Raising a Daughter has its Challenges!

Raising a daughter was nothing like I thought it would be. When we found out our first born was a girl I was over the moon excited. A girl was just the best news. She was a gorgeous baby with big blue eyes and red angelic lips. Everyone wanted to hold her and cuddle her. I recall the first outing hubby and I took without her though. She was about 5 months old and we were invited to an engagement party. Free food and entertainment, we scored!! Claire was left with my mum and she screamed non stop! My mum called me an hour  after we left and reluctantly asked me to come back. That was really the beginning of our hardships mixed with joys.

As I said, Claire was a such a gorgeous baby and we would get so many complements on her big blue eyes and how well she developed from a baby into a toddler. She crawled for about a week then realised it wasn't so fun and so decided to walk. She was walking just at the end of nine months. Which was amazing and fun for about a week. Having a baby who is walking around at 10 months isn't what its cracked up to be and when you aren't prepared it's even harder!!

I remember at about 12-15 months I was recording Claire's words in my journal ( I don't think blogs existed back then, or at least I had never heard of them). I was filling up the pages fast. At her 18 month update appointment, the nurse asked me what kind of words Claire was saying. I listed some and she looked at me like I was joking. I bet she was thinking, " Oh no, one of these parents who think their kid is saying these things when they aren't". I wasn't bragging, Claire was my first and I thought it was "normal". But now the nurse was giving me that look, so I asked if that was normal or was she behind? The nurse looked at Claire and said, " How are you Claire?" Now I can't remember exactly what Claire said, I do have it written down in my journal, which is somewhere. But the look of shock and surprise on the nurse's face was priceless when she answered her. I wasn't lying, she really could talk your socks off and express herself very well, even at that age. I felt like saying, "Told you"! But again, I wasn't bragging it just was what it was.

Now, I could say all this is amazing stuff continued on, however, as Claire grew up life got more challenging for me. Leaving her at preschool was an event! It was so heart breaking because she would run to the gate and scream like she was being chased by a murderer! It took about 6 weeks for her to chill out when I left and a couple months before she just walked in and didn't run back out again. I would often call when I got home (about 30mins later) and the teacher would say she was fine and one wouldn't know it was the same girl who had put the performance on earlier.  That was how it seemed to work for Claire, put the performance on for mum and see what it took to make her crack. She was a smart little girl. She was keen to argue and question our rules, a lot! Like a real lot! Putting her in time out was a horrendous experience. Disciplining her was a challenge and I had to get really creative. I would always tell myself it will get better when she gets older, but it just got harder, and harder, and heart breaking. She did very well in her school work and she excelled in creative writing, but home life was not all hearts and roses. I went through periods where I didn't like being in the same room as her because of the challenges she put me through. As I had more children, she would go through moments of joy and helpfulness to the complete opposite.

My mum encouraged us to take her to a child psychologist when she was about 10. I was in denial a bit because I justified her behaviour as a creative mind, when really she was manipulating and over powering. How did things get to here? Counselling worked for a little while, but then things fell back into challenge zone again.

Things came to an over powering peak when she was 12. She hated the first high school she attended. She refused to get out of bed, and she hated me. I was to blame for everything and if anything went wrong in her life, I was blamed even if I wasn't in the room or near her when it happened. It was emotionally and physically exhausting. She was no longer a child and I couldn't physically pick her up and move her to her room, or hold onto the door. She was becoming physically stronger than me and the psychological manipulation was harsh and hard to keep up with her. I was told by a counsellor, you have to be several steps ahead, which I could potentially do if I didn't have 3 other children to tend to. Motherhood at that time was hard. Really hard. We decided to changed her schools, hoping this would help her enjoy school. She was actively involved in choosing the new school and her cousin attended and they were in the same year, so we thought this would work out well.  But at this new school she met a friend who was toxic. Well, I should say this toxic friend sort her out. Claire was well accepted at this new school and climbed the social ladder rather quickly. This girl was keen to hang with Claire on top of this social hierarchy. This girl was a nice natured girl to anyones face, but had a taste for adventures with no boundaries nor respect for adults, even her mother. Though we did what I figured most parents did. Have all the sleep overs at our house. Have the girl and the other friends at our house so I could monitor things as much as possible. But I can't monitor them at school, or places they would lie to me about going. Claire's behaviour got worse. So we decided to have Claire see another counsellor and things got better for a couple of months, but then Claire was a victim of cyber bullying at the hands of this "so-called" friend. This cyber bullying was not just a run of the mill situation. We  had to get police involvement along with the school and the toxic friend was suspended. All this drama  turned things south again. She still somehow thought it was a social requirement to remain friends with this girl. Even though she had done this horrible thing (amongst other things).The toxic friend also couldn't leave Claire alone, not necessarily to continue to be nasty but because of this stupid social hierarchy thing! Something had to be done, so we got her to see another psychologist (the one she saw before had moved on to a different clinic). This psychologist was amazing. She had Claire really understand accountability. It was hard on me because I wondered what was wrong with me and my relationship with my daughter, that she couldn't learn those things from me? How did things get this bad? Thankfully, Claire cut herself from this toxic friend and has learnt strategies on self worth and knowing how to determine good qualities in friends and people in general. The psychologist  also helped her see that I am out to help her not hinder. That while she has treated me badly in the past, I won't hold it against her and that Claire is first and foremost my daughter, whom I love and will love forever.

While all these challenges were taking place I had plenty of mums telling me how raising teen girls is so hard. Though most told me that life gets better around 15 or 16 onwards. For me personally, I couldn't see that potential. I always thought life with Claire would be challenging,  for the rest of my life, even if she moved away from home when she got older!!

However, the past 12 months I am happy report have been great. The past 6 months though have been the best. In fact, today was a day I never thought would happen. Claire and her friends spent the day with me. We didn't do anything amazing, I had to go to Costco so they came a long. We chatted and laughed about silly things. It was a girls day out, and it felt so nice. I'm sure this sounds cheesy, but Claire took a photo of us and captioned, "Out with the Squad". Two years ago, that just wouldn't have taken place. I would have been told off for sitting near her and her friends and mocked for trying to be in the photo! She would have demanded things instead of asking then we would embarrass ourselves by arguing because I wouldn't be treated like that. I may not have even got into Costco, I might have left because I couldn't cope with her nasty attitude. Anyway, it seems it is not like that anymore. It seems that we really are progressing forward. We do actually enjoy each other's company and share personal space. It's a really nice feeling, and I like it and I want to hold onto that forever.

