Our Halloween.

We had a very last minute Halloween here :) This included driving to the bargain shop after school pick up and rummaging through the masks with the other hordes of last minute halloween shoppers.

 Jasper was very enthusiastic in the shop but wouldn't don his costume for trick or treating. The best he would do was a headband.

But he LOVED the idea of knocking on a door and getting lollies.  He is quite shy so the fact he had the confidence to do this was fantastic. 

 We started off at a friends place and then just did the one street. I couldn't believe all the kids that were out trick or treating. It was quite a fun atmosphere. I'm sure over the next few years Halloween is just going to get bigger and bigger in Australia.

Did you trick or treat?

Simone xx

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Sunday - Whose job is it?

We all have our jobs around here. I love that on a Sunday morning it is just "known" that Simon will be the one to go out and get the papers and a coffee while I wait at home. Also taking the rubbish out is his domain too. 

My jobs around the house are far too numerous to mention ;)

I was just wondering if everyone has those jobs that have never been spoken about but are just known?

Simone xx

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Saturday Night.

This is how we spent our Saturday night, setting up a train set :)

Simon's parents have sold their home and are moving into a unit near the beach. They are in the process of packing up their house  so we are inheriting lots of toys they bought for the grandkids but will no longer have room for.

Finn used to play with this train set when he was younger and now it's Jasper's turn and then we will pack it away ready for the new baby.

I love the idea of keeping toys in the family. 

(not that it usually happens around here, too many broken toys, missing game pieces)

Do you have a toy/game that has been in the family for a while?

Simone xx

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Some random things about me lately :)

I just thought I would share some random things about myself that I have been doing lately :)

1. For the last few days I have been having cheese and mustard pickles on a wholemeal roll. Just delish!

2. We are off on another holiday on Friday, we are taking the boys this time and spending a week in Byron Bay. Wishing for warm weather!

3. I haven't caught up with friends in ages. With feeling sick for the first 3 months of pregnancy and the NY trip, I have been absent. Note to self, book in some coffee catch ups :)

4. I feel a bit guilty for neglecting my blog lately. It used to be a real "obsession" but recently I have been struggling with Bloggers Block. I don't want to stop, I will have to just try and blog through it.

5. My husband's singing drives me nuts! He thinks he has a fabulous voice and is always singing. If it was just normal warbling that would be ok but he is always stretching out notes and doing "verbal gymnastics". I don't tell him this drives me crazy :)

6. I'm feeling a bit restless in regards to the house. I want to repaint, lay floorboards instead of our tiles and maybe repaint/revarnish the furniture.

7. We recently bought a new car. We decided on a Mazda CX9, its black and I am still nervous driving it. I don't want to be the person that causes the first scratch on it!

8. I really have to get my act into gear with planning my mums bday party in a few weeks and I'm also hosting Christmas this year. So I want to start getting organised. I can't wait for Christmas this year :)

9. I keep collecting pictures of sparkly diamond rings lately. Maybe I am just researching for a future present?!

10. Everything I have bought online lately, from clothes to a quilt cover has been really disappointing. I have ended up returning it all. For me there is no substitute for a wander around the shops and seeing the "goods" in real life.

So there you go, some random things I have been doing lately :)

Simone xx

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A pregnancy journal

So far this pregnancy I have been a little slack in recording the little things. 

You know - How the bump is growing? What foods I am craving? Considering I had a pregnancy book for the boys I really have to do one this time around :)

I love these ideas and would love to do something similar.

I'll post a pic of my bump soon. I'm now 18wks.

It is growing at a rapid rate :) 

(and unfortunately so is my bum!)

Simone xx

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New York - travel diary part 2

So here is the remainder of my diary from the New York trip :)

Day 4 - We had an easy day planned today (I needed it!) so we headed down the end of our street to Central Park. The space is huge.
 It seemed to be a great place to catch up with a friend for a walk. We wandered around the Jackie Onassis Resourvier, Betheseda Fountain, the lake and The Boathouse. Stopping for cheesey shots along the way :) We then went to a deli to pick up a few pieces for lunch and I had a delicious slice of New York cheesecake. We had a quiet afternoon as we were both exhausted after the last few days. 

cheesey shots in Central Park :)

pretzel in the park, ugh too salty for me!

