Escaping the volume...

...of Rock Band that is. We have my nephew staying and between Taryn, Mike and Matt (my nephew), Rock Band has been playing on average 6+ hours a day. Mostly songs we don't really know, mostly sung a little out of key and some of it a little too heavy on the metal side for my liking. So I have escaped momentarily to the sanctuary of the studio.

Despite us saying they would never have a Playstation, Mike and I finally caved in when we saw it in the Flybuys catalogue and had enough points for it. It surely would have been a pretty 'lean on presents' Christmas without it. So anyway, we discussed it thoroughly beforehand and made a decision, they could have a Playstation, but only have party games, music games, puzzles etc and even perhaps driving games, but no violent games. The other rule was 1/2 hour screen time per day for games with the controller. As they don't have any of those types of games yet, not something we need to worry about yet, but the rules are in place for when that occurs.

It has been great. We got them Rock Band and the instrument pack (bundle) and it has been loads of fun. We popped into Warehouse during the boxing day sale and picked up Beetles Rock band too, which makes it even more fun for us oldies. Good family fun.

Totally Cut Off

Well, not exactly, but that is what it feels like at the moment. My PC has died (last week)- mainly power supply we think (hope), but it has all my email and all my website files on it and so without access, I cannot reply to my emails. I can go through my laptop to new emails, but as I have been using Thunderbird on my office computer, once you log in, all emails are downloaded, so going directly to Xtra mail, I have no address book and no copy of the emails awaiting reply - of which I know there are a few! Very frustrating to say the least!

Other than that, the holidays have been good so far, with plenty of sleep ins thanks to late rising kids (because so late to bed).

Will post more on Christmas, (events, goodies and food) this week. In the meantime, trying desperately to get the PC back up and running.

Got Green Day Tickets

Last Thursday we had one very happy young lady in our house. Courtesy of Lisa, we had tickets to Green Day!

Taryn had asked back in July, actually let me rephrase that - she had begged for tickets. There was of course no way that was going to happen with Mike's ACC finished, finances were at an all time low.

Then came the offer of tickets from Lisa, as she had moved to Australia and couldn't make it back for the concert. It took all that I had not to let the cat out of the bag too early. We had decided to wait till the day before the concert, as we thought she'd drive us nuts otherwise. We told her we had something to talk to her about and she came and sat down on the floor in the lounge. She was wary when she saw my camera, but still as shocked as ever when she opened the envelope and saw the tickets. Straight after the first photo, she jumped up screaming 'Oh My God, Oh My God' I Love You Mummy, I Love you Daddy, then I tried to calm her down a little and told her they had come from Lisa and she said -looking into the air "I Love You Lisa- wherever you are" - Australia I replied. I seriously thought she was going to cry at one point!

So thank you Lisa - the concert was AWESOME to say the least. Taryn took heaps of photos on her phone, so I'll get some of those and see if they are good enough to post, then get her to do a guest blog post about the concert - that she is still talking about - her first ever concert! yeah Rock On!

Yummy Flowers

Last Wednesday we had the Camp Maynard Christmas Dinner. Usually we go out to a restaurant, but this year, given tight financial times and the fact that we are having to spend a small fortune on a new septic system, we decided to have a low key BBQ at the camp.

Clive and I did the grocery shopping on the Tuesday, then I went up Wednesday afternoon and cooked a pasta salad, potato bake, made a green salad and couscous salad and mini lemon meringue tarts for pudding.

Just before dinner, Adrian (chairperson of the committee) gave a small speech, then had me step forward as he proceeded to tell everyone how I was hardly ever home because I was always up at the camp (to which my husband was nodding) and how I did so much work for the camp and had organised and prepared the majority of the BBQ food etc. I was quite embarrassed. I like to work away in the background, not be put in the spotlight like that. I also do the work because I enjoy it, love Camp Maynard and have and will probably always, do more than my fair share of community based work, because it just simply needs to be done, not for rewards of any kind. However, I must say, the flowers were yummy and the words and thoughts were nice and it really does make you feel good when someone recognises you, even if it's a little more public than you'd like.

Thanks for the yummy flowers!

Whacky Wheeled Whatsit!

Jayden was given some Kinex a while ago and although he played with them a little, he seemed to be spending more time on the computer. So when we seriously enforced limited screen time, he started re-discovering some old toys, as well as the Kinex.

This is his whacky wheeled invention. Not sure what it's purpose is - if it even has one, but he had fun wheeling it around the house, seeing what it would and wouldn't carry, how fast it could go, how well it cornered (not too well) and how sturdy it was-which was surprisingly sturdy to a degree, because of it's flexibility.

My mum's bought him a whole lot more for Christmas (shh don't tell - it's a secret till the 25th). Can't wait to see what he builds once he has it all together.

Miss Tiny's introduction to Scrapbooking

At our weekend workshop last week, Miss Tiny graced us with her presence and hung out with us for a few hours (in between feeds and sleeps). Yeah for all the yummy cuddles us ladies scored!

