Crayola washable finger paint

What you need to know about this paint is that it has a really congealed kind of texture... When we were buying, I went for these over the washable poster paint thinking that because it was 'thicker' it would be creamier, better for Mace's finger painting and equally okay for Marley's painting... This was wrong... So poster paint is thinner, but easy to spread around, which is what we require in most of our painting activities! We still had a good time with this strange texture, but we won't be buying it again!


Leaf prints and sponge prints


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Bonds $6 sale - super cute babytail nappy covers

Do you know anyone that's having a baby soon? Or any age up to 2 (1 is super cute in these!)? These are a perfect little add on gift! I absolutely loved these when Marley was itty bitty, and a bargain at the Bonds $6 sale with free postage... Just too cute... There are loads of styles, but these are a little bit out there!

(please excuse the terrible images, I blog from the floor with my two kids in tow!)


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Game of Thrones Season 2

If you have read my blog/Facebook/twitter/instagram you know that I love Game of Thrones, in TV and especially book form... Season 2 was much anticipated as I had read the first 5 books in the offseason... I did feel that it wasn't as true to the book as season/book one, but they still managed to do an incredible job! Can not believe ten weeks of it have passed, if only there were ten more episodes, because just like the books, the TV series leaves you wanting more, more, more...
Book 3 is apparently being done in two seasons (why oh why not one big season?!?), which I definitely approve of! Was going to start the books again, but have decided to wait until the count down to season 3 is on!
If you don't watch this show, do it! It's freaking amazing, and if you read books for fun, please read it! I hate the word epic, but it truly is an epic journey, over time and space, all engrossing amazingness!!!



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Finding a GP...

I have had the same GP since I was 12 years old... She also sees my mum so has all of our family (cancer) history, so I have never stopped going there, despite the fact that we now live 10 - 15 minutes away... When Mark came to Australia, when I had babies, we all continued to go there... With the long waits, long drive, and hard work to secure an appointment...
When Mace seemed unwell last week, I couldn't get an appointment, and my dodgy back up doctor 500m down the road was closed until Tuesday (!!!) I had to look for another GP... There was another one, 2 minutes (if that) away and I thought I would give it a go, open 7 days, and late almost every night, they sound too good to be true! We got an appointment with ease and on arrival the waiting room has a kids room! With toys, tv and seats for young and old, Mace didn't want to leave this place...
The Dr was lovely, thorough, easy to talk to... I am seriously thinking that it is time to make the change... Not necessarily for me, but for the kids, maybe even Mark! I guess best to get them a new private GP locally in a new family practice, while they are still young... It is hard to find a good GP, maybe now we have found one, I should stick with it!


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Stila new eyeshadow palette...

My old eyeshadow... I had it forever, bought in Vegas on our honeymoon (forever!!!) and due to rarely wearing make up, weekends before babies, far less since, I hadn't wanted or needed a new palette... Until the above occurred, and my beautiful creamy brown base busted up... I was devastated, why couldn't it have been the taupe that I NEVER once used?!? In any case I got right on it (4 months later) and replaced Stila with Stila, they obviously didn't have that trio any more, but they do have this lovely 'bronze glow' trio, which has colours that will definitely work with my go-to look! I am excited about playing with these, and if it works out, it will be years before I need more!


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Fairy tales...

Once upon a time... The start of many a magical fairy tale... While waiting for Marley's surgery, we had a bag of tricks, toys, books... These were the books, beautifully illustrated, pop up books, very wordy, didn't think she would get into just how wordy (a whole fairy tale over 3 pages)... She immediately fell in love with them! These stories, combined with catching minutes of the Once Upon A Time TV series, she has fallen in love with fairy tales, and with this comes the narration of her life!

While playing, she narrates he adventure 'the beautiful princess runs to the door as the dragon chases her, she spins around and closes the door...' etc, it's hilarious how quickly she has taken to this... I am also surprised at how magical her role play has become, and honoured that she lets me and Mace participate in her adventures!


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The Lying Game - TV series

Charisma Carpenter was the reason I started watching this... I am a BIG Joss Whedon fan... From the get go, I can't stand shows that have one person playing twins, reminded me of Ringer (another Joss related show I watched), in more ways then that too... It's cheesy, with mediocre acting, obvious story lines, but I really enjoyed it! Haha, there is always going to be a part of me that enjoys bad TV and this is exact proof! Loved the last scene, and can't wait for next year! You would probably love this if you were a teenager, it certainly isn't 'must watch tv', and I am not recommending it... The minute next season begins, I will be watching!


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Nails did...

More Sally Hansen Salon Effects... A lovely winter effect with blue and silver glitter... Love these nails, but they were harder to put on then non glitter ones... Worth it though! Did a pedi with the same half box!


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Elmo's World Tour Melbourne

I love taking my kids to events like this... We have been to a LOT of kids entertainment, from one off shows, theme park shows to kids festivals with lots of acts...

