Thankful Thursday. Six and half years.

I've been taking advantage of the Harvey Norman Photobook special this week and decided I would make the kids their own preschool photo book each. It has been amazing looking back through the last 6 1/2 years. First birthdays, first Christmas, first days of kindy and adventures. It seems like sooo long ago we first became parents and it left me wondering when exactly did this lovely bub...

become this grown up girl!

And this wee bubba...become this lively young fella?Time is flying and this Thankful Thursday I'm thankful that over the last six and half years these two monkeys have changed my life. They bring out the worst in me and best in me. They drive me nuts and bring me unimaginable joy. They challenge me and even though they don't know it I am growing as a person because of their very existence.
I am thankful for the last six and half years of parenting and the many more years to come.

Helloooo school holidays.

Kids really hold you to your promises. I promised the kids we would make painted cookies on Monday (yesterday), but I got hit with some sort of mad virus that had me spending the entire day either on the couch or in bed (virus + nausea+fever+breast-feeding= NOT COOL!) .
Even though I explained several times to master 4 that I was sick and we probably won't be able to make them today he still persisted "but you said!"
So today we made painted cookies.

My sister-in-law had sent this over from America last year so we were long over due to try it out...You could easily make the icing at home with food coloring, but what I like was the icing was flavored: strawberry, lemon, raspberry etc.

The kids had a blast.

Hubby's Birthday.

It's my lovely husbands birthday today.

I love him to bits. He's a great husband and fantastic dadda.
Today was his special day.
Birthday breakfast at a local cafe, then back to work in the afternoon.
And later home to a pork roast dinner and some excited kids who were just as happy as I was at our afternoon cake creating.
This is only my third attempt at birthday cakes. Before that the tradition in our family was heading down to the local cheesecake shop and picking the picture to put on top of our bought cheese cake (embarrassing I know!).
So this is a real step up...
Hubby was very surprised and delighted I might add with his birthday cake.

"cheers"

I call this masterpiece "Chocolate fish(ing)"
Two rods because he's so awesome at fishing!
Happy birthday my love!

New Food Friday - Risotto

So as mentioned here I have decided its time to start actually making some of the yummy recipes Ive seen on TV and read in magazines. So this week I've tried risotto, made from scratch. I blame a boy from Form 2 (year 11?) for putting me off trying risotto. We had to interview each other and he told me his least favorite food was risotto ( the premix packet stuff), and so I must have decided I wont like it either. After giving it a try for lunch at a local cafe, I was a convert. However it looked so tricky to make, so Ive never tried until this week.

So.... I won't bother giving you a recipe...because to be honest I hate following recipes. So I goggled it and found a couple of recipes to (experiment) base mine on. This is a bacon, mushroom and basil pesto risotto

Ingredients...

First I did this....

then added these...

and this is the result...
One bacon, mushroom and basil pesto. Done. (as Ramsey says)

Food Critics Thumbs up/down?
I decided not to even try making the younger food critics (master 4 and miss 6) try this. I usually make them eat what ever I make for dinner veges in all, but I knew this would go down like a lead balloon. But Lesmond J (hubby) gave it two thumbs up, One thumb up from me and of course two thumbs up from bubba (3months). So 5 thumbs out of a total of 6 thumbs up. Would I try it again? Hmmm. Probably not. Standing over the pot stirring often and watching to see if the rice has absorbed the stock is not an ideal way to spend jungle hour (5-6pm) at my house.

Any suggestions about next New Food Friday?

Thankful Thursday- God Whispers

Bubba is 12 weeks old today. After swearing off ever having any more offspring after Baby number two...Im glad God twisted my arm into having just one more. 4 years ago I was so sleep deprived I thought I would go crazy. Having a new born and a toddler was such a trying experience that at my 3am feeds I would tell myself...remember this...Never, ever do this to yourself again. But I heard what I would describe as "God whispers". "You can do it...I will help you..."
Hubby remembered the hard times too and needed convincing that one more to add to the two, would make the family complete.
It wasn't easy getting bubba number three. After a miscarriage and few extra months of trying it seemed like it wouldn't happen. But we held on to the "God whispers". After a four year gap we welcomed our baby boy to the family. And I know God has been there with me through these 12 weeks... The third day baby blues didn't even surface...even though I was prepared. The generosity of others with dinners and gifts has made us feel overwhelmed with love. Even though he still wakes at least a couple of times a night...I still feel better and less tired during the day than I would after an afternoon shift at work. A couple of health issues and visits to the pediatricians, still I know that Gods peace is with us.

So today I'm thankful for a bubba who might not have been... unless I had trusted a God whisper instead of my own limitations and weakness'.

"look what I can do"

You think you know your kids and then they bust out the statement..."Look what I can do!""Where did you learn that" we ask. "From Violet" says master 4. "Violet who?" we ask curiously. "Violet from Charlie and the Chocolate factory". "Oh!" Of course!
What else can you two do?
Hubby and I had to giggle at this shot. Don't ya wish you could be this flexible again!

Never too young for a bedtime story.

My husband does the bed time stories around here. He started early, heres Miss 6 when she was only a couple of months old.

Bubba (2 months) had his first experience having stories in bed the other night. The kids love this time with "dadda" at the end of a long day. It helps with the wind down for a good nights sleep.
We love buying the kids books, mainly from garage sales and other cheap spots. The older "golden books" have interesting old school language which is great for the kids to hear out loud. We are loving our book collection, and it's great that miss 6 is starting the enjoy reading them for herself.

