a Beer, a Whine and The Spirit

Posted by Renae at 11:00 AM Comments

Picture this: A garden party, or high tea if you will, with a beautiful shade sale made by Hubs...

... a crisp white table cloth covering a long table where delightful treats such as salmon sandwiches and freshly baked scones await to be enjoyed, and with this:


... as the centrepiece: 70 cupcakes; a mixture of chocolate and red velvet, delicately decorated with teeny tiny feet:



... made with love by yours truly. Picture people wandering around with a cup of tea in hand, mingling with the well-to-dos of Brisbane (and now, Townsville :-) ). Ha!

And now picture rain. Lots of rain. Rain for weeks before the big day, a day before, and on the day. Driving, pelting, unrelenting rain.

*sigh* Hubs and I had been planning Quinn's baptism for a few weeks, and to be honest, we were convinced it wouldn't rain. But alas, the weather had other plans. So inside we went, and a lovely time was, of course, had by all.


Quinn wore the "family" baptism gown that we had made for Chance from offcuts of my wedding dress, with the idea that all of our children would wear it. So far so good! There are button holes at the front where, for the boys we put cufflinks, and for the girls, pearl earrings. We will give these to the kids when they are old enough to wear/appreciate them. It's one of many little traditions that Hubs and I are creating for our little family.


And, just like his brother before her, Quinn cried throughout the whole ceremony. This from a girl who, quite seriously hardly ever cries.

We did have a lovely time, and as usual, it was so great to see everyone and to share this special occasion with family and friends. Thanks y'all!

Posted by Renae at 7:15 PM Comments

... Chance tipped out his water bottle all over the floor. No biggie. It's only water.

Then...

Chance smashed his kombi money box on his bedroom floor (yes, porceline smashes on carpet apparently!)

Then...

I forgot to check for tissues in pockets and got tissue all over Hubs' work shirts (and my 3/4 jeans) and as I was shaking them out at the back door, a big gust of wind brought it all back inside.

Then...

I didn't realise there was still the dregs of coffee in our stovetop coffee maker thingy, and as I took it to the dishwasher, it spilt everywhere.

And then...

As I was coating the beef in a plastic bag full of seasoned flour, for our beef stew for dinner, I didn't realise there was a hole in the bag.

Sometimes I have to wonder why I bother cleaning at all :-)

Posted by Renae at 2:26 PM Comments

Is it too late for me to find my style? I used to have some sort of style, but have never been stylish, if that makes sense. I used to wear A-line skirts and fitted tops, to highlight my small (ish) waist, and match my jewellery to my outfit (one of the things Hubs first noticed about me!) but these days, I've taken to wearing the same thing day in, and day out, and either not wearing jewellery at all, or never changing it.

I have lots of lovely dresses that I'd love to wear but they either don't fit, or are unsuitable for breastfeeding. Plus, I used to love wearing my hair out, either blow-dried or straightened, but it's too hot to do that up here (yes! STILL!!) so it goes up in a pony tail each morning and doesn't move til I go to bed at night.

I've never been particularly good at keeping up with what's in, and what suits my figure, especially since having kids. And not having the money to hire someone to tell me what to wear, or purchase fancy new stuff, or the time to sift through op-shops and bargain racks, has left me in a bit of a jam.

But I'm determined, especially with the cool(er)(ish) weather just around the corner (please please please!!!!!!!!!!) If anyone has any tips on where to start, that would be super helpful!!

Posted by Renae at 2:42 PM Comments

So far so good people! I started my training for the fun run on Tuesday morning after buying new running shoes (with terrible service at the shop!!!) on Monday. On Monday night, I already had the excuses going through my head:

"I'll see how I sleep tonight."
"I'll see how the weather is in the morning. It's supposed to be raining."
"I'll see what time Chanbe wakes up and go from there."
"I can always start the next day."

And then I stopped. Chanbe has consistently been waking up around 6am, and since I get up with him, I'm usually up early anyway. Hubs had already agreed to look after the morning routine to support my endeavour, which gives me one less thing to use as an excuse, so it was time to bite the bullet and just do it. Today is always going to be yesterday's tomorrow, so I started "tomorrow" and it felt good.

