What did put aside this week so you could play with your kids?

How important is it to you that your kids remember the fun things they did with you?

Much MoM Love,

This post written by Nikki Hills, Mum of 4 and Founder of Mouths of Mums®. Nikki has worked in marketing, advertising and communications for close to 20 years and created Mouths of Mums® to give real mums a space to connect and trial and review products for free. Mouths of Mums® was also founded to give brands the opportunity to connect with real mums and truly understand what they need to do in order to deliver products that meet mums’ needs and will therefore be embraced by real mums.

You can also follow Mouths of Mums (& Nikki) on facebook or on twitter – there’s always so much happening!

AVEENO® Daily Moisturising Lotion works hard to transform sensitive dry skin into soft, smooth healthy looking skin with lasting moisturising benefits. Relieve and protect dry skin with this fragrance-free, non-greasy lotion containing natural colloidal oatmeal. Clinically proven to moisturise skin for a full 24 hours, the formula also contains rich emollients to keep skin feeling hydrated and healthy for longer.

The natural properties of colloidal oatmeal (oatmeal that is milled to an ultra fine powder) are known for their ability to hold in moisture and relieve dry, sensitive skin. AVEENO® uses the whole oat kernel finely ground to retain the value of its entire composition. Natural proteins form a protective barrier from external elements locking in moisture for healthy, soft, hydrated skin.

Used regularly, the lotion will provide relief from chapping and scaling associated with extra dry skin. Dermatologist tested and suitable for sensitive skin.

AVEENO^® products can be found in all major supermarkets, pharmacies and specialty stores across the country.

RRP 354ml- $12.99 225ml- $9.99

In the Aveeno Daily Moisturising Lotion Product Review, we sent mums a full size 354mL Aveeno Daily Moisturising Lotion as well as samples to share with their mum friends.

We then asked mums to use AVEENO® Daily Moisturising Lotion daily for 14 days and then review.

Here’s what the MoM Review Team had to say in their Reviews …

For more than 80 years, Naturalizer has understood how truly comfortable shoes can help women move energetically through their day and live life to the fullest. Naturalizer remains committed to designing beautiful shoes that feel as good at the end of the day as they do at the beginning.

Because of this commitment, Naturalizer shoes feature the exclusive N5 comfort system—five essential features that are proven to provide all day comfort: extra cushioning, breathable linings, balance with every step, flexible soles and lightweight material.

For more than 80 years, Naturalizer has understood how truly comfortable shoes can help women move energetically through their day and live life to the fullest. Naturalizer remains committed to designing beautiful shoes that feel as good at the end of the day as they do at the beginning.

Because of this commitment, Naturalizer shoes feature the exclusive N5 comfort system—five essential features that are proven to provide all day comfort: extra cushioning, breathable linings, balance with every step, flexible soles and lightweight material.

If you’re anything like the team at Mouths of Mums, your hair probably tends to take a back seat to everything else … a lot! 

But every now and then, we do still like to get a little dressed up.  Yes, remember how it feels to primp, crimp and curl.  This week, we were all discussing our favourite style on TV right now.  And given the fact that The Voice is getting so much airplay, Delta Goodrem’s hairstyle seems to be the ‘do de jour’ this week.

So, we set about finding out exactly how to recreate Delta Goodrem’s hairstyle.

Here’s a simple, step by step guide …

1. Start by blow-drying your clean, damp hair upside down to encourage volume.

2. Before you start curling, lightly tease the hair underneath using Scunci’s Grooming Lift and Style Comb.

3. Next, grab your Scunci Grooming Velcro Rollers and roll sections of hair from the bottom all the way to the top of your crown. Once all sections are done, lightly spritz the bits of hair which are exposed with hairspray, and then leave the rollers in for a few hours to let the hair set. To speed up the curling process use a blow-dryer over the rollers.

4. After an hour take the rollers out and run your fingers through your hair to gently separate the curls. To finish the look, spray a good amount of flexible hold hairspray onto your hair.

5. For a truly glamorous look, pull back two pieces of hair from the front of your head and loosely pin them back with the Scunci Effortless Beauty Diamante Bobby Pins.