A Smoothie A Day Keeps....

You feeling really good throughout the day I must say! I have always enjoyed smoothies but traditionally for me, smoothies contained yoghurt or milk. I never thought of a smoothie just being made of fruit before. Over the past year and a bit I have realised my body doesn't appreciate dairy. So I have had to adjust to taking dairy out of my diet, which has been hard because while I can easily give up milk and yogurt, ice cream has been a big challenge. I do like chocolate but I can take it or leave it most of the time!!

I have embraced the almond milk, and will endeavour to make my own one of these days! I still consume cheese, but no where near as regularly as I once did. I will have it once a month if that and then I will be cranky with myself afterwards as I my body cramps up and responds to its presence in my system.

I have embraced the smoothies though and dairy free homemade ice creams, which I will also share with you.

1/4 cup Blueberries
Two small white peaches skin on chopped
2 mint leaves
1/3 of a small pineapple skin removed and chopped
Add about 1/2 to 1 cup of ice cubes
Add water to taste preference

Blend up in blender on pulse then liquify or puree if you have that function.

Watermelon - about 1 to 2 cups chopped
1/3 of a small pineapple skin removed and chopped
4 strawberries
table spoon of chia seeds
2 mint leaves
ice cubes and water
 Blend it up baby!!

Watermelon, about 1 to 2 cups chopped
1/3 of a small pineapple skin removed and chopped
4 strawberries
2 mint leaves
ice cubes and water
Blend it good, blend it real good!!

1/2 a small pineapple skin removed and chopped
2 mint leaves
1cm to 1.5cm nib of fresh ginger
1 tbs chia seeds
ice cubes and water
Blend it all up and refresh yourself!

1/2 small pineapple skin removed and chopped
1/2 large banana
2 mint leaves
4 strawberries
ice cubes and water
Blend it and blend it and blend it!

1 small very ripe pineapple skin removed and chopped
2 very ripe pears
ice cubes and water
Blend it and blend it!!

Funny Friday: Keepin' it real on Pinterest

I'll be sharing some of my favourite pins on my Pinterest boards. These are hilarious and definately keeping it real!!

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And don't forget face swaps

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I so love Jay Z, he's kickin' it as an old lady!!!

Enjoy your Funny Friday and ava great weekend:)

50 Shades of Bravery? #BeMyBrave

I am confident while there is a dictionary definition of what brave is, everyone has their own understanding of what brave means to them. To me brave means going out of your comfort zone, pushing yourself, and reaping the rewards of doing that and should anything bad or negative come from being brave you deal with it and conquering those things.

Deciphering the written word is a complexity that some may not completely understand. Have you ever read an e-mail or a text message and completely misinterpreted it? Have you read a book in year 12 English and interpreted it a completely different way to your classmates? Do you read the Bible or Book of Mormon (I am LDS) and get something different from it one day and something completely different the next time you read it? The written word may not always have the tone, the expression, or the intensity we intended it to have and that can go for both a positive and negative message. Our interpretation of what we read, even if it's a simple text message from a friend is dependant on our mood as well.  I think the same can be said of our understanding of what brave means to each of us. Our life experiences, our age, sex, self-worth, race, moods, religious and political beliefs all affect what we consider brave to be. 

As a child, being brave seems rather simplistic. We want to save the day, and be the hero. However as we grow up and insecurities creep into our conscious minds, brave reforms and reshapes. Brave then becomes complex and to some, harder to achieve. 

I really want to explore this whole concept of what brave is. As a mother, I want it to mean that my kids see me as a strong person who they can trust and depend upon. I want them to see me as the example of being an independent achiever. That I if I want something I don't always have to rely on someone else to help me get it. I hope that they see me as someone who doesn't get crippled by fear or the unknown. Unfortunately, I don't think I am all those things but fortunately, I am a work in progress. I do feel though that I am brave enough to admit that I am not all those things. That there are things that I can work on and be better at. 

There is a water park in Kiama NSW,called Jamberoo, some of you may know what I am talking about. There is a manmade cliff, called The Rock at this waterpark where you can jump off or step off a 5m high ledge into a very deep pool. This particular experience (I keep wanting to right ride, but its not a ride) cripples me. I have been to Jamberoo twice . The first time I went, back in 2012, I stood at the top of the 5m high ledge and almost jumped, but just could not bring myself to do it. I down graded to the shorter ledge  which is about 2.5m. Still, I was crippled with fear. The fear was not necessarily the height, though I do have a fear of heights, but it was the fact that I could not step off the platform and fall. I was falling into a reliable, purpose built, man made pool of water and there is no way I would hurt myself or even reach the bottom, but I was fearful "something" was not going to go right. It was a fear of the unknown. I left the park thinking how have I allowed myself to get to this point? I committed to myself that should I ever return to the park, I would at least jump off the smaller, 2.5m ledge. I happened to returned last year only to be crippled yet again with fear. The main thing driving myself was conquering a slide I went on in 2013 at WaterBom in Kuta, Bali called Climax (Take a look at it ). It took me 45 mins to muster the courage to let go of my fear and just get on with it. I did, and I actually enjoyed myself. For me however, it took a lot of self-convincing to be brave, a lot more than it would take others I am sure. So going back to Jamberoo in 2014, I was sure I could conquer, "The Rock. Sadly, I allowed fear to get the better of me yet again. I did actually jump, well, it was more like a push from my husband (I asked him to, not expecting him to!). I survived though. I didn't sink to the bottom and I didn't die or hyperventilate or anything. However, when I was given the opportunity to jump on my own, I still could not do it! Why could I not be brave? 

There is a side of me that will put myself out in public and be brave to stand in front of people and talk. I put silly DubSmash videos of myself on my Facebook page and don't think twice or hesitate at all about it. I don't care if people think I am crazy, I think I am funny and that is enough. It's baffling sometimes how all this works. 

