Easter: the one time a year kids can actually find what they are looking for ...

I love Easter, I really do. It's a holyday to be even more thankful for what Jesus has done for us :) 

Got to laugh though!! Every other time of the year I ask my daughter to find something she "can't" find it. She'll look for ten minutes and even if it's right in front of her face she won't see it. But on Easter??? Pretty sure that kid could sniff out an Easter egg buried at the bottom of the dirty washing basket!! Am seruously considering investing in a chocolate scent so I can spray whatever I want Miss 8 to find and she'll find it within seconds :) This year we did a scavenger hunt with things relating to Jesus and the Easter story :)  some of the clues were: 

Jesus speaks to us through this (bible)

Jesus lights up the world (torch) 

plus many more :) 

The end haul ....

Hope everyone's Easter was great :)

Motherhood and Step Motherhood

I wasn't around on the day she was born, for when she first learned to crawl, or to walk or even for her first teeth or her first words. 

I came along further down the track, when she was 2 and a 1/2. Back at that point in my life kids weren't a thing I was even thinking about but when I met her Dad, she was a part of the package deal. And wow what a deal that was. I never realised a rosy cheeked blonde haired little girl could have such an impact on my life. Now almost ten years on a lot of things have changed. 
I've experienced my own series of firsts with her. I haven't tried to take the place of her mum but some of her firsts in life have happened while she's been in our care. And for all those things it creates our own special lot of memories. 
I'm not mum to her nor do I wish to take the place of her mum. I have my own special place in her life. 
As she grows up I hope she looks back at all the things she's done with us and remembers it fondly :) her holidays and family outings we've taken her and her sister on. I hope she looks back and realises the unchanging constantness her father and I have had in these years, how we are a constant in her life and don't change regardless of the circumstances or the goings on in her life. 

'I Touch Myself' Breast Cancer Anthem #itouchmyselfproject

Absolutely loving this ad campaign!! It's a cause close to my heart!!

After a while. Veronica A Shoffstall. My favourite poem.

After a while you learn
the subtle difference between
holding a hand and chaining a soul
and you learn
that love doesn’t mean leaning
and company doesn’t always mean security.
And you begin to learn
that kisses aren’t contracts
and presents aren’t promises
and you begin to accept your defeats
with your head up and your eyes ahead
with the grace of woman,
not the grief of a child
and you learn
to build all your roads on today
because tomorrow’s ground is
too uncertain for plans
and futures have a way of falling down
in mid-flight.
After a while you learn
that even sunshine burns
if you get too much
so you plant your own garden
and decorate your own soul
instead of waiting for someone
to bring you flowers.
And you learn that you really can endure
you really are strong
you really do have worth
and you learn
and you learn
with every goodbye, you learn.

Review: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

In The Fault in Our Stars, author John Green tackles the major questions of existence with humor, honesty, and grace. The narrator (Hazel) is dealing with a terminal form of cancer and yet this is not a story about dying but rather a story about truly living. Whilst reading this you really can look at your own life and the things you take for granted which are more important than you realise.Through the lives of the two main characters Green shows us that we are all in fact terminal, but that we decide how to spend our brief moments of life. Most lives are not triumphs or tragedies purely, but they are filled with moments of both. I read this and cried and laughed throughout. 
The movie comes out next week and I'm so excited. I am going to take my box of tissues along when I see it.

To buy this book ...

One of my favourite picture quotes!

I love this picture so much! All daughters need to be taught this!

Wow, going to restart this blog :)

Its been awhile and a lot has happened. Family issues and health issues. Drama drama drama!!!

Anyhow I started this year doing a Facebook photo album. It's called a year to be grateful and each day i post something I'm grateful about :)

I'm loving doing this :) feels really good to look at each new day an realise how much I have to be grateful for :)

It's refreshing and when I'm having a youth day I can look back through this album to count my blessings :)