How hard is it to get motivated on wet days with the children? There are plenty more in store so here's some ideas for you! Chameleon Play Cafe in Wallsend gets a great wrap as does Kotara Playgound Area at the Shopping Centre. You can also google your closest 'Playgroup' or ask the Mummas on NHM the one that's closest to you. One Mumma recommended popping on gumboots and raincoats and jumping in puddles! That's brave. Check out your local Library's 'Storytime'. If you feel like heading into town too, the Museum has a great play area too and you can grab a coffee too. Kids of Thunder Cafe in Mayfield are getting heaps of good reviews too but we haven't checked it out yet. Other ideas Unexpected Escape Rooms and Unreal VR. Otherwise you could just stay inside all day in your PJs and don't feel bad about it either!
Here's a great reason to keep eating that chocolate!
Ok, so the study is only related to the effects of dark chocolate, but I'm not really complaining! A recent study shows that chocolate with a high level of cacao can have positive effects on stress, memory, mood and your immune system.
So, my recommendation for us busy mums, is to grab that dark chocolate and that bottle of red because remember it can lower the risk of heart disease, and put your feet up!
WINE-DOWN TIME TOP HUNTER VALLEY VINEYARDS TO VISIT
What about a wine by the fire somewhere? We're so lucky to have the Hunter Valley next door and NHM are proud to present the Wine-Down Weekend an experience for you to win coming up soon, check out the details here.
Here are some ideas for your next visit to the Hunter Valley.
MARGAN WINES
Lisa Margan and daughter Alessa
Margan comes in at our favourite vineyard in the Hunter Valley to visit. It's so beautifully set out and the Restaurant is widely regarded as the best in the Hunter Valley. It's located in Broke Fordwich, home to several of beautiful vineyards, a ultra modern winery, a beautifully styled Cellar Door and an award-winning restaurant. The culmination of these things makes this an unforgettable experience.
1238 Milbrodale Road, Broke NSW 2330
AUDREY WILKINSON
Audrey Wilkinson is one of the oldest wineries in the Hunter Valley in a prime location at the foothills of the Brokenback mountains. The staff here are very attentive and knowledgable the winery produces a selection of elegant, regionally distinct wines that are top class. The views are amazing too, you can see right across the valley. If you're a white fan try the Semillon, it comes with a recommendation from James Halliday. The chardonnay and shiraz are good too.
750 De Beyers Road, Pokolbin NSW 2320
TAMBURLAINE ORGANIC WINES
I met a girl the other day that was a massive Tamburlaine fan. She can only stomach organic wine and she said the great thing about Tamburlaine is that the wine is actually good! I'll second that I've had Tamburlaine a number of times and really enjoyed it. The vineyard is named after Christopher Marlowe from the Genghis Khan period known for being a fearless leader. The Cellar Door is welcoming and chilled out and they also offer Lodge accommodation if you want to indulge in the wine a little more!
358 McDonalds Road, Pokolbin NSW 2320
TULLOCH WINES
Tulloch wines go back over 100 years. They're well known for quality and as a wine you can count on to be good. You can sample chardonnay, shiraz, semillon and more from the Cellar Door. The staff have been described as 'friendly, knowledgable and passionate' by punters, nice wrap. The cheese board is also well noted.
638 De Beyers Road, Pokolbin NSW 2320
TYRRELL’S WINES
Tyrells make great wines and have been around for 150 Years. Their wines are distinctive and always good. Their many years as winemakers have resulted in good quality vines. People have commented on it's beautiful setting and said they were made to feel very welcome. They are also said to be more polite than other vineyards in that they don't 'rush you' to move on and make you feel like a number. Their famed ‘prince of white wines’, Hunter Valley Semillon is their most famed wine but they have many good ones.
1838 Broke Road, Pokolbin NSW 2320
DE LULIIS
I got a great sparking wine stopper from De Luliis! No it was a great experience there, I particularly enjoyed the Sparkling. It was a little rushed in some respects though and we weren't offered any food. The vineyard was purchased in 1987 by Joss and Anna. Michael De Iuliis is now the Head Winemaker he says he try to achieve 'balance and harmony' in the wine he produces.
