Facebook Groupie

As Facebook grows and evolves in its rapid rise to global domination there are always new tips and tricks to learn online.

Often what scares the 'Facebook Haters' is the myth that everyone can see their business. One of the things I like most about Facebook is  its advanced privacy settings and the ability for each individual to control every aspect of what the public sees of them.

Over the past year a popular and steadily increasing Facebook fad has been to group friends. This has come about for a few reasons. Firstly I think that so many people now have profiles which means people's Friends lists are growing steadily. There is unwritten Facebook etiquette and it can be hard to cull your friends down for fear of people taking offense or perhaps just because you'd like to be nosy now and then and check out old acquaintances photos.

This is a very interesting article called How to Manage your Facebook Relationships with Friends from a site called....

Grouping your friends allows you the freedom to decide who sees what. See picture below which shows you how to change which group sees the status or photo you are about to post.

To set up your groups click on the FRIENDS tab to the left on the News Feed page. Once you click on it you then have the ability to click on the small pencil next to each group name to edit which friends are in which group.

  Its helpful to note that once you click on edit or the button top right which says +create list you just need to type in the title of your list and click the blue create button, the next window then allows you to simply highlight all of the friends you wish to be in that group and when you have finished click the button that says finish at the bottom of the page.

For example if you are a mummy you might have a Group just for your friends with babies. You can ask questions about what little Johny should be eating etc.. without everyone including your Uncle Bruce having to see it in their News Feed. Alternatively I have grouped people in my Close Friends group whom I can be somewhat more candid, controversial or vent myself more freely on a frustrating day.

To create your own lists click on the Manage Lists title on the right of the screen. (see below)


Its worth mentioning that you can have people in multiple groups. Another thing worth mentioning is that no one is aware of what group they are in nor the other people in that group. This is with the exception of the Close Friends List which comes pre formated through Facebook and displays a star next to it. With this one if someone is on that list they can, only if you allow, see who else is on this list also. Sometimes this may help them choose how they wish to comment on your update or post on your Wall.

This is just a starting point, and if it feels all too daunting you can start small. Im planning on doing another blog on this topic in the next few days. If you decide to make some changes and run into any problems feel free to message me or type your questions into the google search bar, its what I do a lot and generally my problem is solved pretty quickly.

The most important thing to remember is that each time you update your status it will remember the setting for the last thing you uploaded so each status requires you to click on the drop down bar, a little more labour intensive but I've found it to be one of those things that grows into a habit after a few days.

A nice wee bonus of doing this is that you can still have a high count friends list.

Thrifty June

Well for a variety of reasons June is thrifty month in our household. One reason is we have savings targets to reach for our house renovation project and the other reason is I do love to shop and sometimes I need to reign the habit in. 


I find I respond best to tightening the purse strings when I see it as a challenge, a series of goals and 'games'. These are my tips of the month:


1. Trade Me
I have listed all of Elias's 'too small' clothing items on trade me. He needs some new merino tops/pants for winter. So all of the proceeds will go towards these. SAVINGS $100

Earings on my pinterest 'i really want to buy this' board

2. $25 Grocery Challenge
This was a bit of a craze in the media a few years ago. I remember watching an interview on John Campbell on the woman who started it. She shopped for $25 per week for her family of four!! So now every so often maybe once every season, I do this too, using up stuff that's been in the freezer too long, rustling up some baking and soups to plump up the options.  My goal this month is to be really ambitious and do that twice, its just me and the girls, so it should be easily possible. SAVINGS a whopping $600!

 Witchery Jacket on my pinterest 'I really want to buy this' board

3. Cash in the Points
Most credit cards accumulate reward points of some sort. This month I have cashed these in for $200 worth of Farmers vouchers. So I still get my shopping fix, I can buy the girls new thermals without spending extra precious pennies SAVINGS $200

 Duvet for Bee's room on my pinterest 'I really want to buy this' board

4. Stick it On the Wishlist
I have just begun using pinterest. A great site where you pin any picture from the net onto your 'boards'. I have a board labeled family photography and another for home interiors. I also made one for my 'wishlist' items.(This link takes you to my boards, join up and we can follow eachother's boards)  Since there is a total online shopping ban this month when I see things I like I can pin them to my board, and next month flick through, I bet half of the things on there I wont want anymore. Estimated savings $200

Insulated lunch bag on my pinterest 'I really want to buy this' board

Night Time Routines

I was sent a message last night from a FB friend asking for some tips on night time routines for kids. I don't claim to be an expert on the subject but with three sprogs I can definitely call myself experienced!

