Your body does not lie, not even to yourself!

You know when you think you are coping with all that happens in life and all of sudden there is a physical reminder that you may not be as on top of things as you think you are......

Well, last week I developed a cold sore. Never had one in my life! All of sudden this growth appeared on my lip. I ran into the chemist to ask what it was and how could I get rid of it. The lady smiled and handed over the cream with a gentle reminder to take it easy and relax a little.

I thought it was from my cold, which it may be, but the more I read about these ugly things, the more I am realising that my immune is low and I could be a little stressed.

Why does it take a mammoth growth on my lip to stop me in my tracks?? Because I was not taking any notice of any other signs. This week I will get myself back on track by taking lots of vitamins, juicing organic fruits, eating lots of healthy food and getting lots of sleep. OK, and a week free of champagne.

It better work!!

Relaaaaaax!

I read a quote today in the Sunday paper it read something like this "Its time to relax when you feel like you don't have time to relax".......this weekend we have done nothing but relax! With our social calender chock a block until August, we savoured every moment of doing nothing all weekend.

We baked cookies, read papers, played board games, worked on art, listened to music, watched dvds, I had half an hour to myself in a hot bath and just chilled on the lounge. As Sunday evening approaches I feel like I have been on a weekend retreat.

Note to myself - schedule in off time for weekends. We all benefit from just hanging out and relaxing. Especially leading into yet another busy week!

Cold days & Comfort Food

It has changed seasons in a day as we embark on the winter, cold months. I am looking forward to the colder months as they somehow give me permission to enjoy comfort foods whilst rugged up on the lounge with a glass of red wine.

A comfort food of mine, which I recently discovered is Macaroni & Cheese. Noooooo, not from a packet, made from scratch with fresh ingredients and lots of love. Next time you feel like a quick meal or some comfort food, whip up this great recipe. It tastes even better with a glass of red wine looking out through a window at a rainy day.....

1.5 cups macaroni
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon flour
250ml milk
80g cheddar cheese grated
a dollop of mustard, salt and pepper

For topping you will need - breadcrumbs, a sprinkle of fresh parsley and extra teaspoon of melted butter

Cook macaroni in boiling water until tender. Melt butter on low hear, stir in flour and milk until thicken. Stir in cheese, mustard, salt and pepper. Place part of the macaroni in oven proof dish and pour over cheese sauce. Add another layer of macaroni and another layer of cheese sauce. Mix breadcrumbs, parsley and extra butter, place on top of mixture. Cook for 20 mins in moderate oven and enjoy!

Chilli Crab Off

We had a crab off this weekend with fab friends. Out of the three couples there are three wannabe chef's who love to cook. Our mission was to bring to the table the best Chilli Crab Recipe. Oh my, they were delicious!!! We stuffed ourselves to the brim and we were covered in chilli, crab, shell and coriander.

It was such a great way to share a saturday night. We had 7 kids between us all having a ball whilst the adults drank champagne and dived into the divine feast. No need for a restaurant, babysitting or being out in the cold. We had it all! The best part was the friendships we have made with our friends. We feel extremely blessed to be surrounded by like-minded fabulous people who love chilli crab!

Today has been one of those days,,,,

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! Today has been one of those days. I have not stopped since the minute I woke up this morning until now.....its amazing how a glass of wine can bring you back down to earth and calm the nerves. I found this photo today and just loved the playfulness of it. It reminds me to stop, breath, breath again and then keep going. It reminds me to not take life to serious. To laugh out loud and to just take a chill pill.


I am off to have another glass of wine ..... and recite "tomorrow is another day!!!"

Mother of Nine Kids - what's is her secret to her sanity?

I recently read an article about a woman who has nine children, yes, nine! And all 18 months apart.

As you would expect, this women has to be extremely organised with the day to day operations of the house, the kids, schooling, meals, activities and everything else you can imagine. Very busy woman!

