My Boys are Animals

God Bless them, my boys are animals..........

Being Number 3 is tough, you have to shovel it all in for fear of sharing.................

And even when you're not eating you've got to watch out!

I'm joining in almost... Wordless Wednesday at My Little Drummer Boys

Cheers

Mandy

A Moment Worth Remembering

The other night, we'd put the boys to bed and our night owl was still up.

She often likes to draw or trace (her current fad) during this quiet period.

But the other night, I felt compelled to capture the moment. (This is why I can't ever put my camera away!)

She was sitting next to me, with her clip board in hand and silently decided she wanted to sketch her dad's portrait.  It wasn't until said said "daaaaad don't move" that we realised what was going on. 

She then went on to move his position around to suit the look she was after.

Then she plonked herself back down and got to work.  It was serious business ya' know.

After about 10 or so minutes, she was mostly happy with her efforts (She would have liked it if she could have got the face better, we said that comes with practice).

Dad was pretty impressed with her efforts.  He was a gracious model.

All that hard work deserved a little snuggle.

And here is the said Masterpiece:

I'm linking up over at Seven Cherubs, for their Cherish your Cherubs project, 'Remember a Special Moment'

Cheers

Mandy

Markets and Festivals - A Little Family Getaway

On the weekend, we headed to Healesville.  It's heading East out of Melbourne, pretty much a part of the Yarra Valley.

It was Rod's birthday so I thought a little family getaway was a great way to celebrate.  We chose this destination for him because it had a few little micro breweries, but more on that another day.

We love staying at Caravan parks, they just offer so much.  We had a two bedroom cabin right opposite the jumping pillow and playground.

The 'Badger Creek' Caravan Park was really pretty, with gorgeous creeks, and lakes, you really felt like you were out with nature, even though you were in the caravan park.

We were fortunate enough to catch a couple of really nice markets this weekend.  We went to the St Andrews market, where Lulu got her face painted and the big kids rode the ponies.

Tom's pony was called Peppercorn and Lulu's pony was called Tippy.

 

Zan's just stuffed his face the whole time, what more can I say.

 

We also had to stop by the Healesville lolly shop.  This is always a favourite.  Although Rod asked why did they pick such crap lollies when there was so much yummy stuff to choose from.

I guess it's in the eye of the beholder, so to speak.

We finished our trip to Healesville on the Sunday stopping at the Hurtsbridge Wattle Festival.  This was a bit of an accidental stop.  The town was absolutely buzzing.  We got ourselves some yummy kebabs and kicked back and watch all the action.

We went and had a look around some more stalls, had a play at the park, and of course couldn't leave a festival without a quick stop at the ice cream stand.

Yeap it's fair to say he enjoyed his ice cream quite a lot.

Whilst it was only a two night getaway, it was great to spend some time away from our city life.  Our kids love staying at the Caravan Parks (holiday home) so much that when we pulled in our driveway yesterday afternoon Tom said "Are we in Melbourne, I hate our Melbourne home, I only like the holiday house"  

It seems a trampoline is no jumping pillow!

Cheers

Mandy

I'm joining in with Unknown Mami for:

Fathers Day - Home Made Tie

I think it's really important to make dad feel special on Fathers Day, don't you?

Regardless of whether your dad is a tradie, or a white collar worker nothing beats a home made tie.  You know it's that extra bit of love that makes it rock any outfit!

Back in 2008, Lulu was 2 and Tom was 1, we headed down to Barwon Heads for Father's day.  The week before Lulu had made Rod a ripper Fathers Day tie.  

I packed it, with all good intentions of pulling it out on Fathers Day and making him wear it to the swanking restaurant we were going to for lunch.  But as soon as Lulu saw it sticking out of the luggage (on the Friday night) she grabbed it and thrusted it upon him with such pride.

So momentum was lost on the day, but the love was most certainly there!

Unfortunately I don't know what got over me, but I have no photo of this monumentus occasion.  Shame on me!  But what I do have is a free printable for you, to ensure the dad in your family is left feeling the same love!

Download your own Tie here

I would recommend you print this onto card.  If this is not an option for you, print it as normal and use it as a template.  

Once decorated, simply add string or elastic to place around neck.  Elastic is preferred.

Enjoy, I know the dadda in our family was might impressed!

Nothing beats a bit of art and crafts love. lol.

Cheers

Mandy

A Little Bloggy Love

Nuffnang is celebrating the 6th annual Blog Day on August 31st and I thought it was a great opportunity to share with you some of my favourite blogs.