Chanbe slept pretty well (with just 1 visit to our bed for a bit) and Quinn slept through all night for the first time, and has done so every night since (touch wood!!); the weather was great - overcast and cool; Chanbe woke up at 6am and I set him up with breakfast, fed Quinn and was out the door by 6:40am. The next 3 days I was out the door before 6:30.

I'm sure it didn't look pretty, but I wasn't out there to win any beauty prizes. One of the best things, is that from about 6:15am til 7:15am, it's now Wifey's time. I'm alone with my thoughts, with no responsibility towards anyone but myself, and I'm doing something for me. Just me. ALL ME!!! I can't tell you how good that feels.

I have tried early morning running and exercising more times than I care to remember, but this time it's different. I can't press the snooze alarm, roll over and go back to sleep. If I don't take advantage of that time in the morning, I can't get it for the rest of the day. I still set my alarm each morning for 6:10am, just in case Chanbe sleeps in, which happened yesterday morning. I could have kept sleeping, but I found myself getting out of bed and getting out the door as per usual. I was quite proud of myself.

This is quite a long post, but I'm really feeling good about my ability to achieve this goal. And I might not even look too bad at the end of it all!!

Posted by Renae at 1:19 PM Comments

I'm committing myself to run a 5km fun run in August. I've mentioned before that I've always wanted to do a 10km fun run, so this is a build up to doing that some time in the future. I was aiming for 10km straight up, but seeing as how I've never done much running, and my body is still "recovering" from my pregnancy with Quinn, I was advised that 5km would probably be a better start. And I concur.

So I've started walking with the kids in our new pram:

And am currently looking into a running program like Couch 2 5k or something similar. I'm a little nervous and somewhat intimidated by the task I have set myself, but I really need something to focus on at the moment; something just for me; and I feel like this ticks a number of boxes for me at the moment. I need to dedicate some time to myself to complete the 3 sessions a week needed to reach my goal. These programs state you can complete the program in 9 weeks, and I have 16 weeks til the fun run, so I'm feeling confident that it will happen.

The best part is, my good friend Bethie, who is a personal trainer and does lots of running and other exciting things, is flying up to do the run with me! So I will have a cheer squad on the road which will be very helpful. (Thanks Beth!!) And it will also mean that I have to do it, as Beth has already booked her flights! Eeeek!

So there you have it. Here I am being all accountable to you guys. I shall keep you posted on my progress!

Posted by Renae at 3:44 PM Comments

Posted by Renae at 1:41 PM Comments

We are currently in Brisbane, preparing for Quinn's baptism on Sunday. Lots of lovely ideas and plans, and I'm sure they will all come together on the day. Hubs arrives tomorrow night (we have been here since Monday) and Saturday and Sunday morning will be busy, but fun, preparing for the big event!

Meanwhile, I just bought my dream pram on ebay! So excited. Paid a bit more than I probably should have (oops) but I'm so happy about it that it doesn't matter.

Chance is enjoying his time here (can you tell??)

and Quinn is still an absolute dream baby - lots of sleep, smiles and good feeding. What more could I possibly ask for?


Hope life is good for you too!

Posted by Renae at 6:48 PM Comments

Well this is embarrassing! I wrote this post over a week ago and thought I'd published it. Turns out I forgot to press "publish". It's a bit out of date, but you get the idea!

I've started writing this post 4 times now. The first time I began with how Quinn is sleeping soundly after throwing up all over me and our bed. And how I didn't mind being covered in vomit one bit; nor did I mind having to strip our bed and wash our sheets, even though I only just did that on Monday.

The second false start was about how I'm enjoying cups of tea in the morning again, as the weather has cooled down enough that I don't start sweating as soon as I start drinking a hot beverage. Riveting stuff, I know.

The third attempt began with the fact that I have lots of photos to share, but due to technological (and "Wifey") issues, I can't work out how to upload them to my blog. It was working the other day, but not now. Hmph.

And this is the 4th try. Should I have just closed the laptop lid and walked away? Probably. Instead, I'll share some random photos and promise that one day soon, I'll have a new, spunky looking blog and something slightly more interesting to say :-) Maybe....

Now if I can just get a photo of the 4 of us together!!

Posted by Renae at 6:44 PM Comments