In particular a vegetarian cafe we’ve been meaning to visit forever. This is the first I’ve ever been to, besides the Nan Tien Temple.

Inside was lovely. A nice welcoming fire…

and a cute lamp on our table.

One of the best things is that Amy and I could chose from anything on the entire menu .

But of course the best thing was getting to hang out with my family .

Kevin wanted to share the sampler plate. Holy moly. Check out the size of it! We ate all the nachos (who knew sweet chili sauce would be so good on nachos), and about half the dips and pita chips. I bought home the rest. The salad went to the chooks and I enjoyed the rest of the pita chips for my afternoon snack.

Gerringong is one gorgeous seaside town. This is the view from the very small main street.

If the girls had been feeling better we might have gone for  a walk around but instead we just drove down to the beach where I snapped a few photos. My Dad always camped here as a child  and I’ve got a very special photo of my Grandpa and me taken here (he died when I was just 3 years old) so it’s a special place.

Towards to ocean….

Towards the mountains…Rain threatened all day long but never eventuated.

I think we’ll definitely have to come back in the Summer. Have lunch at the cafe, a swim at the beach and end the day with an ice-cream .

It was the week of unseasonably hot weather and a cold turn by the weekend. I thoroughly enjoyed the warm/hot days though….

It actually ended up being 26 deg on Friday – just crazy…

It was the week we visited the dog wash…

and the week of Christy’s school disco…

It was the week of a pizza pickup in the name of Amy Hawthorne… those who have the read The Hunger Games will understand….

and the week of our organic delivery….

It was the week of gorgeous days…

and stunning sunsets….

It was the week Kevin installed doorbells in the girls room…. when we ring them they have to come downstairs…. saves yelling through the house….

and it was the week Christy and Shantel went for a swim…. on one of the cold days….

It was the week of funny goldens…

and the week of a Mothers Day photo with my furbabies… except we couldn’t get both of them to sit still at the same times….

Later the girls prepared a lovely breakfast of French Toast, and a beautifully set table….

Then there were lots of lovely pressies… some of which I had picked out myself… some made or selected by the girls….

Just before 11am we headed to Bulli hospital to visit my Granny who has been moved to rehab. Good news indeed.

After we drove up to Robertson to Fountaindale Manor House. Mum & Dad took their own car.

We were last here in 2005 for a Wedding….

It’s a gorgeous old house and we were appreciative of the blazing fire when we arrived as it was rather cold outside.

We were a bit early for our high-tea so after a quick photo by the fire we were escorted to a lounge area to wait. Unfortunately this was away from the warm fire.

At 1.30pm we were finally seated (in another cold room). Unfortunately the service was pretty shocking (this is the first year they opened up both dining rooms). Food was scarce to start with (with everyone now starving since it was past 2pm). However, the food was delicious.

It was a shame the poor service put a bit of a dampener on what should have been a wonderful experience. Will we come back? Not too sure.

We had a quick stop at the Cheese factory and the famous Robertson Pie Shop before heading back down the mountain.

Christy had gotten car sick on the way up due to the very windy road so I let her sit in the front for the trip back home.

Overall it was a lovely Mothers Day. Great to be with my family and have another wonderful family day out. Hope you all had a good one.

6 photos or more…. an easy one for me…

Someone elses story….

Sounds….

Ebay inspiration – Elizabeth Arden Red Door perfum box….Yep, that’s me around 2 or 3 years old…

Holiday colours…. I chose Halloween….

No photo….

This would have to be the easiest breakfast ever assembled. Because the work (all 2mins of it) is done the night before, it’s perfect for busy mornings. I not a big cereal person at all but I LOVE these overnight oats. They may not look pretty, but they sure do taste great.