As part of the celebration they have asked us to share 6 blogs that interest us, and share and a little bit about why.

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So enjoy, here are 6 (but most certainly not all) of my favourite blogs:

A Day in the Life of Us

Not unlike myself Kymie writes about family life and all that it entails.  I especially love this blog because she has the courage to stand in front of the camera and become ‘fancy pants’ and she encourages everyone to be a little fancy too.  I’m still working on my courage in this department.

I love how real this blog is, I feel like I’m chatting with an old friend as I read the posts in her blog.

The Anderson Crew
This is one of my all time favourite American blogs.  Emily has only hit 30 and she has four children of her own, one adopted child and another one on the way.

I’m inspired by her ability to remain happy in life whilst juggling such a busy home.  I started following Emily when I stumbled across her adoption journey.  She is so honest and open about her experiences, her feelings.

I also love that she encourages you to ‘embrace the camera’ rather than always be the one behind it.

Childhood 101's - Playopedia
Given I have three children under 6 how could I not love this blog / resource.  I love childhood 101, but I also love Playopedia.  Over the years I attended playgroup I spent hours searching and searching for play ideas. And now this fantastic resource has so much on offer, I’m always telling other mums about it.

Whenever we’re stuck for something to do, it’s a great place to stop by for ideas.

Magneto Bold Too
Now this blog is a little different to a lot of others I read.  And quite frankly that’s why I love it.  Kelley says it how it is!  Life can sometimes be hard, life can sometimes be easy, but it’s always more fun with a few f*bombs inbetween.

And don’t be distracted by the f*bomb, that’s not what it’s all about, there is some awesome reading, some will pull at the heart strings, others will simply leave you peeing your pants with laughter.

Enjoying the Little Things
I love this blog.  I’m in awe of Kelle’s gorgeous photos, inspiration right there. 

I stumbled across this blog one day because she was raising money for Down Syndrome America.  She wanted to raise $5,000 but through her moving You Tube clip she raised over $100,000. 

She blogged before the arrival of her second daughter, but it was the birth of Nella that really engaged people.  Unexpectantly giving birth to a baby with Down Syndrome, she takes you on her journey from shock, fear to love and devotion.

I can't wait to read what other people are lovin' on the net.  I mean it's not like I haven't got anything to read already! lol.  But I've always got time for alittle more blog lovin'.

With Love

Mandy

*After note: I've just realised my list only has 5! how old am I?  Maybe I should go back to school and learn to count!

The Importance of Embracing the Camera

I used to hate having my photo taken, like seriously loathe it.

I don't know why really, I guess it was a self worth issue.

And then a friend said to me one day:

When someone wants to take your photo you should smile, and be happy, because in years to come that is how they will remember you.

He was right you know.  I didn't change over night but ever since, those words have lingered in my mind.  

If I hid away, duck, stand behind others, what will people have to remember me by?

It's even more important these days with children.  I now find myself saying, 'take a photo of me' more than ever.  I never thought I'd be saying those words.  

But what I do know is this, 

I want my children to look back at photos of their life and see a loving mother, who was happy because she loved her children and they bought joy to her life.

It's really important to embrace the camera, regardless of how you see yourself, others love you, and if they ask you to smile or be in their photo it's because they actually want you in their photo.

I've become more and more comfortable with this concept since having a blog too.  Since I've been capturing memories. 

Do you embrace the camera?

If not, why not, what's holding you back?

Here is a little sample of me embracing the camera since my kids came along:

Not always glamorous, not always looking at the camera, but always sharing a little love with the special people in my life and that is worth capturing.

I like to embrace the camera with The Anderson Crew.  It's a great way to stop and remember to step in front of the camera and not always stand behind it.

Cheers

Mandy

A taste of Spring, Let the Cleaning Begin!

The weather is pretty perfect this week.

Everyone is in a good mood and the cleaning has begun.

 Training him early

This is her 'da da'  Super Clean Moment (pity her face, not so much)

Following her fantastic cleaning efforts she decided to start decorating 

and is now painting an indoor mural.

I'm joining in with My Little Drummer Boys Wordless Wednesday, so we're almost wordless right?

Cheers

Mandy

Book Week - Embrace the Reader!

It's book week here in Australia and whilst my kids haven't yet started school, I'm always keen to encourage them to get involved in activities within the community.

