Surf, Sand, Swimming…Sensational!

Posted on January 8, 2013 by natalietrew

Sun shining days, cool breezes, crashing surf and the smell of the coastal salt air…this is what we were engrossed in for the past week! Burleigh Heads Gold Coast, what a fantastic place to holiday!

It has been three years since we went on a holiday longer than 3 nights and after the ordinary year we had, we decided to treat ourselves and the kids to a 7 night stay at a lovely little resort style apartment block called Key Largo! What a perfect place for children. Only three floors high (we were on the second floor), all the rooms overlooked the beautiful yard and in ground pool. There was so much room for the kids to kick their footy or ride their scooters, it was like a home away from home!

We were so blessed with such sensational weather that we stayed an extra night which sealed the deal to make it the best coastal holiday we’ve ever had! The kids had so much fun where ever we went…beach, creek, pool! They swam, went fishing, collected shells, dug holes, built sand castles, rode their scooters for many kilometers and played cricket on the beach! They also enjoyed lots of quiet time where they would just chill, watch tv, colour in, play cards, listen to music, all things relaxing!

I spent most of my time having a holiday through the eyes of my children, remembering when I was little girl and how much fun I would have with my family when we use to go on holidays! On a couple of occasions I spent some time on my own wandering the shops, where I made a few lovely purchases and I even managed the odd swim on my own and time relaxing by the pool! My favourite spot was sitting on our balcony looking out to the beautiful view we were faced with and of course I got to do lots of running throughout the week!

My husband kicked back and watched a lot of tv when the kids were having quiet time and he was able to enjoy an odd afternoon of horse betting and beers. Although we spent 90% of our time as a family enjoying each other’s company, we all got to do our favourite things at one time or another! But it was the moments where the five of us were swimming in the ocean, strolling along the beach and eating fish and chips together that we’re the most enjoyable!

Here are some highlights of our fantastic getaway….

On our way…the car was so full we could hardly see the kids lol!

The pool/spa…

Bay was so proud of himself that he could do a lap and a bit under the water holding his breath:)

The beach….

Our nightly walks….

A day at Tallebudgera Creek….

Eating out…

Chilling out….

Family time….

Keeping active….

Collecting shells…

Little limbs and sand always looks so sweet together!!!

I absolutely love looking through our holiday photos, they do now and will always bring back such wonderful memories! We are already looking forward to our next holiday there, where we will do it all over again and create new memories to cherish forever! It was great saying goodbye to a tough year and seeing in the new year in a beautiful environment…certainly a great start to 2013!

I’m so blessed to have been able to spend such a fantastic week with the four loves of my life:)

Family is EVERYTHING!!!!

Posted on December 29, 2012 by natalietrew

I love this time of year! It oozes family time and for me there is nothing better than spending time with my beautiful family. Not only am I blessed to have my very own party of 5, but I’m also blessed to have grown up in a party of five that has extended a great deal over the years!

The fabulous people who have started off this great chain is my mother and father! They are truly the best parents anyone could ever ask for. Devoted, supportive, loving, generous and fun parents and grandparents. Without them, none of us would have half of what we have today!

The festive season always allows me to reflect and appreciate my family. One of my sisters lives in Melbourne with her family, so it is quite rare now that we are altogether, but when we are, we sure make up for it! Over the past week, we have spent several days together laughing, joking, debating, reminiscing and watching the kids have fun together! Amongst all of that a fair bit of eating (by the women) and drinking (by the men) has taken place lol! Gosh they are always good times!

My family is the essence of me. They complete the person I am. They are always there in times of need, sharing each and every happy or sad moment! They are people you can both laugh and cry with and be your absolute self. They are the ones you turn to and lean on when the going gets tough and the ones you call to rejoice with when something fantastic happens!

This is my family…my EVERYTHING!!!!!

We have gone from a party of 5 to 15!!!

My beautiful sisters….best friends forever!

My gals….my backbone!

The party of 5 I’m blessed to have come from!

Our 7 beautiful offsprings!

My party of 5 who I could not exist without!

Trew’s Christmas Traditions #6….Christmas Day!

