Sunny Mummy

Where are YOU?

2010-10-11T10:28:00.002+11:00

Hello Friends,

It has been 3 months since this little blog moved to www.sunnymummy.com.au

Did you move with me?

If not, we miss you!

I have noticed some lovely bloggers have Sunny Mummy on their blog roll, however it is linked to this site and therefore we are missing out on spreading the rays :(

Won't you come by say hi at the new space...we're waiting for YOU!

Stace x

New Home!

2010-06-22T21:51:00.004+10:00

We have a bright and shiny new site where everything you need and want is in the one spot!

This is officially the last post on this blog!

Be sure to pop over to www.sunnymummy.com.au and subscribe to our new blog!

You can also sign up for our news and keep up to date with the latest info, you'll also recieve a free daily reminder poster!

I will be busy moving the rest of the blog posts over to our new home, hope to see you over there real soon.

Keep Shining,
Stace x

FOCUS....It's your choice!

2010-06-18T06:00:00.004+10:00

Recently I was asked "HOW do you stay positive EVERY DAY?"

My answer is SIMPLE...

Its a choice!

I don't get up feeling deliriously happy inside, that would be its own kind of nightmare.

I just CHOOSE to LIVE POSITIVE!

Everyday we get up and WE DECIDE what kind of day we will have.

Not the weather, the kids, our partner, our jobs or other people...US, WE CHOOSE!

When I wake up to rain, I never look outside and think arrghh rain :(

I think "YAY gumboots, greener grass, hot chocolates and rainbows".

Sure I may be wired somehow to lean towards the brighter side but what I know for sure is this....

I have had too much crap in my short life to spend the rest of it NOT looking on the bright side. No matter where we are and what we are doing, there is ALWAYS something to be positive, thankful and happy about...

You just have to FOCUS on it and CHOOSE your feelings.

Today on Focused Friday, I want to ask you "What are you focused on?"

I invite you to spend a few minutes in Todd's world. Todd and I go way back ;)

Whenever we go to the park, my son never rides the slide down, he rides it up.

This doesn't bother the GM and I if the park is empty but we quickly tell him to GET OFF if there are other kiddies around because obviously, he is preventing them from going DOWN the slide.

However, after watching this clip..I realise, going UP is how you do it in his world! It makes him happier to go UP not down. Sounds good to me!

Maybe we all need to ride the slide up every once in while to remind us...

There’s a place you can go TODAY, EVERYDAY...

Everyone is beautiful for who they are inside,

Everyday is beautiful just look around and SEE!

It's a wonderful, colourful world...

Just as long as you focus on actually SEEING it and CHOOSE to FEEL IT!

Keep Shining,

Stace x

A Complete Basketcase!

2010-06-16T16:41:00.022+10:00

I have a friend who plans gifts so far in advance, she will be shopping for my 33rd birthday any day now which is lovely, except that I am yet to turn 32!

As organised I can be, giving gifts is an area where I am NOT organised.

I either buy something so far in advance the gift is no longer wanted, needed or is just not 'IN' anymore OR I can be found racing through the shops on the morning of the party, only to get home and find out that the one roll of sticky tape left in the house, has been taken to school without my knowledge, oh and we were due at the party 15 mins ago!

At times like these, I feel like a complete basketcase...

I feel my shoulders tense and the frown lines deepening as I curse myself for leaving the gift buying til the last minute and usually figure out a way to blame my husband ;)

June is a very busy month for us with birthdays, with the most important being sonshines birthday on the 26th and mine on the 27th!

8 yrs ago, there were many phone calls around this time, saying "oh how nice would it be to share your birthday, perhaps the baby will come as a nice birthday surprise for you".

Let me tell you, I went into labour at 5am on the 24th and did not deliver my 10 1/2 lb bundle of joy until 7.16pm on the 26th....there was NO WAY after all of that I was sharing my birthday too, after all, I had just given this baby, 38hrs of my life, not to mention my perineum, pelvic floor and well....maybe that was too much info!

So what am I trying to tell you?

It is my birthday on the 27th of this month and guess who is getting the gift?

One of you lucky readers!

No longer do I, or you, have to be a complete basketcase when it comes to gift buying because you can actually order a fabulous gift from The Complete Basketcase!

The Complete Basketcase are in the business of making people feel wonderfully happy when they receive a gift and, deliver stunning gifts throughout Australia and overseas.

How deliciously gorgeous does this Baileys Bliss hamper look?

The lovely and passionate people over at The Complete Basketcase would love to send YOU one of their super stylish gift baskets up to the value of $100 plus shipping!

All you have to do is visit www.thebasketcase.com.au, have a look at their HUGE range of gifts, come back and leave a comment on here telling me which basket you would send ME on my birthday and why OR fill in the blanks on this tweet:

@sunnymummyaus I would send you the ________ gift from www.thebasketcase.com.au

Then YOU are in the running to win a basket of YOUR choice....how good is that?

Will you share it with me? I knew you would x

Keep Shining,
Stace x

PS I'm off to pick out a basket for my Nan, its her birthday this Sunday...I told you June was busy and I don't have time to BE a basketcase...I'd rather just use them!

Announcing: Sunny Support Sessions!

2010-06-16T12:37:00.004+10:00

I am so pleased to announce that Sunny Support Sessions are now available!

Please email info@sunnymummy.com.au to receive an information sheet outlining your options and how to secure your place for 2010!

Sunny Statement

2010-06-10T16:04:00.011+10:00

Wow, I have been inundated with emails, tweets and phone calls from friends...both virtual and old friends, as in people I knew BSM...
that's BEFORE SUNNY MUMMY hee hee

Thank you all for your support and encouragement, it means the world to me x

I would like to start by saying that I don't feel the need to justify anything to anyone, this statement is aimed at responding to the many points made on Facebook in the last 24 hours since announcing the Sunny Mummy Sisterhood and my decision to charge a membership fee.

Unfortunately, I nor my family have the personal funds to continue Sunny Mummy and take it to where it needs to be to help as many Mothers as possible. Sunny Mummy is not a charity or non profit organisation and as such I don't feel the need to apologise for trying to make a living whilst pursuing my dream.

I know how much SM means to each of you and as mentioned on Facebook, it means even more to me. I am sure that comments like 'rich mummies vs poor mummies' were not meant to be harmful however I do not understand why such things would be said when all that is changing, is the provision of an extra service for those who are willing and able to invest. This language used in a public space in relation to SM is actually quite upsetting to me, and in complete contrast to the huge efforts I make on a daily basis to rid Motherhood of such misconceptions and negativity.

For over 6 mths I have worked tirelessly on Sunny Mummy, day and night at a huge cost in time and money, not to mention loss of income from employment I would have otherwise engaged in.

As I mentioned in my post last night, Sunny Mummy is a unique business and it has become very clear to me today that the SM way of life has A LOT of supporters. Its continued growth is very important to these passionate supporters and as such, they are willing to invest in it. I note with interest that some have declared how hugely important SM is to them yet feel it should not be about financial investment.

I guess this highlights the old adage that some people will complain no matter what the price is...$1 or $100.

Sunny Mummy never has and never will be about financial status or gain, however running it has everything to do with my financial status as I am not making a basic living to contribute to my family.

Danielle Miller posted the following on facebook "-if you don't place a value on something, why should others value it? Women are often caught up in the desire to please and be everyone's friend...yet in order to sustain your work you need to set boundaries around what is and is not, do-able. Don't ever be afraid to recognise that what you do is worth something! It is also interesting to see how many people "buy -in" to our dreams once we do place a value on them. I saw a friend once commented to you that finding people who like what you do ( when it is free) is one thing, but finding clients is another. Solid advice."

So what I am doing is setting boundaries around what is and is not, do-able.
Sunny Mummy is not doable without financial support and as such, I am introducing a fee for the new service, which is additional to the provision of my blog, motivational messages and support on Facebook.

If it is important to you and you believe in the SM way of life and vision, you will invest in it. If you genuinely cant afford it, nothing will change because you will still receive the current service.

However, I think it is safe to say that most people can afford less than $2.50 p/w and it is about choices. People make choices and sacrifices everyday.
To buy a coffee, a magazine, a packet of cigarettes {although I hope none of our Sunnies smoke?} , a chocolate bar or whatever...

I am extremely passionate about helping mothers ENJOY not endure motherhood. I do a lot of work and will continue to spread the rays. I encourage all of you to put yourselves first in order to look after your families best, and I am now doing the same. I believe I deserve to be paid for my efforts in the running of Sunny Mummy and I know you will receive back WAY more than your $99 supporters fee...

Yes, that's what it is, a supporters fee...

If Sunny Mummy inspires you, supports you and you believe in our cause, then please show your support by joining our sisterhood.

I look forward to the sun continuing to shine brightly!

Keep Shining,

Stace x

Sunny Mummy Sisterhood!

2010-06-09T21:38:00.014+10:00

Yes, it seems WE have decided we cannot go past this name!

I just LOVE IT and Sarah from Style Me Gorgeous will be working hard to represent what the sisterhood will mean....Renae Demanuele will also receive 12mths free membership to the sisterhood for thinking of it!

HOWEVER, I thought I'd better write a post to clarify some points/comments made on our facebook wall in response to my callout for your opinion on the name of our new club.

Firstly, I just want to say what an absolute blessing it has been to meet so many of you both virtually and in person over the past 6mths and I feel incredibly lucky to spend my days inspiring, motivating and supporting you all to ENJOY not endure motherhood.

Secondly, you may or may not realise that Sunny Mummy only began in Jan of this year, as an Australian Registered Business.

So much has happened during this short time with the biggest highlight being chosen as a 'Live Positive' Ambassador for COKE and experiencing my first overseas trip! Without my efforts with SM, this would never have happened and for that I am proud.

As you all know, I ALWAYS keep it real and share with you whatever is going on in my world. This will make the likes of Justin Herald, and other business people that I have had the pleasure of speaking with, cringe for telling you, however I want you all to know that the ONLY income I currently derive from Sunny Mummy is the sale of any tools such as the SMA, which goes straight back into the cost of running this organisation.

It may seem strange to some that I would tell you all of this...
An owner of a cafe for example, would not have to justify an increase in the price of their coffees.

However we are not selling coffees, we are providing a supportive community and it is not going anywhere! You are still a Sunny Mummy regardless of whether you join the Sunny Mummy Sisterhood or not :)

SM is a very unique business and in fact, it is for this reason that I have been wrestling with the choice of running SM as a commercial business OR as a social enterprise, which is a 'not for profit' business with social objectives.

SM means the world to me and it is certainly NOT about the money. The simple fact is that I work very hard on SM full time and in order to continue doing so, I must start generating an income for SM to fund the running of the site and to contribute to my family.

I am comitted to making this happen and have very big plans for Sunny Mummy!

Plans I want you all to be involved in. From attending free groups to events to ambassadors to leaders to a PA....I want to be able to not only make money to pay me but to hire other Sunnies to work in our organisation. Of course I also want to be able to support charities too.

I really appreciate all the comments/support tonight and I know that none of you think I am exploiting you by developing a club with a membership fee.

So lets get down to business ;)

Firstly, Kim was right when she said there will always be the SM blog and facebook.

Nothing you are getting now will be taken away. However club members will get ALOT more than non-members.

Secondly, by joining the SMS, you are supporting yourself to SHINE and are supporting the Sunny Mummy Movement. By becoming a member, you are declaring that you value the support, the time it takes to give you such support AND you value the community you will be joining!

Having said that, I completely understand if you genuinely cannot afford to join.

Last but not least...the details.

Sunny Mummy Sisterhood will be a members only area of the Sunny Mummy Site.

Once inside, you can expect to find:

Exclusive content {blog/smtv}
Free Downloads & Resources
Forums including LIVE Chat
Special Guest hosts and organised chat times
Groups to join
Support from a community that cares
Member pricing for all events, tools and merchandise
Member only competitions
Hints and tips

Plus lots more.

Founding memberships are available NOW until June 30th for just $99 inc gst for 12mths!

From July 1, membership will be $129.95 inc gst.

{when broken down weekly, this is less than the cost of a coffee, at below $2.50}

Members will also receive a member pack in the mail containing SMS Goodies and surprises througout the year.

So, if you would like to click, connect and SHINE with a group of women who support one another and want to ENJOY motherhood, become a Sunny Sista now and show your support of our Sunny Mummy Movement and YOU!

Thanks for reading SO MUCH, keep shining and see you on the brighter side!

Stace x

YOU can say IT...

2010-06-09T15:15:00.006+10:00

WARNING: DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER IF YOU HAVE NOT YET SEEN 'SEX AND THE CITY 2' AND PLAN ON DOING SO...BECAUSE THIS WILL SPOIL IT FOR YOU. DON'T SAY I DIDN'T WARN YOU!

Saturday night, my gorgeous girlfriend Dy, the owner of delicious handbag company Willowblu, took the girls out to watch 'Sex and the City 2'!
It was a special event put on by a company called 'Butlers in the Buff', which meant we were served cocktails and canapes by butlers..in the buff.

Very SATC don't you think?

I had heard nothing but bad reports about the sequel but I enjoyed it.

Sure, I rolled my eyes numerous times...

Mainly at this little ensemble Carrie wore to the markets...Puhleease!

Oh and when the girls got up to sing "I am Woman" at Karaoke and I love Karaoke as much as the next girl.

Mostly I laughed at the girls antics and the very, very gay wedding complete with swans!

I even cried...

You know how Charlotte is always portrayed as Little Miss Perfect, well this now includes motherhood, as she bakes cupcakes in a white suit {don't we all}UNTIL this...

This clip cuts off right before the best part...

Charlotte proceeds to say "And I have HELP, how do the women do it that have no help?"

"To Them" Miranda replies.

"Take a Sip"...

By help she of course means a Nanny. Charlotte has a Nanny and she doesn't even work outside the home! I cried as Charlotte finally revealed her less than perfect side and admitted to not only Miranda, but herself, just how hard this motherhood gig is...

As mothers, admitting that to ourselves and others, means we are halfway to enjoying motherhood so much more. It means we can unpack our bags for the frequent guilt trips, quit beating ourselves up and just BE in each moment of motherhood as it comes. The enjoyable and not so enjoyable.

Charlotte goes on to admit that she loves being a mother BUT...

Its not enough!

Our children certainly fill our hearts but not always our heads and THATS OK!

By each of us admitting that we find certain aspects of our role hard, it gives others permission to do the same, and as such, mothers can be REAL, supportive and non-judgemental.

You can say it, to yourself, to me and to other mothers :)

Now take a sip and as always...

Keep Shining!

Stace x

PS I received a compliment a little while ago fom a reader, which I kept to myself because, well WOW, it kind of blew me away.."You are like the Carrie Bradshaw of motherhood!" she said. Seemed right to share it now...
'Babies in the Burbs' column anyone?

Sunny After Dark...

2010-06-08T16:38:00.009+10:00

Up until now, there has been the following options for mothers to meet..

Mothers Groups, playgroups etc

Mothers in business also have the opportunity to join networking groups.

What if you want to meet likeminded women regardless of whether they are in business or not?

What if you are back at work full time, cant get to a group in the day or simply want to meet other mothers whilst not BEING a mother during that time ie meet without kids!

Imagine a group of mothers supporting one another and keeping it real.

Imagine a local monthly meeting where you get out of the house, connect with women who will smile, laugh or cry with you. Women who know how hard motherhood can be, but are committed to enjoying not enduring it!

Imagine no more...

The Sunny Mummy Sisterhood will see mothers from all over the world embrace one another within our SM community both online and in person!

The Sunny Mummy Club is on track to launch July 1 and a key part of this club is networking for mothers!

There will be something for everyone where you can come and meet likeminded women with whom you can build relationships with.

Thursday June 24th will see the launch of the first Sydney Sunny After Dark at Castle Hill RSL Club!

Come along and meet other Sunny Mummies, where you can relax, socialise and SHINE!

The evening will be held in the stylish 'Cocktail Lounge' located on Level 1 at Castle Hill RSL.

We will have fabulous door prizes, giveaways, special guests & time to just be YOU...

Tickets are just $40 and include yummy finger food and standard house beverages.

The launch will be a special one as we will celebrate Stacey's birthday too, so be sure to join us no matter where you are in Sydney...

We promise the cake will be worth the drive ;) I may jump out of it hee hee

A courtesy bus is available for members of Castle Hill RSL.

You can secure your ticket by clicking the button below:

More venues will be added in July and we want to know where you want YOUR Sunny After Dark evening held?

Email us at events@sunnymummy.com.au with details of your state and area. You can also put your hand up to be a coordinator.

Stay Tuned in the coming days for details on how you can join the club that will support you to SHINE!

Me, myself and TIME!

2010-06-08T09:52:00.006+10:00

The rain has finally moved on and everyone keeps talking about how depressing it was and how nice it is to the see the sun.

Of course, I LOVE the sun but to be honest, apart from the washing, the rain didn't effect me {my mood} at all. I loved having soccer cancelled (purely for selfish reasons of course), making hearty soups, puddings and just hanging out inside.

Yep I am the mum who tells the kids to jump in the puddles. Either that or I am already in there myself splashing round with my gumboots on. I think I should be sponsored by vita weets..remember that cool add where the mum has more energy than the kid? Yep, that's me!

Now I am not telling you this to say I am a fun mum and you're not {believe me, I was not the fun mum this morning, felt sick & slept in = not fun}, I am telling you this because I have always said we can SHINE no matter what the weather...

This morning my sonshine said to me "Mum, did you know we can make the rain stop just by our attitude?"

Of course I asked him where he got this bright piece of wisdom? He went on to tell me it is in a song and quickly added {excitedly of course} "Mum, I have the perfect theme song for Sunny Mummies!"

Nope I am not kidding, he is an ideas man just like his mama ;)

So here is our new theme song compliments of my sonshine...

Welcome to the Sunny Mummy Sisterhood...its a brand new world!

What do you think? I hope it has brightened your day...play it again and have a little boogie, I promise it will make you smile :)

Keep Shining,
Stace & Sonshine xx

A note from me :)

2010-06-07T07:07:00.005+10:00

Hello lovely readers and fellow Sunny Mummies.

Last week I had the opportunity to speak over the phone with the likes of Justin Herald and Alycia Edgar.

I was going to tell you all about it but lets just say I respond to butt kicking ;)

So both Justin and Alycia kicked my butt about my plans and goals for Sunny Mummy and made me realise that if I keep replying personally to so many emails {and we all know I just cant do one line emails, sorry} then I will never get Sunny Mummy to where it needs to be in order to help mummies all over the world.

Whilst I could not guarantee that I could emotionally detach myself from Sunny Mummy {because well, I don't want to. Being a Sunny Mummy and helping others become one is emotional & oh so rewarding}, I did promise both Justin & Alycia, that I would stop replying personally to emails....

Please know that I do read every single one of your emails and thank you from the bottom of my heart for sharing, caring and taking the time to write to me.

I thoroughly enjoy reading about whats going on in your world and how Sunny Mummy is helping you. I also love all the ideas and suggestions..please keep them coming.

Its just that if I am to continue helping other Mummies and give us all what we need, I have to start by no longer replying to emails personally.

I know you will all understand.

So whats next?

I am super excited as always, and now that the 'Buffet of Life' is over, I finally have a clear space in my schedule to work out exactly where we are heading and in what order.

The survey results are very interesting and gave me a much clearer idea of what you guys want and need.

As a result, there is much to be finalised and I’m going to be one busy Sunny Mummy!

So the quiet time is about to begin. I'll still be around, I just have my head down and bum up to get everything sorted!

See you on the other side...its going to be even brighter and shinier than you can imagine!

Keep Shining,
Stace x

The week ahead...

2010-06-06T15:32:00.016+10:00

How was your weekend? Did you have time for YOU?

Are you excited at the start of a brand new week or dreading that you have to 'do it all over again'?

Time for a change of outlook and a little planning...

Here are 5 things you can do today, to make the rest of the week easier for you.

1. Make yourself a cuppa, pour a glass of vino or open a bubbly coke. Then proceed to plan your week. Now is the time to fill out your weekly snapshot (so you know where you will be & when), weekly tasks (so you know what day you'll clean the bathrooms etc), plan your meals for the week and fill out your daily planner for tomorrow.

{by the way, all of these tools are a part of the Sunny Mummy Assistant which you can get here}.

2. Make lunches for the week. This is a little trick I learnt from a friend. You can freeze just about anything on a sandwich so I figure that seeing as I really don't like making sandwiches and I always end up chucking out 1/2 a loaf of bread, I might as well make 10 sandwiches at once, right now, whilst I have all of the stuff out!

Prepare for the simple joy you will feel when you pull out a frozen sandwich & muffin the night before, add your cheese, fruit and yogurt then pop it all into the lunchbox ready for the next day (refrigerate of course). Ahhh bliss.

3. Bake your school snacks for the week ahead. Muffins, banana bread, yogurt cupcakes to name a few... let them cool and individually wrap. This will save you loads of money and time as you get to completely skip the LCM, Muesli bar aisle at grocery shopping.

At the very least, if you're time pressed, bake the Sunny & Simple Loaf and you're good to go (see recipe below).

4. Iron for the week ahead. I am not a fan of ironing all at once and used to iron on the go, however since both kiddies are at school, my lovely GM irons all our clothes for the week ahead.

5. Run a deep bath, pour another glass of wine or make a hot chocolate, grab some reading material and escape to a world of bubbles and bliss, whilst you quietly revel in the fact that an hour today has saved you alot of time and money this week!

Now, there is no surprise #6 tip, however the key of course is to make this your Sunday ritual and GET HELP!

How much help you get is of course determined by how old your kiddies are and how obliging your GM is {if you have one}. Help for me means, my GM irons, the kids help bake and I pretty much do the rest. I get it done fairly quickly because, well if you know me, have met me or watched SMTV...I work as fast as I talk ;)

Have a supercalafragalisticexpialadoshus week and as always...

Keep Shining!

Stace

* Sunny & Simple Loaf recipe.

1 cup of SR Flour
1/2 to 3/4 cup of sugar (depending on what extras you add)
1 cup of milk
1 cup of desiccated coconut (you can also add sultanas, less milk and a mashed banana, choc chips, any dried fruit, crush nuts and brown sugar for a topping, lemon syrup too, raspberries & white chocolate...play around there is no end to the combinations!)

Mix together with wooden spoon, pour into loaf tin and bake in moderate oven for approx 35 mins. Too Easy

**Image by Impressive Designs on Etsy.

Sisterhood of the....

2010-06-01T19:52:00.008+10:00

Travelling pants?
Devine Ya Ya?

Nope..

Sunny Mummy Sisterhood!

Today one of our Sunnies, Renae, wrote on our facebook wall:

I love the S.M sisterhood, its so inspirational and so contagious!!!!!

I have 4 brothers and not even the GM has a sister so I missed out BIG time when it came to sisters....

Well not anymore, now I have HEAPS...WOO HOOO!

Here is the first of many clips I hope to produce full of Sunny Sista's!

Be sure to spread the rays x

Keep Shining,

Stace x

PS Can I borrow your clothes? WHAT? Isn't that what sisters do?????

Turn Mondayitis into MOTIVATEDNESS!

2010-05-31T06:33:00.021+10:00

Its raining, its pouring...are you bumping your head in the middle of the bed and don't want to get up in the morning?

It really is raining this morning and very easy to feel a bit of Mondayitis...

I thought it is a good opportunity to share with you my 7 tips to turn your Mondayitis into Motivatedness when you are at home with little ones.

ONE: A great day starts the night before!

Work backwards. What time are you getting up in the morning?

Don't tell me you don't know because it changes everyday...you are the CFO {chief family officer} of your family and the CFO does not get up whenever they feel like it!

On weekdays they get up at the same time everyday because they have a realistic morning routine and they stick to it!So if you are getting up at 5am, you need to be in bed by 10pm the night before because you need around 7-8hrs sleep every night.

This is not BEAUTY sleep, its ENERGY sleep!

TWO: Start your day in a positive way!

As soon as you wake up, start your day with something positive that you enjoy.

It might be to read something inspirational {hmmm say Sunny Mummy}, exercise or have a cup of tea and sit quietly, thinking about what a GREAT day you're about to have!

THREE: Dress to impress the boss...that's YOU by the way!

BEFORE the kids wake-up, shower and dress for the day. Do your hair, pop on some tinted moisturiser, mascara and lip gloss...

Just because you may not be leaving the house doesn't mean you shouldn't make an effort. Its about how this FEELS and for me personally, popping on my jeans and a little make-up makes me feel so much nicer, my day just rolls differently to when I am wearing my trackies.

{BTW, If you feel fabbo in your trackies then wear them but ask yourself if they really make you feel confident and ready to get stuck into the work day?}

FOUR: Have a realistic routine for each part of your WORKDAY!

Whats that? You don't work, you're a stay at home mum?

Well that changes RIGHT NOW!

You do WORK, you work at home {and you may run a business from there too} and you have an extremely important position!

You handle the cleanliness of your home, plan meals, source ingredients, prepare nourishment for people, handle accounts, manage diaries for other {staff} members and groom them too!

You do indeed work so imagine you could be called in for an employee review at any time...how would you rate your performance?

Are you following an effective routine that allows you to complete the work or are you all over the place, doing whatever grabs your attention?

You wouldn't turn up to an office job and do whatever you feel like, whenever.
You would have a routine and follow it. Do the same at home. You need it and your family needs it.

All is well in the world when you have a realistic routine.

FIVE: Have a realistic routine!

A good routine is like a good budget. It is realistic and allows time for all the things that take place on any given day at any given time.

There is no point in having 'ironing' from 8-9pm every second night in your routine, if you know that you can be found in front of the TV but there is certainly no ironing taking place (I iron as I go by the way, its how I roll ;)

That's like failing to include in your budget that you spend $50 p/w on takeaway, if you do it and you enjoy it...then acknowledge it!

