mum/toddler/babe

are you the winner of the bunnings voucher?

2012-01-30T14:24:00.001+11:00

Congratulations to commenter #12 melissa! You are the winner of the $150 Bunnings voucher courtesy of Turf Australia!

Am sure it will be put to good use to help get your yard back to how it was before the flood damage. Please let us know how you go with restoring it all. Shoot me through an email with your address and I will have the voucher sent out to you soon.

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first day of preschool

2012-01-30T12:21:00.001+11:00

So here she is. My baby girl. Now the big sister. I've dropped her off for her first day at preschool. I'm not much of a teary mama with milestones like these. And actually I still haven't cried, I just feel sadder than I thought I would be today. For so long I've been looking forward to this year when I would have Josh at school, Zoe at preschool and a few days of breathing space with just the baby. But as much as I've been looking forward to it, there is lots of sadness as well. She's not my baby anymore, she's grown up enough to be going to preschool finally - a little bit more independence and a little further out in the world on her own. It always seemed such a long way off but we are here already. I'm sure I will feel the same way about Josh when I drop him off at big school on Wednesday.

Even though I have had days of just being at home along with Ben already thanks to my mum, today feels a bit different. The silence is more obvious somehow, since it's the first time Zoe has been left with anyone but family. She is totally fine. I stayed with her a little to get her bearings and put her bag and lunch away. But she is familiar with the preschool already since her big brother lead the way for her. Finally I said to her 'are you ready for mummy to go now?' and without hesitation she said 'goodbye mum'. I feel sad without my little miss, but I'm sure she's having a great time and I'll be used to it in no time.

Love you baby girl. xx

lazy day

2012-01-27T12:59:00.000+11:00

It's just me and the boys hanging out today. Miss Zoe is out with her grandma. Josh is being pretty good today and we are having loads of fun, including trying to FaceTime daddy at work (reception was a bit ordinary). I'm still hanging out in pj's (oops), and the boys, well this is what they have been up to:

Ben has been:

+ drinking milk

+ letting out gas

+ watching Josh and smiling

+ drinking milk

+ having nappy changes

+ sleeping

+ drinking milk.

Josh has been:

+ enjoying some tv time with mum

+ enjoying chocolate frappes made by mum

+ enjoying choc chip cookies made by mum

+ watching Cars 2 on mum's laptop

+ playing lego city in the man cave downstairs built by dad

We're about to have lunch. I'm about to think about getting dressed for the day. We'll have lunch and laze about the rest of the afternoon. Must start thinking about Josh's birthday in a few weeks too. Need to do some research on where I can get Fireman Sam cake decorating goodies. Off a-ebaying I go!

'ave a good one!

2012-01-26T10:31:00.001+11:00

Hope you are having a grand day whatever you are doing.

Here, well, daddy is home (hurrah!) and it's pretty cloudy and rainy where we are, so we're just having a lazy day hanging around the house. Daddy is playing Barbie with Zoe, Ben is asleep and Josh is at his grandma's, so mummy is having a little 'me' time for now. Feeling a touch tired as Ben has decided to wake for an extra feed overnight for the last two nights.....*yawn*.

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it's over

2012-01-25T10:21:00.001+11:00

Yes. My hairdresser. She is pregnant and leaving very soon. She has been my hairdresser for the last two years, and is the only hairdresser I can remember having who has cut my hair perfectly, and the way I like it. I don't want to go anywhere else. I've never really been a person who has bothered about who my hairdresser is, but since finding her.....well, she is a gem! She even knows the right balance of being chatty and leaving you to read your mag in peace. How do you find the perfect hairdresser again?

I'm going to make sure I book in for a cut before she is off, and then maybe as we chat I will find out her plans. Maybe I can convince her to cut my hair while she is on leave? Do hairdressers sneakily do that, or even want to? Maybe I will just have to grow my hair until she is back? Will she ever come back?

What have you done when your hairdresser has walked out on you?

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you know you are sleep deprived when.....

2012-01-25T08:56:00.000+11:00

you nearly pour the coffee over the dummy to rinse it, instead of the boiled water from the kettle.....

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get your grass greener

2012-01-23T15:45:00.000+11:00

Lawn. Grass. Turf. This is the most I will probably ever talk about the stuff! It's not really my thing. The garden is my husband's domain. We have plenty of grass, and my husband is obsessed with getting it looking good. We have had a few bad patches here and there and he is always trying to fix the problem spots and loves to talk turf. Turf Australia recently offered to provide us with a lawn consultation and hubby needed no convincing on this one.

Most people don't really pay much attention to their good, old grass. It's under our feet in most of our backyards, covering a massive area, and yet we tend not to give it a second thought or really understand how best to look after it. A lovely man from Millers Turf in Sydney was sent out to us to check out our lawn, tell us how it looked, give us tips on how to best care for it and offer advice on how to fix problems or go about making any changes, as well as answer any questions. We learnt about the different types of turf and the different conditions they are best for. Our backyard is always in part sun and part shade and you could really tell this by how the grass was growing. You can see in the pic below.

Lots of questions were answered and hubby is keen to try the Sir Walter turf (which was the turf most recommended for our yard, and in fact most yards) out in a section of our yard to see how it takes. We may then slowly re-turf our yard with it.

It was certainly worth having Millers Turf come out to our place. Hubby was given a fair bit of reassurance that some of the care strategies he was employing were good, including how he was fertilising and watering the lawn. It was interesting to hear about the different types of turf and how they respond in different conditions and also how fast they grow which translates to how much mowing it will need!! Very important information for the mowers out there.

If you want to learn more about turf, head over to Turf Australia. There is information there about the different types of turf, care tips and there is a directory of professionals in your local area who can help you out like Millers Turf did for us.

And for mum/toddler/babe readers, Turf Australia are giving you the opportunity to win a $150 Bunnings voucher to put towards looking after your turf. All you need to do is leave a comment below telling me a little about the lawn at your place. Does it get lots of sun? Do you mow it or does hubby? What are the main activities that you do on your lawn? You can tell me anything you like!

Entries will close on Sunday 29 January at 11pm EST. I will announce a winner on Monday 30 January.

things I'm going to do this year

2012-01-20T22:13:00.001+11:00

I was hanging out with Zoe and Ben this afternoon, enjoying the last light of the day. I suddenly remembered the days from when we first moved here, when I used to hang with Josh while Zoe slept, and how nice those times were, and I was usually armed with the camera, trying to capture our moments together. There were some great photos from that time. I did this a little less with Zoe, and then came the iPhone. I realised all the photos I have been taking were on my phone. So this afternoon, I grabbed my DSLR camera and made the most of the afternoon light, and took some snaps of my two littlest people, and just enjoyed 'being'. It was lovely.

I really enjoyed today and vowed that I want to get back to time I remembered. Enjoying life a little more. Doing the things I loved: being the moment with my family, not distracted by technology, blogging, taking photos, being inspired by others and that motivating me in my life. I started thinking about what I want to try and accomplish this year. So here's my list of what I'd like to achieve:

+ visit thrift shops
+ frame and hang artwork around our house
+ de-clutter our house
+ make my house more homely creatively
+ enjoy my little family more while I'm not working
+ take more photos with my DSLR and stop relying on Instagram
+ enjoy and spend more time in our backyard
+ lose weight
+ have a family session with tim coulson
+ get organised with structures and routines now I have 3 little people to look after
+ sort out what I want to do career-wise once I finish raising the little people into school and work towards it - I'm close to finalising what that might be!
+ bake a little bit more.

Do you have a list like this? Please share if you do!

a few of my favourite things

2012-01-20T14:04:00.000+11:00

Yay, it's the end of the week! I've crossed a lot of my list of things to do this week - book eye doctor for Josh, book dentist appointments for two big kids, immunisations all up to date, full school uniform purchased for Josh, school labels arrived, bills being paid......phew. There is still lots to do but one by one, all is being done.

I'm also loving being on leave from work! It's such a relief not having the burden of it in the back of my mind, and it means I can solely focus on looking after my little family and our household. For the first time in a long time I have had time to sit down and read a book. Such a luxury for me! It also means I have had time to do one of my old favourite things to do - browse through Etsy and book mark all my favourite things. So I thought on Fridays I would start doing a post of a few of my favourites from Etsy. Here is my first lot for you to enjoy!

