It's been a busy few weeks. Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, a couple of lingering viruses, and now, our Term 3 School Holidays. However, I am happy to report:

1. I am finally on the mend, thanks to resting and LOTS of vitamins and herbs.
2. The girls have been (mostly) lovely these holidays, playing well, enjoying being together and fighting far less.
3. My Urban Outfitters package arrived and my $40 jeans fit PERFECTLY!
4. Layla has FINALLY, FINALLY said goodbye to her dummies. It was far less traumatic than last time I anticipated and I spent a few days both immensely proud of her and shocked that she'd actually done it.

We celebrated with my first ever batch of meringues, as requested by Layla.

Finally, inspired by my lovely friend of 15 years from halfway across the world, we've been getting busy with FIMO making alien creatures. If you haven't used it before, FIMO is modelling clay that you bake in your oven to harden. So, after showing Yasmin Meri's blog featuring her own Alien Army, we set to work. It was fun for the girls and I. It's always great to find an activity that all three girls (2.5, 4.5 and nearly 7 years) can do.

Hope you've got a happy house too.

xxx

Australia: Meet Urban Outfitters

Have you ever seen a toy somewhere that you know your kid would LOVE, so much that purchasing it becomes a quest to secure their long term happiness? Well, you know what I mean.

And so it was with the vintage Fisher Price Record Player. For months I've been scouring Ebay to get one - and they were either crappy condition, or way too much to justify spending on something second hand.

Until I discovered that Fisher Price are re- releasing the Record Player.

And Urban Outfitters stock them online. For $40.

And they ship to Australia!

FOR FREE! (Ok, well you do need to spend over $150 to get free shipping, but still....)

And so, one little devilish two year old and four monther is about to get the most gorgeous little present that I JUST KNOW she will love.

And I just know I'll love this gorgeous Birdcage Duvet Cover too...

Weekend wrap

A little of this....

a little of that....

and a little of this.

Mix together....lovely.

Tomorrow is a student free day at school so I am taking my two older girls to see this exhibition, Amazing Bodies at the Docklands. I think we saw this in London years ago pre kids and it was a little gross but so captivating. My kids are fascinated by blood, wounds and all that stuff so I'm sure they'll enjoy it.

Hope you had a gorgeous weekend too.

xxx

Best tips for surviving (and maybe even enjoying) school holidays

It's the night before we go back to school, and I always give myself a little (invisible) toast - you made it! I always get to this point with the same mixed feelings - relief and anticipation of some time to myself again, a sense of accomplishment that we had a mostly (I say, MOSTLY) nice time, and a little 'aawwwwww I'll miss them tomorrow' (quickly replaced by my brain working to create 10 lists of things I'd like to get done tomorrow).

We travelled, swam, saw, explored, rode, flew, drew, painted, made, read, sculpted, cooked, ate, snacked and most importantly, PLAYED.

Here's my top tips for getting through school holidays:

1. Planning
Firstly, plan ahead. A few weeks before the holidays, look online or in your local children's magazines for shows, workshops or activities you want to do with your kids. Book tickets to what you want early. Once you've done that, you have a loose schedule to work around. Spread out your activities so you have some quiet days interspersed with the busier ones.

2. Surrender
Accept that for the next few weeks, your time to 'get things done' is being suspended. In fact, you can kiss your 'me' time away for the time being. You simply cannot get as many errands done as normal. I always feel like a kindergarten teacher during the holidays (but without the lunch break). Your focus has to be on the kids. Having a quiet cup of tea and making dinner is sometimes it for the day.

3. Stock up
Before every holidays start, I go to my local art and craft shop and stock up on supplies we need, plus some extra things that will be fun for the girls. Paint, new textas, paper, glue, glitter etc. I do a tidy up of the play room so things are more easily accessible and bring out some old stuff that hasn't been played with for a while.

4. Get inspired
Use the internet for easy, quick printables when you need to give your kids something to do. Colouring in pages, word mazes for older kids, dot to dots - these are all great. I source these in the evenings and keep them in a little folder when needed.

