Only a week til we go to QLD! YAY! I cant wait to relax with my hubby and our girls!
Anyway here is a cake, i wont post the recipe as i used the same one as previously posted by me!
The blog is closing
5 months ago
Friday, March 6, 2009
For the chocolholic!
Tonight we are all heading out for George's pop's 80th birthday celebrations! I love that my children still have their great grandparents alive from both my side and George's side of the family! I made a cake, i wanted something simple, as i have had a pretty full on week and the weekend is looking just as busy!
Only a week til we go to QLD! YAY! I cant wait to relax with my hubby and our girls!
Anyway here is a cake, i wont post the recipe as i used the same one as previously posted by me!
Only a week til we go to QLD! YAY! I cant wait to relax with my hubby and our girls!
Anyway here is a cake, i wont post the recipe as i used the same one as previously posted by me!
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
WooHoo!
Well no photos are anything fancy today but some good news to share! Went back to the neurologist today to get the results from my MRI and the brain and spine were all clear...thus ruling out MS (Multiple Sclerosis) which is what i was told 3 months ago was more than likely what i had!! I am still not much closer to knowing what is causing my unusual symptoms that are still persisting, but i am thankful and will sleep better tonight knowing i dont have to deal with this disease!
I do however have a new found respect and appreciation for people who deal with this disease (and many others) on a daily basis with a smile on their face!
Im so happy tonight i could sing.....FA LA LA LA (thats as good as it gets!!)
Anyway keep smiling til next time...
I do however have a new found respect and appreciation for people who deal with this disease (and many others) on a daily basis with a smile on their face!
Im so happy tonight i could sing.....FA LA LA LA (thats as good as it gets!!)
Anyway keep smiling til next time...
Monday, March 2, 2009
An afternoon in the house of....
I came home from school today a little bit exhausted and some what overwhelmed by what the afternoon beholds. Usually they are something i have come to cope with and sometimes even enoy the craziness of but today i struggled probably as a combination of being out all afternoon and tiredness from not sleeping so great!
I decided i would write this blog, more out of my own curiosity of learning more about how you "do" the craziness of afternoons and i thought if i went first hopefully YOU - yes you, reading this blog - will follow my lead! Since i love photos i decided to narrate the afternoon with pics!
The girls finish school at 3:10pm and we leave home at 2:45pm to get there early enough to collect the school bags and chat to some mums. We are usually home between 3:30-3:45pm depending on how much time the girls spend playing on the playground whilst i chitter chat with the mums!
Once we are home, there are some rules in place! The girls know that they have to bring in their school bags and the first thing is lunch-boxes are to be put on the bench ready to be cleaned out for the next day. Also the diaries need to be put on my desk along so they can be checked for notices and signed.
School diary!
Once this is done they are allowed to have an afternoon snack and drink. If they haven't finished their fruit from their lunch box for that day this is the first thing that has to be eaten, and generally i try to keep this afternoon snack to fruit or popcorn or something light! Between 3:45 - 4:30 is snack and unwind time.
Around 4:30pm we start doing the homework. I have really noticed having 2 at school when it comes to homework time. Caitlyn (in prep) seems to have a fair bit to do at the moment, i guess it is because they are learning so many new things they are trying to reinforce them at home as well.
Tonight we started off with Catilyn's "golden words". For those that dont know these are the 12 most common words used in english. We first did them off the sheet just going through them in rows.
Caitlyn is doing alright with these, its really hard going back to basics with one of your children when you are used to the other being able to read anything easily!! It is also hard not to compare you children to each other, i really try to catch myself in thought before i ever actually say things out loud. Its not at all that i think one is better than the other, but their differences can often be noted. I also try to stay out of the conversations that parents often engage in about how their particular child is doing, although i have generally found this only to be so in prep, the parents in grade two couldn't care less about comparing their child's reading ability with anyone elses!! I guess its the uncertainty that sending your precious child off to school brings, that you are looking to see how your child falls in the "ranks" of the rest of the class!
