today i'm grateful for.. my angel..

Yesterday when my husband and I went in to pick up our little monkeys from childcare, one of the carers came up and said she had a message to pass onto me.. normally the messages are about Zaccy, whether it be about the super tantrum he threw while he was having his nappy changed, or that he was climbing the bookshelf again or that he had another crash and there is an incident report to sign..

This time it was about Ella.. I'm sure my jaw dropped as I don't think there was ever a message passed on about Ella. Granted I talk to the carers heaps and there is great communication between us so rarely anything is missed.. but a message..

You see.. Halloween was coming up and although here in Australia its not a big thing really and we rarely get a kid knocking on our door asking for a treat, the shops are always packed with halloween themed bits and pieces and it always reminds me of how big it was in the States when I lived there briefly. My husband is also American so I try to keep some of his culture within our family traditions.

The night before I stayed up and made up little treat bags for Ella to take into kindy to give to her friends to celebrate Halloween. I had no idea how many kids there were in her group on Friday so I just made up all the ones I had and popped them into a bag to take in. They were simple.. just a bag with a pumpkin on it containing a set of fake teeth and a freddo frog, and I made up an special one for one of her friends who has allergies with a allergy safe lollypop instead..

The message was that, I was one treat bag short, and that Ella chose to go without a treat bag herself so that none of her friends missed out. My jaw quickly came back up and a little tear welled up in my eye. I was so very proud of my little girl.. my little angel..

I know it might seem a little small and simple, but we as parents try very hard to instil good values into our kids. Me and my little girl have our issues and I truly dread the day that we are both going through that time of the month simultaneously in the future.. but I feel so truly blessed to be her mum. She has such a huge heart and is such a kind and caring little person..

Needless to say, we made a pretty big deal about what she did and she got her own very special treat bag this morning that my hubby and me put together for her.

thanks to the beautiful maxabella for hosting..

loving geomag..

Ok.. I haven't done a post on toys lately and I'm loving these little guys that I got for my little Zaccy for Christmas... They are called GeoMag and are magnetic little shapes that you can build with etc.. they have a softer than normal white plastic section that the little guy loves chewing on and it also makes them somewhat quieter on the floorboards than most of the other plastic toys in our house..

but the best thing about these.. is that they live on the fridge.. soooo easy to clean up and put away :o) gotta love that!!

the once wine rack..

My little man has been pretty sick lately and has had a lot of time with mum to himself.. me being me and not being able to sit still and always needing to be productive in some sort of way, have cleaned out and resorted almost all of the little guys toys... Zaccy has loved helping me out, which has made it so much more fun for me... so we get to play and I get to be productive at the same time.

When my daughter became mobile two and a half years ago, our wine rack had to be cleared of all wine bottles and sat empty for a little while collecting dust.. until one day Ella popped one of her small toys in one of the holes.. Genius!!!

The once wine rack soon became a toy storage facility with lots of little compartments. The slots are quite deep and can actually fit a lot of little toys in them, meaning a small collection of toys can be kept together, such as the family of turtles or soft chickens or rubber ducks. The kids love it as they can put things in the little holes and take them out as they please, and for us its nice and easy for the evening pickup of toys as we don't have to lug everything back to their rooms.

So this little area was one we tackled the other day.. I thought I'd share this little idea as everyone that visits us looooves it, and so do we :o)

fave finds for christmas

I've been a bit flat out fixing my hubbys computer.. in short... I soo love my mac!!! I just wanted to get these goodies on my blog asap so there is still time before chrissy to order them.

The website to check out is www.thehipinfant.com.au. They have some amazingly gorgeous stuff and really well priced.. I'll try and put up as many of my fave finds before little feet come tapping down the hallway to find me..

Goki House Wooden Shape Sorter.. the cutest shape sorter ever!! and its made out of wood which is even lovelier!!

Hip Stuff Bowling Set Giraffe.. just amazingly cute!!!! and so unique!

Hip Stuff Milk Tooth Holder Cat.. only $4.95... the best stocking filler ever!!! again so much sweeter than other tooth boxes i have seen

Goki Shaker Building Blocks.. two in one really, you get the rattles and building blocks in one. wish we didn't have so many building blocks or that one would most certainly be added to the toy box!!

Hip Stuff Wooden Fire Engine.. you can't go wrong with this one at $12.95, after all its red and wood and just stunning!!

Janod Magnetic Aeroplane.. this is my absolute favourite of them all... you will soon realise that i love planes and this has it all.. its wood, its magnetic and its a plane.