First and foremost for a routine to be effective it needs to be SIMPLE and FLEXIBLE otherwise it just wont stick. 

First establish how much sleep your child/children need. According to most research a child aged 3 needs 12 to 12.5 hours sleep per day and a five year old needs 11. Check out this link for more ages. A lot of behavioral issues, including lack of concentration have been linked to lack of sleep. If you are unsure if your child is getting enough check out this very useful article which has an online test.

What time does your child rise in the morning? I have a 3 and a half year old who gets up around 6.45am. For Bee to function at her best she needs to be in bed around 6.30pm.

Children need and respond to boundaries. They might not like them in fact when it comes to bed times they might straight out hate them, but I find Bee is much more able to accept it when lights out time is the same each night. 

What do you need to get done at night? Maybe your child has a bath  like my littlies do, obviously there is tea time and maybe dessert. If you have a school aged child there could be homework. Most kids like stories in bed or on the couch, some have milos or bottles before sleep. Write a list of everything that your child needs to do and put a rough amount of time next to each one. Here is my example for Bianca

Bath - 30 min - includes getting into her jammies, brushing hair and teeth

Tea - 30 mins

Pudding - 15 mins

Story-time - 20 mins. This happens in bed, two stories and some time to chat about the highs and lows of her day.

All up that's about an hour and a half. Now because we are dealing with unpredictable kiddies you need to bump at least an extra 30 mins onto this for the odd tantrum, refusing to eat tea and mucking around shenanigans.

So now I know that my routine needs to start 2 hours before Bee's bedtime at around 4.30pm. Now some of you might be reading this and say "hang on a minute I'm a working mum I don't get home until 5pm". My bestie works full time with a 2 year old and she has a very efficient routine which enables her to get it all done. But if you just cant manage think about changing things around, maybe a shower in the morning instead of at night? A routine is a very individual thing if its not working adjust it to work for you.

Now this is where the flexibility comes in. Ideally I would like my kids to have a bath after tea but sometimes if tea isn't ready or they are getting ratty around 5pm its easier to switch it around. Either way it doesn't really matter because my main goal is to get everything vital done and have the kids in bed at a set time.

Maybe you are saying "yeah right there is no way my four year old will go to bed at 7pm she is used to staying up until 8.30pm". Just make a start by bringing bed time forward by 15 mins each night. A great tip from a friend with twin boys is if they say they are not tired after stories have been read, give them a pile of books and let them have some 'alone reading time'. Tell them you will be back in 15 mins, this gives them a chance to wind-down in the quiet of their room and you a chance to pack the dishwasher. When I have tried this Bee is usually asleep with a book on her face shortly after!

Eventually your child will begin to know what to expect and in tern accept it a lot more easily. If you have had no routine to speak of this might take time, but stick at it. Routine makes kids feel safe and secure.

Once they are in bed DON'T LET THEM GET BACK UP. Go back in and read them another story, offer them alone reading time, but allowing them back out into the lounge where the TV is on and adult conversation is around them will only drag things out.

Finally once you have a routine to follow STICK IT ON THE FRIDGE dont just leave it in your head, even if its just using the kids felt tip markers and writing 

5pm Tea 

5.45 bath 

6.30 bed and stories

If you are a freaky phone scheduler like myself put a alarm reminder in for half an hour before your routine starts, that way it wont sneak up and you can mentally prepare for it.

If you have things that work especially well for you in your night time routine or tips for sticking to it please write on Facebook under this link. It could be just the thing someone needs to hear to help change a stressful evening into a peaceful one.

Back from Hiatus!

I have missed writing my Blog. Bianca and Sienna have settled into great routines with pre-school and kindy and now on a Monday, Tuesday and Thursday I have a generous chunk of time to take up a few  interests that went by the way side after the arrival of our five month old baby boy. That is of course after the washing is folded, beds are made, Elias fed, changed, errands run.....

One of these interests is interior decorating. Hubby and I will be biting into a ambitious renovating project in November of this year when we plan to completely overhaul a slightly tired weatherboard three bedroom home. So I have begun my inspiration folders for each room of the house. They say the kitchen is a good place to start....

