The last 10 months (in one post)

So I haven't blogged since April 2012.  I guess I just got tired with it maybe? I don't really recall why I stopped. But a couple of things have inspired me tonight to sit down at the computer and create a new post. One is that a friend of mine has started blogging (over at http://brisbanepaleofamily.wordpress.com) and that motivates me to get back to it. But maybe moreso, that I read through a lot of my old posts recently and I love that I've documented so many important things in our family's lives.  So when I started thinking about all the things I'd missed blogging about in the past 10 months, I decided it was time to sit down and create a 'last 10 months' post.

Since I last posted, here's a catch up on what we've been up to:

In May, Simon and I spent a weekend aboard a cruise boat from Sydney to Brisbane. We went with some great people and really enjoyed some time to ourselves.



In June we added to our kitchen, and bought ourselves an Excalibur 9 tray dehydrator. Simon saw it as an opportunity to make jerky. I liked the idea of making healthy snacks for the kid in it (pictured is my first and last attempt at rollups.. I must try them again)

Andrew had his very first taste of Great Nana's cheesecake in September

and that same month, we staged a mini photo shoot for Lola's birthday invitations (it's worth noting here, that her pony love has now moved onto a Littlest Pet Shop love).

The kids started back at swimming lessons (Lola's swimming really improved a lot, and Andrew just enjoyed having a splash and a squeal).

My gorgeous girl got her haircut off (I believe the motivation behind wanting it cut, was a 'Small Potatoes' song called 'Haircut' which she sang all the way home)

And then she turned 4.. just like that...

In November, we had our annual 'get together and make christmas treats' with four generations of women from my family (plus my wonderful mother in law)

I took this picture of my gorgeous kids in November too.. (God they make me laugh)..

I finished piecing together the top of Andrews quilt one rainy weekend (and made Simon snip the threads and trim the edge to straighten it up)

In December we had another great day at Stowe's family christmas party (this pic is of the kids in the baby animal farm). Andrew was quack quacking and cheep cheeping all over the shop)

and then my baby turned 2. We had a combined party for him and his mate Ethan, and we also went to Seaworld for the day with his cousins (where he blew out the candles on a brownie-stack-cake).

Christmas was lovely. We had two Christmas's this year. The Caloundra christmas was a beautiful day spent eating and slip and sliding into the evening.  Then on Christmas day, we spent the morning at home, and then had lunch on the Gold Coast with family.

Much of December and January were spent swimming (mostly at the Robertson's beautiful home). 

Both my boys got matching haircuts in January

And last but not least, we spent a rare Saturday together last weekend at the park.

We've a lot to be grateful for with the time we've spent together over the past 10 months.  The kids are growing up quickly, and they make us laugh (and want to cry) most days. They're pretty normal 2 and 4 year olds though I reckon.  And Si and I have had plenty of time to ourselves over the past year as well, thanks to our families and neighbours who are always there when we need them.  So 2013 is looking like it's going to be a good year. I'm all about the food this year. I'm going to do my best to improve our diets, and try to wean my kids (and husband) off sugar. It'll be an interesting journey, and quite possibly the topic of more blog posts to come. 

Thermomix philosophising..

5 weeks ago, my family bought a Thermomix.  I decided it needed to be blogged about because it's been quite an 'event' in our household, but I don't quite know what to write about it.  In the last five weeks, I've prepared a fairly even rate of successes/failures.   There is a definite steep learning curve (as there is with anything new?) but the more I use it, the more confident I feel.   The contents of our pantry has changed a lot too since it arrived. We have way more nuts, grains, flours in our pantry and fruit and veg in our fridge. I am loving the Northey Street markets every Sunday morning - I swear I've never bought so many lemons in my life?!

I will admit though, some evenings I feel overwhelmed by it all. I want to whip up a whole food / gourmet / flavour rich / soul liberating dinner that the whole family will love to eat - but we're so not there yet.. And I remind myself often that the thermomix bloggers that I love, took some time to get there too.    So instead I'll use the thermomix to make a nice salad to accompany our dinner, and while the oven is on, i'll make a batch of cookies in it as well.

And I must say, I have made some incredible things in it - the kneading setting is awesome and has made some killer breads. I've made a fantastic coleslaw in no time at all, and Simon made some great cocktails at Easter time.

I've been to a couple of cooking classes lately and I leave there feeling refreshed and excited about trying new things. I think I'm reaching a turning point where I'm learning from my mistakes and feeling more in control. Menu planning is helping, and we are starting to embrace the new tastes (although Lola is still not sure about quinoa - despite us telling her it was like magic gum that pops in your mouth!).

I love my thermomix, and any issues I've had are purely my own insanities (it's not you, it's me :)).  I've decided I'm going to go back to the oldest entries of my thermomix bloggers, and read their oldest posts rather than their newest ones. I bet their experiences will be the same as mine to start with :) and every now and then I can jump to their latest posts to get inspired about the potential this amazing appliance will one day soon have in my home :)

Some photo's from my first day of thermomixing - marble cake, beetroot hommus and Anzac cookies.

Easter Bunny Bunting

The kids are doing much better at kindy.  9 weeks in, we're able to say our goodbyes each morning without the screaming and the horrific looks of betrayal Lola used to send my way. And while Andrew's protests were never as dramatic as Lola's, he is now content to be left to play in the sandpit each morning.

There is an event coming up at the C&K kindy, and it will involve an Easter raffle as a fundraiser. Donations were called for, and after a trawl through Pinterest, I decided to make some Easter bunny bunting (first blogged about by Dana).

Every Easter for the last few years has involved some craft (see here, and here) but the searching this year was definitely made easier with Pinterest.  I cut out the bunnies Friday night, and sewed it up Saturday night (oh how my life has changed).  Lola actually helped a little, by picking which colour cotton best matched each bunny.

