Mother heart: Life on Planet Baby

One of the reasons I love having a blog is that I get to connect with other wonderful women who feel as passionate about motherhood as I do. I created Mother heart to highlight some of these women and to get a glimpse into how they feel about motherhood.

This week for Mother heart we have a very talented mother who after years of heartache was blessed to have 3 children arrive in just over 3 years. Since that time she has become very good at juggling all that comes with motherhood and raising a family. She loves all things French and German and from what I have seen on her blog - just about anything to do with crafting. I hope you enjoy a little look and feature of a good blog friend of mine, Jane.
About Me: I’m Jane, the wife of Mr Planet Baby (Mr PB) and the mum to our 3 pixies under 6. After 11 years in Sydney, Mr PB and I recently returned to live in our hometown – pretty Hobart, Australia. 

I love my gorgeous husband and children; all things French and German; learning  languages; keeping in touch with overseas friends; stationery; cross-stitch; watching arthouse films (especially French); researching my family trees; painting (mainly with acrylics but I’m dabbling in watercolours); papercraft (I’m just starting out); reading; cooking; travel; photography; politics; handwritten letters; and interior design. Sometime soon, I hope to parlay my love of, and aptitude for, languages into building a new career which both provides me with pleasure and fits in around our family life. Another dream is for us to spend a year overseas with our young family to give them exposure to another culture. 

Your family: I’ve been married to Mr PB for 12 years. We moved up to Sydney for work the week after we married. A solicitor by profession, I’m currently the stay-at-home mum of our young children, Joshua (5), India (3) and Sam (1 ½). I haven’t been in ‘paid’ work (any SAHM would appreciate that distinction, I’m sure ☺) since India was born, given Sam was born only 19 months later. I’m 40 years old and our journey to parenthood was a long and difficult one. Finally, after many years of heartache, we ended up with 3 gorgeous children under 4 (which I posted about here). 


Mr PB manfully shoulders his onerous responsibility as the sole breadwinner for 5 people while I run the home front on Planet Baby. I had intended to return to work before now but sometimes your plans change. For the moment, we’re making do on a single income which is *challenging*, to say the least! We are, however, delighted to see the pixies spending lots of time with their 4 grandparents and extended family. They’re also discovering the joys of growing up in a smaller city where everything is so convenient and close and beaches, mountains, water and bushland are only minutes away. 

Mother heart: Days before I gave birth to Sam, Mr PB was offered a job in Hobart he’d spent years hoping for. We returned to Hobart when Sam was only 6 days old, India 1 ½ and Joshua 3 ½. We were to stay with my parents until we found a rental house. However, the next day, Sam was diagnosed as ‘failing to thrive’ and he and I were then admitted to Hobart’s Mother Baby Unit. Sam’s problems were soon rectified but I was then diagnosed with severe post-natal depression (PND). We stayed there for 3 months and were only discharged when he developed gastro. That was December 2009. Fourteen months later, I am still recovering from my PND under the guidance of caring professionals and taking medication. I posted about it here and was overwhelmed by both the empathy and support of so many kind bloggers who commented but also the number of people who emailed me privately to share their PND stories. I took a huge leap of faith in publishing that post but I’m glad I did. So many people have told me how it comforted them and made them feel less alone. That gladdens my heart as I know how isolated I felt when first diagnosed.

Goals: I hope to raise the pixies to be resilient, thoughtful, empathetic and resourceful people who enjoy helping people and properly use all the opportunities offered to them. I want them to experience the joys of travel and will probably encourage them to spend a year overseas once they leave school. I spent 1989 as an exchange student in Germany, a year which profoundly changed, expanded and shaped my view on life. Mr PB studied for a year in the UK for his Masters degree and was similarly affected. We want the pixies to appreciate they live in a global community, not just perched on a small island which is the last stop before Antarctica! Living on this island is a privilege but I firmly believe it is both imperative and wise to spend time abroad in order to appreciate its true beauty.

Picture:

The lovely Jane

Mr PB and the Pixies

Blog: My blog is Life on Planet Baby. It’s about our life together and what inspires and keeps me sane while I'm living on Planet Baby. It’s also a little haven for me in amidst life’s noise and clamour. It's the place where I find some headspace and time to reflect - such a rarity nowadays. And most delightfully, it’s the spot where I interact with my gorgeous Planetarians, an extraordinarily kind and empathetic group of like-minded souls. They make my heart sing.

