My Postnatal Depression story

I believe in facing your fears and following your heart.

If I knew I could not fail, one of the things that I would talk about is Postnatal Depression. I would be brave enough to share part of my story with others in the hope that it would be helpful...to at least one other person.

If I helped at least one other person, it would be worth being brave for, it would be worth opening up my heart for and would be worth being criticised for. It would be worth sharing what the symptoms of Postnatal Depression are, that there are many women who struggle with this challenge and there is support and help available.

I have dealt with many challenges on my motherhood journey and Postnatal Depression was a scary, lonely journey that was a shock and total surprise to me when I discovered that was what I had.

So today, I wanted to be brave and to share my personal experience of Postnatal Depression as it is not talked about enough. I wanted to do this as I worry about all the women that have Postnatal Depression and do not even know it.

They struggle alone and in silence.
It can be a traumatic, exhausting and anxiety filled path.

Motherhood can be a lonely journey and I wanted to share my story to encourage more women to speak up for themselves and to ask for help if they need it.

There is nothing wrong with admitting we need help.
It does not mean we are a failure as a mother.

I have needed help many times on my motherhood journey.
It was the last thing I wanted to ask for but I knew I needed it.

I decided to share my Postnatal Depression story with you in a vlog. Once again, it is not very good quality vlog wise but it is as good as it is going to get from me right now.

I hope you can feel from my heart how passionate I am about Postnatal Depression.

It is real, it changes you and it can be overcome.

Start a new Christmas tradition with Lindt Teddy Bear

We have some lovely Christmas traditions in our home that we treasure and enjoy doing together as a family. We look forward to them all year and anticipate with excitement the opportunity to participate in them as Christmas grows closer. This year however, we need to start a new Christmas tradition of gift giving with the release of the new Lindt Teddy Bear.

Chocolate and I, we have been friends for a long time. Yes, it is that bad that I feel completely comfortable calling chocolate my friend. Haha! Lindt chocolate is my absolute favourite chocolate and I have been having a really hard time keeping to myself the exciting debut appearance of the Lindt Teddy Bear just in time for Christmas.

I am sure you are familiar with the Lindt Gold Bunny that many Australian's have fallen in love with and now the Lindt Gold Bunny has a friend, the Lindt Teddy Bear.

Made from the finest Lindt chocolate, the Lindt Teddy Bear has a happy smile, golden wrapping and a lovely red heart charm to bring a little Christmas magic to your home. It would make a perfect stocking stuffer for yourself or for your cherubs. Made in a mould and hollow on the inside, it has that lovely creamy Lindt chocolate flavour that we all love. It comes in a variety of sizes and would even make a gorgeous table decoration on Christmas Day.

Now, I am a little fussy with the products that I share here at Seven Cherubs so I had to ummm....check out the goods of course, just to make sure that Lindt was still keeping the chocolate up to the excellent standard we all love and expect. 

So I took on this tough assignment and I am happy to say I was very impressed. 

Check out what I was able to sample below:

Uh huh! A whole bag of Lindt chocolate....I know, I about passed out as well! It was filled with cute Lindt Chocolate Teddy Bears and I totally earned myself some serious mummy points with my cherubs for having a blog on this day!

The larger Lindt Teddy Bear comes with a bright red ribbon and a sweet heart charm. The charm adds an extra touch of loveliness and would make a great gift for Christmas.

Lindt is also releasing other Christmas themed chocolates with gift boxes and tins filled with Lindt chocolate goodness and delights. You can keep up to date on all Lindt treats by checking them out on facebook here.

The Lindt Teddy Bear is only going to be available in Target stores nationwide and they are even going to have some in-store sampling just to allow you to try the Lindt Teddy Bear out.

Target will also be offering exclusive in-store promotions where you can get yourself a free limited edition Lindt Teddy Bear USB with selected purchases on selected dates. I have to say I am a little excited about mine. Keeping it from my kids...now that is another story!

So how do I really feel about the release of the new Lindt Teddy Bear???

1. Hello my friend, you look so cute and adorable and you look almost too good to eat....almost!

2. Kids, don't mess with me, it is chocolate time. It's mine, all mine!!

3. Do I share with hubby??? Nahhh!

My favourite way to see the Lindt Teddy Bear: headless and gone!

