Hi everyone!

I found out recently that the week starting 14 May is not only National Volunteer Week, it’s also National Families Week – how perfect for those of us at CARMBA! I am going to really try to spend that week (which immediately follows Mother’s Day – I’m sure my husband and kids have BIG plans in store...) focussing on what’s really important in my life and appreciating all that I have to be grateful for. Recent events in my personal life make this all the more timely. Family is something that I have often taken for granted but having lost someone close to me, I just want to hug my nearest and dearest and make sure they know that I love and need them in my life.

I know that days like Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day are often met with open derision on how they’re just commercially manufactured excuses for gift card and chocolate companies to bolster sales outside of major ‘holidays’...but wouldn’t it be great if we could use them as an added incentive to do a mini stock take in our hectic lives and be thankful?

Especially for those of us blessed with multiples in our lives, it is oh so easy to become caught up in the daily whirlwind, focussing more on what on earth to provide for dinner and where to find a clean pair of socks than taking some time to read a good book to your kids or share a meaningful conversation with your partner. Believe me, most of the time I am the ultimate cynic, but it is SO nice to be appreciated and to feel loved, and couldn’t we all do with a little more of that in our lives?

I love checking in to see what’s going on in the facebook world on the CARMBA page, and I always feel a warm glow at the supportive nature of the activity from our members and the broader multiples community. I so enjoy being on the CARMBA Committee, having made some wonderful friends and working to contribute something meaningful to our special club. I feel a big sense of gratitude towards everyone who is a part of this thing we’re doing – keep up the great work, all of you!

On a final note, our big Annual General Meeting is coming up on 28 May, I would really love to see as many of your smiling faces as possible, and of course, if you think you might have a little time to give back to our wonderful community, please don’t hesitate to put your hand up and drop me a line in the meantime.

Til next time,

Amelia

Hi Everyone!

I hope the Easter Bunny treated you all well...I'm in serious need of some exercise!
Are your kids enrolled in swimming lessons at the moment? If not, please consider taking part in CARMBA's partnership with the Queanbeyan Aquatic Centre as we've recently recieved word that the Royal Lifesaving Society is also jumping on board and providing some assistance for lessons for families with multiples. Please let me know if you think you might be interested in taking part in lessons from May onwards.
Are you coming to the General Meeting tonight? I know its is COLD today, but it's always a warm atmosphere at our meetings...hehe, too cheesy? Well, I can guarantee you a fun bunch of people and a tim tam if nothing else.Come along and see what CARMBA is all about.  We would absolutely love to see you at the QEII Family Centre in Curtin at 7:30pm tonight. The Annual General Meeting is also coming up in late May, and as always we are looking for new recruits to the CARMBA Committee. The positions vacant cover a wide range of responsibilities and time commitments from as little as an hour or two a week. Please contact me if you think you might be interested but can't come along to tonight's meeting.
We have a fundraising BBQ at Bunnings Tuggeranong on Sunday, 15 April. Do you have a couple of hours to spare to help man the sausages? If so, our never-tiring VP, Ali, would absolutely love to hear from you.

I'm off to walk around the block...and then come inside for a cup of tea and another Easter egg...

til next time,

Amelia

Can you guess what I'm still thinking about - that's right everyone, how FAB was the Fun Day?! I cannot tell you how exciting it was for me to see it all come together on the day, for the sun to come out and to see so many happy faces enjoying every aspect of the awesome afternoon. SO much work went in to this year's event, especially from the Fun Day guru, Amanda, Alex the showbag and raffle queen and Ali the never-tired VP! The whole committee contributed to the day, so a big thanks also to everyone who had a hand in pulling it all off.
We also had a stack of new members register with us on the day - yahoo! We love new members and it was also fantastic that quite a few of you also renewed your membership with CARMBA as well!
I can't believe we were lucky enough for our patron, Dr Tim McDonald, to come along and draw the major raffle prizes - it was wonderful that he was able to see so many of our members having a great time.
Also, how great was it to have Helga Dalla come along and take so many gorgeous pics? You really need to check out the galleries she has put on her website which you can not only purchse, but Helga has generously put a special package for CARMBA members!
Did you notice that CARMBA was selling Entertainment Books at the day? If you missed out on snagging yourself a copy, email Ali to start taking advantage of the bargains and deals to be had.
While we're on that, did you have a great time? I would really love to hear any feedback you can provide on the day. This year was definitely CARMBA's biggest Fun Day ever - do you have any thoughts you'd like to share? Please email me if you do.

