Author Archives: KMB

oh Hey Friday

Posted on March 24, 2017 by KMB

Oh hey, Friday! So great to see YOU again! Friday has always been my favorite day of the week… I love the anticipation of the weekend ahead and everyone just seems to be in a better mood on Fridays. I hope that includes you today! We have a few commitments on our calendar this weekend. Can I get a heck yes!? I just love low key weekends so much, but I also enjoy getting out and about. And on that note, it’s time for your usual Things I’m Loving Friday shenanigans! See below for a short roundup of some things that are making me smile this week. Have a fantastic weekend, friends! Every Wednesday I rock my Is it Friday yet? tee, it makes humpday more bearable. I noticed that a lot of times Wednesdays feel like Thursdays to me, so I googled it and apparently this is so common that some scientists even researched it. “Another reason why we don’t confuse Mondays and Fridays as easily as the middle days of the week is that we don’t talk about those days. We tell our co-workers Mondays stink and we wish the weekend was longer, and when Friday comes, we say, “TGIF!” and go out to happy hour and celebrate. People rarely say, “Hooray, it’s Tuesday!” And since we don’t have natural dialogue with those days, it’s much easier for us to get them mixed up.” Makes sense. Welcome to Friday Favorites. This is a linky collaboration which we have started in hope that it will help all of us “haven’t got time to read blogs any more” people to read a few more blogs – submit the best post of the week as chosen by the author. Soooo… get your roller skates on and pop in on Friday evenings at 8pm to link up your BEST, VERY BEST, MOST AWESOMEST, MOST IMPORTANTEST, GOODEST POSSIBLE (or perhaps your only ha) post of the past week. THANK YOU for joining us here for the Friday Favorites list. Your hosts are Lisasaurus and Happy Mum Happy Child To join in on this party simply link up your favorite post and visit a few other bloggers for a read and a chat. A link back here on your post is appreciated. Find a post you’ve loved this week OR WRITE A FRIDAY FAVS Copy the link, and then click on the ADD YOUR LINK button, which is below. Simply follow the instructions and post the link. TOO EASY! Any giveaways will be deleted and the link must point to a blog post not just your blog Submissions open 7am Friday!! Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save

The post oh Hey Friday appeared first on Lisasaurus .

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The Advantages Of Having A Legal Experts in Newark For Your Personal Injury Case

Posted on March 23, 2017 by KMB

Cars and truck accidents are a book example of direct carelessness, i.e., one party was directly responsible for the crash. However there are also cases where the participant was not directly responsible for the plaintiff’s injury. Let’s state, for instance, that the mailman trips and breaks his ankle on your front steps. Can he sue? The answer is perhaps. If your front actions had actually fallen under a state of disrepair, and you did not address the problem in a prompt manner, he might have the ability to demand damages. If you need help in making your final decision, you can check our main page. Just go here to visit our latest legal updates.

The factor behind this is that the participant in the civil case did not commit an actual crime. Generally, he is guilty of either direct or indirect neglect– which is not against the law. For example, he might have taken his eyes off the road while driving and ploughed into another vehicle. Yes, he made a mistake, but it was not a crime because he did not do it intentionally. That said, if the motorist of the other vehicle was injured in the accident or crash, he might have the ability to file a lawsuit.

The
basic distinction is how the guilty or culpable party is punished. If an
accused (or respondent) in a civil trial loses, he will be purchased to pay the
complainant financial damages. By comparison, if the offender in a criminal
case loses, he might have to pay a fine and hang around behind bars. The
offender in a civil trial is never penalized by imprisonment in prison or in
jail.

According to the law, accident is a type of tort that can be
filed whenever harm is triggered as the result of negligence or the failure to
utilize reasonable care. A plaintiff can sue for monetary compensation whenever
physical or emotional damage lead to financial loss. For instance, if a
motorist is associated with a vehicle mishap that was not his fault and is
hurt, he might demand medical expenses, in addition to for pain and suffering
and loss of incomes.