Season's delights I, II and III -limited edition print @ tsktsk

Childrens Art Print Poster, 11x14 Print, Here Comes The Sun @ pumpkinandbutterfly

be awesome today - cross stitch embroidery wall hanging gift @ RugglesMade

The Change - Large abstract art print - 19x36 - Open Edition @ AeropagitaPrints

Red LOVE Pillow @ HoneyPieDesign

There you have it! I might have to start saving for a few of those. Do you have some favourites bookmarked too? If you have a favourites blog post you'd like to share, please comment with your link below, I'd love to see! (Is it worth making the favourite things thing a linky type thing each week?Wow, that was a tongue twister!)

PS. I've just started a Facebook page. Please follow along if you would like. I promise it won't be boring.......much! And there's no danger of me posting too much either and clogging up your feed! Master Ben, 10 weeks, will be sure of that!

PPS. Just a heads up there will be a fab giveaway next that you won't want to miss!! Make sure you come by again.

wordless wednesday*

2012-01-17T23:06:00.000+11:00

I loved catching this moment the other evening. Josh playing the Wii by himself, or so I thought. Blue Ted kept him company for a while.

Getting in early for Wordless Wednesday over here.

*or with a few words as the case may be

movie time

2012-01-17T11:46:00.000+11:00

Thankfully the school holidays are coming to an end, as I'm slowly running out of ways to entertain the kids. Thankfully, last week, Sony invited the kids and I to a private screening of the movie Zookeeper to celebrate its launch on DVD and Bluray. It was the first major outing I have tried to do since Ben was born. It takes a long time to get everyone ready in the mornings, but we did it and it was worth it! The kids had a great time before the movie doing some colouring in activities and getting their faces painted, as well as overdosing on lollies and other party food. We also had the pleasure of catching up with the ladies behind Woogsworld, Good Googs, Tina Gray {dot} me, and My Little Drummer Boys.

Then it was movie time! The movie is basically about the love life of zoo caretaker Griffin who is trying to snag the girl of his dreams. When he threatens to leave the zoo and get a different job to win her over, the zoo animals help him out with some animal style courtship tips. The movie has a PG rating and overall was ok visually for my kids to watch, but the story line and concepts I think are more aimed at older children and young adults rather than young children. Josh enjoyed it more than Zoe, who has the attention span of a gnat, so we didn't last the whole movie and had to head home early where I then got to watch the rest of it on DVD.

Here's Zoe with her painted face - butterflies, hearts and flowers of course!

And here's Josh, with his face painted with a green giraffe!

It's an entertaining and funny movie, worth a watch these school holidays if you get the chance! The DVD and Blu-ray both have extra special features as well, including some blooper reels. Who doesn't love a blooper reel? I love watching those!

putting some loving in the kitchen

2012-01-16T09:45:00.000+11:00

These loooooovely little red love heart Salvation Jane tea towels will be making their way to my kitchen very soon. Just in time for Valentines Day perhaps? Speaking of which, does Valentines Day rate as much of a day in your world? I've always found it a bit 'meh'. Never been interested in it. Just think it's one of those days that is designed to put the pressure on and make you feel like you are missing something, when there really is nothing to be missed at all....did that even make sense?

Anyway, since 2007, I've been even less interested in Valentines Day, because my first born was born the day before, on the 13 February. So now all my focus goes to my boy at that time of the year, the best possible Valentines Day gift there could ever be really!

What do you think about Valentines Day?

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weekend time is family time

2012-01-16T08:51:00.000+11:00

Grandpa came over on the weekend and the kids jumped all around him while he was cuddling little Ben. It quickly turned into photo time! I so love this. We didn't even need to set it up. It was a moment that created itself and hubby and I just jumped in quick to take a snap. Ben is one very loved little 8 week old that's for sure.

point + shoot

meal planning monday

2012-01-15T22:05:00.000+11:00

So in an effort to get healthier, and finally shift some of this baby weight for good now that our family is complete, I've decided to try and meal plan a little, because if I don't organise what I'm going to eat in advance and have the food already in the fridge and pantry, I will be more likely to eat rubbish! I'm also breastfeeding at the moment, so really want to make the most of that situation too. After I had Zoe, I did Weight Watchers for a little while, and I found it so much easier to lose weight while I was breastfeeding than normal. '

I'm planning on using some of the scrummy meals I learned during Michelle Bridges' 12 week body transformation program that I did some time ago. I had lots of success with that program at the time and found it the best 'diet' I had tried. It really teaches you how to be healthy, mind, body and soul. All the meals are pretty easy to cook or prepare and I can easily adjust the calorie intake to more in snacks or meals as needed (for breastfeeding situation). The other great thing is that there is a treat meal each week, so I don't feel like I have to miss out on my favourite foods permanently. If there is something I'm desparate to eat, I still can, I just have to plan for it within my calorie allowance for the week. Best of all, it's the sort of food that the family can eat with me too.

So I'm armed with my new kikki-k meal planning notepad, plus receipes and meals from the 12WBT and I'm going to create my first week....with me luck.

Do you meal plan? Is it easy to stick to? Does it help with the shopping and keeping to a budget?

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fashion sos

2012-01-12T14:12:00.000+11:00

Ok fashionistas! I need your help. In a few weeks time, I'm going to be one of those school mums who race around morning and afternoon dropping off and picking up kids. Now thing is, every morning I will have a newborn plus two little peeps to help get ready, leaving me probably about a fraction of a second to get myself ready for the school run. Now while it would be lovely to do the school run in my pj's and bed hair, I'm not sure my kids would appreciate it too much, and I probably wouldn't be giving Josh much of a flying start in making new friends at big school. Plus, we can't all be as naturally stylish as Zoe (see above).

So I need some fashion help from the school drop off fashion experts out there. What do school mums wear? Normally this wouldn't be such a big deal for me either, only I'm yet to shift this baby weight too, so I'm not at the point of feeling confident with just throwing something on and walking out the door. Getting dressed in the mornings is rather stressful, as I don't fit into much and I'm desparately trying to hide everything around my middle.....

So, how can I look half good when I only have half a second to get ready every day? I need some trusty outfits that look good without the effort (and without the smell and sight of possited milk on my shoulder). I'm thinking jeans/tops etc might be a good option? What do you wear everyday? Any tips you can share with me?

a happy childhood is a uno-filled childhood

2012-01-09T22:24:00.000+11:00

We introduced Josh to a childhood classic game last weekend - UNO. And he LOVED it. So awesome seeing your little person learning to enjoy things that you loved as a child, especially the bit where he got a thrill out of making his dad skip a turn or pick up 4 cards!

The day of school starting for Josh is getting closer and closer now. Still not sure how I feel about it. I think more than anything, I'm excited for him, and interested to see how he adjusts to it all. Zoe will be starting at preschool too, and I'm totally not worried about her at all. She can't wait to go and I'm not expecting any tears from her the first morning I drop her off. I think she'll be shooing me away at the door I'm afraid....

that christmas present just paid for itself!

2012-01-09T15:02:00.000+11:00

Zoe shows great interest in copying me with cleaning duties around the house. You should have seen the clothes line this morning. I had to attend to Mr 4.5 in the midst of hanging clothes this morning and I came back to more clothes hanging (albeit very wonkily!) on the line. Impressive!!

So we bought Zo Zo, the ambitious 3 year old, a mini cleaning set for Christmas - mop, broom and dustpan and brush. Here is the girl herself putting the set to good use cleaning the crumbs up from breakfast. Now I could get used to this.....

hello, goodbye

2012-01-08T22:07:00.001+11:00

Memories last forever, never do they die,

Friends stick together and never really say Goodbye
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

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peonies

2012-01-07T23:10:00.000+11:00

Peonies. My most favourite flower ever. These sat atop our tv unit for about a week.

And since they are only available for a short window each year, here they are for me to enjoy just that little bit longer.

week 1 - #janphotoaday challenge roundup

2012-01-07T15:44:00.002+11:00

Have you been doing the fat mum slim January photo a day challenge? I have. It's not too late to join in if you are inspired!

Here are the photos from my first week.

