So much more than big girls blouses, Plus Maternity is a range of gorgeous maternity wear for mums to be size 18 to 28, designed and made in Australia.

Bright, bold colours, lots of cotton with just a little bit of stretch – no nana prints here! No longer do you need to feel like the odd one out, you can look fantastic right though your pregnancy & beyond.

Mix & match pieces to make your dollar go further, the range includes office wear (great black pants), casuals pieces (pull on jeans that go all the way up to a 28 and will fit a baby bump), funky separates for the evening (sequin singlet anyone!!), sleepwear (easy opening fronts – great for breastfeeding once bub arrives) & breastfeeding tops for once bub arrives.

Plus Maternity is only available online – secure 24 x 7 shopping!

www.plusmaternity.com.au

- Virgil Garnett Thomson

This quote came through 2 days before Israel was about to run his first ever marathon. Quite appropriate don’t you think?

Of course his response was “I’ll just focus on this one I think”. Now he has proven to himself that his mind can beat his body by running one marathon, he is considering another… will there then be a 3rd to see if he likes it? We’ll keep you posted.

When we returned from our night out, our babysitter told us that after kissing us goodbye & closing the door behind us, Indrani turned & said to her

“now that mum & dad have gone, we can change the rules ok!”

Of course we laughed at first, then it made us think about what’s in store for us in the future… maybe not so funny:)

Empowering Aussie Kids has developed a range of great workshops for children and parents to help them deal with the every day issues facing school children, such as bullying and motivation.

Empowering Aussie Kids is a Sydney based organization dedicated to helping local children, reach their full potential in various areas of development. EAK specialises in the areas of social and emotional development from the early learning years through to the commencement of high school.

All children no matter what their circumstance deserve to have their sense of self worth respected, nurtured and developed in a positive manner, enabling them to become well adjusted individuals that shall thrive in any environment.

Ensuring a child’s educational well being is the responsibility of parents, care-givers, extended family members, teachers, sporting coaches and community leaders

Empowering Aussie Kids has carefully developed both private workshops and school- based programmes that shall be rolled out later in the year. All courses are in compliance with Australian State and National legislations.

Early Childhood School Readiness workshops, School Yard Bullying Blitz, Motivational Magic and High School Preparation workshops are four exciting workshops that have been put together by a wonderfully dedicated group of educators, child psychologists, health care providers and life skills coaches, currently led by the founder of Empowering Aussie Kids Mea Black.

For further information please refer www.empoweringaussiekids.com.au

I love this because it reinforces to spend time on things that really matter to the heart, & not waste time on the small stuff.

I found this great remedy in my trusty natural remedy book – “Gentle Healing Hands for Baby & Child”.

Salty Lemon Gargle
1) Combine the juice of half a lemon with one tablespoon salt in 1/2 cup warm water
2) Gargle the mixture at least 4 times a day

If you want a faster working remedy, instead of mixing with water, you could mix it with 1/2 cup sage tea.

I hope it works for you!

Vision Personal Training at Randwick has just completed a 9 week Weight Loss Challenge which has produced some amazing results.

One great achievement was by a local Mum Jennifer Couttas. Jen lost over 12.4 kilos
in 9 weeks.

Jennifer was apprehensive about personal trainers but was convinced by her friend Alison that the Vision approach is different and they are so much more than a gym.

Jen’s daughter even sent a thank you to Jess (Jennifer’s trainer) because she was so proud of her Mum!

Vision are small friendly studios where everyone knows your name. We focus on the 4 E’s, being Emotions, Education, Eating and Exercise. We see Nutrition as being 70% of helping you achieve your weight loss goals and we also include Eating and Exercise Seminars and Shopping Tours as part of your Program.

For Mother’s Day, we are offering all Mum’s a free Eating To Lose Fat Fast Seminar. The Seminar is on Tues 11^th May at 7PM at our Randwick Studio. To register, call Amanda 0406382192 or Stephanie 0414343654.

1. Open windows & spray orange/citrus air freshner – aim: reduce the smell before anyone notices!
2. Use a scourer to quickly get rid of any food stuck to the bottom of the saucepan
3. Discard the burnt food – obvious I know
4. Grab some bicarb soda & coat the bottom of the saucepan so its covered in bicarb
5. Pour in a table spoon or so of white vinegar – this will cause the bicarb to bubble
6. Now use the scourer again & scrub to remove the black from the bottom – depending on how long the pan was left burning dry, you may need to do this a couple of times.

Alternatively, you could remove the handle, fill with soil, plant some seeds & voila, you have a new pot plant holder. You could even get creative and paint the outside of the pot if you wish. No-one will ever know!

Sweet Little Things is not just another cupcake shop.

Gourmet cupcake hampers, baby clothing, beauty products, soft toys, jewellery and more….the all Australian, predominantly handmade range is being added to all the time.

Their cupcake hampers are the signature item and they are unique because, amongst other reasons, they can be ordered online for next day delivery.

They arrive at your door, via courier looking (and tasting) absolutely fabulous encased in custom made window boxes and adorned with premium coloured tissue paper, decadent ribbon and a swing tag with your own personalised message.

The Sweet Little Things experience is all about giving and sharing.

These are not just your average cupcakes either. Owner Cathy Cousins spent almost a year perfecting their recipes with some of Australia’s best bakers.

With a large corporate customer base, Cousins draws on her corporate marketing experience to design ribbon, swing tags and other embellishments unique to each corporate customer. They really are the most unique and memorable corporate gift:

‘When we do a large send out for our clients, it is inevitable that we will get a huge influx of enquiries and orders from our client’s clients who have received one of our hampers. This just reiterates for us that our hampers look and taste fabulous!’

A unique offering with a twist on your everyday cupcake shop, Sweet Little Things provides a fresh alternative to edible gifts and offers something more for those interested in design and handmade items.

As a special treat for Israel Smith readers, Sweet Little Things would like to offer you free delivery on any cupcakes ordered during April.

Just type FreeApril in the redeem voucher section of your cart, and please feel free to pass on this exciting offer to your friends and family.

You can also email admin@sweetlittlethings.com.au to get a copy of their ‘corporate couture’ document which showcases their broad range of cupcake hampers and design skills.

This month’s quote is a timely reminder to forget about the past and spend your energy on things that take you forward in life!