They are even the perfect size for small cherub hands....

So, now that I have shared with you just how awesome the new Lindt Teddy Bear is AND I know you are just dying to try one out for yourself AND if I was going to finish my 1000 follower celebration here at Seven Cherubs, it would not be complete without a little chocolate to sweeten the experience.

Thanks to Lindt I have one gift pack of Lindt Teddy Bears to giveaway here at Seven Cherubs.

*insert jumping, clapping and cheering*

This is what one lucky Seven Cherubs reader will win below:

Giveaway Guidelines:
1. Add yourself as a follower on my blog
2. Open to Aussie residents only
3. Winners chosen by the random number generator
4. Entries close November 11th, 2011
5. Leave a comment below to enter and tell me:

What is your favourite Christmas tradition?

{Please leave your email address with your entry. So many giveaway entries do not have email attached to their profiles and I have to keep redrawing winners as I cannot contact you. Thanks}

If you live in Brisbane you might want to check out these dates for sampling opportunities:

December 1st, Myer Centre, Brisbane City - 5-8pm

December 3, Brookside Shopping Centre, Brookside - 11am-2pm

December 3, Chermside Shopping Centre, Chermside - 11am-2pm

December 8, Mount Ommany Shopping Centre, Mount Ommany - 5-8pm

December 10, Shop 197, 1151 Creek Road, Carindale - 11am-2pm

December 10, Westfield Shopping Centre, Indooroopilly - 11am-2pm

These dates are subject to change and you can keep up to date on Lindt chocolate events here.

You can also follow Lindt on twitter here.

GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED!

CONGRATS TO SWEET LITTLE BIRDY

Winnie The Pooh and Dora the Explorer DVD Giveaway

Giveaway closed!

The winners are:

Winnie The Pooh: Cate (russellcathryn)

Dora: Kirsty@MummytoFive and Sally (debenham)

I love Winnie The Pooh movies and books. We have several collections of Winnie the Pooh stories and I enjoy reading them to my kids. We have taken all of our kids to the movies several times to see previous Piglet and Winnie the Pooh movies and all enjoyed it.

I just love the characters in these stories and kind of have a soft spot for Eeyore...just love him and feel I can relate to him in so many ways! Upon receiving a copy of the new Winnie the Pooh movie I told all the kids we were going to watch it that night as a family. My older kids put up a bit of a fuss but came in to watch it with us. I sat there with a big smile on my face when I saw all of my children enjoying the movie - even my older kids!

They sat through the whole movie and several of them were laughing out loud in some parts - they really enjoyed it. My younger kids totally loved it - Liberty kept repeating over and over that it was a funny movie and giggled so many times. Love hearing her laugh!

In this Winnie The Pooh Movie, Pooh starts out his day with a very rumbly tummy but has no honey. Then starts a journey of trying to find some honey and many other adventures in the Hundred Acre Wood. Eeyore's tail goes missing and everyone joins together to try to find him a new one. Christopher Robin even joins in the fun but mysteriously goes missing. Pooh and his team then join together to try to rescue Christopher Robin and end up getting caught in their own trap. All through this adventure Pooh's tummy keeps rumbling and the children begin to wonder if Pooh will ever get his honey!

Here is a short clip of the movie preview:



Such a cute movie and seriously - who does not love Winnie the Pooh?

Thanks to Porter Novelli, I have one copy of Winnie the Pooh to giveaway.

My liberty is also a big Dora fan and to help celebrate 1000 followers on my blog we felt it was only right to include a Dora DVD giveaway in the mix. Liberty has several Dora dolls that she loves to sit next to her when she is watching a Dora DVD and we love it when a new Dora movie comes out so we can find out who it is that she will be rescuing.

The Dora DVD available to win today is Dora The Explorer: Enchanted Forest Adventures. In this movie Dora invites you to revisit the Enchanted Forest where she sets out to save it from Owl, who has taken over as King. Dora and her team help restore Unicornio as King of the Enchanted Forest and work hard to set things right again.

Included in this DVD are some familiar songs and music videos for your cherubs to dance along to. As a bonus Diego also makes an appearance with a special Go Diego Go! Diego The Hero episode.