Day 1 | You | Photo taken by Josh, 4 years old

Day 2 | Breakfast | Coffee and a sick daughter's abandoned toast

Day 3 | Something I adore | The view and peacefulness of our backyard

Day 4 | Letterbox

Day 5 | Something I wore | new Country Road thongs arrived

Day 6 | makes you smile | the squeals from the back seat of the car when we drive up our street and see this purple hot rod

Day 7 | favourite | coffee & chocolate

that four letter word ..... LEGO

2012-01-04T22:59:00.001+11:00

I'm not sure how or when it started but Josh some time this year became OBSESSED with Lego. So obssessed that he got wind of the Lego website from his dad and would wake every morning and look at all the different sets you could get, watch the little video ad for them (which he memorised, I love hearing him muttering "each set sold separately"!) and made a list of all the ones he wanted. It finally got narrowed down to a few that we said some he could save pocket money for, and others he could get as Christmas presents. His favourite Lego was mostly Lego City police sets, but he has now branched out to Ninjago and Hero Factory Lego too. For Christmas he was lucky enough to get the Lego City Police Station (I got the last one on sale at Target!) and the Lego City Police Boat. These were added to his growing collection of the rest of the Lego City Police vehicles and figures. I think we worked out today that he now has all the sets in that Police category! Outrageous....

So now we have the problem of storage. Our house is not huge. We don't have a separate play area, nor are the kids bedrooms very big. At the moment Lego lives in just about every nook and cranny around here. On the top bunk in Josh's room, in several containers, lounge room coffee table. I set up a little table and chairs in his room to house the police station (see above) so it would be a good place to play with it too. Inevitably though, the sets get broken up and we end up with bits of the stuff everywhere. My latest threat is that if there is any on the floor that doesn't get picked up, it's getting sucked up by the vacuum cleaner (which lucky for him is not happening too often at the moment with my time taken up with a newborn!). I don't know where to start with organising how to store the stuff. When I was little, it all just went in the one big tub. But I didn't have a lot of 'sets', mainly just bricks and my imagination. Josh has lots of sets. We keep the instructions, so do I store each set in a ziploc bag with its instructions? Or do we just throw it all in one big tub and refer to the instructions when we want to rebuild? Or do we organise and store pieces by size and colour? What do you do with your Lego (besides moan and curse when you step on the damn pieces on the floor!)? I need some help with this from all the Lego experts out there!

happy new year 2012!!

2011-12-31T08:32:00.007+11:00

Phew.

This year has been a challenging one.....one where I have been pregnant, in hospital, tired and unwell for most of it unfortunately. In years gone, I have wanted to focus on ME for the new year, but I have to say, in 2012, I want to focus on FAMILY. With baby #1 starting big school and baby #2 starting preschool, all the focus will be on them and helping them settle in with the big changes ahead. I'm looking forward to having two days to spend just with baby Ben, and having time off work. This year I was really juggling too many balls with parenting and trying to work at the same time and it just wasn't working. So not having work in the equation finally is such a relief. I feel unburdened and free to focus on my children which is a lovely feeling indeed.

So, tomorrow I should be able to have myself a glass of bubbly to welcome the new year in! Hurrah! Otherwise, my new years plans are pretty bleak. I'm so tired at the moment that even the thought of socialising or doing anything that requires taking the children anywhere or even entertaining them leaves me feeling exhausted! Wish it wasn't so, but is to be expected I guess for only 6 weeks post bubba. And the bubbly plus the tired mama will probably mean I will be passed out by 8.30!

I hope your plans are much better than mine and that you welcome the new year in with much joy and with renewed vigour for the coming months!

Happy New Year! Here's to a fab 2012.

PS. One thing I do plan on getting involved in is fat mum slim's photo a day challenge. Read all about it here, and check out the challenge below. Let me know if you'll be joining in too!

sleep is for the weak or something like that...

2011-12-30T11:36:00.002+11:00

There was never a child so lovely but his mother was glad to get him to sleep.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

I wish there had been a little more of this last night. Someone decided to stop doing longer blocks of sleep overnight and did lovely three-hour stints last night. So, anyway, I'm rather ridiculously and stupidly tired today. Sleep deprivation sucks. Especially when you can't 'slee when the baby sleeps'. Yeah, that kind of only works with the first baby.....bit tricky with a four and three year old in the mix! Hallelujiah for my mum again though who has taken the older two to the park this morning to give me a little time to rest (ie. blog). I've just fed the little cherub (doesn't he look so innocent when sleeping!) and put him down, hoping he will settle and then I can make that second cup of coffee to drink while dunking my choc chip cookies, and then a doze on the lounge is in order!

Here's to a better night's sleep tonight!

wall candy

2011-12-29T12:38:00.006+11:00

I've done a spot of shopping recently. It feels like forever since I have gone shopping for pleasure instead of for specific purpose. It felt good!

One of my little goals this year is to finally put up some art/pictures/photos on our walls. We have put off this job for the last two years. We have things already framed and ready to go but I wanted to add a few pieces to the collection as well.

This first set of prints I bought from here. My plan is to hang them together in a row above a set of drawers on one side of the kitchen.

This next print I found on a blog somewhere recently (can't for the life of me remember where!) and loved it. Kind of sums up our life! I'm not sure where to put this one yet, but I had to have it. It was purchased from here.

And lastly, I bought this bus roll style print, that I am imagining at the end of our hallway, visible as you walk in the front door. I love the concept of this, and love that I can have something to refer the kids to if need be! Purchased here.

Think I now need to go get shares in Ikea and 3M Command!

this beautiful little boy

2011-12-28T17:33:00.000+11:00

This beautiful little boy is the baby that has completed our family. I wish I could hold onto this moment forever. He will never be this little again. But he will always be my baby.

finding my feet

2011-12-28T14:32:00.000+11:00

Hey, I'm actually all showered and out of my pj's today. At the moment, that is a major accomplishment! I'm still finding my feet with adjusting to life with three little babes to look after. My hubby is around this week and next so that has been a huge help. And tomorrow I will get the doc's all clear to finally drive again post csection which will be a big weight lifted, and I won't feel so trapped here at home. In a way, I'm kind of looking forward to the start of the school year already. For a person who doesn't normally like strict routine, I really need it in order to get organised and to feel like I'm in a good groove with life. And I need to be organised this year! One starting school, one starting preschool, and a small baby.

This month is going to be a super busy one too in the lead up to start of school year. I've got doctor's appointments to make for catch up immunisations and baby's first lot, dentist and eye appointments for Josh before starting school, school uniform and shoe shopping to do, as well as a few holiday entertainment activities too.

I'm so torn about Josh starting school. Part of me can't wait because he is just such hard work at the moment, and the other part can wait as I know I will miss his little face around here everyday.....

If you've had little ones start school, how did you go with the adjustment? Any tips you can share?

In the meantime, I need to keep finding my feet here in this new little family of ours. Finding it harder than I thought.

Have yourself a merry little christmas

2011-12-22T14:55:00.001+11:00

A Social Network Christmas from Igniter Media on Vimeo.

Just wanted to share this little clip that I found via The Bonjour Family. Thought it was clever!

If I don't get a chance to pop on here again in the next few days (I actually hope I do!) merry christmas to anybody reading. Have a wonderful festive season and may the new year bring more happiness to you and your family. xx

the tree is up!

2011-12-20T14:02:00.000+11:00

Well, we didn't manage getting the tree up a week ago, but we found the time on Saturday afternoon this weekend. Wasn't quite the happy family moment I was planning on. There were lots of tears and tantrums and time outs going on, but we got there in the end, and I'm glad we did. I wasn't really feeling too Christmassy to be honest. I'm so super tired at the moment with a newborn and the older terrible two that I just don't have the energy at the moment to be too happy. I feel wiped out most of the time.

I managed to get the kids Christmas presents all wrapped too, and placed under the tree with their stockings. I must say I'm impressed so far at their will power and the fact that no little fingers have managed to accidently on purpose open any presents. It was very cute watching Josh check all the tags and see who all the presents were for. It's the first year he's been able to do that. On finding the largest present under the tree, he yelled, "I've got the biggest present EVER!" Yes, indeed he does! It's the LEGO City Police Station that he has been begging for for so long. Can't wait to see his face when he opens it!

Excuse the dodgy photo above - taken in low light on iPhone. Here are a few more pics of the rest of our Christmas decorations:

Merry Christmas!

yes, it's true

2011-12-20T13:39:00.000+11:00

maybe even a little more than sometimes....

