My Happy Place - Celebrating Halloween

This is my last post in the 'Happy Place' collective with Nathalie from Easy Peasy Kids.

Doesn't mean I'll no longer be happy, lol, I'll no doubt ramble on about it from time to time. 

Anyhow, as the end of October draws to a close, Halloween is amongst us.

 [source]

Yes is the first year we've celebrated it, but we've had fun.  Seriously, what is not to love about Halloween.

We've made Bat's on a full moon 

And Paper Plate Ghosts

I made Halloween inspired bunting

When I became a tight arse we had to compromise and we made our own Halloween Lanterns

I whipped up some Cupcake Toppers for our Halloween Celebration

And then we did just that, we celebrated.

Our home is our happy space, I mean why else would I call my blog 'A Little Space like Home'?

I'm a believer of the 'your home is your castle' mentality.  Sometimes things in the big wide world overwhelm me, but as long as I've got my home to feel safe, secure and most of all happy in, then I will live a good life.

So when opportunity knocks to invite friends in, put smiles on the kids faces, how could I ever say no.

We've had a great time celebrating Halloween.  We've started a new tradition for our family, something to build on each year.

Thank you Nathalie for inviting me to participate in the Happy Place Challenge this month.  I've really enjoyed stopping by.

What's your favourite celebration?  Easter? Birthday? .................. Christmas?

Christmas is by far the most favourite celebration for me.... bring it on baby!

Cheers

Mandy

{Fancy Pants} - Fun in the Sun

I'm always up for a Fancy Pants post when the sun is shining.  

It's inevitable that I'll be more creative in what I wear when I don't have to wear a half dozen layers.

We're a little up market here, in the camera stakes, lol!  We've got the tripod and remote to take our photos.  But don't you love it when everyone has to have a turn of it.  Yeap that above shot is Tom working the remote control!

And now the rain is back and the layers are out! Sigh!

I'm joining in with Kymie over at A Day in the Life of Us for her Fancy Pants link up.

Do you have a favourite outfit for around the house?

Dress: From BigW

Cardigan: Cotton On

Thongs: (yeap all class) Havaianas

Cheers

Mandy

Imaginative Play for Kids [and a giveaway]

This givaway has now closed.  Winners are:

• Shelly - Tropical Mum
• Mum on the Run
• Trish
• tHIrteen
• Raelene graham

.........................................................................................................................................................

Given my children are young, play is mighty important in our home.

They look to me a lot for stimulation.  To come up with ideas for them, provide them with things to do.

As a parent, I don't want every activity I provide to cost a fortune, and I honesty believe in the children having the opportunity to stimulate their own play.  This is often known as imaginative play.

The Natural Confectionery Company recently conducted a survey amongst parents and found they wanted more time for imaginative play, but majority were suffering from family fatigue.  I know that feeling.

Following the results of the survey, The Natural Confectionery Company in conjunction with Western Sydney Parklands and Blacktown City Council have rejuvenated The Kookaburra Playground at Nurragingy Reserve, creating a haven for kids, stimulating imaginative play.  Their aim in doing this was to create a playground featuring lots of natural materials, such as sandstone, river stones, recycled timber sleepers and shipping ropes and the list goes on...

If you're in Sydney, they are having the official opening and family day next Sunday 6th November.  They are providing a free breakfast, as well as fun filled family activities.  The official festivities will take place between 7am and midday.

If you'd like to go along, head to Kookaburra Playground, Nurragingy Reserve.  [Enter at Knox Rd, Doonside]

Unfortunately for us, we are in Melbourne, so going along to the family day is not a possibility.  That said there are plenty of opportunities for Imaginative Play in your own backyard.

Today we got our chalk out and decided to go hang out in our front yard.  We have a large concrete driveway and this is the perfect canvas for some chalk art.

Chalk is cheap, I always make sure we have a stash, so essentially this activity is almost free.  The great thing about this is you can take a number of different approaches.

# Our kids drew some pictures, this allowed them to be creative and use their imagination

# We drew a hopscotch on the ground which also allows for some physical movement

# The baby decided he wanted to ride his little bike around, so we decided to draw our own track too

 I also love that I can relax, as I Supervise them out the front.

Below is some other ideas for imaginative play in your own backyard:

• Provide your children with a scrapbook to record their adventures
• Challenge balance and co-ordination, providing things to climb and play on
• Create imaginative play settings [e.g. a sheet over a tree branch to create a cubby]
• Encourage natural art, using glue and loose objects such as sand, leaves, sticks

Thanks to The Natural Confectionery Company and Liquid Ideas I have 5 Natural Confectionery Prize Packs to giveaway.