The night before grab your favourite bowl and mix together the following ingredients:

1/3 cup rolled oats
3/4 cup soy or almond milk – but all types work well so just use what you like best
2 tablespoons chia seeds
1 small banana, peeled and mashed
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Stir, place in the fridge and enjoy the next morning. The oats and chia seeds absorb the milk and are nicely softened. You can have them cold straight out of the fridge but I prefer to let mine sit out for a bit (usually about 1/2 hour) so they aren’t real cold. I haven’t tried heating them but I’m sure you could do that if you wanted.

See, they aren’t pretty. In fact it’s about the ugliest breakfast I’ve seen .  Just give them a stir and enjoy.

Please give this a try and let me know how you enjoy it. I got this recipe from Angela at Oh She Glows but there a number of versions floating around the internet.

Donna over at Knit1Spin1  just did a blog post on how her goals for the year were progressing and I thought it was a brilliant idea. Esp. being 1/3 the way through 2012. Hoping it helps me to refocus and get a move along.

PERSONAL

Make time for hobbies that I truly enjoy    Yes, I’ve been doing this.

Have more quiet time – relaxing in sun, sitting on beach, having baths, walking (when able)  Yes, esp. the relaxing the sun and getting out for some walks.

Read and review at least one book a month (romances not included )  No, though I’ve read quite a few non-romance books I totally forgot I planned to review them. Will get onto this.

Sort out all our home movies and put them into iMovie    Not started yet

Plan a wonderful trip to celebrate our 20th Wedding Anniversary in Dec  Underway

Possibly try horse-riding (haven’t been since I was a teen) and scuba diving (had a panic attack last time)   Neither yet

Complete ALL online classes that I sign up for   Oops…. guess I can still get to them….

HEALTH/FITNESS/FOOD

Tackle my weight gain once and for all    Not yet, I’ve lost a few kilos but it’s painfully slow so I need to take things up a notch and get more focused.

Remove all junk/over processed food from the house  Pretty much – yay!!!

Simplify the way we eat – healthy, wholesome, homemade food, fruit & veg for snacks, make treats really treats   Getting there

Work out more simplified exercise routine including yoga, cardio and weights.   Made a start but need to get back into again. Hard with arthritis. Need a back up plan for bad days.

Try a different type of exercise – eg swimming, aqua-aerobics    Not yet

HOME

Simplify homemaking routines   Yes. I now have a cleaner (which has been a huge help) and seem to have developed a good day-to-day routine.

Revise budget and stick to it   Doing well -  back onto a cash budget system again.

Help the girls to develop, and stick with, their own routines    This is very frustrating but I think we’re getting there.

Reorganise the spare room (again). Going to make it MY room for nail polish, exercise stuff, sewing, etc.   Have made a good start

FAMILY/FRIENDS

Meet at least 1 new online friend    Not as yet, though I did meet a heap of local bloggers

Monthly day out with Mum   No, haven’t done this all

Weekly Family Movie Night (Sat)   YES!!!

Weekly Family Documentary Night (Sun)  We started, then stopped. Need to restart.

Monthly Family Fun Day Out  Probably

Invite a friend over at least once a month   No

Organise craft weekend for my friends   No, not sure it will happen now

Have a weekend away with family every other month   Did Jan and April

**** I’ve actually done a lot better with these goals than I thought. But there were a few I’d forgotten about so it really was good to revisit them.  How are you all going with your goals for the year?

Normal before school routine with Kevin and Amy heading off just after 7am. Christy emptied the dishwasher – she’s now earning some extra pocket money for doing this job each morning.

We then had breakfast. Overnight oats for me. Never pretty but they taste oh-so good.

You know I never noticed the little feet on the tablecloth until this morning when Christy and I were examining it. While eating I started to compose todays to-do list.

At 8.30 the girls headed to school and the pups and I headed out on our walk.

Gorgeous down at the lake this morning. The sky was full of dark clouds with the sun trying to poke through.

And I was so excited to see this little duck family with Mum & Dad at the front and back of the line. So cute.

Back home I did a quick vacuum of the main living areas.

And went upstairs to shower and get dressed. I was pleasantly surprised to find Kevin had made the bed. Not something he normally does.

