Thursday, April 26, 2012

Good Vs Bad

A good day!
Today, is a good day. As a matter of fact, its a GREAT day! It is one of those days where things just fall into place, the kids actually behave and the house got clean rather fast (kinda!) and I have been in one of the bests moods I have been in for a while.











That pesky washing pile!

 Sick of those pesky washing piles getting soooooo unorganised? Yeah I was too! I told everyone what goes where for the washing baskets, but do you think they listened or remembered? No, of course not.
So I made them handy reminders so they have NO EXCUSE! HAHA! I love my little signs above my washing basket, it makes it easy to see what really needs attention to be washed, and everything has a picture, so they kids have no excuse because they can't read.



Monday, April 16, 2012

Who's your mumma?

Today I am feeling hurt. I needed to vent my feelings and frustrations on here, that way I feel I am heard. Even if no one reads it, I have expressed myself.

My daughter and he father separated when she was only a few months old. We were only 16 when we had her. He is still a very involved father and present in every aspect of her life. I like it that way- most of the time. It keeps getting harder every year of her beautiful life, as I now have a fiancé with who I have 3 gorgeous boys with and her Father has since married, but has no children.

I love that she has the best of both worlds, she has a nice large family with us, and she has the space she needs/deserves with her dad. Since we separated when she was very little, she has grown to know nothing else then going back and forth every fortnight. And she doesn't suffer for this.

I only have one problem with the set-up we have. His wife! Her step-mother. She looks after he well enough, in fact she spoils her rotten, being an only child herself, I don't think she knows any other way. It's the fact my daughter has been bullied and emotionally blackmailed into calling her something that I hate. No, I loath. Mum.

I am her mother. I carried her for 9 months. I got up every 2 hours for months on end to feed her, change her, sooth her, help her when she was sick. I endured the ridicule and looks and the 'poo hoos' of being a teenage mum.

I don't appreciate my daughter being told 'If you don't call her mum, she will be sad, you don't want her to be sad, do you? WTF is with that?! What choice does an innocent child have? She is such a loving  little girl, she wouldn't hurt a fly! She goes out of her way to make sure everyone is happy, probably to a fault.

Everytime she comes home from her dads house, I ask her if she did anything exciting and if she had fun. She always does (which is great!) But she always says 'mum and dad took to me..." or "mum and dad got me....". I can't help it, my face just drops. As does my heart. I try not let her see it, as it is not her fault, and I know she will only blame herself if she sees me do this.

I have spoken to her father, but he doesn't seem to see my side. I often think I have no right to ask him to stop making her call her 'mum', as she does call my partner 'Dad'. However, I feel it is very different. One, mothers are mothers, you go through hell and back to bring a child into this world. Two, she lives in the house where he is  for the majority of the time, he pays for her dancing, schooling, athletics, food etc, just as he does for his own boys. Three, we have our own children. We have Mr 5 when she was 2 1/2.  We started getting the baby to say 'dad' and she followed suit. No bullying, no blackmailing. She started calling him 'cook' which was her way of saying Chris, then it was 'daddy Chris' then she just dropped Chris and made it dad. This was completely her choice, and the natural progression she had.

I don't know if I am asking too much or not, all I know is it rips me to shreds each time she says the name. I have no power to do anything. I know later on in life she will make the choices she wants, regardless of what me or her dad says. It is very hard waiting though.

Thanks for listening/reading.

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Daily Savings Hint : Number 4 - White goodies

 I hate having to buy white goods. My washing machine decided it didn't want to work any more a few months ago. How lovely. I didn't have any spare cash to spend on something like that. Luckily  for me my mum was able to help me out and I paid her back over time.

So I did some online research for what I wanted. Decided on the washing machine of choice. Then  my mum the kids and myself went shopping.

We saw the machine I wanted. I asked the salesman what his best price was. It was only around $50 off the marked price. My mum turned to me and said "Oh it was less then that at the other place wasn't it sweety?" LOL good on you mum! We never went to another place, she was playing him HAHA! I followed along though "Yeah it was mum" he asked how much and we said it was another $100 cheaper then the $50 he told us! He fell for it hook line and sinker! HAHA.

I was also told my a friend that when they have those sales "50 months interest free no deposit" thingys that they actually mark up the price a bit to cover the interest. Shifty hey! I told the guy I knew this and he admitted this was true, since I was paying cash I said I think I should have that increase taken off too. He went and spoke to the manager and came back with a YES! Woo score!

Another little saving was the fact we brought the one off the floor. There was nothing wrong with it, still never been used.

