{snippets..} goodbye tippy toes..

Today started off like a pretty run-of-the-mill sort of day. My little girl had a craft/dance morning at the fairy shop with her bestie, then we went out to lunch to our favourite cafe.

A couple of years back Ella received a 'Bella Dancerella - Tap is a Snap' DVD from the girls next door. This DVD has had her glued to the TV each time it's on. She has watched it with incredible concentration and has taken in each and every word, dance move and step. So needless to say, when her teacher offered to move her up to the 5+ age group to do tap next term, I jumped at the opportunity.

Next week is the beginning of a new term and also the start of tap dancing lessons. So following lunch we headed to the dance shop to pick out a brand spanking new pair of tap-dancing shoes.

This dance world is a a whole new thing to me. I can vaguely recall a dance lesson when I was young, but it is a vague memory and that's as far as it goes. I never had an inclination to dance nor do I now, but watching my little girl dance is just beautiful, its something else.

As soon as we got home the itty bitty tap shoes were on her feet and stayed on till bath time. I think the DVD went all the way through three times and my little girl danced and tapped away to the music.

So goodbye tippy toes for now and hello tappy toes.



PS.. if you have any idea where to get more tap dvd's aimed at 4-5 year olds.. I'd love to know.

perfect one day, crazy the next..

Oh how the week can change.. bliss one second and foggy head the next. We had a gorgeous start to the week with a trip to the zoo with the little guy who demonstrated the ability to have an in-depth conversation with a flamingo.. it was quite amazing to watch to say the least!!

Followed closely by a dash to the doctors to find out how to treat the little guys eczema. He had a pretty yucky outbreak this time, leaving him quite simply irritated and shitty with the world. So mumma has stocked up on creams and lotions to soothe my little man and hopefully we'll have a lovely peaceful household shortly.

My head is a little foggy with trying to figure all this out while dealing with another head cold.. So my apologies about going a-wall with the {quick three} this week.. I will leave the topic of movies to next week, if you have already done a post link up here next week.  I have to focus on the little bear for the time being.

{this week i'm grateful for..} hand picked flowers..

It's been a crazy week here, mostly self-inflicted as I decided to do another household blitz on top of all the orders I have to do (why do I do these things??) Bags and bags of toys, books and clothes the kids no longer use have left the house. I'm not done yet but getting there slowly and the house feels so much less crowded and cluttered already.

Among all the running around like a headless chook, the kids have helped out and slept somewhat better than normal and let us enjoy a bit of adult conversation in the evenings with hubby, and coming home to a gorgeous freshly picked bunch of roses completely made my week..

So this week I'm grateful for:
{1} hand picked flowers - so much more meaningful than those elaborate arrangements
{2} family time - I got a super amount of cuddles this week
{3} salvo bins - makes me feel ok about getting rid of perfectly good stuff
{4} cooler weather - makes wearing enclosed shoes not as horrid
{5} birthday parties - we've got a super special one tomorrow..


joining in with maxabella loves..

{quick three..} favourite magazines..

Firstly.. my apologies for running late again. The long weekend completely threw me out and all day yesterday I kept on thinking its Monday.. to the point of almost forgetting Ella's dancing this morning.. yep we were late.. 

On to the three.. magazines.. I must start with saying that I am a magazine reader rather than a reader of books. Possibly because I love to look at the photographs and images, so the mag needs to be filled with eye-candy. I have a selection of magazines I love but the three that I have a subscription to are.. 

{desktop}

for the culture of design..

Desktop delves into the world of design, advertising and digital culture, connecting with thousands upon thousands of passionate creative professionals and enthusiasts around the globe..

I've had a subscription to this mag since starting uni (many moons ago) and each issue is packed with info and an abundance of eye-candy. It is a mag I look at with kids around and actually read the content when they are not around. It keeps me up to date with what is going on in the industry and re-inspires me to create. 

{home beautiful}

for inspiration and a lot of wishful thinking..

I always have some sort of home magazine subscription.. and the last couple of years it has been home beautiful. There is no real rhyme or reason, it just seems to gel with me at the moment, the content inspires me, makes me drool and its not too over the top. Its doable. In the past I've had Real Living, Handyman, Better Homes and Gardens and Inside Out.. They're all great and if I ever get a chance I have a sneak peak into them at the news-agency and quite often still buy a copy here and there. 

{sew hip}

for ideas, patterns and info.. 

I love craft, always have. It's a way of chilling out for me yet still being creative. I love sewing and making things with my hands but seem to get bored quite quickly so am always looking for something new to make and do. Its a good way of getting me away from the screen for a while. Sew Hip is fab, its not too serious and has some really cool ideas. 