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get my christmas on

2011-12-11T12:06:00.000+11:00

As much as I'm still in recovery mode after babe and feeling absolutely utterly exhausted, there is a part of me that desperately wants to get my Christmas on and get the tree up and decorate for the older kids. I want somewhere to put the wrapped presents under, and somewhere to gather on Christmas morning with my family, and somewhere for my kids to look with wonder and to remember the real wonder of Christmas as we celebrate the birth of Jesus.

Today, with hubby's help, I'm going to see if we can make it happen. Let's just hope the wee one sleeps well today so we can get it done. Will share pics this week if there is success!

PS. Don't forget today is the last day to enter this giveaway!

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the cutest bedlinen ever

2011-12-09T14:55:00.000+11:00

Just spotted this matching pair of pillowcases. Cutest thing I've seen in a while!

Found at castle where you can see more of their colourful linen and homewares.

big school time.....sniff sniff

2011-12-07T14:22:00.000+11:00

See this little baby of mine? How did that baby get to be nearly 5? And when did he get to be nearly ready to go to school?

Josh is super excited about going to school next year (even though he probably doesn't know what's going to hit him!!). He saw me with his school uniform purchase and asked if he could try it on. So here is the obligatory school uniform photo that most 4/5 year olds have! He is wearing his school hat with the sports shirt and uniform shorts - a bit of a mixup of the sports and normal uniform, but his uniform nevertheless!

I just love the smile on his face too. He doesn't hand out the 'nice' smile too easily these day (normally we get a sillier version when we ask him for a photo) but he was so chuffed to be wearing his uniform you couldn't wipe the smile off his face.

I'm so proud of Josh and how far he has come, especially in his two years at preschool. He is such a delightful and bright little man, with an awesome imagination and mind. I can't wait to see him flourish and grow more as he starts his schooling life. I know it will have its ups and downs too but I can't wait to see the man that this precious little boy will become. Love you lots Josh. xx

christmas lights spectacular

2011-12-07T11:10:00.000+11:00

Do you do Christmas lights at your house? I've never really been into decorating our place with lights out the front. Mainly because it's a big enough job to get the Christmas tree and lights up inside the house, let alone have time for the outside. I do like the idea of it, but it would also mean hubby would have to set it all up and I don't like the idea of the extra electricity expense either! There are a few houses around us that like to get into the Christmas spirit with lights on their houses. Maybe one day we will join in.

The Hunter Valley Gardens also do their own Christmas Lights event - the Christmas Lights Spectacular! It's in its fifth year of running and t looks amazing!! Our family was invited to the Hunter Valley Gardens earlier this year to visit, in particular, their Storybook Gardens which the kids loved. We were recently invited back for the Christmas Lights event, however given the recent arrival of our third little babe and my illness, it is doubtful now that we will be able to get there. Instead, one lovely reader will benefit by being able to win a family pass to this event!

The HVG Christmas Lights Spectacular runs until the 14 January and includes lights and music displays, entertainment for the whole family, food and beverage stalls, Santa visits and photos, amusement rides, and a nativity scene. For all the details, read this page and have a little look at the video above for a sneek peek at what to expect.

I have one family pass (2 adults & 2 children 4-15yrs) to give away, valued at $52. Children under 3 years and under can enter for free. To win this pass, just leave me a comment below telling me your favourite childhood memory of Christmas. I will announce a winner on Monday 12 December and have the pass posted out to you ASAP so you can start planning your trip! You can even go on New Years Eve and see a fantastic fireworks display!

Good luck and I look forward to reading about all your memories!

welcome to the world.....

2011-12-06T13:48:00.001+11:00

Our littlest man arrived on the 14 November. This is little Benjamin Jesse. Well, he wasn't so little really. He was 3.94kg but he is still little to me.

His arrival and our week in hospital went smoothly. Josh and Zoe adore him as does his daddy and I.

Unfortunately within two days of us arriving home, I was struck down with a mild case of pneumonia and have had a rough few weeks recovering from that as well as the csection all while caring for this beautiful little newborn. Fortunately, we have had loads of friends pitching in with meals for us and my mum has tirelessly been helping out each day with laundry, keeping my house tidy and entertaining Josh and Zoe. I'm still not out of the woods yet, but am hoping by Christmas to be back to my jolly self!

Ben has been coping very well amidst the drama around here. This mama just wishes she had more time to sleep! But of course I knew that was coming.

we have a winner

2011-11-04T10:13:00.000+11:00

Just popping in to let you know the winner of the lunch hamper giveaway from Vita Wheats and Soup.

Blythe, you are the lucky lady! Please email me with your postal address and I will arrange to have the hamper posted out to you soon. Congratulations!!

And now, I'm afraid I have to crawl back into my work hole and get the last big lot of my work done before I can go on maternity leave. I can't wait......

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what's on your plate?

2011-11-03T14:00:00.000+11:00

It's time for lunch again here. Most of the time I have to force myself to stop and eat. This baby is taking up so much space in my belly now that I can hardly fit anything and mostly don't feel like eating. And then of course when I do, I usually get some lovely reflux with it.

Anyway, it's back to my old favourite here at the moment. Vita Wheat crackers with cottage cheese, tomato slices and a little salt. Today I'm trying the Soy & Linseed variety. It's yum!

After lunch, it will be back to the grind with work. I'm madly trying to finish up accounts work and recording procedures for the person that will take over from me. Today I'm a little stressed with it all. I can't wait to finally put up my feet and just have my family to worry about instead of the added stress of work always at the back of my mind.

I have a bit over a week to go. Starting to feel like I'm running out of days to get things done before this little man arrives but I'm sure I will get there!

Don't forget to head over to this post and enter the lunch hamper giveaway! I will be picking the winner tomorrow, so don't miss out on your chance to win.

And if you like a bargain, keep an eye out on the Lovely Little Parties facebook page in the next day or two. I'm cooking up a treat for everybody, so I can run down my stock a little before I close the store for a few weeks while we welcome bub number three! Then I can reopen with some lovely new stock soon!

what's for lunch?

2011-10-28T11:22:00.001+11:00

Here's what I've been having for lunch at my house!

I've been testing out the new Vita Wheat Lunch Slices thanks to Soup, and I have to say they are YUM! I always struggle to come up with quick and easy lunch options. I'm usually really hungry by that time, but don't have the energy to put together anything that will take too long to make so these are just perfect. I just pop a few out of the pack, put on my favourite topping (at the moment it's cottage cheese, tomato slices and a bit of salt!) and munch away!

There are a few different varieties of the lunch slices, including lots of grains and seeds, lovely and healthy! Each pack also has two lots of the slices packed and sealed, so once you use one pack (which doesn't take long!) the other stays nice and fresh for the next lunch time.

Soup don't want just me to try the Vita Wheat Lunch Slices. They have put together a lovely hamper for one of my readers to enjoy too. All you have to do is share with me in a comment below what your favourite topping would be on a lunch slice? I'll pick a winner at the end of next week (4 November) and the lovely people at Soup will send out your hamper which includes the Vita Wheat Lunch Slices and a variety of toppings for you to try on them!

Good luck, and get commenting!

the little runaway

2011-10-28T11:01:00.000+11:00

So this little cheeky-faced, Lego obssessed and 'mummy's boy' man decided to 'run away' from home this week! He's only 4 and a half!! On Sunday, as we were driving to my mum's house for lunch as we often do, he thought he might like to have a sleep over at his grandmother's house. I told him that it was fine with me but he needed to ask her first. So he did, and it was fine, and so he stayed the night. This was relief to me, as now at 36 weeks, the whole dinner to bedtime chunk of the day not only does my head in but is super exhausting for this mama. Putting only Zoe to bed is far easier.

However, the next day he told my mum that he wanted to stay away for three days. He was very clear about this. My poor mum was fine with this too, so I took it as a chance to get lots more things done around our house that I have been meaning to, especially with a newborn babe due to arrive soon. It's impossible for me to get any major chores done around here at the moment when my two cherubs are around. So I enjoyed the three days where it was just me and my girl, and we got HEAPS done together.

I just found it quite funny that my little 'mummy's boy' was so determined to stay away from home "for 3 days"! He either doesn't want to stay there or only will stay for a night, but this time......I was surprised but enjoyed while I could. It made me miss him a lot, so there were lots of cuddles when he finally did come back home. Sometimes time apart is just the ticket!

three years old

2011-10-17T10:06:00.000+11:00

It's hard to believe that this little girl was my little wee baby when I started this blog. She is now three years old and all grown up and off to preschool next year. Feels like only yesterday I was sending Josh off to preschool, but he will be off to primary school next year.