If however, you spend hours every week tending to your virtual restaurant on facebook but find yourself wondering what you will cook for dinner at 5pm everyday....its time to review how you are spending your time and get that routine happening!

SIX: Remember your REASONS!

Remember the reasons WHY you are doing this and change the way you view each task.

You're not making a bed cos you HAVE TO, you're providing a fresh, cosy place for your family to sleep whilst creating order in the bedroom (a room NEVER looks tidy with an unmade bed). You're not doing the washing cos you have to, you're providing sanitised clothing free of germs that smells so good (how good does Omo Small and Mighty smell by the way) and teaches your children about the importance of looking after ones appearance (doesn't that sound very posh)!

You get the drift. Yes, we do the same stuff day in day out and it can be very mind numbing but its all about WHY you are doing it...remember that!

SEVEN: Knock off time...

Did you wonder why I chose 7 tips?

You may or may not believe in him but even God rested on the 7th day ;)

Last time I checked, I was not God and neither are you...

Bottom line is this: If you want to ENJOY not ENDURE motherhood and YOUR life in general...You need to know your MATHS!

Rest + Relaxation = RECHARGED, REVITALISED and RENEWED!

So seeing as this Motherhood Position is WORK, then you need a knock off time.

I have said before that no-one is going to ring you and say "That's enough for today love, good work, why don't you take the afternoon off!"

Its up to you to ensure you follow a realistic afternoon and evening routine that allows you to recharge the batteries. This is the time when you can relax, spend time with your partner {if you have one}, shave your legs and mentally prepare to do it all over again tomorrow...

That's the thing with this position..it is relentless, your work is never done and if you let it, it can really get you down and suffering with Mondayitis everyday.

So if you start to feel the blahs creep in...see tip #8!

HA of course there is tip #8.

Eight: BE KIND TO YOURSELF!

You are doing a wonderful job!

There is no pay. There is no performance review resulting in a bonus BUT you are your own boss and you get out what you put in!

Be sure to be kind to yourself and leave yourself with something to PUT IN :)

Have a Super Duper Week and go put on some lip gloss...the world is alot shinier when you do ;)

Keep Shining,

Stace x

PS If you jhaven't already got one, the Sunny Mummy Assistant will help you do all of the above!

Thankful Thursday...

2010-05-27T07:04:00.009+10:00

Whilst it is 'Thankful Thursday' and normally I would write 7 things I am thankful for, today I want to write about just one....

YOU!

I am thankful for you and the support you give me. The emails of thanks, the encouraging words and the things you write or mention in our little community that help me to understand you all, and myself, just that little bit more.

So lean in close, imagine I am looking into your eyes and listen closely..

YOU are not ME and I am not YOU.

YOU are perfectly YOU and today is the day you embrace that!

Why today? Why not?

NOW is the best time and NOW can be ANYTIME, because guess what?

As sure as the sun will rise tomorrow, I will slip up, you will slip up. We will all slip up and the world WILL NOT STOP TURNING.

Forget the diets, the restrictions, the expectations, the new kitchen, the old car, the breast or the bottle, the 10 kg you need to lose before you can feel good about yourself....whilst your consuming yourself with all of this, LIFE IS HAPPENING!

Your babies are growing up, you're growing older and whilst your busy thinking about how things could be or should be, your missing out on how good things ARE...

FEEL GOOD NOW!

Its not a feeling actually, its a CHOICE.

Simple really. Life is simple, we complicate it with our rules and expectations.

Rules we place on ourselves and unrealistic expectations of ourselves and others.

So today, everyday and moment by moment, CHOOSE to be YOU, CHOOSE to feel good, CHOOSE to let go of the expectations, CHOOSE to be Teflon and let IT slide.

Whats IT?

IT is whatever is irritating you, the friend who hasn't called, the husband who isn't helping, the mother at playgroup who you THINK is judging you...WHATEVER!

Let it slide and let it go...

Today is thankful Thursday, be THANKFUL you are YOU and not anyone else because YOU are perfectly equipped to handle YOUR life and your world and its up to YOU to make the most if it!

Now what are YOU going to do with your ONE precious LIFE starting with NOW?

Keep Shining,
Stace x

Breastfeeding: Real Mums tell you how....

2010-05-21T06:56:00.006+10:00

This is a guest post by Melissa McDonald, author of:

'Breastfeeding: Real Mums Tell You How'

As pregnant women, we don’t think so much about feeding our baby, rather the labour and the pain associated with it. We’re filled with the excitement of finally meeting our baby for the first time and so we should be, it’s an amazing time in our life.

As ‘soon to be mums’, we read so many books about conception, pregnancy, fertility and the like, before and during pregnancy, but we don’t seem to read up on what happens after the baby arrives.

Feeding your baby is your most important responsibility as a mother. Once your baby is in your arms it won’t be long before the first feed and you need to be prepared for it.

After talking with many women who have shared with me their joy and others anguish in feeding their babies, I found that new mums really need all the support they can get in order to successfully establish breastfeeding. Some of the best support comes from midwives, lactation consultants, mother craft nurses, family and the associations and hot lines available. When you don't have access to these resources in the hospital or when you get home, are feeling alone in your experiences or simply can’t get the feeding right, the best people to listen to are other mothers and their first hand experiences.

However many women don’t attend mothers group until their baby is 13 weeks old and by this stage some women have been through hell and back trying to get the feeding right and in frustration and despair have turned to formula (not that there’s anything wrong with that).

I have two children and I experienced breastfeeding problems partly due to a lack of knowledge and the extreme stress I put myself under to solely breastfeed. I didn’t understand why I was failing at what seemed such a natural thing to do.

In light of my experiences I set out to write a book that would give pregnant women and new mothers the information and confidence they need to have a successful feeding relationship with their babies. I am happy to say my books have been printed and have been delivered and are now available online at www.breastfeedingbook.com.au and at selected Angus and Robertson and Borders bookstores.

The book covers the fundamentals of breastfeeding and what you need to know to give yourself the best chance. If you can’t or don’t want to breastfeed then there is practical information on how to bottle feed or even combination feed and with no judgement from anyone on what you decide.

I interviewed many mothers just like you, who shared their stories and their experience of feeding their babies and the highs and lows that come with it.

I really hope this book gives modern women the confidence and knowledge to feel prepared to feed their babies whether it be breast or bottle or a combination of both.

I promote breastfeeding wholeheartedly but there is immense pressure on women to solely breastfeed their babies and for some this is not so easy or a realistic option.

For those of you for whom breastfeeding comes easily, you are the lucky ones. There are many mothers for whom it doesn’t.

The best advice I was given was, “Do what is best for you and your baby” and this means both in the physical and emotional sense, whether it be breastfeeding, bottle feeding or a combination of both. As your baby’s mother, you have the right to choose how to feed your child. Yes, breast is best but sometimes it just isn’t an option.

For some, breastfeeding doesn’t come naturally, for others it’s smooth sailing all the way. Each child feeds differently, even siblings or twins vary greatly in the way they feed. You will not know how your baby will be until that first attachment. So by being well informed about what to expect prior to giving birth, we can give ourselves and our baby the best chance at a pleasurable breastfeeding experience.

So if you are pregnant, a new mum or looking for a gift for your pregnant friend or relative, then this is the book for you.

One lucky Sunny Mummy will win a copy of Melissa's book 'Breastfeeding: Real Mums Tell you how! All you need to do to be in the running to win, is email askme@breastfeedingbook.com.au with 'I am a Sunny Mummy' in the subject line!

It's coming!

2010-05-19T13:09:00.011+10:00

So I am sitting here making a start on wrapping the fabulous giveaways that have been so generously donated by the fabulous businesses supporting Sunny Mummy and our first event, the Buffet of Life, and it occurs to me, ITS NEXT WEEK!

I am soooo excited. I really, really am.

Excited for the brekkie, the bubbles, the goodies but most of all EXCITED TO MEET YOU ALL!

I feel like I know a little bit about each and every one of you can't wait to put faces to names that are here for me as much as I hope I am for you!

I am actually reading Joanne Fedler's (our guest speaker) book, Secret Mothers Business now and how I did not know about this book before is beyond me, its an hilarious and open account of her journey in motherhood and I just can't wait to hear her speak. Something tells me we will have a laugh or two.

Of course, I will be speaking too, whats new ;) Lucky we only have til 11am or else I would talk all day, lucky I have to pack up afterwards too or else I would be saying, come on girls, lets go have lunch now!

I would be saying that because I feel so lucky to have created this wonderful community of Sunny Mummies. Mummies who are all shapes, colours, sizes and temperaments, we may have nothing or everything in common, but one thing we all agree one is that we want to ENJOY motherhood!

There are so many fab prizes, I am super excited for the Mummy who walks out wearing a Sunny Mummy Plated necklace {just like mine} from
Made to Inspire or a gorgeous celebrity inspired leather handbag from Willowblu.

So have you got your ticket yet? What are you waiting for?

We now have a special offer if you buy 3 tickets in one transaction, the 4th ticket is free! Keep it for yourself or split the cost amongst the 4 of you.

Final numbers must be confirmed by this time next week unless sold out beforehand, so grab your ticket now and prepare to have the most gorgeous morning being spoilt, meeting other Sunnies and celebrating YOU!

It won't be the same without you...

To those Sunnies who have already purchased, your tickets will be emailed out to you tonight. See you on the 29th, can't wait to meet you IRL {in real life, that's high tech virtual talk you know}!

Stace x

Sending YOU...

2010-05-19T12:05:00.012+10:00

This is an adapted version of a letter I felt compelled to write to another blogger, something tells me more of us need to hear these words:

Dear You,

This letter comes from one Sunny Mummy to another...

Don't try to be perfect, be perfectly YOU!

You have been given a precious gift...children who are watching your every move.

Show them you are BeautyFULL inside....once you have that, outer beauty quietly comes in and takes its permanent place.

Enjoy NOW, this wonderful age you are at. You didn't know much 5 years ago, you don't know much more now...

Neither do I.

Life is like that, please don't waste precious time trying to be perfect or worrying about stuff, physical and emotional.

Are you searching for something? Love, higher purpose, perhaps a job...
I wish you all the best. However, never forget you already have all of the above, being your children's Sunny Mummy.

Society can make you feel like that job is not enough, that somehow you should or could be doing more...

What could be more important than raising UP a child? Yes it gets tedious sometimes and is ever so tiring...

I am sure there are days when you wonder how you got here? That's OK. So do I.

Your life has taken this path and it is the right one for you....you will be able to do all the things you cant do now, soon, trust me.

You will appreciate it so much more, I promise.

Do what you love Sunnies, chase your dreams and keep being YOU, there is no-one else qualified for the role and to your babies, you are the only ONE.

Look after their mummy and remember you are already perfectly YOU, I think you are beautyfull inside and out.

Sending you sunshine and smiles always,

With love
Stace x

Hungry?

2010-05-16T19:10:00.000+10:00

This time last week I was sipping Chinese beer {well actually it was Japanese beer}, in the back streets of Shanghai.

We packed so much into a short trip, I really underestimated how tired I would be upon our return.

Actually tired doesn't really describe it. I have not felt this tired since my 38hr labour to give birth to my over 10lb son almost 8 yrs ago ;)

I suspect it wasn't just the trip though...since I have returned, I have not been my Sunny self.

I have been tired, cranky and even started getting strange things happening with my heart. Because of this, I have spent the last 24 hrs hooked up to a monitoring device that resembled my yellow sony sports walkman circa 1990! Only it wasn't yellow and I couldn't listen to Bobby Brown on it ;)

This little machine took note of all the double beats {of me not Bobby Browm} and will let the doctor know what is going on.

As I sit here tonight though, I think I know what has been going on...

I'm hungry and its not for food :(

I'm hungry for rest and some 'me' time.

I am sure many of you can relate to this? Most mums feel this way sometimes....even all of the time :(

However, not me...Not Sunny Mummy.

She looks after herself, she rests, she recharges...she walks the talk, or does she?

I used to :(
I really did...

I have always kept it real on here with you guys and this blog actually started as a way for me to document my journey to becoming a Sunny Mummy.

This post is more about staying one!

I LOVE that I am, as Julie Parker from Beautiful You tweeted a few weeks ago "Helping Mummies believe their Sunniness is more important than their Yumminess".

I LOVE inspiring Mummies to be Sunny and more organised.

I LOVE being Sunny and Organised.... but this week, I am the plumber with the leaking tap, the dentist with the bad breath, the..OK you get the idea.

My house is a MESS and my own schedule is slowly disappearing as I try to fit everything in...

Sound familiar?

I am trying to have it all, all at once...{Que Dr Phil 'Hows that workin for ya?"}

So, what switched the light bulb on for me tonight? My kiddies of course!

Tonight, after a day of getting quite cranky over silly things with my family, I decided to have a nice hot bath {eat toblerone in there}, to escape the kids, I told myself.

ON my way to the bathroom, my kiddies called me "Mum, we have something for you!"

This is what they had drawn...

"Its a LANGEL" they told me excitedly.

An angel of love, just like you!

WHAT? I was NOT a sunny mummy today and you think I am a LANGEL?

Suddenly it hit me like a laptop in the face...

I am getting so busy feeding others the sunshine, that I forgot about me and my family :(

I am dishing up the food, being so generous with the servings for others, that I forgot to serve myself...and now I am hungry.

What's worse...I think my family are eating the leftovers...

So I wrote myself a little note:

Dear Langel ;)

You are extremely passionate about helping mothers ENJOY, rather than ENDURE motherhood, and for that you should be proud.

Do you realise you can help even more, if YOU GIVE YOURSELF permission to take the pressure {that YOU have placed on yourself}...OFF?

The world will not stop turning if an email is left unanswered and Rome was not built in a day {isn't that because I wasn't the foreman, I ask?}.

You pride yourself on keeping it real...So lets be REAL.

Its time you realised you are but ONE woman, spreading a positive message to motherhood. You can't do that if you don't 'walk the talk' and look after yourself first.

THIS is EXACTLY what Sunny Mummy is all about...

Your family needs you, you've come off track, now get back on :)

Keep Shining x

Now some may read this and think it is not a very sunny post.

I think it is quite the opposite....this is a VERY SUNNY post.

It's a Sunny post because Sunny Mummies keep it REAL, recognise and admit when they are getting off track.

I am writing this post so you KNOW that I can and do go off track.

So where to now?

Well for starters, I won't be replying to emails as planned tomorrow...

I am going to sleep in, make pancakes with my kiddies for breakfast and leave the housework for Monday. We're going to head out into the sunshine and enjoy being together. We'll be LANGEL'S to one another.

Come Monday, I'll be re-working my schedule and sticking to it.

I'll also be installing 'auto responder' on my email :)

Oh and as soon as I can afford it, I may even get an ironing lady...

You don't have to do your own ironing to be a Sunny Mummy do you????

Nah, of course not ;)

Keep Shining!

Stace x

Sunny Mummy bares all!

2010-05-14T15:03:00.024+10:00

Today I am joining in the fun of bloggers without make-up, started by Jodie over at Mummy Mayhem!

So here I am fresh out of the shower, butt naked!

Note, I have used special lighting ...otherwise known as 'freezing in the hills district so must have heat lamps on!'

Well actually I do have moisturiser on my face because it feels itchy if I don't put some on straight away...hmmm, now that I am writing this, obviously I am using the wrong cleanser, right?

OK so here is another one, this time a bit warmer with my robe and no special lighting...

Anyway, I don't actually wear alot of make-up. I figure if I can't get away with going bare or minimal now at almost 32, then when can I?

Now I need to tell you that normally a post comes very easy to me, I get an idea or thought and the words flow.

Today this is not the case.....

I think its because I am torn between trying to get a message across about loving ourselves and not needing to prove anything by wearing make-up, however that would mean I am trying to prove something by NOT wearing make-up!

Are you confused yet?

Don't be, I am just trying to figure out the best way to get the message across that I don't give a shit (alert the blogging authorities, I think I just swore for the first time ever on my blog) whether you wear make-up or not!

Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't... {wear make-up that is, not give a shit, ok now I am confused!}

I rarely wear it on Mondays (don't ask me why Mondays, I just have this 'ex acne sufferer' mentality where I want my skin to breathe, on Mondays ;)

I am not saying lets throw out our make-up kits either, I love my make-up. In fact, if I don't put a little something on in the morning, the day just rolls differently. Its not that I am embarrassed to go out without make-up , in fact quite the opposite. Going out without make-up shows people we are not afraid for them to see the real us and plus we look extra super duper hot when we do put some on ;)

You know what I used to LOVE?

Those 'celebrities without make-up' issues of magazines? Oh how I would sit there and pick them apart. "Oh yeah, who's so beautiful now, hey?" I would say out aloud to myself.

Now, I seriously couldn't be less interested if I tried!

Firstly, I am not sure they even are totally without make-up and even if they are, they still look amazing because of lighting and privileged lifestyles consisting of chefs, trainers and coconut water or whatever the latest beauty/celeb fad is.

Just quietly, if I drank nothing but coconut water, my skin would probably look like a bounty ;)

Anyway, it really is crazy how much time we can spend trying to impress people we don't even know or even like.

At the end of the day, what I want my daughter {and son} to know for sure is this. "A lady ain't what she wears but what she knows!"

I learnt that from the song below....

Enjoy the music and enjoy NOT having to remove your mascara tonight!

Keep Shining and remember, as India sings above "Don't be offended this is just my opinion, ain't nothin what I say here is law".

Stace x

The adventure continues...

2010-05-12T12:34:00.036+10:00

The second day in Shanghai saw us visit the Research and Development centre for Coca-Cola Greater China....

It was also the day Coke made me cry!

When we first arrived, we got to see what I thought, was some pretty cool stuff.

Here we are in the foyer with one of the specially designed Coke bottles from the Beijing Olympics.

Off we went on our tour where we were able to see first hand that Coke walks the talk. This is the most positive workplace I have EVER seen so if I suddenly disappear for a little while, its only because I am behind the scenes trying to get a job with Coke, maybe even in China ;)

Why not? I mean how many people can say they go to work and have meetings in fun pits like this...

or are reminded to 'SOS for hugs' if necessary?

Of course I think this Sunny Mummy would fit right into the Coke Life with their messages on how to bee...

I would sit at the board table and look all positive..

Oh wait, this IS me sitting in a board room looking all positive, that's right, I don't need a formal job with Coke because I have a far more important mission, one they haven't even asked me to talk about. Actually, for the record, they haven't asked any of us to talk about anything. Nothing.

They genuinely want to show us what they are doing, what they plan to do and want to know what they COULD be doing to increase happiness and positive living.

What I want you all to know, is that the Coke employees are happy. Really, really, happy and they really want to make the world a better place!

OK OK I can hear you, WHY DID YOU CRY STACEY?

Well all was well as we went on our tour, until they took us unto the part where no cameras were allowed. Excitement started to build as I thought we were going to see some top secret stuff, like new products or maybe the original recipe...as if!

It felt a little like Charlie and the Chocolate factory as we waited outside the doors to take us into this restricted area, however that quickly faded as we were taken into a meeting room. We sat around a REALLY BIG round table and the next thing I knew, every wall was a giant video screen projecting information on Coke and stats about China, complete with sunshine, lolly pops, rainbows and...well you get the idea.

So there I was, sitting next to Mad Cow, both of us with our eyes wide open, when this giant fridge thingy pops out of the middle of the table....every drink you could possibly imagine was there, all for us to taste and touch!

I was getting overwhelmed with happiness, I started to tear up at the thought of being there, at the amazing things my eyes were seeing. I did a good job at holding them back until they blasted the room with 'I can see clearly now the rain has gone...' WHOOA did they know gone are the dark clouds that had me blind?

It was at this point I totally lose it and the tears can't be stopped because I am totally lost in the moment and seriously channelling the poor kid at Willy Wonka's factory, totally feeling like I somehow won the last golden coke label :)

I look at Mad Cow who is clearly feeling the same thing but doing a much better job at holding it in than I am, so I pulled myself together however not before scaring Coke Dude and needing to reassure him they were happy tears indeed!

I soooo want to tell you what I saw next but I am not even sure I am allowed to. Its top secret coke stuff but let me just say that it involved Mcdonalds (which the Chinese pronounce McDonna which is so cute), 7eleven, a bar (which I wanted to sing karaoke in because how cool would that be to sing karoke in China!) & much much more!

After the mind blowing, top secret part of the excursion, it was onto our International Bloggers conference where I got to represent Australia on the panel.

Here I am with some of the other bloggers and I hope I did the other Aussie Coke Queens and of course, Coke Dude, proud.

Next stop after the factory, was dinner with the whole group. I sat with the Korean bloggers of whom only 1 spoke broken English. It was tricky but oh so lovely to laugh and communicate with such barriers. Not sure how much was lost in translation but it touched my heart when the one that could speak a little English told me "they very sad they can't speak you. They like Sunny Mummy much with blue eyes and smile always".

Awww schucks, cue hugs all round!

A highlight of this dinner was meeting the funky trio that is E206.

Hi Guys!

Antonio, Kelly and Tony are Happiness Ambassadors for Coke and are travelling to 206countries in 365 days. You can find out more about their journey here.

Their mission is to seek out "what makes people happy" around the world and the Aussie Coke Queens will get to catch up with them and show them what makes Aussies happy, when they hit our shores later this year!

So, the only thing I did not see on this day, was Cocaloompas...

That's because they were waiting at the Happiness Factory at the World Expo, and what a happy, happy day that would turn out to be!

To Be Continued :)

The adventure begins...

2010-05-11T23:39:00.019+10:00

This time last week, I packed my bags, kissed my family bye bye and headed for the city for the night. Strangely, I wasn't going to take my laptop but at the last minute changed my mind. You can read the post I wrote whilst staying at the Intercontinental Hotel {the day before flying out to Shanghai} here.

Day one of my adventure started with a light brekkie overlooking Sydney Harbour with my new friend Mad cow, otherwise known as Amanda from Real Mums.

My new friendship with this amazing woman and mother will require a whole separate post so stay tuned for 'Sunny Mummy meets Mad Cow'!

Before long, 3 of us were in the black limo with Salvatore, on the way to airport whilst busy playing tricks on Coke Dude. What sort of tricks? Oh just replying to his caring txts to make sure we were 'on our way' with, 'Sorry who is this?'.

You probably had to be there to find this funny but I am sure this gave him a taste of what was about to come on the 11 hr flight to Shanghai!

So, I officially board my first international flight where I tell anyone who will listen that it is my first time overseas!

Here I am with my neighbour who didn't speak a word of English but seemed very happy to watch our antics and by the end of the flight, I had him drinking Baileys with me!

The flight was amazing and so were the staff! Qantas certainly provided me with a memorable first travel experience, although unfortunately, the fancy schmancy in flight entertainment was not working :( So the Aussies had to step up and ensure we spread our positivity and some fun around the cabin of course. A special hello to Lea and the rest of the flight crew who bent over backwards for us!

I ate more food in 10 hrs than I should in a week, cleared emails and soaked up business class whilst wondering how I would EVER cope flying economy after enjoying Qantas Business for my first ever international flight ;)

Upon arrival in Shanghai, I didn’t really feel anything. I was surprised really, as I thought I would FEEL something....

I quickly rang my family to let them know I had arrived safely and suddenly the only thing I felt was an unexpected longing to be in my pj’s on the couch watching Don Kirk on the Matty johns show with my people :( A Thursday night regular in the Sullaphen household as we crack up at Matty Johns er, I mean Don's antics ;)

OK back to the trip....you will be pleased to know that the homesickness quickly disappeared as I feared for my life on the drive from the airport to the hotel.

The roads are CRAZY and to give you an idea, our driver suddenly decided he was going the wrong way, proceeded to chuck a 'u turn' when in the middle of it, his mobile rang, so he stopped dead to answer it! Along comes a bus who does not want to move whatsoever so we just beep at each other until the bus swerves at the last minute and we take off again, hopefully this time heading in the right direction.

What amazes me is that they are as 'cool as cucumbers' and the only slight expression of irritation they show is the beeping of their horns. No one sticks up their finger or yells or even so much as rolls their eyes. Road rage just doesn't seem to exist in Shanghai, even though there are plenty of reasons for it!

Finally we arrive at the Hyatt on the Bund, to be greeted by the lovely Tracey, complete with Coke VIP kits and keys to a room that is too exquisite to describe with words so here is a picture of me in the room, trying on my new funky coke hat!

After we freshened up, we decided to hit the streets of Shanghai to look for authentic Chinese food of course. Here is when it became clear that I have never traveled before.

First, a man has the coolest laser light ever and starts shining it on my feet to get my attention. "Laser, laser" he calls out. I am eyes wide open and all oooh, ahhh my kids would love that, before the girls quickly tell me to keep walking and not get sucked into his sales pitch. I responded that I thought he was pretty clever calling me LISA to get my attention because, well there was a good chance a westerner would be called Lisa...right? Ahhh Laser, of course..whoops.

After a loooong walk, rain and many a restaurants advising us they were full or closed, we finally found one that served snacks. What kind of snacks I asked? Fried Rice the gentleman responds...to which I reply "French Fries, no no we don't want french fries, we want CHINESE FOOD".

Oh dear :( can I blame the jet lag?

Finally we find a great Chinese restaurant, back in our hotel lobby of course, and here we are eating the most amazing Chinese food EVER!

We head back to our rooms and as I lay in bed with THIS as my view...

I smile that I am in Shanghai but look over at the other side of my massive king size bed and wonder how I will sleep without my GM snoring beside me? Thankfully, I had the horns to drift off too and I would soon learn that the Chinese don't stop until very very late, that includes the beeping of horns!

