Vegemite's iSnack 2.0 brand killed after three days!

Yay - iSnack 2.0 dead after just three days! National outrage has forced Kraft to kill the name. I don't know what they were thinking in the first place ........ and neither did the rest of Australia obviously. What a marketing disaster!

Don't mess with a national icon and if you do, do a bit more market research first!

Daylights savings = more sleep (hopefully!)

Daylight savings starts this Sunday and I can't wait. As we headed out of winter and the daylight hours getting longer, Master 2 has decided 5.15 is a good time to wake up. So I am hoping that daylights savings will be our saviour!

This was always my favourite time of the year when I was a little kid with more time to spend running around outside, and many trips to the beach in summer for fish and chips for dinner.

It also heralds the fact that summer is on the way!

8.7kg baby born - ouch!

Carrying a 3.5kg baby is hard enough but news in today that a woman in Indonesia gave birth to a 8.7kg baby. That is just insane!

I wouldn't wish it upon anyone. All I can say is ouch!

Sydney turns orange!

I can't go past commenting on today's dust storm in NSW! Waking up this morning was very eerie in the Southern Highlands ............ but nothing like what Sydney faced. The worst dust storm in 70 years made its way from central and northern Australia and spread its load along the coast.

It did make for some spectacular photography though!

Whilst not as thick as Sydney, the Southern Highlands certainly didn't escape though. Dust covered cars (including ours) drove along the streets looking like we were somewhere in the desert. The hose came out this afternoon and washed down my car, as well as the house and driveway. There is still lots more to go!

Here is a pic taken from my friends front yard.

Happy boys in Thomas heaven!

On Sunday, Thomas ruled our world! Thomas the Tank Engine that is!!

With a son who absolutely loves anything Thomas, we headed to the Rail Heritage Centre at Thirlmere for A Day Out With Thomas on Sunday. A must for any Thomas fan!

We took an hour ride on Henry the steam train, with other activities to amuse the kids - jumping castles, mini Thomas rides, meeting Thomas, face painting, story telling, movies and an opportunity to look through all the old trains at the museum.

It was a really great day out. This is a must to put any Thomas fan in train heaven! 

The Rail Heritage Centre did two of these days this year, so keep an eye out for next years scheduling if you missed out this year.

Good night sleep is just around the corner ...... well so we thought!

After having to get up every three hours during the night for the past six months to feed and cuddle Madeline, it was time to take action! Sleep deprivation is slowly but surely sending me insane!!

Following advice from the wonderful Robin Barker (Baby Love), we started a "teaching to sleep" plan over the past week. The plan is supposed to take 3-5 days to work.

We were having some very promising results with Madeline at her best sleeping from 7pm to 5am and then after a feed back to sleep until 7am. It as great - we were able to enjoy an evening without baby and even able to enjoy of couple of glasses of wine.

Unfortunately, Madeline is now showing early signs of getting a cold, so the plan is now on hold until the sniffles stop. Just as we were getting a taste for a good thing. Anyway, watch this space - we will get sleep!!

New and improved Master 2

Picture this .............. you turn up to a hairdresser with Master 2 and he starts screaming as soon as they put the cape on him. You can only imagine what he is like once they squirt water on his head, start cutting and the clincher - the clippers on the back of the head and around the ears. 

The only way to get the job done is to physically restrain Master 2 and hold him with all your might on your lap with his face in your chest, while he kicks and screams.  

Well I am glad to say, that is a thing of the past (I hope!). May I introduce you to the new and improved version, who sat like an angel with no tears to be seen, content with a lollypop in his mouth (gathering hair mind you!) and an occasional smile. 

It must be a different child I hear you say. Well to my complete surprise - no!! Master 2 has been reformed. 

OK maybe I shouldn't talk too soon - it may have been a one off wonder, but I feel relieved for the hairdresser, myself and Master 2 himself. Time to move on!!

RIP Patrick

It's a sad day today for the many ladies of this world who have drooled after Patrick Swayze since he melted many hearts in Dirty Dancing. He died at the age of 57 after suffering for 20 months with pancreatic cancer.

RIP Patrick!

Kanye go west!

The talk of the day was Kanye West's outburst at the VMA Awards spoiling Taylor Swift's big moment of glory when she won an award for a song of hers. For those that haven't heard, quick recap - Kanye grabbed the mic out of Taylor's hands during her acceptance speech to tell the crowd that Beyonce should have won for her video Single Ladies.

19 year old Swift was gob smacked as you would be and left the stage without finishing her speech. An embarrassed Beyonce called Swift up on to the stage when she won an award later on to let Swift finish her moment of glory.

