rest time

hello.

it's rest time over here. daddy is home for the week, but just my luck, he's sick.....

we are laying low this week, enjoying a rest and recovery time from christmas and all the business that was right before it.

i'm a bit anxious, because i know i need to look at my little goal list for the 'year of me' that i put together earlier this year, and i just know i won't be able to cross many things off. this year panned out to be full of ups and downs, and i feel tired at the end of it all. i've run out of steam.

2011 will need to be about looking for the rainbows after a rainy 2010. i'd like one of my rainbows to be a big burst of energy and new inspiration. that would be bliss for this weary mama. who's with me?

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christmas decal winners

Oops! I know I'm a bit late here....but I have some winners to announce for the christmas decal giveaway!

The winner of the Merry Christmas bunting stickers is #4 I should be folding laundry! Congrats!!

And the winner of the Snowflake set is #5 Cyndie! Congratulations to you too!

Please get in touch with me before Friday so I can arrange to get the decals to you before Christmas!

Meanwhile, I'm chasing my tail here trying to organise my household for Christmas day and working and preparing gifts for preschool teachers and ...... I think I need to go write a list before I forget something!!

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get your christmas decals on!

Just a reminder that the great christmas decal giveaway is still on until tomorrow night. Hot foot it over to this post and leave a comment to have a chance to win one of two prizes!

ps. if you see my blogging mojo anywhere, please let me know! i need it back asap.

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o christmas tree o christmas tree! {giveaway}

This weekend I finally got my act together and organised for Christmas decorations, including tree to go up! Josh was really excited this year about it, and was keen to help, so he was given the honorary role of placing the star atop the tree at the end.

I also quickly came to a deeper understanding of advent calendars and their fabulous ability to help children better understand that you need to wait for Christmas to come. Josh thought that putting the Christmas tree up meant instant presents. Ah......no. So out came our lovely little advent calendar that I bought last year. It has little paper decorations that you open each day to place in the tree. Very cute.

I also got busy putting up some wall decals - snowflakes behind our tree.....

and gorgeous Merry Christmas bunting to continue our red and white theme.

Just for good measure, here is a pic of my resident cheeky chops, trying to get up on to the table to have a look at our advent calendar that I have been trying to keep out of reach of said cheeky chops' hands!!

The lovely people at Bosco Bear were kind enough to give me the lovely Christmas wall decals to try out. I was super excited to do this as I had a look at their designs and really loved them and also the fact that they would fit right into the colour scheme we had going on here. I'm a novice with wall decals. Zoe has a few in her room but these are fully removable so I wasn't as nervous at putting them up, knowing I could easily remove and replace. I was a bit more scared about getting these ones right.

It's important to test out the decals on the surface you intend to stick them on first, and these came with a test sticker which I used all weekend, peeled off after 48hrs, and found it was perfectly fine! So I got to work arranging them. Both the snow flakes and the bunting were really easy to put up. For the bunting I just measured out two pieces of string the length of the bunting flags and taped them onto the wall and used them as a guide. Easy! The decals also came with very easy to read instructions too if you need a bit more guidance.

Overall I'm really pleased with the look. The quality of the decals is great too and the designs on the bunting are so cute and even include some vintagey looking designs.

Generously, Bosco Bear have given me an extra set of each of the decals you see in my dining room above to give away! You could win either the red and white snowflakes decals (valued at $15.95) or the red and white Merry Christmas bunting flags (valued at $29.95). Just leave me a comment below telling me your favourite Christmas carol and you could win! I will randomly select two comments and announce the winner next Monday 13 December, entries will close Sunday 12 December at 7pm Sydney time.

PS. I'll still allow you an entry for leaving a comment without a favourite carol too, just for reading this far!

fa la la la la, la la la laaaaaa

Deck the halls with boughs of holly! I've decided that this weekend it's time to put up the Christmas decorations. I'm going to get Josh to help with decorating the tree this time - he is very excited!

Stay tuned next week for an awesome Christmassy giveaway too. Two prizes up for grabs to help you get into the Christmas vibe!