Thanks so much for sharing your heart with us Jane and I hope you can drop by Life on Planet Baby to have a look at how wonderful Jane's blog is. If you have a blog and use blogger you might want to check out her tutorial on how to add a signature to your blog posts or some tips on handling comments.

sacred places...sacred spaces

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Do you have places or times in your life that are sacred to you???

I am talking about those moments that you treasure, hold dear and make your heart sing. 

Places or spaces where you want to drop everything, that make you want to rush to them, knowing that you will find happiness, peace and comfort there. It does not have to be associated with religious acts or buildings, it can be associated with everyday places or spaces that you regard with great respect and reverence.

Before joining a church the word sacred held no meaning to me. I certainly did not know how to treat something as sacred or how to show respect towards experiences or places.

Generally the word sacred means:

Connected with God (or the gods) or dedicated to a religious purpose and so deserving veneration

If you are not religious finding sacred moments in life can still apply. As I have pondered over what is sacred to me I have been surprised by how many sacred moments and places I do have in my life. I have become aware that I now love to seek out sacred experiences, to help create them and to believe in them.

Some sacred places or spaces to me are:
Dinner time at our dinner table
Late night pillow talk with my husband
Family prayers in our lounge room
Family group hugs
Where I kneel to pray each day
At my computer desk where I feel inspired to write
My blog where I share feelings of my heart
My home where precious moments happen
My car {bus} where we talk about things that matter most
In the bathroom where I chat to my kids whilst washing their hair
My lap where my cherubs snuggle and cuddle with me
In the arms of my husband where I feel comforted and secure
In my mind where I let my thoughts run free

The older I get the more I desire sacred places and spaces. I seek for moments to treasure and to make my heart sing. My days feel like they are getting shorter, my kids are getting older and I want to hold sacred all the years we have together.

p.s ~ if you love Disney, enter my Bambi DVD Value Pack giveaway here.

girls and makeup

As a mother of four daughters, I am very mindful of raising them to love who they are, to appreciate their natural beauty and to learn that beauty comes from the inside as well as from the outside. I want them to know that their body is a great gift and that as young girls they are gorgeous just the way they are.

I have tried to teach them that the way they dress on the outside is a reflection of how you feel on the inside. That how you take care of yourself sends a message of how you feel about yourself. You don't need to have the latest fashions to look great, all you need to do is dress neat and clean.

I try to let them develop their own style and let them have fun with how they look and dress. Now that my girls are growing up fast we have been having conversations about makeup in our house.

The girls have some make-up to play with and to experiment with on the weekends, to use for dress ups and dance performances that they chose to put on. They love to do 'up' each other's face and have serious fun with their creations.

Now that they are getting older, I realise that I need to have a makeup plan. I need to have it clear in my mind what age is appropriate for them to start to wear makeup outside of the house. I love the natural beauty that my girls have and I personally want them to keep it for as long as they can.

These pictures just make my heart sing for how sweet these girls are, how much I want to just bottle them up and keep them young and natural looking forever. I can see that they are wanting to be adults, wanting to be so much more grown up and I want them to enjoy the age they are, to be happy to be young and to be free to play and have fun.

So tell me ladies, do you remember when you first started wearing makeup??? Did you just start out with some mascara or did you start decorating your whole face??? If you have daughters what plan do you have for them when it comes to makeup???...share your wisdom with me...

me as I am

I caught a look at myself in the mirror the other day, it stopped me in my tracks.
I recognised the person I saw but I also was surprised at who I was looking at.

I have changed in many ways over the years since I have had children.
I still look the same, but I also look very different.

I have grown in more ways than one:

my ability to juggle more than one task
my ability to cook for greater numbers
my ability to clean faster and more efficiently
my ability to carry on more than one conversation at once
my ability to drive a car whilst listening to fighting and screaming
my ability to manage a household
my ability to remain patient under difficult circumstances
my ability to discipline more than one child at once

have all been great skills to learn.

They also have come at a cost:

I look plainer
I feel tireder
I am more overweight
I am out of touch with fashion
I am ordinary to look at
I spend my time at home
I am homely
I have bags under my eyes
I often speak with a slur from tiredness
I spend less time on myself

As I looked in the mirror I realised that I would not trade any of these things because I now:

love who I am
have more love in my heart
am living my dream
find joy in my children
cherish my husband
know where I am going with my life
know what I want from life
am feeling happiness
feel beautiful
feel free
and want to be me.