Like I said, being brave means different things to each of us. I do believe there are much more than 50 shades to being brave. Writing that book in fact is a form of bravery. I wouldn't agree that it was a positive form of bravery, but none the less brave. Another aspect of my life which I would like to work on and pursue in a brave manner is driving. As a mother, you drive all over the place, you kinda have to. But if the destination is in the inner city, or the city, I grab that passenger seat faster than you can say, "Where's the GPS?" I loathe driving to unfamiliar territory. What if I make the wrong turn and can't get back? What if there is no right turn and I can't get back? What If I get lost and don't get back in time for school pick up? And the most dreadful of all questions, "What kind of parking is there? Will I have to parallel park?" Over the years I have got better, but there are still places that are a no-go zone if my husband is not driving. The city, the airport, inner western and Eastern Sydney are just a few examples of  places that make me breath funny just thinking about it. Too much traffic, narrow lanes, cranky drivers who don't like to let you in, crappy parking options. Its terrible, but pretty sad at the same time that such a simple thing requires planning and bravery, and prayer for me to achieve!! Though I should tell you in the last Summer school holidays I managed to drive to Bondi on my own, well the kids were in tow. It stressed me out and I took all the tolls because I was worried if I didn't I would get lost. I made it there and back again without any dents on the car and feeling rather pleased with myself. Though, if you ask me when am I going back? I will probably say, only if I have to!! This is all quite sad in a slightly pathetic way in all honesty. I really need to get over this. I am 36 years old and I have birthed 4 kids. What is wrong with me?  I have decided that I want to be braver with this. There only way I am going to conquer it, its to hit it straight on. I have to drive to these places. Anyone have any suggestions of where I should go? I might even be totally out there brave and Vlog these journeys of bravery. But really, I have to take this seriously, because I want my kids to see that overcoming even their weirdest fears is possible. 

  I wish to explore bravery further, it is an amazing part of the human psyche. It's not simple, its not cut and dry, and I do believe there are more than 50 shades of  Bravery.  I want to see what brave means to you. Please share your thoughts in the comments, your definitions, a quote you live by, a scripture, or a relevant blog post. You will find me on Instagram and Pinterest. Use the hashtag #bemybrave to share your thoughts on social media.

 What do you want to work on that is currently crippling you? This 50 Shades of Bravery is what I think will shape my 2015. I have a lot to face, and a lot to own up to and conquer. Are you with me?

What you NEED to know about Planning a trip to DISNEYLAND

According to my kids and husband, they think I am weird because I have no desire to go to Disneyland. I am not a hater at all, I just think there are other awesome things to do with that kind of money. Anyway, 5 against 1, the odds were totally against me and now we are adding a trip to Disneyland for our family  USA trip in May, so they can tick it off their bucket lists. I have to say here, that my kids are super lucky. I didn't go on an aeroplane until I was 16 and I paid for my own ticket. The trip was interstate to see family, so while I loved it, it was nothing as amazing as the USA. The first time I actually went to America was with my sister and I was pregnant with baby number 3 and that was in fact the first time I had ever needed a passport. I think I was 26 or something like that. My kids have had their passports for almost 4 years and they have been to Bali, New Caledonia, and now America.

So once we decided we were going to America, I decided to research and by this I mean, Pinterest and Blogs. I find so much cool and useful information about other people's experiences on these sites before I venture to Google. There are heaps of blogs written by parents who frequent Disneyland or do a tonne of research and share their tips for free.  We are a family of 2 adults and 4 kids aged 14, 12, 9, and 6.   These are the things I have discovered and are paying them forward to you.

1. Disney Forecast Crowd Calendar - I totally wish I knew about this site before we booked our flights. Two days earlier would have meant that it was very likely Disneyland would be a ghost town and we had better chances of getting on heaps more rides. I am sure Disneyland is always busy to some extent, but how awesome would it be to go when there are heaps less people there and getting on rides is easier. I have heard horrible stories of people waiting in line for up to 3 hours just for one ride! Anyway, this link will come in super handy for many of you I am sure.

2. Cost for food inside the park  - This site is super helpful, as it gives you are run down on what food outlets and restaurants offer and where they are in the park. The reviews are a helpful guide and if you like to plan where you want to eat, so that it not an issue on the day, this is a good way of going about it. I think it's also good to plan how much you are willing to spend on food. We haven't decided exactly what we want to do yet, but I really want to try a Dole whip. I see these yummy pineapple whippies all over Pinterest and they look so good!  The other thing I want to mention about the food, is that its not that badly priced. Most American blogs will have you think it's super expensive, but coming from Australia, a kids meal priced at $6.50USD at a fun park is fairly reasonable.  I have also prepped my kids and will continue to do so, that we are going to be sharing a lot of food and treats, especially at Disneyland. This way we can try a number of things but not be purchasing 4 or 5 lots of one thing, only to find out that they don't like it and hubby and I are chowing down on 4  lots of donuts or something less desirable!!  I really don't like when that happens.  This blog has lots of other helpful tips and guides, so be sure to pin it on your Pinterest Board!

3. There are no discount tickets to Disneyland - well this isn't entirely true, you can get some sort of discount at this site, but I am not sure if its only for USA residents. Discounts are very minimal and it usually only counts on multi day passes with the park hopper included.  We have no interest in paying for the park hopper option. Park Hopper basically means that you can switch from Californian Adventure Park to Disneyland or vice versa, on the same day. However, if you get a 2 day pass or more, you can spend one day at one park then the next day at the other. You can also get a 'Magic Morning" with a 3 day or more pass. This allows you (once) to enter the park 1 hour before the rest of the public can enter. So if the park opens at 11am, the Magic Morning starts at 10am (this is an example only).

From what I understand, Disney has a very tight hold on the ticket prices. If you get a discount at all its by as little as $10USD or so, and I have discovered, if its from a legitimate site, you should purchase it. I suppose if you think about, $10USD per ticket is a savings you can spend inside the park on food.  If you come across people selling tickets on Ebay don't purchase them. Any tickets being sold at a huge discount must be questioned and never purchased.  From what I read, a little while ago, people were purchasing 5 day park tickets and were selling the remaining unused days online. To stop this from happening, its my understanding that Disneyland now takes photos of people with their multi-day passes as they

enter the park, and they also ask for photo identification to confirm the name matches on the ticket. It's also helpful to purchase your tickets on the Disney Website and not at the gates. Disney actually encourages people to do this. I think its similar to the Cinema lines. If you have online tickets, you have a admission line just for you and its suppose to be quicker than waiting to purchase the tickets at the gates.

4. Tips, Secrets and Helpful Apps -  I'm not sure about all the tips you will find on this link. Some are a bit lame, but the one about the Waiting time App, is worth me sharing it. How cool, is that?