Once again, injury cases are civil, not criminal matters. As
such, the plaintiff does not have to prove that the participant broke the law,
but simply that he is liable due to the fact that he cannot exercise reasonable
care. This can be hard to prove, especially in cases where the respondent was
not directly irresponsible. It is for this reason that you ought to always call
an injury law practice to discover your legal choices.

Most personal injury matches never ever make it to court.
The reason for this is basic– most complainants just ask for what they are
entitled to. However without the recommendations and assistance of a
knowledgeable attorney, they may not have the ability to persuade the defendant
to settle. Lengthy and pricey court battles frequently occur.

A credible personal injury law firm represents clients that
were harmed in mishaps that were not their fault. Their objective is to recuperate
a fair and simply settlement that compensates the respondent for any losses he
may have sustained as a result of the mishap. As we mentioned, an arrangement
can frequently be agreeably reached prior to trial, saving the client beaucoup
dollars in future legal fees. It is for these and other factors that accident
victims ought to always speak with an accident law office before they fill a
fit in civil court.

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KONMARI WITH KIDS: PAPER-Part 1 Kids Artwork

Posted on March 23, 2017 by KMB

Welcome to my new series: ‘KonMari With Kids’.

If you have just joined me – WELCOME – I recently completed the KonMari method with my OWN belongings, read ‘My KonMari Journey‘ to see how I did. Now, it’s time to get stuck into my kid’s stuff – I have two children: Miss B, 12 years old and Master M, 3 years old.

Previously on the blog, I shared how I KonMari’d my kids clothes (Baby, Toddler and Tween) and their books. Now I am ready to tackle the PAPER. If you have been following my blog for a while, then you will know PAPER was a HUGE category for me, and going through the kids paper is going to be a bit of a mission – there is a lot of paper to get through. So for the benefit of this series and the category of PAPER – I will be breaking it into two parts: KIDS ARTWORK and SCHOOL MEMORABILIA. Some of you will probably be thinking that they should really be in the Sentimental category, and I do agree – Kids Artwork and School Memorabilia are very sentimental, however – it’s paper and it needs to be dealt with, sooner rather than later – otherwise it will forever be in the ‘too hard’ basket. Am I right? So are you with me? Let’s Do This!

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– KONMARI WITH KIDS –

Marie suggests children as young as three years old can decide what gives them joy and the key principle is that each person should be making the decisions for themselves. Before you tackle your kids items, she does recommend you KonMari your own belongings first.

In a nutshell, Marie Kondo has four rules she recommends people follow when doing the KonMari Method:

1. Tidy in one shot, as quickly and completely as possible

2. Sort by category, not by location

3. Selection Criterion: Does it ‘spark joy?’

4. Order of tidying: Clothes, Books, Documents (Paper), Miscellaneous items (Komono), and Mementos (Sentimental)

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Today I am sharing: PAPER: KIDS ARTWORK

Over the years I have been swimming in what feels like a pool of artwork. My kids love doing art – painting, collage, cut and paste, colouring…plus much more. For many years, I have held onto almost every piece of artwork my daughter (now 12) has done. I had them stored in boxes and DIY art folders, and now, FINALLY, I am going to go through the lot and sort them into piles of KEEP & DISCARD.

My son is 3 and already has a collection, so I really need to get it sorted once and for all, only keeping the pieces that spark joy to me and my kids (most importantly, my kids) – because one day, everything we decide to keep, will eventually be returned to them.

In Marie Kondo’s second book, Spark Joy, she briefly talks about the various ways of approaching your children’s creations. For example: “taking a photo of your children’s art before throwing it away” or “deciding how many [pieces] you will keep and sticking to that number”.

She goes on to say “if there are items you cannot bring yourself to part with now, there is no need to force yourself to discard them”. Simply take care of them. Dedicate a spot in your home to display the art so everyone can enjoy them. “Once you have enjoyed the works to the full, you can thank them for helping your child grow and discard them guilt-free”.

Reading this definitely helped take the pressure off and it inspired me to start the process.

