Check out these super cute T's that I won in a blogger giveaway.

The lovely Jules from Mama of two boys, chose me as one of her winners to receive some of her wonderful creations.

Button Tots is her business name, and her creations are beautiful.

Go on, check out her goodies at www. madeit.com.au/ button tots

and if you want to follow her wonderful, insightful blog go to here

Thanks again Jules, my little men love them!

It's been amazing

 I never knew that it would feel this great. I thought I would feel like kind of a failure, but I don't.
What kind of career was I having working only three days a week anyway? I was working, but now that I think of it, it wasn't any kind of career.  I don't think a "career" will come back into my life until my kids are at school and I can work longer hours. Guess what - I'm now ok with that, the decision we made for me to not work, has reduced my stress levels immensely.

I feel like a different person, and today Will commented how less stressed I was.  All the petty little things, like Charlie crushing raws eggs onto the ground and spilling milk everywhere, would usually have resulted in me getting angry with the extra clean up work load.  Now, I am just taking it in my stride.  I have more time for household chores, and don't have to stay up late just to finish a basket of ironing. The most important thing of all though, is I have so much more valuable time with my boys.  We have been sleeping in, going to the park, spending more time on the beach and also in the backyard. We are not constrained to time, until next week when Coops starts kinder.  I have more patience with them, and more time for me to focus on my own fitness.  Everything that has happened over the past few weeks, makes me realise that this is the path my life needed to take.  Not just for me, but for my family.  They need me more than a job needs me. I need this time with them, and they need this time with me.

Check out some snippets of what we have gotten up too, it's been amazing!

Carnival Fun!

Beach fun

New Haircut

Play doh

Relaxing at the beach box

Water fights

Celebrating Australia Day

Gardening

Hanging at the Park

Australia day celebrations with friends

More park action

Beach time again

Family walk and finding a grasshopper

I know that there are always going to be highs and lows in life, because as they say "That's Life". There are going to be tears and tantrums at times (not just from me!). I'm just grateful that I get this opportunity to spend extra precious moments with my boys.
There has been change, happiness and belief for what we hope will be a wonderful 2013.
How has your 2013 started out?

Happiness is............

Everyone has different meanings of happiness, they also have different needs to be happy.
Some like to be home bodies, pottering around their places during the day, and curling up on the couch at night. Others like to be out and about whenever they can. There is no right or wrong way to what you require to be happy within yourself, just as long as you have some form of happiness in your life.

The last weekend for me, was filled with pure happiness. A good friend who I went to school with, came and stayed with us. We sat in the sunshine drinking bubbles at an iconic pub (such a pretty crowd, where we felt quite old!), chatted, watched the tennis and then spent the day on the beach.  My sister and her family also made a last minute visit and joined us at the beach too.  So did my in laws and Wills cousin and her children.  We had access to a friends beach box, this was a great way to enjoy the serenity of beach life.  Now to start saving the pennies, so we can get ourselves one.

Happiness for me is a mixture of being out and about with family and friends and also spending time pottering around my home.  After a nice weekend with beautiful people, today I have had a down time day at home.  The little men are exhausted after running around on the beach, swimming and playing with family and friends.  Chores always have to be done at some stage, and now that I am a full time domestic goddess, I want to have everything under control so that Will doesn't have to do things when he is not working.  Lawns have been mowed, gardens weeded, clothes washed, kiddies entertained - smallest one is asleep in my arms whilst I type this. I don't remember the last time that as happened.  I'm enjoying it, I hope that there are now more happy days, then stressful one's.

What is it that brings you happiness?

Change, it is coming!

Tomorrow marks the end of something that I have worked my entire life for.  From the moment I took my first breath, after escaping my mum's womb, each day I have worked towards what we call - having a job.

I always thought that I could have it all, career, husband, children and a place to call home.  In my mind, I do have it all - the career is just being put into the background until the little men are at school.
All of those other things, I have, and at this moment in time, those are the most important things that I need to focus on.

When I stand at the kinder gate in a few weeks time, I won't have to rush off to work.  I will be able to stand there for as long as I want.... without looking like some kind of freaky parent that just can't let go of course! I will be able to savour the moment, cherish every tiny detail that is washing over my son's face and body, be there for the next chapter in my son's life.

I still feel nervous about finishing work tomorrow, and I know that I shouldn't.  When I spoke with one of my bosses today, I apologised for having to resign, I feel like I am letting them down. I know I shouldn't feel this way, that this move that I am making is the right one for us.  However, that's just the kind of person that I am, always putting others before me, when really sometimes I should be focusing on doing something for me. I need to let go of the feeling that my working career has gone, it hasn't gone, it is just on a holiday until I need it back in my life.

