Tour de Fitness

The cold winter chill has got me unstuck, with comfort food making up an embarrassing percentage of my daily intake. So this past weekend it was decided that Bear and I would embark on Tour de Fitness, daily, for as long as it takes.
I have to exercise early in the morning, before my coffee and before my brain figures out what it is actually doing, so as soon as the biggies are out the door, we're off. But day three of the regime and my bot is so bruised I may as well have taken to it with a bat. That grin on my face is totally fake. Totally.

I can only imagine Bear's vista, it would be like watching two pigs fighting over the blanket back there. Not pleasant I'm sure but my ride isn't either: "faster Mum. Mum where going? What doing Mum? Horses? faster. faster. drink Mum. I'm hungry. go home now Mum. What Mum? faster....twinkle twinkle little star....a b c d f k m, p p g g, a b c. "

I figure if God meant us to touch our toes he would have put them further up our body, and if He wanted me to be gorgeous and athletic  He would have , He knew that was never an option, so I'm not expecting a total body reshape and flexibility enhancement, just a slice off the scales (well, a large slice).

http://www.villageshop.com/sheepskin_bike_seat_covers.htm 

I found this online last night and I'm still negotiating the investment potential with hubby (I think he may believe Tour de Fitness is another one of my phases...he may well be on the money there) so until we've come to an agreement, I'm off again for another round of Damaged Goods meets Twinkle Twinkle.

With Love

Liv xo

Weekend highlights.

Rugby. 

Winter sport is peppered with rain, wind, snotty children, sidelines of ranting parents....but most importantly, a whole group of kids just having fun. Like squawking seagulls they flap around as if chasing a lone chip, and once it is in their possession the notion of 'team sport' fast evaporates......but we're working on it!
With just two games left for the season, my body is aching for a saturday sleep in. A whole weekend of nothing ( I think Lulu is looking forward to it too).

But it wasn't all footy, we had a day with the cousins and close friends too.

Rocking in the double-decker hammock, toasting marshmallows, cooking and drinking grape juice. 

Fly away embers

Look at these cheeky faces, up to no good I'd say!

Someone (Miss Yellow, my sister) was a tad proud of her new patch !

Thanks Bella! 

I hope someone gives you something special this week.

Until tomorrow,

Liv xo

Caught unaware this week.

At family gatherings it is always my father-in-law's voice you hear as all the ladies are scampering for the best photo. "Just take it, take it. Candid shots are much better". I think Bob would be proud.

A quiet moment feeding Ellie an ice block.

A love letter

Focused 

Crushed.

 (Jimmy got to him while he was asleep, the battle continues)

Have a great weekend

Liv xo

The Big Flower Pot

The innocence of a child is breath taking.

Today I went to the funeral of Fr Amin Aboud, a very young and deeply holy priest who died of a massive heart attack last week. It was at St Mary's Cathedral in Sydney and it was packed to the rafters, a telling sign that this man was incredibly loved and respected.
The 3 biggies were at school so I went with my mum, my aunty, and Henry Bear. As the coffin was carried in to the Cathedral, adorned with magnificent flowers, Henry gasped "ooo a big flower pot", our tears momentarily turned to giggles. Moments later, as 38 priests gathered around the alter to celebrate Mass, Henry concluded that it was a "big party up there mum".
These are the simple sentiments of a 2 year old, but as I knelt there they translated into my prayers.

Fr Amin (or Fr Amen, as my daughter calls you),
My prayer to you in Heaven today is to continue blooming in our hearts. May you always inspire us to stay close to Our Lord and His Blessed Mother. Hear our prayers and at your Heavenly party, whisper in God's ear that we love him. 

Our Loss is Heaven's gain.
Liv
xx

Unplanned visits

There is nothing quite like an unplanned cup of tea.
Today I had to pick up a few stretched canvases from my art supplier and to my surprise I scored $150 worth of free paint because I'd spent a certain amount of money! I was like a kid in a lolly shop, and I didn't just get 1 aqua tube, I got 3 different shades. Yep aqua paint floats my boat these days, i'm easily pleased.

Anyway, on the way home I came to a junction and shouted out: "Bear, want to turn right and visit Janie or go left to home?"

"Janie's cat" was his reply, so we turned right.
The back door was open so I let myself in, only to find my aunty wrapped in a towel and dripping wet (she'll be thrilled I've just let you all know that!). I was glad I'd made the unplanned cuppa, she may not have been so excited. We had a giggle, she dressed and I 'hit the lever hazel' as we say in our family (put the kettle on).

A whole property of manicured lawns and gardens, and Henry Bear finds a pile of leaves!

We sat on the back deck and watched Bear play with the poodles. He laughed himself silly for a good 1/2 hour and then we had a stroll around the garden.