What are your favourite mags? 

If you know of a cool craft mag, I'd love to know!!

If you'd like to join in, grab my {quick three..} button from my sidebar if you like and add your {quick three..} post below. 

Please add a link back to here in your post so others can join in the fun. 

This linky will be open all week.. we're all busy so no hurry here.. 

For more info go to the {quick three} tab at the top.. 

If you don't have a blog or haven't had a chance to do a post.. feel free to jot down your little list as a comment..

Next weeks theme will be: {three movies} these don't have to be your favourites.. they're just three that made you think, that made you smile, you thought were a complete waste of time.. just three movies.. 

{love} ten years ago..

{image from here}

Yesterday was the big one's and my 10th wedding anniversary. It seems like yesterday that we had a teeny tiny wedding at the registry with a handful of close friends and then a small gathering at my parents place. It was small, cosy, completely understated and we finished off with a night of boogying to a band at our fave pub, then got chauffeured to our hotel in the back of an old Dodge pick-up. We followed up our tying of the knot with a camping trip.

From day dot we did things our way, from day dot we were a little different and from day dot it worked.
We are a blend of the traditional couple where I am the homebody/stay at home mumma and he is the major income earner. He is the strong one that does all the hard work and I do all the kitchen type stuff. But I love to sneak into the man-zone and steal his power tools, do a bit of house reno, dig in the dirt and all round get into the hard work that needs to be done. The big one hates the household chores but sucks it up and unloads and loads the dishwasher, cooks up a mean chilli con-carne or steak and salad and has finally realised that there is no sock-picking-up fairy and that he needs to put his own socks in the clothes hamper.

He is truly the funniest dad on this planet. He loves the kiddos, tries to be Mr Authority but gives in and ends up being one of them.. so yep, I'm a mumma to three crazy, free-range children. Life with the big one truly is entertaining, funny, hilarious, unpredictable and all round sweeet. He's my mate. I love him!

{snippets} from the weekend.. my baby is four..

We are all officially exhausted after a big huge week of celebrating my little tiny baby angel turning four. So exhausted infact that my little princess is hanging out with me today as she's feeling a little flat..

On Saturday we had her birthday party at one of the cool new playgrounds near our place. She shared her My little angel dressed up as Harmony from the Fairies and celebrated with family friends, friends from her childcare and mums group.  I'll do a separate post on her party soon.. just a little pre-occupied looking after my girl today..

Sunday we chilled.. really chilled. We blocked out the world and enjoyed our family... pure bliss!!



joining in with {peek-a-boo} + {point+shoot} + {shadow shot sunday}

{this week i'm grateful for..} health insurance..

{image from here}

We've spent a lot of time at various appointments this week, some of which were specialist appointments and some just at our local doctors.

My foot has been playing up since before christmas and I've chosen to ignore it till now (yep.. i'm a bit like a man in that way), but after visits to the chiro, the physio, having chinese massages on my back as this was the consensus.. no relief. So off to the GP, who promptly sent me off for x-rays, ultrasound and to the podiatrist.. yippee!! Really I would be skipping if I could. The diagnosis is.. that I have seriously torn a ligament in my foot, so I'm all taped up, wedge in my shoe and have to wear enclosed shoes for 12 weeks, (currently tossing up which one is worse.. the pain in my foot or enclosed shoes).


Crap, as the above scenario might be.. this week I am super grateful for:




{1} having health insurance - I think this year we may have already got our money's worth..
{2} the health service in Australia - even without the private insurance it really is fab..
{3} being so incredibly blessed with two gorgeous kids.. one of which turned 4 this week.. 
{4} the adelaide zoo.. such simple and clean family fun..
{5} gorgeous local playgrounds.. one of which we'll be using tomorrow for our little girls party..

What are you grateful for this week? Pop on over to maxabella loves and share or simply read some other inspirational blogs..

this week has been bought to you by the letter {P}..

{image from here}

My little Princess turned four on Tuesday and we celebrated her birthday with a trip to the zoo. Her favourite animal (and of course merchandise that came home with us) was a little Panda called Funi, dressed in none other than pink. The day after we did the annual trip to the podiatrist and sadly to say.. my little princess ain't going to be wearing thongs or little beauties like the ones above for much longer.. yup.. she's got her daddy's feet and has to have orthodics..

I spent the morning painting t-shirts with Ella's class today, just for something a little different, to celebrate her birthday than the party bag for each kid to take home sort of deal. I had a ball, got covered in paint and the kids were quite simply hilarious and adorable all at the same time.