5. Accommodation  - staying at any of the hotels on the Disney Resort premises, are always going to be crazy ridiculous.  The longer you stay, though the better value it is. Well, the longer you stay in any hotel near and around Disneyland is the same. Fourth, fifth and sixth nights generally speaking are free. However the cost for staying onsite with our family was going to be just under $5000USD with tickets included. Off site it ranges from $1800USD up to $3000USD including tickets for 3 nights. Those savings can be spend elsewhere. The main thing that affects the price, other than star rating, is the distance to Disneyland itself. The further away, the more affordable the accommodation becomes.  When we book accommodation where possible, we book a family suite. This is more affordable and heaps more conveniant as we are all together. We are planning to stay at the Hyatt Hotel Suites which is about 3km walk to Disneyland. That is doable with our kids at their age. Some hotels have free shuttle services and others charge a small fee, I have seen some hotels charge $5USD. We don't have breakfast included in our accommodation, but if you can score a deal including breakfast (usually American style continental buffet breakfast) then that is a bonus.  If you have a car and are considering parking, keep in mind that parking costs $17USD per day at Disneyland. There are some other slightly cheaper options, but you are again, outside of the park and keep in mind there will be walking involved.

I think I have covered the initial basic steps in planning a Disneyland trip. I will add more as I find them. Other than what I have shared, the best advise really comes from people who have been there, so Pinterest and Blogs I think are the best way to go. We have also been watching clips on YouTube of people sharing their experiences on rides. This was great, because I have a basic plan on what rides  get the busiest and which ones are fun, but less popular etc and which ones are really awesome.  I hope I have helped you some. If you have any tips to share, please do so in the comments or if you have written a blog post of your own, share it in the comments. I would love to read it.

Planning for Christmas - Kid's Wish List

With Halloween over, I know have some time to plan for Christmas. Being a Christian, this a very important social holiday to enjoy and celebrate. I plan to decorate my house, particularly outside as big as I did for Halloween. But all the decorating aside, the other part that a lot of parents stress about is the presenting 'organising'. What should Santa be bringing this year? Here is a letter I found on Pinterest. This is a good way to start your planning and it also teaches a child there is a purpose behind the gift. Everyone does it differently, but the last 5 years or so, I have been trying to limit the amount of presents on Christmas morning. Both my husband and I are from large families, and we do draws and Grandparents also purchase for our kids. So they aren't short of receiving presents. I also like my kids to remember charity and service at Christmas time too, and not so much what they WANT.

So here is the letter, which I have borrowed from here and you should be able to get a better downloadable copy.

Celebrating Halloween 2014 on a budget Part 1

Halloween this year was a lot of fun. Since we moved to a larger home and a home that faces out to a common road, I felt the need to decorate the outside of the house. My previous post was a taste of the the things I used as my inspiration this year. So here are the pictures of what I ended up making and displaying. The best fun I think was the packing tape ghosts. Lots of fun, and great effect, though in the end I didn't end up displaying them quite the way I had hope I would. I bring that down to my husband being absent on an overseas business trip for most of October!

The way it worked out for me this year, was a Halloween Party the week before Halloween for family and friends. Then we celebrate on the 31st and welcome trick or treaters. Then this year, we had a trunk o treat the day after halloween. So it was really stretched out for our family and we have more lollies than we know what to do with!!

For the family and friends party this is what I did.

This was my arty farty wall!! The Monster Melodies is a vinyl record cover I scored at a Vinnies for $1. The book pages come from Stephen King's Pet Cemetery and I stuck and painted them down with PVA glue onto canvases. Then the wicked picture is a free printable I printed up and put in a $2.50 frame from BigW.  All these items can be packed away for next year.

I already have the cake stand, which is always handy. I recommend if you don't have a cake stand but like to do parties or entertain, get one. They are invaluable. The styrofoam skulls were $4 each. They are great and the cheapest ones I could find. The table cloth was some black lace material I picked up a couple years back on the discount table from Spotlight. Can't remember how much but I am sure it was less than $10. We have an 8 seater table. All these items can be reused for next year.

This decoration is one of my favourites. A packet of black garbage bags from BigW cost me $1.90. I cut the sides apart, taped it to the window frame and cut vertical strips, the worse the better!! Has a great affect.

A friend of mine had a halloween party last year and had the syringes filled with Grenadine. I had a super hard time finding Grenadine this time, so settled with some sour cherry syrup (Italian) from my local fruit market. The colour matched the amazing taste! Kids squirted the syrup into their lemonade. I found syringes on Ebay and purchased 50 for around $30 including postage. I have washed them up and will reuse them next year or for other fun events! This idea went down really well, everyone loved the novelty and it was amazing to see them displayed on the table.

Finally, you maybe wondering what did I wear that day? Well, if you aren't on my personal FB page, here it is. I decided to invest in some body/face paint. Having 4 kids, it will come in handy no doubt!The only thing I purchased for the outfit was the hat and some stockings - which were not one size fits most for adults! I think the label got mixed up and should have been for kids, because they didn't get past my knees! I am 5ft 9, so I know I am a little but taller than the average, but still! Unfortunately i don't have a picture of the stockings, I should have for comedy purposes, but I didn't think of it at the time! I just cut the stockings off so they looks like individual socks! Waste not want not right!  I had my own black top and skirt for the outfit and now I have a hat to use again. What do you think?

Well, that is it for Part 1. Stay tuned for the outside decorations and what I decided to do for my Halloween night costume.

Tis the Season to be Spooky - 4 ideas for decorations to get you started

I know halloween is more of a North American tradition, but its starting to pick up pace here in Australia. Personally, I love Halloween. It could be that I like to party and need a good excuse to dress up in costume, or it could be that its a time of year that I can hand out loads of lollies to my nieces, nephews, and friend's kids without a glare from their parents, making me feel guilty!

I have been holding Halloween celebrations for almost 7 years now. One year I was lying on my couch (Pinterest was not invented so I would lie on my couch in my spare time) and a light bulb went off! I decided to throw a Halloween party. I only had 2 weeks to prep, but I did it. So I decided to keep doing it and year after year family and friends continue to enjoy themselves so much that I am inspired to continue.  We moved house last year. We are in a bigger home, but smaller backyard. So this year I am thinking I should decorate my house and front yard. Here is some of my Pinspiration for what I am planning this year.

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Packing tape ghost are all the rage. All you need is a willing model, packing tape and some glad wrap. You can add the lights, leave it el naturale, or paint it white. I will load pictures of my finished versions and you can determine whether I nailed it, or failed it!!

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My garage isn't like this, but I do have windows that face out to the road that would look good with these on them. With some black cardboard or even paper for that matter, this is an easy and cost effective decoration.

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I've been looking forward to doing this one for a while now. I'm hoping to hang these on my front porch. There are hooks left from hanging plants so they will work perfectly.

