September 2021 - Page 2 of 3 - PLAYWORKEATREPEAT

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

This year I made my mum a Pineapple Upside-down cake for her birthday and it was a great success! Happy 93rd Birthday Mum! Hi everyone hope you are all doing well. Thanks for stopping by today. It was my mum’s birthday yesterday and she turned 93! Yes Sir, 93 now that’s a big number. If she knew I had just revealed her age on this blog, I would be in big trouble. She actually looks very good, Mum has great skin and I really hope I look as good as she does when I’m 93!! My Mum has been living with us for about 7 years and she was always very mobile and independent up until about 3 years ago. Unfortunately, she had a few falls and age finally caught up with her so now she gets around using a walker. Reminiscing About Last Years Celebration Last year we had the whole family over for a little celebration, but this year things were a lot different. We are currently in week 12 of lockdown and still have many more weeks left to go. I think maybe mid-October restrictions might be lifted if we get our vaccination rate up to 70%. Anyway, lockdown this year meant it was just us celebrating my mum’s birthday. By us I mean myself, my husband Steve, and Sam our 16 soon to be 17 years old son. The Pineapple Cake I made some of Mum’s favorite dishes for dinner and instead of a traditional birthday cake, I made her a pineapple upside-down cake. Mum doesn’t like creamy cakes anyway, so this was just right. Whenever I see a pineapple upside-down cake it takes me back to my childhood. They were hugely popular back then and if my mum wanted to impress, that’s what she would bake. I make mine from scratch but I have to tell you something funny, I grew up thinking that the only way you could make a cake was if it came out of a boxed packet mix. My mum used to cook like a champ and all her food was always so delicious and lovingly made. But when it came to cakes and biscuits, they were either store-bought or from a packet mix. Mum even made the pineapple cake using the packet mix and I must say it still tasted really good!! Ikea Measuring Spoons While I was making the cake yesterday, I found myself thinking that packet mix might be the way to go! I love all things Ikea, but earlier this year I bought a set of measuring spoons from Ikea without realizing that they are all in Decilitres. WHAT??? They are marked with DL. I had never even heard of a decilitre before so I had to quickly google ‘what is DL on my measuring spoons’. Turns out there are a bunch of angry DL measuring spoon owners out there on the internet and they’re all mad at Ikea. I am going to invest in another set of measuring spoons soon because every time I bake I have to do maths measurement conversions. Let me tell you something about myself I HATE MATHS, like with a passion. Numbers are up there with clowns for me. I’m scared of both of them. A Quiet But Fun Birthday Dinner Anyway, we did have a nice dinner together even though we ate super late. We waited for Steve to get home from work. Normally we wouldn’t have waited but none of us had anywhere to go the next day. We knew we could afford to stay up late and sleep in if we needed to. Mum was very happy with the cake, she said it tasted delicious, so that was good. Instead of the usual glacé cherries, I used walnuts to decorate instead. I don’t think the cake looked as pretty as it does with the glacé cherries but we all prefer the taste of walnuts. Sam said he liked it too but for his birthday in October, he would like a Pavlova. Following in my Mum’s excellent baking tradition, I will be BUYING the pavlova base from the supermarket and decorating it. Done and done!! Recipe for Pineapple Upside Down Cake Ingredients For the topping 50 grams melted butter 50 grams brown sugar 7 pineapple rings Glace cherries or walnuts For the cake 100 grams softened butter 100grams caster sugar 100grams self-raising flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 eggs 2 tablespoons pineapple juice from the tin of pineapples Method Preheat oven to 180C/160C fan Grease and line a round cake tin with baking paper pour melted butter into the prepared cake tin making sure it is spread evenly sprinkle brown sugar evenly Arrange pineapple rings and place glacé cherries or walnuts in the center of pineapple rings. Set aside Place softened butter, caster sugar, self-raising flour, baking powder, vanilla, eggs, pineapple juice in a bowl. Beat until it’s soft using an electric mixer. Spoon cake mix on top of the prepared cake tin. Make sure to smooth it out evenly. Bake for 45-50 minutes. The cake is done when a skewer comes out clean One Last Thing If you are looking for something sweet but healthy you can find my recipe for healthy banana bread here.

