Mummy Mayhem

(Indefinite) Pause (Updated with a Thank You!)

2011-11-10T17:12:00.000+11:00

I was watching the movie Julie & Julia the other night.

It's the first time I've seen the film since I saw it in the cinema close to two years ago. The movie - about Julie Powell, an American government employee who starts a blog about cooking her way through Julia Child's book, Mastering The Art of French Cooking - was rather timely for me back then, as I'd just started Mummy Mayhem. I went with friends, and it was great for them to see how the world of blogging can give a person focus, confidence, support, opportunities, personal drive and allow that person to indulge in a love of writing. At the time, I couldn't stop writing posts in my head, and I was becoming more and more heavily tuned in to the world of blogging.

In the two years since I've started this blog, I've had some wonderful opportunities. For example, I would never have thought (nor expected) back then to be sent so many wonderful products, and have my opinion valued. Or to some day be paid to write. And I most certainly could never have dreamt of the day I would see my name attached as the writer of a magazine article. Nor did I bank on making some wonderful (and eventual real life) connections, and finding a community I felt I belonged to.

For the most part, the blogging world is a very supportive, positive and engaging community. However, in truth, it also has a not so pleasant side. Competitiveness, insecurity, jealousy, snobbery, exclusiveness and plain old nastiness rears it ugly head in this online world at times. Thankfully, this is the exception rather than the rule. But as much as it saddens me to admit it, I think this is because you can't get a bunch of women (mostly, in my blogging world anyway) together without a bit of this stuff to deal with on occasion - in any situation. There are days the blogosphere feels not unlike high school. It's just that the 'students' carry laptops rather than books, and the bullying appears in the form of a very under the radar type blog post or tweet or status update on Facebook. Rather than passing notes, bloggers email, or direct message each other on Twitter, or they ~~bitch~~ chat on Skype.

Same dog, different leg, as my father would say. ;)

However, even though I've become increasingly...disappointed, I guess, about this side of the blogging world - and, to be honest, it has probably (over time) partly contributed to my decision to a certain degree - it's not the only reason (not by far) that I have decided to shelve Mummy Mayhem indefinitely.

In fact, there are numerous reasons. All of which have floated around constantly in my head over the past month or so as I have contemplated this decision. I waited to do something until now, because I wanted to be sure.

So now I'm sure.

Julie & Julia made me realise how less enthusiastic I am about blogging these days. To be honest, I just haven't felt the need to blog like I used to in the past. I know those of you who have followed my blog for a while, and have seen me pop up on yours, have already noticed how less present I am in the online world these days. For at least the last few months or so, I've not spent much time on Twitter, and I'm not getting around to reading blog posts nearly as much as I used to. I guess life...that is, the one that exists in the real world...has been keeping me busy (as well as entertained), and more and more I'm drawn to it, rather than the world I've spent the last two years immersing myself in from the comfort of my laptop computer. It feels likes, in the beginning, I needed my blog, but now my blog needs me. I don't mean you need me. My blog does. It feels a little more like work than pleasure these days, and it was never supposed to feel like that.

And so, I'm hanging up my keyboard, so to speak, on my blog for a while...maybe forever...I'm not sure at all at this stage. Perhaps the need to write regularly here will suddenly take hold of me again, but for now, I'm happy to hopefully do a little freelance writing here and there, write in my journal (yes! I've picked one back up that I started a while ago) and to hang out with the four-year-old before he starts school, as well as the rest of my gorgeous family during other times. Perhaps - now hold on to your hats, people - I'll finally find the bottom of that ironing pile I'm always talking about? (I know. How crazy is that concept?)

My apologies to those companies who have contacted me in recent weeks about products and events etc and are still waiting for an answer. Life has been full. And I've been away on holidays. I guess I also knew in my mind this was coming, and didn't want to take anything on.

And to those who have read this blog, who are reading now, and who read right from the beginning (Nomie, Amy, Megan, Thea and my gorgeous friends, Jen and Mardi and Sister C especially)...thank you for your support. Thanks also to Brenda who has done so much for the Australian blogging community, including me.

I won't be gone completely. I think I'll hang around a little on my blog's Facebook page, and on Twitter occasionally to let you know what I'm up to and to say hi. At this stage, I'm planning to update my recipe blog on occasion (quite frankly, it's a handy thing to have access to when we're on holidays and I can't recall a recipe)! And I'll continue to read my fave blogs too so I can keep up with their news. (That is, when I can.)

Thanks for the good times, ya'll. All the best to all the bloggers out there! :)

UPDATE: (17 Nov) I just wanted to say a very sincere thank you to all that have commented here, contacted me via email, Facebook and Twitter to wish me well. It means a lot to me. A. Lot. Thank you so much. xxx

New York - Day 8 (The Final Instalment)

2011-11-08T11:04:00.002+11:00

It has taken me almost a week to write this, because I've been busy, tired and, now, ill (the dreaded cold one often gets after flying with a bunch of strangers).

We woke early on our final day in New York, and enjoyed our last sunrise from our hotel room (pictured).

After breakfast, we packed our bags. Let me tell you, it was quite the challenge packing all the shoes we'd purchased! Hubby almost forgot two pairs that I discovered in one closet. (A sure sign he already had too many!)

After checking out of the hotel, we headed down Fifth Avenue in search of a place to have coffee, but we couldn't really find anything. Eventually, we found ourselves at Bloomingdales - a very famous department store that I'm sure you've heard of - with the main aim to see if we could find Hubby some business suits. With our New York City Pass in hand (a booklet you purchase which allows entry to some museums, Ellis Island etc - we bought ours online before we left, but you can also pick them up in New York), we used our 15% off voucher for the store - allowing us the discount for the whole day. We were pleased to find the suits of Hubby's choice were already 25% off, and the 15% was on top of that! In the end, Hubby got two suits for less that the price of one here in Sydney. (Woot!)

After that, we headed to Magnolia Bakery, conveniently located near the Men's department at Bloomingdales.

Lovin' all the Halloween decorations.

I'd heard a lot about this bakery, so was excited to find it and indulge in a cupcake.

Red Velvet for me, Chocolate of some sort for Hubby.

They were yummy, but to be honest, I wouldn't say they were any better than some of the cupcakes I've had in Australia. Still, I loved the way the store was decked out. I was very tempted to buy one of their cupcake books, but resisted knowing that I already had some art books that I'd purchased from The Frick Collection that would be weighing my suitcase down!

Right after ordering our cupcakes, I looked up at the pies on display and found PUMPKIN PIE!!! I'm kicking myself now, because at the time I thought it would be silly to also order a piece along with our cupcakes, but I should have just done it. Even if we'd only had a bite each, it was only $4 a slice. After the shopping we'd done, it was hardly going to break the bank!

Next time. Next. Time.

By the time we'd finished up, and bought Hubby some new sunglasses (yes - Hubby did well from our trip), it was time for Hubby to head back to the hotel to collect his bags (he was on a different flight to me). I walked down Lexington with him until I found a shop that sold bags, as I knew I'd need a bit of extra space if I bought anything else. Whilst there, I picked up New York t-shirts for the boys. The shopkeeper was nice enough to keep my purchases with him so I wouldn't have to lug it around the shops with me. I farewelled Hubby (*sniff*) and made my way back to Bloomingdales. On the way, I checked out a H&M store where I found a couple of nice (inexpensive) tops. At Bloomingdales I bought MAC eye shadows (for only $15 each!) and some nightwear and knickers (as you do). I tried to get myself some jeans, but for some reason, I just couldn't find the right ones for me in New York, so I gave up.

I headed back towards the Rockefeller Centre to take a look at the ice skaters. It seems much bigger in the movies!

Then I went in to the Lego store right next door and picked up some Lego products for each of the boys. (Much cheaper in New York. Was tempted to buy more for Christmas, but I just didn't have the space. Sorry boys....Mummy's clothes kinda came first!)

By then, I was hungry and a little over shopping. I returned to the hotel to drop off my purchases in my new bag (which I had picked up on the way to the Rockefeller Center), and wandered off in search of some food. I found a cafe around the corner from the hotel where I had a beef sandwich that had SO much beef in it, I had to remove half of it! (It was delicious, though.)

Then I re-packed my bags and headed to the airport. I tell you - I worry a lot about flying, but I figured if I could survive a taxi ride to the airport, I'd be okay. (Talk about a wild ride!) Fortunately (or perhaps, unfortunately - I can't quite decide), my Qantas flight wasn't affected by the industrial action, so I left on the right day and on time. (Hubby had booked me in a few more nights at the hotel just in case my flight was still cancelled, and I was quite excited about the prospect of a few extra days in New York! Ah, well. I was also ready to see my boys again, so it worked out okay in the end.)

When I finally returned home on Wednesday morning, the big boys were at school, and the four-year-old was at his sports class. When he got home, he walked straight in to my arms and just held me for a very long time. He didn't leave my side all day. (Gorgeous.)

I picked up the big boys from school that afternoon. They weren't quite as excited to see me (*sigh*), but were soon VERY interested in what I had for them on their return home. (Not surprisingly, the t-shirts and FDNY keyrings I bought them were hastily pushed aside in order to get to the Lego.)

The trip was amazing. Hubby and I are already talking about doing another one next year (and I simply must get back to New York - I never did get that bike ride in Central Park, and I have a long list of things I still want to do)!

New York - Day 7

2011-10-31T13:58:00.000+11:00

Well, I'm sad to write, Hubby and I have come to the end of our last full day here in New York. *sob*

Last night, we headed to Spice Market in the Meatpacking District to meet a friend (and ex-colleague) of Hubby's.

I wish I'd taken a photo inside - it was really fabulous. (The photo on the right is the restaurant without the mood lighting. It looks lovely at night.)

The menu looked so comprehensive - and all so yummy - so we decided to leave it up to the waiter to choose three starters and three mains (or 'entrees' as they're called here - haven't quite worked that one out yet) on our behalf.

He was spot on.

The food was really amazing. We had small dumplings to begin with, followed by spiced chicken samosas with yoghurt, then beef skewers with a Thai basil dipping sauce. For main we had char grilled chicken with a kumquat lemongrass dressing, followed by a noodle dish of some sort (that was delicious, but I can't remember what it was!) and red curried duck. Nom.

Everything was downed with ginger margaritas. They were really yummy. :)

This morning, Hubby and I both woke early, so we decided to hit the road and take a walk over the Brooklyn Bridge.

This is something I really wanted to do, and I'm so glad I did. Not only was the bridge - and the view - amazing (even with ice all over it...a little slippery in parts, but that didn't seem to stop the joggers!), but once in Brooklyn, we were quite surprised how gorgeous it was there.

We spent about three hours walking the streets of Brooklyn...

Ice, ice, baby.

View from a bridge.

Slippery...

From the ground up.

Near The River Cafe just underneath the bridge. Gorgeous!

How cool is this apartment block?

A gorgeous tree-lined street.

We were going to stop for coffee here, however
they only accepted people (or aliens) for brunch.

We found a cafe where we could sit at the 'bar'.
We had apple pie. (Nom. Even though I really hoped for
pumpkin pie - I'd like to try that!)
With whipped cream from a can. (Er, not so nice.)

Just an example of some of the homes.

My friend Sonia - an interior designer - would go nuts
along this street in Brooklyn. It had heaps of
home wares kind of stores with really funky stuff.

Afterwards, we took the subway to Soho for some lunch and some shopping. I discovered the joy and bargains of Banana Republic that I've heard so much about over the years - with 40% off the whole store today! Woot!

Soho was incredibly cool looking. I wish I'd taken more photos. (Too busy looking in the shop windows.)

We worked up a thirst trying on clothes, so we stopped off at a cafe for a Root Beer - a soft drink I wanted to try because I've heard it mentioned in so many American television shows etc in the past.

Dencorub...I mean, Root Beer.

When I opened it, Hubby said knowingly, "It tastes like Dencorub." (He's had it before.) Which is silly, because you don't drink Dencorub, right?

And guess what? It did! I can't explain it, but when you drink it, it's like there's Dencorub there. Bizarre! (I won't be having it again, I'm afraid.)

Tonight, our last in New York, we decided to dine in. We were too tired to get dressed up yet again and head out to another fancy schmancy dinner, so we cancelled our reservations. They do a great room service here at our hotel, and our package includes drinks and canapes, so we headed out for some of those earlier. Woo hoo! (Oh, and I'm not 100% certain, but when we were having our canapes, one of the Managers was showing a woman around who looked very much like Dawn French. I didn't have my glasses on, so I can't confirm this, but certainly people were looking knowingly at her.)

Tomorrow we plan to head out for a bit before we have to leave New York, so I'll update later in the week. I'm kind of hoping I can finally ride that bike through Central Park, but I doubt it's going to happen. As Hubby says, "You need a reason to come back." Too true.

Even though I've absolutely loved it here - it's such an amazing place - and it's been fantastic spending so much uninterrupted time with Hubby again after almost ten years, I'm really missing my boys and can't wait to see them on our return.

BIG KISS & HUGS, BOYS! xxxxxxx

And I'm looking forward to a coffee with you, Jen, and another catch up with you soon, Mardi. xxx

Thanks for reading, ya'll. See you back in Sydney!!!

New York - Days 5 & 6

2011-10-30T09:15:00.002+11:00

Yesterday, the sun returned to New York City, but boy, was it c-c-c-cold. Brrrr.

DAY FIVE - Friday

When I saw it was going to be 5 degrees yesterday, I couldn't believe what a change that was. And yes - it was really cold first thing.

We started the day with a bit of a disappointment. Our intention was to head to Ellis Island and view the Statue of Liberty up a little closer (we'd already decided we didn't need to go up the SOL or stand right underneath it - the view from the ferry would suffice).

We took the subway, which was fabulous because we finally found Grand Central Station. And WOW! Amazing to be standing in it...

The staircase is not on fire.
The sun was shining brightly thru the windows!

However, after we arrived at Battery Park (where the ferry departs from) we soon had to bail on that plan.

The first ferry leaves at 9.30, and we got there just after 9.15am. You should have seen the line! We just kept walking and walking and walking when trying to find the end of it, following the crowds around one side of Battery Park. It was ridiculous. (And this was with pre-purchased tickets, too.)

We waited in line for around 45 minutes, and then decided not to bother. At the rate we were moving, we calculated our wait before finally boarding a ferry (they leave every half hour) would be close to three hours, and we just didn't want to waste that amount of time in New York standing in a line.

I felt really disappointed at first. I was very keen to visit Ellis Island especially. That's where half of America's population can trace their roots back to, as it was the first port of call for all new immigrants when docking in New York by ship. Sigh. Ah, well. Another time, perhaps.

Even though I wore three layers, jeans and gloves, I was freezing after standing in line for those 45 minutes. Because we were so close to it, we decided to walk towards Wall Street, and then visit The World Trade Centre site.

Being at Wall Street was kind of exciting. I half expected Michael Douglas to walk down there (didn't happen).

There were a lot of barricades in place to keep the protesters out that have been frequenting there as of late. These guys were keeping an eye on things:

We found an upmarket food court and headed inside to the warmth and ordered a hot cup of coffee. It was interesting watching all the different people walk past, and before too long, this guy and a buddy showed up with their placards ready to protest later:

We left the food court with the intention of heading towards The World Trade Centre site, but instead found a shopping centre we've heard a lot about because of it's big value: Century 21. (Not the real estate company, Aussies.) We thought we'd head on in and check out the shoe section first, and oh my...the shoes on sale there!!!

Carrie from SITC's fave shoes less than
half the original price.

That's right. Badgley Mischka heels down to $90 from $200!

Hubby and I may have bought a few pairs. May I present Exhibit A:

But with Nike sneakers being only $30....who wouldn't, huh?! Amazing prices.

With a few too many bags to carry (as you can imagine), we had to head back to the hotel, deciding that we'd return later in the day and see the World Trade Centre site then, and do a little more shopping at Century 21. (No more shoes, though!)

