Ankle Biters

This is the end, my friends....

2010-04-05T23:50:00.000-07:00

Ok, so finally, here I am, here to say good-bye. The last hoorah. Au Revoir. All over, red rover. The end.

Ankle Biters is now officially defunct. Except for this blog, the website/facebook pages and the now half-removed signage on our car, nothing of Ankle Biters remains.

It has been tough, really tough, and only worsened by the whole bankruptcy thing. However, it is onwards and upwards! Somehow, we have managed to pull ourselves up and into a much more positive position. We are feeling optimistic about our future and the remainder of 2010, perhaps mostly due to the inception of Love Bytes, but also due to the fact that I am spending more time with the kids, organising our house and the like. We may be broke, but at least we are a bit happier!

We never did find a willing buyer for Ankle Biters, although we did find a lovely buyer of the STOCK that we had, and you should be able to now purchase much of it if you drop into Keperra Kids R Us Child Care Centre, in Keperra, North Brisbane.

Now, we just have a few more loose ends to tidy up, and it will be done!

I want to take this opportunity to shout from the hilltops about some amazing people who have helped us through our very own annus horribulus that was 2009. You know, I don't want this closing post to sound too full of cliches and the like, but it is hard to articulate our thoughts without it doing so. It is an absolute fact that we would not have been able to drag ourselves through this, if it wasn't for the amazing people that have bolstered and supported us through-out the ups and downs, and twists and turns.

Particularly, the community over at Skout Trade Fair has been invaluable and paramount to our emotional survival. The girls even met our practical needs many times over with gifts for our children at Christmas, an amazing delivery from Chrisco hampers, offers of advertising and more. So, although this might be a long list, I think that the least I can do to really thank these amazing people is to put a shout out here....

And so, in no particular order...

Lou from Lil Rockers

Lou from Maeve

Skout Trade Fair

Hayley from Little Pinwheel

Eva from Oz Baby Trends

Jo from The Toy Bug

Kat from Charlipop Kids

Katie from I Want Fabulous/About A Boy

Susan & Alison from Agoo

Lou from Buttons by Lou Lou

The gorgeous Kiersten Bissett (mwaah!! x.o.)

Jenny & Dave from Vegeout

Connect 2 Mums

Christine at Little DIVA / Kawaii For You

Stella from Little Miss Stella

Jo from Strawberry Communications

Cate Bolt

Hema from BornSage

Chris from Petit

Naomi from Thula Thula

Miriam at http://www.bubbachenille.blogspot.com/

Liesa at http://www.handmadeheaven7.blogspot.com/

Jodie at http://www.lovemum.com.au/

Heather at http://www.babiesandkids.com.au/

Stella at http://www.littlemissstella.com.au/

Bonny at http://www.bonnibuns.com.au/

Johanna at http://www.strawberrycommunications.com.au/

Siobhan at http://www.downtoearthorganics.com.au/

Tiessa at http://www.jtkids.com.au/

Belinda at http://www.dewdrops.co.nz/

Monica at http://www.beyondpinkandblue.com/

Melissa at http://www.ele-ahbaant.com.au/

Amanda at http://www.stylecollective.com.au/

Peggy at http://www.cookiesandcream.com.au/

Jannine at http://www.natureschild.com.au/

Georgie at http://www.merinokids.com/

Kerri at Molly and Jack, Oatley, NSW

Kim & Simon at http://www.stickytiki.com/

Amanda at http://www.bay6.com.au/

Mel at http://www.thehipinfant.com.au/

Victoria at http://www.downtoearthbaby.com/

Pam, Jude and Ros at http://www.organicbabe.com.au/

Despina at http://www.backpacks4aussiekids.blogspot.com/

Stephanie at http://www.moobeardesigns.com.au/

Katerina at http://www.twinklelily.com/

Jo at http://www.babyjo.com.au/

Angela at http://www.kidsstylefile.com.au/

Tracey at http://www.niftythriftyloveliness.blogspot.com/

Lianne at http://www.mystical-entertainments.com/

Anna at http://www.barefootmagazine.com.au/

Bev at http://www.trendykidz.com.au/

Pauline at http://www.funkyfriendsfactory.com/

Terese at http://www.redhillchildrenswear.com.au/

http://www.ministylista.onsugar.com/

http://www.aussieproductreview.blogspot.com/

http://www.ulitmateguide.wordpress.com/

http://www.tatyourtot.biz/

http://www.babyuniverse.com.au/

http://www.designer-kids.co.uk/

http://www.completepartyboxes.com.au/

http://www.rusticfuture.com.au/

www.cleverstreak.com/wordpress

http://www.bellybeyond.co.nz/

http://www.cackleberrykids.com/

http://www.upinanniesroom.com/

http://www.enchantedgarden.com.au/

That is a ridiculously long list of links - and so be it! It is just a poignant illustration of the amazing people we have come to know and love! If I have failed to mention you, please don't hate me! It doesn't mean that your gesture of kindness was lost or forgotten by us - just that my humble little brain hasn't been able to recall it in the few minutes since I have begun typing this!

And to our "real life" small, but amazing circle of friends Nat & Chris Saville, Louise Peters, Pauline McCarthur, my besties Bec, Kellie and Kellie, Freddo, Nat Tindale, Barbara Bennett, Jill Blacker, Sandy Forbes, Maryann Lister, Fiona Deegan, Tracy Couper, Iona Crichton.

Customers turned friends Shannon Morris, Tahne Brown, and Nicole Appleby...

To the only family members to have shown us true unconditional, emotional support and acceptance - Reg, Sally and Audrey. We can't thank you enough, there are no words that I can say that can get close to expressing what you mean to us.

If nothing else good has come from Ankle Biters; if no-one was educated, or learned anything about our eco-friendly message, if we weren't able to add even one ounce of good to the world from our efforts over the past 3 years, at least, I know this - the lovely people whose lives have touched ours, the (many!) customers who I now am proud to call my friends, have made it all all worthwhile for us. I know just how cliche this sounds, but it is from the heart, and so I guess really does smack of warm fuzziness. We have been embraced, supported and loved, by so many of you. Our lives have been forever warmed by having had you in them.

And so, as my kids sit out in the driveway dutifully peeling the signage from our car, the sun is setting on the final day of what we once believed to be our future. Instead, we have a new future layed out before us, and a new, hopefully happier path meandering in front of us.

We'd love for you to join us over at Love Bytes. I am beginnning to feel right at home once again with a camera in my hand, and loving some of the gorgeous images we have been making.

You can follow, fan, and catch up with us at any of these places:

The Love Bytes website

The fancy schmancy, new Love Bytes Blog

The Love Bytes Twitter page

The Love Bytes Facebook Fan Page

Please join us for our new adventures! We hope that these, and the coming years will prove to be happy, fruitful and fun, and will make the annus horribulus that was 2009 a rapidly fading, distant memory.

You will notice that all of our new websites/pages are bright, and vibrant and a bit on the lary side - well, this is our first step to our bright new future! I am determined to find the "old" me, this year! The me that was optimistic, full of bubbles and exuberance and always ready for a new fun challenge to throw myself at! Gone is the down trodden, cynical pessimist that has seemingly taken over my body lately! I am back, and I am here to tell all of the stress-mongers to LEAVE US ALONE!

We hope that you can join us in spreading our new message and our new image!

Thanks again friends, see you on the other side....

(that is, in the "Love Bytes" realm!)

hugs and bubbles,
tan, steve and the ankle biters.

xo.

No longer to "give away"...

2010-01-30T17:37:00.000-08:00

Sadly, Ankle Biters is no longer available to "give" away as we had originally hoped. We are required to sell it, and if we are unable to do so, the trustee of our bankruptcy will take over and do it themselves. :( It is a long story, but basically, it is now out of our hands and we need to "advertise" that the online business is for sale for the amount of $10 000. Stock will be sold at the actual wholesale value if it is required.

It absolutely sucks that the thing that I personally put all of my energy and love and soul into can't even be passed on to someone in the same manner, and that it instead has become a commodity that we must demand money for. This is so not what Ankle Biters was supposed to be about but we are now at the mercy of our personal insolvency and the matter is out of our hands.

The sale inclusions are as follows:

Going by the figures to date, we have had the following turnover (we can verify all of this by showing you our accounting software and also by linking you to the back-end of the website which will show you the orders that have come in through the shopping cart system):

May-Dec 2008- approximately $25,000 (website only)
Jan 2009 – Dec 2009 - $77,000 (website only)
Aug 2009 – Dec 2009 - $25,000 (physical store)

So, if we use these figures as an indicator of growth (430%), and if we were to maintain the presence both online and in the physical store that we currently have, we could expect that in 2010, the growth would be slightly less but similar, and that the projected turnover for the year, should amount to between $300 000 - $350 000. This is not profit, but turnover, as we have not yet recorded a profit.

Inclusions:

The $10,000 contribution for the business changeover will therefore include the following:

1. The legal transfer of the Registered Business Name of Ankle Biters Australia over to the new owner. It is currently registered as a Sole Trader entity.

2. All artwork, banners, logos and copyright of all of these items, pertaining to the Ankle Biters branding. We relinquish all rights to this work, all of which I have personally designed and completed myself during the past 2 years.

3. Ankle Biters 2300 x 50 outdoor vinyl banner – suitable for trade shows and markets.

4. The main Ankle Biters e-commerce Website and registered domains as follows:

(i) The transfer of the following domains which are currently owned by us:

- www.anklebiters.com.au
- www.anklebiter.com.au
- www.anklebiters.net.au
- www.anklebiters.co.nz
- www.ecodisposables.com.au
- www.steinertoys.com.au

All of these domains are just parked at the moment and we have been meaning to set up dns hosting and point them to the main Ankle Biters site when we had the chance. The domain names are registered with Crazy Domains, and there is a fee to transfer them to a new owner/registrar, which is a few hundred dollars in Australia. I am not sure of the exact process, but we will arrange it if/when the time comes.

We also own the domains of www.waybasics.com.au and www.waybasics.net.au . If you look at http://www.waybasics.com/ you will see this is an awesome range of eco-furniture. We had made initial plans with the company to become their exclusive distributor here in Australia to the point of ordering in a pallet of stock and registering the domain name and posted about it on our blog. They are an awesome company to deal with, and wonderfully environmentally conscious and forward thinking. Of course, as it was all in the works at the same time as the internet scam came to light, we were left with no funds to place an initial stock order with them to begin the distribution. We have had a number of customers contact us and there is definite interest in the product in the market in Australia. If the new owner had the financial backing, it is a product that could very quickly see you to a great financial position, providing you can afford the costs of bringing in large orders via container from China and have the warehouse to store the pallets of stock. We have our shop fitted out with the stock that we initially bought in and can happily show it to interested parties if interested...

(ii) The website itself, which is hosted with Wahm Shoppes in the USA and the shopping cart software called “Feature Cart”. Ongoing costs of the website shopping cart hosting is only about $10 per month. Well, it is usd$7 per month, paid via paypal, and so varies with the exchange rate. There is also domain renewal fees which is about $24 per domain name, per year. There is nothing more to pay, except for your own Paypal fees if you decide to have paypal as a payment option through the shopping cart. Currently, we no longer use paypal and have credit card as a payment option on the site. The shopping cart offers a secure credit card collection service for this purpose, which we log into and then simply enter the customers details into our EFTPOS machine when we are processing orders.

(iii) The website has been fully optimised and installed with both Stat Counter (http://www.statcounter.com/ ) and Google Analytics (http://www.google.com/ ) to give full, comprehensive stats of hits and visits to the website, keywords used to search etc. This blog is also included in the Google Analytics to check the statistics for visitors to it too. We are currently averaging between 3500 and 6000 unique hits to the site per month:

(iv) The Ankle Biters website has a current very respectable Google page ranking of 4.

5. The Ankle Biters blog that is hosted here: http://anklebitersaust.blogspot.com/.

The blog is in the Blogger format hosted through Google. I worked for many, many hours, customising the template of the blog to come up with the final design so that it ties in really well with the appearance of the main Ankle Biters website and branding. I have also designed the layout in such a way that it allows you to enter in banners if you like so that you can sell off advertising spots on it in future. The blog also has links back to the main Ankle Biters website pages, the online community forum and also to the Twitter and Facebook pages too.
The blog is accessed through the Blogger Dashboard, and we will transfer log-in details to the new owner if/when the time arises.

6. The Ankle Biters online community forum that is here: http://www.anklebitersduds.proboards.com/

The forum is almost completed. There are a few bits and pieces to finish up on it with regards to setting up the categories, posting rules, tips and instructions etc. we have not launched this forum yet, although there is a link to it on our main website. It was something we had planned to build and market this coming year. The forum is hosted with Proboards and is free, but charges I think about $15 per month if you would prefer to have the ads removed from it. It looks MUCH better without the ads.

We really think that the forum has great potential for becoming very popular as whilst there are many parenting/mother/pregnancy forums on the net, we have yet to find one that is a GREEN parenting/mother/pregnancy forum. Going by many of the loyal and purist customers that we have had come into our shop, who are never short of voicing their opinions, we really think that this forum could prove to be a wonderful haven for parents wanting to source advice about living organically/eco-friendly and raising their babies/kids with this kind of outlook on life.

7. The Ankle Biters Facebook page that is here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ankle-Biters-Duds/12751612209

Currently, we have 902 “fans” on the page and it is growing steadily, following on from the success of the recent Facebook Garage Sales we have been having. The Facebook page is an integral, and hugely important factor in the Ankle Biters online presence and branding. It is a great way to announce sales and promotions and every time I post on the wall, it is guaranteed to receive a great response. After all, it goes out instantly to 902 live News Feeds, and is then seen by all of their “friends” in their News Feeds as well.

8. The Ankle Biters Twitter page that is here: http://twitter.com/anklebitersaust . We currently have about 450 followers and this increases noticeably when we are using Twitter regularly, and remains constant when we haven’t used it for some time. We have also now linked our Facebook and Twitter accounts so that when a post is made via Facebook or Twitter one updates the other. This is a really great cross-promotional tool as it allows us to ensure that all of our followers on all platforms are kept informed of our activities.

9. Ankle Biters profiles and banner advertising that is listed on the following directories and listings:

http://aussiewahms.gotop100.com/index.php
http://connect2mums.com.au/
http://www.oz-e-wahm.com/topsites/
http://essentialbaby.com.au/
http://www.kidsstylefile.com.au/
http://www.usenature.com/
http://www.essentialbaby.com.au/
http://www.kidspot.com.au/
http://www.stylecollective.com.au/juniorstyle.asp?dir=1&iddir2=40
http://www.kidsfashionreview.com/stylefile/company/ankle-bitters
http://www.usenature.com/babyproducts.htm
http://www.mumzone.com.au/
http://www.topbabyblogs.com/
http://www.truelocal.com.au/
http://www.hiplittleone.com.au/
http://www.ministylista.com.au/

Most of these are paid listings that will give the new owner at least another 6 months worth of advertising before needing to be renewed. There are more listings than those above, they are just all that I can think of off the top of my head.

Another point that you may benefit to know is that many directories and listings are done in alphabetical order. So, by default, with having the name “Ankle Biters”, you can pretty much always guarantee that the listing will be on the first page, due of course to “a” being the first letter of the alphabet! This has worked in our favour many, many times.

We have also been recently featured in Studio Bambini magazine and on websites such as http://www.growingupgreen.com.au/ , http://www.babyology.com.au/ , http://www.mumsgrapevine.com.au/ , http://www.kidsinaustralia.com.au/ .

10. The Ankle Biters Newsletter subscriber list. We currently have about 700 newsletter subscribers. The management of our newsletter is through http://www.verticalresponse.com/ and you pay for it as you go. Currently it costs us about $15 for each mail out that I do – it is worked out on a “per subscriber” basis, so increases nominally as the subscriber list increases. I think it is about .05c per person, per newsletter, or thereabouts. This software handles all subscriptions via the signup form on our website, and also ensures that unsubscribes and bounces are handled accurately. It also offers great statistics about each mail-out, with it telling you how many emails were opened, deleted or how many links were clicked on in the emails etc. Very handy tool to have.

11. A full spreadsheet of all suppliers and the products that they distribute. We will also include an additional file of new products we had planned to add to the Ankle Biters range over coming months.

12. All website passwords, user and account names etc associated with all of the above.

13. Continued promotion of the AnkleBbiters website through advertising/signage on our car for a 12 month period from the date of changeover.

14. Goodwill & a loyal, growing customer base that has come to love our unique products and personal customer service.

Stock:
We also have to advertise the sale of our current stock for $7,000. The $7,000 for stock includes all of the items listed in a stocktake spreadsheet that we can show to prospective buyers, with the true wholesale value of approximately $14 966.80. The items on the list are not guaranteed to all be included at change over, depending upon sales from the business in the meantime, but are given as a rough indication of what is available.

And that's about it! 2 years of our blood, sweat and tears, many sleepless, hardworking nights, and more, reduced to now to a cold, hard figure of $10,000. If any one is genuinely interested after reading the above, or knows of somebody who may be, please email us on shop@anklebiters.com.au as time is running out for us. The $10,000 figure is, unfortunately not-negotiable, and if we don't secure a buyer soon, it will be out of our hands and who knows who might end up with Ankle Biters? :( Certainly, it probably won't be somebody with the heart and passion that we have, but rather an astute investor who can see the amazing potential that our business has, and that would be the biggest injustice of all.

Worse still, it could be totally lost, never to be seen or heard of again, and how heartbreaking would that be?!

tan.x.

Ankle Biters is for Sale, well, for GIVE AWAY, actually.

2010-01-05T23:47:00.000-08:00

To give away - 1 x online business named Ankle Biters. This is a genuine offer. No stock will be included though. We will give it away, BUT it must go to a good home - one with heart, who can & will drive Ankle Biters to the place it deserves to be. U must have motivation & be able to see the potential in my "baby"...

Included in this offer is the ankle biters website, including domain, working ecommerce website, all intellectual property and artwork, the ankle biters blog, the ankle biters facebook page & twitter account, and almost completed community forum. The site already has a lot of traffic driven towards it, with approx. 5000 unique hits per month. Google Analytics & Stat Counter have been set up to monitor this & are included in the give away. Ankle Biters currently has a Google Page Ranking of 4.

Also a full list of product suppliers/sources will be given to the new owner. All of the hard work has been done! Lastly, we will continue to drive around the Ankle Biters car as a moving billboard for the new owner for 12 months following the change of hands. This will give ongoing advertising in the Bris/Sunshine Coast/Gold Coast areas - and it really works, - we have people saying to us all the time "we saw the car, and checked out your website" etc.

You need to know in advance that Ankle Biters is not yet making a profit. By our calculations, I would estimate that it will be another 12 months or so before it is. Ever since we were hit with the internet scam thing last year, we have been struggling to tread water, and I have just spread myself too thinly to take it any further.

BUT, I can tell you this - in 2009, Ankle Biters took precisely $78 523.21 and just over $28k, in our bricks and mortar store, between the day we opened on 29 August last year, up to 31 December (so exactly 4 months really). Meaning that in total, in 2009, Ankle Biters turn over was about $106,000 and it still was not enough to keep us going. Had we continued at the same rate, through-out 2010, we *should* have had a combined turnover of $170k.

However, if we look at the figures properly, and compare them with 2008, Ankle Biters has actually achieved a growth rate of amazing proportions really, as our TOTAL turnover for all of 2008, was only $24k. This means that comparably speaking, our 2008 turnover was only 22.6% of 2009 or that we had a growth in turnover of just over 440% between 2008 and 2009. Meaning that potentially, if the rate of growth continued 440%, 2010, COULD have a projected turnover of $466 400 between the combined efforts of the bricks and mortar and online stores. Or, if I let myself dream a little longer, if that rate of growth (440%) continued for another year, it could translate to a 2011 turnover of $2 052 160!!

Of course, as we just don't have the means to continue to support Ankle Biters for the time it will take to achieve such growth, that is not going to happen, and there are many other factors to consider such as the fact that we are no longer stocking Baby Jogger strollers which contributed greatly to our 2009 turnover.

Even so, it is also worth remembering that despite this seemingly good amount of turnover, Ankle Biters is yet to make a profit, and I have NEVER paid myself a wage either, every spare cent I have had has gone directly back into stock and store fit out, advertising etc. We take the occasional drawings here and there, and allow ourselves the luxury of the use of stock, such as nappies, cleaning products etc from the store when we need it, but that is about it, to date.

