Week~A~Boo.......{A peek into our weekEND}

Oh.... Sunday night, you greet us again :)

I sat here tonight uploading photos from our busy weekEND & I pondered whether to do this week-a-boo post now....or wait til tomorrow morning {yahooooo.....no rushing off to work tomorrow....or for the next 2 weeks!!!!} and I decided to commit to tonight....so tomorrow morning truly can be a lazy start to the week!!! Well...I shouldn't say a lazy start....as I aim to start my Massive Spring Cleaning Mission tomorrow!! And whilst the weekend antics are still freshly in my head & on my heart....there was no better time to start typing :)

Friday Night well & truly started the weekend PERFECTLY!! My Mum had been looking after Ella at our house on Friday....and when I walked in the door at 4pm after work, I was greeted by a tidy house, all washing done & FOLDED, dinner cooked {including dessert}, the table set...complete with candles, flowers & chocolates....and a bottle of wine!!!! It was BLISS!!! The absolute perfect way to start the weekEND & my 2 week holiday!

Saturday was filled with a trip to Office Works to stock up on some supplies for a current client's order, a massive traffic jam so a long trip home, a morning tea date at the local bakery, a mini grocery shop, dinner brewing in the slow cooker all afternoon & a meeting with a client which I'll share with you in tomorrow's At My House post :)

Sunday {today} was a lovely mixture of family, adventure, new experiences & joy! Just as Sundays should be!

Chris, Ella & I piled into Chris's parents car with them and we set off on a road trip up to the Sunshine Coast {about an hour & a half drive}. 

The car trip was fun! With 3 iPad's & 4 iPhone's in use....it was like a little mini Apple Store on wheels ;o) We laughed, we chatted, we shared blog posts & pictures of art, we snacked....and we pretended to snooze in the hope to trick Ella into snoozing too {no such luck...haaa}.

The reason for the day road trip was to visit Chris's Dad's Uncle's House.....{whoa...that was a mouthful}. Chris's Nan sadly passed away last November & her brother had organised a massive family reunion for today on their mammoth cane farm property in Yandina! Before arriving at his house, we drove through the sleepy town of Yandina & I was in LOVE! This little quirky country town had me at hello.....and oh boy how much I am already dying to get back there to explore it more! It was so damn cute:

Just like Chris's Nan.....I became a CHADWICK through marriage! Her maiden name was APPS! And the family property we headed out to today was of course on Apps Road:

And the rest of the day just flowed.......with energy & joy that came mainly from the excitement & exploration of an eager 2 year old! She was in her element here......acres & acres of land to discover. A river. Chickens. A greenhouse. A vegie patch. Rows & rows of flower gardens. A fruit orchard. A house 5 times the size of ours. New faces.....oh so many new faces to take in. Many generations of family bond & love. Cake. Fizzy Drink. A pool. A dam. A view....oh the view. 

It truly was BLISS!

And of course....in true '2 year old' fashion....there had to be a moment of tantrum {or duck face as we like to call it} because we all know that life with a toddler can't always be sunshine, rainbows & cupcakes :) But this little moment of Ella's Sulking {due to not getting her way} didn't last long as there was just too much other fun to be had :) And it was then that the magic continued....

So, there you have it....and yet again, my peek was more like a novel...but that's just how I roll :) And as another week drives on in.....I look forward to having a peek into YOUR weekEND!! Please, share your link below & link it back here so your readers can also enjoy the weekend antics of other bloggers!

Have a lovely week!!

Friday.......{Sweet Friday}

There's always a magic in the air when Friday afternoon/evening rolls around! Do you feel it too?

Everything seems so much more sweeter, tastes so much more sweeter & looks so much more sweeter!

And I think after working full-time this week {and missing my days at home with Ella like crazy!} bought a beautiful sweetness to this afternoon! When that school bell rang at 3pm & I started to clean up the chaos of the day, I felt a beautiful sense of CALM.....the weekend was here!!

Friday nights are always so slow! So relaxed! Definitely my favourite night of the week!

Don't get me wrong....I love those busy Friday afternoons, where you have to rush around like a mad-woman to get home, get you & Bub cleaned, dressed, organised & back in the car again to begin an eventful evening of friends, family, catch-ups, dinners, drinks, celebrations & staying out way past our bed-times!! BUT....I also love the slow pace Fridays! Where my handbag & bits n pieces from the day stay unpacked in the car, a walk to the park at 4pm is on the agenda instead of vacuuming & washing, a glass of wine is poured {and devoured} before dinner, the routine is ignored & Disney DVD's are blaring in the background! 