On the subway on the way back, three guys jumped on to the train and one whipped out his guitar and they sang 'No Woman Don't Cry'. It was so good. If I could have gotten to my purse quickly enough, I would have given them some money, but I was cramped on the train, clutching two shoe bags!

I had a lovely chat with a woman on the subway, actually, and Hubby and I discussed later how friendly everyone has been. He said that when he first started visiting New York years ago for work, people were mostly cranky-pants (he didn't use those exact words, admittedly). They've been nothing but pleasant, I have to say, and I haven't felt threatened once. But I guess we've also been sticking to fairly nice areas on our travels too.

After some lunch at the hotel (we sat at Dustin's table ;) ), we had a quick rest before heading out again.

Once again, we hopped on the Subway and made our way Downtown to the World Trade Centre Site.

Unfortunately, if you want to see the site, you have to pre-book a pass online. We hadn't done this, and they weren't giving out any further passes that day, so instead we decided to just look at the construction and take in where the buildings would have stood. (Hubby, on past business trips to NYC, had been inside the World Trade Centre.) Then we headed across the road to a sort of museum set up for the WTC. It was very, very moving there.

This replica of the Statue of Liberty stood near a FDNY
station where many left tributes to those who died.

A model of what the site will look like when completed.

Afterwards, it was nice to walk and then indulge in something trivial...shopping.

My intention was to buy mostly clothes, and maybe some cosmetics. I use Clinique powder, and it was much cheaper at C21, AND they gave me a $10 coupon to spend in-store!

I really wanted a black overcoat, and I got one at half the usual price. There were heaps to choose from. I didn't buy any other clothes though, but I did pick up a new handbag. Or two. (I'm a sucker for the things, okay?)

By the time we got home, it was almost ready to head out to dinner.

We went to Nobu Next Door. Nobu is the restaurant part owned by Robert De Niro, situated in Tribeca. Nobu Next Door is an extension of that, if you like. It's...next door. ;)

Although the food was very good, I'm obviously getting old because I found it very dark and noisy there. It was like sitting in the middle of a nightclub. Lots of doof-doof-doof music. So, if you're looking for a nice place for a chat, this is not the place for you.

See what I mean by dark?!

Still, my Champagne 95 cocktail was DIVINE, and the food was really good. Pricey, but good. (For Salmon Sushimi you pay $5 per piece.) AND, I got to see a beautiful view of the Brooklyn Bridge on the way in the cab. I fear we're running out of time (and good weather) to walk over it! :(

Seeing our booking was 9.45pm (yep - living like rock stars over here), it was a late night for us old folk. ;)

* * * * *

DAY SIX - Saturday

All the full-on activity and late night dinners obviously caught up with us. We woke up around 10am this morning!

We quickly raced down to breakfast. Boy, was it busy. It was raining again outside today, so we decided to head to MoMA (Museum of Modern Art).

When we got back to the hotel room though, we still felt tired, so decided to take our time getting ready. Suddenly, I looked out the window and realised...it was SNOWING! Snowing, I tell you!

Wow. What are the chances?

Eventually, around lunch time, we headed to MoMA.

Fortunately for us, we had pre-purchased tickets, because the cue for tickets was huge. The cue for the coat room was also massive, so we avoided it by removing our jumpers, tying them around our waists and putting our jackets on.

Probably just as many were drawn to MoMA's large windows to
see the snow outside, as they were the artwork.

I headed straight to Level 5 where the more classic paintings and sculptures are (think: Monet. Again!).

Hubby reckons he's had enough of Water Lillies.
I'll never get enough of them. :)

Salma Hayak...I mean, Frida Kahlo.

Not surprisingly, Van Gogh's Starry Night was a crowd pleaser.

Eventually I headed down to Level 4 where the art was a little too, er, modern for my tastes.

A room filled with striped fabric hung on the walls.
See the lady describing it in front?
"Isn't it amazing how the stripes are so...stripey?"

Just what every white wall needs. Three paintings of...white. Er, okay...

However, I was excited to see a little Andy Warhol, including this print of Elvis. You're welcome, C. (My sister, C, has always been a big Elvis fan.) It's called Double Elvis. Natch.

Eventually, we got really hungry, so I reserved a table at a cafe on Level 5. We had to wait an hour (but could continue to tour the museum), but I have to say, it was worth it. For a museum cafe, the food was absolutely sensational! We started with a selection of five cheeses with red wine, followed by a very delicious trout salad we shared, then dessert. Hubby had a Bourbon and pecan ice cream, I had the Chocolate Fudge Marshmallow Sundae.

Nom, nom, nommy, nom, nom.

Oh, my...it was SO amazing. It's the first time, I think, I've indulged in dessert here, and what an introduction! It even had salted pretzels mixed through it, which sounds weird, but really, really worked. (Mardi - you were right - chocolate and pretzels SO go together!)

Tonight, we're off to meet another friend for dinner in the Meatpacking district, so I'll write about that tomorrow (*crosses fingers*). I'm quite certain I'll be too tired later tonight!

New York - Days 3 & 4

2011-10-28T16:53:00.000+11:00

I knew I'd eventually hit the moment I couldn't update my blog every day. ;)

DAY 3 - WEDNESDAY

Wednesday was huge. HUGE, I tell you.

The first thing we did was walk down to The Empire State Building. What an amazing view! It was great to finally get a sense of direction in New York (although, having said that, I still get disorientated, not quite knowing which way is which).

I loved the audio tour. 'Tony', our guide, gave practical information about NYC, peppered with stories about his own upbringing in the city. Fabulous. One of the most amazing things I heard was that it only took fourteen months to build The Empire State Building. It begs the question: why on earth does it take three years to build just a house in Australia these days? Sheesh.

Afterwards, Hubby and I did something of a power shop before our lunch date.

I bought a jacket, two scarves and three pairs of shoes. Woot! We're finding, with all we want to see, we're not getting in a lot of shopping time so far. (We'll most definitely have to rectify that.)

Then it was time to drop off our shopping bags and head back to Central Park to The Boathouse for lunch. Oh. My. Goodness. What a beautiful place...and the food! Nom.

Cavatelli Pasta
Maine Lobster, Mushrooms Ragu, Truffle Essence

Jumbo Lump Crab Cake
Celery Root Salad, Caper Remoulade sauce

Cod Fish - Special
Lots of stuff...can't remember what!

Sautéed Jumbo Shrimp
Pumpkin Risotto, Baby Spinach, Wild Mushrooms

Originally, we had planned to cycle around the park afterwards, but we decided to do that another day. (Fingers crossed the weather holds up...it looks like it's about to hit winter temps this coming weekend.)

Then we headed to the nearby Frick Collection.

Henry Clay Frick (1849-1919) was a steel magnate who became a millionaire by the time he was thirty, and liked to collect art. And I mean serious art. Not only did he collect art, but he was also the owner of the amazing residence on Fifth Avenue in which the Collection is now shown to the public. (On his death, Henry bequeathed the house and contents to the nation. What a generous man!)

I couldn't take pics in there, but two of the most amazing paintings there, apart from some Rembrandts, a Monet and a Renoir (just to mention a few), was Holbein's portraits of Sir Thomas More, King Henry VIII's Lord Chancellor (1527) and Thomas Cromwell, King Henry VIII's eventual Lord Great Chamberlain (date unknown, but 1500s also). Amazing. After watching The Tudors and reading all about King Henry VIII, this was a big highlight for me.

On the walk back to our hotel, I took a few more pics...

A school bus on the upper east side.

Lovin' the hot dog stands, but don't think I'll eat from one.

Just another New Yorker.
Actually, no...a model shoot outside...

Trump Tower! Donald, where are you?

When we got back, we headed to the private lounge for a nice, icy cold drink of water. Guess what? None other than Dustin Hoffman was sitting at the table next to us. I recognised him straight away, but even if I hadn't, his voice would have eventually given him away. I was tempted to take a pic, but figured he might not be impressed by that, and I didn't want to bother him. He was in a meeting of some sort, shuffling through papers. Still...how fun!

We had a quick rest before getting ready for our night out on Broadway to see How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying starring none other than Mr Harry Potter himself, Daniel Radcliffe and the very funny and talented (not to mention warmly received), John Larroquette.

(On the way there, walking through Times Square was pretty surreal, but to be honest, I'm not fussed if I don't go back there. It was so busy, but great to see.)

The show was funny, energetic and colourful! The only downside: one man's gigantic head right in front of me for the first act. I had to keep moving my head from left to right to see past him. They don't stagger the seats at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre. Bummer. Hubby swapped with me for the second act (the guy had sat down last minute, and I was too embarrassed to move before that).

BEFORE the big-headed man sat down

Afterwards, to raise some money for a charity I can't recall now, Daniel and John auctioned off a bow tie Daniel wore during the performance. It sold for $650! (Not to me, thank-you-very-much.)

We were so full from our lunch at The Boathouse, we didn't bother to eat before the show, but were starving afterwards (well, I was anyway)! We walked around looking for a place to eat, and eventually made our way down to a restaurant called Smith & Wollensky - a steak house and more that takes its last order at 2am! Both Hubby and I had a Chicken Club Sandwich, and it was DELICIOUS! Highly recommend this place.

By the time we finished up, it was well after midnight. See what I mean? A HUGE day.

DAY 4 - THURSDAY

Well, yesterday we picked an excellent day to do something indoors, because we had our first wet day since arriving.

No early morning walk down Fifth Avenue for us today. We jumped in a cab and headed to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to meet a friend of Hubby's (a current NYC resident) and take a look around. Our NYC guide tells us that The Met (as it's known locally) has one of the most comprehensive art collections in the world, and I reckon they're spot on. It was simply amazing. We spent almost five hours there, and even that wasn't enough.

I love Impressionism - especially Claude Monet - so I was in art heaven today. But I saw lots of amazing things. Behold...

Arms and Armor
Henry VIII's armor is here. I missed it though. Gah!

The American Wing

Egyptian Art, including The Temple of Dendur. Awesome.

Hello, Mummy.

European Sculpture & Decorative Arts

Fancy schmancy

Your Roman Chariot awaits...

Picasso

One of MANY Monet paintings. Love.

An art student honing her skills.
(There were a few of them. All amazing.)

Degas. Just beautiful.
(This one's for you, Kirri.)

Van Gogh
One of his paintings during his asylum stay.

Renoir

Fortunately, when we left, the rain had stopped, and we headed to a local pizza restaurant, Serafina, on Madison Avenue and had some very authentic Italian pizza that was delicious. (Although, to be fair, we were also starving by then, so who knows if we were judging it correctly.)

Another gorgeous upper east side street.
You can't really see, but the apartments here had
pumpkins outside their front doors ready for Halloween.

When we left, the rain had set in, and all the cabs seemed to be off duty, so we walked the thirty or so blocks back to our hotel. Yes...LOTS of walking today.

I enjoyed a lovely bubble bath on our return whilst Hubby jumped on the computer (we knew he'd have about 3 hours of scheduled work to do on Thursday). Then I promptly slept for close to two hours!

Not surprisingly, after two full-on days of fun, we decided not to head out and instead spent a small fortune on room service instead.

I hope I can sleep tonight after that nap. ;)

New York - Day 2

2011-10-26T15:32:00.000+11:00

We walked over eighty blocks in New York today.

Not surprisingly, I'm rather exhausted as I type this. What a day!

Unfortunately, jet lag kicked in last night and we woke at 2am to the sound of jackhammering somewhere in the near vicinity. (We've been assured it was a one-off - something to do with a broken down generator.) That was it. Even after ordering a milkshake and an apple pie from room service, there was no sleep, and eventually we gave up and got ready for the day.

We headed to our dining area. There was so much on offer to eat.

After a yummy breakfast of fresh fruit, scrambled eggs and bacon, we headed out for a walk.

We intended to find Grand Central Station, and we're quite certain we had, but after a quick stint walking underground without so much as a grand staircase in sight, the heat got too much and we left. We'll find it another day!

In any case, it wasn't a day to be underground today anyway. Although cool and crisp outside, it was also sunny and clear. Perfect for walking.

With plans to see the Guggenheim Museum, and too early to shop or do much of anything else (the shops don't seem to open here until 10am, nor do the museums), we decided to walk the forty or so blocks.

We made our way up Fifth Avenue mostly, eventually making our way past Central Park. We decided to walk through a little of the park and although we saw only a taste of it today, it was more than enough to whet my appetite for more.

We even saw a squirrel searching for nuts. How cute!

As we exited the park, we walked along looking at all the beautifully maintained apartment buildings. It feels quite European walking around the upper east side (hello, Gossip Girl!). Well, at least we think it's the upper east side. ;)

We decided the bigger and fluffier your dog, the bigger your apartment must be. (It's probably quite the status symbol to have a dog like this one:

Eventually, we made it to the Guggenheim.

We still had a little time to spare, so we walked towards Madison Avenue for a cup of tea. As we did, we passed a school with a lot of cute little boys dressed in grey track pants and 'sweat shirts' - obviously making their way to the park for some sport (lucky things)! We passed many black sedans with drivers, and upper east side mums standing around having a chat. I wondered about their life. Do they have some swanky apartment awaiting them nearby? What do they do with their days? Shop at all the fancy stores along Madison Avenue? Fascinating.

At the Guggenheim, we saw famous works of Cezanne, Manet, Van Gogh, Pissaro and Monet. Unfortunately, about a quarter of the museum was inaccessible because of renovations, but we enjoyed our hour or so there. I did get asked not to take photos at one point, so my photography came to a stop after that. I managed to get these ones first though:

We then walked back towards our hotel, stopping in a few shops along the way, but the early start caught up with us. We eventually decided to head back to the hotel for some lunch and a quick two hour snooze - which accidentally turned in to four hours!

We got up and got ready to head to the Meatpacking District for some dinner at a restaurant called Pastis. Gorgeous.

Hubby had a Tuna Nicoise, I had mussels with breadcrumbs and a sauce - so tasty. I decided to indulge in dessert: crepe suzette. Delicious!

We retired to our hotel for a little tv watching. I can't believe we're in America and I STILL can't find much worth watching! Geez.

All in all, a busy but wonderful first full day in New York.

My Boys - Missing you like crazy. We've passed some interesting shops in search of a lovely pressie for you...but remember...you have to be good first (and we hear you are)! :) xxx

In the meantime, here's a store front ready for Halloween. Our driver tonight told us to hold on to our hats, because it's gonna be HUGE! He reckons Halloween here is bigger than New Year's Eve! Now, that's saying something.

Until next time....

New York - Day 1

2011-10-25T13:27:00.000+11:00

I haz arrived in New York, baby.

After a ridiculous delay on the ground at Sydney Airport (I sat on the plane for almost 2 hours waiting for it to pull away from the Gate), the plane finally made its way to LA.

When we arrived in LA, I smiled at the sight of the palm trees surrounding the airport. It felt very much like Perth. Dry and flat. I wasn't there long. After the delay with my first flight, I had to make a mad dash to reach my connecting to New York.

I'd already watched a few movies on my first flight, but I watched one more before eating some lunch and trying to catch a few zzzzs. I don't usually sleep on planes, but I managed to doze off and on a total of around 3hours between both flights.

There was a moment on the flight to LA that I really started pining for my boys. I couldn't hug them! (Hello, boys! Dad and I miss you all very, very much. Hope you liked your leaving gifts - I heard they were quite the hit!)

The hotel is amazing. So beautiful and very spacious. The pic above was taken by the concierge's desk. Fancy schmancy. We're livin' it up, people!

Anyway, after some room service (delicious), we're going to sit back and relax for a bit and hopefully catch a good amount to sleep so we can hit the city tomorrow (fingers crossed we don't wake up at 5am or something). I can't wait to get out there!

My Boys: I love you and miss you a lot already, but I know this week will go very, very quickly for all of us. Be good.

The Week That Was... Leaving on a Jet Plane, Conversations & Published

2011-10-21T11:56:00.000+11:00

image

What a week!

On Sunday (I think - time has just flown), I woke up with a sore throat. Great.

