The Hoose

I wake up just before dawn and the heating kicks on.

When the temperature gets low enough the furnace automatically turns on, which hasn’t happened for months! We’ve decided to take another day off from busking, as it’s pretty windy today, so we will play Friday through Sunday. It’s cold! We’re blessed that we can make these sorts of decisions.

The kids awake and I make some spicy porridge to heat everyone up. Harry finds a dollar under his pillow for the front tooth he lost last night- he looks hilarious!

I think we’ll have to have him sing “All I Want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth” this year!

It’s a lazy start to the day and Daniel and I watch a movie after breakfast, really getting into the cold day under the covers vibes. The boys play well together and do some ‘baby school’ as Angus likes to call it and Grace gets stuck into her schoolwork. Everyone is in a great mood today! Daniel works on some new music and I potter about, cleaning and cooking, keeping up with some social media stuff and blogging of course!

Speaking of cleaning, I’ve been making my own cleaning products since last Christmas when my wonderful mother-in-law gifted me a set of essential oils, which I use daily. I mix water, vinegar and a few drops of essential oil in the spray bottle above, and hey presto! A multi-purpose cleaner that works on glass, work surfaces and even the cooker top. I’ve never been a fan of unnecessary chemicals, although I do still use some. I still buy laundry detergent as the ones I made in the past were disappointing. And we put chemicals down the toilet and sinks to minimise smells. But whenever I can, I prefer to keep things as minimal and natural as possible. Plus, there’s way less garbage and one spray bottle takes up a lot less space than multiple cleaners.

Just before lunch, Grace gives me a gift she has made for me, as she has been doing for the past couple of days and will continue until my birthday on the fifth. She’s really sweet!

The afternoon is sunny and we all head to the park. The cat enjoys a walk outside and the kids burn off some of their beans before dinner, making some new friends too.

Sitting still for days is something we rarely do, but it has made me appreciate how small our bills really are, and I am so grateful for that. Not many people nowadays have the privilege of living life on their terms, and I am so glad we are able to live a life of our own design.