 I have already choosen white counters, cupboards and walls in the kitchen. This is partly to do with the aesthetic and also price. A lot of kit-set kitchens come in a small range of colours of which white is the least likely to date.

I love the idea of a kitchen island which is an antique sideboard re-topped and painted. The contrast of modern with antique furniture is a styling trend I love. As you can see in the picture above it also offers great storage.

I love the way this aqua splashback brings so much vibrancy to an otherwise conservative kitchen. I am playing around with the idea of removable glass where wallpaper strips can be inserted and changed.

The beauty of an all white kitchen is the chance to 'colour play'. These kitchen stools add interest and draw the eye.

With a vase of flowers and cerise tea towels this kitchen is immediately polished and styled. You can change 'the look' whenever trends change or in my case, tastes evolve.

LOVE the chairs and also the pendant lights over the island although I have seen a multi-coloured chandelier in a House and Garden kitchen and it looked amazing!

We have a tight budget for the kitchen so I will be focusing on one or two 'must have' items that I fall in love with and the rest will be practical and affordable (much to Chris's relief I am sure!)

All systems a GO!!

I'm a planner, a list-maker and love organization and systems of any kind. My friends may roll their eyes and yes sometimes my planning can go a little far and be more trouble than its worth but other times I get it right and it has the desired effect, to make my life run smoother, allow more time for important and fun stuff and I get to feel the sweet feeling of success! So here is a list of those things in my life, little things that make a big difference. Please share yours with me too.

Kids Toys

Kids toys accumulate while you are asleep, little elves come into your home, mix up the puzzles, undress the dolls and leave the toy box in disarray. But I am onto them! 

My toy system consists of a toy box in the lounge, (see below) and  an identical empty one in the girls room. Anything that seems to have lost its appeal gets thrown into the empty one, the lounge toy box never gets to the point of overflow and when the bedroom one is full I have a big sort, throw out broken stuff, find homes for missing puzzle pieces, discover the missing dolls sock etc

I also have a basket in the lounge for books and I rotate these with Bianca's bookshelf books once a week. I have a puzzle basket for Sienna and a drawer in the lounge which is home to Bianca's big girl puzzles, activity books and games.

Mail
My pet hate is opened envelopes and junk mail catalogues lying around. My laundry is through a curtain in my kitchen, in there I have a mail tray, I open mail throw out the envelope and lay all letters flat. Each evening I will read sort and throw away. Leaving things to accumulate on the lounge side cabinet or kitchen table is an absolute no no, even if you make one small pile it soon turns into a dumping ground.

Gift Cupboard
Something I started since I had Bianca is a gift cupboard mainly for children's parties. If I see a 50% off sale I might buy a few kiddies books or felt pens etc. I make sure I have it stocked with sellotape and wrapping paper for girls and boys. I also have a stock of generic birthday cards It has saved us heaps of time. Chris will say, we have been invited to such and such's birthday party (sometimes telling me the same day that its on!) and we dont have to  make an emergency dash into town.

Shopping List
Making a shopping list is an absolute must if you ask me, I would be lost without it. How I manage mine is to have a notebook which I write my weekly list in, I keep the old ones so I can refer to it easily for things we buy often. I also shop at the same supermarket and know the layout off by heart meaning I can write my list according to the order of aisles, this may seem over the top but believe me when I say it cuts the time it takes by nearly half!

Kids Clothes
Kids are constantly growing out of their clothes. I have a plastic container in Bianca's wardrobe which I throw anything in that she has grown out of, this saves her drawers being full of things that dont fit anymore. When the plastic container is full I go through it make a pile for the 'salvation army' and a pile to save for Sienna and I start with an empty container again.

I also have a drawer for both girls of new stuff I buy for next season. I love buying a year ahead as it saves so much money when you can get things in the 50% off sales, I like to have the clothes on hand to sort through, with a list so I can see what I have brought, that way I know when I have enough of one thing.

Stock Up
There are things that I hate running out of such as toilet paper, toothpaste, hand soap and laundry detergent. I have a pile of those necessities in my hallway cupboard. It is also handy for a week when you want to keep the grocery bill down, you can raid the cupboard. When things come on special I just buy an extra one or two.