1616 Broke Road, Pokolbin NSW 2320
PETERSONS WINES
Petersons mantra is tradition and continuity. Petersons has lots of fans and has won many awards since 1981. Ian Peterson bought an old dairy farm at Mount View, Hunter Valley and established 10 acres of semillon grapes to supply a nearby winery. Then he expanded to chardonnay, shiraz, cabernet sauvignon and pinot noir. I particularly like their sparking! They also have four Cellar Doors to experience,
552 Mount View Road, Mount View NSW 2325
HOW ABOUT A TRIP TO BARRINGTON TOPS?
Have your kids seen snow? How about a trip to Barrington Tops? Our Mummas have been talking about it and this is what they had to say. Mummas said it was great even if it wasn't snowing. It's recommended if you do go during the times when it's snowing you take a 4WD and an experienced driver. You can take a 2WD if you take chains with you.
Get an up to date report on conditions here and contact Manning-Great Lakes Police 02 6552 0399. If you're worried that the gates might be closed due to conditions. You should also check out the Barrington Tops Snowchasers Facebook Page here.
A good place to go are Polblue Campground. Mummas have recommended if you want to do a day trip make sure you leave early around 4am or so. Take lots of blankets to warm up after you get back in the car. It's also recommended you take extra clothes for after you get back into the car.
ANYTHING YOU CAN DO, ALDI CAN DO BETTER
A friend of mine has a kitchen and even though my children have way too many toys my little girl plays with it all the time so you can imagine my excitement when I saw this in the latest BIG W catalogue, how great. Then I got the ALDI catalogue and saw this one? I figure ALDI have employed some top notch spies, how do they know the exact right product to being out at the same time as everyone else. ALDI's is also more expensive, there's a first. I wonder which one is better? What is your favourite ALDI copycat product, I love the try hard Dr Oetker Pizzas.
CELEBRATE 100 YEARS OF DISNEY ON ICE WITH NHM
NHM want to send you and your family to the opening of the Disney on Ice on Friday July 13th at 7pm. They're celebrating 100 years of magical moments in its latest show and we want to send you along. Every minute of the show is filled with amazing Disney characters that your kids will recognise such as Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy.
The new kids on the block Frozen’s Anna and Elsa will also be there. The show will also feature Toy Story characters, Finding Nemo, The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and more.
Buy tickets to the show here from July 13 to 15 at Newcastle Entertainment Centre or win them with NHM simply by Liking our public NHM Facebook page here and tagging a friend that doesn't like us yet. I mean what's not to like? Haha
DON'T SHARE HIS NAME
We were relieved on Friday to discover that the alleged attacker is now in police custody. We're not sure if that was the correct lead but one of our Mum's tipped off the police about a red commodore they'd seen in the area that was by the side of the road, with clothes strewn across the dash. Several hours after that the suspect was nabbed by police. We are aware that several people have been sharing the accused's Facebook profile and name, the police have asked us to spread the word not to do this and that it's detrimental to the case.
COUNCIL'S SET TO MAKE IT SAFER FOR OUR KIDS
Are you like me? Stressing out every time you've seen a child walking alone in the last couple of days? Most of the Mums I have spoken to since the beginning of the week have said they're no longer letting their kids walk alone anywhere. The Newcastle Herald has reported that they are going to try and create a safer environment for our children by improving the visibility at parks across the city. It's been reported that changes will be swiftly made to parks where “sight lines” can be improved to increase public safety. Bollards are to be installed at the Terrace Street entrance to Hudson Park and medium high vegetation will be ripped out and replaced with grass.
LET'S FIND THIS MONSTER MUMMMAS
OK NHM Mummas we’re as appalled as you are to hear that one of our Newcastle children has been targeted in the most horrific way possible.
