Author: Caroline

Christmas 2024 Bucket List

December is nearly here (how the hell has that happened?) and I’m getting my December and Christmas planner set up and organised. This year I thought I might create a Christmas Bucket List to do through the month.

I searched for Christmas bucket list templates in Canva (check out the whole list if you want to make your own),picked one I liked, created my list and I’ll print it out then add in to the planner.

So what is on my bucket list for Christmas 2024?

I got some of my ideas from this list, but it is very winter focused (not great for ideas when it’s Summer here in Australia LOL). Anyway onto my list.

  • Decorate a Christmas Tree.  Bit self-explanatory. Our tree goes up on Dec 1. This year we’ll have a 11 month old kitty (whose birthday is Christmas Day) and we’re trying to work out a) where we’ll put the tree and b) how to stop her climbing/attacking it.
  • Bake Gingerbread biscuits. I love baking at Christmas time. I’ll do gingerbread, shortbread, Scottish tablet, mini meringues and a few more things.
  • Host a Festive Movie Night. Need to introduce the kids to some good Christmas movies. What would you recommend?
  • Send Handmade Christmas Cards. I need to get these made, especially the ones to send overseas
  • Visit a Christmas Market. I’ve got a few listed in our calendar already
  • Make Homemade Hot Chocolate. Kids are looking forward to this one. Trying this recipe.
  • Learn a new Christmas tradition. Going to get the eldest to research Christmas traditions from around the world in her last weeks of homeschooling and see if she finds something she wants us to try.
  • Start a new tradition. See above. I’d really like to start a new yearly tradition that we do as a family.
  • Read Christmas Stories. We have a box full of Christmas books. Lots of stories for little kids that I think we need to have one more read of then decide if they are generational books (like the ones I have from my childhood) or ones we would be happy to donate to our local Little Library
  • Create DIY Ornaments. Another one for the kiddos to pick something to make.
  • Have a Pyjama Day. Might mix this with our movie day.
  • Reindeer Food. Even though the kids are 14 & 10, they still love the Christmas Eve reindeer food tradition. How to make magic Reindeer Food.
  • Santa plate on Christmas Eve. I’m going to make something like this.
  • Make Christmas houses. These from Sweet Red Poppy.
  • Beach-side picnic. We live near a beach and do this lots over summer. Nothing beats a chippie picnic at the beach – hot chips from the local take away, then drive to the beach for a picnic.
  • Go to the Christmas parade. Doing that next week.
  • Camp out. The tent will most likely get set up in the backyard either the day after school finishes for the year or on Boxing Day
  • Get a festive door wreath.
  • Bujo Bootcamp over at the JashiiCorrin discord
  • Finish Christmas shopping. Nearly done. Only my father-in-law,a nd my youngest niece and nephew to go. Everything else is bought or ordered and on it’s way.
  • End of School year events.
  • Make Christmas Crafts.
  • Go on a Christmas Light Tour. These are getting less and less each year sadly. People are getting sick of their lights being stolen or damaged. It’s also getting more expensive.
  • Journal Your Christmas.
  • Try a new holiday recipe. Going to give a family friend’s Raspberry cheesecake a go.
  • Plan a Family Game Night. Not sure yet, most likely Game of Life. The kids are loving that one.
  • Write a Letter to Santa. Not sure if the eldest will do this anymore.
  • Reflect and Set Goals

Do you have a Christmas bucket list? I’d love to know what’s on yours.

Month in Review – October 2024

Seriously, how is it the 1st of November? Must mean it’s time for another monthly review…

What we’ve been up to

  • New laptops. Kids got our old laptops.
  • Finally got & set up desks for the kids room.
  • Relive the Rivalry footy game. We were sick so missed it.
  • Watched the Hawthorn FC Best and Fairest count.
  • NRL Grand Final.
  • K graduated from the Seagulls to Chips program
  • New brakes and tyres for the VW
  • J 2 year anniversary of not dying from Pulmonary embolism.
  • Watched Bathurst
  • First lot of neonates for the 2024 kitten season. 5 little babes.
  • Checked out Indie School for K next year
  • Packed away winter clothes
  • Hooked into hockey program
  • Halloween/Beltane

In the News

  • The Israel Defense Forces invade southern Lebanon, expanding its conflict against Hezbollah.
  • The Japanese parliament elects Shigeru Ishiba as the new prime minister of Japan.
  • SpaceX achieves the first successful return and capture of a Super Heavy booster from Starship, the biggest and most powerful rocket ever to fly.
  • Spain experiences its worst flooding in half a century, with at least 158 killed and many more missing, as a year’s worth of rain falls in eight hours.