May there be many more bed time stories with dadda to come.

New Food Friday.

I love watching shows about food. Top chef, F word, Rachel Ray, even Jo Seagers cooking show, but never seem to try any of the recipes. Inspired by the movie Julie and Julia I'm keen to try some new recipes and ingredients. So for my first New Food Friday post this week I thought I would try a Coucous recipe. Its one of those ingredients I've eaten at other people's places and thought I should try this at home.

So heres' my Mediterranean chicken and couscous.
Ingredients:
Recipe: Brown the chicken thighs in fry pan with olive oil, add sliced onion, saute for a bit. Add chopped veges- Zucchini, capsicum, mushrooms and can of Watties Moroccan tomatoes and simmer until veges are cooked. Roughly chop up the Alison Holst nut mix. This one had crasins instead of raisins. And add to pan. Simmer until done. Serve over couscous (cooked as directed on the packet).
One Mediterranean chicken and couscous. Done. (As Ramsey would say :) )


So what did the food critics think? One out of two thumbs up from Miss 6, Master 4 and Lesmond J. Bubba gives his two thumbs up (he doesn't really know any thing about it..this is just for my ego). And two thumbs up from me. So the score out of a possible 10 is 7.

Thankful Thursday. Mother-in-laws.

Today Im thankful for an amazing mother in law. I know for some the term"amazing mother-in-law" maybe an oxymoron, but not the case for me. She is a great Grandma, always lends a listening ear, hems my pants up (curse having short stubby legs!), makes delicious food and never crititises my cooking or worse my terrible house keeping skills...Unlike...Marie from Everybody Loves Raymond! This cool poem sums it up...

Some mother-in-laws are possessive;
Their child they still want to own.
My mother-in-law’s love is like sunlight;
On both of us it shone.

Some mother-in-laws put you down;
They think you’re not good enough.
My mother-in-law shows approval,
Affection, and other good stuff.

Some mother-in-laws interfere;
They think that they know best. My mother-in-law lets us be;
She’s better than the rest.

Imag-e-nation.

"Favouritist" in the whole wide world.

Wow where has the last 10 weeks gone? Seems like yesterday I held my little newborn in my arms for the first time. And now he's out of newborn clothes and so much more aware of the world. The smiles are so rewarding, we love them. The whole family loves to do their best to make him smile.
As I was giving him cuddles after a feed, it occurred to me that I am his favourite person in the world wide world. And what a cool feeling it is. In these early months its easy to feel like a glorified milk machine. But for now Im going to enjoy this time being needed and loved by my little person until....he realizes daddy is way cooler and he's his favourite person in the whole wide world ...just like miss 6 and master 4 ;)

♪ Where everybody knows your name... ♪

I guess people really are creatures of habit. There is something comforting in the "tried and true" of our lives.
I have a favorite coffee shop where I live. I love the coffee (Mocha in a bowl), I love the new magazines, I love the food, I love the art on the wall and I love the sounds. Its my happy place I go to once in a while when I can. I haven't been able to get out much with the new bubba (way too much effort!) but yesterday I went because I really needed some caffeine after a long night of newborn wake ups. I didn't even need to verbalize my order!... "Mocha in a bowl?" the barista asks. YES PLEASE! She knows my drink.
Reminds me of the eighties classic Cheers. (* cue nostalgic music here*) "Norm!" they all call out. Its very cool when someone pays attention and knows your drink.


Whats your favorite coffee place?

Thankful Thursday.

We live in world of discontentment. You just need to read the advertising leaflet or ads on TV and think to yourself "Lets buy it!". Land fills are full our man made crap..gizmos and gadgets that are now out of date because the newest and latest model is out. So to help me fight off my discontentment I have decided Thursdays can be "Thankful Thursdays".

So... Thankful Thursday number one:
I was talking to a dear friend about feeling a little tired lately because bubba still hasn't perfected the art of sleeping for descent lengths yet. So she offered to make me dinner one night this week. And this is what turned up:
A tasty bacon and egg pie,crisp green salad, an apple and spice pudding, buns, custard and juice. What a feast!

So today I am thankful for a friend who really knows how to love a tired mum with an amazing act of generosity.

New Beginnings...

Hello fellow bloggers. Spring has sprung here in the southern hemisphere, and you know what that means... new beginnings. Nature tells us that winter is done and new life has begun. Not to mention better weather, pretty flowers and lambies. Time for new beginnings in my life, starting with a new blog. An outlet for my weird and wonderful thoughts and hopefully a place to meet other mums, just trying to get on with life.
Five things about me:
#1. I'm currently on maternity leave after birthing baby number three.
#2. After three kids I am ready to finally put my coffee and chocolate brownie eating figure behind me. Long term goal- do a mini triathlon. Short term goals- learn how to run, ride a bike and swim properly ;) This should be fun.
#3. I can't sew, crochet or knit, but I love to cook...especially for my food critics (the family). After watching "Julie and Julia"...Im inspired to try some new crazy recipes.
#4. I love my family ( Lesmond-J-hubby, Miss 6, Master 4 and bubba.) but need a lot of help on how to be a better wife and parent. Hence I like to read stuff about these to encourage me to do so and will put on here to encourage you too.
#5. I love living in the multimedia era. I love movies, t.v and the internet.

So I look forward to springs new beginnings.