Tomorrow would bring an early start as we join the rest of the International Bloggers Group and head out the Coca-Cola's research and development centre...truly AMAZING things were to come!

Lets start at the very beginning....

2010-05-11T13:51:00.034+10:00

A very good place to start!

Thank you to the lovely Sunny Mummies on facebook for reminding me of this because I have a gazillion posts after my amazing adventures in Shanghai and I really didn't know where to start you.

So go and get yourself a coke, or whatever drink makes you feel happy and let the story begin...

On the 18th of December last year, 67,000 people who subscribe to the 'Make Every Drop Matter' website {oh and if you don't know about this website, you should pop over now and not only subscribe but have fun playing with the 'compare our drinks' tool, it is super cool}, received the following message in their inboxes:

Make Every Drop Matter is evolving. Very soon, we will be launching a new website and building an exciting online community. It’s called Live Positively, and our aim is to create a place for Australians to share their feelings, ideas and knowledge about how to be a positive influence. Topics include community involvement, environmental sustainability, health and well being, your role as guardian of the household and making family decisions.

Help build the community

We are currently searching for an online ambassador for Live Positively. They will enjoy talking to others and love sharing thoughts and information on how they can make a positive difference to the environment, the community and the people around them. The ambassador may already have their own blog, and will know their way around social media sites, such as Facebook and Twitter.

Be part of it
If you are interested in becoming the online ambassador for Live Positively we would love to hear from you. To register your interest, simply take our online survey now. It only takes a few minutes to
complete, and you could play a part in growing the online community. So join us on this journey to Live Positively.

So OF COURSE, I took the survey :)

I told them I was the CFO {Chief Family Officer} of the Sullaphen family, LOVE living positively AND vaguely recall asking them if they could help me 'bottle' how I feel ;)

By the way, if they COULD bottle how I feel, it would be a bottle of Sunshine Vitamin Water, it would be yellow, infused with sunlight and just looking at the bottle would make you feel brighter!

We would run a competition for Sunny Mummies to fly to New York to film an ad {did I mention how much I love Vitamin Water and NYC} because that's where VW originated so it totally makes sense for us to film the ad there!

Oh OK WARNING...side tracking!

Whilst I am thinking of NYC, here is a picture of me with Piers, my new friend from NY.

Hi Piers!

Piers is the founder and CEO of psfk.com A company that aims to inspire readers, clients and guests to make things better – whether that’s products, services, lives or a better world!

Piers spoke about sustainable cities at the conference we attended and is very cool indeed...I told him he could use my PO Box at Rouse Hill if I could use his NYC one :) He laughed and agreed but its only a matter of time until he finds out its not really a fair swap ;)

OK so where was I...ahhhh the survey of course.

So up until the 12th of April at 9.44am to be precise, I had heard nothing further from Coke and have been so busy, I had completely forgot about the survey.

Until that is, I received an email that has changed my life forever!

You can read more about that day here.

Much excitement followed as I {virtually} connected with Amanda from Real Mums, Brenda from Mummy Time and Annabel from Get in the Hot Spot.

We also have a 5th Mum, Kate from Picklebums who could not join us because she is heavily pregnant :( Sad face for not being able to join us btw, NOT for the pregnancy! Virtual Kate is super duper lovely and I can't wait to meet her IRL and get her enjoying her place in the 'live positive' team...I am sure it would suck badly being chosen for this and then not being able to participate straight away :(

Much tweeting followed before FINALLY meeting the 3 mums who could attend, IRL {in real life} at our initial luncheon to discuss our 'Live Positive' journey.

Here we are at the luncheon...

I look back at this pic now and smile at how we never realised JUST how different we all are OR just how close we would become! Not to mention how much pure FUN we would share {along with tears, which I will explain as the story goes} on this trip of a lifetime.

Stay tuned for the beginning of our Shanghai Surprise

Keep Shining,
Stace x

PS Shanghai Suprise was the name of our fave Chinese restaurant back in Rooty Hill! SERIOUSLY!

How did I get here?

2010-05-05T17:42:00.022+10:00

Ha Surprise, I took my laptop with me.

I wasn't going to but then I realised I would be creating more work for myself by having to type up all the things I had written whilst away.

So here I am....sitting in the Club Intercontinental, soaking in Sydney Harbour at twilight, sipping on a lovely Bimbadgen Estate Shiraz, eating the finest food and surrounded by very important business people.

So how did I get here? How did a Mummy, who not so long ago thought she did NOT belong in such environments, get to be sitting amongst these important people, discussing very important things?

The old me would have been sitting here hoping no-one realised I was a fraud.
The old me would have felt like my business, had no business mixing with their business.

Tonight though, the old me is nowhere to be seen. She is long gone, sent packing to the land where carrying too much baggage not only weighs you down, it outright prevents you from going anywhere!

Today, I am not just going anywhere, I am going to China!

Me, Stacey Byrt (ha ha bet you didn't know THAT!) from Rooty Hill is going to China with Coca-Cola because SHE lives positively. Because SHE is making a difference!

Dare I say just as much of a difference as the important man sitting alone in a suit next to me, giving me the eye {watch out my GM hee hee}!

HE is making a difference in boardrooms, I am making a difference in lounge rooms!

AND {are you allowed to start sentences with AND?} because I am letting Mummies know they can ENJOY motherhood, YOU are making the biggest difference of all....

Seriously YOU.

The Sunny Mummy way of life would be nothing but an idea in my head and a practice in my home, without all of you making it a reality.

YOU, are all rising UP and RAISING UP, the next generation. Our kiddies are growing up with Mummies who KNOW its ok to put themselves in order to look after their families best, with women who have hopes and dreams, who look after themselves and understand that we cannot have it all, all at once.

We can however, have a taste of it all at various times, then choose what to eat and when.

It has taken me almost 32 yrs to get overseas and I wouldn't want it any other way.

I am taking my virgin voyage with the loveliest mummies who are also making a difference to many by living positively. Oh and lets not forget Coke Dude, just quietly, I think he is a bit scared to be escorting 4 mummies to Shanghai ;)

Ooh I think I forgot to tell you that I will be representing Australia on the international panel of bloggers...how cool is that? Someone ring Mr Howie {I think that was his name} and let him no I am no longer prepared to take zero for public speaking....I have a story to tell and there are people who actually want to listen!

So, as I sit here waiting for my lovely new friends, thinking of my Mum who is helping with my kids and my hardworking, dedicated GM who makes life so much easier just by being him, I am THANKFUL.

Thankful to be here, thankful to Coke for the opportunity, thankful to YOU for making Sunny Mummy such a warm place to be...

I want to share this with you because it sums it all up perfectly:

Keep Shining,

Stace x

Marvin May...

2010-05-03T10:43:00.003+10:00

OK before you go any further, if you are new to my blog or being a Sunny Mummy then you must read all about Marvin here.

Secondly, if you are a Single Sunny Mummy, then this post is not really applicable but perhaps you can set yourself an alternative to this Marvin Challenge ;)

So your challenge, should you choose to accept it {and I recommend you do}..

Is to not say NO, at all, to any Marvin requests in May.

YES, you read correctly.

Starting today, because it is the 1st Marvin Monday of May, whenever you are asked for Marvin, you say YES...with no complaints, no sour faces, no attitude.

WHAT? I hear you saying...NO WAY, are you CRAZY?

Yep, a little but let me assure you this is not some 1950's experiment.

It is rather, a call for you to put YOU and YOUR love life FIRST!

You know, like it used to be BC {before children}. I truly believe most of you will get to the end of this month with a new lease on life and love!

There are, a few guidelines of course.

1. Don't tell your partner about your mission, unless he specifically asks, "Are you on the Marvin May Mission?" 99.9% of men will not ask that, so technically you are not telling porkies or withholding any information ;)

2. Requests for more than once a day are just plain greedy, so you are allowed to use your 'no more than once a day = NO' card, should you find that your partner is taking advantage of your new found YESness!

3. Try to keep a journal or some sort of record each day of how you are feeling. You may even be brave enough to blog about it each Monday and tell the world how your mission is going ;) Perhaps you will feel a little resentful at first {at me of course for even suggesting this mission}, however I am pretty sure your feelings WILL change for the better and, in any case, the purpose of recording it will be so you can look back at the end of May and realise the impact it has had on your relationship.

Oh by the way, you don't HAVE TO participate however IF you are still here reading, then I know you're entertaining the thought... so stick with me whilst I tell you WHY why on earth I would do this to you?

If your love life is ON FIRE, then this mission will mean nothing to you and you'll just keep on doin what you're doin!

However, if you ever look at another couple and wonder why they seem ‘so in love’, when you can barely manage a goodnight kiss at times, then I am here to tell you the answer has a good deal to do with Marvin {otherwise known as SEX}.

You may or may not want to hear that, but it’s true.

There is this couple I know, Darryl and Tracey ;)

Darryl and Tracey have 2 kids and have been married for 10 years and together for nearly 14. They’re not your ‘can’t keep their hands off each other’ kind of couple, in fact Daryl and Tracey are the kind of couple who are SO opposite, you wonder how on earth they got together letalone stay?

However, Daryl and Tracey have a secret to their success!

How do I know? I asked them of course....

Daryl and Tracey believe in a clean and dirty formula.

No, I am not talking about the washing, I'm talking about their love life.

Daryl and Tracey keep the fights clean and the Marvin dirty!

Ok STOP, get your mind out of the gutter with the whole 'dirty' thing.

The clean and dirty formula for success, simply means this:

Keeping fights clean, means you respect each other at all times. You deal with the dirt on a daily basis as opposed to sweeping it under the rug and waiting til there is a big pile of mud in the middle of your house!

And the Marvin?

Keeping the Marvin dirty, means have fun with one another! Try new things, be BOLD...forget to wear your undies to dinner. Kiss in front of the kids. Mix it up, pretend you’re having an affair with one another. Meet in the ‘walk in robe’ for some afternoon delight whilst the kids are watching TV. Get off facebook and get into each other...oops have I gone too far ;)

“I’m tired” I hear you screaming at me.

"Stacey, Don’t you know people change, babies arrive, sleep disappears & so do sex lives!". YES, I do. I have been there and have come out on the other side of this sleep deprivation, no sex please, we're parents and I am telling you, WE MUST look after our love lives and that includes MARVIN!

You don’t eat once and feel full forever so you can’t expect to fall in love and feel loved up forever.

“Love is not in the falling, it’s in the staying” {I got that off a card by the way}

So I am setting this mission as a reminder to start getting your groove on regularly!

Come on, are you with me? JUST SAY YES!

Keep Shining,

Stace x

PS Wise words? Well, it works for Daryl and Tracey!

How do I know?

I told you...I KNOW them!

Just be kind...

2010-04-30T11:56:00.013+10:00

This post was inspired by a mixture of events and questions, yet comes down to the same answer...

Just Be KIND!

A little while ago, I received an email asking me if I would be willing to do a post on Mean Mothers.

At first I thought the sender meant, Mummies who are mean to their kids...what she meant however, was Mummies who are mean to other Mummies!

This Sunny wanted some advice on how to deal with them...or rather, wanted to know what would I do in this situation?

Personally, I have never experienced this and don't think I ever will.

Not because there are no mean mums out there, its just I wonder how often women are actually being mean to other mummies, as opposed to being perceived to be?

As women, we are very good at hearing what is NOT being SAID.

Have you ever found yourself thinking 'oh she doesn't like me' or 'she is up herself'?

Perhaps saw a mum at the school who you THINK saw you, but didn't say hello.

Does your mind say 'She doesn't like you. You're not good enough for her'.

What if, SHE REALLY didn't see you!

What happens in our lives comes down to how we interpret particular situations.

Blaming others removes our power. We need to acknowledge and accept the part we play in circumstances in order to make them better.

Motherhood is a strange thing indeed.

I often think that we are all in the same boat, yet many of us are ready to throw one another overboard, or worse....ourselves.

Aren't we in this TOGETHER?

Hmmm not always :(

We mothers can be a pretty competitive bunch, negative too.

Ask the fly on the wall at a mothers group at any given time and you are sure to find at least one mummy comparing herself to another.

At least one more is judging another, silently or worse. And yet another is filled with guilt about not breastfeeding or co-sleeping because another made a nasty comment...

I worry that if WE can’t support one another in a positive way, then who can?

We are our own worst enemies and need to remind ourselves once and for all that we are.. Mothers collectively.

If you find yourself judging or making mean comments to, or about another Mummy, then stop. Just stop.

I used to be incredibly judgemental, so much so that I wore a rubber band around my wrist. Everytime I judged someone, or had a crticial thought, I would snap the band against my wrist.

I had to train myself firstly that I could think what I like, but can't always say what I like. Once I had stopped the words, next were the thoughts. I am not suggesting you should do this, but rather sharing that it worked for me.

It was a physical reminder to stop the critical thought process {it hurt} and understand that we will never fully know or understand what another person or mother in particular, is going through.

We need to try and remember to be open , honest and willing to accept our unique ways of mothering.

Attempt to deal with any feelings that may arise such as envy or judgement. If you do this, then you are limiting the problems you create for other people and yourself.

Each and every one of us has a story, a unique experience of motherhood and more importantly, we are all doing OUR best at any given time.

There is no other mother for our child; we are the BEST mother in the world for OUR child/ren. What anyone else thinks or says simply does not matter.

Give yourself permission to things YOUR way without fear of being judged or feeling inadequate, if you ever find yourself in that position.

I am curious to know how many of you have encountered mums being mean to other mums?

AS in, blatant, obvious, to your face, mean girl stuff?

If you have, then all I would say is this...

Be like Teflon and let is slide off.

Don't let this sort of behaviour affect you. Simply because it is THEIR stuff not yours and 99% of the time, it has nothing to do with you anyway. Almost always, it is about them and what they are dealing with internally.

Motherhood can be like a stage act sometimes and what you see on stage, is not what goes on backstage or in the dressing rooms {more on this in another post}.

Can't we just be REAL without fear of being judged, by others or ourselves.

If we keep kindness at the forefront of everything we do, then I am sure motherhood would be a better place for us all.

Stephanie Dowrick believes the rules for kindness are simple.

Listen with your mind. Speak from your heart. Be open, direct, encouraging.
BELIEVE in your capacity to affect others positively.

We are doing an amazing job and it’s about time you told yourself and other mothers too.

Just Be KIND ...to yourself, others and never underestimate your capacity to affect others for the better!

Keep Shining,

Stace x

Sunny Mummy After Dark

2010-04-28T17:10:00.006+10:00

I have so much to tell you all, so much is happening, so much is coming...

For now though, I am here to tell you that tickets are NOW officially ON SALE for the first ever Sunny After Dark!

Sunny After Dark will be a regular social evening where YOU can come along, meet other Sunny Mummies, relax, socialise and SHINE!

Beginning with the Hills District {more locations across Sydney will be announced soon}, our first Sunny After Dark event will be held in the stylish 'Cocktail Lounge' located on Level 1 at Castle Hill RSL on Thursday the 27th of May, 2010.

Fabulous door prizes, giveaways, special guests and time to just be YOU, is what this evening is all about...

Tickets are just $40 and include yummy finger food and standard house beverages.

The courtesy bus is available for members of Castle Hill RSL!

Secure your ticket now to secure your spot and meet other Sunny Mummies in your area!

A new chapter is about to unfold....

2010-04-26T07:14:00.019+10:00

How was your weekend?

I hope it was relaxing, rejuvenating and full of moments you enjoyed...

I have news!

You know when you are watching your favourite TV program and its the last episode for the season and they leave you with a cliff hanger?

Prepare for a cliff hanger...

{oh I know it sux because you WANT, you NEED to know NOW, right? Of course you do!}

Sorry, can't tell you everything...YET

What I can tell you is this:

Sunnymummy.com.au is moving!

The house looked beautiful but the foundations were cracked :(

The pipes were leaking and at times, it felt the like the roof was caving in!

PLUS, we were running out of room...ALOT of Mummies want to move in you know... I want to make sure we have enough seats and bathrooms ;)

So we have found a brand new home and are busy working on it behind the scenes.

We are removing some old features that were not true to my vision for Sunny Mummy and making room for some A-M-A-Z-I-N-G changes.

Oh I sooo want to tell you right now how your life as a Sunny Mummy is about to get EVEN BETTER!

But I can't. If I do, you'll have nothing to look forward to!

Besides, don't you love surprises?

In the meantime, you can still visit the blog (which will move to wordpress soon) and connect on facebook, however I won't be around as much just for a little while.

This is because, I will be in China and upon my return, very busy preparing for our very first lot of events; Sunny Mummy After Dark and The Buffet Of Life! By the way, if you haven't got your ticket yet, you are going to miss out, so be quick and click here

So are you excited?

I am BURSTING SUNBEAMS, seriously if I were in front of you right now, you would get sun burnt ;)

Ok you know what...lets end with a giveaway and special offer!

Here's how you enter:

Cut and paste the following into an email, complete and send to info@sunnymummy.com.au :

1. Name, Email and contact Number.
2. What I love about being a Sunny Mummy is:
3. If I had coffee/tea/wine/coke and a smile with the original Sunny Mummy (Stacey), I would ask for her help with:

I will pick 5 entries who will win a prize valued at $257.40.

I will then pick 20 runner up entries who will be eligible to take up a special offer that will SAVE them $157.40.

These lucky Sunnies Mummies will be Walkin on Sunshine when they find out what they have won!

Ok that's it, no more info or else I will be like the kid who keeps saying they have a secret but cant tell you and then goes right ahead and tells you!

So get your entries in NOW as they close MIDNIGHT APRIL 30th.

I will announce winners on the 1st of may and judges decision is final, chance plays no part, winners will be chosen based on honesty and openness...no correspondence will be entered into blah blah blah ;)

Hey, wish me luck for China...I will come back with LOTS of pics, a new episode of SMTV AND a few souvenirs to give away..come on who wants a panda beanie?

Whats that? Oh, you want free COKE?

Ok, leave it with me...I'll see what I can do ;)

PS Because you wouldn't think it is me writing if there wasn't a PS ;)
I submitted my book proposal to a publisher. Eeek, so exciting! It will be YOUR handbook to living a Sunny Mummy life. You will open it up and the sun itself will burst out (ok maybe not cos you get like, burnt BUT it will be positive, supportive, encouraging, practical and pretty, oh so pretty. SO, it would help enormously if I could show them you would all buy it...so can you please answer the little poll on the right hand side before you leave (only answer if you would buy it ok ;). THANKS x

Thankful Thursday...

2010-04-22T14:13:00.022+10:00

This weeks post is not 7 things I am thankful for, but stick with me...

This Thursday, I am thankful for everything, that happens for a reason.

A little while ago, I told you all about a fab new magazine being launched, that yours truly, was honoured to be writing for.

The first article I wrote, I was given guidelines for and was able to interview 6 fabulous couples in the process. Not long after, I received an email from the editors asking me to write another piece. Something a little more edgier, taboo, raunchy. No problem, I can do all of the above {even though I was super swamped}.

They needed it ASAP as deadline was approaching. I put my family on hold and threw myself into giving them what they needed.

Yesterday, I was told NONE of the articles would be appearing in the launch issue :(

'Its not you, its us', kind of language was used. Which I am still not sure if that is for real or if they are just trying to break up with me... gently ;)

I am not being paid for this writing gig. I was happy to do it because a) the chicks who own it rock b) the line up of contributors are amazing c) Sunny Mummy and as such, our message, would get exposure in return for non-payment.

Which leads me to why I am thankful that everything happens for a reason.

When I received the email advising me I MAY be in issue 2, I was very disappointed. I put my family second to work {unpaid at that} and now it was for nothing.

A-HA, but it wasn't for nothing. It turned the light bulb on inside my head. If you could have been inside my head at that exact moment, the pisture above would have lit up!

The voice said..

"Stacey, you are a good person, you love writing..and you are pretty alright at it ;) You've been through some serious crapola in your life and have come out shining. Lives have been changed as a result of Sunny Mummy and whether they publish the article or not, you are on your way to BIG things and are taking all the Sunnies with you. All you have to do is BELIEVE".

Yes. Yes I am.

When I say BIG things, I don't mean in a monetary way.

I mean in a 'genuinely, obsessed with inspiring and supporting people kind of way, that CAN and WILL earn me an income' sometime soon...PLEASE.

Or else the GM says Sunny Mummy has to be a hobby in a scrapbooking kind of way and I don't know anyone who scrapbooks full time for free ;)

Besides, whilst I am sure Coles would have me, I wouldn't be able to help myself from stopping every Mummy and letting them know there is an alternative to yummy and dare I say...slummy.

Oh and PLEASE don't make me go back to a call centre!

UNLESS it is a Sunny Mummy call centre, now wouldn't that be cool?

A call centre for mothers to ring and get some sunshine and support, i'd work in that one and I'd let the workers pee when they want too...how good is THAT ;)

After I received the news about my seemingly wasted efforts, I went off for a Chinese lunch (fitting seeing as I am going there very soon. Minus the small spider in my fried rice, oh that is another post, another time)with some lovely local Sunny Mummies in business and we all got a fortune cookie.

I kept my piece of fortune, but do you think I can find it?

Anyway, it said something along the lines of "You will be suitable rewarded for your efforts in the very near future". Thank you Mr Fortune Cookie baker, {and thank you for not being a 'help me, I am trapped in a Chinese bakery' message because I always think "what if I got a message like that"} I soooo needed that.

So, everything happens for a reason and I won't be in the launch issue of the magazine :( who knows, maybe I'll be in issue 2, maybe I won't.

What I do know is this...

Sometimes things have to happen to us, in order for us to see where we are truly heading. If we don't know where we are heading, any road will take us there.

I want a map with lots of alternative routes thanks.

I want to support and be supported but you know what....

If we don't BACK ourselves and BELIEVE, then how can we expect anyone else to back us?

This applies to motherhood, learning a new skill, going for a new job...whatever.

So today I declare this:

I am Stacey Sullaphen and I BACK myself.

I have one precious life and I choose to change the world one mother at a time.
I hope to earn a living from Sunny Mummy REAL SOON or else you can come talk to me at Coles at night instead of in the forums. I love COLES but I warn you, if I have to juggle my family, coles and my passion for Sunny Mummies...I may not be so sunny;)

So, I am not asking for donations, all I am asking is that you BACK yourself and me.

That you back the way of life that is SUNNY MUMMY, and tell everyone you know!

If we have an event, please come. We promise to spoil you.
If I have a tool that might help you, please buy it.
Selling the tools is how I maintain the site etc

Otherwise I will look at offering shares :) Just kidding...actually no I'm not, why cant we all own Sunny Mummy? hmm must look into this. Imagine what we could if 1000 Mummies invested $100 each in Sunny Mummy..ahh the possibilites.

Finally, I am currently writing material and planning Sunny Mummy workshops. I want to do these to respond to the requests I have received, to fulfill an obvious need for inspiration, motivation and support for mothers.

Doing workshops is how I will make a living. I want to ensure I give you what you need, so I have developed a short survey because I want to know what YOU think.

Can you take this little survey now please? I promise it won't hurt a bit ;)

Click here to take survey

Oh and by the way, do YOU back yourself?

Live It List!

2010-04-21T05:04:00.000+10:00

Today's post was a way to get my creative juices flowing about some of the things I would love to do or own in my lifetime.

I didn't want to call my list a 'Bucket List' {after the movie}, because quite frankly, I don't want to wait until the bucket is threatening to be kicked before I do/get some of these things :)

So here is my 'LIVE IT' list in in pictures....

I would love to...

Experience a bad day in New York City, because apparently...

SPEND an afternoon on my vintage bicycle {which I don't have yet but I will get one!}

Wear this SUNSHINE tutu SOMEWHERE...ANYWHERE!

Learn to speak French then speak it in France...

Keep my life a...

Meet and/or appear on Oprah or Ellen!

Own a sunshine yellow bug...

Stuff myself silly with pasta and red wine in Italy...

Own a kitchen just like this which belongs to my friend Sharnel, one day I want to sleep at Sharnel's {because her house is all kinds of pretty} hee hee, put that on the list!

In which I will have a...

Speak to a HUGE crowd of Sunny Mummies...

OK that's actually President Obama so slight exaggeration of crowd size but hey, a girls gotta have goals ;)

So there you have it, my LIVE IT'list in pictures.

Now I want to see yours!

*All of these gorgeous pictures can be purchased from Etsy.

Pilot of time!

2010-04-18T10:14:00.001+10:00

Tomorrow is the last day of school holidays for us, as NSW heads back to school this week.

How can it possibly be term 2 already? I am sure my daughter just started Kindy a couple of weeks ago!

Tonight I am preparing for the term ahead, I thought I would share what I do to prepare and in doing so, possibly give you some ideas on how to juggle everything.

Notice I didn't say BALANCE everything?

That's because I think the term balance is a) overused and b) implies that I give equal time to all areas of my life and the roles within it, which is simply not true!

For me {and most of us I would think}, its not even possible...

Like most mothers, I juggle everything. Through good planning, scheduling and being aware of time wasting, most of the time, all the balls are in the air. However, I can get off track like anyone and as sure as the sun will rise tomorrow, I will drop one of the balls and they will all come crashing down!

What's important though, is that when this happens, you either laugh, scream, cry or have a full blown melt down {like I can}. THEN, you take a step back, look at your schedule and what is or isn't working for you.

Throw away the balls that you don't need or want. Accept the ones you have and try not overload yourself. Too many balls is a recipe for dropping them all so accept your balls ;) and that life IS a juggle and enjoy!

I have mentioned before that for me, 24hrs = 8hrs sleep + 8hrs work + 8hrs play.

This is a nice BALANCE of time allocation but it does not mean I will have balance within those areas.

So how do I juggle it all?

Lets start with 8hrs sleep, for me, THIS IS NOT negotiable!

I know lots of people survive on less but sooner or later it will catch up with you.