SO, that all sounds simple enough doesn’t it!  Now, all we need is to lose 10 (well OK maybe 15) kilos, lose the wrinkles and get ourselves a big, red swivel chair!

What’s your favourite celeb hairstyle right now?  Or are you totally happy with your own style? 

We’d love to hear your thoughts right here, right now. 

Reading a great blog is like curling up in a comfy chair opposite your best friend, deeply chatting. You’re both wrapped in what each other is saying, and you can’t miss a word. You get comfort, humour, answers and inspiration – all from a conversation.

Conversation is an intrinsic part of being us. We live for the interaction, the connection, the expression.

It’s the same with a blog.  It’s much more than just reading and writing.

A good blog will keep its reader from ‘doing the do.’ The content will almost be a guilty pleasure. It will keep you from the housework, the bookwork, and even the work-work!

And the pleasure isn’t one-way. It’s not only the reader that gets the buzz from getting their regular fix from your posts; it’s also you, the creator.

Yes, you’ll be the creative director of your own project. Just. For. You.

I often hear people say “I’d love to start my own blog, but I just can’t find the time and don’t know where to begin.” The important thing is to NOT get overwhelmed.

Learning anything new can be difficult at times, but just hold onto three things – it’s fun, empowering and uniquely satisfying. They’ll get your through.

So, where do you start?

Starting a blog isn’t difficult. First off, there are five decisions you need to make before you can begin setting up house:

1.   Your neighbourhood – Hosting

This is where you’ll hang out a lot from now on – so it’s an important decision to make before creating your new home. You’ll rely on your neighbourhood for technical support and help.

A hosting service gives you a place to hang (or store) all your data and content on the internet. Think of it as your big, deep cupboard.

You can either pay for your hosting service (recommended) or you can use the free service provided by some platforms, such as Blogger.com and WordPress.com   However, if you use their free service then you cannot have your own unique address/domain (see point 2) nor will you control your own content, because you will not own the domain.

Hosting services are relatively easy to find with a Google search. Important things to consider are local technical support (versus overseas time delays), set-up (see point 3) and reliability.

Starting out you will only need the most basic of packages that includes at minimum – bandwidth, email, preferably multiple domains (if you decide to start more than one blog) and database storage.

You are generally able to purchase your domain name through most hosting services, so that means all your technicalities are with one provider.

2.  Your address – URL/domain/name

Your name and domain is a very personal decision. It’s a bit like naming your first baby. This will represent your home to the outside world.

Take time to think about what you want to say and choose wisely (remember how you agonised over how your kids names would be abbreviated and misused), because it may turn out to be a forever thing.

Changing your URL/domain/name isn’t easy. It’s like moving house – you have to bring everything with you and set up all over again – and you don’t want to lose friends (readers) because you’ve changed your address.

Most importantly, if you choose to use a free web hosting service (see point 1), then you will not be able to have a unique domain name. In that case, your URL will contain the name of the domain host along with you blog name. It will be something like – yourblogname:yourbloghostname.com.au

3.  Your builder – Platform

Another personal choice. Choosing a platform can be likened to choosing the builder for your home. You can have it architect designed with a specialist builder, select a project home builder or somewhere in between.

Most beginner and moderate web users (ie non-techies) choose the project home option – Blogger or WordPress. Both have their strengths and weaknesses.

However, the majority of blogs are now built on the WordPress.org platform due to its flexibility, user friendliness and choice between self hosted or free hosting services. It also allows you to easily do a ‘knock-down-and-rebuild’ if and when you decide to redesign your home in the future.

After you’ve decided on your platform, you’ll need to install the software that will manage your content – pages, posts, images and media.

Most hosting services that are worthwhile (but may cost a little more) have something like a one-click (or more) installs. They are worth asking about in your research. They will save you time, heartache and are a good indicator of a host that will give you great support when you need it the most.