Posted on December 26, 2012 by natalietrew

6 weeks of red and green, Christmas trees, lights, shopping, wrapping, Santa visits, catch ups with family and friends and lots of baking and cooking and Christmas day is always over in a blink of an eye, but what a great day it was!
It’s like anything, your wedding day, engagement party, 1st birthday parties, you put so much time and effort in for weeks leading up to the big event and before you know it your are onto planning the next event of your life!

This Year’s Christmas was as great as any. The kid’s were really awesome going to bed Christmas eve, after they left food out for Santa and his reindeers, they were out to it by 7.30! This allowed time for us to finish wrapping their gifts and setting up and playing Santa!

I love christmas morning and the priceless looks on our babies faces when they see that Santa has ate all his cookies and drank his milk and of course how thrilled they are that Santa delivered awesome presents! It’s my favourite part of christmas day…our party of 5 relishing in each other’s love and devotion!

Christmas morning at the Trew Household…mmmwah!

I love the comments from the kids when they open their presents…”oh mum look what I got!” “yes I got it!” “omg mum look…!” “yay mummy!” “dad we can play this together now!” Paper flying around everywhere, ripping and tearing!

Christmas morning….

Love my new sun lounge chair;)

Once we enjoy our time together it’s go go go from then on in! Traditionally we always have breakfast at my in-laws and then lunch at my parents house. This year we had breakfast at our house with my in-laws and then lunch at my sister’s house which was easier for my nana. It really was an awesome day full of eating, laughing, giving and receiving!

Opening presents with family:)

Love family photos:

Food…there certainly was enough of it!! So much so that boxing day is always round 2 and left overs always taste so much better:)

I roasted the lamb, but most importantly made quite a few sweet treats: chocolate balls, cheese cake, red velvet cupcakes, jam drops and chocolate cookies and I made my first Christmas cake that was a vanilla sponge with butter cream icing!

Once we filled ourselves up and enjoyed nana and grandad’s company, we all hauled ourselves over to mum and dad’s where we swam all afternoon! What glorious weather we had:)

After starting our day at 5.30, we arrived home just before 9pm and fell into bed! It was a massive day but always filled with beautiful memories that will be cherished forever! We hope you had a wonderful Christmas and were spoilt with love and laugher like we were!

Merry Christmas from my family to yours:)…xoxoxo!

Trew’s Christmas Traditions #5….White Christmas!

Posted on December 22, 2012 by natalietrew

Since experiencing a ‘white’ Christmas in America, when Movie World started their White Christmas show, we jumped at the chance to go. We’ve been for the past couple of years now and we just love it. Between the million of beautiful lights that line the Main Street, the fake snow that falls down over you and the fantastic street parade, it is definitely worth a night out each festive season.

The kids love it! Sienna sings and dances to the carols, Bailey loves the ice skating and Mia just loves the sight of everything! It’s credit to Movie World how awesome they make it look! Between the lights, decorations and beautiful Christmas tree, it really adds a fantastic dimension to Christmas!

We much preferred last year though. This year we went on a weekend and it was so busy! Last year we went on a week night and not as many people, which is always more pleasant! Even though the rides are open, because we have annual passes, next year I will be declaring it a no ‘ride’ trip to Movie World as you waste too much time in the line ups and there is plenty to do without going on the rides!

I would highly recommend going to Movie World White Christmas….we have made it one of our Christmas traditions!

Highlights from our night:

Beautiful big Christmas tree!

Snowing!!!!

Bailey finally getting the courage to ice skate…it’s the bravest he’s ever been…clumsy but brave lol!

Getting the hang of it!

Mastering it on his own…with ballerina arms lol!

Millions of lights…so beautiful!

The parade…

The kids loved it!!!

End of the night photos….

Trew’s Christmas Traditions #4….Christmas Card Photo!

Posted on December 21, 2012 by natalietrew

To Christmas card or not?

I remember back before I moved out of home, getting excited each day when the postman came. We use to guess how many cards would be in the mail! Mum would sit for a couple of nights writing out her Christmas cards and we would do the same for our friends at school. Christmas cards are really starting to become the thing of the past now though. Between email, texting and social forums, electronically really is the new way people are spreading their Christmas joy!

