Guest Post: 300 Women : 300 Dreams : 1 Day

Posted on June 3, 2011 by Mika

I am excited to have Lisa Woodley from the Yummy Mummy Club join us today. Lisa is a motivated and passionate mother of two young children, and the mastermind behind the Yummy Mummy Club. She puts together special events which allow mothers to have some “me time” and meet other mothers in the area (all this, while juggling her own family!)

I have asked her to talk about her experience at the New Zealand Women’s Conference held in Wellington recently.

Take it away Lisa!

I have tried to sum up my day spent at the NZ Womens Conference but I really can’t, so I won’t. Instead, I’ll take you for a short walk through my day and tell you what I learnt.

Upon arrival, we lined up to register and were given a goody bag laden with treats and a programme for the day. The 1^st Floor of the InterContinental Hotel had been taken over by 300 women from all walks of life and every one of them was eager to learn, yearning to be inspired and all supporting each other. It was an electrifying vibe. Once registered, we sought out the free coffee – after all it was 8:30 on a Saturday morning!

As well as amazing speakers to listen to throughout the day, there were stalls and stands dotted around the 1^st Floor, all displaying different types of products and services from financial advisors to shoes, from jewellery to cosmetic surgery. Every womens’ need seem to be taken care of, including a relaxation room which hosted a nail bar to get your nails done. There were plenty of raffles on offer with some amazing prizes – of course, I had to enter them all!

Andrea Stewart, the woman behind it all had a dream. She had a dream to run a conference for women which encouraged them to be the best that they can be, learn from her journey and to dream big. She told us her story; which took us through motherhood, to finding out she had melanoma. She spoke with passion, integrity and at the same time she spoke from the heart. As well as her courageous story, she offered three lessons which she shared with us all:

Your health is your wealth,
Show kindness to others, and
Do it now!

The keynote speaker was Trelise Cooper. She told us her story of struggles, from a working mother raising a young child to her billion dollar internationally renowned fashion label she has today. Her advice to everyone was ‘if you can dream it, you can believe it, you can achieve it’. She also said that ‘everything happens for your highest good’ and to always let your ‘desire to dream be bigger than your fear’.

She told us about her late father and his love of clothes and fashion and during one of her fashion shows turned to her mother and said “You know, if it wasn’t for us, none of these people would be sitting here!”.

Over the course of the day we had to choose between 6 different sessions; all delivered something different. I learnt about setting and achieving goals, strategies on how to manifest my dreams, how to balance work and family life and I even learnt about “anti-aging” tips from a cosmetic surgeon. Every speaker brought something wonderful and something different to share and every one of them had a story to tell.

However, if I had to pick a speaker that inspired me the most – it would have to be Sarah Laurie and Changing your Life from Good to Gorgeous!

You could feel the room leaning forward wanting to know more as she told us her story. Unfortunately, I didn’t write much down as I was truly captivated and didn’t want to miss a word.

Sarah spoke about how before you can follow your dreams and reach your goals, you need to know who you want to BE. What are your true values? What are your underlying beliefs? Only then, when you are clear on who you want to BE, will you know what you’re going to DO and you will HAVE the gains. She explains that too much of today’s society are caught up in the DO and HAVE cycle, and forget about the BE part that they are never truly fulfilled.

She talked about order and told us a funny story about her cluttered house and recruiting in the ‘Orderly Angels’ in to help get her sorted. She made us smile when she spoke of Marianne Williamsons’ take on 1800s Victorian women “So vogue on the outside, so vague on the inside”; and she summed it up beautifully by saying “that when you follow your bliss, doors will open up, where there was just walls”.

I am very excited to tell you that she has agreed to speak at a Yummy Mummy Club event later in the year which you just can’t afford to miss.

I came home full of grace and full of gratitude for what life has already brought me. I kissed and hugged my husband and thanked him for allowing me to have a day to myself, because what he gave me was a gift. I kissed and hugged my children because of the amazing promise and unconditional love they hold in their eyes; they too are a gift.

