First hair cut

By Bec,

Amongst all the Christmas cheer and holiday bustle I decided to get Savannah's hair cut.  She is 2 years and 9 months and I have been in denial that she needs a hair cut!  But decided it was time to get it done - the ends definitely needed it!

We headed to the shops (possibly the busiest ones in Adelaide) on the 2nd day of the post Christmas sales - myself and the 2  kids - not sure what I was thinking!!  Savannah was so so excited to be getting her hair cut! Here she is excitedly waiting for her turn.

Then her name got called out, and all of a sudden she wasn't so keen.  Here she is getting her hair cut!

And once it was over, she was so proud of herself - saying over and over, I got my hair cut, same as Hunter (meaning Hunter also gets his hair cut). I got to keep a little clipping of her hair!

Here she is all finished and happy again!

Do you have any first hair cut stories?

Photo with Santa

By Bec,

Well it's that time of the year when everything is starting to look sparkly and people are in a last minute rush to attend Christmas parties and find the perfect present!!

Every year I take my kids to see Santa and get a photo.  This year Hunter wasn't having a bar of it "I'm not having my photo with Santa".  Savannah on the other hand was so keen "I want to see Santa, photo with Santa".  We decided to go to Harvey Norman as they have free photos (check out the website to see if the store near you - they are still on this weekend 11am -2pm). Hunter, who was still not going asked us to drop him off at Grandma and Grandpa's first.  But given Grandma and Grandpa lived in the opposite direction we made him come with us!  We lined up....got to the front of the line when Savannah decided, nope I ain't going near him, and Hunter decided ahh he ain't so bad I might go see him!  In the end Hunter, Savannah and Mummy had their photo taken with Santa!  I don't have that one to show you today, but it was a lovely photo.

Fast forward 3 days and we had a childcare party in the park.  Santa came and who decided it would be great to sit with Santa?  None other than Savannah (Hunter really wasn't having a bar of it it this time).  So she sat on his lap and waved so I could take a lovely photo (she has her face painted as Rudolph!).

Do you take your kids to see Santa?

New Shop Opening!

First day of school

Hunter started school at the beginning of this term. We are in South Australia, where currently they have 4 intakes of reception per year.  That means the child can start the next term after they turn 5! Hunter was 5 in September, so was able to start school at the beginning of term 4.

He has seperation anxiety issues (just the drop off bit - he is fine once I'm gone)...so I thought starting him this term will do him the world of good, just to get him used to it.  Then next year he will do a full year of reception - so 5 terms all up!

Hunter had been to the transition visits and had met some new friends so he was excited to be starting school - he packed his lunch box 3 days before he actually had lunch at school. But as the day drew near he got more and more nervous.  On his first day he decided he didn't want to go. I dropped him off, and he didn't want me to leave so his teacher suggested I stayed for roll call.  I stayed for roll and then left him crying his little eyes out. It's hard for a parent to leave a child like that, however I'm used to it as he was the same at childcare and kindy.  I picked him up at lunchtime (they only did half a day for the first day) and he had had a good day.

Then in his second week he had his first afternoon of after school hours care - this again caused some grief - but once he was there he had a good time. He will go to after school care two days per week.

He has now been 8 days and is getting used to the routines.  He is enjoying getting a new reader everyday and playing in the playground at lunch!  He has even been invited to a birthday party.  Drop-offs are still hard - but from all accounts he is enjoying himself and I trust we will get there.

Do you have any first day of school stories?

Me Time!

By Bec,

Being a parent changes your priorities.  There is no doubt about it.  Your children now seem to come first.  But what about “me time”?  Parenting is a full-time job, and we can’t expect to be at our best if we don’t get a break.  I’ve been reading lots of parenting books lately, mainly to try and find a way to deal with Hunter’s behaviour.  But one which I really aligned with was Thriving! by Michael Gose.  He has a wealth of information on his Parenting Ideas website.  But one of his key principles is that as a parent we need to put ourselves first, our partners second and our children third. The idea being we need to look after ourselves before we can look after others. 