The Boathouse

Day 5 - Simon got up at 4am to go to a bar to watch the Wallabies game (they lost badly!), I stayed asleep :) Another day of wandering around, we saw a couple of movies including the new George Clooney movie The Decendents, which was showing at the Lincoln Centre's NY Film Festival. George Clooney was at the screening and did a little blurb onstage.We are heading home tomorrow and I must admit I am ready. I miss the boys and I feel like I have truly seen New York. 

George is 2nd from the right!

Day 6 - a sleep in, breakfast then head to the Airport. We're going home!

A delicious room service breakfast :)

Overall it was a wonderful time away with Simon,I truly saw everything I wanted to. We didn't do the usual tourist sites such as the Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty etc as we had done them before on a previous trip. I also didn't really want to see Ground Zero as it felt a little morbid/eerie.

The shopping was cheap but I found myself not that interested except with fragile crockery and extremely heavy coffee table books! I was very sensible and really weighed up whether I needed them or not. Really strange of me! 

It was so great to fit in one last overseas holiday with Simon before the baby arrives. As I'm sure it will be a while before I'm back in New York again.

Have you been to New York? Where are your favourite spots?

Simone xx

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New York - travel diary part 1

I'm back from an amazing 5 days in New York. It was a fantastic time and we crammed so much in it was a little exhausting! I made notes at the end of each day so I could remember all the places we had seen and the streets we had walked and the food we had eaten.

Day 1 -After a VERY long flight to get to New York, we arrived at 7pm to our hotel, The Surrey.  It met all our expectations and was absolutely beautiful. We had dinner at a local restaurant Seraphina, Simon had a pizza and I must have had the world's largest chicken breast and vegies. Just the beginning of a few humongous meals! Bed time as we were zonked!

en route 

lobby of The Surrey at night 

gorgeous painting near elevators 

hugest chicken breast ever! 

view from our room

Day 2 - Jetlagged! Woke up at 3.30am, decided to call the boys to let them know we had arrived, watched some tv and eventually went back to sleep for a few hours. A room service breakfast and then a shower with the most intense shower pressure ever. We then caught a cab to Soho We wandered down streets with lots of shops including Anthropologie. We got Finn some of the Vans shoes he couldn't get at home and Simon got a couple of pairs of shoes too. I looked but nothing really grabbed me. Maybe it is being pregnant but all the clothes were a bit ho hum to me. I had money to burn and couldn't find anything I liked! We stopped for snacks at Dean and Deluca, (a gourmet deli) We decided to just walk in the direction of our hotel and see how far we could go before we got too tired. Stopped for lunch at a cafe where a toasted sandwich was an extravaganza with all the trimmings and a massive serve of fries. Passed the Flatiron Building, Madison Ave, popped into Trump Tower and of course I had to have a browse in Tiffany and Co. We had a little rest near the Plaza Hotel, it looks a lot smaller in real life! The streets were bustling and very New York! We then wandered over to Central Park and did the very touristy carriage ride.The carriages were a little tired and worn but it was one of those "have to do" experiences.
We then walked back to the Surrey Hotel and collapsed! I calculated we had walked 91 blocks and that wasn't counting going up and down some of them. We had left the hotel at 10am that morning and walked until 6pm that night! I ended up having a 5 hour snooze and woke up at midnight starving. Simon went looking for the pizza place he went to 10 years ago(!)and brought back the sausage pizza he had been raving about ever since. 

anthropologie, I really wanted that tureen! 

pumpkins at Dean and Deluca 

The Flatiron Building

Simon on the carriage ride, the carriages are in need of a little refresh!

Simon's beloved sausage pizza

Day 3 - We decided to explore the West Village today and caught a cab to Bleeker St, saw the Magnolia Bakery but didn't feel like a cupcake. We walked down Perry St (where all SATC fans will know that Carries apartment stoop was shot here). So many lovely Brownstones and of course had to get the usual tourist pic on one of them.It was a gorgeous area with tree lined streets and a lovely feel to it.

