sun rose the colours changed. Rob and I took our fair share of photos. We were definitely not going to miss out on this very special view…we wanted to remember it forever. The sun had finally risen and we were ushered by our tour guides back on to the bus. This is when Rob and I became a bit nervous. All we wanted to do on this trip was climb Uluru. People warned us, our travel agent warned us, the guides warned us, that we probably weren’t going to be able to climb. These days it is very hard to climb and they have very strict rules. We were watching the temperature as you were not allowed to climb if it was over 36 degrees but so far we were all ok…it had only just reached 30. We got excited! Maybe…just maybe we would get the chance. As we got closer to Uluru we noticed a sight that we did NOT want to see. The wind blowing in the trees. If it was windy you were not allowed to climb. As we got closer the the wind picked up! By the time we got to the rock we knew that our dream was not going to be a reality. Rob was really upset and I could see it was eating him up inside. I was ok, disappointed, but ok. I had climbed the Kings Canyon and had experienced that amazing trek so I was satisfied. Rob tried everything. We said we would even sign a document that said if we died we take full responsibility…ok now looking back that was a bit drastic but at the time, in the moment, we were desperate. We finally accepted defeat changed our thinking and decided to step off the bus with a positive attitude. 

Oh my goodness this was not hard at all. Have any of you been to Uluru? Do any of you realise how big it actually is? I was gobsmacked. It was soooo big! Words or photos for that matter just cannot justify how big it is and how beautiful it is. When I used to think of Uluru I was like yeah yeah a big red rock. But oh dear no. It’s not just a big rock. It is the most amazingly beautiful sight I have ever seen. The characteristics of this ‘rock’ were just divine and the views were just spectacular. We decided that seems as though we could not climb it we may as well walk around it. Easy peasy. No worries at all. I t was only 10 kilometres. It was all flat ground. That’s nothing compared to what we did yesterday. Um boy was I clearly mistaken! It was walking for 10 kilometres with no shade in the direct sun with the sun reflecting off the red rock beside you in FORTY FIVE degree temperatures! It was hot and it was hard. Uluru is just lucky it was so god dam beautiful because I don’t know how else I would have made it. With every kilometre we walked the sights changed. The colours, the formations, the stories were just magnificent. It truly was breathtaking. We finally finished our beautiful but very hot and exhausting walk and stumbled across the cultural centre! 

Wow! I couldn’t breathe, my heart was pounding, my clothes were dripping with sweat but one step into that centre I was taken away. I was taken into the world of these beautiful people and their stories and their history. I left hta building with a sense of peace. Even though I was upset we couldn’t climb I now understood why. It was’t the heat or the wind. It was the protectors of their land making sure that we didn’t climb it. It is a very special and sacred place and has so much history and love surrounding it. I knew we had done the right thing by not climbing and it made my heart happy and warm. As we live in a wonderful commercial world they of course had a souvenir shop. We of course went in as we wanted to take back a special reminder of this beautiful trip. We ended up buying a carved lizard. Which ws very fitting for us. I couldn’t go past the bookmarks however that were at the cash register. They were amazing and all hand painted. There were four there although none of them really grabbed me! I wanted a special one! Something that meant something and that said something to me. I wasn’t just going to buy one just because. I then saw some aboriginal ladies actually painting them in the corner. I asked the man if I could have one that she was painting. She was using pink paint so it grabbed my attention. The man took me over and introduced me to the lady and I asked her what her painting meant. She said 2 words that brought tears to my eyes, “True women” That was it. That was my painting. How amazing is that. I had really proved to myself on this trip that I can do anything I set my mind to. I was powerful and strong and for me to see this painting and especially ask for it (which I would never normally do) was a sign that I was a changed person and was a ‘true women’ This bookmark will always be special to me and I am thinking of actually framing it and putting it on my wall so it is always there to remind me of how powerful I am.

The rest of the day sailed by just beautifully. We headed back to the resort, did a bit more sightseeing and had a little rest as we had a big night ahead of us. We were off to the “Sounds of Silence Dinner” We got dressed up and got picked up once again by our trusty coach. We were taking out literally to the middle of nowhere. Away from the resort, away from the buildings, away from the cars. Just us on a dusty road heading into the dessert. We pulled up on the side of the road and were told to hop off and we were led down a dirt path. At the end of the path was a waitress standing beside a table covered in black cloth. We were all offered a drink and escorted into the viewing area. There was another “bar” with more drinks and another waiter. We met an amazing couple who were florists from Sydney who were there on business.  We talked and shared our stories and drank as we watched the beautiful sun set over Uuru and the Olgas. The breeze was light but nice against our skin. The air was warm and hit us as the breeze died down. It was getting darker and darker and we were all asked to find a group of four or 8 and head down another path. Of course we made our group with our new friends and headed on down. There greeting us at the end of the path were 10 tables all lined with white table clothes and lit up by candles. Beside the tables was the buffet table which melt absolutely amazing. We sat down and met the rest of our table, fantastic English Sydney siders who were the funniest people we have ever met. The food was amazing, the setting was divine but these people just truly made our night. Photos couldn’t capture our night as we were literally under the stars eating by candle light and our little digi cam just couldn’t capture the photos in the dark. But they are captured in my mind and hopefully I will never forget. I can close my eyes and remember sitting there under the stars with Uluru in the background eating my crocodile ceasar salad by candle light with my husband by my side and laughing and smile with our new friends. Nothing makes me happier than this memory. 

Before dessert all of our candles were blown out. We sat there in complete darkness and were then told to look up. Oh my goodness I have never seen anything as magical as this sight. There above us was the clearest sky with hundreds, thousands, millions of stars. The sky was lit up by the beauty of these stars. It was so magical I was overcome with emotion. It was then and there that everything I believe in and everything I trust was proved. It was there that I felt at peace and free and so unbelievably happy. I will never forget this moment. It was a beautiful ending to a beautiful holiday that I will remember forever. 

 (ok flies got too much and went straight down)

 x S.K.K x