We've all been hit with the 'germ fest' this last week, so we don't have anything super exciting planned for book week, except a couple of book related activities.

But first I thought I would share with you what we do to Embrace the Reader now that Lulu has started 'Library' at kinder this term.  

We are adjusting to the new routine, every Thursday she has to return her current book and exchange it for another one!  OK so I'm stating the bloody obvious now, sorry!

But we already have sooo many books here in our humble abode.  It was a challenge for it to not get lost amongst our own little library.

And then there is the baby, note: must keep borrowed book out of hands of baby!

Zander has this terrible habit of tearing pages out of the books, seriously, move on already.......

So I decided we needed to Embrace the Reader.

We now have book of the week.  Doesn't mean we can't read other books, it just means it gets a little extra special attention.

I purchased this little baby from Ebay.

It now takes pride of place on our entrance stand, with the book of the week.  I like it because it's attractive, and encourages reading.  Plus every Thursday we know where to find the reader, without yelling, without rummaging, without meltdowns of any sort.

Cheers

Mandy

Fathers Day - Hand Made Photo Frames

I know it's not Fathers day just yet,  but I do love to be organised.

Nothing beats a hand made gift from your kids, especially when you're celebrating a special occasion.

Fathers Day is no exception.

This Fathers Day my kids will be making a personalised photo frame each.

And if you're interested you too can download them for dad too.

 I love daddy can be downloaded here.

My Dad's a Star can be downloaded here.

We print to card, then the kids using texta's and pencil's will decorate to their hearts content.

We choose to stick our photo on top of the rectangle in the middle, then laminate.

Variations:

If you cut the rectangle out of the middle and laminate, you can stick the picture behind the frame and then swap it around from time to time.

If you add a couple of adhesive magnets to the back they become fridge frames, which is the perfect place for them to reside.

If you choose to download these Fathers Day Photo Frames, I'd love to hear how you go.  Feel free to drop a line here or at my Facebook Page

Cheers

Mandy

Setting New Goals

I'm home, I have no more running commitments as yet, so it's time to start setting some new goals.

I've been feeling a little run down of late so I'm glad for the opportunity to stop and regroup.

The sun is going to be shining in Melbourne this coming week and that leaves me just a tad excited.

So I'm not going to plan beyond the week.  I'm just going to focus on now, for now.

I'm taking a step back.

This week I aim to focus on 'being healthy'

What does this mean to me?

I will try and eat healthy!  

Lately I have been eating a whole lotta crap.  I know I'm doing it and my inner demon, is right there chanting me on.  But I'm going to stop.

I'm going to focus on drinking water..... again! 

Why is this sooooo hard, its water for goodness sake, simple, and I am going to focus on just doing it.  Or just drinking it in this case!

And with the little ray of sunshine I am going to get out and go for a walk, every single day, for 1 hour.   I know I am busy, I have a lot to think about, but I am just going to stop and make it happen.

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So I will not run this coming week.  I will walk.  But I am OK with that. It's about fitness.

Each day as I drop one of the kids at Kinder I will be able to put the other two in the pram and take off, around the local streets, soaking up a bit of vitamin D.

How will you be enjoying the first rays of sunshine leading up to spring?

Cheers

Mandy

The Fog Has Lifted

All week, I've felt lost.

I've felt like a caged animal.

Trapped, pacing the house, unsure what to do with myself.

When in reality I've a million things to do.

I've felt weak, getting cranky at the sound of children constantly calling 'mum'.

Wanting wanting wanting...........

When really, they are being well behaved, asking before they take, asking when they need help.

And then my anger, turns to myself.  I get sooooo angry with myself.

Why?

Because I hate being like this, I know only I can pull myself out of this slum.

Hallelujah

Today the fog lifted.  The sun is shining and this my friend makes a massive difference. 

I am soooo grateful for a little sunshine.

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The kids managed to sleep in till 8.30am and then after an hour or so of being up, when the man of the house rose, I went back to bed, and I stayed there till midday.

I am soooo grateful for sleep.  

I love it, it's always been one of my favourite past times and now a really good sleep is a rare treat.

I'm feeling alive again, back to my normal self.  Seems I may have simply been exhausted!

So no more struggle town for me, not this week coming I'm going to embrace life and enjoy every minute.

Fingers crossed, anyway. lol.

Thanks for the kind words over at my Facebook Page it really helped keep me going when I really couldn't be bothered.