Ankle Biters has such amazing potential, for the right person, but they will need to have not only the motivation and the inspiration to do it, but the financial means as well. Money needs to be spent on advertising and marketing to really get the site cranking as it should be. Ever since we were ripped off, sales have been slow and the bulk of our business has come through the bricks and mortar store (which we are also shutting down). It is hard to know if it is because of the global financial crisis or if our customers have lost faith in us since i shared our situation so publicly, but whatever the reason, despite the fact that the hits to the website are still there, the sales are too quiet now for us to afford to carry it any longer.

As I said, we will GIVE it away, but it must be to the right person, one who has it in their capacity to help Ankle Biters realise the potential that it has. I have worked my butt off for over 2 years to make it what it is. Everything about Ankle Biters was done by me personally. It is very hard for me to part with it, but my heart knows that it is what I need to do for my family. It sucks in a major way to be doing this now, and never having been able to reap the benefits of the work that I have put in, but we have simply no resources left, except for my own energy, and even that is waning at the moment....

(Although, in saying this, I would do backflips if somebody were able to come to me and recognise the true potential that Ankle Biters has, and the work that has gone into it up to now, and say to me "here's $10k, hand it over to me, and i will make it soar!". Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, in this world would ease the ache in my soul right now then to be able to hand over $10k to my mother that we owe to her. If our car wasn't leased, I would happily sell it off for $10k and take the train everywhere for the amount of relief that it would give to us. Fact is, that aside from our car, and Ankle Biters, we own nothing else of any value that we could sell to get that money to her).

I want this year to be a year of recovery for us, and sadly, this is the first step towards that. I simply need to get over my own ego, and do what is best for my family, and not keep going with Ankle Biters simply because it is something that I have built and am proud of for my own sake.

If anyone is still interested after reading this, please email me directly on shop@anklebiters.com.au"

Small mercies, angels, and my own slice of heaven!

2009-12-15T01:22:00.000-08:00

Ok, so here's the thing, everybody who reads this and pretty much everyone who walks into our shop, knows that financially, we are up the proverbial creek. Last year was tough, but this year, well, this year we have reached a new level of "toughness", I am thinking that from here on in, I will refer to this year as our Hells Angel year - the year that the tough got tougher, the year that we went to hell and back, and the year also that were Angels on my shoulder sharing with us small mercies along the way that have allowed us to come through it, and retain, what little sanity I still have.

You all know about the "hell" aspect, so I won't bore you by going into that again, instead, I want to focus on the "angels". These angels have come in many shapes and forms; the living, both near and far - namely the likes of the girls at Skout (you know who you are!), and people like the beautiful Miriam at Bubba Chenille, in the spirit form (perhaps this is something I have manufactured as my own way of dealing with things) of my Grandmother whom I just *know* has been sending small messages of support to me to help get me through. I feel her hand on my shoulder (figuratively!) every time I get to the check-out at Coles, needing to buy emergency supplies of toilet paper and sugar and butter, knowing that I only have $29.60 in my bank account and the total comes to $29.56.

I *know* she was there when we discovered at Rainbow Beach a few weeks back that there is no fuel available after 6pm. For sure, she was the one who somehow allowed us to drive the 90kms along the beach to Tewantin, safely, anxiously watching the fuel light the entire way, and allowing us to finally find a service station at 9pm at night! That night was so scary for us - the thought of running out of fuel whilst driving on the beach with our 5 kids in the car, and the tide rising, is not something I want to experience again in a hurry!

A few weeks ago, I was driving the kids down to White Water World to enjoy their final day there before their annual passes expired. I left it late though and had to make a stop at Yatala to pick up some stock for the shop from a supplier there. During the drive along the freeway, I noticed a really cool yellow Jeep directly in front of us. I made particular note of it as I had originally mistaken it for a Hummer, and my kids love Hummers! At one point, I changed lanes and noticed that there was a black commodore to the right of me, the yellow Jeep in front and a red car on my left.

So, I took the exit that we needed to head into Yatala, picked up the stock and upon re-entering the motorway, we discovered that the previously flowing traffic had ground to a complete stop. Cars and trucks were banking up everywhere, with many deciding to pull out and speed along the inside emergency stopping area to get closer to the next exit and off the motorway. We crawled along like this for about 45 minutes, a few metres here, stop, a couple more metres there, stop. I was so frustrated, knowing that the kids would only get about 2 hours at White Water World and lamenting my stupidity of stopping at the supplier on the way there, rather than on the way back. We were only like 2 km away from our destination for Pete's sake! A distance that should have only taken us a few minutes, now dragged out to an hour!

Then, finally, up ahead, I saw the lights of the police cars and the reason for the bottle-neck. There was, of course, an accident. As we neared the accident, my heart literally skipped a beat when I saw a yellow jeep, laying on its side across the middle of the road. In the bushes, turned around so that it was facing the oncoming traffic, was a black commodore. Further ahead, was what was left of a little red hatchback. There were people laying all over the road, and another lady was sitting up, being interviewed by police. Others were still in the cars, awaiting assistance.

This scene, was one that we see frequently when driving up or down the Coast, however, it really hit home this time. EVERY vehicle that had been driving along side of me was totalled. I still am struggling to comprehend what the consequences could have been for our family had I NOT exited to visit our supplier at Yatala. Every one of my babies was in the car with me. Steve was at work that day. Can you imagine if he had've received a phone call telling him that the six people he loves most in the world had been a part of this scene?

THAT day, I KNOW I had an angel looking out for us. I am certain of it.

And whilst I am being all ethereal, I'd like to talk about our shop. It truly is my very own little slice of heaven right now! I have no idea how long we will be able to maintain our store. I am hoping above hope that the angels will continue to carry us in their wings and allow us to keep Ankle Biters open, but if not, at least I have been able to enjoy a Christmas season in our store that is nothing short of beautiful right now!

This is a, erm, "creation" that the kids and I made together & they are hanging from the ceiling, all over our shop!

Our Christmas "tree" - not your traditional tree, that's for sure! I picked it up second-hand from Ebay for about 10 bucks! Not all of the lights work, but it has character!

My display of En Gry & Sif hand-felted Christmas ornaments, looking gorgeous on our little white tree! Merry Christmas! These gorgeous stick on letters are from Fiona Kate. Our little white tree again, this time, naked, in our window display and sitting on a very cool storage box by Fiona Kate! My favourite thing - our Teepee! Gorgeous, Christmasy, Bubba Chenille... Our beautiful, recycled timber mirror... Looking through the glass at one of our window displays... Another of our window displays...
We chose to forego the traditional star or angel atop of our tree, and went for the next obvious choice, a bright red butterfly, of course! ;)
All the priiitty fings in our shop!

And so, whilst I am counting my lucky stars that I have managed to be sheilded by angels through-out this very crappy year, and that I even have my very own little piece of heaven in the Ankle Biters store, I am also now hoping that the angel will visit us once again, this time in the form of the accounts department of Qld Electricity.

I have made a decision, when faced with a moral dilemma, that we would not pay our very overdue electricity bill this fortnight, as Christmas is looming and we have yet to buy our kids even one gift between them. We have had a Wii on lay-by for sometime now but haven't yet made any payments on it. So, with tomorrow bringing us our final pay day before Christmas, I am hoping that my choice to pay off the lay-by in place of paying our electricity bill will not result in our being without electricity come Christmas day. Wouldn't that be fun? A brand new Wii and no electricity to play it! Eeek!

I am sitting here right now, staring at an unopened envelope in front of me from Qld Electricity. I have been procrastinating on opening it all day. So, now, we can collectively open it together...

....Hmmmm, I am so wishing I hadn't done that - "It is essential that you pay your overdue bill by 18 Dec 2009 so we can continue supplying energy to you. If you are experiencing financial hardship, and cannot pay the outstanding $728.63 within 48 hours, please phone this number."

Ok, so guess what I am doing tomorrow morning? Let's hope I have one of those angels with me, in some form or another. It IS Christmas afterall, I only hope that I can convince them of it. If you don't see a blog post from me in the next fortnight, you know why!

And here's the silver lining - at least we can take the kids to our shop, and use the Wii there if worse comes to the worst, as our Electricity is included in our rent for the shop and it won't be disconnected! :) And, thanks to the generosity of the awesome members of Skout, and Chrisco Hampers, our pantry is brimming with Christmas goodies that will ensure that our Christmas lunch is a yummy one!

So, whilst we are spreading the Christmas cheer, here is a shot of Keegan and Zali who were bestowed with the honour of placing the star on our tree at home this year:

At the beginning of this post is a pic of a little felt angel ornament that we have in store. She looks so content, and simple and unassuming, and seemingly at peace. She is the metaphor for what I hope our life becomes next year - content, simple, unassuming, and peaceful. I am hoping that next year, is the beginning of a new wave of happiness for our family, a year of peace, and small mercies, and one that allows us to heal the affects of the "hell" component that we have lived through this year.

My family and I have our fingers and toes crossed that next year will become our "Angel" year (sans the "Hell" prefix), and that we can put this "Annus Horribilus" (thanks to the Queen for that term!) behind us. With 7 people, 4 chooks and 1 dog in our house, that makes for a lot of fingers and toes, so here's hoping. .... and if we can start the year with electricity to our home, well, I for one, will be taking that as a sign that our angel is at work and that good things will abound in 2010!

We are also crossing our digits for our friends in the Bolt family too. As of tomorrow, a selfless, hard-working couple and their 9 children will be officially homeless. It seems as though their angels are holding back for some reason, but they need their help NOW. If anyone can do anything to assist them, please don't hesitate to offer it. You can read their story on Cate Bolt's Blog. , but be prepared for tears, it is a tough one to swallow.

tan.x.

Christmas Trade & other stuff...

2009-12-12T04:59:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone,

Well after much logistical juggling, I have finally been able to work out our opening hours for Christmas & New Year!

Mon 14 Dec - CLOSED Tue 15 Dec - CLOSED

Wed 16 Dec - noon-6.30pm

Thurs 17, Fri 18 Dec - 9am - 6.30pm

Sat 19 & Sun 20 Dec - 10am - 5pm

Mon 21, Tues 22 & Wed 23 Dec - 10am-6.30pm

Friday 25 Dec - Sun 3 Jan 2010 - CLOSED

Mon 4 Jan & Tues 5 Jan - noon - 6.30pm

Wed 6 Jan - Mon 11 Jan - CLOSED

Normal trading to resume from Tues 12 Jan.

Our website will be open for normal trade during the entire Christmas & New Year period. If you are a Brisbane local, please feel free to order your emergency supplies (nappies, wipes etc) via http://www.anklebiters.com.au/ for FREE delivery to your home during this time!

If you are not local to Brisbane, please expect that your deliveries may take a little longer than usual due to public holidays affecting postal and courier services.

So, I am having a 3 day weekend this weekend, (closed tomorrow, Mon & Tues) to allow me to build up some steam for the ensuing 9 days straight of 7 and 10 hour days to follow.

I am hoping that I don't have to have Destructo Boy and his ever-ready side kick Demolition Girl in the shop too much, but if I do, please be patient as it is school holidays and I don't have many willing babysitters to call in favours from!

If you should enter the shop and see me red in the face, perspiration on my forehead, and frazzled hair, it isn't because of the weather, just the exertion of trying to contain a 3yo and a 16 month old in a shop that is currently a Christmas themed veritable children's wonderland!

We have heaps of stocking stuffers and some gorgeous new products that may not make it to the website (I do need to sleep at least a couple of hours a day!), so come in and have a "play" with our stuff! Oh, and those bearing gifts of chocolate will be warmly welcomed! :)

Don't forget too that next week is "Orange" week (starting tomorrow!), and we have some very special surprises in the works!!

tan.x.

Happy Berfdy to me sale!

2009-12-03T23:25:00.000-08:00

Click on the image above to save

up to 40%

on select items as we try to make room for the Christmas stock arriving next week!

Olli & Lime, Nature's Sway & Ankle Biters made-to-order tutus are just some of the brands that we are "giving" away to celebrate my birthday!

Sale finishes Sunday, 6th of December or until stock runs out!

Decorating for Christmas, the eco-friendly way!

2009-12-02T21:01:00.000-08:00

Decorating for Christmas, the eco-friendly way!

Christmas doesn't need to be the most commercialised, resource hungry celebration of the year, if we just think outside the square for a bit.

Let's start with decorating! We all want our homes to ooze festiveness. Let's face it, it just never feels like Christmas until that tree is up and sparkling. But how can we enjoy all that Christmas has to offer and be good to the planet and our consciences too? In the first half of 2007, the US alone, imported over $140 million worth of Christmas ornaments, most of which came from China. There's something to make you think!

Too many of the products on the market are made from non-renewable, often toxic and unrecyclable materials that are not only unhealthy for our families, they’re casting a less-than-festive glow on the earth. They require loads of resources, energy, and water to make and distribute, and often end up in the trash where they’ll take hundreds, if not thousands, of years to break down.

So let's get back to basics. Why not look at those infamous Three R's, in a different context to what we are used to?

Reduce: We all know that "less is more" in many instances. Think about this with decorating too! Do we really need to have so many ornaments on that tree? Do all of those lights really make a difference to your celebrations? Why not try to have just a few environmentally friendly focal points in your home? A beautiful welcoming wreath on your front door, the tree (of course!), and a beautiful table centre piece, will still give that joyous atmosphere for all to enjoy! Oh, and don't forget a spring of mistletoe over the door!

Reuse: Choose decorative items that can be reused multiple times or in new, unique ways. Start a tradition of "collecting" special decorations and ornaments and reuse them over and over - passing them onto generations to come.

Recycle: If items cannot be reused as decorations, recycle them appropriately, or use recycled materials to MAKE your own decorations!

Ideas for Eco-Friendly Decorations

Try to avoid overly "trendy" decorations. Choose ones that won't date too quickly so that they can be reused for many years to come. Regardless of the types of decorations you choose, they can be stylish, sophisticated, and eco-friendly.

Old CDs and DVDs: Apply some paint, beads, and ribbon to an old CD or DVD to make it into a snowman or Victorian-styled ornament for the tree or your windows.

Choose organic cotton linens such as table runners, and napkins rather than cheap, synthetic fabrics and/or throw away paper serviettes.

Decorate with potted plants instead of artificial or cut flowers.

Use natural elements: Decorate the tree with plain or painted pinecones, wreaths made from foilage and wildflowers, decorated eggshells, or dried herbs. Add a bit of glue, some ribbon, and other crafty elements to create angels or some earthy garland. Just be sure to compost your leftovers at the end of the holiday.

Grow aromatic herbs as part of practical and eco-friendly holiday decorations. These will give an aromatic, natural atmosphere all round and have the added bonus of being able to be added to that yummy Christmas feast!

Choose solar garden or LED Christmas lights in your displays and keep in mind the "less is more" approach.

Last year’s cards: Turn old Christmas cards into fun folded or glittered ornaments, or use them as place cards on Christmas day! Or why not try your hand at folding some beautiful origami using last year's wrapping paper?

Avoid synthetics and chemicals: Opt out of Mylar tinsel, which isn’t biodegradable, and spray snow, which is full of toxic chemicals. Instead, use durable tin tinsel and ditch the snow altogether - we are Aussies people - it doesn't snow at Christmas here!

Unwanted books: Got a paperback you’re never going to read again? Get folding and painting and turn it into a shiny mini tree for your table or mantel.

Reusable crackers: Enjoy the fun of Christmas crackers by making your own! But instead of using disposables like new wrapping paper or cardboard tubes, recycle old toilet paper or paper towel tubes, fill with special treats and a snap, and finish with cloth covers (old napkins or pieces of fabric) so that you can reuse them again each new season.

Opt for edible decorations: such as carved fruits and vegetables, decorated cookies, fruit bouquets, and artisan breads for a beautiful menu. Hang gingerbread people, popcorn, small lady apples, cinnamon sticks, cranberries, and candy canes. Or make-up some inexpensive salt-dough to create star- and tree-shaped ornaments. Add icing for detail and hang with a ribbon from year to year. Or get the whole family involved in a gingerbread house-making event and use that to grace your table for the rest of your time together.You can also create garlands using dried apples, oranges, and lemons strung together. And when they break, simply compost with your other kitchen scraps.

If decorating with candles, opt for environmentally friendly soy or beeswax instead of paraffin.

A note on saving money when decorating...

It is untrue that eco-friendly decorations are more expensive than mass produced, less sustainable options. Some organic products may be more costly with their initial outlay, they are also more durable and will last longer than less ecological options. Your dollar stretches so much further. To save even more, comparison shop between different retailers, and try to select locally made decorations to save on shipping costs and the carbon cost of transportation. This also boosts the economy in your local community! Consider making decorations yourself to limit processing waste and cost, and purchase items in bulk whenever possible to save money with quantity discounts.

With clever design and smart purchasing choices, eco-friendly decorations can be just as beautiful and budget-friendly as any decorative choice on the market, and will do your pocket and your conscience a world of good too!

Most of all, have fun decorating with your kids, I know that we will! And, don't forget to compost everything that you can when it is time to pack it up in readiness for next year!

A loooong day at Fraser Island...

2009-11-27T16:56:00.000-08:00

So, last weekend, we decided at the very last minute to pack up and drive to Fraser Island for the day. When I say last minute, I mean LAST minute! It was about 8pm on Saturday night and if we were to make full use of the day, we needed to leave by around 4am the next morning to ensure that we would arrive at the optimal tidal times.

Ok, so I spent a chaotic and late night packing up the car and getting ready for the drive, whilst Steve slept so that he could safely drive us there in the morning.

Amazingly, we managed to accomplish the task and we had a lovely day at Fraser! The kids floated around in Eli Creek for a couple of hours, and even Neo, (who is petrified of baths due to Zali pushing him under one day) had a really nice time, as you can see here.

We spent many hours driving along the beach, and our car, who we call "Serious Black" handled it perfectly! We actually got Serious a couple of years ago just so that we could go to Fraser and camping etc, but we've never actually had the opportunity to go. So we were relieved that Serious Black cut through the sand easily, and even managed to snatch out a hilux that was bogged and had a broken axel! It was great advertising for Ankle Biters too as we had a number of people ask us about the business when they saw the signage on our car.

We had a really long day, admittedly, mostly due to me pushing everyone to take photos everywhere we went (what self-respecting photographer could resist the opportunity to use the beautiful backdrop that is Fraser Island?!). BUT, it was SO worth it! We really needed the time out from the stresses of home, and a beautiful change of scenery, plus, I got to capture these:

Just check out these little performers!

And, the day was not without it's hairy moments either! We almost ran out of fuel on the way back, and discovered that Rainbow Beach has no fuel available after 6pm so we very gingerly limped another 80kms down the beach to Tewantin, grinding our teeth the whole way and sweating it out with no air conditioning, hoping that we would make it! The poor kids, who were totally exhausted had to deal with our anxiety on top with us snapping at them all the way to be quiet as we weren't game enough to take our eyes off the fuel gauge!

Here is some shots from our "enjoyable" trip home...

Hehe, ok, so the one of Steve was a set-up, but it looked so "real" that I had to include it here! The one of Zali screaming her lungs out is NOT a set up! Her and Molly-Rose were fighting over the only pair of sunglasses that they had between them, and this was the result! :) Neo, as you can see, couldn't care less about sunglasses or anything else for that matter!

Those of you who know us may be asking where the boys were?! Well, Keegan was celebrating his birthday in Mackay with his Dad, and poor Jaimyn was sitting way back in the 3rd row of seats so I couldn't get my camera at him! (He was more than happy about this!) I did, however, manage to get one shot of him, when he climbed a tree and couldn't run away from me! And, doesn't he look impressed?!? I think it's because of the reaaaaally bad haircut that he has right now! (and no, it was not me who did it!)

Amazingly, we made it to Tewantin with about 2 litres of fuel to spare! And at about 9pm, we literally rolled into a servo and filled up. Another 2 hours later, we were finally home! I slept most of the way and poor Steve had only his coffee to keep him company as we all snored our heads off. Lucky we'd had the foresight the night previous to allow Steve to get a good sleep whilst I was packing the car!

So, all in all, it was a very eventful, loooooong day, but an enjoyable one, no less!

