I LOVE Australia.

Happy Australia Day long weekend everyone! Yes, I do realise it is now Wednesday but I have been reflecting on how lucky we are to live in this amazing country. I am so grateful to live in a place that is peaceful, not ravaged by wars and that allows myself and my family to live with freedom and have the life we desire. We also live in a land of extreme weather conditions ... floods and bushfires .... and my heart goes out to those many families that have been affected by these disasters in recent months.

For us, Australia Day is a time to relax and celebrate our good fortune to live in this wonderful place with friends and family. We are lucky enough to have some friends who love to theme occasions as much as I do and we have such a ball together. We have a BBQ lunch by a little creek where the kids can all clamber over the rocks and splash in the water. As you know, I love to colour coordinate everything and this year saw our family in traditional green and gold.

Events like this also give me the opportunity to indulge my creative side in the kitchen. I made koala cupcakes this year. Very cute and easy to boot! First make chocolate cupcakes and ice them with chocolate icing. Then cut a pink marshmallow in half and ice the outside edge with icing before rolling in dessicated coconut. After positioning the marshmallow ears at the top of the cake, add a black jellybean nose and 2 brown M&Ms for eyes. Cover the rest of the cake with coconut and voilá! Koala. (One of our non-dangerous wildlife specimens.  We boast many of the most dangerous creatures on the planet; a fact that Australian's are secretly quite proud of!) Aussie Aussie Aussie! Oi Oi Oi!

Happy New Year

2013... wow! When did that happen? It seems like we just blink and another year passes by. 2012 was a VERY busy year for me and sadly I had to put my blog to the side for the second part of the year but in 2013 I am back! I have so many things to share with you and I am so excited to be writing again. I will continue to post on a range of topics including organising projects, crafts, fun stuff the girls and I do together, favourite recipes and lots more. If there are particular things you would like me to write about, feel free to drop me a line. I would love to hear from you.

And so we have a new year; full of opportunities, goals, new things to try, things to achieve. I always spend a good part of our summer holiday thinking about what I want the coming year to be like. I reflect on the past year and try to work out what it is I will do for this year to make it better. I am a highly visual person. I find it really helps me to be able to see my goals regularly to remind me of what it is I am trying to achieve. So this year I have a new way to display them around the house and in key locations.

Some of the biggies on my list this year revolve around limiting technologies and being present with my family. I have a tendency to be easily distracted by my laptop ... Facebook, Pinterest, email. These are all amazing tools but they can also be huge time wasters if you let them. 5 minutes on Pinterest  is the equivalent to 1 hour in real time! I have had a serious think about my priorites for this year and at the top of my list is my family. They shouldn't get the left overs of my time, they should get my prime hours. So accordingly, I have decided to try to limit my computer time to a short block during the school day and then in the evening after the girls are in bed. My focus when they are here after school will be on them. We all know how quickly they grow and this time will be gone before I know it. I want to cherish every minute. Afterall, this is exactly what I always wanted; I don't want to waste one moment.

Having everyone leave the house in the mornings nourished of mind, body and spirit is another goal for this year. Too often last year we seemed to be rushing in the mornings and I yelled at one or more children before we had reached the school gates; to hurry up, to remember to pack a drink bottle, to grab their homework, to please NOT redo their hair for the seventh time that morning. This year, we will ALL be getting up earlier. No hitting 'snooze' on the alarm clock. Up and at 'em! School bags and activity bags packed the night before as much as possible so we can have calm mornings.

2013 will also see us all being more creative. I have a list of projects I would love to get stuck into this year. I also really want to teach my girls to cook and to sew; two things I really enjoy doing. So no doubt it will be another busy year but I am up for it. Bring it!

Growing Up

It’s been a REALLY long time since I had a chance to write on my blog and I have missed it. Thankyou to those of you who have told me you have missed it too … you have inspired me to write again.

2012 has been a ridiculously busy year so far and shows absolutely no sign of slowing any time soon (or possibly ever in the foreseeable future at the very least!). I guess that is to be expected with our family of six; certainly people expect you to be run-off-your-feet-busy when you have 4 children. But I suspect my difficulty in saying “no” to near any request is also a mitigating factor in the craziness that is my life. I tend to take on lots of projects, celebrations and the like and then find myself drowning in my to do list. This is not the only culprit though; I am easily distracted. And for heavens sake, don’t give me a book because I find it near impossible to put it down until I have read the very last line!

Since I last wrote, I celebrated my birthday. I am not going to tell you how old I was but I will tell you that I am still a few years off the big 4-0. I am however, experiencing a mid-life crisis of sorts. When did I get old exactly? I didn’t mind 30 at all, in fact, I felt rather grown up. 35 wasn’t too bad either but the other side of this number is not so great. Much better than the alternative, my Dad always reminds me, but I don’t want to get older. I certainly don’t really like the physical side of growing up. I could do without the wrinkles (even if you do call them “laugh lines”) and my figure is certainly not what it used to be. To wallow or to do something about it? That is the question really.

So, I have decided that there is nothing to stop me getting younger! (If only that were actually a possibility) But I can do something about how fit and toned I am; about the condition of my skin; about how good I feel about myself. You know all about my love (obsession perhaps?) of Pinterest. I have been busily pinning lots of great ideas for exercising, changing my diet and reading magazines like Prevention and Women’s Health. All the info you need to be your best is out there, you just need to go find it and then put it in to practice.

