vice 1 (vs)
n.
a. An evil, degrading, or immoral practice or habit.
b. A serious moral failing.
c. Wicked or evil conduct or habits; corruption.

I like to sleep in.
I like to eat cheap, crappy, Turkish Delight in secret, so I don’t have to share.
I would like nothing better than an entire day to play around on Pinterest.

What I’d secretly like to do is to eat Turkish Delight while spending the day in bed mucking around on Pinterest…

So I’ve shared mine, now you share yours…
What’s your vice?

If you enjoyed this post, please share it with others...

More »

What’s Your Vice? is a post from: picklebums.com

Some days are all sunshine and roses… and other days are all tantrums and dirty looks.

Have your kids ever lost the plot in a public place?

Play Wordless Wednesday with My Little Drummer Boys :)

If you enjoyed this post, please share it with others...

More »

Real Life Wednesday is a post from: picklebums.com

“Hasn’t he grown!” a random relative said to me over the Christmas period.

While I knew that remark was coloured by the fact they hadn’t seen him in almost a year, it suddenly dawned on me that he had, in fact, grown, and not just in height.

Last year was busy. Insanely busy in the true sense of the word. Things happened that I never dreamed would happen, good, bad, and indifferent, and somewhere, in the middle of all that, my middle child grew up.

Looking into those endless blue eyes that often twinkle with mischief but sometimes stare back still, clam and deep, I wonder how it happened without me noticing.

How did I not notice that he was charming, sociable and funny?

His confidence has blossomed and his imagination has grown to match. He is quirky and, I suspect, a little different to your average four year old boy. Still obsessed with all things green. Still wanting to be a chef… or a lion tamer. He has no interest in super heroes, but plays both boy roles in the Narnia stories and puts his own, little boy, spin on all the games and fantasies his sisters concoct.

Once I thought he would be ‘the death of me’. That he would wear me down until there was nothing left but a dried out shell of a person, crinkly and crumpled in a dusty corner. Now he is the one who builds me up, whose funny high pitched giggle makes me smile when I need it most.

It’s funny how the things you think you will never cope with, morph into the things you think you could never live without.

If you enjoyed this post, please share it with others...

More »

He Snuck Past Me… is a post from: picklebums.com

Have you ever come across something in your life and thought ‘that’s crazy/sad/wrong I should do something about that’, but then you never actually end up doing anything?

That’s been me, a lot.

I could say I was busy, or that I was tired, or that my kids take priority right now, and all those things would be true, but none of them actually stops me from doing something, big or small, to help others. I want to change that.

A few weeks ago an idea was floated… an idea to start a group, to create a website, to put on an event and to bring bloggers together to support and work with not for profit groups in our local community. Last Friday night we held our first Community Blogging event and I met many people who were standing up and actually doing something.

I was inspired by Jessica from St Kilda Mums who who collect and organise donations of babies and children’s clothing, toys, books and equipment and work with various organisation to get these items to those in need. Jessica didn’t just say ‘I should do something about that’… she got out there and did it. To date St Kilda Mums have rehomed over 2500 items that otherwise would have gone into landfill and helped countless families in need.

St Kilda Mums would love to see other groups set up in other areas, and they are happy to share all their knowledge and processes with anyone keen to start up a group. You can also donate to St Kilda Mums (after Jan 13th as they are taking a well earned break over Christmas), follow them on their facebook page to keep up to date with their work.

Robyn from the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC) also spoke, with such passion and integrity it was impossible not to be impressed. Robyn spoke about the human face of asylum speakers, she told us about the work that ASRC does and the community education and involvement. So often all we hear are sensationalised news bites, with negative messages from a vocal minority, it was fabulous to hear such positive stories of asylum seekers and about the community stepping up to help in so many ways.

You can volunteer at ASRC, (for more information visit their volunteer page) and you can also donate food and other goods via the survival network, another branch or ASRC, or find out other ways you can support ASRC here.

It was not just the Not For Profit groups that attended the event who were standing up to do something to help others. The event would not have been possible without sponsors…

I’m a Pecan Fan donated to both community groups, and Mandy and Sarah from Porter Novelli (who represent I’m a Pecan Fan) bought a long a giant nut which was lots of fun!

EcoStore is an inspiring company with their commitment to health and the environment, and they impressed me yet again by attending the event and donating essential items such as laundry detergent, shampoo etc.

Christie from Kids Business organised toys to be donated and also spoke about a new project being unveiled in 2012 involving sponsoring Mums to blog about inspiring and helping other mums. A great community building idea to watch out for next year.