Time has been flying and now there is another wee one soon to arrive. I'm sure I will blink only a few times and I will back here saying how grown up my littlest man is.

Happy third birthday beautiful girl. xx

so here i am....35 weeks

2011-10-16T22:14:00.000+11:00

Yes that's my big pregnant belly there. How did I get to 35 weeks so quickly? Here I thought this blog would be a great place to document some of this pregnancy at least, and I've just been so busy that by the time I have 'me' time I'm just too tired or emotionally drained to express anything at all. Trashy tv has been my friend instead.

I think I've definitely reached the very uncomfortable/tired stage. Just walking to the laundry to put a load on and back leaves me breathless and sore. It doesn't matter what time I go to sleep, I'm always interupted by loo stops through the night, so most of the time I'm tired by 9am in the morning already. My children, especially Josh, desperately want me to play games with them, and I just don't have the energy to participate, not to mention the pain I am usually in five minutes in.

Only another 4 weeks at most, and our new little man will be here. And I can start the road to recovery and healing this body of mine. We think we finally have a name for him too, so that's one major thing sorted, though I still have lots I need to get done before he arrives.

This week, I'll try and share with you all about some yummy lunch time snacks we have been enjoying thanks to the team at Soup! There is even a great prize for you all to win in a great giveaway, so stay tuned!

R U OK?

2011-09-15T14:14:00.000+10:00

Many of you will know it's R U OK day today.

My husband's company is getting behind the cause. Watch this video to learn more! And don't forget to look out for a friend today.

Toowards and R U OK? Day from Toowards Media on Vimeo.

happy fathers day

2011-09-01T13:57:00.000+10:00

Josh has always been a bit of a mummy's boy, but the older he is getting, the more he is just wanting to spend time with his daddy. He is already a little mini-dad, copying all my husband's mannerisms and quirks and funny one-liners. I think this Father's Day will be one of the most special ones yet for this household's daddy.

The picture above is from a day he was 'helping' out dad in the garage. He found hubby's cricket bag and so the fun began. I'm sure the fun times for these two will NEVER end, especially with another little son/brother joining their team later this year.

This year, Fathers Day for us will mean the daddy in the household will get early morning cuddles and a little present from his kids, off to our church where our daddy will man a bbq cooking breakfast for a whole bunch of other daddy's and then a relaxing lunch at our house to further celebrate.

Happy Father's Day, S! with love from your little cricketer and us girls. xx

so grateful for my mum

2011-08-31T15:33:00.000+10:00

I can't tell you how grateful I am for my mum. Words just wouldn't be able to cover it. When I am having 'one of those days' she is always there ready to rescue me should I need it. I'm fortunate to say that we are the best of friends too. We enjoy one another's company and I don't often go a day without talking to my mum.

J & Z both love her dearly too. There is nothing I love more than seeing them all snuggled up on the lounge together reading books. It warms my little heart. My body is tired and aching most of the time at the moment, being 28 weeks pregnant now, and the energy and breath of fresh air my mum is for my kids is truly appreciated.

My favourite thing this week: hearing Zoe look up at my mum who she was snuggling with, and saying 'love me yiayiaka*'. Her way of saying, give me cuddles and kisses.....<3

* Greek for 'nanny/grandma'

spring time smells

2011-08-31T09:45:00.000+10:00

playing along with wordless wednesday at Faith Hope & a whole lotta Love

my little photographer {review}

2011-08-29T21:39:00.000+10:00

Some time ago, Fisher Price sent my kids the Kid Tough Digital Camera to play with and review. Josh, particularly was super duper excited because he is always trying to take photos with our good camera or with my iPhone so this was perfect. A camera just for the kids! It really is quite tough with lots of rubber panels on it, in case of being dropped. And it definately gets a work out here!

Other things we loved about it:

* It's super easy to use, and very intuitive even for kids

* It has it's own little display screen on the back so kids can see immediately the results of their artistry! What kid these days doesn't want to see the picture instantly?

* It holds LOADS of photos, up to about 1000 photos. Yes, you will probably get lots of photos of darkness, or nothingness, like we did (LOL!) but there were also plenty of cute ones too.

* It connects easily to computer via USB so you can transfer the photos over quickly and view them.

* While the quality isn't as good as a grown ups camera, it's definitely still pretty good by kid standards!

* Price is about $60rrp which I think is pretty good given how close this camera is to the real thing for kids and not so toy like at all.

Things not so great:

* There really weren't many down sides, except that it does require 4 x AAA batteries, and even though the camera has an auto shut down feature, I found we still ran down the batteries pretty quickly, and it doesn't recommend using with rechargeable batteries for some reason.

Above is a small selection of photos the kids took with the camera, including a charming one of their mother poking her tongue out. Josh was constantly on the move with the camera and didn't have the steadiest hand, so a lot of his photos were a little blurred. We might have to work on that!!

a few of my favourite things

2011-08-24T09:33:00.000+10:00

.....finding random photos on my iphone from my four year old photographer.....too cute!

a trip down memory lane

2011-08-23T11:20:00.000+10:00

Well, I'm kind of back.....

I've been thinking about leaving this blogging caper. Pregnancy and life with all its busyness of late have left me with very little 'me' time, and what time I have had to myself, I've preferred to just curl up on the lounge once the kids are in bed for the night and watch trashy tv.

While I was thinking about it all one night (and hubby had probably hijacked the tv watching the cricket!) I found myself at the computer, on my blog page, reading my blog from the very start, right through until very recently. Wow it took a long time, but it was actually quite lovely reading it from a distance to when it was all originally written. I had forgotten all the beautiful messages I had written about my kids, beautiful memories recorded forever, inspirations and longings. It gave me a greater appreciation of what I had started here and what I now know I want to continue. It made me appreciate the readers I had more, when at the time I think I was too consumed with comparing myself to others and still feeling like a little lowly blog, even though I've never wanted to be a big amazing blog anyway. At the heart, I've always wanted to continue blogging, but I have been so sapped of' 'me-ness' lately that I haven't felt like I have anything to give, and didn't have the confidence that I really had anything much to say anyway.

So I wanted to put it out there, that sometimes a big break might be just the thing you need from a project/hobby/task, etc. A chance to look at something with a bit of distance in between so you can really appreciate things for what they are, instead of being blurred by being in that moment.

I love the keepsake this blog is for me. And I'd like it to keep growing with me for longer. I hope you will stick around too, whoever is still reading. xx

today is awesome

2011-08-21T20:14:00.001+10:00

Found this little print on my Etsy trails. I think it will be fitting for my life. A bit of a mantra I should take on. Especially with baby number three not too far away now......

Do you have a little mantra you swear by daily? Something that gets you through the day? Please share, it might just inspire me more!

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and the Doodle Bear goes to.....

2011-07-01T06:12:00.004+10:00

The winner of the cute little Doodle Bear is......i-mumma! Congratulations!!

Thanks everyone for entering the giveaway and telling me all about your lovely little artists at home. Look out for the Doodle Bear in your toy catalogues in your mailboxes. They will be part of the big Toy Sales on at this time of year.

In a little bit, I've got another review to share with you on the Fisher Price Kid-Tough Digital Camera. Josh has been having a ball with it and has taken lots of cute pics. Will share some with you soon.

I'll be back soon....my little man had some day surgery this morning :( and needs lots of cuddles. xx

it's a boy!

2011-06-29T11:32:00.000+10:00

We recently had an ultrasound and were delighted to find out we've been blessed with another little boy. Time to sort out and pass on all the girly things that Zoe has grown out of now, and to dig out all of Josh's old clothes I've kept.

I'm nearly half way through this pregnancy and now that I'm feeling more well in the second trimester and the kids are settling down more and getting along, I'm really starting to look forward to having a new little newborn to snuggle with. I think at first I just felt overwhelmed by the thought of having to juggle the three children, especially since J and Z have been challening lately, but the are in a good phase at the moment, so I'm able to see the more beautiful images of the future now than I could before.

This will be our last baby too, so I'm trying to enjoy every moment of this journey as best I can.

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review & giveaway: fisher price doodle bear

2011-06-24T18:17:00.000+10:00

Do you remember these at all? It's a Doodle Bear! To be honest I didn't know of these bears, but they were apparently around when I was little. Fisher Price gave me the opportunity to review one of these, and I was keen to give it a go as Zoe is a bit of an artiste and has often included the walls in the lounge room and bathroom as her canvases! I thought this might help get her inner creative out without ruining the house at the same time!