Dora The Explorer: The Enchanted Forest is due for release November 3rd and this is a great chance to win it before it even comes out in the stores. Total running time of the movie is 90mins - just enough time to sort out a couple of loads of washing - priceless in my eyes!

Here is a short clip if you are interested about what other cherubs are saying about the movie:



What cute kids and I totally love the hat one mum is wearing - stylish!
Thanks to Zing, I have 2 copies of the Dora DVD to giveaway.

So for this giveaway there will be 3 winners.

Giveaway Guidelines:
1. Add yourself as a follower on my blog
2. Open to Aussie residents only
3. Winners chosen by the random number generator
4. Entries close November 4th, 2011
5. Leave a comment below to enter:

{Please leave your email address with your entry. So many giveaway entries do not have email attached to their profiles and I have to keep redrawing winners as I cannot contact you. Thanks}

You can also enter my:
Christmas Planner Giveaway
Garnier BB Cream Giveaway
Lunchbox and Ambi Pur Giveaway

Kelloggs cereal pack giveaway

Kleenex toilet paper giveaway

Mother Manifesto print giveaway

How to describe motherhood

Giveaway now closed!

The winners are:

Motherhood Print:

Sara (at) TisTheLife.com

Colours Of Sunset

Stacey McMillan

Kids Print:

Butterflykisses

Veronica @ Mixed Gems

NaezieFantazie 

I love being a mother but motherhood is hard to put into words. There are so many emotions, thoughts, special moments and unique connections that we have with our children that it is hard to describe to others. A great way to start describing motherhood is to start with a Motherhood Manifesto.

As you know I am currently trying my best to collect words that best describe motherhood. In fact, I am trying to collect 1000 words that relate to motherhood. As I am discovering, not an easy task!

I have written a lot about being a mother on my blog. How I am happy being a stay at home mum, how sometimes I feel lonely as a mother and how to avoid feeling guilty as a mother. I am also a big believer in taking time out for you as a mother...not easy to do but so important.

As a mother to many cherubs I love to have little reminders around my home of my important role to nurture and care for my children. I find it so helpful when I am having one of those moments where I feel like I might explode or where I feel like that what I am doing is not making any difference at all in the lives of my children. By the way, I have those moments all the time!

I was delighted when I was asked to have a look at the brilliant Manifesto for Mums over at The Smile Collective. This site is run by one of my lovely blog friends Kelly, (she also has another gorgeous blog: I love pretty things), and is currently living her dream of being a designer, writer, blogger and mother. She is the owner and Creative Director of Swish Design, a perth based graphic and web design company.

Kelly has created A Manifesto for Mums and it really is the closest I have seen on how to describe motherhood. Knowing Kelly she would have carefully taken the time to really think about how to describe what motherhood means to her and selected those words which touch her heart the most. I love the words she has used: Love, Trust, Mistakes, Practical and Savour. It is presented so wonderfully and just so gorgeous to look at it. A great addition to any home of a mother.

Not only has Kelly created a Manifesto for Mums but she has also created a Manifesto for Kids. Such a cool idea and totally fun to put up around you home. I don't know about you but I have a small addiction to prints...just love them and they always look so good framed. In this Manifesto I love that she included: get your smiles on, make a mess, ice-cream and go exploring. I just smile reading it!

As we are having a week of giveaway celebrations here at Seven Cherubs, Kelly has been kind enough to offer some Manifesto's to giveaway! I know...I did a little dance as well.

We have available 3 x A3 size poster prints of the Manifesto for Mums to win. This print comes in a variety of colours...check them out below...and you can even pick out your own colour!!

We also have available 3 x A3 size poster prints of the Manifesto for Kids. This print comes in two different colours to choose from. Check them out below:

Each print is valued at $30 each and would even make a wonderful gift for a friend or even your own mother. So today we have 6 winners each receiving a poster print for your home.

You can check out the Smile Collective on Shop/Facebook/Twitter
I also recommend checking out Kelly's freebies Here.

Giveaway Guidelines:
1. Add yourself as a follower on my blog
2. Open to Aussie residents only
3. Winners chosen by the random number generator
4. Entries close November 8th, 2011
5. Leave a comment below to enter and tell me:

What word do you use to describe motherhood?