I looked at myself and decided to just take me as I am.
This is who I am.

It is who I want to be.

This is number 16 in my happiness list.

p.s: congratulations to Em from Inspired coincidences you are the winner of the 5 Spiritual Solutions Book Giveaway - enjoy and watch out for your email from me. x

mummy bloggers are talented women

I am a mummy blogger and proud of it. I love to write about motherhood.
I am passionate about it and love connecting with other women and mother's through blogs.

I had been eagerly awaiting the day I could jump on a plane to Sydney to attend the Aussie Bloggers Conference. It was exciting as this is Australia's first Blogging Conference, but for me it was about so much more than that.

It is a really amazing feeling being in a room full of talented women.

Women who you admire, respect and have been looking forward to meeting.

For me it was about:

1. Attending a special event, having some time out and giving me something to look forward to in my calendar. About being involved, connecting and helping. I was able to help hand out all of the swag bags for the conference which the awesome Tina and her family put together and in this way was able to meet nearly every single blogger that walked through the doors. I think a few escaped my eyes but I made sure I said hello to everyone that arrived and even managed to fit several hugs in too!

2. Sealing relationships and friendships. Finally being able to meet Michelle and to share a room with her. I have to say she is just adorable! We got to have the chance to laugh over our not so wonderful attempt at losing our Blogger Butts and to sigh a lot in our rooms because even though we were having a break we were still so tired!

3. and 4. Being able to meet bloggers in person, it is a special treat. It is kind of weird in a way because you know them but you don't really know them - if that makes sense? Meeting Liz who is super cool and looks great in her shades and Janelle who was so lovely and patient finding me in the Sydney airport. Lesson learned: twitter is not a good way to find people in the Sydney airport - actual phone numbers are!

5. Talking blogging and having people understand what you are saying in wonderful. Meeting Katrina the super organised housewife was a highlight, who is so sweet and kind. Michelle and I seriously wanted her to come and organise our room for us but we let her off as we all had a tight schedule to stick to! It was lovely to talk with women who have different blog plans and ideas and to share ideas, tips and hear success stories.

6. Being encouraged to blog for you and to say thank you to those who have supported you. I loved being encouraged to follow my own vision and be bold and brave. Catching up with Tina who has helped me out so much with my blogging journey and always been supportive and kind in her comments to me was a treat. She is just lovely and has the most gorgeous smile. I also loved being able to meet women who have been with us on our Blogger Butt journey.

Michelle and I were really blessed to have a great view from our room. In the short time we spent there we were able to just relax, in peace and quiet and to enjoy the view. We were also able to nibble on some swag bag treats and thank YOU Lindt for adding some treats to our bags.

Now these are really bad pictures but I was so busy and having too much fun that I did not even bring my camera and just used my phone to take some snaps.

One of my favourite parts of the conference was the spontaneous photo sessions that happened all of the time. It was great to see groups crowd together to smile and have fun.

1. I loved being able to squash into pictures with people such as Dorothy and Kelly. I was so happy to meet Dorothy who has been a great supporter of my blog and Kelly who is of course the fun mum you want to meet!
2. I was delighted to meet Annie who is like my twitter hero and was so happy to discover that she is more wonderful in person than I already imagined.
3. Loved meeting Christie and having some brief chats about children and headbands.
4. Loved laughing with Tina and really enjoyed her company.
5. Finally being able to meet, Jodie and her telephone dance on the dance floor will always be in my memory!
6. Finally, finally being able to meet SuperCate who I have to say is so super fit, super fun, super slim, super gorgeous and more super wonderful in real life than I could have imagined!
7. Oh! my - what a treat for me to meet Kirrilly - I almost burst into tears when I met her....she is just awesome and I wanted to bring her home so that she could live next door to me, finding out who Where's My Glow is....and Lucy...what a woman! friendly, charming, fun and looks sensational.

I loved how it is one of the few times in my life that it is acceptable to have a conversation whilst being on your laptop, your phone, twitter and facebook all at the same time and no one is offended!

I enjoyed the reminder to blog for you, to not worry about what anyone else thinks. That you can set goals for your blog and achieve them if you want. That it is important to understand your readers, to care about your community and to be confident in what you have to offer.