Aveagoodweekend!

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oh melbourne how i love thee

I went to Melbourne last weekend for a little mummy R&R. I stayed with a girlfriend who took me on a little tour of her favourite spots - a little country and a  little city (and a little winery action). I LOVED it, LOVED it, LOVED it. I think I want to move there. I just loved the feel of it, the shops, the closeness of the city to some of the country areas. It just felt more alive and creative everywhere I went compared to Sydney. Sydney has pockets of it, but Melbourne IS it. Well the small bit I experienced anyway.

On Sunday I strolled along Brunswick St, in and out of cute shop after cute shop. I even spied the Meet Me At Mikes store, but alas I realised too late on Saturday night that it wouldn't be open on Sunday, so I couldn't pop in! Bought some Jaspers coffee, and then ducked into a little shop called I ♥ douglas and hope.  It had lots of homewares, cute little trinkets, I loved it all. And I walked away with these cute melamine plates for Josh and Zoe.

 

Josh is pretty impressed that he has a plate with the Eiffel Tower on it!

I really want to go back for longer again. Maybe take the family and try and convince hubby to move there!

Let me leave you with a couple of pics of Panton Hill Winery. It was dreamy and the wine was good!

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christmas tree tips?

For those with small children, what do you do in regards to Christmas trees? Any tips for me?

Do you put one up at all? Do you only decorate the top half? Do you decorate it at all? Am I better off with a wall decal? (Though that might end up getting peeled off.....)

For the first time, I'm actually scared to put the tree up this year. I actually think Josh will enjoy it the most he hast his year being that bit older again, but I'm scared of Zoe and the tree. I think she's going to enjoy pulling things off and I'm worried I will spend my days keeping her away and telling her to stop pulling the decorations off!! Am I crazy that I want to put it up though. Maybe the pain is still worth it. 

We are a bit busy this weekend but I'm hoping that if we do go ahead with it, we will put it up the following weekend. Maybe I should only have the tree up for a few weeks......

And I'm definitely NOT putting presents underneath, I think. I mean that would be torturous to them wouldn't it?

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yum yum yum cooking with kids

I love getting goodies, and not so long ago I was the recipient of this wonderful bundle of goodies!

It was the Braun Multiquick 7 cordless hand processor and a some lovely fresh ingredients and place setting for dinner courtesy of Braun. I have had one of the older models of the Braun hand processor for a few years now but I was very keen to try the new cordless version, especially since I usually have a very keen three year old helper around. Not having the cord to get in the way was certainly a very appealing thought to me. And as it turned out it was brilliant for this. It was great not having to worry about it myself, I just picked it up off the charger and used it without having to plug in and make sure the cord wasn't caught around anything, and even for Josh, it was super easy for him to use without the hassle of the cord.

All in all I loved it. It lets you use the blender as is to mix things in a bowl, or you can attach it to the blender bit with the blade to chop/blend without making a mess. 

The afternoon our goodies arrived we got to work making some delicious burgers which we had all the fresh ingredients for. Josh was a great help with blending the veges and tomatoes and the kids were great with heating their healthy dinner that night! Here's the result of our efforts...

Here's the recipe if you'd like to give it a go. Super easy and quick to prepare, especially with the Braun cordless blender!

Grilled Beef Burgers with Tomato Salsa

Makes 8 x 150gm burgers

Ingredients
750g minced beef chuck steak, seasoned with salt and pepper
1 tbsp chopped rosemary
1 tbsp chopped thyme
1 whole egg
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp tomato paste
2 tbsp grated parmesan
10 g chopped parsley
30g fresh bread crumbs
100g chopped carrot
100g chopped onion
2 cloves garlic
50g chopped celery

Method
Chop the vegetables using the Braun Multiquick Cordless chopper
Combine all the ingredients for the burger together and gently slap together to form a
cohesive mixture. Shape into 200g discs and chill for at least 30 minutes for them to firm up
and cool down.
Preheat a heavy pan or BBQ and lightly oil the surface. Cook the patties for about 10
minutes turning twice and allow to rest for three minutes before serving.