Colourific also donated craft items, Maclean Mums donated toothpaste and Bundaberg supplied the delicious drinks for the event. We were also supported by the Public Records Office Victoria who allowed us to hold the event at The Archives Centre free of charge and thanks to their catering service who supplied the yummy finger food.

And of course there were the bloggers who attended. All of them who made time at a super busy time of year, to stand up and do something. To use their voices, their influence and their twitterings to support others in our community.

They say that as a ‘mum blogger’ I have ‘influence’. I am not so sure how accurate that is, but I am acutely aware that what I write on my blog may influence someone. With so much talk about bloggers ‘selling out’, and about bloggers and brands working together, I find it hard to know if I am always doing the right thing when accepting a sponsored post or working with a company. But today, writing this post, I am not second guessing myself, I am not worrying about selling out or making the wrong choices. I am standing up and doing something… however small that may be… to help someone else, and it feels GOOD!

Many thanks to Nicole who, in true ‘Planning Queen’ style, got us all together and organised. And to Kathy, Shae, Marita and Amanda for all putting in time and effort to get the idea of Community Blogging off the ground.

We hope that this event is only the beginning and in the future there will be many different ways bloggers can get involved and support community groups. If you are interested in being a part of this (and geography is not and issue as we’d love to see events run in other areas too) please pop over to our web site and fill in the ‘get involved’ form.

If you enjoyed this post, please share it with others...

More »

Commnuity Blogging Event – Stand up and Do Something! is a post from: picklebums.com

You know how it is when you hear a song for the first time, at a moment in your life, when it just totally makes sense…

That was how it was for me with this song – The Littlest Birds by The Be Good Tanyas

Do you have a song like that?

It’s Wordless Wednesday over at My Little Drummer Boys – check out her storm trooper!

If you enjoyed this post, please share it with others...

More »

The Littlest Birds… is a post from: picklebums.com

I went to a blogging event last week, a ‘Bloggers Brunch’ to be more precise. I have been to a couple of similar events this year, where both bloggers and PR or brand reps attend and they always make me go home and think about the whole blogging, ads, brands and money deal.

Lots of people are talking about it, lots of people have talked about it in the past, and I am sure people will talk about it again in the future. It seems to be a recurring hot topic – making money from your blog. More specifically it seems that making money from a ‘mummy blog’ elicits a variety of responses and opinions, good, bad and indifferent. Now I don’t prescribe to the ‘one right way’ philosophy for pretty much anything, especially not blogging, so I’m not going to sit here and tell you what I think you should be doing in regards to monetising (or not) your blog, or how brands should work with blogs… but I am going to blab on a bit about some thoughts that are whirring around me head on this topic and need to a nice comfy place to land.

If you know my blog, you’ll already know that I run private advertising in my side bar, as well us running Nuffnang ads. I also do the odd Nuffnang ‘sponsored post’ which means I get paid to write about a set brand, or item. And I also do the occasional review, or give away, which is usually organised directly between myself and the PR firm working for the brand or company, and I currently don’t charge a fee for those posts but I usually get an item to keep.

When I first shifted my blog from blogger to self hosted wordpress I made the decision to start displaying syndicated ads (from the blogher network at that time). My goal was to make enough money to pay for my hosting costs. I didn’t want my blogging hobby to impact our family budget if I could help it. I made that goal in the first year with a little bit of extra pocket money and I was happy to leave it at that.

Since then my blog has grown and changed and I’ve discovered that I quite enjoy writing and I feel have something of value to share (most of the time!). And it seems blogging in Australia has really taken off, Mummy Blogging especially. Suddenly we are being contacted by Pr companies and brands with this offer or that. The opportunities for bloggers, opportunities for me, have suddenly sky rocketed and I’ve found myself needing to really think about how I work with brands and PR companies and what I am comfortable with.

This has been a very steep learning curve for me. Before I had kids I taught preschool, I was not in the business world, and sometimes I feel like these people speak a totally different language. I am happy to admit that I’ve been overly flattered by the fact that PR people even want to connect with me and in the past this has led me to make some less than fabulous decisions. But I’ve learnt from those mistakes and been able to make better decisions in the future.

Of course, I’m still learning, and attending events such as Kid’s Business Bloggers Brunch is a great way to do that. The event show cased several brands, from the new Mix clothing range and new disposable nappies from the mega multi million dollar Coles, to ecostore with it’s story of small town beginnings and eco friendly commitment.

I was impressed by both companies and what they had to show us, but how would I feel about endorsing those brands on my blog?

I have liked using both the Coles nappies and the ecostore laundry detergent that I was given, but does being given a freebie and liking the product mean I will blog about it? For free? Is that what is expected from these events? Or are they waiting for us to ask to be paid, or to build some deeper partnership?

