are you the winner of the bunnings voucher?

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

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

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!

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

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.....

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

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.