because a little Princess wanted a pink room

We live in the big blue house - internal walls are all blue, feature tiles on the floor are blue, carpet is blue, teamed up with apricot/terrracotta coloured door jambs, architraves and vertical blinds.

Before



For about two years our Missy Megan has been telling us her room is meant to be pink. Every time she finds a "blowy" in the garden she blows it and makes a wish for a pink room. Every time she blows out candles she wishes for a pink room.

This week her wish came true.



View from the doorway

View from her bed



Ray has taken this school holidays off work to start the internal painting of the house. This is the first of 5 bedrooms.  We would like to replace Missy Megan's vertical blind with a white venetian. But our windows are not "standard" so it needs to be made to order. So that can until all the rooms are done so we can ask for a better deal by ordering all the blinds in various colours together.

We bought this house 6 years ago. It's about time we put our own stamp on it!

What have you done to make your place your own, rented or otherwise?

Karen xx

What's wrong with this Doll?

With a cold and rainy Sunday upon us, it was a good day to play dollies with Missy Megan.

Can you pick what's wrong in the photo below?

Well?
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Find it?
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Look at the doll in the yellow top. Compare her hands to the Barbie doll next to her. Look at the hand closest to the camera. It is a left hand on her right side. This doll has 2 left hands - what the?

I know Barbie is meant to be the image of perfection and all that, but to sabotage the opposition takes it a bit too far!

A bit of a quality control issue at the doll making factory?

We've had these dolls for over a year and this is the first time that I have noticed. Obviously I have great observation skills.

Here's the dollies getting comfy....

and our Princess with them.

Have you had any mutated toys?

Karen xx

I made an ice cream cake, oh yes I did.....

2 x giant choc chip cookies with reshaped vanilla ice cream in between. (In the cookbook it's round, I made mine square). Plus the 2 bundt cakes I made for his class (I iced them after I took the photo). Plus the cake that my mother in law brought over. We won the cake voucher on the local radio station too, but I will use that next week sometime. I think we have enough cake for now!

Happy 9th Birthday to our amazing smiley Liam! We love you all the way to the moon and back.
xx

Giveaway Winners!

Congratulations to "Sweet Ever Afters" and "operationhotmother" who have each won a packet of Mini Rice Cakes in my giveaway.

Sweet Ever Afters - I have emailed you for your address.

Operationhotmother - please contact me with your details.

If I don't hear back from you by the end of the week, I will have to re-giveaway your prize.

Thank you ladies!



I still have 3 packets to giveaway, so if you would the chance to win one, simply leave me a comment telling me what healthy snack you like to eat! By 6pm Fri 23 Sept. Thanks!

Karen.
xx

9/11 never forgotten

I'm sitting in the comfort of my home on the other side of the world from where the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Centre occurred (not forgetting other two hijacks and subsequent crashes that day), watching the footage, as I did 10 years ago......glued to the tv......disbelief all over again.

The documentary I am watching just showed the Priest who was chaplain to the fire brigade, in the lobby of Tower 1.

That Priest, Father Mychal Judge, was talked about in the sermon at Mass this morning and in our Parish newsletter. He lost his life that day, hit by falling debris whilst ministering to injured people at the base of one of the Twin Towers. 

Some of the fire fighters picked up his body and carried him around the corner into a church and lay him in front of the altar, covered him in a sheet, and placed his stole and his fireman's hat on his chest. Then they returned to the Twin Towers.

I already had the utmost respect for those fire fighters who went in there to try & help others, and what they did was a true act of respect for their Chaplain.

We don't know if those fire fighters survived.

Sadly, more attacks and violence have occurred since 9/11. So many lives lost and families affected.....and for what?

I pray that there will be no more.

Karen.

P.S. Image from here.

Mini Rice Cakes - it's a Giveaway!

The people at Table of Plenty sent me some of their new Mini Rice Cakes to sample. (I think they figured out that I love snacking....)

And, being such lovely folks, they sent me some to give away too!!! There's lots to go around. I have 5 packets to give away. That's 5 lucky winners who will receive 1 packet each. We want as many people to try these as we can......

• Available in three delectable flavours; milk chocolate, dark chocolate and triple berry yoghurt
• Totally natural, gluten-free snack with no preservatives, colours or flavours
• The chocolate and yoghurt coatings are made with pure cocoa butter – so NO vegetable oil
• The dark chocolate flavour is also lactose and fructose free

They are wholegrain rice cakes with a layer of European chocolate or berry yoghurt on the top.

And, with each mini rice cake containing only 15 calories, they are a great snack for lunch boxes, morning or afternoon tea, rather than some of those high fat, preservative filled "treats" out there.

Now, this all sounds wonderful but the proof is in the tasting. I like to be honest with my reviews & here's what we thought:

Zac (likes flavoured rice cakes, not plain ones) - "they're good" (can I add that Zac is 15 & boys that age don't say much, they just eat much!)