Now, one thing that struck us whilst we were on Fraser was the apparent disrespect that people seem to continually show for the island. It is a jewel on this earth. One of the most beautiful places that I have ever been lucky enough to experience. I am even more in awe when I consider that people travel from the other side of the world to be able to experience what Fraser Island has to offer, and here we are, only a few short hours drive away! We are so lucky to have it so close, and yet, every time we visit, we see evidence of people who don't seem to comprehend just how lucky we are. Rubbish, graffiti, pollution, people not abiding by rules set down by National Parks & wildlife are just some of these things.

Here is the latest example that we saw for ourselves:

Now why anyone in their right mind would want to waste their Fraser Island experience by spending time watching television is beyond me, but to just dump it on the beach is disgusting. I mean do people not get that they are destroying the very thing that they are traveling to enjoy?! If they took the trouble to drag the big heavy contraption all the way TO the island with them, wouldn't one simply take it home too? Possibly, it stopped working, or was dropped off the back of a ute? But, to just LEAVE it there, like that, on the beach?!

There is evidence of this kind of abuse all over Fraser, and I'm afraid that it could be getting worse. There are regular bush fires on the island now, due to the carelessness of campers who refuse to abide by the rule that says "no open fires allowed anywhere on the island". There is charred, blackened trees everywhere and many of the freshwater wash-outs that flow onto the beach are not their usual crystal-clear selves, due to the soot from the fires.

There are so many things to be proud of as an Aussie, especially the beauty that we are surrounded with, but honestly, the lack of respect for this beauty is something that we should all be ashamed of.

People travel from the other side of the world, paying many of thousands of dollars to witness something that we have on our door-step, and yet, some of us cannot even be bothered to pick something up and chuck it in the back of their car to ensure that the beauty remains. I can see that in generations to come, we will be lamenting the loss of such places like Fraser Island, and then what? We will all get to sit on our lounges, looking at the lost beauty through scenes on televisions just like the one left on the beach. Scenes that once were available to us for just a short drive, and scenes that television can never truly capture. Television doesn't show allow you to hear the birds in the trees, or the waves on the beach. It doesn't allow you to smell the salt in the air or to feel the sand in your toes. Nothing can replace the feeling of the wind on your face as you drive along the beach, or the icy chill of the freshwater on your legs as you wade through Eli Creek.

It is so sad that the very possibility exists that one day, we, and our children, may no longer be able to experience these gifts that Fraser Island (and other beautiful locations like it) has to offer, and I think that the image above, of the television on the beach, is a grave reminder as to why.

Please people, show some respect for what we have in the here and now, because if we don't, the days are numbered and simple things, like building a sandcastle on the beach, may become just another one of those old cliches following the question"do you remember when?"...

Disturbing Martha Stewart Video...

2009-11-24T20:28:00.000-08:00

I just came across this in my travels. This is wrong on so many levels, but the thing that alarmed me the most is that she has used insulation foam for the "lemon meringue" design. I mean, seriously, do they realise just how many chemicals are in that stuff?!?! Those poor little babies have it right in their faces!

I just can't see how anyone could think of this as "cute". Check it out and see what you think for yourselves!

Faaaaaaaaan US Winners!

2009-11-19T22:52:00.000-08:00

And the winner is....

Tahne Brown!!
Tahne sent a grand total of at least 9 new fans to our Facebook page, and as such, she has won a $50 gift voucher to the Ankle Biters store - to use either online or in our physical store!

Thanks so much for your support Tahne!

....And as promised, all of the lovely gals that Tahne recruited for us, will also receive a $5 store credit. These ladies are:

Kirsten Smith
Lee Farrell
Selina Huntley
Sophie Wicksteed
Catherine Farrugia
Michelle Richards
Rebecca Jenkinson
Jessica Krop
Allison Bambrick

Those of you who have ordered from us in the past have already had your customer accounts credited with the $5.00 that we promised. Those of you who have not, will receive yours if you ever do! :)

Thanks so much for "fanning" us everyone, it is great to know that our name is getting "out there"!

tan and the ankle biters.

When is it time to admit defeat?

2009-11-18T18:42:00.001-08:00

This might seem like a simple question to some, but for me, it isn't. I have this stigma attached to me, thanks to my immediate family, that I "change my mind" all the time and that I have this inability to "stick with things".

However, I am just so sick of struggling. I work, tirelessly. I mean, tirelessly. From the moment I open my eyes, to the moment that I can no longer keep my eyelids from closing and I am falling asleep at my keyboard. I am working around the clock - being a mum to 5 kids, a wife, a friend to those around me who need my help, a conservationist, a housekeeper, the owner/operator of a physical store, the owner/operator of an online store, a student at Uni, and lately, a photographer once again; listed in order of my personal priority, but not necessarily acted upon that way.

....and through it all, where has it gotten me? Well, we are in the process of completing all that is involved in filing for bankruptcy. My mother has disowned me. My children are yearning for some mummy time, my poor husband is severely neglected. It is now a "normal" occurence for us to check who the caller is when our phone rings and we have a rule that it isn't answered if it comes up as private, because it usually means another bank or debt collector hassling us for money that we don't have. My house is a shambles and my poor kids have been living on takeaway and rummaging through the mountains of clean washing that I just can't seem to get folded, simply to find a pair of matching socks for school. My Uni, again, is going by the wayside and another subject about to be failed - not because it is too hard, but because I simply can't fit it into my day to even open a book and read a single page. By the very skin of our teeth, we have SOMEHOW managed to convince our landlord to have some faith in us and not to evict us for the $3000 in back rent that we owe.

There is so little of "me" left in ME. In happier times, I was sooo passionate about my photography, so energised by it. SO in love with my kids, and my husband. So ready to fight the fights that the environment needs us to. SO impassioned about child safety and child protection that I wanted to devote my life and my studies to it. SO ready to take on the world and to share with it all of these talents that people keep telling me I supposedly possess.

Now, I am downtrodden and deflated. I am tired, no, exhausted. Nothing energises me any more, and few things, apart from my kids, make me feel alive or bring a smile to my face. I mean, I have had dark times before, I have been on antidepressants for about 4 years now, but never, have I felt so defeated. Everything that I do seems to be just fruitless. It's 1 step forward and about 20 billion backwards. I am cynical, and distrusting. I am angry and volatile. The person that used to be known to many as "bubbly" and "exuberant" is now flat and aloof.

So, when is it time to admit defeat? When is it ok to simply throw my arms in the air and say "that's it! it's over! no more!". When is it ok to say, "right, shut it down. get rid of it all. clear it out and let the debt collectors come and deal with it"? When is it ok to be TRULY selfish, and say, "you know what? I'm over it. I'm over it all."

Should I just package up the stock that I have here that is unpaid for and send it back to the suppliers? Let our bankruptcy trustee try and sell the leftover stuff and pay out some of the poor suffering creditors that we owe money to? Should I just throw it all to the wind and forget what we are trying to build and the message that we are so fruitlessly trying to spread? I just know that if I did, in 5 years time, I'll look back and "know" that we could have been one of the booming eco-businesses - the same old adage - "coulda, shoulda, woulda".

My own conscience simply doesn't allow me to feel that I could hold my head up and be proud of who I am if my own actions result in a detrimental effect on others - meaning, I know that alot of my suppliers are struggling themselves and how can I simply send back our stock and expect them to wear it? Or likewise, allow them to be added to our creditors lists and simply write off our debts to them. But, at the same time, is it fair to walk around under a storm cloud and snap at my kids when they simply want to ask for a second of attention from their mummy, because of all of the stress I am living through? It is not their fault, they are just little kids and it was my choice to bring them into this world. They didn't choose to have a mum who doesn't know when to say "no" and who keeps taking risks in the hope that one day things will turn around.

How long are we expected to try and "stick it out", amassing more and more debt in the hope that "things will improve"?

You know, we are not greedy by any stretch. I sat here and heard a news report saying that Sarah & Lachlan Murdoch just bought a house in Sydney for $23m. Where is the justice in that? I mean really?! Can they honestly say that they work harder than us? Do they realise that they could be just as comfortable in a $1m house and could feel amazing if they spread the remaining $22m around to other families who need homes?

I'd be SO happy to simply be able to pay our rent, and our kids music lesson fees and to maybe be able to afford to go to the movies once in a while without having to spend the next 2 months recovering from the "frivolity" of spending money on a night out.

Is this the end of Ankle Biters? I don't know, but what I do know is that I can't go on like this for much longer. I need to stop this before there truly is nothing of "ME" left of "ME", because if we have nothing material to give, and then I have nothing of "ME" left to give, then what of my children? What do I have to offer them? What can I teach them about optimism and humanity? Children learn by example. It's an old cliche, but it's true. I know this as I've seen it and it is what all of my developmental psychology text books tell me. So what sort of example am I showing to them? "Hey kids, the meaning of life is this - run yourself into the ground, earn yourself a bad reputation and amass lots of debt. Ignore all of your personal needs and those of your family. This is the meaning of life - this will set you free".

Hmmmm, I think not. I think that something has to give, and that for once, I need to simply forget about the reactions of others that keep seeping into my thoughts and just say "to hell with it, it's all gotta go!".

A cuppa for Cate....

2009-11-11T17:09:00.000-08:00

Ok, so here's the thing...

I have had an EPIPHANY!!!

...and yes, my head hurts! lol.

I have, in my garage, about 100 pkts of Planet Organic Chamomile Tea, so about 2500 teabags in total!! We ordered these in for the idiot that ripped us off (see our blog archives to read about it), and I have been worrying about how we can "move" them as obviously, they have a shelf life etc.

They are normally about 4 bucks a packet and I've been selling them on our website and in our store for $2.50, and they are moving, but still not enough.

Sooooo, let's put our unfortunate circumstance to a greater good! I had already thought of running a big morning tea, charging people $5 for cake/tea and then donating the money to Project 18. BUT, now, there is something more pressing at hand! Project 18 could be jeopardized if the family at the helm find themselves with nowhere to live...

Here's the idea:

1. Link to this blog EVERYWHERE that you can!! Tweet it, email it, Facebook it, Blog about it!!

Send it to media and radio stations!! Get our message HEARD!!

2. Ask people to comment on it with a message of support for Cate, Rick and their family.

3. Ask people to donate $20 or $10, 0r even $5 to them by sending it to my paypal address which is tanyalove@bigpond.com . Please add .55c to your donation to cover the cost of a postage stamp. Cause we don't have $1000+ to cover all of the postage stamps that we will need to send them all out.

4. For everyone who does this, I will then send them out one of the yummy ORGANIC Chamomile Tea Bags you see pictured here.

5. Then, we will plan a day, and a time, after Cate and Rick have settled into their new home, and via webcam, I will sit with Cate, and her family and we can ALL collectively enjoy our cuppa tea TOGETHER as a bit of a "house-warming" celebration for them!

O-M-G, I am SO excited that my eyes are popping out of my head right now!!!! Like SERIOUSLY!! How AMAZING would this be?!?! Could this possibly be the biggest collective cup of tea ever in Australia?? Let's do it, let's make it happen!!

Oh, and "follow" our blog for updates on it, or just follow us on Twitter, or whatever, cause I'll make sure that post all updates there too...

Note: This is absolutely NOT a shameless plug for followers!! I am well aware that it may come across this way. To those who think it is, well, fooey to you! Get a heart and a bit of humanity and join in the fun!

Oh, and to the tool in Ghana who thought it was clever to rip off a struggling Aussie family using stolen credit cards, hardy, har, har, because now your nastiness and selfishness is going to help another family in need and boy, am I happy about that!!

I've also just set up a Facebook Group for this!! Please join us!

It is here:http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=172920658044

a very over-excited tan.x.

Where have all the altruists gone?!?

2009-11-11T15:32:00.001-08:00

Giggling Molly-Rose, she's ALWAYS "up" to something!

Ok, so the theme for this post has been developing for a few weeks in my head now, and it is time for me to finally put it all down "on paper". You'd better get a big mug of tea or coffee, cause this is gonna be a long one!

See, the thing is, that I am saddened to feel that altruism is all but disappearing in our world. I mean, REALLY, where HAVE all of the altruists gone? Ok, wait, before I go any further, I'd better define the term "altruism" in the context that I will be using it here.

Molly-Rose again, now exhibiting her "deer in headlights" look...

So here it is, taken from dictionary.com :

al⋅tru⋅ism /ˈæltruˌɪzəm/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [al-troo-iz-uhm]

–noun 1. the principle or practice of unselfish concern for or devotion to the welfare of others (opposed to egoism ).

2. Animal Behavior. behavior by an animal that may be to its disadvantage but that benefits others of its kind, as a warning cry that reveals the location of the caller to a predator.

Ok, so I've titled this post "Where have all the altruists gone?" because, well, that is just what I am asking.

We have been so blessed to be on the receiving end of some amazing acts of kindness of late, and I am so very thankful to those beautiful people who have worked to direct those to us. Without such acts, we wouldn't still be able to keep plugging along as we are, without those acts, our optimism would be completely diminished and we would be crumbling under the pressure of it all. Without those acts, I wouldn't be able to see light at the end of the tunnel. Well, ok, so I can see a PIN prick of light right now. It would be great to see a beautiful great big glow, but for now it is a pin prick and for that I am grateful because a few weeks ago, I was just trapped in a great big black hole, with no end in sight.

So, here's the thing - I have been learning to accept assistance when it is offered. This was a huge thing for me to do, and I did not take this lightly. However, I got to a point where I simply threw my hands in the air and said "Get over yourself, you have kids to feed!" And that's what I did. That is why I was able to accept the gifts that people sent to us and head to Woolies and buy my family some groceries (using donated gift cards), it is also why I was able to say simply "thank-you, it is a wonderful gesture" when a group of amazing ladies banded together and arranged to have a beautiful Chrisco hamper delivered to our door just in time for Christmas. Whereas previously, my ego would have gotten in the way and yelled "NO! Go away, I am strong, I can handle it!"

Zali, looking ever so sweet...

(this happens for about 2 seconds per day, this was a VERY lucky shot to capture! :) )

Simply put, I got over myself, because well, my kids were depending on me to do so. Right now, I know of another lovely lady who is working on doing the same. Her very large family are in dire straits and may find themselves without a home if a miracle doesn't occur within the next 6 days. Cate and her family are proud and hard-working and altruistic in every sense of the word, and yet, they too, are now at the mercy of those who have chosen to go "by the book" rather than to be guided by their hearts. You can read Cate's story here: http://www.catherinebolt.com/. And, if you think you can help, please do so by making a small donation via paypal to tanyalove@bigpond.com or email me on the same address.

So, having been on the receiving end of many acts of kindness, I know that I could not hold my head up high and accept these gestures without somehow, doing something in return, or at least feeling as though I have tried to give something in return. I have exchanged my skills as a photographer, and my design skills and my sewing skills in my attempts to repay what others have done, and now, I am working hard to "pay it forward" and give the Bolt family a pin-prick at the end of their tunnel too.

What I do not understand though, is this. We've all heard about karma, what goes around comes around, we've all heard about "paying it forward", etc, but to be honest, I don't think that these things can or should be used as a reason to help someone in need.

As I posted above, TRUE altruism is

"the principle or practice of unselfish concern for or devotion to the welfare of others",

or if we look at it at the most basic level that is found in the animal kingdom, it is

"behavior by an animal that may be to its disadvantage but that benefits others of its kind, as a warning cry that reveals the location of the caller to a predator."

To me, this means throwing those hands in the air and yelling "stuff it, I don't care if we can't afford it, I am going to help these people". To me, it means "I'm doing something to help, and I don't want them to know I did it". To me, it means "If I get myself in trouble for doing this, then who cares because I know it will help someone in need". To me, it does NOT mean "oooh, I might help out because it will get me some good PR for my business". To me, it does NOT mean "if I help out someone else, it will come back to me 3-fold". To me, it doesn NOT mean "if I do something nice for this person in need, they will then owe me a favour later on down the track".

Zali in an outake & looking NOT ever-so-sweet! She was saying "Look Me Mummy, this is how you be a model!" Hmmmm, well, maybe SOME models pose like that! lol. Excuse the fig leaf, I didn't want to share her Dora the Exploer undies with all of cyber space!

I once had a person who was offering to help us say to me, after I thanked them for their kindness; "oh, it's ok, I know it'll come back to me". A short sentence, perhaps, but read deeper into it - I mean, wasn't that person simply saying to me "I'm only actually helping you out because I know that some way, I'll get it back". Whether it "comes back" in the physical sense with cash, business sales, favours owed, products, services or even with be awarded an entry to "Heaven" rather than "Hell", it still says to me that this person does not want to actually do a nice thing for our family, but rather is doing it in the hope that they will be rewarded for their actions. I find this a really sad illustration of society today. Really, really sad.

On the other hand, even if I am completely honest with myself (and you who is reading this!), I can't say truthfully that I, myself, have ever committed a completely, unequivocally altruistic act. Even when I have given a donation anonymously, or arranged a gift for someone, or gone further and organised something really HUGE that will be life-changing for the receiver, I have ALWAYS received something out of it. That something - well, it is that warm, glowing feeling in my tummy. The goosebumps that run down my arms and legs, and spine. That kind of nervous tension and hyperactivity that comes from being excited about doing something wonderful for another human being. Kind of like when you've pigged out on a massive block of chocolate and you sit back, wickedly thinking that you know it is bad for you, but who cares, cause it feels soooooo good!

Back to the animal kingdom version of "altruism" (behavior by an animal that may be to its disadvantage but that benefits others of its kind, as a warning cry that reveals the location of the caller to a predator), I think that really, that is probably who I am in many ways, and knowing Cate's situation, I can tell you that she is too.

We have both committed to helping a "greater good", and unfortunately, it has been to our own detriment. Cate's commitment is far greater than anything I have ever pledged to do, but I still understand how she is feeling right now.

Cate was told today that she should get off her butt and go and get a job to pay her bills. She was told to stop "hiding behind the poor little orphans as an excuse for being a bludger". Likewise, a couple of Christmases ago, I chose to purchase "gifts" for my family members from Oxfam. For one, I paid for an egg laying chicken to go to a family in a third world country, for another, it was a lamb, another it was school books for a family of children. That Christmas, I felt that I had REALLY stumbled upon the true meaning behind the celebration. I was so excited to present my gifts to my family, knowing that they would "get" just where I was coming from. Well, the complete opposite was true! Like Cate today, I was faced with responses like "you can't even afford to buy your own kids presents and you go and do this?" and "charity begins at home" and "why help out village on the other side of the world when you just had your phone disconnected cause you couldn't pay the bill?" and more. It seems that they couldn't understand just why I would exhibit this "behavior that was to my disadvantage but that benefited others of my kind", and it seems that there are many who believe this of Cate Bolt and her efforts too.

Our little man Neo, loves to play in his Daddy's arms!

As it stands today, the inability of others to understand my outlook has led my own mother to last week "disown" me. Apparently, she no longer considers me her daughter, or my children to be her grandchildren. This is because we currently owe her money that we can't afford to pay back right now, and to her, that is more important than the well-being of her own flesh and blood. When a mother can't even show selflessness to their child, how could it possibly be expected that she could understand why that child would show it to others?

I believe that every selfless act still offers something in return to the giver. Even the ultimate in"selfless" acts like donating organs and giving blood, are followed through with the knowledge that your donation has helped brighten (or save!) another's life. This can be to help to heal a grieving family, or to strengthen your own resolve as a human, but it still, I believe, cannot be considered totally "selfless" as you (or your family) are indeed receiving something back for your amazing gift.

Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that this is a bad thing! Any act that helps another has got be a good one - regardless of the motive behind it. But, I am really starting to wonder is it actually selfish to be "unselfish"? Ok, well, actually, I think that it’s not exactly selfish to be unselfish, but it’s certainly self-rewarding. The positive psychologists will tell you this, and it’s really true: performing a good deed, doing a loving action, makes you feel great, as I already mentioned above, and as I know myself today through my efforts assisting Cate and her family.

So, let's just say that altruism is really a "self-REWARDing" trait to have, and you know what, if that's the case, then I'd be really happy to "reward" myself whenever I can!

I hope that you, reading this, are self-rewarding on a daily basis, and lastly, if you've managed to get through this entire blog post and have been able to actually understand my very verbose, poorly formed late night ramblings then, you deserve more than a "self-reward"! You deserve a nice hot cuppa!