Tomato sauce

Ingredients
750g fresh tomatoes, blanched and peeled
1 sprig of fresh thyme leaves removed from the stalk
1 clove of garlic, peeled and crushed
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Method
Chop the tomatoes using the Braun Multiquick Cordless chopper.
Warm the olive oil in a frypan and add the garlic and thyme. Now add the tomatoes and
cook gently until they have broken down and their excess water has evaporated.
Season with salt and pepper and add a little sugar to taste if required.
Blend to a smooth consistency using the Braun Multiquick Cordless hand attachment.

Recipe serves family of four

what's been going on around here?

We've been busy little bees around here. I've been busy with my two little munchkins, socialising, as well as running a little business. 

And then in between all that, we've had some lovely little moments at home just playing and imagining. Not too long ago I came across this racing track tape online and promptly ordered it! It's nothing short of brilliant!! If you have or know little boys and need a great little stocking filler for Christmas, then this is the thing for you.

Josh and Zoe have both been enjoying this, and it's a great little toy to take out with you when visiting, as it's so easy to set up, provides hours of entertainment if you have a little story teller on your hands, and super easy to pack up! 

My hot tip is to order now while they are in stock too. The store had just restocked recently and I had a short wait, but don't you miss out for Christmas.

boo!

hello!

how are you?

my sweet prints giveaway

Have you ever had your eye on the lovely prints at My Sweet Prints? I have for a while now, and still would love to get a customised bus roll for our kitchen. There are lots of lovely, simple designs for kids rooms too. Janette's blog has reached 200 followers and so she is having a giveaway to celebrate! Two prints of choice are on offer to win. Head over and be in it to win it.

drum roll please....

I have an announcement to make!

The winner of the Real Nappies competition is Monique! Please email me and let me know your postal address so I can pass it on and your newborn nappy kit can be on its way to you soon!

Thanks to everyone who entered. Hope you are having a happy day.

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just sayin'

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Review: Laugh & Learn Sing With Me CD Player

This post is sponsored by Nuffnang.

This week we've Zoe has been the lucky recipient of the Laugh & Learn Sing With Me CD Player to test out. Poor old Zoe doesn't get many new toys these days as we have so many already from Josh! So as soon as I took it out of the box and showed her the buttons to press and the disc compartment to open and close her eyes lit up! She really loves this toy. I was cooking dinner yesterday and she happily played away for half an hour, opening and closing the door and putting the discs in the top of the player. It plays songs as well, including her fave Row Row Row Your Boat and it also has lots of phrases it says such as 'open' and 'close' when you you use the door, and teaches ABCs and numbers, shapes and colours depending on which buttons you press. Thankfully it has two volume settings and the blessed off switch for when you've had enough of all the noise!

All in all this has been a great toy so far. Zoe is getting lots of fine motor skill practice with loading and unloading the discs as well as learning songs and lots of words. Thanks Nuffnang and Mattel!

real nappies: review & giveaway

Howdy y'all!

Ever tried cloth nappies? Some of you might be groaning and that's generally the reaction I got when I first told people that I was going to use cloth nappies just before I had Josh. My great intention was to do just that, but life after Josh played out a little differently. I didn't realise I'd have such a poo machine on my hands, and after having a c-section and adjusting to a new babe I just didn't want to be a gazillionty million loads of washing to do. Once he hit about 6 months, I gave it a go though, and loved it, and loved the savings at the grocery shop. However once, Miss Z arrived and with all my sleep deprivation, the only way for this mama to survive that period was to just use disposables again. Every now and then I use cloth still but largely we still use disposable here. Josh is only in overnight nappies now and this summer I will be toilet training Zoe, so I may use cloth with her a little during that time.

Not too long ago I was asked to trial Real Nappies. I wasn't that keen initially as I felt like I'd tried so many cloth nappies already but I decided to give it a go anyway and found that it's really quite a simple system to use. I was sent a starter pack to use on Zoe - so a few covers, some cotton prefold inserts, flushable liners and an instruction DVD. 