On a side note, in case you have been reading my past blog posts, I thought I might let you know that my valiant efforts to get my 2.5yo boys toilet trained have thus far, well, failed. We are making progress, and I'm hoping to try again in a couple of weeks - wish me luck! As always, any tips

Hi Everyone!

congratulations to all of you are sending kids to school over the next couple of weeks - especially if it is for the first time. I have seen some extremely gorgeous pics on facebook lately of my friends' kids all dressed up ready for day one of 'big school'.
For all of you who have been there, I would love to hear if anyone has any tips on how to entice my boys to get into toilet training. I'm pretty certain both of them are ready; we have established a routine where they go to the toilet before their bath every night. Sometimes even the overnight nappies are dry. They are a bit hit and miss at daycare with using the toilet but when I have tried to start to get them into using the toilet regularly, they refuse. Even the 'big boy undies' and promises of 'special treats' aren't working. Suggestions would be fabulous!
Our first general meeting of the year is coming up on 13 February at the QEII Centre in Curtin. All are most welcome - we'd love to see as many of our members there as possible. We'll be talking lots about Multiple Birth Awareness Week and of course the Annual Family Fun Day, to be held on 17 March. This year is set to be an absolute ripper. As always we would absolutely love to hear from anyone who'd be willing to volunteer an hour of their time on the day to help out with the various activities etc. Email me if you're interested.
I have been trying to get more into my social media of late - my iPad enables me to check in on facebook much more often than I could last year. I am constantly blown away by the gorgeous messages of love and support being shared on the CARMBA page. It really makes me feel so good to be a part of our wonderful group. As always I would love to hear from you if you have any ideas, comments or thoughts on CARMBA.

until next time,

Amelia

Hi Everyone!

welcome to 2012! I hope you all had a fantastic Chrismtas break. I'm quite jealous of those of you who are still on holidays but I think my kids were itching to see all of their friends at daycare and the pace at work is considerably less hectic than trying to entertain my 2 1/2 year olds full-time! I finally bit the bullet and got rid of the dummies after we returned from our epic road trip to Queensland and back over the New Year. Do you have any ideas for me on how best to settle twins who share a room and just love to have a chat at bedtime? Thankfully, they are staying in their beds, but often talk/sing/yell for well over an hour before finally collapsing!

I am so excited about what CARMBA has in store this year. The social calendar is already taking shape - stay tuned for the finer details to go up on the website soon - and the Fun Day (17 March) is set to be sensational! My kids are already talking about pony rides and jumping castles...

Our Vice Pres, Ali, and I are also taking part on the planning committee for this year's AMBA Convention, set to be held over the last weekend in October in beautiful Melbourne. Quite a few committee members have expressed their interest in attending, which is awesome. All of our members are also more than welcome to come along and see what the convention is all about - the Saturday night out is set to be a hoot! Again, I'll keep you posted of the details.

I hope all the dads out there are also aware of and interested in coming along to the gokarting day that is being organised for 11 Feb - email Teresa if you'd like more info.

As always, I would love to hear from you so please feel free to drop me an email with any feedback, questions or ideas that you have about CARMBA. Also, please come along to the next general meeting if you're in town - the meetings give a nice insight into the work of our volunteer committee and we always have a laugh. The first meeting for 2012 will be held at 7:30pm on Monday, 13 February at the QEII Family Centre in Curtin - hope to see you there!

Amelia

Hi everyone,

We’re really in the thick of Christmas preparations at my place – the dining table has been given over to all things presents – wrapping paper, gifts, and the last few decorations I’m yet to place around the house. There is also an alarming number of items I need to wrap...I’m thinking of ditching all that paper for large gift bags, especially for the kids’ loot ;)

Last night the Committee and one of our family’s lovely volunteers got together for the December meeting and dinner. Everyone had a great time and I think everyone walked away very happy with their gifts from Secret Santa, too.

How many of you are travelling somewhere over the Christmas period? We are braving the open highway with toddlers and attempting to tackle a 16-odd hour drive in just two days...wish me luck! Have you got any good tips for keeping kids entertained on a long trip? My boss gave me a good tip, which was to let the kids out for a good run around but then get them back into the car to have their snacks or lunch. That way you’re not wasting time sitting around waiting for them to eat...this of course relies on your kids not getting carsick...eek. I would like to avoid having to buy a portable dvd player if I can; we seemed to manage when my brother and I were little, although I don’t think I can play ‘I Spy’ with the same enthusiasm anymore!

