Liebster Award

I am so new to the blog world and each day I love it more!  The wonderful Claudia from Little Cottage Big Life has tagged me for a Liebster Award!  I had to do some research as I had no idea what it was, thats how new I am!!  But I am so excited to be a part of it so here is how it all works:

The Rules

1. Each person must post 11 facts about themselves.
2. Answer 11 questions the tagger has given you and give 11 questions for the person you tag.
3. Choose 11 people & link them to your post. (They must have 200 followers or less)
4. Tell them you have tagged them.
5. Remember, no tag backs.

11 Facts About Me

1. My favourite colour is pink
2. I absolutely love mashed (ok baby puree) vegetables
3. I cannot go away without at least 3 sets of clothes for each day for each family member!
4. I have a slight addiction to kids clothes and accessories
5. I cannot sleep on planes, trains or in cars no matter how tired I am
6. I choose to stay at home rather than go out 
7. I am super stubborn
8. I love to write
9. I am a major planner and list maker
10. I have to have things matching
11. I could sit on the beach forever!

Claudia's Questions For Me

1. One word that best describes you.   Routined
2. Whats your favourite place to eat breakfast? At a cafe by the beach
3. If you could go back in time, what year and why?  1990, I was 7 and life was so damn easy then!
4. If your life was a reality TV show what would it be called? "Not Another List"
5. What is your fondest memory of the 80′s? I was born in 1983 so my fondest memories are of my childhood in general
6. One thing you can share that you are most proud of. My children!
7. High School – love or hate? Early and late- HATE  Middle part- LOVED
8. Aldi, Woolies, Franklins or Coles?  90% Aldi 10% Woolies
9. What made you decide to be a blogger?  My love and obsession with writing
10. Sweet or savoury? Savoury
11. Do you like baked beans?  No
    
    
    Questions For My Tagees
    1. What is  family tradition you have created?
    2. Do you make your child's birthday cake or buy it?
    3. Ebook or paper book?
    4. Mac or PC?
    5. What famous person would you invite to a dinner party?
    6. Dogs or cats?
    7. Do you ever war your Pjs out in public?
    8. Number 1 tip for travelling with kids?
    9. Who's harder to toilet train- boys or girls?
    10. Whats the most important item in your handbag/nappybag?
    11. If you could have one object on a deserted island what would it be?
    
    
    My Taggees
    Join in as it is a bit of fun, but don't feel pressured to if you have done it before for are just not interested. Here are the people who I am tagging:
    
    
    1. Clare from The Home She Made
    2. Beth from Baby Mac
    3. Sonia from Life Love Hiccups
    4. Bec from Because Everything Counts
    5. Kaz from Living On A Latte
    6. Claire from Scissors Paper Rock
    7. Melissa from Sugar Coat It
    8. Chrissie from Me and My Munchkin
    9.Kelly from Be a Fun Mum
    10. Bianca from A Little Delightful
    11. Jen from My Little Space

    
    

    Kate xxx

Going Natural For Our Health

I have been going to the local markets lately on a Sunday morning with the kids, allowing hubby to have a sleep in (I know I am fantastic aren't I) I buy all our vegetables and fruit and the odd "junky" toy for the kids!  At first I was doing it to save money as i bought in bulk, but it wasn't until I purchased supermarket strawberries last week that I realised we were all benefitting from the freshness of the food I was buying at the markets!  The supermarket strawberries had no flavour and were hard, something I had never noticed before!  We love our little trip to the markets, its literally a whole new world with a very "diverse" range of people!

Last week we planted our own garlic and strawberry plants, thanks to the rain I haven't had to water them all week but they need sunshine so go now rain!  This is the start of becoming a more natural household!  Master X wear cloth nappies at home 80% of the time (Iknow I could do better but better than not at all), I make his vegetables for dinner, I try to only give the kids the occasional packet food, the creams we have are natural (except one for Master X which I intend to change) and I have stopped buying harsh chemicals for the house!  Now, as much as I would love to say that everything we consume and use is going to be 100% natural, its just not going to happen!  I will still use disposables when out, Master X does have the Raffertys Organic vegetables when we go out.  But I am making a conscious effort to read all labels and try and chose all natural or as close to all natural as I can for the sake of my family!