{Please leave your email address with your entry. So many giveaway entries do not have email attached to their profiles and I have to keep redrawing winners as I cannot contact you. Thanks}

You can also enter my:
Christmas Planner Giveaway
Garnier BB Cream Giveaway
Lunchbox and Ambi Pur Giveaway

Kelloggs cereal pack giveaway

Kleenex toilet paper giveaway

Kleenex loves Australian bloggers

Giveaway Now Closed!!

The winners are Mum-me and Amy

Congrats ladies xx

If you are a blogger in Australia you will know that Kleenex loves and supports bloggers. Kleenex even has a Kleenex Mum's website devoted to helping mothers through their motherhood journey. There is a wonderful group of Mummy bloggers who write for this site and I always enjoy reading the wisdom and experience they have to share.

Knowing this information about Kleenex I contacted them to see if they were interested in helping me celebrate 1000 followers on my blog. I don't know about your family, but in our family...we go through a heck of a lot of toilet paper...many butts to wipe = many toilet rolls!

I thought that it might be a great help to some families to win some toilet paper and to help save on the sometimes big expense of food shopping...imagine if you could put that money saved towards something for yourself or even a day out for your family. What a blessing and what fun!

Well, I was absolutely blown away with the reply to my email.
Here is what happened:

1. At first I was speechless
2. Next I got excited!
3. I started planning of what fun I could have.

Now to let you know why I was so shocked:

4. To help  me celebrate Kleenex has given me 1000 toilet rolls to giveaway!

1000 followers = 1000 toilet rolls. Yes, that is a lot of toilet paper!

Crazy? Insane? Totally!!!

5. So, what do you think? Do you want it? Do you want to win your family some toilet paper?

I know I would!!!

Now let me tell you a little about Kleenex and the giveaway guidelines:

The toilet paper we have to win is from the Kleenex Cottonelle range. Kleenex has a variety of choices available to choose from to suit your personal needs and I love that Kleenex promotes the sustainable management of forests and has achieved FSC certification: the highest possible standard for responsible forest management. 

This in turn has led to Kleenex Cottonelle earning the support of WWF. So when you buy Kleenex Cottonelle Toilet Paper you can be confident that you are doing your bit to help the environment.

Here are some of the choices available to win:

Now, 1000 rolls of toilet paper is a lot of toilet paper to win. So I have decided to divide it up and to have 2 winners with 500+ rolls of toilet paper each. Depending on the size of your family will depend on how long it lasts for you. It works out to be at least 2 years worth of toilet paper for your family and an awesome prize!

Kleenex is also allowing you to pick which type of toilet paper you would like from the above range and if storage is a problem they will also stagger the delivery for you. Seriously...so helpful!

Giveaway Guidelines:
1. Add yourself as a follower on my blog
2. Open to Aussie residents only
3. Winners chosen by the random number generator
4. Entries close November 10th, 2011
5. Leave a comment below to enter and tell me:

Do you scrunch or do you fold?

{Please leave your email address with your entry. So many giveaway entries do not have email attached to their profiles and I have to keep redrawing winners as I cannot contact you. Thanks}

You can also enter my:
Christmas Planner Giveaway
Garnier BB Cream Giveaway
Lunchbox and Ambi Pur Giveaway

Kelloggs cereal pack giveaway

If you want an extra entry and want to have some fun, as Halloween is coming up I want to see what costumes you can make with toilet paper. Take a picture and upload it to my Seven Cherubs facebook page here. For a little inspiration check me out below:

So Mum's, get your mummy on and show me how good you look as a mummy!

How to make an Instagram Heart Wall Decoration

I am a little bit in love with Instagram. The fact that I have over 1000 pictures in my collection kind of tells me I like to have fun mixing up my pictures and sharing them with others. My username is sevencherubs if you are interested in checking them out.

I have seen some really cool wall decorations in Pinterest using Instagram and have always wanted to create a similar look in my home. I love decorating around my house and really wanted to give making an Instagram heart wall decoration a try.

I have this blank wall in my entrance way. I had repainted it a while back and left it blank waiting until I found just the right decoration to display there.