However, her secret to her sanity is forcing herself to have one hour to herself everyday. In this time, she would choose to either go for a walk, read a magazine with a cuppa, go get her nails done, sleep or just do nothing at all. The key is that she does not do anything for anyone else in that hour, does not respond to emails or phone messages, pay bills, sort the washing or cook dinner. This one hour of her day keeps her going each day. At the beginning of each day she decides when the hour will be and sticks to it - nothing gets in her way.

If you ask me, this is fantastic advice...if a mother of nine can spare an hour a day for herself, we have no excuses to not give this to ourselves.

Three months and counting...

My girlfriend just recently found herself in hospital at 25 weeks pregnant and has been instructed to lay on her back for the next three months until her baby arrives. Its a tough gig!

She lives in LA, which is a little hard for me to visit at the moment, so we have committed to weekly phone calls. It brings back so many memories of when I was in for hospital for all that time. It felt like it would never end.

It truly does make you appreciate the miracle of pregnancy and having babies. It is easy to take for granted that you are pregnant for 9 months, you have a baby and you go home. However, it is becoming far more less common for this to happen in a perfect order.

The lesson I learnt when I was faced with my challenges of pregnancy and babies was that if I could make it through, I would be able to take on and break through anything. It has become a mantra of my being.

A Star is born

Kye started at NIDA last weekend. He was jumping out of his skin. Watch this space, who knows what is going to come out this experience.......all I know is that this little man is going to be something big in everyway!

Connection with Women...

Yesterday, I found myself sitting outside a door. Inside the door was my Hanna with a group of kids talking about their feelings and fears. Outside of the door was a mum who felt sick in her stomach from anxiety and fear just praying Hanna would love the session and want to stick it out for the next 6 weeks.

I was fortunate enought to find myself chatting with two other mum's who are going through the same stage with their son and daughter. We all clicked and related with what we had to share. I felt an instant sense of relief that it was all going to be ok. It was so lovely to connect with these two women on a level that is so hard to understand. We explained how we have looked at ourselves as mothers to understand what has happened to make our children have this level of anxeity. It always comes back to mother guilt. Fortunately, we all agreed, that we had tried so many ways to help them and that we are doing the best we can by introducing to a group of kids who feel the same way. It was reassuring.

The best part....Han ran out with a huge sense of relief. She gave me a big hug and told me she loved the session and cant wait to go back next week. Neither can I!

Parenting is a hard gig!

Gosh, we have had an interesting week......just when you think life is settling down a little as we move away from the baby stage with Lukas turning 3 yesterday, we had a huge challenge arrive as we enter the stage of our daughter growing up.

Parenting just keeps you on your toes constantly. You can never become complacent. I am always learning, reading, watching, asking and receiving information on how to support my children the best way possible through their years of growing into young adults.

Hanna has recently started to experience high anxiety with her school work, all through pressure which has placed on herself. She is experiencing sleepless nights, mild panic attacks, lots of tears, sick in the tummy and fear of failure. It is such a young age to feel all these feelings.

I sat down with her last week and we wrote an open heart felt letter to her teacher explaining her feelings. We also created a worry box for both of us to write down our worries of the day and place in the box to chat about at bed time. And we wrote affirmations which are stuck on her mirror to remind her everyday how wonderful she is.

I was also fortunate enough to find a Kids Anxiety Group called "Can Do Kids" which runs for 8 weeks and helps kids understand their fears/anxiety and they coach them on how to handle it all in their own way. As you can tell, I was on a mission to help Hanna in any was possible as it broke my heart to see her this way.

All of sudden she changed from a bubbly little girl with no worries in the world to a seven year old who has placed too much pressure on herself and worries about everything.

My role as her mum is to help her discover that we can balance her feelings and emotion to make her embrace the world as a seven year old little girl. To look back at this time, when Han is a teenager taking on challenges in life and know that she learnt the skill at this time, will be very rewarding and I will know that my role as her mum has been fulfilled.