We then headed to the Meat Packing District, and walked the cobblestone streets to the High Line. This is a disused railway track that has been turned into a park/walkway. Caught a cab to Grand Central Station for a wander and a late lunch. I had the most delicious vegie soup ever! We then walked over to Rockefeller Centre for a look at the Moma store and a few others. We then ventured into Times Square. Absolute chaos! Bright lights, crowds of people, tacky and over the top but a must see. We headed back towards the hotel and detoured via the toy shop FAO Schwartz. The boys would have loved it! Highlights were the Barbie Foosball table for $25k and of course the giant piano from the movie Big. Of course Simon had to have a go, which I recorded for the boys. It was hilarious! We HAD to wander through the "candy" section on the way out and marvelled at the size of all the lollies! We bought the boys some rock candy and giant gummy bears as a souvenir. So much fun stuff there!

We headed to the hotel for dinner and a rest. We decided to have a late night treat at Serendipity (remember the movie?). Simon had the Strawberry Fields - an extravaganza of cheesecake, icecream, cream and strawberries and I had their signature Frozen Hot Chocolate which was to die for!

Perry St

me on a the stoop ;)

Grand Central Station - (can you see me?)

shoe shine at Grand Central Station

Simon at Times Square

The $25k Barbie Foosball table!

Simon creating that "moment" from the movie Big!

Now that's a lollipop!

 biggest gummy bear ever!

oooh my delicious frozen hot chocolate

Exhausted yet? I will pop up the rest in another post :)

Simone xx

all images my own

New York, New York.

Simon and I are off to New York today.

I can't believe it. So excited!!!

Thank you for all your wonderful tips and recommendations on places to go.

I have been making notes on the places I want to see but haven't got a set plan in place.

 I kind of don't want to get locked into anything and just want to wander and soak up everything.Although Simon might have other ideas!

I have divided my lists into shopping, places to visit and food! I'm a little worried that the food and restaurants to try outnumber everything else! 

Hopefully all the walking we will be doing burns it off :)

Here is a pic of the roof top of our hotel (The Surrey).

 We had visions of sharing cocktails here but I'm sure my "mocktail" will be just as good :)

No doubt I will take a million pics which I will then bore you all with.

Until then........

Simone xx

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Baby no. 3 is a .............BOY!

So we shared the news with the grandparents on the weekend so now I can share our exciting news with you :)

Baby no. 3 is going to be A BOY!

The boys are over the moon and I have to admit another boy just "feels right."

I guess I know what to expect with boys and I have many more years of thomas the tank engine, soccer, skateboards, football and surfing ahead of me to look forward to :)

I must admit I had an inkling it would be another boy as my morning sickness was the exact same with Finn and Jasper and I am starting to turn the same pregnancy "shape". There was also no denying it on the ultrasound pic!

So there it is, my exciting news. 

I am going to be the mum of 3 boys!

Simone xx

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Pink or Blue?

Pink or Blue? Boy or Girl?

I actually found out yesterday! 

It is a little earlier than usual to find out but my obstetrician does a quick ultrasound at each appointment and yesterday baby was in the perfect position for us to find out!

It was a beautiful moment as both boys were with me (school holidays) and Simon of course. There were a few tears of joy as it all became real and the excitement on the boys faces was just gorgeous :)

So I am bursting to tell you but........... I have to share it with the grandparents first :)

That was a bit of a tease wasn't it but I will share it with you next week!

So what do you think?

Another boy or maybe a girl?

Simone xx

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Leaving on a jet plane...

It just hit me that this time next week I will be flying my way to New York!

I'm so excited but haven't really thought too much about it. Time to get organised I think!

I will pop up a post in a few days about all the things I am hoping to do.

I seem to have that John Denver's song "Leaving on a jet plane" and of course Frank Sinatra's "New York, New York" doing a rotating in my head as my mental sound track this week!

Let me know if there is a "must do or see" for me to add to my list :)

Simone xx

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