If you don't think you can go as far as putting yourself first (which we must admit, for a Mum this is hard), it's important to schedule in some regular "me time".  What do you like doing for yourself? 
My "me time" consists of going to the gym, reading and scrapbooking!  I try to get to the gym at least once a week - not fantastic but a start.  I work 4 days per week so can really only go evenings and weekends, and I do feel bad about leaving hubby with the kids on his own too often - he has worked a full day too!!  But I've been once this week - did a nice Body Pump class - and yep I felt so much better for it.

Like Victoria I have recently (in May) acquired a kindle.  I love love love my kindle for reading.  It's fantastic for reading in bed without too much light (I bought the cover with light) and fantastic for to and from work on the train (can stand, hold on with one hand and read and turn pages on my kindle with the other).  Because of the kindle my reading has doubled.  I've always been a big reader, loved doing the MS Read-a-thon as a kid.  But with the kindle I find I'm reading a page here and there when I have some spare time (like when waiting to cross the road in the city), and it goes everywhere with me so I'm always with a book!  I've read some great books lately, my favourites being The Girl with the Dragon tattoo, The Hunger Games, Learn me good and Sing you Home (my current one on the go).  Reading for me is a time to escape into another world!

And finally I enjoy scrapbooking. Each child has a "my first 12 months" album.  And now I'm onto the family 2010 album (so I'm a year behind...not too bad). I go once a month on a Friday night (tonight is the night!!!!) to a workshop.  It's usually the same group of people so it's a great social time and I get to be creative and put the photos in a recordable format.  I'm not the most creative person, but I'm recording our memories, enjoying doing it and the kids love looking at the albums.

What do you do for "me time"?

My 5 minutes of peace

By Bec,

It's my day off paid employment. I'm taking 5 minutes to enjoy a coffee. The kids are playing happily in the toy room.  Then Hunter comes to see me and I'm a little concerned about what I'm going to see in the toy room.  I bravely head in there and am encountered with this:

Now how did they get paint????  Ahh that's right, it was in the craft caddy I gave to Hunter (note to self - check contents before handing over to a 4 year old).  WOW, did they have fun!!!

My 5 minutes of peace turned into 1/2 hour of cleaning up!  I chucked them in the shower whilst I cleaned up...but hey, I got 5 minutes to have a coffee, and the kids had a ball!!!

Sneak peek some of our casting photos!

Love.Wisdom.Motherhood

by Victoria

For my recent birthday, Mr B bought me a kindle and I picked up my reading habit which was stalled when Phoebe was born. The first book I bought and downloaded was Jessica Rowe's book, Love.Wisdom.Motherhood



I wanted to read this book because as a relatively new mother (my little one is 22 months old), I love finding out about other parents' experiences, how they cope with looking after their child/ children, and the little lessons learnt.

I find that parenting experiences is not an area that we delve into. Publicly, celebrities may say they are loving every moment of parenthood (which really irritated me when I first became a mother cos I wondered what was so great about sleep deprivation) or are having a hard time but generally no details or specifics of their experiences or ways they get through the difficult times. Thus, this book gave invaluable insights into how some prominent women in Australia juggled motherhood and other demands on their lives and time.

This book interviewed famous mothers in Australia such as actress Lisa McCune, designer Heidi Middleton (one half of Sass and Bide), comedian Wendy Harmer, designer Collette Dinigan, Governor-General Quentin Bryce, athlete Nova Perris, Westpac CEO Gail Kelly, etc.

To me, these women coped with motherhood brilliantly. They juggle being a wife and mother (unpaid work) as well as paid work. So, it was quite revealing to read about some of their struggles and the most dominant feeling seemed to be guilt. Yet, that guilt propelled them to be a better parent while also trying to juggle other demands. It was amazing, inspiring and encouraging!