Sure enough, she has loved it. It's great as it comes with two markers, and the bear is completely machine washable, so your little budding artist can draw to their heart's content and once the bear has no more blank space left, you can throw it in the wash, hang it out to dry (or pop in the dryer) and they can start all over again. I must admit I was a little worried that it would encourage Zoe to draw on other toys or things, but it actually hasn't. She heads for the Doodle Bear if she wants to draw now, or the craft table of course!

Each marker is double ended, one end has a tip, the other a stamper. Ours has a heart shape on one, and a butterfly on the other. Perfect really, as these are perfectly aligned with one little girl's interests.

And the best bit about this toy.....no batteries required for once! Hours of entertainment!

There are three different Doodle Bears available. We were given Rose to review (she has a beautiful tiara!), and there is also Violet (purple) and Sky (blue).

Fisher Price have generously provided me with an extra Doodle Bear to giveaway to one reader! There is one beautiful Violet Doodle Bear up for grabs.

All you have to do to enter is leave me a comment below letting me know about a little budding artist in your life who would love this toy. The giveaway will run until midnight next Thursday 30 June and I will announce the winner on the morning of Friday 1 July!

technology fail

2011-06-23T13:50:00.000+10:00

So here I am finally.

Last week the inevitable finally happened. Our trusty computer died....I always think it won't be that much of a drama if the computer goes, and then when it does, I feel so lost. I start thinking of all the things that I may have lost forever, mainly photos. Thankfully this time, we have managed to save all our photos up to a point. It seems the drive that stored most of our old computer files, including photos from when Josh was born, was a tad corrupt and so I have lost some of those unfortunately. Some I still have as I brilliantly stored many on an online site.

Anyway, the last week has been made up of: lost opportunities to work, using my iPhone a LOT (and probably going way over my allowance there), buying a new computer, setting up new computer and transferring our files across to it, our Internet connection going bust, our phone line going bust once the Internet got going again, our phone line being restored again. All of that, while trying to live our normal lives and managing the household.

I'm still trying to navigate around this new computer and have needed to start from scratch with a few things, so I still feel a little lost, but am slowly getting there!

I'll be back in a little while with a fun post, some pictures and a lovely giveaway from the lovely Fisher Price! Make sure you stop by again soon!

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behind mummy's back

2011-06-10T11:50:00.000+10:00

This is what my two got up to behind my back the other morning. One of the perils of working from home is that I sometimes I have to duck off to the computer to read or answer emails* and I am usually surprised at just what happens when I turn my back for five minutes....

On this fine morning, the kids were finishing their breakfast, so I thought I would quickly check on work while they were occupied well. Within minutes though, one of them ran to the toy room and grabbed this write-on plate that had been gifted to Josh. I had been keeping it aside for a day when we could do it together and I could help him create something special.....well, Zoe and Josh had other ideas. They took out the markers for it and scribbled all over it. I couldn't resist taking photos it! They were having so much fun together and Zoe stated, 'craft! doing craft mummy'.

This is probably the most reasonable thing they have done together while I'm not looking......there have been worse things, but I won't talk about those!!

What do your kids do when you turn your back for a few minutes?

* I think I need to invest in a laptop that I can work from the kitchen and still keep the kids in view!

i just can't stop....

2011-05-23T10:34:00.000+10:00

I just can't stop lying in late in the mornings because I go to bed so late at night, and I do love my sleep too. It's a vicious circle. I know I need to go to bed earlier so I'm not so tired in the mornings, but I just love the night so much - the kids are asleep (mostly) and I can go about watching my favourite tv shows, packing orders/working, chatting to friends online, all on my own, without children following my every move or saying 'Muuuuu-uum!' for the 50,000th time.

I've always been a night person. Even as a child, my mum will tell you I was always up late, either reading, playing or rearranging the furniture in my bedroom - again. I think some things are just embedded in our personalities, and I'm afraid this is one of them. Occasionally, I get myself to bed early, and I do feel better the next day, but then I feel like I've missed out on a few hours of 'me' time!

The one thing I'm really not looking forward to next year, is that while it will be great Josh is starting school, it will mean getting up early and getting school bag and lunch packed and taking three children on the school run morning and afternoon. No sleep-ins. An end of an era. I'm exhausted just thinking about it! At the moment I'm fortunate that Josh is happy to do his own thing in the morning until I get up, and Zoe is still in a cot and will lie quietly and play until I get up to her too. It's a bit dangerous they are so quiet in the morning though - doesn't give me much incentive to get up! (Though having said all that, my version of 'sleeping in', is far from midday, I'm not that cruel!! My sleep-in is probably teenager's version of waking up far too early!)

So there you have it. That's my divulging done for the day. So tell me, what is your habit you can't break? What is the thing that you just can't stop doing despite really trying?

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how's your head this winter?

2011-05-20T14:08:00.000+10:00

Are you starting to feel the cold where you are this month? We are definitely feeling the cold nice and early here in Sydney! Brrrr. The heaters have been going and all the wintery blankets and clothes are coming out!

New to Zoe's wardrobe, in light of the cold, is this beautiful winter woolly too.

Well, Zoe's is pretty close to this.....hers has a flower button! Currently my mum is the only one who has a picture of Zoe with her beanie on, and I couldn't get hold of it in time to do this post! Will post a pic when I get it, if I don't get another photo sooner.

These lovely Benji beanies are handknitted with lots of love by a wonderful friend of mine who has just started her new little business, AnneCanKnit. I love the simple design of them, I love the quality and the colours of the wool Anne chooses, and the sweet little handmade buttons finishes them off beautifully. So far, Anne hasn't been able to knit fast enough to keep up with the demand, and I'm not surprised!

Please head over and have a look at AnneCanKnit. Each week of two, Anne releases a new lot of Ready To Wear items, and often a few new custom spots are available too. Anne also makes the beanies in adult sizes and has also just released a new item for women, scarves. If you buy a scarf a portion of your purchase will go towards the Red Cross NZ Earthquake appeal too. Make sure you 'like' the page to ensure you won't miss out on information about new products and custom spots.

To make it easy too, I'm popping up a button for my favourite winter woolly store over there << on the left hand side too!

And let me know if you buy yourself or your little one a beanie!! I'd love to see a pic!

hunter valley gardens

2011-05-17T14:46:00.001+10:00

Back at the beginning of April, we were fortunate enough to be invited out to the Hunter Valley Gardens for a sneak peek of their Easter activities. It had been a while since we had done anything just the four of us that was remotely different and exciting so I jumped at the chance. We were driven up in a coach, so we could just sit back and relax for the trip up there. There was a DVD shown on the way and the way back to keep the kids occupied!

It was such a fantastic day that both our kids especially enjoyed. On arrival we were driven on a little train to to a grassed area complete with morning tea and a giant bouncy castle. Lots of fun here! Then the kids got involved in an Easter Egg hunt (plastic eggs only!), and lots of games. By then we had worked up an appetite and were treated to a beautiful lunch too. Kids all got a little easter bag with easter eggs and Hunter Valley Gardens goodies which they were super impressed with.

After lunch, there was a reptile show. The host of this was really great, I learnt loads about reptiles, and everyone got to pat a few reptiles at the end if they were up for it! Josh loved that part!

We also had lots of free time in the afternoon to check out the rest of the gardens at our leisure. There are lots of different gardens and all are just stunning. I'll leave you with a few pics of our great day out. Make sure you get yourself there some time this year. It really is a great day out for the whole family. Check out their Events page for more information about special programs coming up. They even have a special Christmas family event coming up, so stay tuned for that!

Zoe on the Easter Egg Hunt

A rare mummy and Zoe photo, watching the boys do activities

Zoe in the egg and spoon race

And he's off....Josh in the egg and spoon race

Josh with the reptile man and his new best friend the croc

Zoe and Josh checking out all the figures and characters in the Storybook Gardens

The little girl that Georgie Porgie kissed and made cry. My two were a bit concerned for her!

One of the many beautiful gardens

Best part was we jumped straight back in the coach to go home which was a welcome treat since we were all so tired. Both kids even managed a nap on the bus which was even better for mummy! Thank you to the people at Hunter Valley Gardens for such a wonderful day for all of us. We loved every minute.