I was very excited when I saw on facebook a link to a blog post from Chantelle at Fat Mum Slim on how to print your Instagram pictures. I immediately checked it out and ordered a bunch of my favourites to start my heart wall decoration. I love that there are several different options to choose from and I am delighted with the results:

When the prints arrived in the mail, I simply added a little blu-tack to the back and stuck them to my wall. So easy! Of course I still have a lot more space on my wall and am looking forward to expanding my heart shape with a few more prints in the future. Thanks so much Chantelle!

Kellogg's Mum chat

Giveaway Closed!

The winners are:

Melinda Russel

Jo Hardwick

Cassie Miller

Farmers Wifey

I love working with brands as a blogger and love it when I get the opportunity to connect with a brand that is willing to listen to what we have as women and as mothers to say about how they are affecting our lives. I attended a Kellogg's Brunch (Mum chat as I like to call it) thanks to Brand Meets Blog and loved the opportunity to share my opinion about cereal in relation to children.

The main topic of discussion was about sugar in cereals and how much as mothers we place this as a priority in our purchases of cereal products. I loved listening to the variety of responses that came from the lovely ladies who attended and my favourite discussion we had was about how we open a cereal packet. I discovered that different families do it different ways. 

Do you cut it on an angle or do you tear open the packet? 

I have my favourite way to open a cereal packet and my kids have a different favourite - it all depends who gets to the packet first! By the way, do you know that the plastic packets in cereal boxes can be recycled..

If you ever get the opportunity as a blogger to attend such an event I highly recommend that you take up the opportunity. It is lovely to meet blog friends in real life and to also talk to professionals about the work that they do. I was really impressed with the Kellogg's team, they really listened to what we had to say and appreciated our honesty and feedback on how we see the Kellogg's brand.

I of course have no problem sharing my opinion and made my fair share of comments in relation to family and breakfast. We are big breakfast eaters and I totally encouraged Kellogg's to start selling cereal in bulk packets...we go through those boxes way too fast!

Even though I attended this event and totally enjoyed the day, when it comes to all areas of raising my children I prefer to use my own judgement and experience. These type of events do not sway my decision as a mother very much as I am generally clear on what I like and do not like. Having said that I think it was a brilliant move by Kelllogg's to reach out to mothers and to get their feedback. We do have great influence and control over what happens in our home and especially in relation to purchases and the eating habits of our family. 

A full wrap up of who attended and what other blog posts have been written about the day can be found over at Be a Fun Mum by Kelly. The awesome pictures take were from the talented Hannah Millerick Photography.

I have to say that my favourite part of the day was when Kellogg's gave me a Seven Cherubs cereal box.  So fun and so clever. My kids totally think I rock and love that our family made it onto a cereal box. Too funny! Now as Kellogg's loves bloggers and mothers, they have generously donated some cereal to add to my 1000 followers giveaway week. Woo hoo!

To giveaway we have what we will call Rainbow Cereal Packs, each Rainbow Cereal pack will be a combination of different cereal types from Kellogg's and contain 7 cereal boxes. Not the small fun size packs but normal cereal box size.

I have 4 Rainbow Packs to giveaway.
4 winners receiving 7 cereal boxes.

Giveaway Guidelines:
1. Add yourself as a follower on my blog
2. Open to Aussie residents only
3. Winners chosen by the random number generator
4. Entries close November 5th, 2011
5. Leave a comment below to enter and tell me:

How do you open your cereal packet?

{Please leave your email address with your entry. So many giveaway entries do not have email attached to their profiles and I have to keep redrawing winners as I cannot contact you. Thanks}

You can also enter my:
Christmas Planner Giveaway
Garnier BB Cream Giveaway
Lunchbox and Ambi Pur Giveaway

Environmentally friendly home atmosphere giveaway

Giveaway now closed!

The winners are:

Leanne @ Uber Simplicity

CDee

Wendy My Beautiful World 

Catrina Murray

My home environment is very important to me. I try my best to take care with how my home looks and with the climate and atmosphere we have for fun, love and growth together as a family. Often I find that helping to have a better environmentally friendly home atmosphere starts with the little things.

Here are some small products that I like that will help to make a difference towards helping the environment and about how you feel in your home. In continuing with my giveaway theme for this week I have some lovely environmentally products for you and some fragrances to inspire you as you go about your daily activities.