5. TV is your friend
During holidays, when the days can seem awfully long and the kids can get a little sick and tired of doing stuff or being home by afternoon, or to keep older kids quiet while little ones nap, there is nothing, and I mean, NOTHING wrong with some TV. I'm not talking about hours in front of the TV, but an hour here or there will restore a little calmness and can give you a chance to have some peace and quiet too. (My older girls love The Parent Trap, Mary Poppins, Toy Story and Annie.)

6. Make some time for yourself
This is critical. I have found some time away from my kids always rejevunates and refreshes me, and that makes me a better Mum(my). Use a 15 year old neighbour, family, babysitter, whatever you can afford. It will be good for everyone. Plus, I'll admit, being with your kids all day every day can be boring sometimes. Go for a walk, go to the supermarket, whatever just GET OUT!

7. Keep some perspective
Know this is only temporary. We all have bad days where the kids drive each other and us nuts. I've had days where I've felt like the worst mother in the world, shouting at her kids and just not 'feeling it'. We all have those days. Try to stay positive, keep it light and fun. Know this is all normal and part of motherhood. I still feel lucky to be able to be home with my kids and to be making their childhood memories with them.

Hope you have managed these holidays too and had some fun along the way.
xx

Stuff to do at home

I am loving all the kids art and craft activities all over the wonderful American blogs I read - isn't it funny that half way across the world, other mums are also doing the universal 'gotta keep my kids busy scramble' during their long summer break while us mums in Australia are doing the same in our mid year (but shorter) winter break.

Here is a lovely blog I found by an American mum of five now living in Israel, called Creative Jewish Mom. We'll be trying the homemade watercolours tomorrow.

My girls were content today doing our old favourite, making playdough, and then cutting and pasting pictures from old magazines and catalogues. A no brainer.

A lengthy kiddie disco ensued after dinner (although it was rather testing to wind Yasmin back DOWN) which was fun - and I got to play my favourite music (with one Chicken Dance request).

Hope you are having a little peace during these busy times.

And to paraphrase a quote (because, um, I couldn't remember where I read it...)

Life with young kids can be summed up - the days are long but the years are short.
xx

There's no place like home

We flew in today and it's sooo good to be home. I always love coming home if it's been 2 days or 2 weeks away.

We had a (mostly) fun week away, lots of swimming and sunshine which is a real treat in the middle of winter. Travelling with three young kids is a continual juggling act - it's regular toilet stops, snacks, drinks, sunscreen etc - you get it. They can also melt down pretty quickly after a day playing in the pool but we are always prepared with early dinners and a couple of DVDs from home to give everyone time to rest.

One highlight of our trip Yasmin made a friend from Sydney at our hotel in Bali and they swapped addresses after I explained to her what a pen pal is. Cute. 

I always really clear my brain on holidays and use my empty headspace to think about things I want to achieve when we get home (hellooooo Extreme Makeover!) and do some mental planning. This time I continued to mull our choice of school for our kids (hmmmm), how to be healthier and some fun things we can do at home. I've been reading that although school is important, we shouldn't forget that kids really get their grounding and values from home. This is something we all need to hear sometimes because we can all get a little too caught up in day to day running around, playdates, TV etc, but it's good to be ask ourselves - what am I teaching my kids at home?

One thing I thought of after reading Steady Days which will help fill those sometimes dreadful afternoons after school is to make a Country Board. This will involve a simple bulletin style board where we can hang up any artwork, drawings, words or pictures related to that particular country. After the girls will choose a country, we will do fun little stuff like drawing that country's flag, learn a couple of words, some very basic customs and  of course, try the local style food . This is all easily available online and I think this will be fun for all of us. As I've mentioned before, we have several books about kids living around the world, and this as well as their travels has given them a real interest in places around the world.

We had some serious sleep deprivation today after our overnight flight but as we are still in school holiday mode it's not such a big deal. This week we the girls have a couple of shows - Luigi Zucchini at the Melbourne Magic Festival in Northcote (random!), Circus Oz, a magic workshop at Gasworks and a local production of The Magic Hat. In between that will be a trip to our local Prahran Market (my favourite place to food shop) and continued generalised chaos and malarkey.