Anyway back to it...golden words. I found some flash cards with these words on them (actually i think it is the top 100 words which is great because i think they learn the top 200 in prep). I use these cards as well, most nights, just to check Caitlyn is learning the words by sight not by the place they are on the paper!!!
Next Cailtyn "reads" to me her reader for the night! Thankfully these are really short and basic as she is still learning to "read" and we will do the same book twice just so it sinks in a little (i hope!!)
While Caitlyn is doing this Hannah is on mathletics. Hannah loves mathletics and as she is a "computer nerd" (lol) i do not need to encourage her to be at the computer.
Hannah at her computer doing mathletics - notice for anyone who uses this she is actually in the section where you buy clothes etc for your person! This is her favourite part im sure!!! :-)
Caitlyn also starts her mathletics on my computer once she has finished her words. I need to sit with her still to direct her with what she needs to do (today it was sorting numbers in order both forwards and backwards!) Caitlyn also loves time on the computer (often the computer is the source of any arguing between my girls)
By this stage it was around 5pm and bath time. I usually shower the girls then they watch tv or play games whilst i cooked dinner but tonight they wanted a bath. In the winter time i use my slow cooker a lot which i just LOVE! It means i get dinner on when i get home from school in the morning and frees us my time to do other things in the night! I really should start using that again soon (any good recipe ideas for slow cookers id love to hear them!!)
By 6:15pm they were sitting down at the table eating dinner. We usually eat dinner around 6:30-6:45pm as this is when George gets home but today and tomorrow he is working in Sydney so we ate a little earlier. Usually when he is away we opt for really easy dinners that i know the girls are going to eat too! Just makes the night flow smoother if i dont have to face the battle of getting them to eat dinner alone!!
Around 7:15pm its brush your teeth and get your drink time!! Once the girls are in bed they usually spend time reading and talking with George and telling him about their day. As he isn't home tonight (they got to talk to him on the phone before bed!) i did the story and listening! We aim to have the younger 2 lights out by 7:45pm as they are both completely tired by this time.
Hannah will often read for an hour or so once in bed, she does her reader then and usually will read one other book at this time too. As she loves reading and it helps her unwind i don't mind her doing this. George might listen to some of her reader but generally since she is such a good reader she will read to herself. (i know bad mum alert!! DISCLAIMER - id like to make it clear at this point that i do listen to her read as i stay for reading 2-3 mornings a week!!)
So, thats an afternoon in our house! Its not always exactly the same, but generally follows a pretty similar pattern during the school weeks!
I would LOVE to hear from any and all of you (whether that be through a reply or your own blog) about a "typical" afternoon in your house! Maybe you can give me ideas on how to make mine run smoother or more efficient or offer different ideas i may not have had! That is what i love about this "blogging world" people of all different backgrounds and family dynamics who you can learn and grow from!!
Thanks for reading, but since you have taken the time to read this mundane post, please take the time to reply :D
I decided i would write this blog, more out of my own curiosity of learning more about how you "do" the craziness of afternoons and i thought if i went first hopefully YOU - yes you, reading this blog - will follow my lead! Since i love photos i decided to narrate the afternoon with pics!
The girls finish school at 3:10pm and we leave home at 2:45pm to get there early enough to collect the school bags and chat to some mums. We are usually home between 3:30-3:45pm depending on how much time the girls spend playing on the playground whilst i chitter chat with the mums!
Once we are home, there are some rules in place! The girls know that they have to bring in their school bags and the first thing is lunch-boxes are to be put on the bench ready to be cleaned out for the next day. Also the diaries need to be put on my desk along so they can be checked for notices and signed.
School diary!Once this is done they are allowed to have an afternoon snack and drink. If they haven't finished their fruit from their lunch box for that day this is the first thing that has to be eaten, and generally i try to keep this afternoon snack to fruit or popcorn or something light! Between 3:45 - 4:30 is snack and unwind time.
Around 4:30pm we start doing the homework. I have really noticed having 2 at school when it comes to homework time. Caitlyn (in prep) seems to have a fair bit to do at the moment, i guess it is because they are learning so many new things they are trying to reinforce them at home as well.