Of course this is NOT applicable to Sunny Mummies with babies who are still waking through the night. You need to sleep when YOU can. Now is not the time to be staying up way past when your baby has gone to bed. Do what you can and get some sleep!

I know it seems as though this stage will never end, it will, soon, I promise you :)

I will admit that since Sunny Mummy has grown so rapidly, I have been trying to sleep less. THIS IS NOT working, so I am reverting to what my body knows is best and is telling me loud and clear....I need my sleep, so I am negotiating my body to accept 7hrs!

Not beauty sleep btw, ENERGY sleep. I fully believe my boundless energy comes from my set bedtime {usually, and I cant wait to get back to it} and rising time.

Geez I wish I could let you feel how I feel when I jump out of bed in the morning!

Its like I am 'Bear from the Big Blue House' and I could seriously sing "Oh when the day begins, I look outside my window, I see the sun has come to start the morning"
Oh wait, I do sing it, but only to my kiddies once they wake up...I LOVE BEAR!

8hrs work. Some are physically at a workplace each day for 8 hrs. This is somewhat easier because when you are at your workplace for those 8hrs, you generally know what needs to be done and when. When you work from home however, or are a stay at home parent, you need to organise your 8 hours around the kiddies and somewhat more effectively.

For me it is essential to have an overall schedule.

You can see my general daily routine here.

However, every night, I take 5 mins max, to plan out the following day on my Rise and Shine Daily Planner, which you can buy here as part of the Sunny Mummy Assistant.

My 8 hrs work is spread throughout the course of the day working on Sunny Mummy. I refer to my planner for what needs to be done, and anything that I don't get to, gets transferred to the next day etc

8hrs play. For me, this is the time I spend exercising, being with my family, seeing to our home tasks, leisurely pursuits and just chillaxing.

I am sure some of you would be wondering why I have put housework in PLAY, but where else would it go? Yes, if you are a stay at home Mum or work part time then absolutely it can go in your 'work' time allocation.

However, if you work full time, then it has to fit into your PLAY time. Besides, if you are scheduling your home tasks and spreading them out daily, then it shouldn't take too much out of your play time anyway AND you can count this as exercise if you clean ferociously ;)

We ALL have the EXACT same amount of hours each day. Each one of us gives time to what we value. So if you choose to spend 4 hrs a night on screen time, then you only have 4hrs left of play... if you use more than that, then it eats out of another time allocation and usually that is the SLEEP one.

So, when you decide WHAT you will SPEND your time on and WHEN, life becomes a whole lot easier and less stressful.

There will be a part 2 to this post where I will share the tools and strategies I use to stay on track....

To give you a little preview, some of the things in my toolkit include:

*Kitchen timer
*Sunny Mummy Assistant {you can buy here on the RHS of the page}
*Sunny & Simple Schooldays {also available here on the RHS of the page}
*Sunny Mummy Magnets {SOLD OUT with more coming very soon}
*Housekeeping Box

Some of my strategies include, but are not limited to:

*Killing 2 birds with one stone!
*No TV before school, at all, ever!
*No TV in bedrooms!
*Evening Pick Up.
*Don't put it down, put it away!
*Marvin {seriously}!

So there you have it. This is how this Sunny Mummy rolls and it works for us. If you have read this far, you either need a little guidance and ideas in this area or, have it sorted and well, just want to know how I plan my day.

I wish you peace and organisation for the coming school term...

Time flies, are you the PILOT?

PS If you have any questions, want me to address something in particular or in more depth in part 2 of this post, please leave a comment with your question and I will be sure to answer.I would also love to hear your tips and strategies on what works in YOUR house?

Sunny Mummy Water Bottles!

2010-04-17T19:32:00.009+10:00

So the sample has arrived and I have already hit the streets of Sydney with my exclusive 'Sunny Mummy' stainless steel water bottle {and taken orders in doing so, as Mummies stop and ask where I got the gorgeous bottle from?}.

Many Mummies have already pre-ordered and thank goodness I ordered 2 boxes as the first one has SOLD!

These bottles have an inportant message... 'DRINK ME & SHINE'!

Not only will owning one of these save you money, you will help the environment AND improve your skin, hair, enegy levels etc, because this gorgeous bottle will have you sipping the good stuff all day!

17oz, Stainless Steel and BPA free, the thing I love the most, is that they don't sweat, so can easily sit in your handbag without wetting everything...

The Sunny Mummy Water Bottle is just $29.95 + $7 p&h anywhere in Australia {Sunny Mummies outside of Aust, please email stacey@sunnymummy.com.au for overseas shipping amount}.

Total amount including P&H is $36.95.

These are the perfect gift to yourself and another Sunny Mummy!

You're gonna miss this!

2010-04-17T12:28:00.010+10:00

It may, or may not surprise you that I like all kinds of music.

It cracks my R'N'B loving friends up, when after a few wines, I want to pretend I am the 4th Dixie Chick!

Anyway, I play this song regularly in the car.

It never fails to put a lump in my throat and remind me that if I don't slow down and pay attention to motherhood and this 'season'....

I'm gonna miss it, and want it back!

Enjoy.

I hope you like it and it reminds you, as much as it reminds me...

Mama Career...

2010-04-16T18:52:00.029+10:00

Before you were a Mum, what did you do?

Did you have a CAREER? A JOB? How did you see yourself?

I wouldn't say I had a career before kids. I was JUST 24 when I became a Mum and prior to that I worked predominately in Customer Service Roles...in call centres!

Working in a call centre is MY {I repeat, MY} idea of hell...

I have worked in them so I am allowed to say that :) For those readers who work in one and LOVE IT, you are a rare creature and I salute you....a happy call centre worker is hard to find.

*BTW here is a tip. When you phone a call centre and the CSO (customer service officer) does a good job, please please take the time to tell them and then ask to speak to their team leader and tell them too. WHY? Because these people can't pee without asking and then being asked why they took so long, so they deserve a little love!

So back then did I believe I had a career? No, not in a Mia Freedman editor of Cosmo at 24 kind of career ;)

Then I became a Mama, and at the back of my mind, I knew I wanted a 'career'. I wanted to SPEND my life doing something I was passionate about. OK, yes I am passionate about talking, BUT not to strangers about tax or insurance...

I KNEW I one day I would make a difference. That I would put my skills and energy to good use but I didn't know how.

What I never considered, back then or until last week actually...was that I HAD a career and WAS/AM using my skills and energy for the greater good.

I HAVE A MAMA CAREER!

It wasn't until I read this post by Mama Butterfly {beautiful blog and Sunny Mummy} where Mama Butterfly explains her proudest moment in her Mama Career, that I realised I WAS in the most important career EVER!

A Mama Career.

Isn't it funny how we can work our butts off for an employer who in return we receive money for {no arguments with that, we all need money} and possibly recognition but in reality, if we didn't turn up tomorrow, they could easily replace us. The company would not shut down and life would go on.

We have a set of 'key performance indicators' that guide our work and every so often, we sit down and discuss if we are meeting our KPI's.

We have KPI's in our Mama Careers too you know....

KID PERFORMANCE INDICATORS!

Everyday, our kids are watching and learning from the way we 'play out' our Mama roles {this of course goes for Dad too}.

Yet because they don't sit us down and say "Mum, listen, You've been doing a great job, however I'd really appreciate less personal calls when you're on the job", we don't really stop to evaluate all the things we do well, and what could do with improving.

I mean isn't that the idea of a performance review?

Isn't this the time your employer sits you down and tells you all the things your doing well at, and then possibly areas that need improving?

Imagine our kids are our 'Employers', what would they say in a 'Review'?

I am not suggesting we should cater to their every whim or demand, but I bet given the opportunity, they could bring some pretty important things to our attention.

You know what sort of things? MOSTLY GREAT!

Mostly they would tell you that they love you and you are doing a FANTASTIC job...then all your GUILT would go out the window.

They would probably kiss your bruises too...

WHAT Bruises I hear you ask?

The bruises we get from beating ourselves up when we aren't being the kind of mother we think we should.

HOWEVER, they might also say "Mummy, sometimes I just want you to sit with me".

OR

"Mummy, I know everything takes longer when you have me with you, but if you could just allocate a little more time, so you can just stop and look at this pretty flower with me, it would make my heart dance. Oh and by the way Mummy, soon I won't even want to come with you, let alone show you flowers, so lets enjoy these moments while we can".

This rings true with me, perhaps it will with you too?

Once I sat my GM {my gentleman for new Sunny Mummies} down, and told him "We need to do a performance review of this marriage! We need some KPI's so we both know we are looking after ourselves and each other".

Sounds crazy right? Let me tell you the GM laughed and then humoured me as I proceeded to outline what I expected of HIM...of course ;)

Well I think its crazy that we are totally fine with doing it at our workplace but not in our home which matters SO MUCH MORE.

Imagine if we all set out some KPI's for ourselves in motherhood, love and life.

We could review how we are going and make adjustments when necessary. We could give ourselves a raise or a bonus and pull ourselves and each other into line when we know we are slackening off.

After reading those words MAMA CAREER, I know for sure I am in the midst of the most important career I will ever have. I am shining my rays, watering, weeding and feeding the garden of 2 precious flowers and I want them to bloom.

As their garden becomes more established, they won't need this Sunny Mummy as much and I will have more time for other careers, but none will ever be as important as my MAMA CAREER and right now I am their sunshine...

I am so glad I know this NOW!

Live Positive...

2010-04-13T21:28:00.023+10:00

A few nights ago, I had a dream...

I dreamt that I went overseas for the first time alone.

No not 'alone' overseas for the first time BUT overseas for the first time AND alone.

In my dream, I was on a train.

I was even more excited than I am in everyday life and I told everyone on the carriage it was my first time overseas!

The whole dream was spent on a train and I just talked and talked and talked...
not at all like real life then ;)

Yesterday {Monday} started out like a usual Monday for me. No make-up and seeing as it is school hols, I was still in my jim jams after 9am....BLISS!

It was about this time that I snuck in to check email and found out that this Sunny Mummy along with 4 others, had been selected to attend the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai.

To be honest, as I was reading it, my instant reaction was, SPAM...let me just get to the bottom where it says "All you need to do to take advantage of this unique opportunity, is provide us with your bank account and credit card details".

Well here I am tonight writing this post and it still feels like it could be a joke except I now {virtually} know 3 out of the 4 other mums, so if it is a joke, at least I am in a boat with some other fabulous Mummies.

I know you would all be itching to know who I am going with so you totally need to pop over and check out:

Brenda from Mummy-Time
Amanda from Real Mums
Annabel from Get in the Hot Spot

and the last Mummy is still a mystery because I don't think she even knows her good fortune as yet!

So what exactly is 'Live Positive'?

Well for starters, I know I live positively and I am just loving that Coke as a corporate giant, is focusing on the same message. What I am loving even more so though, is that they think I AM!

'Together we can make a positive difference' is one of the key messages of Coke's global 'Live Positive' Campaign.

This campaign will soon be launched in Australia and I am bursting sunbeams that I get to be a part of it.

My journey with Coke starts at the end of this month, when I attend a luncheon, meet the other mummy bloggers and the Live Positive team.

I will then attend the World Expo in Shanghai as a part of this journey...some journey hey!

I have some BIG HAIRY SCARY dreams and part of 'Living Positively' is believing they will come true.

Don't ever let anyone, most of all yourself, tell you that your dreams can't come true.

You have ONE life and you have got to give everything a shot!

Lots of people, my friends included, say "oh you're so lucky" or "I am not surprised" but am I really lucky? Or do I just BELIEVE, put myself out there and have a crack at things?

Today for example, my kiddies and I had lunch at City extra for FREE. How? Well I won it! You gotta be in it to win it :)

I didn't win with Coke though, they chose us...

They chose us because our optimism can stir hope, build solutions, create possibilities and touch communities across the globe! Boy am I dreaming of spreading sunshine across the globe!

Coke are not paying me to write this by the way, although they are providing me with an all expenses paid trip to China....and I want to tell the world!

Did I mention ALL EXPENSES PAID? By the way, what is the weather like in China next month and what does one wear to a World Expo?

Anyway, I must admit...I love a good coke! A glass bottle one at that. I really do 'Open Happiness' when I crack that bottle and the fizzy bubbles tickle my nose.

I don't drink alot of it though. In fact, I have recently discovered their Vitamin Water and am slightly obsessed..today I realised it originates from New York, no wonder I like it so much!

My favourite flavour is the Yellow one...of course ;)

So, the girl from Rooty Hill {and about 28 other suburbs lol} is going to Shanghai and I am taking a little piece of you all with me. Of course, as requested already, I will also film Sunny Mummy TV whilst there :)

Coke believes through collaboration and partnership, we can reach across
borders to connect and change. I couldn't agree more and I am so glad they picked me as one of 5 to help them do it!

Lookout world, change can shape tomorrow and last forever...

The best is yet to come!

Keep Shining,

Stace x

Let YOUR light shine...

2010-04-08T23:17:00.005+10:00

This is just a short post to share this wonderful quote with you...
{Thanks Bron for sharing it with me}

It just sums up life perfectly I think.

It is such a wonderful, light and airy feeling when you are honest with yourself and others. In doing so, you give others permission to do the same.

What about you?

Do you need to give yourself permission to SHINE?

Thankful Thursday...

2010-04-08T07:51:00.009+10:00

7 things I am Thankful for this week:

1. The image above. It is BEAUTYfull. Just like the blog I found it on.
Beautiful You!

I stumbled across this blog from a re tweet on twitter, about Julie's post on Toddlers and Tiaras down under...this is a MUST READ! As a woman, a mother and a mother of a daughter at that, I will be writing on this very soon and will be contacting Julie...THIS kind of nonsense MUST BE STOPPED! Enough said.

2. That I get to stay home with my kiddies on the School Holidays and NOT get sucked into the idea that we have to DO something, OUT somewhere, everyday :)

3. McCafe. I don't actually like McCafe. For me, they are consistent. They serve me consistently BAD vanilla lattes. HOWEVER, today I am thankful for them because after the ability to stay home with my kids on holidays (see point 2), I had to escape them yesterday afternoon {I may or may not, have wanted to kill them}. I escaped to McCafe, the latte was bad, the company & wifi was good.

4. Sunny Mummies who take the time to write to me {and the ones that don't too}. The ones that tell me I am doing a great job are lovely. However, its the ones who write and tell me how lost they are and that Sunny Mummy is helping, that I am truly thankful for. WHY? Because it means that they have the map in their hands are are well on their way to finding which road suits them! If you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there!

5. Maeve Magazine. I am honoured to Maeve's resident 'Get Real' girl!
The world needs a magazine like Maeve. You need Maeve in your world. Check it out!

6. My kiddies. They have the most amazing imaginations. Although it is the said imaginations that have forced me to decide I will NEVER take them to the shops with me again. NEVER. If you don't believe me, visit Rouse Hill Town Centre, I will be the one with the 2 kids performing an episode of 'So You Think You Can Dance' from shop to shop. Funny for about 2.3 seconds I can assure you. This is the reason for my escape to McCafe yesterday!

7. For cloudy periods. They make you appreciate the sunshine so much more. As of today, you will wake to my 'Happy Good Morning' greeting on facebook and then have the opportunity to download any 'cloudy periods' in the evening. A version of highs and lows many of us do with our kids...we need to tell someone ours too!

Perfectly Me...

2010-04-07T08:08:00.033+10:00

This post is ALL ABOUT ME. Yep, totally ME ME ME & in a roundabout way YOU YOU YOU!

Today is 'What {I love} about me' Wednesday.

Notice the {I love} is in brackets? I did that because quite often, many of us say or think "What about me?"...followed by "it isn't fair, I've had enough and I want my share"! BTW I think Shannon Noll rocks, its true, I do.

Are we more comfortable saying "What about me" and having a good old whinge (nothing wrong with that from time to time) than saying "This is what I love about me"!

In fact, I didn't set out to write a post today about what I love about myself, although there are many things :)

Does that make you uncomfortable or think of me as a luvvo? Its OK, you can think that... I would have a few years back, simply because I was not happy within myself.

Its not that I WANTED others to be unhappy too, its just easier when you don't know who you are, that others don't know who they are too. It is somewhat comforting and therefore very easy to be critical of others, because it takes the focus off you... hence the luvvo comment. I'm talking about me and how I felt.

Today, I am ridiculously happy. I want to share it. I am sharing it.

I would bottle it and sell it if I could...I would give some away too.

If that comes across as I'm happy and your not, nah nah ne nah nah, then I am sorry some MAY feel that way.

I am not sorry for being real, honest and open about how I feel and how I live my life. I am so glad I learnt that I am NOT in control of other peoples STUFF and the way they FEEL.

I am happy because I went down a path that I resisted for a long time.

I had to open that can of worms and let them ALL out. It was scary, exhausting, confusing, confronting and at times...I didn't know if I would ever KNOW ME.

Now I AM... ME, perfectly ME.

You've heard it all before, be yourself..everyone else is taken. Love yourself so others can love you. All true.

E.E. Cummings said "It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are".

I thought it might be helpful (and if its not, then you can just delete delete ;) if I share a little bit more about me. To help anyone who may think I give the impression I am perfect...

I am not perfect, I am perfectly me.

I will limit it to 10 things because we know my posts are long enough as it is ;)

Perfectly me means:

1. I rarely have bad days. I actually SPRING out of bed in the morning super excited to face the day. I have always SPRUNG out of bed, but wasn't always excited..like when I worked in the call centre at the ATO...that was NOT fun let me tell you!

2. In my heart and head, the purpose of Sunny Mummy is to 'Keep your face to the sunshine so you don't see the shadows'. That might mean something entirely different to you, but to me, it simply means that I am human, I have ups and downs but when the downs come, I look up and remind myself to SHINE. Sunny Mummy is my passion and my business, it is my job now (privilege) to encourage you and assist you to be organised if you WANT to. This is how I spend so much time on it, because I love it and it is my work...

3. OK this one I will probably get hate mail for :( I don't like dogs, any dogs, OK maybe just the one on the toilet paper ad...they scare me, I have been bitten by them and one even knocked me over when I was little and I broke my nose..Sorry but I just don't like them.

4. I am not an animal lover I am a people lover. Animals scare me, people don't. People don't bite, see point 3.

5. I have lived in ALOT of places. ALOT. Mostly Rooty Hill (YES ROOTY HILL) and I spent a good part of my life in a housing commission house. I used to be embarrassed by it...now I know it made me who I am. Doesn't stop me asking my mum though if I possibly could have been mixed up at birth because given the choice between 2 things that look exactly same, I always pick the expensive one.

6. I was Miss Blacktown in 1997. Yep never thought I would admit that. I was embarrassed by that too. Perhaps if it was Miss Bondi I wouldn't have been. However that was BEFORE I dealt with my stuff. There are good people everywhere and bad people too, your postcode shouldn't matter. BTW all the other girls answered really well on the agricultural questions, I knew nothing and told them I don't actually like animals and that my nan bets on the horses...

I still won ;)

7. I don't have alot of time for negative people. I will help anyone and everyone but if you ask for my opinion/advice and then continue to complain about the same thing for a period of time, I will get all Dr Phil on you and ask you how that is workin for ya? You will then either love me more or our friendship will fizzle. That's ok.

8. I don't ever wish that I had someone else's legs or feet or whatever. Never have. I think my Dad knocked that out of me when he bought me these horrid rap boots in year 2 that no Girl would ever be caught dead in and I complained. At all of 8, he sat me down, quoted "I once complained about my shoes til I met a man who had no feet". I cried. I felt guilty. How could I possibly complain about the shoes when some people have no feet. I was a terrible person. I vowed I would never be so ungrateful again. Ever since then I think that way about everything. My brothers used to say I had 'Mal Meninga, smell my finger' legs, OK too much info, BIG legs, and even then, I thought, well I have legs :) This is why as much as I would love boobs that sit perfect without a bra, I will never have a boob job. I have boobs and they are healthy when others have lost their lives or had to have them cut off. Thanks Dad for this, it worked.

9. I can appreciate beauty in everyone, which can be taken the wrong way when I suggest I make you over ;) but my bestie Nicole will vouch that I started doing this in primary school when no-one wanted to be friends with Darleen and teased her...I talked to her and wanted to give her mousse...Darleen, if you're out there, I would still LOVE to do your hair!

10. It is no secret I want my own TV show. At school, I would not even give a speech. I took ZERO every time. I was petrified. Now I want a show.
In this dream show, I would do lots of things. It would be on everyday and I would encourage you all to be Sunny. I would talk to amazing 'everyday' women who are the foundation of our society NOT overrated celebs who have sooo much help. I would cook in a REAL kitchen, with mismatched pots and ingredients you can get from coles and you would see HOW MUCH MESS I make. I would make-over mums and walk the streets transforming outfits. I would probably even don a leotard and get you & the kids doing aerobics with me. Would anyone watch? In my mind they would.

11. I am writing a book, 2 actually. One is a kind of Sunny Mummies guide to life, the other is my story, the whole ridiculously funny, sad, shocking story of the girl from Rooty Hill and all that went on behind closed doors in Westminster St. Oh I am sure Mrs Gillette knew and the other family with the pretty girls up the street near the laneway, thats why their parents wouldn't let them play with me. I don't blame them, I wouldnt let my kids play with me from THAT house back then :( I am doing this as therapy for me and I am sure you will get a laugh. I will get it out of my head and others might be helped to know they are not alone. Oh and that you can grow up like that and be OK.

12. I am organised in everyday life, I AM SHOCKING for special events. Lisa from Joy and Me who is helping me with my events, will vouch for this. I need Event Prep Bootcamp. I totally underestimate the time needed to get things ready and ALWAYS leave getting ready til the last minute so can be found still doing my hair when you arrive. I want to change this.

13. I can't handle gross, weird things. Last night the gm was watching a doco about fish going inside people OH, I AM DRY REACHING writing this, I think it started when our goldfish grew this weird lump and now I cant cope with little capsicums growing inside big ones, and anything just weird or gross.

OK so there you have it, perfectly me. If I could get rid of the animal and weird things aversion, I would. Everything else I'll keep, even the housing commission, my Sunny Mummy still lives there and it is HOME. I walk in there and feel loved so who cares if outside of that it is a pretty scary area...one day I will have enough money to buy my Mum a house in a better place :)

If any of you would like to write a 'Perfectly Me' post I would LOVE to read it....all you have to do is tell us 10, OK 13 cos I did ;) things that are perfectly you! Once you have done it, pls come back and comment with the link as I don't know how to add that link thing..YET!

The pic above I got from FatMumSlim's blog, isnt it pretty :)

I feel I should also tell you I don't garden, cant sew, have really daggy pyjamas that my nan bought me and generally don't wear make-up on mondays! Here is a pic of me in my daggy pyjamas with no make-up (probably taken on a monday), hell no bra, and I love this pic, its just ME & my kiddies hanging out at home :)

Keep Shining,

Stace x

It's all OK...

2010-04-05T19:49:00.029+10:00

Before I officially start this post, I have a few things to get out of my head...

I have so much to blog about, I feel I could write ONE BIG MASSIVE POST!

However I won't because my posts are long enough as it is.
They are aren't they?
Forgive me. I visit other blogs and they say so much, in so little...
I just can't.
I've tried.
It's not how I roll ;)
Hopefully you like that and that's why you're here or not!

I WILL catch up by posting ALOT this week but right now I need to start with today...

Today we went fishing...

Do you like fishing?

I don't...

This morning my GM said to me "My love, why don't I take the kids fishing today and you can stay home, have some time to yourself and get some work done".

I had just been telling him how much I feel I have to get done right now.

Oh how tempting it was to take him up on his offer...
I WANTED a day to myself, I WANTED to clean the house, to catch up on work, to be ME all day and not hear MUM. BUT I felt guilty. My conscience asked me what sort of mother would do that on EASTER MONDAY...yep it did, ME, Sunny Mummy, who encourages this kind of 'time to yourself without guilt' thing!

So off I went.

However, not before being told by the GM that we are going FISHING not FASHION-ING, as he watched me try to work out what to wear! I TRIED to detract from the fact that I was considering wearing a Country Rd tee fishing, by informing him that we have a WARDROBE not a FLOORDROBE, because he had left some clothes in the floor...it didn't work & I didn't wear the CR tee ;)

I want to know, do parents pass on the love or even just the skill of fishing?
I think we only ever went a couple of times when I was a kid and it certainly didn't equal relaxation. All I can remember is bad smells, stress and tears, seriously.

I am sure many think "well that why you don't like it Stacey, you don't associate it with good times". Yes, this is true but there is also the well known fact that I just don't do outdoors well...ummm actually AT ALL.

So off we went to beautiful Brooklyn and found a lovely spot which was surprisingly empty apart from the Sunshine Yellow Beetle in the car park...

It must have been a sign as the kids yelled "Sunny mobile" and it reminded me to SHINE and have a go at this fishing thing...for my kiddies at least.

BTW if the lovely people from Volkswagen are reading this {AS IF} I would be honoured to drive around Sydney in a one of your cute bugs {which my kids have nicknamed the Sunny mobile} spreading the rays! Oh how I love these cute cars :)

Well I had a go alright, for about as long as it takes to say "Have a go"!

Let me paint a picture for you...

ME: My love, do you know how to fish?
GM: Of course.
Sonshine: Dad, can we fish now?
GM: Hang on Sonshine, Dad just has to get your rod ready.
Starshine: I'm hungry.
ME: I'll make lunch.
GM: Just play kids while Dad gets the rods ready.
ME: Kids, not too close to the water, I didn't bring towels.
GM: Shhh my love, leave them, they'll be OK.
ME: OK but I am NOT going in when they fall.
GM: Kids, not too close to the water.
Sonshine: Follow me, I'm going onto the rocks, its FUN!
GM: Starshine, don't follow your brother, you might...
Starshine: Ooooouch I FELL!
ME: Come here, lucky I have my ouch pouch!
Sonshine: Dad, can we fish now?
Please note that by now we have been here for 45 mins!
ME: My love, do you know how to fish?
GM: THIS, is why I don't fish...

