Mess free breakfast

Getting into blogging has lots of  little perks, especially when friends recommend blogs they like, have started or know about. Which is how I came across Apples under my bed.

Heidi is a gorgeous young Dietitian who has recently started her nutritiously balanced blog. One post she shows us how she is keeping up her calcium intake with a great yoghurt she found, she mentions she doesn't eat the sweet stuff at the bottom, mmmm, that is willpower, can't say I would be leaving that behind, but another post has a fun treat for when the stocks are getting low in the peanut butter jar.

Porridge in the Peanut Butter Jar!

Reduce the dishes load, ensure no waste and recycle the container when you are done. It is breakfast in a can (or jar)!! Watch the kids fight over who gets to eat this super healthy brekkie treat.

You can read the post Jars and Bars here, which includes a great recipe to make your own healthy Oat Bars.

Wordless Wednesday

It is Wordless Wednesday in Blogland.

This image has always provided a chance to think - what would you have done?

Carter mentioned before he died that this was just one of hundreds of babies lying around like this.

It is not a pretty photo, nor a happy moment.

But it is the world in which we live.

US Time Magazine has an excellent article on Carter if you want to read more.

The power of paper with ink

A few weeks into the challenge of writing letters and there are some interesting and surprising results.

I have been writing and posting and receiving not just return mail, but texts and calls to follow up the arrival of what I have sent.

There are a few others that put their hand up to take a trip along the paper trail and they seem to have gone in all sorts of directions.

KerriBennett is contemplating Gen Z missing out on the fun and benefits of the handwritten diary.

pottymouthmama has taken things to extremes and is going for 30 thank-you cards in 30 days.

Melbourne Mumma did it all in one hit, then also moved on to getting a whole new desk to type (and hopefully write) at.

missea has a lovely post about her Mum, who sadly died when missea was a small child. She was given a collection of letters that her Mum had written which is a reminder of how letters can stay around forever, while a facebook post barely lasts a day. The letters are a link to a Mum who died way too early.

While over at Writing Out Loud, I am not sure if there is really time to write letters, with Megan heading off to the writers festival, reviewing books and keeping up her blog.

A few weeks left to go, write along if you feel like it.

Just in: Over at wouldn't it be loverly things are also on track!

No seat, no ride, baby!

Some of my followers (lovely people that you are) don't want to be reading about kids, so Annalise you can click off about now...

Other people might know that I am a safety girl. And road safety, especially kids car seats are something that I can get a bit cranky pants about.

It seems I am often alone in these thoughts, but small children are still injured so much in car accidents when the right seat could have made a difference.

Australia has new laws relating to child car seats, you can see a good summary here. The laws were changed after the tragic loss Isobelle Broadhead

But here in the BabbleMobile is the extra rule: no seat, no ride, baby! No children under the age of 7 will ride in our car without a seat that is harnessed in, no excuses, quick trip, back roads etc.

Recently a mother said to me she wasn't concerned about the new laws as she had tinted windows so no one could see what her children were riding in, I was amazed at how ridiculous the comment was. It is not about the fine or the points, but your childs life.

Even with the new changes, the parents of Jiyaa Jipson have asked for more assistance with knowing what to do. If you are not sure, please check it out, the most expensive seat is not always the best option. If you get the right seat, you will be using it for at least three years, so you will get some value out of it. But most importantly, don't allow any excuses for your child not to be cruising about in the safest seat you can get.



This image was poached from the Babology post on Maxi cosi

Big Weekend Ahead

We have a big weekend planned.

• A 60th birthday
• Father's Day
• SS on call for 30 hours straight
• Shopping needs to be done
• The girls are excited to play with their cousins.

But the best thing of all is - I am getting my hair done.

Oh, the simple yet magnificent feeling of heading to the salon, reading mags I would never buy, listening in to other peoples conversations while they yell over the hair dryer, someone making me a coffee (is 9.30am too early for champers?).

I really don't get my hair done enough (being thrifty with the new house is certainly not helping this matter).

Nothing can ruin the hairdressers for me.

A few hours of rest and pampering and then, even if only for a few hours, I will have perfect hair.

God bless you hairdressers!

Bargain sharing, if you're quick

Super quick post for anyone that goes through as much suncream as us.

Coles are getting rid of all the Cancer Council Toddler Suncream, as I was walking by the lady marked it down to 99 cents.

I bought this, but at usually around $12-$15 a pop, it was worth stocking up. It is not out of date, they just wont be stocking it anymore.

If the spring sun has you excited about summer, check if there is any left when you do the shopping.

For those wondering, this post was not sponsored by Coles, The Cancer Council or anyone else (Other than SS, chief breadwinner in this neck of the woods, who had to pay for them).

See you next Tuesday: How brave are you?

The picture looks like this; Friday night drinks and dinner for four female work colleagues, all working for a major Aussie  finance firm. Two are early 20s, one around 40 and the ultra hip JB has just turned 60.

JB is a fascinating woman. Former wife and original domestic goddess she turned her life around when her DH took off and left her for a 20 something air head, when he and JB both turned 50.
JB ended up working with me doing finance marketing. She is intelligent, witty, interesting, full of stories, takes no crap and loves a good laugh. She is extremely fun as a Friday night drinks companion.

On this particular warm sunny South bank drinking night. The conversation ended up turning to the undesirable male partner of another colleague.

"He's a 'c' of a man" says someone.

"Oh no." says JB. "Let's not grace him with such a sacred word."

And so begins the conversation of how we (yes, you dear reader) must all take back the power of the 'c' word.

See you next Tuesday is generally considered the most derogatory word in the English language. A description of your body is the most despised word you shall ever hear, and it is time to turn that around.

But how?

Easy says JB. You need to start saying see you next Tuesday frequently, but not in a way you are used to. From now on you will only say it in a positive way. You won't describe something/someone as a 'c'. You won't mutter it ever when things are going very very wrong, and you wont cringe when someone else says it.

To howls of laughter (red wine consumed possibly not even needed) JB suggested such things as;

"Wow, my see you next Tuesday looks great in these new designer undies."

or

"I am not sure if I have a see you next Tuesday illness/disease that may need some attention."

or perhaps,

"Just had a pap smear, the doctor was nice enough to warm the instruments before placing them in my see you next Tuesday."

The more people that push the word into mainstream language (but only with positive tones) the better and sooner the change will commence.

But do you think you could join the cause and continue the fight for women's rights that women like JB and our mothers worked on during the 1960's and 1970's?

Cultural change is hard, it takes brave, intelligent, confident and innovative women.

Are you one of them?

Wordless Wedneday

Things are a bit busy around here.
But always time for a family portrait!