So, post a comment here, and I'll send one your way! A gorgeous pkt of Planet Organic organic chamomile tea will be sent to all who respond to this post, so long as you email me an address (shop@anklebiters.com.au) to send it to! ...because, I am hoping that there will be some thoughtful chatting stemming from this post, and what is a good, Aussie chinwag without a cuppa to enjoy, eh?

tan.x.

PS the shots through-out this post have absolutely NO relevance to it! They are simply there because I took them today and I wanted to brag to you all about just how gorgeous my babies are, as well as to break up my monotonous dialogue and give you something a little entertaining to view!

Just HAD to post this...

2009-11-10T07:37:00.000-08:00

For no other reason than to say how COOL is this...?!

Faaaan US!!

2009-11-08T16:42:00.000-08:00

Ok, everyone, we need to do something about this measley number of Facebook fans that we have!! So, here is some motivation for you all! We'll give a $50 Ankle Biters voucher to the person who can get the most number of new fans to our page!! Here's what you need to do to enter:

1. Send a suggestion to your friends to become fans of the Ankle Biters Facebook page.

2. When you send the suggestion, ask them to post on our wall and say who referred them here, after they've become a fan.

3. Tell them about the comp, and let them know that as a special bonus, we'll give a $5 Ankle Biters voucher to EVERY new fan that the winner of our comp signs up!

Ok, so yes, this could potentially send us broke, but it COULD potentially be a lot of fun too!

Oh, and one more thing, if we reach a grand total of 1000 fans by this Sunday, 15th November (which is STEVE IRWIN DAY!!), we'll give away another Kids On Roof "House" that everyone was clambering to get their hands on during our 500th Order promo that we just had over the weekend! The winner will be drawn randomly from all of our fans!

So get "suggesting" people, I wanna see our fans GROOOOWWWW (unlike my oregano plant that I just found Neo helping himself to this morning!)...

tan.x.

Winners are GRINNERS!!

2009-11-08T06:14:00.000-08:00

STOP PRESS!

Winners Announced!!

A big congratulations to the 3 lucky winners of our 500th order promotion! They are:

1. Order #499 - winner of either a Bacche pack or custom-made tutu valued at $55 is S. Morris of Ferny Grove, QLD.

2. Order #500 and the lucky winner of our Grand Prize - a "House" by Kids on Roof goes to M. Paterson of Pascoe Vale, VIC.

3. Order # 501 - winner of either a Bacche pack or custom-made tutu valued at $55 is A. Mergard of Newtown, NSW.

Thanks to everyone who placed orders leading up to our promotion! We hope that you all enjoy your lovely Vanilla Lip Balm that you have received as your free gift from us and the gorgeous purchases that you have all made!

Busy, busy little bee....

2009-11-07T22:09:00.001-08:00

There is A LOT happening behind the scenes at Ankle Biter Central right now. Photoshop is my best friend with me doing so much artwork for ads and promos and the website, it's just not funny!

Those of you with a keen eye may have noticed that this here blog is looking a wee bit more organised and even a bit pretty of late as I have been working my little fingers to the bone re-designing it! Woohoo!

I've also been designing something else exciting and that is our very own Green Parenting Community Forum! I will be formally opening it for posting in the coming week and we will be celebrating with competitions to see who can invite the most number of members to join, with some great prizes up for grabs, but more on this later! (That was just the teaser to get you thinking about who to invite!).

Sadly, it has been sooooo quiet on our website of late and as such the prizes for the 499th, 500th and 501st customer orders are STILL up for grabs! This could be your lucky day! Grab yourself some half-price organic cotton Bacche clothing and you could bag yourself some awesome prizes too!

As well as the Bacche sale, today we are commencing our Christmas promotion. I'm not letting the cat out of the bag just yet, but what I will say is that it will be a very COLOURFUL Christmas around these parts!

Keep an eye out for our new products too everyone! In the next couple of we weeks we will be taking delivery of a beautiful range of Under The Nile toys & clothing, the totally awesome Ecococoon cups, the full range of very funky Rock-A-Bye Baby cds (lullaby renditions of your favourite rock bands!), more eco and wooden toys than you can poke a stick at, recycled grow-a-note Christmas cards, and I am very excitedly awaiting another gorgeous delivery from none other than the beautiful Miriam at Bubba Chenille just in time for Christmas!

Lastly, I have been having a wonderful time getting to know Lou from Lil Rockers! Lou and I have been nattering away about all sorts of things and I am honoured to be photographing some of her range of products for her in coming days! Likewise, I will be giving my camera a bit of a work out in support of Cate Bolt and Project 18 too.

This leads me to my final point. I sincerely hope to do all that I can to assist Cate in realising her and her families goal of raising the funds that they need to get their orphanage and orangutan refuge off the ground in Indonesia. As part of this, I am acting on behalf of Cate to accept donations in the Brisbane area at our store. For further information about what is needed by way of donations, please contact Cate Bolt with your request. However, for those who are in the know already, please deliver or address your donations to:

Project 18 Donations
c/-Ankle Biters
Shop 14, 51 McGinn Road
Ferny Grove Q 4055

Please also take the time to make a small cash donation the Project 18 website. You can do so via Paypal and even small donations such as $5 or $10 are GRATEFULLY accepted!

The Bacche BIG sale on NOW!

2009-11-07T07:05:00.000-08:00

Hello to all of our loyal followers!

We are having a fantastic sale right NOW! All Bacche organic cotton clothing is HALF PRICE and NO that was NOT a typo!! Half price while stock lasts! Get in quick! http://www.anklebiters.com.au/

Don't forget also that we are yet to reach our 500th sale! Only a few more to go though and the lucky winners will be receiving their goodies! You gotta be in it to win!

Lastly, I am so excited to announce that the Ankle Biters Green Parenting Community forum is almost complete! Yup, that was a surprise to some of you I know! Soon you'll be able to chat away about all things Green, all things Parenting and/or BOTH, to your hearts content in our own littlel universe! Watch this space for more details...

Tan. (The Queen Bee) :)

The absolute end for homebirth in Australia?!?!

2009-10-30T17:10:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

I have just received an urgent email in my inbox. If you are a supporter of homebirth or even just of the woman's right to CHOOSE homebirth, please read on and do all that you can to support this. It really is at a catastrophic point right now and as Aussie mum's we really need to be heard!

By effectively making homebirth illegal in Australia, it will put mums and their bubs further at risk as many ladies will choose to go "underground" with their births possbily preventing them from the adequate care that a wonderful midwife could usually provide them with. This has happened in the US, and it is a terrible, and some times tragic thing!

The birth of a baby is not an illness. It is a miraculous, blessed event that should be experienced in the way that makes the mum-to-be comfortable, safe and relaxed. If birthing in a hospital is the way of achieving this, then that is great (all of mine were birth centre or hospital births and I don't have any regrets). However, if a mum-to-be dreams of a beautiful homebirth then that option should be available to her as well!

Society has become so litigious and people seem to get so hung up on things that we are moving further and further away from nature and all that Mother Earth has provided us with. The contrast of a mum on a bed in stirrups in a stark, white hospital room, with machinery and tubes, fluro lights and an (often male) obstetrician gowned, and gloved and wearing a protective mask (!) to the scene of a cosy mattress on the floor of a family home with soft music and candles and drawn curtains and the buzz of family out in the kitchen making preparations to welcome their new addition, is so obvious, it doesn't even need to be stated!

Some politicians (most of whom have never given birth and are not midwifery or medically trained) would have us all believe that home births are a scene of chaos and devestation and blood and all things gory and tragic. In reality, that is not the case and common sense (and statistical evidence!) will tell you that too.

Please support this cause if you believe in CHOICE! You don't have to be a huge home birth advocate, but in my opinion, every woman should have the CHOICE to choose the environment in which their baby will enter the world and no politician in Canberra has the right to take that away.

Here is the email that I received:

"Dear All

We have just (and yes I mean in the last 24 hours) been advised that Nicola Roxon will put amendments to the midwifery legislation that will REQUIRE a midwife claiming Medicare to work WITH either an Obstetrician or GP. It is not work FOR (ie in their office) but it will be to demonstrate that you work WITH.

As we all know this spells the end of midwifery practice as we know it, and IT IS THE ABSOLUTE END OF PRIVATE HOMEBIRTH.

I have been feeling that something very bad was around the corner and that is why I knew I had to re-invigorate What Women Want. In my heart I believe the only way we will win this is to unite like never before in a formal political force and meet these pathetic politicians AT THE BALLOT BOX.

We are now furiously contacting politicians for support and the response has not been overwhelmingly positive. The Libs seemed to think this would always be the case.

After an excellent campaign by so many wonderful women, we are in such a desperate position.

I have pasted the details for joining WWW below. We need 500 members by the end of the week (yes Friday!!!) We have half so if you want to be part of a federal election campaign for women's rights please join us.

Could people please FORWARD this FAR AND WIDE.

In solidarity

Justine
Justine Caines - Founder
What Women Want (Australia) Inc

To maintain our registration as a political party, WWW needs 500 members by October 30, yes very soon!

Are you interested in joining?

Membership is $20 per year

Proceed directly to Paypal site

And then click on the individuals tab

Then "send Money" tab then send money to a friend and type in this address

paypal@whatwomenwant.org.au

Then send a membership form in if you are new (attached to this message). If you are renewing just send an email to wwwmembership@gmail.com with your details and payment advice)

Direct Credit transfer $20 into the WWW Account: Name: What Women Want (Australia) Inc BSB: 062-598 A/c 10132892- then send a membership form in if you are new. If you are renewing just send an email to wwwmembership@gmail.com with your details and payment advice)

Send a $20 cheque or Money order to WWW PO Box 625 SCONE NSW 2337 then send a membership form in if you are new If you are renewing just send an email to wwwmembership@gmail.com with your details and payment advice). "

Ok, hopping off my soapbox now,
tan.x.

A poultry little tale...

2009-10-27T00:48:00.000-07:00

Looking out my kitchen window this morning, cuppa in hand, I discovered that our back yard had become Chooky Paradise over night!

Thanks to the gorgeous down-pour last night, our yard became one massive playpen for our girls, and they were lapping it up! Just look how happy they are:

And so, on that note, I vowed that today I would FINALLY blog about our gals! I have been meaning to do it for ages, and we have now had them for 21 weeks, and they are yet to grace this page! How remiss of me, they are part of the family!

So, I went to work today gathering all of the pics I've been shooting of them since we welcomed them, and I am soooooooo sad to say that I can't find most of them! Between shooting for Bacche and a million other things, I think that I have deleted them from memory cards thinking that I had stored them onto my hard drive and not actually done it! :( I had the most adorable pics of them when they were only a day old, and at various intervals whilst they were still in their little brooder box, and one particular shoot I had Jaimyn, my eldest, cuddling his in the chooky pen and it was sooooo cute! Fingers crossed that I will find them in my travels one day when I am searching for something else amdist the perpetual clutter and chaos that constitutes my various computers!

Ok, so for now, you will all have to be content with some more recent shots of them! And so, without further ado, I would formally like to introduce you to our chookies aka "The girls"!

1. Fluffy and cuddly as can be is our Light Sussex, "Peckie". We coined her name for obvious reasons, namely because she has taken to the habit of pecking at the wart on Molly-Rose's knee! :) She also has a weird obsession with pecking my toes when they are painted with red nail polish! Peckie is Zali's chooky, and she is so soft to touch!

2. Next is "Ebony". Ebony is a Barnevelder and her beautiful lacey patterned feathers are characteristic of this. She is also Jaimyn's chook. He wanted to name her "Blacky" which I convinced him was extremely un-original. Come to think of it, so is Ebony, but at least it is a little more sophisticated than "Blacky". Her feathers have this gorgeous golden shimmer when the sun hits them at just the correct angle. She is divine! Hey, how would that be for a name - "Shimmer"!? Maybe I'll suggest that to Jaimyn! Poor girl, she'll be having a major identity crisis with all of these name changes!

3. The third of our girls is "Speedy", again, for obvious reasons! (note to self: encourage children to think "outside the square"!). Speedy is Molly-Rose's chooky. She is a Plymouth Rocks, hence the stripes. She is bloody hard to catch, and loves to let you just near enough that you think you can confidentally grab her before she bolts, usually leaving you bum up, with a face full of dirt and chook poo!

4. Lastly, we meet "Heather"! Why "Heather"? Well, because it rhymes with feather, of course! And Kudos to my son, Keegan for thinking of the name all by himself! Finally, one of my kids comes up with something at least a little bit imaginative!

The lovely Heather is the only one left of our original girls and is a hybrid Isabrown. She is also responsible for THIS:

That there egg is our very first ever gift from our chookies! It was discovered on Monday morning 19th October, and judging by the state it was in, we're thinking that there was a good amount of straining and hard work gone into getting that out! This is because yes, those are some pretty decent chooky, erm, skid marks, you are looking at there (excuse the expression!). The discovery was made on the day that our chookies turned precisely 20 weeks old, and they are supposed to begin to lay at 20 weeks, so we are pretty proud of their impeccable timing!

After the joyous discovery of our very first egg, the kids of course launched into a tirade of arguments over just whose chook was the "gift-giver"! It was even suggested that we separate each chook into their very own pens until another egg was discovered so that we could work out who the culprit was! Well, we are glad to say that the issue sorted itself out pretty quickly as we have been noticing that Heather is spending pretty much every morning roosting in the coop whilst the others are scratching about merrily, and only comes out after a nice warm egg is deposited in the laying box for us to collect!

Upon doing some further research, we also discovered that she, being the only hybrid of the lot is more likely to be a "good lay", ooops, "good layER" hehe. So, the mystery was solved! Much to Jaimyn's consternation, Keegan has been eagerly gloating since the laying began about just how much cooler his chicken is than anybody elses, so the other kids are impatiently awaiting the day that they are greeted with more than one egg when they tend to the chooks.

I might add that despite being the only one whose chooky is giving him said "gifts", Keegan is the most difficult to motivate in the care of the chooks and we have to spy on him each time it is his turn to tend to them to make sure he is completing all of the required tasks thoroughly! The sneaky little so and so will do ANYTHING to get out of doing it but one utterance of the "b" word quickly gets him moving! (The "b" word stands for "banning" and is in reference to Keegan's use of the computer, his DS, the Xbox and the TV and basically any other computerised gadget available in the house!).

Ok, so despite a sad start (3 of our original 4 day old chickens died within 2 days of receiving them from an unknown virus and were replaced by the ones that we have now), our girls are proving to be such wonderful pets! Scruffy our Maltese x Foxy loves them too and has spent the past month playing bodyguard and scaring off the menacing Magpies that keep swooping them each morning! He's a pretty scary looking dog our Scruffy, I wouldn't want to get in his way either, being a huge Maltese and all!

So, a word of warning to anyone who is considering getting chooks! Yes, they are awesome for ridding you of your kitchen scraps! Yes, they give you yummy fresh eggs! Yes, they are such a great easy to care for pet and they produce great fertiliser... HOWEVER, that fertiliser doesn't come from nowhere you know! That fertiliser is a result of the fact that they poo aLOT!! I cannot emphasise this enough!! Our backyard is so full of landmines we never attempt to enter it without shoes, or if we do, we do so at our own risk and fully expecting the inevitable "Code Brown"! The kids have a new chant that they like to call out when they see someone standing still with chook poo oozing through their toes, it goes something like this: "Code Brown! Code Brown! Sound the alarm! Waargh! Waargh! Waargh!" They seem to take GREAT joy in leaving the poor victim stranded there in the back yard whilst running up the stairs to tell me of the impending horror faced by the "Code Brown-ee". Worst still is the fact that Neo, who STILL is not walking, seems to take great fascination with the land mines and we have had MANY close calls where a handful of fresh, warm chook poo was within centimetres of becoming his morning tea! It was totally FOWL (pun intended)!

Well, we came up with an EGGSELLENT idea and we installed some, you guessed it, CHICKEN WIRE around the shaded pergola area! Now, it all makes sense! The penny has finally dropped for me and I understand just why that stuff is called "chicken wire"! It ain't pretty, but it works, and at least we can step out our back door and only have to worry about stepping into the dogs bowl and half-eaten dog food rather than chicken poop! :)

Food - ok, well our chooks are pretty spoilt and are fed on only 100% organic laying mash, which was previously 100% organic baby chicken food. We have discovered that when it comes to kitchen scraps they aren't keen on anything that is GREEN! HOWEVER, they ADORE red! Strawberries cause all manner of chaos when we scatter them in the backyard, and as mentioned above, my red toe nails regularly feel the brunt of their excitement too. For a fun morning, place a quarter of a watermelon in the middle of the grass and watch them DESTROY it! It is such a laugh and amazing to see what is left (ie. nothing but a paper thin piece of the GREEN skin that they won't eat!) at the end of the fun!

Naturally, they LOVE worms too, and it is a free-for-all whenever it is time for us to dig a spot to bury our Bokashi waste and they see the wriggling going on in the soil! (Watch during the next week as I will be posting about our Bokashi experiences too!)

Ok, so before I send you all to sleep with my prattling on, I'd better share some more pics with you:

Here they are in chooky paradise, getting to work laying some of the aforementioned land mines as Steve gets to work in the background cleaning their coop:

And here is Neo, giving Peckie a "gentle" haircut...

Run, Peckie, Run!

(I think she'd better be a faster mover when he learns how to walk!)

Their pad:

A bit of bling for their pad, and despite appearances, this is not a wind vane! It is actually a chooky compass! The arrow says "this way to the roosters, girls!"!

Neo, chillin' with his crew, when they were about 6 weeks old:

And again, last week on the maiden egg laying day (on a side note, look how brown the grass is compared to the first shot above the rain we had last night is MUCH needed):

And finally, a family portrait:

Ok, enough from me, this has turned into the Ben Hur of blog posts! If I haven't convinced you by now to get THE most eco-friendly pets in the world, then nothing will, but at least I had a very eggstraordinary time trying!

PS we live smack-bang in the middle of the 'burbs in Brisbane, so you can't use living in the city as an excuse either!

Who wants their own home... for FREE?!?!

2009-10-23T02:12:00.002-07:00

Ok, well, maybe not a HOME, but how about a HOUSE?!?!

We are very near to processing our 500th order on the Ankle Biters website!! Who would have known when we took our first order in May of last year that we would have had the year that we have!

Ankle Biters has been evolving constantly and will continue to evolve and hopefully to grow, with a beautiful, loyal customer base of like-minded mums and dads who value and respect the planet that both we, and our little ones inhabit!

I have been honoured to have met so many wonderful people in my travels since Ankle Biters began, and I am so excited to have reached this milestone!

Sooooo, as a toast to, well, US, we are celebrating with the following great offers to our customers:

1. EVERY order received on the Ankle Biters website between now and our 500th order clicking over, will receive a complimentary Bee Natural Vanilla Lip Balm (rrp $5.40), to show you our thanks for supporting us!

2. Every order (excluding all BabyJogger items and bulk boxes of nappies) over $50.00 received on the Ankle Biters website between now and our 500th order clicking over, will be charged the discounted FLAT RATE of postage of only $10.00!

3. The VERY lucky customer to place order #500 will become the lucky recipient of their very own, brand new Kids On Roof "House", worth $86.00 plus FREE delivery of it to your door!

note: We love the "HOUSE", they are tough as nails, believe me! Our demo one that lives outside our shop has been blown from one end of our shopping centre to the other, courtesy of the dust and wind storms of the previous few weeks and that thing continues to stand proudly!

Every child that comes into our shop has a wonderful time in our "HOUSE" and always leaves their autograph on it before they leave. We are sure that the lucky winner of the "HOUSE" will enjoy it just as much!

4. Now we know how much it sucks to "just" miss out on a prize, and so, as a consolation, we are offering the customers who place order #499 and #501, their choice of either a boys Bacche organic clothing pack OR a gorgeous custom-made Ankle Biters tutu, both valued at rrp $55.00!

So, get ordering folks, there are prizes to be won!

And follow our tweets through-out the weekend as we keep you updated on who the lucky prize winners are!

PS Don't forget to check out all of the great new products we have added over the past week! You can find them right HERE!

Keep watching that page as we are adding a STACK of new products through-out the entire weekend too!

My big girl is 7 - how the heck did THAT happen?!?!