Finally my GM gets the rods and whatever else you need to fish and we all head down to the wharf. In the space of about 45 seconds I complain the wharf is moving and making me feel sea sick, I have a small cardiac arrest at the kids nearly falling off and then scream "Arrggh get that hook away from me" when the GM casts off and nearly gets the hook stuck in my face Ala Marty and Jess from Big Brother.

Clearly 2 things are obvious right now...I am a loser who watched Big Brother way back then AND I don't do outdoors well...AT ALL!

So the GM calmly & politely {one of the many things I love about him} asked me to return to the grass and read my magazine :)

As I sat on the grass watching my GM teach our babies to fish, I fell in love with him even more. WHY?

Because he GETS me. He ACCEPTS me and he ENCOURAGES me to be ME.

He knows my tank will be fuller (is that a word?) by sitting on the grass reading, writing and taking pictures of the fish catching, rather than actually partaking in the fish catching.

He knows this, so why do I try to resist it?

We're good at that aren't we?
Doing things because we think we SHOULD, or HAVE to...

WHY? Why do we do that when we know that there are certain things we enjoy and certain things we don't. I am not for a second suggesting we should never do anything we don't enjoy, life isn't like that.

What I am suggesting is that we cut ourselves some slack and know when to step OUT of our comfort zone and when to step back IN. By letting myself off the hook (get it hook hee hee) I had a wonderful day with my people and my kiddies connected with their father without me carrying on like a fishing Mariah Carey {read diva}.

I got some ME time and when we got home I did what I LOVE and cooked for our family. Then the GM did what he loves....chilled out on the couch.

You didn't catch him come into the kitchen, proceed to try and bake some cookies with the kids (nothing wrong with that btw, he just doesn't bake) because he feels he SHOULD and then proceed to complain about how much he hates dough and the process of baking!

That's really what its all about, this happy life/wife/mother/parent thing.

Its about accepting what you enjoy and what you don't. Its about supporting one another in life and love, that ITS OK to not want to do something or not enjoy it.

For me, fishing sux and that's OK. No guilt necessary.

That doesn't mean I won't go again though.

We had a FAB time and the kiddies are exhausted not to mention proud as punch they caught 2 fishies! We have already been asked to go fishing again next weekend and just quietly, I think the GM WANTS to go....and I do too, as long as I have reading and writing materials, the camera, the ouch pouch oh and towels of course ;) Just in case!

Keep Shining,

Stace

PS What do you need give yourself permission to be OK about?
PPS If you're wondering what an 'Ouch Pouch' is, you can get them at Raspberry Rose Gifts...very handy indeed!

Magnet Previews!

2010-04-03T21:02:00.009+11:00

Here is a closer look at the magnet charts I have on sale this weekend that I mentioned on facebook.

If you missed the offer...here it is:

I have recently developed 4 of our most popular charts into magnets, complete with a whiteboard marker, to save paper and have visible all the time!

They are working a treat in our house and I am loving the fact that the pen has a little magnet to keep it where it belongs AND a little furry tip to erase.

The following charts are available:

*Sunny & Simple Menu planner which includes space to write your shopping list.

The actual chart does not have the sections on the shopping list, I could not load the altered file we used for the magnet version which basically still has the tips but no sections so it is easier to jot down what you need.

*Sunny Home Weekly Tasks to record who does what chores and when!

*Sunny Mummy Weekly Snapshot, YOUR dedicated space to see the week at a glance including your exercise and rewards!

*Sunny & Simple Schooldays weekly schedule, the perfect place to record what activities and classes happen when.

-I don't have a preview file for this chart that will load :( sorry.

Normally, these charts will be $15 including postage but for the Easter weekend ONLY they will be $12.50 each or ALL 4 for $40! This price includes P&H, the magnet and whiteboard marker!

These are almost SOLD OUT as I only had 10 of each variety left and facebook fans have snapped them up however some of you (understandably) wanted to see more detail before placing your order. Apologies that these images would not post to the facebook wall as I wanted to keep it as simple as possible.

If you would like to take advantage of this special offer simply e-mail me ASAP at stacey@sunnymummy.com.au

Hope you are all having a super lovely Easter break x

PS I know some of you already have the SMA, these charts don't replace the SMA, they just offer you the option to complement it, in that you won't need to print off as much and the charts you need to see most often are highly visible :)

Want to LOSE Weight?

2010-03-31T06:52:00.007+11:00

Yes that got your attention didn't it!

Well sorry to disappoint but I am NOT going to tell you how to LOSE weight...

I don't think we should be focusing on losing anything as much as we should be focusing on FINDING something...

Find what you ask...YOUR MOTIVATION!

Genius right...NOT.

*WARNING, I am about to get all Commando Style on you, some tough sunny love* ;)

Like anything in life, losing weight becomes as complicated as we let it get.

Many of us want quick results with little or no effort on our behalf.

Pills, shakes, lemons, detox, starvation, no carbs, all carbs, stand on your head and sip air thru a straw after every meal {OK OK I made that one up}

Why do we expect weight that took possibly years to put on, is going to come off and stay off overnight?

We also believe that life will magically be better once we LOSE this weight.

What EXACTLY is going to get better I ask you?

If, in your mind, it is life in general, then sorry to disappoint yet again, but life in general can be better RIGHT NOW just by changing YOUR attitude.

Usually, this weight you have put on, is for a reason.

Eat because your sad, eat because your happy, eat to celebrate etc etc

Health issues aside, most of us simply put IN more than we put OUT!

I AM ALL FOR EATING, geez I love my food. However, its HOW MUCH of it we eat and HOW LITTLE we move that is the problem.

We find every excuse possible to avoid exercise. Any of these sound familiar?

I'm tired...
I'll start Monday, next month, in the new year...
I don't have time...
I don't have the money...
I need new trainers/workout gear/equipment...

Yep used them myself and hear them all the time.

Personally, if I was waiting until I could afford a new Lorna Jane outfit to start working out, I would be waiting a very long time :)

So you can find me in my trusty old bonds with some random singlet, no make-up and sweating it out at the gym {shameless plug for them here, C2K at Castle Hill RSL rocks, best gym I have been to and I am STILL excited that I can watch whatever I want on foxtel on my very own little screen. If you live in the hills you should totally check it out}

OK back to what I was saying...

BOTTOM LINE is this...

If you eat too much, don't exercise and are overweight...then you are NOT looking after your children's mummy!

I know YOU are a FANTASTIC mum, YOU want the best for your babies so why are you not giving yourself the best?

Seriously, WHY?

Don't over think WEIGHT LOSS, in fact don't THINK it at all.

Focus entirely of FINDING your MOTIVATION.

Here are my {personal} Sunny & Simple Steps...

*Start your day with warm water & lemon.

*Drink lots of water everyday! Sorry but the calcium sucking, teeth rotting, & especially chemical laden diet soft drink has gots to go!
Save it for parties & you will enjoy it more.

*Make a list of MOVING to choose from and pick one from the list EVERYDAY (see my list below)

*Don't eat anything with ingredients you can't pronounce, better still, try not to buy anything in packets. This means you will mostly have fruit & veg, meat & you can bake your own school snax etc Baking with your kids is a great way to spend time with them, save money and prepare for the week ahead.

*NOTHING is off limits. The minute it is, you will want it and LOTS of it, trust me. Enjoy whatever you want, just don't pig out!

MOVING LIST:

No its not a list of what you need to pack, its a list of things you like/enjoy doing that make your body move!

Suggestions for your list...

Marvin. YES get your GROOVE on. Get on top {yes I mean literally} and work it out! I am serious, your partner will be happy, you get closer AND you get a workout ;) At the very least, do this on Mondays in honour of Marvin Monday!

Dancing. Turn on your favourite tunes and dance up a storm. In our house we like to play 'So You Think You Can Dance' The GM pretends to be Nat and somehow I NEVER get a ticket to Sydney :(

PLAY. Play with your kids. Tips, trampoline, bike riding, skipping, you name it, get active with you kids and you are SPENDING TIME AND ENERGY with them which is a win win situation indeed!

WII. OK we don't have one of these YET. If I did, I would report on how effective they are but ALOT of Mummies tell me these are super fun and get you moving.

WALKING. I do the school walk plus we often go for a family walk after dinner. Anywhere you can walk, DO IT.

BIKE RIDING. I haven't done this since Newcastle after I left my old bike there as a sign of protest to the GM that I would like a vintage beach cruiser bike {just like the one above and on the Sunny Mummy website} because I want to cruise around with a basket and flowers and maybe even streamers and spokey dokeys! I am still waiting but that shouldn't stop you riding hee hee

The point is this, my gorgeous, shining Sunny Mummies, you have ONE LIFE.

Your kids are watching.

You're tired, I know....are you sick and tired of being sick and tired?

GUESS WHAT, find your motivation and you wont be so tired...you gotta spend it, to make it!

So I don't care if you LOSE weight, I care if you FIND your motivation because I know if you find that, then you will lose weight anyway and you will SHINE even more.

Its your life Sunnies, LIVE IT and show your kiddies that YOU are important enough to be at the TOP of the list starting NOW!

What can YOU do today to get moving?

Keep Shining,

Stace x

PS Do not allow yourself to THINK I will start after Easter...
Starting implies you will finish, that there is an end point.
There is no end point in this. Just eat less, live more and MOVE MOVE MOVE!
ENJOY YOUR EGGIES TOO, we'll be eating ours for brekkie on Sunday!

A recipe for you!

2010-03-29T23:10:00.013+11:00

Today was an odd day. Normally I shine no matter what the weather but today, it was definitely 'sunny with cloudy periods'.

I felt BLAH, couldn't focus and thought I didn't achieve much at all...

Many of you were feeling the same way as we chatted about overwhelming feelings etc

It is important you are able to recognise when the clouds come and know what course of action to take to sweep them away.

We all have cloudy periods and I like having them, clouds are beautiful and help me to appreciate the sunshine even more!

So, rather than sit and continue to feel blah, I grooved around the house to my fave songs and then baked, YEP..its what I do, I bake!

My friends don't say "My best friend's Betty" for nothing you know ;)

So here is what I made this afternoon for my kiddies

Brekkie Bikkies with a Banana Cinnamon Milkshake!

This got 2 thumbs up and seeing as I made the recipe up as I went along...I was pretty pleased with that!

Sunny Mummy’s Brekkie Bikkie’s

Ingredients:

2 crushed weetbix
½ cup of cornflakes
½ cup rice bubbles
½ cup brown sugar
1 cup wholemeal SR flour
½ cup shredded coconut
1 Tbs linseed's
Pinch salt
100 gms of choc chips (optional, I used white melts broken up but you can use sultanas, apricots, nuts etc)
Dash of vanilla
1 tbs honey
1 tbs golden syrup
½ tsp bicarb
2 tbs of boiling water

Method:

Beat butter and sugar in medium sized bowl then add vanilla.
Melt Honey & Golden syrup, add bicarb & boiling water stir, then add to butter mixture.

Combine all other ingredients in a large separate bowl, then add butter mixture.

Stir til combined and place balls onto paper lined baking tray, gently flatten with a fork and bake at 160 degrees until golden brown.

Let cool completely on baking trays. Store in airtight container. Makes approx 24.

Enjoy

PS A little birdie tells me its normal to feel blah AFTER you return from a holiday...anyone else experienced this post-holiday blahness?

Toys and soooo much more!

2010-03-23T12:13:00.004+11:00

Just popping into let you know about a FAB giveaway Toys R Us are running!

When last have you visited your local Toys "R" Us Store?

If you know the store well, then you will know it is no ordinary toy store...

Not only can you get toys but you can also get everything you need for a party, a baby and sooooo much more.

If you have kiddies, and seeing as you are a Sunny Mummy then I am pretty sure you do ;) then you NEED to know about all that Toys R Us has to offer...

Like the AMAZING competition that Toys”R”US are running online for Easter!

I don't know about your house, but in ours, there is already frequent talk of Easter and requests for a WII console!

Hmmmm easter bunny does not bring Wii's I tell them BUT you can be in the running to win one, amongst many other super cool gifts...

Toys ”R” US, Toy Eggstravaganza Giveaway started yesterday March 22 and runs until April 30. This is your chance to win some fabulous prizes including a pack valued at over $1700, weekly ipod prizes, gift cards and more.

All you need to do is head to www.toysrus.com.au register for the VIP newsletter for your chance to win. TOO EASY!

I'm here!

2010-03-22T15:35:00.009+11:00

Twice in one day hee hee

Didn't I just tell you this morning you won't see me around much this week?

Its true, after I share this with you...

This morning I officially graduated from Bizness Babes.

Such a great time to graduate because these babes get you focused and indeed I will be doing that this week!

I must say that I am happy to be me and be supported by these amazing women!

Happy to be me because I am not afraid to keep it real and share my thoughts with you. I do this because it is who I am and I am one of YOU!

I want you all to know that Sunny Mummy is not about money for me nor is it about ME, Stacey Sullaphen.

Sure, looking back now, it was inevitable that you may associate me as the face of Sunny Mummy because YES I created it, however Sunny Mummy is simply every mummy who chooses to be Sunny!

It has always been, always will be, an invitation, to join me in ENJOYING motherhood not enduring it.

I spend an enormous amount of time on Sunny Mummy and I truly LOVE every second of it...because of who I am....Sunny, as in personality and my love of life.

I really do keep my face to the sun so I don't see the shadows, OK except on a frumpy day when nothing fits, I know I have eaten too many cupcakes and I feel like my butt just made a total eclipse of the sun ;) Those don't happen too often and I quickly remind myself of all my good bits, butt included when I eat less cupcakes ;)

Of course I need to generate an income to contribute to my family and I am currently working out the best way to do that within Sunny Mummy.

Why am I telling you this? Because I want you to know that I'm here.

Sunshine, Rain, Major Downpour...

here for YOU and every other mummy choosing to be Sunny!

Thankfully, I have the insight to know when things are heading off track in the personal and the business sense (again, thanks to Bizness Babes)and to know that I do not have to have my finger in every pie :)

Other businesses exist to inspire and support Mummies too.

Fantastic, the more help the better and I encourage you to find a movement that you believe in and one that floats your mummy boat...hopefully that is Sunny Mummy!

However, I am grateful that I am not one of these business owners for whom it is not enough to have their fingers in their own pies.

They want to put their fingers in yours too, copy your recipe, bake it, then TRY to pass it off as their own!

I am cleaning out the Sunny Mummy pantry this week (why does it always get back to food?) and tossing out the UN-ESSENTIAL ingredients.

I want to make ONE pie that is big enough for us all to feast on...

I will innovate not imitate and you can be sure that I will maintain my focus so you will always get the best from me and Sunny Mummy in general....

No artificial ingredients or colours, just pure sunshine!

See you later in the week!

Stace x

Walkin the talk!

2010-03-21T23:41:00.013+11:00

On Saturday, I was so honoured to meet to many Sydney Sunny Mummies over at Allies Attic at Cronulla.

The common response upon meeting me was "Oh wow, you really are Sunny"...

This was such a compliment for me because what you see, is what you get!

However, this weekend was pretty full on and not only did I sleep through my 4.55am 'Good Morning Sunshine' alarm on Saturday, every time I got in the car, I fell asleep! The GM was driving of course, so don't picture me falling asleep at the wheel!

Last night, the GM started to talk to me after I had flopped into bed and was hardly listening...until I heard some words that broke a tiny piece of my heart off....

You see on Saturday, the GM being the GM, packed the car up for me, drove me to Cronulla, helped unpack my stock and then happily took the kids off to the beach for the day.

Whilst there, my GM tells me Sonshine said the following...

"I wish Mum didn't have a business, then she would be with us today having fun instead of working". Apparently Starshine then piped in with "Yeah, and I wish she didn't have a computer!"

:(

Now don't get me wrong, kids need to know that Mummies and Daddies work; and have a life outside of being their parents, however, these words stung like a bee because when combined with falling asleep at the drop of a hat, my own advice hit me straight in the face!

You see, in my quest to help rid motherhood of negativity and support other mummies to SHINE, there is a {possibility} that over the past couple of weeks, this Sunny Mummy has allowed herself to lose a little of her own shininess...

To my kiddies, I am their sunshine and I need to make sure I too, keep the main thing...the main thing!

I don't want my kiddies resenting the very thing that was created to support Mummies to SHINE if their own Mummy is NOT.

So what is all this about?

It is about me continuing to 'walk the talk'....

HOW?

By continuing to look after myself first, in order to look after my family best of course!

Its not that I haven't been doing this, its just that Sunny Mummy is growing FAST and I have been trying to fit it ALL in.

I know I cant, but it hasn't stopped me trying ;)

Hearing those words from my kiddies and being so tired the minute I stop, means I won't be trying to FIT IT ALL in anymore and this week, you won't see me around much...

Not only will I be celebrating 10 yrs of marriage with my GM later in the week,
I will be taking the time to tweak the old routine to evenly spread the rays.

I want to continue to 'walk the talk' and be the best woman, wife, mummy and leader of an amazing group of women SHINING and choosing to be SUNNY!

Our little positive motherhood movement is FAST growing Sunnies, so buckle up and prepare to enjoy the ride even more!

I shall be back soon to let you all know how I intend to keep the main thing...
THE MAIN THING!

Keep Shining,

Stace x

Thankful Thursday...

2010-03-18T17:30:00.025+11:00

Todays Thankful Thursday list is very late, oops. Where did the day go?

I am challenging myself to use as few words as possible for my 7 things I am thankful for and let the images speak for me....I can do it. I can ;)

Thankful that this is how I see life.

Thankful for Dreams...

Thankful for thoughtful friends who buy me flowers & send me pretty things just because....

Thankful for Lisa...for too many reasons to list now.

Thankful for simple tea & honey toast.

Thankful for giving myself permission to get my nails done.

Thankful everyday for new beginnings.

Just Thankful for life...

Keep Shining,

Stace x

Mummy & Daughter Tea Party

2010-03-17T23:41:00.016+11:00

I have been dying to post about Starshines 5th birthday last Sunday, however I have been so busy with everything else that it was put on the back burner...

So here it is, what do you think? Isn't it pretty! {If I say so myself}

Starshine absolutely adored having 10 little princesses over for the afternoon with their Mummies accompanying them, all dressed in their Sunday prettiest.

I have so many people to thank for helping make it such a lovely day.

The first person is Lisa from Joy and Me, a newly established event inspiration business and lucky for me, my friend. I like to think I have a bit of an eye for putting things together but Lisa takes it to a whole new level.

This super stylish Sunny Mummy can take things you already have in your home, team with a few well chosen purchases and viola, you have yourself a party straight out of Martha Stewart Living!

Sarah from Style Me Gorgeous, a boutique graphic design business, exclusive Sunny Mummy designer and MOST importantly, also my friend {I am a lucky girl aren't I}, was responsible for creating the invitations, banner and the take home party favours, laminated place mats which looked lovely on the tables and got the girls so excited to take home.

Next up is Simone from Complete Party boxes. This is the first time ever I have purchased party ware online and I WILL NEVER do it in a shop again. It is just way too easy AND affordable to effortlessly coordinate everything and believe me, Complete Party boxes HAS EVERYTHING!

Finally, Michelle from Gigglepot Kids, helped me choose Starshines gifts.

Gigglepot has premium quality, unique toys and gifts for kids and I am sure you will agree that these are the cutest little additions to any little girls toy collection and Starshine has NOT stopped making me smoothies and baking us cakes since Sunday.

Oh and I mustn't forget to thank my GM, the only thing missing that day was a tuxedo for the way he looked after the little and big ladies. Sonshine also played a part but I am not so sure he helped, as much as he hindered with his constant directions about what the girls should or could do and when...this inevitably led starshine to tell sonshine, its MY party...thankfully she didn't cry nor did she want to ;)

OK so now I know some of you will want details about certain things so here goes:

-The lolly jars are from Ikea and were super cheap.
-The scoops from Hot Dollar and a bargain at $3.99.
-The tree is from Bed Bath & Table as are the birdies & butterflies hanging off them.
-The party ware was Paper Eskimo designs from Complete Party Boxes.
-The Dolly leaning against the tree is Starshines and she is from Sheridan and is called..wait for it "Peggy Sunshine"..how cool is that.
- The pink tubs for drinks were also from ikea and again super cheap.
-The bottles holding the gerberas Sarah bought for me and they can be found in woolies near the deli, I think they are little Mediterranean style juices. Drink juice and soak to remove label, then you have 6 pretty mini bottles for just $3.99.

Having Mummy & Daughter tea party was such a nice way to spend an afternoon celebrating. The only thing that didn't run smoothly was my need to keep going & going, until the last minute...

This is why my hair looks like 'slick rick' hee hee I was running VERY LATE, and the mummies & daughters were arriving when I was still getting dressed so I couldn't do my hair...never mind, its not about the hair anyway ;)

We kept it simple with good old fashioned, pass the parcel...

Along with a face painting fairy!

I am not quite sure how our baby girl came to be 5 yrs old already, but I am honoured that WE get to raise her UP and help her to SHINE!

Oooh how I love old fashioned parties, they're coming back to a home near YOU!

Keep Shining,

Stace x

Mum-tourage..part 2

2010-03-17T14:50:00.007+11:00

Hi Mummies,

This morning I emailed Mara Lee, editor of Practical Parenting magazine to let her know how her message came across to me, and many other mummies, on the Morning Show yesterday.

Mara was so lovely and very promptly replied with the following: (which she also did in the comments section of the original post)

Hi Stacey,

Thanks for the opportunity to reply.

It’s a fact of life that some mums appear (and I stress the word appear) to be more on top of things than others. I refer to them as Professional Mums because mothering is what they do best. If mothering was a paid job (and we all know it should be!), these women would get a pay raise every year - they’re that good at it. I mentioned that they are great to have in your support network because I genuinely believe they are worth their weight in gold. I have several in my own mum-tourage and they save my bacon each and every week because they know important stuff that I forget or don’t know. About when school notes are due back, about soccer training times for my son, about where to get the best (but cheapest!) dancing shoes for my daughter. I love them madly. They don’t make me feel inferior because they help me, and I’m so very grateful for this help. They allow me to be the mum I want to be.

I used the term Slummy Mummy with my tongue firmly placed in my cheek, and certainly did not mean to imply that their purpose in your life is to make you feel superior in comparison. Personally, I love the term because it promotes the idea of being a “good enough parent” (Larissa mentions this in her response to your blog). I really rate the “good enough” parenting philosophy, as it doesn’t require me to beat myself up whenever I stuff up (and I do this more times than I care to admit) or need to cut corners (ie “showering” the kids with the hose when I water the garden on hot days!). I should have realised that not everyone would share my odd sense of humour that finds such a label funny and refreshing in the often too-serious world of parenting.

Ever since I had my first baby – nearly 11 years ago now – I vowed to find the fun in parenting and to not take myself too seriously. Taking myself and my role as a mum too seriously actually made me feel quite miserable as I could never live up to my own expectations. I also vowed, as editor of Practical Parenting to support all “types” of mums, and make them feel loved, supported, valued and damn good at what they do.

If yesterdays segment gave you the impression that I was judging mothers in a negative way, please accept my apology as that was the complete opposite of my intention. I'll also post this response to your blog for your followers to read.

Best wishes,

Mara

I of course replied immediately and thanked Mara for clarifying what she actually meant by the term 'Slummy Mummy'.

Mara went on to say that their editorial philosophy is built around being supportive, balanced and non-judgemental and she was horrified to hear that her comments came across the wrong way.

I am very grateful Mara took the time to reply and I have let her know that
I have written an article of how we often THINK other mothers have it all together when in reality it only appears that way.

Mara tells me that Practical Parenting often publish mums' stories and opinions as they are a great forum to share experiences and thoughts.

Wish me luck in sharing my thoughts with Mara and hopefully Practical Parenting readers!

Keep Shining as brightly as you all did yesterday!

I am grateful for the support we all have for each other

Stace x

Ps I received many requests this morning for Sunny Mummy tees and Car stickers...
I also thought we could have Sunny Undies! We could pull on our big girl undies and prepare to shine hee hee Now THAT would give a whole new meaning to thinking the sun shines out of...well you know what I mean ;)

SO I have another little poll in the top right hand corner, pls take a second to answer. THANKS x

PPS I was SOOOOO kidding about the undies!

Mum-tourage..

2010-03-16T14:18:00.030+11:00

For the first time since starting this blog I am NOT including a picture.

1. I don't want to image to distract from my message and
2. I would NEVER post an image of a Slummy Mummy :(

Firstly, where would I find such an image and secondly, how horrible for the woman I choose as the image to represent a SLUMMY MUMMY!

SLUMMY MUMMY, yes, you read correctly, no I have not been indulging in a few lunchtime vino's resulting in the misspelling of a 'way of life' for mothers I have created...

I am not referring to SUNNY MUMMY, rather SLUMMY MUMMY.

The first time I heard this term was a little over a week ago in the Sunny Mummy forums.

One of our Sunny Mummies was bringing to our attention the various 'labels' we mums have been allocated with the obvious being YUMMY but surprisingly, there was a new one...SLUMMY.

"What about Sunny?" our mummy asked.

"They need to know there is alternative and that there are mums who are choosing to be sunny, not worrying about what category they fit into when picking up the kiddies from school"!

Could not agree more!

So I come to why I am a little fired up as I write this, OK ALOT fired up & have been so since I watched the segment on my little video screen on the treadmill at
C2K in Castle Hill (more on that later but how good is it that you have your own TV on your treadmill!).