This morning, for the first time in …. well, let’s just agree that it has been a really long time …. I went for a run. (Just give my Mum a moment to pick herself up off the floor! Yes, I did really run Mum) And it felt good. Well, let me clarify that … it didn’t actually feel that good (and I am guessing that the man with his dog that I was sharing the local football oval with, thought I was about to keel over at any moment, based solely on my ragged breathing) but it felt good to be doing something. In fact, the hardest thing about exercising is dragging myself from my very warm, comfortable bed when everyone else in my household is snuggling. Once I actually step outside though, it is all worth it. I use this time to think, to pray, to plan my day. It is amazing how good it feels to have some clear head space. I highly recommend it.

My goal is not to look like a teenager or become a size 8 even. I would be happy to be mistaken for 30! But I do want to be the healthiest me I can be. And to fit into a gorgeous outfit I have in my wardrobe. (I will post pictures when I get there). Oh and I want a tattoo and a sports car. Well, what self-respecting  mid-life crisis is any good without a sports car I ask you?

 

 

Here’s to a healthier me!

My lunch tub

The routine in our house used to be the same each morning as I prepared the lunches for David and the girls ... fridge open, grab margarine / butter and ham. fridge open, grab jam. fridge open, grab cheese and mayo. fridge open, grab tomatoes and dijonnaise. Somedays, all of the required items were in plain sight; other days I had to go feretting around in the back of the fridge to find said items. All that opening and closing of the fridge drove me mad.

One day, while out browsing at Ikea (love that store!), I came across a little white tub. Well, a medium size tub really, with a cut out handle at each end. And I had a brainwave ..... What if I were to store all our regular lunch items in this tub and then when I go to make lunches in the morning, I would have everything I needed (my family are creatures of habit when it comes to their lunch choices most days) without having to dig around or do multiple trips to the fridge. Really, such a simple idea, why hadn't I thought of it before?

Since I have implemented this system, there have been a couple of added bonuses ... like the girls making their lunches on the weekend using the tub and being able to see at a glance if I am running low on something.

As I was on lunches, thought I would share a product that I love (more for the little girls than the big ones) ... the lunch punch. They come as a set of 4 and punch out shapes in sandwiches but rather than losing half the sandwich that falls outside of the shape, these cut out almost all the sandwich except the crusts. Genius!

Oh and just a final thought, my fridge is not usually this gorgeous. It had a clean out before I took the photo; it is usually a little more haphazard.  :)

A bit of creative fun

Recently I came across a great, cheap crafty idea that I thought my little girls particularly would enjoy. Of course, since the big girls have seen it, they are also keen to give it a go. It used common kitchen ingredients and required very little set up. So, the next time I was babysitting, I thought I would give it a test run with the kids. Let's just say it was a huge success. Master 4, Miss 2 and of course, Josie-rabbit, had a ball. Check it out for yourself.

Ingredients required: bicarb soda, vinegar and food colouring. You will also need a reasonable size dish (I used glass), a medicine dropper (I purchased a couple of small droppers at the chemist for about $3 each) and a few dishes for different coloured vinegars (I used ramekins).

Pour a layer of bicarb soda in the bottom of the dish. Add food colouring to several small dishes of vinegar. Use the medicine dropper to draw up the vinegar and then squirt it on to the soda to form patterns. The soda will bubble up when the vinegar is dropped onto it which is fun for the kids to watch too.

Suffice to say, the kids enjoyed this activity and it kept them occupied for ages. Great for their fine motor skills and colour recognition too. We also talked about what colours you can make when you mix the colours together. And as for the clean up, wash it down the sink with a jug of boiling water and you can clean your drains at the same time. Nothing like multi-tasking!

Sponge Cake with Sprinkles

This is a family favourite. My mum made this for my sister and I when we were growing up. My girls (and David) love it too. Quick to make and delicious, my recommendation is that you double the mix and make a large cake (use a lamington tray) because you will find that it disappears very quickly. (This one went so fast that I didn't get a chance to snap a picture before they started eating it!)

SPONGE CAKE WITH SPRINKLES
1 1/2 cups self raising flour
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
vanilla essence
1/2 cup milk
4oz margarine

Melt butter. Mix all ingredients and then add melted butter. Cook at 180'C for about 40 minutes.

To make icing: melt 1 tablespoon of butter (or margarine) in 2 tablespoons of boiling water. Add to 1 cup of icing sugar. Then add sprinkles.

Rebecca proclaimed "I'm in cake heaven" as she was enjoying her cake when I made it just a few days ago. I hope your family likes it just as much.

Keeping the kids entertained when you're out

I decided to have the night off last night … from cooking that is. We took the girls out to La Porchetta’s for dinner. And even better than having the night off from cooking, is having the night off from doing the dishes!

But taking our 4 girls out to dinner requires some preparation in the entertainment department. We learnt very early on in our parenting journey that a meal out is a much more pleasant experience when the girls are entertained while they are waiting for their meals to arrive (or waiting for the adults to finish). So for years we have toted along colouring and activity books and pencil cases to keep them distracted. Tonight, however, we, or rather I (David sometimes takes a bit of convincing) had a brilliant idea and it took up a whole lot less room in my handbag.

While we waited for our meals to arrive, instead of distracting the girls, we spent time talking to them but with a bit of help from some great little cards … conversation starters. These help you to chat about more than just “how was your day?” but ask questions that make you think or laugh  and are just a bit of fun … and the kids love them. Tonight we chatted about the most beautiful place we had ever visited, what we keep under our beds (Spiders was Rebecca’s surprising answer!), our favourite food, the best present you could ever receive (animals featured heavily – there was mention of puppies and ponies!) and nicknames we have had. Not only did it give us a few giggles while we were passing the time, but everyone was able to contribute including Josie who is only 2 ½.

I have recently come across this great website that has lists of conversation starters you can download. http://debbiehodge.com/2012/03/keep-a-5-year-journal-progress-to-date-and-prompts-for-april/  Who knows, you may just find out something you didn’t know and you are bound to at least get a few laughs.