So I did the hard yards and lined up for the new iphone on Friday.  It’s only been 6 days and already the iphone ‘freezes’!!!Grrrrrrrrrrr………. sometimes technology can be your best friend at other times extremely frustrating!  So, there is good and bad….. lucky I have the laptop on holidays - a simple search for ‘latest iphone troubleshooting’ and ‘voila’, I discover the information I am required thanks to Sam Costello’s article on How to Reset or Reboot iphone .  Just the info I wanted and it worked!  “Reset the iPhone by holding the sleep/wake button at the top right of the device and the home button at the bottom center of the face at the same time. Hold them both until you see the screen go black and the white Apple logo appear. When this happens, you can let go - the iPhone is rebooting.  Resetting the iPhone should not remove or delete any data or settings.” 

Hoping this info will be helpful to someone else one day!

Just had to share this photo.  This is K5 & K6.  Every night our routine is to cuddle our resident ‘live teddy bear’.

Too cute!

I wanted to make a yummy easy slice within half an hour.  So it was, I recalled the wonderful recipe I found at Sadie and Lance back in 2008.

 It worked a treat!  But this time I added hundreds and thousands on top!  YUMMMMMMMMMM-EEEEEE!

Brownie Recipe

Have you got some never fail favourites to share?

Today was spent with the whole family in ‘domesticated bliss’.  I decided it was time to work as a family and clean the bedrooms TOGETHER as a family, and today was also declared a ‘NO Nintendo DS or computer technology day’. So it is with the voices of Justine Clarke ‘I Like To Sing’, SNACK ‘Oh Have You Heard?’ and the CD ‘When I Grow Up’ by ABC in the background we began & completed our tasks with TOTAL SUCCESS!  3 clean bedrooms, a kitchen, a laundry and a living area. 

So how did I do it?  With the promise that if we all helped each other we would celebrate at The Pancake Parlour.

And so it was we enjoyed a meal at The Pancake Parlour.  We highly recommend the Pancake Parlour for kid friendly fun with the ‘funny mirrors’, the ‘pancake train’ that runs on the hour every hour, colouring pictures for the kids with crayons to use, and fast and friendly service.  We had a lovely time and it was a lovely reward for all our hard work.

The Pancake Parlour is exclusive to Melbourne with the exception of one in Canberra.  Also, we managed to get 25% off using our Entertainment Book coupon.  Bargain! It’s also worth subscribing to the Pancake Parlour e-newsletter for exclusive member offers.

• Have you been to the Pancake Parlour? 
• I’d love to hear your experiences and your favourite ‘family eating hang outs’

P.S.  Hoping today’s exercise teaches the kids that rewards do come with hard work…….

In my routine ‘cleaning out’ of my laundry cupboard I chanced across Electric Soda and ‘remembered’ back to 10 years ago when I purchased it!  I was all inspired when I was at a MOPS meeting and Barbara Lord (author of The Green Cleaner) was our guest speaker.  She was all inspiring!  It was here that I learnt the magic of Bi-carb soda, vinegar, lemon and eucalyptus oil……………….and I learnt you could make your own laundry liquid!  WOW!  So it was with enthusiasm I purchased pure soap, electric soda & borax from the supermarket.  I recall being very excited and decided I was never going to purchase commercial cleaning products again.  I also recall I only made one batch and I’m not sure that it was very successful.  It was a ‘fad’ that lasted ‘one time’ for me.

However, at the moment I am not wanting to waste products so once I found the Electric Soda I decided to search the internet for ‘kids craft activities’ using electric soda.  C3 and I enthusiastically scoured the internet only to find one activity - laundry detergent!  Ah well!  Let’s give it another go - after all I do still have all the ingredients!

With L2, C3 & K5 assisting with grating of soap and pouring of water I manage to make another batch.  I adapted the recipe I found as I didn’t have as much borax as the recipe required.  Here ’tis for other enthusiastic ‘green cleaners’.

• 3 cakes of Pure Soap (finely grated)
• 2 cups Borax (+500ml water)
• 3 cups Electric Soda
• 4 litres water

Method

• Cover the soap with water and slowly melt on stove
• In another pot boil borax with 500ml water until dissolved
• Add Electric soda to borax mix
• Mix 2 pots together and cover with lid
• Let mixture set overnight then stir to form a ‘custardy’ consistency
• Use 1/2 cup per wash.

I’ll let you know how it goes and how long I last making my own detergent!  Also, I must admit I am still planning to use Napisan as a stain remover.

Do you make your own detergent or anything else?  I would love to hear about it!

Also, if you know of a kids craft activity using electric soda I’m always happy to hear……

WOW!  What a day!

Firstly, I got creative with the children - thanks to SquiggleMum and made some Salt Pictures!  What a great idea!  B4 & K5 loved this activity.  Whilst a little messy as far as ‘grainy salt’ on the kitchen floor this was a fantastic, creative activity that kept my 5 year old & 3 year old occupied for at least an hour.

NB: The aprons in the picture below were given as a gift by my friend Claire at Matching Pegs.  Here is a closer look at K5’s apron.

Then, I received a call from the school librarian.  Immediately my thoughts turned to the ‘worst’.  What have my children done!?  What books have they ruined, how many books do we have lost or overdue and what sort of bank loan will I need to get to pay out the library fines!?  Why do us mothers always think the worst?  It was great news!  I had won first prize in the Mothers Day raffle and the prize was 12 months membership to our local Contours!!!!! Woo Hoo!  I was so excited….look out, I’m not just Stronger than Captain Underpants and Smarter than a fifth grader, I am going to have contours set to rival ‘The Body’ herself.  Well……. I can dream anyway.

