Stella Winter: nearly three.

This age has brought with it such laughter and happiness to my heart. My nearly three year old has become a fun-loving, creative and cheerful little being. Her personality still exudes humour and cheek, but she has developed some other qualities that are just as exciting to watch grow. Most recently, she has taken on the characteristic of a mini-mother. No-one is safe from her nurturing, lecturing and guidance...I often catch her toilet training her dollys, disciplining her imaginary friends and am regularly told how I am "being such a good girl". It ignites a sweet spark of pride in me watching her show love and care in this way, I just know she will make an incredible mother in her future. Maybe that is her ultimate calling too? To nurture a family of her own.

Our bond as Mother and Daughter has stregthened, she is not only my little one but my companion, my spirit-lifter and my motivator. She has taken an interest in all the little things I enjoy, I guess we learn from what we see. We become our environment. Our favourite ways to spend time together lately include tinkering in my make-up case, colouring, drawing and painting, watching sunrises and admiring weather, collecting leaves and natures treasures and the all-time favourite of Stellas... sharing 'chinos' at coffee shops.

I love that Stella is learning what she loves. At the moment that is pine cones, singing, cats, fairies, tutus, shoes, peanut butter, swing-sets, spreading her own toast, the colour blue, peas, buttons and trampolines. I just love that she loves. And I love when she proclaims, "Oh mummy, I LOVE this..."






With a heightened sense of observation, she has become more aware of the wider world and the multitude of things it presents. She'll become upset if something she watches on TV is less than pleasant and often feels worried for those who are upset or in distress, her empathy is a beautiful gift. This has me being extra conscious of filtering what enters her evolving mind, it has made me extra aware of what our society projects onto the blank canvas that is our children. Rather than fret over the negativity, I need to use this as fuel for creating an environment and outlook that shapes her awareness that is uplifting, open, self loving and accepting. I want to shield her from the excess materialism, the obsession with appearances, an inability to accept minorities and the endangered status of creatively yearning. I guess that I should listen to those clever little quotes typed on picturesque background that I pin to no end, "Be the change you wish to see".

She often brings up the concept of 'being a grown-up', asking me what she might do when she reaches the milestone. Usually her adulthood dreams involve going to the shop to buy some lollies or being allowed to have chewing gum and licking the vegemite from the knife. It has me wondering what may be in store for her. I worry of the challenges that lay ahead of us; school, bullying, friendships, self-esteem, pressure, stress, self-control and morals. I find if I let my mind think to those struggles too often; I become overly anxious and reaching for the nearest book about adolescence. I'll be honest with you; teenage-hood scares the bejeepers out of me.

I know no matter what the road she travels along is shaped like, she will always remain a make-up of her strongest qualities; determination, empathy, creativity and humour. She is a leader, she was born to guide and direct to achieve her wondrous visions.

In just 2 years and 10 months, this tiny human has shaped my life and changed my outlook more than I could have imagined. I am so proud she is mine and so thankful I am hers.


P.S. Our sweet Isla will have a long-awaited update feature soon, I promise!

Mama Love Day.

All I want for Mothers Day is slobbery kisses and crinkled up paintings. Call me crazy, but I don't even particularly want a sleep-in (Please note; this sentence may be retracted at any point in time). My true gift is with me everyday, two little girls who turn to me for love, comfort and guidance.

Although, I am not completely void of materialism. I still browse cleverly marketed Mothers Day catalogues and circle eye catching bargains with highlighters. So although I don't want any gifts, it doesn't mean I wouldn't be pleasantly surprised and secretly stoked with one of these goodies.Welcome to (yet another) wishlist!





1. Weight training gloves from Sports Authority 2. Brillante black kettle 3. Revitalise spa melts by Dusk 4. Fruit and veg cloth by enjo 5. 'Pop down sweet flock' pendant by That Vintage 6. 'I Quit Sugar' chocolate cookbook by Sarah Wilson 7. Pana Chocolate gift box 8. Orla Kiely Stationary 

What goodies do you suspect will make their way to you this Mothers Day? What are you planning to treat your own mama bear with?
Plenty of love,

Self Love Sunday

Stop what you are doing (unless it is very important of course), put on an episode of Sesame Street and pull out the pacifying crackers if you have to, and visit this website. Yes, I know it looks uninviting, bland and white-coaty. But the next five to fifty minutes you spend there will be worth it.

