our latest pots and pans

Monday, March 29, 2010



{This post is sponsored by Nuffnang}

I was fortunate enough recently to receive, for Zoe, the Mattel Stack and Nest Pots and Pans. It was nice to receive something that was more specifically for her for once! Poor old Zoe mostly plays with whatever was, or is, Josh's. She does have things that are hers, but inevitably her big brother gets his hot little hands all over them first.....survival of the oldest and biggest I think. Other things I have to hide away for when she is bigger and able to shove her big brother away!
I loved watching the delight on her little face as she played with them. She loved picking up the different pots,  discovering what each of them did and stacking them together, all the while developing her fine motor skills and building up great hand eye coordination. Her daddy would be proud! 

She particularly liked the green pot as it has a little mirror inside where she could catch glimpses of her cheeky little face! Each of the pots makes a noise too, and they quickly became little maracas. Zoe loves a bit of a dance. 

The bright colours, mirror and fun sounds these make are great for stimulating a little one's visual and auditory skills. And also a bigger kids too it seems. Josh ended up getting just as much enjoyment out of these as his little sister. He kept asking me what was in each pan and he wanted to 'cook' me something with them. Josh is only just outside the age group these are aimed at (6-36 months) and they certainly did have a wide appeal in this house.

yay, me!

Sunday, March 28, 2010


I've been a great little dieter this week and am pleased to say that after my first week on Lite N Easy I've lost 1.4kgs!! I wasn't expecting such a great loss as I'm only doing it 5 days a week, the other days I try to be good on my own. And this week I still allowed myself some little treats. I'm pretty ecstatic about this loss and the result has really given me that boost I needed to keep going and make it to my goals.

Although I'd love if I didn't need to rely on resources like Lite N Easy to do this, I knew that this would be the only way to kick me out of the terrible habits I'd formed and transition me over to better food choices. I think once I'm used to my different ways of eating and it becomes more like second nature, then it will be easy to then do it on my own following the patterns of eating from LNE.

Here's to another great weight loss this week! I'm going to report in each Monday with my weight loss, so keep me accountable, ok?

Also, just wanted to say a big THANKYOU to all your lovely comments on my last rambled post. I'm a bit confused at the moment about where life will take me career wise - I have a mountain of ideas and no idea where to start first. Your kind words all encouraged me and helped me to know I'm not alone. Will keep you up to date on where things are at when they happen. xo

image

dream a little dream

Thursday, March 25, 2010


I'm dreaming. Well, I'm hoping my dreams also become some sort of reality too. My mind is full and I'm finding it hard to make decisions, especially within my limitations. I dream of creating something that enables me to stay home and work and that will fulfil passions I'm yet to fully discover and acknowledge. 

Motherhood has clouded my vision somewhat. I need to figure out again who I am and discover the things that make my heart sing. I want to go after those things and hopefully be able to contribute financially to my household along the way.....

How do you know what your passion/s are? How do you just 'know' what you want to do with your life? How do you 're-find' yourself after losing yourself a little?

{image}

i'm lusting after


Do you think it's too late to change the decor in the bedroom now? 

Mmm might have to save up for this one when I want a change of scenery. Go to Table Tonic and check out the lovely Moroccan wedding blankets too.

my new art collection

Wednesday, March 24, 2010


With my little three year old a preschooler now, I've become one of those mums who collects delightful little artworks each week. I've been pondering what to do with them. Each week when Josh gets home from preschool I've been taking these little artistic impressions and pegging them on our fridge. I'm sure the 'good' stuff is staying at school and being collated in his journal that we have heard about. However, not sure I have the heart to part with the pieces that make it home yet. I bought one of these delightful little Fiona Kate artwork folders today where I will put them away for now and decide later their fate. 

I heard a fabulous idea the other day that you can use them as wrapping paper. I think this is a great idea! Especially since it fits right in with my little goal for this year to try may hand at more creatively wrapping my gifts for others.

What do you do with your little one's masterpieces?