Hooks
You can never have enough hooks in my opinion. I have hooks for keys, a hook for the nappy bag in the lounge, so its ready to put stuff in before I leave the house. I have ample hooks in the laundry to hang library bags, swimming bags and beach bags. Hooks behind the doors in the girls rooms for dressing gowns and their favourite sweatshirts and sun hats.

Drink Bottles
Kids always seem to want a glass of water at the most inconvenient times. I made the effort before Elias was born to organise drink bottles in the bottom shelf of the fridge. Now when the girls are thirsty they get there own bottle out and we also save on washing 20 cups a day.

Tips for Keeping a Clean House

I've had a couple of friends ask lately about my housework routine. Keeping a tidy house is something I am very passionate about. At times it is frustrating because with three small children it is impossible to keep it as spotless as I would like.. but in saying that I manage to keep on top of things by following a simple but effective routine with some golden rules and tips thrown in for good measure. Here are some of mine. Please let me know yours too, I'm always looking for new ideas.

Hallway Basket

I have little ones who drag heaps of bits and pieces from their rooms into the living area during the day so I have a basket down the end of your hallway to throw things into it that are underfoot then I re home stuff in one go at the end of the evening just before the girls go to bed.

Clean As You Go

My golden rule is tidy as I go and I try to teach the girls the same philosophy with their toys. Often pre-schoolers feel overwhelmed when parents ask them to clean up their toys, so a tip that works well for me is to work along side Bianca and point out specific items - "Can you put your butterfly wings in your dress-up box" this breaks it down for her, I then respond with praise and before long cleaning up turns into a game.

One Hour a Day Rule.

I started my 'one hour' cleaning rule when Bianca was a baby. During her afternoon nap I would do one hour of housework and have the remainder of the time to myself to enjoy a coffee or computer time. In an hour I would clean my kitchen cupboards or vacuum or clean the bathroom. Basically throughout the week I was able to keep on top of all the household cleaning. It was a lot easier than having it accumulate and looking for a 3 hour window of time to get it all done or ending up with a little helper that makes more mess than you started with!

Never Go to Sleep with a Messy House.

This speaks for itself really. Spend the extra five mins tidying the lounge and kitchen before bed, load and start the dishwasher, so its ready to be unloaded in the morn. Put the load of washing by the front door so you remember to get it out early. Starting and ending my day organised, helps me to keep it that way.

Keep on-top of the Washing.

Having separate baskets for your towels another for your clothes and baby clothes etc.. keeps sorting time to a minimum. As soon as one basket has a load worth, put it in the machine. Make a goal to not have more than one load waiting. If you can't fold your washing as soon as you get it off the line, do it while your watching your favorite TV programme and my golden rule put it away in drawers as soon as its folded. (My girls seem to be drawn like moths to a flame to my folded washing and take delight in messing it up!)

A Cleaning Bucket.

Have all of your preferred cleaning products in a bucket, easily at hand. Keep it well stocked.  Take time to experiment and find the products you like the most and have good cleaning cloths and plenty of rags.

Make the Beds in the Morning.

If you can only manage one household task in the morning before you leave the house, make the beds, if beds are made a room looks tidy.

New Year - New Beginnings

Happy New Year! For me it has been an amazing end to 2010 and beginning to 2011. The birth of our son Elias on the 28th of December 2010 was the absolute highlight. 

What followed for me was a total emotional adjustment, it was as though the chemical make-up of my brain was running on 20% capacity. My ability to think clearly, rationalize, practice tolerance and a multitude of other important adult behaviors flew out the window during this pregnancy and to have 'myself back' has given me a new appreciation of myself.

Secondly Chris has moved into a new career, one which he has been working towards and planning for the last few years. He left for his first contract on the 2nd of January Piloting a boat from Bali to Dampea towing a 'jacket' which is some sort of construction equipment. I am so very proud of him for his focus and hard work. There were plenty of times in 2010 when the pinch of stressed finances took their toll, so to see this goal come to fruition is such a blessing.

2011.... what will it bring? 

• Lots of cherished family time, enjoying watching our three beautiful children grow and enjoy life
• A chance to move overseas for a time 
• Finish renovations on our home, finally!
• For me to be able to pack away my maternity wardrobe once and for all and relish the fact that my body is mine again.

2011.... what do I want to work on? 

• Strengthening my marriage with more date nights and time for just Chris and I
• Developing my hobbies and enjoying increased independence again 
• Physical well-being, healthy eating habits and regular exercise