At the very least, I can thank the segment for making run that little bit harder rather than fall off from what my ears were absorbing.

The segment was titled 'Mum-Tourage' and featured Practical Parenting Editor,
Mara Lee, informing Kylie and Larry about the people Mums should have in their
Mum-tourage.

I had never heard of a mum-tourage til this morning, which is basically an entourage that mummies would/should/could have to support them!

OK, I agree with that concept and feel very lucky to have not only a physical
mum-tourage but a virtual one too !{that's you guys}

What I don't agree with is the labels Mara then proceeded to bring to our attention that have been placed on mothers.

Mara started out well (and don't get me wrong, Practial Parenting was on my magazine hit list for many years so I love Mara's work)recommending that the number 1 person to have in your mum-tourage should be your GP.

Yes there is NO DOUBT we all need a good GP but I don't think he is going to take my call when the kids have been up all night, said "Mum" precisely 458 times that day and all I want to do is either a) get a good nights sleep or b) run away to Gloria jeans to sip on a latte with a mummy friend who knows EXACTLY what kind of day I had...

I don't think my GP would agree to bulk bill a vanilla latte :)

So, Mara YES a good GP SHOULD be in your mum-tourage but what concerns me massively is what came next....

The next recommendation was to have a 'Professional Mummy' in your Mum-tourage.

According to Mara, the Professional Mummy is the Mummy who has kids older than yours, knows what pre-school you should send yours too, when the school notes are due back etc etc

I could have yelled "GO LARRY" in the middle of the gym when Larry suggested that this kind of Mummy could make you feel INFERIOR.

Well Yes Larry, but according to Mara, that's OK because this is where SLUMMY MUMMY makes her appearance!

SLUMMY MUMMY is the mummy who gives her kids baked beans seven nights a week as opposed to your three and then proceeds to tell you all the benefits of doing so, fibre etc so as to make you feel err 'less guilty'.

So let me get this right Mara, is the idea of having a Slummy Mummy in your Mum-tourage to make YOU feel better about yourself because you are NOT a Professional Mummy?

I am sorry but this is just ridiculous. I don't want to be either thanks.

Worse still, Kylie (whom I have met and is just gorgeous and such a lovely lady to talk to)then admitted to feeling like a Slummy Mummy because she took her son to the wrong park for his cricket presentation...

Kylie, if that's the worst thing you ever do to your kids then they are doing well!

Guilt is such a waste of energy, whats done is done and you simply learn your lesson (in this case, triple check details hee hee) and move on.

Yummy Mummy, Professional Mummy, Sport Mummy and now SLUMMY MUMMY.

What next?

Where is Sunny Mummy in all of this?

Sunny Mummy needs to be next!

Sunny Mummy is not a label or a status by the way,
it is a WAY OF LIFE!

A choice...to ENJOY motherhood, NOT endure it.

To look after yourself first, in order to look after your family best!

A Sunny Mummy can be sporty, plain, glamorous or all of the above, it doesn't matter as long as she is happy.

What matters most is that she is allowing herself to still be a woman...

To still be YOU!

She may feed her kids breakfast for dinner every now and again{yes that would be me} and she may give them baked beans too but that doesn't make her slummy.

Even if this Mummy did give her kids baked beans 7 nights per week, doesn't she deserve some help? Some guidance to perhaps plan her days and get a little more organised with her meal planning?

I am all for having a Mum-Tourage, we need support, we need to be surrounded by other mothers (and non-mothers) to keep our sanity and swap ideas.

What I am NOT for, is including another mother in your Mum-tourage to make yourself feel better. Nor am I for labelling a mother a 'professional' mother.

Is a professional mother a woman who makes a 'career' out of motherhood?

Can't we all do that?

Can't we all be dedicated to raising and inspiring our kids to rise up and SHINE without feeling guilty for giving them baked beans for dinner and subsequently labelling ourselves a slummy mummy?

There are exactly 1177 Mummies on facebook who have declared their choice to be Sunny over anything else. There is more of course, they just haven't found our little Sunny Mum-tourage yet :)

We need more mums and the MEDIA to know that Mums have a choice, that there is a new Mummy in town and she is THE BEST ONE, THE ONLY ONE, FOR HER CHILDREN!

An exciting new chapter is about to unfold...

I have contacted The Morning Show about responding to this segment and I need your help!

Lets spread the rays of Sunny Mummy all over Australia (and the world) and reject this silly notion that we need to be any kind of mother other than the one we are...

A Sunny one who chooses to keep her face to the sun so she doesn't see the shadows!
A friendly one who supports & uplifts other mothers rather then judging them!
A caring one who cares about herself first and foremost because she KNOWS this means she can care for her family BEST!

Sunny MUMMIES, you have made the choice and its not a 'choose once' deal.

Everyday we must choose again, (ME INCLUDED) to be Sunny...

We all have our moments, days, even weeks but for the most part we RISE UP & SHINE because we know it makes us and our families FEEL GOOD!

If you believe in the Sunny Mummy Movement, then please take a moment to tell the world that you are a SUNNY MUMMY and wouldn't have it any
other way!

You can do so by contacting The Morning Show here, posting a link to this blog on your blog, tweeting this blog link and letting all your Mummy friends know there is a BRIGHT & SHINY Mum-Tourage we want her to be a part of!

Thank you all for being in my world, it truly is brighter because of you and I look forward to the next step!

Keep Shining,

Stace x

PS I feel better now

What kind of bird are you?

2010-03-12T06:43:00.016+11:00

Back in January (BTW, how is it March already?), I spent a week on the beautiful Sunshine Coast in QLD.

We stayed at a beautiful resort with lots of....turkeys!

Brush Turkeys that is, they were EVERYWHERE.

Every day I would notice these BIG birds scratching here, scratching there and never really getting ‘off’ the ground like the majority of other birds do.

One morning, I stepped in Turkey Poop. Gross!

As I scrubbed my feet, these birds were on my mind.

Stay with me....

The brush turkey spends most of their time on the ground.
They spend most of their time alone, or can be found hanging with other turkeys.
While the bird may look slow, it can run fast when disturbed.
A quiet bird, the brush-turkey can sometimes be heard making soft grunts.

Interesting stuff huh ;)

I thought of some phrases about turkeys, which I am sure you would have heard;

'If you hang around with turkeys, you’ll never fly'

or

‘If you want to SOAR with the Eagles, don’t SIT with the Turkeys'

After watching these birds, I get it even more....

If I were a bird, I would not want to be a turkey!

Spending most of my time alone or with other turkeys, never meeting new birds, never getting off the ground, only running when my comfort is disturbed and every so often, grunting!

We all have people in our life that are turkeys.

My point is this, hang around with them long enough and not only will you never get off the ground or out of your comfort zone, you will soon be dealing with crap!

Birds of a feather flock together...

Be aware of the turkeys and seek out the Eagles.

Eagles have laser focus and as such, strong vision.

Inspired, focused and positive people are the same.

We can soar to great heights and travel great distances, just by being in the presence of ‘eagle’ types.

In work and play, we need to surround ourselves with like minded people.

This is why the internet is such a wonderful place. Finding people who share our interests, who are focused on their vision and who genuinely want to collaborate and share ideas, are at our fingertips!

Our Sunny Mummy community is just like that, a flock of Mummies seeking out the sun and supporting one another to SHINE!

How honoured do I feel to have all these type of {birds} hee hee, around me!

Sometimes we have to stop and ask ourselves, am I the type of bird someone wants to fly with?

My message today is this...

Choose your flock wisely, and together, you will all soar to great heights, taking you places you have never been before!

Do you want to be on the ground watching out for poop, every so often grunting?

or

Flying high and enjoying the view?

The choice is ours and I know which bird I'd rather be...what about YOU?

Keep Shining,

Stace x

Letter to self...

2010-03-09T15:28:00.006+11:00

Every week on the YOU page over at sunnymummy.com.au
I will set a challenge for YOU and I.

The very first challenge has just been loaded, where I have written a letter to my seventeen yr old self.

I look forward to reading yours!

Stace x

YOU

2010-03-09T12:44:00.008+11:00

Hello YOU, yes YOU...remember her?

WHO? Her...

Who ME?

YES YOU!

Before you were a Mummy, you were YOU.

A woman, a daughter, a sister, a friend and so on and so on.

You had hopes, dreams and things you liked to do for YOU...ALONE.

Now you are a Mummy, what has changed? Everything, something or nothing?

My guess is everything and soooo much more.

I am not sure exactly who started it, but somewhere along the way, we were led to believe that if we put ourselves at the bottom of the list, we would be a better mother.

And so we feed, bathe, play, read, soothe, clean, sing, yell, work, laugh, cry, cuddle and YAWN. We are tired, oh so tired being everything to everyone, except the one person that matters the MOST.

Something else we learnt along that way is that while you are busy doing all of the above, would you mind ensuring you keep your toe in the career waters by working part time, full time, casual, at home, in the office. Or if you’re not going to stay 'AT WORK' then you better study to better your skills or perhaps start a business or volunteer at the school and so on and so on and so on.

Do you think it’s over?

Not yet, because while you are busy doing all of the above, could you please make sure you are yummy too? Not because somebody wants to eat you, but because that's what mummies are these days, aren't they?

What exactly does it mean to be a YUMMY MUMMY?

If it means I am a tired, cranky, skinny jean wearing, GHD straightening looking MAMA who is about to have a melt down at the drop of hat....then I don't wish to participate in this external illusion thank you very much.

And so where are we left? What choice do we have?

To focus on everybody and everything else instead of how we feel?

Does that make you a better mother?

We have a choice. We can choose to be SUNNY.

So what is a Sunny Mummy?

It is me and it is you if you choose to be...

A Sunny Mummy is a mother who looks after her first so she has something left to give to her family.

She is a woman who avoids eating junk foods, thinking junk thoughts and living a life full of junk.

What is JUNK?

Junk is anywhere and everywhere...it is the food you eat with ingredients you can't pronounce. The thoughts you think of that contaminate your mind, like comparing yourself to others or thinking you’re not worthy.

It's anything in your world that you possess or have present that does not bring you joy and help you live simply!

Being a Sunny Mummy means you choose to look after yourself first.

This is the most selfless thing to do in order to live a positive and healthy life, in which you value your various roles and as such can begin to be truly present in each one.

Sound good?

The choice is yours...will you join me as a Sunny Mummy and look after your children's mummy?

Of course you will, I knew you would....

Welcome to YOU, she is so glad you're finally here :)

Stace x

PS This is my message on the YOU page of www.sunnymummy.com.au be sure to pop over and check out the site, there will be articles added weekly!

Slow Down...

2010-03-08T23:08:00.004+11:00

I always look at those blogs with just an image and just a few sentences & think
"How lovely, I could never do that ;) too much to say.."

Tonight I am doing it. I saw this image on FatMumSlim's blog.

It is perfect for me right NOW...

I had a very busy day today.

Sunny Mummy is really taking off and that is FANTASTIC for all of us.

I was starting to feel a little, well, overwhelmed. All these opportunites, all these emails, all these things to do and then...

The phone rang, it was my mum.

My Aunt had suffered a massive heart attack just shy of 60 yrs young.

She is on life support, fighting for her life.

And I am reminded...

SLOW DOWN

CALM DOWN

DON'T WORRY

DON'T HURRY

TRUST THE PROCESS.

Indeed, just trust the process.

Keep Shining,

Stace x

Thankful Thursday...

2010-03-04T07:54:00.024+11:00

I never struggle to come up with 7 things I am thankful for every Thursday....

There is sooo much good in life and if its what you look for, its what you'll find!

So here is this weeks list:

Our Sunny Mummy Website...

Most of you know it went LIVE on Monday and WOW the response has been nothing short of amazing. Mummies from all over Australia and the world, now have a warm place to be no matter what the weather and I am thankful for the many Sunny Mummies who are already in the forums talking Sunny, who have written to me just to say "HI, I love the site" and who want to feature on REAL Sunny Mummies!

The Sunny Mummy website will continue to grow and evolve with all of us and I want you to make it your virtual home. Say Hi, meet other Sunny Mummies, be inspired, tell us your hopes, your struggles, read articles...discuss and if you can, come to an event and celebrate YOU and your contribution to making motherhood a better place!

Sunny's Angels...

OK so obviously I am NOT Charlie but this is how I kind of feel with the elite team of gorgeous Sunny Mummies that have agreed to contribute to the Sunny Mummy site.

Do you think I should ask them all to get Farrah flicks? hee hee

First up we have Lisa...

This lovely lady I met at Bizness Babes and my life is forever changed.

Lisa has firstly become my friend, then a valuable member of my business cheer squad, event advisor and now the 'Single Mummy' writer on the site.
I am very thankful for all of this.

Next is Sharnel...

I can't even tell you how I found Sharnel :)

It was one of those "ooh that blog looks good, oh look there is another one and an hour later...ooooh ahhhhhh my eyes are in heaven with all these lovely images of dessert tables and stunning homes"! Oh and I WANT HER KITCHEN!

I am so thankful Sharnel agreed to be part of the team...
Doesn't she just look Sunny?

And last but CERTAINLY not least is Chantelle...

Wish I could say how I found Chantelle but she is in the same blogging boat that Sharnel is...well maybe boat is the wrong word, lets go with Super Cruise Liner!

Chantelle's blog just makes me happy and she manages to get her message across with beautiful images and a hell of a lot less words than what I do...

And that's why I am thankful she agreed to join the team too.

Each of the ladies are so different yet share so many things...

Sunny, Talented and Mummies :)

OK so that's 4 so far...

My Bizness Babes

I don't have a picture of them all yet, but I will soon, as we have finished our course and graduate in a couple of weeks! How exciting :)

These amazing bunch of women are so supportive, creative and dedicated.
I am so thankful for the support but most of all their friendship.

My GM (gentleman)

I am always thankful for my GM but this past week he just took it to another level. The launch of Sunny Mummy was exciting and very time consuming and my GM just took over and handled everything on the home front whilst I was zooming around cyber land. Beep beep ;)

And of course I have to mention my kiddies, they haven't had much Mummy time this week and yes I do feel guilty but then I quickly remind myself that they are with their Daddy and this isn't a usual week in our home.

Although I do have to ensure now, that I re-adjust those wheels again to keep our family on track and shining...after all, I can't get so busy helping to keep everyone else on track that our little train goes off the rails ;)

So, soon I will report back with my new schedule of hours as a Sunny Mummy in my OWN home and our virtual one. I want to be sure I maintain balance and look after myself first (hint hint) so I can continue to be YOUR number one supporter in your journey to SHINE!

Keep Shining,

Stace x

PS I know this much... Yesterday, on 'Wise Wednesday' I declared Wednesdays as of next week, "Nothin but Mummy" day. This means that apart from my morning greeting on facebook, you won't hear from me.

I will be off working in the canteen, helping with reading, having a vanilla latte alone or with a friend, shaving my legs, painting my toes & snuggling with my GM ;)

Will you join me?

Will you give yourself permission to take the day off from other 'work' to just be YOU, Mummy and Wife (if you have a partner that is)?

If we use our tools and work smarter not harder, you can easily fit this recharge day in and I promise you, Thursday and Friday YOU WILL ROCK IT!

Sunny Mummy is LIVE !

2010-03-01T23:31:00.005+11:00

Summer is officially over but you can still feel the sun everyday no matter
what the weather at www.sunnymummy.com.au

Do come by for a rest and a look around, let me know what you think?

Love Stace x

Time Flies...

2010-02-25T07:59:00.017+11:00

Before this post begins...will you be kind enough to answer my quick poll?
There it is just there on the top of the right hand side of your screen.
THANKS EVER SO MUCH. OK lets begin...(you did cast your vote YES?)

Is it really Thursday again already?

Not that I am complaining, I LOVE Thankful Thursdays.

This weeks list is a little different, sometimes I like to mix it up a bit (in case you hadn't noticed ;)

In fact I have loved Thursdays for a long time now.

Thursdays when I was a teenager meant Thursday night shopping, then when I met the GM, it meant the start of our 4 day love fest as we only 'saw' one another Thursday night to Sunday night. Then before I was a mother and stuck in corporate land, it signalled that Friday was almost here and the week would soon be 'over'!

Now, I LOVE everyday and I am truly amazed at how fast the days fly by when you are a) a parent and b) happy.

I can say with experience that when I was lost and couldn't find my way, the days still went fast but in a 'mouse on a treadmill' kind of way....

Can anyone relate?

It is my MISSION to rid all mothers (and fathers) too of this 'groundhog day' experience.

It really isn't necessary.

Things are not as complicated as they seem (except in the case serious illnesses & medical conditions)etc

You just have to make the decision that you WANT to be happy, YOU CHOOSE to be happy and then deal with your issues....ie whatever is causing this unhappiness or un-satisfaction with your life.

You have to train your brain to see the sun, the light, the good....
It is really just a choice.

If you get nothing else out of this post then please get this....

There is no manual for the mind, we can't x-ray it and see that it is broken.

Be aware that your mind is very valuable and what you let into it, affects what comes out of it!

Its just like when you tell yourself NOT to think about something in particular and then that is ALL you can think about.

So make yourself a 'Sunny' List. A bright list of things you can focus on when it seems your mind is focusing on the wrong things...

And this is how this 'Thankful Thursday' is different..

Here is my Sunny List. It is split into 2, basics and extras.

My basics list reminds me...

*I have a family
*We are healthy
*We have good food to eat.
*We have a home & all the comforts anyone could wish for.
*We live in Australia!

My extras list reminds me...

*We have a car and can go anywhere we want to.
*We have computers & internet and can access a wealth of information at any time.
*I have friends. Old, new & virtual(hello virtual friends, 1 day we shall meet f2f)
*I have peace in my heart and home, this is the icing on my cake of life...

Who thinks, or has ever been told 'You can't have your cake and eat it too'?

I have, but I disagree.

I think if life is like a cake (as opposed to a box of chocolates, RUN FOREST RUN), then look how much choice we have!

In your CAKE of LIFE, you can:

Choose your flavour...
Follow a recipe or make up your own...
Select your ingredients, cheap or quality...
Try different methods...
Bake it for as long as YOU want to, you will soon know when it burns!
Let it cool (and if you don't, you're icing is going to run ;)
DECORATE! Oh this is the fun bit, YOU choose it all and how it LOOKS to others...

The icing on your cake!

Now comes the most important CHOICE...

Is your cake for display? For others to look at and admire but never get to taste?

WHY?

Is it because it is FAKE CAKE inside?
Styrofoam made to look like a cake, sitting in the window?

Don't let your efforts in your cake of life be for nothing but display.

Choose your flavour, bake away, enjoy the icing on your cake of life...
then DIG IN!

Yes, you can bake your cake and eat it too!

Eat it up, share it with friends and then bake another one tomorrow, and the next day, and the next...

I am off to pre-heat my oven of life...hmmm Thursday, late night shopping anyone?

TV update..

2010-02-24T06:44:00.016+11:00

The 'TV free' challenge is rockin!

I said I would update each night on this blog but that proved too much so here is my first official update...

'TV FREE' has meant exactly that. Our family has been free of being sucked into the TV and free to pursue other activities. I had many a chats and emails with people about this 'TV Free' experiment.

We joked I would schedule activities every 5 mins or so to keep my kiddies entertained...most definitely NOT.

Remember that thing called imagination and creativity?

My kids were free to use it and not in a 'here is art supplies or lets make this craft kit or how about we play this' kind of way.

Nope, more in a 'hmmm ok TV is off, mum says find soemthing to do, oh look there is an empty basket' and here is what we got...

Maths on the calculator whilst sitting in a basket...as you do ;)

Hmmm then we decided, hey this can be my car..

And then, mum look at me, I am a police car, complete with sirens!

This little combo of a calculator, basket, 2 cups & a plate, kept my nearly 8 yr old sonshine entertained for nearly an hour!

I didn't feel guilty for not 'playing' with him and he didn't even ask me too, he just enjoyed coming up with things. This made me happy and reminded me of the thousands of dollars worth of toys this child has and yet with no TV to watch, he chose the simplest objects to create his world for the afternoon.

Do I need to talk about too much stuff? Nah leave it for another post ;)

Of course our whole family is benefiting from this TV FREE gig...

In the last 2 days we have; baked, played UNO, rode bikes, de-weeded the garden, coloured in, written scripts for movies complete with 'parental guidance recommended for young viewers' (clearly my sonshine who has been watching too much tv ;), and Marvined (oops did I just write that ;), all on a school night...AMAMAMAAAAAAAA

The GM even thinks we should make the TV Free gig a permanent arrangement Monday to Thursday! Well footy season is coming you know so he wasn't about to give up his fridays :)

I love it and it is working for us indeed, how are you guys going?
Have you stuck to it or are you just watching less? Less is a great start!

So whilst I have just encouraged you all to NOT watch TV, now I am going to be a total hypocrite and encourage you to watch some TV...

Sunny Mummy TV that is!

Episode 3 was filmed yesterday and yep, you guess it, Mr You Tube cut me off again!

This time I was even watching the timer...well the first 5 mins I was, until I get so carried away I think you are all sitting my loungeroom for a chat and well....
I just keep going and going and, you get the idea!

So here it is:

Let me know what you think and keep the questions coming!

How often do you want to see an episode of SMTV? I need to schedule my recording times into my week, fortnight or month ;)

I am off on canteen duty today, I have a feeling I will need a small personal loan for all the friends my kids want to bring up to Mum on canteen. You get things FOR FREEEEEE according to my kiddies!

I can hear the GM now explaining "Guys it is NOT free, Mummy has to pay"

"How many friends can we bring?" they are both asking....

Wish me luck ;)

Buffet of Life tickets on sale NOW!

2010-02-22T20:53:00.015+11:00

The wait is over...

You can now secure your tickets to our first ever Sunny Mummy event on Saturday May 29th and be the first group of Sunny Mummies to celebrate in style!

Tickets to the 'Buffet of Life' mothers day breakfast in Darling Harbour, Sydney, are just $89 and include a delicious breakfast, bubbles and beautiful inspiring messages from our guest speaker, Joanne Fedler and Sunny Mummy founder, Stacey Sullaphen.

As a mothers to small children, these women know putting yourself first can be difficult sometimes, but we also know that a mummy with a healthy mind, body and soul is the best gift a child can receive.

Both Joanne & Stacey's motivating tips and strategies will inspire all
Sunny Mummies to shine!

PLUS there will be gorgeous giveaways and.... the ultimate Sunny Mummy goody bag!

Tickets are strictly limited so grab your mummy friends and secure a table NOW to celebrate motherhood with fellow Sunny Mummies!

TV Free...

2010-02-22T07:28:00.025+11:00

NO I am not giving away a TV, sorry to disappoint ;)

This Sunny household is going TV Free for the rest of Feb at least!

Why this decision?

Well it is NOT because of the AMOUNT of TV my kids are watching, it is the viewing options available and what my kids WANT to watch that disturbs me.

I myself hardly ever watch TV...this is why I am usually found in a circle of friends who are discussing the latest news chiming in with "WHO died? Whoooaa when did that happen? oh NO WAY etc etc" Ummm yep, in my quest to be Sunny, news just doesn't cut it because well, it isn't sunny enough for my liking.

I know I know, I SHOULD know what is going on in the world, but I am more concerned with that is going on in my world and making sure we are all happy and healthy.

OK losing the point here.

My point is this, I don't want my son calling his sister or his friends SUCKERS because some sponge named 'Bob' who lives in a pineapple under the sea does...

Seriously, WHO THINKS UP THESE SHOWS?

Or my daughter, telling me that a girl named 'London' has special talents....SHOPPING and that everything is soooo LAME!

Gone are the days I could get my kiddies to happily stroll down Sesame Street, or convince them that BEAR really could smell what we ate for breakfast from his BIG BLUE HOUSE :(

Now I get told that is LAME and for BABIES!

So, we are going TV free simply because my kids don't like what I think is suitable viewing and I think what they want to watch is filling their heads with JUNK.

The same can be said about most adult shows too.

Luckily I can say I escaped the Home & Away trap years ago. Ask any of my friends and they will tell you how if you called my house at 7pm I would either, NOT ANSWER or, answer in an AD break and seriously question why they would think it is OK to call me right when Vinnie is about to DIE?

I think back then, I was making up for lost time because I never actually watched a soapie or anything other than ABC kids or documentaries for the first 13 yrs of my life. For all the things my Dad did wrong, I can see now where he went sooooo right.

"We have enough drama in our own lives" he would say (ahh yep Dad no surprise there) "without having to watch it on TV"

So back to MY kids. There will be no TV because, quite frankly, I wouldn't allow someone to come and empty their garbage onto my lounge room floor, so why on earth would I allow the TV to empty virtual garbage into their heads?

The trouble is...I already have.

There is the new vocabulary; loser, sucker and lame to name a few. There is the ideas, "Mum, I can make popcorn in my undies you know!" I'll let you sit with that one for a moment and imagine HOW.

So now I must undo the damage. OK damage is probably a little too dramatic and YES I know they will hear it at school. That's OK, I am only in control of what happens in OUR family and we will simply reinforce that there is no room for this kind of silly talk and ideas in our family.

Having said that, imagine how great it would be if all the parents got together and developed a code of conduct in families. A declaration of no bullying, no junk food, no junk talk or thoughts!

That parties were kept simple and not "well honey the Smiths did have a jumping castle, petting zoo and a small car to giveaway so I guess we should too, best we whack it on the visa seeing as WE HAVE NO MONEY!" That the tooth fairy ONLY carried gold coins and not bloody EFTPOS! That Santa only bought x amount of presents and NIKE'S were off limits until you could buy them yourself...

Ahh imagine how simple parenting would be (I need to stop now because clearly there is another WHOLE post on this idea ;)

Back to TV again. Our kids NEVER watch TV before school, but they certainly do after. So from today, they are free to read more, run more, talk more and just BE more without absorbing the rubbish that is created as entertainment for our kids these days.