Then off to the podiatrist for me.. yup yup.. mumma can't ignore that excruciating pain in her foot no more.. and the winner is "a torn ligament", yippee for me!! I now get to have a foot/ankle nicely taped up, get to wear a wedge in my shoe and have to wear closed in shoes from the moment I wake up to when I go to sleep for 12 weeks. Fun! NOT! On a good note.. at least the weather is cooling down.

I finished the day off with making 24 party bags for the little princesses party on the weekend and stewed some cinnamon pears.


On that note.. goodnight!!

the day my life changed..

Four years ago today, my life changed..
at 1.13am on the 1st of March in 2007 I became a mother..
My gorgeous Ella came into this world and gave my life a whole new meaning...

Here are photos of my angel's first two years..

{snippets} from the weekend..

Another action jackson weekend.. In a nutshell.. 

Saturday was boring.. household work.. kids trying to kill each other in one form or another.. Predominantly the larger one trying to either poison the small one by feeding him bubble mixture or jumping on his head while in the trampoline.. But in the end all survived. 

The big boy bought home a big bucket of pears and I picked some figs off the next door neighbours tree that hangs generously over our fence.. 

In the evening when the kiddo's slept I got to watch the most amazing thing.. baby fish hatching out of their eggs. Now for those that know us.. you will know that my hubby is somewhat fish obsessed and we have far too many of them for a suburban house. Really we do!! He also works in the field and looks after some spectacular tanks. So needless to say, I've seen some amazing fish, corals and other swimming things come and go.. but I've never seen baby fish hatching.. omg.. so damn cute. If you have ever seen 'finding nemo'.. they wiggle exactly the same as on the film. 

Sunday was filled to the brim.. A 4th birthday party at THE most fantastic park.. complete with splashing pool, a path that is kind of a waterfall that fills a reservoir that supposedly has fish in it. Playgrounds galore, walks galore & rotundas galore.  It was packed with people all celebrating something or another. 

We got there a little late due to hunky's marathon effort sleep, and as soon as the word yabby popped out of someone's mouth the boys were off.. they do this vanishing act often. The walked around the lake/reservoir thing and just hung out. They have a real thing going on at the moment. Me and Ells did the social thing.. we chatted, ate chocolate fudge cupcakes and soaked up the party end of the park.

While at the same park we also ventured across to join in with another celebration.. well, a farewell really but all for a good reason. One of the loveliest people who just happened to be Ella's teacher before Ella moved into Kidy is leaving this week for QLD. Its so sad to see her go, but she's moving to be with the love of her life, so all I can do is wish her the best of luck for her new chapter in life.. 

We then drove past the park where my gorgeous girl will be having her 4th birthday party next week. We hung out there for a while, visited the ducks & chased the seagulls..

joining in with

week-a-boo and point+shoot

{this week i'm grateful for..} friends and the www..

Another little week of reflection and re-evaluation for this mumma. I started the week of with a horrible head cold so I tried to do the 'relax and take care of yourself' thing that everyone talks about. I even got a box of Lemsip and religiously took it along with my echinacea, zinc and vitamin C tablets..

I spent a lot of time on the computer as I am not entirely capable of doing nothing at all. I joined in with a group on Aussie Mummy Bloggers to improve my blog. I wrote a pitch for my blog and business. I found a number of amazing sites written by amazingly inspiring mums and I stumbled upon this gorgeous clip which a friend of mine had emailed me a while ago and I completely forgot about.



I read this incredibly amazing post about post natal depression and got re-inspired to work on a project that I have been working on for a few months, that has taken a back seat of late. I will share soon.. I promise, its just not quite in its sharing state yet.

What advice would you give to a new mum?

As far as PND goes I'm great, we have a happy groove happening in our little family and life is fantastic. Whenever I read posts or watch clips like the ones above though, reality hits. I realise how incredibly lucky I was to have such a amazing set of friends to help me identify PND and get it under control as quickly as I did and I am so grateful that they didn't make me feel like a bad mum because I went through PND.

So this week I am grateful for..
my amazing friends.. you guys know who you are..

the www..
{1} i get inspired by other people
{2} i love reading what real mums have to say
{3} i am so incredibly grateful for people that are able to share about post natal depression
{4} i love the community feeling that is in blog land
{5} i love access to information

joining in with {maxabella loves} i'm grateful for..

time for a change..

So.. I've been here for a little while now.. in blogland that is. I like it, it's my little spot to do what I like, write what I like and in a way my little world. I've met a number of great people, some amazing and inspiring mums and have made myself quite comfortable really.