We want to help find this monster. Just to recap on Tuesday an 11 year old little girl was walking to Belair Public School when she was taken at knifepoint and sexually assaulted in a five hour horrific ordeal.
Detective Chief Inspector Paul Jacob, from the sex crimes squad said the attack was “horrendous”. Safe to say every mother I know’s blood is boiling.
He went on the say “It’s our mission to get this person and remove him from the community as quickly as we possibly can.”
WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THE INCIDENT
She was walking through Hudson Park in Adamstown Heights just after 9.15am.
She was grabbed from behind by a man, threatened with a knife and forced into a red car.
The man then drove her to a secluded bush area.
Here she was sexually assaulted for a number of hours.
She was released just before 2:15pm at Kotara Railway Station.
From here she walked 1.5KM home.
She recounted the attack to her Grandmother.
She was taken to JHH and medically examined.
WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT HIM
He was believed to be driving red commodore.
He is described as chubby.
He has short, black, messy hair.
He has wrinkles on his forehead and around his mouth.
He has an Australian accent.
He could be a smoker.
He had brown staining on his bottom row of teeth and cracked lips.
He was wearing a dark coloured zipped up hoodie.
He had beige coloured shoes.
He was wearing denim jeans.
HERE WE’VE INCLUDED INFORMATION FROM POLICE ABOUT KEEPING YOUR KIDS SAFE
HERE WAS THE INFORMATION ISSUED TO PARENTS FROM THE LITTLE GIRL’S SCHOOL
INFORMATION GIVEN TO NEARBY RESIDENTS BY POLICE
Lets find this monster, for the little girl who's had her life ruined in the worst way possible and so there is no chance of him reoffending.
Any information you have please contact Crime Stoppers here.
THIS DAYCARE TICKS ALL THE BOXES
Lilly has had the best experience for her first few weeks at the Little Unicorn Daycare Centre and I wanted to share it. I was so anxious about putting Lilly into care even if it is for a few hours a week but work and mortgage commitments have meant I can't take her everywhere and needed to find a second home for Lilly. I thought of 'Family Daycare' like all mums but was steered away because I perceive there to be less accountability than in an established Daycare Centre. From the moment of enrolment Fiona and the team at Little Unicorn were so caring and genuinely interested in caring for Lilly. I love that all the food looks amazing and it is all made on site. She's really hungry for a 6 month old and everyday I pick her up she seems super contented.
I have visited other Daycare centres with some staff that seem uninterested in their job and like they don't want to be there. The Little Unicorn is the opposite of this the kids and everyone that works there seem to always have a smile on their faces. The children are always separated from what I can see too which I think is good because sometimes the toddlers can be a little bit rough with the babies. Well my toddler can with my baby anyway!
The Little Unicorn also has a super low staff turnover which meant Lilly's relationships with educators wouldn't be changing all the time. The security is also really good which I think is important as kids get older and 'adventurous' and there also seem to be a good number of Educators in proportion to the children. The environment is also very clean, which is impressive considering all the little people running around. In fact I'd prefer to just stay at The Little Unicorn and never go home because my house is a little bit less clean, haha.
From the moment I met Amy at The Little Unicorn I knew they'd be a perfect supporter for NHM and our family is super happy to be supporting them also as a happy customer.
Have you heard of Geocaching?
On the hunt for family activities to do that are a bit outdoorsy, I stumbled across Geocaching. After doing a bit of reading up on it, I've discovered this could be something that the whole family could really enjoy together and could really add some extra fun to your weekends or free time.
Geocaching started in early 2000 and there are now over 3 million geocaches and millions of active geocachers playing. It is basically done by downloading the Geocaching app which easily navigates you to cleverly hidden containers called geocaches. This is happening all over the world!
The idea is to find a geocache, and if you take something in the container to then leave something of equal or great value, place the container back how you found it and then share your experience with the rest of the geocaching community via the app.
We all love a good treasure hunt, especially the kids, so if you're family are already geocaching I would love to hear about it and if you're not yet, why not give it a go, I know I will be!