You can also find the Hunter Valley Gardens on Facebook and Twitter.

thank you

2011-05-16T11:02:00.000+10:00

Thank you everyone for your well wishes and congratulations. I'm glad to be finally feeling a little better and hopefully back to normal eating very soon! I'll be trying to catch up on some blog reading and letting you know if I've stopped by with a comment. And I will back soon to share a few things that I've been up to with my family while I've been on a blog break as well as share about a lovely new store that has lots of woolly goodies to keep little heads warm this winter.

I'm off now to get stuck into some house work. That's what the first trimester does to me.......I let the house go too far in the wrong direction and it takes a lot to get it back to a decent state! Wish me luck!!

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ahem....mumtoddlerbabe + babe on the way

2011-05-11T13:55:00.000+10:00

So, here I am out of hiding finally.

And I'm back with news.

There is another little babe on the way! Coming mid-November. Part of the reason I have been out of action, out of energy, feeling bleurgh and so not inspired to blog. But I'm starting to breathe again and feel like writing in this space, so I'll see how I go. I've also been pretty busy with this little venture too.

I'm not sure many of you are still out there......but I will be back again soon with some other tidbits to share.

PS. I may have to think about changing the name of the blog. It's more like mumpreschoolertoddlerbabeontheway! Bit of a mouthful......

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2011-03-04T23:20:00.000+11:00

yay.....some winners

2011-02-07T20:11:00.003+11:00

Howdy all! Sorry I haven't much time to post.

I just wanted to drop in tonight to let the winners of the A-mazing Finish Quantum Dishwasher tablets giveaway know who they were! The girls at Soup kindly picked two winners for me and they are:

Sharnee ($150 Coles/Myer voucher)
Anne ($100 Coles/Myer voucher)

Congratulations guys. Email me when you can so I can pass on your details and your prizes can be posted and you can get shopping!

Thanks so much for entering everyone. It was lovely reading all the different things that amaze you all. Loved all the answers.

Promise I'll be back soon for some regular posting!!

Night night. xx

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bend and stretch

2011-02-01T06:24:00.006+11:00

We've just enrolled little J in a gymnastics class and he starts this Saturday. He is super duper excited about it. It's his first proper class of any kind of sporty/extra-curricular type of activity. We went and visited the gym to pay our money last week, so we got to watch some of the kids in the holiday class doing their training. Fun!! The head coach was really lovely, and J didn't want to leave! I keep reminding him that he only has x sleeps to go before it starts. It always brings a smile to his little face.

Does your little one do any classes? How are they finding it?

I can't wait to see J in action!

PS. Don't forget to enter my super duper amazing giveaway here too. Odds are good at the moment too!

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morning

2011-01-28T11:12:00.000+11:00

I know it's really late morning, but good morning nevertheless!

Just wanted to share my latest Etsy love.....this lovely little store has the most delightful pillows and covers. I think I'm in love with them all. Go and have a look.

And please don't miss this, it's too good to pass up!

ahhhhhhmazing! {giveaway too!}

2011-01-27T22:43:00.000+11:00

See those little rectangular things up there with the red ball in the middle? Yes, dishwasher tablets. Now, I don't tend to get excited about anything that revolves around cleaning dishes. All those powders are they same aren't they? Well, that's what I always thought. I would kind of just gravitate towards whatever was on special that looked like it would basically get the job done. I'm also one of those people that doesn't think they can really notice the difference between products either.

Towards the end of last year, I received an invitation from Soup to trial some new dishwasher tablets. The new Finish Quantum ones. I was pretty keen since we do give our dishwasher quite the work out so jumped on board to give them a go. I received a huge stash of tablets to try out myself as well as some sample packs to hand out to friends to try. Every one I have spoken to so far has been impressed. And I also have to say I have been totally amazed too. I've certainly been able to tell that these have significantly washed my dishes better than anything I've used before, including Finish powder, and it also seems to wash your dishwasher too. I'd never seen my machine looking that sparkling before! My cutlery was also less streaky that what I was used to seeing at the end of a wash cycle. Ahhhhhhmazing, truly.

I love it when you get the chance to trial something and it well and truly surpasses your expectations. I normally expect to love something but not this much!! Without a doubt I've been truly blown away by the way these tablets do their thing, and I will definitely be adding these to my supermarket trolley in future.

Now not only do I get to benefit in trialling out this new product along with friends, Soup and Finish are also providing an opportunity for you guys to experience something truly amazing too.

All you have to do is leave a comment below answering the question 'what is amazing, every time?' in 100 words or less. This giveaway will be judged on the creativity of your answers by the lovely people at Soup, so get creative and interesting with your answers.

And what will you win? There are two prizes up for grabs:

1 x $150 Coles/Myer voucher and
1 x $100 Coles/Myer voucher.

How amazing is that?!

Giveaway runs until next Thursday 3 February 8pm and the winners notified within the week following.

Good luck!!

beep beep - new wheels

2011-01-25T10:21:00.001+11:00

Well, I hope you didn't think it was me with the new wheels! In actual fact, it's Josh with the new set of wheels. I had a big fail with Christmas presents for Josh and Zoe in some super cheap Disney scooters. They were very difficult to put together and couldn't really be tightened properly so Josh's scooter sort of became a little unsafe to drive. My reasoning behind getting them was that if they weren't a hit then I hadn't spent too much money on them! Turns out Josh really loves the scooter, and recently when we went to the local park, he spied a little boy (and his sister) with this rad little scooter! It's called a micro scooter. Josh couldn't take his eyes off it and eventually coerced the little sister into giving him a turn of hers. He was in love. For days after, he didn't stop talking about THE scooter. So I caved, did some research and got him one.

He is still in love with it. It's a great little scooter. It's a Swiss design and there are two wheels at the front instead of at the back, and to steer it you lean from side to side. It also has a little brake on the back which is very cool. We bought the model up from the one we saw at the park. The toddler one isn't height adjustable so we upgraded to make sure Josh would get the maximum enjoyment out of it for years. If your little one doesn't have a scooter yet and you are planning on getting one soon, I'd definitely recommend looking at this one! We got ours from Rebel Sport and the mother I spoke to said she was always getting comments on the scooters. Now I know why, they really are great!

Hope everyone is having a great week. I have a few brilliant giveaways coming this week and next so please come back and visit later too. Anyone have children back or going back to school? I can't wait for Josh to start preschool again next week. Am fast running out of things to do to keep him occupied.....tips?

produce from the garden

2011-01-18T12:00:00.000+11:00

Our garden bed for our vege patch isn't quite ready yet, but in the meantime we have a few other things growing around the place, and one of those things is a passion fruit vine that we have been growing since last year. A few months ago, we noticed some green fruit on it, and finally this week we noticed a few had fallen off the vine as well as there being another on the vine ready to pick! Here they are on the kitchen window sill ripening a little more. I'm just waiting for a batch of homemade vanilla ice-cream to arrive this week from a work colleague's wife so I can enjoy my first home grown passion fruit! Yum!

calling all sewing experts

2011-01-18T06:22:00.000+11:00

I need your help!

I have just become the owner of this vintage Singer sewing machine and sewing cabinet. My father in law is moving house and is clearing out lots of things at the moment, and this lovely machine belonged to my husband's mother, who, sadly, we lost in 2001. I'm so glad to be the recipient of it (as well as lots of other lovely pieces of furniture I'm sure to blog about later) but there's a wee problem. I don't know how to use it! I have vague recollections of 'threading a bobbin' or two in Year 8 Home Ec. classes, but those distant memories in my head are not really enough to help me out right now.

Fortunately, my mum sews and another lovely friend does too, so I may have to enlist their help to firstly see if this thing works ok, and then to show me the basics. I also know that many of you out there are also super creative, crafty types and might be able to point me in the direction of some super cool blogs or tutorials that might guide me along my 'learning to sew' journey as well.

So tell me my friends, what are the best 'learn to sew' blogs and sites that you have used?

You never know, I might just become one of those super crafty mamas one day too! Anything is possible!!

point + shoot: random and spontaneous

2011-01-16T16:17:00.000+11:00

One of the things I am learning about myself now that the kids are getting a little grown up is that I'm not spontaneous enough. Or I haven't been able to be. One of the two....I guess it's hard to be too spontaneous with little kids, but now that they are 3 and 2, I'm finding it easier to be, and this weekend we just randomly upped and headed off for fish + chips for dinner, then played at another park with a little beach.

