Speaking and Celebrating

Speaking and Celebrating
I’m off to the Connect2Mums Conference and Awards Night this weekend.  This is the second year it has been running, and it promises to be an exciting weekend of learning, sharing and growing.  Last year I came home with the Top Parenting Resource Award, as well as the TopMumpreneur Award, much to my surprise. 2009 This year I am a finalist in the Best Blog Award.  I’m delighted to be a finalist for the second year in a row, though competition is fierce this year and there are some beautiful blogs and bloggers nominated.  I’ll also be a busy bee throughout the weekend, sharing...
A Musical Home

A Musical Home

Music has a special place in our home, and I’ve shared before about singing together.  We sing a lot, but we also have music in our house in other ways.  You see SquiggleDad is a great guitarist.  He doesn’t get to play much any more, but he still has an impressive collection of guitars.  Classical, acoustic, electric, bass.  I think around a dozen instruments all up.  Except now the collection is growing… If...
Justine Clarke Interview + DVD Giveaway!

Justine Clarke Interview + DVD Giveaway!

If you could trade places with anyone for a day, who would you choose?  For me, it would be Justine Clarke.  Oh to be a Playschool presenter – singing to, reading for, and entertaining children around the country!  While I might not ever be on Playschool, I was delighted to have the opportunity to interview Justine about her latest album Great Big World.  (You can read my review of the album here, and check...
Laptop Love (Thanks Logitech!)

Laptop Love (Thanks Logitech!)

There are some lovely perks to being a blogger. Logitech recently contacted me to see if I would like to try out some of their new products, and I jumped at the chance. They are a tech brand I know, trust and use already, so I was delighted to take part in their new campaign My Laptop Gets Spoilt!  I am one of their featured users, so you can jump over to the site and see how the products have worked for me.  Here...
Reading Aloud Ain’t Rocket Science

Reading Aloud Ain’t Rocket Science

I was eavesdropping on my husband reading aloud to our daughter the other night, and I was very impressed.  He was doing so many great read-aloud things with a familiar and much loved book.  He paused to allow her to jump in with words she knew, he invited her to make predictions about the text, he encouraged her to investigate the illustrations for further clues, and he varied the volume and pace of his voice according...
Finding Frogs: Catch and Release

Finding Frogs: Catch and Release

While doing some weeding around the yard (yes, we have a lot of weeds) SquiggleDad found this frog.  He carefully caught the little guy to show the kids.  We have a lot of Cane Toads here in Queensland, so our children are cautious about picking up frogs and toads without a grownup.  It can be hard for kids to tell the difference!  We put the frog into a viewing container and had a close look. After observing the...
The Butterfly Tree

The Butterfly Tree

We affectionately call this tree The Butterfly Tree.  The rambling branches tumble over the fence from next door, creating a perfect little natural cubby house underneath.  The kids and I love trimming the branches from the under side to make more of the space, and sweeping the floor with branches. I had tossed around the idea of hanging some bunting inside the butterfly house, but then I discovered I had a bunch of...
Alison Lester and Little Library Lovers

Alison Lester and Little Library Lovers

I might have been born in Victoria, but I am a Queenslander at heart.  Just for the next few weeks though I wish I was down south!  Over the coming weeks, major libraries around Melbourne will host a series of special ‘Babies Love Books’ events as part of the State Government’s $2.1 million Young Readers Program.  Now in its second year, the Young Readers Program has distributed free ‘It’s Rhyme Time’...
Fairy Stones

Fairy Stones

I totally stole this idea from my daughter’s kindergarten.  In the kindy “Fairy Garden” they have red polished glass stones which the children can move around as they wish.  My daughter likes them, but her little brother LOVES them.  I have had to drag him away from the shiny pebbles many a day. So of course when I saw a bag of similarly sized, multicoloured glass stones at the local hardware store...
Footprints Magazine Blog Tour

Footprints Magazine Blog Tour

Welcome to the blog tour of Footprints Magazine for Christian Women!  This tour is in celebration of the 50th issue of the mag, which started out with very humble beginnings.  I have contributed several articles to past issues, and am delighted to be able to give away a one year subscription to a SquiggleMum reader.  I also had the opportunity to interview editor Janet Camilleri: Janet, what did the first copy of...