Not another slippery dip

Embracing the messy, mundane & momentous

Christmas greetings from me to you

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Me and my girls

Me and my girls

Christmas is always such a busy time of year, isn’t it? Unfortunately, some of the joy of anticipating this special day can be eclipsed by the pressures, obligations and “busyness” during the lead up. But finally the kinder concerts, ballet performances, school transitions, and social obligations have all come to an end, and now Christmas is here for us to enjoy.

We celebrated with my husband’s side of the family, a week early, to avoid back-to-back family celebrations on Christmas Day. It was a smart move. Nine adults and seven children gathered at our home for a seafood feast, and celebration of life. Now, all I have to do now on Christmas morning is wake up to the joy of Santa’s visit and lap up all that magical goodness. Then I’ll turn up to my Auntie’s with a salad and bottle of sparkling, ready to embrace another celebration and devour another Christmas spread!…

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The end of a childhood chapter

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Kinder girl

Preschool fun!

When my first-born daughter was a baby, I couldn’t wait for her to reach the next milestone. I was eager for her to roll, crawl, walk and talk. She is now five and those early milestones are firmly in the rear-vision mirror.

There are so many firsts in a young child’s life; the first smile, the first word, the first steps. These beginnings are highly anticipated and cause for great celebration. But there are many endings, too, and often these bring mixed emotions. I remember shedding tears during my last breastfeed. I wanted to hold onto that feed forever….

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Christmas gift ideas for teachers & childcare staff

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Christmas gifts

Christmas gifts

There has been a lot of talk in the media lately about whether parents should give gifts to school teachers, childcare staff and preschool educators. Some argue that the staff get paid and therefore a gift is not really necessary. I disagree. In my mind they deserve GOLD on top of their salary for caring for our little ones. But, gift giving can get expensive, especially if you have more than one child and multiple staff members looking after them. In my mind the most lovely gift you can give is handmade card. Nothing else says “thank you” like a gorgeous card hand drawn (or scribbled) by your child.

Last year I made Christmas Rocky Road, which we displayed in glass mason jars and tied with a ribbon and a Christmas decoration. This year, we baked White Chocolate and Cranberry cookies to give to Childcare and Kinder staff. We also bought some beautiful Christmas tree decorations so that they have something that lasts as the cookies certainly won’t!

Here is how we said THANK YOU to the wonderfully patient, kind and caring ladies who have looked after my three girls this year….

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How to have a real holiday with kids

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The lookout

The lookout

It is often said that a holiday with kids is an oxymoron. That more accurately it is a test of how well you can entertain your kids without the “props” of home. And I can relate to this. When you’ve got little ones even holidays require a degree of effort. We’ve had some holidays in the past that have seemed like far too much work to qualify as a true “break”.  And when they are really little you need to readjust  your holiday aspirations. It’s more a change of scene.

But that scene just changed…….

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Family, food and a fabulous celebration

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IMG_7515Yesterday, 5 daughters, 5 sons-in-law and 14 grandchildren gathered together to celebrate my mum’s 70th birthday. And what a celebration it was! We enjoyed  sensational food and wine in a gorgeous setting, vibrant and animated conversation (a staple of Fox family functions) and we toasted to a fine lady, loving and selfless mum, and all-round remarkable woman. If you want to read about why she’s so special, you can read about her here….

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