BEFORE

Before I started, I gathered up all of the kids artwork and put them in the living room where I was going to sort them. I spent a little while just staring at the volume of the artwork I had collected and kept over the years – carting it all from house to house. (My daughter and I moved a couple of times in her first 7 years).

It was daunting but alas I started…

My plan was to sort everything into sub-categories first – KIDS + YEARS and then get stuck into the purging.

I started with the most recent items, which were stored in a ‘My Art Portfolio’, that I purchased from KMart earlier last year. One portfolio contained a few items from my daughters last year of primary and the other was full of artwork from my son – a combination of Playcentre art and art he did at home-based care.

I pulled everything out, and made a pile for my son and a pile for my daughter. I continued working through the boxes and started adding items to the two piles. They got bigger and bigger and I wasn’t sure if I could actually go through with this.

DURING

Once I had all of the kids artwork out of the boxes and portfolios, I began putting them into piles according to the year they were completed. I blitzed through my son’s as it was only 2 years worth of art – there was quite a lot, nonetheless. I discarded any artwork that wasn’t named or dated, especially if it only had a few strokes of paint on – I had several of these that were named and dated, so the excess was definitely not going to be missed.

Master M saw his ‘plate art’ and picked it up. His face lit up, so I immediately took a photo. He was very proud of his ‘plate art’, so I knew it was a keeper and even though I took this photo, I have actually kept the plate in his keepsakes box too.

Moving along…I had the same process for my daughters artwork – 11 years worth. It was like taking a trip down memory lane, looking back at art she did when she first started school. During the initial purge, we (my daughter and I), discarded anything that was not dated, unless it was something she created at school and wanted to keep, if this happened we would think about who her teacher was at the time and pin point the year that way. (Alternatively, you could look back at their Year books). I put the year on the back of each piece of artwork, just in case they got muddled up.

At this moment in time, you could not see my living room floor – there was art EVERYWHERE, however it was organised chaos – and the piles were starting to grow.

Once I had the art in piles, according to year (from 2006-2017) we started from the oldest pile (2006) and picked out the favourites, the items that sparked joy for me and my daughter. As we were going through each year, the piles got smaller and smaller. Miss B loved looking back at her art, some sparked joy, some made her laugh out loud because she couldn’t believe she created it and others were a definite NO. There were a few pieces we had to negotiate over, but that’s okay – it’s all apart of the process.

SOME OF OUR FAVOURITE PIECES

DISCARD PILE

The process from start to finish probably took less than two hours to complete. The great thing about the KonMari method, is that you only have to do it once! Now I can put my new systems in place and keep on top of the art clutter.

I am pretty proud of what we discarded, we thanked the art for helping the kids grow and put it in the rubbish/recycling. After 11 years of holding on to it, I was glad to see it go, no longer taking up space in my home.

AFTER

And THIS is what we are left with! This is our current system.

Each child has: 1 x A3 clear file folder (for larger pieces of artwork); 1 x A4 clear file folder (for up to A4 sized artwork) and ‘My Art Portfolio’ (which holds the current artwork from care and playcentre).

WHERE TO FROM HERE…

Before the art goes into the clear file folders, it is put on display in the playroom (pegged up on a string), for a couple of weeks. When new art comes in, the older pieces are placed into the ‘My Art Portfolio’, and at the end of the term, we select our favourite pieces and add these to the clear file folders, and discard the others.

For my son, some of his art is pasted into his Playcentre portfolio or slipped in the back of his home-based child care portfolio. I also add a few items from my daughter’s art collection into her school memorabilia folders (more on that another day).

Speaking of my daughter’s art folders – they are nearly full, well it does have 10-11 years worth of artwork in them. I am currently looking at my options of what to do next. I recently heard about Jimmy Halfpenny, an Australian company who collects your kids artwork and turns it into a photobook, similar to ArtKive (USA). Leanne from Organising The Four of Us shared a about her experience with Jimmy Halfpenny and it got me really excited. I will keep you posted if I do choose this option. (Check out their )

I have also looked at Project Life (using the Project Life App) & ChatBooks (using Instagram or Facebook) – which are both great ideas. Oh the decisions!