I can't even remember how my Sunday night online reading lead me to this site, but being the introspective person I am I found myself taking Authentic Happiness questionnaires. What a dork I am! Although, hopefully what an authentically happy dork I am!

The most meaningful discovery for me was being shown my personal and character strengths, its very easy to get disheartened and negative if life isn't going the way you envisioned. For me, its when I am feeling less than challenged and productive. Being reminded of your personal strengths and capabilities can be a huge kick in the behind and give you the burst of motivation you need to tackle areas of your life that need sprucing, adjusting and changing. I'd definitely recommend you take the Personal Strengths and Character Strengths questionnaires, you may be reminded of who you are and inspired to be closer to who you want to be.




I love accidentally discovering inspiration and self motivation! I'd be curious to hear what your results were? Were you surprised or secretly aware?

Plenty of love, 

P.S. I've taken the notion of self-love Sunday from the beautiful and forever inspiring Amelia from Nurture and Shine. She often talks about self love and nurturing on her Instagram. She's given me a whole new bout of motivation for self awareness and self love.

Clouds and Comforts

Winter is my happy place; most who know me, know this. The season brews a feeling of excitement in me, a feeling of comfort and wonderment. Although it's still Autumn here, Winter is teasing me with sneak peaks and pretty previews...and I love it! This afternoon I was lucky enough to have some escape time (I even skipped witching hour!) and the universe aligned some of my favourite things into one beautiful wintry bundle.

I met with my dear friend Sophie, sipped hot Monk Pear tea and munched on cashews whilst watching a storm unfold. Ahhhhh, the simple pleasures!

We sat outside in the sunshine and within five minutes, a clear blue sky turned a rumbly grey. Then came the crash of hail. Not often in this small town do we experience the thrill of hail. Erratic weather, however is a norm. That's part of the reason this place will forever be my home. I love our weather.

Sophie too, shares a love for the greyest of days. It was so rejuvenating spending some simple hours 'just being' with such an inspirational friend. I always leave a date with Soph filled to the brim with motivation and bursting with creative energy. It was just what I needed to unplug the mother in me and re-charge her.

What re-charges the parent in you? Does anyone else share the same intense love for clouds, umbrellas and raindrops?
Plenty of love,

Lovely Links Of Late

{ Living simply may mean living happily, what are your thoughts? Danielle from Sometimes Sweet ponders the question.

{ I love finding new reads that make me giggle and feel empowered simultaneously, give this one a moment of your time, I think you'll love it too!

{ Both of these posts are beautiful. Two totally different mamas, being totally honest about the insecurities they have about themselves when parenting their daughters. Two posts on self-awareness, self confidence and personal growth. Read them here and here.

{ There is too much silence surrounding mental illness in the world. If you read only one thing on Lori's inspiring blog, make it this page. 

{ Baby baby baby baby baby. I heart baby news!

{ 10 things not to say to your kids...I am guilty of at least 5 of these, but I'll now consider my words more carefully. Thanks The Kid Counsellor!

{ I attended my gorgeous cousins wedding in January, check out the stunning photos! It was a truly beautiful wedding.

{ Do you think you could give up yelling for a whole 365 days? A year of not raising your voice at your children, even in the most testing of times? This woman did! I am in awe!

{ Good to know- Products on Australian shelves that contain palm oil. 

{ Stress and parenting can come hand-in-hand like wine with a hangover. But, it can be managed and prevented. Don't let the everyday stresses of parenthood weigh you down, care for yourself like you would care for another.

Plenty of love,

Imperfect Truths.

