FOR MUMS
My new morning routine, and a Kimono from Yellow Meadow
Next week I am embarking on an important new phase in my life: for the first time in 11 years and from now to forevermore, I will not have school drop-offs anymore. Both of my girls will be in middle school and school drop-off and big girls just do not mix! So finished are those ...
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FOOD
Salade Nicoise
This summer I have decided that I am going to try and learn a new recipe each day. The luxury of being able to muck around in the kitchen testing stuff is one of my true guilty holiday pleasures. In truth, I get into a bit of a rut during our everyday school/work/activities/homework life -- ...
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FOOD
The best veggie chilli
We have been trying to develop our repertoire of vegetarian meals - especially those I can prepare on the weekend and just need to be warmed up on weekday evenings! Here is one of our new favourites: a simple, tasty vegetarian chilli that is warming and so satisfying! We often eat it with some ...
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CRAFTS AND DIY
Creepy Critter Collage -- Halloween Craft Fun
This was one of those 'see-as-you-make' projects after school with some friends, and we love the end result of our creepy critter collages! You only need a few materials (but can easily improvise with what you have at home). And it takes about ten minutes to make one, adding a bit of halloween creepiness to ...
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FOOD
Tomato Paste -- spread it onto bread and call it dinner!
This recipe actually comes from one of the most remote parts of the world! My lovely friend Nadine is from St Helena, an island in the middle of the Atlantic that hardly anyone has ever heard about. We stayed with her over the holidays (not in St Helena as it takes days to get there, ...
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FOOD
Classic French Fruit Tarte
This year is a year of plums in the French countryside – the trees are falling over with them!! I tried to vary a little bit from my usual solution to this 'problem', which is to bake a clafoutis every day. This year, I tried one of the most traditional French desserts: a fruit tarte. The great ...
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FUN
Simple Blocks in Confetti Colours
We received these colourful blocks from a thoughtful friend as a recent birthday gift, and they are really fun to play with! Normally I prefer toys in neutral colours and natural materials, but sometimes it is refreshing to mix it up, and a friend with a good eye for design and style is a ...
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CRAFTS AND DIY
Sweet and sugar-free Valentine's party
I love to create small and sweet celebrations out of holidays, and Valentine's Day is no exception! While I was heavily pregnant last year, I wanted to do a fuss-free Valentine's Day 'baking' activity with my daughter, but without the dreaded sugar crash afterwards. So we made watermelon hearts, which are bake free, and only sweet ...
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TUESDAY TIPS
Reassure Soon-to-be Siblings with a Simple Video
How do you take care of your eldest child(ren) when you are about to have a baby? Well, I recently ran into a local mum. She is due with her second child and asked me what I experienced differently while pregnant the second time. And my answer, without even thinking twice, was that I worried more about ...
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BIRTHDAY PARTIES
Tuesday Tips: A simple birthday party
Esther has organised some epic kids birthday parties, some of my favourite being the disco party and the stick horse party . I on the other hand am terrible at this! I seriously cannot compete. BUT I do think it is important for my kids to have their friends over, host them in our home and basically say ...
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SEWING AND KNITTING
A simple knitted beanie!
One of my many New Years resolutions (which I started over the Christmas period) is to continue making things - just because it makes me happy. ; ) I love watching movies in the evenings, but I also like keeping busy so I have started to try to find simple projects that I can do while ...
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PLACES TO VISIT
Arcachon
As the leaves on the trees here in Paris are slowly turning red, yellow and brown and summer is becoming a bit of a distant memory, I wanted to quickly jot down some notes about an area of France we discovered and completely fell in love with this summer. It is the Atlantic coast of ...
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DIY FOR MUMS
Leg Warmers
I have decided that the cold winter of 2013 is the right time for my girls to challenge their inner Flashdance and start wearing leg warmers. Leg warmers are actually a highly underrated clothing item, don't you think? As there is a strong preference for dresses and tights in our house, a pair of legwarmers ...
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CRAFTS AND DIY
Customise your own Summer Hats
We have a bit of a hat obsession in our house -- an obsession which I encourage during these hot, sunny summer months. As the Australians say: Slip, Slop and Slap -- slip on a shirt, slop on some suntan lotion and slap on a hat (do correct me if I have got that one ...
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FOOD
Easy Biscuits
Sometimes there is just nothing better than a nice cup of tea and a good biscuits to accompany it (how Anglo-Saxon do I sound?). I like these biscuits because they are really easy to make and I always make enough dough so that I can freeze half of it. That way when I, or any ...
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