Terrible timing, because Hubby and I head to New York next week. Yes...NEXT. WEEK!

To be honest, I wasn't going to say when I was leaving, because I'm a bit funny about telling people where I am when I'm there - you never know who's reading. However, we have someone staying at home with the kids and our FEROCIOUS dog is also here. I'm serious...I wouldn't mess with him if I were you. He's very protective of his home and his 'pack' (that'd be Hubby, I and the kids, natch). Even a company we tried once that comes to your house to feed and walk your dog for you when you're away won't come again because our dog scared the person they sent (and she's dealt with some of the worst dogs in South Africa, apparently). So...don't go trying anything if you're some weirdo/burglar/type person reading this and just happen to know where I live.

Just sayin'.

Aaaaanyway...I really needed to be on the ball this week getting my lists together and sorting stuff out. When someone comes and stays with you, it's one thing. But when they're going to have to use your stuff to prepare meals and get clothes organised for your kids, it's another.

This week I've....

- Cleaned out the freezer. Seriously, there was food in there from 1987. Okay, that's a slight exaggeration, because I didn't even know my husband in 1987, let alone share this house with him, nor did I even live in Sydney or own a fridge - especially not my current fridge - but you get what I mean, right?

- Cleaned out the pantry. There was a good reason why we had so many moths flying around here. Enough said.

- Cleaned out the kid's clothes drawers. You know what it's like, right? You kids wear stuff for a while, they outgrow it, but it still sits in the bottom of their drawer. You know it doesn't fit and you just choose stuff around it, but it's confusing for those who don't know. You know?

- Cleaned out under the trundle bed in the big boys' room. This happened quite by accident. The seven-year-old got a Hex Bug stuck under there (it vibrates around on the floor like a cockroach - nice), so after he left for school, I pulled it out and WOW...how long has it been since I cleaned under there? We found stuff we hadn't seen in aaaages - including approximately 347 pieces of Lego - and lots of dust...ewww. It's lovely and clean now.

I have so much more to do. I still haven't even picked out what I'm going to pack...let alone pack it!! But I did purchase my boys' Leaving Gifts (I think they'll love them), I booked restaurants in various locations in New York, and purchased tickets to a Broadway show. Woot! It's very exciting. (BIG thanks to @Nicky_Lavigne for supplying me with tips and shopping locations (VERY important). I'll be Tweeting you from NY, Nicky! For sure.)

* * * * *

On Monday night, I had a lovely break from all the stress of getting ready for my trip by catching up with my lovely friend, Mardi. She is too gorgeous. She's one of those people everyone likes. She's encouraging, supportive and incredibly loyal. I love her. I feel so blessed to have her and Jen in my life.

Anyway, enough mushy stuff. We had a lovely meal at a Mexican place that has decided to infuse their food with Chinese flavours. (Huh?!) We stuck with the Mexican fajitas. Nom. Then we later moved on to a place for a cuppa (me) and hot chocolate (Mardi).

image

Every time I get together with Mard, we talk and talk, and at the end of the night, after we say goodbye, I think of a dozen other things I wanted to ask/tell her.

We SO need to get together for these dinners more often.

I also had two coffee sessions with Jen this week. She and her hubby, Mr P, went to New York a little while back, so we talked about that - where to go etc. I always love my coffee catch ups with Jen. :)

* * * * *

Remember a little while back I wrote about a new game called Skylanders? Well, we were sent the new Starter Pack this week with the portal and three characters. (You've surely seen this advertised on tv!)

Ours is the Wii pack, but you can get it on a bunch of platforms (the graphics on Playstation are AMAZING).

I'm probably going to put together a list of the top ideas for Christmas gifts this year, and I already know this will be on it. It's just amazing technology, and so versatile (the kids can take their characters to their friends' house that have a portal, pop it on there and play away - or play it on the computer)!

The boys are HOOKED. Hooked, I tell you. I predict big sessions playing it this weekend.

* * * * *

I kind of feel funny about writing this (look at MOI, look at MOI), but I bet ANYTHING that every person who has ever had a piece published in print for the first time gets just as big a kick out of it as what I did.

I wrote a piece for Kleenex Mums a while back that AKA Mom Magazine (a US publication) saw and asked if they could publish in their Fall 2011 issue. KM gave the go ahead and, well, it was done.

Cool, huh?

I haven't seen the print copy yet...it's on its way. I can't wait to show my Mum! :)

* * * * *

Anyway, that's it.

Because I love keeping a journal when I travel - so I can remember everything I did later on - I thought I may as well keep it here on my blog. That way, the boys can keep up with what Hubby and I are up to.

Having said that...I know I'm going to be busy and tired at the end of each day, so let's see how I go with that plan, shall we? I hope to write every day, but we'll see. Keep an eye out next week for updates.

Until then, lovely readers, have a beautiful weekend. I'll be spending mine hugging my children a lot. I'm going to miss them like CR-A-ZY.

Stuff To Look Out For

2011-10-20T10:40:00.000+11:00

Last week, I wrote a 'Stuff to Look Out For - 10 Great Gift Ideas for the Kids'. This week, I'm sharing a few other products with you.

* * *

KOOLAMAN DESIGNS PENDANT
First up...the following product I absolutely adore. It would make a beautiful gift for that special lady/girl in your life.

I was offered a pendant by Koolaman Designs. Koolaman Designs was founded by two sisters (Lisa O'Keefe and Stacey Clayton) four years ago who decided to start a small business to keep them busy while their kids were at school. They named the business after Koolaman Station, a 73,000 acre sheep and wheat property that has been in Lisa's husband's family for decades. The business itself is made up of a team of rural mums in NSW and Vic who handstamp the jewellery from their homes.

Mine has my three boys' first names stamped on it.

I can't stop wearing mine. I feel like my boys are with me when I have it on. LOVE.

There's a bunch of pendant designs to choose from and the company also do cufflinks, keytags, bangles, chains and they even have a Christmas range. Check out all the products here.

OTI ORGANISER
I was sent one of the OTI ('On to It') Organisers recently.

Firstly, I love purple. In fact, when I eventually get around to organising my half of our study, I've already planned a lot of white with a little green and purple featured throughout. So this is perfect!

It's not just pretty though. I'm really impressed with the layout and all the useful extras the diary has.

I love the page set out of the main section of the diary. There's space to write appointments etc, and then there's a column for planning your daily exercise, meals and a To Do and People to Contact box. Like this...

Click to enlarge for a better look.

It also has an inner sleeve pocket for papers/receipts, a 'Going Away' section to list travel arrangements, an Entertaining planning section (list the Event/party and all the details there), sticky notes, a pen and a removable Contacts & Info section.

I really love mine. To check out the full range or purchase one for yourself, check out OTI's website.

THE KNOT GENIE
Okay, this product is amazing.

When I was offered The Knot Genie, I was intrigued, but with three boys (and naturally curly hair myself I tend to wear au naturale most of the time) I didn't really feel I could test it properly. So I scored a Knot Genie for my friend, Jen, to use on her gorgeous daughter, Miss C.

To be honest, when you first look at it - and especially after you feel the comb - it just doesn't feel like it's going to get through the knots. Jen assures me it does. (She said it pulls a little, but nothing like a normal comb would.)

But really impressive are these BEFORE and AFTER shots Jen took:

BEFORE

AFTER

And with a ponytail. Gorgeous!

How's this? The Knot Genie was one of the gifts included in this year's swag bags for celebs at The 2011 Emmy's.

You can order your Knot Genie from here.

BABY BOWL - Kim McCosker
Here's an Australian published cookbook for baby's first foods.

RRP$16.99

I used Annabel Karmel's first food cookbook when my boys were little. And look, it was fine, but it's great to have an Australian cookbook which takes in to account our local produce here. Kim McCosker is the author of the 4 Ingredients bestselling cookbook series. This book has a lot of great features, including:

- a handy list of weights & measurements

- a list of kit tools for making baby food

- info on storing food, defrosting & nutrition

- allergies

- menu planner

The book is set out by age then there are sections on finger foods, foods for in the car, foods for babies when they have a cold (to boost their immunity etc).

I sent my copy to my niece (she's my age) who has a bubba, and she was looking forward to trying the recipes. I'd buy one for sure if I had another little one again. (Gah!)

Pick up a copy at your local bookstore. (I saw it in Coles as well.)

FINISH QUANTUM & THE MESSY MEAL CHALLENGE!
I was sent some Finish Quantum dishwasher tablets and encouraged to get messy in the kitchen.* Ha! Like I need an excuse to get mucky!

Finish Quantum have a Messy Meal Challenge going on at the moment. They're on the hunt to find Australia's messiest meal family. Families are encouraged to submit their videos or pics of their messy meals at www.messymeals.com.au by 22 October (so get in quick!). They'll select the three most entertaining, and then the public vote for the winner.

The family that wins gets $25,000 and star in the next Quantum Finish tv ad!

Now, seeing that I don't put my family on my blog, so therefore wouldn't put them in a tv ad either, I thought I'd just give the Finish Quantum tablets a run for their money and see how they fared after our own messy meal:

Moussaka for Main.
That created a LOT of dishes!

Can you imagine the chocolate mess after this?

Chocolate Mousse completed. Nom.

I did what I usually do when preparing the dishes for the dishwasher - I rinsed them quickly, whacked them in and VOILA! They came out beautifully clean. I was impressed, because sometimes I have leftover residue on my dishes, especially after meals like this (and then I have to scrub them. I hate that). I'd recommend the Finish Quantum tablets, for sure.

* For full disclosure, I also received a Woolworths voucher for my food. However, I was not paid to write this post - all of my opinions are my own. I wouldn't tell you I liked something if I didn't!

So there you go. Some great products to look out for!

One-on-One Time with Four-Year-Olds

2011-10-19T09:52:00.000+11:00

Walking through Hyde Park beforehand.

When each of my boys turned four, something shifted. They became a little more feisty (hello, testosterone burst), but they also became more loving, affectionate and almost clingy. Real mama's boys.

The year my eldest turned four - the year before he started 'big school' - I put my seven-year-old in daycare (then two). Both attended two days per week at the time, but I staggered one day so I could have one day to myself (my first in four years!), and then one one-on-one day with each. I can't tell you what a great decision that was.

The nine-year-old LOVED it. We would do something special together like go to the movies, the zoo and Luna Park to name but a few. The year before the seven-year-old started school, he had a brother under the age of two at home. In order to at least give him six months of one-on-one time with me, I put the four-year-old (then eighteen months) in to daycare six months earlier than I normally would have. Just for one day a week back then. To this day, the seven-year-old can still remember what day we had together (Wednesdays) and claims he loved them so much. Back in the day when the nine-year-old had his, he would always exclaim, "Thursdays are my favourite day!" (That was his special day.)

One of the first things we did together was head to Sydney Tower in the city. It was the first visit to the tower for both the nine-year-old and seven-year-old when I took them separately on their one-one-one day. It had been my intention to do this with the four-year-old earlier this year - it had become quite the tradition after all - but up until a few weeks ago, I hadn't done so. (That's the problem when you have more days together - you think you have all the time in the world!)

I was starting to get anxious about it. How could I have not taken him yet? And then, in my inbox, arrived an invitation to help Sydney Tower celebrate the big 3-0 with the launch of the Sydney Tower Eye, and I had just the excuse to finally take my little man.

The four-year-old takes my photo. I love St Mary's.

With time to spare beforehand, we go in search of morning tea...

So much to choose from!

We arrive and admire the fabulous view.

The four-year-old tries to work out where we live.

The new touch screen panels are great. You can touch on the Info
buttons and read about what you see.

New high powered binoculars!

Part of the tradition is to buy a souvenir afterwards. I was disappointed there wasn't a lot of Sydney Tower type gifts in the shop. So we bought this instead...

A boxing Kangaroo pen that lights up!
The four-year-old LOVES it.

When we left and went back downstairs, there were a TON of Sydney Tower souvenirs there. My tip is to wait until you're leaving if you want to buy a memento.

The other tradition of the trip is to meet up with Dad for lunch and go lolly shopping afterwards.

The Golden Arches never disappoints the four-year-old.

Hmmm...what shall I choose?

Hubby helps the four-year-old.

The four-year-old indulged in a number of the sweet treats in the car on the way home. I can't tell you how many times he asked, "Can I just have one more?!" He did, however, save some for his big brothers.

I guarantee he'll remember this day for a long time to come. THAT, I love.

Do you have one-on-one time with your kids? Special days together? What do you do?

When Kids Go Feral

2011-10-16T12:16:00.001+11:00

image

My boys have gone feral this week.

They are outta control. Fighting with each other. Fighting with Hubby and I. Talking back and generally being disrespectful. Hubby and I are pulling our hair out. This weekend has been hard work. Very hard work.

I'm trying to remain calm. After all, some of it may be anxiety-related about Hubby and I leaving soon for our upcoming trip. (More so for the nine-year-old who is very sensitive about us going. The seven-year-old and four-year-old are simply looking forward to family from Perth coming to look after them, knowing full well they're going to be spoilt rotten!)

Some of it may have to do with the fact that less than a week after school holidays concluded, they all found themselves together again with a pupil free day last Friday. (How's that for a slap in the face? Your kids return to school and BAM! Another day off!)

But with my own stress relating to the trip, it's very difficult to cope with it all right now. Whilst I would love nothing more than to be experiencing the kind of weekend together as a family that only the Sound of Music could rival, it's just not going to happen.

There's only one solutions then the boys get like this: Divide and conquer.

Apart from exercise (important for all kids, but especially for boys), the only way to stop the kids getting on each other's nerves (and ours) is to separate them. Do our best to get them out of each other's hair.

As I write this, Hubby has taken the nine-year-old for a drive to the dog beach with the dog (obviously, otherwise, why go there?). The four-year-old is doing some water colour painting next to me under the umbrella on the outside table, and the seven-year-old is inside playing a little Nintendo DS. (Which kills me considering it's a beautiful, sunny day here in Sydney, but sometimes a girl's gotta do what she's gotta do.)

All is calm for the first time in three days. *sigh*

I'm planning an early dinner tonight and early night for all. Maybe then there'll be a bit of time for a quick game of UNO before bed and hopefully (*crosses fingers*) every one will be happy.

Wish me luck.

What do you do when your kids won't stop fighting?

The Week That Was... Including Back to School, NY Planning, Cupcake Indulgence & Getting Active

2011-10-14T10:58:00.000+11:00

image

I don't know if it was the realisation that school was about to start again, or if they were just plain sick of each other after being together for two weeks, but over the weekend the boys just fought and fought.

There's nothing worse than when your kids argue. No, wait. There is something worse: when they bop each other with frustration! But the incessant, "He won't let me plaaaaay!" and "I had it first, Mum. He just stole it from me!" was really doing my head in by the time I got the kids in to bed on Sunday night.

So back to school the nine-year-old and seven-year-old went. The seven-year-old had swimming lessons for four days out of five, so each night I had to put together a backpack using 'the list'. Apart from the usual swimming costume, goggles, towel, t-shirt, another item on the list was a swimming cap. I thought to myself, Obviously for the girls. Nope. ALL students were required to wear one. I had to send Hubby to the local swim centre after work on Monday to purchase one, because I couldn't find the three freebies we'd been given some time back from another swim centre that I'd disregarded.

What's up with the swimming cap thing? We already make our kids wear goggles and swim shirts (although, mine don't wear one when swimming indoors)...do we really need to protect their hair as well?! Keep it out of their eyes? Oh, the poor things. In my day....

(Oh, okay...I'll get off my high horse now.)

* * * * *

In between all the in-fighting at our place over the weekend, on Saturday night Hubby and I managed to escape to a friend's 40th Birthday Party (my dear friend Mardi's hubby celebrated his big day). (Seriously, they had the best finger food I think I've ever had at a party. Little gourmet curry pies, salmon mixed with wasabi and something else on slices of cucumber, rare roast beef with horseradish, pickle and baby spinach on fresh bread, vegetable samosas...and more. SO delicious.)