I can't wait to take you on a tour of his property in spring, when the apple blossoms are in full bloom and the aggies are holding their heads high. This is their private oasis so i'll just take little snippets, but you'll drool with delight, it is something else! We had our wedding photos here.

Check out these magnolias. Simply stunning.

Have any of you seen the movie 'Steel Magnolias'? It was my all time favourite as a kid.

(this is an old pic, but this is us on Christmas day, two years ago!)

Until next cuppa,

Liv xo

The letter thief

He isn't scared of sticking his hand (completely) down the horses throat..

....but he won't get his hair cut. Terrified of the hairdresser.

Anyway, back to my story. Our daily stroll to feed the horses is rapidly turning into a lesson in ownership.
Recently Henry's addiction to "get de wetters" has turned into full blown theft.  Of course I don't let him take them, but I reckon if I wasn't there to stop him we might inherit a 2 km stretch of bills and with a little luck, some birthday cash from grandma.

(this is my fave, check him out!)

But he is not he only thief in our house. Not long after we got home I heard some rustling in the kitchen: 

Pink Dot stayed at home today, apparently sick!? Hmmmm

With Love

Liv xo

MacGyver didn't have an elastic.

(skin colour, so it's barely noticeable amongst the party bling)

Whilst secret agent/trouble-shooter MacGyver can battle Soviet soldiers and serve soup to the homeless in the one episode using every non-violent resolution known to man, he never once used an elastic to solve the heinous crime of flyaway hot hair. Not once. We are one up on MacGyver ladies.

As an avid user of hair elastics I know all too well the ramifications of not having a hair elastic on hand (literally).
I recently had my hair cut into a not so lovely twee bob (another story) , hoping it would curb my lazy tendency to reach for an elastic and in fact, force me to attempt the hot look for hubby.
What was I thinking?? With 4 little kids, a 'clean up style' wins hands down over a 'hot, sticky, sometimes snot infested (from the kids), in your face, stuck to your lip balm combination.'

But we're all suckers for both I've discovered, we want the look just not the hassle.

This is usually how the senario goes:
"Babe, I'm going to get my hair done for the party on saturday." (tick. he knows to look out for it)
Saturday comes and you walk around the house flicking your hair, trying not to be too obvious, but in truth, desperately keen for the "OMG Darl you look amazing" kind of reaction.
a) when you get that reaction, you dutifully tell him he looks hot too and it's going to be a GREAT night
or
b) you don't get the reaction, so you get in the car, sulk for a bit, then say "so do you like my hair?", all the while eyeing out the elastic on your wrist.
Then you get to the party, take one last look in the visor mirror, flick it again and resume the uncontrived facial expression.
You work the room until every last person of importance has seen your locks and then, once you presume they have all made a mental note of how nice your hair is, you reach for the elastic.
Up it goes, without so much as a farewell see you next year.

I thought it was a "mum thing" at first, you know, it's easier working with kids when you hair is up. Well that's what I tell my husband, but clearly it's not because on the weekend at Ladies Day I witnessed 3 young ladies doing just this and none of them have kids. They worked the sidelines, not quite they came, they saw, they conquered, more like they came, they showed, they MacGyverd.

I realise this post is definitely in the mundane category, but I just had to reassure myself that I'm not the only vain one out there, you all do this right?

Liv xo

Ladies Day

Yesterday it was 'Ladies Day' at our rugby club. The one day every year the boys play in pink and  serve up a free lunch and champers to all the ladies.
It was special yesterday because at 63, my dad put his boots back on and gave the field another crack. All nine grandchildren were there to cheer him on (and carry him off if the need arose, luckily it didn't!).
I'm not sure if it was nerves or excitement, but me and the chandon got acquainted fairly quickly and before I knew it we were best friends, bosom buddies even.
I'm not normally a drinker, in fact I'd take a bowl of ice-cream over wine any day but yesterday ice cream wasn't on offer.
It was the moment when a friend's mother looked at me sideways that I realised, perhaps I shouldn't have had that last one.
But hey, I'm a lady and it was my day.
So lovely to catch up with you girls and laugh ourselves senseless.
Dad, top game, you were definitely the star of the day and you made us all proud.

With Love
Liv xo

A magic morning.

Not a bad way to start the day hey!

I sat having my morning cuppa and watched these beautiful clouds roll in at about 6:30am, it was spectacular.

There is so much inspiration in natural beauty but sadly technology is moving so fast and we with it, that sometimes we forget to: STOP. ENJOY. WATCH. LISTEN. SMELL. TOUCH

.....that's what I plan on doing this weekend.

(a snippet)

Have a wonderful weekend and thanks for popping by this week.

With Love

Liv xo

My name is Olivia and I have a problem.