New recipes

  • Chinese Sizzling Beef
  • Everyday Hokkien Noodles
  • glazed hoisin chicken sir fry
  • Normandy pork chops
  • black bean chilli
  • Honey Pepper Chicken

Monthly stats

Photos taken – 319

Books read/listened to: 1

Plans for next month (November)

  • Tidy my bedroom & get my craft corner reorganized
  • Ovarian Cancer Australia Workout 4 Women – my donation link
  • Get back into creating videos for my YouTube channel
  • Moving the fridges
  • Visit from Scottish rellies
  • Our Wedding anniversary (18 years!)
  • December Daily Prep day
  • Hooked in2 Hockey
  • Craft group
  • TasPop Geek market
  • Gem & Mineral Fair
  • Art Street Art launch

Until next month!

You can catch up on previous months by checking out the Monthly Reviews tag.

Month in review – February to September 2024

Since we’ve missed so much of this year here’s a pretty general overview of our year to date – February to September.

What we’ve been up to

  • K turned 14
  • Back to school. K part time
  • K went on camp
  • State election
  • Back to hockey. A playing U14. K playing U14, U16 and Div 3
  • Started an art group at A’s school.
  • Joined a local art group
  • Started coaching school hockey.
  • Went to Hobart for the Battle of Crete memorial
  • So much hockey
  • Checked out Big Picture School as an option for K next year.
  • Uni open day

In the News

  • State election. Liberals won.
  • Eurovision
  • Julian Assange freed from prison
  • UK Election – Labor wins in a landslide.
  • Attempted assassination of Trump.
  • US Election debates.
  • Biden steps out of the US Election race and endorses Kamala Harris
  • Olympics in Paris.
  • Global IT outage
  • WHO declares mpox a public health emergency
  • Hurricane Helene hits the US state of Florida.

New recipes

  • Pork Tenderloin with Honey Garlic Sauce
  • Chow Mein Ramen Noodles
  • Parmesan crusted baked fish & potatoes
  • spicy apricot chicken
  • chicken satay noodle bowl
  • country beef dump dinner
  • slow cooker honey soy beef brisket
  • chicken casserole with cheesy damper top
  • Quick french onion chicken pie
  • one pot honey bbq beef brisket
  • coconut chicken curry & yoghurt
  • slow cooker kung pow chicken
  • slow cooked melting pork ramen
  • RTE doner kebab
  • Slow-cooker beef with tomato chutney
  • Slow-cooker spiced chicken meatballs in tomato sauce
  • Slow Cooker Coca-Cola Chicken
  • Slow cooker Chinese beef
  • thai sweet pork
  • general tsoa’s chicken
  • yakisoba
  • pork & hokkien noodle stir fry

Monthly stats (Feb-Sept total)

Photos taken – 2568

Books read/listened to: 2

Plans for next month (October)

  • Apply to go uni.
  • Get my planner caught back up.
  • Get back in0to blogging.
  • Tidy my bedroom & get my craft corner reorganized
  • K graduation for Seagulls to Chips program
  • Get our front car brakes replaced
  • 18th birthday do for a friend
  • Alt market
  • Halloween/Beltane
  • Finish some of the books I’ve started

Until next month!

You can catch up on previous months by checking out the Monthly Reviews tag.

Learning

June through September have been a blur. Two kids playing hockey. The eldest playing 3 divisions by the end of the season. Me coaching school hockey then the northern inter school competition – with my team winning their division. A first since 2008.

Needless to say I haven’t been blogging or crafting. Winter is pretty much hockey and sickness. So now hockey season is over I’ll be getting back into it.

First up is working out where half of my images have disappeared to. Then sharing some updates with what’s been going on around here.

So I’ll hopefully be around a bit more often now. Thanks again if you’re still sticking around.

IDAHOBIT

On May 17 we acknowledge IDAHOBIT as a day for our communities to go rainbow, and stand up against discrimination. Whether you’re part of the LGTBQIA+ community or you’re an ally – today we stand together.

What is IDAHOBIT?
International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT) is observed on May 17 and aims to coordinate international events that raise awareness of LGBT rights violations and stimulate interest in LGBT rights work worldwide.

But why May 17? This date commemorates the anniversary the World Health Organisation removed homosexuality from the International Classification of Diseases in 1990. Prior to this, homosexuality was classified globally as a mental illness.

That’s only 33 short years ago.

As recently as 1997, being gay was illegal in some parts of Australia – and until just five years ago, same-sex marriage was not recognised in our country. While we have certainly come a long way in the advancements of LGBTQIA+ equity, the unfortunate reality is that these milestones are very recent in our experience.

With this in mind, IDAHOBIT has two main purposes.

  1. Today is an opportunity to celebrate the pride and allyship of the people who have worked to build equality around the world.
  2. And to raise awareness of the discrimination LGBTQIA+ people still face today.

Australia-wide research conducted by La Trobe University highlights the prevalence of discrimination still occuring around our country:

2 in 3 LGBTQIA+ youth experience harassment or abuse due to their identity. That’s 66% of our young people.

But discrimination of this kind is not contained to the classroom.

A study of almost 7,000 LGBTQIA+ people of all ages in Australia found that 1 in 3 people have experienced verbal abuse in the past 12 months because of their identity. This includes insults, humiliation and threats, just for being who they are.

It’s worth repeating again. One third of LGBTQIA+ people have experienced verbal abuse in the last 12 months.