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Glow in the dark spray paint is a little hard to come by. I am going to try putting glow sticks in mine and see what happens. I am also going to paint some of the masks scary colours.  This is another decoration that is not too hard to do, you could even get the kids to help out.

So that is my short introduction into my Halloween preparations. Feel fee to follow my Halloween Board on Pinterest if you want to see more great ideas.

Saucy Pork Spare Ribs - my secret is out!

Pork ribs are one of those things that have to be done right. I can't emphasis enough how the meat has to be tender and melt in the mouth. There is nothing worse than chewy meat that gets stuck in teeth, well there is, but work with me for a little bit.

About 8 years ago, I was sitting in a hotel in Edmonton Canada watching the Food Network because it was -25C outside. I had an 8 month old baby having his morning nap and I was armed with Jalapeño Cheese Tostios, root beer - the real stuff, and double stuffed fudge dipped Oreos. I could watch as much TV as I wanted to watch and anything I wanted to watch. Flashback to one week earlier I was at home in balmy Sydney, Australia switching between Dora the Annoying Explora and the Koala Brothers to appease my other two kids. So I was in a little bit of heaven, even though I had never experienced any kind of weather that began with minus! This day was significant in my life because it was this exact day that I learned the art of making the best spare ribs known to mankind. I enjoyed ribs before, but really once the FoodNetwork opened my eyes to the truth, I realised I was just tolerating ribs!!

The secret to the best ribs, I am willing to share with you now. There is no need to overload on junk food while you read, nor is it necessary to watch snow fall nor is it necessary for it to be -25C outside, though hahaha, if it is!!  The secret is simple. Slow cook (on low) those babies in a bath of flavoured water for 4-6hours!  That is it. Then you carefully drown them in delicious sweet sauce (my own secret recipe) and bake them until the sauce caramelises and burns a little. Its the best way to enjoy pork ribs. As you eat them, you know it was meant to be and you have just been tolerating spare ribs in the past.

Ingredients
 4 racks of pork spare ribs
6-10 black pepper corns
4 bay leaves
4 cups warm water
2 tablespoons powdered chicken stock
2 onions quartered
4-6 cloves of garlic - whole
generous sprinkle of sea salt flakes.

My Secret Sauce
400ml Heinz Ketchup
200ml BBQ sauce (Aussie style)
3/4 - 1  cup brown sugar
1tsp ground cumin
1tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp cayene pepper (optional)
2 tbs white wine vinegar -

**please note when I make the sauce, I don't usually measure my ingredients so use this as a guide and taste before you use it. Ketchup needs to be the main character. You could use tomato puree if you wish, but then you would have to increase the amounts of the spices and other ingredients. You want to achieve a sweet, mildly savoury and spicy sauce. You have to have the brown sugar so the sauce caramelises and burns a little, but you can use honey if that floats your boat. **

What do I do?
Place the ribs in your slow cooker. My slow cooker is quite large, so if yours is smaller you might want to cut up your ribs to fit. Place all ingredients in then mix the chicken stock powder with the warm water and pour over ribs. Ribs need to be submerged so add more if needs be. Cook on low for 4-6 hours. I have cooked on high before, but low really is better.

Turn oven on to 200C, make the sauce by add all ingredients and whisking it until combined and smooth. You could also whizz it up in your HMP or food processor.  Line a baking tray with foil. The ribs will be tender and break easily, so using tongs carefully place ribs on the lined baking tray. Spoon sauce to cover the ribs. Spray with some oil and place in oven for about 20mins.

I made these last night, but I didn't put enough brown sugar in because they didn't burn like I prefer them to. None the less, they were super tender and devourable - if that is a word, which computer is saying no! I married them with my Heart Attack potato bake. Everyone said yum as they licked there lips and fingers!

"Heart Attack" Potato Bake

If you are trying to be healthy look away now! I don't want to be responsible for tempting you into breaking your healthy eating streak! I dare say Michelle Bridges would have a heart attack just reading the ingredients for this potato bake and would no doubt suggest this be sin binned for eternity. Which actually might be convincing some of you even more that you should try this!! Ok, if you have been properly converted to the dark but delicious side of not so healthy eating, then please read on. This is not for the faint hearted and I have to tell you, I actually softened this up from the recipe I was using as inspiration. The other recipe overloads on cheese. I do love cheese, but when you are adding both pure cream and sour cream already to a sauce, the healthy voice in me talked me out of adding the mountains of grated cheese that the other recipe called for.  But if you so wish to add cheese, refer to the link for directions. This potato bake is super tasty and creamy, basically because I used cream! I had family over so for me, I had to make a large amount. Cut it down to suit your needs, but I can testify that it tastes good the next day!

Ingredients
2 kg of potatoes, peeled and cut into discs - thick not thin (personal preference)

500g bacon diced into squares - I used short cut, but if I had middle cut bacon I would trim so fat.

Green onions/ shallots three stalks - diced

200ml pure pouring cream

1/2 cup sour cream

2 cloves garlic minced

table spoon of wholegrain mustard

salt and pepper to taste

1-2 cups of grated cheese.


What to do

Rinse potatoes in cold running water and then boil them on the stove top until tender. Drain and place in a large deep baking dish and spread to fit entire dish. Pre heat oven to 190C

Add some olive oil to hot frying pan and add bacon. Cook until brown and crisp. Add garlic and stir through until fragrant. Add shallots and cook though. Lower heat a little and pour in cream and sour cream. Stir around and add wholegrain mustard. **When I make this again, I will actually add some chicken stock for a little extra flavour. This is optional, but I think it would give a little boost to the mixture.*** Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Pour mixture over potatoes in baking dish. Sprinkle cheese over potatoes and spread evenly but thickly and put in oven for 20mins or until cheese is browned.  Enjoy as your calorie counter explodes as you devour this!

I paired this scrumptious side with my enviable Secret Saucy pork spare ribs.

Easy 'n' Healthy Baked Vegetarian Meal - So versatile

I know I rave on about my HMP and how it and any thermal cooking machine for that matter can make life easier for you in the kitchen, I still cook using my oven and stove top. Old habits are hard to break. This meal I am going to share with you is so easy, healthy, and versatile. You can use whatever ingredients take your fancy or what is in season. I make this meal sometimes the night before work and have it cold as a salad. Its always good to break up the week with vegetarian based meals, I don't think we are supposed to eat meat every day of the week. So I add in non-meat and vegetarian meals at least 3 times a week. It helps with variety and also with the budget.