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Good Habits For Staying Organized

4 Comments / Cleaning and Organising

Hi All, Let’s jump in and look at good habits for staying organized. On Wednesdays, I like to talk about cleaning and organizing so I thought it might be fun to look at a couple of habits that will make life easier. It’s incredibly helpful to try and incorporate some organizing habits into your day-to-day. This will hopefully mean that keeping your home organized will be much easier. If you get into some good habits, keeping your home tidy will feel much more achievable and less like hard work. I wanted to focus on a couple of simple habits that will hopefully, with time and practice become like second nature. You won’t even have to think about ‘doing’ certain tasks. They will be things you do automatically as part of your daily routine. Here Are a Couple Of Good Habits For Staying Organized Tidy as you go Whenever anything is out of place, I’ll just take a few seconds and put it back where it belongs. If I open a cupboard or drawer and find some things that need fixing, I’ll go ahead and do it real quick. The same goes for wardrobes and drawers. If something needs to be folded or hung up properly I’ll try and take care of it as soon as I spot it. This is such a great habit and I think I picked it up from a friend a long time ago. I would have to say that she probably has the neatest house in the world. I had just recently had my first son and so had she. Our boys were about two months apart in age. I spent quite a bit of time at her place back then. One thing I noticed was that she would just tidy up as she went about her day. No big deal, she just did it! Well at the time my house was a disaster (cringe). I didn’t enjoy leaving her house and going back to mine, opening the door and seeing the mess. So over time, I made a point of making sure I tidied things up as soon as I saw that they needed doing. And now it’s just a habit. Thank you, tidy friend!! Tidying up as you go means that what may start out as a small mess doesn’t end up becoming a huge organizing nightmare. One or two things out of place quickly multiply into more and more. So it’s a great habit to get on top of things when it’s still only a small task. Finish Things Off Nothing frustrates me more than when I don’t finish what I’m doing before I move on to the next thing. Going back to find I still need to address the previous task exasperates me. Whenever I am working on something say for example folding the neverending laundry. I will really try to make sure I put it away immediately. If I leave it on my bed, which is where I do my folding, It stays there. I know this because I have been guilty of it. Coming back into the bedroom to find piles of folded laundry, no matter how neat those piles are. Is still very frustrating!! Another example of finishing things off in my day is to make sure the kitchen is clean and tidy after dinner. This means that the dishwasher is on, the counters are clean and everything is packed away. This is an area where the whole family can help out before they each run away to their rooms!! Once all this is done then I can sit down and really relax. The same applies to the lounge room. It only takes a few seconds to tidy up the pillows and throws at the end of the day, but it makes a huge difference to the tidiness of the whole room. I wish I could confidently say that my home is super tidy all the time. But life happens and so there are times when things just pile up or drawers and cupboards get neglected and get stuffed with clutter. Having good habits for staying organized does mean that it will take less time to address the things that might have started to pile up. Get Rid of The To-Do List and Just Get On With It! Years ago I used to like making to-do lists. But I found that they didn’t really work for me. Very rarely did I get to cross everything off the list and that left me feeling all annoyed! Now I might quickly write things down that I need to remember but I don’t write long lists. I think having good daily organization habits means there is no real reason to have a long to-do list. Good habits should mean that household tasks are getting done routinely and consistently. It Takes Time To Build Up Habits So Be Kind To Yourself Building a new habit takes time and effort. Start small like, for example, you could get into the habit of making your bed every day. Once this becomes second nature you can move on to other tasks until they too become a daily habit. Remember that if things don’t get done, it’s ok there’s always tomorrow. Just try and be consistent until it is part of your daily routine. Having a couple of simple consistent good habits for staying organized like tidying up as you go and finishing off tasks is the answer to staying organized. I think organizational habits are really the answer to a peaceful, tidy, and clutter-free home. One Last Thing If you would like to read about some tips for a clean and tidy home. You can find them here.