I had a long hot bath and did a full skin routine, because lets face it, I’m not getting any younger.

And yet, I am still a Mum with lots of ideas but I know I will succeed. I have a dream and I will tell my story. I have already achieved more than I ever thought I could and today made me realise that with careful planning and patience, I too, can reach my goals. So as I tucked my 4 year old daughter into bed tonight, I asked her “What kind of person do you want to BE?” and do you know what she said?

“Just like you Mummy, just like you”.

The Yummy Mummy Club is a club for women who are mums and aims to inspire, motivate and support Mums by allowing them to have some ME time through the specially organised events and workshops.
As Mums, we tend to put everyone and everything before ourselves.
Being a Yummy Mummy ISN’T about what you look like, what you wear or what you drive. It’s about how your feel as a woman and your attitude towards motherhood.

Take some time out. Make yourself a priority (even, if it’s just for a little while).

Events that we have done to date include pistol shooting, pole dancing, movie nights, Zumba classes, to name a few. Upcoming events include a Glamour Photo Shoot and a Wardrobe workshop.

It’s totally voluntary and not-for-profit.

More information can be found on our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/yummymummynz

Guest Post: Beating our own drum: Winter School Hols

Posted on July 15, 2010 by Mika

Let me introduce to today’s guest blogger Sarah and the rest of her clan from Chez Lee.

Sarah’s enjoyment of her children and Wellington just beam through her writing. Their family of 4, now have 5 members in it. Like other mother’s in her position she is discovering a different kind of rhythm now that she is a mother to a baby, pre-schooler and a school aged child. It is such a privilege to share this journey with her through her writing. Here she is introducing her gorgeous girls:

Alice, Age 4
months:

Sophie,

Age 4:

Charlotte,

Age 7:

Sarah – Mummy, blogger, cook, cleaner, entertainer, mediator, general dogs body

Wrapped up warm on last day of term down at Lyall Bay.

Thanks for inviting me to do a guest post Meeks Happy Holidays everyone, from Chez Lee x
When the rhythm changes it can sometimes take a while to adjust. In term time we march to the beat of a drum. In the holidays we get to hold the drum sticks and beat out a rhythm of our own. It takes us a day or two to find our groove, to let go of our individual routines and pull together as a merry band. When we find our beat the fun really begins; we rediscover our creativity and revel in free time to discover and play.

We bake and take time to eat together. No hurried breakfasts and boxed up lunches.

We paint and create, with inspiration aplenty on the Internet. This week we’re inspired by a link on the ‘Crafty Crow‘ to make our own tissue paper window collage. We’re also planning to make wool pom pom balls (a first for my girls).

Painting is a favourite and we have upcoming Birthday cards to make (and Charlotte is working on her Birthday thank you cards).

We remember toys that gather dust in term time. Whilst the rain and wind beat down we open the toy chest and play our favourite board games; snakes & ladders, junior scrabble, charades, monopoly, memory…

We build Lego towns, string beads together, make up a batch of play dough. We dance and sing, jump around, crawl under sheets and feel the pulse of physical freedom. We hammer out some notes on the piano and learn some chords on the guitar.

We delve into activity books, read and play games on the Internet.

And of course we have the practical jobs of housework too – but even these can be fun when we all pull together. Help is often forthcoming when a squirty bottle of warm, bubbly water is involved My girls are good at helping with dusting, cleaning the kitchen surfaces, the floors and the sinks. They volunteer to do the windows – when the rain stops and the sun shines (usually getting drenched in the process!).

The housework is usually rewarded with a trip out and a hot chocolate, ice cream or smoothie By the second week of the holiday we are really getting in the groove and realize, with sadness, that we have only one more week together – and it isn’t enough.

When the weather is fine we hang out at the beach, visit the gardens and play on the waterfront. So many playgrounds and spaces to run. Places to walk and explore.

