Where to start isn't that always the question I guess from the beginning back 2 years ago why I initially started this page and what I want from it and where I am hoping to lead it now...
It all started with the birth of my daughter really. I was always a crafty person I worked in childcare and loved art and crafts but when I was pregnant with my first daughter and after her birth it all just seemed to come flowing in more and more I self named this flow my Leila inspired creations. We renovated furniture, did gardening, cooked food together and built things from scratch.. I even built us a bed frame for my queen size bed to turn it into a very girly cot frame so we could both continue to sleep together. We were always doing something crafty or adventurous and Leila was always deeply involved. We were constantly covered in dirt, paint, glue, glitter and many other things. We had so much fun that I wanted to involve other's that wanted to join in too so came up with the healthy happy kids page. I wanted to open up our home and make friends with other parents and children who wanted to join in our fun similar to a playgroup or mothers group mashed in with a art class, gardening, health and fitness. I didn't want to charge money though to come to 'classes' I wanted us all to be able to work together to do these fun things with our children to give them something that doesn't cost us (parents) a fortune but still gave us the opportunity to give these things to our children even if we weren't in a financial position to do so. I know I sure as hell wasn't as a single parent but did not want my daughter to miss out on certain things just because of my financial position and knew that it was possible to have this experience and fun with my daughter without having to fork out huge amounts of money if we worked together with what we had. The blog was so other parents could join in and be inspired by what we did and see that it was possible to do these simple and fun activities at home with there children giving them these fun experiences without it costing them fortune.
The blog was also so I could keep a record of what we did and ideas on things to do, something to look back on for others and my daughter..
There are SO many opportunities for kids in Cairns some things do however cost money but can be worth it and others are free! However it was hard to decipher all that was available to do each day as they were not all in one location to look for and some were all together hard to find (I am a bit of an organisation freak I like routine) so I also wanted to make everything thats available for kids to do in Cairns in one location - on this blog, not just what I was doing but giving the opportunity for all kids in Cairns to experience the available activities in the area. I wanted others opinions on the activities for kids in Cairns (what's worth the money, other activities I had over looked or missed, activities they liked to do with there children and so forth)
This blog's related Facebook page Healthy Happy Kids - Cairns did that we held free activities and organised walking groups it was great and we meet some awesome people however I never really got the blog up and running properly as we were too busy doing the activities (hopefully I can continue to do it properly this time) There were struggles along the way there always is when you start something new though and I have learnt a lot.. but eventually these struggles made it too hard to continue at the time. My focus was needed elsewhere thats why I had to put it all on hold for awhile and find my footing that is until now..
During this time that the page and group was on hold I also had some amazing experiences (not just bad ones) I meet my partner AJ and his son Naite during this time and to tell you the honest truth they are a huge part of the reason I got through those struggles and didn't give up!
I finally found someone who was supportive, I could talk to freely and helped to ease my struggle just by being there for me in every situation. Thats not to say that it didn't create more hurdles that we had to work through (we both had baggage) but they were much easier to deal with and work out together as a solid family unit. It was important to both of us and still is that we are ALL happy and comfortable in our family and continue to work together to overcome anything life throws at us and I tell you what there has been a lot but once again we always managed to get through it by sticking together and talking things through! We continued to do many activities and have amazing adventures and give our children great experiences I was even close to starting up Healthy Happy Kids again until...
7 and 1/2 months ago life gave us another hurdle I became pregnant don't get me wrong we were all excited and happy about the coming new member to our 'mixing bowl family' the hurdle was the fact that I became very ill with this pregnancy and once again our home life had to change and we had to work through this change together. I could no longer do all the things that I enjoyed doing and wanted to do with the kids not even the basic day to day things that I loved like cooking for the kids and school runs (yes i know it's weird but I love the morning school run!) Let alone the arts and crafts, gardening or walks..
It has became very upsetting and hard for me to be missing out on these things that I loved doing and was a huge part of me and who I was. I am frustrated at having to be laying down or sitting all the time and having everyone else do things for me that I would normally do. Don't get me wrong I am deeply grateful for all of the things that others do for me especially AJ. But I feel I need to find something where I can express my creativity and be me, have something for me to do to still be creative, something that is my time to give me some kind of break/relief and find that part of myself and who I am again.
I haven't been able to do much being bed ridden so I've been spending my time finding and reading blogs that have similar things to do with our life finding others that are in the same boat as us really just so I know we are not the only ones out there as well as looking through Pinterest at recipes and craft ideas that I can do once I feel better. I found sorting and keeping that organised helped to relieve some of my need for craft. That's when it came to me I had this blog here that I never really continued with. THAT could be for me, that could be my relief that could give me somewhere to put all my creative energy!
That's why this page is now going to be renamed and changing.....
Over all this blog is now ME every part of me!! About raising MY Montage Madness Family, it is for me to express my creativity somewhere to store the things that I find that I like, ideas, thing's that inspire and motivate me, living in our 'Montage Madness Family' and anything else I feel like sharing about me and how I am striving, struggling, making mistakes and learning to raise what I hope to be healthy happy kids.
I still want it to include everything it used to when it was Healthy Happy Kid's - Cairns and once I feel better run the group and the walks again because that is part of me and my family being healthy, happy and creative.
I know full well I am no expert on raising kid's each child is an individual but this is me sharing my journey with everyone (not giving advice) on the joy in raising my healthy happy kids, the stress and challenges that come along with it and yes also me being selfish and spending some time on me taking a break from raising kids to de-stress and vent! because at the end of the day as parents we know we need to take some time out for ourselves so we don't go completely insane.. (all parents are a little insane admit it you know you are why else would you have kids!!)
I know I will make mistakes along the way no one is perfect every new journey is a learning curve but with my family, some sarcasm and the ability to look back and laugh at the mistakes and challenges I am sure i'll get there!! All I can do is try not to scream and enjoy the ride on this crazy roller-coaster called life and raising kids!!