Today I’m sporting my new “happy” socks as it’s a bit on the cooler side.

Then time to tackle the linen cupboard. Have a few bags of linens to donate now.

Next up a cuddle break with Rosie. She looks impressed doesn’t she?

Next job is to haul out a bale of hay for the chooks, and clean out their house.

I was pretty tired by now so glad to have an easy lunch. I scored the veggie pie that Kevin didn’t have last night. These are the best veggie pies ever but we don’t get them very often as the bakery is a 20min drive away (which is a long way in Wollongong).

As I ate I worked on plans for Disneyworld.

I then headed to the scrapbook room where the pups quickly found spots on the lounge for an afternoon nap….

while I did a bit of scrapbooking.

Before I knew it, it was 3pm and time to go collect Amy from the bus stop.

She come desperate to get the next book in the series of the book she’d just finished.

Christy was already home when we got back. I got to work on dinner. Country grain casserole tonight. Love this because you just chop everything up and throw it in a casserole dish to cook.

I then had to curl Christy’s hair for the school disco tonight. They were supposed to wear a hat or fancy hair.

Doesn’t she look gorgeous?

We had another awesome sunset tonight. I was tempted to go get in the car and drive to the top of street for a better view, but I didn’t.

Hmmm…does someone look guilty? I left a muffin on the coffee table while in the kitchen for a few minutes and came back to find it missing.

Lucky there was one last one left. Rosie took a shine to that one and climbed right onto Kevin’s lap! She was so cute I had to give her a little bit.

We had to attend a meeting at Amy’s school so Christy headed next door so Pop could take her up the disco a bit later.

The meeting was about a proposed 3 week excursion to Germany next year. Nan & Pop generously offered to pay for Amy so if it goes ahead, she’ll definitely be going. And…. Kevin and I are thinking about tagging along. It’s a great price so a wonderful opportunity. Amy doesn’t mind. She knows we won’t cramp her style. Anyway, still thinking about it at this stage.

We got back home just before 7.3opm so quickly heated up and enjoyed dinner, before Amy & Kevin went to collect Christy.

I went to pick up the dogs and find out how my Granny is doing. Not the best it seems – very up and down from day to day. There is talk of her moving into rehabilitation next week though so that is good news. When I got back everyone was home and Amy was icing the cake she had made earlier.

You’ll never guess who the cake is for. Katniss from The Hunger Games. Her birthday is tomorrow apparently and Amy wanted to take in a cake to share with her friends at school. Now that’s a diehard Hunger Games fan.

I went up to get ready for bed and painted my nails. Opi’s Mermaid Tears today – one of my favs.

It’s been a long day so I was glad to finally be able to relax and put my feet up while we watched an episode of Recruits (about the police force).

Then it was off to bed with a cup of tea about 9pm. And I finally got my book finished tonight – I’ve been falling asleep after just a few pages the last few nights.

It was the week of gorgeous skies….

and a full moon over the lake…

It was the week of morning walks (or rides) to the lake….

It was the week I went to a Wollongong bloggers morning tea… nice to meet some local girls but I was the only one not blogging as a business…

It was the week I got back into scrapbooking….

and Kevin hemmed his pants on our new sewing machine….

It was the week we all had  a haircut and Christy had a fringe cut back in…

and it was the week I got all emotional watching the preview for Mickey’s Christmas party…which we will be attending in December…

It was the week the girls attended a disco (for dancing) but didn’t stay very long….

and the week Amy went to a birthday party with “T” theme…Amy wore all things starting with “T” – including a tu-tu, t-died t-shirt, tattoos, teased hair and a teddy bear…

She had a great time and came home with this cute turtle cupcake….

It was the week of a vegetarian baked dinner…

tacos….

and a delicious vegetarian pie…. which I enjoyed when out to lunch with Nan & Pop after visiting Granny in hospital…

And it was the week of car rides…

and afternoon snoozes….

If you’re interested in my favourites but don’t like to watch to videos let me know and I’ll take some photos to share here on the blog.