Tonight we started off with Catilyn's "golden words". For those that dont know these are the 12 most common words used in english. We first did them off the sheet just going through them in rows.
Caitlyn is doing alright with these, its really hard going back to basics with one of your children when you are used to the other being able to read anything easily!! It is also hard not to compare you children to each other, i really try to catch myself in thought before i ever actually say things out loud. Its not at all that i think one is better than the other, but their differences can often be noted. I also try to stay out of the conversations that parents often engage in about how their particular child is doing, although i have generally found this only to be so in prep, the parents in grade two couldn't care less about comparing their child's reading ability with anyone elses!! I guess its the uncertainty that sending your precious child off to school brings, that you are looking to see how your child falls in the "ranks" of the rest of the class!
Anyway back to it...golden words. I found some flash cards with these words on them (actually i think it is the top 100 words which is great because i think they learn the top 200 in prep). I use these cards as well, most nights, just to check Caitlyn is learning the words by sight not by the place they are on the paper!!!
Next Cailtyn "reads" to me her reader for the night! Thankfully these are really short and basic as she is still learning to "read" and we will do the same book twice just so it sinks in a little (i hope!!)
While Caitlyn is doing this Hannah is on mathletics. Hannah loves mathletics and as she is a "computer nerd" (lol) i do not need to encourage her to be at the computer.
Hannah at her computer doing mathletics - notice for anyone who uses this she is actually in the section where you buy clothes etc for your person! This is her favourite part im sure!!! :-)
Caitlyn also starts her mathletics on my computer once she has finished her words. I need to sit with her still to direct her with what she needs to do (today it was sorting numbers in order both forwards and backwards!) Caitlyn also loves time on the computer (often the computer is the source of any arguing between my girls)
By this stage it was around 5pm and bath time. I usually shower the girls then they watch tv or play games whilst i cooked dinner but tonight they wanted a bath. In the winter time i use my slow cooker a lot which i just LOVE! It means i get dinner on when i get home from school in the morning and frees us my time to do other things in the night! I really should start using that again soon (any good recipe ideas for slow cookers id love to hear them!!)
By 6:15pm they were sitting down at the table eating dinner. We usually eat dinner around 6:30-6:45pm as this is when George gets home but today and tomorrow he is working in Sydney so we ate a little earlier. Usually when he is away we opt for really easy dinners that i know the girls are going to eat too! Just makes the night flow smoother if i dont have to face the battle of getting them to eat dinner alone!!
Around 7:15pm its brush your teeth and get your drink time!! Once the girls are in bed they usually spend time reading and talking with George and telling him about their day. As he isn't home tonight (they got to talk to him on the phone before bed!) i did the story and listening! We aim to have the younger 2 lights out by 7:45pm as they are both completely tired by this time.
Hannah will often read for an hour or so once in bed, she does her reader then and usually will read one other book at this time too. As she loves reading and it helps her unwind i don't mind her doing this. George might listen to some of her reader but generally since she is such a good reader she will read to herself. (i know bad mum alert!! DISCLAIMER - id like to make it clear at this point that i do listen to her read as i stay for reading 2-3 mornings a week!!)
So, thats an afternoon in our house! Its not always exactly the same, but generally follows a pretty similar pattern during the school weeks!
I would LOVE to hear from any and all of you (whether that be through a reply or your own blog) about a "typical" afternoon in your house! Maybe you can give me ideas on how to make mine run smoother or more efficient or offer different ideas i may not have had! That is what i love about this "blogging world" people of all different backgrounds and family dynamics who you can learn and grow from!!
Thanks for reading, but since you have taken the time to read this mundane post, please take the time to reply :D
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Lazy Sundays...
We LoVe lazy sundays in this house. After a really busy Saturday today we woke up and decided it would be a nothing day! (this generally means that we arent going anywhere!) George had heaps of work to get done today before he heads to Sydney for work in the morning so i decided that the girls and i would do some baking and prepare for the busy week we have ahead of us! Im going to put some recipes and photos here, even if none of my readers are interested in the recipes it makes it easier for me to access them too having them on my blog!