And finally, I’ve got a NEW CAR!  After 5 and half months in the ‘pipeline’ my new car has arrived and we can now officially commute as a family unit!  My new VW Caravelle is a 9 seater people mover and there will be no mistaking when the Family Value family is on the road.  Look out world.  Here we come!  I love it!  Automatic sliding doors is my most favourite feature of this car and the fact that we can fit one extra body.  I am yet to study all the features but I am sure there are lots more features I can get excited about!  We’re certainly looking forward to our first major journey in the car to Canberra.

.  Are you in the market for a people mover? Do you have any questions about the VW Caravelle?  I’m happy to answer them.  Also we just sold our 7 seater Chrysler Voyager so if you are in the market for one of them too I’m more than willing to answer any questions you may have.

I’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences.

I don’t really know what has come over me but I’m hearing that homemade clothing & toys is ‘back in fashion’.  So it is that I found myself in a fierce bidding war on ebay recently over some Noddy knitting patterns and I was the winning bidder at the ‘mere’ price of (gulp) A$36.

The patterns arrived in the mail today and I am actually very excited at the prospect of knitting ‘all things Noddy’, however, my memories of knitting as a child is a tiny toy mouse, a scarf in the colour of my favourite AFL footy team - Footscray (now known as the Western Bulldogs), and a half finished green flecked jumper.

Hmmmmm…… and somehow I think I am going to become a knitting entrepeuneur overnight.  MUM…………..HELP!!!!!

Here is a piccy of my purchase.  Wish me luck!

Oh…… and for all things handmade check out one of my favourite websites Lark Handmade. 

• Have you ever got into the frenzy of last minute bidding on ebay?
• Do you have any knitting websites that will assist me with my knitting project?

Would love to hear your thoughts…..

Today K6 & I had an adventure in the city of Melbourne where we boarded the train and met my Mum & Dad, and my sister (a belated Mothers Day outing).  With the three of us living in varying suburbia and country Victoria, the city of Melbourne is the perfect meeting place and even more perfect to meet where there is the opportunity for retail therapy-a-plenty and great food.  Today we met at DFO (Direct Factory Outlet) at Spencer Street, Melbourne.  Whilst the bargains weren’t-a-plenty, the company was fun, the food was great and the location (as far as vicinity to Southern Cross Station) was perfect.

How did I ‘escape’ with just the two of us?  Wednesdays is ‘me day’ where B4 & K5 spend 5 hours in a fantastic child care centre ‘just around the corner’.  So it is, between 9am and 2pm it’s just myself and K6.  Off to have some fun!  Do you have a ‘me’ day? 

Having not travelled on public transport for quite some time I was a little nervous about the folks that might be travelling at the same time.  I was feeling particularly vulnerable with my newborn baby.  I needn’t have worried!  You never know whom you might meet on the train and what you may find out!  Today I had several commuters strike up conversations with myself.  I heard tales of babies, houses, prams, nursing, telstra, roof racks, cars, funny friends, volunteer work, teenagers, babies, trailers, holidays, motherhood expectations, sibling rivalry and more! 

Why is it that strangers can share so much of their lives in a 45 minute time frame on a routine train trip?

I’d love to hear what you did with your Mum for Mother’s Day too!

P.S.  Came across a great article today…. 10 Tips for coping with a new baby  Check it out at Planning for Kids blog.

P.P.S.  If you are quick and you want to travel Kuala Lumpur early in 2010.  Check out AirAsia’s super-special airfares.  $125 airfares from MEL - KL is just one of the bargains to be had. 

I feel honoured to be featured on Squiggle Mum’s blog as the MAY ‘Real Aussie Mum’ (I feel a bit like a mini celebrity).  Squiggle Mum is an inspirational mother herself and a wonderful writer.  Always interesting reading - if you have a chance it is worth checking to see what tales Squiggle Mum has to tell.And today I finally got to resume my fitness regime….. back into playing netball!  Wooooo Hooooo!  6 and a half weeks after giving birth for the sixth time I was more than a little dubious that ‘bits’ might flip and flap and even fall out, and that perhaps I was at high risk of a soft tissue injury!  However, all was well and we even won by 1 goal.  BONUS!  On the downside K6 had his first ‘netball creche’ experience and kept the creche staff in the business of giving cuddles for 30 minutes before I returned to pick him up. 

For all those other ‘new Mums’ wanting to know when the best time to commence or resume exercise after giving birth, Babycenter Australia has a great article Postnatal Exercise : Is Your Body Ready? 

• When did you resume exercise after giving birth?
• Is 6 and a half weeks too soon?

Today I spent time beginning to finalise our Canberra holiday arrangements.  The Parklands Apartment Hotel is where we are planning to stay in a 4 bedroom apartment - this will accommodate all 8 of us!!

What were the selling points for me?

1. Indoor heated pool (we’ll be travelling in the middle of Winter!)
2. Washing machine & dryer

I know I have definately graduated from Mum’s school when a washing machine and dryer is on the top of my priority list!

• What are your priorities when choosing accommodation?
• Is anyone willing to share their experiences at The Parklands Apartment Hotel?