It's my handbag. No matter how hard I try, it just keeps filling up.
I bought this fancy accessory over a year ago and swore black and blue that this one wouldn't be used as a garbage depot.
Well....I failed. Miserably.
This morning at the shops, with a few impatient shoppers behind me, I tried desperately to find my credit card. My wallet is on deaths door and everything is falling out and everywhere. It was like fishing in the Yemen before they stocked it. Impossible.
I huffed, rolled my eyes and excused myself and all of the groceries. The token line "it must be in the other handbag"  slipped out.
So when I got home, flustered and hungry, I tipped the thing on its head.
OH MY GOODNESS.
This was not your ordinary clutch. It was like carry-on luggage, rucksack and toy box all rolled into one, with a splash of nasal congestion for good measure.
I'm disgusted. Is it me or the kids that are to blame?? I know for one that the dirty tissues are theirs, b/c last weekend at Church two had the snots and as I handed them fresh tissues, I saw used ones being deposited (I thought I had made a note to self to remove them once we were out, but it must have slipped my mind.....over and over again).

Do you suffer from the same problem? Please say yes.

Like writing down your daily food intact and pasting it on the fridge is the only way to loose weight, confessing what was in my bag will hopefully have the similar positive effect. So here goes:

6 x dirty tissues
wallet
1 x nappy
1 x packet of wetones
2 x handcream tubes
hand sanitiser
a lady beetle figurine
panadol
rosary beads
matchbox car
kids shoe polish (clearly the first week back at school and it didn't get done in the 3 weeks of holidays)
bingo game
3 x bandaids
a fairy
packet of matches
3 x empty snap lock bags
docket
manicure set
packet of tissues
a hair dresser flyer
my niece's necklace
a picture hook
loop hock
a brooch
moxies
packet of fisherman's friends
sticky tape
2 x packet of Anticols
eyeliner
4 x lipsticks
Muesli bar
Lollipop wrapper
A hair clip
2 x hair elastics
sunglasses
keys
some crocheted doily ??
2 x pens

All but the kitchen sink, as the saying goes!

I'm a (huge) bit embarrassed but that was very cathartic.

With Love and a conscious decision to change,

Liv xo

Marvelling the mundane today.

Today a few things caught my eye. Some made me stop and appreciate their beauty, others made me smile, one cracked me up and one had me bent over double laughing.
I'll let you decide which photo got what reaction!

Two $2 surprises in the one hand of change.

Ratatouille 

Gum blossoms

Bear

Hubby's attempt at beating the ducks.

(if you knew my hubby, you'd know he is a perfectionist- everything has a place,

and this messy pool would be killing him)

Game 3, Game on!

Happy Wednesday

Liv xo

Back to the grind!

It's been a few days and I feel I have to touch base with you, but to be honest, there isn't much to tell.
After a sunny sunday filled with 5 loads of washing and a visit from Uncle Nick and Ez, our wonderful winter holiday came to a grinding holt. On monday we gave our lives over to the education board and the steering wheel for another 10 weeks, my only consolation is that I have my treash home for 1 more day without the little people (well 2 anyway).

So today its tuesday and hubby has decided to take Lulu to the movies for a daddy/daughter date whilst I get my paintings all wrapped up for Cairns. I mentioned it was "cheap tuesday", and suggested he could say she was a fully grown baby and get into a 'babes in arms session'. He replied "how about I take you to the movies tonight. I'll carry you to the counter all frocked up in a sexy number say to the Greater Union Staff that i'm cashing in on 'Babes in Arms' twice today!
Sorry, another silly joke, but he made me laugh.
He is so lucky he married me b/c I don't think anyone else would laugh at his stupidity.

Anyway the movies isn't happening, we are off to the footy instead. An English team has come out to play our school, but after all the English victories lately i'm not holding my breath.

My day in images:

           I lined Bear up with some balsa and tacks so I could get some work done. Hours of fun.

                                                 
                                                      I hung a few at the local cafe.

                                                    And a sent two in the truck.

And then it all got too much for one little Bear.

Hopefully something more magically mundane to tell you in the days to come.

With Love

Liv xo

Cav's Farm.

A lovely two days with old friends.
We fed cows, went trout fishing and smoked our catch, made pizzas, toasted marshmallows, drank Cav's own wine and grappa, ate Cavi beef, salami and olives and laughed under the stars (very gourmet farmer.)
Just perfect!
Until next year...Arrivederci.

With love and gratitude
Liv xo

looks like the big one behind the stump has a toupee 

Henry dug up some bait worms.

The Godfather!

Muscles with a Brook Trout

Buz

roe anyone? 

Sorry about the photo fest again folks, but there are just so many gorgeous magic and mundane moments to capture.

On our way back up north, we dropped by Uncle Tom's and then Grandma & Grandpa's for a birthday cake and a farewell until next month, when they come up to visit the big smoke.

With Love

Liv xo