My boyfriends back....

Hey now, hey now...

After a week and a half of solo parenting,

 my man has returned from a trip with his mum,

 to gloriously warm Bali.

Twas his first overseas trip so he was mighty pleased to be having a break away

 from our cold winter for a little while.

After the initial shock of realizing that I had to get out of my pajamas each day to make sure the kids got where they needed to before the bell, we settled into some sort of routine. I learnt I could deal with spiders, change the light bulbs, take the rubbish out, dress and feed the children too.

All the single mumma's ...hats off to you. It's hard yakka doing it all on your own.

He had a delightful time away and managed to fill two memory cards with photo's. 

So nice to see him reignite his passion with photography. 

Of course it would seem the obligatory snap of man in skirt was had...

 along with many...

 many......

 and even more...

 pics of the wildlife.

I was just so glad to have him back. 

 Although the food lasted longer and the house stayed cleaner...hmmm 

 Nah 13 plus years together, I think it must be love!

Jay xx

Birthdays galore...

It's been party central round here of late with Ty, Finn and Kierah all celebrating the great feat of being another year older. They are all a week or so apart, so each weekend has been balloons, family, friends, presents and lots of cake...

The theme for Kierah's party was 'Gnomeo and Juliet' as we took her and her friends to see the movie in 3d.
The idea was to make cupcakes that looked like spotty mushrooms and top them with a little Gnomeo and Juliet.
Considering the movie was brought out by touchstone and Walt Disney I thought the merchandise would be out in full force and that finding figurines would be a no brainer.
Alas...it seems we were a bit too early for the merchandisers and had to make do with finding a boy gnome and a girl gnome that we could paint to look like the movie characters.
Luckily I did find a lovely pair and they came out looking quite cute once finished.

Mr Finn got a slide from us and an amazing handmade sandpit built by grandpa. Creating a nice little adventure playground in his own backyard. Everyday since he has been outside, digging, sliding, and really enjoying the great outdoors.
Such a nice change from his previous YoGabbaGabba obsession.

With Ty turning 30, Finn turning 3 and Kierah turning 11, it's some pretty big milestones we've hit.
I do think it's a great number for each of them. Becoming more of the person they were meant to be each day.

Although none of them were too grown up for sparklers...

Miss kizzy has also had a friends party thrown into the craziness of the last 4 weeks. With the theme of 'come as your favourite Tim Burton character'. She could have been Alice or corpse bride or any other female lead..but no, she chose Edward Scissorhands.
Must have been something about his masterful skill with scissors(like mum hehehehe) and his fragile gothic appeal.

The centre pic is a less gothic representation, the chosen outfit for her own party. Looking every bit like the 11 year old she is.

The actual birthday is today, yes...International Women's Day. So we'll be having the family party tonight.
Our last candle lit cake for a while.
My hips shall be grateful!

Hope you're all well.
Jay xx

My creative space...

Blogtoberfest day 14:

Today my creative space although bustling and chaotic will not be the feature.
I'd like to instead, introduce you to the creative space of my other half.

We all know him as Mr.Finki of course. But he is a creative being in his own rights and has just started his own blog to prove it.

Focus and shoot...Daily snapshots of my life behind the lens.

Its all fresh and exciting and only has a few posts, but sometimes you just gotta jump in and find your feet along the way, otherwise you just never get started.

Having always had a camera in the cupboard for happy snaps he's always longed to do more creative things and learn the special features...like we all do I guess. But we clamber along, only taking it out for birthdays and Christmas. So sad really.

But now, he's made a commitment to take a photo daily, in a bid to learn more, capture more and just enjoy the process.

I sometimes think, that when we set ourselves these daily tasks it challenges us to think outside of the box and keep things interesting. So it's all good.

I smile a little on the inside to know he has finally started doing something he loves and something he has talked about doing for ages. His blog is not fancy ......and he doesn't say much, but that will come with time....

So if you're in the bloggie neighbourhood, do drop by and lend your expertise. Whether it be photography advice or a bloggie hug xx

See more great blogs joining in on 'my creative space' over here.....

and visit all the other blogtoberfestians over here.....

Jay xx