First thing i made today:
Banana, Honey & Cinnamon Muffins (or to a fussy 5 year old honey muffins!!!)
2 cups self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1.5 tsp ground cinnamon
Pinch salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
75g butter, melted
1/2 cup milk
2.5 tbs honey
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 eggs
1.5 cup mashed banana (about 3 bananas)
Preheat oven to 180°C
Melt the butter. Mix in honey, mlk, vanilla, eggs and mashed banana and use a whisk until combined.
Sift in a separate bowl; flour, baking powder, bicarb soda, cinnamon and salt. Mix in brown sugar. Make a well in the flour and pour in the wet mixture. Use your whisk again to mix until combined (do not over mix!!!)
Bake for approx 20 mins.
These taste and SMELL soooo yummy!
Choc-Chip Cookies!
I also decided to make some choc chip cookies, i havent made these in a while but they are soooo easy and the girls LOVE them! I think i originally found this recipe on a tin of sweetened condensed milk!!
180g butter, softened
1/3 cup castor sugar
125ml sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 cups S-R-Flour
250g choc chips
Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees. Place butter and sugar in a mixing bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat until light and creamy. Beat in the condensed milk. Add the flour and mix on low speed until smooth. Stir in the choc chips until well combined.
Roll about 2 teaspoonfuls of the mixture into balls and place on baking paper lined trays. Press each ball gently with a fork.
Bake for 12-15 mins or until lightly golden. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on trays.
Hannah also borrowed a recipe book from the library the other day at school so that we could do some cooking out of it this weekend. I asked her to pick the thing she wanted to make and she choose "frogs in ponds!!!" I don't think she could have chosen a easier "recipe" but they are looking forward to eating them after dinner tonight!
I have some cheese and bacon bread baking at the moment, another of the girls favourites for their lunch boxes! Might post about that one later on though...
Happy Baking :-)
First thing i made today:
Banana, Honey & Cinnamon Muffins (or to a fussy 5 year old honey muffins!!!)
2 cups self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1.5 tsp ground cinnamon
Pinch salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
75g butter, melted
1/2 cup milk
2.5 tbs honey
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 eggs
1.5 cup mashed banana (about 3 bananas)
Preheat oven to 180°C
Melt the butter. Mix in honey, mlk, vanilla, eggs and mashed banana and use a whisk until combined.
Sift in a separate bowl; flour, baking powder, bicarb soda, cinnamon and salt. Mix in brown sugar. Make a well in the flour and pour in the wet mixture. Use your whisk again to mix until combined (do not over mix!!!)
Bake for approx 20 mins.
These taste and SMELL soooo yummy!
Choc-Chip Cookies!
I also decided to make some choc chip cookies, i havent made these in a while but they are soooo easy and the girls LOVE them! I think i originally found this recipe on a tin of sweetened condensed milk!!
180g butter, softened
1/3 cup castor sugar
125ml sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 cups S-R-Flour
250g choc chips
Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees. Place butter and sugar in a mixing bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat until light and creamy. Beat in the condensed milk. Add the flour and mix on low speed until smooth. Stir in the choc chips until well combined.
Roll about 2 teaspoonfuls of the mixture into balls and place on baking paper lined trays. Press each ball gently with a fork.
Bake for 12-15 mins or until lightly golden. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on trays.
Hannah also borrowed a recipe book from the library the other day at school so that we could do some cooking out of it this weekend. I asked her to pick the thing she wanted to make and she choose "frogs in ponds!!!" I don't think she could have chosen a easier "recipe" but they are looking forward to eating them after dinner tonight!
I have some cheese and bacon bread baking at the moment, another of the girls favourites for their lunch boxes! Might post about that one later on though...
Happy Baking :-)
Friday, February 27, 2009
Delicious Chocolate Cake Recipe!
Thought i would share the recipe from the other night, it makes a great cake or also really yummy cupcakes!