Sometimes, motherhood can be glorified beyond recognition. We have the ability to layer varnish upon varnish atop the weathered and withered reality that being a mother is. I think that's where the super mum phenomenon was born and bred...we've added a large dose of misconception to the mixture and slathered it on thick. I am guilty of glossing my mum-life up, as most (especially bloggers and mothers in the public eye) are. I've written about the effect super-mum syndrome has had on my life before, and still have internal struggles to this day.

A part of me feels very passionate about stamping that super-mum phenomenon to the ground, creating protest against it, making movements to object it and encouraging others to reject it. But, I also know that a significant part of me is still clutched tightly by this deceptive syndrome. Baby steps are key, baby.

What dawned on me most recently, was our hesitation to tell it like it is. I've also learnt along my journey of Motherhood that 'telling it like it is' is a significant coping mechanism for me. I'm not sure if it's the honesty, the 'realness' or the acceptance that reassures me most. I also LOVE hearing other mamas keeping it real, I am very blessed to have a beautiful circle of friends who are mothers. We are all very close, very honest and very supportive of each other and adore sharing the imperfect truths together.

So in the spirit of 'anti super mum', I am going to share with you my imperfect truths of the week, shed light on my imperfections and perfect normality and accept them wholly.  Do you want to join the movement? Let's make a protest together; for each other!



Truth  #1: I no longer fold my laundry. That's right, drop your jaw. With at least one load of washing a day (which usually accumulates until Monday) I have far too much washing to fold and put away. The girls are forever making food messes, paint messes and I am forever making cooking messes. So, my new tactic in order to get that basket empty is to just open and shove. Open the drawer, shove it in, close the drawer and walk away.

Truth  #2: I was busy feeding Isla her mashed veg at lunch one day last week when Stella decided she couldn't wait a second longer for her lunch. So, (with my verbal guidance) she went to the fridge, got out the jug of noodles and sat herself up on the couch eating cold noodles from a 500ml jug with her fingers. They both ate, they both smiled. Winning all around if you ask me!

Truth #3: I take my phone with me to the toilet, so if I am lucky enough to have little faces leave me alone for one minute I can sneak in some mindless Instagramming.

Truth #4: Nick treated himself to a box of Coco Pops and offered them to Stella one morning instead of her usual Weetbix. Of course, she loved them, inhaling every last chocolatey rice puff and then drinking the sweet milk. "Mummy, I LOVE Popo Cocks!" she proudly proclaimed. I didn't correct her and I didn't lecture Nick on nutrition because; Popo Cocks sounds cute (for now) and the smiles from them both at the dining table were worth it.

Truth #5: From 9am to 4:30pm yesterday, a 30 minute Fairies DVD played on repeat. That's fifteen times I agreed to "One more time mama?". Obviously a big chunk of this time was spent inattentive to The Fairies. But still, a significant amount of time was spent dancing and singing about Barnaby the Busy Busy Bee.

What imperfect truths have you got to share this week? Join me in the movement and tell me yours, or hashtag your imperfect but wonderful mothering moments on Istagram (#imperfecttruths). Baby steps to stamping down that super-mum, baby steps!

Plenty of love,

Belated happy hoppity day.

It wouldn't be true to busy-real-mama style if I didn't publish my Easter post a week late and what better way to keep things real than to run late! (add this to the 'lies I tell myself' list)

So, Happy belated Easter! From our family to yours! What did your Easter involve this year? Was it sugar filled? Laid back or hyped up?

Plenty of love,

Lovely Links of Late

{ Winter is my happy place; the colours, the rain, the woolen scarves. How stunning is this winter photoshoot? It has me yearning for plum lipstick and grey knit weather!

{ "Motherhood is a sacred and beautiful gift. It's a messy one, a painful one, it's tiring and beyond beautiful...it breaks your heart and then heals it." Perfect words as always from Jess Gatlyn of Boho Baby Bump.

{ Birth Story Alert! I'm a little late to the party, but it was so good finally reading Jens birth story on the sweet little Finley. Such a precious family.

{ My current favourite creative read? Torie Jayne. Everything is beautiful!