Anyway, whilst there we met a lovely couple who had travelled together to New York a couple of years ago (the ones who told us about The Leaving Gift for their kids). We talked about where to go and what to see and the next day - whilst sitting in the warm sun and drinking coffee - Hubby and I talked about our own upcoming trip to New York. (You're going to be so relieved when I eventually return and stop talking about it, aren't you?)

I sat down and marked off all the places I'd like to visit...

Hmmm. We might be biting off a little more than we can chew, but we'll sure as hell try and see it all!

* * * * *

In other school news, we've always had a bit of an issue with the kids leaving jumpers and drink bottles and the like behind. Some have disappeared forever. Including the BRAND NEW size 10 jumper I bought the nine-year-old earlier this year. He wore it twice, left it behind and it's...gone. Poof! Just like that. (I think it's because the new jumpers have tags on the inside, half way down for writing their name on, and I'm convinced some other child has accidentally taken it home and his/her mother has NO IDEA they have it.)

The seven-year-old really reached a personal best in misplacing items this week though. Within the first three days of Term 4, he managed to misplace a drink bottle (still missing), a lunch bag (I found), swimming goggles (he found) and two jumpers - one of which the nine-year-old gave up for him on Wednesday morning (after the 7yo's jumper had gone missing the day before) so his little brother wouldn't get cold (I found them both).

It's time to re-introduce the Missing Items Penalty System: If an item of clothing or the like doesn't come home from school, and isn't found within 3 school days, the cost of that item will be paid out of the child's pocket-money.

That worked a treat last term. It's amazing how quickly they can find their stuff when the threat of future birthday monies received from family is at threat. :)

* * * * *

I can't tell you how much I'm enjoying riding my bike these days. The four-year-old and I go on regular rides together - almost daily - mostly heading to the local post office before taking a little detour before returning home.

On Tuesday, after riding with him to daycare, I rode on to my doctor's appointment.

I got there in plenty of time, so I rode up to a cafe I've often passed but have never been in to. I ordered a cappuccino and sat outside, my bike at my side.

My plan - weather permitting - is to do a longer ride each Tuesday after taking the four-year-old to daycare. I managed almost 10kms on Tuesday - some of which was up some pretty mean hills - and even though that's nothing compared to Hubby's regular 90-100km bike rides, it's a start.

It just feels good to be moving again. You and I both know that you can watch what you eat - even live off alfalfa if you want - but it's getting moving that will get you fit and healthy in the end. Lord knows...I need to get healthy.

I hope to be riding bikes for as long as my Dad did. He was 80 when we purchased his last one!

* * * * *

Even though I've been watching what I eat a little more lately (NOT dieting - don't believe in it), I'm all for balance. Eat from the five food groups. Drink lots of water (something I need to do more of). Exercise and eat crap occasionally.

The four-year-old enjoyed a stop off at our local patisserie this week, and we indulged in a little cupcake action...

A vanilla cupcake with sprinkles for him.

A Red Velvet cupcake for me.

Nom.

* * * * *

Lastly, the invitation for my niece's wedding (she's my age) arrived this week.

Not only is it nice to find something like this amongst all the bills and junk mail, I can't wait to see her frocked up for the big day!

I'm crossing my fingers that the bridal party's outfits are a little more modern than the ones we designed in the 80s for her Barbie doll when she married The Six Million Dollar Man (thanks to my nephew's collection of 'man dolls') in a poolside ceremony at my house. There was a lot of brown and gaudy blue going on there - not to mention the fluorescent ribbons that decorated the alter. *shudder*

I'm tres excited.

* * * * *

If you like, you can check out my list of recent posts on the RHS of my homepage for what I've been up to. Oh, and it's World Egg Day today, did you know? I'm celebrating that over at my recipe blog with a recipe for Mexican Egg & Corn Fritters. Nom.

How was your week? Do you have kids that lose items constantly? How do you combat that?

Stuff to Look Out For - 10 Great Gift Ideas for the Kids

2011-10-13T11:58:00.000+11:00

Dare I say it? With Christmas just around the corner (good Lord, I actually said it), it's time to start picking up something here and there for the kids. (I hate talking about Christmas in October, but I also hate last minute Christmas shopping.)

I've got 10 ideas for you.

(All of the products you're about to read about, I received complimentary, but I haven't been paid to write about them. They have all been a hit in our house.)

1. Hi-5 Sharing Stories DVD and Spin Me Round CD Pack
Honestly? I still have fond memories of the original Hi-5 team. They were the ones that entertained my two eldest boys when they were toddlers and preschoolers (even though I swore, prior to having children, I'd never watch Hi-5. I didn't count on the music being so darn catchy. Damn it).

But the four-year-old doesn't seem to care. He LOVES Hi-5, and the CD of the above mentioned pack is currently driving me insane making the rounds in the car during the week when his big brother's are at school. Natch.

RRP$19.95

Hi-5's new season is starting up on Channel 9 this Monday 17 October, and they're releasing one of the first DVDs from Season 13 on November 17. Just in time for Chrissie. Woot!

2. Psycho Duck - Carol Newton & Fran Nott
This is a fabulous book. Carol and Fran are English teachers who wanted to create a series of books that address literacy and comprehension. Psycho Duck is the first in a series that is not only a fantastic read, but a fabulous teaching tool.

The book is illustrated by Naomi Kelly.

The book's grammar and comprehension exercises at the back of the book are a great teaching tool. (It's no surprise the books are making their way in to schools. Perfect.) The book is also peppered with questions throughout so the reader can stop and think about what it is they're reading. A GREAT way to introduce comprehension skills.

To find a list of stockists, order a copy, more info on the book and lesson plans, check out the Psycho Duck website. Love.

3. Lego Heroica
You know we love Lego around our house, right? We do. I mean, when I step on it...not so much. But generally, LOVE Lego.

Check out the Lego Heroica game the boys received:

RRP$29.95

I'm really impressed with all the games Lego have released in recent years. They've provided my boys with hours of entertainment, and they love playing the games with their friends. It's great they get to build, then play. Win/Win.

4. Ninjago - Masters of Spinjitzu
More on Lego...this new DVD (out now) was a HUGE hit with my boys. I can't remember the last time - if at all - they watched a DVD over and over and over again in one sitting. They want more. Stat.

RRP$19.95

5. Ready, Set, Grover
I love this. We were sent the latest game from the Sesame Street series on Wii, and the four-year-old loves it. It combines exercise and entertainment. Win/win!

RRP$49.95

It came with a cute Wii remote cover, that the four-year-old immediately put together with his current Elmo cover. Cute!

I love that the game promotes living a healthy lifestyle.

6. Georgie Dog by Annabel Trends
The seven-year-old is a fan of stuffed toys. Like, HUGE fan. He just loves them. (A bit like me as a kid, actually.)

Annabel Trends (I already love their soft toys) offered to send the Georgie Dog - a big, creamy, fluffy, cuddly toy dog. The seven-year-old was mightily impressed.

RRP$39.95

If your child loves fluffy toys, he/she will LOVE this one.

7. Octonauts - Books & DVD
If you have preschoolers, and you haven't heard of the Octonauts, then, well...where have you been? Truly.

The Octonauts are cute little adventure heroes who dive into action whenever there's trouble under the sea. Their new DVD Meet The Octonauts has the four-year-old completely spellbound.

RRP$19.95

ABC For Kids DVDs are always good value. Keep an eye out for the books as well (RRP$12.99).

8. Little Kitchen Around the World - Sabrina Parrini
Have you noticed how many more kids are cooking these days? I remember when my niece and I attempted to make cupcakes when my sister was working one day during the school holidays (we were in high school at the time). We put the cake tin IN THE MICROWAVE. Sparks flew. In more ways than one. *sigh*

Released by SBS, Sabrina Parrini's Little Kitchen Around the World is a great cookbook for kids including recipes from all over the world.

RRP$29.95

Each recipe includes the country of origin, level of ability and serving amount.

The recipe shown above - Tuna couscous - has quickly become a fave in our house. Nom.

The photos that are placed throughout the book are gorgeous. It makes the food look so inviting!

The only thing that's missing is the time to complete each recipe, but perhaps the book has taken in to consideration the different age groups that will use the book?

Anyway, I love it.

9. Baby Born Doll
My friend, Jen, recently took her daughter, Miss C, along to a special Baby Born celebration. I reckon you should put a Baby Born doll on your list. Look how cute they are...

I don't know why, but my friends and I had Baby Born dolls in either our late teens, or early 20s! It seems weird to write this now, but it's true. A few of us ordered them. We didn't actually 'play' with them, per se. Just ordered them and kept them (although, admittedly, I changed my doll's outfit a number of times). I think we had 'new doll' envy or something. I recall dropping mine off to my niece's house for her to babysit whilst I went out clubbing that night.

I can promise you, I've never dropped off my boys to someone so I can go clubbing. Left them with Hubby to go drinking with bloggers, yes, but not 'clubbing' per se.

Just sayin.

I know Miss C loves her new doll. (Just quietly, I hope she brings it over again soon for a play. :) )

10. UNO - Personalised 40th Anniversary Cards
What? UNO has been around for forty years? I had no idea. But I LOVED playing UNO as a kid, and it's a card game we play at least once a week in our house after dinner as a family, but usually more.

Well, now - to celebration 40 years of card playing - you can personalise your UNO cards with your own pics! Yes you can. Cool, huh?

You just go to their website, download the program (both Mac and PC are available), then get started. Order your cards and for $19.95, you have yourself your own personalised UNO cards!

How fun is that?! The kids could do a set with their friend's pics, or you could put one together of the family. Nice.

To be honest, I haven't done mine yet. I've had such little time, but I'm planning to because I LOVE this idea. :)

* * * * *

Next week, I'll have some more great products to share with you. :)

The Leaving Gift

2011-10-11T11:58:00.000+11:00

~image~

Apart from the fact that I'm still nervous about leaving my kids for a week to head to New York with Hubby, and I'm lying awake at night stressing about all the things I need to do before we go (must purchase a new thermometer, get rid of clothing from the kids' drawers that don't fit anymore etc) there is something else that concerns me about our upcoming holiday.

Saying goodbye to the kids.

The morning we leave will be a school morning. That means the nine-year-old and seven-year-old will be due at school around the time we need to depart home.

Every time I think of hugging my boys goodbye, and watching them walk down the road to school - then waving goodbye to the four-year-old as we climb in to the taxi - I get this ache in my chest, a lump forms in my throat and tears spring to my eyes. The nine-year-old actually asked last Sunday night, "Can you not go?"

*Sigh*

Last Saturday night though, Hubby and I met a couple who had taken a trip to New York a couple of years ago. When I mentioned my concern over the goodbyes, the wife told me about The Leaving Gift they organised for their two children.

The Leaving Gift is a present that is promised to the kids on your departure. The idea is to hide the gift, then when you leave, the child is allowed to go and search the house for it. She explained that her kids were so excited about searching for their gifts (the grandparent looking after them did the whole 'you're getting warmer...getting warmer....now you're hot!' thing), she and her husband were practically shoved out the door by them and sent on their merry way to the airport. There were no tears.

Wow. Bribery works wonders, huh?

I mentioned the idea of The Leaving Gift to my boys on Sunday night. They were tres excited. I think I'll plan to leave just before school so they have some time to hunt for it, and then they can spend the day thinking about getting home to their new toy, rather than worrying about Hubby and I flying half way around the world. And I won't have to torture myself watching them walk away down to school without me.

Perhaps our departure won't be so sad after all? Not for our boys, anyway. *sob*

Do you have any tips for making goodbyes easier when leaving your kids?

Girls' Night Out at Kuali Malaysian Restaurant

2011-10-09T17:47:00.000+11:00

In the final Malaysian restaurant visit for Malaysia Kitchen Australia ('MKA') (*sob*), I headed to Kuali Malaysian Restaurant in Lane Cove with some girlfriends from my sons' school.

If there's one thing I've learnt over the years when it comes to dining out, it's to not let position or decor of a restaurant put you off eating there. For example, one of our fave takeaway restaurants local to us is incredibly basic (you can eat there, but it's not somewhere you'd go for a special meal), but the food is fantastic.

Kuali - although fairly basic with its decor - is definitely dine-in quality. It is situated on the 1st floor of an arcade, right next to a gym. (Handy. You could eat then go work it all off.) So, it's location may not necessarily appeal straight off to some. However, out of all the restaurants I visited through the MKA experience, it was probably the most consistent when it came to quality of food and service.

Here's what we had:

Kajung Chicken Satay - $11 for 5
Although the satays were small compared to others I've had, they were really tasty. A great size for kids especially, but also for adults not wanting to overload themselves with the starters.

Roti Chanai - $3.50 per serve

Right up there with some of the best Roti I've had. Tasty and light.

Beef Rendang - $20

Although the flavour was good, I found the beef was a little dry. I'd give it another go though.

Hainanese Chicken - $18.50

Although this dish is of Chinese origin, it's commonly served in Malaysia. The chicken is delicately poached. To be honest, it isn't the prettiest to look at (and one of my friends couldn't bring herself to try it!), but it's actually really yummy. Very tender with delicate flavours. Nom.

Whole Snapper - $40 (Special)

Perfectly cooked fish that lifted beautifully off the bone. The flavours were subtle - not overpowering the fish. Delicious.

Kapitan Prawns - $28

This was one of the better prawn dishes I've had during my MKA experience. Creamy and SO flavoursome. I'd highly recommend this dish.

Salt & Pepper Squid - $20

I love me a bit of salt & pepper squid, and Kuali's version did not disappoint. SO tasty.

Penang Char Kuey Teow - $15

To be honest, I probably wouldn't have chosen this dish myself. I hardly ever order noodles for some reason, even though I like them. My friend Liz chose this and it was really, really tasty. The next day, I kept thinking about it and craving it. I'll have to head back for some lunch some day and order this. Fabulous. *My fave dish of the night.

All the food was enjoyed with a little of this:

Kuali recently won the Restaurant & Catering Awards for Excellence 2011 - Asian Restaurant. Well deserved.

Once again, we were the last to leave. I blame Jen. It's SO obviously her influence. ;) (Thanks for your pics, Jen!)

I give it: 4 out of 5

I've really enjoyed doing my reviews for MKA. I'm so glad I've discovered some great Malaysian restaurants. Be sure to check some out yourself! (Check out the Malaysia Kitchen Insiders Facebook page for all the latest Malaysian food news!)

The Week That Was... School Holidays - Week 2 (and MasterChef Live)

2011-10-07T16:51:00.000+11:00

The 7yo disguised as an Angry Bird

And so the school holidays draw to a close...

Last Friday night, after a full week of running around with the kids, I couldn't be bothered cooking our usual dinner - pizza - so we went out for it instead.

Whenever we eat out, the kids insist on taking something to 'play with'. The nine-year-old almost always takes Lego, which to me is just a crazy choice. I mean, what's the bet that a Lego construction, that has taken almost an hour to complete, is going to get knocked off the table and on to the floor - shattering in to a million Lego pieces?

However, Lego is quite possibly slightly more sensible than the seven-year-old's choice of his latest Angry Bird soft toy (he loves soft toys, and has spent a small fortune of his savings on a number of them). The toy is so big, there wasn't any space for it on the table, so he had to wear it shoved up his shirt. Also not particularly ideal, because that shirt has to see through its lifespan when handed down to the four-year-old, you know?

* * * * *

It was nice to have a break from sporting commitments (I felt so tired), and with Hubby around all weekend without work as a distraction, he came up with the idea of heading to New York. He even made me this to try and convince me...

It worked. Now we're busy planning what we want to do (sleep in, shop, eat out, see a show, some sightseeing, shop some more...that sort of thing), and organise emergency contact lists/schedule info etc. Gah! It's exciting and scary all at the same time, but more exciting now that it's booked.