When it comes to creating a world where everyone is safe to be themselves – there’s still work for us to do.

We need safe spaces where LGBTQIA+ people belong that are inclusive for everyone.

We can donate to places like Minus18, who do so much great work for our LGBTQIA+ youth.

IDAHOBIT is coordinated by Minus18, Australia’s charity for LGBTQIA+ young people across the country. You can find out more about the day, and discover information about identity and inclusion through the website www.IDAHOBIT.org.au. Check it out, there’s lots for us to learn.

Together, we can build a world without discrimination, today and every day of the year.

Well then

after 4 years of avoiding it ,we’ve all managed to catch Covid. Eldest went down with it on Good Friday, then me a few days later, hubby on hist birthday and then the youngest a week after her sister.

We’ve been lucky to only have a mild case but good lord, it was horrible. I have never felt so drained and unmotivated. I spent the majority of my time between bed and the couch with a puddle of foster kitties to keep me company.

A week out and I still feel tired and a little snotty but I do feel a little better day by day. Glad the loss of smell and taste only lasted a couple of days, that was truly horrible.

Upside of it all, I got lots of sleep and got to binge a bunch of TV when I wasn’t sleeping.

Anywho, I’ve started doing some cleaning up on the blog. I’m moving all my craft posts to Nightwolf Crafts, going through old posts to re add photos that went missing during the move from my old hosting, deleting some posts that are outdated or are old giveaways and tidying up all my recipe posts.

Until next time. Hope you all stay healthy.

2023 in review

So here we are again. It’s February and I guess it’s time for my yearly review.

January – school holidays, lots of cleaning, working on junk journals, fostering kitties, started to make different types of bread, set up my 2023 planner, got ourselves a 4 poster bed, Dad’s birthday, family issues, my birthday, K cooked me tea.

February – back to school prep, K started Grade 7, A started Grade 3, more bread making, visited Lulworth (where I spent lots of time as a kid), K turned 13.

March – D&D party for K, school swimming comp for K, school athletics carnival for A, first lots of bottle fed fosters, school athletics for K, mil birthday, playing Cult of the Lamb, bought myself a drop down desk.

April – James’ birthday, K diagnosed with anxiety, inter high athletics for K, more bread making, school holidays.

May – School issues for K, hockey season started, K went on school camp to Camp Clayton, I got sick.

June – K still school can’t, more bread making, inter school cross country for A, A got Influenza A, my first counseling appointment (on what would have been Mum’s birthday), pride round for hockey, J got influenza A,.

July – K had meeting at school to try & get her back attending, K played first Div 3 hockey game with her cousin, specialist for J to follow up on last year’s lung clots – she said things look pretty good for having ~99% clotting in lungs. A back to swimming lessons but locally now.

August – A turned 9, school photos, A started to play school hockey with the 5/6s.

September – started walking at the beach, K got coach’s award for hockey, K helping with primary school hockey, new glasses, Hobart for nephew’s birthday, discussed part time home school for K.

October – applied for part time home school for K, I did Shark Cage program, K diagnosed with depression & on wait list for ADHD/ASD assessment, K started back at school doing Maths & science, first TasPop cosplay picnic.

November – K started anti depressant, did Yoga for the first time and really enjoyed it, new bottle babies.

December – local Christmas parade, TasPop cosplay picnic, last day of Grade 7 and Grade 3, Just Cats Christmas do, yearly Christmas do with friends, very quiet Christmas.

Another interesting year for us. Here’s to a better 2024.

Month in review – January 2024

Well here we are at the end of the first month of 2024. Time for my first review of the year.

What we’ve been up to

  • setting up my 2024 planner (while waiting for my new planner cover to arrive)
  • cleaning and decluttering
  • enjoying a quiet school holiday
  • watching the cricket
  • setting up home school stuff for K for Term 1
  • new shelves in the kitchen
  • dropped one lots of fosters back and picked up another lot
  • Dad’s & my birthdays
  • J had 30ml of fluid drained off his knee. Gout.

In the News

  • Queen of Denmark abdicates
  • Plane collision in Japan
  • Taiwan elects a new president
  • Israel-Hamas war

New recipes

Monthly stats
Photos taken – 340
Books read/listened to:
started – Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Torz
finished – The Clean House by Katrina Springer

Plans for next month

  • Read 2 books
  • Continue working on Declutter 365
  • Get my 2024 planner setup in my new Melody cover
  • Planner blog posts
  • K turns 14

Hello

Is there anybody out there? *knock, knock*
Hello there if there is still anyone who reads my little spot on the net.

Happy New Year 2024

It’s been awhile & I’m hoping to get back into blogging again this year.

I’ll be blogging my planner spreads, sharing some of our favourite recipes, what I’m reading/listening to, our current foster kitty adventures and who knows what else.

All my craft stuff is over at Nightwolf Crafts and, I’ve got a new blog, as our eldest started home schooling at the end of last year – Schooling in the Den.

That’s all for now. Til next time