I'm thinking Kanye should put his puppy back in his pants and learn a few manners. Who cares what you think Kanye ......... obviously the voters thought different, so deal with it.

Thought of the day

If the cops arrest a mute, do they tell him he has the right to remain silent?

SA runner a hemophrodite

I really feel for South African runner Caster Semenya today after tests revealed that she is a hemaphrodite. If it wasn't enough to have her sexuality scrutinised around the world, the teenager had to undergo rigorous tests and public humiliation. 

Being a hemaphrodite must be hard enough to deal with, let alone having the whole world know. I can only imagine what she must be going through and hope for her sake this saga ends soon.

Sadly it looks like her athletics career is over ...... and it had only just begun. Unless she can gets her testosterone levels under control, she will be banned. 

Very unfortunate indeed!

The ageing process

Thought I would share an interesting piece on ageing I found today.

"Do you realise that the only time in our lives when we like to get old is when we're kids? If you're less than 10 years old, you're so excited about aging that you think in fractions.

'How old are you?' I'm four and a half!' You're never thirty-six and a half. You're four and a half, going on five! That's the key.

You get into your teens, now they can't hold you back. You jump to the next number, or even a few ahead.

'How old are you?' I'm gonna be 16!' You could be 13, but hey, you're gonna be 16! And then the greatest day of your life . . you become 21. Even the words sound like a ceremony . . YOU BECOME 21. YESSSS!!!

But then you turn 30. Oooohh, what happened there? Makes you sound like bad milk! He TURNED; we had to throw him out. There's no fun now, you're just a sour-dumpling. What's wrong? What's changed.

You BECOME 21, you TURN 30, then you're PUSHING 40. Whoa! Put on the brakes, it's all slipping away. Before you know it, you REACH 50.

And your dreams are gone.

But wait!!! You MAKE it to 60. You didn't think you would.

So you BECOME 21, TURN 30, PUSH 40, REACH 50 and MAKE it to 60.

You've built up so much speed that you HIT 70! After that it's a day-by-day thing; you HIT Wednesday.

You get into your 80's and every day is a complete cycle; you HIT lunch; you TURN 4:30; you REACH bedtime. And it doesn't end there. Into the 90s, you start going backwards; 'I Was JUST 92.'

Then a strange thing happens. If you make it over 100, you become a little kid again.' I'm 100 and a half!'

May you all make it to a healthy 100 and a half!"

Holiday bells are ringing

The holiday bells are ringing and I couldn't be more excited! It has been a year since my last holiday and while this doesn't seem that long, it has been a big year ............. buying a house, moving out of Sydney, new baby, two children, five months of sleep deprivation (up every three hours still!!), constant daycare bugs, working two days and dad having two heart attacks! Bring on the holiday I say!

The hardest decision has been deciding where to go! Originally Fiji was the front runner with cheap flights, child friendly resorts and stay 2 nights pay for 1 deals. But we have decided to stay within Australia ......... Noosa here we come! Woohoo!

Toothy pegs!

I am very excited for my little girl today who let her first tooth pop on through at 5 months. At the same time my maternal functions are shuddering at the thought!

Upon checking Jackson's details, he beat her by one day! Now that is just freaky - teeth in sync!

Moving insurance

After chatting to a friend who is about to move house, it got me thinking about sharing some wisdom that I discovered when moving recently myself. Removalists will convince you that you need insurance through them to cover the transporting of your goods - and it isn't cheap either! 

Yes - insurance is certainly important to protect all your goods, but check your content insurance if you have as you may already be covered. Before spending up with our removalists, something made me check with our contents insurance company NRMA. Our contents policy covered our goods if packed onto or unloaded off the truck in a driveway. If loaded on the road, that is no longer on your property so your contents are not covered ......... but of course, who is to say that your vase didn't get broken on the front lawn! ;0)

The policy also covered the goods in transit as well.

So many people just pay what they have to to the removalist company, so it pays to check with your contents insurance company first!

Man flu - the tragic, debilitating disease PART 2

Further to my discussion about man flu recently, I came across a great man flu clip that is a classic - so very true!

Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EElqrgk4N0

Goodbye winter .......... hello spring!

Yay - winter is finally over! I survived my very first Southern Highlands winter ......... and I'm still here to tell the story! OK so it may have been a milder than normal winter, but still it doesn't change the fact that I don't like winter!

Even though spring officially starts today, it started weeks ago with higher than expected temperatures for the last few weeks. I'm certainly not complaining. The blossums flowered far in advance of spring. We even had baby birds in a tree on our driveway a few weeks ago. Last week I was even wearing short sleeve t-shirts!

I am hoping that doesn't mean it will be a long hot summer, especially considering we decided not to put air con in when we put in our central heating. Either way, bring on the sunny days!!