In the mean time, please drool with me at this gorgeous kid's pencil scarf (not to mention the rest of the items) I spotted in the recent edition of LMNOP, an online kids style mag.

xx

Weekend wrap

Where possible, we try to create fun, new but wholesome experiences for our girls. We try to impart an appreciation of 'the simple things' in life. And so, a trip to local hardware chain Bunnings several months ago produced....

the outdoor firepit!

Around $60, it's basically a steel bowl on legs that you put in your garden and make a little bonfire in. Now that it's winter, we light it some weekends in the late afternoon while the kids play outside. Then dinner is eaten outside in a bowl. Always followed by toasted marshmallows.

The fire is soothing, warming and is a real novelty for kids. They scurried in the garden and down the street to collect fallen branches and twigs to throw in the fire. It looks beautiful too. Although admittedly, my heart is in my stomach for most of the time watching three kids walking, stumbling and moving constantly around it.

The face paint was from an African festival the girls went to on Sunday. They watched African singing and dancing, ate African food, and even got an awful red braid put in their hair. Zahara didn't speak for the three hours she was there.

By the way, these books (A School Like Mine, A Life Like Mine , Children Just Like Me) by DK Publishing are also great to expose your kids to other cultures, nationalities and lifestyles. (I've put some in the sidebar linked to Amazon.) We have a few in the series and they are probably one of their most frequent requests for reading at bedtime. Layla and Yasmin really enjoy them and talk about that some of the kids have no shoes or toys but big smiles on their faces. And the ones that do housework and cleaning and cooking at home. Here's to hoping it may rub off on them...

An easier afternoon...

Finally, the afternoons are getting just a little, teensy bit, easier. A little less fighting and bickering (them). A little less shouting (me).

My tactics:
1. Give dinner as soon as we get home from school (about 4, 4.30pm). Yasmin is STARVING after school and needs to eat ASAP. I don't want to fill them up with silly snacks and would rather they eat a proper meal early and snack after.

Yesterday the girls had lentil soup followed by steamed artichoke. They consider artichoke a treat - they love peeling off each leaf to get to the artichoke heart. Even the 2 year old! Then they had a slice I had made earlier in the day with oats, pistachios, dried cranberries and organic dark chocolate.

2. Have a small activity or a 'plan' ready. Yesterday was the first day of winter in Australia, so I had printed out some 'winter' colouring pages I Googled online. This took me 5 minutes but gave them something to get started on. Then Yasmin and I made snowflakes (very easy - trace circle from a bowl or jar, cut out, fold and cut shapes out). Yasmin loved doing this, it's easy, quick and every snowflake pattern is different.

Meanwhile, Zahara was content painting the 'mountains' inside an empty egg carton. Eventually her and Layla joined forces and did some painting together. I taped butcher paper to our blackboard to give them ample room. Then they got totally into adding more and more paint and mixing the colours - about 10 minutes later things got OUT OF CONTROL with the paint and these were quickly put away! But they loved doing a painting together.

3. Have snacks ready and available while playing. Yesterday's was pre cut vegies and tahini to dip. They devoured these too.

4. Take it easy. During this hour, hour and a half of playing post dinner to pre bath, we take our time. This is the one part of the day they can relax and have some free time at home. The girls usually shower instead of a bath which is quicker and less chaotic as they are in and out.

For tomorrow, I have printed out some colouring in pages, mazes and games from the Eric Carle website (we are big fans). There are so many resources and printables online. Hope you're having a lovely week too.

Weekend wrap

It was a lovely weekend, despite some members of the family (including me) still rundown. I went to my trusted naturopath on Friday, and armed with an array of supplements, am hopeful my exhaustion will lift soon.

We took the girls ice skating yesterday, where I quickly learnt some valuable lessons:
1. Some activities are not suitable for 2 and 4 year olds.
2. Ice skating is one of them.
3. Trying to hold on to a 2 year old on ice skates while you balance precariously on your ice skates is frightening stuff.
4. Trying to hold on to a 2 year old on ice skates who is crying, demanding you pick her up and both tired and hungry, while you continue to balance precariously on your ice skates is TERRIFYING!

The up side - Yasmin loved trying ice skating. She is adventurous and loves to try new things. Zahara had about 1 minute of happiness ice skating till she decided she didn't want us to hold her on the ice rink. Luckily I managed to capture that moment on film before things went pear shaped.

