Wordless Wednesday - The last of the our warm evenings......

We really have had the most beautiful summer this year and a pretty spectacular Autumn too.  But as the kids go back to school for the start of the Winter terms I think we can sadly say goodbye to last of those warm balmy evenings!  See you in the Spring.........

Linking up with My Little Drummer Boys for Wordless Wednesday

The importance of being 'off duty'

On Sunday we decided to pack a picnic lunch and catch the ferry to Patonga for a family day out.  The weather man had given Sydney the most spectacular dose of warm sunshine and blue skies with not even a breath of wind in the air.  It was a day not to be wasted and absolutely perfect for the ferry!  (I have a tendency to morph into Shrek whenever there is even the tiniest little 'rock' on a boat, and then I  start huffing and puffing to try and get rid of that overwhelming feeling of nausea.  It's not very glamorous!).

We set off to the bus stop to catch the bus to Palm Beach where the ferry to Patonga was departing at 11am sharp!  I can't quite believe we all got out the house on time.  Granny and Grandpa got to the bus stop first and sat patiently waiting for us cross the road (after we had to go back to the house twice to fetch an absolutely essential teck deck skateboard that Master J couldn't go without, and then again to fetch Miss H's pink spotty sunnies (because no other pair would do - of course!).  Poor Grandpa was getting a bit antsy that we were going to miss the bus!!  I think he has forgotten that trying to get three kids (well actually 4) anywhere is like trying to round up cats!

We eventually arrived at the ferry port half and hour early (would you believe) and the kids all scrambled up the stairs to get the best seat at the top of the little boat.  I took one look at the size of this rickety little ferry and thanked god once again for no wind!!

Waiting to get on the ferry!  Not quite sure who thinks they're cooler, Mr D or the boys??

So awesome having my mum and dad to stay

We arrived in Patonga and it was just like stepping onto a little piece of paradise.  The beach was just so pretty and there was really nothing much around exempt  a pub and a little fish and chip shop and non stop BEAUTIFUL views.  After finding a sandy spot to set up camp, I realised that we had absolutely NO agenda.  I am so used to rushing from one thing to the next and working to a fairly tight routine that I suddenly wondered how we were going to get through the next few hours - what was the plan??  I needed a plan!!

The boys had run off and were building some kind of construction in the sand, grandpa had found himself a nice spot on the beach and was reading his Kindle (Bear Grylls), Granny was playing with Miss L and I could hear Miss H giggling as Mr D pushed her higher and higher on swings.  I  realised that I had forgotten how to relax and that it was actually only me that needed a plan.

Now this is how to relax on a Sunday

So I kicked off my thongs and took myself off for a walk along the beach and I started to realised that sometimes I really need to let go and just 'go with the flow'.  I keep telling Mr D how important it is for him to switch off his 'work brain' when he's home with the family and actually I should do the same!  It's so easy to forget that being a full time mum and 'running the house' is a job too and that I get just as absorbed in my 'job' as Mr D does in his!!

A rare family shot!  Although this one just makes me realise that I need to take my dieting a LOT more seriously!!!!

It really did me the world of good to just sit back and take in my surrounds.  I got to have a lovely long chat with my mum about my passions and about writing and blogging and where I see myself in five years - as me and not just as 'mummy'.  It was real food for thought and there is nothing better than talking these things out with your mum.

I also learnt a lot about fossils and sea creatures that I didn't already know (wink wink) from Master J and his little buddy.  Even at six they are an amazing wealth of information and highly entertaining.  I also watched my two girls splashing in the water together and watching that beautiful nurturing instinct that Miss H has for her baby sister made my heart swell.  Those little things are just too easy to miss when you are so focused on getting through the days routines!

Tomorrow is back to school for us and with that comes routine and the general busy busy of what come salone with it (packing lunches, homework, rugby, ballet, swimming etc etc).  But this term I am going to do my best to make sure that at least 1 day of the weekend I am off duty!  Obviously not as mummy, but off the 'job' part of being a stay at home mummy too just 'hang out' with my family.

Do you find it hard to switch off?  How often are you 'off duty"?