There were so many talented women that I really enjoyed meeting. Women who craft, women who are photographers, some women who are not mothers and are excellent speakers and writers, women who were there for the desire to learn and to share their hearts and thoughts.

Of course with all of the wonderful fun and learning I had, coming home to my family was great. I walked in the door to have 8. Liahona ready to serve me dinner and 9. a lovely candle lit dinner that the whole family had worked hard to put together. I live a blessed life.

My favourite picture from the whole conference is here:

It is a picture of Zoey from Good goog (who is about to have a baby!) and I taken by the awesome Tiff from My three ring circus. Just love it - thanks Tiff!

The only thing that I did not enjoy about the Bloggers Conference was the swearing. I do not swear and really do not like hearing it. For me it is one thing to skip over it on blogs that I read but it is another thing to hear the F word repeated, loudly over and over in a blog reading. I understand it is their choice to say and write whatever they want and I totally respect their decision to share it. I just don't like to hear it and think it is necessary.

p.s - I am off to my own Women's conference today and have not had the time to add all the links to the names. I will catch up with that tomorrow - so sorry everyone - they will be added!

CBeebies I Can Cook

Sponsored by CBeebies

I love to encourage my children to cook and to be actively involved with food preparation. I start them learning these skills at an early age so that by the time they reach High School they are capable enough to help out by cooking meals on their own. A great help to me! I am delighted to share with you a children's television show that really can help boost a child's confidence in the kitchen. It is called I Can Cook and is shown on kids TV channel CBeebies, available on Foxtel and Austar. You can find more information about the show here: www.bbcaustralia.com/cbeebies.

The host of the show is Katy, who serves up a selection of simple recipes and cookery tips targeted towards under six year olds. The children featured on the show go on a journey through the fun and fascinating world of food. I Can Cook teaches children to discover the magic of food by feeling, making and even discovering in the garden how food is grown. 

The second series of the show starts on Monday April 4th and is really a show aimed towards younger kids. There is a lot of rhyming and singing. They even have an I Can Cook garden that children go into to collect ingredients for their recipes. Katy teaches children how to cook down on their level in a simple and fun way. Each child has their own ingredients and gets to make their own food.

There are many benefits for children to be involved with cooking. It helps with their maths (learning measurements), gives them a sense of accomplishment (they have created a wonderful meal), and it allows us as parents to teach our children skills in a fun way.

With I Can Cook my younger cherubs enjoyed watching other children cooking and creating with food. I found it was helpful for the them to see the importance of washing your hands, tidying up after you finish cooking and that yes...it is fun to help Mum out in the kitchen. They loved the large grater used on the show and yelled out to me that we needed to purchase one exactly the same - so they could have fun with it too!

After watching this show, I let my daughter talk me into cooking some chocolate chip cookies, which I felt strong enough to resist eating but, soon discovered I wasn't...yummo! We enjoyed our time together cooking and singing as we created, made a big mess and helped each other bake some treats for our family. In my mind was the example of Katy and the reminder of teaching on a child's level and the benefits it can bring.

I Can Cook serves up a selection of simple recipes and top cookery tips for kids under 6, as well as opening them up to the full cycle of food as they learn to connect what's on their plate with the world around them.

What are your favourite things to cook with your kids?

Tune in to I Can Cook weekdays at 12pm on CBeebies - 

Channel 705 on FOXTEL and AUSTAR.

gently

Today for Mother heart I am taking back my blog. I have had a lot of company sponsors on my blog recently and have been missing the opportunity to write about motherhood the way that I want and like to do. I still have a few more in the works I am finishing off and am trying not to take on too many more. So today I have a blog post that comes from my heart. It is how I am feeling right now and I thought that maybe, just maybe someone else might be feeling the same way. I will go back to doing the Mother heart guest posts next week.

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As a mother I like to help my family move forward, to progress and to develop.
Often I am so focused on helping them that I forget about myself.

When this happens I personally get stuck in a rut. I stop moving forward and I get depressed.

This is because of the way I think. My internal thoughts and beliefs.
I let them stop ME from progressing and from being happy.

It can be as simple as:

you are not good enough
you are not patient enough
you lost your temper again
you can't get the kids to listen to you
you can't meet all the kids needs
you can't hold yourself together
you are not kind
you are not loving
you are being selfish
you are a not strong enough
you are not important
you not worth making time for

These are UNREALISTIC thoughts.
They lead to DEPRESSING feelings of NO SELF WORTH!