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Sensory Play

Leave a Comment / Insights Into Early Childhood Education

On Tuesdays, I like to look at topics related to early childhood and I thought that for today it would be fun to look at Sensory play. Sensory play is all that messy play kids just love to be involved in. Children love squishing, smooshing, rolling things like sand, playdough, mud, and even your favorite lipstick! However, it’s interesting and very helpful to know that this messy play does in fact play a huge role in children’s learning experience. Sensory play refers to any activity which stimulates a child’s five senses. Touch, smell, taste, sight, and hearing. Sensory play is so important because it helps their brains develop the ability to perform more complex learning tasks. Sensory play reinforces language development, problem-solving skills, cognitive development social interaction as well as fine and gross motor skills. So what are some activities that will encourage sensory play? Here is a list of 6 activities you might like to try with your child 6 Fun Sensory Activities 1. Shaving Cream This is super simple because all you need is a tray and shaving cream. It smells good and it’s easy to clean up (sort of!) Children just love swirling and squeezing the shaving cream through their fingers. Using their fingers, children can write their names in the shaving cream or draw pictures, do lines squiggles, and patterns. At preschool to make things even more interesting, we sometimes add pipettes and food coloring. The children can squeeze food coloring into the shaving cream and it becomes a sensory color mixing experience. How fun is that! 2. Goop All you need to make goop is 2 cups of cornflour and 1 cup of water and mix all this in a large tub. You can leave it white or add food coloring. The kids love this because the cornflour and water mixture has such a unique and interesting texture. It’s kind of solid and then it will turn runny. I can’t lie, this activity is a little messy and takes a bit more effort to clean up but it is well worth it. It won’t stain or damage anything as it washes very easily but I would recommend wearing a biohazard suit, ahem… I mean an apron. 3. Slime To make slime all you need is a large tub, 1 cup of soap flakes, 3 cups of warm water, food coloring, and a whisk or electric beater. When you beat all the ingredients together it turns into a thick foamy substance that looks a bit like beaten egg whites. Kids just love getting their hands right into the slippery, slimy tub. You could also add things like funnels and containers for them to use. Offering two different slime colors will also allow them to mix colors. 4. Rice Play At preschool, we have a really great sensory table always available in the classroom. We like to change it up every week to offer different sensory play experiences, but rice is always popular and on repeat. Sometimes we give the kids bottles and spoons so they can fill up their bottles with rice. Takes a bit of concentration to get the rice into the bottles through the small opening. Other times we have funnels or measuring cups. Another favorite is adding treasure (sequins) to the rice. The kids then have to use their pincer grips to try and get the enticing treasure out of the rice. The more they can collect the more they can take home! 5. Squishy Bags Squishy bags are great for manipulating and playing with. All you need to make one is a zip lock bag, tape, and things like glue, paint, or shaving cream. We make our squishy bags at preschool using cell mix. It’s a non-toxic powder mixed with water that makes a clear gel-like substance. We also use this to make paints and glue. It’s fun to add two different colors for the children to mix for themselves in the squishy bags. Word of warning- make sure to tape up the opening of the bags as best as you can. We inevitably end up with a bag split open due to too much sensory excitement! 6. Sand Trays At preschool, we sometimes bring the sand inside the classroom for some fun sensory play. We use trays half-filled with sand and we provide simple things like sticks for them to ‘draw’ with. Another favorite is when we hide some plastic insects or small dinosaurs in the sand trays. It’s Time To Try Some Fun Sensory play! Messy play can be very educational and these simple sensory activities will give young children amazing learning opportunities. Go ahead and try some, you’ll be surprised how fun they can really be! If you’re looking for some other activities for preschoolers and toddlers, you can find some great painting activities here.