Layla, on the other hand, is not interested in trying new things with the same spirit as Yasmin, she is a homebody and creature of comfort who was happy to go to the cafe after 10 minutes of skating for lunch (like me). Layla's take? "Mummy, you, me and Zahara are NEVER going ice skating again." Ice skating is hard enough without trying to hold on to your child. Recommended for 5-6 years and above!

Today I took Yasmin to see Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang which we both loved. We cried and laughed together (I never knew kids could cry from movies!). Also recommended for 6 years and above.

Hope you had a lovely weekend
xxx

Birthday Bash for Zahara

Wow, what a day. My littlest girl celebrated her 2nd birthday today, surrounded by family and friends in our home. It was fun, easy and comfortable.

Zahara's absolute love and ease with animals was the clincher for deciding her party theme; short of buying her a pet, it was the best present her little heart could want. We had some lovely visitors from Animals on the Move; guinea pigs, rabbits, a piglet, lambs, a calf, chickens and goats. We fed, petted and held animals to our hearts delight.

Decorations
We started preparing party decorations about a month ago. This is always a fun project for the girls, giving some purpose on those after school art and craft sessions. I've also found it gives siblings a chance to share the excitement and feel like they are part of the celebrations.

We made paper chains - my six year old did this almost hypnotically, my four year old learning to handle the loops and sticky tape herself. We also painted animal cutouts (I downloaded from the internet and cut out the shapes myself), using small roller brushes which were fun for the girls - red roosters and pink piggies. These were strung on fishing wire and hung to decorate our party space. Others were blu tacked to our window.

I hired bales of hay for an authentic farm feeling, placing the take home bags on one and a Radio Flyer trike on the other. They looked great (but make lots of mess!)

Take home bags
We also made simple but very sweet (and inexpensive) guest take home bags. I bought some blue gingham fabric by the metre, cut into squares and placed a toy farm animal, bubble mixture and some stickers. These bundles were tied with yellow ribbon and then a homemade thank you card (using a Thank you stamp) with a handwritten message (done by Yasmin) on the back was looped on with string.

Table Settings
These were simple but so effective. I had kept some artificial grass samples from a garden makeover earlier this year, placed these on the tables with a farm animal on top. Cow print cups, gingham tablecloths and farm plates were all purchased in advance. I always start looking for decorations and ideas about two months before the party to allow enough time.

The Menu
For adults - bagels, homemade dips, cut up fruit and vegetables, home made borekas and a feta and caramelised onion tart my mum made. Juices, mint tea and coffee.

For the kids - cut up fruit and vegetables, cheese and Vegemite sandwiches (essential for any kids party in Australia), and brown chocolate cows (using a playdough cutter, I buttered cow bread shapes and dipped into chocolate sprinkles. This was the only 'treat' apart from the cake, as I don't like to give kids lots of rubbish at parties after watching them a) gorge themselves and b) get totally hyper after).

The Birthday Cake
My mum made a chocolate marble cake and then decorated it with chocolate icing and plastic toy farm animals and a fence. Adults and kids gobbled it up.

The Soundtrack
Animal Playground. We LOVE the Putumayo CDs.

Other activities
On the morning of the party I quickly printed off lots of farm animal colouring pages, cleared our play area and table and left jars of textas and pencils for colouring in. This was a hit too. While having a break from petting the farm animals, the kids were colouring in for about half an hour quietly and contentedly. Kids parties can turn to disaster if the kids run out of things to do, and I remember this about 1 hour before the party. Phew!

Post party edit
A great, fun and happy birthday party for my sweet, happy 2 year old.

Letters for colouring in

I came across these beautiful letters for colouring in. I will often print out various colouring pages from the web before a trip, and the girls always love it. We've done Mr Men, Charlie & Lola and now, I've discovered these. And of course, what's better than colouring the first letter of your name? When you're six? Not much.

Back from the brink....I mean, Daylesford

We came home from Daylesford one day early. We had a nice time, but Zahara had fever for days and was thus attached to me like a koala (she is finally better today). We were a little limited in what we could do as we were caring for one sick child, and trying to keep the other two occupied and out of mischief.