{image}

bedroom makeover part 1

Tuesday, March 23, 2010


It's here, it's here! Our new king size bed arrived today! Stage 1 of the bedroom makeover done. The day I ordered it I also bought all the linen to match. I'm a white kind of girl usually, but I decided to venture out a little and went for a neutral coloured set from Freedom this time. Not as sterile as white but still understated and will allow me to dress things up with other decor so I can change it from time to time without too much expense.

I wasn't going to do this post yet, as my bed didn't look too good after a certain three year old napped in it today, but my gorgeous mum dropped in this afternoon and styled it up for me!! The set is a linen finish so unfortunately it doesn't take much for them to take on the crushed look, hence my pillow cases looking a little sad. Did I forget to mention ironing is my all time hated chore? Oops....

Anyway, I'm really happy with the enormous size of our bed (bliss!) and it doesn't even overwhelm our room which is great. I'm pleased with how it has all come together so far. Next step is to decide what to do on the wall above our bed now. I've been browsing for prints on Etsy and have a few ideas, but have to see what hubby thinks too. Might share my ideas with your too in another post, another day!

What do you think so far?

the ultimate family fun pack




Have you ever ventured into Toys R Us? Before children, I only ever popped in there to buy presents for nieces or nephews. Since having children, I have discovered they have a whole lot more than I ever thought. I found it a great place to pick up nappies and other baby consumables at great bargain prices.

This Easter, Toys R Us have The Ultimate Family Fun Pack up for grabs! To have a chance to win, you just need to sign up to their VIP newsletter (I already have!). If you are signed up already you are automatically in the draw to win! There are lots of great prizes to win - just have a look at the banner above, which you can also click on to go the to the Toys R Us page and sign up to the newsletter today.

you know, 'that' feeling?

Friday, March 19, 2010


Did you ever get 'that' feeling about anyone? You know, the first day of high school and you spot someone across the room or chat for the very first time and just know you'll be best friends? Or a new person comes into your circle of friends....you don't know him all that well yet, he looks really scruffy and that hair - that straggly long hair that looks like it needs a wash....no, that couldn't possibly be the man I'm going to marry. But you just can't shake 'that' feeling?

Well, he was the man I married. I think from very early on, I just knew he was the man for me. We were great friends even before we dated, we make a great team. Now six years on in marriage and we still make a great team. We are in this team for life and there is no place we'd rather be than right here.

Tomorrow we celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary. We plan on waking with the kids, going down to the beach for breakfast, going for a walk, dropping into Allies Attic market, heading back home, spending time in the garden and just lazing about. 

I can't wait. Love you loads my beautiful hubby.

wishing i was...

Wednesday, March 17, 2010


anywhere but here....

tres chic {chic mother and baby online store & blog}






I love the online community sometimes! Just when you think you've seen all the greatest little blogs and stores, you hear about yet another and another.....

Here's another that I have just heard about. I'm not quite sure how I didn't stumble across it sooner. Chic Mother and Baby is the creation of Kristy and Mina who were wanting to help other busy mothers and mothers to-be, have easy access to good quality fashionable maternity, baby & toddler clothing and accessories. Hurrah! They read my mind.

They stock lots of gorgeous brands for mamas like HotMilk and Seraphine, as well as for babies and children like Baobab, Alex & Ant, Fresh Baked and Monstar Kids.

And right now until the 26 March, it's Eco Week at Chic Mother and Baby. You can get 10% off all eco-friendly products!

While you are at it, check out the Chic Mother and Baby blog too. It's full of great tips, product features and lovely imagery. It's definitely worth subscribing or bookmarking.

right now i'd love

Tuesday, March 16, 2010


+ to have a lie down
+ to spend a whole day shopping on my own
+ a manicure and pedicure (it's been too long since the last one!)
+ to click my fingers and have the house tidy and organise itself
+ to sip on my second coffee for the day with those choc chip hot cross buns on the kitchen bench
+ to go on holidays somewhere exotic
+ to buy a pair of pink fancy shoes.

