lost: weight loss mojo

A few weeks ago, I started menu planning, partly for budget reasons and partly for dieting. I started off well, and even lost a kilo the first week but ever so quickly, I've lost the motivation and willpower I need to do this. I know I really want to lose weight, I know I really want to be healthy for my family but I feel like I just don't have the energy to make it happen. My goal was to lose about 5 kilos by mid-March for a wedding we are off too, but I don't even feel like I can manage that at the moment. Am hoping with venting about it all, my mojo will miraculously come back. 

I think sleep deprivation may have a lot to do with it too.....

And I think this is the part where I need to pick myself up, dust myself off and just get back on the healthy eating plan. Breathe.

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bedroom decor goodness

I'm a bit obsessed with bedrooms and looking for decorating inspiration at the moment as I've been giving our bedroom a bit of an overhaul and trying to re-decorate on the cheap. In my online travels I found this gorgeous new little Australian online store, oh mabel. They do organic bed linen that is inspired by the patterns and prints of yesteryear. I love it. So simple and stylish and exactly the kind of thing I have been going for of late. I might have to visit here again later though, as I've already bought some cute vintage print pillowcases for our room from here.

Am also totally loving this pillowcase set from Beneath the Sun.

And what about this gorgeous cushion as well? Love. The print also comes on a tea towel.

I like to change things up every now and then to breathe a bit of new life into things, so I've bookmarked these sites for later. What's your favourite style at the moment?

declutter and simplify

I'm on a mission. This year I'm hoping to really simplify and declutter our house. I'm sick of storing stuff that we don't use or need anymore, or things that are broken. I'm tired of sifting through all the useless stuff to find the stuff we actually DO use and need. I'm tired of cluttered up spaces. I just want what we need around us and for everything to have its place so we can live efficiently and so that things can be easily tidied up at the end of the day.

I started this mission in earnest when we first moved to this house but quickly I let things slide a bit with the busyness of life with two children under 5. Now that I have Josh at school all week and Zoe at preschool for two days, I've found that even though Ben is now here, I have a lot more time to start getting organised at home. So far I have cleared most of the main spaces in the kitchen - bench and pantry. Clearing out the pantry was so cleansing. The way we eat has even changed in the last year or two, and there is a lot less pantry type food now than what we've been used to in the past. I now have more room in there to store other things which has allowed me to clear most of the bench space in the kitchen.

I've also tackled most of the lounge room, and most of the bedrooms. Above are some pics of my bedroom after I'd done some spring cleaning in there. It feels so relaxing, peaceful and calm in there now, which is exactly what I wanted out of a bedroom, especially with having the baby rooming in with us at the moment.

I'm feeling more on top of things at home now and less bogged down in mess and clutter, which has been great for my mood and is making it an easier space to use and live in. I still have a growing list of things I want to achieve, but I have all year to slowly plough my way through. Next on the list is wardrobes. I'll be culling clothes from our wardrobe as well as Josh's. I did Zoe's wardrobe a few weeks ago, and I feel like I know what is in there now! Clothes don't get hidden and I can see everything that she has available to wear, and I know it all fits too! Can't wait to do that for my room.

How often do you declutter? Do you have a plan for how you do it? Any tips? Or are you a bit of a hoarder perhaps?

grateful for a happy, smiley school boy

It's been a big week here. I've been too pooped to blog. My big boy, nearly 5 year old boy, started big school this week on Wednesday. And so far, it has been a super smooth transition.

I'm so proud of where he has come. He started at preschool at 3 and we spent most of the year with him clinging for dear life on me when it was time for me to leave in the mornings. By his second year there, he had matured a lot and in the mornings would run off and play with his little mates. He had lots of ups and downs at school - people telling us that he may not be ready for school, that he would benefit from staying back a year, being made to feel worried that he wasn't mature or emotionally ready to cope with a big school, etc, etc. In the last few months he has grown in leaps and bounds, and although he is not in his set class yet, to see him so happy when I've picked him up these last few days, makes my heart sing. It reassures me, that at the end of the day, I know my child, I know what he can and can't cope with, I know how beautiful and delightful and bright and smart he is. Being at school so far, seems like it was the perfect thing for him. He is really relishing in the sense of feeling more grown up and I can see how proud of himself he is to have made it there too.

I'm oh so grateful for my happy, smiley schoolboy. He makes me smile.