Have a look at the photo above I took. I found I really like the fit of them. They were were reasonably trim I thought, not too bulky. Super easy to put on too. Just fold up the insert into thirds, lay it down on the cover with a liner on top, lay bubs on top and do up with the velcro tabs as loose or tight as you need! I left the nappy on Z for a couple of hours to give it a good run, and when I changed her the prefold was soaked right through.

After washing, I was quite impressed with the drying time too. The inserts don't take days like some cloth nappies can do.

One of my main disappointments was that the inserts were just cotton, there was no bamboo or hemp which are more absorbant, though take longer to dry too.

Overall I found these nappies great, easy to use and would be a good introduction to using cloth. They seem well made and fit my toddler very well.

Real Nappies are offering a starter pack to one reader also. If you want to be in the running for this, you will need to:

1. pop over to the Real Nappies website and work out what size your bub is and,

2. join the mailing list. 

Come back and leave me a comment below which includes stating the size required. 

If you would like an extra entry in the giveaway you can 'like' the Real Nappies Facebook page, blog about the giveaway with a link to this Real Nappies review, or tweet about the giveaway and include @real_nappies in your tweet. Please leave me a separate comment for each way of entering.

Giveaway will end midnight next Wednesday 3 November and I will announce a winner on the following Thursday morning. 

I know it's all a bit extra, but it will be worth it to win a great little prize!

little life lessons

Pure joy.

Laughing until your belly aches. Laughing until you cry. Laughing so hard you can't control it. Being so happy you forget all else except being with those immediately around you.

Having two small children has meant there have been lots of tears (theirs and mine included) but also lots and lots of laughter and moments of pure joy. I love how the simple things in life can bring such happiness to a small child. 

Jumping up and down on the bed.

Letting someone tickle you a little.

Playing chasings and peekaboo.

Dancing and singing to Justine Clarke in your silliest voice.

Blowing and catching bubbles on the front lawn.

Hiding under a blanket with daddy at bedtime so mummy can't find them.

Often I let myself get buried alive by the daily grind of life and the challenges of toddler tantrums and spills and accidents, that I forget to just stop and enjoy those other moments. The special ones. Like when I found Josh brushing his teeth before bed unprompted, and when I find him says "you'll be so proud of me Mummy". And like Zoe running up to her big brother excitedly to give him a kiss before she goes for her afternoon nap and they share a little brother/sister moment together.

'Now and then it is good to pause in our pursuit of Joy

and just be Joyful.'

{Anonymous}

smiling planet

It's getting ridiculously close to Christmas. I'm starting to get a little worried, as I'm sure last year I was really very organised and thought a lot about gifts very early on. This year has been kind of busy and hectic, and now here we are about seven weeks out from Christmas!

So of course I've started trawling my fave places on the Internet and I found these gorgeous little bowls and plates at State of Green. These are Smiling Planet plates and bowls that each have an artistic design on them with an earth friendly message. Even better, they are made from 100% recycled high grade polypropylene plastic, contain no BPA, no lead, no toxic inks, no phthalates and no PVC, so completely environmentally friendly. The designs are printed in such a way that they can't be scratched off and they plates and bowls are top rack dishwasher safe too.

I really love the simplicity of them and the style of the illustrations and designs. They are also (I think) reasonably price at $18.95 at State of Green. I'm very tempted to head off and grab a few for family and friends! Will definitely be bookmarking for my gift purchases.

fiesta time!

It was Zoe's birthday fiesta party on the weekend. I think I'm still recovering....

Pop over to my other blog Lovely Little Parties to see some pics of our fabulous day.

facing the weekend

Here we are, it's Friday again. The wheels keep turning.

I'm madly organising a belated family party for Zoe on Sunday. It should be lots of fun! So as much as I'd love to be relaxing, from tonight, I will be shopping, baking, crafting decorations, blowing balloons, tidying, tidying again, and falling in a heap when it's all over. I promise to save you a piece of the V8 cake I've ordered from Adriano Zumbo........NOT!

