To Find A Silver Lining

Just been pondering a bit lately... and thought I would put some of it 'out there' and see what comes back! I often times find that just by writing (typing) things out, they can make more sense; even if the answer itself is still not obvious!
This is a LONG rambling post... I am tired! Grab a cup of tea, and join me as I ponder some of the deeper questions we (hopefully) all struggle with; I'd love to know I am not alone in this!
I am wondering if some of this is age - I'm 18 months off turning 40, but shhhh! Or maybe it is our stage in life - two little people and still renting! Or maybe it is an uncanny awareness of my mortality - my parents are ageing, and it makes things; important things, become more clear. I don't know, but whatever it is; it has left me wondering, pondering... I don't know how 'normal' this is, so I am putting this out there and asking you all! Hubby just says I think to much, and blames this on my inability to sleep... his answer …

My computer up and died on me just before I posted my previous post... thankfully it had saved it fully under Drafts before this happened, so I logged in on the tablet and posted it quickly!
Suffice to say I have been computer-less ever since... hubby managed to save everything; he is not sure if it's the hard-drive or the graphics card! However, he managed to reload my computer yesterday, but has put the Ubuntu operating system on, rather than Windows - am pleased, this was always in the plans, but it means learning a whole new system!
I am having trouble logging onto my gmail, so until we can get that fixed - blogging is going to be short and sporadic! Hopefully though, hubby can fix that tonight... I also have yet to have all my photos and video's downloaded here again; and hubby doesn't want me downloading more until he has worked out a way to sync my laptop to the main home computer; as a way of backing up the photos! I think this has given him a bit of a fright, as I h…

I'm still here; but the eye-teeth are still coming... two are up, the third is poking it's head slowly through right now. This means two things:
- Very little sleep for all of us (except Button)! - The end is in sight, only one more little tooth to do damage after this one finally pokes through... and then a break; some grace, and hopefully a whole lotta catch-up sleep!
So right now, we are all on 'survival mode'; waiting for this little tooth to finish making pain, then we might get a few good nights before the next one starts (managed four nights between the last two teeth)!
But I am still managing to keep the cupboards fairly regularly full of yummy baking:


The rest are still on my phone or camera... have not managed to upload them yet; ooops! Managed to make my first successful batch of g-f muffins yesterday - Orange Muffins and lemon icing, courtesy of Alison Holst; to die for! Out of 19, only 6 are left - they are that GOOD; the kids and hubby couldn't get enough …

For those of you who have dribblers like I do (this is for you Ange, and a sympathetic hand out to you also Amy; wishing we'd known about these three years ago *grin*); then let me introduce to you - the best little bib ever!

This $6.99 investment my friends, has been the best money I have spent in a LONG time... in fact, I have been SO impressed, I went back and we now own five of these little beauties!
'lil M is a dribbler from way back, and in our house he is known as 'The Dribble King', or (as in the link above) 'The King of Dribble'... never seen a kid like it (except my nephew); but apparently there are others out there as well! So I thought I would share my new found 'friend' with you all, in case like me - you are sick of the changing of tops and bibs, and never-ending washing that goes with it! We were seriously changing 'lil M's top and/or bibs 3-4x a day before I found these; now he may get a clean bib on in the afternoon, but he may no…

Urghhh - I have had very little chance to turn my computer on since LAST Saturday... so much to catch up on, and so much I want to share! Am hoping I'll have the time to complete this post today; but even that could quite possibly be a non-event!


But either way - I'll start it now, and see how much I can manage...
I thought, as much for myself as for you, that I would share a post where all my inspirational and challenging blogs / websites are altogether... I have a few up here on my laptop, and a few on the tablet, as well as a few I hope I will remember and check on every once in a while! I figure if I have them altogether here, I can pop back in when I forget a link or lose one - and in the meantime, some of them may (or may not) inspire you as well!


I have a number of different area's of interest, so will be putting them into categories (that make sense to me), and that way you can skip over things that don't work for you! You will probably find I pop back in every no…

There is another blonde bombshell in town... She can sing, dance and play to the camera!


All for the camera baby... All for the camera!

Check out that sad face;  you'd almost believe her if you didn't know her like we do!
This child can seriously turn it on for the camera - she gives you the 'happy face' and then gives you the 'sad face', and then wants to see the pictures!
But those sad faces - they can look like seriously sad faces; prime example below:

That my friends, is ALL FOR THE CAMERA! The look, the pose, those legs...
New Zealands Next Top Model - here we come! New Zealands Next Best Actress - here we come! New Zealands Top 'You Got Talent' (remember - she can sing AND dance) - here we come!
Yep - everyday we get played in some form or another... we are learning to 'read the signs' and work it out; but that girl has drama written all over her! The teens are going to be fun!
Be on the look-out for her also! 
She's going to make it... 'cause sh…

Not much baby left in this one:




He's a big boy now!
And getting bigger by the day... so much confidence, so much fun, a HUGE sense of humour, independence like I have never dealt with before, NOISE, new words every day, new skills all the time!
This kid is going places, and charming everyone he meets along the way... 
Watch out for him in the future!

Check out these eyelashes...

That's my boy!
The men on my side of the family all have A.M.A.Z.I.N.G eyelashes... it never seems to fall the right way for us girls; it is just the boys! 
And they just don't appreciate it!
But it's happened again... Button has beautiful eyes, dark eyelashes, and striking eyebrows:

But once again, it has been 'lil M who got those mile-long eyelashes... (although those eyebrows may need a little liner in the years to come, hehehe)!
When he was born they were so tightly curled up, and so light - we honestly thought he been born without eyelashes; but as the days went by, it became obvious they were there... and then it became OBVIOUS!!!!
My Dad has them, my older brother HAS them in droves, and his son has them... and now my son (I'm not sure about my younger brother though)!
Oh for it to fall on the female side one day!

It is quiet here in blogland for me... my apologies! 
It is holidays, so I have both kidlets home all day at the moment - which means NO down-time for me at all, there is always someone up and around my legs!!!!!
The moon peeking through the clouds one evening...
'lil M is teething - I mean seriously teething, I mean eye-teeth teething... this means sleep deprivation like not seen since new-born days! On Saturday night he was up every 45-60 minutes between midnight and 7am... I am SO grateful it was over the weekend, and not a week night, it meant we both took turns getting up to him (and then Button who had a bad dream, and was up and down for 1.5 hours in the middle of it all)! It also meant that we both got to sneak off for a couple of hours sleep at different times during the afternoon... since then he has only given us two good nights; but thankfully none of the other nights have been quite as bad as that one!
Daddy and son bonding - playing rough one evening!
This week has also s…