I really enjoy having Donna from Itty Bitty Greenie as a sponsor on my blog. I love the story behind her business and love that she specialises in environmentally friendly products for children. As part of my 1000 follower giveaway week, Donna is giving away some of her Goodbyn Bynto Lunchboxes.

Check them out below:

These awesome Lunch boxes are made from recyclable food-safe plastics and all pieces are lead-free, BPA-free and phthalate-free. All parts of the lunch box are recyclable and manufactured under ethical labour and environmental principles. They are also dishwasher-safe (including stickers!) and freezer safe.

This style of lunch box - the Goodbyn Bynto box has three separate compartments and come with a drink bottle and stickers so your kids can customise them just the way they like. It is safe, recyclable, and perfect for any outings to the park, for road-trip snacks or for younger kids heading off to school or childcare. Normally they are $28.95 to purchase and today we have one pink and one blue Goodbyn lunch box to giveaway:

You can connect with Donna on her blog, facebook and twitter.

I am a big fan of Ambi Pur after attending a brand launch in Sydney where I had the chance to learn the behind-the-scenes of how they put together the lovely fragrances they have in the Air Effects range. I found the experience really fascinating and I love way they smell! Ambi Pur have just launched a brand new range of home fragrances inspired by Hawaii, New Zealand and Thailand, expanding on the Air Effects range that was launched earlier this year.

This month Ambi Pur is also launching Set & Refresh. They promise to deliver up to 60 days of continuous freshness in the home. I have not tried them out yet but I can tell you that they are designed to slowly release scented oils without the need for plugs or batteries. I totally love candles in my home to add some wonderful smell and atmosphere with a house full of cherubs and this product sounds like a great addition to any home. You can also check out a review from Kelly at Be a Fun Mum from here.

Ambi Pur is giving away 2 packs of Destinations-inspired home fragrances which would include one of each of the new range of Air Effects plus two Set & Refresh products in the Hawaiian and New Zealand range. Each winner receives:

* 3 x bottles of Air Effects spray
* 2 x Set and Refresh products

This is valued at approximately $30 each.
In this combined giveaway there will be 4 winners in total.

Giveaway Guidelines:
1. Add yourself as a follower on my blog
2. Open to Aussie residents only
3. Winners chosen by the random number generator
4. Entries close November 3rd, 2011
5. Leave a comment below to enter.

{Please leave your email address with your entry. So many giveaway entries do not have email attached to their profiles and I have to keep redrawing winners as I cannot contact you. Thanks}

You can also enter my Christmas Planner Giveaway and my Garnier BB Cream Giveaway.

Garnier Miracle Skin Perfector BB Cream Review and Giveaway

GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED
The winners are:

Jenn from Happiness, from the ground up
Michelle Rivet
Chont
Dorothy from Singular Insanity
Jasmine1485
Karen Lee
Emma from Cheeky Chicken Photography
Queen of the monkeys
Kellie - The Good, The Bad, and The Unnecessary
Effie

Garnier has released a new BB Cream. A Miracle Skin Perfector and Daily Blemish Balm providing an all-in-one solution to your complexion and skin care needs. Garnier are the first to introduce a Blemish Balm cream to Australia.

If you are wondering what a Blemish Balm is the best way to describe it is as an all-in-one cream that covers five different actions: Hydrate for 24 hours, Even tone, Correct blemishes, Boost healthy glow and SPF15+ protection.

As a woman with fair skin, I often find it very difficult to find makeup that is light enough to match my skin type. It is either too dark for me or feels too thick on my skin. I do not like to wear makeup that is heavy on my face but, I also do not mind showing off some of my freckles. They add character! Finding a balance between all of my wants in a tube has had me trying many different types of makeup available on the market over the years.

Now that I am getting a little older, I am finding the need to seek out a cream to help me cover up a few unsightly marks that seem to be appearing with age. I was so delighted when Garnier sent me some Miracle Cream Skin Perfector to review. I am so glad that I said YES!

I have been using the BB Cream for over a week now and started off with the Light version right away. When I first looked in the tube I really did not think that it would suit my skin colour but was happily surprised that is not as dark as it looks. I can easily spread several layers of the cream on my skin to help cover up underneath my eyes or other blotches and still have it looking nice and even.

