:: Beach Therapy ::

Last weekend, we headed away with Brent's sister & husband & their three kids to the beach...

The town we stayed in was Barwon Heads - a beautiful little beach-town (which is where the ABC series SeaChange was filmed... )

Even though the weather was pretty cold & windy, it was so therapeutic being by the beach. When the weather was good, it was great to get out & go down to the inlet & have a play


It was only three days, but it was enough to feel like we'd had a real holiday, and a great way to celebrate Lachie's 2nd Birthday too.

Barwon Heads also has some great little cafes, the best one (that we found anyway) was Annie's Providore. They had great coffee & a beautiful lemon meringue pie (that I got to have all on my own as I got Saturday afternoon all to myself - it was wonderful!)

:: Two ::

Yesterday was Lachie's 2nd Birthday. It's insane to think that two years have passed... we agree with that saying 'the days can be long, but the years are short'. It is so, so true, and we look back on these two years like they've happened way too quickly. But what a wonderful little man we have in our lives and we have such great memories of the two years we have had so far ...

We were so lucky to have Brent's sister, her husband and three kids in town. Lachie adored hanging out with his cousins Josh, Zoe and Sienna, and they were able to help Lachie blow out his candles (and eat some cupcakes too!)


This little guy is happiest when outside, either kicking a ball or running through some puddles. He's not a big fan of eating, unless it's olives, smoked salmon or sushi, and he loves cars (especially Uncle Andy or Poppy Jon's cars!).


Heres to many, many more birthdays with this special boy...

:: Small Size Family Apartment in Paris ::

As someone who bemoans never having quite enough space, and occasionally using it as an excuse for being untidy/disorganised/disgruntled! etc, it's a good reminder that it's possible to have a great, welcoming, family home and still live in a relatively small space. These pictures are from an Apartment Therapy house tour. This apartment is only 100m2, and fits a family of 4!

Full tour from Apartment Therapy here

Other Blogs I Love to Read ...

A few people have asked which blogs I love & which ones I look at the most. I have a few favourites that I look at quickly most days .....

:: First up would be SouleMama - this is such a beautiful blog written by a lady (Amanda) who is a mum to four (soon five!) kids. Her blog features thoughts about parenting, craft, cooking, renovating & life in general, all with beautiful photography. I have read and seen lots of inspiring things on this blog. I also own two of her books The Creative Family and Handmade Home.


:: Second would be SewLiberated. This blog is written by Meg, a sewing pattern designer, Montessori Teacher & mum to two little boys. Her blog is filled with lots of lovely photography of day-to-day parts of her life & her cute boys, as-well as recording her creative work, thoughts on parenting from a Montessori background and general life stuff. Her youngest boy (also a Lachlan) has recently been born with a heart difficulty, which she has shared about on her blog very bravely. She also has a book (which I don't yet own), plus you can buy all of her sewing patterns at her website.

:: Third would be Dandelion. This blog is written by Beck, a mum to five kids living in a small town in Victoria (my home state!). I think I came across her blog after reading Pip Lincolne's Meet Me at Mikes book. Her blog is a record of her day-to-day life, roles as a parent in a busy household and her creativity. She has a shop where you can buy her beautifully created bunnies, which I think would be a very welcome gift for a new bubba!

:: My fourth favourite would be Apartment Therapy. This is a US site devoted to interiors of apartments (although other houses also feature). They are real homes of creative people - so they are not overly 'styled' or magazine-looking (which I love - they have a lot more soul). I love looking at all the pictures - they do house tours, before & afters, & of-course, lots of good -quality photographs

p.s. i haven't been paid or prompted to promote any of these blogs! I do genuinely love them! There are lots of other blogs I enjoy too (see my links on the RHS). I will keep featuring different ones as I'm sure my tastes will change as my circumstances and life change too!