Tonight was one of those slow Fridays! Being our Wedding Anniversary, we ummed & arrred about how to celebrate, where to go, what to do and what to eat!! But in the end...after a long, tiresome week for us all....all we craved was a night of sweetness in the comfort of home! Dinner was consumed much later than normal, the bubbles in the bath erupted high, we danced to Disney songs in pyjamas & drunk endless cups of tea from the new Tinkerbell Tea Set! Story time lasted longer than normal & little Miss's bedtime was stretched right out......because it's Friday! And because we're quite happy to have a slow evening as a family enjoying every little piece of that magic....that only a Friday Night can bring :)

Have a fabulous weekend my Lovelies! And don't forget to join in with 'Week-a-Boo' on Monday morning {or Sunday night if I'm organised LOL!!! 

P.S. The gorgeous pink gerbera above......my lovely wedding anniversary surprise delivered to my work today by my gorgeous Husband! 10 Pink Gerberas.....2 for ever year we've been Husband & Wife!! They made my day & really bring a POP of colour to our kitchen tonight.....another piece of sweetness to brighten this Friday!

It's My Birthday.......{yahoooo}

It's my 28th Birthday today!!

Yipeee!

I love Birthdays and even though I will be spending the day at work...I will still be soaking up all the fun, magic & joy that birthday's bring :) At least I work with amazing people & gorgeous children so it's sure to be a GREAT day!!

Happy Birthday to me!

I hope your day is also filled with happiness {and cake}!

And...P.S. ~ Don't forget to enter my PRINT giveaway!!

{images from here}

Enchanted Woodlands Party........

I had to share this amazing party on my blog! The lovely Sharnel from Sharnel Dollar Designs designed & hosted the most MAGICAL party for her daughter's 6th Birthday! It was an Enchanted Woodlands theme!! Every detail, every idea, every concept was PERFECT! I would've LOVED a party like this when I was a little girl.....hey, at almost 30yrs of age, I'd still LOVE a party like this :) Sharnel left nothing out.....she truly brought MAGIC alive with this one! There was even a live rabbit & deer......LOVE IT!!!! Have a look at a few photos here of her Event Styling talents:

What did I tell you? Magical hey?!!!! I just love everything about it!

What do you think?

For more photos and information, head over to Sharnel's blog My Life My Loves! All photos were taken by Leanne Stamatellos Photography!

Far from Easy.....

{image from weheartit}

A while back {around the time I had Ella and was dealing with the ups & downs, the ins & outs of becoming a Mother} I asked another Mother if she was finding it any easier {being a Parent} the second time around? She responded in saying that she had found both babies, both children, both experiences VERY easy! At the moment in time, I thought...."Wow...she has it all sussed! She is the perfect Mum! What's her secret?"

I was then left thinking......Yikes, What am I doing wrong to be finding this role of being a Parent....quite hard! And, I'll be honest.....Being a MUMMY is the hardest thing I have ever done & will ever do... in my life! And I'm sure of that!

Don't get me wrong....I'm not saying hard as in 'negative, it's a drag, i'm miserable & struggling' kind of hard....I mean "tiring, heartbreaking, analytically, worryingly, anxiously, so-much-to-do" hard!! Does that make sense? LOL!

And in saying all that....I absolutely LOVE being a Mum! It is the BEST, most rewarding, most magical, funnest & most amazing thing in my life! Being Ella's Mummy is where I'm most comfortable, where I'm happiest & where I'm most happy just being ME!

But, thinking back to that comment made by that Mother has got me thinking again.....I really don't think Parenting can possibly ever be easy!!! Can it? To me....easy means: no stress, things just happen, no plans or organisation is needed, no routine, no fuss, no work, no tears, no tense moments, no cleaning, no appointments, no milestones, no responsibility, no consequences, no tragedies, no sleep lost! Therefore....to me...Parenting could NEVER be easy!

I believe it can be made EASIER ~ With a positive outlook, a calm nature, an educated mind, a loving heart, a warm approach, a structured routine, a happy family, an open-mind, a good sense of humour, a network of fabulous friends & helpful family and a feeling of confidence!

With all these things, I think Parenting can be EASIER....but not easy! What do you think?

Having Ella enter our life has definitely enriched it! I always hear people say "they can't imagine their life without their kids once they've had them!" And that is so true! I feel ill imagining a world without Ella! She has become our EVERYTHING!!! She is a pure delight! But she has also had her fair share of 'hard moments' {like most babies & children I assume} from fussiness, to people anxiety, to illnesses, to clingyness, to night terrors, to MANY sleep-less nights, to un-explained crying fits, to toddler tantrums, to injuries....you get the gist!?

Surely, Where there is love, where there is a bond, where there is committment & where there is responsibility! There HAS to be some sort of 'hard times', heart strings being strung, tears being shed, grey hairs growing & worry lines appearing!!

So....I believe..... being a Mother is the most amazing, loving & magical blessing I could ever experience! But it is FAR from EASY!

Your Weekend....

I hope you enjoy your weekend, whatever it entails!

And a big shout out & thank you to Jess from Lifes Little Whispers, who said some super lovely things about me on her blog during the week!! I'm really coming to love this little community of bloggers I'm apart of!

There are so many inspirational & amazing people in this world :) xox