Between the boys and our house, I have my shopping opportunities cut out for me... much to my poor husband's irritation.

I thought I had been lacking some shopping mojo lately ... until I started compiling this post. Some of these are actually essentials and the rest, frivolous of course because who needs a new bikini in Winter (even if I do live on the Gold Coast).


I stocked up on Country Road henleys yesterday in their mid-season sale for the littlest boy for next Winter as he's currently living in them - $12.95 plus an extra 25% off for cardholders! So under $10 for staple basics is a ridiculous bargain. I also bought this embroidered Milk tee because its just so cute and my boy loves his milk.


Witchery knits were an essential. After spending the last 3-4 winters pregnant or breastfeeding, my winter wardrobe is non existent and particularly in knits. I loved the underlays and zip features on these for something different.


Eeeni Meeni Miini Moh sleeping cocoon for the baby (is he still a baby now he's one and walking?) is also an essentials purchase. E never slept in his cot so we never really used sleeping bags whereas this little guy sleeps mostly in his cot and with the temperatures dropping, a winter weight bag became an urgent need. We got a STTN the first time he wore it so in my books, its paid for itself ;)


A definite non essentials buy is this Delta limited edition Quartz bikini. Non essential for so many reasons including that its currently Winter and freezing and I'm am far from bikini ready ... something to work on! The print though sucked me in after I saw them posted on an insta friend's feed.



An essential buy is the Country Road quilted hoodie - see earlier knits explanation. This hoodie is so soft and very cosy, I have already worn it in my office to combat freezing air conditioning.


I could say this is an essential as E looks so cute in camouflage print and has outgrown all of his last Winter pants but he has a bursting wardrobe for Winter already so the stripes & camo for the big boy are purely a 'mummy is a shopaholic and this is outfit is too cute' purchase.


The Country Road texture print pants were an ebay buy. I was pregnant when my sister bought them instore and was kicking myself for not buying them too when I started back at work and realised that since having the boys, I actually like pants over skirts nowadays. When they came up on ebay for $20, I couldn't not snap them up! Essential buy as I severely lack work pants having always worn skirts.


Enough justification for my latest spending spree?

Bonds
Given the littlest guy is already in 00 and his big brother didn't hit that size till Summer, I grabbed a few essentials in the Bonds 40% off sale. I stuck with the stretchy jersey cotton so he would get some wear out of them as the weather warms up (if he's not already in 0 then) and I'm a sucker for their two way zips which make the constant changes a breeze. How cute are the colours and prints!

I am officially THAT mother... You know, the one who dresses her children in matching outfits. I figure I've only got limited time on this so I might as well have some fun with it. My sister tells me it's a form of cruelty but I enjoyed the Country Road sale and the boys now also have matching printed board shirts for summer and checked button down shirts for winter to add to their wardrobes.

Of course I then popped instore a few days ago and they had just started their buy 2 sale items get a third free. Well, can you say 'bull' 'red flag'... I walked out with 9 items of course. In fairness, that included an outfit for Charlie and matching shirts for the boys for next Winter - oh yes, I am totally THAT mum.







Are you shopped out from the sales? I'm avoiding the stores (and online) if at all possible... which we both know is a lie because the toy sale catalogues are arriving anyway now and I have Christmas shopping to do for the boys and 3 little girls.

I've been quiet here as we've been busy finding our way ... Ok no, I've just been busy getting out and about to the park, the shops and all sorts of fun places while S has been off work.

My final weekend before summer holidays ended and it was back to reality and the office for me ... at least until April/May (not so bad really Scott tells me).

After a week at home with clingy cranky high needs toddlers, my sis and I were in desperate need of a time out and despite our promises to wait for our mum to get back from her holidays, we decided to go see Saving Mr Banks.

I preface my review by saying that I went in to the movie, totally biased and expecting to love it. Mary Poppins to this day is one of my all time favourite movies and I was sure I wasn't going to be disappointed. Guess what? I wasn't! I loved every single minute of Saving Mr Banks from the opening sequence 'Winds in the East mist coming in ...' to the very end of 'let's go fly a kite'.