Ingredients - as a guide

2 carrots chopped
1 medium sweet potato
1/2 onion
1 zucchini
4 mini capsicums - or 1-2 regular sized (peppers for the Yanks)
4 tomatoes  - this is a staple add for me. I don't particularly like fresh tomatoes, but splash some oil, sprinkle some seasonings and bake 'em in the oven and I can down them by the kilo!!


What to do
Preheat oven to 190C

Chop all ingredients into small but chunky pieces

Spread evenly on baking tray

Spray with oil

Season with sea salt flakes, pepper, and oregano and toss to coat.

Bake for 15 mins, take out and toss veges around with some red wine vinegar (optional). Spray more oil if you need to. Bake further until cooked through and browning. Another approx 15-20mins.

Allow to cool and then serve with cooked quinoa, rice,  or toss some baby spinach leaves through. Make sure you get all the juices in and you can sprinkle in some more red wine vinegar - or whatever vinegar takes or fancy. Voila, an easy to prepare meal that is extremely versatile, and just as delicious the next day.

I also wanted you show with you one of my latest purchases. This oil sprayer from Decor. I purchased this at Big W for about $12. It's one of those purchases that make me glad that I got it each time I use it. It's nothing like the aerosol cans you purchase.You can refill it and it sprays a generous amount. I found with the spray oil I was purchasing from the supermarket that I was foaming my fry pan at times just so I could get a reasonable amount to get something cooking. Anyway, I highly recommend it.

Brave

The picture on my personal Facebook page was over 3 years old. Each time I logged in I would tell myself to update it, but I never did until yesterday. I searched and searched for a photo of myself, which was really hard. Why don't I take photos of myself or allow people to take photos of me? Once upon a time I loved photos and I wanted to be a photographer. Then I chose a different path and insecurities snuck in and I allowed them to stay.

I have often struggled with how I look. For those who know me, you may think this strange because I am quite confident and I laugh most things off, and rarely hold grudges or at least not forever! I am a professional concealer! I don't like to show my feelings too much because in reality I am very emotional and I cry a lot over little things. This I know is not a bad thing, but it makes others uncomfortable and the thing I aim for in life is to make sure I don't upset or offend others - well as little as possible. The point I am making here, is that I put others before myself almost always. I don't often think of me, and when I do, I conceal. I have named this post Brave, because this is a big step for me. I am opening up about who I am and some of my insecurities are and by golly that's hard! One of the biggest insecurities I have is my outward appearance. Growing up I didn't feel I was pretty, and the times when I felt really pretty, I would see photos after the occasion and be disappointed that the photos didn't look pretty to me. I think part of this can be attributed to being an awkward teenager. I was a little on the chubby side, I had acne, I had glasses and braces all the ingredients that turn teenage boys on!! Though in some ways I am glad in hind sight (only) that I didn't have the worries of too much male attention, at least until I was 17. It gave me a chance to enjoy my teenage years in other ways and take my studies seriously, though in saying that, I was still distracted as I had terrible crushes on lots of men....not boys or teenage boys, I was always partial to the older man because they were all so mature!! Oh I can only just laugh now and shake my head!!!  While that is embarrassing in some ways, I have to admit there was a pattern. My first boyfriend was 2 years older than me. My second boyfriend was 5 years older than me. I've never really had a boyfriend the same age as me or younger. My husband is 2 years older than me too! Anyway, I have no idea why I bought this up?

Sometimes I write posts with one intent in mind and then my mind wonders and I get off topic....very much like my conversations, I have to work on this!! Now back to being brave. I feel I am brave because I am posting a picture of me. I took some time this morning to take a selfie or two. Something my kids do more often than I do the laundry - not a good comparison! I don't often like having pictures of me taken, let alone take a picture of me for a purpose. I want to change that. I am not going to be a Kim K or anything, I just want to be proud of me and what I am today, however I look. As we all know there is so much crap in our media about body image and the like. I think the problem with some mums are that we remember that once upon a time we were much slimmer and more active and we can't work out what went wrong? Well, I have had 4 kids and three of the kiddies were born via c-section (that weren't planned). C-sections don't do wonders for the body, let me tell you neither internally or externally! I got back in shape after the first two kiddies and the first C-section, and even after the third I wasn't as overweight as I currently am. I think life gets in the way and I've much prefered to sleep then wake up 1 to 2 hours earlier in the morning to fit exercise in. Anyway, I am working on that but I don't want Michelle Bridges or Weight Watchers to help me with that, I want to be able to do it on my own......I think!:)

The other reason why I am trying to be brave today, is so my daughter will see that her mum is happy with who she is. I want her to see that beauty comes in all shapes and sizes, personalities, and abilities. We are all beautiful. Before I go I want to share with you something I shared on my FB feed from, Begin with Yes, the other day which I think has to be shared

and here is the picture I am willing to share....eeek!!

The New Thermomix TM5 v HMP Gastro

I have to admit, I have been out of the loop so to speak about all of this drama over the brand new Thermomix model that has recently hit the party plan circle. It has taken a day of lying in bed sick to catch up on all the drama. Yes, I have to say drama and I do apologise for the overuse of this word, the teacher in me is going crazy, because with Thermomix there is never anything but drama. You are either being abused for saying anything against their blessed Thermi or criticised for saying anything else is comparably better....believe me I know!  Now they have presented Australia with the new model TM5 but they have gone about it all the wrong way - wow no surprises for me!! Now I had heard rumours since I started blogging about my HotMix Pro (HMP), that a new model was going to be released within a year that would be better than the HMP - and I thought they weren't bothered by competition! I do hope all the people who have been mislead about the release of the new model are being looked after. I don't see how something like this can be considered good business ethics, regardless of whether it is legal or not.

From what I can tell, all the new functions of the TM5 are interestingly similar to what the HMP Gastro has and yes, I do find this rather ironic. All the back lash and comments I have received over the years from blinded lemming followers of the Thermomix Cult attacked me about how the TMX 31 was set to the best healthy cooking temperature. Anything higher would destroy the food molecules and I would be feeding my kids dead food - yes again, rather ironic! How then, are you going to explain why Vorwerk decided that the TM5 needed an increased temp range to 120C? Is there new scientific proof that 10C more is now better for our food molecules? Now, don't get me wrong, I don't think everyone thinks like this, but this is for the people who don't think for themselves and believe everything they hear.  Other than the cookbook chip, the slightly higher temp, and the slightly faster motor - which again the HMP was criticised for and now they are competing with - again, the irony over floweth! There is also a larger Varoma, but can we really tell how much larger it is? At the end of the day, if I was going to consider this new machine the only thing that would make me think for 10 seconds longer would be a larger bowl. This is the one thing that most woman want, and yet they still can't deliver. Who cares about a new design measuring cup and butterfly - whoopy whoo!  However, the biggest thing on most people's lips is, "tell them the price son"!  They currently have an introductory price of $1939, but what will it be when this is over? Who knows? I wish I did because if its the same price as the HMP I will laugh until I pass out.

