Apartment Therapy

Yesterday I wrote about my favourite website for childrens interiors so today I thought I would share it's grown up equivalent...

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/

Just like Ohdeedoh, this website features house tours of fantastic apartments all over the world.

I am a sticky beak and love visiting open homes so this website is right up my alley.

It is also a lot cheaper than driving from house to house! :)

Check it out for some great interior eye candy. :)

All images from http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/

Ohdeedoh

It is no secret that I love decorating children's bedrooms so I thought I would share my absolute favourite website. It is Ohdeedoh and is my first source for inspiration on anything child related when it comes to interiors.

Image from Ohdeedoh

My favourite section are the kids room tours which feature the rooms of real people all over the world. 

Image from Ohdeedoh

Some of them are interior designers but many of them are regular mums and dads on a budget, using their creativity to create amazing results.

Image from Ohdeedoh

I have found so much inspiration from this website and I highly recommend reading all the little details that go into these rooms. You will pick up a lot of ideas that you can adapt for yourself and your own children's spaces.  

Image from Ohdeedoh



So much time and love goes into these rooms and I am glad there is this little place on the world wide web that we can catch a glimpse of these beautiful rooms. :)

Water Baby

One of the blessings of having a pool at home is that our family has the opportunity to swim every day in the warmer weather however in all honesty, this doesn't usually happen. Last summer Rosie and Harry were yet to start swimming lessons and did not have very much water confidence.

They have grown a lot in this area and they have been able to enjoy the pool a lot more this summer. Rosie still prefers to be working on her crafts rather than spending hours in the pool but it is Harry that has really surprised us. Since Taff has worked on getting Harry comfortable in his lifejacket, his confidence and enjoyment of the pool has increased ten fold!

 

In fact, over the holiday period Harry has been in the pool up to eight times a day and is happy to frolic around in his wetsuit and lifejacket for hours...literally. We really weren't looking for a house with a pool and felt that our kids would be too young to really enjoy it. It just so happened that the house we wanted to purchase, just happened to have a pool and we have been so proud of our little man. He is a real water baby now and loves nothing more than enjoying the summer in the water. :)

Sewing Thread Organisation

I am always looking for creative ways to store my sewing equipment as I know from past experience that the more organised my sewing area is, the more likely it is that I will actually sew. :)

There aren't a lot of ways you can store thread in a creative way but when I saw this thread holder on Trademe, I knew it would work well for me. It was hand made from wood and each level spins and has rods to thread all your reels on.

 

 Rosie volunteered to organise all my thread one afternoon and she decided to sort them into colours for me. :) No more searching for spools in a jumbled drawer, I love this new solution!

The Simple Things...

Lately I have been thinking about how it is the simple things in life that matter most. This lesson was really brought home to me the other day when I was talking to Harry about Christmas.

Rosie puffing after rolling down the hill!

I asked him what his favourite present was and it wasn't his car garage, his Transformer, his moonhopper or any of his other exciting gifts. He paused for a little bit while he pondered his answer before replying, "I like my new Spiderman toothbrush the best".

It isn't the material things they have that children value, it is time with their parents doing the simplest things. It isn't the extra curricular activities or expensive outings, it is the bedtime stories, running races in the backyard and walks in the park.

Enjoying the outdoors

Rosie and Harry had their first grass rolling experience the other day and they absolutely loved it. Racing each other down the hill while rolling like a barrell was a sight to see and a reminder to me to take time to enjoy the simplest of life's pleasures. :)

Congratulations Willie and Camille!

We have had a perfect day today and celebrated the wedding of Willie and Camille.

It all went beautifully and we have had the best time.

Thanks to all our friends and family for a wonderful day. :)

Headbands

One of the things I love about having a little girl are the hair accessories. :)

I am a sucker for anything gorgeous and vintage looking so when I saw this headband, I knew it had Rosie's name on it.

 

It is from Diva and I actually want one for myself! Isn't it beautiful? :)

Wedding Preparation

We are in the thick of wedding preparation at the moment. Busy days and nights and lots of fun. :)

Families in Parks

A few days ago we were driving past our local park and Rosie spotted something of interest...lots of toys and things to look at and play with, a children's dream playland in fact!