Lisa McCune found a way to juggle location shoots with looking after her baby, by asking the local nurse for help in exchange for a chance for them to view the filming process. Heidi Middleton's battle with cancer was tough and I really felt for her as I read about how she fought off cancer. Gail Kelly had to cope with having four children, including triplets, and Collette Dinigan with being a single parent.

My favourite chapter would have to be the one on Wendy Harmer. She was so refreshingly honest when she said that there were certain things in parenting that she didn't enjoy, such as "playing with little kids". And it was comforting to read her assurance when she said that "it doesn't matter how much time you spend with your children - it will never be enough....because, if children could, they would have you with them for every second of every day". Wendy also shared how different parenting her 2 children were. That Marley was a baby who was content to lie in his cot and didn't need her to cuddle him all the time, while her second child, Maeve, was the opposite. There are so many other revealing insights into her and her husband's parenting journey, which helped me feel that it's quite normal to sometimes feel inadequate or that I could have done better.

There are still so many other amazing mothers who are interviewed in this book and I am thankful that Jessica Rowe wrote it and that the women were forthcoming (some more than others) with their stories and their journeys.

What is your mothering journey like? This book would assure you that you are not alone. It would also remind us that we need to ask family or friends for help and that your children love you for your good or bad moments because the vital thing is that we keep trying to be a better parent for them.

Invisible friends

By Bec,

Hunter and Bak (if you can't see Bak you don't have special powers - I'm told he is on the slide)

We have gained a new house guest. He isn’t always here, but visits quite frequently. His name is Bak. Nigel (hubby), Savannah and I can’t see him.  We don’t have special powers. Hunter on the other hand can see him, talk to him and play with him. Aparently Hunter has special powers that enable him to see things we can’t see. They also enable him to not be hungry. Wouldn’t that be awesome at lunch time – think of all the money we could save on our grocery bill if we all had that particular power.

But back to Bak, initially he was 15 years old. But more recently I was told, “Mum I was just kidding, Bak is only 5. But when I turn 5 he will turn 6”.  Bak ensures Hunter is never alone, always has someone to talk to and always has someone to play with.  And of course Bak is the one who comes up with ideas to do silly things that Mum and Dad wouldn't like.  That Bak is a cheeky little boy!

It's always Bak's fault......

Hubby – Hunter please stop making that noise
Hunter – I’m not here
Hubby – well who is making that noise
Hunter – it’s Bak
Hubby – well can you please ask Bak to stop making that noise.

Bak often comes to the playground with us, we have to strap him into the middle car seat. And of course he sleeps in bed with Hunter.  I haven't had to cook for him (perhaps he has the special powers like Hunter that make him not hungry).  Bak has recently gained a new friend - Velmba.  Yep, Velmba is invisible too.  Velmba is 10, oh actually Hunter said he just turned 11.  WOW, 2 invisible friends.  Our house is getting full!  It's nice to have these friends visit, even if I can't see them.

Do you ever have visitors you can't see?

Books books and more books!

By Bec,

A favourite activity in our household is reading together.

We have LOTS of books.

Along with the bookcase full, my son has a small bookcase in his room full of books and my daughter has about 20 or so books always in her room.  On top of what we own, we are regular library visitors.  At our latest library visit (last Saturday) we borrowed 21, yes that's right 21 books.

You have got to love the library.  It's a great outing.  We have a routine, choose our DVDs, choose our toys, then our books.  Once we have chosen our books we sit down and read them on the comfy couches before borrowing (we didn't read all 21 on our latest visit!!).

Of course they have their favourites - my daughter's (2 year old) favourites at the moment are:

• Tiger in a Pink Hat
• Best Friend for Fofa
• Koala Lou
• Boo to a Goose, and
• The Wheels on the Bus

My son's (nearly 5) favourites are:

• Engelbert Sneem and his Dream Vaccuum Cleaner
• Dr Seuses books
• Aussie Bites and Aussie Nibbles

He has just started getting into the shorter chapter books.

