Easter Crafts!

Mia had so much fun doing some Easter crafts yesterday.

We made Easter cards to give to family members - super easy and fun and came out so pretty - I'll do a step-by-step explanation of the craft below the piccies.

Then we went off to my sister's house - my folks are visiting for the weekend, yay!  Mia helped decorate the Easter Tree - first time we do this, but definitely a new tradition to keep!  My mom has this little wire tree, and she bought little hanging egg ornaments - it looks beautiful and festive!

After decorating the tree, my mom and Mia did some gardening, planting beautiful daffodils in pots - a perfect spot for the Easter Bunny to hide a choccie or two! ;-)

I found this idea for an Easter craft on Pinterest.

1. I didn't print out an egg template, just drew some on a couple of papers, and then the same amount that I drew, I cut out using my craft knife, to use for the "frame".
2. Cut strips of coloured paper - old bits of scrapbook paper worked perfectly for this.
3. Then I let Mia put glue on the page with the drawn egg template, this can be nice and messy, doesn't have to be done exactly right. :-)
4. Then positioned the coloured strips of paper on the glue - here I helped Mia to arrange them reasonably straight.
5. Then use the other paper with the cut-out egg, put more glue onto either paper, and stick it on to create the Easter egg effect of the coloured paper strips.
6. I used the paper-cutter to then just cut off around the edges to get it nice and tidy.
7. What got me excited about this craft, is how you can apply this to whatever theme you want! Yay!

xx

Girls Weekend!

I got invited on a girlfriend getaway this past weekend.  We went to Magaliesburg for a night, and it was just the most fun ever! Giggles, chats, games, dancing, booze, hubbly-bubbly, tree-climbing and laughter galore!

We're all trying to follow healthy eating plans - so our supper was a divine steak and roast veggie meal, and our dessert was paleo-friendly icecream and paleo-friendly chocolate brownies! Really yummy - with none of the added guilt that eating the usual types of icecream and brownies would bring! Bargain!

We kuier'ed until 1am on Saturday night - and then I slept sooooo nicely until 8am - treat deluxe!

I was away from home for less than 24 hours - left on Saturday at 2pm and back on Sunday before 1pm - but I missed lil Mia so much - we had the most divine snooze together on Sunday arvie.  Wyn was great with her, managed so well with everything, including the 6am wake-up on Sunday. ;-)

Good times, special memories.  This is going to be an annual getaway, yay!

Two-and-a-half!

This week, Mia celebrated her half-year birthday. Two years and six months old.  30 Months!

Now, if you ask her how old she is, she answers, "two... two and a half!" Love it.

To celebrate, I bought a cake at the dairy farm, and cut it in half, and put two and a half candles on for her to blow out.  She loved it!

Umhlanga Holiday 2013

We had such a fabulous lil getaway last weekend!  It was exactly what I wanted, what my soul needed. 

We left on Friday morning just before 6am.  We stopped at Villiers Engen garage for a Wimpy brekkie, then did a good long stretch, with a quick loo stop along the way.  We arrived in Durban at 12h30 already! Made such great time!  We could only book into the hotel from 2pm, so went to Pavilion Mall for some ice-cream. Then booked into the hotel, unpacked quickly, and headed down to the beach.

Aaaah, the sea.  I do love it!  We had a nice splash in the waves and a lekker walk along the beach.  Then it was about 4pm, and Mia had only napped a short while in the car earlier in the morning - so we decided we'd all have a catnap at the hotel.  Bliss!  Woke up just after 5, then explored the hotel, and then had supper in the hotel's restaurant.   The late nap worked well to stretch Mia's bedtime - we were all lights-out at 9pm!

Saturday was our day at uShaka Marine World.  We met friends of ours there, who drove all the way from Richardsbay to be with us for the day, it was great fun.  Mia loved the fishies, stared in disbelief at the sharks, was in awe of the dolphin show, and was fascinated by the penguins!  Such fun.  Then had a nice lunch with friends, and Mia had a nap in her pram.  Perfect!  Supper at the hotel again.

Sunday was our beach day - Mia loved the waves and the sand.  We sure got our fair share of exercise running after her!  After a while on the beach, we went back to the hotel for a swim in the hotel's heated pool to wash off all the sand.  Mia enjoyed that so much, we had to bribe her with choccie to get her out of the pool!  After a short nap, we went to Gateway Mall for a stroll and for an early supper.

Monday morning we had our last buffet breakfast at the hotel, packed up, and left at about 9h30.  We only stopped once along the way, and both Mia and I had a snooze in the car.

The three days went by so fast - but it was perfect - couldn't really do the small hotel space for much longer than that!

We stayed at the Umhlanga Garden Court, and I was really impressed.  The rooms were really nice, the staff were super friendly, and the brekkie buffet was yum!

Sand, sand, glorious sand! 

Fun in the sun

Run, mommy, run!

 

Happiness!

Her face when the dolphin show started!

Mia adored these lil rides!

Earphones - now she can watch her dvd's and we can listen to music, yay!

Wonderful, amazing, special, fantastic time!

xx

Lately...

