All Things Mum

On Saturdays I really wish I had a cleaner. I have lots to do and with children to attend to it can be difficult. It seems that there is no use to mopping because the floors only stay clean for a short while and I somehow have a never-ending basket of laundry and not Tim Tams :( But I have a bit of peace now that the youngest is going to sleep and there's some freshly micro-waved rice which will turn into lunch very soon. Onto more exciting news though we have picked out three winners for the book give-away. Thankyou to all who commented or just popped in for a read. The winners are Karen, nessie and Lil . So please send me your addresses so I can get Scholastic to send your book!!! Congratulations! I'm thinking of sewing today but can't decide which project. I just downloaded the Sorbetto top and perhaps I could have a crack at that but most of what's in my stash is quilting and not apparel so there goes that idea. Note to self: I should buy more apparel type...

  After my first baby was born I did all the activities you did with your first child including reading to her. Once she could sit up it was wonderful to have her in my lap as I read her books. It was fascinating to watch her wide-eyed and point to the pictures or words. To this day I am very sure that reading to her at a young age attributed to her advanced reading skills. We have a vast collection of our favourite books and I have to say that I love reading books by local authors such as Mem Fox. I was fortunate enough that Scholastic have sent me a copy of her book Good Night, Sleep Tight to review. Good Night, Sleep Tight was inspired by research suggesting that children who have learnt six nursery rhymes by age four will usually be in the top reading group by eight. The book revives seven classic nursery rhymes for new generations and highlights the importance of parents reading aloud to their children. She had written it many years ago but she has now revised it t...

 This is what happens, I get e-mails from on-line shops about their current sales and I have a bit of a browse and then I delete the e-mails. Sometimes there are quite good sales worth going to the shops and picking out an item or two. Target happened to be one of them as it's 40% off all dresses this weekend!!! I normally try on dresses when they have 20% off but I don't buy them. Call me stingy or whatever but I really only buy a dress when I feel it's worth it. That being said, I don't have many nice dresses in my wardrobe so I set about changing that this morning. So with all the kids dressed I drove down to the shopping centre just after 9am to beat the crowds. I picked out about 5 dresses to try on and headed off into the change room. I had to let them all in with me in the change room and leave the pram outside. The 18mth old decided it was not for him and cried the ENTIRE time I was trying on dresses. The eldest, my 6yr old daughter was singing and my alm...

 It's that time of year again. I was going to buy myself a new diary from Target but they trashed the stationary area so I went to Typo instead. Lucky for me (and you) they are having 50% off diaries and calendars so I grabbed this pretty week to view diary for just $5.  There were heaps of other choices but Little Miss said this one had more pink so it was the obvious choice. I tended to agree with her. I love how it has a monthly view at the beginning of each month so you can keep track of what's coming. I know people like to use their mobile phones or other devices but I like this method. That way, if my phone dies I still have a record of my appointments and I can scribble notes. (Not-so) Little Miss got another award this term. They entered some Paint my Christmas Card competition for the local government and she got a commendation award. She makes me so proud. That being said, we don't need awards to make us feel proud about who we are but it's the thin...

This year I was adamant that I was not going to buy any more toys for my kids for Christmas. They will get toys from their aunts and uncles anyway so I didn't see a point in wasting money on something that they won't appreciate. I have always wanted to get them something that would be really meaningful to them. We always tell them how lucky they are to live in a country like Australia. They don't understand but I think their gift this year will open their minds and hearts. This year we sponsored a child! I was walking in the shopping mall and was approached by a lady who worked for Child Fund Australia. I remember feeling a bit strange as I dislike being confronted by sales people but I knew I had to listen and I knew I couldn't say No. I knew what she was going to say as she held up the water bottle filled with dirty muddy water. I knew there were children who were dying from something as simple as not having drinking water and access to basic health care. In...

 As I mentioned before, I've been making changes in my diet. I'm trying (emphasising on trying) very hard to eat non-processed foods so breakfast last week consisted of scrambled eggs, fresh tomato and steamed broccoli. Other times it may be poached eggs with steamed asparagus but it's not always eggs. I find it filling and delicious and light. It doesn't leave me feeling bloated and I know it's really clean food that isn't full of artificial additives. Speaking of clean foods check-out this lovely new blog : Hunting the Alternative. It's a site dedicated to helping mothers out there who are looking for healthier, natural food alternatives. You may have a baby that has an allergy to a certain type of food or ingredient and this is a great way to order through a local co-op. Right now they are having a Easi-Yo yoghurt maker giveaway so pop on over and have a browse.   To prove that I am still a 'normal' human mother I made scones thi...

I love Martha Stewart. Who doesn't? She makes things look fabulous and easy. My sister let me borrow this book she bought from Lincraft. The sales lady let her buy it for $20. Isn't that ridiculously good? So I've been wide-eyed at all the projects and really wanting to carve out some time for a bit of sewing but with four kids we'll see how that goes. This is the Girls dress from Man's Shirt project from Martha's book. I know we all don't have a lovely light chambray shirt at home but I'll have to see what I can dig out of hubby's closet. He wears casual stuff to work so he has a few shirts I can snip into. It looks really easy and cute. How cool would it be in my size??? Oooooh.  This is a stack of pillows from her book. They look great and while I don't need pillows I still need cushions but at the rate my kids go with chucking them on the floor I am apprehensive about spending the effort on this.  Don't hate me cos I...