Have you heard of The Floss??? Neither had I!
About a week ago one of the kids came home doing this strange little dance move and we all laughed. Then he did it again the next day and we thought it was a bit odd so suggested he maybe stop doing it so much. Then we were walking through the shops over the weekend and saw another child doing the same dance and realised that maybe we were missing something. So to google we go.
It's called The Floss and comes from an Insta-famous American schooled, Russell Horning, also known as The Backpack Kid, I guess because he wears a backpack. He has around 2 million followers so I'm definitely not judging.
So I feel like I'm way behind on the latest craze because apparently everyone is doing it. Celebs like Millie Bobby Brown, Dele Alli, Kate Garraway and Charlotte Hawkins are all doing The Floss. I guess because I have absolutely no clue who any of the above are that I'm pretty safe in knowing that I'm totally behind the 8 ball. I'm not too concerned because it really is a dance that makes it look like you're flossing your nether regions...
Do your kids love you? Kendra Wilkinson
We've all felt that sting of judgement from other mums, whether we didn't breast feed long enough or give our kids enough organic puree blah blah blah. Judgement is everywhere in the Mum world and it's so much easier now that people can write nasty things and hide behind a keyboard.
Kendra Wilkinson says she's over judgey mums adding "The way your kids see u n love u is all that matters. We all have a story and that's what makes us all unique. My kids and I'm sure yours would be devastated to know that grown ass adults are criticizing their mothers n fathers (sic)"
She added that spreading negativity was useless adding: "People have different stories but that doesn't mean they are bad. It's a shame that our kids have to grow up in a world of such harsh criticism. It's only hurting our next generation n not helping.
"Stop the hate and stop the abuse but always encourage love n respect people's ways. I love hearing people's parenting techniques n would never judge someone unless there's hate involved. (sic)"
Her comments come after she previously slammed critics who shame her for her lifestyle choices without knowing the real her.
In part of a lengthy caption posted in April, she wrote: "Let me just vent for a second. I bust my a** off as a human being. I work, pay bills, take care of 2 kids and love them to the fullest plus trying to take care of myself through it all is a 24/7 job. I don't know what the f**k some of u haters think u know but you better get your heads checked because your assumptions based on pictures and clips of shows make u straight up delusional.
"I appreciate the true people that follow me and know who i truly am vs idiots comin in n out making s**t up. I'm also talking about people around me too. I'm a lover and a free spirit by nature, not a fighter but lately I've been feeling pushed into a corner by judgement and opinions that are 100 false n not me. (sic)"
KIDS LEFT WITHOUT HOMES HOLED UP IN HOTEL ROOMS IN NEWCASTLE
Your own children are enough right? But what if we told you The Newcastle Herald has reported that 16 children are living in crisis motel accommodation in the Hunter due to a “desperate shortage” of foster carers across the region.
There are another staggering 10,000 children living in out of home care across the Hunter and Central Coast.
Gary Christensen, the director of Hunter-Manning CatholicCare Social Services, said “We desperately need foster carers, and we need them now,” One little boy lives in a hotel room and is looked after by ‘caseworkers’ on rotational shifts. As I write this I’m crying. They report that he’s ‘always smiling’ loves the park and loves Spiderman.
He has autism and uses ‘blu tac’ and ‘bubbles’ as calming tools.
If you’d like to know more about foster care this week “I GOT IT FROM MY MUMMA” radio show will chat to the amazing Gemma Pusey, who cares for SIX foster children and is only 25. She just refused to see them go back into the ‘system’ and has done everything she can to give these beautiful children some sort of stability in their life.
SHOULD YOU DO WASHING TODAY?
I've just been popping all the clothes in the laundry and ignoring the washing because its been too wet. We now have no clothes. My kids seem to like going nude but I don't think that's responsible patenting so it's time to tackle the laundry. There's 30% chance of rain today Mummas so do with that what you will. I know some people feel guilty for using the dryer. I have one particular girlfriend who certainly doesn't. Her washer turns into a dryer after washing and begins to dry all the clothes woooooowwwww.