{image}

this is it

Monday, March 15, 2010


I've bitten the bullet and I'm going to do Lite N Easy for a few weeks and see how I go with it. If I can get myself into a healthy eating routine without having to think about it, it might be easier to keep it going on my own once I'm seeing results and I'm used to the pattern of eating.....

Wish me luck! And hold me to this weightloss journey!


the best tiramisu recipe ever

Friday, March 12, 2010



This is my favourite dessert. Ever. I'm sure I must have been Italian in another life.

I've had a few requests for this recipe now, so thought I would share it here. It will mean I won't break out in a sweat if I lose the recipe again either! 

This recipe comes from Stephanie Alexander & Maggie Beer's Tuscan Cookbook and is the only version I will make now. It's truly divine. I'm one of those people that will only use the BEST ingredients for this as well. So make sure you use the proper Italian saviordi sponge fingers, good quality coffee - not instant (I make a brew of Illy), chocolate with a high cocoa percentage like the Lindt 75% cocoa variety, and definitely use marscapone - don't substitute with cream cheese or similar. (Yes, I'm a tiramisu snob!)

To make it you will need:

375g sponge finger biscuits (roughly 24, depending on the size/shape of the dish you set it out in)
2 cups of cold strong black brewed coffee
200g grated 70-85% cocoa chocolate
500g marscapone
organic cocoa
extra grated chocolate for finishing touches!

For the zabaglione:
6 egg yolks
1/3 cup castor sugar
1/2 cup brandy

You'll need to make the zabaglione first as it needs to cool down for using later to assemble your tiramisu. Whisk the egg yolks, sugar and brandy in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water until its thick, then remove it from the heat. Make sure you keep whisking even after you remove the bowl from the heat. You can stop once it cools down, but if you stop while it's hot, the egg will start to 'cook' and go clumpy in the mixture. 

Grab another bowl and whisk the mascarpone until it's nice and soft and then fold in the cooled zabaglione mixture.

Putting it together:

You will need a deep round (preferably glass, to see the pretty layers) bowl to serve it in. Arrange half the sponge finger biscuits over the base. I usually break a few here and there to fill any gaps since the dish I use is round. Next, sprinkle half the coffee and half the chocolate over the biscuits. Spoon in up to half of the zabaglione/marscapone mixture and spread it over the biscuit layer, then repeat until you fill the bowl. Sift cocoa over the final layer and sprinkle with the remaining grated chocolate. Voila!!

The recipe suggests refrigerating for about 2 hours before serving, but the longer you leave it the better it seems to get. 

Tip: Make sure your guests don't eat it all, it makes a really good breakfast the next morning!

the bedroom makeover

So the mummy and daddy bedroom makeover has begun!

I went shopping yesterday and ordered our new King size bed. So of course I had to get all the linen to go with it. I may have mentioned that I wanted to do something more exciting in our bedroom before and I thought now would be the time to start. 

I ended up making my way to Freedom and bought the following goodies.


Two of these lovely little lamps for our bedside tables. I love the silver and glass stand. Should go nicely with some of the silver frames I have in our room.

I also chose a beautiful neutral coloured, linen quilt cover similar to this. Just imagine the dark brown piping in this set to be white and the white part to be the same colour as the border, and that's just about what I bought (they didn't have a picture on their website).


I think this should all look great. We have 1/4 strength Hogs Bristle on our walls and our furniture (bedside tables, wardrobe and tall boy) is all antique store buys. Now we just need something for the wall and perhaps a few cushions to add to the bed and we're done. I'll be sure to take a pic once the bed arrives and it's all made up!

Actually, I still need to take a pic of my lovely bargain dining chairs for you too.....must do that on the weekend I think.

there were three in the bed....

Wednesday, March 10, 2010


So sleep huh? You either get too much or not enough....unfortunately I fall in the latter group. I knew that would happen as a mum but sometimes there is only so much you can take before it really starts to fry your brain and affect your mood badly during the day....even my driving skills. Zoe used to be the nightmare at night - for a good part of last year in fact. But how times have changed. She is now the angel child at night and Josh has become the child that wakes several times a night, coming into my bed at night. Hubby and I started a rule that if it was before 4am he had to go back to his bed, anytime after and he could stay. It's wearing thin though, let me tell you.....