To enter follow this blog and leave a comment below telling me what is your kids favourite activity when they're outdoors.

Details:

• Please ensure your email is attached to your entry, if I can't contact you I will redraw
• If you don't respond within one week, I'll redraw
• Open to Australian Residents Only
• If you share this giveaway via Facebook or Twitter, leave a separate comment telling me for an additional entry
• Competition closes Sunday 6th November at Midnight

Cheers

Mandy


Disclaimer:  I did not receive compensation for this post.  I did receive five prize packs in return for promotion of the opening of the Kookaburra Playground.

I'm grateful for a taste of Summer

I'm sure I've probably been grateful for this before.  Maybe just in different words.

You know, like, grateful for sunshine, or grateful for a day in the sun, blah blah.

But there is no hiding it, I love the sunshine.

I wouldn't even say the sun was shining today, it was overcast but the weather was balmy and I was happy.

I have cold bloody, I need the sunshine, I don't like to go in the water for a dip unless it's 30 degrees.  But my Lulu she does not take after me.  When it hits 25 degrees she wants to get around in her undies because she's 'boiling'.

So on request today we officially celebrated the warm weather by pulling out the pool.  Yeap our trusty pool cost $12 down at the discount store, but it's a ripper.  

So we put a little water in it, (which no shit would have been freezing) and off they went.

Don't you just love the leadership of 'big brother', looks like he is choking the poor kid to death, but seriously they were both really happy!  (do you believe me?)

Honestly, with smiles like this, how can one not be happy, be grateful, for my life that I have been given.  Thank you very much.

Some days are tough, motherhood is hard, entertaining the kids is not always easy.  But when I have days where it is warm, and a simple bit of water in the back yard can put smiles on their faces, it makes it all worth it.

Bring on summer I say.

So on this day, I am grateful for warm weather, and the simplicity that is entertainment in your own back yard.

I'm linking up with Maxabella loves grateful link up.  What are you grateful for today?

Cheers

Mandy


PS.  As I attempt to use Manual over Auto on my camera I need to remember the following,
Photos taken: 1/640 F5 ISO 400

A Day Out at Myuna Farm

This week we had the opportunity to visit Myuna Farm for a birthday party.

We loved it.

They have all these lovely little out building set up, with their own names, 'The Cottage' 'Pioneer Shed' etc.  We were in 'The Signal Box'  and it had two levels, with all the old levers up the top.

Reminds me a little of the old school portable.

The kids got to:

# Go on a train ride throughout the park (along the way they got to feed the ducks)

# Go on a pony ride

# Go for many walks around the farm to visit all the other animals, including pigs, cows, ducks, emus, goats, deers and heaps more.

# Visit and hold the bunnies in the nursery

My Lulu is scared of Animals, well actually that is putting it mildly.  Check out the fear when she was in the rabbit enclosure.

Seems she isn't the only one.......

But the little man, he's not afraid of anything!  When the ducks quacked their loudest, he headed straight in their direction.

The other great thing about this party was the ability for the host to set the room up as they pleased, which meant that as well as getting to do all the 'farm things' and play in the park, they could still have your typical kids party with party food and cake.

Check out my little man below.   Isn't she gorgeous, going in for a little pash!

And because they are enough to make your heart melt I just had to include this close up:

And because I always do my best to embrace the camera here is a shot of me and my little man, although it's just not that sweet after looking at those shots above.  And he doesn't seem as fussed by me either! lol.

This was the first time we'd been out to Myuna Farm but it certainly won't be the last.  It's inexpensive, and a great back to nature experience.   The set up is fantastic, regardless of whether you're going for a birthday party or a family day out.

The Myuna Farm is located at 182 Kidds Road, Doveton, Vic 3177   (Australia)

Creating a 'bucket list' for summer, this is certainly worth adding to the list.

I'm linking up with The Anderson Crew for Embrace the Camera too!

Cheers

Mandy.

Organising: Kids Shoes and Hats

This is one of my 'I try and be crazy organised' posts!

We used to store all the kids shoes, (and by all I mean there were loads) on the bottom shelf of the change table.

Apart from the fact that is looked like a never ending pit, the kids would push and shove all the shoes around looking for the matching pair, and more often than not............ when I was in. a. hurry.

We finally decided after three children and almost six years it was time to part ways with the change table.  Zander is still a baby (or so we tell ourselves) but we change him on the floor.

So moving right along.  We picked up one of these -

It has three rows, one for each child.  It has two draws, a big one for shoes and a smaller one for hats.