At the end of the day, the TM5 is an attractive machine and the cookbook chip is clever. But is it still the absolute best machine on the market that is deserving of what I can only guess will be a price tag above $2000? I recommend you take a look at my previous posts of the HMP. See what is on offer, compare the two and see what the HMP offers for their price tag and compare to what the TM 5 is offering. Personally, and yes of course there is bias in this, as there is bias in every Thermomix owner's mind too, I highly recommend you try the HMP Gastro. The HMP Easy comes at a lower price tag, but for a little more, the Gastro offers a faster motor and higher temp range. I use my HMP Gastro almost every day. It does all the things a TM 5 or TM 31 can do, though it doesn't come with a Varoma, but a steaming function can still be achieved. Do the homework people, don't always settle for what you know or what your friends have. Thermomixers are a lot like Dyson vacuums. Its the in thing to purchase, and you aren't a good vacuumer unless you are using the "Dyson" - give me a brake!  Thermomix shermomix and Dyson shmyson! Buy what you like and what works for you, even if you don't purchase an HMP, please oh please do the research on all the available thermal cooking machines that are currently on the market. Buy what suits your circumstances and especially your budget.

Okay Thermomix lovers bring it on, I'm ready!!

** apparently the bowl is a little larger, 2.2L to be precise - not a deal breaker for me personally and the introductory price is $1989 not the above mentioned price of $1939 - sorry to get you excited over saving $50. ;-p*****

Great list of Interactive WhiteBoard Activities

As a teacher, I am always searching for educational activities that are fun for my students. I also predominately work as a casual, so having a pool of resources that I don't have to bring with me everywhere is always a bonus. The Interactive WhiteBoard or IWB, also known as the SMART board, is an amazing invention. I use it all the time both in special and mainstream education. This is a list I have compiled of sites I have discovered and used myself to determine their usefulness. There have been many that I have not included because they weren't user friendly, or their graphics weren't the best. I hope you can find something useful. Also you can enjoy many of these sites at home on your own computer.  Would love to hear your feedback on any of these links or if you know of something great to share, please do so in the comments.

Stop the Clock - time is written in words. You have to stop the clock to show the time written in words. Lots of fun!! years 2-6

 http://www.oswego.org/ocsd-web/games/BangOnTime/clockwordres.html

Shot Clock - choose plus,minus,addition, multiplication, and division. Shoot the ball into the correct basketball - great for revision of math skills years 3-6

 http://www.roomrecess.com/pages/ShotClock.html

Interlocked 3D Puzzles - addictive!! This is a great game to challenge students. Could be used in between lessons or used on a rainy day. Years 3-6

 http://smartboard.someschoolgames.com/kids-logic-games/interlocked/


Spin and Spell - spelling game of everyday items, actions, and animals. Years 2-6

 http://www.spinandspell.com

Sheppard's Software Verbs in Space - A really good game that explores and assists with all sorts of grammar skills in an interactive way. Students have to think quick, but great for revision. Recommend from years 3-6

 http://www.spinandspell.com

Super Why Games, Alpha Bricks - interactive way to revise letter recognition. K-1 and SSP

 http://pbskids.org/superwhy/#game/alphabricks

Word Finder - interactive find-a-word. years 3-6

 http://www.wordgametime.com/games/word-finder

The Blobz guide to Electric Circuits - great for science lesson years 5-6

 http://www.andythelwell.com/blobz/guide.html

I spy games online - interactive puzzles and bingo games. Years 2-6 and SSP

 http://www.scholastic.com/kids/ispy/games/puzzler.htm


Math-Play soccer game - fun way to test dividing fractions - years 5-6.

 http://www.math-play.com/soccer-math-dividing-fractions-game/soccer-math-dividing-fractions-game.html

Scale of the Universe 2 - absolutely amazing! Use the bottom scale to drag in and out to see comparison of length/height etc of things in our universe. years 4-6+

**allow some time for the program to load, and click START**

 http://www.htwins.net/scale2/

How to cut oranges for Fruit Break / Crunch and Sip

Oh yes, don't be fooled. There is an art to cutting oranges so that your child can enjoy them at fruit break! It is my understanding that most primary schools in NSW,  run the crunch and sip program. I see this in practice both as a parent and a primary school teacher. I thoroughly believe in this program as a good way to encourage children to enjoy fruit, vegetables, and water on a daily basis. However, there are some fruits that are a bit hard to work out how best to prepare for your child to enjoy. I feel I have mastered the sometimes problematic and beloved orange. If you cut the orange in quarters, many children will suck the juice out and leave the pulp but also can be messy and leave sticky drips on clothing. If you cut the skin off, and have the orange in pieces, it can leave sticky juice in the container or bag it's contained in which can cause a bit of a mess.
I truly believe the technique I am prepared to share is the best I have come up with - if I do say so myself - well I do and I did! This incredible technique keeps juice intact and I am confident the child will eat the majority of the pulp. I do recommend a plastic container, however, if you have a child/ren like mine and the container takes forever to return home. Then a zip lock bag is just as good.

Firstly, cut the orange into discs.

Discard the ends, as most fussy kids won't touch these. Then cut the discs in half.

Finally bag those juicy babies in a zip loc or more environmentally friendly container and allow your kids to enjoy! I love eating oranges myself in this fashion. It's the best!!

If you are as amazingly talented as I and would like to share how you prepare your crunch and sip treats for your kiddies, kindly share in the comments. I welcome all links to appropriate blog posts.

Dinner with the Family @ Nandos Family Restuarant Blacktown

Recently we went to to WestPoint Blacktown to watch a movie. Luckily for my family, I got the times mixed up and we were there an hour early, yay for mum brain on a Friday night!! We walked around the Piazza trying to workout want we felt like eating. We noticed the new Nando's Restaurant and decided we would give it ago. The decor and spaciousness was a big draw card just to get us in and decide if we really wanted to eat, but the biggest bonus of the night was bottomless drinks!! We love bottomless drinks and I must say there just isn't enough family orientated restaurants offering this. How many of you cringe at the cost of paying for drinks for your family? If you aren't paying $4-$4.50 for a single drink, you are paying around $12 for a jug of soft drink which will half fill a family of 6's very short glasses. We actually stopped paying for soft drinks in the end. The kids are well trained now, and know its going to be waters all around when we go out. When we told the boys they could have soft drinks I think they almost fainted in shock! Once they recovered we told them it was all-you-drink and they thought we must have had a car accident on the way and were actually in heaven! Jokes aside, this is a great service and really more restaurants should take on this philosophy, especially for families.