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Neutral Outfits

5 Comments / Fashion Files

For Monday’s styling and fashion inspiration post I thought it would be fun to look at some neutral outfits. Without a doubt, I have to say neutral outfits are my favorite to wear. While I don’t mind a good pop of color every now and then I do tend to stick to neutrals a lot of the time. Whenever I’m out shopping for clothes, I am always drawn to neutral colors. I just think they look so chic and timeless. Over the years I have invested in some neutral-colored staple pieces. Doing this has given me a good foundation for my wardrobe. I can mix and match easily without fear of colors clashing. I love taking fashion inspiration from style icons of the past. Many of their most memorable outfits are mainly composed of simple pieces and often using a neutral color palette. Think of Audrey Hepburn and her slim black pants, ballet flats, and a crisp white button-down shirt. There’s also 1970’s Jackie Kennedy, if you look at what she wore during that decade, a lot is made up of simple neutral-colored pieces and they are still in fashion even today! Another great thing about wearing neutrals is that you are more likely to spend less on current color fashion trends that unfortunately will only last one season. It’s a win for your pocket and a win for the environment. Wearing neutrals also means that nobody will notice if I wear the same white or black t-shirt over and over. The same cannot be said if I was to wear a hot pink one. Here Are Some Of My Favorite Neutral Outfits Number One Here you can see that patterns can be neutral too! These pants are a nice earthy colored tartan, I bought these from H&M last year. They are a nice relaxed fit and I really like the tailored waist and side pockets. The black top is from Country Road and it’s the same style as the cream-colored one I showed you in last week’s Spring outfits post. I love how this top goes in at the waist and gives you a really nice shape. Nude shoes are my favorites, they can be worn with absolutely anything and are just so elegant. I like these pointy-toed ones and I love how the strap gives it a cute detail. I bought these online from Marc Fisher a few years ago and although they might not look it they really and truly are very comfortable. Number Two Here’s another example that neutral does not mean boring. Playing with patterns and textures will give neutral outfits an extra measure of interest. I bought this silk top with the gorgeous detail at the front from Country Road many years ago. I can safely say that I have almost worn it to death. Number Three Beige and black, my two favorite color combinations! I think they look brilliant together. Poor old ‘beige’ has been given a bad rap over the years. It’s been called mean things like boring and draining on the complexion. So poor old beige has been forced to hide under different names such as Cosmic latte, Ecru, and Tuscan. I’ll always be friends with beige but I think the trick is to find the right shade for your skin tone. If in doubt you can always switch things around and wear beige away from your face. So, for instance, you could wear a black top and beige pants or a beige skirt instead. Number Four My good old white t-shirt, here I have styled it with this gunmetal green pants and tan suede slip-on shoes. These colors are earthy and relaxed. See the Rayban Wayfarer sunglasses with the tortoise shell frames. I’ve had them for about 30 years. I saved up for them while I was at uni and even got prescription lenses put in costing me a small fortune back then. But here’s a great example of how investing in timeless classic pieces will keep you in style forever. Heck, I might even request to be buried wearing these. Number Five When I spotted this top at ZARA it reminded me of the Chanel look. You know the classic tweed fabric that Chanel uses for their tops and jackets. I also like the soft colors in the top and while I don’t usually go for embellishments, I was ok about the pearls around the neckline. When I wear this top with a classic pencil skirt like this one I think it looks quite elegant. I hope you enjoyed looking at some neutral outfits for some style inspiration. You can let me know what you think in the comments or you can find me on Instagram.

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10 Fun Things

Healthy Banana Bread Recipe

6 Comments / Recipes

This healthy banana bread recipe is very simple to make because you will only need to use one bowl. Hooray for less washing up! It’s a great idea to make this banana bread when you have really overripe bananas as it will give it that delicious natural sweetness and extra banana flavor. Therefore the more ripe the bananas are the sweeter the banana bread will turn out. I usually use about 2 bananas for this recipe but if you would like it even sweeter you could definitely add 3. Importantly, if you are looking for a gluten-free option you could use gluten-free flour instead. Furthermore, the great thing about this recipe is that if you make it with gluten-free flour you can still keep the same measurements for the rest of the ingredients. I use rapadura sugar instead of brown or white sugar because it has a higher mineral and antioxidant content than other refined sugars. Rapadura sugar contains Vitamins A,C, B1,B2,B5, B6, and Niacin. I am a big fan of wholemeal Spelt flour because it has more fiber which helps the body to slow down its digestion. This in turn means that it helps reduce spikes in blood sugar levels after eating. To jazz things up I also like to add walnuts to this healthy banana bread recipe but you could also try other ingredients like sultanas, or chocolate chips. Go ahead and make it, it’s really good and easy! See how you just need one bowl to add all the ingredients. The mixture is ready to go into the loaf pan This loaf pan is fantastic and it is from USA Pan Bakeware. Its dimensions are 9x13cmx7cm Banana bread mix ready for the oven Out of the oven and ready to eat after it’s cooled. Recipe For Healthy Banana Bread Ingredients 1 1/2 cups wholemeal spelt flour 1 large egg 3/4 cups rapadura sugar 1/3 cup butter melted 2 or 3 very ripe banana 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon ground 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg Method Preheat oven to 175 C or 350 F Prepare a loaf pan with butter and line with baking paper In a mixing bowl combine melted butter and sugar Mash the bananas and add to the butter and sugar mixture Add egg and vanilla and stir Mix in the baking powder nutmeg cinnamon and flour Pour batter into loaf pan Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean Remove from oven and let cool completely One Last Thing If you are looking for more recipes using healthier alternatives, you can find my recipe for gluten-free orange cake here

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20 Things You Can Declutter Right Now!