Linking up with Essentially Jess for "I Blog On Tuesdays"

Have you ever drunk a hairy lemon? (Review & Giveaway)

Nod if your life is just a little on the busy side and you feel like you are packing in a weeks worth of 'stuff' into each day??  Yep, that's me!  Some days I don't feel like I actually even sit down until after the kids are in bed.  When I say to Mr D "God, I'm exhausted!!!" (which is most nights), he says "Why, what have you done today?" and I annoying can't think of a SINGLE thing!!!!  My brain is like swiss cheese.  Does that ever happen to you??

I was recently asked to review a product called 'Hairy Lemon' and I thought "What on earth is that?????"  Then I read the first line of their marketing brief.......

'Feeling tired and dull? Get picked up by HAIRY LEMON for energy,

recovery, stamina and endurance!' 

and I thought - "YES PLEASE - give me some of that!!!!"  It is absolutely packed full of vitamins and despite it's rather florescent appearance, it has no artificial colours in it! It's also both gluten and lactose free.

My sample pack arrived in the post and I barely had a chance to photograph it for you before the kids had got their hands on it!!  Master J thought the bright yellow sunnies were 'sick' and he also told me  that he needed the headphones too!!  Well I needed some extra stamina (it is school holidays after all).  So I dropped one of the Hairy Lemon tablets into a bottle of water and gave it a try.  Watching the effervescence fizz and dance around in the bottle like a bright yellow flare was pretty cool.  Miss H got so excited and wanted to put them ALL into water!

When it was ready to drink Master J said, "Arrgh mum are you gonna drink that??  It looks like pee in a bottle!!" which of course sent them both into fits of giggles as I started to sip it.  I can assure you that it actually tasted really nice - I'm not entirely sure what the flavour is meant to be but it tasted like passionfruit to me.

It is especially formulated for fast absorption into the body to give you that 'lift' just when you need it most.  I've been drinking it every day for a week now and I've noticed that it gives me the same kind of 'lift' as a good cup of coffee!  I don't think I could ever give up my morning coffee but drinking a  Hairy Lemon is SOOOO much better for you than relying on coffee or other 'caffeine' drinks during the day.

Here's why:

Firstly, you have to drink it with water - and we all know how important it is to drink water! AND it is specially formulated to help optimise energy levels, aid recovery and improve mental alertness! (I'm sure Mr D thinks my mental alertness could do with some improvement - he's always shaking his head about some of things I do during the day - like loosing the car keys, putting my phone is the freezer, forgetting to pick up a kid from school..............)

• It contains Guarana which is a herbal tonic that contains 4 mg caffeine (see I told you it was better than coffee or cola).
• It contains ALL the B vitmins (1, 2, 3 5, 6, and 12), which naturally helps the body to provide energy.
• It has Vitamin C, which is a great antioxidant helping to fight off colds and is also great for your skin.
• It also contains Ginseng and Biotin which both help to ease nervous tention and stress.
• And it tastes good

I used to drink something similar in the days when I was airline staff!  I remember how they used to help get me through those long night flights!  Good times those were!!

So if you have a busy life like me, or maybe have just had a rough night and need to 'beat the lag and drag' of the day then try a Hairy Lemon!

I have two of these fun energy packs to giveaway, so enter below for your chance to win!

Always remember to check the packing before taking a Hairy Lemon

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclaimer:  I was not paid to write this review although I did receive a sample kit.  All opinions and photos are my own.

A mermaid birthday party

This is the first time in almost a week that I have had more that 2 minutes to sit down at the computer.  It has been a HUGE week with my brother coming to stay and my parents arriving from London.  It's still the school holidays too, which means that all routine and normality is literally flung out the window!  I have also got three crazy kids that all want different things at different times and don't know the meaning of peace OR quiet!  By the time I get out of the house in the mornings I feel like I have been spinning around in the middle of a tornato (a bit like the tasmanian devil cartoon - anyone remember that?).

The biggest thing this week has been the preparation for Miss H's mermaid party!

So excited to open her new Lala Loopsy mermaid doll (Sand. E. Starfish)

Trying to get organised, on a budget, in the school holidays with lots of willing, but no so helpful little helpers is quite a challenge.

Miss H gave me the biggest list of friends ever to invite and couldn't possibly make the list any shorter because "they might be sad mummy, if they can't come to my party!!" How could I argue with that??  So once the list was completed we made the invites together on the computer using Vistaprint.  I was lucky enough to have a Scoopon voucher for Vistaprint, so the invites only cost me $15 including postage.

