Why I moved my tiny email list to ConvertKit

Expert bloggers have been saying for years that the money is in the list. But it still took me a very long time to actually start my newsletter, and if you're on my list you know that I'm really not very consistent with sending them.

So why did I move from Mailchimp to ConvertKit, then? I mean, with the Australian dollar so low, ConvertKit is costing me around $A40 each month, and my email list is less than 100, and 4 months after I signed up I still haven't relaunched my sign up form with an opt in, so why?

Best of 2016, as picked by me

2016 has been a hard year for lots of people. There just seems to be something in the air that has made it feel like a struggle. Personally, spending so much of the year being low in iron and not realising it (although I had on occassion wondered if that was the problem) really made it feel as if I was viewing the world through cotton wool.

But these last couple of months of vitamin supplements (if anyone knows the secret to not forgetting to take them, please share, I've forgotten again today!) has really changed me. While I'm still tired, it's just from getting up at 5am, and pushing myself to keep reading at 10pm instead of sleeping, not because I'm missing some vital ingredient in my body. And mentally I'm more alert and engaged in my world than I have been for most of the year, instead of just going through the motions (although let me tell you, school holidays are not my friend this week!)

seen around the web

I love the save feature on facebook. I hated it when it first came out, because I knew if I used it, I would probably save and never read. But I've got over that (although I was right, I do sometimes save stuff without reading it), but using it has expanded my reading - now I can save stuff from business groups I'm in, and blogging groups, and even just what shows up in my feed. And the best bit is I can share them with you!

It's not your job to make your kids happy  |  Picklebums  |  I've been reading Kate's blog for a long time, she's one of the first Aussie bloggers I ever read outside of scrapbooking, and yet her advise is timeless, and so crucial for all parents.

How to choose fabric  |  Sew Delicious  |  Ros puts together beautiful fabric combinations, so I was excited to see her tips

Coconut Lime cookies  |  Boiled Eggs & Soldiers  |  we need to shake up our cookie repertoire as we head back to school in a couple of days, these look like a great place to start

We need to talk about death and dying  |  Sarah's Heart Writes  |  Sarah's words are always powerful, and thoughtful.

Nine tips for organiing your desk  |  Hightail blog  |  I am always drowning in clutter on my desk, so these tips are helpful (and on this week's to-do list once the kids are at school)

OLW 2015 January Pages  |  Emilie Ahern  |  Totally inspired by these pages to try a different album size this year

Backyard Chickens. What you need to know  |  The Multitasking Mummy  |  We had chickens growing up (ten was far too many, mum!), and it's on our one-day list, so I keep reading up about keeping chickens in suburbia

Favourite books of 2014  |  Modern Mrs Darcy  |  I haven't seen many "I read" or "best of" lists this January, so I bookmarked every one I did see, how else will I find good reading material?

linking up with Calm to Conniption for the Ultimate Rabbit hole Link Up (what an awesome name!)

my number one lunch box tip

Chloe is in year 12 this year. And before she started school, she attended daycare while I was studying at university. So I've been packing lunch boxes for about 15 years. I don't profess to know everything about packing lunch boxes, but my number one tip is this - don't pack new foods, just pack foods you know they'll eat, at least in the beginning.

Trust me, if you looked in my kids' lunch boxes some days, you'd be horrified by the number of packages, and lack of *good* foods in there. But, except for one minor incident involving cold mac&cheese, lunch boxes regularly come home empty.

When kids start school, they want to take it all in. If they're like Riley, they get distracted by everything around them; and Natalie is a talker with her friends. So giving them foods that they can eat quickly, and will fill their tummies for their busy day, will see empty lunch boxes coming home, and you'll know that they're getting their energy requirements to see them through the day.

What should you pack in lunch boxes?

Five items is what I've found best to pack in lunch boxes. Fruit, sandwich, dairy, crackers, biscuit.

Fruit is a must. Our school encourages "snack attack" for the preppies, a mid-morning fruit break.  Sliced fruit that is ready to eat is best - grapes, watermelon, orange segments, bananas, apples (try this method to keep it from going brown)

Dairy. [I don't push this one if they have cheese on sandwiches.] Try yoghurt (decant from a big container - I just discovered this nude food yoghurt cooler, so we'll be trying it out), or cheese and crackers for a change.

Sandwich. This is totally going to come down to what your kids eat - you could also call this "main component" My kids don't really like leftovers for lunches, and tend to stick to basic meats for sandwiches (although Douglas has spread out into leftovers and salad wraps in recent years)

Crackers and biscuits. Once again, depends on what your kids eat - at the start of the year, I bake a lot, so they pack baked goods instead of biscuits. And if they have cheese and crackers, then we don't pack a second lot of crackers.

Just remember - five items of foods they eat, and the lunch box will hopefully be empty every day.

Linking with Jess for #ibot

Also joining From the Left Field, Boiled Eggs & Soldiers, Gee You're Brave, You had us at hello, and Veggie Mama to host a Back to School link up. If you've written a post about heading back to school, please share here. {share on any blog, and it will appear on all of them}

An InLinkz Link-up

work in progress wednesday

Back in May, the craft group that I'd been attending each weekly unexpectedly closed down. I had just been starting to get into a groove with my crat again, so I was kind of at a loss as to how I would make craft work again at home.