7 Comments / Cleaning and Organising

Decluttering your entire house might seem like a massive task, leaving you feeling overwhelmed or even a bit frightened. A good way to begin is by simply clearing out items you no longer use or need. This easy starting point can make a world of difference. To make this process smoother for you, here is a list of 20 things you can easily declutter right now! Let’s simplify together and make your home feel more spacious and serene. Are you ready to dive in? Let’s get started! 20 Things You Can Declutter Right Now! 1. Stained, Warped, or Old Plastic Containers I think that it is so satisfying to get rid of old plastic food containers and it’s a good starting point to declutter your home. I don’t know why but these things just seem to multiply over time. Indeed it’s a good idea to just go through all your plastic containers and get rid of any containers with no lids or any random lids that have no containers. 2. Odd Socks Why oh why do we always end up with odd socks? I just don’t get it, because I have a consistent routine and I make sure I wash, fold and put my clothes away without letting them pile up. And yet I still somehow manage to end up with odd socks over time. I have stopped holding on to my sad odd socks and now I just get rid of them regularly. If I haven’t found their matching pair after a month I probably never will so out they go! 3. Books You Have Read and Will Never Read Again Just the other day I went through my bookcase and did a merciless declutter. I had so many books just taking up space and accumulating dust. I got rid of heaps of novels, textbooks, and cookbooks I had not looked at in years. 4. Worn out Underwear Any bras, socks, or undies with holes just need to go. End of story! 5. Shoes You Haven’t Worn In a Long Time Donate any shoes that might look good on you, but hurt so badly your feet are still traumatized. Who knows someone else might have the right kind of feet for these shoes. 6. Clothes That Don’t Fit Anymore Sometimes we hold onto clothes just in case they might eventually fit again but chances are they might not. Consequently, even if they do fit they might not even be in style anymore anyway. 7. Old Greeting Cards A few years ago we had to empty my mother-in-law’s house as she had sadly passed away. I found a huge amount of greeting cards and reading through them just depressed me. Therefore I promised myself that I would never want my kids to have to deal with that. So now I have a rule. If it’s a birthday card it’s allowed to stay up on display for about a week then it gets recycled. Christmas cards all go once the season is over. I have only kept a select few cards congratulating us when our children were born. 8. Paper Clutter Grrrrrr paper clutter!!! It just makes me go bananas. Papers all over the place give me anxiety. So I make sure I recycle them quick smart before they feel too at home. I’m talking about receipts, newspapers, two-for-one pizza coupons, and personalized junk mail from real estate agents telling me that one hundred people are dying to buy my house. I don’t think so. 9. CD and DVD cases This one is actually on my declutter list. I want to put my DVDs in those pocket binders and the good news is that CD and DVD cases can be recycled. So I am super keen to get onto this decluttering task as soon as possible because it will free up a lot of space. 10. Old Chargers Get rid of any chargers you don’t need because you no longer own that particular device. 11. Old Sunscreen Say bye-bye to any sunscreen that has expired or is older than three years because it won’t give you adequate sun protection. 12. Old Mobile Phones We have a company called MobileMuster which is an Australian recycling company that keeps mobile phone products out of landfills. They have special drop-off points conveniently located in places like Officeworks and many Telco companies. Old mobile phones can be dropped off at these locations. 13. Take Away Menus These can be popped straight into the recycling bin because you can easily find menus online. 14. Old Hair Products In my constant quest for sleek shiny hair, I had amassed a large number of hair products promising me the earth but delivering very little. Some of them didn’t even smell nice anymore, I gave a big sigh and threw them out. 15. Old Makeup Yes, that’s right throw out old makeup, it’s not healthy to keep old makeup. 16. Mugs These seem to accumulate over the years so it probably doesn’t hurt to get rid of the ones that aren’t needed. 17. Old Sheets or Quilt Covers A few months after my oldest son moved out to live with his fiancee I went through the linen cupboard to declutter it and I got rid of sheets, mismatched pillowcases, and yes his Mickey Mouse quilt cover too. Boohoo! He didn’t need that anymore. 18. Wire Hangers These can’t be recycled but they can be returned to dry cleaners, donated to charity, or posted on share sites like Facebook Marketplace, or Gumtree. 19. Old Manuals These days it’s easy to find manuals on the product website, but if you’re like me you might still prefer the hard copy. Just make sure to recycle any manuals that are no longer needed. 20. Plastic Produce Bags I have switched over to reusable produce bags but I used to have a heap of them that I had guiltily stashed at the back of my cupboard. I took all of these to my