We are not expected to be perfect in our mothering.
Just doing the best we can.

For me, when my cherubs were young, I would set ONE goal to achieve each day.
If I could achieve that ONE goal, I knew I would feel great for the whole day.

It was something I could cling to, refer to, and give me a boost during the day.
It helped to improve my SELF talk and in turn the way I talked to my children.

MY SECRET: For my goal I would make it something I KNEW I could achieve.

EXAMPLE: to get dressed, to have breakfast, to have a shower or to clean my teeth.

Crazy, I know! but...you should TRY it - it really works. I would jump up in the air, punch the sky and yell out with great excitement - Woo Hoo! I achieved my goal for the day! I cleaned my teeth!!!

Back then, it was BIG for me. It was what I NEEDED.
Now, I can set bigger goals, harder goals and challenge myself more.

As my children have grown my thoughts have improved and my expectation has lessened.
I can now set a goal to shower, get dressed, brush my teeth, eat breakfast and even do the dishes!

I believe as women and as Mother's we forget to be kind and gentle to ourselves.
We generally save this type of special behaviour for others, feeling that we do not deserve it.
We do deserve it, we are worth it and we NEED to show it to ourselves.

Being gentle is to be considerate, tender and kindly towards ourselves.
As we take life a little more gently, a little more slowly, we will be able to see improvements and be surprised to notice that we are moving forward, we are progressing and we are finding happiness.

Today I hope you can think of something you could do just for YOU and then find the time DO IT!
If you cannot think of anything: gently, lovingly wrap your arms around yourself and remind yourself you are doing an awesome job....because YOU are!


Remember * Kindness Begins With Me
This is also number 14 in my happiness list.

Giveaway Bambi DVD Value Pack

Sponsored by Nuffnang.

Are you a mother that get's excited when you hear that Disney is unlocking the vault? 

I have a few Disney favourites that I look forward to watching with my children and when I heard that Disney was bringing Bambi out of the vault I was hoping that my kids would enjoy it as much as I do!

With so many action movies out targeted towards children I was looking forward to having in our collection a movie that kind of slows you down. That brings you back to nature and helps children view animals in their natural environment {well, in early cartoon form!}. Bambi allows children to become more involved with the characters and to enjoy less talking, less action and more connecting.

Walt Disney Studio's is proud to announce the release of Disney's beloved animated classic, Bambi. Coming out of the Disney Vault for a limited time only, this movie will be available for the first time in high definition on Diamond Edition Blu-Ray and Disney DVD from March 30th, 2011.

Nominated for three Academy Awards including Best Song, Best Score and Best Sound in 1943, this tale of friendship, love and magic of life will enchant families all over again in high definition magic.

Bambi is another Disney movie that has stood the test of time. It was produced in 1942 and is still a popular movie with children today. A family favourite, Bambi tells the story of a young deer hailed as the 'Prince of the Forest' at his birth. As Bambi grows, he becomes friends with the other animals of the forest, including the playful rabbit, ‘Thumper’ and the bashful skunk, ‘Flower’. 


But the fun of nibbling on fresh blossoms and frolicking through the woods is only the beginning. Exploring his new world, and guided by the wisdom of Friend Owl, Bambi learns valuable life lessons with every adventure ~ experiencing the power of friendship, family and love along the way.

We love to share with our children great memories from our childhood. We often do this over dinner or at bedtime where we can weave out a story to keep them interested and entertained. We also love hiring movies that we loved as children and showing them why we adored them and relating to them to our childhood memories.

Recently we had the opportunity to share Bambi with them. It allowed us to share a little of our childhood with them and to connect us with our children.

After the movie finished Sam came up to me and said,
"That was a great movie Mum."
I asked him why he thought it was such a great movie and he said,
"It just is."
I tend to agree with him.
It just is a great movie.

Thanks to Nuffnang and Walt Disney Studio's we are very excited to be able to giveaway:

 3 copies of the Bambi Diamond Edition Blu-Ray & DVD Value Pack.

To enter this giveaway:

1. Add yourself as a follower on my blog
2. Leave a comment below and tell me:

Have any of your children or children you know, when learning to talk, been like Bambi and called something a funny name???

