Handy Mum & Bub Products That Will Save Your Sanity

Being a second time mum, I have a few tricks up my sleeve when it comes to surviving the every day with my Little Man. There are so many clever little products out there designed by mums who want to make your life that little bit easier.

Mummy Beads

If you're anything life me in the midst of #mumlife you'll probably find yourself rockin' the same jeans and black tops everyday. Forget about wearing your hair down or dangly earrings because that baby on your hip will just grab and hang on for dear life. AND we all know that babies put everything in their mouths, so if you want to at least look a little pretty with some jewellery on, these silicone + wooden bead necklaces from Indera Beads are what you need in your life! (Gifted - and yes that is baby dribble on my top #mumlife #keepingitreal)

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Last Minute Father's Day IDEAS!

Dad's special day is coming up this weekend so it's time for us mums to get our creative on and make some stuff with the kids. In my house we got busy with salt dough, handprints, footprints and dotty pictures!

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Book Week Book Review #2 {A Ferret Named Phil}

Book review day! Just in time for the end of Book Week!!

I am utterly amazed that a 22 year old from (you guessed it) ADELAIDE - William Reimer is a published author!! What an incredible achievement for such a young age. His children's book A Ferret Named Phil has a very important message to tell as it aims to help children deal with bullying.

Kindly gifted for the purpose of this review :)

William has always wanted to be a writer, and settled on Phil the Ferret as the main character for his book after Mem Fox had already taken every other cute animal. He actually wrote the original version of this story at the last minute in Year 11 believe it or not!

Read more about his story here - his determination to have this book published is both remarkable and inspirational.

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Book Week Book Review #1 {The Day You Came Into The World}

It's Book Week! Hooray! I miss being in the classroom at this exciting time in Term 3, so I thought I'd share a couple of book reviews this week. This first one, The Day You Came Into The World by Frances Lalor is perfect for young children, toddlers, babies and new parents (it would also make the perfect baby shower or newborn baby arrival gift - I have a friend due in a few months and I'm planning to get her a copy).

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10 Ways to use Play Dough in the Classroom

Last weekend Miss M, her Auntie and I had a fabulous girly morning at the Finders Keepers markets. It was the first time they've come to Adelaide and I was in awe of the aisles upon aisles of all the pretty things. My main aim though was to catch up with Emma from Happy Hands Happy Heart to sample her beautiful, squishy, scented, natural play doughs (hand made with 100% love).

In all honesty, if it wasn't for Emma's play dough play area, Miss M would have been a bit bored with the whole outing, but we could not get her away from the play dough tables. Of course we had to go back for a second visit before we left.

Image credit Finders Keepers Instagram - used with permission.

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Threenagers Say The Funniest Things

You all probably know that I hang out quite a bit in my Facebook mother's groups and they are a wealth of knowledge, inspiration and non judgemental advice (I think I got lucky with both my groups being so lovely). We also regularly share funny things are kids are saying and doing, what milestones they're reaching, what they're eating and just supporting each other in general.

My March 2013 group has helped me out with a few blog posts in the past - Funny stories from the mouths of fussy eaters, Becoming a Threenager, and over a year ago, Funny things our two year olds say. Today we've compiled a list of all the humorous, hilarious and crazy things our threenagers say.

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Clever Cardboard Cubbies! {Emy Meets Lulu}

Long time followers might remember this post when we (by 'we' I mean James and his dad) built Miss M this cubby for our back yard. It was such an EPIC task! We spent a few hours each evening painting the pieces for about a month before it was ready to build (which took another few days) ready for the grand reveal of Christmas 2014.

A far simpler (indoor) alternative was delivered to our door and took about ten seconds to assemble PLUS kept Miss M busy decorating for another 15 minutes. Check out this oh so cute cardboard cubby house from lovely 'mums with hustle' small biz Emy meets Lulu. (Kindly gifted for the purpose of this review).

Miss M can't actually wait to try it out, it's not even finished yet!