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Fine Motor Skills

1 Comment / Insights Into Early Childhood Education

Children need plenty of opportunities to develop their fine motor skills before going to big school. One reason for this is so that they will not struggle when it comes time for them to learn to write. If the muscles in their little hands are weak they will find tasks such as holding scissors and pencils difficult. Another reason why children should have good fine motor skills is that it is important for their independence. They need to be able to do things like tie their shoelaces, button up their clothes, and open tricky lunchbox lids. So What Are Fine Motor Skills? Fine Motor skills are the ability to use the smaller muscles of the hands, fingers, and wrists in coordination with their eyes to manipulate objects and tools. Children need precision and coordination in order to master their fine motor skills. Therefore it is really important that they are exposed to many activities designed to develop fine motor skills. 7 Activities For Children There are many simple fun activities that kids can do either at home or preschool which will help them develop their fine motor skills. Here are a few~ 1. Playdough Manipulating, rolling, squeezing, and pinching playdough will give little hands a fantastic workout! I’ve got a fantastic recipe for super soft and long-lasting playdough here. 2. Threading Threading activities are incredibly useful for developing fine motor skills in toddlers and preschoolers. It’s a good idea to start with larger chunkier beads and then work towards threading smaller beads. Threading beads onto pipe cleaners are also an excellent fine motor activity, especially for younger children. Items like straws and pasta are also great to use for threading. We have these ‘Pop Beads’ at preschool. The children have to push hard to join them together, they are quite challenging. I know this because many times I end up having to pull them apart when its pack away time and they are not easy!! 3. Painting Painting activities are fantastic for building fine motor skills. There’s good old finger painting where children give their fingers and hands a good workout. Painting with a paintbrush will help children to develop their pincer grip. 4. Stickers Stickers are a great fine motor activity because they can help strengthen hand-eye coordination and manual dexterity. Peeling stickers off a sheet can be a pretty tricky business. Placing the sticker onto a piece of paper also requires hand control. 5. Clothes Pegs These are great for building up strength in children’s fingers. At preschool, we have quite a variety of activities with pegs such as peg dominos and counting peg games. We also encourage the children to hang up their own paintings onto the drying racks using pegs. 6. Tongs and Tweezers Moving items from one place to another requires a lot of hand-eye coordination. The kids at preschool really like a simple water trough activity that we do. We fill a big water trough with some water and add some colorful plastic fish. The kids then need to use the tongs to take the fish out of the water. It’s like fishing using tongs. We also use pompoms and large tweezers for the children to move between containers. This is another engaging activity that gives their hand muscles a good workout. 7. Pipettes Using pipettes is a great and fun way for children to work on their pincer grip. We do a fun color mixing activity where the kids are given cups with primary-colored water paint. They then have to use the pipettes to transfer the paint onto paper towels. An Important Thing to Remember First of all, children need to get really involved in whole-body movements and use their gross motor skills so that they build up their big muscles. Then this will assist them to build up their small muscles for fine motor activities.