3.. The more creative the answer the better your chance to win!
4. Open to Aussie residents only
5. Check the terms and conditions here: http://www.nuffnang.com.au/terms-conditions/terms-conditions-for-disney-bambi-giveaway
6. The winners will be chosen by the promoter
7. Make sure you have your email address linked to your profile or include it below.
8. Entries close March 31st 5pm.

Be Natural Cereal Winners

Very happy to announce that the winners of the Be Natural Cereal are:

jessiebelle

roger

operationhotmother

Debba

Queensland Girl

Potsy mummy

joyjoyc

Emily (Mum's the word)

Veronica

Super Sarah

Congrats on winning 2 boxes of cereal and please email me with your 

home address at sevencherubs@gmail.com

Enjoy xx

a weekend away

It is over. Australia's first ever Bloggers Conference is finished. I felt so lucky to be able to attend. I had a wonderful time away for the weekend and loved meeting some awesome women that I have been so looking forward to seeing. A big thanks to those who organised it and for all the effort that they put in. If you want to see some great snaps from the weekend check out Danimezza's blog over here. I am hoping I can get some time to share some of my thoughts and pictures later on today, if I can stay awake long enough!

Serious big thanks to my awesome husband who took over running the home whilst I was gone. He really is a super dad and I so love and appreciate that he supports me in my blog loving and creative desires.

Today it is back to reality and housework. My laundry is calling my name. There is a pile of 'mount wash me' waiting for me to tackle it and cherubs that need love and attention. Bedrooms to be sorted, floors to be mopped and a kitchen that needs to be cleaned. I so love a weekend away and find the first day back is always the hardest to get through. Loud music, lots of dancing whilst I clean and chocolate help make the day go so much smoother.

Do you ever get the chance to go away?

How do you survive the first day back?

Giveaway 5 Spiritual Solutions

 As you know I am a big fan of Linda and Richard Eyre. They are New York Times No. 1 bestselling authors and are the parents of nine children and, by coincidence, the authors of nine internationally distributed parenting and life-balance books. They now spend their time lecturing throughout the world on family-related topics and enjoying their grandchildren. 

When I first became a mother I happened upon one of Linda and Richard Eyre’s books, “A Joyful Mother Of Children” and from that moment I was hooked. I loved the uplifting yet honest approach towards parenting they shared and I felt like I connected with them as I truly had a desire to be a joyful mother of children myself. 

Recently, I had the opportunity to receive a copy of their new book "5 Spiritual Solutions for Everyday Parenting Challenges," which is available in Deseret Book stores now.  I have to share that I was so excited to get this book in the mail that I have had to calm myself down and pace myself in my reading so that I did not devour it all in one setting! 

As a mother who loves to include a spiritual focus in my mothering role, I really enjoyed the reminder, the application and practical every day insights that Linda and Richard share. With many years of experience and with many opportunities to teach, connect and learn from other parents I found their pearls of wisdom worthwhile and really a good read.

The 5 spiritual solutions they cover are:

Solution 1:  Remember Your Children’s True Identity 

(Give them the respect and individuality they deserve as children of God)

Solution 2: Remember God’s Parenting Patterns 

(Try to emulate His divine example in how we discipline and how we motivate and how we love.)

Solution 3: Remember Your Direct Channel to the Father

(What prayer is more direct and effectual than a steward asking the true Father how to parent His children?)

Solution 4: Remember the Church’s “Scaffolding”

(The Church is our back-up for teaching everything from values to speaking ability.)

Solution 5: Remember the Savior’s Power

(We have the very Priesthood and power of God to bless and guide our children.)

This is one of those books that gives real practical application. I love to read parenting books where they share real life, everyday stories that actually happened in their own lives and their own homes, not some study that was done years ago. From these stores and experiences, I found myself as a mother wanting to include more of a spiritual focus within my family and being able to see from their insights how this could be done in a better, more planned way for our own unique family situation.

Most of my parenting skills and qualities I have learned have come through studying Scriptures and the teachings I have learned from attending church. I love that Linda and Richard remind us to not take this for granted and to appreciate what a blessing it is to us and to use it!

