Fairy tales...

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

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


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The Lying Game - TV series

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


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Nails did...

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


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Elmo's World Tour Melbourne

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

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







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Light up sneakers...

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

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

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







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GAP Chadstone 70% off sale!

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




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


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


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


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Happy Jubilee Queen Elizabeth!

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


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Going back to the orthodontist after 16 years!

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

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

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




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

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



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15 years ago...

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




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Once Upon A Time - TV series

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

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




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Crayola Confetti Glue

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

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






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Madame Flavour Sultry Chai Tea... Mmmm..

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

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

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






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Sunday afternoon baking...

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

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







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Snuggling with my baby girl...

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

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

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

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






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An operation on my little girl...

My beautiful 3 year old girl, Princess Marley Cakes (just Marley), is having surgery on her umbilical hernia on Friday morning... For the past few weeks I have completely put it out of my head, but now it's close... I am trying to be practical, pack a bag, get her some new toys, talk to her a little about what's going to happen, but my emotions are super close to overtaking my sanity! She asked if it was going to hurt and I just wanted to cry, while I put on a brave face and explained what is going to happen...
Things like this, or UK X Factor, just bring me to tears... Since having children, my hard arse filter has completely disintegrated... I am left with a bit of a basket case emotional state - all the time! Mark is coming to Cabrini with us, so at least if I feel my resolve start to waiver, he can do the 'hold it together' part...
Marley requested 5 pink toys to play with after hospital, she got 6, but not all pink... Trying to kill this pink addiction a little! Can't wait to read her the fairy tale pop up books, but we will have to keep them away from Mace the Demolisher (just Mace)!


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Crayola Outdoor Coloured Bubbles

These are awesome... Was just strolling around the toy section with the kids at Target and as usual I cruised the crayola section and these were new... I bought them thinking it might kill a half hour some time... Only $3, usually $4 I think, and once we got in the fun began!
Purple bubbles adorned our grass, while the ink from Marley popping them covered her hands, speckled her hair and brought a massive smile to her face... I blew bubbles for over half hour and used about half a bottle... It all washed off in seconds once we were done... Highly recommend!











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Recycling glasses!

Just a quickie...


While going through a bunch of stuff in our kitchen drawer the other day, I stumbled across a rare few pairs of my old glasses that werent smashed up or washed away to sea (yes, this really happened), so I set about finding a way to recycle them...  The Lions do it, http://www.lionsclubs.org.au/recycle-for-sight/ just send them off to 
Lions Recycle for Sight
PO Box 3021 
CLONTARF MDC 4019


Mine are all packed up and ready to go...  Feels good knowing that rather then them wasting away in a drawer long forgotten, they might help 3 pretty blind people in Africa...  Do you wear glasses?  Where are your old ones?  Please find them and recycle them, every little bit helps!

Soup, soup, soup, soup...

It's getting chilly here in Melbourne, so it's time to crack out the soup recipes! Last night we had an amazing potato and courgette/zucchini soup, it was just divine! Sorry no pics, two sick kids and soup for dinner did not make a picturesque meal time! I did end up with green soup in my freshly washed hair...

It did however, make me want more soup! So I am making a roasted green pepper/capsicum soup for us tonight and for the kids a roasted sweet potato soup, as Marley is anti 'green things' at the moment so two nights in a row of green soup might just be too much... It's all roasting away as I type and was wondering if any of you have any delicious soup ideas? I mostly just freestyle, using whatever veg is there and add herbs/spices to suit...


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Mistys Diner... Yumyumyum...

Sorry I haven't been around so much lately... My cousin is here from Cairns with her family, so it has been all about the fam lately! We took time out from the kids last night to go out for dinner at Mistys Diner with a dear friend I don't see enough of...

Mistys has become our date night dining spot, on the rare nights we get to go out for dinner, we love it there! It is heart attack on a plate food, but is damn good too! I usually have the western burger, when I find a good thing I tend to stick with it... Lately I have found myself unable to finish it, so tried something new last night, the meatball gourmet roll... It was freaking amazing, they gut the roll and fill it with delicious meatballs, cheese and their wicked smokey BBQ sauce, with a shared side of curly fries, it was exactly what I wanted! I have never out BBQ sauce with meatballs, but they are onto something there!!!

Topped off with a diet A&W root beer, yum! If you haven't been to Mistys, you need to go there!



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