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black top and midi skirt for spring outfit

Spring Outfits

7 Comments / Fashion Files

In honor of Spring finally arriving here in Sydney I thought I might put together a few Spring outfits. I’m just so excited that Spring is here, and I have really been enjoying the clear blue sunny skies and seeing the lavender in my garden blooming. Today, I picked some to put in my cute vase that sits on the hall table. The bees were feasting on the pollen so I had to be super careful when I picked a few sprigs. See how pretty the lavender looks in the vase? Anyway, let’s move onto some ideas for Spring outfits. Let’s Look At Six Spring Outfits Outfit Number One I bought these slim straight jeans from Witchery a few weeks before lockdown and I haven’t worn them yet! I really like the highrise silhouette because it makes my waist look thinner. The straight cropped legs fit really nicely and the raw edges are not too raw. Do you know what I mean? I’ve seen some that look severely frayed and I think the jeans end up looking a bit shabby. Any white top with faded denim washed jeans is such a classic look. I think this outfit looks clean and bright and so good for spring! It gets super hot here in Australia so these jeans are just perfect to add to my list of spring outfits, especially right now and in the coming weeks when it’s still cool especially in the mornings. The pointy patent leather shoes give the outfit a bit more of a sophisticated edge and so it looks a little dressier. These jeans would also go well with boots, loafers, sneakers, or even sexy stilettos. It just depends on the occasion. Outfit Number Two This next outfit is super relaxed, casual and comfortable. The skirt reaches just slightly above the knee so it isn’t too short and I like to wear this skirt with sneakers. Again, this is a skirt I bought from Witchery. I don’t receive any affiliates for mentioning Witchery, I just really like their clothes. The cute skirt has fine black checked lines running through the fabric and so I think it looks good with a black t-shirt. I have worn this with a white t-shirt too but I think I prefer black. The black t-shirt is from Uniqlo and I like the scoop neck. It’s a nice change from the usual round or crew necks. Crossbody bags are unbeatable! They are so handy for when I’m out and about and I need my hands to be free. This lovely bag was actually a Kris Kringle gift from a work colleague a few years ago and the logo says it’s from Jag. I love the neutral color because it goes well with any outfit. The black piping around the bag is also a cute detail that goes nicely with the black top. Outfit Number Three This next Spring outfit has my favorite neutral color combinations. The wide relaxed stone-colored pants are very comfortable. The high-rise fitted waist, zipper, and button make the pants have a slightly more tailored look. The rusty-colored top has a really cute neck detail. See how it is stitched nicely around the neckline to give the whole top a drapey look. I wear this outfit with the top tucked into the pants to give a more fitted look. I also read somewhere that if you wear looser pants it’s a good idea to wear a more fitted top. Vice versa when wearing a loose top it’s probably a good idea to wear more fitted pants or skirts. I think this makes sense. The rusty suede sandals go so well with the top. I’m always a bit conscious to not look too matchy but I like this combination. Outfit Number Four I used to never wear pink, then all of a sudden a few years ago I started liking pink and I shocked myself! But I can’t get enough of this dusty pink now because I think it just says spring! I picked up these pants from ZARA last year and I really love the cut and fit. They look way more expensive than they actually were and they don’t wrinkle, what a bonus! The creamy-colored top is from Country Road Australia. It’s probably a bit hard to tell from the photo but the cut of the top makes it look nicely fitted when I wear it. I bought this one a few years ago, the good thing about Country Road is that they often bring out the same or similar pieces each year but in different colors. So last year I bought the same top but in black. I love my little Furla Metropolis bag. My handbag expert friend introduced me to the Furla brand a few years ago and she encouraged me to spend a slightly eye-watering amount on this little bag. It’s very cute but very little so I usually wear it when I don’t need to carry much. Outfit Number Five I’m not into a lot of animal print but I quite like this snake print blouse from Country Road. It has nice flutter sleeves and a gathered front. It is very loose and comfortable so I like to do a front tuck into the black shorts for a little shape and definition. The shorts are from Witchery and they are made of a nice thick satin elastane fabric. They are not too short and they fit smoothly without looking boxy. They make a nice going out pair of shorts. Outfit Number Six Another dusty pink favorite, this top is made of a polyester satin fabric with a gathered front and button detail. It’s pretty, feminine, and can easily be dressed up or down depending on where I am going. The top is quite long and wide even though it is extra small. I always wear it tucked in and because the fabric is thin it doesn’t look bulky. The shorts are the same as