2009-10-08T20:54:00.000-07:00

I always get really reminiscent when it is one of my kids birthdays, but for some reason, when Molly-Rose turned 7 on Sunday, I was more so than usual. Perhaps it was due to all of the stressful times we have been experiencing of late, but I really started to take a long hard look at our family and the gorgeous kids that we have been blessed with.

So much so that I went back to my old stomping grounds over at the Essential Baby website and looked up the birth story I had written just after Lolly was born. It gave me goosebumps to reread it! It was a bit weird actually as I reference my "DH" (dear husband) many times in the story, and I now have a NEW "DH". It seems like a lifetime ago that I welcomed my little Lolly into our then family! It is ironic that the stresses that Lolly's dad and I were experiencing then as a couple seem to pale into insignificance when I consider the stresses that Steve and I are facing now. If only I'd known then what the future would bring!

Anyways, I am not going to dwell any longer on this as I am trying to be optimistic and devote much less time on our blog to negative things. Sooo, I actually want to share with you all the birth story that I wrote for my little Lolly as a tribute to her 7th birthday and her entrance into this life.

Rather than post the entire thing here (it is quite long!), I will link to it, and you can decide yourselves if you wish to read it in its entirety or not. It is a very personal account of her entrance to the world and I hope that you all enjoy the read:

Molly-Rose's birth story

And now, as further tribute to my beautiful girl, here is a collection of images that I shot of her on Sunday, her birthday, as she enjoyed the gorgeous gifts that our family and friends gave her... I am so thankful to have been given the gift of being a photographer when we have occasions like this. The collection of images I have of my kids are absolutely the most precious thing that I "own"...

Wearing her new hair clips from the wonderful Jodie at

Love Mum:

With her gorgeous "big girl" perfume and shampoo and conditioner from the lovely ladies at Petit:

With her cute little cup cake maker that her Daddy sent to her:

Lolly showing us her "action girl" moves with her punching bag from Granpa Reg & Grandma Sally:

Still the action girl but with Jaimyn observing in the background and Zali chucking a tantrum as "me want to punch too!":

Blowing out the candles, careful Lolly, don't BURN THE HAIR!! note to self: never attempt to make a "turtle" birthday cake 20 mins before the grandparents arrive. The results are disastrous!

(...and why would she request a turtle for a cake anyways?!?):

Ever the poser...

You can see her gorgeous Thula Thula shorts from Love Mum here too:

Lolly is such a cheeky little sod, but you can't help but love her spunk!

You may be interested to know that Molly-Rose's two birthday "requests" were for

a) a punching bag and boxing gloves and
b) a metal detector!

Well, her Granpa Reg bought her the bag/gloves, and we managed to scrape together for the metal detector. She was one VERY excited little girl, and not a Barbie or fairy in sight! Lolly is a self-proclaimed "action girl" and despite her pretty long hair, she is one of the most UN-girly girls I have ever met!

Boy does she go hell-for-leather on that punching bag - I hope it is a good one cause if it isn't, I don't think it will last for long with her kicks and punches! As for the metal detector, well, she hasn't made her fortune yet but we do have a growing pile of a very motley collection of nuts and bolts and bits of tin that she has found in the bush behind our house!

Happy Birthday to my BIG GIRL!

Bornsage is HERE!!

2009-10-06T16:42:00.000-07:00

We are excited to announce that we are the VERY FIRST stockist of Bornsage Organic Cotton Clothing in Australia! The collections are available NOW by clicking on the image below...

The daily grind in 2009...

2009-10-01T23:45:00.000-07:00

Why aren't there enough hours in the day? Like seriously, if only I didn't have to sleep, I think that I may actually scratch the surface of the volume of work that I have to try and get through!

I literally wake in the morning, and if discovered that I have slept in until like 8am (due unusually tired kiddies), I chastise myself all day for wasting those precious hours between 5am and 8am which I find to be the most productive time for me to work in!

With school holidays now coming to an end, and with this in mind, I have decided to throw my hands in the air and shreak "Bugger it!". Tomorrow, Saturday, I am going to close the shop for the day. I simply must get some bookwork done and I am literally drowning in my office amid new products that simply won't sell themselves if I don't hurry up can get them up on the website!

Then, we have to consider the whole "modern day mum guilt" trip that most of us mums find ourselves shouldered with in this day and age. We are much more independent and forward thinking than our predecessors and there are few of us now who are or would be content to simply being a "stay at home mum". By the same token, there are those of us who feel the burden of guilt for not helping to pay the bills if we do take on that role.

So, here it is, this is what we, as mums in the year 2009 have to wade through on a daily basis....

a) guilt for staying at home and not contributing to the bills OR

b) guilt for staying at home and "wasting" our hard-earned educations on being a "housewife" OR

c) guilt for going out and working and contributing to the bills but putting our kids in day care OR

d) guilt for building a work at home business so that we can stay at home with the kids, and then finding ourselves still not spending enough quality time with them anyways! That reliance on the dreaded box in the lounge room that turns our kids into zombies is something that most of us would be embarrassed to admit OR

e) possibly worst of all, more GUILT, when none of the above seemingly succeeds and we find that we are still struggling financially, and emotionally to maintain a happy, healthy household! When despite our efforts, lack of sleep, hoarse throats from yelling at the kids, ingrained fear to answer the phone in case it is someone demanding money, more lack of sleep, putting on the daily facade that you are uber-organised, hyper-confident and of course, SUPREMELY happy with the situation!

Phew! So, where do the Dads fit in here?! The always hard-working, ever-loving, selfless (cough!) dads who head out to work in the morning with their lunches neatly packed and clothes nicely ironed, only to return 9 hours later to a lovely meal on the table, a house full of smiling kids, all ready for bed with hair neatly brushed and freshly bathed. Oh, and not to forget to be greeted by the smiling mum (hiding her true feelings behind the aforementioned facade) waiting with arms opened wide for that welcome home hug and kiss...

Oh, wait, I digressed into my little fantasy world there for a moment... Because, in my house, my poor, long suffering hubby runs out the door each morning, late for work, usually leaves his lunch of a can of tinned tuna and a half squashed banana on the bench, whilst the kids are fighting in the background over a missing Nintendo DS and the baby sits in the corner, wearing half a jar of vegemite on his face and chowing down on the apple core that he just retrieved from the bin.

Me, running around in my jammies (or sometimes the clothes I had on the day before if I fell asleep at the computer!), yelling at kids to go to school cause they are late AGAIN (we live NEXT DOOR to the school, I kid you not, and are ALWAYS late!).

He returns in the afternoon, not to the scene that I illustrated above but rather one where I shove a baby into his arms before he even puts his bag down, am STILL wearing my pjs, whilst on the phone to the courier reminding him to come by and pic up web orders for dispatch the next morning. I'll have a pen in one hand signing permission slips for swimming or excursions for school, phone on my shoulder, and stirring a (now burning) dinner at the same time, whilst still listening to the perpetual white noise of the kids fighting in the background (now over who's turn it is to have the first shower that night!).

So, when I look at it that way, it makes me sit back and take stock that not only do us mums do the hard yards, but our partners do to, although rarely, do I find myself acknowleging it!

So the scenes above are pretty normal in our house, but haven't been the case of late. My partner hasn't been at work for 12 weeks and during this time, he has become quite the Daddy Day Care! During this time, we have set up and opened our new store, where I am sitting right now as I type this. He is at home, with all five of our kids, cleaning chook poo out of our back yard! For the past few weeks I have had him running to the post office, doing washing, mopping floors, cooking dinner, bringing the baby in for midday feeds and more!

BUT, alas, come Monday, I am really fearful that the proverbial you-know-what is going to hit the fan! Why? Well, by dear hubby is returning to work! And what kind of jackpot did we hit for his first roster? Well, one that has him working on the exact days that our 3 yo DOESN'T go to day care! Woohoo!

So, next week, as the older kids head back to school, and parents all over QLD breath their collective sighs of relief, I am going to find myself cooped up in our little 43sqm shop with a rambuncious 3yo, a 13 month old who is obsessed with my EFTPOS machine (oh, yes, we have EFTPOS again!) and pulling out all stops to keep them from chowing down on our organic lollipops and putting their sticky little mits all over those gorgeous new toys I am yet to price and put on the shelves.

Therefore, in saying all of this, I hereby claim the right to combine a-e above and come up with a brand new category as follows:

f) guilt for going out to work, building a business that is still not contributing to paying the bills, bringing a dreaded zombie box into my "organic" shop AND possibly resorting to feeding my kids cold baked beans on toast for dinner for a week!

I promise though, that I won't wear my pyjamas whilst doing so...

tan.

What?! ANOTHER SALE??

2009-09-25T22:58:00.000-07:00

YES, That's right ANOTHER sale!!

We had a grand opening in our shopping complex today for the new Jetts Gym that has become our neighbour. To celebrate, we had a wonderful sale and drastically reduced the prices on some of our favourite products. BUT, we haven't forgotten our loyal online followers (because, well, that's that kind of gal I am ! hehe), and so.........

OUR SPRING IS HERE SALE NOW ON!!

Following our "Crazy Sale" last weekend, we have been contacted by many customers who "missed it"! Well, we are happy to announce that we are having another sale, RIGHT NOW!

Up until Monday, 28th September at 10pm, you can shop from our sales page where all items listed are DRASTICALLY reduced!

You can save up to 67% off our selected items.

Be quick though, as stocks are limited!

As an added bonus, during our sale, all orders over $70 will receive a pkt of Planet Organic Chamomile Tea complimentary, so that you can relax and enjoy your purchases with a cuppa, ON US!! :)

The FINE PRINT...

*Please note that payment must be received prior to the sale closing for the discount to apply.
*Sale items may not be placed on lay-by.
*Sale only applies to items listed on the Ankle Biters website.
* 10% VGP discount does not apply to items already on sale.

Our First Ever Sale!!

2009-09-11T18:36:00.000-07:00

We are having our first ever SALE and it is on today and tomorrow ONLY!!

25% of EVERYTHING

(except BabyJogger items)

Simply enter "crazysale" when checking out in the DISCOUNT CODE section to receive 25% off all orders over $50!

SALE ENDS SUNDAY NIGHT AT 10PM!!

*Please note that payment must be received prior to the sale closing for the discount to apply.

*Sale items may not be placed on lay-by.

*Sale only applies to items listed on the Ankle Biters website.

* 10% VGP discount does not apply to items already on sale.

A quick update..

2009-09-07T20:41:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

Well, I know I have been supremely quiet this past fortnight. I have been struggling to simply get through each day with the volume of work that I have to do for both our home life and for Ankle Biters.

Our Grand Opening was absolutely fantastic and completely exceeded any expectations that we could have had for it! We were so overwhelmed by all of your support and were amazed that people travelled from as far away as Ipswich and Redland Bay to attend!

Unfortunately, chaos reigned on the day though (in a GOOD way!), and I wasn't able to shoot even a SINGLE pic! I am so regretful of this, especially so as our little Zali was quite the little star, putting in a "grand performance" of her own with our belly dancer, Henna!

Things are starting to settle down somewhat with our new store so I am feeling much more grounded and balanced and we are slowly moving into a routine of sorts with the store, which is great. The shop itself is extremely quiet, so we are desperately hoping that this will pick up when people start to find us, and we are trying to keep as optimistic as possible about this! :)

No news to tell on the internet scam thing unfortunately. We have now received a handful of letters from the CBA with, I think about 5 chargebacks having come back now, so the debt is slowly building. We are still waiting to hear from Today Tonight about the airing of the show, and we are feeling a bit let down about this as we turned down A Current Affair after promising Today Tonight the "scoop" and it has been now 3 weeks since they interviewed me.

We have some great local media support though, and were excited to find the above article on page 3 of our local paper, the North West News this morning. We had thought it would only be a small article, but was pleasantly surprised and we are very hopeful that it will direct some traffic through our doors!

Must get back to it, trying to get a much belated copy of the Ridgy Didge out!

Thanks for reading everyone! :)

tan.x.

Drum roll please!!!

2009-08-23T20:14:00.000-07:00

As you can see here, last year, for Molly-Rose's 6th Birthday, we had a Pirate Party, and had an awesome drumming performance by Elliot and Josie of Talkin' the Drum.

Well, we are so lucky to be welcoming them to our store opening on Saturday too!!

At 10am, everyone will have their spirits lifted by the awesome rhythms of the African drums, as the most effective way we could think of to create an atmosphere and drawer attention to our store!

They entertain like you wouldn't believe and it will be AMAZING to have them there.

Thanks so much to Josie and Elliot for going out of their way to make our day the true GRAND OPENING that we were hoping it would be!

We are (finally) becoming EXCITED!!

tan.x.

Jumping Castle! Woohoo!

2009-08-23T17:56:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to let you all know that I found the most reasonable Jumping Castle Hire place in Brisbane that I have EVER come across!

They are at www.ijump.net.au ! The lady that I spoke with is Margaret and she was so very helpful and obliging!

I have looked at hiring Jumping Castles for our kids birthdays before but they were always waaaaay out of our price range so I was really hesitant about enquiring, knowing that our budget is basically ZERO due to the whole scamming thing. Anyways, I was pleasantly surprised and really want to encourage others to give them a go!

I am hoping that the addition of a jumping castle to our grand opening will be a big hit and make for a really fun day for everyone. At least if no-one even turns up, I will know that our five kids will have a ball! lol. In light of all of the stress of the past few weeks, our kids certainly deserve a fun day without the tension that has been in our house ever since this all started.

Btw, we still have no update about the airing of the Today Tonight story, so many of you keep asking and I only wish I could offer more info. Will be sure to post it here as soon as we know anything at all!

tan. :)

Scam Update!

2009-08-23T17:41:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

Well the scammer(s) are still on the prowl! Today I received the following email, 3 separate times, and from 3 completely different email addresses/senders:

"Dear sales,

My name is chestnut morris the owner of chestnut morris
Int'lConsultant,I'm interested in purchasing some products from you for
some of my clients, i will like to know if you accept credit card for
payments and also which type of credit card you accept.

Also kindly let me know If it is possible to pick up from your store, as
i do have my own shipper that will be handling the shipment.

I will want you to get back to me with your product listing and price per
each or get me the product website where i can choose out of the vast
products you have.

Waiting for your reply so i can forward the products needed."

Further to this, I just had a phone call from the ACCC in response to my lodgement of it on Scamwatch and they said that it is absolutely PROLIFIC and they are getting hundreds of people every week who are being ripped off by these mongrels!

So, be VERY careful people, and make sure that you don't end up like us!

tan.x.

Finally! Some good news!

2009-08-21T02:39:00.000-07:00

We are definitely officially opening our store next Saturday, 29th August!

Our store is very small, but we have been working hard on making it as beautiful as possible. We have decked it out in a range of eco-friendly fittings, many of which are second hand and/or recycled too!

Please join us for the official opening and invite as many people as possible to join us!!

We will be having:

- Free Face Painting & Balloons!
- Belly Dancing!
- Busking!
- Organic Sausage Sizzle!
- Great OPENING SPECIALS!
- Free Samples!
- Giveaways GALORE!

Come along and join in the fun!

On other news, the Commonwealth Bank has allowed us out of our Merchant Agreement (thanks to the assistance of our fantastic solicitor!) so that we are free to set up a new EFTPOS facility with the wonderful Bendigo Bank!

Still no news on the airing of our Today Tonight story though! We will be sure to post as soon as we know anything.

We are attending the Hillbrook Anglican School Sustainability Day tomorrow, so must go an prepare, but I must say that I am so relieved to actually be able to post something POSITIVE on our blog - FINALLY!

tan.x.

From bad to not getting any better... :(

2009-08-17T21:15:00.000-07:00

Well, hi everyone.

It has been a week since I last posted and I have been procrastinating on posting as I really wanted to blog about something OTHER than this whole credit card fraud thing. It is really taking over the Ankle Biters blog and I am sad that something so negative is monopolising it.

I have been working really hard on uploading a huge range of gorgeous new toys and linen and much more up to our site this week and was hoping to do a big post with some gorgeous pics and a nice chit chat about it all.

Also, it was our beautiful Zali's birthday on Tuesday and it is Neo's 1st birthday tomorrow and we had a little Dora/Diego celebration on Saturday that I also wanted to share with you all.

I even managed to get a little bit of work started on our shop and was going to post some pics about that for you all too, but alas, it won't be possible.

Instead, I get to tell you the following, and I am going to put it all in point form to save some time:

- Today CBA has overdrawn our account to the value of $2400, which is the amount of the first chargeback that has come back due to the fraudulent transactions. We have never received any form of notification of this from CBA or any type of formal correspondence AT ALL from them to date, in relation to this.

- The only thing "in writing" that we have ever received from the CBA is their "fraud prevention pack" which arrived last Monday 10th August, about 2 weeks AFTER they called us to tell us of the stolen credit cards that were used.

- Elizar from Huggalugs is our life-saving ANGEL who so VERY VERY generously donated the services of her wonderful solicitor to assist us. He has been working on the case since late last week for us and today has reported that we may have a slightly positive outcome from it all, but that we are likely to be liable for at least some of the $24k in some way. (I can't go into detail here due to the legalities of it for now).

- The wonderful solicitor has however managed to negotiate some "breathing space" for us and CBA has agreed to not overdraw our account with anymore charge backs temporarily, which gives us enough time to get the hell out of there and get our business up and running again with a new bank... So Blair from Jirsch Sutherland, thank-you, thank-you, thank-you! And if anyone needs an AWESOME Intellectual Property lawyer for trade marking and or patenting your products/brand, please contact Blair, he will serve you wonderfully!

- Following on from the advice of many other small business owners on the Skout Trade Fair forums, we today visted the Bendigo Bank and they were very helpful, accomodating and gave us a wonderful sympathetic shoulder to cry on too! They have set us up with a new personal bank account and tomorrow we will have a new business bank account up and running too. They are also looking into alternative EFTPOS options for us so that we can get "back on the horse". I thoroughly recommend Bendigo to anyone needing a personal touch, they truly do live up to their claims.

- Many of you have asked when the Today Tonight story will be airing and/or has it aired yet.

The answer is that it hasn't yet aired and won't be airing for some time apparently. :( This is because they are doing quite a large story and it involves a great deal of research, with us being the centrally "featured" persons. It may even be a few weeks before it goes to air, apparently. So, I will be sure to post, twitter, blog etc about it as soon as we know anything!

Lastly, I really am getting so very anxious, I just can't stop thinking about our financial situation 24 hours per day right now, and have a constant knot in my stomach. Despite the fact that many people have tried to console us by saying "at least this is drawing attention to Ankle Biters" etc, our orders have all but ground to a halt. We haven't had a single order in almost a week now and I think it is because people are becoming scared that we can't provide them with a secure shopping environment.

I really want to emphasise to everyone that we are still providing the same beautiful products that we always have, and the same great service too. For those few orders that we have received over the past fortnight, delivery has been a little slower than normal due to all of the distractions we have been dealing with, but over all, we are trying our best to provide business as usual.

Please everyone, don't lose faith in us! The impact that this is having on our business only continues to worsen our situation as the bills are mounting and with no income to speak of there is no way that we can pay them.

We are still Ankle Biters - Everything For The Green Parent, and our range of gorgeous, hard to source products has been steadily growing to one that we are extremely proud to offer you. In fact, I have uploaded over 100 new products in the past week in preparation for our store opening so the range is even bigger than ever before!

We only hope that we have continued support as our bricks and mortar store is due to open on 29th August and may be very short lived if things don't start to turn around very soon!

Thanks again to everyone who continues to assist and support us. It means more than we can voice in a few words, and we promise that some day, in some way, we will return the favours you have all shown us.

Thanks so much,

tan, steve and our 5 little ankle biters.

Today's update...

2009-08-10T02:05:00.000-07:00

....People are starting to take notice!!

Hi everyone,

Well, I am so swamped with all of this that I have barely had a moment to concentrate on our actual business (packing orders etc), so I am going to try and make this brief and give my poor kids some attention and get these orders packed...

Firstly, I need to give an EXTRA EXTRA EXTRA special thank-you to three very wonderful ladies!!

1. Jodie at http://www.lovemum.com.au/ - Jodie has been really campaigning hard for us and has drummed up a whole lot of support. I don't know what we did to deserve her, but Jodie is fast becoming our own personal little angel!