I’m a Christmas card person and I can’t see that changing anytime soon! Prior to having children I would write on a traditional christmas card, now I create a photo post card of the kids that I send out each year. Some years I’ve made my cards from scratch and other years I’ve just sent out the photo. Sometimes I do a little of both. But it’s the sentiment of the photo of my angels that I know people appreciate receiving!
Bailey and Sienna enjoy writing out Christmas cards now to their friends and I endeavour to keep this tradition going with them!

Although it requires some preparation and time to get my Christmas photo and then address 50 plus envelopes to post, I will always make time for this Christmas tradition that I love doing! The following are some of the photos I’ve used in the past….

Our very first photo I sent out in 2006:)

Our first photo with two children back in 2008:)

This is the photo I used the year we were in America for Christmas of 2009!

I love 2010’s photo of Sienna:)

Our first photo with three babies…2011!

This year’s photo…which I absolutely adore!

Like the yearly photo with Santa, our Christmas card photos are a great memory of our party of 5 in progression!

Merry Christmas to all my followers…may 2013 be filled with lots of luck, good health and plenty of love and laughter…xoxoxo!

Ps – a scratchie is up for grabs if you can locate our 2007 Christmas card photo because I can’t find it anywhere!

And the winner is one of my best friends from primary school….Natasha Keerie…thanks Tash:)

2007 Christmas card photo of my adorable little man:)

Trew’s Christmas Traditions #3…..Christmas Clothes!

Posted on December 19, 2012 by natalietrew

I just love how patriotic my children are. Whether it be Christmas, Easter, Australia Day or wear red for Daniel Morcombe, they are right in there embracing the moment with their clothes!

In the past it was so hard to find nice christmas shirts for kids to wear, but this year in particular, the christmas shirts, particularly for girls, are just gorgeous! When I bought the kid’s their first Christmas t-shirt this year, Sienna couldn’t wait to wear it! I held her off as long as I could but by the time we started to put our decorations up mid November, there was no stopping them….so for the next 6 weeks their wardrobe would consist of everything Christmas….pjs, shorts, skirts, dresses, hair clips, ribbons, shirts, you name it they wear it!

Sienna was so excited to finally wear her new shirt:)

We are also very lucky to have my beautiful mother who sews. The kids not only adore their nanny, but absolutely love the fact that they can put an order in for something and nanny has it made within a few days! They have loved going through materials and patterns with mum and picking out what they want. My mum is such a talented women and we’ve been telling her for years that she needs to sell her gorgeous pieces! Mum has made the kids shorts, skirts, dresses, pj boxer shorts and even a button and collared shirt for my nephew!

Here are some of the gorgeous things mum has made for the kids……

Straight skirts

Dresses

Girls shorts

Flowing skirt

Boys shorts

Pj shorts

And this is how my children sport their outfits…..

Thank you mum for always helping the kids embrace the Christmas spirit! Their beautiful pieces of clothing will always be cherished and worn with absolute pride!

Trew’s Christmas Traditions #2…..Santa Photo!

Posted on December 17, 2012 by natalietrew

I still remember when I was a little girl one of our family traditions was visiting Santa, telling him what I would like for Christmas and then sitting on his lap for our yearly photo! This is something that we do each year with our Party of 5 as well!

The kids love it…well once they get over their fear of the big fella, which most kids have around the age of 1-3! Our two eldest children love visiting Santa, but this year our youngest who is almost 2 didn’t want a bar to do with him! She’s all talk at home when she sees pictures of him or sees him on the television, but when it came to the crunch, she kept saying “no Santa mummy, no!” and was literally shaking like a leaf! Bailey and Sienna had deep and meaningfuls with him though and there were plenty of high 5s going around! Even Mia managed a super fast high 5 after saying “no 5 Santa mummy!” lol!

Since becoming parents in 2006, this year marked our 7th year of visiting Santa and getting our annual Santa photo…..

2006
Bailey’s first photo with Santa and our first Christmas as parents…this was an extra special year!

2007
The only way Bailey would have his photo taken with Santa was if we got in the photo too…I was pregnant with Sienna!

2008
Our first Christmas as a family of 4, Sienna’s first Christmas….an extra special one!

2009
This was taken just before we went to America…Sienna would only sit on Santa’s lap if I held her hand!

2010
Yay – finally a photo where no one was scared of Santa…although I do remember having many conversations with Sienna about the fact that Santa wasn’t going to hurt her lol!