I am really excited to be able to give away a copy of Linda and Richard Eyre’s new book "5 Spiritual Solutions for Everyday Parenting Challenges," to a lucky Seven Cherubs reader. Here are the guidelines below:

1. Add yourself as a follower on my blog
2. Leave a comment below 
3. Make sure you have email connected to your profile or leave your email in the comment
4. Open to US residents only
5. Entries close 28th of March

Good luck xx

time out

I am taking a little 'time out' from my blog and heading off to the Aussie Bloggers Conference in Sydney this weekend. Hoping to have a blast, meet some awesome women, dance the night away and learn some new skills and tricks in relation to blogging.

I have left the cherubs in Matt's more than capable hands and am going to miss those gorgeous faces and smiles but I know that they will all survive fine and plus, this is something that I really need right now. Feeling like one of the luckiest people alive that I get to go.

I hope YOU have a great weekend and I will catch up with you when I get back.

Mother heart: Aspiring Millionaire

One of the reasons I love having a blog is that I get to connect with other wonderful women who feel as passionate about motherhood as I do. I created Mother heart to highlight some of these women and to get a glimpse into how they feel about motherhood.

This week for Mother heart we have a financial motivated mother who has a wonderful goal to be a millionaire ~ she is not only dreaming about it ~ she is actually doing something about it! She even has a book deal in the works that has come from her blog. Talk about exciting!!! I have found her blog to be inspiring and love that she also runs another blog to share her joys in life too. Most Enjoy x

About me: I am a 25year old Aussie mum. I grew up in Tasmania and Canberra but am currently living in Sydney. My main interests are cooking, travelling and anything to do with finances. I am currently studying to become a financial planner. I got to travel a bit thanks to my husbands many connections before kids and plan to travel more. My dream is to own my own dream home and be financially free so I can travel the world with my family so they can experience things rather than just read about them.

My family: I have 2 beautiful daughters a 3 year old and a 1 year old turning 2 in February. My darling husband and I have been married almost 6 years. He is half Maori, half Tongan and we hope to share his culture with our children as they grow up. I am currently a stay at home mum, although I have just applied for a few jobs as my husband and I have decided to switch roles as it will be better for our family. 

My mother heart: There have been many moments which have touched my heart but one of the more recent ones was when my eldest daughter came into my room and saw I was sleeping. I had my eyes closed, but was not fully asleep. She came over, pulled up my blanket to cover me properly, kissed me on the cheek and whispered “I love you”. This is something I usually do to them before I go to bed, when they are asleep and have been asleep for hours. It touched me so much, as she obviously is aware of what I am doing. Its moments like that which make me realise they are aware of everything and every moment they are creating new memories.


Pictures:

My blog:

I actually have 2, http://www.aspiringmillionaire.com which is about my goal to become a millionaire and financial matters from my point of view. 

The other is http://www.savvymumma.blogspot.com which is about my life, cooking, gardening, renovating our home, crafts and weightloss, just everything in my life.

Thanks so much for sharing your heart with us Kylie. 

You can also find Kylie on:

Twitter and Facebook

Gnomeo and Juliet winners

Very happy to announce that the winners of the Gnomeo and Juliet tickets are:

Jennifer Reid from Life's like a cupcake

Jolene from Jolene's Mumbo Jumbo

Hope you both enjoy some one~on~one time with your cherubs.

Last weekend I went to the Nuffnang Queensland Blogger Meet Up.

So great to meet some other bloggers in person.

You can check me out here and here.

Thanks so much to Melissa for being the hostess with the mostess and helping

us all feel relaxed. Thanks so much to Nuffnang for the pizza and drinks.

Right now I am packing my bags to head to Sydney for the Aussie Bloggers Conference.

Ahhhhh! seriously excited and looking forward to it.

You have to love an Aussie map made up of awesome bloggers!

Queen of the house

Made by Liahona.

The servant.

a stay at home mum

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I am a stay at home mum. I have been for 12 years now. I have days where I love it and days where it drives me insane. It was an easy decision for me to make to stay at home. It was something I always wanted to do. It was not easy learning to rely on one small income or finding ways to fill up my time.

I have gone through stages where I have spent months in my home, rarely leaving or visiting with others. I have also had stages where I have been involved in many different activities and groups and felt like I have rarely been at home. No matter what stage I have been in, I have always loved spending time with my cherubs and loved that I could be there for them when they needed me.

I know not everyone has this opportunity or even wants to be at home but I am interested. For those of you who are mothers:

What stage are you at in your life?

Are you a stay at home mum that actually stays at home most days? OR

Are you out most days busy and involved and connecting with others?