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!

i just can't stop....

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?

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!