Reading out loud to kids has so many benefits.  One of the major ones for me is the bonding time we get.  Every day we are home I will get asked a few times by each child to "read me this book".  We sit together and have some cuddles whilst reading.  Savannah gets around 5-6 books before bed each night, Hunter would get a few less as his are longer! 

Mem Fox (a well known Australian Children's author) has given some tips to reading aloud.

Mem Fox’s Ten Read Aloud Commandments

1. Spend at least ten wildly happy minutes every single day reading aloud.

2. Read at least three stories a day: it may be the same story three times. Children need to hear a thousand stories before they can begin to learn to read.

3. Read aloud with animation. Listen to your own voice and don’t be dull, or flat, or boring. Hang loose and be loud, have fun and laugh a lot.

4. Read with joy and enjoyment: real enjoyment for yourself and great joy for the listeners.

5. Read the stories that the kids love, over and over and over again, and always read in the same ‘tune’ for each book: i.e. with the same intonations on each page, each time.

6. Let children hear lots of language by talking to them constantly about the pictures, or anything else connected to the book; or sing any old song that you can remember; or say nursery rhymes in a bouncy way; or be noisy together doing clapping games.

7. Look for rhyme, rhythm or repetition in books for young children, and make sure the books are really short.

8. Play games with the things that you and the child can see on the page, such as letting kids finish rhymes, and finding the letters that start the child’s name and yours, remembering that it’s never work, it’s always a fabulous game.

9. Never ever teach reading, or get tense around books.

10. Please read aloud every day, mums and dads, because you just love being with your child, not because it’s the right thing to do.
(source http://www.memfox.com.au/)

How often do you read to your kids?

Meal Planning

By Bec,

My variation of a Meals by Mel recipe - I made tuna burrito pie

In today's society we are all busy, and it seems we all need to save a few bucks here and there.  It's no secret menu planning is a great way to save both time (no more, what are we going to cook for dinner tonight) and money (you only buy the food you need so no waste).  

Meals by Mel makes menu planning a breeze!  I've been using Meals by Mel for 18 months now, and don't know how I would live without her!!!  For an annual subscription of $29.95 Mel provides recipes for 5 main meals per week, including nutritional information.  And here is the best bit - it includes the shopping list.  How awesome is that!  Not only do you have tasty, nutritious meals, but the shopping list for the 5 meals.  I just add on my regular bits and pieces, milk, bread, fruit and the food we need for daily lunches and I'm all set to order (I shop through coles online - another time and cost saving tip!).  There are 4 weeks worth of meals on the website at any one time.  And you can get an email each Thursday to tell you when the new week's meal plan is up, and where to access it.   

I've found that having 5 meals per week great, as it gives you a couple of nights to do your own thing - go out, make your family favourites or have left-overs.

The recipes use healthy, fresh ingredients.  And one of the advantages is you have different meals each week.  I found we were in a food rut, having the same meals week after week.

Before you sign up you can check out a sample menu and there are also sample recipes.  Membership also includes access to Mel's entire recipe collection.

The best creamy chicken and corn soup!!

Tonight we made the tuna burrito pie pictured at the top.  I improvised and made it into a pie.  The recipe was to wrap the buritos,but that's fiddly so I just layed it like a lasagne/pie.  And last night we made the best creamy chicken and corn soup.  The kids gobbled down a big bowl each, and hubby and I went back for seconds.

For recipes, check out Meals by Mel

V's first birthday!

My Dear Vanessa's 1st Birthday Party!

Can't believe she is 1 already...and she already can walk 2 weeks age...oh my dear...

2 party in a day! What a busy day!

Morning party with young kids:

Evening party with family and friends:

ps: thank you so much my dear friend for taking these lovely photos of the party!

 

Love her smile!

My second Rainbow cakes!