Cheers

Mandy

Joining in with Maxabella, check out what others are feeling grateful for this weekend.

Organising - Kids Art Work

I'm 50/50 when it comes to being sentimental.  I love to hold on to precious things that have real meaning, but don't need to hold onto everything.

So when it comes to kids art work I never wanted to end up with boxes and boxes of art work, that I'm never going to look at again and if I did, what would I do with it?

So I decided I'd photograph some of their work and create a 'Coffee Table Book'  I use Target for all my photo books.

In a bid to keep it simple and not end up with 100 books by the time they graduate, I have decided at this point in their life to make a book titled 'The preschool years'. 

When they do something great at home, or bring some fab work home from kinder I take a photo and load it into a folder I have especially for their art work. 

Hint: I always make sure I save it by date, so I know how old they were when they did it.

Then when I have time, I upload them to the Target Photo Books website, in date order, so I can view the progression in their skills and creativity. 

I guess this book will be a bit of a Kindergarten Graduation Book, if you like,  and then I'll start another one for their primary years.  I'll need to review that as I go based on the amount of work I choose to upload.

What I do know is the kids love their art work, they already love to look at it on the computer and I have no doubt that they will love it when they have their own A5 hard cover book. 

Finally if you're thinking of doing something along these lines, here is a list of some of the things I choose to include:

• First attempts at writing their own name.
• First, second, third etc attempts of drawing a person.
• Art work with lots of colour
• 3D artwork may include them in the photo (always nice to see how proud they are)

Anyway, this is a great way to hold onto your kids work without holding onto boxes and boxes of memories.

Do you have any other hints or tips to add to this concept?

Cheers


Mandy

A Mini Olympics

Last week Tom participated in his Kinder Mini Olympics

How cute is he?  He melts my heart!

and look at my junior photographer

I'm linking up for Wordless Wednesday with My Little Drummer Boys.

Cheers

Mandy

Having a baby ain't always that easy!

When I was younger I thought I'd grow up, meet someone, get married and have babies.  Just like that.

And for the most part I did.

I met Rod when I was in my mid twenties, we settled down, got married and set about making plans to start a family.  Being super organised we'd decided 3 was our number.

But I was soon to be taught that just because I am a woman, doesn't mean that I can go and have babies just because I want to.

Unfortunately my introduction to becoming a mum wasn't a joyful experience.

My first pregnancy, did not eventuate into the birth of my first child.  And whilst it was a huge shock, an awful experience, there are many aspects of that pregnancy I am grateful for.

During the first trimester of my pregnancy I was sick, ridiculously sick.  I was green, vomiting most days up to 10 times a day.  The dream of having a baby was all that kept me going.

At 12 weeks I went on my merry way to have my first ultrasound, the hospital recommended an ultrasound at 18 weeks, however we'd decided we wanted one at 12 weeks and set upon having one privately at our own cost.  Rod was at work, not overly fussed that he wouldn't be there.  'I'm happy to wait to see the real thing' he'd tell me.

But unfortunately that day was not a good one for me.  As soon as I saw the puzzled look on the lady's face conducting my ultrasound I knew it wasn't good.  My heart was racing but I held onto a little hope. Then she advised me she wanted to do an internal to have a really good look.

What she found, was that my baby had Anencephaly.

'anencephaly n: a defect in brain development resulting in small or missing brain hemispheres. A congenital absence of the brain and cranial vault, with the cerebral hemispheres completely missing or greatly reduced in size.' - [source]

In my words, the back of my babies skull had failed to form.  It would continue to live to full term, if I let it, because it was surviving through me.  But once the baby was born, they would not live.  Without a brain (which would have leaked out the back of the skull) it would surely die.

I was encouraged in a (this is what you have to do tone) to terminate the pregnancy straight away.  There was no point putting the strain of a full pregnancy on my body let alone the emotional aspects associated with this.

So, at approximately 13 weeks, after follow up scans, the pregnancy ended.

Believe me when I say I was absolutely guttered at the time, I remember having to call Rod from the doctors and my fingers were not able to press the buttons on the phone, I was shaking so much.

But the reality, if I put it into perspective, how grateful I am that I chose to have that ultrasound at 12 weeks.  Had we not opted to have that ultrasound, I would have continued to carry that baby until half way through my pregnancy.  The outcome of that would have resulted in a still birth.  I can't even begin to imagine how someone goes through that.

We don't have to live with the knowledge of who that baby was, what sex they would have been, what name we might have given them.  All of that would have been too much to bare.