Don’t let me mislead you, it’s a bit more than a few clicks, and you need to fill in bits like usernames and such, but its much less painful than messing around with it yourself. And remember, if you have problems, your hosting service should be able to help you out if you get stuck – that’s what you’re paying them for.

4.  Your decorator –Walls and furniture

Ah decorating. We all love this bit. What’s it going to look like, feel like and say to people when they visit you? You need a theme – a design for your new home. And of course, it’s yet another personal choice – but remember you can change this one later.

The best place to look for free WordPress themes is the WordPress Free Theme Directory. These are free of malware and other nasties that you could get if you just download a free theme from a Google search.

Free themes are great to start off with, but if you want something a little more polished (or can’t find one that matches your needs, colours and layout), then you may be interested in either a premium theme or framework.

Premium themes don’t cost that much and are just as easy to set-up, but if you don’t wish to spend the money at the start, you can easy migrate to one later. A framework is a further step-up (think interior designer and stylist), and requires more work to set up, but provides a more custom look.

When choosing your theme you need to consider a few things: colour; font; header; layout – meaning number of columns, sidebar etc; menus – if they have dropdowns for subpages off the main menu; and flexibility – ease of changes if you are non-techie.

Believe me, this is where you will waste spend the most time. The choice is overwhelming, so it’s best to do your homework first and know what you want, otherwise you’ll get lost looking.

5.  Your community – Entertain, engage or educate

What’s your new home going to do for you and your new friends? What are you going to fill it with? Who are you going to invite over?

Some people blog for bliss, some blog for business and some have seamlessly merged the two. Blogging for bliss satisfies the need to share your life, crafts, thoughts and passions – as a means of self-expression, and this is especially true for many mummy bloggers. On the business side, a blog can be an invaluable tool to promote services and wares.

The creation of a community and new friendships is vital for any blogger, no matter their motivation. You need to create a safe haven for people to feel comfortable, know they are being listened to and that they can share their thoughts, views and secrets.

Take time to think about how you want to create that tone, before you write your first post. And remember that it doesn’t have to be all text – it can be a mixture of words, images, video, audio and handwritten notes or drawings – especially if writing is not your strong suit.

Think about how you want to involve your readers. Before you start filling your home with content, it’s helpful to decide on three things: what is your purpose, who is your audience and what do you want to say?

And always create with the reader in mind.

What now?

What works for some may not work for others.

All blogs have their own style and uniqueness. Each is an expression of its creator.

Learn, read and search, but be your own guide. Remember it’s your laboratory. It should give voice to your bliss (or business) and paint the pictures that you want to share.

It should be therapeutic, cathartic and most of all, fun.

Blogging should always feel like an option and never an obligation (unless you’re a professional blogger who makes a living from your site). If it becomes a chore, you need a break.

The creation of your blog should be an enjoyable, stretching experience. It should take you to new places that comfortably make you uncomfortable. That’s good; we all need that at times.

But whatever the genesis for your creation, in the end it’s about building a home that expresses you.

That you’re proud of.

And want to invite friends over, to visit.

Your turn

Have you started a blog? What was the hardest part for you? Still waiting to start? What will help push you over the edge? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Other posts in the series:

Mummy Blogging 101: Try it, it’s addictive

About the Author: Di Mace is a wildly hire-able freelance writer and ghost; thinker and mother (are they mutually exclusive?) and storytelling fiend. She blogs at WORD SWORDS about slaying your writing foes by using smarts over strength. In her world the straw at hand is always spun into gold and some days working from home, she never gets out of her PJs.

The Dora the Explorer and Go, Diego, Go! fans in your home will be jumping for joy when you WIN 1 of the 5 Prize Packs we have to give away!

Screening from 5 May to 24 June 2012 every Saturday and Sunday mornings, this movie is a ‘must not miss’ for the little people in your life.  Keep the fun going at home with Dora the Exploer: Singing Sensation DVD.

To WIN 1 of the 5 Prize Packs we have to give away, simply tell us who is the favourite character with your kids – Dora? Diego? or …. Boots?!

Entries close Monday 7 May and winners will be notified on this page and via email.  Place your entries as a comment in the box below – good luck mums!