A Fluffy Addition To The Family

After weeks of discussion, my husband & I finally settled it.
We would get a puppy.
We called the surrounding animal shelters that we knew had small puppies (can't have a big dog here especially with little kids) and we were put on waiting lists.
We received message after message...
Puppy sold.
All gone to homes.
Sorry, none left.
We did want to rescue a pup, but it seems there were plenty of others who wanted to as well!
We had done some research into what breeds are good with kids, and found one that we both fell in love with:
Japanese Spitz.
Fluffy, puffy, balls of white fur with rounded bear-like ears.
Gorgeous!
But they were expensive, very expensive.
We put it off, and decided that we would wait.

One afternoon we decided to go for a drive with a friend of ours to the local pet store so Eve could say hello to all the animals.
She had heard all of our puppy talk and was so desperate to see one.
We got the to see an empty shop.
No puppies.
We had a quick chat to the man who runs the place and he said new pups would be arriving the following week.
Oh, what breed?
Japanese Spitz.
REALLY??
We couldn't believe it!
The one pet store was getting the breed we were after.
And for a bargain price, much less than every private breeder.
We went home and thought about it.
We had a week to decide.
We had shocking nights of sleepless kids and gave up on the idea of looking after a puppy.
But then we had Eve making up "The Puppy Song" and they began to settle.

So now, say hello to Bailey...

The kids are madly in love with her.
Eve loves to cuddle, and Eli loves to run around and play with her.
Perfect!

Father's Day Is On It's Way...

I am not a huge fan of over commercialized "holidays".
But I am a fan of showering the people you love with gifts.
Personal gifts, special gifts, keepsakes.
I love encouraging my kids to make things for family members, they have fun painting, drawing and glueing and whoever the lucky recipient is is always proud to hang their artwork on their wall.
It captures a moment in their childhood, one I know we will all treasure.

Apart from the usual gifts of drawings, I found some other lovely crafty ideas for Father's Day gifts.
(Though you can do this any time of the year!)
Click on the image for original post...

Have fun, and show some love!

Wild & Windy Weather

The weather has been a little crazy lately.
A big old gumtree in our neighbours yard came crashing down with an almighty crack and fell into our backyard.
It didn't reach the house (Thank God!), it didn't damage the fence, but it crushed my father-in-law's shed with all his car bits and pieces in it...

Not good!

But it is ok, nothing terribly valuable in there. 

But we are now facing the mammoth task of removing the tree!

It's a big complicated mess with our neighbour, solicitors, and the not so helpful council.

But my task, lately, has been trying to keep the kids happy while being stuck inside!

We have been getting a bit crafty...

Eve has figured out how to take photos of herself with my phone...

We have taken the kids to the local shopping centre for play time with other kids in a big, fun play ground...

The really love these days!

Our cat, Cedric, has been super affectionate lately, he just can't get enough of me!
(Maybe he knows what is coming.....)

I gave the kids hair cuts, and decided to go back to having a fringe...

And for the first time ever I went and got acrylic nails!
I have very thin, weak nails that I have been trying to grow forever but they always peel and chip off, no matter what treatments I try.
Now I have super strong nails, but I still kept them short, so I can function!!

(I treated myself to a Lindt Cafe coffee afterwards!)

And when the sun shines in through the kid's bedroom window...

 We all lap it up!!

Food, glorious food!