Spontaneous Mid-Week Vacay!

On Tuesday we found out that Tim's work truck needed to go in for repairs and so he was not going to be able to work for the rest of the week (bummer...), so we decided to take the opportunity to go and stay at my parents place about 20m away from the beach at Kingscliff! We hadn't been down there for most of winter so the fact that the weather had really warmed up this week made it the perfect time to head down for some beach time!

Now, I feel i should put a disclaimer here. There is an excessive amount of photos to come. Be prepared or just opt out now cause this post may never end...

In our 1 night, 1.5 day trip we went down to the beach 3 times...

After we arrived we popped down to put our feet in the sand straight away...

What is it with boys and sticks? I don't get it...

It was a bit too cold to go in the water on Wednesday because it was quite windy and a little bit overcast towards the end of the day so we just hung out on the beach...

 Running down the sand dunes...

 and taking selfies... Chloe was loving herself sick in the camera on Wednesday arvo. Usually it is really difficult to get her to smile for the camera, but the beach air must have put her in a fab mood!

When we woke up on Thursday morning the weather was absolutely perfect so we headed down again and got a bit wet this time...

 Chloe was being a total girl and wasn't so keen on the wet sand at first...

 But with a little help from Daddy she got totally into it...

 It wouldn't be a trip to the beach for Mason without some boogy boarding along the sand...

 or running away from the waves...

 I tried to get a bit clever, but Chloe wasn't having a bar of it...

Do any other parents find themselves constantly pushing empty prams??? Story of our lives...

Well, if you made it this far, I thankyou! You were warned....

We had such a lovely couple of days away. Although it was only a short trip it was a nice change of pace and we were really in need of it. Life can get so busy and hectic and crazy, it was nice to get a surprise couple of days to chill out! No doubt next week is going to be crazy because Tim is going to have so much catching up to do, but whatcha gonna do...

Hope you all had a great week and are having a nice relaxing Friday night!

Enjoy your weekend!

Sophia xo

Motivation Monday!!

Happy Monday Everyone! I hope you had a fantastic weekend. The weather in Brisbane has been just awesome! Sunshine and mid 20s, perfection! We spent a lot of the weekend outside soaking it up and finished off with a nice Sunday dinner out at a local cafe, just Tim, Mason, Chloe and I. It was really nice :)

This week is a busy week. My list of things I want to get done/goals are:

1. Eat Clean 90% of the week

2. Walk every day

3. Clean out the kids toy storage. At the moment there is hardly any floor space left in their rooms. It is ridiculous. There is going to be a major cull.

4. Organise quotes for new front window blinds

5. Be kind to myself. Don't get caught up in negative self talk if things aren't going exactly to plan

6. Take 20 minutes a day to chill by myself. Preferably in a bubble bath :)

Below are some photos that are motivating and inspiring me at the moment...

 @billijane

 @kayla_itsines

 @danibonnor

I think this is going to be my next book purchase... I love Jessica Alba. She is my healthy living mumspiration :)

How was your weekend? What are your goals for the week ahead?

Sophia xo

Healthy Chocolate Crackle Bars!

Today I tried out this recipe from Naughty Naturopath Mum and the result was healthy deliciousness!    

I am currently on a mission to find more healthy foods that my 3 year old son will actually eat and these looked like a good bet.

Ingredients: (I made a big batch so I doubled the original recipe because it just didn't seem like that much)

4 cups of puffed brown rice

2 cups of dessicated coconut

1/4 cup of chia seeds 

1/4 cup of natvia

1/2 cup coconut oil

1 1/2 cups rice malt syrup

1/4 cup organic cacao powder

Note: I made changes to the sweetener and chocolate powder compared to original recipe.

Method:

Place all dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl

Place coconut oil and rice malt syrup in a microwave safe bowl and microwave until melted (about 60 seconds in my microwave). Keep an eye on it as you don't want it to get too hot, just enough for it to turn to liquid. This is what mine looked like before and after microwaving.

Mix the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients until well combined...

Place mixture into a lined baking tray so that it is about an inch thick

Put the finished product in the fridge for a few hours before slicing into bars and serving...

They were a hit! Yey!!

 Yes, Mason has a bandaid on his head. No, he did not get hurt. He just wanted to put a Transformers bandaid on his head and I'm the kind of Mum that allows these things to happen :)

In these photos Mason had just come home from hanging out with 'Peepa' (The name he has given his Grandpa) and he had a blast so he was very hyped up and wouldn't sit still for a photo! haha

Let me know if you give these bars a try. I would love to hear from you :)

Hope you've had a lovely weekend! 

Sophia xo

Mason & Chloe's Birthday!

This past weekend we had Mason and Chloe's joint birthday party. Mason turned 3 on Wednesday of last week and Chloe is 1 tomorrow!!!

I seriously can't believe how quickly time is passing by. It was a year ago tonight that I was lying in bed having a hot chocolate, milk arrowroots and reading The Hunger Games, anxiously awaiting the next morning when we would get to meet our little girl. I remember my nervous excitement kept me awake all night! (Side note: I read the first hunger games book in the 3 days prior to going into hospital to have Chloe. I started the second book in hospital and I finished it about 10 days ago!! Just to give you an idea of the kind of spare time I have now with 2 babies!)

We decided to have a photographer present at Chloe's birth after a friend who was pregnant at the same time as me recommended someone who she was going to be using. At the time it sounded a little out there I'll admit, but I went with it and now I am so grateful that we did. I only wish that I would have known to do this when Mason was born. It is a lot of still shots of before the birth, during and after. All done tastefully, I promise. It is so special to us now and I so look forward to showing Chloe when she gets older. If you would like to watch the video you can find it here Chloe's Birth.

So, on the weekend we celebrated with a joint Baby Girl/Golf Party (Yes, my 3 year old is a mad obsessed golfer!) In the morning before the party started our wonderful friend Luci took Mason to play golf with his new golf clubs (His big birthday present!). He had the best time and that night when I was putting him to sleep he proudly told me "Luci's my friend". So cute!

After Mason got home our families and a couple of close friends started to arrive for a barbecue and some cake!

We also added a new member to the family... a hermit crab called 'Robot'.

I made a pink cake for Chloe and a golf cake for Mason...

What an amazing year it has been! Not going to lie, those first 9 months were tough, but all well and truly worth it!!! I love watching them play together now that Chloe is a bit older. They have the best fun and spend so much time laughing. This is them cracking each other up in the bath after their party.

I am so grateful for my beautiful family :-)

Sophia xo