When the wind and rain won’t let up we brave the crowds for a couple of hours at Te Papa, The New Dowse, City Art Gallery and Museum of City and Sea. We swim at the pool (so many to choose from in Wellington), we take our wheels for a spin at the rec centre, we cosy up for stories in the library.

And at the end of the day, when the curtains are drawn early to keep us warm in the mid-winter gloom, we pop on a movie, light candles, switch on some fairy lights for a little cheer and cuddle up with cushions and blankets aplenty.

Ah, having written this post I am now feeling so positive about the holidays and have just enjoyed a trip down memory lane looking at the past year’s school holiday blog posts on Chez Lee. I don’t want them to end! Here’s to beating our own drum and dancing a merry tune!

Guest Post: Se7en’s Favorite Holiday Finds

Posted on July 14, 2010 by Mika

Thank you Se7en coming along and being a guest blogger.

Se7en is a home schooling mother of se7en + 1 children. She has lovely view of life, that really shines through with her writing and family photographs. Check out her blogaversary’s celebrity week…you’ll probably see a few of your favourite bloggers featured! www.se7en.org.za

Writing this post made me realize that we have holiday traditions and as we are headed for our winter break in a couple of weeks I can feel little folks around here gearing up for their typical school vacation. I like to shake things up a bit in the holidays and give my kids a bunch of new things to do, without spending a penny, all I do is rearrange stuff a little bit. Also, I have to keep in mind that at the end of a school term my kids are usually quite tired and before I fall into the trap of preplanning every moment or filling their holidays with a million and one activities I need to remember that they need lots of “down time.” We usually have a meeting and we make a holiday list with one idea from everyone that they really want to do. It can can be as simple as making time for a walk on the beach every evening, rain or shine, that gives everyone the holiday feeling. I am a firm believer in letting them have a whole heap of free time to figure out things for themselves and fulfill whatever dreams they have been creating and cooking up in their heads during school time…

Craftiness: All their craft goodies that are neatly boxed up for school on the dresser, well in the holidays I just plonk everything into cups on a tray and leave them to it. For school their art is a lot of pencil and drawing in sketchbooks and watercolors, so during the holidays I make sure there are heaps of color and sticking and markers available. All the materials are always available but a different presentation makes it seems like a whole lot of new fun.

Book Nooks: Every holidays we set up a different and dedicated reading spot. Sometimes we theme the books and I will make it just for Dr. Suess books, or Richard Scarry… or pick a topic: beach stories or space stories… A pile of blankets and cushions and you are good to go.

Gaming: Somehow we never have time for games and yet my kids love them. During our planning meeting I let everyone choose a game and then we play one game a day during the holidays. I usually give the little guys easy puzzles to do while I play games with the older kids.

Baking: With a family of ten our days are a lot about “the food.” We always have a cooking day in the holidays and everyone gets to try a new recipe they have discovered. This is really special one on one time and we keep their particular recipe secret until “the unveiling.” We have ended up trying things we would never normally try – Thai soup, hot hot curry and elaborate baking that I would never have dreamt of trying on my own!!!

Outings: Inevitably I have errands to do during the holidays that I just can’t get to during school time and always add a fun and spontaneous run in the great outdoors onto our errands. Nothing huge – I am not up to overnight or even all day hikes into the wilderness. But I can totally drive to a nearby hiking spot and let everyone loose to run for an hour. An easy snack in my bag can stretch it to two hours and by then we are usually all ready to get home.

Scientific Discoveries: During the term time we do scientific projects but it is never enough!!! They always want more. During the holidays I take out their scientific gear, like the microscope and leave it on the kitchen counter so that they can explore to their hearts content. At the moment we are growing a window sill garden, mould and all, with a view to some microscope fun during our upcoming holidays.

Forts: My kids are all about forts and during the holidays they will make them indoors or outdoors, the weather is no issue!!! Just a place to eat lunch and read books and talk about life!!! They just love forts and I keep a ready supply of blankets and cushions at the front door just for them.