I bet your thinking "Yeah, we never had those kind of shows". This is true, however watch an episode of the Flintstones now, and I bet you pick up on all the innuendo that went RIGHT over your head as a kid because you were too focused on how funny Dino was when he locked out Fred :) Meantime you missed Wilma & Betty having a good old gossip about how terrible the men were!

So who is with me?

Who is brave enough to declare their home a 'TV FREE' for the next 7 days?

So many of us complain about how little time we have, how the kids dawdle and are sooooo slow. Take TV out the equation I bet you find you have just a little (read A LOT) more time on your hands.

Time to read to the kids or to yourself, time to play, exercise, plan, bake and dare I say, time to get Marvining!

Close your mouths now ladies, if you get marvining, your man will be happy, you will be happy & you would have exercised too, do you really need any more reasons to switch off that screen?

I will set up a discussion board on facebook for you to share your discoveries in your TV FREE WEEK and I shall do a quick report here at the end of each day to let you know how our family is going.

Leave a comment to let us all know if you're in, all those to commit and leave a comment on here & the facebook discussion page will go into the draw to win A TV!

Yes, our old one from the garage that is practically brand new but you can't even give away these days because everyone wants a flat screen ;)

Don't worry, I won't give you my old TV, I will give away something AWESOME from one of my Sunny 'Business' Mummy friends!

So be sure to leave a comment here & on facebook to confirm your entry and
stay tuned (to this blog, not TV that is ;)

Keep Shining,

Stace x

Thankful Thursday...

2010-02-18T06:58:00.019+11:00

Every Thursday bloggers from far and wide, list 7 things they are Thankful for...

Here are my 7 for today in no particular order:

My Sonshine

I am thankful for this mini-GM that we are raising. He is so thoughtful and affectionate yet oh so much a rough and tumble boy. I mentioned on faceboook last week that I woke up to him standing over me with a tea towel channeling a waiter, asking me if I would like a beverage? Melted my heart and this Saturday gone, the GM and I were presented with this 'menu'...

Of course I had to take the tea & 10 hugs...
you don't get that in a cafe! Currently taking registrations for interest in marrying my son hee hee there will be another lucky girl in this world just like his mummy who got to marry his daddy :)

My GM (gentleman for newbies)

He is doing the morning thing RIGHT NOW as I write this and prepare for a meeting today (wish me luck). He is cool, calm and collected and totally ROCKS my world. Don't get me wrong, once I wrote him a list of 25 things I hate about you...hmmm that sounds really bad but I was having a moment (I have those you know) and the cute little thing addressed each point (all were petty and ridiculous)..

Did I mention he rocks my world?

Time alone

Time to be, to just be me, to sip a latte, read a mag and write, write and then write some more.....bliss!

Time alone makes me a better wife, mother and human being!

Health

Always thankful for good health, without it we have nothing and most days I think about how thankful I am that my children, my husband and myself are healthy.

Ideas

I am thankful for all the ideas I have. Some I think are AMAZING at the time, then I realise I might as well have been on crack for how absurd they were and others, well are AMAZING and I can't wait to implement them all and make the world a better place :)

Energy

I am grateful for my energy. I am a road runner...beep beep.
Hopefully there isn't a coyote wanting to blow me up ;) actually there are probably a few of them but I'm too fast hee hee

Someone in the last few days told me that in 3 yrs time, I won't be able to keep up my energy and interest in Sunny Mummy...

WATCH THIS SPACE! I AM a Sunny Mummy,
it's who I am, it's how I roll, it's what makes me ME.

Which leads me to the next thankful item...

Sunny Mummy

I am thankful Sunny mummy, it's not a status, its a way of life!

I didn't start it to make money, I started it to encourage Mummies the world over that you don't have to ENDURE motherhood you can ENJOY it.
Making money to inspire, encourage and support you all to SHINE is an absolute bonus and a dream come true...thank YOU!

Keep Shining,

Stace x

PS Tell us ALL, what are YOU thankful for?

I am a Sunny Mummy!

2010-02-15T18:04:00.007+11:00

Thanks to Sharnel at My Life, My Loves for suggesting that Sunny Mummies might like to declare so on their blogs, website, facebook page etc

You totally need to check out Sharnel's blog for the most devine inspiration on all things lovely, especially dessert buffets, yummo!

What a GREAT idea I thought and my lovely friend and Sunny Mummy designer, Sarah from Style Me Gorgeous thought so too!

So much so, that when I got home from Bizness Babes today, I had my own piece of sunshine waiting in my inbox!

The 'I am a Sunny Mummy' button is now available to declare to the world that you are a Sunny Mummy and try to SHINE no matter what the weather!

I am going to go and figure out now how to make this available for you to download yourself off here but in the meantime, please email me at stacey@sunnymummy.com.au to get your button NOW!

Thank you to each and everyone of you for your neverending support, the official site is looking A-M-A-Z-I-N-G ...stay tuned!

Keep Shining,

Stace x

I have a confession...

2010-02-13T17:48:00.019+11:00

OK here goes, I buy my kids clothes, toys, hairbands, cards etc etc at the shops.

Yes so, I hear those of you that do the same say, that's where you go, to, you know, buy things!

Yes, this is true and I happily bought away, purchasing mass produced, cheap and nasty, no thought or ethics behind them, not environmentally friendly, crap from China never giving a second thought to who or how it was made along the way.

A couple of nights ago, I read on a blog (I WISH I could remember it so I could put it here) about the hard work, passion and creativity that goes into handmade things. How this blogger couldn't believe the amount of people that shop for mass produced, cheap things in a no-mans land like target.

It got me thinking, hmmm I do that. Then I immediately defended myself and thought, well that's all I can afford. However, how many times have I purchased something only to have it fall apart after a couple of wears or stand in target kids section, like I did the other day, and think 'oh my, look at the winter clothes for the girls, I would NEVER dress my 4 yr old girl in black or super short shorts that look like they have been ripped with lacy leggings underneath.

I wouldn't want my 16 yrd old (if I had one) dressing like that, why on earth would I dress my 4 yr old in it?

I also don't shop online for my kids clothes GASP, yes I know..shocking! I am not up to speed on who sells what, when with the best labels, buys. I am not really into labels for my kids (different story for me ;) as I think spending that much on clothing is crazy with the rate they grow and how messy my kids are.

Don't get me wrong, I WANT to support online stores and since beginning Sunny Mummy I have made virtual friends with some of them and have signed up to their newsletters, always thinking, yes I will get on there and check that out...

Well today I have had a light bulb moment. OK lets not go that far, it is stuff for kids after all not curing cancer, still I like pretty things and my prettyness tank is OVERFLOWING!

Today I spent the day at Allies Attic Designer Baby & Kids Market

To say I DIED and went to HANDMADE HEAVEN is an understatement!

I had an absolutely beautiful time wandering around, taking in all the gorgeous things and feeling the PASSION from the women (mostly mums) who have lovingly created them....

All of a sudden, target symbols shot out of my eyes as I realised what I had been doing all this time....WHO I had been supporting!

I can tell you RIGHT NOW, I will not shop anywhere else for my kids and pressies ever again. I am a work at home Sunny Mummy and these creative and gorgeous Sunny Mummies need our support.

Allie, who owns/runs the market needs our support too!

Like the designers that sell their creations at her market, she too is a work at home mum, and by shopping at her market, you are supporting the stallholders who then support Allie....WIN WIN situation. Not to mention the environment and supporting Australia at the same time.

The next market is on Saturday the 20th of March at Sharkies, Cronulla Sutherland Leagues Club from 10am - 2pm. If you currently shop in no-mans land, you should definitely come and check it out.

A few tips, keep a list of things your kids need and any birthdays etc coming up that you need to buy for. Then start popping $5 or $10 in jar to save for Allies. Before you know it, you will have list of what you need & who you have to buy for and can get it done in all one place! Plus you have cash on hand which is always nice for the stallholders although Allie is very clever and has an eftpos terminal in case you forget to bring cash :)

Here are my purchases pictured...

I met come lovely lovely ladies today and I want to say HI to them all and thank them for their creations above...

Julianne at Giggle Spot Designs
The girls at Mougiddy
Corrie from Retro Mummy
Erin from Purple Frangipani.com
The girls at Urchin
Rochelle at Summerblossom
Thingk Baby International

So, if you're like me, and frequently shop in no mans land, won't you give handmade a try? You will not only be happy with your purchases, you will be happy knowing you supported Mummies in more ways than one!

Keep Shining,

Stace x

Save the date!

2010-02-12T20:22:00.010+11:00

This mothers day weekend will be like no other...

Tickets are strictly limited!

Only Mummies who register their interest will receive ticketing information.

Email info@sunnymummy.com.au with the number of tickets you wish to reserve and prepare to be walkin on sunshine...

Its a love story baby just say......yes

2010-02-11T23:51:00.017+11:00

Tonight I purchased a fabulously pretty E-book full of Blogspiration from FatMumSlim titled:

Let's give them something to blog about...

Which you can get your hands on a copy here

I'll be honest, I thought there is no way I would need this, I have enough topics in my head to be blogging well into my twilight years :)

However, I think Chantelle is FAB and of course I LOVE to support other Mummies pursuing their passions and for $7.95, lets face it, it wasn't a hard decision to make financially!

Anyway, I am getting off track, the point is...Mission Accomplished Chantelle, your gorgeous pages have inspired me to share my love story.

Chantelle says "Everyone loves a good love story, right?

So that's why I am getting all Miss Swift on you...I like Taylor swift(and Hannah Montanna)and I am not ashamed!

Why am I thinking of her now though?

Is it because she is down under? Perhaps its because its valentines day on Sunday..

Nope, none of the above. Its because I have always joked with my GM how embarrassing the story of how we met is, so I suggested we make one up!

I am not kidding, the GM is from South Africa and my BIG imagination decided it would be far more interesting to tell people that we met when I was on Safari in Kruger National Park and I took the GM home because he caught the springbok ;)

The real story will now be told Taylor Swift style!

You are only allowed to read it if you read it to the tune of Swift's Romeo and Juliet!

OK ready?

I was so young when I first met you (18), I close my eyes and the flashbacks start I'm standing there...

On the dance floor breathing stinky air,

See the lights, see the colours ;), the music sounds.
I see you make your way through the crowd-
You say hello, little did I know...

OK that's enough Taylor, I was getting bored with it so imagine how you feel!

Truth is, I met my GM when I was just 18 yrs old at, yep you guessed it, a stinky dance club called Colours (I cannot believe I just admitted that publicly but, hey I am all about keeping it real).

Little did I know that this was the man I would marry and share my life with.

Chantelle's tips include telling readers where we met: Check.

When we knew it was love?

Hmmm I seriously can't answer that. What do you know about love at 18?

I can tell you this, after almost 10 years of marriage and 2 children later, its only NOW that I realise that its a love story and baby I'm glad I said YES!

There has been sunshine and there has been rain, hell there has been a few cyclones too but through it all I now know this for sure....

Love is not in the falling, its in the staying!

Keep Shining,

Stace x

PS I will return my usual posting very soon, just got inspired by the fab book to share a little more about me :)

Thankful Thursday...

2010-02-11T00:21:00.012+11:00

Here are 7 things I am thankful for this Thursday as part of
Operation Think Happy:

*My daughter starting school and having such a lovely time every day.

*Being able to walk my kids to school.

*For finding my obsession, making it my profession and now I never have to work a day in my life!

*Happy Mail Exchange organised by Chantelle at FatMumSlim, where I get to wrap up and post off a gorgeous little pressie, for a stranger in some far flung location and they shall do the same for me.

*Opportunities...they are EVERYWHERE!

*For every mother who has CHOSEN to become a Sunny Mummy.

*My dedicated and extremely talented friend Sarah from StyleMeGorgeous whom I get to work and play with!

Now its your turn, go on..leave a comment and quickly list 7 things you are thankful for today!

Keep Shining,

Stace x

Sad Happy...

2010-02-07T23:38:00.010+11:00

Can you feel happy and sad at the same time?

As I sit here and write this post, I know that you can...

It is Sunday night, and I have had an amazing weekend.

The kiddies spent all day Saturday and overnight at Sunny Nana & Poppy’s.

The GM & I got to catch up with 3 lots of friends from Friday night to Sunday night.

This makes me happy :)

If I was still in Newcastle, this would not have happened. Being back in Sydney has given us back our friends yet leaving Sydney 4 years ago, gave me something else all together...

If I hadn't left Sydney and dealt with my issues...

I would never have been able to see the pain.

To recognise, the hurt...

To understand how it feels...

To know, that everything’s going to be alright.

And I... would never have been so HAPPY.

I don’t care how cliched it sounds, it is as though I was blinded by my own pain and now I can see it in others.

I want to help, to guide and encourage*...but you have to be ready.

Some are, others are not.

What makes a person build a wall and not ‘hear’ what is being said?

What makes a person stay with someone, even though that someone does not love them, or their children, the way they deserved to be loved?

What makes a person feel so angry; they want to hurt those they love so deeply? To then feel so guilty, they then want to hurt themselves....

Hurt people...hurt people.

Read it again, hurt people...hurt people!

You have to know you have been hurt.

You have to acknowledge it.

Once you acknowledge it, half the battle is won.

Once you acknowledge it, you can get help, acquire the tools you need and not repeat the pain, that was inflicted on you, to others.

Most of you are probably reading this and thinking I am referring to women.

I wish I was.

If I was referring to women, it would be more accepted.

We are pretty lucky as women. Most of us talk...

We ask each other how is everything going?

We cry, we share...

Most men don’t.

No-one thinks to ask them “Hey, how are YOU?”.

A couple has baby...the baby gets fussed over, the mother gets fussed over, how many people stop to ask the father “How are you?”

How many men feel comfortable calling up their mates and saying “Hey, I’m not doing so well. I’m tired, I feel the pressure of providing, my partner and I are not as physical anymore, I am feeling left out....I AM NOT OK!”

There are tears on my keyboard :( The tears are for the men who are so brave.

Who are wonderful husbands and fathers yet feeling depressed, hurt, angry, sad etc

Who are feeling like they have no-one to talk to.

We all have a story.
We all have feelings. We need to share them.
Open up the lines of communication between your partner and your friends.

ASK...
LISTEN...
UNDERSTAND...
And HELP.

The greatest thing a child can have, is 2 parents that love each other.

2 parents who are physically and mentally healthy.

Tonight, I am sad happy.

There are some men suffering and only the ones who acknowledge the pain and seek to understand it, will change.

For now, I peek at my babies sleeping and I know they are incredibly lucky.

Their mother and father are deeply in love. They talk about EVERYTHING and no topic is out of bounds.

My GM is snoring on the couch...he is dealing with his own problems at the moment which I hope to write about once they are over to highlight the ignorance of some people. However, I am happy and ever so thankful because we talk, he has help and endless support.

I wish the same for the millions of other men who are struggling with something, somewhere, right now...

Stace x

*Legal Disclaimer: I am NOT a qualified professional in psychology or counselling. This article was written from a personal standpoint and I strongly encourage anybody who is reading this, that may need assistance with their emotions or mental health, to seek assistance from your GP immediately.

Thankful Thursday...

2010-02-04T08:03:00.018+11:00

Last week, I told you all about Operation Think Happy

Holly from Mama Dearest/Domestic Goddess has started this Operation and every Thursday, Holly and many other bloggers, have pledged to list 7 things that make us happy, that makes us thankful, that makes us love life!

So here is my inaugural list, in no particular order:

My health and that of my family. Without it we have nothing.

My mind...it is wired on sunshine & I am truly thankful that I see the sunny side.

My GM...they broke the mould when they made him.

My kiddies, Sonshine & Starshine...they crack me up EVERYDAY!

My friends...the old girls ;) & the new ones! They know I am a road runner (beep beep, Hi Kel!), that I can get carried away with my world and yet they know I love them, value them and we always pick up where we left off :) They make my life even brighter!

Rain...it is raining now outside my window..it smells beautiful, sounds beautiful and I wouldn't take away the rain in my life because it made me the Sunny person that I am!

YOU, yes YOU who is reading this post! I am so thankful to be surrounded by more and more Mummies who are seeking the sun and wanting to ENJOY motherhood. Without you guys, I would be just 1 Sunny Mummy shining on my own family. However, together...we are Sunny Mummies from all over the world, changing the face of motherhood and SHINING on society as a result.

Know that I am THANKFUL and HONOURED to be sharing motherhood with YOU!

OK so there you have it, of course there is loads more but I have to save some for every Thursday.

Perhaps you willl struggle to come up with things..thats ok, thats what Sunny Mummy is here for...to spread the rays!

www.sunnymummy.com.au is very close and soon you will be able to pop in for a visit anytime you need to feel the sun on your face plus loads loads MORE!

Now go on... tell me, what are you THANKFUL for?

Sunny Mummy TV

2010-02-03T21:37:00.022+11:00

Quite a few weeks ago, I set up Sunny Mummy TV and thought it would be great to film my first episode on the Sunshine coast, which I did.

However since I have been back, life in Sunny Mummy land got very busy and so I have only just uploaded the first episode today.

How cool is it that you can have your own channel on Youtube?

They are so generous over at YT and I was singing their praises after I loaded episode 1 which you can check out here

Episode 2 however, is a different story...

10 minutes is not that long Mr Youtube!

I really have alot to say and I dont appreciate that you took 3 hrs to load my little episode, only to advise me that you had aborted my file because it was over 10minutes long!

Ahh so I shall learn from this and in future I will have to say what I have to say, in 10 mins or less ;) until I get a REAL TV show that is!

So I had to edit it, which is why it suddenly cuts off...

Not very professional indeed but you know I always look on the BRIGHT side, so lets consider Episode 2 very cutting edge seeing as some of it hit the cutting room floor ;)

You can check out Episode 2 here!

I also want to thank you all ever so much for your ongoing support and encouragement!

I would love to hear your thoughts on SMTV?

Do you have anything in particular you would like me to talk about?

Let me know, nothing is off limits ;)

In the meantime, in true Oprah Style..I am going to start doing Sunny's Bright & Shiny things! I will tell you all about my fave things/finds that make me warm and happy!

Perhaps I can give a away a car too! Hey, anything is possible ;)

Keep Shining!

Stace x

Care-a-lot

2010-02-01T20:06:00.001+11:00

Today I spent my last 'official' day at home with my daughter, Starshine.

Starshine is the name she has given herself seeing as our son got SONshine. I actually started calling her moonshine until I was alerted to the fact that Moonshine is very, very strong alcohol! So she suggested Starshine :)

Starshine and I took ourselves off to Max Brenner for Choc dipped strawberries & babycinos followed by a trip to the movies to see the Princess & the frog.

It was our special day to have just 'one' more weekday babycino seeing as these will be a school holiday treat now...

My baby is going to BIG school and she is so excited.

I am too except when everyone keeps talking about her FIRST day at school, I can't help but think about her LAST day at home.

All of a sudden, my mind is playing tricks "Is she ready? Did you PLAY with her enough? Did you spend enough time with her?

There will be no more ABC kids together, rushing out to get the mail, baking up a storm....

The days when I wanted time to myself, 2010 couldn't come quick enough.

Now that its here, I ask... "So soon?"

One chapter of motherhood has ended for me today and a new one begins tomorrow.

Likewise, a chapter in my daughters life has done the same and tomorrow signals the beginning of so much...

Days without mum, meeting lifelong friends and, in Starshines words "Yay I can go to the canteen!" and "Will I go to school FOREVER?"

Today as I watched her tuck into her choc-dipped strawberries and proceed to tell me "this is the best day EVER", I wanted to say "Excuse me, but wasn't it just yesterday you tried your very first ice cream?"

And now here you sit, eating choc dipped strawberries on our last day at home together.

"Me too" I say, meaning this is the best day ever!

So as my baby girl steps into the world of big school tomorrow, I want her to remember:

*I am proud of you.
*Be proud of yourself.
*Classroom is for learning.
*Playground is for playing (don't be a jabber jaws in class like your mum was)
*Not everyone will be your friend, that's OK, the best friend you can have is YOU!
*I am here for you.
*There is nothing you can't tell me.
*Have fun.
*Tell the truth.
*Remember...you have a BIG brother (pull that card if you have to)
*Please bring home your lunchboxes, your brother has already cost us a small fortune!

and Care-a-lot is a place you can ALWAYS go!

Love your Sunny Mummy x

PS have you ever watched the Care Bears movie?

Starshine (which sounds alot like a care bear doesn't it) loves this movie and the theme song is just lovely...we could ALL do with remembering that Care-a-lot is a place we can visit ANYTIME we want x

CARE-A-LOT
Carole King

Care-a-lot is a place we all can go
Whenever we choose it
Care-a-lot is a feeling we all know
We never do lose it

We can find a secret place
To rest and make a new start
If you don't know where it is
Look inside your heart

Care-a-lot is a playground you can't find
For laughing and swinging
Carousels playing music in your mind
For dancing and singing

Sometimes you feel so glad
Sometimes you feel so blue
Share your feelings, it's not bad
Feelings are just you

When you're lonely, don't you fret
You're not alone, you just tend to forget
Care-a-lot is easily found
You've been there and you have friends who care
Don't you let your sadness get you down

It always helps when you sing a song
Good cheer carries you along
Darkness leads to sunlight
A new day comes--it's all right

Care-a-lot is a place you'd like to be
Riding on a cloud
You'll care a lot, it's a rainbow fantasy
For laughing out loud

Care-a-lot is a place we all can go
Come to Care-a-lot, it's a place we all can go
Come to Care-a-lot
Share-a-lot
Care-a-lot

A little bit of Marvin ;)

2010-01-29T20:57:00.023+11:00

OK you asked for it ;)

A little bit of Marvin is what I call, Sexual Healing!

If you don't know the song Sexual Healing by Marvin Gaye then where have you been?

I have never been one to shy away from speaking about getting my groove on.

Just ask the beautiful business women that came into my life recently via
The Bizness Babes course run by The Body Shop.

BTW, if your a mum with an idea for a business, you can find out more about the Bizness Babes course here.

I somehow became known as the 'sex' one, just because well, sex is natural sex is good, not everybody does it, but everybody...hang on that's George Michael not Marvin!

Back to Marvin ;)

Everybody needs Sexual Healing.

I know, I know, for many of you it is the last thing you want to do at the end of the day (or any other time).

Most of us go through stages where we lose our libido.

Just ask the GM (my gentleman for those newbies) how it felt when I used to tell him that I do not want it, need it, nor think about it anymore and by asking me, he is simply adding YET another thing on my TO DO LIST...HIM!

Not very nice :( I am sorry My Love...

Men need sexual healing, so do women. You cannot expect to keep knocking your husband/partner back and him not get frustrated. He may even start creeping...

Now I hear some of you say "Stacey, are you saying that if we don't give our husbands/partners sex, they will go elsewhere for it?"

Ummm, YEP, they could. Or they will at least think about it...

I am not saying it is right, or OK, but it is reality.

Lets look at it like this, if your husband/partner took a vow to provide your food (and no-one else) for the rest of your life, til death do you part and then suddenly said "Yeah, about the food thing, I don't want to. I'm tired."

Would you just accept it? Would you be happy? Would you NEVER eat again?

No, at the very least you would be thinking about food, thinking about EATING food, someone else's food, ANY food because you're hungry and you need food!

Are you getting my point?

OK granted, we don't need sex to survive like we need food, water and oxygen... but you can't tell me it doesn't make life better?

There clearly is some truth in that we get our affection needs met from our babies once we become mothers. However, they don't stay babies forever.

Without your husband/partner you wouldn't even have these beautiful, precious children to cuddle and kiss...so why does he suddenly move to the bottom of the list?

Do I really need to tell you that studies show that people who have sex 3 times a week look considerably younger than people who don't? That sex releases feel-good endorphins leaving you happy...

That it helps you and your man feel closer?

If your man is anything like the GM...he will be dancing around the house, doing the dishes and sending you off to 'Country Road' sales (oh how I do love a good CR Sale) and actually wanting you to show him everything you bought!

So, are you still with me? Or did you run and exit this site as soon as I mentioned sex?

You're still here, GOOD.

Like everything else I promote as a Sunny Mummy way of life....getting a little bit of Marvin is one of them.

If you are not as interested as you used to be (lets face it, most of us are in this boat), you have to remind yourself to put sex ON your to-do list.

You have to put it IN your brain and think about it. It is not boring to schedule sex, better to schedule it and connect with your partner than not have it at all.

You can't schedule it all the time though...you have to have some variety.

Back to food, you wouldn't eat the same thing everyday so why would you have sex every Thursday at 9pm in the same position?

Mix it up, try new things, go on a date (and if you have no sitter, then put the kids to bed and 'date' at home) then go cruisin in your car together, then parking (in your garage after the cruise, its safer)!

Put a bit of Marvin on your to-do list then get out of the bed and into, say the walk-in wardrobe ;) Your husband/partner will be 'walkin on sunshine' and so will you!

You were once 'lovebirds' and created little birdies together, so whats changed?

You have a full nest?

Well your nest will be empty again one day before you know it, so you better make sure you still like that Birdie cos it will be just you and him baby...

So off you go...

Fluff up your nest, fly together and you will both be rockin in the treetops all day long, oh hang on that's the Jackson 5 ;)

Tweet tweet!

Keep Shining,

Stace x

We want YOU, We want YOU, We want YOU & YOU & YOU!

2010-01-29T19:24:00.040+11:00

Gee wiz I love the Internet!

Such an AMAZING resource and tool to share, inspire and collaborate.

I was just about to post about Marvin (coming next don't worry) when I read a great post over at mum/toddler/babe, which you can check out here.