I've been wondering what to do about it. I'm at the point where I just want us all to sleep - uninterrupted through the night. Tough ask? Probably, but I'm so tired and I want my 'once a great sleeper until I turned two and a half' to go back to being a great sleeper again.

Today I've come to the decision that we need a bed upgrade as the solution. Currently we sleep on a teeny tiny double bed. So you can imagine that once we have a 17kg toddler in the bed things get kinda squishy in there. I found a great big king ensemble today that I can pay off slowly. I just have to convince hubby now that this is the solution. I'm already dreaming about that huge bed and all the room I'll have, even with Josh in it. 

My next problem will most likely be trying to get him out of the bed at some stage, but for now sleep calls.


{images we heart it}

today



Today I shall:

+ have a coffee (or two...)
+ work, work, work 
+ try to go about my day with a positive attitude
+ try to find a new bed (co-sleeping here we come, more on that later!)

+ breathe in the cool fresh autumn air
+ care for my wheezy little boy and my cheeky little girl
+ look to the sky and be thankful for all that I have

{image TheLightFantastic}

these are a few of my favourite things....

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

 




 



  






Pediped shoes (available from Tiny Steps




 

Peepo available at Fishpond

 


 

Love Mae wall decals



 I couldn't live without the above items at our house. {Well most of them anyway!}

What are your favourite baby and children items at home?

at my house...

Monday, March 8, 2010


At our house today.....probably only a face a mother could love. I don't let Miss Z go to town like this too often, as I hate unnecessary mess that I just have to clean up later (yes, I confess) so every now and then I break out a little (LOL) and let her have a little fun feeding herself.

She certainly had loads of fun!!

You can play 'at my house' over here.

everyone's a winner, baby, that's the truth


Well not quite everyone!

April is the winner of the $50 off your Coles groceries voucher!!

Congratulations April. Can you please email me your address and I will organise for the voucher to be sent out to you!

Thankyou everyone for your cheesy entries in the giveaway!

image mona rocks....not

mathilda's market

Friday, March 5, 2010



Have you been to a Mathilda's Market before?

I attended late last year and really enjoyed seeing all the fantastic handmade and unique baby and children's wear and gear. I'm very excited that I will be attending again tomorrow in Sydney at Paddington Town Hall, but this time I will be working. I am helping out at one of the stalls for the day (will share more on that next week) which will be a great experience. I should be able to have a peek around the stalls at some point too and it will also be great to 'meet' a few of the stall holders who I've connected with over the last few months and put some faces to names. Hopefully I will have some exciting products to share with you next week too.

The only sad thing about this is that I'm kinda low on cash right now......not sure that I will be able to walk away with anything tomorrow but I'll definitely be taking notes and saving up for later!

Anyone else coming along on Saturday?

thankyou happy mail exchanger!



Thankyou to the gorgeous Leigha who gifted me this lovely package above for the Happy Mail Exchange at fatmumslim. I was so touched at the beautiful handmade goodies (a bag for me and a hair clip tidy for Zoe) and Josh was more than impressed with his little dinosaur pressie! Also loved the gorgeous card and all my delicious little origami birds! Am going to pop them on a shelf in little miss Z's room!!


Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou!! xo

I've loved participating in this exchange so much I've signed up for this one too at (oh, hello friend.).



don't you just love....



...an all-in-one sleepsuit?

I must admit I love these, even on my toddler. There is something just so cute about seeing a little one all snuggly and cosy from neck to foot. Josh is a pretty fidgety sleeper too, so I like him to be covered well in his pjs at night in winter as he is very likely to end up with the covers off.

I like a good pair of pjs too. Last year I went on the hunt and all I could come up with was a cotton Sprout all-in-one, which was VERY cute. I actually really liked these but there was only one left. I also ended up getting a fleecy all-in-one from Target. I have to say, though, I much prefer my children to not sleep with synthetic fibres against their skin. Not a fan.