In our family reading labels is also a matter of life and death as Master X has an anaphylactic allergy to egg and as you can imagine egg is EVERYWHERE!!!  So since he was diagnosed at 11 months every packet food is checked and any food where I cannot read the label he does not have!  This allergy has made me aware of the contents of our food much more than I did before.  There is a lot more baking happening in this house (husband thinks this is great and needless to say I have to double the batch to compensate what he eats at night!) and parties are just that little bit more stressful for me, theres no kicking back and not worrying what they eat, I have to be one step behind him the whole time.  In my favour, Master X is very good and has never been one to pick anything up and eat it.  Plus he is quite fussy with his food so we are still eating mashed vegetables for dinner and a lot of the "baby" food that is egg free.  So in our attempt to be more natural, it will benefit everyones health whilst keeping the environment safe for Master X. The thought of using that EpiPen absolutely freaks me out so we don't even keep eggs in our house!

I hope to have some more recipes for you of some of the snacks I have been baking and with 2 birthday parties in the planning stage I will share with you some allergy free but so yummy party food!

Kate xxx

Dora the Explorer Review

One very excited little girl this morning as we arrived home to find a box which contained the new release copy of Dora the Explorer!  Lunch was had in record time, and ready to watch it.  As I type I hear the credits rolling for the last of the 4 episodes the dvd contains!  Miss P has not moved once, I could here her answering Dora, laughing at Boots and then instructing her brother to sit and watch it too (at 18mths there is way too much to do for sitting and watching a dvd!).  We watch a lot of Dora so i was wondering how this would keep Miss P's attention, even though it was a new one, I thought she may get sick of it by the 2nd episode on the DVD, but to my surprise and relief not at all!  She was enthralled the entire DVD!  

Opening background from Dora show

I caught a glimpse each time I walked past lounge room and of course could hear it the whole time and it did sound great! Seems to me, I could be wrong, that this series is a lot more educational plus a lot more about feelings and emotions.  Perfect for Miss P as she is working out all these different emotions lately and experiencing them too (yay for me!).  But for those of you who have little ones, I would suggest it right up to age 6 or 7, enter the Dora the Explorer giveaway on the blog for your chance to win a copy of the new release, you won't be disappointed.  

New release Dora DVD

Please sign up to my blog via email, then read the post about the giveaway for details on how to enter!  Hurry though as entries close Friday at 7pm QLD time.

Good luck!

Kate xxx

Rare Moments

You know the feeling....you get to Wednesday and think 'where on Earth did the last few days go'.  I had that moment today, the last few days have rushed past and I don't even know where they went, did I hug my kids enough, did i tell my husband I love him, did I do any housework (then I look to the laundry and the clear answer is NO).  So at lunchtime today, approximately 10 mins after having this feeling, I sat down with the kiddies to have lunch, listened to Miss P ask very random but cute questions, watched Master X just watch his big sister in awe, and I had this feeling of complete peace with myself.  Something I have not felt in a long time, I mean I have been content and very happy in my life but within myself thanks to lives dilemmas I have felt something missing.  Today my body and heart was whole, it is the best feeling.

The washing is planned to be done tomorrow (weather depending) but you know what if it doesn't I really couldn't care, if it rains we are going outside in raincoats and gumboots to make a mess and splash in puddles- something Miss P has longed to do but I always find an excuse- not tomorrow!  I think we all feel it and most say it but I am so totally in love and devoted to my two little people they just fill me with so much of everything and even after what seems like the longest and hardest day I can honestly look at them both and just think 'that was so worth it'.  Mushy, yep, true, most definitely.

Thankyou to my two little people for making my life and everyday special and filling me with a love like no other!  Thankyou for teaching me patience, strength and how to laugh at things more!  Heres my list below of things I aim to do more of with my little people:

1) painting outside

2) assorted craft

3) jumping in puddles

4) body painting (hands, feet, tummies, etc)

5) long SLOW walks with bags for our collections

6) talking, listening together

7) spontaneous drives and adventures

8) bushwalking

9) mueseum and other cultural experiences

10) taking time to just be amongst them totally amongst them!

Do you have a list?  Do you do any of these?  What are some others you could add to my list?  Let me know your thoughts I would love to hear them.

Kate xxx

Dora the Explorer Competition

"Dora the Explorer is back for another adventure!  Paramount Home Media Distribution is excited to announce the world’s most popular preschooler, Nick Jr.’s Dora the Explorer, is back with Dora the Explorer: First Bike, released on DVD on 20 June 2012. The latest DVD invites viewers to watch Dora demonstrate the magic of friendship as she helps her best friend Boots, to ride his first bike and find his missing boots, plus more.

Dora The Explorer: First Bike features four fantastic friendship adventures including three new-­‐to-­‐ DVD episodes including:

Boots’ First Bike

Boots is ready for his first big-­‐kid bike! Help Dora take him on an adventure to the Bike Shop, and help other friends do new things for the first time too!

Vacaciones!

It's Vacation Time! Help Dora and Boots pack up to meet Diego and Baby Jaguar for a night at the Rainforest Campground, and help Dora's friends get set for their trips too!