We ordered two Supremo burgers, and two Classico burgers. My eldest son chose mild sauce, but this was too hot for him and it was taken back to the kitchen. His new burger had only BBQ sauce and this was devoured with two thumbs up.

My youngest, who is 5 eats like he is 10. I didn't expect him to finish his Classico burger, but polished it off with easy, almost before my husband. Hubby enjoyed his Supremo with Hot sauce, and said it wasn't too spicy, I would still proceed with caution. He can handle the heat. I went for something different. I had the Chicken Paella, which basically translates to Chicken with sauce, onions, tomatoes, and capsicums on a bed of rice.

There is no attempt here to be officially correct. It was yummy none the less. To go with our delicious main means, we decided to order the "Very Large serving" of chips.

In Australian standards, this is correct. On worldly standards, or at least North American standards, the serving size would be laughed upon. Why do we limit our serving sizes to smallish, smaller, and really small? When the rest of the world use, ridiculously big, a littler smaller than that, and at least 10 people could feed on this serving as the smallest size! We could argue the whole health thing, but really, Australian servings are skimpish. Why are we such tight wads with our servings?? Still we ate them and enjoyed them. On a cold Autumn evening hot chicken salted chips were completely appropriate regardless the serving size.

All in all, we enjoyed ourselves. Two very enthusiastic thumbs up. The service was impeccable. There was no questions when we asked for another burger to replace my son's too spicy one. All waiters smiled and chatted with confidence. We sat in a circular booth with high backs which provided privacy and a bit of a sound barrier which is good for our noisy family. It was a positive experience, and we will be returning for sure.

We ordered:
2 Supremo burgers
2 Classico burgers
1 Chicken Paella
1 Very large serving of chips
2 Refill drinks (yes, we are tight wads! Why buy 5 when we can get by with 2? Think smart and you will act  and save smart!!)

Total : $64.50

PS, we love the decor too!

How did I just get $120 worth of groceries for free??

Let me start by saying this is definitely not a sponsored post in any way shape or form. I have personally accumulated the points and vouchers required to get the above mentioned amount for "free". I'm not sure if I can purely say that I got these for 'free' because I had to shop and accumulate points at Coles and use my Flybuys card in order to get the rewards. That being said, if you shop here anyway, and use your FlyBuy card anyway, then I suppose its just a way of being rewarded. So, how did I do it?

Last week I shopped at Coles and spent over $140. Prior to this shop, I got a Flybuys e-mail offering me a $20 voucher if I spent over $140 which I had to activate by clicking on the link, which I did. So when I did my shopping I got the voucher at the end of my receipt. So that was the $20 worth. The $100 came from FB $ (FlyBuys dollars). You can redeem these via the FlyBuys website and it will cost you 2,000 pts for $10 worth of FB$. I had accumulated over 20,000 pts. Prior to this, I had no idea really what to do with my points but since discovering the FB$ system, I knew this was the best and most useful way to use the points. You can redeem up to $4999 worth of FB$ which really is the best way to use your FlyBuys points in my opinion. I swapped 20,00pts for $100 worth of FB$ and used my $20 voucher to get $120 worth of groceries. It was as simple as that. I also got another e-mail for another voucher this week. So after getting my $120 worth of groceries, I also got another voucher of $10 to take off my next shop of $10.05 or more. Not sure how Woolworths is going to compete with this set up, but I am impressed with this and look forward to accumulating more points so I can swap them for FB$ and if you get an e-mail offer from Flybuys in future, activate all the offers! You never know when it will come in handy!!!

I think this is as close as I am going to get to my Aussie version of Extreme Couponing!!!

Waste Not, Want Not: Garage Sale vs Ebay vs Gumtree

Now that I am working through my build up of 'stuff ' I am starting to consider what to do with it. Some of it unfortunately will need to be tossed, there is not much that can be done with it. Other items are in good condition and can be used again by someone else. Re-purposing items is really effective. If you can give it away, sell it, or reuse it for something else within the home that is the best way to go.

Pinterest and Google have an endless supply of DIY projects of re-purposing and recycling things you have around the home. You will be endlessly surprised as I always am at what people do with things around the house and a lot of the projects aren't too time consuming or difficult.  

The other option is to sell items that are in good condition or give away to charity. If you want to sell your items and make a little bit of money, what is the best thing to do, have a garage sale or sell on Ebay? In my personal experience and opinion I think both can be done. You also have the option of Gumtree which is very well known. However, there are some things to consider in your planning.

With eBay, I would sell clothes, and smaller items that can be posted. With bigger items, I would suggest you sell only the items which could fetch a better price through the eBay auction method. If you don't care what you get for your item, you just want it gone, then I would suggest you go with Gumtree, a garage sale, or Buy it Now or Best Offer on eBay or give it to a charity.  From my experience with Gumtree, most people are searching for a bargain. They are looking for something cheap which is much the same as a garage sale, although with a garage sale people are looking for dirt cheap prices!! On the other hand, with eBay you are competing with a range of buyers and many get caught up with the thrill of the auction and can spend more than they had planned. There are others who just want the item so bad, they are willing to pay just under what they would if they purchased at retail. That being said, I have seen some items go for beyond retail  even items that wouldn't be considered collector, vintage, or antique. If you have an item that you are not sure about the value, you can always research it on eBay and see what like items are going for or sold as a guide.
Selling larger (pick up only) items on Ebay requires some patience. You have to meet with the needs of your purchaser/winner. Be clear in your description that the item/s must be picked up within a certain time frame. Otherwise you could be arranging and re-arranging for weeks. The same kind of patience is needed with Gumtree. Using either basically means that the selling period can go on for some time. A garage sale on the other hand, happens within a day or two. What you can't sell at a garage sale can go on eBay or Gumtree if you wish to try and make some money. Or you can try on eBay first, then have a garage sale with anything that is left. If there is still items left, then you should really let it go and give it away to a charity.

At the end of the day, it really comes down to what you are willing to put into it. All of these options take up your time. You have to ask yourself, how much time do I have and is it worth my time to try different things?