Found this post on an awesome blog I read, Vanilla Blonde, and thought it's a really nice update questionnaire, and felt like doing the same.  :-)

I've been planning... Oh gosh, lots of things.  Our seaside holiday for this weekend...  Business promotions to get some more clients and sell some more products...  Easter weekend's treasure hunt and family get-together... Arts and crafts things that I want to do...

I've been eating... low-carb - mostly! I'm feeling good, it seems to suit me.

I've been dreaming about... The sea!

I've been splurging on... Hmm, nothing really! Been trying to get my finances in order a bit, so mostly only spend money on groceries, boring, but true!

I've been reading... Lesley Pearse.  Been re-reading lots of her books, busy with Gypsy at the moment, really good book!  Also busy reading The Paleo Solution by Robb Wolf.

I've been wearing... my denim skirt, that I don't wear very often but I actually really like it!!

I've discovered... That I can live without dairy products, easily.

I've been struggling with... Losing weight!!  I seem to be on the common diet where people eat well Mondays to Fridays and then fall off the wagon on the weekend and undo the previous 5 days of hard work...  Really need to try harder.

I've been happy about... the general state of my life.  Sure, I could do with making some more money, but other than that, I'm super happy.  Love my husband, love my daughter, love my work, love my friends.

I've been creative... with trying out some low-carb meals, making them low-carb yet tasty.  Meatballs, sweet potato mash and home-made tomato and onion sauce is totally delish!

I've been inspired by... my friends who are on weightloss journeys.  And Pinterest, of course!

xx

Love this

I'm so lucky!

Oops, been quiet on my blog, but really been so busy. Busy making memories!

The Market Day that I was trying to promote my business at didn't go very well, unfortunately.  Most people were there to browse, and were walking around without any money, so I didn't sell any products.  I did hand out quite a lot of pricelists, samples and product brochures, so hopefully I get some phone calls soon.  *Mental note to self: Don't try and do marketing at this market day again!!

The low-carb eating plan is going well, mostly.  Although it really does take time - time to plan meals, time to prepare them.  Last week was difficult, because I was at product training for two days, and then away for a couple of days - but as much as I can, I am avoiding white carbs, concentrating on smaller portions, and trying to make better choices.  I just do love my choccies and vino so much tho...

Mia and I had a great visit with my folks in Pietersburg!  It felt like my college-days: lounging on the couch, reading, watching tv, eating mom's home-cooked meals... Bliss!  I shared a bed with Mia, and she's such a lil snuggle-bug! I didn't sleep very well, coz I was so aware of her - but I did savour the closeness - and both mornings she woke up before I did and woke me up by saying, "You're so lucky, Mommy!"  Yes, indeed I am, baby girl! Lucky and blessed.

On Friday my folks came back to Gauteng with us - my mom came with us and my dad came in his car.  What fun to have extra time to spend with them!  Had a special braai at our house with both my siblings on Friday evening, and on Saturday arvie Mia and I went for snacks at my sister's house, and me, Mia, my mom and my sis sat on a blanket on the grass and had such a special time together. ♥

Next up is our weekend at the sea!  Whoop whoop!  Can't wait to just to chill out with hubby and lil girl.  It's a long way to go for three nights, but my soul truly has a yearning for the sea, I can't wait for the assault on my senses: To see the ocean, smell it, feel it, hear it!
xx

Roadtrip to P'burg - stopped for snacks along the way!

Mia loved the water fountain at the garden centre! She had granny walking through it too!

The girls ♥

Low-carb eating, Market Day, and March plans!

On Monday I started following a low-carb eating plan.  I'm still on the Weight Watchers program, have about 4 weeks left that I paid for, but then I won't go back though.  The concept is a brilliant one, but the meetings are a schlep to get to, 5pm in our house is supper-prep time!

The low-carb eating guidelines are that I'm basically trying to avoid white carbs, processed foods, and added sugar.  Been having scrambled egg for brekkie, tuna salad for lunch, nuts and biltong for snacks - going really well so far, granted it's only day 5!  I've allowed myself small portions of brown rice or wholewheat pasta at dinner time, but really small.  And had oats for breakfast one morning, without my usual milk and sugar, only a small dash of honey!

On Sunday there's a Market Day on at the clubhouse at the estate where we live.  I decided to buy a stall for my business - this really is my target market, and I do need some new clients.  I must still decide what special offer I must run for the day, something really irresistible so that people will book an appointment straight away!  Vitaderm has been really awesome with their support, and have given brochures and samples to hand out, and pretty banners to put up.  I'm quite excited about this!  Hope it's successful.

March is turning out to be my roadtrip month!
Next week Mia and I are going to go visit my parents in Pietersburg for a few days.  Looking forward to some quality time!
Then the weekend after that we're going on a mini-break to the coast.  It's far to drive for just 3 nights...  But I really really want to do this!  My soul is yearning for the sea.  And I can't wait to take Mia to uShaka!
The weekend after that I'm going on a girls weekend away with some girlfriends - just for a Saturday night.  We're going to Magaliesburg, so nice and close.  I've already had a dream about this getaway - all I packed was a bottle of red wine and a packet of NikNaks.  Sounds perfect, hehe!

Let me go make my low-carb meatballs and mashed sweet potato lunch!
xx