Family Photo Album - Lily and Blake

Last week we had the chance to babysit Lily and Blake while Kristie and Dave went to a wedding. These guys are super cute, and they adored having cuddles with their Uncle Jonathon:

Here are some pics at Christmas time:

and a bit before that:

They are the sweetest little cherubs!  We love them dearly. xx

Friday Funny - More T-shirts to Make You Smile

Friday is a good time to wind down for the weekend and share some laughs. Today I have some more

t-shirt laughs for you from RoadKill T-Shirts:

Hee hee! Hope these made you smile! Check out the rest of the funnies at Shelly's blog Tropical Mum.

xx

Make a Change - Learning to Love Exercise

I have sooo been failing in my recent challenge to exercise.
The problem is, that I still haven't completely changed my sleeping routine, which means I'm really stuck for the times I can exercise. Grrr!! Changing food habits is so easy, but sleeping at the right times is not!!

However, yesterday I actually found a solution! We had friends coming for dinner, and our house was looking a bit worse for wear, so I spent about an hour rushing around vacuuming, mopping floors and scrubbing toilets. Surprisingly, it was a great workout, and I accomplished some housework at the same time! So, while twenty minutes of heavy housework each day may not be equivalent to 20 min of exercise, an hour must be pretty close, and I needed to be motivated to do both. So I have revised my exercise  challenge to be:

1 hour of housework exercise each day.

I'm pretty excited about this, and feel I will accomplish much more!


Update: I have just finished an hour an a half of housework exercise! Woohoo! House looks good, back feels good, feeling invigorated and happy with myself, I'm on a roll now!

xx

Wordless Wednesday - Easter 2011: Wall to Wall Chocolate

I'm linking up with Aussie Wordless Wednesday at

My Little Drummer Boys. xx

Film Love - The Three Musketeers

We have made a new discovery - Graboid Video. They have just about any film you can think of to watch on your computer, or you can save the films to your laptop and watch them on your TV. Maybe everyone already knows about this, but I only found out about it the other day. We have watched heaps of films since!

One that was just beautiful to look at was The Three Musketeers. The costumes were amazing, especially the dresses worn by Milla Jovovich's character.

And these airships were spectacular!

My favourite actor in this film is Matthew McFayden, who also played Mr Darcy in Pride and Prejudice.

I am just in love with his voice!

I am sure you will also enjoy Orlando Bloom, because even though he is a villain, he still looks good!

There are some great fencing and fighting scenes, and we had a ball watching it!

xx

It's Monday, What Are You Reading?

Yesterday, I finished City of Dragons, by Robin Hobb, and while I love the world of the story, and the characters, I was disappointed to find out that this is not the third book in a trilogy, but the third book out of four!  Disappointed because I only realised near the end, and it changes the whole momentum of how you read the book. According to Robin Hobb's website, it was meant to be a trilogy but the last book was too big, so they made it into two. (I was thinking the book looked a bit small for a third book in a trilogy.) So now I have to wait until next year to read the last book which will definitely tie up all the loose ends.

If you haven't read Robin Hobb, she writes fantasy/ speculative fiction, and I recommend you start with The Liveship Trader trilogy or The Farseer Trilogy. They are both so good. Ships that come alive, a wolf that talks with its master through thoughts, and dragons that have the memories of their ancestors, are just some of the brilliant ideas Hobb has in her books.

There are not so many surprises in her recent books, as the reader is familiar with the world of her books, but there are still amazing, magical things that happen, that stir the soul. 

Now I am reading Damian Leith's One More Time, which is the story of  one man's adventures trekking through Nepal. He suffers with OCD, Obsessive/Compulsive Disorder, and this impacts on many of his interactions. It is a very light, quick read, and is quirky and interesting. I will probably finish it tonight. 

Then it is onto Mists of Avalon, which has been pushed back and back and back, and will now get its turn! 

I'm linking up with Sheila's Book Journey to find out what my readerly friends are up to!

Have you been reading anything good lately?

xx

Sunday Session - The Beat of Drums

Last week I was switching between radio stations in the car and I came across this song, which is a recent cover by Tim Freedman of the song You Weren't in Love With Me, originally sung by Billy Field. When Billy Field sang it way back (in 1981) it was a piano song with a sad feel to it. Tim Freedman has revved it up, adding a continuous drumbeat and a whole lot of humour.

While I was listening to the Tim Freedman song, I was reminded of this magnificent song, with the same continuous drumbeat, called You Little Thief, sung by Irish singer, Feargal Sharkey. The clip is fantastic and I love Feargal Sharkey's energy!  Those people's legs must have been killing after climbing up and down those stairs all through the video! 

Funny how the sentiment in the two songs is similar too.

I'm linking up with Thea for her Sunday Session, where you might want to share some of your favourite songs or listen to some other groovy toons. See you there!

xx

Friday Funny - Our Cat

On Fridays, I like to join up with Shelly at Tropical Mum to share our Friday Funnies. This week I am sharing a pic of my cat Whiskers in all his glory:

He thinks he owns the place, and will just flop down wherever, mostly to start cleaning himself, which we try to tell him is a private thing. But he doesn't care. He's the boss. He does what he wants! Here, he was actually sleeping in that position, and when I came up to him with the camera he looked up.