If it turned out well, I had planned on making another set for our home.  And while I love the way it sewed up in the end - it was too fiddly and time consuming for me to contemplate another :)  So I will take it in to kindy with the kids in the morning, and donate it to another family.

Visit to Great Nana's

Everyone loves my Nana.  No more than we do of course, but she is an awesome lady.

She's 90, lives alone (unless you count her birds), and still sends birthday cards to every person in her large, extended family .  She loves her family,  her cockatiels, doing find-a-words, watching the tennis, Bold and the Beautiful and the Saturday night gold lotto draw.  She tells me she only wants to win lotto so she can give it all to us.

Whenever we go to my parents house, we always try to catch up with Nana. If it's a Sunday morning - there will definitely be fresh baked scones and cream.   But any time you drop in, there will always be a cup of tea made with extra love.

Here's a recent picture of her at her 90th back in October 2011 (because she won't like the pic I posted of her already because she hadn't brushed her hair)..

i don't like kindy :(

It appears I was too quick to blog about how my kids feel about kindy. Apparantly the first day often goes well, but it's the second day, when the children realise that this is their new reality, and the crying begins.

I got the shock of my life on that second day when I dropped both children off to the day care centre.  Neither of them wanted me to leave, although it was only Lola who could articulate that.  However she chose to skip the words that day, and launched straight into the crying and screaming.  The kids are in two different rooms - at alternate ends of the centre, but there was a point that morning where it didn't matter where I was - I could hear both of them crying. I'll admit I was more shocked than sad.  I just hadn't expected the distress, after both kids having had such a great first day.  I phoned the centre about 5 times that day to see whether they wanted me to come collect the kids - but each time they reassured me that things were manageable - and to call back in an hour if I wanted.

We all made it through that day. And I'd like to say it's getting easier for everyone, but it's still hard.  It makes me sad that they think I wouldn't come back for them.  But it's my favourite part of the day when I pick them up.  They are so happy to see me, and Lola always has things to show me. She still says 'i don't like kindy', but her teacher assures me that she's participating in the activities and settles down quickly each morning after I leave.  Andrew cries when he sees me at pick up time, and  crawls to me so fast and wraps himself around me when I bundle him in my arms.

I'm certain they know that we love them, but even so, we tell them a lot more now.

our new table (and chairs)

There has been a new labour of love in our household this week.  Last weekend, we welcomed a very heavy, very old, and very well loved new dining table into our kitchen. 

After much sanding (we're talking hours and hours and hours), the natural grain of the wood was so pretty that we decided we'd only add a clear layer on top to protect the wood.

And while there was nothing wrong with our old table, this new one is bigger and I was definitely ready for a change.

To our old table:  thank you for your service over the past 10 years, and all the best at your new house (thank you gumtree for helping me sell it so quickly!).

To our new table: Welcome to our home.  We hope you like it here. We look forward to sharing many meals with you, and we hope you like your new chairs (well, new to us, but purchased as 'seconds' from here).  We think you go together very nicely :)

silly boy...

new year, new beginnings

Both my babies started day care this week at a C&K kindergarten near our home.  As expected, I had very mixed feelings about it all.

For Lola, I knew it would seem scary at first (she's never been to day care before), but I also knew it would be a fun environment full of kids and crafty activities that she would ultimately revel in.

For Andrew, I worried less about how he would cope because he's still so young, and is such a content little guy that the transition would/should be fairly smooth.

For myself, I must admit I was looking forward to 2 days without having to be solely responsible for the kids, even if I did have to work for most of the time. I was excited about the challenge of returning to work, and being in contact again with adults :) But I was also confident that the kids would be ok. I hoped that we'd taught them enough social etiquette to survive, but most of all I prayed that the word 'bum cracker' never came out of Lola's mouth..

At the end of their first day, Si and I picked them up together. Andrew charmed his carers (of course) and they thought he was just gorgeous. And Lola had a fantastic day with only a few tears in the afternoon after she woke up from her afternoon sleep (no doubt wondering where she was?). The only issue of the day was something I did wrong - packing Lola a peanut butter sandwich which she wasn't allowed to eat because of the centre's rules regarding peanuts and allergies. I apologised profusely (there is a kid in Lola's room with a peanut allergy) and won't make her peanut butter sandwiches again (I promise!).

I was so proud of both of them.  It's nice validation when other people think your kids are ok :)

Lola's sleep sack (passed down so generously from Eliza, and pony-ified by me)

the only pony that lola took with her to kindy (it was to help her go to sleep)

Labelling everything the night before (I had to sticker over George's name - the original shoe owner!!)

the kindy bags, the lunch bags, the nude food containers, the sticky labels.. it was never ending..

the morning finally arrived, and this was the best shot I could get of the two of them just before we left

my sweet, beautiful, confident, funny, cheeky, pony-lovin' 3 year old daughter.

Spearman family soda bread

In a large bowl, add the following ingredients:

270g Plain Flour
300g Self Raising Flour
1 teaspoon of Bicarb Soda (make sure you crush it in your hand so there are no lumps)
1 tablespoon of Caster sugar
600 ml Buttermilk

And now the all important part of the process - which is super easy once you see it, but not that easy to explain in words.. So below is a demonstration from my Mother in law Lily..

Happy baking!

today you are ONE

Andrew, today you are one. 

Right now you're still warm and sleeping soundly in your cot - but soon you will be awake.  

We can hardly wait to scoop you out and start today with you. 

This afternoon we will have a party for you, and you can eat as much cake as you like.  

You will be celebrated by all our family, friends and loved ones. 

They will look at photos of you and marvel at how much you've changed this year.

They will squeeze your cheeks and your expression will make them laugh.

You bring everyone around you so much joy Andrew Lucas, and we love you so much.