Earlier this week I had the lovely opportunity to host a morning tea with some new treats from Bakers Delight . They have a new range of Lemon and Cream Cheese bakery items. They sent over some of them for my local playgroup, all nice and fresh. Here we have two Lemon and Cream Cheese Swirls and 10 Lemon and Cream Cheese Scrolls. I had a bit of time to set up the table before all the ladies arrived and they all 'oooh'd and ahhhh'd' once they saw the table. I couldn't bring too many things with me, as I still had the kids and their luggage, but I used some of my nice plates with a matching tea pot for some Earl Grey tea and some Heather Bailey for a lemony touch. Once we made our hot teas we tucked into the treats relaxed and enjoyed the lemon sensation. The Lemon Sweet Swirls/Scrolls are neither too lemony or sweet. There's a really nice balance and this wonderful scent of a bakery item that I loved. I think it could have been nutmeg? I couldn'...

Now that school holidays are over I can almost relax but the days seem to be busier than usual. During the holidays I didn't load too many activities as I like to balance relaxing and kids activities. Like last time we went to the movies again and watched Madagascar 3. Awesome movie. I loved it as much as the kids and yes, even the youngest enjoyed it and we didn't have one wet their pants! I had a good friend over and we made chocolate cupcakes with raspberry icing from scratch! They tasted so good we've planned to make more from my cupcake magazine!!!   If you had the day I had last week you'd be begging for a holiday. It included the kids locking the bedroom door and their brother in the cot so I was frantically using a screwdriver to open it up to make it in time for school drop-off. Then, at the shops the soy sauce bottle fell out the bottom of the bag and spilled all over the floor in front of Woolies. Then 5mins later my 3yr old decides she wants to go toi...

One of the gifts I recieved after the birth of my first baby was a scrap book album. I still have it at home after all these years but it's stored away, empty and waiting for my to fill it up. I had always envisioned pages full of beautiful pictures and decorations that you would see in lovely scrapbooks with heart-touching memories. I've been collecting a few bits of scrap stuff here and there but it all seems too much work and effort for someone who really can't "scrap" and "design" things. Fast forward and I've got the solution. Digital scrapbooking! My Memories is the perfect software for those of you who like the idea and want to scrapbook but don't have the time, patience or budget to collect all the fiddly bits you need to scrapbook. Plus, once you have it all done you can print it out and keep using those images and designs forever!   My Memories is not only for scrapbooking but I used it to create the cutest quilt label....

This is some secret squirrel business that came to me out of the blue. A group of on-line friends whom I have known for a while now, almost 3 years as we came together from a pregnancy forum. Was that even a sentence? Who cares. I can't even read this properly. Anyway, one of them had it tough with her second child who was ill since he entered into this world and I thought we could make a quilt for that special little boy. I don't think she reads my blog so it's safe to say this is not going to spoil the surprise. We chose the fabric and someone cut out the circles and I finished the quilt top. It was easier than I expected and more quickly than you'd think. Isn't it cute? Next I have to do the backing and binding. For the backing we already have this stars and stripes from Spotlight and I am going to create a design for our special message on the back. That will be the next post which will host a giveaway of the software I used. So as usual, stay tuned. ...

< feeling sleepy Blogger doesn't like any of my camera pictures at the moment so I can't show you the pictures taken while I was having my eye's lasered. Here are the pics that Blogger decided it would upload of my eye surgery. I finally decided not to wait any longer and after I saw an advertisement at the local medical centre for the Sebban Eye Centre I decided to see if I was a suitable candidate for laser eye surgery. The check only takes 30mins and boy was I glad to hear that I was! I booked an appointment the very next day but I had to still wait 6weeks. < during the laser! A week has passed now and I still have slightly blurry vision since having TransPRK  or Advanced Surface Laser. Sometimes when I use the saline drops I have clear vision even from the kitchen to the lounge which is fantastic. I just wish it would hurry up so I can get on with things. I have to have IE at 125% otherwise I find it hard to read and I haven't been on the net for a few ...

Over the weekend we celebrated Little Miss finally turning 6 and Father's Day. I had been planning this party for one whole month as it was the first party we've had at home. I was so happy but a bit nervous when the day arrived and kept thinking I was forgetting something on the day (it was the corn cobs!). But everything went to plan and I was so happy for her and all who attended.  Here I am with a cheesy smile as we were cutting her cake. It was a home-made one made by her aunt and we had frosted it and decorated it on the day (a bit stressful but fun). Come 1pm, when the party was starting, I was worried that no-one would turn up. I mean, I could hear the birds and apart from my sister's family being there, she only had 1 friend from school turn up. I asked her during the two weeks prior "Are you sure you don't want to invite anyone else?" I had only got two rsvp's and was rather disappointed. Is this how mother's are suppose to feel? I ...