As I learn to value my blog, my audience and myself more I am learning there is no one right answer for any of those questions.

I am learning that I don’t need to write about anything if I don’t want to. I am learning that I don’t want ‘stuff’ just because it’s free and that I will not blog for a loaf of bread. I am learning that if it feels like a huge effort to find a way to marry my blog to a product then it is not a good match and I should just say no. I am learning that there needs to be more to the company, brand or product, something that resonates with me beyond just ‘free stuff is cool’. I am learning that if blogging is ‘un-fun’ then I’m doing something wrong.

Money is a powerful thing, to be able to earn money is a powerful feeling.

I am lucky to be able to choose to stay at home with my children while they are little, and while I value that role immensely, the possibility to contribute money to the family budget is a very fulfilling thing for me.

Right now I don’t have any goals to make ‘a living’ from my blog. I write my blog because I enjoy it, because it’s fun, and because I learn things while doing it. But being able to make a little money for the extras, and being able to do it while doing something I really enjoy is an opportunity I want to take up, whole heartedly.

What do you think about the way blogs and brands work together?
If you blog, have you made decisions about how your blog will and won’t work with brands?

{ All images are by Mike Licht, NotionsCapitols.com via Flickr }

If you enjoyed this post, please share it with others...

More »

Bloggers, Brunches and Brands. is a post from: picklebums.com

Eight.
EIGHT!
How on earth did they get to be eight!?!
Eight and still as crazy wonderful as ever!

If you enjoyed this post, please share it with others...

More »

Eight is a post from: picklebums.com

Our girls are about to turn eight, and after 8 years of parenting twins I’ve been asked many an odd question about twins and have learnt a lot about these strange creatures. Here are some answers to some of the common questions we are asked…

Identical twins are conceived when ONE egg is fertilised by ONE sperm and then later splits creating two babies. It is not known why this occurs, but it is not thought to be genetic. So that means it could happen to anyone, with any pregnancy, even you.

Our girls were born 11 weeks early due to Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome. This is a complication that only affects identical twins who share a placenta. It sucks, but detection and treatment has improved a lot in the past eight years.

It is ok if you don’t know who is who, just ask, they’ll tell you.

You may think you are clever, or funny, or just making conversation, but we’ve heard all those comments eleventyhundred times before so how about next time you simply say “Aren’t you lucky to have such beautiful children.”

However, they are the same sex, the same age, the same size and spend a heck of a lot of time together. It makes sense that they’d like the same things and have the same taste in clothes.

They are (almost) 8 year old girls, what did you expect??

However, they were born (via c-section) almost simultaneously (they had to be because of the TTTS), Izzy is marked as older because she was ‘twin 1′ (the twin closest to the exit) and you must legally record a different time of birth for twins.

I love my girls more than life itself, we are so very lucky to have them and I wouldn’t change who they are for the world… BUT…. not everyone dreams of having twins, especially after they have them. Personally I find the negatives of twins outweighs the positives. So don’t be surprised if your “Oh I wish I had twins’ gets a less than enthusiastic reaction.

I know there there are a LOT of fabulous ‘Mother’s of Multiples’ who blog, so I’m hoping that they will pop in and leave a comment adding to the things people should know about twins!

Joining in with Yay For Home’s Things I Know link up!

If you enjoyed this post, please share it with others...

More »

Things You Should Know About Our Twins is a post from: picklebums.com

Hmmm… I wonder if it’s a nice day outside?

It is! I need to go get my hat and boots!

Hello Chickens! Can I come in?

Any eggs today?

There was one day of glorious spring weekend weather when all children were healthy and nit free…. and we made the most of it before the rain returned.
What’s the weather like where you are?

Join in Wordless Wednesday with My Little Drummer Boys!

If you enjoyed this post, please share it with others...

More »

Wordless Wednesday – Noey’s Adventure is a post from: picklebums.com

Many of you might already know that I’m lucky enough to be Katepickle’s IRL friend. I live “over the hill” and our kids have grown up together. The Twinadoes were 2 and my Tannah was just 6 months old when we met. We’ve since been through lots of stuff together, like kids birthday parties, new babies, sick husbands and interstate moves. And blogging conferences.

The things I know about Kate are-

Now come visit my blog, Yay For Home, and join in with my weekly Things I Know link up!

{Thanks to Bogue Living for the image}

Shae is a home cooking, homebirthing, unschooling stay-at-home Mama to three amazing girls. She writes about all this and more at her blog Yay For Home.

*

If you enjoyed this post, please share it with others...

More »

Things I Know About Kate – Guest Post from Yay For Home! is a post from: picklebums.com