Change - The act or instance of making or becoming different

Maybe my word to live by for 2013 is Change?

I need to become different, do something for me?

Ok Thursday the 17th of January, come on down, it's time for us to meet and work through this change.  I'm nervous, scared, but at the same time I feel like a weight has been lifted from me.  Change, please be my friend on this day, hold my hand, guide me through the emotions, and then join me when it is all over for a Champagne!

Have you ever "suspended" your paid working life to become an unpaid domestic motherly goddess?

Out of the mouths of babes

Tonight after I had finished reading Cooper his bed time story, we talked about him sleeping the whole night in his own bed.  This is how the conversation went.........

Me: Coops are you going to spend the whole night in your own bed tonight?

Coops: No, I get scared in my bedroom, I wake up, I run and then I sleep in "our" bed (that's what he calls mine and Will's bed - I think he thinks it belongs to everyone!)

Me: It's ok, you don't need to be scared, you have an awesome bedroom, you should love sleeping in there.  Would you like to share a bedroom with Charlie, so you don't get scared?

Coops: No, I want to share a room with Daddy.  It's ok mum, Charlie wants to share with you, so it's ok.

The innocent child's mind, they twist and turn everything in their minds to make you laugh and smile!

It feels right

I can't believe that I finally did it, after much consideration, doubts, do I , don't I - I did it.  I resigned from my job today, well, I left a message two days ago for my boss and it took 4 missed phone calls between us both today, before we finally spoke to each other.  And now, now that it is final, it all seems right.

I've only got one shot at spending these quality years with my young one's, time with them before the years flow by and they grow into teenagers and spend more time with their friends, than with us. I never knew that this day would come, it's amazing what a new year can bring.

At first I felt like I was letting my boss and the company down, but once I spoke with him and explained the situation, I felt relieved.  He was caring, completely understood that family comes first - upset that I had to go, but totally understanding.  When the phone call ended, I felt like I could breathe 100 percent.  Like this year was going to be a better year, with new beginnings, new outlooks and new adventures.

I shared a rare coffee with my husband and no kids at a cafe, we discussed what I could venture into, the opportunities are there to take!

I rang my mum as I enjoyed a walk - I was worried how she would take the news, but she completely shocked me.  She told me that I had made the right decision, that you never know when your health will suffer, and that you need to spend the time with the kids while you can. I believe that this is due to her facing her own mortality last year, and the fact that she still has a nurse visit her daily while her wound recovers from her last operation.  You really do have to live in the moment. She also mentioned how she found it really hard with us kids until I was about 8, I never knew that she felt this way.  My sisters and I had the best upbringing and my parents gave us everything that they could, the best gift of all was the love that our family shared and still does till this day.

So there, it's done - as of next Thursday I am officially unemployed and have the title of "Domestic Goddess". I'll be a full time chef, story teller, laundromat, cleaner, gardener, bum wiper, taxi driver, train track builder, lego constructor, arts teacher.....................and the best job of all..............a full time mummy!

And you know what, it all feels Just Right!

What about you, did you ever put a career on hold and just become a full time Domestic Goddess?

New Year, new challenges, time to make a decision

Will 2013 be the year that I decide to be a full time mum?

A mum that doesn't work three days a week, and feel like I am part of a circus - mainly the juggling act!

Do I focus solely on my family and learn for the first time since going from a double income no kids, to a single income with two kids in tow.............to stick to a budget?

Since going on holidays from work just before Christmas, this decision is consuming my mind.

For the first time, I feel like my family would benefit greatly with having me at home full time.

I feel ready to put some kind of career on hold until both the children are at school.

The thought of ferrying children between kinder and creche and trying to fit it in with my husbands shifts - well, it all seems too hard.

I am starting to wonder what affect this will have on the children.  How tired they will be from the juggling that we would have to do.

Then guilt kicks in - will they miss their friends at creche and hate me from taking them away from them? At some stage they will leave creche though, and new friendships always come along right?

Oh, and what about that extra cash that I earn? The freedom that we currently have to buy those "extra" things.

Don't get me wrong, I still want to work for one day per week - so if anyone has something in mind that they think I would be good at, please let me know. I'm a dreamer and would love to have a business of my own one day, but just haven't figured out what that is as yet. It would have to be something that would fit in with my family's lifestyle though.

But, it's all about happiness, my family's needs, and what will work best for us.

I think I have just made my decision...............ekkkkkkk, please give me some feedback and thoughts as to what you believe.