2. Stella at www.littlemissstella.com.au- Stella too has taken us under her wing somewhat and has been busy distrbuting press releases and passing on a GREAT MANY number of invaluable contacts for us to follow up. Stella has put me in direct contact with many of those "in the know" reporters and radio hosts etc and has even put her very own assistant "on the case" for us! Thanks so much Stella, you are a gem!

3. Johanna at www.strawberrycommunications.com.au - This morning I received an email from Johanna saying that she was sending a press release out that she had written. Within half an hour my phone started ringing and did not stop all day. Thanks to Johanna, we will be on the Brisbane Times website tomorrow and have Today Tonight coming over in the afternoon for an interview and story too! Everyone I spoke to today credited Johanna with being the reason that they made contact with us, and from the bottom of our hearts Johanna, we thank you so very much!

So, thanks to the three lovely ladies above and also the MANY, MANY ladies and small businesses that I listed in my previous post, and probably HEAPS more that I don't even know about who have been tweeting for us and Facebooking for us etc, we feel that we just might pull through this!

Logistically, I still don't know how we are going to AFFORD it, but at least we are feeling more optimistic about it.

Tommorrow I have to visit the police station again to add more depth to our story. And we have the Today Tonight stuff in the afternoon so I will be sure to update you all more on this as soon as I know more about it myself.

In the meantime though, I am absolutely aghast to reveal that over the course of today, I have received emails from 15 separate businesses, all of whom forwarded me the EXACT same email that I received from the perpetrator of this fraud. As well as this, there was another 8-10 different businesses who SAID that they received the email but had deleted it!! That is a grand total of almost 30 separate small businesses (most of whom are WAHMS!) that have been affected by this guy, and all of whom, except for us (!) have narrowly missed out on being victims here too!

God only knows how many more people out there have been targeted! These are only people on the Skout Trade Directory, so I am sure that there are many more outside of Skout who have been targetted but aren't aware of it all as they haven't had the opportunity to read the forums at Skout.

And here's the real clincher!! I just telephoned the guy and get this, he actually ANSWERED the phone!! My hubby got on the phone and tore strips off him and then he says to me "oh, I don't like the way your old man speaks to me". Ummm, like, mate, you are so lucky you are in another country, cause its not just speaking that he'd be doing to you!

Then he says to me "oh, you have 5 kids? i am so sorry, i don't want to hurt your family. i will send you $10k back if you give me your bank account details". Ummmmmmm, yeah right! You want our bank account details so you can clean it out too?? Well, I may as well give them to him cause I think we have a grand total of about .25c in it right now!! And what's he going to do rip of $10k from someone else's credit card and forward it to us?!? Not on your nelly sonny jim, don't be sending us any stolen funds, thanks very much, we're already up to our necks in it!!

Then, get this, he goes onto to say that he is homeless and his "friend" in the US had sent him the cards so that he could buy products and sell them to earn a living. hmmmmmmmm.... he's homeless but he has a mobile phone and a computer to send emails?? THEN, I say that to him and he responds with "oh, yes, I visited my friend who let me use his computer to send an email. WHAT?!? Your "friend" let you use his computer long enough to send at least 30 separate Australian businesses emails, some of who actually received the same email, multiple times, over a course of a number of days. I may have been stupid enough to fall for it once mate, but not again, not ever. You can tell me all the lies you like but I am not for a second going to buy into your sordid little web of tales that you are spinning in a bid to get yourself off the hook!!

Phew! Did that feel good! I certainly needed to get THAT off my chest! lol.

Ok, so here's the thing... Whilst I was speaking with him, I could hear others in the background saying the same kinds of things, and they were all male, Middle Eastern sounding voices. I am sure that this is a big, organised ring and that they are collectively targeting whoever they can and funneling money all over the world to feed their drug habits and god knows what else!

The paramount thing now is to stop them and prevent others from falling into the same situation and hopefully Today Tonight will help us to do this!

Thanks again to everyone who is following our story and this blog, we will continue to keep you all updated on any new twists and turns in the saga.

Please keep sending your stories to me as this all helps, and keep forwarding our blog, and facebook page etc to all of your friends and contacts through your tweets and emails etc, we need to get a huge following if we want to a) make the CBA crumble to public pressure and b) catch the mongrels that have done this to us and many others like us!

tan and clan.x.

We were contacted by the Courier Mail...

2009-08-09T03:42:00.000-07:00

A quick update everyone...

We were contacted by a reporter at The Courier Mail today. She is going to follow it up tomorrow, so hopefully something will come from that!

Also, many of you have forwarded me the direct telephone numbers and email addresses of reporters and journalists from a variety of newspapers, news and current affairs programs. I am keeping my fingers crossed that somebody somewhere listens to our story! I have discovered today that MANY, MANY others have been contacted by this same scammer over the previous week. He goes by the name of "Daniel Robisson".

If ANY of you are contacted by this person, please report it to the police IMMEDIATELY! I have listed it on www.scamwatch.gov.au so that hopefully, MANY MANY more will be made aware of it and prevent him from putting other families' livelihoods at risk...

More updates to come!!

A special Thank-you!!

2009-08-09T02:46:00.000-07:00

A very special thank-you to Maree of http://www.noteabledesigns.com.au/ who has just given us what is possibly our best lead so far to try and get some publicity about our situation.

Thank-you Maree, truly, from the bottom of our hearts!

Our new Facebook group!

2009-08-08T21:16:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

At the suggestion of one of the lovely ladies who is trying to help us out, we have started a Facebook group, entitled "Help Us Fight The Commonwealth Bank!".

Please join it as we try to take on the big guys and pass it onto everyone you know! Perhaps if they can see that this affects many thousands of people, the will crumble to public pressure. Well, probably not, who am I kidding? But, we can only try...

Click here to view and join the group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=114624500255&ref=nf

The biggest collective thank-you EVER!

2009-08-08T14:51:00.000-07:00

WARNING! MONSTER post to follow, you may need a cup of tea for this one!

Dear Friends,

We really don't know how to start this post, except to say thank-you so much for the enormous, collective HUG you have all given us over these past few days! We have been truly OVERWHELMED by the response our blog post about our situation has received. Although we have only 8 "official" followers, it has become clear that many more of you are viewing our website, tweets and blog than I had ever imagined. Even MORE of you have shown your support to us by posting links to our blog on your own websites, blogs, tweets and facebook pages.

Your support has shown me that my sincere wish to find good in every person on our planet is not one that is completely naive after all. Since all of this came to light, I have been beating myself up for being so naive, in accepting the orders from the "target" (this is how the Commonwealth Bank refers to the guy who did this to us).

Certainly, I know now that a few of you were also contacted by the same guy and for a number of reasons didn't follow through with his requests. Steve (my hubby) summed this up completely when he said "those others were probably not as desperate for the income as we were". It is true that we REALLY needed the income that these "orders" were going to give us - as I originally posted, we thought someone was offering us a ray of light, and "helping" us to set up our shop by sending this guy to us. How wrong we were.

I have, since posting about this, been in contact again with Commonwealth Bank. They have NO INTENTION on letting this slide. According to them, WE are unequivocally responsible and lible for the complete amount of $23, 995.00 once all of the charge backs come through. They have unfrozen our bank account, thankfully, but will not let us use our EFTPOS machine. They are pretty clever really because whilst we can't use the damn machine, they are "allowing us to keep our merchant status" meaning that we still have to pay the monthly fees associated with having it!

The Commonwealth Bank has gone so far as to say that I must submit to them an outline of everything to do with our business, right down to every piece of stock we have, the lease to our new shop etc. I am really saddened by this as I know what it truly means - they want to know just what we have and what Ankle Biters is worth so that they can prepare to take it all from us. Of course, the young girl on the end of the telephone (who, I'm sure has no idea what it feels like to have 5 kids depending on you for their next meal), denies this, saying it is just for "their records", but I am not to naive to know otherwise.

"Gabby" (the compliance officer for our "case") recorded our conversation and is sending us the Merchant Fraud Pack that apparently outlines our obligations. Funny, I thought that we should have been given this BEFORE being accepted as a c/card merchant and being handed an EFTPOS machine with absolutely no training except on which buttons to press to make the thing work!

We were never told at any time that by using the MOTO function on our machine to process payments where the cardholder wasn't present (ie. over the phone or internet), we would become liable for any chargebacks that occured. Umm, hello, we are an INTERNET based business, so how do you suppose that we only accept transactions when the cardholder is present?!?

Besides, when we processed these transactions they were shown as "approved" which, we thought, indicated that they were fine. Apparently not.

Since going public with all of this on Friday, I have received MANY emails with stories from other small businesses who have experienced similar situations. Here are just some of them:

"I got your message the other day and just thought I would let you know that this happened to us but from America and we only lost $1000 not the huge amount that you did! We were also made to pay this back and felt so violated by this so I now how devastated you must be and I am sorry this has happened to you."

"To get this exposed via the media you just have to send them the information in a letter/press release 'new business ripped off by overseas fraudster to the tune of $x'. I was the victim of internet fraud a few years back. £10,000 was stolen from my bank, it was the deposit for my home - it went from my account the day before I was due to exchange contracts but the police and my bank worked together to trace the funds. It's terrible that your bank are not helping - definitely get a high profile media to take up your cause it could help! "

"Well we feel so sorry for you - sounds like a nightmare. what we dont understand why the bank would not be responsible for this as clearly not your fault. I would take it to A Current Affair as this not right. We had fraud and ANZ honoured this."

"I am so sorry to hear this has happened to you, that amount of money is a massive loss for any small business. ....I have been the victim of international fraud myself (certainly not that amount of money) and it seems there is very little that can be done about it when it is an international issue. The best suggestion I have is to contact the likes of today tonight or ACA and have them hear your story."

"I have just read your email and am horrified that something like this can happen. I had something happen to me on a much smaller scale involving only $5,000 where Westpac had actually let a company take out a loan in my name and deduct money from my account with any signature from me whatsoever. It took me about a year of constant phone calls to get that money back and Westpac have still not resolved this issue and I am constantly sent lists of questions that I have to answer making me feel like the criminal.

...I hope the Commonwealth Bank is doing the right thing by you (which is a big ask when talking about a bank). Not that I ever had much but I have no faith in our banking system. It was only when I threatened to contact A Current Affair that Westpac did something about my money."

"I am both sorry and angry for you! Its time the banks took more responsibility for this I am so sick of them taking money every time we have a charge back, despite, likeyou, a trading history, ID, THEIR authorisation, they are happy to take the money but why does the small business have to suffer."

"I am so sorry, I read your story and felt terrible as the exact same thing happened to us at the end of last year. Unfortunately we were not able to recover any funds and there was no one to help. We felt exactly the same way with our 4 orders and we also thought that someone was looking out for us as we had just purchased the business a few months before. There have been many tears and I feel like such an idiot now looking back.

I was contacted by the bank two days later and of course it was too late. "

"We too were the victims of a sting!!! Not as bad as you though.

We had internet orders from a customer who said they were in the UK - but were actually in Africa. They gave us a stolen credit card - but they were contacting us by email and were VERY believable.

...We actually rang the CBA before dispatch to ask if the card was fraudulent and they said they couldn't tell us!!!"

I am absolutely shocked and dismayed by just how many of you have similar stories to share. These banks are making a fortune out of all of us without one ounce of consideration for the families that they are affecting!

Something urgently needs to be done about this! It seems to me that the sheer volume of people being ripped off this way is an indicator of just how grave this situation is. There are people being taken through the ringer left, right and centre, and the banks are well, laughing all the way to the bank! It seems that it doesn't matter how many families and small businesses are affected by this, so long as they still make their billion dollar profit at the end of each year.

As well as the stories I have been receiving, I have had many, many words of support, and offers of help, and the forwarding of contacts etc. I personally have submitted our story to Seven Sunrise, A Current Affair and Today Tonight, as so many of you have suggested. I have had no response thus far from any of them, but will keep my fingers crossed. I also have the direct contacts, (thanks to you guys!) of the producers of some of these shows as well as some News contacts and newspaper contacts, so will follow all of these up on Monday.

In the meantime, I REALLY want to thank EACH and everyone of you for taking the time to call and email us! I physically cannot possibly send or respond to each of you individually, I would be here for weeks, so please know that your words have been warmly welcomed and gratefully received. You have really helped us to try and be optimistic about this, and somehow try to turn this situation around. I still really don't know how we are going to manage all of this, financially, we were already on tenderhooks (some of you may already know that we lost another large amount of $$ last year through our distribution company Green Revolt, when our manufacturer in Pakistan went bust). But, at least now, I feel supported and motivated to get through it, rather than defeated and ashamed.

I want to now show you guys the faces behind this! Here are our five little treasures, and the reason that we tried to build Ankle Biters in the first place:

If only the powers that be at the Commonwealth Bank could look at these pics, maybe they would understand the affect this entire situation is having.

Anyways, this post is getting ridiculously long, so I just want to finish off by listing the wonderful people who have contacted me over the past few days about this. I really don't know how to thank-you all, and just can't physically do it individually, so this is the best way I can think to do it. Some of you we have never had the opportunity to meet before, so it is extra special to receive your thoughts and offers of assistance!

So, thank-you to this huge list of simply AMAZING people...

EXTRA special thanks to Miriam at www.bubbachenille.blogspot.com and Liesa at www.handmadeheaven7.blogspot.com.

Also, Jodie at www.lovemum.com.au .

You ladies are absolute ANGELS!

Heather at www.babiesandkids.com.au

Stella at www.littlemissstella.com.au

Bonny at www.bonnibuns.com.au

Johanna at www.strawberrycommunications.com.au

Siobhan at www.downtoearthorganics.com.au

Tiessa at www.jtkids.com.au

Belinda at www.dewdrops.co.nz

Monica at www.beyondpinkandblue.com

Jodi at www.itchdesign.com.au

Melissa at www.ele-ahbaant.com.au

Amanda at www.stylecollective.com.au

Peggy at www.cookiesandcream.com.au

Jannine at www.natureschild.com.au

Lou at www.skouttradefair.com

Georgie at www.merinokids.com

Kerri at Molly and Jack, Oatley, NSW

Kim & Simon at www.stickytiki.com

Alison at www.agoo.com.au

Amanda at www.bay6.com.au

Mel at www.thehipinfant.com.au

Victoria at www.downtoearthbaby.com

Pam, Jude and Ros at www.organicbabe.com.au

Despina at www.backpacks4aussiekids.blogspot.com

Stephanie at www.moobeardesigns.com.au

Katerina at www.twinklelily.com

Jo at www.babyjo.com.au

Angela at www.kidsstylefile.com.au

Tracey at www.niftythriftyloveliness.blogspot.com

Lianne at www.mystical-entertainments.com

Anna at www.barefootmagazine.com.au

Pauline at www.funkyfriendsfactory.com

Terese at www.redhillchildrenswear.com.au

www.ministylista.onsugar.com

www.aussieproductreview.blogspot.com

www.ulitmateguide.wordpress.com

www.littlediva.com.au

www.tatyourtot.biz

www.babyuniverse.com.au

www.designer-kids.co.uk

www.completepartyboxes.com.au

www.rusticfuture.com.au

www.cleverstreak.com/wordpress

www.bellybeyond.co.nz

www.cackleberrykids.com

www.upinanniesroom.com

www.enchantedgarden.com.au

Also to our good friends Nat Saville, Barbara Bennett, Jill Blacker, Sandy Forbes, Kellie & Maryann Lister, Fiona Deegan, Tracy Couper, Iona Crichton.

Also, there are a number of you who posted your support anonymously on this blog and via email and we want to show our sincere thanks to you too!

And finally, we have also received emails of support from many of our dear, loyal customers of Ankle Biters, many of whom have expressed their concerns that we may not continue our business or may not open our physical store as planned. At this stage, we have decided to continue with our plans, assuming that we can afford to do so. We are going to try our darndest to not let the villains here destroy our dream, nor to prevent us from sharing our beautiful product range with you! If this should change, we will post it here first so that you are all kept well informed. However, for now, it is business as usual, albeit without the ability to accept credit card payments except through Paypal...

MEDIA ASSISTANCE URGENTLY REQUIRED!

2009-08-06T16:39:00.000-07:00

I'll make this brief so as not to take up too much of your precious time. I am Tanya from Ankle Biters.

Last week, we became victims of internet fraud to the tune of aud$24k. We were taken advantage of by a "customer" in the UK who placed large orders with us under the veil of being a wholesaler and had us transfer large amounts of money using our EFTPOS machine as the channel to do so to his "shipping agent" who was supposed to be collecting the goods.

To cut a long story short, turns out the shipping agent was HIM and the credit cards were stolen.

The worst part is that when he placed his 1st order (he placed 4 in total), we thought that someone had “heard” our please and the universe was offering us a genuine leg-up to prepare for our shop opening! We felt like we had one the lotto! Then as time progressed and as I wrote in the blog, our kids were even sick and he telephoned us and said how it pained him to hear their cries in the background blah, blah. All the while knowing that he was ripping us off.

We have been to the police and spoken at length with our bank (CBA) and it looks like we will never see any of this money again. The Commonwealth Bank are refusing to budge and have frozen our bank accounts and turned off our EFTPOS machine until we pay back all of the money. They don’t seem to understand that if we can’t trade, we have no income and won’t even be able to pay our rent let alone return any funds. We have five small children and were already struggling to make ends meet. We are opening a new shop in a couple of weeks and this couldn't have come at a worse time for us.

We feel that it is unfair and unjust of the Commonwealth Bank knowing that they continue to make huge profits all the while putting the livelihood of families like ours at their mercy, and we want people to know about this!

Anyways, we are emailing you all right now as you are on our Press Release List for our wholesale/distribution business Green Revolt. We are just hoping that SOMEONE amongst you may have a contact in a television station, or a newspaper or in law inforcement, or a solicitor or SOMEONE that may be able to offer us assistance. We are located in Brisbane.

We don't want charity, we are just hoping for a point in the right direction and maybe some publicity about this to prevent it from happening to any other families like ourselves.

We will be between banks and police stations all day today, but if you can phone us on 0488110806 or reply via return email if you can help, we would be so very appreciative.

We are trying to remain positive, and hope somehow to turn this all around.

Tan and Family.

Internet Fraud; we've been bitten.... :(

2009-08-06T06:26:00.000-07:00

IMPORTANT NOTE!!!

Sadly, we have just become the victims of credit card fraud due to a dishonest customer making regular large purchases using stolen credit cards. As such, we are currently unable to accept credit cards via our secure server or telephone as we are putting different measures in place to ensure that this does not happen again. In the meantime, we have switched back to accepting Paypal for those customers wishing to use credit cards to complete their payments.

Additional to this, we will no longer be accepting international orders without prior arrangement.

The team here at Ankle Biters sincerely apologises for any inconvenience that these two decisions may cause, however with our new physical store opening soon, this could not have come at a worse time for us. We are a small business simply wishing to support the needs of our young family and wanting to find good in all of the people we deal with. Sometimes, however, these wishes are taken advantage of and we find ourselves in a situation like the one we now face.

On a more personal level, we feel gutted that the "customer" who committed this crime against us repeatedly passed on their "good wishes" to our children whilst they were sick, all the while knowing that their actions could very well threaten our livelihood and our ability to provide even the most basic of needs for our kids.

If you are the person who did this and are reading this, we sincerely hope that you are unable to sleep at night knowing that your actions have put our family into a very dark place! We now have an extremely long road ahead of us if we ever want to build any kind of financial security for our children, which is the main reason that we built Ankle Biters in the first place. Our joy and hope at being able to run a business that enabled me to stay at home and be a mum to our kids whilst earning a steady income has now been replaced with hurt and frustration as we try to make ends meet. We try to see the good in all people on our planet, but it is people like you that make us question it, and for this we are deeply saddened.

Please watch this space for further updates as we embark on a legal battle against the perpetrators of the fraud and the bank who provides our merchant facilities. We will be fighting tooth and nail to rectify this situation and hopefully to set a precedent to the many other small, online businesses who are being taken advantage on a daily basis as we were. We acted in good faith to provide beautiful products to our "customer" and followed all of the security measured that we had been taught, but still became victims. Our bank is unswayed in their claim that we must now return all of the lost funds and we will be pulling out all stops to seek justice for ourselves and our kids.

Thank-you, Tanya, Steve and the five little Ankle Biters.

Just found this AWESOME article on Treehugger.com...

2009-08-02T07:04:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to share these two great articles that I found on Treehugger.com. Treehugger is a fantastic website which publishes articles on new products and issues relating to all things green, and is a great read!