It's right near the exit to the garage, so the usual port of call before we leave the house.

And finally there is no excuse not to find the matching shoe, as you're only hunting through your own pile no one elses.  (Poor Zander, his draw is almost empty!)

Oh one more thing... we hope as the little man gets older we'll be able to be done with the nappies and wipes which sit in a basket on top, and replace it with a nice photo, some coasters and act as little side table.

Anyway, that's another installment in my attempt to be an organised mumma. Have you got any hot tips on how to tackle getting out of the house in the morning with kids?  With Lulu starting school next year I need all the help I can get.

Cheers

Mandy

Wordless Wednesday - Summer Lovin'

OK so it's not Summer yet, but we dream on............. 

I love that my children have warm hearts. 

I'm linking up with My Little Drummer Boys for Wordless Wednesday.  Why not join in too.

Cheers

Mandy

Perfectly Imperfect - Motherhood

I spend a lot of time, reviewing my performance as a mother.

Why?

Who else other than me is marking my performance?

No one.  Not really.

Sure on a daily, weekly, monthly basis, perhaps others are.  Perhaps other mums at kinder and other social groups are dissecting what you do and thinking, she's not winning mother of the year.

But does it really matter if they think that?  Who does it impact?

When I think about my role as a mother, I think about all I want to achieve.  Ultimately over the long term what is my goal?

Of course it is to raise happy, healthy and successful children.  (Successful being in the eye of the beholder).

But then how do we sustain those goals.... daily?

We aren't kicking goals everyday, are we?  Well I know I'm certainly not.

I'm not perfect!

But I am sure if some one sat down with my children (well the older two anyway) and asked them about me, what it is I do, what it is I do for them, they'd no doubt mention my flaws, but they'd also talk about me with a spark in their eyes that tells you they love me.  just the way I am.

So I guess in a sense, I'm perfectly imperfect.

I love to be a YES mum.  Yes we can bake, yes we can craft, yes we can watch that movie, yes we can go to the beach, yes, yes, yes.

But other days there is the image, were I have epic fails.  You know the one where they nag me to get off the computer and I just want to send one more email.  The one where they want me to take them to the park but I am too tired, or I just don't feel I have enough time. The one where I get cross and yell.

Hell, I'm not Mary Poppins!

But I know deep down not to hang onto those fails, because I know they are not epic, not really.  I also know my children don't hang onto those fails.  I know that despite the sometimes nagging that they are bored, they will look back and have fond memories.

So this is what I need to do too.

I will focus on the positives, let the fails fade away, they are not important, they do not define me.  I am perfectly imperfectly to those that matters and that is what matters to me.

This month Kate from Picklebums is hosting Perfectly Imperfect, writing a number of posts to remind us that being imperfect is AOK.

Cheers

Mandy

A Butterfly Headband

Suddenly Lulu has decided she loves headbands.  

She still is completely incapable of wearing one for a whole day,

But nonetheless we've been busy creating ideas for fun headbands.

Here is one we made this week.

The Butterfly Band

To make this I googled 'butterfly template' to get a butterfly shape.  

I printed and cut this template out.

I then printed it out again and cut another template just a little bit smaller than the original.

Then I cut a large butterfly out using:

# Hard Felt

And a small butterfly using:

# Floral Fabric

# Tulle  (x3)

Using a spray glue I stuck the floral on top of the felt.

I then pinned the three layers of tulle on top and joined by sewing a line down the centre of the butterfly.  By doing this the wings of the butterfly are loose.  (see top image for demonstration of where I've sewn)

Finally we used a hot glue gun to join it to the head band.

Lulu decided to add some glitter glue to the top layer of tulle, you could do this or glue on sequins.

We are going to get to work making a couple of different colours.

We love to make things in this house, although I am no professional sewer, small stuff like this is not too difficult.  It's a great experience to brainstorm with Lulu and we have fun picking fabrics and other bits and pieces together.  

Do you like to make things, or do you prefer to buy?

Cheers

Mandy

Celebrating Halloween

I know Halloween hasn't quite struck just yet.

It's a well known joke in circles around me that I don't celebrate things on their due date, for some reason, I seem to always have an excuse to push it forward or push it back.

Halloween fell on Melbourne Cup weekend this year and therefore we decided to celebrate the weekend before.

Given my kids are quite young I wanted Halloween to be fun and sweet, not leaving them with nightmares.

I let them invite a couple of friends over each for a play date and we organised a few little things to do and some fun nibbles.

And of course it was an opportunity to dress up.

I made a batch of cupcakes and decorated them with our Halloween Cupcake Toppers and I also made a batch of Teddy Bear Racers.  