{ A post about how to stay positive through hard times. A lovely read on Delightfully Tacky, I think it's something we can all relate to at some point in our lives.

{ Found via Little Chief Honeybee, THIS is a humorous (yet deadly honest) tale about white lies parents dish out to their children.

{ Speaking of LCH, I finally caught up on all Kaelah's posts and just loved the heartfelt resolutions she set for 2013. Read it here, it'll have you feeling motivated. My favourite resolution is the one she wrote on 'engaging with only those who inspire you'. She describes obligatory following as 'social media noise', which is very true. Stimulation comes from every angle when following blogs, idols and muses; make sure what gets through to you is what really counts.

{ Sweet potatoes and avocado, two of my most favourite foods ever. Spicy sweet potato fries with avocado dip? Oh, I'm salivating! Thanks Shutterbean!

{ Photographer Natalie McComas is working on a portrait series featuring subjects with dramatic birthmarks. Check out 'Beautiful In This Skin'. P.S. her other photography is stunning also.

{ 'My Parenting Anger Management Plan' by Naomi from Seven Cherubs is one for the emergency bookmarks. Have it ready to read when you feel as though you are about to lose it.  

Enjoy!

Hurry up, relax!

Painting my nails is probably one of the most mindful tasks I occasionally indulge in...because with wet fingernails, you cant do. You can only be. I am forever doing, and sometimes I forget how good it feels to just be. I've been practicing the art of mindfulness (more on this later) as much as I can lately, and it really is a challenge. Sometimes I need to make a conscious effort to schedule in my mindfulness, other times it just finds me. Like, when I'm painting my nails in a rare child-free house.

I don't know about you, but when I have a few moments to myself without children around, I become a flustered mess. How much can I possibly fit in the two hours or so? How many jobs can I get done? how much re-charging can I accomplish? Hurry, hurry, hurry. Hurry up and relax! More often than not, I pass that two hours by buzzing around thinking about what I could be getting done, rushing and forcing relaxation (which really isn't relaxing at all) and doing, doing, doing. I am determined to throw this concept out the door, it really isn't working for me or for my inner calm.

source

I came across this quote quite some time ago and every now and then it jingles in the back of my head. We need to stop the glorification of busy. Being busy is sadly far more acceptable in society (especially in the parenting community) than 'just being' is. Yet, I know for me 'just being' often brings the most enjoyable and magical times in my motherhood journey. Surprisingly, they can be the most productive and accomplishing also. The most memorable moments with my children are born from impromptu, spontaneous days and these are often the days I find myself teaching them new things about the world, helping them master a new skill or inspiring new passions within them.

What do you think about the expectations on parents, mothers especially, to be busy and multi-tasking to a comatose state? I get so incredibly angry at the misconceptions our society has created surrounding motherhood and the super-mum phenomenon.

'Just being' is going to be a work-in-progress for me and if I can ensure that every day has a significant chunk of mindfulness involved, I will be one very zen mama! It seems I'm adding to my list of mantra's to live by; Less is more, Everything simplified and Just be.
Plenty of love,

Easter; simplified.

This year, with such a busy family, I wanted to keep Easter very simple. After all, simple is the new detailed right?

I've found that browsing Pinterest and braving the frantic chocolate-filled stores does two things to me; either 1. I become this crazed woman who pulls hair to get the best eggs in her basket and spends four hours seeking out matching bunny outfits for the entire family or 2. I shake my head in disbelief and disgust at the hype surrounding holidays and the loss of meaning in such things.

My default of course, is to do the crazy mama thing and go berserk. It's in my creative minded nature and OCD tendencies, but this year I decided to chose the latter. No, I haven't banned chocolate and yes, I do have an Easter board on Pinterest. But I am not letting the preparation and expectations of this holiday smother me. I am not letting this be a stressful Easter. (I'm a stress-free mama, hear me roar!)