But why am I here?? Well.. because I like it!

When you are posed with a question though, and you are not entirely sure how to answer it, or on the other hand you are sure, but what you do and how you answer the question is a little different, you question yourself.. right?? Well, I know I do..

My little kasiabear business has taken off and is moving into some amazing new directions, so a lot of time has been focussed on this area of my life. Needless to say anything other than family and kasiabear at this stage is getting analysed and re-analysed and needs to be justified so that I feel right about dedicating time to it.. and this includes my online pocket of joy.. my blog.

Since I heard about the 31 Days to Build a Better Blog Group starting up on Aussie Mummy Bloggers, I have been umming and aaaaring about joining and participating. I'm trying to justify the time spent on my blog already.. not to mention the added time to build it to be something better.

After a lot of thought and especially after reading the first part of the ProBlogger book I purchased a while back, I realised that I want to stay here and the reason is kind of what this blog originated as.. the juggle between all the things I love, the love and passion I have for all aspects of my life and finding a balance.

Over the next 31 days you will see a change happening on my blog.. it may look entirely different one day when you drop past.. its still me though.. just look for my photo with my kiddo's.

{quick three..} favourite items of clothing..

Feeling a bit under the weather today so this will be a really quick {quick three..} today.. but that's OK because these items are an easy choice for me.. 

{1} stripy bonds hoody/hoodies.. 

So comfy.. so versatile.. and the red/blue stripe always reminds me of dr seuss.. bonus!!

{2} jeans.. 

I say this term loosely at the moment as there is no particulair pair as my weight has been a little all over the shop since my first preganancy.. so till it gets a little more steady.. target jeans it is. Still love them nevertheless.

{3} bonds socks..

OK.. no 3 was a toss up between bonds socks and tshirts, yes I love my bonds, but the socks win.. 

Grab my {quick three..} button from my sidebar if you like and add your {quick three..} post below. Please add a link back to here in your post so others can join in the fun. This linky will be open all week.. we're all busy so no hurry.. For more info go to the {quick three} tab at the top. 

If you don't have a blog or haven't had a chance to do a post.. feel free to jot down your little list as a comment..

next week's theme will be 

{favourite shoes}

{snippets} from the weekend..

This year is seriously going far too fast for me already.. another weekend gone and so much to absorb its hard to know where to start. We had another awesome weekend that I'd love to bottle up. The perfect balance between household chores, family time, work, catchups with friends and I even managed to sneak in a (kidless) trip to the Grange Twilight Market and dinner out with a friend.

The kids are at that incredibly gorgeous stage where almost everything they do I just melt and say 'omg.. could you seriously get any cuter?' Hmm... yes there is a incy-wincy bit of cluckiness going on.

joining in with {week-a-boo} + {point + shoot}

{a little bit of me} a day of mixed emotions..

Today started off like each day does in our household.. mumma getting brekky ready for everyone while getting frustrated at the little man for getting into the fridge because all the locks we install seem not to be zaccy rated.. Ella fussing over which outfit she would wear this day and what shoes would go the best.. etc etc..

But me, I was a stressed mumma on edge.. you see, today we had Zaccy's ear specialist appointment in the morning and Ella was starting big girl Kindergarten in the afternoon...

I was relieved that we were going to the specialist and pretty certain of what the outcome of the appointment would be and I was right. The little man is going back into hospital to get his grommet put back in. It's good, great, nice that he will get some relief again, that he will hear a little more clearly and that his ear infections won't be as dramatic. In the same moment I feel anxious about taking my little man in to the hospital, knowing that again I will have to hold him while the anaesthetist does his business.. wait till he feels almost lifeless in my arms and the walk out and wait for him to come out of surgery.

Don't get me wrong... I am so incredibly thankful that its just his ears that are giving him trouble with a little dose of eczema sprinkled on his body.. I'm incredibly grateful that he is a tough little kid and seems to plough through life as if he was invincible.. but I still worry and feel so sad that he has to go through this again.

On the up-note, my little girl is currently in her very first session of big girl kindergarten. The drop off went well, she was so apprehensive that she was going, but in the same moment so excited to be taking the last step before school. I think she dreams about school already to be quite honest. She wondered quietly up to kids she had never seen before and joined in with their games. She sat at the table and introduced herself to the little girl that was sitting there.. She was unsure of her new surroundings but sure that she wanted to be there.