I just used a small chocolate bar, stuck smarties on the side for wheels (using melted chocolate) and then made a little hole in the chocolate to insert the teddy bear.  Aren't they just too cute!

Part of the fascination for Halloween is of course the opportunity to Trick or Treat.  But this is a tricky one for me (Partly because it's not Halloween yet) but mostly because Halloween is not universal in Australia, some embrace it, others don't want anything to do with it. 

I made the decision to purchase three lots of 'treats' and give them to my neighbours so that there was no expectation to provide.  However, all my neighbours decided to go out - no joke!  Every. single. one. of. them.

That didn't stop us though, we used their yards (we have nice neighbours) and went on a Halloween treasure hunt, so to speak.

Rod planted the lolly pops in our neighbours front lawn, looked a little like a lolly pop grave yard.  From there we went to our next neighbours yard, to collect a little cello bag of lollies and finally across to our third neighbours to collect the last treat.

The excitement was huge.

When we got back to the house, the kids also gave their friends a spider lolly pop and a print out of a gorgeous Halloween paper doll.

Aren't they gorgeous, you can print these too, I got them from Babalisme

Overall the kids had a really fun time, Halloween really lived up to their expectations (and it hasn't even arrived).  I look forward to making Halloween a tradition for our family.

Do you celebrate Halloween?  What do you do to make it special for your family?

Cheers

Mandy

My Happy Place - The Day I just Stopped for a minute!

I'm sitting here on the couch in the middle of the day

If you asked me I could name a million things I could be / should be doing

But I don't really care

I'm not stressed

I'm not bothered

Today is a glorious day.

Why?

The sun is shining for a start.  This does in turn mean things like, the washing pile is no longer over flowing.

Lulu is on a kinder excursion.  This means she will be out for 7 hours, I know I shouldn't be shouting out 'high five me, my daughters not home' but it does reduce the load.

Tom has gone to a friends house for a play date........... do you see where I'm going with this?

And as I sit here and write this, Zans is in bed having a nap.  

Hallelujah to that baby!

There is no TV on in the house, it is silent.  I can hear the wind rustling the leaves on the tress outside.

I'm relaxed.

I know I could be running around like a headless chook trying to do some of my chores, but I am little weary and I know it will all still be there tomorrow, so tomorrow is good enough for me.

-x-

Earlier this morning once the older two were gone I headed down to the gym for a workout.

Zans went into the creche for the first time.

It was only an hour

He is ever so confident

I knew he'd be fine

Yet when I came back despite his efforts to be brave, he was in fact a little sad.

Next week his big brother will be there to hold his hand, I'm sure that will make a difference.

I ran / walked on the treadmill for an hour

I have A LOT of work to do!

But the last couple of days have been good.  

I am not dieting, I have eaten three meals a day.  

But I have not eaten any sweets.  

I've reduce the amount of Coke Zero I am drinking

Lee kindly left this message on my recent post about my battle to be healthy:

Hi, I have popped over here from Caz's. As I suggested to her, perhaps just work on one or two of these things. When they become habit, work on another two. It can feel so overwhelming if you punch all the issues together. Good luck!

And thanks to her kind words of advice I have decided to reduce the amount I drink, but not try to stop altogether.  Maybe down the track.

But I am trying to be reasonable and not set myself up to fail.

 [source]

Goodness knows my husband asks me, how many times have you started this campaign to get fit now?

So off I go on my merry way, enjoying each moment of today for what it is.. simple!

I am happy with the life I lead, sure we all desire a little more and work toward that, but I am happy in this moment.

I'm happy with the joy my children bring me but sometimes I am happy when I just stop for a minute and am in my own company.

I'm joining in with Nathalie over at Easy Peasy Kids for her 30 Day - Happy Place Challenge.

What's making you happy on this day?

Cheers

Mandy

Tim Tam Cake Pops

When I made Oreo Cake Pops I thought I'd died and gone to heaven, there was no turning back for me.

But then I stumbled across a recipe for Tim Tam cake pops and even though I'm not a lover of Tim Tams I thought it was worth a go, you know, research for future guests.

Ingredients

1 packet of Tim Tams

100g Cream Cheese

Melted Chocolate to coat

Smash the Tim Tams, you can do this with a rolling pin in a bag, but I use a blender.

Add cream cheese and mix

Roll into balls and refrigerate

Insert pop stick or toothpick at this point if this is the look you are going for.

When I made these, I decided given I was making them for a bunch of grown ups, I'd make them as balls (with no stick).