The wet weather is set to continue during the next week with smatterings of sunshine here and there to tempt you into popping everything on the line but then see you cry as all your hard work is undone and the rain falls, then the wind rips the clothes off the line, then they got all muddy.
Another wet weekend is forecast by the way. iPad time! lol
ABORTION - A MOTHER'S CHOICE
An Australian law has now been passed to say that protesters who intimidate, harass or film people within 150 metres of abortion clinics or hospitals will face punishments including jail time. Upper House Labor MP Penny Sharpe said it was a "terrific day for women in New South Wales".
I have known a few women that have terminated in my lifetime. One of my friends told me she knew a girl that used the 'day after pill' like birth control and had had later abortions too, without a thought. I personally, have never met a woman that did that. Friends of mine have aborted because they thought they were; too young to have a baby or couldn't support one properly, were in an abusive relationship mentally or physically, or had been raped. I personally don't know of any woman ever that's skipped off to an abortion clinic. They've all thought long and hard about it and have been left with great sadness. The thought of the people I've known being hounded and abused as they went to get an abortion seems to me to be unfair.
Murder on the dance floor???
It was clapping and cheering before someone was shot on the dance floor at a Denver nightclub. The FBI agent is in serious hot water now after his gun went off when it dropped on the floor while he was dancing.
NEED A BRAIN BREAK? LET'S TALK ABOUT DOLPHINS
New research has shown that dolphins chat to each other and call each other names.
The Newcastle Herald has reported that 17 adult male bottlenose dolphins in Shark Bay, Western Australia were chatting to each other and calling each other names. They're the only ones to do this apart from humans. So it's not 'Hey you!' it's 'Hey Johnny' How cool is that?
They used the names to say things like 'Hey Johnny I really like you' and 'Hey Johnny stay the hell away from my wife!' They also say 'I am super strong mate check out my guns' 'They also said I love you, you're doing well and chatted while playing'.
Wasn't that a pleasant little mind vacation.
The Autumn Rooms - What to do when you get a moment of kid free time
We love our children don't get us wrong, we would lay our bodies on the line for them, in fact most of us like the little ones wreak havoc on theirs. I know 6 months after having my last baby I still look kinda pregnant without wearing sucky in clothing. Those few dates with our Mum friends or partner are so precious and I have found the perfect place for your next one!
The Autumn Rooms are located on Darby Street in Cooks hill and up stairs is the blissful Tea Collective. The collaboration is the brainchild of Becci Fowler and Ben Richardson. When these two found each other they not only found love but they forged a formidable business partnership. They're both highly experienced in the industry and Becci has an undeniable fair for creating incredible spaces. Sitting upstairs with her before my lunch date with a friend she was pretty coy about creating what I had called an incredible space. The downstairs is like an enchanted garden, and the Tea Collective upstairs looks like something you would imagine a cool Royal like Meghan Markle would design.
Now to the food. Well that's the best coffee on Darby St I've had for a while, I also like Goldbergs and Core but this coffee was seriously good! And the food was also amazing, really ample servings and delicious. We had the Vegan Buddha Bowl with quinoa, sweet potato, black beans, avocado, baby spinach, cheery tomatoes, black rice and cashew dressing and the Warm Veggie Salad with cauliflower rice, broccolini, field mushrooms, lentils, garlic silverbeet, roast beetroot, pepitas, pesto and pumpkin puree. WOW, that's about all I have to say. Congratulations Ben and Becci.
Don't get stuck in traffic this weekend with kids in the car!
There's only one thing worse than being stuck in traffic. Being stuck in traffic with kids in the car!
The Newcastle Herald has reported with Stuart Avenue will remain shut over the long weekend due to worlds. Stuart Ave will be a no go zone between Hunter Street and the Honeysuckle Drive from tonight until Tuesday.