milestonepress.com.au

Well this was Ben’s first year of proper prep (at the school he is doing primary at) so this is the first year we have completed a section in his My School Days.

 I always advise people to update in the last few weeks of school so things are still fresh in minds, and the year has had a chance to see itself out.

 Ahh its so cute,  it makes me so glad that we have this book to remember this all in!

 Favourite

Toy: Teddy (I was expecting Ben 10 - how much older before he dumps faithful teddy?)
Sport: Soccer
Song: Abba Mamma Mia (I probably said this when I was in Prep too)
Food: Green Apples
Movie: Iron Man
Book: Captain Underpants
Hobby/Activity: Playing with Lego
TV Show: (couldn’t get an answer out of him)

What I want to be when I grow up: An art teacher or draw buildings

How we celebrated my 7th birthday: We had a pirate party and invited all the boys from my class came along.

My favourite family trip: Going to Bali for Mema’s 60th Birthday with all my cousins.  I love hotels! (chip off the old block)

What I like most about school: Sport and free time

What I like least about school: Nothing!

Already I am wondering how he will remember Grade One next year???

Well besides our Marketing Assistant, the brilliant Jennifer, the only employees are Annabel and me! So I am awarding Employee of the Month tooooooo (drumroll)  ANNABEL!

Backstory - a while ago, my husband won a business class trip on the new Qantas A380 including 5 nights accommodation in Los Angeles.  The entire family rallied around, as my parents travelled to Melbourne to look after our children for the first five days, then my inlaws for the next 4 days.  Needless to say, the trip was SENSATIONAL, and I have been in trouble for making my friends jealous with tales of a 5 star holiday without kids, so I will spare you the details and potentially jealousy.

 Milestone Press has been a “touch” busy over the last few months.  The Master Plan has been sooo popular, thank you for your support and emails of appreciation.  We love receiving them!  I have to say I have felt my own life more in control over the past few weeks, coincidence with starting the new diary maybe???   We had also been battling logistical problems with shipping orders to stores, as well as discovering the issue with the weak elastic straps (that’s another post!).

So while I was away not only did Annabel manage my reponsibilities in the business, but she managed to contact a whole range of new stores to stock our products.  Plus looking after her three preschool aged children while her part time nanny has been off sick.  Legend?  I think so.  Am strongly considering taking off November and December and making Annabel employee of those months too….  Thanks Annabel!!

Do you remember the times when you were secretly in love with someone, and the absolute elation you felt when you discovered they felt the same way?  That’s how Annabel and I felt when Peter’s of Kensington first started buying from us.  After years of benchmarking prices for Scanpan and Magimix

Annabel: “I can’t believe it’s so cheap, do you think I should get one, or wait until the February sales?”

Fiona: ” Nah, get it now, it won’t get any cheaper.  Its still a lot of money, but it is a long term investment. Plus you can use it over Christmas.”

Magimix purchase justified.

So it is always a great, great thrill when we see one of our products in the Peter’s email.  This is what they wrote about The Master Plan.  I just wish we could write this well!

Every parent knows it’s possible to do six things on a Saturday morning.

If you are sick of planning your life out on post-its, you don’t like stray notes on the fridge or you are worried about forgetting the umpteen-dozen things you need to do before Friday, this diary is for you.

The Master Plan Family Diary is a week-by-week planner that will help you organise everything from soccer practice, to dinner plans, to beautician’s appointments. With a week to an opening, the diary features space for notes on each member of the family, as well as a section for birthdays and dinner plans for each night.

Do you want to know where the kids are playing on Saturday? Sorted. What about when you’re having lunch with the Murphy’s? Covered. Running out of ideas for dinner tonight? Why not flip back a few weeks and get some inspiration?

Some people claim that they can sort out their lives on their computer, but this is a much smarter looking planner that is at your fingertips when you need it!

Forget crumpled notes left by the phone, and go back to The Master Plan.