I still used the stick to dip into the chocolate, but I then pulled the stick out and dropped another bit of melted chocolate where the toothpick had been to hid the evidence.

Don't they look divine?  Oh yes they are, TRUST ME!

The Oreo Cake Pops are so rich you really can only have one, but although the Tim Tam ones are incredibly sweet they are moreish.  Just saying.

I'm tipping this will be on my catering list for any upcoming get together.

Cheers

Mandy

Halloween Lanterns

We were going to get ourselves some carving pumpkins this Halloween to really get in the spirit of things, but because it's not widely celebrated here to buy a Carving Pumpkin at the supermarket you'll pay between $20-$30.

So disappointing.

We compromise, we're good at that.

We decided to make Halloween Lanterns and that way we'd still have something that we can light up.

We used:

- A jar (size doesn't matter but we love the coffee jars, they're perfect

- Tissue Paper

- Clag Glue

- Scissors

- Black Cardboard

- small candle

I cut 1 piece of tissue paper up into small pieces

The kids then turned the jar upside down and covered in glue, then stuck the tissue paper all over the jar.  At times they covered again with glue, just to ensure it wouldn't peel when dry.  Essentially this is the equivalent to paper mache.

Once dry, we cut out faces from the black cardboard

Then we glued them to the jars.

We placed the candle in the jar and with that we had ourselves a Halloween Lantern.

A couple of quick notes.  Some others that have done this same sort of thing on line have used crate paper, so this is another option.

Don't be put off by the glue, this is a very tidy craft, easy to organise, and super cheap, we had glue and candles, the jars are recycled, I pretty much only had to buy the tissue paper, spent all of $2.

The kids love how these glow in the dark.

Cheers

Mandy


 

My Healthy Battle

I fear we all have our weaknesses, a battle we feel we just can't win.

I have a situation

I want to be healthy

But yet, I can't stop sabotaging myself and eating crap.

That's it.

But it's not a case of that's it, it's actually a major deal.

Pre kids, when I worked 9 till 5, I ate pretty healthy

I've never been a huge fruit person, but otherwise I've been pretty healthy.

Unfortunately my biggest weakness has been an addiction to coke zero

But even that was manageable, back then.

After the birth of my first daughter I started working 'after hours'

Take away was common, a pizza here, a burger there......

A Coke from the vending machine, a packet of chips..... a Mars bar.

Now, three children later I am really struggling.

My clothes are tight

My skin is in poor condition

I'm always tired

This winter I have been under the weather A LOT.

I want to eat healthy, I want to be healthy

So what is stopping me?

I don't have the answer to this.

I feel like I can relate to those people who tell weight loss stories of emotional barriers they need to over come.

I find myself saying every night, 'Tomorrow, tomorrow is going to be the day I turn the page'

And somehow........

I'm hungry, I need a snack, I crave a coke,

I simply cannot control my emotions and I give in.

I am not really liking myself very much right now, for being in this state.

I've never been here before.

I need to dig myself out and then I need to ensure I do not walk this path again.

I understand the importance of setting a good example for my children

I know what I need to do, but I still don't know how to do it.

Anyhow, I'm home from work, it's the middle of the night,

I will go to bed now and hope that tomorrow will be the day, I turn a corner, find that something within myself that I need to be a healthy, stronger person. 

Someone I can respect.

Maybe that will be tomorrow.


Mandy

Halloween: Cupcake Toppers

We are preparing ourselves for our little Halloween Celebration and with any good celebration we need to have cupcakes with toppers.

I found the cutest Halloween Cupcake Toppers.

I found them at 'Catch my Party' and you can print them off too, Here

You just need a 2 inch punch, but seriously if you don't have one you can always simply use a pair of scissors.

As per the photo below, I used:

Double sided tape

Glue stick

Toothpicks

Precut Cake Toppers

I use the double sided tape to stick down the toothpick, I just find the glue itself is not quite enough.  If you don't have double sided tape you can use normal tap, just run the glue over the top.  

Hot Tip:  Make sure you align the image with the toothpick, nothing worse than if the image is upside down.  Don't laugh, it's easily done!

And here they are complete and ready to go into the top of our cupcakes.  There are two sheets to this set, the monsters, as well as some that say 'Happy Halloween'.

But it is not Halloween, just yet.  So I've packed them away in a little cello bag and popped them in the pantry.  I'm a big believer in being organised. lol.

And Lulu, well she could hardly contain her excitement.  I don't know if it was the cupcake toppers themselves or the fact that she successfully assisted me!

Do you have anything special that you like to do when you're celebrating something?

Cheers

Mandy