Liam - Milk Chocolate ones taste the best. (he stopped talking long enough to try some)

Megan - likes the chocolate ones (fancy that, a girl who likes chocolate!)

Charlotte - "sweet & savoury should NEVER. be mixed". (she doesn't like my chocolate dipped pretzels for the same reason).

Ray (hates rice cakes at the best of times) - "no matter how much you dress them up, they still taste like cardboard, just with chocolate on it".

My Mum - could do with more chocolate but a good snack for anyone watching their carbs, sugar, fat and/or fat intake.....yep, I think that's who I inherited my chronic label reading habit from.

Me - Triple Berry Yoghurt ones are the best, although I did sample several of the chocolate ones as well. In the name of research of course. I was unsure at first bite, but found them rather more-ish. To the point that our complimentary packets are finished.

So, as you can see, taste is a very individual thing. But if you like rice cakes, you will like these.

Wouldn't you love to try a packet for FREE?

Simply leave me a comment telling me what you like to eat for a healthy snack. As stated, 5 winners will win one packet of Table of Plenty's Mini Rice Cakes. The winners will be randomly chosen.

Giveaway is open to Australian residents only and closes Saturday 17 Sept at 3pm (Australian Eastern Standard Time / Sydney Time).

If you don't win, then you can buy them at selected Coles Supermarkets for $3-99 per packet.

Happy Snacking,

Karen xx

Important bit: I received complimentary packets of Table of Plenty's Mini Rice Cakes to sample and review. The opinions are that of my family members and I

The Right Glasses for You

We Aussie women are renowned for being seasonal chameleons - we change our hair colour (how many shades have you been), we change our skin tone (baked or faked), and now that Spring is here many of us will be transforming ourselves in preparation for Summer. Don't forget your eyewear! There are 5 million Aussie women who wear glasses every day. I wonder how many of these women are wearing frames that really suit them?

Tammy Newport is a Stylist from Budget Eyewear who has some great tips on choosing glasses / frames that have Optical Appeal, which explains why a friend of mine can carry off green coloured glasses and I can't! Apparently there is more to it than trying on every pair on display at the optometrist.

You know that mirror we look in when we are trying glasses on? Look harder. Look at your skin tone, look at your eye and hair colour. Look at the colour of the veins in your arms. All that makes a massive difference. Yes, really, the veins too! Read on.....

Using the table below and Budget Eyewear's variety of luxe-for-less optical frames, you can easily revamp your Spring style by coordinating new frames to your changing look. No need to be blind-sighted by expensive trends, no need to sacrifice style, not need to miss out on the fun factor of trying on the different frames, just bags of style to be gained.

Here's the table:

So, if you're like me, you are a cool tone, your veins appear blue, you have blue/grey eyes and brown hair, you should choose glasses that are black, navy, grey or purple. Maybe that explains why the silver ones I had many years ago looked CRAP!!

Oh, and if you're not like me, follow the tips in the table to work out which colour frames will best suit you. Pretty easy, hey?

Do the glasses you have now match up with this info? Or like me, have you made a style blunder? (Mine are brown - oops!)

Let me know!

Karen xx.

The Power of the Full Stop.

I read an article over the weekend about the power of the full stop. As in the punctuation full stop, but in speech rather than writing.

I can't remember where I read it - given that it was on the weekend it may have been in the Sunday paper. Or maybe Saturday's. I wish I could reference it because the concept is great. If you read it & can tell me where, please let me know! I was discussing it with my Mum tonight (she had cut it out for me but forgotten to bring it, but I had already read it). My Mum followed this system without even realising it. And I turned out ok, so I guess it works!

The concept is that when you tell the kids to do something, give them the instruction then use a full stop. Do not offer an reason. Instruction, full stop. Sounds easy hey?

If you give an explanation as to why you want them to do something, you lose them. Too many words makes them switch off. They don't listen. The example given was along the lines of  "It's time to leave the park because if we don't go now your little sister won't have time for a sleep and then she will be tired and cranky later and we won't be able to do blah blah blah....." How much of it do you think sank in?
This is easier:

"It's time to go."

One simple, clear instruction.

Personally, I give a "5 more minutes" warning when leaving time is nearing & rarely get resistance when it is time to leave as the kids knew it was coming and have had their "last one slide".

It has been ticking around in my head all week and I am trying to be more aware of what I say. Kids don't need everything explained. Sometimes "because I said so" or "because I'm the Mum" is the best reason to give. God knows, they seemed to be the ONLY reasons we heard as kids.

Liam, almost 9, in particular will benefit from this concept. Which means I will too. I often find myself still talking & he has already started walking away, having switched off.

Generation Y want to know everything because they have been given reasons for everything. They don't know any different. I find that too much is explained these days, instead of something just being something because it just is.

What do you think? Are you an explainer or do you use a full stop?