My new MUST try – Busy Bags

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So I stumbled on something during one of my very many pinterest visits BUSY BAGS!!!!
Basically a busy bag is this little activity pack that you make and take along on doctors visits or when you go to the restaurant – which we certainly need with out little one.
This is definitely something I want to make and exchange (like I make a bunch of the same and swop with others who made different kinds.
 I spoke to some other moms about it and although most of them were like….naaaah too much work, why not just buy something….. I did get a few that are interested so pretty soon I will be having a busy bag exchange…whoop whoop….
Here are some cool busy bag ideas I found online: Some of them are a little above Aidan’s age but I intend to alter things and make it work 🙂

great toddler and preschool games/ activities!! toddler “busy bag” swap! « the rigneysBecoming Mummy: Busy Bag Ideas. felt pizza, writing skills, lacing, felt ring chain, sorting colors, sorting pictures, felt traffic light, fishing filcova pizza, trening psani, filcovy retez, trideni barev s kolicky, trideni obrazku a tvaru, filcovy semafor, rybareni

Velcro Sticks Busy Bags. Great idea for toddlers!

Toddler busy bag - sticks and stones - blue, pink and green on Etsy, $4.50

Wacky Sacks The only issue with us for these is that the eyes keep falling off. Some of my friends said their older kids (3+) have already broken and ripped these open. Maybe best for the very young crowd.

Felt fishing game. Use metal washers or paper clips glued between pieces of felt. Just make some kind of pole using stick, string and magnet.

10 Busy Bags I Want to Make

That awkward moment, when you catch yourself being a b*%ch

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Social media can diminish your happy, it can  be really  bad for your self esteem…seriously it can, there is always someone on holiday on some tropical location while you drag yourself out of bed and feel like you should be a honorary Polar Bear Plunger just for making it to the shower.


There is always going to be someone with the cutest short haircut just as you decide to grow yours out, or someone who looks amazing with long hair just after you did the big chop.
Everyone seems to be on some sort of diet and exercise kick and you find yourself eating a chocolate chip cookie with the same sort of rebellious shame you would see from a 15-year-old smoking behind the school tennis courts.
I never saw myself as a bitchy person, I can be happy for others and usually I am, so I was very surprised to find myself eye rolling at other peoples statuses…Ohhhhh you got ANOTHER pair of shoes that could pay for food for a family of five for the next three months, good for you. Or ohhhh another night out and now you don’t know how you are going to face the day in the wake of three bottles of wine… “Wait let me take a selfie”… so you can see the worry in my eye….
I even found myself feeling envious of other peoples entrepreneurial spirit…THAT is when I knew there was something up. I usually get quite a kick out of people succeeding in small business so I knew I was not being myself.
No jinne Eleanor pull yourself towards yourself and get over yourself…hehehehehe
I realised that what was wrong with this equation was not other people, they were just living their lives, being them and since I was never mad about that before – not in the slightest – something must be up with me.
I realised that it is very difficult to be happy for others when you are not happy for yourself. But why wasn’t I happy?
On paper things seem good, a great family, amazing friends…not to mention I share my life and home with two handsome men who think I’m the bees knees… what is up? and then I realised I have been existing not living. I’ve been so caught up in the day to day drudgery of life that I forgot to actually LIVE life.
Living with clinical depression I am used to slumps. For days on end  I will just feel so inconsolably sad that I just get used to it.
But since I decided to live  medication free as much as possible I have been on myself to get my mindset right . . . So that is what I have been doing the last few days and I found being in the moment and doing what I love  made it easy to be happy which in turn makes it easy to be happy for others.

I’m happy for the girl going on her trip because I remember how she had dreamed about it. I think the girl getting into shape looks amazing (should probably get some tips) The one who parties all the time kinda reminds me of my early 20s self and the person with the blossoming new business can now employ others and that is great…. Sometimes you kinda have to admit that you are being a bitch, laugh at yourself and realise it’s not about the hand you are dealt, it’s about how you play your cards 🙂

Here’s to remembering, other’s success is not your failure!

