Lazy Days at Home

Time here has slowed almost to a stand still.

This week has been pretty much a week spent at home. There has been the occasional local outing and play date for Rhianna but otherwise it's just been doing stuff around the house.

Today Rhianna had a friend over to play and I realised I had almost nothing in the house for morning or afternoon tea.

I quickly whipped up this chocolate brownie from a recipe I found on Melissa Godsells Day to Day blog.

So easy and most of all yummy.

Yesterday we got stuck into some store bought craft projects. What I love about these projects is that I can leave Rhianna to complete them on her own while I get on with other things - mostly housework.

Rhianna has been begging me for pocket money this week so I have assigned her a list of jobs to do around the house.

Yesterday she cleaned the bath and vanity and swept the front drive of leaves.

As it was such lovely cool weather we also took Finn out for a walk.

Rhianna loves to hold him on his lead especially as we pass the house of her latest love interest.

This week Rhianna tells me she is going to marry Jedd.

Boy, I hope not. I can't imagine having a son in law called Jedd.

We learnt the fine art of tea making later in the afternoon.

Followed by a DVD before dinner.

Wasn't this on at the movies in the last school holidays? I can't believe how quickly movies come out on DVD now. Why would you bother blowing all that money to see these movies on the big screen when you only have to wait a few months and they are $5 at the local DVD store?

Of course, there has been a bit of op shopping now and again. But it seems there are no bargains to be had at the moment.

On the down side, we went to the local pool the other day to swim some laps and when Rhianna got out her chest, arms and back were covered in spots.

We had a trip to the doctors to rule out measles and chicken pox but the Dr said she just had a reaction to something in the pool.

I think we'll just swim in our own pool from now on.

And that's it. Just plain, boring old Christmas school holidays.

We Love the Eastern Suburbs.

Probably because my husband Bill grew up in Paddington and I lived at Randwick for many years, our family loves the eastern suburbs of Sydney. And there is no better time to run amok out there than in Summer when the vibe is great and the scenery to die for.

We headed out there last weekend for no particular purpose - just to take things as they come.

We had an extra passenger this time - my niece, Hayley who is the same age as my daughter Rhianna - very handy.

We headed first to Paddington where we trawled through the Matt Blatt furniture store.

Very retro pieces as you can see and as you can imagine, I was in heaven.

Rhianna and I loved this this egg chair. It was only $1000!!!

We had a quick walk through Paddington markets but have been here plenty of times before so really only stopped for coffee and handmade chocolates.

Then it was across the street to the pub for a toilet break and a drink.

Most pubs look pretty much the same so I didn't take a photo but I thought this was an interesting idea in the the girls loo.

For $2 you can straighten your hair.

Now, I may not get around very much but I have never seen this before and think it's a brilliant idea.

It would also save you $300 on a GHD.

Bill then took us to Redleaf pool at Double Bay. He spent many boyhood days here and was thrilled to be able to bring Rhianna here.

Isn't it picture postcard perfection?

The girls couldn't wait to get in for a swim.

The best bits of this pool are the large platform that surrounds the pool which is great for jumping off and the 2 pontoons in the middle of the pool which are fun to swim out to and pose on.

That's Bill in the middle and the 2 girls off to the left sitting down.

Love, love, love doing this kind of stuff in Summer.

Happy 2012

Boy, are we ever in holiday mode around here.

We usually get up around 9am or sometimes closer to 10. We muck around doing not a lot of anything before eating around 11am. We spend some days kicking around the house and then we go out for an adventure the next day. Today we stayed at home, lazing around.

Rhianna got caught up on some of her favourite blogs and games.

She has a mini "study" set up for the holidays in front of the telly.

Much creative work goes on while Hannah Montana blares out across the room.

God help me....

There has been much discussion about whether we should drink or save these bottles of marketing genius.

We've had a few very heated rounds of this new board game that we got as a family for Christmas. So much fun. I can highly recommend this game.

Rhianna has found some unusual ways to entertain herself including a bucket bath.

No idea why she would do this when she has a perfectly good pool right next to her.

We've spent a lot of time opening new Christmas presents such as this pottery wheel Rhianna received from her brother Broc.

Thanks Broc!!!!!

It was lots of fun to try and produce a pot from the damn thing though.

It wasn't long before we realised we needed to have our hair tied back and some sort of apron on.

Silly Mummy!

Rhianna and I tidied her room, put the new toys away and did a huge declutter. Looks bare now ready for the new year and all the junk that will bring with it.

And lastly a quick trip home to check on my parents, who along with myself, had a horrendous 2011. It was quite an emotional time (for reasons I won't go into here) so I spent a bit of time walking up and down this old childhood beach.

Looking forward to a wonderful 2012. Hope you are too.