The Happiness Project

If you are looking for a book to give you some direction, get you a little spiritually energised and thinking about your life, The Happiness Project could be the one for you. A New York Times bestseller, this book is interesting, accessible and engaging.

One day the author has a sudden jolt of realisation - the time to be happy in life is NOW. Not in two months, not on vacation or in 12 months time. THIS. IS. IT.

She decides to research how she can get happy, and begins a 12 month project she calls, The Happiness Project. She reorders her life, values, behaviours and frame of mind to see if she can make herself happy. She exercises. She declutters her house. She stops nagging her husband. She is more patient and loving with her kids. She acts as if she has more energy to feel more energised. And so on. It's a great read. Here's Gretchen Rubin (the author)'s blog for more information.

Here's what I've taken away from it (so far):
1. Act how you feel.
2. Stop looking for gold stars.
3. Be yourself. Your true self.
4. Take up new challenges.
5. Recognise your kids' feelings instead of arguing or disputing them (ie. you can't be hungry! Come on, stop crying.)
6. Be lighter.
7. Do what ought to be done.
8. Kids - the days are long but the years are short (I love this one).

I'm not finished yet but I'm loving it.

And closer to home, here's what's making me happy...

Good times?

Just when you think afternoons couldn't get worse...they got better! We had a lovely afternoon today...might have something to do with Layla chucking a sickie from kinder and having a lovely 2.5 hour sleep, therefore eliminating her post kinder slumping/wimpering/crashing on the couch and general hyper sensitivity, a huge bag of new library books, and a little encouragement from the universe that sometimes, things go OK.

The girls ate so well - salad, fish and quinoa and corn salad.

Tonight we tried some quinoa and fresh corn (steamed and buttered). For quinoa, I use a recipe from this book, The 10 Things You Need to Eat: And More Than 100 Easy and Delicious Ways to Prepare Them. Quinoa is a super healthy food, it's a grain actually packed full of protein. You use 1 cup quinoa to 1 1/4 cup of water, bring to simmer, then cover and cook on lowest setting for 20-25 minutes. It actually comes out fluffy and light. But I won't lie to you - it takes a little getting used to. The sweetness and familiarity of the buttered corn seemed to make it tastier.

I roasted some rockling fillets in the oven for 25 minutes at 200 degrees celsius, just simply drizzled with olive oil and salt and pepper. It's a really mild fish that's not fishy. Layla actually gave me a thumbs up for the fish. Somehow ketchup becomes the final addition to the fish, but hey, it's organic and if they're eating fresh fish I don't care what they put with it.

This was finished with a natural icy pole which is a huge treat for them. Things got a little crazy when the girls started shoving their icy hands down my back. Suddenly the ice cubes were flying and man we laughed and screamed.

Here's wishing you a little miracle too. To happy afternoons!

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...

Weekend wrap

It was a lovely end to a long weekend (today is a public holiday in Victoria). For the first time in months, Zahara napped yesterday....for 3.5 hours! What a lovely treat that was. While she slept, we watched Mr Bean on Holiday with our two older girls. We lit the fire, ate popcorn, drank tea and snuggled together. Heavenly. Then, the older two went to a playcentre while Zahara continued to sleep. I continued to snuggle (alone) on the couch with the paper. Double heaven.

Today, Zahara went to creche and Daddy took the girls to Werribee Zoo with their cousins. The girls are always excited when Zahara is not there, as much as they love her, a 2 year old is tiring on everyone sometimes! And as you may recall, some adventures are just not made for little ones. They had a great time, played, walked and saw some animals. You know, just some lions, zebras and giraffes.

In the mean time, I tackled our study. A mess of papers, bills and crap...all gone thanks to some serious filing and a visit to Kikki K. A great shop filled with gorgeous desk organising stuff, pens and labels - especially motivating when you are organising your study! Perfect timing. I also bought this recipe journal as my old one is getting tattered from all the clippings I cut out or print online.