And one more little point of advice. I know it sounds CRAZY but take the kids with you! Mine were having one of 'those' days, they couldn't help but play with all the floor stock washing machines, opening the doors and pushing the buttons. I kept telling them not to and interrupting the sales man to tell them off. This annoyed the man, you could tell (what else was I suppose to do?!) So he just wanted me out of there as fast as possible. BAM! He threw in free delivery (which is usually at least $50 as we live so far out of town). HAHA mum and I left the shop feeling very satisfied. All up I got my $1200 washing machine, for $800 with free delivery! GO ME! :D Happy shopping fellow mummies :p

Daily Savings Hint : Number 3 - Weekend spending

 I have found - for us anyway - we spend most of our money, on the weekends! Of course I have my set day during the week which I do the groceries while the kids are at school. But apart from that, I don't do much shopping during the week, as we have school commitments and attempts at keeping the house tidy. Note I said attempts.

On the weekends we used to go out for lunch or dinner occasionally, or just going out to the shops to 'have a look'. It never ended in just looking!

So for a fews weeks now we have been slumming it at home. We have been watching DVD's together, playing board games, cooking together and doing other kid friendly activities.

Doing this has saved us heaps as we don't buy unnecessary things and we save on petrol, since we live 25km from the 'big shops' it costs alot to be driving in all the time.

I have also made it a mission to not 'pop' down to the shops for a loaf of bread or what not. This never ends up with me getting only what I went for. So if we don't have it, we go without until Monday.

Not a fantastic tip for the day, but it has helped us lately.

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Daily Savings Hint : Number 2


I am not a environmentally friendly nut! Don't get me wrong, I agree with it all, looking after the planet and such. I turn my lights off when not in use, we have rainwater tanks and I use enviro bags, but I don't go out of my way to cut back with all the plastic bottles I buy etc. I know, its bad.
However one thing I don't like, is chemicals in cleaners! YUCK!
I find the best cleaners are water mixed with vinegar in a spray bottle, great for bench tops, toilets, tables etc. I also find personally the ensuite sink gets really grubby (from my make up, its loose powder foundation, so of course, it goes up in a puff every morning! lol) but if I don't get to it quick enough, it sticks like glue. All I do is get a little bowl, put in some bi-carb, and enough water to make a paste. Spread it on (I use just my fingers), leave it there for a few minutes, then wipe off or rinse with water. EASY! So much better then using chemicals, and soooo much cheaper then the sprays at the shop! Also if you want a lovely smell, just put a few drops of Lavender oil in it. Give the house such a yummy smell. You can also use wedges of lemon to wipe over brass etc. and polish off with some newspaper. Lovely glow!

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Easter in Bendigo! 2012

We had a BLAST this Easter! Unfortunately, we were unable to make it to the Easter Parade on Sunday, but we had a great time anyway.Here is some pictures about our long weekend.


Hint 1: Menu Planning

Well, to kick start my Daily Savings Hints, I thought I would go with something obvious. MENU PLANNING.
This is such a crucial thing for large families. Not only does it help to save you money, but it helps to keep you organised. You can plan ahead, and pre-prepare things you may need for another nights cooking, to cut down on time spent making the meal itself.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Family Fun Day @ Little Athletics

A few weeks ago my kids had their Family Fun Day at Little Athletics. This was such a fun morning,and the whole family was bale to participate. After all the fun and games, Mr Jack also had his presentation ceremony (Miss Holly had hers the night before). These are some pictures I wanted to show everyone from the day. :)


Mr Little Liam - stuffing his face with twisties LOL












Thursday, April 5, 2012

The Kids Rooms Big Clean Up - Part 2

Ok so after cleaning the little boys room up, I was knackered feeling motivated to continue with the other kids rooms. I cleaned up MR Jack's room, but I forgot to take photos as I was doing it, like a genius LOL.
However I did take photos of a new addition to Miss Holly's room. I LOVE this new little storage device.


I got this nifty little contraption from Office Works for an outstanding price of $35!

The colours fit in perfectly with any little girls room. Beautiful rainbow but they are also available in a white frosted look, black or fading bottom black, turning to grey, then white frosted at the top, kinda like a paint sample :P

It has 10 little draws, perfect for little girls crap trinkets.








Wednesday, April 4, 2012

The Kids Rooms Big Clean Up - Part 1

The little boys bedroom after I 'gutted' it and started cleaning!
Well if you follow me on Facebook (here) then you will know that this Easter, the family thought it would be great to have it at my house. AARRGGHH!!
So much cleaning had to be done, as we live 20km out of town, not many people come out on short notice, so I can generally have crap everywhere, and noone knows the difference. I made myself a list of everything I wanted to get done (you can see that here too!).





Mr 5 'dancing'?

 
This is MR 5 acting like a freak dancing to LMFAO - Sexy and I know it.

I have heard about alot of kids going a little crazy to this song, I wonder what it is about it, that causes this reaction among the little people of the world?

This gave us a good chuckle, I hope it does for you too! :)