a trip down memory lane

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

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.....

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!

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

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

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

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!