Bouncy Boots

Boots can't wait to get his boots back from the Shoe Shop, but when he gets bouncy boots instead, Dora and you need to help him on a bouncy adventure to find his own boots!

The Big Red Chicken's Magic Wand

Big Red Chicken accidentally breaks his magic wand after turning Boots into a chicken! To turn Boots back, help Dora return to Magic Land and fix the wand at the Wand Shop!"

Both kids here love Dora the Explorer, in the car, at home and everywhere else!  When I saw there was a new dvd out we couldn't be more excited!  We love the learning, the fun, the music and the general great feeling of the Dora series.  And who doesn't love Boots!  If this is your children too then I have the giveaway for you!  I want to know who has the biggest Dora the Explorer fan in their house, to enter post your comment below telling "why is your child the biggest Dora fan?".  Entries are open until Friday 13th July until 7pm.  I will then choose the top 5 Dora the Explorer fans and each will win a copy of the new release DVD.  Don't forget to leave your email address so that you can be contacted.  Good luck and can't wait to read all the entries! Good luck!

Kate xxx

DIY Cubby House

I am forever grateful that my husband is one handy and clever fellow!  I am a little bit fussy when it comes to things I require built, as in I have a set picture in my mind and don't even think about changing it!  Control freak you may say, well yes actually I am.

When we decided we wanted the kids to have a cubby house I was straight onto the internet to find what I was visioning in my head to show my husband.  We had a look at a few places selling cubby houses but the builder in my husband came out and he wasn't happy with the finishings of them.  Then he suggested he make one- I wasn't so sure!  Not that i don't have full trust in my husband but remember I am a control freak!   But we all have to move out of our comfort zone occasionally so I gave my husband the printout of what I wanted and let him go with it!  He didn't disappoint!  In fact he built it better than the picture I gave him and with more style.  The best part, is the kids now tell everyone "Daddy built our cubby house" and that fills me with joy but my husband even more so!

He did such a fantastic job of the cubby house and he put a lot of time and care into making it just perfect for the kids.  We are in the process of painting the walls inside- blue and pink, we have a wooden kitchen ready to be put in there and the kids will have hours of fun in this I just know!  All of the cubby houses we looked at were from $600 right up to $2000 and they were no where near as big as our cubby!  The grand total of this cubby was $250, it took my husband 2 full Sundays to build!  Nothing better than a homemade piece of play equipment you can sit back and watch your kids enjoy day after day!

Kate xxx

The Magic of Discovery Making a Vegetable garden

From the minute they are born children are discovering, the magic of discovery is encouraging your kids to discover new things about the world.  This will differ from age to age but they never stop discovering and learning.  This is so clear in our household, with an 18 month old who is still discovering the very basic parts of "his world" here at home to an almost 4 year old who is just starting to discover the world outside of the home.  Both so different but just as magical as each other and helping them with this discovery is so rewarding.  Discovery for kids happens all year round, but winter can sometimes bring unwelcome bugs to our little ones and stop them discovering.  Here in our house we use Nurofen for Children as it gets temperatures back to normal faster than paracetamol so the kids can get back to the magic of discovery.

Just a few of what we purchased to plant

The kids are always with me doing the groceries and just the other day my almost 4 year old Miss P asked me several questions about different foods I placed in trolley.  From where they come from, who puts them there, how they get to the store and more.  So this opened up an opportunity for discovery.  At home we discussed that people planted the vegetables, cared for them and then picked them.  Miss P wanted to do this so we decided to make a vegetable patch (small but suitable for us).  So off to the nursery where Miss P helped choose the vegetables we often eat, soil to help them grow and of course some new gloves!  Not to forget our 18 month old Master X, who unable to discuss with us about the process, he was doing his own discovery in the nursery itself and then helping with digging the vegetable patch.  Discovering new textures, smells and skills all magic to him.

Discovering how to dig in the dirt

Different texture, digging in the rocks

Miss P really enjoyed digging the holes for the plants as we discussed again that we need to care for the vegetables in order for them to grow.  Miss P discovered that it wasn't an instant process, something which I feel is a valuable lesson, that we can't have everything instantly!  So with the vegetables planted and watered, the magic of discovery was great and we are still talking about it.  The vegetable garden will be our little ongoing discovery as our vegetables grow and then again when we get to pick and eat our vegetables from our own garden.  I cannot wait to see the excitement on Miss P's face when they are ready to pick.  The magic of discovery is alive here and we love it.

Loving the magic of discovery

Explaining that Master X "isn't doing it right"

For more information on how Nurofen can help with your children's fevers visit their website www.nurofenchildren.com.au 

Kate xxx