The story, the cast ... it was all completely brilliant in my humble movie-goers opinion. I shed tears and possibly clapped a few scenes, it just inspired so much emotion. The little Australian girl was mesmerising, Colin Farrell was the tortured father and of course, Emma Thompson and Tom Hanks wowed as you would expect. It gave so much insight to a story I have loved forever and made me ache for its author and the childhood she lived through that controlled her adult life. With no special effects, action sequences or animations, the movie rested solely on the quality of its storyline and the cast's delivery and made a nice change. Its absolutely a must see and I would have to say, Oscar worthy for sure.

I also did a little shopping of course and picked up some bargain buys from plenty of my favourite stores ... you know, Kikki K, Country Road, Kookai, Peter Alexander, the usual haunts. Winter PJs at less than half price for E ($14 a pair), a monthly planner (to keep Scott on top of things), Fresh Jive tees for Scott at only $10 a piece (these wash and wear amazingly well), new tees for me for $12 at Kookai, back up EL mineral powder ($20 people) and pajama style pants at more than 50% off to fit my expanding bump.







We rounded off the weekend with two birthday parties, a 2nd birthday on the Saturday morning for a friend's little boy and my beautiful littlest niece Lillee's 1st birthday on the Sunday. With a 'You are my sunshine' theme and colours of yellow and pink, Karly and I were busy baking and prepping to meet the brief. Its not a 1st birthday without chocolate crackles so I whipped up some mini ones along with some number 1 hundreds & thousands cookies and fairy bread.



decorations came together beautifully and the birthday girl was an absolute delight for her party despite having only a 30 minute nap the entire day. E on the other hand was more than a little clingy, wary of the crowd despite knowing almost everyone and at least had a 60 minute nap that saved us from a potentially more difficult afternoon.

What did you get up to?

1. Country Road Dragon print pants - love that these have a zippered ankle and are perfect for dressing up, work or the weekend.

2. Hocus Pocus the movie - one of my all time childhood favourites, I was reminded of it recently from Jessica at Little Baby Garvin's blog (http://littlebabygarvin.blogspot.com.au/). I had forgotten just how funny this movie is and how much I love Bette Midler, SJP & Kathy Najimy- a classic for sure!

3. Bubbles - Ethan, Scott and I are just loving bubbles and have wands stashed all over the house. Every time E catches sight of a wand he goes crazy shouting 'bubble bubble bubble' until we get cracking on blowing them. My favourite are the Moose brand ones E got for his birthday (thanks A) as they smell good enough to eat, have good bubble production per dip (very scientific) and the bottle seems neverending.

4. Mason jars - another Little Baby Garvin inspired love. For drinking, storage (ear buds, bobby pins etc) etc I just love how fun these are.

5. Mexican food - We love Mexican food in this house but more than ever lately. Some hits this month have been an amazing chicken nachos made with shredded roast chicken and Mission's new chipotle &d black bean salsa and Quesadillas made using Brooke from Our Happy Day's blog 'Fiesta chicken' recipe (http://www.ourhappydaysblog.com/).

6. My Fun VIP 3 park fun pass - considering each theme park is $90 per adult per visit, these passes are just the best value. These passes are $99 each and as we've already used them twice in the two week's we have had them, they have already paid for themselves. Seaworld is great for E with the animals to see and Wet'n Wild is ideal with the weather warming up as its about 15 mins from home so we can pop there after nap-time on the weekend to have a splash for an hour or two.

7. Glasshouse Candles - particularly Cuba, Rio and Coney Island. I love lighting one of these on a Saturday morning once I sit down after Ethan has gone down for a nap and I've finished tidying up. The scents give instant relaxation and make our home smell amazing.

8. Crayola My First Crayons - I pop E in the high chair on our balcony most sunny weekends with some paper and these crayons so he can exercise his inner Picasso. Mostly he just bites or throws the crayons but we do get the occasional scribble and he seems to enjoy it.

9.  Burleigh Heads beach & park - we love walking a long this strip on the weekends and playing at the park afterwards. We really do live in a stunning part of the World and are blessed to have areas like this to visit and use.