which means the girls have already launched into a VERY cold pool….

Mad aren’t they?

I’ve been making it a priority to try and do a bit of scrapbooking most days – usually for an hour or so after lunch, and before the girls get home from school.  I’ve also signed up for a few online classes to help get the creative juices flowing. The next one to start is Shimelle’s Learn Something New Everyday. Class hasn’t started yet so there’s still time to sign up.

I’ve decided to use an 8×8 felt album that I had lying around. I have to confess I signed up for the class last year but never actually did any of it. Luckily you only pay once .

In addition to working on the trip album I’ve been doing some other layouts as well.

I’ve been going through my ideas folder so this next one is a scraplift from Gretchen. Love that girls style .

Thanks to my wonderful blog readers, many of whom sent helpful, caring comments in response to my last post. Many of you suggested getting out for a walk and taking the attitude of “just do it”. So I did. I got myself dressed and out the door before the sun was even over the horizon. I’ve had to stop my walks with the dogs while they were undergoing some training so today was my first normal walk with them – and they were perfectly behaved. Which means I’ll be able to get back to walking them in the morning. I’ve missed our early morning walks. And I’m sure doing them again will help set me up for a happy day.

I was so loving my everyday life before the trip and I did not expect it to be so hard settling back into routine. Hopefully the worst is behind me now. I’m going to work on sticking to my daily routines as well. When I did that the week before last I had a good week. A few of you also suggested I really focus on the positives in my life – and there are so many that it shouldn’t be hard to do . Working on more blog posts should help with that too.

Thanks again. I’m feeling much more optimistic and positive today and am sure I’m going to have a fantastic week.

I’ve been feeling down/ flat ALL this week and I’ve had enough. Not sure what’s going on, though I suspect it’s still travel related . I’ve been working on scrapbooking my photos and I just want to go back in the UK on holiday with my family. This is definitely the hardest I’ve had adjusting after a trip – but I guess it’s also the longest trip we’ve ever had. Last week I thought I was back on track but it wasn’t too be.

The worst part about feeling this way is that I’ve

- not been eating well

- not been exercising

- not wanted to do anything or go anywhere

- not been motivated to blog

- been feeling like a big failure

All of which, does NOT help me get over this funk I’m in. Today I’m supposed to go to my book group and I don’t want to – but I’m planning to make myself go. I know I’ll have a good time once I’m there.

I’m hoping the weather will warm up soon (it’s been cold) as I’m sure that would help my mood. In the meantime I need to get myself excited about things that are coming up – like our Halloween party, being able to plant our vegetable garden, getting back in the swimming pool, etc.

If anyone has any great tips for getting past this sort of feeling please share.

Todays “baby” cow photos were taken at John O’Groats in Scotland. And I’m pretty sure cows never have a down day….. except maybe in Winter when it’s cold and they’re shut inside

1. Tea time, 2. The hills are alive ♫, 3. My Craft Room, 4. Blue blues, 5. finished granny stripe, 6. ch pillowcases, 7. May in Bergen, 8. Untitled, 9. Isn’t Britain Great? , 10. Untitled, 11. cherry blossoms @ greenwich park, 12. IMG_7429 japanese azalea and bridge singleton park 1-4 700, 13. GUAYACÁN CIELO Y VERDE, 14. Desktop Wallpaper, 15. new bag, 16. Tropical

Since we were already in Sydney for the Organic Expo we decided to use some vochures Amy had recieved for her birthday to visit Luna Park. This was THE theme park when Kevin and I were teenagers. It has been closed down and reopened a number of times, reopening in 2004. But I don’t think I’ve been since I was about 15.

With the car parked at Darling Harbour we decided to get a water taxi (a first for us) over to Luna Park.

As you can see it was a perfect day for a trip on the harbour.

Luna Park is to the left hand (or North) of the Harbour Bridge (which Kevin & I will be climbing in just 2 weeks , so it’s in a magic location.

It’s free to walk around but you have to pay to go on the rides. The girls already had tickets but it was $40 each for Kevin and I. I only went on two rides so did NOT get my money’s worth. You can buy single tickets ($10 each). First up was Coney Island which was exactly as I remembered.

Gotta love the funny mirrors .

I took a lot more video than photos (to show the rides in action) and put together a video but am having trouble uploading it to YouTube.

Just love this photo of Amy on the wild mouse .

Sydney Harbour really is a magical place. We are so lucky to live close-by and even luckier that we don’t have to deal with traffic everyday .

Just a  week or so ago I discovered there was going to be an Organic Expo in Sydney. It’s apparently the 6th year but I’d never heard of it before!! Luckily we had the Saturday free so I booked tickets for us to go, not really sure what to expect.

It was really good and much larger than I thought it would be. There were lots of stands about all things organic. And lots of food samples.  We discovered some delicious brown rice crackers and were impressed with these super sprouts. Kevin decided we should get the WHOLE set .

The girls enjoyed it too and were extra happy when they discovered the animals.

Before leaving we had an organic lunch from the cafe. I had a lovely vegetable pie. Delicious!

We’ll definitely try to get to return next year.

… I’ve started to get back into scrapbooking. I really missed but after not doing any for over 2 months I’ve found it very hard to get started again. So I’ve made myself sit and do at least one (simple) page a few day this last week.

And today I made a start of the 1,200 photos I printed from our trip .

Well it’s been some time since we participated in Muffin Tin Monday but I thought it might be fun to get back to.

Todays muffin tins (shared by the 3 of us after school) included rice crackers, boiled egg with mayo, crackers, corn relish dip, babybell cheese, carrot, banana coconut loaf, watermelon, some Aussie m&ms and some milky way stars (from the UK). The pickings were a little on the slim side as I only decided to this in the morning.

This is definitely a fun way to have afternoon tea. And Christy even OFFERED to try some babybell cheese .

I took some time over the weekend to get my sorted and refocussed on what I want to get achieved each day. This includes not just stuff to do around the house, but what fun things I want to do (like scrapbooking) and how I want to feel about myself (eating healthy, getting in my exercise, dressing decent and putting on make-up even if I’m not leaving the house).  In order to make this happen I reworked my daily routine.

I tried to be fairly detailed, esp with the time as this is where I’m really failing at the moment. I made to schedule in computer time – Amy thought it was a lot but if I stick to this I have 1.5 hours which I’m sure is a lot less than what I’ve been spending. I also need to work on not using the computer at night when Kevin is home as he’s been feeling a bit neglected. I’m sure having it all written in black (or in this case blue) and white and stuck on the fridge will help me stick to it. I also planned exercise and meal/snack breaks which hopefully keep me out of the kitchen in between . The basic premise is work in the morning, craft time after lunch, a few more chores after girls get home and then time with Kevin after dinner. I will give this new routine a go for a few weeks then make any chances that are required.

Amy also made up routines for herself and Christy which they have to complete in order to get some pocket money each week.

The next thing I needed to do in order to be organised for the week was do a menu plan.

At times I have done this monthly but usually find a weekly basis works best for me. I try to put in one or two new recipes each week and make sure to plan easy dinners on late nights or busy days.

I also took time to go over the detailed zone cleaning list (al la Flylady.net) – the last one I had was written a few years back when the girls had a lot more toys. Wish me luck getting back into my groove .