In reflection I see it as a stepping stone, an experience we had to go through, we are all dealt challenges throughout our lives and this one was definitely a challenge for us.  But whilst there is not always a light at the end of the tunnel for everyone, we are thankful there was for us.

We went onto have our first child 18 months later, and the joy that comes with that, will always outweigh the challenges we faced along the way.

Mandy

Sydney City 2 Surf - Oh how I loved and hated you!

Yesterday I did it, I completed my first (and not last) Sydney City 2 Surf.

Before this year I can honestly say I never even considered doing something like this, but soon after I started my fitness challenge for 2011 I knew this would be the ultimate challenge. 

And not because of distance, because at 14.38km the Run for Kids was in fact that tiny bit longer, it was the challenge to be a part of a movement, a fun run that is labelled "World's Largest Run" and with 85,000 entrants I couldn't wait.

What started out with a small handful of ladies joining me on this journey, in the end it was only me.  That said my Sister-in-law did join me for a weekend away.

We arrived Saturday morning allowing us to really enjoy Sydney and some kid free time before the race day. 

Anyway, we woke Sunday morning to a wet and miserable day.  I come from Melbourne people, I am used to four seasons in one day, but to find out this is only the second time in the 41 year history of the race that it has rained I have to admit I was pretty disappointed.  Oh and the fact that I've not had to complete a race in the rain yet!

We stayed in Bondi, and therefore had to make our way to the start, this involved a bus, and traveling a good half dozen blocks by foot, and it was hammering down.  I actually thought the road was going to flood!  So despite the fact that I thought I was too cool I swore I'd never be caught dead wearing a poncho I caved and nicked into the convenience store and made my purchase.

I had to be practical, It was cold, I would have to hand over my jumper very shortly and I didn't want to be drenched before the race even began.  That said my feet were already wet, which eventuated in a massive blister on the arch of my foot.  Not Happy Jan!  (It might have been at this stage that I tweeted 'I hate you Sydney', but I didn't mean it, really).

Thankfully the rain stopped just before the race began.  So I tore off my poncho and got stuck into the warm up exercises.  Then before I knew it we were off.

This is me at the start, pumped.

I've been thinking about the race all weekend and what I'd write, how I'd express the emotions that I went through.  There is something about these 'Big' race meets.  The adrenalin that is pumping through your blood as you wait to be a part of something special. 

It's like I entered that race on my own, but yet I was not alone, I was surrounded by people as far as the eye could see and they were all there, maybe for different reasons, however no words needed to be spoken, we were just there together.

About to make my way to the 'official' start line.

As you run there are people who amuse you, and there are those that truly move you.  I'm always moved by the young, young kids running / walking with their parents.  I just want to go up and squeeze them because even though I don't know them I am so proud of them.  Then there are the older people, when you're losing stamina and you're telling yourself to keep going, then you see someone, who is clearly 20+ years your senior, you're given that extra little reminder that the only person holding you back is yourself.  I applaud these people, that is inspiration right there if I've ever seen it.

Finally after approximately 1.41hrs, (waiting for my official time and hoping to hit my stretched goal of 1.40) I crossed the finish line.  I was knacked, my foot was burning, my legs were super sore, but I felt amazing.

 

 This is not a glamour shot! Clearly!

Finally, I couldn't help but compare Sydney to Melbourne the whole time I was running.  Who knew Sydney was so hilly.  Not me apparently!  That was certainly the biggest challenge of the Sydney City 2 Surf.  

But what I really loved about this race was the way the public embraced it.  There was so much entertainment along the way.  People holding parties on their balconies, cheering the runners on. Mr Whippy vans (what is with that?)  Music stations, and I especially loved the group of people that dressed up as Smurfs and held a dance party.  

So another race done and dusted.  This is number four for the year.  Yay to me, I'm so happy with my achievements to date.  And as I sit here and think what next, look what I found.

November is officially the month of Melbourne's inaugural City 2 Sea.  I will definitely be checking my calendar in the next few days.  How cool will that be, to be a part of the first of what is sure to become another iconic race.

OK enough rambling on from me, this is a massive post, but it has been a massive weekend.  An awesome weekend!

Cheers

Mandy

Today is all about ME!

Today is all about ME. 

I'm hoping that is a good thing. 

I really do. 

So watch this space and I look forward to sharing how I went next week. 

When I've recovered!

Happy Sunday to you.



Mandy