3 cups plain flour
2 tsp bicarb soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbs instant coffee
1 cup hot water
1 cup cocoa
1 cup milk
200g salted butter
2 3/4 cups castor sugar
4 eggs
1 tbs vanilla extract
Whisk together the hot water, cocoa and coffee until you have a smooth paste. Add the cold milk and whisk until everything is combined. Sift together the flour, bicarb soda and baking soda. In a separate bowl cream the butter for 2 mins. Add the castor sugar and beat until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time beating for 30sec after each addition. Add vanilla and beat until combined
Add part of the four mixture and part of the cocoa mixture and beat until combined. Do this until you have combined all ingredients together (try to mix as little as possible i use a whisk for this process not my kenwood as you dont want to overbeat and make them turn out tough!!!)
I then made a choc ganache/mousse filling which was 1.5 cups of cream and 400g cooking chocoalte melted over the stove and allowed to cool to room temp. Once it is cool add two cups of whipped cream to the ganache to make it more like a mousse. I also added chopped violet crumble at this stage to the filling.
I then made a chocolate buttercream to frost the top and outside of the cake and added more chopped violet crumble to the top!
Here are some pics....
What the cake batter looks like
The filling with violet crumble being mixed in
Before the cake was iced
The finished product! YUM!
HAPPY BAKING...
3 cups plain flour
2 tsp bicarb soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbs instant coffee
1 cup hot water
1 cup cocoa
1 cup milk
200g salted butter
2 3/4 cups castor sugar
4 eggs
1 tbs vanilla extract
Whisk together the hot water, cocoa and coffee until you have a smooth paste. Add the cold milk and whisk until everything is combined. Sift together the flour, bicarb soda and baking soda. In a separate bowl cream the butter for 2 mins. Add the castor sugar and beat until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time beating for 30sec after each addition. Add vanilla and beat until combined
Add part of the four mixture and part of the cocoa mixture and beat until combined. Do this until you have combined all ingredients together (try to mix as little as possible i use a whisk for this process not my kenwood as you dont want to overbeat and make them turn out tough!!!)
I then made a choc ganache/mousse filling which was 1.5 cups of cream and 400g cooking chocoalte melted over the stove and allowed to cool to room temp. Once it is cool add two cups of whipped cream to the ganache to make it more like a mousse. I also added chopped violet crumble at this stage to the filling.
I then made a chocolate buttercream to frost the top and outside of the cake and added more chopped violet crumble to the top!
Here are some pics....
What the cake batter looks like
The filling with violet crumble being mixed in
Before the cake was iced
The finished product! YUM!
HAPPY BAKING...
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Just a quick share...
Well i feel like i haven't really blogged much lately! Life has been hectic and im not one for posting long deep posts on here...maybe i should start, and one day i might, but sharing my life, the deep stuff, with people i dont know, just hasn't happened yet! (wow im sure there is a rule for how many commas i can use in one sentence, do you think i just set a new record??!!) So here is a little share...
I had a brain and spine mri today which wasn't too fun! I have been dealing with lots of health issues for the past 3 months which i try not to harp on about because there is so much more to me and life than these issues, but they are always there constantly in the back of my mind even if they are not talked about a whole lot! I get the results sometime next week hopefully...and i have fingers and toes crossed that they are completely non eventful results as i haven't even had the mental or physical strength to think about what could be if they show up something i dont want them to show!! Im sure thats being really naive but thats how im choosing to deal with it so far! The good news was that i think i managed to have a few little naps whilst having the mri (dont ask me how since its so loud in there and not very comfortable) it might have something to do with the fact that it took nearly 2 hours to complete!
If you have been reading my blog from the start you will remember my earlier post about eating to live or living to eat. I have been doing fairly well in my eating/drinking. I think it is though all these health issues there seems to be only a few things i can actually control. What i eat is a major one of those, and whilst i haven't seen any improvements in the issues i have been experiencing i know that i wont be doing any harm by eating well and healthily! I have also done so much research on health its not funny! I do find it really interesting and i like the idea of taking as many steps to alternatively and naturally heal my body as possible, i mean weren't our bodies created with the function to heal? Anyway just a journey i wish i wasn't on, but at the same time have already learnt and changed a whole lot so got to find some positives from it!