Had spent over 6 hours to make these 2 rainbow cakes, but the "WOW" effect was worth it! And thank you my dear hubby for helping me whipping the cream!

{ Recipe here }

Happy Birthday!

x0x



ps. thank you Emily for making those beautiful shortbread cookies, everyone loves it! You can visit her blog here.

Childcare - decisions

By Bec,

As a working parent I have to make some tough decisions regarding childcare.  I don't want to get into a working parent, stay at home parent debate.  As far as I'm concerned there are positives and negatives for both, and we all do what we feel supports our family best.  Being the main income earner I couldn't be a stay at home Mum, hubby could be a stay at home Dad if we choose that path - however I'm selfish and am not willing to give up my day with the kids (I currently work 4 days per week - if he stayed home I would have to go back full-time).  Some people might add it would be better for a parent to be with them 5 days, rather than the 1 that I get with them...but I digress.  As I said, positives and negatives for both!

My son currently goes to childcare 2 days per week and kindy (in SA, this is pre-school, the year before their first year at school) 2 days per week.  My daughter goes to childcare 4 days per week.  My son starts school in term 4.  I have mixed emotions, my baby is growing up...he will be 5 in September and starting school in October - WOW!!  It seems like he was only just born. 

My daughter, who is 2, has really developed at childcare.  I can see improvements in her confidence, language skills, understanding of the world around her, socialisationI' skills, reading (or browsing books) and memory.  She has formed a strong relationship with her friends and carers.  I'm now known as "Savannah's Mum" when spotted out at the shops (where as it always used to be "Hunter's Mum"). 

She goes to one centre, but there is another located right next door to Hunter's school.  I'm thinking of moving her to this one.  I'm torn.  She loves her childcare centre.  She gets excited when we drive into the car park!  But the new one would be so convenient, and would allow her to meet some kids who will be going to that school.  If it was my son, the decision would be easy - a big NO.  He doesn't cope with change well (that will be another story when he starts school next term - watch this space for a blog about it as term 4 draws nearer) and the anxiety for him is just not worth it.  Savannah on the other hand is different.  But I'm still anxious.  The centres aren't far away - one is about 3 minutes from us, the other is about 5 minutes - but in the opposite direction.  So I could keep her at her current one and have Hunter at school - but there seem to be some advantages to move her.
They are actually the same centre - but different locations, so run the same, same (crazily expensive) fees, same governing council etc.  I'm going to check out the new centre tomorrow to see what I think.

What would you do? 

Sleep Deprivation

by Victoria

I was just reading a mother's account of caring for her newborn baby and dealing with sleep deprivation in the papers and it struck a chord. She talked about hallucinating that her baby's head spun around like Chucky when she was in hospital, after giving birth. She continued to breastfeed, even though that was causing her to have little sleep, because of the relentless advice she was receiving that breast was best (it is but at what cost?). She would have at most, a 45 minute unbroken sleep at night. Once, when she was advised to pump her breast milk so she could sleep through the night while her husband tended to the baby, she woke in the middle of the night to see their baby asleep on her husband's chest. She snatched the baby up, which woke everyone up. While struggling to get sleep, she was also struggling to be the perfect mother. It all sounded so familiar and speaks of an inner battle most new mothers and fathers would understand.

Our Miss P is now 21 months old but it was only 3 months ago that she started to sleep through the night. Before that, she would have slept through the night less than 5 times since she was born. I never knew what torture was like until I suffered sleep deprivation. I was angry, impatient, and tired physically, mentally and emotionally. Everything was a drag. I would think of my day ahead and wonder how I would survive the day feeling so tired and having to care for her. Some days I still feel like that but these days, it's usually because I was up reading late into the night, so entirely my fault.

I remember that when Miss P hadn't yet slept through the night, every evening, before Mr B and I went to bed, we would wonder how many times she would wake up and how long it'll take us to get her back to sleep. I remember feeling quite depressed knowing that we'll have an interrupted night's sleep ahead of us. Even Mr B would comment about how depressed he was thinking about the night ahead, which was unusual for him as he tend not to be as forthcoming with his feelings as I am.