I've always been a fan of Snugglebums pjs - everytime I've seen them either online or in a shop I've wanted to buy them. But they are on the pricey side at full retail price for a set of pjs (about $40) so I've never bought them. I went hunting online yesterday for some and found a whole heap for sale on their website. The all-in-one sleepsuits are $25 each! I thought that was a great buy and bought three like the one in the photo above. They arrived today (so quick!) and I've removed them from their packaging ready to wash. They are so cute and I can't wait to put them on Josh......wish they came in adult sizes too. Teehee!

{dvd review} disney playhouse handy manny: tooling around

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

 

This post is sponsored by Nuffnang

Our family was recently provided with the Disney Playhouse DVD, Handy Manny: Tooling Around to review. Have you seen it on the Disney Playhouse channel before? I had seen snippets of it before, but as Josh is slightly obsessed with Postman Pat at the moment, other shows tend to get the flick very quickly. Lately, though Josh has been branching out a bit which is great!

Handy Manny: Tooling Around contains a handful of 12 minute episodes aimed at mums and preschoolers. The main character is Manny who is a very likeable, Spanish-speaking, handyman. The other main characters are his tools as well as a few town locals. Each episode is based around a repair job Manny works on around the town and manages to teach great concepts such as teamwork, friendship and community in a fun way while teaching a little Spanish to its viewers as well.

I especially like how the episodes really focus on the importance of everybody's contribution to a project - each person's contribution is needed and is an important part of getting the job done. The episodes also often focus on the concept of 'help' and teaching preschoolers to understand that it's ok to ask for help.....something I'm trying to teach Josh all the time!


The Handy Manny: Tooling Around DVD includes bonus material too -  an interactive You Build It with Handy Manny game and also a bonus episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

Have you seen Handy Manny? What do you think of this show?

feed your soul: the free art project

 
 


Art is good for the soul, right? The Feed Your Soul project was started for this reason in times when the economy is making us all tighten our purse strings.

You can find more information about the project and the contributing artists here. Once you've done that head over to the downloads page and browse the beautiful prints, download, print and frame! Voila! A quick and cheap pick me up for your bedroom, living area or children's room.

{I stumbled upon this fantastic site via another blog last week, but can't for the life of me remember which one, so I can't credit them! Whoever it was, thanks! I loved it so much I just had to share.}

{giveaway} want a cheesy smile on your face?

Monday, March 1, 2010


A few weeks ago, the lovely people at Mainland offered me (and many fellow bloggers) the opportunity to try the new range of Mainland Cracker Cuts. I was very quick to say yes to this offer, as cheese and crackers is one of our favourite snacks around here. These are particularly good I have to say, as the little containers have ready cut small slices of cheese - all you need are a little bag of crackers and off you go! We eat these lots at home, but they would also be great to take out with you, or even for me to pop into Josh's lunch bag for preschool. I've also been adding a few slices of these to Josh and Zoe's dinner plates and they love them. Perfect size for Zoe's little hands too.

You should be able to find these in your supermarkets now in the cheese section, so go and try them!!

Also, Mainland are giving away to one lucky blog reader, a Coles '$50 of your next grocery bill' voucher! To enter, please leave a comment below telling me which variety of the Mainland Cracker Cuts would be your favourite. I'll draw a winner next Monday morning.

(Please note that the voucher can only be used in-store and I will need to pass your details on to a Mainland representative in order for them to arrange to send out your voucher to you.)

at my house

 

I'm cheating as these pics are actually from yesterday afternoon but today is much the same. We have had rain here since yesterday so our days are basically making fun indoors. We've been watching a bit of Ice Age 3, playing with play dough, playing on ride on cars, singing and dancing.......and then in some moments when mummy isn't looking, getting a little artistic with the laundry marker! You can't see it very well but Josh drew it all over his legs as well as his face. He also did a spot of list making on the window sill. Not sure what the list is for but it sounded very interesting!!

To join in with 'At my house' visit Buttons By Lou Lou.

I'll be back a little later with a fun giveaway.....one I'm sure everyone will want to participate in!
 

Blog Design by Nudge Media Design | Powered by Blogger