2011
This is my favourite Santa photo to date – Mia’s first christmas and an extra special year as this was our first Christmas as a party of 5!

2012
Our most recent photo that was taken yesterday….a family photo this year as Mia wasn’t a very willing participant – I still love it though!

Looking at these adorable photos makes me all warm and fuzzy and a great memory of the progression to building our beautiful family! I just love them! Now to create a masterpiece on how I will display them (I’ll keep you posted with that one). My aim is to keep this tradition going for as long as the kids allow it…my cut off will be 18 lol…if they are lucky lol!

Each year our current photo is placed in this frame that I bought quite a few years ago! It’s a great frame that can be used for many different occasions! All you do is fill the sides with whatever you want:)

Keep an eye out for my next Christmas tradition blog post on the Kid’s Christmas clothes…all thanks to their Nanny:)

Our Christmas U.S.A Vacation!

Posted on December 13, 2012 by natalietrew

3 years ago, my husband and I packed up ourselves and the kids and set on an adventure of a life time to the States!

It was something we wanted to do for a long time and financially for us the timing was right as well as the cost of everything. Our flights were cheap and the dollar was about 93cents. I was quite apprehensive about traveling with a 3 and a half year old and 18 month old baby, but they were super excited that they were going to see Mickey and Mini!!!!!

When we decided to go, we went to a travel agent to help us plan our holiday as we had never travelled overseas before! We had three months to organise ourselves – travel insurance, pass ports, cash passports, flights, accommodation, converting money, packing….there was so much to do, but like everything it got done and we managed to get ourselves ready for a November 27th take off !!!!

The morning we arrived at the airport, I still remember it like it was yesterday! It was so surreal….I couldn’t believe we were finally going to America!!!! We just couldn’t wait to get there and get settled! We had a direct flight to LA – 14 hours and the kids slept for 8 of them! They were so much better than we thought they would be! We kept them entertained with food, DVDs, colouring in and lots of stories!

That moment when we stepped off the plane was also surreal….we were in Los Angeles USA!!!!!!!! I was like a kid in a candy store! For the first 24 hours (ok the whole 4 weeks lol)…it was exciting!!!! Their accents were so strong and seeing the driver on the opposite side of a car and driving on the opposite side of the road was so weird! The kids napped on and off a bit that day but we managed to work our way into their time quite nicely without too much back lash! Even though it’s an English speaking country, so many things were different! The toilets, the money, tipping….we had to learn fast!

We went for four weeks…
We spent a week in LA, 3 days in Las Vegas, 5 days at Lake Tahoe in the snow, a week in Pittsburgh (with our beautiful friends), 2 days in Washington and 5 days in New York which included a white Christmas!

We had the best time! Disneyland was magical, the snow was like fluffy powder, Vegas was bright and colourful on so many levels, Pittsburgh was awesome thank you to our wonderful friends, Washington was pretty and New York – well what can I say other than it is simply the best!

We created the most wonderful memories that we will cherish for the rest of our lives! Between driving in snow storms on both sides of the country, being stopped by homeless people, losing Sienna’s teddy (twice), missing trains, being in Washington at the same time the city was closed and hadn’t been in 30 years and spending a white christmas in New York, we definitely had a whirlwind holiday…but it was sensational! And the kids, well they were awesome!!!!! 4 weeks was plenty long enough for them though, but what an experience for them…not many children can say ‘I’ve been to Disneyland!’

These are some of the fond memories that we will always be able to look back on……

Disneyland:

Not for one second do we regret taking the kids while they were so young. In fact we are busting to go again. Things will be quite different this time though as we have an extra child, but our first two are much older and the beauty of going again now is that they will remember it! I recommend anyone to go to America…it is a great place to holiday!

12/12/12…..

Posted on December 12, 2012 by natalietrew

Today is a very special day! 12/12/12….what a significant date! Today marks the last day that includes a date with consecutive numbers that we will ever see in our life time again! Because of this I want to reflect on what I’ve done today…..

