I've said it many times before, but the last 12 months have been the hardest of my life. I don't know about you, but I can only cope with so much stress so I try to cut myself some slack when I'm going through something particularly busy. This can mean simple things like having more take aways, allowing myself to drink gallons of fizzy drinks or wine (depending on the time of day!) and eating lots of biscuits (which I don't normally do). Or it could mean cutting things out of my diary that I . . . Keep Reading
Travel with kids: How to survive long haul travel with three under five (including twins!)
The last time I travelled long haul, I found it really boring. I watched more movies than I thought possible and attempted to doze a few times. I read a book, drank wine, chatted to Husband and picked at the awful airline food. I obviously didn't have children at the time.Fast forward five years - and three children - later and I was terrified about flying from London to Brisbane with our 4yo boys (who never sit still) and our 2yo (who has serious control issues about being . . . Keep Reading
How we spent our Christmas Day in Australia
I was lucky enough to experience Christmas Day in Australia in 2008, pre-kids. We had a bbq breakfast at my cousin's house in Perth, we swam in the ocean, lay on the beach drinking beer and then came back to the house for turkey and all the trimmings. It was pretty blissful.This year was our first family Christmas in Brisbane. Here's how Christmas Day looked to me, represented in stats... . . . Keep Reading
2014: The year we moved to Australia
As we approach Christmas and the end of another year, it's time to look back. 2014 has been one crazy year. It's INCREDIBLE to finally be coming out the other side of the mayhem at last. I don't know about you, but I'm constantly putting pressure on myself to do more and then berating myself for not being able to get everything done. I never feel like I reach my potential, partly because I tend to spread myself thin and get involved in too many things. I love being creative, but it is also . . . Keep Reading
Emigration to do list: Part two #Myexpatfamily
Following on from part one of my emigration to do list (which covered everything we did before we left to UK for our new life in Australia), here is part two, which is an emigration checklist of all the things you need to do when you arrive in Australia. We were clearly deluded into thinking the hard part was leaving the UK. Of course, the emotional side of things was very difficult, and so was the sheer amount of admin we had to do to close our lives down. But nothing prepared us for the busy . . . Keep Reading