How cool are the Octonauts?

If your kids are anything like my kids then they probably love the octonauts, and now there is a cool new Octonauts magazine that is available in store from tomorrow. It will coast $5.95 and it comes with stickers and a blow up fun ball. We received our copy in the mail today and the kids are already "robustly discussing" who gets to read it first!

If you would like to win a copy leave a comment below and I will pick a winner on friday 9 November at 5:00pm.

Conditions of entry:
Must be able to be posted to an Australian Address.
My own copy and the copy being given away was gifted to me.

November?

Seriously, November already?? I can't quite believe how quickly the year has flown by this year, although as I am typing that statement I feel like I have been saying it a lot the past few years. I was just this morning thinking about the fact that I have a 7 year old now and wondered how did that happen? I mean when did I even get old enough to have a child (or 4) or a husband or to have left home? When did I get mature enough that I sit here while my son is in exile and has been forbidden from attending a school friends party tomorrow (I may still cave...) for ongoing unacceptable behaviour. The responsibilities, the rules, the routines, the costs, the expectations sometimes it is all just too much and I wonder when did it happen that I am not still 19 and carefree?

....Anyway, life goes on doesn't it and you find a way to make it work.

So, back to November, it has been a pretty cool year really. Being home is brissy is awesome, I love the community that we have around us and the friends that we get to hang out with. Now if only my parents would put their house on the market and move closer it would be pretty much perfect (it is on the cards, just I want it to have happened yesterday).

The two bigger kids have started Little Athletics which is cool, although I find it so hard to watch them plod along when I know that if they just pushed themselves a little more they would excel. I am hoping this will happen in time, I did Little A's when I was a kid and I loved it so I am hopeful they will have the same experience.






I have a couple of trips to Sydney coming up in the next few weeks so I am looking forward to some me time, one is for a bloggers brunch just for the day and then the other is a girls weekend and the finale party of the latest 12 week body transformation round. There is going to be a visit to Zumbo the same weekend, which is probably counter-productive to the whole 12wbt thing, but nevertheless it's happening!

Anyway, better get back to the day at hand before it turns into December :)

Abigail, a little girls best friend and a giveaway

Abigail and the Balance Beams Interactive Story and Bunny

I was given the opportunity to review a new product from Hallmark.

Abigail is an interactive bunny that responds to you when you read to her from the special book that she comes with (Abigail and the Balance Beams). 

The kids were all impressed with Abigail and though that she was most exciting. I found Abigail to be very suitable for us because Stella could read it to the other children and loved that Abigail would "respond" to her at certain places throughout the story. Being six she was quite quick to realise that if she repeated the "trigger" sentences then Abigail would talk to her a lot. We now have a roster of who gets to sleep with Abigail on what night, so I think that is what you would call a success in our household.
 Abigail also has other story books that you can purchase and there is also a free App for iphone/ipad with games and more interaction with the Abigail character.

Do you think your kids would enjoy Abigail too? 

Well you have the chance to win your very own Abigail by answering the question, "What is your child's favourite book?"
Competition is open to Australian residents and closes at 7pm this Sunday 22 July 2012.

I was not paid for this post but was gifted Abigail and the Balance Beams Interactive Bunny and Story, And offered one for a giveaway, my opinions are my own.

Anzac Day and tinyme

How has your ANZAC day been? Ours has been fun. This year was the first year that Stella and Oscar have marched in the parade and it was great to see them so excited about something that means so much to so many Australian and New Zealanders. I love our little community here in Sandgate and there is a real feeling of unity and togetherness and that comes through especially on days like these. I myself would like to find out more about my own Grandparents involvements in the War and then passing that history on to my children.

A couple of other fun Anzac day themed things as well - have you heard of tinyme? Possibly not seen as though up until now they have been known as Mooo. You know that really cool online company where you can get your kids names printed on just about anything? Well they are changing their name and if you go and like them on facebook then you are increasing the amount of discount they will be offering you on 1st May when tinyme goes live. They also have on offer some really cool ANZAC day printables that you can download here. I know I have nearly missed the boat on this one, but I still think they are worth giving a go. We have made some poppies today and they were super easy and very effective.




At a blogging conference that I went to recently (DPCON12 - post coming soon!) Mooo had this cool journal cover in our goodie bag and also a voucher for a free personalised diary, and mine arrived in the mail last week, I think it is pretty cool and you have got to love something personalised! You should definitely go and see if there is something that takes your fancy!