Being a Wednesday it’s always my down day after working my two days on Monday and Tuesday. The girls and I always drop Bailey off in the drop off zone at school and then come straight home and potter. I’d already tidied up around the house first thing when I woke up, because today’s task was to do all my baking for the kid’s teacher’s gifts, and that I did. In fact I baked 36 cupcakes, a batch of choc chip cookies and two batches of tim tam balls! All I have to do now is ice the cupcakes tomorrow and gift bag them all – I have 5 to do in total!

Today is also a significant day in my life, as it is the last day at home with just me and my gals! Tomorrow is technically the last day but we go to the shops on Thursdays so today is our last day to hang at home! We’ve shared many laughs today. The girls are so funny together and individually. They’ve enjoyed licking the bowls of the cupcake mixture and the beaters too. They are my taste testers and never once have I had a bad review 🙂 We played outside for a little while and once Mia went down for her nap, Sienna and I had a lovely lunch together….I’m really going to miss my lunch date next year:( I even managed an hour to myself while both girls napped at the same time!

In the afternoon we went and picked Bailey up from school and captured yet another significant moment. Today marks the last day my son and my two nephews will be at the same school together as Sebby is off to high school next year!

Another fantastic moment of the day was reading my son’s report card. It brought a tear to my eye to see all As for effort and all high or very highs with one sound for SOSE. Bailey has had lots of issues with his ears again this year, so to see how well he has done at school makes me one proud mumma!
He also received a reward for his level 1 behaviour….now to consistently apply this to home lol!

The rest of the afternoon was bliss:)…we ate popcorn and mangoes for afternoon tea and then went for a bike ride to the park. The kids had a wonderful time enjoying all their favourite things! Bailey kicking his footy, Sienna practising finally being able to swing herself on the swing and Mia going down her favourite slide! I even managed to get my Christmas card photo so I can finally start making my Christmas cards!

I did have a scare though I thought for 10 minutes that I’d lost my mobile at the park…eeeek! In that moment I was feeling awful, terrible – how can a mobile phone cause such grief if lost lol! My phone isn’t just a phone though it’s my life. My camera, my blogging, it’s all done from my phone…thank goodness I found it in my clothes cupboard….I know I’ve lost it completely lol!

All in all 12/12/12 was a great day filled with lots of lovely moments and milestones! It ended just as great as we were able to spend an hour with Kane when he got home at 6.30 having dinner, dessert and looking at our Christmas lights!

Trew’s Christmas Traditions #1 – Our Christmas Display!!

Posted on December 5, 2012 by natalietrew

This blog piece is the first of many Christmas traditions that I shall share with you over the coming weeks! As I’ve stated several times we LOVE Christmas!!!! We love EVERYTHING that goes with it!!!!!

The first thing we do each year to start the festive season off is decorate our house with a tree, ornaments and lots of lights…I mean 2000 of them! About 4 years ago now we started putting up lights out the front of our house. Each year since then, we have added and added to our collection and this year is our biggest display yet!

The kids just love it! We spend about half an hour each night sitting out the front looking at our lights. The kids get their pillows and blankets and lay them out on the driveway and soak up each twinkle of every light. We often have our dessert out the front and have had a picnic dinner out in front of our lights as well!

Inside we always have the kids help us decorate our tree. That is their favourite part of turning our home into a Christmas wonderland! Traditionally each year so far, Bailey has put the star on our tree because he is the tallest! I always place the kid’s Christmas bears under the tree…their nanny bought each of them one the year they were born:)

Like every celebration, I always decorate my red wall!

And what would a Christmas be without being able to count down until the big day….

We are so happy with how our decorating has come together this year! I hope the next few weeks go really slow so we can lap up and enjoy all the hard work that we’ve put in to make our home the land of Christmas!

My Party of 5

Category Archives: Family

Surf, Sand, Swimming…Sensational!

Family is EVERYTHING!!!!

Trew’s Christmas Traditions #6….Christmas Day!

Trew’s Christmas Traditions #5….White Christmas!

Trew’s Christmas Traditions #4….Christmas Card Photo!

Trew’s Christmas Traditions #3…..Christmas Clothes!

Trew’s Christmas Traditions #2…..Santa Photo!

Our Christmas U.S.A Vacation!

12/12/12…..

Trew’s Christmas Traditions #1 – Our Christmas Display!!

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