Features:

The Master Plan has hit the shelves!! After a sensational holiday in Bali we are back and we are running.  The boat with the Master Plan arrived while we were sipping Lime Crushes, they were sent to the warehouse while we were sipping lime crushes and they were unloaded while we were still sipping lime crushes.  OK, perhaps we did overdose on Lime Crushes. The past week has been very busy with sending out stock and ensuring our stores continue to have stock.  We have had stores sell out within a week which is very exciting.    Northside News in Brisbane, Brisbane News and My Child Magazine have featured The Master Plan in the past few weeks, it is always a thrill to see media loving our diary as much as we do.I am looking forward to the 6th October when the diaries start.  Between swimming lessons, kinder, doctors, birthdays, dinners my berry is just not cutting it.  Next year with school starting for Emily I am sure it will just get worse.  I am looking forward to not missing birthdays again!!  

The last couple of weeks have been particularly crazy for Annabel and I. 

Take Annabel for example, 2 weeks ago she spent 5 days in Hong Kong (with Zoe of course) then flew straight to Melbourne for 5 days at Life inStyle where we were exhibiting.  Then back to Brisbane for a few days before a well deserved family holiday in Bali (I’ll be there too….!)  Annabel is particularly lucky to have such a supportive family who stepped up and helped out with Georgia and Emily, but it is still a draining experience.

My own experience is limited to Melbourne, but involves talking to customers while driving my daughter to kinder (its OK I have handsfree), or while on tuckshop duty.  Its when you are madly typing invoices into the computer  before the courier arrives for collection, that the two year old is trying to madly type on the computer too.

 Annabel and I started Milestone Press because we wanted to work from home, so we could do much of the stuff that mothers want to do for their kids.  In trying to combine the best of both worlds, it is still very complicated.  When I worked two days for a bank, at least I could switch off five days a week.  Now I have constant pressure to make sure things are going well.  Shipments are delayed, stock is damaged and there is no one else to fix it, except Annabel and myself.  Now that is a lot like motherhood! 

 We are off for a family holiday for 10 days, and are desperately looking forward to a break.  Milestone Press will keep ticking over though, and of course we are never too far from our blackberries

It has been a little while between blog posts, as we put our new website to bed, we were able to transfer the blog to the Milestone Press website.

 And, as you can see, you can now buy products directly from our website.  Its amazing the number of regional shoppers out there!  I live in inner Melbourne, and still love shopping on the web, as you can compare the best price, plus the convenience of staying home and avoiding parking issues and toddler tantrums.

We started to sell ourselves so we could offer a broader range of products than shops would want to offer.  Lots of people are buying the packs of extra sheets of paper so they can personalise A Book About Me.  We will also soon be adding folders that fit A Book About Me inside to make it a bit easier to keep updating, especially in the first twelve months when there is such rapid change.  They are printed in the same fabric as The Master Plan and look absolutely beautiful. 

We are currently negotiating with shipping companies to expedite delivery of The Master Plan, but we are still looking at the end of July.  Plenty of time really as the diary doesn’t start until October, but Annabel and I are just keen to finally get our hands on them.    To everyone who has expressed interest, we will email you when you are able to order.  Cheers, Fiona

I had a deep and meaningful conversation with my lovely beautician Fil this morning. She was saying how pleased she was that she bought A Book About Me for her niece Giselle when she was born. Giselle’s grandfather wrote a beautiful message to her on her birth. He passed away recently just after Giselle’s first birthday, and while she won’t remember how her grandfather doted on her, she has a special message, just for her, that reflects how much he loved her. This gives a lot of comfort to their family.

Grandparents are very special people, and that’s why A Book About Me has so many pages devoted to them. Not many children have the standard four grandparents, there are step grandparents who have been involved in their own parents lives since they were little. While there may not be a genetic link, there are links made of memories and shared experiences. A Book About Me has space for whomever you want to put in there.

I am loving being a mother to 3.  Zoe is enjoying life on the outside and the girls are thrilled to  be big sisters.  They are very gentle and love giving her kisses.  

I am hoping to start my third A Book About Me tomorrow! I am due and am hoping that I go on time. I think that is everyone’s aim, to go on due date or to go early.

Emily was born on her due date and Georgia was two days early.

I have my copy of A Book About Me packed in the hospital bag so I can get visitors to fill out the pages and I can start filling it out if I have time.

A Book About Me has been around for just over 2 years. As the books are filling up people may need additional pages, which are available and will be on the NEW website very soon. (You remove the screws to add pages)

I better get walking to see if that helps this baby arrive on time!!

Annabel