I have heard of the Families in Parks community events before but we have never made it to any of them in the past and wow, was I impressed!

Rosie and Harry were beside themselves with joy to see all the equipment there for them to enjoy and we got to try so many new things together.

From tug of war to stilts, it was all there and we had a ball.

Harry particularly enjoyed this game...

and Rosie had a great time in the spinning wheel.

I love seeing my kids trying new things and these community park events are something I am really looking forward to taking advantage of this summer. :)

Fun with Cousins

Holidays are for hanging out with cousins and sliding down waterslides for hours on end. :) 

These five have made their way down this fantastic waterslide literally hundreds of times over the past two days and are having a ball!

It is experiences like these that form the memories for years to come and it has been a joy to see them splashing, laughing and sliding together...and loving every minute of it. :)

Organising Food for Trips

Given that it is the summer holidays, we have been going out for a few day trips and organising food for the family is always an important consideration! :)

There are often a few options available for snacks and lunches when you go out but a lot of these are expensive and often they are unhealthy options. By being prepared in advance you can be sure that what your family is eating is nutricious and save time, as well as money.

My favourite new water bottles are these ones from Kathmandu.They are BPA free and hold 1 litre each so are a good size for a family. I usually half fill them with ice and then top them up with water. By the time you want to use them they are still nice and cool.

I also love these coloured Klipo containers by Sistema. They come in a variety of sizes and range in price from around $2-$5. They are readily available at supermarkets and are perfect for storing all your snacks in, without having to lug around the whole pack.

They are also more enviro friendly than glad wrap and can be reused over and over again.  For some reason my littlies also seem to eat more healthy foods when they are placed in nice bright containers. :)

Just pack them in a cooler bag with some ice packs from the fridge, some cups and extra pieces of fruit and you are set to go! I have really tried to make an effort to be more organised in this area lately and although it takes a little while to pack it all before your trip, it is well worth the effort. :)

Setting Up My Project Life Album

Project Life is a big project for me to be taking on this year and it is a commitment that I really want to work hard to achieve. I have a pretty full life as it is already, with two small childrem, full time work, house renovations and other commitments to consider. Despite all this, I feel it is important for me to start documenting our life in a more dedicated and meaningful way than I have previously.

I have really made an effort in the last year to take more photos of our family and while I am grateful for this, I have had a couple of computer crashes and lost a lot of precious snapshots which weren't backed up. My lovely mum was aware of this and for Christmas she bought me a portable hard drive, which I am determined to use regularly as a way of keeping our photographic treasures safe. I definitely don't want a repeat of the tears and frustration I felt when I lost hundreds of photos a couple of months ago!

Anway, back to Project Life. Given that this project is one which will require some organisation and time this year, I decided to make it as easy as possible for myself by setting up my album in advance. Everything you need to do this comes with the kit and all that is required is a bit of time and patience to get it all up and running. Ok, I will be honest, it took me several hours to set up my album but hey, I am on holiday and I loved every minute of it!

I set up all my pages for the entire year in weekly double page spreads, complete with date cards and journalling cards. I have even date stamped all my cards in advance and stickered them with the appropriate day of the week. The reason that I have done this is that I wanted to make it as easy as possible to keep up with the project once I am back at work and daily life takes over. I think that by having it all set up and ready to go for the entire year, I am far more likely to keep up with my journalling and enjoy the process.

Now all I need to do is start taking my snapshot of the day and journalling each one as I go. I am particularly looking forward to capturing some of the more "mundane" photos of our daily life as it is these snapshots and moments in time that I am likely to forget, but will be so precious to look back on in the future. Wish me luck!

2010 in Photos: Part Two

A few more snapshots from our busy year.

I am so looking forward to 2011 and all that it will hold for us.

2010 has been filled with many trips to some of our gorgeous local landmarks...

and beaches.

It has also been filled with puzzles and games with Rosie and Harry...

and trips to school....

chasing around Zhu Zhu pets...

road trips...

and watching Rosie's almost daily performances for our family...

wrapping up gifts...

and giving them to others...



and of course, the joy of watching my little ones try new things.

The new year is the perfect time to reflect on the year that has passed and consider all that you want to achieve in the year ahead. We have lots of personal and family goals and I am looking forward to working on these in the coming months. :)