Keep smiling. 

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mess mess mess

We get very messy around here everyday. Whether it's messy eating, messy craft, messy playing in the garden, messy toileting from the under fours in this house! We're forever washing our hands. Josh loves it most of all because he gets to play with the taps and the water at the same time and loves to do the soap by himself. Since he has started his own hand washing routine we go through so much soap as he pumps so much out each time!

Over the last few weeks we've been very lucky to have been sent lots of goodies. One lot of goodies has been from Dettol who delivered us their new No-Touch Hand Wash System to try out. Along with it came a lovely finger painting kit for Josh and Zoe to try and get really messy so we could give the new hand wash system a real good workout!

Josh loved every moment of it. Since he's started preschool he has been enjoying painting and crafting at home a whole lot more so he had great fun painting and getting his fingers dirty. Then I got to explain to him about how the new soap dispenser worked. He was totally fascinated and then wanted to put his hand under all the time just to watch the soap come out.

It's quite cool as it means you literally don't have to touch it to use it. There is a little sensor at the back that can tell when your hand is under and then a little blob of soap comes and off you go washing! Thankfully there is also a switch at the back that lets you turn it off. Very handy when you want to curb your preschoolers fascination once he's washed his hands thoroughly!

We received the cucumber splash scented soap and I loved it! It made me want to wash my hands more too. Give it a go if you haven't! I had seen it in the shops a few times and was tempted, so I really appreciate Dettol sending one over! I think we'll get lots of use out of it and it certainly helps entice the kids to keep clean.

bedroom makeover part #2

Remember my first bedroom makeover post? It didn't really look very complete. I guess it still doesn't but I've now added some cushions to the bed and I think it looks a lot more grown up and finished. Now all we need is some wall art.

Any ideas? I found some Etsy artworks at one point but now I've gone off that idea and was thinking of paying a friend to paint a custom artwork to put up. My hubby has a few ideas and could probably use his graphic design skills to whip something up too. 

Let me know if you have any wall art inspiration for my room for me!

PS. Excuse the dodgy photo, my DSLR is AWOL at the moment so this was taken on my trusty iPhone!

at my house

I'm a little late with my post, but here's our day today at our house celebrating Zoe's second birthday.

Happy Birthday gorgeous, sweet girl. xo

Play along with 'at my' house here.

happy birthday baby girl

What a wonderful two years it's been. I can't believe you are two now. My big girl.

You've brought such joy to our lives, including your big brother who adores you and just wants to smother you in kisses and jump in your cot with you and make you laugh until you cry - literally sometimes!

Your are full of life and such a spirited, playful little girl. So very determined and headstrong already. Your giggles and the way you share little loving moments with your brother make my heart melt.

I wish you the happiest of birthdays, baby girl, and can only wish and pray that you have many more to come.

Love Mummy xoxo

yes i really do have a green thumb

You see that white ranunculus about to fully bloom? It's my first 'grown-from-an-itty-bitty-seed' ranunculus of spring! I really can grow pretty flowers! I'm not particularly well known for my ability to look after anything of the plant variety so this is pretty exciting to me (ignore the fact there was also a gardener here today, making the rest of the yard look something similar to how we bought it. Winter = neglecting backyard BIG time.). I've already picked a few and put them in vases around the house. And even though I bought a pack of seeds for white flowers, I noticed a pinkish/reddish flower blooming today. 

Aside from my hysteria over flowers blooming and the scent of jasmine in the air, I've been swamped with recovering from my surgery, my husband being away for the past two weeks and me kid-wrangling on my own for that time, with a bit of conjunctivitis, tonsillitis, fevers and rashes thrown in to boot. I'm tired. Hubby comes home tomorrow night and the kids have decided to get sick AGAIN a few days before he arrives. I've been trying to stay on top of my part time job, as well as getting ready for the launch of this little project, keep on top of the housework, and squeeze in a little time to myself. Life is just seeming a wee bit frantic again. In fact it has felt that way all year. 