Which then led me to a great post over at Mama Dearest/Domestic Goddess, which you can check out here.

All about Operation THINK Happy...

This of course, is right up my alley and a great idea Holly!

I hope your glass overflows as a result!

So now I want to encourage all you fellow bloggers to spread the
'think happy' mission and increase the 'Army of Happiness'.

Holly has committed to listing 7 things every Thursday that make her happy, that make her thankful and that make her love life!

So I will do the same, lets call it Thankful Thursdays....seeing as I already have Motivated Mondays (which could be Marvin Mondays after my next post ;) and Focused Fridays, lets now have Thankful Thursdays!

Now to think of something for Tuesday and Wednesday...oooh I have an idea, lets have a competition (this is random so I will come up with a lovely prize) to give Tuesday and Wednesday a theme name to represent the Sunny Mummy way of life!

Post your ideas on here or the facebook fan page and I will pick the best fit and then we will have 2 winners, or 1 if the clever mummy comes up with both.

Entries close midnight this Sunday (31/01/10)

Did I mention I love the Internet?

OK so my list....nah you have to wait until next Thursday now....you need to know about Marvin before the weekend!

Sunny Mummy Assistant™...

2010-01-28T20:26:00.038+11:00

OK you asked for it, so here it is...

Sunny Mummy Assistant™...Supporting YOU to SHINE!

This is the COMPLETE set of all our individual tools.

21 gorgeous pages to keep you on track and SHINING!

Consisting of:

Rise & Shine™ Daily Planner
Sunny Mummy Weekly Snapshot™
Sunny & Simple™ Menu Plan
Sunny Home™ Weekly Tasks
Sunny Mummy™ 2010 Calendar
Sunny Mummy Mantra™ poster
Sunny Mummy Daily Reminder™ poster

At just $39.95, all you need to do is pay, print and prepare into a folder of your choice!

These tools are worth over $46 when purchased individually.

*please note this bundle DOES NOT include the Sunny & Simple Schooldays™ organiser

If you are a Sunny School Mummy then simply add the:

Sunny & Simple Schooldays™ organiser...
Supporting YOU and YOUR schoolies to SHINE!

At just $19.95 (with $1 from every sale going to the McGrath Foundation) it is the finishing touch to your Sunny Mummy Assistant™

With one or both of these bundles of Sunny Mummy™ tools to organise and inspire, your family will be on track and SHINING!

Sunny & Simple Schooldays™...

2010-01-27T18:19:00.029+11:00

Here it is....FINALLY ;)

The most gorgeous organiser to keep you on track and shining this coming school year!

Sunny & Simple Schooldays™...
Supporting YOU and YOUR schoolies to SHINE

21 pages of bright, shiny inspiration and organisation to manage your days, weeks and terms. No more searching for that newsletter or wondering where the canteen menu is...its all here for you to add to your Sunny Mummy Assistant or a separate folder!

Consisting of Reminders, Dividers, Schedules, Planners, Inspiration and beautiful printable's such as the Lunch Lovenotes™ to use over and over again, plus much much more, at only $19.95 this little addition to your toolbox is priceless!

But wait there's more...hee hee no it is NOT steak knives.

$1 from every Sunny & Simple Schooldays™ organiser sold, will go to the McGrath Foundation to help fund Breast Care Nurses for Breast Cancer Patients, a cause very close to my heart (even more so after my recent scare).

So if you want a shining start that continues throughout the year,
buy NOW and get organised instantly!

The only thing it won't do, is MAKE the lunches for you ;)

Hump day?

2010-01-27T07:13:00.025+11:00

My GM (thats gentleman as in, my husband, not my General Manager ;) thinks I write very long posts. I don't disagree, I always have alot to say when I sit down to write. OK OK and when I talk too, and think, and dream..yep you get the point, they didn't call me Jabba Jaws in primary school for nothing you know ;) BY they way, nothing has changed!

So I am going to try and write a short post, lets see if I can do it...

Today is Wednesday. Yes Stacey, we all know our days of the week I hear you say :)

How often do you or someone you know, refer to Wednesday as HUMP DAY?

When you refer to Wednesdays as hump day, you are telling your mind, and the world, that the 'WEEKDAYS' only exist to 'get through' to the WEEKEND.

That somehow calling Wednesday HUMP day means you have climbed the hardest part yet again this week (read Monday and Tuesday) and are now on the easy, downhill slope to the weekend.

You tell yourself and others, that Thursday and Friday are going to be better than Monday and Tuesday..

WHY?

They don't sit any closer to Saturday and Sunday, in fact they sit the exact amount of distance away. Only they occur BEFORE the weekend not AFTER.

Love her or not, it is true that Miley Cyrus is a part of my world and hey, I LOVE her song, The Climb!

Life is a climb and it is not about getting to the top. The view is great from every position if you would only stop to adjust the focus on your camera of life...

Hump day, schmump day...there is no such thing in my world, weekdays ROCK just as much as weekends. You can see life like this too, you just have to decide that today and every day is just as great as the weekend.

Seriously, who wants to live a life only 2 out of 7?

NOT ME!

Recognise that life is a climb everyday, so lets sit on top of the world and enjoy the ever changing VIEW :)

Keep Shining (today and everyday)!

Stace x

PS When I searched for a pic for this post, I found ALOT for Hump Day....
Let me tell you they had nothing to do with a mountain and EVERYTHING to do with hmm hmm 'Humping' ;) So, hey if you call it hump day because of THAT, then good on you and hump away, I am all for Sunny Mummies getting their groove on to a bit of 'Marvin', but that's another post, if you want to know about 'Marvin' you need to leave a comment and tell me, this was meant to be SHORT hee hee

Get organised for the school year!

2010-01-26T18:54:00.027+11:00

There have been many articles over the last couple of days mentioning the new witching hour that happens before school, apparently at 8.25am...

Hmmm yes it happens...if you let it.

However if you are organised and inspired to implement routines and maintain them in a consistent manner, then witching hour will be the 'thing' that occurs in someone else’s house.

Please don't think I am writing this hovering over my laptop with my cape on...

I am not a supermum, there is no such thing.

We have had mornings where the wheels have fallen off and I have screamed like a banshee, I hate these mornings. Did I mention I HATE these mornings?

It leaves me feeling less than shiny and I am sure it makes my kids feel the same way..and for what? Choosing to lounge in front of the tv or surf the internet rather than take the 30 mins max, needed to iron uniforms, make lunches and generally prepare for a smooth, shining start to the following day?

It’s not for everyone but I know which method I prefer and it WORKS!

All it takes is a commitment to be organised and utilise your time effectively.

The result is harmonious mornings where both your kids and you, start the day shining rather than frazzled and running out the door screaming ‘hurry up’ at your little people.

Many of you are searching for that elusive system to manage the school year, or perhaps you have a child starting school this year and are not yet aware of the large amount of management you are about to embark on, not to mention the endless correspondence that comes home.

The Sunny & Simple Schooldays™ organiser has been created especially to support YOU and YOUR schoolies to SHINE.

Pop it into a folder on its own or do what I have done. I have changed the folder I am using for my Sunny Mummy Assistant, so I can add my Sunny & Simple Schooldays™ organiser to it.

I like the idea of one central folder and Kikki-K does a great display folder that has LOTS of clear insert pages including the cover which you can insert your own design into.

Not only does my SMA have all my shiny tools for my time & running our home, it now contains everything this busy Sunny Mummy of 2 school children this year, needs to keep us on track and SHINING this year...

Adding these sweet pages in your SMA, allows anyone in your home to easily access all the info needed for your family to function in a calm and happy manner when it comes to your school and home life.

So, if you are ready to start the school year shining and bring warmth to your mornings that flows onto your kiddies for the whole day, then all you need to do is add the Sunny & Simple Schooldays ™ organiser to your home.

For full details and to purchase, click here:

http://sunnymummyaus.blogspot.com/2010/01/sunny-simple-schooldays.html

The Buffet of Life

2010-01-25T20:22:00.013+11:00

This morning I ate cornflakes...just cornflakes, for the first time in 8 days.

They were good, so simple and fulfilling. Why am I telling you this?
Because for the past 8 days I have eaten a buffet breakfast every morning!

Everything your taste buds could desire was available and yet I found myself going back to the same combo every day. I could have had anything or everything...even nothing, yet every day I pretty much stuck to the same choices.

Poached egg with hollandaise sauce on an English muffin, little piece of crispy bacon, sautéed mushrooms and all the juices mixed together (I love doing that, I feel like I work at Boost Juice minus the headband!). Then I would finish off with a pancake with maple syrup and cream.

After about the 3rd day when the novelty of fixing your own breakfast from a buffet was wearing off, it occurred to me that life is like a buffet...plenty of choices yet we often serve ourselves the same things, over and over again.

I knew choosing pancakes with maple syrup and cream everyday was not going to do me any health favours, but I was on holiday’s right? I don’t do it EVERYDAY...or do I?

How many times do we do the same thing over and over even though it is not working for us, yet somehow expect a different response?

They say that is the definition of insanity you know...

Or do you never serve yourself a helping of the good stuff, afraid that it will hurt you or perhaps you don’t deserve it?

If life is like a buffet with a vast array of dishes like love, compassion, confidence, self-care, humour, inspiration, motivation etc

Are you dishing yourself a good helping and variety each day?

If not, then WHY?

No seriously....WHY?

Stop for a minute and see what pops into your head...

Often we can be all excited and motivated to change a habit or try to be different, especially so at this time of year. We have excellent intentions and get fired up....then the changes don’t last, or we revert to our old ways.

Many people beat themselves up over this and then forget about what they were trying to achieve all together, when really all they needed to do, was realise that motivation does not last! Unless we keep feeding it...

Think of it like this...when you eat breakfast, does it get you through the entire day? Is that all you eat? NO!

We have to keep eating throughout the day or else we will have no fuel to function.

You don’t eat breakfast and then expect to feel full forever do you?
To never eat again?
Of course not...
You don’t say to yourself, oh this is so hard why do I have to eat over and over again!

Same thing with motivation, inspiration, health, love, laughter etc etc

You have to keep serving yourself a decent helping from the buffet of life!

A little of this and a little of that, everything in moderation!

Every day we must eat, food for our bodies and our minds...

I can create the most fabulous tools in the world and you can buy them, however if you do not commit to using them over and over again, every single day, then you have wasted your money and I have not helped you at all.

It is not rocket science. It is so simple and yet we can easily complain over and over about what we allow ourselves to continue to do.

You cannot eat from the same dish day in day out and expect your body to be healthy, likewise you cannot continue to feed your mind the same old dish of thoughts and emotions and expect it to be healthy too!

This Sunny Mummy feasts daily, sometimes I overeat the wrong thing and don't serve myself enough of the good stuff. I know this and I am quick to make adjustments the next time I 'eat'.

This post is not about dieting, nor actual food...
Its about soul food, mind food and I genuinely want to see you all surrounding this wonderful buffet of life and shine as a result!

You nourish your children's bodies and minds everyday...

Nourish yourself too, feast on all that the buffet of life has to offer.

Think about what you have too much of and cut back...then pop over to the dish that contains more of what you need.

Life does not have to be FEAST or FAMINE...

Eat up and try something new, the key is to come back EVERYDAY for YOUR serve from the Buffet of LIFE!

Resort Report!

2010-01-24T21:33:00.029+11:00

I’m Back!

Did you miss me? ;)

The Sunshine coast certainly lived up to its name..8 carefree days of blue skies and pure sunshine! My 'ray' reserve is overflowing, so be prepared to get so much sunshine from me you may just need some 30+ ...

This post is my report on our resort, the Novotel Twin Waters on the Sunshine Coast.

All the good stuff, the things I believe they could improve on and what you need to know before you visit, if you were thinking of doing so. Which of course if you are not planning a visit, then stay tuned for a regular post very soon as this is a loooong one, purely about the resort...

So this lovely family resort lived up to its claims and our family had a blast.
The other thing that had a blast was our bank account....this place is not cheap to ‘experience’.

I am about to give you lots of info because I always find if you can learn from others beforehand, then you can make your stay/experience more enjoyable and at least a little more cost effective.

Would I recommend this resort? Absolutely!

Do they need to address a few things? Absolutely!

Here is my report on each category..

Accommodation:

We stayed in a Garden View King Suite. Sounds expensive but this are what they recommend for families and I now know why. The room consisted of a King Size Bed in the main bedroom, a sofa bed in the lounge room for the kids, a very spacious bathroom with separate toilet & shower, corner spa bath and a wardrobe (which sounds weird but it works within the layout), a kitchenette with a (bigger than bar) fridge, microwave & crockery etc

You could not cook a full meal in there but could certainly heat things up etc.
We also had a TV in our bedroom, a TV for the kids and a lovely patio with outdoor setting overlooking the Garden.

You can get the same room type overlooking the lagoon which is more expensive but they are far less private so my tip is to keep your money for other things and enjoy the kangaroos & bush turkeys wandering around in your garden (or from the room if you’re scared of all things non-human like I am).

Facilities:

OK so this resort has only ONE pool. With NO SHADE WHATSOEVER!

This is definitely a down side and something I believe they really need to address. The other option for swimming is the saltwater lagoon which is flat and great for those who want more of a beach feel for their swimming (They have direct access to the Surf Beach too).

The lagoon is home to canoes, catamarans and 2 giant water trampolines. As excited as we all were for the aqua tramps, they were quite a distance out in the water (granted they need the depth) so our kiddies didn’t use them once, simply because they didn’t feel comfortable swimming so far out. They also they seemed to be the ‘place to lounge’ for the teenagers (understandable, I’d be there too if I was their age!) so we just didn’t put that on our to-do list.

There are plenty of things to do on land also such as bike riding (the kids bikes are free, you have to hire the adults), a games room (you pay), putt putt (free) and lots of other things you pay for like circus school and surf school etc.

There is also a kids club on site and it is FABULOUS!

Ron and Helen are the owners and have such a passion for the kids (as well as their staff) that you feel like you are dropping them off at Nan and Pops to play with the 20 other grandkids. My hot tip is to buy the 3 session pass straight up, you save money and once you get a taste of having some child free time you will wish you had bought the 3. Also, if you send them in the evening, you have the choice of adding on dinner for just $4.50 per child which is a lot cheaper than feeding them in the resort restaurants (I will get to food in a minute).

Other facilities worth mentioning are the on site gym and day spa. I did book a massage which was lovely but in my opinion it is a ‘token’ day spa, kind of there just to say they have one (it could do with an upgrade as could the gym).

Food & Drinks:

When it comes to eating and drinking at this place, you need to know a few things so you can come prepared. Let’s start with breakfast...

We added this to our package. You were spoilt for choice and I would be hard pressed to come up with an item that didn’t feature on their menu. However, if I did it again, I would not include breakfast.

It is not cheap and you get sick of eating so much after a few days.... Yes I know I could have chosen to just have fruit and cereal (believe me everyday I told myself the next day I would!) but when you are faced with poached eggs, hollandaise sauce, sauteed mushrooms and that’s just the savoury, then there is the pancakes and waffles...are you REALLY going to tuck into a bowl of muesli? I rest my case.

Still, having said all of that, next time I would take cereal and toast and just treat ourselves to 1 or 2 big brekkies, this way you save money for other things and don’t have to get up & think of getting to breakfast on time (yes I slept in ;).

Lunch:

You have the choice of take-away where you grab it and go (which is actually what it is called) or take-away sandwiches, sausage rolls etc from the deli.
The Aqua Bar which is table service on the terrace overlooking the pool or the a-la-carte restaurant which does a lunch buffet and another themed one at dinner.
I will cut to the chase, DO NOT order hot chips from 'grab it and go' unless you are happy to pay $5.50 for a small cup of chips placed in a BIG box!

The best item on their menu are the pizzas and I say go for your life with these as they are YUMMO! The deli is overpriced like many resorts I guess and sells a little of everything including magazines and alcohol. The coffee is VERY GOOD so grab your hit from there each morning as the buffet coffee machine is always busy although I don’t know why because the coffee was ALWAYS cold every time I tried and I can’t do hotel tea (can anyone tell me why hotel tea always tastes so gross?).

Dinner:

You have the same choices as above with the addition of a resort BBQ , which in my opinion is not worth the $28 they charge per head and Lily’s, the beautiful 5 star restaurant overlooking the lagoon. I recommend visiting here if you want to splurge one night.

Things to consider with Dinner are to order early or expect a LONG wait as they get very busy. My absolute fave menu item was the Tiffins which are traditional lunch tins from India, filled with curry, rice, naan bread, chutney and yogurt. If you like Indian food, these were to die for and a bargain at $18.

There is also a kids menu with a pretty good selection (read: not just nuggets)of meals for $9.95.

Now with regards to food, the lovely staff do a run at 12pm each day down to Bi-lo where you can stock up on supplies. We purchased all of our snacks down there and pretty much nibbled around the pool all day rather than buy lunch. You can also purchase your alcohol from the bottle shop and the staff are very accommodating, they will supply glasses and buckets of ice etc.

Doing this saves you ALOT of money...

OK so whilst we are on the topic of drinking, obviously you cannot take glass into the pool area or onto the lagoon. One of my concerns was that NO-ONE policed this during our time there and there were ALOT of people taking glass into the pool area. I am not a party pooper but if that glass broke, then fun time is OVER for everyone and with only 1 pool, there would be no alternative available.

There is no swim up bar but there is a poolside bar. However they may as well not have had one as this was only open weekends and even then only between 2 and 4pm. The drinks were very expensive and happy hour only catered to beer & wine drinkers. They definitely need a cocktail happy hour as the cocktails are priced between $12-$16. Naturally the yummy ones are $16!

OK with food and drink out the way, these are the things I believe need to be addressed:

• There is no shade over the pool. There needs to be, the sun is just too hot & dangerous to be in directly at any time of the day & you know I like the Sun!
• There is no lighting in the pool at night, apparently there was an electrical fault and they would have to drain the pool to fix it. Do what you need to do; it was outright dangerous to have swimmers in the pool until all hours with no lights whatsoever.
• There are stairs everywhere in this place, which I didn’t notice until we met some lovely parents (A BIG hello to Jayme, Matt, Kelly and Jamie ) who pointed out how difficult it is to get around with prams. Ditto for people in wheelchairs etc
• This one is quite simple but it would be nice if they could provide correct information. The resort had a great schedule of events planned (such a wine tasting, sushi making etc) but they were listed on the wrong days at the wrong times so we often missed things we would have liked to experience and to be honest I am not even sure they were on as advertised anyway :(
• Another simple one, inform people when booking & again when checking in, that paying by credit card attracts a surcharge. Furthermore, the ATM in the lobby only allows $200 per transaction. This allows you to better prepare your cash flow and avoidable, unnecessary charges.

OK so there you have my experience of the Novotel Twin Waters resort on the Sunshine coast http://www.twinwatersresort.com.au/ Overall I would definitely recommend you go. Be warned though, they will offer you a $150 credit to your account in exchange for sitting through a preview to buy into their vacation club (priced between $10-$30k I am told by others who attended)so this may or may not appeal to you but at least you will know when they approach you in the bar!

We absolutely loved our time at Twin Waters, we met some lovely people(another hello to a beautiful family we had the pleasure of spending time with... Peter, Kerry, Will & Jack!)and enjoyed just hanging out together with no routine.

I just had to share a photo of our 'sonshine' who rocked the bar last night on Karoke singing 'Little Black Box' by Stan Walker, all by himself!

He won some sunnies which he thinks are very cool, won't take off and now today I have had to listen how he thinks he might like to have "fame and reality!"

I asked him what does he mean by fame & reality? He responded with "FAME is getting to be famous for something and I'm not sure about REALITY" to which his almost 5 yr old sister replies "Fame is when people get your food for you, reality is when you have to get it yourself!"

So there you have it, fame and reality according to my kids. The same ones who invented 'Sunshine Resort' in the backyard :) So until our next holiday, we will keep playing 'Sunshine Resort' together where there is plenty to do and the cocktails are free!

Keep Shining,
Stace x

Sunny Mummy hits the Sunshine Coast!

2010-01-15T18:26:00.026+11:00

Tomorrow this Sunny Mummy is going away with my family to the Sunshine Coast for 8 blissful days.

This was a last minute holiday booking as we decided to take the opportunity to get away now, as our baby girl is starting Kindy this year. This will be our last holiday with her before she officially becomes a 'bigschool' girl.

I also need to head into this year with a fully charged battery ;) as more and more Mummies decide to be Sunny, there are busy bee times ahead!

I love it, I wouldn't be dead for quids and am seriously soooooo honoured to be able to do motherhood with you guys. It is so exciting whats in store, the website launch is not far away and I can hardly contain myself for the BIG event we have planned.

For now though, we are concentrating on getting the website built.

Once the website is launched, life as a Sunny Mummy will be even brighter!

However for now, I am preparing to log off my laptop tomorrow morning and log into my life...

When deciding where to go, I can't believe how much choice there was, yet so little in way of finding a good recommendation, for a great place to stay with kids.

We all know that going away with our little ones can sometimes equal more stress than if we had just stayed at home. I don't want to feel like I have paid alot of money to simply move location and not even feel like I am on a holiday.

So eventually we decided on the Novotel Twin Waters Resort....

I was very impressed with their friendly staff when booking and liked what I saw on their website too. You can check them out here at:

http://www.twinwatersresort.com.au

Here is a little of what they have to say:

Lush tropical gardens. A private lagoon on which to kayak, sail or windsurf. An endless surf beach. A round of golf with friends. Pampering treatments in the over water Lagoon Day Spa. Dining options ranging from a buffet breakfast to an à la carte dinner under the stars. The kids being cared for, entertained and having fun.

Sound too good to be true? Well, Novotel Twin Waters Resort has all of this and so much more.

Hmmm so lets hope it isn't too good to be true because I very much like the sound of all of the above minus the golf thank you very much ;)How good is this, on Wednesday's they even have pedicures and pina coladas! My kinda place ;)

As soon as the kids saw the aqua trampoline and the activity schedule, they had cast their vote too (I will be having a go on that trampoline too mind you)!

I will be sure to post a review on the resort when I get back to let you know if you should put it on your future holiday hit list!

After all, us Sunny Mummies need to go somewhere we can feel the rays and doesn't the Sunshine Coast sound like the perfect place :)

Speaking of perfect place, the one work related activity I will be doing whilst on the Sunny Coast, is film the first episode for SMTV(Sunny Mummy TV).

I had to take advantage of the location don't you think? The cameraman will be my 7yr old son (who my husband affectionately calls 'Sonshine')so I can't guarantee it will be screen worthy let alone enjoyable viewing but hey, we will certainly give it a go!

Please leave a comment tonight if you have something in particular you want to ask me or for me to address on the first video and I will take it on board (literally)!

OK, so while I am away you won't see me around facebook, twitter nor receive any new posts. I am not THAT organised that I have written in advance to release things while I am gone. I will figure that out though cos that is pretty cool.

You can of course keep shopping in the Sunny Store for your tools if you are yet to get them or need to add to your kit. The only thing you will have to wait for, is the Sunny Spots which I will post out immediately upon my return.

So SM's, have a wonderful week, remember to keep your face to the sun so you don't see the shadows and look after your children's mummy!

Keep Shining,

Stace x

PS That is not me in the photo but hopefully this will be my 'me' time!

Sunny Assistant Additions!

2010-01-13T17:23:00.002+11:00

Yay, we have more tools for YOUR toolkit!

Now you will be able to put together your complete Sunny Assistant with the following additions to our tools.

At only $6.95 each, you get to download immediately, use the file forever and feel all warm and fuzzy knowing the funds are contributing towards building the official Sunny Mummy site...

So I won't keep you in suspense any longer:

Sunny Home...weekly task chart.

A place to record who is doing what and when, in your home each week to keep it shining!

Sunny Mummy Weekly Snapshot.

An overview of your week, a reminder for birthdays, a place to record exercise completed and a space to schedule a 'me' time activity.

This is a lovely place to record your important things and your overall week will be sorted in a jiffy (who even says that anymore?)

and last but not least, the much anticipated
Sunny and Simple Menu Planner

Now even Mia Freedman herself and my friend Jane (who will be so glad I mentioned her here, she thinks I am Oprah and wants to be my Gayle!)is struggling with motivation for tonight's dinner! How do I know this, well Mia is my Aussie Idol (clearly Oprah is my international one)and so I follow her twitter and she just tweeted right as I was uploading this, hmm universe aligning, I think so!

So, I will tell you all what this Sunny Mummy is whipping up and let me know if you too struggle for quick, simple, fresh and easy ideas for dinner?

If you do, then I will release my private collection of recipes (release from my head that is hee hee)and compile them into a cookbook for us all to refer to in a flash when you simply cannot give the kids 'breakfast for dinner' again!

Sunny's Simple Salad (what is it with me and the SSS's? Have you heard of my SSS dessert I invented? It is to die for!)

Ingredients:

1 bag of Coles (of course) Rocket & Spinach salad leaves(save time and buy the pre- washed one.
Pumpkin
BBQ Chicken
Hazelnuts
Shaved Parmesan cheese
Balsamic Glaze
Olive Oil

Method:
Cut up pumpkin into small cubes, toss in olive oil, drizzle with honey and roast in oven til golden brown and caramel looking. Add hazelnuts 5 mins before taking the whole lot out.

Remove skin off chicken and shred

Here is the hard part, open the packet of leaves ;) add chicken, pumpkin hazelnuts and a handful of Parmesan cheese.

Drizzle olive oil & some balsamic glaze, crack some rock salt and pepper, toss to combine.

If you want to make it look pretty like a restaurant then finish with some more Parmesan and drizzle the balsamic across.

You can eat this with the chicken and pumpkin warm or cold and obviously omit the nuts if you are allergic.

Enjoy!

PS don't forget to purchase your tools and as always, Keep Shining!