But the quiet, the peace, was amazing. I think it was the first time in years I have had the day ALL TO MYSELF, even if I was tidying up for most of it. And just before I started to enjoy my aloneness a little too much, a little reading of my book, The Gift of an Ordinary Day, reminded me that these years are indeed precious. As draining as it can sometimes be to be needed by little people constantly, one day we will miss it terribly. And when that day comes, we will have to let go as our little people go out into the world making their own plans, choices and judgements. And suddenly, I ached for my three little people. For their warm, chubby bodies that snuggle perfectly into mine. For their funny little teeth, little fingers and soft kisses on my lips. For their little faces, wide eyes, smatterings of freckles and squishy bums.

Once everyone regrouped at home, we actually enjoyed a lovely afternoon together(and you know I tell it like it is!). We had BBQ'd lamb cutlets for dinner, brown rice and peas, corn on the cob, salad, asparagus, artichokes and orange for dessert. We chatted. We talked. We joked. We really enjoyed our meal and most importantly, our time together as a family.

At shower/bath time, the older girls sang for Zahara while she sat back in her laundry tub that she now loves to bathe in. She joined in happily. Layla brushed Yasmin's hair while they continued singing. Am I making you sick yet? Because I was amazed at the peace, contentment and simple happiness in my kids. Thank the lord for public holidays! Here's hoping you had some peace and happy times in your weekend. 'Cause I know we used up our lot...

Top 5 Australian kids books

I've written before about our love for books in this house - the reading nook is still being used daily, and we continue to frequent our local library every few weeks.

One of the best presents I received when I had my first baby was a bundle of books. Among all the tiny jumpsuits and baby blankets, knowing my tiny baby would grow to be a 'kid' and read books gave me some light at the end of that intense, overwhelming newborn stage. And, what a wonderful idea to help start a baby's book collection from birth.

With now three girls in our brood, our love of books is evenly spread. The older one reading to us, the middle one choosing her own books for me to read to her, and the little one reading (in her special way) to anyone that cares to listen.

So, in honour of Anzac Day, here's a round up of our tried and tested, sure-to-be-a-hit, homegrown Australian kids books.


1. Where is the Green Sheep, by Mem Fox. Each of my girls, turn by turn, has loved this book. You will find it in kinders and schools across Australia. Simple and charming.



2.Window, by Jeannie Baker. Beautifully and meticulously illustrated through collage, this book (part of a series with the same message) shows how over time, the same view from a window changes through environmental degradation. This book has no words, so you can have a nice chat with your child as you are turning the pages. We also have Where the Forest Meets the Sea.


3. The Potato People, by Pamela Allen. This author also writes the Mr McGee series which my girls also love. Less words and big pictures create an easy to follow, but funny, story that toddlers and older kids will like.



4. Chatterbox, by Margaret Niland. Little Daisy wouldn't talk even though her mum, dad, brother and nan coaxed her all day long. Cute, whimsical illustrations and adorable story.




5. Hairy MacLary, by Lynley Dodd. Again, the rhyming words and sweet stories with various animals are loved by kids. While I can't claim this book as Australian (the author is from New Zealand), it's also popular here and there about a dozen books in the series.

A reading nook

When I was a child, I loved books. And now, as a mother of three young children, it's one of the fundamental things I want to pass on to my kids - a love for reading. We read to our kids every night before bed, to all three girls. It's been a long standing part of our bedtime routine. My eldest likes to fall asleep with a big pile of books on her bed too...she reads them after we have said goodnight till she is sleepy enough to tuck herself into bed.

So everytime I came across a display book corner, like this one on OhDeeDoh, I drooled a little and then I sighed...because we have no available corners in our house.

I've realised things have to be at kids eye level for them to access and use toys, arts and crafts and books. And books that are lined vertically with only spines showing fill our bookcase neatly, but don't entice children to lovingly browse their books.

But, one lonely night on Ebay, I came across an inexpensive canvas book display shelf, and it was perfect. A few days later, this little baby was up and running in our study. My two little ones especially have taken a liking to our new little reading nook. They sit together but mostly read separately, and it's lovely to see. We change the books every few days. It works!