2018 · music · Sunday series

Sunday series; my latest playlist additions.

Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the rock of our salvation. Psalm 95:1

Hey friends,
Happy Sunday…
One of the most common questions I get asked is what is on my playlist. Random right, but I like that question.
Back in grade 12 I use to dream of being a music journalist or a photographer at festivals like Big Day Out. (I was given THIS book by my cousin one year and I love it, I often flip through it with major FOMO because I never made it to one)
I love listening to music and if I don’t have the kids in the car, my songs are normally played at full volume… If the kids are in the car, I still listen to my music (ain’t no children’s songs in my car) but at a more eardrum friendly level, and we all sing along (LuLu loves ‘The Outback Club’ by Lee Kernaghan) 

Anyway, as I was saying… I often get asked about what I am listening to and when I found this new artist I HAD to share him with you all.
Now the sounds I like are basically any American country (American country radio stations play 24/7 in our house) with some christian music thrown in, The Zac Brown Band being my favourite band for at least the last 8-9 years, but any country music I normally like… (And I’ll always love me some T-Swift, I’ve been a Swiftie since before there were Swifties.)
I am always on the look out for new music and I often buy a few songs here and there to update my playlist, but it’s pretty rare that I ever buy a full album. But I bought this guys entire album!
Friends let me introduce you to, Zach Williams.Ice Cream Party (12)I am in love with THIS song and LuLu and I often are belting this one out in the car…  She actually asks for it now. It is an incredible song! New favourite right there. It’s got a great message and awesome sound, I adore everything about it! The lyrics are spot on and it’s so catchy – I am obsessed!
The other 2 songs on his YouTube are quiet powerful and remind me of the intense video clips Rascal Flatts use to put out – remember those? THIS one is incredibly powerful as is THIS one.
I’ve briefly listened to the rest of the album, I really like it. The songs are faith based and really strong & powerful and the sound is outstanding.
Give it a listen and let me know your thoughts…
What songs are you loving right now?
If you listen to Christian music, I would love to know your top 3 favourites!

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2018 · preprep

Preparing for pre-prep {Advice wanted – HELP!}

2018. A year for big things.
The first big moment for our little family this year is our little love LuLu is off to pre-prep this month. (In 18 days!)
Now, LuLu has never attended day care or been regularly cared for by any one other than Trent & I. I’m her constant, with her 24/7 – so this is a HUGE change for both her and I – personally I feel she’ll handle it much better than I will!

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She is a fun loving, active & very clever little lady who I know will flourish wonderfully. She loves to learn, she is so inquisitive and does not stop asking questions – EVER!
We carefully selected a beautiful kindergarten centre for her. They are big on outside play, nature and it’s child led play based learning – perfect for our LuLu…
We have done a handful of stay & play sessions at the end of last year, so LuLu is aware of the teachers, the centre and how things work.


Now I have to prepare, I have ordered a bunch of name labels from Tinyme  – but now I’m stuck… I’ve never done this before, so I need help…
I need a backpack, where do you buy good quality kid back packs? She has a cute Bobbleart one but I feel it’s too small.
What’s the best type of lunch box for kindy age kids? Those bento/yumbox/I don’t know what they are, it’s like a box with a bunch of sections/you know the ones… Are they worth it?
What are your go to kindy lunches?
Experienced Mumma’s I’m calling on your help… Give me suggestions and advice please!
I don’t mind spending a little bit of money on a good quality back pack as it’s always handy to have one, she’ll most likely get a proper school bag next year with the school’s logo on it, so this one would become a back pack to have in the car for trips away, carry on etc. And same applies for the lunch box, I don’t mind investing in a good one because it’ll be used next year at prep & hopefully in primary school.
Now onto another thing I need help with, how do you be ok? Like as a Mumma, how do I handle the separation? I know, don’t cry in front of her & be strong but gosh, I’m almost crying writing this… Pretty much every single day, she’s been with me for the past 4 years… And now, my little shadow has to go off. How do I handle the first day/week/weeks? I feel like it’s going to hard.
I think she’ll adjust ok, we have had a few “I don’t think I want to go to kindy anymore, I want to stay home with you Mumma.” moments, but 97% of the time she is very positive about it and super excited to go to “school”. I realise after the novelty wears off, she may get a little sad/over it, but hopefully she just keeps loving it. We currently don’t have a sand pit at our rental house, so she’s very excited to get back to pre-prep to play in the sand! I talk very positive about the centre and all her teachers, so I hope that helps her too.
She is very self sufficient, she can open food (muesli bars, biscuits etc), wash her own hands, put her shoes on, get dressed – all those basic things she needs to know how to do, she can… So I feel she is prepared in that sense. She is also confident doing arts & crafts, is very active and strong and loves to play on play equipment, and she can identify her own name. I know every Mumma thinks their kid is smart, but this girl – she is too smart for her own good somedays, she is wise beyond her years with what she understands and her ability to learn makes me proud. I know she’ll do great. Me though, gosh I’ll miss her and her baby brother who adores her and rarely leaves her side will also miss her!
I know I often try to write posts with tips & advice for you all, and maybe next year I can write a post full of advice on sending little ones off to pre-prep/prep, but right now I need the help.
Help me, comment below or connect with me on social media. Any advice, suggestions, tips, tricks – anything is appreciated.
It’s going to be a big adjustment, but I think she’ll thrive and it is all for the greater good.