Highlights for the girls were definitely visiting the Chocolate Mill (Layla actually told me this before we even went), stumbling on a local market and having a ride on a vintage train, finding a couple of vintage treasures (I will post tomorrow), making it to Lark and a couple of yummy but super quick meals at Cliffy's.

Our accomodation was great, very unique, spacious and practical. Daylesford is a gorgeous town - not too small to feel too remote, and has lots of upmarket vintage stores, great cafes and stores. I would say not exactly designed for kids, but pretty nice all the less. I love the focus on healthy living, fresh farm food, and an apppreciation for lovely vintage objects.

Hope you had a lovely Easter. We are so happy to be home. And for this week....finishing off some invitations for a little girl's fourth birthday party next month. Can you guess what sort of party she has asked for?

xx

A glimpse of today

French toast, painting, pictionary, drawing, pasting, playing in the garden, twirling our ribbon sticks outside, memory game, new outfits for Pesach, trying on almost the entire store (Layla), playdate, supermarket, trampolines, snakes and ladders, swim, dinner, eating left over pretzels found in Layla's room, shower, books and thank goodness, 7pm BED!

These holidays feel so much more relaxed than the summer break. And that alone feels good. Here's to enjoying (and not just surviving) the next two weeks.

Hope you had a lovely weekend too.
xxx

Stuff in the Garden

Our little garden is growing and coming along nicely. Yasmin is taking note of the little green sprouts making their way up through the soil. I regularly cook with the herbs in our garden (parsley for tabouli, chives for my egg dip, mint for Moroccan mint tea on Friday nights) and occasionally and very politely request from my children that they bring in some herbs to help me. They tell me, Mummy, I don't know which one is rosemary/parsley/chives. So, finally, after a brainwave one day, and with the help of my new best friend, the home laminating machine, Yasmin and I have created garden markers.

It was simple. I cut squares of white cardstock and wrote the name of the herb or vegie with a Sharpie. Then, I explained to Yasmin what the plant look liked, and we both had a practice draw on some scrap paper. When she felt confident, Yasmin drew and coloured her little illustration. The next step was laminating the squares, trimming the plastic to create a pointy end and using a glue gun to stick an ice cream stick on the back. Today, they finally made their way into the garden. Easy, cute, practical and weather proof.

Loving a good read

When I was young, a trip to the library was so exciting for me. I loved to read (and was always good at spelling as a result) and used to borrow about 20 books at a time. Of course, in those days I only had about three toys and the excitement of so many 'new' books was very real to me.

And so, although my girls have a room full of books each, I take them every few weeks to the local library, attempting to create a love for books and reading. This afternoon at school pick up, after I announced to Layla and Yasmin we were going to the library, I was met with loud groans. Oh yes, they pretended they didn't want to go. They moaned and complained...till we parked the car. They got out in thirty seconds, racing to the return chute and together, unloaded each book(their favourite part). And after explaining to Layla (again) that no, we won't be borrowing DVDs today, they finally spent some time quietly choosing books and making a lovely pile of stories.

We asked the librarian to help us find some Guiness Book of Records books (Yasmin's favourite) but had to settle for Ripley's Believe it Or Not instead. And, then, in a little quiet reading area, my two little girls sat and gawked at some gross photos of biggest boogers or most piercings or something like that. But at least they were reading....

Warriors of Toorak...oops Brazil

Today we took the older girls to see Warriors of Brazil. A-mazing. Truly incredible. A showcase of Brazilian music, dance and capoiera. It was full of energy and great music and acrobatics. The girls were captivated (except when Layla complained 'it's too loud for me!') and even had a chance to join the performers on stage with other kids in the audience.

While not strictly a children's show, I do love to take Yasmin to see different performances, she is always mesmerised. I always tell her after, 'you could do that, if you trained like they did.' I have no idea where she gets it, but she is incredibly agile, flexible and confidence physically. She has restarted her classes at the National Institute of Circus Arts, and I'm hoping she will continue with it. I have also taken her to see Cirque de Soleil and Circus Oz which she loved. We have Mary Poppins and Burn the Floor booked too.

The show was followed by a serious play in the garden (time to let off some steam) and pizza delivered to our door. Love it - no cooking and dishes to clean up.

Hope your weekend was full of (mostly) fun too.