Anyway, I'm here to say 'hi' and I really wish I had more time for my lovely blog land peeps. I'm hoping to get a little more time in the next few weeks because I have a few things I'd love to share here.

But in the meantime, tell me, what's been happening in your world?

Review: Ford Mondeo Titanium wagon

Thanks to Kidspot and Ford Australia, I was given the amazing opportunity to be a Ford Mondeo Mama and to test drive and review the new Ford Mondeo Titanium wagon. It has been really exciting and lots of fun. I also won a brand new iPod Touch and iTunes voucher, as well as a fuel voucher to keep my test car fuelled up and ready to take anywhere!

Want to know what I think of this beauty? Head over here and read my review. Feel free to ask me any questions too.

image: Ford Australia

nervous

Well, I've been away from bloggy land again for a little while. My little family has not really had a break for the last three months from illness. Recently we've just gotten over tonsillitis.

Now, I'm sitting here nervously typing as I'm off to hospital tomorrow. I need to get my pesky little gallbladder out. I've never been to hospital for anything before (besides babies) so I'm a little anxious about it all. By this time tomorrow it should all be over, and I should be resting up in my hospital bed......hopefully not in too much pain.

Anyway, this is hello and adieu for a little while. Hopefully I'll be back again soon a bit brighter and with a little more blogging mojo back.

a little retail therapy

I was feeling a little flat yesterday and thought a little retail therapy might cheer me up. I remembered that I had a Westfields shopping voucher and some cash from my grandmother for my birthday, so I ducked up to our local shopping centre with Zoe in tow.

I'm reluctant to buy too much clothing for myself at the moment, given I'm still desperately trying to drop some kilos, so in the end I bought some clothes for my little munchkins.

Miss Zoe scored herself this above Country Road ensemble to go with her skinny leg jeans. And my big boy Josh scored his own pair of CR skinny leg jeans as well as some khaki canvas trainers. I got Josh to try on the jeans when I got home. They fit perfectly - but my three and a half year old suddenly looked about seven! He looked so grown up!

I was pretty pleased with my retail efforts and was certainly cheered up! Buying for the kids is just as rewarding as buying for myself. Do you find that too?

Have you got any recent retail therapy experiences to share? Pretty please?

any ideas for fathers day?

Isn't this just the sweetest thing you ever did see?

I'm currently stumped on ideas for father's day gifts for my hubby, so I started digging around on Etsy and found this little store, the belle and the beau. I'm too late to order this from the US I think, but it was so totally cute I couldn't not share it with you all!

I also found this little gem from here......

This would be perfect for my hubby. We have this little area underneath our back deck that the boys go in to do 'boy stuff'......whatever that means. Ever since we moved in here just over a year ago, my hubby has nicknamed this area the 'man cave'. I didn't realise this was such a popular name for a designated area for males, but there you have it. I might have to whip up my own version of this!

My dad on the other hand, he's easy. I think I'll be getting him one of these:

a Keep Cup! My dad loves his coffee and I can help him love the earth at the same time. In fact I wouldn't mind one myself.

Have you chosen something for your dad (or you children's dad) for fathers day yet? Got any fabulous ideas for me you'd like to share? (hint, hint....)

spring is in the air

Have you noticed Spring is in the air? It's just around the corner. 

Everywhere I turn, new life is forming. Every plant has new little buds forming just waiting to burst in flower. There is a sense of anticipation. Yes, the air still carries a chill, but that will soon go, and a breath of warm air will come to thaw us out.

What's your favourite season?

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just saying...

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at my house

At my house today.........

the stealing of yellow highlighters to decorate one's face!

What's happening at your house? 

Play here.

friday loveliness from germany

The Germans really do know how to make beautiful toys, do they not?

Here is a little treasury of toys from LOUyLOU that I loved. All of their products are carefully designed to improve nearness and balance between family needs, design principles, eco-friendly materials and affordable costs. All the toys have emerged as an alternative to game consoles, plastic and aggressive, nonsustainable products. Great thinking!

You can check out their website here for more lovely products.