Elmo's World Tour did feel a little above Marley's age range, some of the things they were talking about she had to ask me to explain... Maybe this show is better suited to 4 year olds? Luckily she loves letters do that kept her excited! Lots of singing and dancing which was great!
The idea is that Grover got back from a world tour and all his Sesame St friends wanted to go on one, so Abby Cadabby uses her mediocre magic to take them to different countries starting with whatever letter she conjures... She is trying to get an A for Australia, which of course comes last! When they finally get to Australia, they introduce a sheep called Lady Baaabaaa, she is a cross between Lady Gaga and Dame Edna, something for the adults! Marley was stoked about Lady Baaabaaa, she did a medley of Gaga tracks made into edutainment...
Mace was super chilled throughout, barely moving! I had to ask Marley to check whether he was asleep a few times! Marley did love it, singing, dancing, doing their call and response, she definitely enjoyed it!
Personally it was about one rung above the Disney show, a few below Wiggles, Charlie and Lola, Yo Gabba Gabba and Rastamouse...







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Light up sneakers...

I am a bit of a sneaker head... Pre kids I collected, now I just buy when there is a colour way I can't say no to... My kids have hot kicks... It's important to me to match, and matching sneakers to outfits is just how we, as a family, roll...

On my kids crèche day, they wear random sneakers, same for when we play in the mud... So they each have a pair of beaters on the go, usually from Target... Mace's foot has just grown, I went to Target to grab a new pair of beaters... There was a sale on, I saw some in his size and grabbed them, they did seem a but pricey for Target sneakers at $29.99, but I'm not going to argue, especially with 30% off that, it's a far cry for $50 or $60... I got in, threw them on the couch and they lit up! Crap, crap, crap, you just know Marley is going to want a pair! It's a real shame, I can't stand these sorts of kicks, those Sketchers ones are just soooo ugly! And yes, I know that they are kids, and that kids make bad fashion choices daily, and I shouldn't push my ideas on them, but as parents some things slip through, Marley is in to fashion and matching and requests Nike, Vans, Adidas as she desires...

So kids get in from crèche, Marley immediately notices them, gets excited for her brother, and then realises that she doesn't have a pair... I agree to get her some when next we are at Target... We go to Target, there is nothing... At Chadstone Target we have luck! Kid is over the moon!!! So she got her Dorothy the Dinosaur light up sneakers for crèche, and all in the world is good again...







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GAP Chadstone 70% off sale!

I am a big fan of GAP kids clothes, cute and good quality... I was pretty annoyed when they finally got here and hiked their prices up from their US and UK counterparts... A full tracksuit here is $90, in the UK it's around $60... So when they have their sales, I always take advantage! Especially with Marley's latest Growth spurt eliminating a bunch of her clothes, I grabbed a whole bunch of size 5 stuff (she is recently 3) for now and next season... Mostly 70% off, I was stoked! Mace only got one item, not a great season for boys, and he has a wardrobe full of clothes!




This geeked out bunny shirt I just loved when it came out, but waited for the sales as at the time Marley had loads of long sleeved tops... Was $10 from $30!


Marley's choices, kid says she just wants pink stuff, then buys a bunch of blue... I must admit the blue shirts do have pink sparkles in them, maybe that's what sealed the deal?


The cardigan is much cuter then in the pic! The stripes are sequins!


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Happy Jubilee Queen Elizabeth!

Whilst my care for the monarchy lives in it's history, my children are half English and The Queen is Their Queen... Marley thinks that royalty is important, as Disney would have us believe, so to celebrate Her Majesty's Jubilee we bought Peppa meets the Queen! My beautiful British husband can read it to my beautiful/mongrel/British babies at bed time tonight!


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Going back to the orthodontist after 16 years!

When I was a teenager, I had braces... It ended well, I had a permanent plate on my bottom teeth to prevent them from becoming the car accident that they once were... This went well for 16 years... Last week I felt the wire come loose, and felt one of my teeth moving! The strangest sensation! So I went back to my orthodontist, after all those years...

It was definitely weird that nothing has changed over there, and that somehow, he remembered me! Even asked how mum's hair dressing was going... Creepy! He removed the wire and has given me a blooming night plate to wear 'whenever you feel the need to', blegh... Annoying... I loved that my teeth just took care of themselves, now I have a plate that makes me gag, grimace and talk funny...

The upside is that they gave me a mould of my teeth, if ever I need another plate made, now that is creepy!!!




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Gender identy and stereotypes... Not All Princesses Dress In Pink - Jane Yolen - Book

Recently Marley went deep into a gender identity/gender stereotype obsession... Up until her twos she was a bit of a tomboy, but as her twos progressed she started to favour pink, and My Little Ponies...
By the time she was 3 she has very firm ways that she identifies:
I am a girl
I am a girl with blonde hair
I am a girl with blonde hair who wears pink
If there is no pink, or sparkles, there is a long conversation to coerce her to get dressed...
She preferred to be addressed as Princess + (name of person doing the activity she was doing), so if she was playing football she was Princess Goalkeeper, in the bath, Princess Mermaid, etc...
There is a lot of wanting to own pink, and not wanting to share her love of pink with anyone, especially not her brother...
At it's peak, I took to twitter/Facebook to vent and @emmerina suggested this book... It is awesome, and somehow, Marley really got it... She loves it and is very keen to share that 'there is no pink, not anywhere in this book!', she loves the things the princesses get up to, they are similar to what she gets up to, and of course she LOVES the crowns! If you know a little girl that is getting too deep into pink, this is the book for you!