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2017 · new year · resolutions · Uncategorized

Flourish with grace.

It is almost twenty eighteen! I can remember ringing in the New Year in 2000 – and now it’s 2018! So I am getting in early and wishing you all a very HAPPY NEW YEAR!
2017 has just over 12 hours remaining, I feel like this year was over in a second – but I also feel it dragged on in parts…
This year has been a pretty massive one for our little family…
Just a few weeks out from the end of 2016 we welcomed our 2nd baby and 2017 was an exciting year of being a family of 4. A number we feel is perfect for us.
We put our house on the market, patiently (kind of) waited for it to sell and then packed up and moved to a completely new town and bought a block of land which we will build on in 2018.
So that was basically our year… How was yours?

Going into 2018, the idea of having a word to focus on/be inspired by for the New Year appealed to me.
But what word? I adore countless words, this year is going to be a massive one for us and gosh, this feels like a lot of pressure – picking one word… So I will be a rebel and break the trend of 1 word and pick two, heck I may even make it a sentence.

Flourish & Grace.

In 2018 I want to flourish.
2016 & 2017 was all about growth for me, they were rough years – full of times I didn’t think I could or would survive. From everything from health issues, to betrayal, hurt, sadness, stress, anger and exhaustion. But you know what? I am sitting here on the 31st of December, 2017 and I am thankful to God for my struggles. I write this as someone who has grown tremendously in the past year. I shared some thoughts about this on my social media & you can read it HERE.
So, if 2017 was a year for big growth, 2018 will be my year to flourish. My environment is more positive this year, I’ve rid my everyday of hurtful people, I’m motivated & determined. So I’m ready to flourish and positively grow even more.
And I want to flourish with grace, I know the reason I can grow is because of His grace.
So, 2018 is my year that Because of His grace, I will flourish with grace. 

Ice Cream PartyHaving my little statement to inspire me, helps me focus on what I hope to achieve in 2018. Basically I want to flourish in every aspect of my life. Keeping flourish & grace in mind these are somethings I plan to work on this year…

  • Growing this little blog even more, helping it flourish.
  • Encouraging others and sharing my story. I want to aim to live my best life, while encouraging others to do the same.
  • Taking better care of me. Being more conscious of what goes into my body and how I am taking care of it and also taking more care of my mental & emotional health.
  • Giving myself grace.
  • Helping my little love LuLu flourish in her first year away from me.
  • Growing more in my faith.
  • Being even more confident in my decisions – which is a big one considering in 2018 we will building our home, and that’s full of decision making!
  • Go on more adventures.
  • Make our new home a home.
  • Do more of what I love and continue to learn.

Now these are fairly vague – there are a lot of little things that fall under these categories – but I prefer to stay very general and not have hard & set things set for an entire year. Each month I plan to reevaluate and set goals to accomplish for that period, this list will probably explode during the year.
What are your goals/resolutions/word/s for 2018? Let me know in the comments below or on my social media.

So 2018, I’m ready for you… Let’s do this, let’s Flourish with Grace.

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