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It’s The Weekend

2 Comments / Family Life

It’s the weekend! How did the week fly by so fast? I find myself saying this all the time but this week it really and truly did!! I have so many fun things to tell you about. It was a week where I was really blessed with kindness from some of my favorite people. Number 1 Yes, it’s the weekend but it’s also finally Spring and I am so happy! Spring is my favorite season and I just love how the days are getting longer and the flowers are starting to bloom. There’s a real sense of joy in the air once we hit September. Number 2 Last Saturday I made some chicken wraps with Mexican corn salad and tomato rice. I really love this Mexican corn salad and I have made it many times before. It’s a real on repeat favorite. Unfortunately, I didn’t have all the ingredients that give this salad its zing! Not going to the supermarket regularly means I am constantly running out of things or I don’t have all the ingredients I need. This Mexican corn salad needs coriander but I didn’t have any so I had to use parsley from our garden instead. I also didn’t have any red capsicum so I substituted it with tomato. In the end, it was still good but not great. However, we did enjoy it plus I even high fived myself for being creative and flexible. Ha! if it wasn’t for covid I would have been running out to the shops for all my missing ingredients! Number 3 Sunday was quite cold and we ordered some lunch from ‘The Fish Box’. It’s a small fish and chip shop about ten minutes drive from where we live. I had the clam chowder and so did Steve. It comes with this delicious bread bowl. It was so hot, creamy, and tasty that I didn’t want it to end! Sam had the fish and chips which he thoroughly enjoyed. Lunch from the ‘Fish Box’ is definitely a family favorite! Number 4 Sunday afternoon I was getting some things out of my wardrobe ready for my fashion and styling blog post when I pulled out this top complete with tags. I had completely forgotten that I had bought this. How does that even happen? I guess maybe because I haven’t gone out anywhere for so long! Anyway, I was really surprised and happy to rediscover this top and I look forward to wearing it once lockdown ends!! Number 5 I worked on Monday and it was nice to see the two children who attended preschool. It was a lovely sunny day for the last day of winter and the day seemed to go faster than when it’s cold and miserable. I love the preschool where I work but honestly, it must be the coldest place on earth in winter!! My friends had planned a trivia game on zoom for the evening but first, my friend surprised me by bringing us dinner. That’s right she brought over dinner complete with entree AND dessert. She’s so kind! Later on, she joined us on zoom and we played trivia with her, her husband, and another friend. It was a fun night even though we lost, I have no clue about Greek Mythology!! Number 6 On Tuesday Sam had an appointment for his first shot of Pfizer. We headed to the local aquatic center where they have set up a big vaccination hub. The NSW Government is setting up easily accessible venues and doing everything possible to get everyone vaccinated as soon as possible. The vaccination hub was impressively efficient and so well organized. There was some navy personnel helping out with marshaling and directing. When Sam was finished we walked out and we were given a bottle of water and a chocolate. How nice was that!! Number 7 Sam received this in the mail from his school teacher. I thought it was such a lovely kind gesture and I was so touched by the lovely note. Sam goes to an independent Christian School and after this year he only has one more year left. I can’t believe how fast time has flown by. It feels like it was only yesterday when he was starting school! sigh. We are very happy with his school and we will be sad when he finishes. My oldest son went there too, so this school has been a big part of our lives for a long time. Number 8 Look at this!! I found this on my doorstep, and I was so completely surprised and emotional. It was from a very kind and thoughtful friend and her beautiful daughter who I had the pleasure of having in my preschool class a couple of years ago. This just made my day, I was so overwhelmed at their kind gesture and I got very teary when I read the card. I really miss them and sadly I haven’t been able to catch up with them because of Covid lockdown grrrrrr. I have such a special bond with my friend’s daughter and am super excited that her little boy will be in my class next year. Number 9 I was so happy to go to work on Friday, that’s right I was happy because it meant I got to work with my bestie. I hadn’t seen her in nearly two weeks. We are on a roster at work because we have very few kids attending this term so this means I see less of her than I usually would. She was so kind and was able to get my little cat her favorite cat food from a supermarket close to where she lives. For some reason, I had been unable to buy this saucy cat food (Sushi’s favorite) from my local supermarket. She also ordered this cool mouse and pad for me. I love how they match and they were super cheap from Kmart. I got to see her and get all

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