A New Year - January 2023

Kerry and I went straight back to work as soon as we got home from Western Australia, straight back into house work, work work and the usual school holiday swing. It's been really nice for me because I can sleep in. Mathias usually comes and takes Oakley when he wakes up in the morning and brings him back when he's tired again. One more week of holidays then they will go back to school. I'm a little worried about what Taylah will do, I had made it very clear to her that if she doesn't have an apprenticeship locked in then she will be returning to school, but I know I can't force her and I know she doesn't want to return to school. But I'm not going to sort out an apprenticeship for her, if it's something she wants to do she needs to do the things to make it happen.

Today we took the kids to Scenic World in Katoomba. Last year we got five $50 vouchers to use from the NSW Government so I booked in the aquarium and scenic world. I'd never been and have wanted to go, but things like that are so expensive to do with the all of us so it has been really cool to do some of these things with the vouchers. It was pretty cool, I didn't really know what to expect I just knew there was a steep railway ride and a skyway ride. It was cool to go down into the valley and see the trees and everything from the ground, it is so very beautiful. And going in the Skyway over the valley too is just breathtaking. I think the kids enjoyed it for the most part. We had packed a picnic and had it after at a nearby park, then came home. I was super tired because I worked last night and also stayed up until 2am finishing a book I've been reading, then got up at 8 to get my walk in before we left for Katoomba by 9.30-10

I wanted to watch a movie on my night off so I put one on when we got home, but I fell asleep about 30mins into it and didn't wake up until 9.30pm

We're going to mum and Sariahs for dinner tomorrow which will be nice. I've been teaching Taylah to drive and I think she's ready to do the Bathurst to Orange drive so that will be interesting with everyone in the car too.

I started reading Atomic Habits while we were in Western Australia and had decided to try implementing some of the things I'd learnt so far. One of the things I wanted to do was making a rule for myself to not use my mobile phone in bed, not even checking it, also putting it on 'Do Not Disturb' in the evenings, particularly when I get home from work. I've been doing it now for over a week and it has more than halved the amount to time I spend on my phone, and it actually feels so good! freeing! frees up so my time and mental space, it's great. 

The other thing I've been trying to add is that when I get out of bed, I get dressed for the day. This has been really good too, granted I've been sleeping in while the kids have been on holidays, but it's been good to get me going.

I've also got a goal to lose weight and strengthen my body this year, and practice healthy habits all-round. I know it is a bit ambitious of me to aim for 30mins of exercise everyday straight off the bat but I've been for a walk everyday this week and it has felt so good for me, on top of the other things I've been practicing.

I haven't finished the book yet, I did also start reading a novel I've had for a few years as a bit of a wind down after work, it did slightly backfire on me because I got so into the book I literally binge read it the other night until 5AM!! needless to say I really enjoyed the book and I finished it off last night. I do have the next book in the series too which I bought a few years ago, I'll just have to have a little more restraint when I get carried away reading it, but to be honest, I think it much better than staying up watching a tv show or hours scrolling on my phone so I'm not too mad about it. 

It's the Nevermoor series, I read the first book a few years ago and really enjoyed it, I'm not much of a reader and I'm pretty sure this series is targeted to young/youth readers, but I like them and obviously find them easy to read!

Oakley turns 1 - End of Perth Holiday

 We fly home from Perth tomorrow night, it's been a pretty chill relaxing holidays though it will be so good to get home back into our own space and routine. We've been so chill that the kids have been pretty free-range the last 2 weeks which is producing some undesirable behaviours. Micah in particular is really testing our patience, but they are all very ready to be knocked back into reality.

My little love Oakley turned 1 today, we didn't do much, just had a yummy roast dinner (which he slept through) then cake, ambrosia and ice cream. I can't believe how fast the year went, it is crazy. Adjusting to life with our 5 kids has been an adventure but Oakley brings so much sweetness, we all absolutely adore him, I hope that always stays that way.

Over all we've had a really good holiday, it's been super nice watching the kids together, but more so giving Kerry the opportunity to spend some good time with his brother. I hope my boys make an effort to be apart of each others lives no matter where their lives lead them.

We were able to catch up and visit with Waru and Moana, Elyse and her family and Anita yesterday which was really nice, it's been such a long time since we've seen them it's amazing to hear about how much our lives and theirs has changed over the last 15 years. They live in a beautiful area north of Perth city, right on the coast called Yanchep.

My skin is still really good at this stage so it will be interesting to see what happens after we get back to home and work. I defiantly have a few goals that I'd like to achieve this year even though I know I have a lot on my plate with our family of 7, I'm hopeful about trying to do things that will help be be a better version of myself. I've like to get into a routine of exercising and I'd like to start small but learn to save money consistently.

Christmas 2022 / New Year 2023

 We have been in Perth for just over a week and we have one more week here. It's been nice spending time with Paul, Stella and their kids. The kids all get along, especially Mathias and Cooper. The heat hasn't even been that bad. Kerrys Dad was here too, he went home yesterday. 

Where Paul and Stella live reminds me of California because there's a lot of concrete. There's practically no front yards, it's just road, footpath then houses all packed in close to one another. Not much green grass, a lot of people even have fake grass in their yards. We've done a lot of swimming here, they don't have a pool just plenty of friends who have pools. We have visited a few places around Perth, Hillary's, King's Garden (Botanical garden) and Fremantle or 'Freo' as it's affectionately called by the locals.

Lots and LOTS of New Zealanders here. A lot of their friends are New Zealanders, it's like 'little NZ' here. I've heard the saying a few times in the last couple of days 'small world'... I think it gets even smaller when you're from New Zealand. 

It's funny, I'm not completely comfortable being around so many New Zealanders, they typically reminisce about 'home' and loads of talk about people, who knows who, and the places. I think it's because I don't identify myself as being a New Zealander as such. I identify as Australian, Sydney is my home where I grew up and I was born in New Zealand. And I don't have much memory of places and people so when they all start saying name places and family names I'm out.

An added layer to that is the running 'joke' of trying to get us to move here. Kerry and I had one serious conversation about the possibility of temporally moving to make a bunch of money for a house, he drops that to everyone and it's like it's a definite plan!?

I did enjoy the real Maori bread though.

It's been very very chill and relaxed holiday which is really quite nice. And oddly my skin is in a really really good way at the moment. Within a matter of days it seemed to be clearing, it's still itchy and crap, but it hasn't been painful and inflamed in roughly 2 weeks so I've really been loving that.

We are going away with Paul and Stella and the kids tomorrow until Thursday to a place called Green Head.