* * * * *

On Tuesday, the four-year-old headed to daycare and I took the big boys in to the city. We took a train, which they were very excited about (it's always the small things, people). We met Hubby for lunch, then afterwards I took the boys to the big Dymocks store where the nine-year-old chose a book on The Human Body (he's still totally fascinated with the subject since studying it in class last term), and the seven-year-old suddenly decided he wants to learn French. We purchased a book/CD/flashcards set and spent the evening learning how to say 'hello' and 'goodbye' in French in various ways. It has since not been used. *sigh*

Being in the city always reminds me of my life pre-kids when I worked for a large corporate bank. Apart from meeting some nice people there, and a few good years in the beginning, the memory is not a particularly pleasant one (I had to argue with my bosses over money owed to me).

However, I still love the hustle and bustle of the city, and I'll probably never get tired of pointing out the building that I used to work in to the kids each time we visit (not the one pictured above) and say, "That's where Mummy used to work before you were all born." Just like when my Mum told me over and over and over again as a kid how she used to work in a milk bar in Kalgoorlie before she married my Dad. History repeating itself. :)

* * * * *

The seven-year-old begrudgingly went to a cricket camp on Wednesday and Thursday (he needs the skills in preparation for his first match coming soon), but today we headed off to the MasterChef Live Show that's being held today and over the weekend at Hordern Pavilion in Moore Park, Sydney. (We were invited by the PR company).

It felt like I should be carrying a long-range lens & camera.
The iPhone was my choice of equipment.

It would be a full-on dream for hardcore foodies, I reckon. Lots of stalls with the latest kitchen gadgets and food. And if you're a big MasterChef fan, you'll probably love watching some demos from ex-contestants. You may even meet one or two.

Kate was lovely. The 9yo took this pic. He needs to get
taller so that the camera angle isn't so low. Hello, double chin.
(He & his brothers had a photo with her too.)

At the 'How to...' stand, Kate demonstrated how to break up a chicken
in to pieces. (Cheaper than buying them separately.)

I loved the stands that had a lot of colour...

Party supplies. Love.

Yep. That's a cake, people.

After a pretty yummy pizza for lunch, consumed with a free sampler glass of red (that the nine-year-old managed to spill the most of. *sigh*), it was on to a cooking class for the kids. The seven-year-old decided to sit it out and watch with me instead, but his brothers were right in to it.

Getting ready to make a Watermelon & Feta Cheese Salad

I can't tell you how much the 4yo enjoyed using a knife. Scary.
(But completely safe.)

The 4yo puts the finishing touches on. It was nom.

After eating the four-year-old's salad (he didn't want it), I was completely stuffed. We then escaped the crowds and went home.

Back to school next week. I can't decide if I'm excited or not about that.

For those of you with kids still on holidays, how was Week 2 for you? Do your kids cook a lot?

Recipe Box: What's Always in Your Fridge?

2011-10-06T13:18:00.000+11:00

I'm over at my recipe blog today telling you what's always in my fridge.

What's always in yours?

Write on Wednesdays - Choosing My Own Adventure

2011-10-05T14:15:00.000+11:00

~image~

It's time for Write on Wednesdays ('WoW') with InkPaperPen.

Well, there has been a little bit of a hiatus with Cassie and Kate's story as of late, as I haven't contributed to WoW for a few weeks. Gah!

Anyway, I'm making a little time to get back in to it this week, with the theme to basically choose a theme previously posted on WoW and either try it or retry it. I've chosen 'I remember'...

* * * * *

Cassie sat at her desk, reordering thefiles in front of her in to alphabetical order. I hate filing, she thought, and looked around to see if she could busy herselfwith anything else. She glanced over at Tom, one of the sales guys on the desk.“Hey Tom,” she called to him. He looked up, and smiled at her in anticipation.She held her breath. She must be desperate for an alternative to filing to havebothered him. He was always hitting on her. Like at the office Christmas partylast year when he cornered her at the local bar, and with his breath smellingof stale beer had leaned in closely and asked if he could take her home andravage her body. She’d had to physically push him away. She shuddered at thememory. He wasn’t awful to look at. In fact, he was very good-looking: dark,short hair. Brown eyes. A perfect, white smile. But on the inside, he was asugly as they came. Egotistical. Crude. A typical sleaze bag, in Cassie’s book.

“You have anything for me?” she asked,turning her nose up slightly at him, hoping her body language would send themessage she intended it to.

He smiled wider, “Oh, you bet I do,” and heglanced down at his pants.

“You’re disgusting,” she said andimmediately started busying herself at her desk.

He laughed. “You love it,” he shot back,and then he turned and went back to tapping away at the keyboard again.

Cassie sighed. Looks like it’s filingfor me then, she thought to herself and started toget up from her desk. Being stuck in the filing room would probably bepreferable to only Tom for company. Everyone else was in the weekly Friday wrapup meeting.

Just then, her phone started to ring. Shesat back down and picked it up. Perhaps Kate was calling for a chat. “Goodmorning. Worthington Finance, Cassie speaking,”she said brightly.

“Well, hello there. I was hoping you’d pickup.” Cassie smiled broadly. It wasn’t Kate. It was Dan.

“Hello yourself,” Cassie said quietly,smiling to herself and drawing the phone closer to her ear. “I’m surprised youremember my name, you’ve been away for so long now.”

Dan laughed. “It’s only been a week. Iremember you.” He paused before lowering his own voice. “How could I forgetsomeone as special as you?” Cassie smiled again. She could hear the genuinenessin his voice and her heart suddenly swelled. Dare she think he was missing heras much as she was missing him?

“You still coming back tonight?” shewhispered hopefully in to the phone.

“Yep. My flight’s in at seven. I can meetyou around eight, if that’s okay?”

“Perfect. But I warn you; I’ll be starvingby then. FYI: I get very grumpy when I’m hungry.”

“Really? I can’t imagine it. I guess itwill have to be something substantial then. Do you eat steak?”

“Of course!” Cassie replied, scoffing.

“Okay, okay,” Dan laughed. “I should haveknown. How about we meet at The Oaks at eight?I’ll cook your steak for you. I’m an awesome cook, actually.”

“Really?” Cassie replied. “That might comein handy. I’m hopeless. But whilst I lack in cooking, I excel in other areas.”She was flirting with him. They had been texting back and forth in a similarvein all week.

“Well, perhaps after dinner, you’d like toshow me what you can do?” He laughed. Cassie giggled. Suddenly, Tom cleared histhroat, and Cassie realised she’d almost forgotten where she was.

She cleared her throat. “Well, I have togo. That sounds fine. All good. See you at eight, then?” Her voice was allbusiness again.

Dan laughed, “You have company, huh? Noproblem. We’ll pick up where we left off later tonight. See you then.”

“Looking forward to it. Bye.” Cassiereplaced the receiver.

She glanced over at Tom who was sittingback in his chair, smirking at her. She shot him a look of disdain beforegetting up, grabbing the pile of folders and walking towards the filing room, smilingtriumphantly.

* * * * *

To read more entries, or to take part in WoW yourself, head over to InkPaperPen.

New York...Here I Come...

2011-10-04T11:56:00.002+11:00

~image~

By goodness people, I'm off to New York.

Hubby suggested just a few days ago that we should take a trip to New York together. Just the two of us. I've never been to the States before, and I've wanted to see New York for a very long time. But more importantly than that, we've never been away together without the kids. EVER. In fact, this will be the first time anyone else has looked after the boys for us overnight (and then some). Our boys have never even slept over anyone elses house before without us in tow.

The flights were booked this morning.

I'm part excited, but also very, very nervous about such a prospect. I don't like to fly, and coupled with saying goodbye to my kids for a week....ugh. I can't think about it too much.

I feel selfish, even though I know I'd encourage any other couple to do this. What can I say? I'm complex like that.

Today, I'm going off to buy myself a cheesy New York travel guide. I hope that by looking through it, I'll become more focused on the fact that I'M GOING TO NEW YORK!

I am. In a matter of weeks, I'm going.

Hold me, people.

Do you travel without your kids? How do you cope? Are you afraid of flying like I am?

PS - Sister C, I know you'll be reading this. Surprise! I haven't told Mum and Dad yet. I'm working up to that. They are going to worry. :( Don't say anything to them for the next couple of days, hon. xxx

So Tired...

2011-10-02T15:05:00.001+11:00

~image~

I have felt so incredibly flat this week.

I've sat in front of this computer for about ten minutes now, trying to find the energy to type. It's not that I have to write anything at all if I don't want to, but for some reason I need to.

This week, I've had more sleep than usual. Often ten hours a night. I'm used to more like seven (my preferred amount), and now I'm left wondering if I should have less sleep. Maybe then I'd feel better. To be honest, after almost twelve hours of deep sleep last night, I feel like I could crawl in to bed right now and snooze the afternoon away. Instead, I'm drinking coffee. Something I don't often do after midday, usually.

I did, however, manage a substantial bike ride yesterday, and even a forty-five minute workout on the treadmill (with Hubby beside me on his bike trainer as motivation). Maybe I'm tired because I finally got off my arse and did some exercise?! Maybe I'm tired because I have so much flying around in my head, that the thought of tackling it all is making me feel so tired. Maybe my boys have exhausted me during the first week of school holidays? We've done a lot this past week.

So, I have a couple of questions for you today:

What's your ultimate amount of sleep each night? When you're feeling really flat, what do you do to make yourself feel more alive?

The Week That Was... School Holidays - Week 1

2011-09-30T15:55:00.000+10:00

After sitting in the howling wind late Friday afternoon watching the nine-year-old at cricket training, the school holidays officially commenced.

Saturday morning, Hubby took the nine-year-old to his cricket match (they won again - YES!), and even though it wasn't exactly gorgeous, sunny weather, I took the seven-year-old and four-year-old for a quick bike ride to the local cafe. As we arrived, the four-year-old rode his bike around a waiter who was carrying a bunch of boxes. The waiter didn't see him and swung around, hitting the four-year-old in the head. Ouch. Afterwards, though, as the four-year-old's tears gradually subsided, the waiter returned to our table with a plate filled with marshmallows, and all was forgiven and forgotten.

When the waitress then brought out their milkshakes, the four-year-old quickly started drinking his. I said, "Say thank you to the lady, please," and without removing his lips from the straw he muttered, "Mmm-moo." Sigh.

Later, after we'd dodged the few raindrops that threatened to drench us on the way home, I knelt on the floor of the four-year-old's bedroom picking up some clothes I had just dropped there. Hubby came in and stood in the door way. I looked up to see these in his arms...

The fact that he'd bought me flowers at all was fabulous (I don't think he's bought me long stemmed red roses since....too long to remember), but even more amazing was that he had travelled to the local shopping centre to purchase them, which he usually avoids like the plague on weekends because it's so busy there.

You know how marriage, and in fact any relationship for that matter, has it's ebbs and flows? Sometimes it's good, sometimes a little more challenging? Well, right now, Hubby and I are in a very good place. Especially after the roses. ;)

Sunday it rained some more, and that's when the house got turned upside down. By Monday, I was over it, and initiated The Big Cleanup after we'd tackled the four-year-old's swimming lesson and the weekly food shopping (that's hell right there, people - food shopping with three boys).

On Tuesday, the sun finally shone, and the nine-year-old and seven-year-old had friends arrive for a play date. I dropped the four-year-old to daycare then drove the boys to Pirate's Mini Golf on the northern beaches.

The drive there made me realise I obviously need to clean out my car, as the boys spent time finding stuff in it to trade to each other. "Hey, do you wanna swap this dead weed for that stale corn chip?" Yup.

On arrival, I split my boys up with their friend (also brothers) so they could separately play 9 holes at a time. (That way, they wouldn't annoy each other.)

Can you imagine how many golf balls are in that water?

There's the 7yr old through the bushes.

The 9yr old, who clearly needs new sandals, and his friend get ready to tackle hole 7.

Then they came back to me - I was sitting in the centre of the premises in the sun drinking coffee and reading my book (aaaaahhh) - for some yummy muffins our guests' mother had baked (nom). (Thanks, Fiona.)

Whilst they played their second set of 9 holes, I thought I'd call my parents for a quick chat, and Mum said to me on answering the phone, "So, you want to speak to Dad, then?" I was all like, "Oh, yeah. I'll have a chat," but at the same time wondering why she didn't want to chat more to me first. Mum paused, and I suddenly realised why she had asked. "Oh God," I said, "Is it the 27th?" Yes, people. It was my Dad's birthday. I hadn't forgotten it per se, but I didn't realise the date either (damn school holidays). Thank goodness Mum answered the phone first.

Dad turned 86, but insists he's older. More like 90. I said, "Maybe you just feel ninety, Dad?" He loves it when I tease him.

After the boys finished their golf, I sent them off to buy icy poles, as the weather was so beautiful and warm. Then we headed back to our house for some lunch and play time before I dropped our guests home at 2pm.

That afternoon, I cooked spaghetti bolognese before the big boys had their swimming lesson, then we collected the four-year-old and headed home for dinner. Except me. Because I headed out to dinner myself with a bunch of girlfriends. (More on that another time.) T'was a fun night!

Wednesday the rain returned, and subsequently I couldn't get motivated (or perhaps it was because of the champagne I had consumed the night before?). I lazed around in bed mostly, only getting up every now and then to assist the boys with breakfast etc. Before I knew it, it was almost lunch time, and my friend, Jen was soon due to arrive with her three kids.

A few weeks ago, I received an invitation from a PR company to attend a special "Mother & Daughter" event. Er...obviously the company didn't read the homepage of my blog, seeing that it clearly states I'm a mother to three boys. Not to worry though, I asked the PR co if I could send Jen and her daughter, Miss C, instead, and they were very happy to have them. (I'll be posting something on that soon.) Jen's two boys stayed with me, and to show their appreciation, Jen and Miss C: a) baked a cake for us to consume during their absence (it was NOM, and I could get used to this other people baking stuff for me kinda thing); and b) purchased these for me afterwards...

Love. Aren't I a lucky gal to receive so many flowers over the last couple of weeks?! (Thanks, Jen.)

Yesterday, I took the boys to a local indoor play centre in the morning (wet again!) which really should be called Hell on Earth during the school holidays; it's packed with older kids who run around like lunatics (including my own), causing all sorts of chaos. But the bonus? It has free WiFi and a cafe, so I was able to type up this post whilst sipping coffee and eating raison toast. ;)

There's always an upside, people.

Today we headed to the cinema to see Spy Kids 4, with the only saving grace at having to sit through such a movie was the fact that Jeremy Piven (Ari Gold from Entourage) played a key role(s).

He's all shades of amazingness, no?

I had planned to cheat and buy some Maltesers from Kmart or Coles beforehand, cos I'm a tight arse clever like that, but we were running late and instead I spent a small fortune on them and a bag full of lollies at the cinema on arrival, just making it in time for the main feature. (Which the kids enjoyed.)

Live and learn, people. Live and learn.

How has your week been? Do you have kids on school holidays? What are you doing to keep busy?

The Big Cleanup

2011-09-29T17:58:00.000+10:00

The other day I wrote about The Big Mess that had occurred during the first weekend of the school holidays.

The rain was partly to blame. When it's wet and miserable outside, the kids easily get bored.

However, there's no excuse as far as I'm concerned, because my boys know the rule: One toy/game at a time.

So, just to refresh your memory, here's a collection of the BEFORE shots of the house:

Messy, huh? Now, here are the AFTER photos, taken less than 1.5 hours later:

The formal lounge - back to normal (apart from a few finger prints on the glass table top).

The kitchen. The shop is closed. Phew.

The 4yr old's room. We can see his mat again!

The formal dining room is still Lego Central, but at least it's contained - and off the floor!

In truth, still a bit of work to do in the 7yo & 9yo's bedroom
(look at that bookshelf!), but a HUGE improvement.

The family room looking a little tidier now.

The Lego remains in the formal dining room, but that's okay. It's school holidays, and having it out all the time means they can go build - at the table - any time they like. That's fine by me. However, I did make sure that nothing else was left on the table other than Lego, that pieces not on the sheet were placed back on it, and that all the pieces that had fallen on the floor were picked up.