Thats it, enough being inside my head for now :-) Cant scare you all off at once!
Here are a few cute pics to lighten up this post
Aww, this is my gorgeous sis, whom i want to thank for all her love and support through everything! You are a wonderful sister and friend and i love you lots xoxo
My gorgeous nephew again, he is too cute!
My little girl, just cos i think she is adorable!
I had a brain and spine mri today which wasn't too fun! I have been dealing with lots of health issues for the past 3 months which i try not to harp on about because there is so much more to me and life than these issues, but they are always there constantly in the back of my mind even if they are not talked about a whole lot! I get the results sometime next week hopefully...and i have fingers and toes crossed that they are completely non eventful results as i haven't even had the mental or physical strength to think about what could be if they show up something i dont want them to show!! Im sure thats being really naive but thats how im choosing to deal with it so far! The good news was that i think i managed to have a few little naps whilst having the mri (dont ask me how since its so loud in there and not very comfortable) it might have something to do with the fact that it took nearly 2 hours to complete!
If you have been reading my blog from the start you will remember my earlier post about eating to live or living to eat. I have been doing fairly well in my eating/drinking. I think it is though all these health issues there seems to be only a few things i can actually control. What i eat is a major one of those, and whilst i haven't seen any improvements in the issues i have been experiencing i know that i wont be doing any harm by eating well and healthily! I have also done so much research on health its not funny! I do find it really interesting and i like the idea of taking as many steps to alternatively and naturally heal my body as possible, i mean weren't our bodies created with the function to heal? Anyway just a journey i wish i wasn't on, but at the same time have already learnt and changed a whole lot so got to find some positives from it!
Thats it, enough being inside my head for now :-) Cant scare you all off at once!
Here are a few cute pics to lighten up this post
Aww, this is my gorgeous sis, whom i want to thank for all her love and support through everything! You are a wonderful sister and friend and i love you lots xoxo
My gorgeous nephew again, he is too cute!
My little girl, just cos i think she is adorable!
Monday, February 23, 2009
A celebration for a few reasons....
Today was my dads birthday, so we all headed up to the "farm" to celebrate! It was a great night where we all got to celebrate together. My girls had been so excited to go there tonight, they were in their bathers as soon as they got home from school. They had a swim with their cousins which is always lots of fun!
I made dad a birthday cake which was demolished! Hopefully that is a good indication that it was yummy! It took me all afternoon so hopefully it was good!!!
Here is dad while we were all singing "Happy Birthday" to him!
This is the cake once i finished decorating it! It was chocolate layer cake with ganache in between the layers iced in chocolate buttercreme with violet crumble bits!! (very healthy as you can see!!!)
This is another one of the grandkids favourites, "the gator" or otherwise known as the poppy mobile!! As you can see they LOVE it!
There was also another highlight of our night! Our little nephew Jett started to walk!! YAY! It was soooooooo cute (very proud aunty moment here!!) and i got a couple of snaps of him taking these steps! How cute is he?!
I did it! Im so excited!!
Might post the recipe tomorrow for the cake for anyone interested...
I made dad a birthday cake which was demolished! Hopefully that is a good indication that it was yummy! It took me all afternoon so hopefully it was good!!!
Here is dad while we were all singing "Happy Birthday" to him!
This is the cake once i finished decorating it! It was chocolate layer cake with ganache in between the layers iced in chocolate buttercreme with violet crumble bits!! (very healthy as you can see!!!)
This is another one of the grandkids favourites, "the gator" or otherwise known as the poppy mobile!! As you can see they LOVE it!
There was also another highlight of our night! Our little nephew Jett started to walk!! YAY! It was soooooooo cute (very proud aunty moment here!!) and i got a couple of snaps of him taking these steps! How cute is he?!
I did it! Im so excited!!
Might post the recipe tomorrow for the cake for anyone interested...
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