Chosen by Miss H from a list of pre-made party invite templates on Vistaprint

As we had a big bunch of kiddies coming to the party we decided to hold it at one of our local playgrounds (which is also free - so great for the budget).  Our house is just not big enough to transfer the party if it rains so my plan B is no plan B!!  - But I did talk to the 'weatherman' every night and ask him ever so nicely to PLEASE send the sunshine our way.  It literally flooded the day before the party (with ducks swimming on the pavements by the lake), so maybe my chats actually worked.

Next on the list was to organise the lolly bags.  According to Miss H, these were the most important part of the party prep (and the cake of course).  We went to our local $2 shop and bought the bags, mermaid stickers and some ribbon, all of which cost under $10.  Into each bag we put a few lollies, an Easter egg (left over from our Easter stash, which I was VERY pleased to get rid of), some stickers, and a balloon.  Then into each 'girl bag' went some hair clips from Candy Bows Australia and into each 'boy' bag went a Hot Wheels toy car.  Considering I'm not hugely talented in the creativity department, I think they turned out really well.  We just had a bit of a nightmare trying to fill them as little Miss L thought it was just too much fun to bash over and tip out every one!!

20 lolly bags made for around $4 per bag

I really wanted to make all the party food myself.  Obviously to keep costs down but also to keep it healthy and especially to control the sugar.  I'm trying my best to keep the kids sugar intake to a minimum at the moment as it has such a negative effect on their moods and behaviour.

I didn't want to prepare the party food too far in advance as we don't have huge amounts of space to store it and I wanted it to stay fresh - so I ended up baking for hours the day before, and by the time I came to make the cake I was exhausted (and had had several wines)!!!

I started off with the popcorn.  Well, actually I gave that job to my poor mum who had literally just stepped off the plane from England.  I had bought some cute little boxes (again from the $2 shop at 6 for $2) to make individual popcorn servings.

Next on the list was mermaid jelly.  I saw some really cute ideas on Pinterest where someone had cleverly made little jars of blue jelly with edible fish in the middle.  I searched high and low trying to find any kind of 'under the sea' themed lollies and I couldn't find ANYTHING!!!  I asked Miss H if red frogs would do and she quite rightly told me that "Mermaids DO NOT eat frogs!".  So my only other idea was to buy some little clear plastic disposable shot glasses, stick a shiny mermaid sticker (vinyl, not paper) on the inside of each pot and fill it with blue jelly.  It worked brilliantly and the kids loved them!!

Filling up jelly cups before I decided to use the the stickers I had left over from the lolly bags - clever me!!

Mermaid jelly was a hit

Next I made some honey starfish biscuits and Honey-Joys with Mermaid sprinkles.  The recipe for the Honey-Joys came off the back of a Kellogs Cornflake box and all it involved was melting together 180g butter, i88ygfcoik 120g caster sugar and 2 tbs of honey.  Once it was melted I slowly mixed in 8 cups of cornflakes and working pretty quickly, spooned the mixture into cupcake holders.  I then baked them in a 180 degree oven for 10 minutes and before they cooled added the sprinkles. (I use blue edible 'mermaid' glitter).  So easy and really yummy.

I found this cookie dough recipe on a blog called "Debbie does homemade" for the starfish and it really was the best cookie dough I've used so far.

Apart from chopping up fruit to make a fruit platter (which I delegated to my brother, who has been visiting us from Hong Kong) all I had left to make was THE birthday cake!!  If you read about Miss H's cake request you'll know this was not going to be an easy job for me!!!  By the time I started it was already 10pm and I was exhausted.  I had also had a couple of wines, which was probably not the most sensible thing to do - but it was a Saturday night and everyone else had had a few!!

I found a chocolate mud cake recipe via google (which I will blog soon) and attempted to make it for the first time.  It required 800g of dark chocolate which I didn't have, so my poor dad got sent to the shops!  I also had to double the recipe as the number 4 tin I had hired was huge.  I was so tired that I started doubling the ingredients and then couldn't remember what I had doubled and what I hadn't, so an awful lot of guess work went into this cake!!!  Miraculously (after and hour and 45 mins of baking!!!!!) it turned out beautifully.

Notice anything??