Sparkle T Party Favours Cheeky Monkey Whistles (set 6).. the hip infant has some great party favours too, check out that section great alternative for lolly bags!!! these are only $12 for a set of 6

Alimrose Handsqueaker Horse Denim.. both my babies had these... well zaccy still does... 

its a great toy to leave in the cot for them to play with when they wake up. lovely, safe, soft and a great toy to put in their memory box when its all over. 

Haba Clutching Toy Buzz Buzz.. these are just adorable and absolutely timeless. 

I could stay here for ever and pick out stuff from this site, but little zaccy is starting to chat to himself and will be calling out for me any sec.. so must wrap this up... seriously.. check out this site there are some great finds here

xx

over and out and back to my favourite job in the world... mother

i got me a promotion too just last weekend.. the little guy is off and racing.. well crawling

fave finds for christmas

Alright... so its no secret that I love my kids and am slightly obsessed with sourcing the most adorable, exciting, educational and amazing things I can possibly find and afford... Christmas is not far away and I am happy to say that I am done.. and dusted!! as far as Christmas shopping goes.

I don't like shops, and thats not a secret either!! I hate spending valuable daylight hours walking around shops that are loaded with run of the mill toys and even worse.. branded toys. I have a marketing background and understand where these guys are coming from, but what my child watches on TV or at the movies etc does not need to plastered all over their clothing... just needed to get that out!

Online shopping was the go this year. I searched and found some amazing toys and would love to share them with you, as well as some really cool online shops..

My Fave Finds

Geomag G-baby
available at www.urbanbaby.com.au

The Geomag range of G-baby toys is a unique play system, where all the magnetic pieces work together in different ways. Use them in the bath, on the playmat or in the stroller - the possibilities are endless. Each G-baby element is made in Switzerland of Makrolon, a unique plastic with the highest level of reliability and safety.

A G-baby toy helps to develop your child's gross motor skills and imagination. Suitable for babies 9 months +

It's the perfect gift for a newborn, or for a first birthday party - a toy that will grow with your child's imagination.

Micador
available at www.urbanbaby.com.au

This range has quite a few fab items but these are my absolute favourite!!

Micador early stART Link & Learn are colourful shapes that click or link together for fun and educational play. They are designed just for 2 to 4 year olds and are safe and easy to use.

Link & Learn helps develop fine motor skills and creative expression in children through construction. The possibilities for unique creations are endless. They are also designed to develop problem solving and colour recognition, and they can be used as an aid to counting.

I just couldn't wait for Christmas with these when they arrived.. lil-L just loves them!!!

Badger Range
available at www.urbanbaby.com.au

After ordering the night night balm for lil-L and realising how amazing these products were, I ended up getting the whole set. My absolute favourite is the anti-bug-balm. I've put a bit of info about the anti-bug-balm below, but you have to check out this range for yourself! This would be a great gift for a new mom!!

Australia... summer... flies. Yes we all hate them, so you slather yourself and the children in chemicals to ward them off. Sure, we don't like the chemicals, but we hate the flies more! Not to mention those buzzing bloodsuckers, the mozzies.

Well, guess what - Badger Anti-Bug balm, with a great new formulation, is blended to strike fear in the hearts of biting insects everywhere.

It smells good, feels good, soothes dry skin & it works. What else do you need to know? Oh yeah, it's 100% natural, and nearly all organic, and totally good.

Online Shops

www.etsy.com.au - great handmade stuff for the whole family

www.urbanbaby.com.au

www.metromum.com.au

www.huggiesbookclub.com.au

www.thehipinfant.com.au

www.stuckupkids.com.au

www.haggusandstookles.com.au

www.mymunchkinhome.com.au

www.mummysfavourite.com.au

www.mybabyrocks.com.au


alright guys... I'm off to bed, I will post some more of my fave finds as soon as time allows..

happy shopping!!

Kids Websites

With the change in weather, I've been madly late-spring cleaning the house and yard.. it never quite gets done with two mini variables running around, getting sick and not to mention me getting side tracked playing in lil-L's kitchen or lying around on the trampoline with zaccy Zac.

I have however stumbled onto a few pretty cool sites lately while playing on the iPhone during those 3am feeds that I'd love to share..


www.kidstylefile.com.au - just a coool comprehensive site
www.picknicksbrain.com - great sleep website
www.5minutesformom.com - some nice mom things here
www.huggies.com.au - good old favourite
www.shoeszoo.com - my favourite kids slippers ever...
www.haggusandstookles.com.au - great kids gear
www.urbanbaby.com.au
www.thehipinfant.com.au

If you know of any other great kids sites please share them here :o)