I recall feeling sad for myself when I would read my friends' facebook statuses either that their child slept through or that they had one bad night. I was thinking "one bad night? I haven't yet have one good night!" Here I was struggling to get 5 hours of unbroken sleep and I found myself sometimes resenting having chosen to be a mother. I didn't resent Miss P, just the difficulties of motherhood and sad that I didn't have another pair of hands in the day when Mr B was at work.

What caused Miss P to begin to sleep through? We have no exact answers but there were a few things that happened during that time. One, after being stubborn about it for so long, I gave up my cappuccino fix that I would have several times a week. It was also around this time that we took Miss P to a playschool concert and bought her a Jemima doll which she took a liking to and would take her pretty much everywhere with her. We tucked Jemima in bed with her and found that over time, when she would cry out at night and my husband would get up to her, she would cuddle Jemima, kiss her several times, and get back to sleep. We tried to give her several comfort options previously but she never took to them. Now, she has found her comfort doll. We were so happy! It was like the antidote we were looking for but had no idea which one would work. I had also chosen then to give up the night feeds which meant Mr B got up to her, instead of me.

After the experience of sleep deprivation, what would I say to parents who are currently sleep deprived? Take turns to get up to the child at night, ask different people for help in the day so you can nap. Make sleep your 1st priority. Even if you can't actually sleep, lie down and rest. It is calming and gives you a chance to take a break. With practise, it is likely you would fall asleep more easily the next time. Don't be disheartended if someone remarks that your child should sleep through the night by now. Each child, like every adult, is different. They will sleep through the night in their own time. For now, catch sleep whenever you can, and don't take on the mothering role alone. Remember the saying, "it takes a village to raise a child".

Style Camouflage truck pant (with bag) - Product review

By Bec

I bought these pants for my son as he loves "Army Man" pants and these have been a winner!  I would say these are my 4 year old's favourite pants (he is wearing them as I type)!  They are really comfortable for him - he is normally a tracky pants kinda boy - doesn't like jeans as they are too stiff.  The camoflauge pants are just as comfortable as tracky pants, but nice enough to wear out!

His favourite part of the pants is his "Army mission pouch" (the bag).  It is supposed to go at the back - but Hunter can't see it there - so he clips his onto the front!  He loves collecting treasures so in the "Army Mission Pouch" they go!

I thought the sizing was on the small size.  I bought Hunter (4 years old) size 120 - which is for 5-6 year olds, thinking he would get this year and next year out if it, however he would have out-grown them in the legs by next year. 

They are currently on sale for $21.60 - at that price I'm thinking of getting another pair for Hunter in the next size up!  Check out the Camouflage pants.

Cupcake decorating

By Bec

So you have seen us making cakes, now its time to see our cupcake decorating!  We had some friends around and decided to make a sweet mess!  I made up 6 different colours of icing and we got lots of lollies and made lots of exciting cupcakes!  I'm going to leave you with a series of pictures to see how much fun it was!

Just a note - if you don't like mess - then this activity is NOT for you!!

Come visit our stall at Mathilda’s Market on 27th August at Sydney

Come visit our stall at Mathilda’s Market at the The Entertainment Quarter, Bryon Kennedy Hall, 122 Lang Rd, Moore Park on Saturday 27^th August, from 9am to 1pm. Believe us, you’re in for a treat! Mathilda’s Market is one of Sydney’s finest shopping destinations for the little ones. With plenty of stalls, yummy food and kids’ entertainment, everyone is sure to have a delightful day. Entry is free. Want to see some of the divine creations you’ll find at Mathilda’s Market? Just click on www.mathildasmarket.com.au, or read their blog at www.mathildasmarket.blogspot.com. And if it’s a little too far for you to go, don’t despair - Mathilda’s Markets are held regularly in seven cities around Australia.