The boys did pretty much all of it. I just helped the four-year-old with his bedroom, because he's still learning about organisation.

So, how did I achieve it? Here are the steps.

Step 1 - The Threat
Don't underestimate the advantage of using a good old fashioned threat with your kids, people. Threatening the loss of an upcoming play date or missing out on a piece of freshly baked chocolate cake can work a treat.

For example, the nine-year-old and seven-year-old were having a play date the following day, and I threatened that if they didn't clean everything up, I would phone the mother of the two brothers coming and call it off. (This was risky. I couldn't call it off, because the mother was working the next day and had organised a sitter for the afternoon only. Sometimes, though, it pays to take risks.)

With the four-year-old, I threatened no Maltesers at the movie we are planning to see later this week. (The kid LOVES chocolate, and is easily bribed by it.)

Step 2 - The Plastic Garbage Bag
I've used this one before, and it's a winner. Get out a large, plastic garbage bag. Be sure to open it up in front of your kids and FLICK it open dramatically before saying, "See this bag? ANYTHING left out of place after the allocated cleaning time GOES IN HERE. Then it GOES IN THE BIN outside. Okay?!"

Of course, this works better if you've used this tactic before and you've followed through. I have. They quake in their tattered sneakers whenever I get it out. ;)

Step 3 - Put on the Timer
Telling your kids just to clean something up without a game plan is like an open invitation for extra play time during the cleaning process, and it will take hours. They'll pick up Lego and start building something with the odd pieces they've found under the couch. Or they'll start flicking through a comic book they started writing and illustrating, chuckling at their own jokes.

For the Family Room, for example, I gave them 20 minutes. I put the kitchen timer on. They raced around like crazy people moving stuff from the family room to their bedrooms and packing other items away that belong in there. We then went through the rooms, allocating 10 minutes here, 10 minutes there, then finally - 30 minutes for their bedrooms.

Done. And since then, they've been tidying after each project and tidying their bedrooms each day, with me saying things like, "See how quickly it gets done if your do a little every day?"

Now, if I can just teach the dog to do this, I'll really be ahead of the game...

~image~

What strategies do you use to get your kids to tidy up?

~top image~

My Recipe Box: Pancakes with Summer Fruits, Maple Syrup & Marscarpone

2011-09-28T14:58:00.000+10:00

A delicious weekly ritual for our family these days is to have yummy pancakes on Sunday morning. The nine-year-old gets up and makes the batter, then Hubby or I cook the pancakes with him. Then we sit down as a family and eat!

For the recipe, head over to my recipe blog.

Tomorrow: I'll be updating how we got on after The Big Mess with The Big Cleanup. Stay tuned, people!

The Big Mess

2011-09-26T17:48:00.001+10:00

Welcome to the school holidays.

School holidays - where routine for the most part, thankfully flies out the window and kids take over the house.

It would have to rain, of course, wouldn't it? The very first weekend of the two-week school holidays. After a week of brilliant, warm sunshine ...BAM! Down comes the rain.

I couldn't wait to ride my new bike on the weekend with the kids. Apart from a quick trip on Saturday morning to the local cafe with two of them (the nine-year-old was playing cricket again), that was it. We were pretty much house bound after that.

So, what happens when it's too wet to head outside? The kids get "creative" around the home. They suddenly rediscover all the crap stuff they have hidden away in toy boxes and storage containers and in the 'activities cupboard' (as we call it). Then, whilst Hubby and I are busy sleeping doing important stuff, they pull it all out and THROW IT AROUND THE HOUSE.

Behold...

The family room. DVDs on the floor. PJ pants, pillows (from cubby building),
Lego Bionicles, games...it all has to go.

The kitchen. The 7yo & 4yo made a 'shop' in the kitchen. This photo was actually taken after I had
moved some items. Cos, you know, I had to get to the fridge and pantry and all that.

The worst room. The 7yo & 9yo's bedroom. Where do I start? See all the tissues on the floor?
Unused. I think the 4yo took them out. PJ pants, clothes, boxes, MORE Lego.
Books everywhere. To be honest, it wasn't great before the holidays. It got worse though.

The 4yo's bedroom. Lego, books, clothes.
The desk missing. It's in the kitchen. For the shop. Natch.

The formal lounge room. I guess it got too messy in the Family Room, so they figured
they'd move in here! Yes - that's the 7yo's bike in the front. There were cushions on my couch.
Where are they are now? ON THE FLOOR!

The formal dining room. Let's hope no one's coming to dinner any time soon,
because it's now Lego Central in here. *sigh* (Actually, it can stay for the hols, but
the pieces on the floor have to be picked up, & a few misc items put away.

So, what to do in such a situation, you're wondering. How on earth can I get my house back in order?

Stay tuned, people...I have me a plan...

How are the school holidays going for all you parents out there? Are you holding it together? Please tell me at least one room in your house looks as bad as this?!

~top image~

The BFF Catchup at Ginger & Spice

2011-09-25T13:49:00.001+10:00

In my third post for Malaysia Kitchen Australia ('MKA'), I headed out to Ginger & Spice in Neutral Bay with one of my BFF's (and official MM photographer - and soon to be MM co-product reviewer), Jen.

Even though Jen and I see each other most weekdays, and some weekends at school sports and the like, we don't often get a really good, long chat. We're always surrounded by kids, or at the very least the four-year-old who loves Jen and chats to her as if she's come over for coffee just so she can catch up on all his news. Sigh.

I had hoped to get my other BFF, Mardi, to join us. Can you believe she and Jen have never met, even though they were both at my 40th birthday party last year? I know! How ridiculous is that? (I was so caught up chatting to everyone, I didn't think to introduce them. My bad.) Unfortunately, Mardi couldn't make it (her hubby was already going out that night). Next time, Mard...next time!

Anyway, Jen and I headed off to Neutral Bay for a bit of a chin wag and some food.

Firstly, the restaurant had a surprisingly good feel to it. I was surprised, because the only photos I'd found on the Internet beforehand really didn't do it justice. As Jen said, if it were her local restaurant, she'd be pretty happy about it.

Here's what we ordered and ate in between non-stop (except for food hastily being shoved in our mouths) chatter:

Roti Prata - $7.80
Tasty, but dense and rather greasy. But we could forgive the greasiness because of the taste. :)

Curry Puffs - $10.80
Pretty tasty, and not too greasy. The sauce was yummy too.

Malay Satay - $12.80
We had the chicken satays which were yummy. I would have liked the satay to be a bit chunkier, but the flavours were really good. * Jen's fave dish of the night.

Serai - $18.80
Pan-fried chicken with lemon grass (you can also choose beef or prawn). This was really tasty and very moreish. A good choice for people who don't like spicy food as it was completely mild. In heat...not in flavour. *My fave dish of the night.

Chilli Prawns - $22.80
The prawns were cooked in a tomato and chilli sauce and were a mild heat. Although they were certainly nice, they were also probably our least fave of the night.

The service was good, and no one got testy with Jen and I when we were the last ones to leave! It should be noted that this restaurant accepts cash only, which they advised both when I booked and when we arrived (which a lot of restaurants don't do - that drives me nuts!).

I give it: 3 out of 5
Jen gives it: 3 out of 5

If you 'like' MKA's Malaysia Kitchen Insiders Facebook page, you can keep up with all the latest news on Malaysian food and Malaysian restaurants!

Do you and your BFF(s) head out for a meal together on occasion? Do you have a regular catch up - even if it doesn't involved food?

~top image~

My Recipe Box: Shortbread Biscuits

2011-09-24T14:31:00.000+10:00

~image~

If you feel like a doing little baking this weekend (or with the kids during the school holidays), and in particular would like something to have with a nice cup of tea, head over to Mummy Mayhem's Recipe Box for a yummy Shortbread Biscuits recipe.

Nom.

The Week That Was... A Surprisingly Great Birthday, What Made Me a Proud Mum & One-On-One Time

2011-09-23T07:30:00.000+10:00

~image~

Time to wrap up the past week...

I had a surprisingly fabulous birthday last weekend.

FABULOUS.

I didn't expect much. After all, it was only my 41st birthday (*yawn*). Nothing spesh, right? But it felt all that and more.

It started the day before my actual birthday with a dinner on Saturday night atone of our fave restaurants – The Bluewater Café at Manly Beach. The café has a selection of food for the kids, juice boxes and icecream with topping. How can you go wrong?

Then there was this, for Hubby and I:

Lamb & Haloumi skewers with cous cous salad for me.

Pork ribs and Roasted Kumera for Hubby.

Apple & berry crumble for dessert. Nom.

The following morning, I woke to find thisin the hallway:

Isn’t it divine? I asked Hubby if he hadseen this post. He hadn’t. Amazing.

I LOVE mybike. Just like I wrote on Wednesday, I've been enjoying riding it so much this week, I haven't had time to blog.

The next morning, the nine-year-old made his special pancakemixture, then Hubby cooked the pancakes and we ate outside underneath the umbrella,because the weather was PERFECT!

Delicious. Lovin' the summer fruits.

Later, I arrived home from taking thefour-year-old to a friend’s birthday party (I know! Can you believe someonethrew a party for their child on my birthday?!)to find these:

Awww....thanks, Hubby.

Hubby then cooked a yummy dinner. (He was totally on a roll, right?) Chickenmarinated with a bunch of fresh, yummy herbs, garlic and...other stuff (I don't know, you see, because I didn't cook it!). He cooked it on the BBQ.

T'was delicious!

My parents sent some money, so I boughtmyself this lovely, Spring-inspired bag (to go with all the blue items I bought recently).

Lovin' all the flowers.

And because I had some money left over, and David Jones had 30% off some jewellery this week, I also bought this ring.

Love. The metal looks plastic in this pic...much better in real life!

My friend, Jen, bought me some lovely stuff for the desk I will eventually set up in our study. I'll probably be posting on that at some stage, then you can see it. (I love it.)

So, for a 41^st birthday, Ithought the whole thing was pretty special - thanks mostly to Hubby.

Thanks to everyone on Twitter and Facebook and on my 20^thAnniversary of my 21^st Birthday post foryour birthday wishes!

* * * * *

On Saturday last weekend, Hubby took thefour-year-old with him to the nine-year-old’s first cricket match of theseason. I’m very proud of the nine-year-old. His team from previous yearsdidn’t form again this year (most will start a new school next year, and willplay for a school team, so therefore the matches will clash), so he opted toplay with a bunch of kids he’d never met before on a Sunday (then double up in the new year). Something I doubt I’d havedone at his age. (Turns out, there weren't enough players for a Sunday team, so he plays Saturday on a team that are okay with him leaving at the end of the year. Bonus for all of us!)

Anyway, according to Hubby, he played really well. His newteam won the match by about sixty runs, and the nine-year-old retired not out,reaching close to his maximum runs allowed. Woot!

So proud of my boy. For giving something a shot and stepping out of his comfort zone, more than anything else.

* * * * *

Anyway, whilst they were all there, theseven-year-old and I got to spend some quality one-on-one time together. Avery, very rare thing these days. We sat outside under the shade of theumbrella in the morning (obviously getting a lot of use this week), and drankcoffee/bubbaccinos, and chatted. We looked up funny words in the Dictionary and tried to put them in sentences. He helped me tidy the house, took out the recycling and unloaded the dishwasher before packing away some toys in the family room.

~image~

Later, we headed to our local shopping centre so he could sell raffle tickets for the school's fundraiser, and afterwards we both enjoyed sushi, followed by a quick trip to Target before getting a special cupcake each to eat in secret together (sssssh - don't tell the other boys!).

He said more than once, “Mummy, I love spending timetogether, just you and me without the other boys.” I loved it too.

* * * * *

On Wednesday, I was watching the four-year-old playing soccer during his weekly sport's class. He was laughing and smiling; he was having a great time with his little friend.

I was suddenly overcome with emotion when I realised that there is just one more school term left before we'll have no more one-on-one days together and he heads off to big school.

I partly blame the moving music that was playing on my iPod at the time for the impromptu tears that fell.

The four-year-old has been lucky in one way, having so much Mum time these last few years. But I'm still certain we can do more this last school term than what we have been doing so far.

And we will. In fact, we've already started (more on that later).

* * * * *

I only wrote a couple of posts this week, which I think I've pretty much linked to in this post. But you can check them out on my sidebar on the RHS. And over on my recipe blog, I wrote about The Art of Baking. (Tips welcomed!)

Have a great weekend, ya'll.

Beauty All Around

2011-09-21T15:34:00.001+10:00

There's a good reason I've had a little pause on my blog this week...

When I was going through the process of becoming a Catholic many years ago, the catechist who ran our meetings said that we could see God in everything beautiful around us. The trees, the flowers, the ocean, a newborn baby...everything. All we had to do was take the time to look around us, and thank God for what we saw.

I think, whether you believe in God or The Universe or perhaps just coffee (I believe in that too!), it's the same concept. Take the time to see the beauty that surrounds you each day, and relish in it. It's amazing how good you can feel just by doing this simple act.

So this week, I'm not blogging as much, but I am relishing in all of the beauty around me. Especially the Spring flowers that line the many garden beds I've cycled past this week.

What beautiful things have you admired recently that you're thankful for?

~image~

The 20th Anniversary of My 21st Birthday

2011-09-18T10:31:00.000+10:00

Turning 41 isn't very exciting.

Certainly, this time last year I was full of excitement and anticipation for my 40th birthday party that evening, which was so much fun.

So, I thought, why not celebrate the 20th anniversary of my 21st birthday instead?

I had just returned from my very first overseas holiday to Europe and the UK. Fresh off the Contiki bus, I had my party at a local hall. Some friends helped me blow up a bunch of helium balloons which we positioned over the dance floor, with curly ribbon hanging down. It took aaaages, from memory, and I had to leave part way through to have my tresses tended to.

My brother-in-law - a bit of a whizz in the kitchen, especially when it comes to seafood - arrived early with his own microwave and large platters adorned with banana leaves, on which he later served prawns and all sorts of goodies. (Friends talked about how good the food was at my party for years afterwards.)

I wore a ~~ridiculous~~ dress I reluctantly had made in Singapore at the end of my above mentioned holiday.

The girl I was traveling with was getting some clothes made, and she suggested it. Sitting there, waiting for her to sort out what she wanted, I guess I eventually decided to jump on the band wagon. Of course, the dressmakers never finished it in time for my departure, and my Mum had to attach the tulle underneath the skirt. It wasn't cut properly at the neckline either (there was supposed to be a small 'v' in the middle), so sat awkwardly across my chest.

I hated it. (Amazingly, years later I was talking to a work colleague about the dress and she said, "Wait! That sounds exactly like the dress I had made for my 21st!" She brought in a photo the next day. Exact. Same. Dress. Hers, though, had the 'v'.)

At the end of the evening - with my dress stained orange after someone accidentally spilt a cup of orange juice all down my front! - I took it off and threw it in to the corner of my bedroom where it sat for a very long time before I finally picked it up and threw it out. (What a waste!)

A highlight from the night was a gift a bunch of high school friends got together to make for me. It was a photo album, and everyone took a page or two and decorated it especially.

Don't you love my castle?

My friend, Ralph, put together a mix tape of one song for each year
since my birth. Some had a little explanation with the song. Cute!

My friend Teresa made this one. A bunch of pics photographed together then pasted
in to a cut-out '21'. Check out the daggy pic of me, top LHS, in the
multi-coloured jumper with a RIDICULOUS perm to boot! Hello, 80s.

One friend put together a page of photos with this pop up in the middle.
I love that it looks like I'm sitting on the letters.

There are some others not shown here. My friend, Tim, was supposed to do a page for me as well, and promised to do it later but never did! Shame, because he was a graphic artist, and I'm sure it would have been fabulous. ;)

My Mum made my birthday cake - a traditional key - which she always made for family members who turned 21 or 18. (Thanks, Mum!)

I gave a speech, in which I explained to everyone how I was a 'surprise baby', and I then thanked my mum and dad for the 'dirty weekend' they undoubtedly had when I was conceived. Classy stuff.