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15 years ago...

Yesterday marked 15 years since my Dad died... It was just about a non event... I checked it, acknowledged it as why I have been crabby the past few days, felt sad that my kids will never know him and got on with my day... I think the saddest part is that after such a significant event, the only people that care 15 years later is me and my Nanna, not that we will talk about it, but he didn't make that significant an impression on anybody else... No one else mourns or misses him, it is a sad shame...
Dad in the 70's...




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Once Upon A Time - TV series

My BFF suggested I watch this, I was resistant, but within minutes had acquired a copy... It is a 'family' show, which meant that Marley caught a few minutes here and there, when I was too slow to turn it off... She is still far too young to watch those sorts of shows, but it's not like many of the shows I watch that I would let her catch ten seconds of...

It is quite well written, the production team has familiar names, people who have worked on Buffy and Angel, which means a lot... I soon found myself addicted, really interested to know more about the characters, storybook characters, to see where this was going... If I had older primary aged kids, I would definitely enjoy watching it with them!




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Crayola Confetti Glue

Sometimes I feel like a walking advertisement for Crayola... With good reason, they have AWESOME stuff for kids! One of the things I bought a while back and we have used loads, yet there is still so much product left, is the confetti glue... There are 5 tubes in a pack (4 pictured as she was using one)
Red, silver and gold
Gold and green
Multi coloured (reminds me of carnival) pink, blue, gold and green
Green and silver
Blue, gold and silver
Silver, gold and red

Today we are making a thank you card for the nurses at Cabrini for taking such good care of her... Her latest default for all cards we make is this glitter glue, combined with sequins... She loves sparkles!!!






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Madame Flavour Sultry Chai Tea... Mmmm..

I am a Chai fiend... It is so delicious, especially in winter, I just adore it, just as much as I adore hot chocolate... As I started to consider the amount of calories I am consuming between the two each day (sick to death of the last bit of spare tyre, post Mace, that just won't go), and came the conclusion that I need to cut back... So this week I am not having any Chai sachets or hot chocolate to see if I can...

Doing my weekly grocery shop I cruised the Chai area and saw my delightful sachets, and the terrible Chai tea bags that leave an icky taste in my mouth, then I discovered a box of Madame Flavour Sultry Chai... I took a gamble (I often gamble on teas, and lose) and purchased... It's such a pretty box, I opened it and found a note, which touched my heart a little... Poured myself a cup with extremely low expectations and drank... It was good! Really good! Half the price of sachets, probably 10% of the calories, and most importantly, delicious... Love the cute little infuser bags, makes me feel like I could have made it myself...

If you are a Chai lover, I highly recommend these!






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Sunday afternoon baking...

It has been over a year since I have baked any delicious treats... Once I was in that itchy third trimester of pregnancy with Mace, I gave up on everything, baking included... I know that there are mums out there that cook, clean, bake, work part time, sew, just manage everything... I am not that mum, I manage work, a hot meal from scratch 5 nights a week and awesome children's entertainment... Cleaning/laundry is split with my husband and it is average at best... I'm not sure how these mums do it (Tania, I am talking to you!?!), but a woman I talk to on twitter was talking about baking and I remembered baking, I used to love it! Taking a bunch of raw ingredients and making food that brings a huge smile to my families faces!

Having a little downtime this afternoon, and a husband to look after the kids, I started to assess what ingredients I had that weren't out of date and just what I could make out of them... Biscuits it was, some ginger snaps and Choc chip cookies, that I made far too large! It felt really good to be making something from nothing and once cool enough, making my family smile with delight! If reading this is stirring up a lovely memory of sweet kitchen smells, do it! It doesn't take long, and doesn't have to be too messy!







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Snuggling with my baby girl...

Well, the operation was a great success... The day in itself wasn't awesome, though the staff at Cabrini were brilliant, the speed of the surgery was amazing and overall I do feel that she got the very best care... It certainly helped that she was the first on the table!

We were prepared verbally for her coming out of the anesthetic, but walking into recovery and seeing her on her side with oxygen on, nothing can actually prepare you for that... I almost lost it... My helpless little baby... She soon woke up, completely irrational and upset, probably the hardest part of the day... After a while she calmed down, and we spent a couple hours in recovery... It was such a relief to see her come back into her usual self, playing with toys, requesting a chai latte, just the little things that bring a smile to her face...

We got home and set her up in our room, didn't want to make her walk up the stairs, our bed is massive and I wanted to keep an eye on her... We all had a nap together, then got up and gave her loads of love - Mace too much, crawling on her and bumping her tummy a few times... She went to sleep in our bed, she has only ever spent the night in our bed once before, so she was pretty excited! When we got in we cuddled up and stayed that way just about all night... Every time I tried to turn over she would say 'come back mama?', so I didn't have the most sound sleep, yet it was a heart warming sleep, to know after a day like that she was okay, safe in her mamas arms...

Children can make us feel the most vulnerable and powerless, but they can also make us feel the most needed and loved...






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