Now usually come 5pm there is no way I'm heading anywhere but on the the dinner, bath, bed train with the kids. I never wanted to mess with that little routine. But they aren't babies anymore, and I'm realising more and more that these are the moments that create memories for them. It doesn't have to be extravagent or crazy, just a simple dinner in the park, watching their delight at throwing food to the seagulls (what kid doesn't do that?) swinging on swings, playing in the sand, splashing their feet in the water and loving being out doing something different.

2011 will be the year of being spontaneous and fun!

point + shoot

need a pick me up....

2011-01-12T22:09:00.001+11:00

I need me some of this right now.....chocolate espresso mousse cake. Get the low down for the recipe at Birthday Girl. Mmmmmmm.

stuck on you {sponsored post}

2011-01-10T15:36:00.001+11:00

I know these little gifts weren't for me but I was super excited receiving them in the mail nevertheless. I've always loved Stuck On You for labels and when they offered some items to send our way to test out I was more than thrilled! Little did I know they read our minds and delivered a nice big new backpack for Josh with his favourite thing ever on it - cars - plus a lovely big pencil case for the princess herself, Zoe.

I actually really needed to replace Josh's bag from last year. I spent a fair bit on getting him what I thought would be a good quality bag last year only to have the stitching come away in bits and it turned out to be too small for what he needed to take with him to preschool. The Stuck On You bag is a great size with three compartments. This is great for us as it means I can put his change of clothes in one section, then his sheet, hat and lunch in the middle, and the front can carry little toys or notes from school. There's even room for his drink bottle on the side. Josh has been so excited with it, putting it on his back and hopping on his scooter and pretending to ride to school.

Miss Zoe hasn't missed out either. She is a great big stash of pencils she likes to draw with, and the pencil case houses these nicely. It looks like it would be very easy to wash too should it get a little dirty.

If you have a little one heading to school soon, pop over to Stuck On You today for the Back To School sale that ends at midnight! You won't be disappointed with your purchase!

point + shoot {daddy & his girl}

2011-01-10T00:48:00.000+11:00

i loved watching daddy & daughter share a little moment over a pink cupcake on the weekend.

point + shoot

pampers {a sponsored post}

2011-01-10T00:29:00.000+11:00

Late last year, I was asked to participate in trialling The Pampers Golden Sleep Program. This 12 step program was developed to help mums address their baby's sleep issues in conjunction with Tresillian. I was pretty happy to review the program given that I had eight months of issues with Zoe in her first year and was severely sleep deprived. She has now come good at night and it's now Josh at nearly 4 who is waking a lot and ending up in bed with us every night. I still find myself not getting a great sleep with all the disturbances and then having a restless preschooler next to me, often using my hip as his pillow. Comfortable, not.

I was sent all the information as well as a pack of Pampers Dry Max nappies. I was very happy to try the new Pampers out as we are Pampers users anyway, and the variety that we were using were trim but the new Dry Max ones are trimmer again! They are ultra thin but super duper absorbent! Josh was always a super wee'er overnight so I wish Pampers had been around when he was little. Zoe isn't so much but these still keep her nice and dry overnight.

Anyway, the 12 step program turned out to be the things that I had learnt and done with both my babes.

In a nutshell, they are (with my comments included):

1. Having realistic expectations (check!)

2. Teaching your baby how to settle (I did this to the best of my ability, but my method for this involved my presence and help for them until they were comfortable doing it on their own)

3. Looking out for tired signs (check!)

4. Understanding how much sleep your baby needs (each baby is different and I learned to read them both and work out what they needed to keep them happy little vegemites)

5. Understanding that your baby's sleep cycle is different to adults (I'm a reader and I came across this information in a few baby books)

6. Setting a routine for your baby (we never anything too strict, more of a general pattern to the day that was flexible depending on other priorities, this step was more about preparing little ones for bedtime approaching which we like to do with reading before lights out at night)

7. Wrapping your baby (big fans of wrapping although Zoe less so, she was out of wraps by about 5 months, Josh not until 8 or 9 months. Wrapping really helped my newborns sleep better)

8. Settling in arms in the early weeks (definitely!)

9. Hands on settling for baby's under 6 months (definitely!)

10. Comfort settling babies over 6 months (a little of this for us but still quite hands on)

11. Parental presence for parents who like to stay with their baby (this was more us)

12. Crying is part of normal behaviour (understood, but I always wanted to stop the crying as quickly as possible if I could work out what need the baby had, I never liked my babes crying for long, especially if there was something I could do to resolve it).

Overall, I think the program is pretty sound. It also includes information to help dispel some myths like 'newborns should be independent and sleep on their own' as I think there are still a lot of first time mums out there who think this or at least are unsure of what the expectation is of a newborn, and it's great that it can help these mums feel ok and completely normal if they are nursing their babies to sleep. Nothing is more beautiful.

At the end of the day, it's important to acknowledge that even after following these steps, it's not a magic formula for a perfectly sleeping baby. We did all these things with Zoe from the time she was a newborn - she slept perfectly for the first four months and then for the next eight months of her first year she slept terribly at night. Despite being consistent and doing everything within our power to get her to stay asleep, nothing worked except my getting up several times a night to comfort her and help her back off to sleep. Finally at 12 months, she just didn't need my help anymore. We didn't do anything differently, it just happened when it did. I spoke to several experts at the time and was on a list to attend a sleep clinic for a week with Zoe but after already doing everything they were advising me, not even the experts could tell me what the problem was. I just think Zoe wanted me near her (albeit several times a night) for whatever reason for that period.....to comfort her back to sleep. Yes it was exhausting but it was what it was and I'm just thankful she's a great little sleeper now.

Thanks for reading if you got this far! Would love your thoughts on your babies/children's sleep too......how do your kids sleep?

i want to live in this house

2011-01-07T20:19:00.000+11:00

Isn't this house just so lovely? The interior was designed by Anna at Black + Spiro (images from her blog).

We've been fortunate enough to have received some beautiful antique furniture in the last few weeks from my husband's side of the family, so it's got me thinking about the house again, and how I'd love it to look. This house in the pictures above is pretty close to what I'd love. I have a bit of a thing for white, I have to admit, and always seem to go for painting walls in white or neutral tones, but I also love splashes of colour and a bit of quirkiness. Colour is so easy to change and when you get bored (as I often do!) you can mix things up again or remove the bits you don't like anymore!

We now have an antique dining table and chairs that need reupholstering. So I'm actually thinking at some point of doing a DIY job on the chairs and choosing a colourful fabric, better than the red velvet that is currently on them. I think I'm going to refer to these pics down the track for a little inspiration.

rest time

2010-12-29T12:49:00.001+11:00

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

2010-12-14T16:17:00.000+11:00

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!

2010-12-09T13:41:00.001+11:00

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}

2010-12-06T11:32:00.000+11:00

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

2010-12-03T14:09:00.000+11:00

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

2010-12-03T13:09:00.000+11:00

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?

2010-12-01T16:53:00.000+11:00

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

2010-11-30T11:19:00.001+11:00

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?

2010-11-23T06:55:00.000+11:00

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!

2010-11-22T22:13:00.000+11:00

hello!

how are you?

my sweet prints giveaway

2010-11-10T09:42:00.001+11:00

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....

2010-11-04T14:33:00.001+11:00

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'

2010-11-04T12:33:00.000+11:00

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Review: Laugh & Learn Sing With Me CD Player

2010-11-02T06:30:00.001+11:00

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

2010-10-28T14:30:00.002+11:00

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

2010-10-28T10:57:00.001+11:00

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

2010-10-22T11:46:00.000+11:00

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!

2010-10-22T06:41:00.000+11:00

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

2010-10-15T13:58:00.001+11:00

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.

image

mess mess mess

2010-10-12T06:49:00.000+11:00

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

2010-10-08T12:50:00.001+11:00

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

2010-10-04T22:26:00.000+11:00

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

2010-10-04T11:46:00.000+11:00

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

2010-09-27T22:13:00.000+10:00

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

2010-09-17T13:55:00.000+10:00

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

2010-09-08T16:33:00.000+10:00

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

2010-08-26T12:39:00.000+10:00

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?

2010-08-26T06:13:00.000+10:00

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....)

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fa la la la la, la la la laaaaaa

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