I was very surprised that I could just apply this Blemish Balm to my face and that is all I would need to wear for the day. It cuts down on my makeup time in the morning and I totally love having only one product that I can apply to my face and then be ready to rush off for a busy day.

I love that it is light on my skin and was delighted with how it feels when I apply it. I love the feel of cream going on my skin and this is smooth and soft to apply. As soon as I put it on I could tell that it was really going to hydrate my skin and was so pleased it has SPF15+ sun protection as I get sunburnt so easily!

The medium version of the Miracle Skin Perfector cream I can still use as after playing around with the creams I have found that even with fair skin I can mix the two colours together and still end up with a blend that suits my skin type. I am very happy with this product. New loyal customer here!

If you are interested in checking out more about this product you can look it up on the Garnier Website and Garnier Facebook page.

The BB cream is currently available at Priceline and is being rolled out to supermarkets, pharmacies, independent & variety stores as I type!

Other bloggers who have reviewed the cream are:

DanniiBeauty, Kate Say Stuff, Toushka Lee, Nobashake and Mumma's Mini Me's.

Garnier would love you to try out this BB Cream and I have 10 packs of the Light and Medium shade to giveaway. Each winner will receive:

1 x Garnier Miracle Skin Perfector BB Cream Light
1 x Garnier Miracle Skin Perfector BB Cream Med
Valued at $13.95ea (total $27.90 prize pack)

Giveaway Guidelines:
1. Add yourself as a follower on my blog
2. Open to Aussie residents only
3. Winners chosen by the random number generator
4. Entries close November 1st, 2011
5. Leave a comment below to enter.

{Please leave your email address with your entry. So many giveaway entries do not have email attached to their profiles and I have to keep redrawing winners as I cannot contact you. Thanks}

You can also enter my Christmas Planner Giveaway HERE.

Disclosure: I received some beautiful goodies from Garnier including the new BB cream. No payment was offered or accepted, and all opinions are my own.

What is your messiest family meal?

Feeding a large family has allowed me to see my fair share of messy faces and messy meals. We love our family meal time together and have had many a fun moment around our dinner table talking, eating and making a mess in each others company.

I have seen cherub faces covered in Hommus, Chocolate, Dirt, Cake Mix, Lipstick and Birthday Cake. Some of these were from messy family meals and some of these were from play and cheekiness!

We cook a large variety of meals in our home for dinner time and one of our messiest family meals is Spaghetti Bolognaise. No matter how hard we try to eat it nicely, we always seem to make a mess. It ends up on the table, on clothes, on chairs and on the floor. If it was not so easy to cook and did not taste so great we would happily remove it from our family meal planning because of the mess we make eating it.

But, it is a family favourite so we keep it in our eating schedule. As far as the clean up goes from eating messy family meals in our home, I am always thankful that we have a dishwasher to stack all of our dishes into to help clean up. Saving me time and effort in the clean up process.

We tried out some Finish Quantum dishwashing tablets and found them to work really well. I have shared on my blog before a review on how they go in my dishwasher when they gave me a Brownie Making Challenge. The dishes always come up really clean and smell really nice.

Finish Quantum is currently running a 'We Love Messy Meals' campaign. They are looking for Australia’s messiest family who can put Finish Quantum to the ultimate test. Being a family who is big on fun and big on mess we decided that this challenge was just the type of competition that we could take on and enjoy!

Here is our crazy entry to win $25,000!

I do have to say...there is one child missing, Eli is not with us for this meal, we decided to go with the theme of fun and serving others and just check your volume on your computer before you watch it.

Oh my! you will never look at us the same again!!!


Now, that you are recovering from shock and you are feeling inspired to make your own video after seeing ours - to enter the competition head on over to messymeals.com.au and share a family picture or video to show why your family should win the Messiest Meal campaign.

I do have to also say that you are going to have a hard time beating us...we are very messy!

Entries close October 22, 2011 (so move like lightning!) and after all the entries are in, they will then select the 3 most entertaining and memorable messy meal entries for Australia to vote for. Voting is open from November 6 to 19, 2011.

Another great incentive by Finish Quantum is a free 'We Love Messy Meal's ebook that they have available to download. It contains 4 quick and easy meals, 20 family favourite meals and 36 sweet treats. A great selection of recipes to try out at home. You can download it here.
 

What is your messiest family meal?