I made some blue buttercream icing to look like the ocean and set about icing and decorating it.  My extremely talented friend made me a mermaid and a few shells from icing, which I added on top with a few blue bubbles and some more edible blue glitter.  It looked fabulous and I was sooooo pleased with myself.  There was just something not quite right with it and the more I stared at it, the more I just couldn't put my finger on it.  So I decided that I just needed to to bed.

The next morning was such a rush to get everything to the park and set up for the party that I didn't realise until later that day that my number 4 was backwards!!!!!!  What a dummie I am!!  Has anyone else made such a crucial mistake without even realising????  No one seemed to notice (or they were just too polite to tell me) and the kids had a wonderful morning.  (AND the cake tasted great!)

Thank goodness I don't have to do another party for at least six more months!!!

Do you have a party coming up that you have to plan for?  My advice - don't drink and bake??? (not that I drank a lot of course, but Mr D is always telling me "it doesn't take you much").

Happy Birthday Dearest Girl

Happy Birthday dearest girl

Tomorrow you will be four.  FOUR!  and I'll probably tell you this every single year on your birthday, but honestly, where has the time gone??

The last four years have been incredible.  You have made us all laugh more times than I can count, and every single stage you go through I swear couldn't be any cuter - and then you prove me wrong.

I love how you think you are the BEST dancer in the world and how you sing at the top of your voice on the bus with your little headphones on, without a single care in the world.  Please don't ever loose that confidence, it's so endearing and watching your makes my heart skip a beat.

When I asked you the other day to stop growing so quickly, you just asked "Why mummy?"  I told you it's because I wanted to keep you as my little girl forever (which you were really NOT impressed with - I mean what three your old doesn't want to turn four??).  But actually, after thinking about it for a while I've decided that I really can't wait to watch you grow up.  You are already such a beautiful and loving little girl, and although I'm going to miss all those special moments we've had together, I am so excited (and proud) that I get to spent a million more with you.

Enjoy your last ever, ever, ever, ever, EVER day of being three my little mouse.

I love you to the moon and back

Mummy xx

What we've been up to in April so far (love instagram - of course!)

I've been very snap happy with my iphone the last couple of weeks, and looking back through my camera roll has made me realise (again - and probably for the millionth time) just how beautiful it is in this little corner of the world that we live in.  Some days though, I do feel very far away from my family, but having such happy kids (if you overlook the whinging and the odd tantrum) I know we've done the right thing.  Truth be told, seeing the ocean every day has done wonders for me too.

As ever, the last couple of weeks have been busy busy.  I feel like I always say that, like it's the standard opening to these posts. But REALLY we are very busy - most days I don't even have a chance to sit down! But if you had to ask me exactly what I've been up to......I'd really have to think about it.  I'm sure my brain must resemble swiss cheese!!

Anyway, here are some of my instagram favourites to give you some insight!

The Easter Moon

The full moon last weekend was just SO beautiful.  I walked over to the beach both nights to watch it.  The kids only came with me when they realised it might delay their bed time.

Spider Miss came down to the beach with me to wait for the moon.

Sausage sandwiches alfresco with good friends

This little gem is just over the road from our house and we often walk over and have a picnic dinner.  It's a perfect place for the kids to play, especially as our garden at home is tiny.

You can't beat a beach walk, even on a cloudy day

I took this picture last week when the weather was a bit rubbish (well, by Sydney standards) and I needed to get the kids out of the house before they drove me crazy.  There was such a big swell and the tide was so high that there was almost no beach at all.  We had to do a lot of climbing over sand dunes and walking along the skinniest bits of sand, (trying to avoid getting swallowed by the incoming waves) that it turned out to be quite an exciting walk.  The usual whinging went from 10 down to about 2.5 - bonus!!

Re-distributing the sand after those huge waves washed away the beach

This just makes my heart swell.  I walked into their bedroom to find them like this - watching the crazy cockatoo's out the window 

We've had some beautiful Autumn days - perfect for a picnic

U7 Reds Friday evening training - the BEST team!! (no bias here)

As the weather is cooling down, the winter sports season has started and this year Master J is playing rugby.  Last year he played soccer, so there is a bit of a transition period going on as he learns the off-side rule!  Poor kid - last year Mr D was yelling (typical soccer dad) "RUN UP RUN UP!!" trying to get him to take the ball up the field so he could strike.  Now this year, Mr D is yelling "KEEP BACK KEEP BACK!!"  Pretty funny to watch them, but so far they have won all their games!