If you ARE wanting to take photos of your kids artwork, be sure to check out Becky Higgin’s Tips for Photographing Children’s Artwork.

There are so many ways we can store and organise our kids artwork – do what works for YOUR family. However, the first thing I recommend you do is cull and choose your favourites.

Thanks for reading,
Charlene

Are you feeling overwhelmed by your Kids Artwork?

How do you currently store/organise your kids artwork?

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Coming Up Next: KonMari With Kids: PAPER – School Memorabilia

Sorting through all of the school memorabilia sounds like a big task, and it probably will be – however I know it’s going to be worth it. Watch this space.

I am super excited about this new series ‘KonMari With Kids’ and would love for you to follow along in this process, better yet, join me – Subscribe to my Blog, so you don’t miss a post and together we CAN ‘KonMari With Kids’. I will also be sharing my journey on , and , so be sure to follow me there too.

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Posted in Blogroll, Uncategorized | Tagged kids | Comments Off

Throwback: Family Visit in December 2014 Part 1

Posted on March 23, 2017 by KMB

Oh wow, it’s pretty crazy that I’m only getting around to writing about this 2014 family visit now, but that’s just the way things have panned out here on my little blog and I ask you to please bear with me as I continue documenting my ‘lost’ years over here. :/ SMH

I truly wish I hadn’t had that little hiatus back then, but that’s them apples and I’ve now got one year and nine months left to catch up on, in between my current posts. Sheesh! Onward and upward, and all that…

So anyway, back in December 2014, Grant’s parents and his two brothers and their families, came out to visit us – and we were all incredibly excited about that! One of the saddest aspects of our immigration was that our children would miss out on daily life and growing up with their cousins. It was one of the things that really broke my heart because I have such fond memories of my cousins and me, growing up and making lasting memories together. I’m still very close to many of my cousins.

Anyway, we all enjoyed a wonderful and busy holiday together and Grant and I organised a good few activities, outings and trips away during his family’s time here. They were here from just before Christmas, until just after Grant’s birthday so we had some fun times celebrating all those occasions with each other.

Whenever we have guests visiting us, we try to go over to Waiheke Island because it’s so beautiful over there and also a quick trip to get there by boat and ferry:

I loved watching all the kids interacting and spending time together:

We had a great day out on the island, spending time on the beach and having lunch. Some of us went over on our boat and the rest of us on the ferry.

Christmas is all about family for us, so that year was a real bumper celebration because we had members from both sides of the family with us!

And what’s Christmas lunch without wearing those crazy hats from the crackers, right?

After Christmas we drove up to Matapouri, where we spent a week relaxing and exploring that part of the world:

Matapouri is a beautiful little seaside town up north of Auckland. It’s got some gorgeous beaches, safe swimming and a few very cool hikes and walks in the area. We’ve still got so many new places to discover in New Zealand, but Matapouri is somewhere that I’d love to visit again.

And now I’m going to end Part 1 of this two part saga because this post will be far too photo heavy otherwise! Part 2 will follow and show you some of the walks and hikes we did while in Matapouri and finish off with our adventures in Auckland when we got back to the city…

Author Archives: KMB

There’s no “cool mom” or “mean mom”

oh Hey Friday

The Advantages Of Having A Legal Experts in Newark For Your Personal Injury Case

Beespoke Bunting

Pumpkin Patch is coming back! Makes me a little emo.

I Quit Anger

KONMARI WITH KIDS: PAPER-Part 1 Kids Artwork

– KONMARI WITH KIDS –

Today I am sharing: PAPER: KIDS ARTWORK

BEFORE

DURING

SOME OF OUR FAVOURITE PIECES

DISCARD PILE

AFTER

Are you feeling overwhelmed by your Kids Artwork?

How do you currently store/organise your kids artwork?

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Coming Up Next: KonMari With Kids: PAPER – School Memorabilia

Bookish – The Young Magicians and the Thieves’ Almanac

The Avi Doll.

Throwback: Family Visit in December 2014 Part 1

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