And my last little ANZAC day tidbit, thought I would drag out something from the archives that you may want to try this Anzac day especially if you have been cooking up an Anzac biscuit storm! It is definitely not good for the diet but oh so good!! Thankfully not an Anzac biscuit in sight in our house so nothing to worry about here, but I would love to know if you give it a try :)

(Please note, due to blogger giving me lots of head aches and iphoto not playing nice either, this post is way out of date! But I decided to post it anyway because I couldn't be bothered deleting it - so obviously mooo is now tinyme and the discount it worth 15% so go and buy something! )

Back to reality

School holidays are over and I have to say it couldn't have come sooner. I really do love my kids don't get me wrong, but wow do they get in the way! I know that Motherhood is the life I have chosen and that at least for the next 14 odd years they all need to be my number one priority, but really can I not just have a small amount of time to myself, or to get things achieved that I want to achieve?
I think at the moment I am just spreading myself way to thin, and I need to plan better and be so totally more organised. I have been trying to write lists lately and it has been keeping me more on-task but I still need to get rid of all the time-wasting activities I have in my day and become far more productive.
It is just that a lot of those time-wasting things are the only time that I have to do something mindless or to escape reality for a few minutes. It is just so hard to come to the realisation that my life does revolve around being a mother 24/7. There are so many things that I want to work on, but I just don't know how I can do it all, especially while I still have young children. I look at other people (I know, I know I should never look at other people) and get bogged down in their successes or the way they can fit so much in their days and it makes me even less productive. What I need to do is remember that they may be older than me, or their children are older than mine, or they have more surplus cash than we have, or have simply worked harder than I have to get where they are. I really need to do less comparing and more doing, even if my doing is only in small amounts. Surely any doing is better than no doing.

So,  I am going to really nut out my days, prioritise my time, stay on task and eliminate the wasteful hours in my day. I know I can do this, and I know I can be more effective in all aspects of my life. A better mum, a better wife, a better housekeeper, a better eater, a better exerciser, a better business partner, a better blogger, a better crafter and a better me. In the last 12 or so months I have come so far and I really need to pick up the slack again and get back on track. All in all, there is so much truth in what they say about being a Mum - it really is the hardest job.

Settled

(some very cheap artwork... thanks Bunnings)

Time really does just keep a tickin, doesn't it? We have moved interstate since my last post. Back to the homeland of Bris vegas, which I could not be more thrilled about. The kids have settled nicely into a lovely school, I am slowly acclimatising to this thick Queensland heat and getting myself and my days organised. I have just joined a gym, and did my first class today which felt really good. I also gave Bikram a go a couple of weeks ago, and after hating it the first 2 times, by the third time it was feeling much better and I think I will definitely go again, on a semi-regular basis. The 12wbt started up again last week, and I am really looking forward to reaching a few of my fitness goals this round and also getting to my ultimate weight which is about 7kg away. I have also signed up for a few events, including the Brisbane City Raid that Paul and I are doing this friday night, and then in early March I have a 5km run that I have signed up for, so I am looking forward to that too.

On the home-front the house is starting to pass as liveable, even though it is tiny and is really not made for a family of 6 and all the possessions that come with those 6 people. All four kids are sharing a room which is actually working well so far, and I am quite happy with how their room is looking, we got some new bunk beds and spent a small fortune at Ikea, so we have managed to actually keep all of their clothes in their room also which is awesome.

I have also set up my sewing room / office which was totally overdue as I have orders that I need to get moving on, and I just couldn't do it with it being such a mess. So starting to get on top of things and now I just need to become an expert planner and then I think things will run very smoothly. Paul starts his new job next week, so it will be weird not having him around so much, but I am looking forward to getting into my own routine as well. He has secured a management position with a particular fruit that grows on trees, and I couldn't be happier, surely this could only mean my future is filled with shiny new technology, pity about the bad timing purchasing an ipad and a new iphone 3 weeks ago! Oh well...

I am off to the sewing table again now to finish up a beautiful quilt going out to a pregnant mummy, what is your afternoon looking like? 

From bad always comes good - Guest Blogger Post

Hello Readers

I have the privilege of being the husband of the owner of this great Blog and she is letting me loose at the controls for one night...

So you're probably aware that we have four wonderful kids - I have always maintained that they give me the extremes of emotions, i.e. they make me more joyous than anything or anyone else in the world; and on the flip-side more outraged...

Today I had a few moments where these extremes of emotions manifested in close succession hence the title of this blog.

Moment 1
Megs was out for the night so it was up to me to get dinner for the kids. I attempted some pastsa and mince - the kids are fairly fussy so there was no sauce and the pastsa and meat cannot touch. At some point I must have used the wrong bowl or spoon or served the kids in the wrong order or did something that wasn't right that I had no idea about because daughter two (2 1/2 yrs) began a crying fit the likes of which I have not seen before.