At the end of the night - after a good many hours of dancing like a maniac, swishing my skirt around (one positive of the dress), and sipping Cointreau and lemonade (my drink of choice at the time) - I turned back offers to party on, and instead went home to open up all my amazing presents. Many of which I can still remember. The stainless steel cutlery set my sister and brother-in-law gave me is still in use today as our every day set. (Actually, just yesterday I had to buy an additional set as some of the forks have mysteriously gone missing as of late. They're probably hanging out with the socks somewhere.)

Great memories.

Did you have a party for your 21st birthday? Details, please.

~top image~

The Week That Was... Skylandering with Bloggers, The Big Parenting FAIL & Accessories Organisation

2011-09-17T08:14:00.000+10:00

Time to reflect on the week that was... (a little late this week, because I couldn't get my pics to upload yesterday. Sigh).

Last Friday I went to a fab presentation on a new game called Skylanders featuring that cutie-pie dragon Spyro. That's the 4yr old playing the game on the right. Far out. It's amazing. It's out next month and will be on a multitude of gaming platforms (we're a Wii family - but you should see the graphics on PlayStation. Wild), and I can't wait to play it. I mean, I can't wait for the boys to play it. ;)

I got to hug Brenda from Mummy Time again and Mrs Woog commented that the 4yr old was really clever working out the game. I assured her it was obviously because I let him play waaaaay too much Wii at home.

Nintendo make GREAT babysitters. (Kidding! There's no need to call DoCS just yet. *cough*)

* * * * *

On Saturday, the 7yr old - together with around 149 other kids - was 'confirmed'. That's a Catholic church thing. There were Bishops there and everything (you know...the ones with the long, high hats). The ceremony included kids from a bunch of different schools and parishes, supposedly because they wanted the increased 'community feel' of the event. Personally, I think it was probably because the bishops couldn't be bothered traveling from one ceremony to another. Quite frankly, I don't blame them.

It was good though. Short, sharp, a quick blessing over each child and done. It was like going to mass in Ireland - in, out, thanks-for-coming, people.

A massive parenting fail occurred on the day though. On the way to the ceremony, the 9yr old (already 'done') piped up with, "Hey, did you buy [the 7yr old] a watch, like you did me?"

Er....

We had completely forgotten about a gift for the 7yr old. Nice.

The 7yr old, in turn, asked if he could have an Angry Birds toy instead, to which I replied, "Well, no. You need a special gift for your confirmation. Something you'll keep forever."

He said, "Well, I can give the Angry Birds toy to my kids some day, and besides, I'm going to grow out of a kid's watch too, you know."

Good point. Dammit.

* * * * *

I was over at Nikki's place at Styling You the other day (if you're not following her blog, you should be - her blog is like the oracle for all things beauty, health, fashion, blogging and more). Anyway, she did a video on how to organise your accessories. Man, you should see the stuff she has! Impressive.

Anyway, it got me thinking about how I store my own jewellery. Mind you, I don't quite have the amount of necklaces Nikki does. (Funny, because I used to wear a LOT of them back in the 80s and early 90s.) I never know what to buy, as I always feel like I look a bit lame in them. But I'm slowly buying a piece here and there.

But the ones I do have, I wear, and I've never known where to keep them. Nikki's post gave me an idea to buy some hooks and attach them to the inside of my wardrobe door and....well...here's the start of things to come...

Cool, huh? I have more hooks and will add more soon.

* * * * *

This week on the blog I wrote about an ex-work colleague's account of being in the Twin Towers on Sep 11, ten years ago. I also wrote about a shopping spree I had this week. (BTW - I told Hubby the final amount, and he was totally fine about it. Of course, I did tell him after he had consumed a couple of glasses of scotch & dry, so perhaps that may account for his relaxed view on my purchase.) For WoW this week, we were encouraged to choose the first paragraph of our fave book, and rewrite it. I chose Jane Eyre. (Oh, I know. Sacrilegious!) Then yesterday I posted my review of the Ford Focus, including a video demo I made. Vlogging and driving at the same time. There's skill in that, people.

On my recipe blog, I reviewed the new Junior MasterChef Australia Cookbook.

What did you get up to this week? Do you have a lot of accessories? How do you store them?

The Car from The Future...

2011-09-15T12:05:00.001+10:00

Have you seen the ads on tv where the woman takes her hand off the steering wheel and the car parks itself?

I bet, like me, you didn't really fully believe it would work, right?

Well, I'm here to tell ya it does.

I was given a new Ford Focus to test drive for a week recently. To be honest, I really wasn't expecting big things. I just thought it might be a 'nice little car' to dash around in for a week, so I was very pleasantly surprised with what I found.

This baby is amazing. First of all, it looks good. Like, sporty and cool. Most mums, like me, are driving around in people movers or unimpressive 4WDs (and then there are the horrible 4-wheel driving mums who need to be made to walk everywhere, because they think they own the road. But that's probably a rant for another time.)

It has so much gadgetry, that when Craig (the dude who dropped it off) started demonstrating everything it could do, I thought I was suddenly in an episode of The Jetsons. I half expected to push a button and have a hot meal served to me.

When I, in turn, demonstrated the car to Jen, she was all like, "Get the *@#% outta here!" We were going to rename the car 'The Get The *@#% Outta Here Fabulous Ford Focus', but then I didn't really think Ford would go for that. Not sure why...just a gut feeling.

Cool retro looking dashboard

The nerve centre

Then when I rattled off the amazingness to Hubby, he was very much, "What-e-va," UNTIL, that is, he got in the car and I showed him in person what it could do. Next thing, he was off in MY Ford driving around and calling me from the blue tooth.

It has Voice Recognition - you can tell the car to dial a phone number, and it will. Seriously. Then you can talk through your blue tooth. You can even programme in numbers, so you can just say, "Jen!" and it'll dial Jen. (If you want Jen's number BTW, just email me and I'll give it to you. She'll be most pleased.)

You can also do some other cool stuff with the voice recognition, and you'll see that in a mo.

And of course it has the amazing, Jestons-like Auto Park Assist. Press a button, drive past a parking spot on the side of the road and the car will tell you if you can fit and THEN it will PARK IT FOR YOU. As in, the car drives itself!

I know what you're thinking, 'Get the *@#% outta here!'

Take a look...

Wait. Is that the phone ringing? No doubt Top Gear Australia calling me about joining the team, huh?

Other great stuff:

- Keyless entry

- Stylish interior

- Fabulous boot space for a sedan

- Pretty good power for its engine size (including sports mode)

- Side mirrors that automatically close in when you lock the car, and automatically open when you enter the car

- Audio connection to your iPod etc

- Front & rear sensors

Not so great stuff:

- Keyless entry a bit hit & miss

- A little squishy with leg space in the back

- Stereo sound quality so-so

- Won't make you a hot meal (bummer)

Anyway, head to the website and check it out for yourself. In fact, go test drive one. You don't have to buy it - just do a bit of tyre kicking and have a go. Great way to spend a Saturday arvo, I say. ;)

Thanks, Ford.

Write on Wednesdays - The Mighty Mighty Rewrite

2011-09-14T07:00:00.000+10:00

This week, for Write on Wednesdays, with InkPaperPen, we have to choose the first paragraph of our favourite book, then rewrite the paragraph with our own content.

Okay...wish me luck!

Firstly, it was tricky choosing a fave book. I have a few that I absolutely adore. There are not many books at all that I would re-read (I barely have time to read them the first time!), but there are three books I will read again. Some day...

The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald
Girl With a Pearl Earring, Tracy Chevalier
Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte

I chose the last of the three in the end.

Here's the first paragraph of the magnificently crafted Jane Eyre:

There was no possibility of taking a walk that day. We had been wandering, indeed, in the leafless shrubbery an hour in the morning; but since dinner (Mrs Reed, when there was no company, dined early) the cold winter wind had brought with it clouds so sombre, and a rain so penetrating, that further outdoor exercise was now out of the question.

Here's my rewrite, using my ongoing story with Kate and Cassie:

Cassie had already decided she couldn't run later at lunch today. Sitting at her desk, she peered past the row of workers towards the floor-to-ceiling glass windows, and lifted her head to take a look outside. On days like this, when the humidity was high and the sun's rays permeated the skin even in the early hours of the morning, there was no chance of any outside exercise taking place just after noon. In fact, the only place Cassie could see herself at one o'clock was sitting at her desk; a hastily purchased chicken salad before her, and her latest juicy Lisa Heidke novel clutched eagerly in her hand.

To join in with WoW, or to simply read some other WoW entries, head over to InkPaperPen!

~image~

The Shopping Spree

2011-09-13T13:13:00.002+10:00

I'm not very good at buying clothes.

I'm not someone who regularly wanders the shops looking for new stuff. In fact, I only tend to do that when I need something new for a special occasion, and I can't find anything in my wardrobe that works. Or that no one has seen before.

This is not a sponsored post. I wish it was, because I'd save myself a FORTUNE, but I really like Esprit clothes. (I actually thought today, that considering the amount of times I've mentioned Esprit on Twitter or on this blog, I should have their PR company throwing clothes at me. And then I immediately concluded: 'Why would they do that? I'm already BUYING THE WHOLE STORE ALREADY!' Silly me. )

The clothes suit my body shape. They're mostly casual (which is what I wear 99% of the time), and I know my size, so I can pretty much walk in, grab a bunch of stuff and know it'll fit. (Well, mostly.)

I tend to do this annually. I avoid shopping like the plague, so when I walked in today I reckon I had no less than twenty items in the change room with me to try on. I bought eleven of them.

Unfortunately, I didn't really realise until afterwards that I kind of stuck with a bit of a colour theme, branching out only in a couple of items. See if you can guess the theme:

Yup. Lots of blue and white going on here, isn't there?

I'm already re-thinking the white denim jacket. Will it really get enough use? I was excited to buy my first blue denim jacket though since, oh I dunno, 1987 or something. I was wearing three-quarter white (Esprit!) pants when I tried it on, and the blue denim looked awesome with it. (Even if I do say so myself.)

There's a silvery item on the navy blue shirt in the middle, which is a necklace I purchased at Diva. And the purple t-shirt at the top of the shot? It's not really my size (one size up), but I picked it up - without trying it on - because it was marked down to $12.95 or something. Also, the short, white denim shorts...they're a little...snug. But I figured, as soon as I start my fitness programme (*cough*), they'll be perfect.

You see, when I shop like this (which is very rarely - like I said, it's mostly an annual thing) I get a bit carried away. Suddenly I want shoes, bags, jewellery...the lot. It's a good thing I couldn't find any white sandals afterwards in Myer today, and couldn't be bothered checking anywhere else because my arm was about to drop off lugging around the two bags of clothes I was carrying. Otherwise, Hubby would surely go in to heart failure when he eventually spies the bill. (Like, even more so than he undoubtedly will.)

Let's just say I most definitely made the $150 mark I had to reach to use my $50 discount voucher.

And then some.

My excuse is that I don't do it often, and it's my birthday this weekend as well (do you like the way I just casually slipped that in?), so that's as good an excuse as any, right?

Do you like clothes shopping? How often do you go? Do you have a favourite store/brand you favour? Do you go on 'shopping sprees' or are you more of a planner when it comes to clothes shopping?

~top image~

9/11 - One Man's Escape

2011-09-11T10:19:00.001+10:00

On the evening, in Australia, when the news broke about the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre on September 11, 2001, I was blissfully oblivious to it all; I was sleeping soundly, exhausted from the pregnancy of my first child.

To be honest, I have never really been sure if I was fortunate to miss the news reports that night or not. It was highly unusual that I was in bed before 10.30pm when Sandra Sully read the late news on Channel 10. Part of me wishes I had watched the events unfold - I'm not sure why - and part of me is glad I didn't.

Hubby was away in London for work at the time. He had left New York just two days prior to the attacks, and I recall, after hearing the news, immediately wanting him to return home. He felt a quick retreat from London was unnecessary. At the time it was thought London might be the next under attack, and a number of executives at the office where I worked hastily cancelled a trip there due in a few days after the attacks occurred. (Hubby ended up flying home earlier than planned, although not really because of 9/11. A few months later, I would find a boarding pass of Hubby's with the same flight number and route as one of the planes that crashed that day, kept from a previous trip of his.)

The morning after the attacks, on September 12, I arrived at work to find an email from a staff member of the bank I worked for at the time. He was based in the New York office and had sent an email to the entire company.

He was in the World Trade Centre when the first plane hit.

The following is my recollection of the email...

He wrote that he was attending a conference - either on the same floor as the lobby, or one floor below (I can't remember which one), when he and the other conference members suddenly felt the impact of the first plane. He described how the building shook. Of course, at the time, they had no idea it was a plane that had hit the North Tower, but they went to the Lobby of the building to investigate.

After standing in the Lobby for a short time - and after no sign of evacuation - he and the other conference attendees found themselves outside, looking up at the fire that had erupted where the plane had hit.

He looked around to see a number of people just standing around looking at the flames, and he suddenly thought something wasn't right, and it was silly for him to be there. He decided to leave, and turned away from the building to make his way home. He had a sense that something terrible was about to happen, and he didn't want to stick around to find out what it was.

As he made his way from the Twin Towers, he suddenly heard the massive roar of a plane. He looked up, only to find the plane directly above him, and I distinctly recall him describing the closeness of the plane - as if he could reach up and touch it. He instantly knew the plane was about to hit the Twin Towers, but rather than witness it, he immediately searched for a place to take cover. He knew that when the plane did hit, debris would fly everywhere, and he didn't want to be in its pathway. He found a place behind a wall (I think), and another person (a woman he did not know, from memory) joined him, and they attempted to shield each other. They shielded themselves before the impact, which happened just seconds later.

Just as he thought, debris flew everywhere, and when it had settled, he ran from his cover and made his way back home as quickly as he could.

He walked through the door to his apartment just in time to turn on the television and see the first tower collapse.

Being pregnant at the time, my first thought was for all of the women who were perhaps pregnant and working in the World Trade Centre that day. Those that survived and those that didn't. Then, of course, my thoughts turned to the women whose husbands/partners were lost, who carried a child yet to be born (and we now know there were many).

Those that died (both on the ground and in the planes that crashed that day), those that escaped, those that tried to save the lives of others, those that knew someone who perished that day, those that lived in New York and witnessed the terrible event unfold, and lived with the aftermath that followed - including the threat of anthrax attacks - and to the employee that sent the email I read that morning...I will think of you especially today.

~image~

The Week That Was... Father's Day '11, Keep on Ridin' & The Ugly Side of Spring

2011-09-09T09:31:00.003+10:00

Time to reflect on my week...

Father's Day was relaxed. Hubby went for a bike ride early on Sunday morning, so I kind of got the sleep in!

The 9yr old made the pancake batter and then woke me just in time to help him cook the pancakes. This was a respectable time, around 7.45am. (Very respectable when you have kidlets.) In fact, it was the one morning in aaaages that the 4yr old slept in, and then didn't even climb in to bed with me!

The boys were very excited to give Hubby his handmade cards (the 7yr old had made three of them), and some delicious macarons that we'd purchased the previous day (pictured). He got two chocolate ones, then one each of caramel, blueberry, strawberry and pistachio. Nom.

Then it was time for brekky.

We served the pancakes up hot off the stove with fresh blueberries, strawberries (with a little caster sugar sprinkled on top - something my Mum always did) and ricotta.

Behold...

They were delicious, and Hubby was most pleased. He further celebrated the day by lazing in the sun before getting up and washing my car. (Bonus!)

* * * * *

The 4yr old recently threw away his training wheels on his bike with gay abandon. (Okay, not quite). Anyway, he is riding like you wouldn't believe. After the pancakes on Sunday morning, I walked with all three boys as they rode their bikes to the local shops, and the 4yr old had no trouble keeping up. As Hubby has three bikes himself (yes...that's right...THREE), I'm thinking it's time I got me a little jazzy number. Something like this:

image

Or at least something like that. The basket is a must though.