Each child or couple within our family is getting a very simple brown paper bag, filled with very simple and average sized Easter eggs. Nothing the size of a saucepan, nothing shaped like a bunny with ears on steroids and nothing stamped with branding not at all related to the meaning of Easter. (I am working on a post about what Easter means for me and for our family, it will be here soon!) I jazzed up the bags a little with some very cheap craft supplies and now, three days out from 'bunny day' we are completely organised with having only stepped foot in a supermarket and a craft store.









However, I couldn't escape a few creative details that my heart was desiring. I let Stella paint some polystyrene eggs in purple and beige and we went crazy with superfine silver glitter. The result; a pretty centrepiece to sit on our table for the Easter holidays. I've also got plans for my first ever cake-pop making experience and have made some seriously sweet bunny ears for my little bunnies to wear, both of which I will share with you soon!

Easter Sunday itself will most likely be very simple too; a casual family BBQ. As long as the girls are surrounded by people who love them, the smell of chocolate is in their hair and the sun is shining, I am happy.

Perhaps this will be my new motherhood mantra; Everything Simplified.

What are your plans for Easter? Do you at times feel overwhelmed from the 'hype'?
Plenty of love,

Glitter in the coffee.

Some days call for glitter. Or Splarkelys as Stella likes to call them. Splarkelys make everything much brighter on dreary and funky days, you can't scorn children with glitter on their little button noses!

As a parent we all have 'those' days, 'those' days tend to be my everyday some weeks. But, what if you could turn the day around? Throw a spanner in the works of a glum, tension-filled household? I know that once I am in a funk I find it super hard to get out of it, if our morning is filled with food-spilling accidents, sibling rivalry or a lost piece of jewellery it's pretty easy to write the whole day off as 'one of those'. Self-fulfilling prophecy answers our call and there you have it... a bad day.

Pretty simple cycle to get caught in really and with young children, it is oh-so-easy to do. Lately I have been challenging myself to take every moment as a new one in order to turn our days around and tonight I thought I'd share with you four fail proof turn-the-frown-upside-down tricks to put the shine back in your day!

Glitter makes most toddlers smile. Yeah, it's kind of messy and it gets everywhere, but it makes everything look prettier. Even the mess will look pretty. I have every colour imaginable (Thank you Reject Shop) with a shaker top lid and let Stella shake it onto collages and paintings. When you're drinking that almost cold coffee and saying "Please don't wipe snot in your sisters hair" for the fifteen-hundredth time, the sight of a get away piece of glitter in your coffee has got to make you smile. Or cry. But lets hope for the smiles, at the very least you'll end up with a spot of glitter in your teeth and that will make someone else smile.

I'm a big believer in naps, it really is a shame that my children aren't. Never underestimate the power of a nap for your child. Over tiredness really does fuel temper tantrums and although it may be a struggle convincing them to go, it will be worth it for the refreshed bundles they'll emerge as. Some days, when luck is really going my way...both of my girls nap at the same time or at least for a cross-over period of twenty minutes. Twenty minutes of pure bloody gold. Tea, crackers, Pinterest and grown-up TV; a sure fire way to get you back on your game.

...to anything, for any reason! I've come to realise how much I sing as I 'do'. "Maaaakkking you a sandwich, oh you better eeeeeat it, don't throw it on the flooooor, or I'll probably lose my s#%t. Oh yeahhhhh." Obviously, sensor your raps and versus to suit junior ears. Singing seems to lighten the mood and dancing with a baby or toddler on the hip wards off negative energy.

Tickles fix anything. I promise.

What ways do you brighten a day that starts out dull? Ever found yourself sipping a coffee grainy with glitter?
Plenty of love,

Things that make my eyes smile...

My mood is highly dependant on the atmosphere surrounding me and I thrive on aesthetics, I try and fill every little space of our home with all the things I find beautiful. As simple as it may be, it keeps me happy; pretty things make my heart sing! These are snapshots from around our home that bring a smile to my eyes. I might even make this post a regular one, sharing with you all the loveliness.

Enjoy. 




{ Vintage camera and suitcase }
{ Tiny deer and twigs }
{ Silver platter and willow tree family }
{ High tea, fruit and citrus }

What things make your eyes smile?
Plenty of love,