I tried calmly talking to her; asking lots of questions; offering different forks and plates and options of food. When that failed I tried yelling; I tried moving her, holding her and ignoring her. So the crying continued and continued and climaxed with a vomit  - yep she cried so much she spewed. Poor little thing (what about poor little Daddy - no sympathy? Fair enough)

After clearing the area and cleaning the daughter I gave her a big cuddle; the vomit had at least stopped the crying (I was worried it wasn't a long term fix). So whilst cuddling I brought out some "round and round the garden, like a teddy bear" this started to go down very well with the occasional smile appearing.

And here is the kicker - whilst I cuddled her and did "one step, two steps, tickley under there..." big brother and big sister came over and wanted to join in to help their little sister. They each took turns doing tickling and then even started doing raspberries on her tummy. This worked an absolute treat and soon the worries of the world disappeared - 4 Happy children - 'some' dinner consumed. One relived Daddy!

So special to see my little children coming together to support each other - it really warmed my heart.

Moment 2
Moment 2 followed on almost immediately. As I mentioned above, only 'some' dinner was consumed which left me with a whole stack of mince left over. That's the bad. The good is that we had just run out of cat food for Ziggy (well that's also a bad). The real good is that the uneaten kids dinner became the eaten cats dinner. Happy Cat; Happy Daddy.

Moment 3
Once Mummy had come home we chatted about our days - generally this conversation revolves around the annoying things and amazing things the kids did in the previous 12 hours.

I told her the vomit story and she responded with an after school tantrum story after daughter one (6 yrs) said the "H" word (not what you think - possibly the subject of a future post from Megs). In any case Mummy was very angry with daughter on arriving home and confined her to her room with nothing to eat. Whilst in her room daughter did a huge clean up job (of what was a bomb site). Further 'good' came later in the evening when 2 y/o helped vacuum the freshly tidied bedroom.[this was before her vomit].

So there you have it - three times when good things came from bad: when I think about it, it really happens all the time!

***   ***   ***   

On a brief side note - please help Megs by voting for her on the Circle of Moms Top 25 Aussie Bloggers - please vote every day!!

Thanks for reading - until next time Megs gives me keyboard access, remember something good often comes straight after something bad.

PK

The week that was...

1. Was a solo parent while hubby went to Melbourne for work
2. Did 9 sessions at the gym
3. Almost cried when the strap on my watch (HRM) broke off - and it is not the replaceable kind :(
4. Went to a Kings of Leon concert
5. Had a play date at the park
6. Got sunburnt for the first and wishfully thinking only time this spring/summer
7. Wished a friend a Happy Birthday
8. Filled out School Application Forms
9. Did a little sewing
10. Did a lot of orders
11. Found a few new Apps, just to waste a bit more time
12. Managed to brush India's hair at least 3 times which is pretty much a miracle
13. Took Stella to her dancing concert rehearsals
14. Attempted to read one of the 3 unopened magazine subscriptions that I have since last month
15. Wondered in amazement at Willow and how she is growing up so fast and is the last of my babies
16. Culled my blog reader down from over 300 to less than 100, can I tell you how great it is to wake up in the morning and only have 20 or so posts to catch up on!
17. Stressed about money, christmas, life, moving home, packing up, schools, time.
18. Loved Ozzies bug drawings
19. Marvelled at the blue of the ocean on these gorgeous days
20. Had lots and lots of cuddles and smooches with my babies

What did your week involve?

Hello my name is Megan and I am a blogger????

Thought I had better introduce myself again seen as though it has been 3 months since I last blogged. I am sick of making excuses and every post being an apology, so I will just say that I really want to keep blogging more regularly but if it just doesn't happen then I will see you when I see you. I think this is a better mindset to have and at least that way I don't feel so guilty all the time.

Wow, the last 3 months have been busy busy busy! The following few posts will document some of the more exciting things that have happened, but basically there has been a lot of every day things happening, throw that in with a few interstate trips, some sewing, some markets, a sewing workshop and lots of school activities, holidays, Kindy and Day-care.

Everyone is doing really well, Willow is growing up so quickly, India has started going to Day-care one day a week and absolutely loves going to Sandi's house, Oscar has started Full time Kindy - 4 sessions a week and Stella is loving School which is great! PK is going well, hoping for a move with work relatively soon, so we will see what comes of that, and me well I am overwhelmingly busy all the time, which often results in less getting done than I would hope for. I'm sure alot of Mums can relate to this though. I hate taking about weight and so I will never really say much about it anywhere, but I am proud to say that I have lost 11+kg in the last 3 months and my goal is to have lost the rest in the next 6 months. Paul and I are starting Michelle Bridges (The Biggest Loser) 12 week Body Transformation which starts later in the month so hopefully combined with what I have already been doing this will bring more success in the weight loss department.

Ok, so there is the first post - well done me for just doing it and getting back into blogging again! Stay tuned for the next installment :)

Is this really as close as we are going to get to a nice shot of all 4 kids??