So I’m back from feeling like death with some great news…

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I’ve been in bed sick since last Thursday, there has been a bug going around and you know I’m not one to be left out, hehe…
Seriously haven’t felt so bleugh in ages…and I’m yet again reminded that being sick as a singleton is nothing compared to being a sick mom….kids just don’t get it

On to my good news…You guys know how I love making things especially organic body scrubs . . . well a brand new spa has opened in my home town of Uitenhage and guess what. . .  they will be stocking my scrubs…whoop whoop yeah me 🙂

That’s right my scrubs are now available at Beauty with a Difference Spa in three variants…
Cinnamon Spice (Cinnamon is said to have antiseptic properties)
Vanilla Late (A coffee based scrub – coffee is believed to be both an anti inflammatory and reduce appearance of cellulite)
Ginger Choc (Ginger for its antiseptic properties and chocolate which is believed to increase blood flow)

I’ve been having a blast working with Anestachia from  Beauty with a Difference Spa as she is an absolute honey and also the talent behind my pretty new lashes and my “adventurous” new nails…

Check out her Spa if you are in the area as she has some great opening specials ALSO you can buy one of my scrubs, hehe…

Photo: look who is sporting some falsies :) thanx Anestachia Forbes feeling cute, hehehePhoto: My version of adventurous nails, inspired by Jemaine Michelle Meyer Harker thanks to Anestachia Forbes

Have a great week all….

T-shirt crafts: A paw print snood for Aidy and a toy for his cat

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With winter here I have been looking for a scarf for Aidan, but since I have met him I knew a run of the mill one wouldn’t do. Give him two seconds before he pulls it off or worse he chokes himself with it while playing, this is were an infinity scarf/snood comes in handy….it’s secure and light enough that he wouldn’t tug on it.

You can make your own no sew  infinity scarf/snood using nothing but an old t-shirt and some fabric paint…here is what I did

What you need:

A old t-shirt, fabric paint and a picture you would like to transfer- I used paw prints

What you do:

1. Cut a strip of fabric from t-shirt by removing bottom seam and part with sleeves…you might want to make it thin if it is for a toddler.
2. Use fabric paint to draw on your printed paper
3. Place paper on fabric and weigh down with a book
4. The prints should have transferred, you can always fill in parts that are lighter
5. and there you have it, it is THAT easy

For Aidan’s Cat 

I made toy using another old t-shirt 

The how to:

Like with the snood cut a strip of fabric by removing top part (with sleeves) and bottom (with seam)
This strip is considerably wider though
Then cut thin strips half way up so you are left with a piece of material with fringing on both sides (picture 3)
Then use all the offcuts and stuff into the uncut piece of material and tie off….lastly paint on a cute little face
* Feel free to ask in comments if anything is unclear 🙂 

You never really get over losing a child-that’s just how it is

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It’s been two years four months and one day since Logan died…
I’m not writing this to get sympathy or attention or for any other reason than I woke up thinking about him.
Sometimes it’s like 2012 just never happened like I was never pregnant before Aidan, that I didn’t have a whole other child that I had hopes and dreams for.
 Sometimes I forget that the room Aidan sleeps in was once decorated for another. That my journey to motherhood precedes my curly haired munchkin.
There is a lot of guilt associated with “momentarily forgetting”…When people ask if Aidan is my first child, my only child, I find myself far over thinking the whole situation.
What should I say, what do I say?!?!
Is feeling that I am denying Logan worse than the looks of pity? Do I really want to “get into that”.
People tend to think you are dwelling on the situation if you bring up your deceased child, like you are not getting over it.
That’s why I hardly bring him up these days I just can not be bothered with the likes of “people” these days.
People like that clearly never lost a child. They question why, if he didn’t live all that long, can I be so attached? well if you are a parent, I urge you to think back to the day that your bundle of joy was placed into your arms, remember the euphoria, the excitement, the feeling of joy NOW imagine that ripped away….that heart wrenching pain, that dull feeling isn’t all that “get over able” trust me.
There is an emptiness that follows you from that day, like a 1000 piece puzzle with one piece missing. yes you have 999 pieces and you can see the whole picture BUT the picture is not complete, it will never be 100% complete again…

Don’t get me wrong I feel blessed beyond measure to have Aidan in my life. I know so many women do not get the chance to be mothers even though their hearts yearn for the opportunity. I understand that. I get that. but all in all, all things aside, there is a Logan shaped piece missing from my puzzle and that will always sting.
Didn’t mean to be a downer this morning, but I’m nothing if not honest 🙂 have a good Tuesday everyone