Watching her big brother at training.  It's starting to get quite chilly now in the evenings - I think we might freeze on the field when we get deep into Winter.

He's growing up so fast - some days I feel like I can't keep up

I love this photo.  It's a huge, beautiful old tree in the Botanical Gardens

Enjoying the last of the warm(ish) evenings before Winter sets in

Wearing 'Barbie's wedding dress'.  I just love how she insists on wearing the whitest, poshest dresses while playing barefoot in the dirt!!  But look at that smile!! 

Watching the rain over the Ocean - so mesmerising.  Even with those threatening black clouds the rain somehow managed to miss us.

My little chook!  My mum says she looks the absolute spit of me at that age.  I've asked her to find me a picture so I can see.

My brother giving Master J a lesson on how to catch a fish

More baking - would you believe that I actually really enjoy it now??

The next two weeks are the school holidays here in NSW and I'm bracing myself!!  Having three of them ALL THE TIME means I'm going to have to hang on to my sanity until school starts again.  Luckily my mum and are arriving from England in 5 more sleepies!!!!!!!  I can't tell you how excited I am to see them - it's been over a year since the last time.

If you're got school holidays coming up, what are you doing to keep the kiddies entertained?

Super easy (and super food) POWER balls

I make this recipe so often and it's so easy you could honestly do it with your eyes shut!!  I've just made a fresh batch and thought that I really should share it.  There are actually quite a few similar recipes flying around the internet at the moment, so if you don't like mine, there are lots of options out there for you.

Ingredients I used:

200g  raw almonds (or almond meal)
20g chia seeds (super seeds apparently)
120g dried cherries or dates
120g dried apricots
1tbs manuka honey
2 heaped tbs cocoa powder (or cocoa nibs if you can find them.  They are usually sold in health food shops)
desiccated coconut

I used my thermomix for this recipe, but the great thing about it is that it's just as easy to make with a good blender.

Method:

• If you are using almonds then blitz them in the thermomix (or blender) on speed 9 for 15-20 seconds, or until the machine stops making a noise (you thermomixers out there will know what I mean).

Almond meal made from raw almonds

• Once you have almond meal (either made or bought), then just chuck everything else in and blitz on speed 7-8 for 45 seconds.

You could use any combination of dried fruits - my favourite is dates and apricots

• You'll end up with a sticky chocolaty dough.  Roll it into teaspoon size balls with your hands and then coat each ball in coconut.  
• Pop them in the fridge and enjoy.

They are so yummy and are the perfect snack if you're trying to be healthy or are following any kind of diet (which I'm always on - well trying to anyway).  They're pretty good for school lunch boxes too.

(Oh and sorry if this is too much information but any parents out there with kiddies suffering from constipation - these are the bomb!!!).

What would your favourite ingredients be?

It's almost a birthday

She loves a bit of sparkle

My beautiful (not so little) Miss H is turning 4 in just over a week!  She seems to have grown up in a flash and a blink. When I think back to when we first arrived in Australia (which was only 2 years ago) she was still in nappies with that cheeky little smile and those chubby little legs!  Now she has the hip-wiggle down to a fine art and knows all the words to Taylor Swift's 'I knew you were Trouble'!

She has some very DEFINITE ideas about what she would like for her birthday party this year and I'm trying my best to keep up!  My biggest challenge is going to be re-producing her extravagant ideas on my not so extravant budget.

After swapping from a unicorn theme to a mermaid theme to a Lalaloopsy theme, then back to the unicorn theme, we have finally settled on mermaids!  Phew!  Now all I have to do is organise the details - in just two weeks!

"Mummy, when it my birthday can I have a big mermaid cake that looks just like Arial, with five fish, but not Nemo, and no sharks!  Also can I have a mermaid Barbie sitting next to her because they are best friends?"  "All that to go on the cake?" I enquire, slightly nervously!  "YES" she nods.  Well, no pressure for me then!!  Having my thermomix means I can bake the cake, no probs - but decorate it............I think I might need re-enforcements.