Why don't you share your funny pics with us at Tropical Mum? 

xx

Make a Change - Time to exercise!

In my Thursday Make a Change series I have cut out fizzy drink and cake, have been reading my scriptures, and trying to sort out my sleep habits, but, one thing I haven't tackled yet, is adding exercise to my routine. You had to know it was coming!

 The thought of it is not thrilling me. This is why I feel compelled to announce my challenges here. Seeing them on my blog reminds me daily that I am meant to be doing them! 

The food challenges have been easy. The sleep ones, not so much. The scripture one, so-so. And the exercise one is probably going to be a disaster. But, as I've said before, my hips don't lie, and I really have to reign them in! With a bit of luck I may even look like this some time (ha!)

So the challenge is to exercise for 20 minutes a day.

Doesn't matter how, doesn't matter when, or where. Just 20 minutes of working the body every day.

I'm puffed just thinking of it. (It might actually be invigorating. I hope so!)

And I start today. Join me if you dare! xx 

(http://joemartinfitness.com)

Wordless Wednesday - Last Easter Holidays

Linking up with Wordless Wednesday at My Little Drummer Boys

xx

Film Love - Midnight In Paris

Oh my gosh - this movie is just swoonful! If you love poets and Paris, artists, time travel, and vintage fashion, this movie is for you!

 The first few minutes are scenes of Paris, and then the story goes on to be about a writer holidaying in Paris with his fiance and her parents, while he tries to get some writerly inspiration for his first novel. 

He happens to find a way into the 1920s, where he meets such literary and artistic greats as Dali, Hemingway, F.Scott Fitzgerald and Cole Porter. My heart jumped each time he met one of these geniuses, it was so exciting!

Don't be put off by the idea of Owen Wilson playing the main character. I know he generally acts in throwaway comedies, but he is actually perfect for this role, in a Woody Allen nerdy kind of way.

Rachel McAdams plays the part of the bitchy fiance to a T. There are feature appearances by some of my faves, including Adrien Brody and Kathy Bates.

Midnight in Paris is a magical masterpiece, that will have you wanting to walk through Paris in the rain!

xx

It's Monday, What Are You Reading?

I had to pop into Kmart on the weekend, and I walked past the new book stand to see what was on offer. My heart skipped a beat with excitement - the new Robin Hobb book!!

(You can't tell here, but the cover has a metallic sheen

and is so pretty!)

You may not have even heard of her before, but Robin Hobb is my all-time favourite author! I have loved all her books and have become emotionally involved in them all, especially the Farseer Trilogy, the Liveship Trilogy and The Tawny Man Trilogy. By emotioanlly involved, I mean my heart aches when the books end, and I feel spent with emotional exhaustion. Not that I cry in books, but I sit on the edge of my seat and my head buzzes and my heart races with the rush of the journey. This is why I read.

Non-readers will probably not know what I am talking about. The first time I experienced this reading heart ache was with the Narnian Chronicles, and I definitely did cry at the end of those books! I think it is something that happens when the story goes for a long time, like the seven books in the Narnia set and the three books in a trilogy. I also got this feeling from reading John Marsden's Tomorrow When the War began series, which is seven books, and from Gone With the Wind, which is just long! You get to know the characters so well, and you are so elated/shocked/devastated at the ending that you are overwhelmed. I get this in movies even moreso, and have been known to bawl and bawl at the end of movies (think Benjamin Button, City of Angels, Sommersby, Bicentennial Man.) To me, a great ending MAKES the story.

So I have put aside, for now, the books I planned to read this week, and am straight into the Robin Hobb book, Dragon City. It is the third book in a trilogy, so I expect it to be an involving read, though it is surprisingly not a thick book. So exciting!

Who is your favourite author?

I am linking up with Sheila's Book Journey to see what my reader friends are up to this week!

xx

Thrifty Finds

I don't have room in my home to start making collections of thrifted objects, but I am always happy to add to my collection of books.  So my form of thrifting is to go to secondhand bookshops.

Yesterday, I was thrilled to get these 5 books for $13.50!

I'm pretty sure I will love all these books! Her Fearful Symmetry and Jasper Jones have been on my 'to find' list for awhile, The Hunter is a book about searching for the Tasmanian Tiger, Amy Tan and Paullina Simons are authors I have read before and really loved. So I'm stoked about these finds!

What do you search for in second-hand shops?

I'm playing along with Sophie at Her Library Adventures where everyone shares their Flea Market Finds.

Go and have a look!

xx

Sunday Session - Shakespears Sister

Every now and then I think of this band and remember how much I loved them.

I was watching Beastly with my hubby this week, and Mary-Kate Olsen's character reminded me of  a combination of Siobhan Fahey and Marcella Detroit in their Shakespears Sister days.

So I'm sharing some of their songs with you. You may be seeing these vids for the first time. If so, I hope you get chills from the Stay film clip. I still do.

Another good one is Run Silent Run Deep. The chorus is just beautiful.

And this is a cheeky one, I Don't Care

And another one full of playful sarcasm, You're History:

Last but not least, the anthemic Hello (Turn Your Radio On)

I wish these girls had made more albums together. They were just magical! Brilliant voices, whimsical tunes, clever lyrics, and theatrical videos with art deco style and sparkle!

Joining up with Thea at Do I Really Wanna Blog for her Sunday Session.

 xx