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How to have a "BAD MOMS" Movie Night

Truth time: I haven't been out to the movies in a loooooooooong time. Well, I took Miss M to Finding Dory, but that doesn't count. I honestly could not tell you the last time I went out to to see a movie that I wanted to see.

But on Monday night I did!!

Thanks to mother/daughter biz duo Amber (The Infant Boutique) and Jo (Send a Gourmet Basket), I was kindly offered two 'mummy blogger' tickets to come along to their Bad Moms movie night.

So incase you're wondering how it is actually possible to have a mums night out... allow me to share how my night eventuated :)

Photo Credit - Tamika Lee Photography

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Babies Be Like {Part 2}

Today I've got another installment of "Babies be like..." thank to my fabulous Jan 2016 FB mummies group... You can read (and giggle) at part 1 here which we compiled when our babies were only 2ish months old. But these days we are in a whole new world of eating, teething, runny noses, smiles, giggles, playtime and crossing our fingers every night for a decent sleep.

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A Tutor in a Box {The Sunshine Collective Review}

As teachers, a child's learning is obviously our top priority, and for most parents, it's their top priority too. Parents are always asking me for ideas they can do at home to support what their child is learning at school. Not only if they are struggling in a particular area, but just to give them some extra help along their learning journey. You'd be surprised at how many students actually enjoy homework and want extra worksheets to keep them busy!!

Tutoring is one option that many parents consider, but what if that tutor could be packed into a box and delivered to your home throughout the year? A tutor in a box that would cover all areas of the curriculum and cater for a range of learning styles from Preschool until the end of Primary School.

Opening and unpacking our Brilliant Box! The mini paints are just the actual cutest!

Yes that's a sticker on her t-shirt #kidlife

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Fat Mum Slim's ADORABLE New App!

Something exciting is happening today!

It's the release day of Fat Mum Slim's new app...

...and it's ADORABLE!

Chantelle has this way of making my day (which she's done more than once!). Like when I got a fun kit in the mail, or when I guest posted for her...or when she asked me to be one of the 50 lucky ones to test out Adorable for her!

Of course I squealed with joy!

You may already have her Little Moments app, and might be wondering what makes Adorable different? Little Moments is ideal for Photo-a-dayers to keep track of the daily prompts. There's a broad range of text and artwork for everyday things designed by a group of contributors. Adorable is specifically for pregnancy, announcements, bellies, babies, birthdays and milestones through the first five years. You can find something beautiful for almost every occasion. Of course there are pretty filters and frames. Even the logo is damn adorable.

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Montessori, Reggio, Waldorf? Let Us Explain...

In the field of Early Childhood Education, there are several different approaches to teaching young children and much research behind them. There is no right or wrong way to educate a child, it all comes down to personal beliefs and the needs of the child, much like everything else in the world of parenting. You've probably heard of the term Montessori (especially since Prince George attends a Montessori Nursery School) and Montessori centres are becoming more common. You may or may not be familiar with Reggio Emilia or Waldorf Education philosophies so I've called in three lovely ladies today to explain each to give you a bit more information and figure out if they would be a good fit for your family.

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Celebrating the RIO Olympics With Your Kids

It only happens every four years, but the Olympic games are nearly upon us, commencing on the 5^th – 21^st of August. If your child is under 4, this would be their first exposure to the world wide sporting event (well honestly even if they are 5-6 they probably wont remember much from the 2012 Olympics). As you know Miss M is 3, so here are some activities we’ll be doing at home this month!

The movie Rio is a great place to start! This is a beautiful clip (I have a thing for birds)...

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Beautiful Baby Sensory Classes {Review}

I think Little Man is suffering from second child syndrome... He gets carted along with Miss M to her activities like kindergym, the park or the shops and just happily hangs out in his pram. When she was his age she was already doing swimming, baby time at the library, mother's group etc... So I was really excited to take my little man along to try a Baby Sensory class last week! Miss M was at child care so it was the perfect opportunity for him and I to have some special time together.

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