I on the other hand, had that big moth in my stomach.. omg.. my girl is going to kindergarten. I no longer have to sign her in and out, she is responsible for putting on her own hat, going to the toilet yada.. yada.. She's super great at all those things, almost to the point of OCD, but I'm normally there to watch her or get super detailed feedback from her carers. On the other hand a part of me peeled off like an layer of onion does. Deep down I know she's ready and so incredibly excited about being ready... so it was time for mumma to suck it up and let her enjoy this next step of her life.

My tantrum throwing hunky spunky little monkey took my mind off the fact that I was leaving my little girl behind though.. He really wanted to stay, and was over tired and there was a water play tray outside..

She often drives me nuts when she's here, but I so can't wait to go and pick her up today and hear all about her day..

the ADVENTURES on the trip to the country..

Photo descriptions are not so necessary I don't think.. in short we had a day of just hanging out.. the kids got to do all those little things that amaze kids like playing with the animals, playing in W shed, with tractors, in the cow tunnel thingies (yes.. i'm not from the country), they got to sit in a mining/drilling truck, mumma got to take photos, auntieG got worn out, we had lunch at a little pizza place and mumma got new birkenstocks.. 

So the reason for going to the country.. even if it was for just for a day trip did its thing.. I got to take focus of everyday life and then refocus.. 

the OUTCOME of the trip to the country.. coming soon.. 

once upon a time..

Once upon a time I had no kids. I worked at a winery as a designer and got paid to take short holidays to photograph vineyards in another state. It was nice, kinda fun really. I got to fly in a vintage plane. I got to drink ridiculously expensive wines.. and I mean those ones that you generally only read or hear about and I met a lot of wine buffs (wankers). Being absorbed in my work and working within the wine industry never made me into a connoisseur of fine wine, in fact far from it.

Photography.. hmm.. I exhibited my work in a number of venues, was featured in a heap of print media, had my photo greeting cards in a number of little shops and was heading towards that.. "when i grow up, i wanna be..." moment. Then I stumbled into the wine industry. I was offered a job when I asked for a donation of wine for an exhibition opening... I liked it at first as I got to use both my photography and design skills but eventually I got suffocated. Design no longer had that wow factor, as each time I designed something which I thought was pretty damn sweet, it got picked apart by each member of our little team.. even the accountant seemed to know more about which font should have been used or what thickness a line should have been.

Eight years on, I resigned from my job rather than taking maternity leave when I was pregnant with my second child.. who is now almost two. I needed a change, I wanted to focus on my kids and I wanted to get re-inspired about design again.

Sadly the full time mum thing didn't work that well for me.. I needed to do something that was still me, I needed to be creative in some way and kasiabear started. It started off with just screen printed tees of my designs then moved into sewing. It pulled me out of a rutt, it cheered me up, it got me inspired. I started taking photos again and recently pulled out some of my old photos.. It got me thinking.. then the holiday season creeped up and I had even more time to think...

After all this thinking, I have decided to take kasiabear in a new direction and include my photography and some print design in the mix. The transition will happen slowly, as my kids are still my number one focus and this is my little girls last year before she starts school.

I'm very excited about this new direction and feel a whole new enthusiasm deep down. As far as kasiabear clothing goes.. my little etsy shop will stay right where it is. I will focus mainly on printed tees and will upload OOAK clothing here and there. I've started uploading some photos onto my little corner of red bubble too.. you can purchase the images in various forms directly from there.. or just pop in every-now-and then to have a look at my past adventures and some that haven't happened yet.. There is a little {photography} tab along the top of my blog which takes you straight to red bubble.

Thank you all for your amazing support during the beginnings of kasiabear.. its been a ride..
 xx
  kasia

2011.. i think you're alright..

Our year started of beautifully.. 
The kiddos were worn out from our little NYE party.. (spent with some close friends and their kiddos at our place) so they slept past 7am which is HUGE around here.. We had soft boiled eggs for brekky (my favourite after poached eggs) and then headed off for a walk to our local park as a family.. I love our little park as it's only a five minute stroll, is along side the golf course and stream and it has recently been upgraded to a set of modern structures that fit beautifully into the landscape. The kiddos picked me a gorgeous bunch of flowers from the side of the stream..

We then spent an afternoon relaxing as a family. We taught Ella how to play a game of dominoes and she managed to beat us in the first round.. The big boy got his clarinet out and the kiddos got their trumpets and recorders and had a little concert.. The monkeys conked out at 7.30pm so mumma and daddy got some adult time too.. Just perfect.. Hoping 2011 will bring many more days like this..

How was your first day of 2011?

wishing you peace, love and laughter..

i just wanted to quickly stop in and wish you all a magical christmas

cracker of a year..