Thank goodness for PINTEREST!!  I have spent the last hour collecting different ideas for 'Mermaid themed birthday party's' and will pass them over to the boss tonight when she is home from Kindy.  Hopefully I can persuade her to pick some of the less complicated ones.

Fortunately I've managed to convince her that the park is a MUCH better place to hold a party than Mermaidia. (For those of you that are a little confused - Mermaidia is the magical underwater land where Barbie the mermaid lives).  I'm just praying that it doesn't rain on the day, as right now I have no plan B.  (All suggestions are most welcome).

Do you go all out for your kid's birthday parties or do you prefer to keep it 'simples'??

What is your most successful attempt at kids party entertainment to date??  (On a modest budget please)

A Belvita Breakfast (perfect for mums on the run)

On Friday morning I was invited to attend a beautiful Belvita Breakfast in the stunning Rose Pavilion at Sydney's Botanical Gardens.  

I took the girls with me and Miss H was so excited about getting up earlier than dad to get the bus to the Palace!  We actually just had to enter the Botanical Gardens through the "Palace Gate' but she was still convinced we might see a princess (and if we did she was going to give her a big cuddle and show her her pink sparkly boots).

We only just managed to get to the bus on time as no matter how organised I am in the morning, the house still ends up in a state of chaos (organised of course).  I left Mr D in charge of getting Master J to school and between us we still managed to forget his lunch!!  Luckily I was able to make a last minute call to the school canteen, who saved the day!!

It was well worth the early start - both for the brekkie and the view!!  The sun was streaming through the pavilion, all the roses were in full bloom, the Sydney Harbour Bridge was gleaming in the background and the breakfast spread was DELICIOUS!!

Melanie McGrice, a Leading Australian dietician telling us about the importance of having a healthy balanced breakfast

After  tucking in to some yummy food (that I wish I could have for breakfast every day), Melanie McGrice, who is a leading Australian dietician, gave us a little more information about the importance of breakfast and just how Belvita Breakfast biscuits can help - especially for us mums!!

I really wasn't surprised to find out that at least half of us mums skip breakfast - I'm always bottom of the list in our house and normally don't get round to having my brekkie until I've finished the school run (and any other jobs that need doing whilst I'm out and about).  I also HATE getting the kids breakfast organised in the morning.  There is always at least one of them whinging, and trying to make something more exciting than weetbix when you are under a time limit, and trying to make the packed lunch, sign a school reader, spoon feed a baby and put hair into a pony tail, all at the same time is no easy feat! 

Try Belvita Breakfast Biscuits crushed up with fresh fruit and yogurt - SO GOOD!  Or spread a little ricotta on top of them and add a few chopped strawberries.  I'm sure even Michelle Bridges would approve!

So how can Belvita Breakfast Biscuits help:

• They are EASY!!  They come in handy little ready-to-go packs of 4 biscuits.
• They are called "biscuits".  Anything that is called a biscuit get my kids attention - even when they're healthy!
• They are good for you!!  Each biscuit contains 5 wholegrains (wheat, rye, spelt, barley and oats), they're low in GI, contain NO nasties and are a great source of fibre.
• They are scientifically proven to provide 4 hours of sustained energy release!  That means that there is no whingy "mum I'm hungry" until at least morning tea and possibly even lunch time!  This is particularly good for Master J at school because his concentration really dips when he is hungry.
• Last but not least - they're YUMMY and come in 4 awesome flavours.

They also have a really funky website which is worth a look at BELVITA BREAKFAST BISCUITS

Miss H had the BEST time with the lovely Maria and made a very cute grass head called "Rachel".  She also LOVED the Belvita Biscuits and told me she wants them everyday.

Just for a bit of fun, Belvita have joined up with 97.3FM for a Belvita Mumathlon.  If you're a mum who is AWESOME at  multi-tasking and runs a mumathlon every morning then this is for you!  You will be put through a series of challenges for your chance to win $10,000!!!!  Click here to nominate a worthy mum.

Go on - you know you want to!!!!  It could be fun!

Lastly I would really like to thank Jess at MWWAH for our invitation to this fabulous breakfast, AMPR for organising it, the lovely Melanie McGrice (who I will be interviewing soon for her take on 'the importance of breakfast) and of course Belvita for thier delicious breakfast.

*I have not been paid to write this post and all opinions and photos are my own.