I am also thinking about how I will be ‘Starting Fresh’ in 2012 – have you sent Peta your input for the Jan/Feb edition of Two Up yet? It’s not too late, input is due by 19 December. Flick her your photos, articles, recipes or any other tid bits to twoup@carmba.org.au.

Cheers!

Amelia

Hi everyone,

wow, I can't belive it's December already! This is my favourite time of the year, but I have to admit that it has really taken me by surprise. It seems like yesterday that I was lamenting not counting the number of invitations I sent out for my boys' 2nd birthday party, wondering how on earth I was going to fit that many people into my house when the weather turned - well, it was the middle of June in Canberra!

Christmas really is just around the corner - are you organised?! I have done most of my shopping but the thought of all that wrapping, cooking, cleaning, packing and a big drive up to Queensland with my hubby and 2 1/2 year old boys is frankly, a little terrifying! At least there are some lovely CARMBA events happening in the meantime to entertain the kids and keep me on an even keel ;)

My boys are really excited about the CARMBA Christmas mini-rail day on Sunday, where I'm told Santa is planning to make an appearance. I just have to remember that they need to wear closed-toe shoes on the day...fingers crossed for some nice weather, too!

Also coming up is the December general meeting and parents' dinner next Monday. We're heading to the Kingo Pub again this year after the great success of last year's do. Please let me know if you'd like to come along (president@carmba.org.au) and partners are most welcome if you can swing a babysitter!

I hope you're enjoying December so far, I have put up my Chrissy decorations, I'm keeping up a little tradition I started when I was pregnant and going with wall decal stickers instead of an actual tree. It's still festive, but very cost effective and the toddlers of the house can't wreck my decorations! Friends of mine with small kids put their tree in the old playpen to keep little hands at bay, perhaps we'll do that next year. Hmm, that's given me an idea for an article for the next edition of Two Up. the January/February 2012 edition theme will be 'Starting Fresh' - do you have any great ideas you'd like to share? You can flick anything you'd like to see included to Peta (twoup@carmba.org.au).

Until next time, enjoy the silly season!

Amelia

Hi Everyone,

so, it's been another exciting couple of weeks for CARMBA. I popped in to the New and Expectant Parents of Multiples Information Session (try saying that three times quickly!) on Monday night and met two lovely expectant couples. I also got to meet Lisa who will be running the sessions in 2012, and see Petrina who has been running the sessions and is expecting number 3 next year.
How great is the website looking?! Full marks to Andrew and Ali for keeping up with all the suggestions and changes to keep our members fully informed with what's on.
The Zoo day was such a lovely success last weekend as well - my hubby attended with our boys - I was away for the weekend at a hen's weekend - cheeky!
This weekend, I'm returning the favour and will be hanging out with my little fellas solo, while hubby gets some much needed 'guy time' with a few other dads. We're heading off to Queanbeyan pool for the boys' second swimming lesson, thanks to the Water Awareness Program - can't wait! Apart from the obvious fun the lessons bring, I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm also looking forward to tuckering them out and am hoping for a good night's sleep...the boys are 2 and a half, and are getting up to some interesting bedtime shenanigans lately. While the chatting and singing are ok to a point, the cot-jumping and intermittent visits to the loungeroom are not! Especially almost 2hrs after
Our General Meeting is happening on Monday night - please come and join us if you can. We're hearing all about the eligibility requirements of getting in-home care which promisses to be very interesting. Have a great weekend, and I'll catch you soon!

Wow! What a week it’s been! As usual, CARMBA has been abuzz with activity.

Last weekend I travelled to Sydney with CARMBA’s VP and HOM contact, Ali, and our Family Support Program Coordinator, Alex, for the annual AMBA Convention. It was such an intense but fun weekend – my head is spinning with inspiration, ideas, new friendships and connections with other clubs. It was so great to put faces to names and get to know the AMBA Board.

This week has also seen the release of the newsletter (Two Up), the finalisation of the CARMBA brochure, and this Sunday we’re holding a Multiples in School Forum. Phew!

Have you checked out CARMBA’s program of fun events and activities for the rest of the year?! There’s so many opportunities to get out, have some fun and connect with other multiple birth families. We would love to meet you, so don’t be shy and come and say hello!