So, check out these articles...

Why Second-hand is healthier for your Baby - We know that buying organic and/or recycled is the healthiest choice for your baby and the environment, but for those on a budget, buying second-hand is great too!

How To Go Green:Babies - This one, I found from a link on Treehugger, on the Planet Green website.

And here is an eye-opening extract from the Planet Green article:

"Green Babies: By the Numbers

6000: The number of diapers the average baby uses before potty training.
200 to 500: Years it takes petroleum-based disposable diapers to decompose.

49 million: The number of disposable diapers used per day in the United States; Australia uses 2.2 million, Japan uses 6.7 million, and the U.K. uses 9 million.

53 percent: A home-washed cloth diaper has only 53 percent of the ecological footprint of disposables, and a diaper laundry service has a mere 37 percent of that footprint.

$1.4 billion per year: The estimated amount of money Americans spend on complicated births due to smoking while pregnant."

Now, I'm no scientist, but those are some very alarming numbers! Are you doing your bit to help ease the burden on our planet...?

Way Basics is almost here!

2009-07-27T23:31:00.000-07:00

Shhhhhhhhhhh!!

Something very special is happening at Ankle Biters!!

We will soon be the ONLY place in Australia where you can purchase the amazing, gorgeous, eco-friendly modular furniture range, Way Basics.

Way Basics is the ultimate in storage and functionality and style and was recently featured on the fabulous blog, BABYOLOGY! Check it out by clicking on the logo below!

A busy time ahead!

2009-07-05T20:01:00.000-07:00

We have some amazing things happening here at Ankle Biters at the moment!

We have been working so very hard to source some of the most awesome, eco-friendly products you can imagine, some of which have never been seen in Australia! Take a close look at the pic for a sneak preview of one or two of them!

We will be launching many of these new products when our brand new store opens at the Ferny Grove Shopping Village on Saturday 15 August, 2009! This will be a fantastic day, and a huge milestone for us, and we hope that you all come along to celebrate with us! Further details will be forthcoming.

As well as our new store, we have a very busy few months ahead of us. The calendar goes a little somethin' like this...

Sunday 12 July - Ankle Biters will be at the Brisbane Southbank Kids, Mums & Bubs Market.

Saturday 18th July - Ankle Biters will be at the Good Buy Baby Market at the Morayfield Community Hall, Morayfield, where we will be offering the new range of Organic Bubs frozen organic food for the very first time!

Friday 31st July - We are attending a very special VIP trade event for Bacche in the heart of Melbourne!

Saturday 15 August - everyone is invited to the GRAND OPENING of the brand new Ankle Biters store at Shop 14, Ferny Grove Shopping Village, Ferny Grove!

Saturday 22 August - Ankle Biters will be at the Hillbrook Anglican School Sustainability Day in Enoggera.

Saturday 31 October - Ankle Biters will be at the Global Market Day at the Arana Hills Church of Christ, Arana Hills.

So much to do and not enough hours in the day!! I only wish I could find the time to blog, I have some great ideas to post about!

tan.x.

Babyjo Bamboo Clothing & Blankets now in store!

2009-06-01T09:27:00.000-07:00

We absolutely love bamboo fibre at Ankle Biters. The eco and health benefits of wearing bamboo are just phenomenal! You can read more about it here: Why Bamboo?!

In my travels, I was lucky to come across Jo, of Babyjo! Jo has designed a beee-u-ti-ful range of bamboo basics for little babies, including bamboo blankets that are simply to die for!

Now at the moment, Babyjo is awaiting their newest consignment containing a brand new range of garments for 2009, but lucky for us, we were able to secure a limited number of remaining pieces from last season!

We now have in stock the all in one long sleeved romper with feet to keep those little toesies warm, as well as the long sleeved romper (no legs so PERFECT to wear with our gorgeous organic Huggalugs!)...

Both pieces are available in a soft cream (natural) colour with either a baby blue or baby pink Babyjo Panda logo on the front. Sooooo cute!

Only available in the one size - 3-6 months/00, but very generously sized and would fit a smaller baby right up to 9 months old. Neo is 9 months old and wearing one in this pic:

At the risk of gushing, I will now mention the gorgeous baby blankets!! A good friend of mine just had her first little gal, and one of these is now on its way to her!! I just love these blankets. Generously sized, with a choice of 3 gorgeous colours as pictured here:

Oops, crying baby, gotta go, but don't forget it's only 4 more sleeps until Greenfest!!

tan. :)

Issue #4, The Ridgy Didge Available NOW!

2009-05-30T06:47:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

The latest version of our newsletter, The Ridgy Didge, is now available for download.

Simply click HERE to view it!

Our latest “favourite product” – The Coocoose Bathing Apron

2009-05-30T05:42:00.000-07:00

Our latest “favourite product” – The Coocoose Bathing Apron!

Have a good look at the images above – it appears that each of the mums pictured is wearing an apron to protect her from getting wet as she baths her baby, who is now drying off wrapped in a cuddly hooded towel.

Aaaah, but not so! What you are seeing above is the Coocoose Bathing Apron in action! I absolutely adore this product and over my 11 years as a mum, I have often wished for this exact product! I LOVE this product! It is simply the best idea EVER! Here is the low down:

Made from 100% luxurious pure cotton, it fastens easily around your neck and back, leaving your hands free to bath and then cocoon and cuddle your baby dry - while protecting you from splashes.

The Coocoose® ensures you have happier, less stressful bath times with lots of snugly time! Makes bath time safer and more enjoyable for mums, dads, babies and toddlers.When your baby is finished bathing, simply lift them out of their bath and cuddle them dry with the apron! It even has a built in hood to ensure that your baby is kept as warm as possible!

The RRP price of the Coocoose is $58.00 but you can buy it HERE from Ankle Biters for only $50.00, while stocks last!

This is an awesome gift idea, and if you are purchasing it for an expectant parent, do let us know as we’d love to gift wrap it for you in our very special recycled, hand-made, fair trade gift wrap for that extra special touch!

Editor’s note: Please note that this product is not organic cotton, but standard cotton. However, we loved this product so much that we wanted to offer it to you, our customers! The packaging of this product is very eco-friendly in its nature, in that it is natural fibre calico, reusable, completely recyclable and does not contain any plastics or leads. If they ever do make the Coocoose available in an organic version, I will be the first on the bandwagon as it will make this simply the most perfect product around!

Greenfest Reminder!

2009-05-29T18:27:00.000-07:00

A quick reminder that Green Fest is now only days away!

We will be there, but not as Ankle Biters, rather as Green Revolt, our wholesale company! Be sure to come and check us out as we showcase our gorgeous range of Bacche clothing and our brand new "Full Circle" fair trade bags and accessories manufactured from recycled materials.

Beginning this coming Friday, 5th June and continuing through to Sunday, it will be a great weekend and a fantastic celebration of World Environment Day!

You can find us in the main big top pavillion: The Green Economy Hub!

Come and join us for the festivities!

Further information can be found at http://www.greenfest.com.au/.

2009-05-28T19:53:00.001-07:00

Well, it has been a long time in coming, but finally our wholesale company, Green Revolt is ready to accept orders from new retailers wanting to stock Bacche, the newest, coolest organic baby and kids label to be released in Australia! The sales period has been extended and orders will now be accepted until 7th June 2009, for delivery by end of June for our initial Mid-Season Introductory Collection.

We have many features in place to ensure a smooth, hassle-free and convenient process for your business, including a fully operational e-commerce website at http://www.bacche.com.au/ and a full cache of web-optimised product images (flat shots) available for our online retailers.

If you would like further information, please email us at sales@bacche.com.au with your enquiry.

Our brand new Look Book (catalogue) can be viewed by clicking on the image below:

The Not-So-Perfect (wannabe) Green Parent... aka ME!!

2009-05-05T22:26:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

Well it has occurred to me that there might be a good reason that we have such a pathetically small number of followers for the Ankle Biters blog, and that would be, because it is so bloody boring! So to follow, please find my inaugural “using our blog for something other than boring product updates” post!

There are many and varied things that I have tried my hand at over the years, I’ve worked as a computer technician, as a staff trainer at Woollies, as a real estate and travel agent, a bar attendant, and even, in my younger years, as a “promotions manager” at a night club (translated to mean “the chic who parades around on stage in skimpy clothes getting people to enter competitions”! Oh, and of course, we cannot forget my ongoing passion of the previous decade, photography, and, more recently my return to University to study community development and child psychology.

As I get older, I feel my conscience starting to take over from my ego and more and more I feel the need to do “good in the world”, which in a way, has led to the building of our family business that you all know as Ankle Biters. Of course, nothing has ever been truly successful as I have struggled through the daily regime that is being a wife and a mum of 5. Through all of the different hats that I have worn though, there is one consistent theme to the comments that I receive from people and that is a) that I talk too much and b) that I talk too much!

Those who know me well regularly say things like “she can talk under water”, “she never shuts up” and call me nicknames such as “Jabber Jaws” and “Motor Mouth” etc. Those who meet me once or twice are much more polite and say simply that I have “the gift of the gab”. Well, who am I to argue?! :) So it is about time, I reckon, that I put my apparent “talent” to good use and so, here it is; a long-winded, at times boring but mostly wickedly funny blog about well, how to be a Not-So-Perfect (wannabe) Green Parent...

Here I am doing what I apparently do best!

Ok, so here’s the thing – whilst we have a Carbon Neutral business and we are working hard to promote the concept of “Green Parenting”, I am not about to proclaim to be the expert at it myself. This might sound a bit hyppocritical but hey, I am only human. What I am trying to instil in my kids though is to be “eco-aware”. I’m trying to teach them that unfortunately, in this modern day and age there are sometimes instances where we must compromise our eco-beliefs for pure convenience or more commonly for us, because of financial restraints.

So I guess that we have really unconsciously adopted an attitude of “eco-awareness” in our house. Rather than just accepting those compromises that I just mentioned, we discuss why it is that we are making the compromise and how we can justify it when we know that it simply isn’t an eco-friendly option.

Take me for example, I am the QUEEN of the clothes dryer. It is my worst eco-vice by far. It is also something that there is no way I am willing to live without. Between 5 kids and 2 businesses, I don’t even have enough time to sleep, and I am certainly not cutting into that time by standing for hours every day at a clothes line. My poor kids spend half of their lives digging through baskets of clean clothes calling out “Mum, I have no undies!” and going to school wearing odd socks as it is! If I didn't do the dryer thing, those baskets of clean clothes would very quickly become baskets of wet, smelly clothes!

I mean, I absolutely cringe every time I put another load into that dryer, but it really is a matter not only of convenience, but one of necessity for us. I try to allay my conscience by telling myself that we do not have air conditioning or any form of heating in our house (except for blankets and slippers!), which results in us sweating our way through summer and freezing our butts off through winter, but at least I feel better about using my dryer! :)

It has been playing more and more on my mind though and yesterday OH (other half) and I bit the bullet and put our "KRudd Money" to good (eco-friendly) use! We did our research and splashed out on a brand new dryer. Ok, so I know the purists out there will argue the eco ramifications of replacing a perfectly working, but old dryer with a new one, but I think that the good definitely outweighs the bad here.

We got the most energy efficient dryer that we could find (and afford) - ** (2 stars) – yippee! Okay, so that in itself is not something to brag about, but it is a lot bigger than our old dryer, (which was probably a negative star rating!), and it has an automatic sensor so turns itself off when the clothes are dry, thus not wasting energy on drying already dry clothes. The larger size is a great thing, not only for convenience but as it saves time and thus energy on doing multiple loads etc.

So, I’ve totally gone off into a tangent here and I really had no intention of devoting this post to the pros and cons of using a clothes dryer, so give me a sec while I regroup....

Ok, anyways, my point that I was verbosely trying to reach is that no matter how well intentioned our lives are, there will be times where we simply have to admit to conceding eco-defeat. So, as I mentioned before, I am allowing this to happen in our house (within reason) by ensuring that the kids are AWARE of what it is that we are compromising and why it isn’t the best option for the planet etc.

For one, we WASTE much too much in our house!! Food is the major wastage issue really– 5 fussy kids generally results in a lot of uneaten leftovers. At the moment, we are renting, and amid our pipe dreams of our very own eco-friendly paradise, we find ourselves in suburban Brisbane, in an early 1980s high-set,double brick house that is far from energy efficient. We don’t have the veggie garden that we fantasize about, nor the chooks, nor the worm farm. We don't even compost, and if we did it would be wasted anyways as we have so little time to garden!

Every night, we chastise ourselves as we clean the kitchen only to fill yet another bag of rubbish to take to the wheelie bin, promising each other (that is me and OH) that we simply must do something about this “situation”. Of course, our chaotic lives then run their course and another day passes until the following night when again, we scrape the plates into the bin and give each other that knowing look once again.

It is just so hard to get our priorities in order. We simply do not have the finances or the time to do everything that we long for. But, we are at least AWARE of this, and do the very best that we can in other ways that do suit our lifestyle and our situation. For example, we have of course, switched to green power. We conserve water as much as possible. We walk a lot, and OH even runs the 15km trek to work (and then 15km home!) on regular occasions. We use only eco-friendly and natural household products. We use only organic personal care products (click on that phrase to be taken to the AB website to view them - yes, that was a truly shameless plug!). We use only cloth nappies or eco-disposables when necessary. We buy organic clothing (more shameless plugs!), food and toiletries as much as we can afford to. We offset our emissions. We are by no means perfect in our lifestyle but we are certainly aware of our impact and carbon footprint and are making sure that our kids are too.

Our efforts are definitely evident in our kids – our oldest is known to his teacher as their very own Grade 6 “eco-crusader”! And for that, at least, we can feel a little proud.

I am going to use this blog to chronicle our evolution as we try to fix the things that we do wrong in our house, as we truthfully work towards being true, unadulterated green parents! If you have managed to read this far without falling asleep, then there just may be hope for me yet and I certainly look forward to you all coming along for the ride! I intend to reveal all of the twists and turns and the many bumps in our “road”, and I hope that one day I will be able to stand here proudly and proclaim that yes, indeed I am perfect! Well, perfectly “green” anyways!

Tan. :)

Yet another great review for our Bacche range!

2009-04-30T07:08:00.000-07:00

Bacche is really getting some great attention all over the web! Kids Style File is a highly respected review website and they love Bacche, as you can see HERE!

Woohoo! We've officially been blogged!

2009-04-26T20:23:00.000-07:00

Hi peoples!

Many of you may know that we are the exclusive Australasian distributor for the awesome organic cotton kids clothing range, Bacche. You can see more about Bacche on our other website at http://www.greenrevolt.com.au/ .

But anyways, we've just been Blogged by the fabulous new trendspotting website, Style Collective!

You can see the story by clicking here:

2009-04-25T05:52:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone!

Proceeds raised from the hunt will be donated to Ronald McDonald House charities so not only is it fun, but it is great for the community too. We certainly couldn't consider ourselves to be a truly child focused business if we didn't support this event and we have enthusiastically donated a great prize pack that one participant in the hunt will get to enjoy!

The fun begins on 1 June 2009 so be sure and register for your chance to win some FANTASTIC prizes from a huge prize pool!

Please visit the Kids Fashion Review website for further information!

2009-04-20T04:44:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

A quick update about ECOtanka Kooler covers (again!)...

The distributor has today informed us that they are STILL being manufactured and have a new an expected arrival date of the END of April.

If you are currently waiting on an ECO Tanka Kooler order, and do not wish to wait this long for it to arrive, please contact us for a full refund or store credit.

I can confirm though that at this time there will be some exciting new colours available (blue, black, red, camo, pink and maybe a couple more!), and some great changes (such as the addition of a convenient hand grip) to the overall design!

Please be patient guys, they will be worth the wait! :)

Seeyou at Greenfest!

2009-04-20T00:55:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! We are excited to announce that we will be exhibiting at Greenfest this year!

We will be there from 5-7 June, at the Brisbane Botanic Gardens in the city. We will be exhibiting a lot of our product range, as well as showcasing our exclusive collection of Bacche garments.

We would love to see you there for this wonderful celebration that is commencing on World Environment Day!

You can find us in the main big top pavillion - The Green Economy Hub!

Come and join us for a great celebration!

Further information can be found at http://www.greenfest.com.au/.

Introducing Barefoot Magazine!

2009-04-16T01:28:00.000-07:00

Ankle Biters is no longer accepting Paypal...

2009-04-16T00:37:00.000-07:00

Dear Customers,

Please be advised that we are no longer accepting Paypal payments on the Ankle Biters website. We apologise for any inconvenience this may result in but we now have our own secure credit card merchant facilities, as well as our standard direct deposit facility and feel that when combined, these two options offer the most flexible pyment methods to you, our valued customers.

Paypal is very expensive for us to use and confusing to some customers, hence our choice to discontinue using it. If you are an international customer wishing to use Paypal, please email us to request it.
Again, we apologise for any inconvenience and ask that you direct your comments about this to us at enquiries@anklebiters.com.au.

BabyLegs Sale on NOW!!

2009-03-31T09:14:00.000-07:00

We are about to introduce the awesome Planet Organic range of the Aussie owned brand, Huggalugs. As such, our BabyLegs HAVE to GO!!

They are now slashed to almost half of their RRP! This is only while stocks last though, so be quick!

ECO Tanka Stock update!

2009-03-25T23:39:00.001-07:00

We apologise that we have discovered that there was a small manufacturing fault on the last production run of ECO tanka bottles. This fault affects only a VERY small number of bottles produced, and is recognisable by the inability to fully tighten the lid on your ECO tanka. If you have recenly purchased an ECO tanka from us and are experiencing this problem, please let us know asap so that we may replace it for you immediately.

To those who are waiting on orders of ECO Tanka Kooler covers, they are currently being manufactured and are still about 2 weeks away, with an expected arrival date of middle of April.

If you are currently waiting on an ECO Tanka Kooler order, and do not wish to wait this long for it to arrive, please contact us for a full refund or store credit.

Just a whisper though - they will be worth the wait with some exciting new colours being made available, and some great changes (such as the addition of a convenient hand grip) to the overall design!

Yet another BabyJogger stock update...

2009-03-25T21:32:00.000-07:00

Important BabyJogger Stock update!

Hello everyone,

I am so very sorry and know that many of you have outstanding orders for BabyJogger strollers and accessories at the moment.

We have just received information from the distributor giving us new dates that the stock will be available, due to an unprecedented amount of sales that they have faced recently.

As such, please refer to the list below to check when your items will be dispatched to you:

BabyJogger City Classic 09 model – first week of May.
All BabyJogger Belly Bars – mid April.
All BabyJogger Child Trays - mid April.
The BabyJogger Liquid Holster – late April.
The BabyJogger City Mini Parent Console – mid April.
BabyJogger Tyre Pump - late April.
BabyJogger City Elite Raincovers - late April.

To those of you who have placed orders in recent days, I do apologise if you have ordered items that are listed above as they will not be dispatched to you until the dates listed here.

In particular, to our customers who have ordered the new 2009 BabyJogger City Classic Strollers and were promised delivery of them through-out this week, they will now be arriving at the end of April (this applies to EVERYONE in Australia), and you can expect them to arrive in the first week of May. I sincerely apologise for this and ask that you please contact us asap if any of you wish to cancel your orders.

If you are waiting on any of the items from the above list, please know that they have been ordered for you and that you do not need to do anything further. They will be dispatched automatically as soon as they arrive, and you will not be charged any additional postage for this.

On a brighter note, the brand new Summit 360 is now IN STOCK, in black and red, and is proving very popular! You can see it here on our website: The Summit 360

Some more good news for Baby Jogger owners - we are now stocking the Babyhood Stroller Liners and Hug A Babes! These products are very similar to the Kiddopotamus products sold in the US, by BabyJogger, to compliment their strollers. The Hug A Babe in particular is a fantastic, cosy and affordable option for maximum comfort and support of your newborn and will fit perfectly into ANY BabyJogger stroller! You can find them here: Babyhood Stroller Accessories

Again, we sincerely apologised for the continued delays and stock issues with your BabyJogger accessories orders! Hopefully they will be all sorted by the end of May and we will be able to offer a more regular supply of these items!

Please be sure to contact us if you need any further information.

The Ridgy Didge - Issue #2, Jan/Feb 2009

2009-02-02T21:05:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone!

Our latest issue of the Ridgy Didge is now available for download from HERE .