A couple of weeks ago, I got fed up with not purposely making space for craft, so whipped a quick text message off to my sister-in-law, Caitlin {who is probably going to freak out at being called that, but what else do you call your brother's girlfriend?} and organised for her to come over the next day (Wednesday, the same day craft group used to meet)

I didn't do anything that first week, just pushed paper around, looked at my stash of clear stamps, discovered that my StazOn was dried out, and gossiped about all sorts of kid- and craft-related stuff. Then last week, I decided it was time to baste the triangle quilt. And once it was basted, I pulled out the sewing machine. Sophie was struggling a bit (turns out she was probably starting to get sick), and I don't expect to get much done this week, because she actually is sick now, but it felt good to sit at the machine, and sew some straight lines.

Caitlin is hosting the Aussie Work in Progress over at LittleWhiteDove today, and then she'll probably be eating cream bun with me, because what is a craft day without indulging in yummy treats?!

working with kids at home

For the last couple of months, I've been working away with a friend, guiding small businesses and bloggers to better SEO and networking with each other. It all came about rather suddenly, and has been a huge learning curve for me, one that I have loved, that has spurred me on to try and find my "serious blogging" path {still looking for it}

Part of the process for me has been to come up with blogging topics that everyone can answer, giving them all experience writing, blogging and sharing slightly personal stories to boost their brands.

For the next 8 weeks, I'm going to be answering the questions alongside everyone else, and hosting a link up for all those posts to gather. If a topic interests you, please feel free to share your voice and link up, too.

For the purpose of this challenge, blogging is my work (because I don't do housework)

The view from my desk has changed lately. {but I'm still loving my bullet journal}

It's been hard to find a groove that works for both of us

Sophie is vey much mummy's girl

And I often end up dropping everything to spend my afternoons on the couch

Or else I end up looking at this sad face

An InLinkz Link-up

#baby5 | mother's intuition and old wives tales

When I was pregnant with Chloe many years ago, I knew I was having a girl. We didn't find out at the morphology scan, because we wanted the surprise, but I'd had a dream and if there's one thing I've learnt about myself it's to trust my intuition.

Natalie, 5 months old

When I was pregnant with Natalie, I had another dream about a girl, so I was sure that it was right.

Riley, ten minutes old

With Riley, the pregnancy was so completely different, I suspected it was a boy. So we did find out at the morphology scan. And we were right.

18+1

But this time, mother's intuition failed me!

We found out last week with our amnio results, and I can't figure out how I got it so wrong!

Let's look at some old wives tales, and compare them to my pregnancy (and the previous two), and see if we can figure it out together.

old wives tale - combine mum's age at conception and the number of the month of conception, if the result is odd, then it's a girl; even, it's a boy

Natalie = 39    Riley = 47    ? = 48

old wives tale - craving sweet food? it's a girl. craving salty or sour food, it's a boy

Natalie = ice cream     Riley = sweet thai chilli chips    ? = fruit salad

old wives tale - if you have morning sickness in early pregnancy, it's a girl. if not, it's a boy.

Natalie = 24/7, until birth    Riley = 24/7 until 16wks, then 26wks until birth    ? = stopped at 12wks

old wives tale - if your right breast is bigger, it's a boy. if it's the left, it's a girl

Natalie = left    Riley = left    ? = left  (after years of breast feeding, I'm lopsided!)

old wives tale - if you sleep on your left side, it's a boy. if you sleep on the right, it's a girl.

Natalie = right    Riley = left    ? = left

old wives tale - if your belly looks like a basket ball, it's a boy. if it looks like a watermelon, it's a girl.

Natalie = watermelon    Riley = basket ball    ? = you decide

Have a guess, what do you think I'm having?
Were any of those old wives tales true for you?
I'll be back on Sunday to tell you baby's gender
{old wives tales found here}

linking up to With Some Grace for FYBF 

 

project life | jan 6 - jan 13

insert on the left, main page on the right

Even in a week of doing "nothing", I managed to find photos to fill all the spaces.

I realised last week that I haven't baked many cakes recently, so I've set myself the small challenge of baking a cake each week and including the recipe here. (yes, I know last week was a recipe for pancakes)

I also like the idea of including a weather snapshot each week (and it fills a space on those quiet days)

I decided to add information about the insert photos to the week in review card. I'm not sure if an insert will be happening every week, but I'm going with it for now.

I can see how you can fill a double page spread each week - I've got some ideas for consistent photos each week, but I'm just taking it slow for now.

close-up of main page

The "currently" card is from rukristin papercrafts - I like the idea of including this information, maybe monthly, but I might change it slightly to the same format I use on the blog.

Only two weeks in, so it's still early days, but I am loving this project so far!

Linking up to the Mom Creative for Project Life Tuesday

do | less pinterest, more do

Even with the grandest plans in the world, I only managed to create one thing last week inspired by pinterest.

 {button magnets}

The pinterest link isn't the actual image that first inspired me to keep an eye out for buttons, but it is now on my list of things to do with all those magnets I've bought!

A big thank you to Home Life Simplified for the link love over the weekend.

If you create something inspired by pinterest this week, please share your link, so we can all check it out!