Of course, the only two things that will spoil my image of me riding on the above bike, wearing a floral dress and bright pink lipstick is: a) I have to wear a helmet, which just doesn't look cool with a floral dress; and b) bright pink lipstick doesn't really suit me.

I'll keep you posted.

* * * * *

Together with the increase in temperature, the flowers blooming, the trees regaining their leaves, the fluffy, cute baby ducks waddling about and the arrival of my birthday (soon, people...soon), Spring also brings with it something more sinister.

The dreaded gastro bug.

image

We said hello to the gastro bug this week with the 7yr old falling pray to the insidious tummy bug on Wednesday night. As I cleaned up the mess from the 7yr old's bed, the 9yr old - lying on the top bunk and currently being an expert in all things re the human body (studying it at school) - gave me a lesson or two as to why the body releases such substances. (This did not help during the cleaning process, I can tell you.) Then he suddenly said, "Mum - did you brush his teeth?" I replied that I had, and he sighed in relief and added, "Oh, good. Because, you know, the acid in his mouth after puking could damage his teeth."

Please forward any questions about the human body to: knowitall9yrold@mummymayhem.com.

Thank you.

* * * * *

This week I wrote why Father's Day is difficult for some.
Do you and your partner's parenting worlds collide on occasion?
It was the Great One Liner for this week's WoW exercise.
Hubby and I went on a double date recently. Check out where we went and what we ate.
And on the recipe blog (I know! Don't fall down. I finally updated it!), I posted a yummy dish perfect for Spring...San Choy Bau.

What did you get up to this week?

Double Date Night at Chinta Ria

2011-09-08T12:07:00.000+10:00

In my second post for Malaysia Kitchen Australia (‘MKA’), Hubby and I head to Chinta Ria at Cockle Bay Wharf, Sydney for a double datewith our friends, Jen and her hubby, Mr P.

Hubby and Mr P used to work together yearsand years ago, and that’s how Jen and I met. To be honest, Jen and I see muchmore of each other these days than what our husbands do – seeing that our kidsattend the same school – so when we all get together we have such a great time,and talk non-stop. Mr P is so fun-ny. He’s what people may well refer to as‘good value’. I don’t think he’s currently taking bookings to attend parties,but hey – if you’re interested, let me know and I’ll see what I can do.

Mr P loves the personal touch when diningout. At Chinta Ria, all the waiters wear cute little name badges. Mr P was alllike, “Hey, thanks for that Gina,” and “Excuse me please, Gina, can I getanother beer?” I think the waiters liked it. One though got a bit confused whenMr P said, “Well, thank you Trainee, but I’m thinking perhaps you have anothername?” ‘Trainee’ finally relented and gave Mr P his real name, which quite frankly I can’tremember now. I shall forever think of him as Trainee.

Chinta Ria doesn’t accept bookings for dinner, but wedecided we were okay with that, and we probably waited less than ten minutes for our table. It was a Saturday night.

The restaurant has a nice atmosphere with obligatory candlelight, colourfulbowls on the tables and lots of colourful adornments in the restaurant.

We immediately ordered some champers forJen and I, and the blokes ordered a beer each. (And we got champagne glassesAND an ice bucket. Bonus.) Mr P ordered a ‘Lucky’ beer. Check out the cutebottle:

When ordering, Mr P said to Gina (the waitress), “Hey, Gina,could I please have one of your Lucky beers? I’m hoping to get lucky tonight.”*winks* Let’s hope Gina knew Mr P was referring to Jen - not her!

Then Hubby decided to just order a bunch ofstuff for us to eat. Here’s what we had:

Roti - $4.90

I think we ordered two serves. It waspretty good. Nice and light, but a little dry in parts.

Satay Ayam - $7 for 2 serves

Delicious! The chicken satay was chunky and soflavorsome. I really loved it. You can get beef satays too.

Ella’s Wrap - $9 for 2 serves

These are prawns wrapped in fine pastry andfried. Now to be honest, we weren’t sure what to expect. Sometimes when youorder seafood or meat inside pastry it tastes like something pulled out of abox in the freezer and thrown in the microwave, you know? Not so this dish. Itwas absolutely delicious and so fresh. A really pleasant surprise.

Beef Rendang - $24

Probably the overall favourite dish of thenight. Flawless. Delicious. Tender. A must order. *Hubby, Jen & MrP’s fave dish of the night.

Chicken - $23 (?)

You know what? I didn't write down the name of the chicken dish we had. Seems it wasn't memorable at all. We all agreed this was a bit…meh…for us. I felt it a little gelatinous in texture, which I’m not afan of. I wouldn’t order it again. Whatever it was. (Sorry!)

Assam Fish - $26.50

We all thought this was pretty good, but Iliked it especially. The fish was tender, and it was coated in something thatmade it really flavorsome. *My fave dish of the night.

Prawn Special - $28.50

We had a prawn special on the night. The dish was really yummy.

Overall the food was yummy, the atmosphere was great and I thought that the service waspretty good too. Although, toward the end of the night we were given the dessertmenu and no one came over to ask if we’d like anything from it! To be honest,we were all too full anyway, but to be asked would have been nice. :)

I give it: 3 1/2 out of 5

Hubby gives it: 3 1/2 out of 5

Jen & Mr P give it: 3 1/2 out of 5

Do you ever head out on double dates?Where do you go? Who do you go with?

Write on Wednesdays - Living Life on The Edge

2011-09-07T16:53:00.001+10:00

For Write on Wednesdays with InkPaperPen this week, I needed a break from Kate and Cassie, and this week's exercise provided the perfect opportunity to do that.

This week's exercise is to write The Great One Liner... The idea was to use one line in a fiction or non fiction piece that describes part of your day and make it count.

You know, I think this has been the most difficult exercise for WoW that I've contributed to - and I only had to write one sentence! I can't write poetically like others do, I'm afraid.

Anyway, the following actually happened today; I spoke these exact words in Target as the cashier empathised with the 4yr old's desperate need to visit the nearest bathroom...

As she swiped her credit card through the machine - her four-year-old jumping back and forth beside her, desperate for the toilet - she looked at the cashier and explained, "These days, this is living life on the edge."

To read other entries, or to join in, head over to InkPaperPen!

~image~

When Parenting Worlds Collide

2011-09-06T07:10:00.002+10:00

A friend once told me something about parenting that turned out to be very true.

We were sitting at her and her husband's home enjoying a catch up one afternoon. Our eldest son was just nine months old at the time and their two boys were preschoolers. From memory, we were talking about different parenting styles and how you tend to gravitate to other couples that parent in a similar way to you. Which is also very true (and a whole other post some time), but it wasn’t the thing that my friend told me that I was referring to in the first sentence of this post.

During the conversation, the wife turned to me and said, “You know, John* (her husband) and I never argued until we had kids. But all that changed when we had our first.” She went on to explain that once your first child is born, you soon discover how different your own parenting ideas are to your spouse’s. Even if, essentially, you have in mind the same path you want your kids to travel, and as a couple, you have similar views and morals. The fact is, there will inevitably be times when you will lock horns over how to parent your children.

SO true.

Most of us will either want to parent in a similar way to how we were parented ourselves, or we'll want to do the complete opposite of that. And as parenting styles differ so much, the way one partner was raised might be entirely different to how the other was.

Hubby and I are the same in that we are quite firm with our kids. We expect good manners, respect, thoughtfulness about others and empathy for each other as well as other people (something the 4yr old is currently working on. Ahem). We want our boys to work hard at school. If they’re given homework - and as much as I personally think homework is unnecessary for such young kids - they are expected to do it and finish it each week. We want them to wear helmets when they go riding. Hold their sibling’s hand when they cross the road. (There’s no way the 9yr old will hold mine, so I at least want him to hold the 4yr old’s!) We want them to follow rules. Respect adults. Think charitably. Not swear. Help out around the house. The list goes on…

In other words, nothing unusual, I guess. But then sometimes you see how some parents react to certain situations (or rather not react at all) and you have to wonder what they’re thinking. (Once again, that’s a post for another time.)

But there are times when our parenting styles clash.

For example, I wouldn’t call myself a ‘helicopter parent’, but I do hover a little. I warn the boys about safety etc, but I’m also conscious not to fill their heads with fear. I was a fearful child. Worried about every step I made, which is not necessarily a bad thing per se, but I want my kids to know it’s okay to take risks at times. Have some fun! Taking risks breeds independence. I get that. I also really want well-mannered boys, so I’m quick to discipline them if they’re not saying or doing the right thing. I can’t help but be, well, a mother.

I call it ‘parenting’; Hubby calls it ‘nagging’.

He'll say, "Stop being on top of them all the time!" I'll say, "If I don't have any expectation for their behaviour, neither will they!"

He'll let the boys use the matches to light the candles at dinner - even the 4yr old! I'll be standing there watching and thinking: a) they're going to catch fire, or at least drop the match and catch the table cloth on fire; or b) they're going to turn in to pyromaniacs!

And that's just a couple of examples. There are many others I could give you. Sigh.

Do you and your partner have differing views on how to parent your kid(s)? What issues do you clash over? How do you resolve them?

~image~

Father's Day: A Difficult Day for Some

2011-09-04T11:26:00.000+10:00

Last night, on the eve of Father’s Day, my thoughts unexpectedly turned to an old childhood friend.

Her father left the family home when she was very young, leaving her mother to raise her and her six older brothers and sisters on her own. Her mother was an amazing woman. Patient, kind, caring, attentive. She became good friends with my own mother. (She passed on some years ago now.)

One day, as my friend and I were playing together in her front yard, a man – dressed in a suit, similar to what a salesman would wear (at least, that’s how I remember it) – walked down her front pathway. I think I recall him carrying a briefcase or something similar. My friend leant over to me and whispered, “That’s my Dad.” I don’t recall him waving hello, nor do I remember my friend greeting her father either. From memory, we simply continued to play.

Even though I would play at my friend’s house numerous times after that day, I would never see her father again. I’m not sure she saw him much either, if at all.

I then thought about my own Dad. Even though there have been plenty of times over the years we’ve been at loggerheads over our differing opinions (we are both stubborn when it comes to our beliefs), we have always had a very strong bond, and I’ve always known how much he loves me and my sisters. My sisters and I have been very fortunate to have that.

In January this year, my dad was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. It’s not something I’ve felt ready to write about until now. In fact, I’m still not ready to share the many concerns and thoughts I have regarding his diagnosis. However, I will say that even though he is doing okay at the moment (the memory loss is not significant yet), seeing that he is 85 and now living with this insidious disease, I can’t help but wonder how many more Fathers’ Days I will have with my Dad before I lose him. To either his memory, or the inevitable end we will all face ourselves some day.

However, for the moment, I know how fortunate I am. Fortunate that, seeing my Dad was almost 45 by the time I was born, that he is still with us, and that he has always been present in my life.

My thoughts and prayers this Father’s Day will particularly be with those who have lost their own father, or whose own children have lost theirs. Whether it is because of distance (physical or emotional), desertion, disconnectedness or death. I’m thinking especially of Lori and Claire, whose first Father’s Day without their husband will no doubt be an incredibly challenging one.

To the rest of you, like me, I hope you will count your blessings that you have another Father’s Day to share with loved ones, and may it be a thoughtful day filled with love and appreciation.

~image~

The Week That Was... Lisa Heidke, Why The Universe is Against Me, Mondayitis, a Fab Car & White Balloon Day

2011-09-02T08:31:00.000+10:00

Time to reflect on the past week...

I just don't understand how it's possible that I'm spending less time blogging, Tweeting and Facebooking, yet I STILL can't get everything done. Why is that? Has the time thief taken up residence at my house or something?

So firstly, let me apologise to fellow bloggers that I haven't been getting around to blogs as much lately. There's only so many hours in the day, and...well...just like all those missing pairs of socks that somehow disappear to God-knows-wear after every wash, so too, it seems, does time...

* * * * *

I finished my very first Lisa Heidke book last week. Oh, I know! Where the hell have I been?

In my defense, I read very few fiction books. That is, up until recently. I seem to be rediscovering a love for them, and Lisa's book What Kate Did Next is no exception. I love how Lisa writes with humour and she makes the characters someone you can relate to. Loved it!

In the story line, I imagined Kate's son's gorgeous French soccer coach in the book to look like Gilles Marini (right) who played Sarah Walker's boyfriend, Luc in Brothers & Sisters (still very upset that show is SO over). He also played Samantha's hot next door neighbour in the first Sex & The City movie. If you haven't seen that yet, ladies, I would suggest a little trip to the DVD store tonight. Go on. Treat yourself. ;)

Next up, I'll be reading Lisa's latest book, Claudia's Big Break. Can't wait!

* * * * *

Um, yeah. SO not me.

Speaking of soccer (kind of), last Saturday marked the end of Soccer Season for the big boys. Phew! I have to say I make a very poor soccer mum. Let's just say that standing on the sidelines of kids' soccer matches is not my preferred way to spend a Saturday.

When the 9yr old's team didn't make it in to the finals on their Gala Day last Saturday - hence, they didn't need to travel to a second location to play another soccer match or two - I was nothing short of ECSTATIC.

I know. I'm a terrible mother.

However, the 7yr old's team made it through which I figured was The Universe's way of getting back at me. But then Hubby took him to his final match (they were runner's up in the end), whilst I got to stay home and deal with the 9yr old and 4yr old acting up like CRAZY and DRIVING ME INSANE!

Oh wait....damn you, Universe.

* * * * *

Last week, the 9yr old woke up on Monday morning feeling unwell. To be honest, his cheeks were flushed red the day before, and this is usually a sign that he's getting sick. So he had the day off.

The following day (my one and only 'day off' during the week), he still wasn't feeling 100% (so he said) and took a further day off. However, once 9.30am-ish rolled by, and the 7yr old was safely at school and the 4yr old was no doubt bashing away at the keyboard during his music lesson at daycare, the 9yr old became very sprightly. Hmmm. He stayed home, but truly didn't really need to.

Fast forward a week later to the Monday just passed, and once again he awoke talking listlessly and complaining he 'didn't feel well' and I suddenly realised what was wrong.

He had an acute attack of Mondayitis.

image

Hubby and I attempted to explain the mystery of Mondayitis to him, which seemed to mostly confuse him, but in the end, he was sent off to school where - miraculously - he recovered.

I wonder if another attack will come this Monday?

* * * * *

No Mondayitis for me, though. I love the start of the school week - back to routine and all that. And this Monday a little pressie was delivered from Ford. The NEW Ford Focus!

Okay, so it's only mine for the week. I don't think they're going to let me keep it or anything...although wouldn't it be a shame if, say, when they came to collect it, it suddenly 'went missing'. Tsk, tsk.

I'll tell you more about it soon, but can I just say...LORDY this car does some A-MA-ZING things. Put it this way. When I took my buddy, Jen, for a test drive in it on Tuesday, and demonstrated the car for her, she couldn't stop saying, "Get the f*%k outta here!"

Yup. That good. Stay tuned, people.

* * * * *

Next Wednesday 7 September is the 15th annual White Balloon Day - a national awareness and fundraising campaign staged through Child Protection Week (Sep 4-11). As per the website: 'Since 1997 when White Balloon Day resulted in an unprecedented 514 per cent increase in disclosures of sexual assault to Queensland Police, the humble white balloon has become synonymous with child protection, and this special day has evolved into Braveheart's signature national event.'

To make a donation, send a virtual white balloon to someone or to read more visit the website.

* * * * *

Now for your viewing pleasure: check out the 4yr old at the music shop this week. He TOTALLY wants a drum set. The video is only 10 seconds long, cos that's seriously as much drumming as this mother can take.

* * * * *

On the blog this week, I wrote why I didn't post here on the blog last Sunday; I talked about the latest tv show I'm hooked on; I updated Kate and Cassie's story with 'The Fight'; and I posted a list of products you should look out for!

Happy Friday, ya'll.

What did you get up to this week?

~top image~