Enjoy!

More on The POP-In!!

2009-02-01T21:51:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone!

Well, I have so much to tell about our new Modern Cloth Nappy range, The Pop-In, that I decided to dedicate an entire special edition of our newsletter to it!

So please click HERE to have a read about the best Modern Cloth Nappy I have ever come across!

So much news to share!!

2009-01-24T23:43:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone!!

Welcome to a New Year!

Ok, I am doing away with the fancy formatting for this post and just going to type as I have a million things to share...

Baby Jogger...

I sincerely apologise to those customers who are STILL waiting on their City Mini Parent Consoles. I have just been informed by the distributor, that although they DID receive stock of them, however, the stock that they received wasn't enough to fill all back-orders that they had, so there are still a few outstanding. As well as this, they are also out of stock of Belly Bars and the Toddler Seat. Again, I apologise sincerely to those who are still waiting. It is an Australia-wide shortage and it seems that there is simply no stock anywhere in Australia of either of these products.

Additional to this, there is currently NO STOCK of ANY City Elite Single, City Classic Single Strollers or Performance Double Strollers.

Important:

For ALL BabyJogger orders placed in the previous week - we have just been notified that they are a little behind on dispatching them, due to a back up from a very busy pre-Christmas period. If you have ordered a BabyJogger stroller in the past week or fortnight, please do not be alarmed if you have not received it yet, they are working hard to get them all out to you and yours won't be far away!

Lastly on the BabyJogger front, they have just announced that as well as the orange colourway, they are now discontinuing the green in the City Mini Series. This means that there will now be four gorgeous colours to choose from - the stone, the black, the blue and the red/black.

Sorry for the inconvenience on the out of stock items guys, but you will all receive any items that you have ordered, as soon as they become available. I am not sure of the expected date of the next container arriving, but will post it here as soon as I do!

Name That Panda Comp - extended!!

Due to it's popularity at our recent Market Stalls at Southbank, we have decided to extend the closing date of our Name That Panda competition! All of the details of the comp remain the same, except that we will now be announcing a winner on 10 February, 2009, right here on this BLOG!

So if you thought you had missed out on your chance to enter, please take the time to come up with some names for our cute little ambassadors and email them to us!

New Products!

Yes, we have added even MORE products to our range over the previous fortnight! We will go into more detail in our newsletter that will go out later on tonight, but just briefly, you can now find the following items on our website:

The GORGEOUS new range of Indian inspired, organic cotton BACCHE clothing (pictured above)! See here: http://www.anklebitersduds.com.au/store/WsDefault.asp?Cat=Bacche

A larger range of O'BON eco-friendly stationery and pencils. See here: http://www.anklebitersduds.com.au/store/WsDefault.asp?Cat=Obon

More stock of ECOtanka, including their brand new "Kooler" covers. See here: http://www.anklebitersduds.com.au/store/WsDefault.asp?Cat=ECOtanka

More toys!

4myearth eco-friendly sandwich and snack pockets, wraps and lead free lunch bags. See here: http://www.anklebitersduds.com.au/store/WsDefault.asp?Cat=4myearth

DIVINE Aussie made Recycled Paper making kits by Paper-Go-Round.

....and, drum roll please.................

A brand, new, REVOLUTIONARY design of Modern Cloth Nappy, that is taking the UK by storm, known as "The Pop-In"!!

It is ultra fast drying, waterproof, highly absorbant and it's absorbant layers are made from comfortable, eco-friendly bamboo terry! It even has waterproof gussetts to contain leaks!

Please see our January newsletter, The Ridgy Didge, for more details!

Southbank Lifestyle and Kids, Mums and Bubs Markets...

Lastly, I wanted to thank those of you who showed your support to us by visiting us at the Southbank Kids, Mums and Bubs Market last weekend. We had what we consider to be a very successful market and a great day was had by all! Here are some pics to show you just what our display looked like:

We will be attending again tomorrow, for the big Australia Day celebrations, so hopefully, it will prove to be just as successful as last weekend!

Ok, that's it for now, I am sure I have missed something though, so I may post again later on! :)

tan. :)

Name That Panda... PLEASE!!

2008-12-21T20:44:00.000-08:00

Our Name That Panda competition is in its closing days!!

For your chance to win the bragging rights of knowing that our Panda Pals were named by them, but will also receive a BRAND NEW

Baby Jogger City Mini Single Stroller

as seen here:

OR a gift voucher to the value of $395.00 to spend in our store, simply
send us a quick email with your idea for the most creative, catchy and befitting names that you can come up with for the newABD Ambassadors – our three little Panda Pals. There needs to be 2 boy names and a girl name, of course!

And for some inspiration, please click HERE

Get your thinking caps on! Time is running out!

Please submit your entries by emailing us HERE!

2008-12-21T19:56:00.000-08:00

TUTUS SOLD OUT AGAIN!

The last of our Christmas tuts are completely sold out! Thanks to everyone who purchased one and we hope that there will be many squeals of delight on Christmas morning as your little angels twirl and jump amid metres and metres of frou frou tulle! :)

More new stuff!!!

2008-12-18T22:31:00.000-08:00

We have some exciting news to announce!!

From tomorrow morning, Saturday, 20 December, we will be releasing our brand new range of toys on our website!!

There are some fantastic items we have been receiving all week this week and everything will be available for some very last minute Christmas gifts come tomorrow morning!

Everything will be reduced by at least 20% from the RRP as a special one off launch price blitz and there will be great bargains for everyone!

All of our lines are in some way related to being either eco-friendly or fair trade, hand-made, educational, promote active, creative play and conservation, and/or manufactured from natural, sustainable materials. Everything is high quality and designed for many hours of enjoyment and to promote healthy play!

As well as this, our original Christmas tutus were listed last Friday and sold out so quickly that I have been receiving emails all week from angry customers who thought that I didn't list them at all!!

We will be listing a limited number of extra tutus, also available from Saturday (tomorrow) morning and with guaranteed shipping on Monday. We will ship via Australia Post using their Express Post service for all of these orders, and are confident that all orders should arrive by Christmas Eve to all customers in QLD, NSW and VIC. If you are located within the Brisbane area, you are welcome to collect your order for added reassurance!

Update on BABY JOGGER products!

2008-12-18T22:13:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

Just a quick note to remind you all that these are the last few days for placing BabyJogger orders before their price increase on 24 December. They have announced that the increase will be across the board and will affect all strollers and accessories in their range.

If you're considering purchasing any accessories or strollers, we urge you to get your orders in before this coming Tuesday, 23rd December as any orders received after this date will be charged at the new pricing (although this has not yet been released).

Further to this, previously we advised that orders would not be going out after 17 December from Baby Jogger, however this has been advised and they will be shipping right up until 23rd December for the last minute rush on orders prior to the price increase!

Also, those of you waiting on your City Mini Parent Consoles should have started receiving them this week! Woohoo! If you are still waiting on yours and have not received it by 23rd December, please email us to let us know so that we can follow it up!

The Ridgy Didge!

2008-12-10T09:17:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone!

Our brand new newsletter, named "The Ridgy Didge" is available to download from here: The Ridgy Didge, Issue 1 . Enjoy!

Price increase from Ergo!

2008-12-08T20:44:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

I am sad to say that there has been a price increase, effective immediately, for the full range of Ergo Baby Carriers and accessories, including the organic lines that we offer for sale.

Our website has been updated and now reflects the current pricing accurately. We are working our hardest to keep pricing down, and the new prices are slightly lower than the RRP that is set down by Ergo.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause, however, many companies are being forced to increase their prices on imported products due to the fluctuations of the Aussie dollar. :(

Thanks for much for your understanding.

Here are our Panda Pals...

2008-12-08T18:43:00.001-08:00

Here they are!!

At the moment, we are calling them "Panda 1", "Panda 2" and "Panda 3"....

That is just not fitting!!

Please give them a name!

"We are so cute,

And cuddly too,

Ready to be enjoyed by you!

We are the new faces of Ankle Biters Duds,

Soft and organic,

Perfect for hugs.

Please give us a name,

A new identity,

We'll reward you with prizes a plenty!"

Get your thinking caps on!

The fun is about to start!

Baby Jogger City Mini Parent Consoles...

2008-12-08T00:05:00.000-08:00

Update from Baby Jogger -

City Mini Parent Consoles still have not arrived and will not be back in stock until Baby Jogger re-opens on the 12 January 2009.

Baby Jogger apologises for the inconvenience but has assured us that everyone who has ordered Parent Consoles will have them shipped directly to them as soon as they land here in Australia!

Watch this space for further updates...

Our newest "babies"...

2008-12-07T19:37:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone!

Well, we mentioned it briefly in a previous post, but we'll go into more detail now...

We have "adopted" three beautiful Panda babies to be the new "faces" of Ankle Biters Duds. Here is their story...

On 12 May, 2008, the 19th most deadly earthquake of all time hit the Sichuan province of China, with over 69, 000 people losing their lives. As well as this, over 375, 000 people were injured, and 18,222 are still listed as missing. The earthquake also left about 4.8 million people homeless.

Clearly, the toll on human life was huge and many tragedies occurred. But, sadly, humans were not the only ones that were impacted by the events of 12 May.

Many species of wildlife lost their lives too, as they tried to escape the ravages that the earth forced upon them. One of the saddest stories to come out of the Sichuan Earthquake, is that of the plight of the baby pandas, with many of the already critically endangered animals being injured, orphaned or left homeless amid the devastation.

Inspired by this, and the gorgeous pics that you see here, and together with our friend Pauline at http://www.funkyfriendsfactory.com/, we designed our new Ankle Biters Duds logo, and commenced the overhaul of our website design.

We believe that the baby pandas are a perfect ambassador for our company for a number of reasons:

They are critically endangered and rely heavily on us as humans to care for their environment to ensure their survival as a species.
Their diet is solely bamboo - our chosen fibre for the production of our range of fabrics and garments.
They are a universally recognised image for conservation and environmentalism around the world.
The fact that they are babies represents the nature of our company as a source of organic, eco-friendly baby and children's products.
They are just so bloody cute!

And so, as a celebration of our new image. We are doing two very special things in coming weeks.

Firstly, we are going to be releasing our very first 100% organic and bamboo plush toy! Our "Panda Pals" are all eco-friendly, organic, inside AND out! With an ultra soft 100% certified organic cotton filling on the inside and the fabric of the body being made from 85% bamboo/15% certified organic cotton fleece, hand-dyed with eco-friendly dyes. Each of our first batch of Panda Pals have been lovingly hand-made in fair trade conditions, right here in Australia! Each Panda Pal comes with his/her very own baby bottle, and 100% jute drawstring carry sack. They are available in a bright pink and a bright blue version, to correspond with the girl and boy pandas used in our logo.

They are a perfect Christmas gift and have a number of very special applications:

soft and cuddly - a perfect "comforter" item for your little ankle biter.
perfect size for cuddling - not too small, but not too big either.
better for your child - great for children with allergies and skin conditions due to their organic nature.
better for the environment - a great way to help support the environment and of course the conservation of the Giant Panda.

We pledge to donate $5.00 from every Panda Pal sold to the Giant Panda conservation and relief efforts of the Chengdu Giant Panda Research Base in China. Further information about the organisation can be found here: Chengdu Giant Panda Research Base Website

Our first batch of Panda Pals will be available for sale on the Ankle Biters Duds website by 12 December 2008, with delivery guaranteed before Christmas! Stocks will be extremely limited, so get in quick to ensure that you don't miss out!

And here is a sneak peak of our prototype....

Secondly, we will be launching a fantastic competition! We just won't feel that our "adoption" process is complete until our new babies have names befitting their status as the eco-friendly face of Ankle Biters Duds and we are hoping that you can help! We will be asking entrants to our competition to submit the most creative, catchy and befitting names that they can come up with. There needs to be 2 boy names and a girl name, of course! The winner of the competition will not only be awarded with the bragging rights of knowing that our Panda Pals were named by them, but will also receive a BRAND NEW Baby Jogger City Mini Single Stroller OR a gift voucher to the value of $395.00 to spend in our store! Wouldn't that be a great boost to bring in the new year?!? We will also give two runners up prizes of $50.00 gift vouchers to spend in the Ankle Biters Duds store.

Full competition details will be announced this Friday, 12 December 2008. The winner will be announced Monday 5th January 2009, when we will also unveil the names of our Panda Pals!

To give you a little more inspiration, here are some more gorgeous pics of the baby pandas in China:

Green Pack Natural Wax Crayons - NOW AVAILABLE!!

2008-12-05T05:11:00.000-08:00

To all of those budding artiste ankle biters out there, we have just the thing for you!

We have just received our first delivery of Green Pack Natural Wax Crayons!

They are made from high quality, natural & renewable ingredients. The lovely scent of natural oils & waxes is a distinct feature as well as their bright and attractive colours.

The entire range is non-toxic and safe to use.

Free of petrochemical waxes

Packaged in recycled cardboard

Ingredients
100% beeswax, vegetable oils & waxes, vegetable stearin, lanolin, chalk & natural pigments

Available products are:

12 Natural Wax Crayons
12 Wombat Wax Crayons
10 Natural Oil Pastels
15 Fabric Wax Crayons

And keep your eye out on our site for the new great range of wooden and sustainable toys, Ob'on organic and recycled stationery, and gorgous, relaxing salt night lamps!

ECOtanka are finally available!

2008-12-05T04:59:00.001-08:00

Well, FINALLY, I have managed to get our new range of ECOtanka products online!

I absolutely love these drink bottles. Not only are they eco-friendly and ULTRA healthy, but they are extra tough and proving to be extremely durable in my kids school bags.

You can find LOADS of info about ECOtanka on their website HERE!

And you can view our full range of bottles and accessories from ECO tanka HERE!

Think 'REFILL NOT LANDFILL"!!

Stainless steel has a life expectancy of over 100 years, and is 100% recyclable.

Fantastic News from Moltex!

2008-12-04T17:28:00.000-08:00

An update from our favourite eco-disposable nappy manufacturer MOLTEX!!

MOLTEX next generation nappy

We are pleased to announce that in JANUARY 2009, Moltex will introduce a new and improved version of their already FANTASTIC Eco Nappy!

Features include:

-100% biodegradable outer lining
- 100% biodegradable packaging
- 40% biodegradable inner lining
- 100% oxygen bleached
- 100% chlorine and latex free
- Only nappy to have the Australian GECA award
- Beautiful soft texture for baby

In addition… the Australian distributor of Moltex, ECOdirect, offset all carbon emissions from the shipping of Moltex nappies through Greening Australia’s ‘Breath Easy’ program (www.breatheeasynow.com.au), and donate a percentage of all sales to ‘Trees For Life’ (www.treesforlife.org.au) to help regenerate our native bush land!

And don't forget that for every BULK BOX of Moltex Nappies that you purchase from our website, you will qualify to receive a FREE PACKET of WOTNOT Biodegradable & Compostable Nappy Wipes when you send in your proof of purchase from the specially marked packs!

Baby Jogger Update...

2008-12-03T21:04:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

Just a quick note to let you know the latest news from BabyJogger!

1. All orders for Baby Jogger strollers must be placed before 17 December if you wish to have them delivered prior to Christmas. Orders placed after this date will be dispatched when Baby Jogger re-opens on 12th January 2009.

2. Baby Jogger has announced a price increase to ALL OF THEIR RANGE (including accessories) as of 24th December, so if you wish to take advantage of the current range, be sure to get your orders in quickly so to avoid having to purchase them at the new prices!

3. The brand new STONE Baby Jogger City Mini Singles are available NOW!

4. The very first stock to hit Australian shores of the new BLACK City Elite Sport (with stone coloured stripe on the canopy), will be arriving next week. Get in quick if you'd like one as they are expecting to sell out almost immediately!

5. The brand new City Elite Sports have now completely sold out in the Black (with black stripe), and the Tan/Black. There is still limited availability of the Red (with black/stone stripe). New stock will be arriving approximately 14 December, but will only be available to those who order prior to the 17th December. This stock is expected to sell out almost immediately and there may not be any available until some time after Baby Jogger reopens on 12 Jan 09.

I think that about covers it for now!

Renos under way!!

2008-12-02T08:29:00.000-08:00

Well, finally our renovations are under way! We have completed most of the artwork and our new "image" is finally taking shape! We have gone for a much "greener", and less cluttered look to our site, to emphasise our focus on eco-friendly products, and we have adopted a couple of cute new little ambassadors, in the form of our frolicking, tumbling pandas!

The pandas were adapted from a plush toy that has been exclusively designed for us by our dear friend Pauline, over at http://funkyfriendsfactory.com/ .

We are still wading through the manufacturing process, but will soon be adding our gorgeous range of organic, and bamboo toys to our offerings, and these little pandas will be the "flagship" of our range!

We think that they are so cute, that we decided to pay homage to Pauline's wonderful efforts and endless talent by adopting them as our official logo! We love the idea of a Panda as the "face" of ABD due to our passionate love of bamboo textiles, but we also just couldn't resist them as our logo due to their cute, fun feel that they bring to our site!

We are also so excited to announce that BabyJogger have just released a GORGEOUS new colour for the City Mini range of strollers. Seen here, it is to be known as "stone", and is perfect for our Aussie climate! We have had customers express their concerns that most of the Baby Jogger range is dark in colour, which isn't good for camouflaging food and other baby-related "stains", but is also not great for our hooooott aussie sun. Well, the stone colour is perfect for alleviating both of these concerns, and it looks great too!

Now, as promised, we have some exciting give-aways and promos to share with you over coming days!

To begin with, through-out this week, and probably most of next week, all orders that we receive over the value of $50 (excluding freight), will receive a FREE packet of BIOBABY biodegradable Baby Wipes! Why? Well, just because we love them so much that we simply HAD to share them with you!

Watch this space for the next giveaway and great deals that we will be offering all week. But as a sneaky hint, I can tell you that by the end of next week one of our lucky customers will be proudly pushing the stroller you see pictured here, and it won't have cost them a single cent!!

Ok, so along with our renovations, we are adding more and more great eco-friendly products to our site daily! Keep checking back for all of the great new recycled wooden toys, recycled newspaper kids pencils and stationery products and some awesome all natural beeswax crayons and oil pastels!

Phew, and I am only JUST getting started! Exciting stuff!

Stay green!

tan. :)

Our failed facelift!

2008-11-17T21:15:00.000-08:00

Ooops!

Well, hi everyone!

You will have all probably noticed by now that our promised "facelift" at the Ankle Biters Duds website didn't happen!

Well, we can thank Mother Nature for this. We were hit in full force by all of her fury this past weekend, and as a result, our suburb was without power, phone, internet etc for a few days. Our schools were closed too.

Personally, we didn't fair too badly, except for the next door neighbours trampoline that ended up stuck on our fence and the MASSIVE gum tree that landed in our back yard too! Interesting stuff, as you can see by the pics here.

Ok, so all kind of went by the wayside as we were in damage control to help with the clean up, and to make our home comfortable with candles, ice etc. The kids were pretty freaked out by it all, but there were people much worse off than us, and the Army, and Goverment have been very helpful in putting things back together.

Sooo, in saying all of this, we have re-evelatuated our planned facelift and promotions, and will put it all into action NEXT Monday instead!

We will continue to trade this week, and will close again on this Friday, 21st November, 2008. We will complete our website "renovations" during Saturday and Sunday, to re-open again, on Monday, 24th November, with a great new look, new products and a whole stack of wonderful promotions and freebies, just as we had promised to do so this week!

Sorry everyone for any inconvenience, and we hope that it is all worth the wait when, come Monday, 24th November, a whole new Ankle Biters Duds is unveiled!

First Post!!

2008-11-10T19:53:00.000-08:00

Well, here we are, our inaugural Ankle Biters Duds blog entry!

Oh, yes, and here I am with my new little man, Neo. ------------------------------>

We have finally added a blog to our website as our home page is getting progressively more cluttered and I think that this would be a better way of keeping you all informed about the goings on at Ankle Biters Duds.

I will use this blog to let you all know about the specials, promotions and new products available in our store. I will also use it to broadcast changes to our website, competitions and extended product information that isn't on our website. Of course, it wouldn't be me if I didn't have the ocassional post here that was for no other reason than because I am feeling chatty at any given time! :)

And so, without further ado, I officially declare this blog to be...

O P E N!!

Woohoo!!