As you can see in the photo, she was keen to checkout the latest techniques in one of the magazines. She was very well behaved and is most welcome back at future crops and of course ScrapCamp.

Forrest of Trees

Well not quite, but here are the Xmas Tree plates that my after school ceramic art class completed a couple of weeks ago. They also did Santa boots and a Santa and Rudolph ornament, but I didn't get a chance to photograph them before they took them home.

Everyone did an awesome job this term. I bet some of these will be filled with edible goodies before long.

Perseverance

Jayden asked Taryn if he could do her new puzzle. With his ADHD, Jayden's attention span is obviously quite short and as soon as his hits a tough spot, he usually gives up. I was therefore doubtful that he would last past day 1, as it was a 1000 piece puzzle, but he surprised me and saw it through to completion (minus 1 piece, which we still cannot find). Well done Jayden.Publish Post

Socks pulled way up high!

For the first half of this year, Taryn cruised at school, doing what she needed to get by and little else. Soon enough (with some help from the teacher and her parents ganging up on her), she realised that the learning gap between herself and other students was closing fast, as she was no longer pushing herself. Following her mid year report (which had excellent marks for attainment, but very little for effort), she finally pulled her socks up.

Last week we received a letter from the school, advising that Taryn had been chosen to enter the enrichment program at school and would be placed into the accelerate class for 2010. Yeah! She obviously pulled those socks way up high. We are very proud of her for turning it all around. Now if we could just get her to tidy her room!!!

Chocolate Mousse Cake

This was so easy, I couldn't believe it. Very rich and way too big for just a family. We each had a small piece for 4 days and still had to throw away 1/2 of it in the end. Next time (if making it for the family or for dinner with friends) I would halve the mousse part or layer it with sponge fingers to reduce the richness. Would be great as is at a party though as goes a long way.

600gms chocolate

500mls cream

2 tblspns corn syrup/glucose syrup

3 tblspns brandy or rum

1/2 pkt Gingernut biscuits - crushed

Line a deep cake tine with baking paper and lightly spray it. Sprinkle crushed gingernuts (or biscuits of your choice) on the bottom.

Whip cream till soft peaks form - set aside.

Melt chocolate and corn syrup together (I did this in the microwave on high 1 minute, then burst of 10 seconds till done, stirring after each burst. Add brandy/rum and quickly stir through. Ad 1/2 the whipped cream and fold through gently. Add remaining cream and gently stir through. Pour mixture into tin carefully (so as not to disturb the biscuit crumbs too much). cover with glad wrap and refrigerate overnight. Leave in fridge till ready to serve.

To serve, place plate over tin and invert. Peel off baking paper. The biscuit crumbs will now be the top of the cake. Garnish as you wish. Slice as required - store remaining cake in fridge.

Yum, Yum, Yum!

Another bout of busy!

Another couple hundred tiles and mugs with little ones foot prints, more organising for contract workers at the camp, a final PSG meeting at school with drinks and nibbles, 4 catch up gardening jobs, last kids ceramic class, last lot of trademe auctions to finalise and so now I'm nearly at the end of crazy time. All that is left is the board of trustees dinner tomorrow night (and making dessert for said dinner), the Camp Xmas BBQ next week, for which I am doing the preparations (salads, potato bake and desserts), teachers presents (still undecided) Xmas cards, menu and shopping for this weekend's workshop and then the last bit of shopping for 4 more presents and I'm done! Yeah.

In between that, I have still managed to spring clean the rumpus (although I'm sure I could sneak out another handful of old toys without being noticed), help mum paint her ceiling and take a trailer load of rubbish and junk to the dump today.

It's been busy, but it has felt good. I've actually achieved way more in these past few weeks than in the last few months put together. A feast or a famine, that's how it usually is for me. They do say if you want a job done, give it to the busy person!

The other 2 Recipes

Here are the other two recipes from my baking session. 1st, Sausage Pie. I even made my own short crust pastry, which has less fat than store bought flaky pastry (not that I ever really worry about that), but it is also less likely to go soggy and doesn't shrink as much. Anyway, here's the photo of the pie and the recipe.

Short Crust pastry:

1 1/2 cups flour

75g cold butter

1/4 cup cold water, with few drops of lemon juice in it.

Using a food processor, add the flour and butter, then use pulse button whilst slowly adding in the water in a slow steady stream, stopping to test every now and then. You want the particle moist enough to form a ball when pressed together, but not so moist that it forms a ball in the processor.

I used 2 lots of this pastry for the pie, as it was a double crust (base and top).

Roll out 2/3's of the pastry and ease into a 23 cm pie plate, or a deep 20cm cake tin.

Filling:

2 onions chopped

1 apple chopped

2 tsp curry powder

1 tsp garlic salt

800g sausage meat

4 firm tomatoes

herbs to suit (I used a bit of thyme and a small sprinkle of mixed herbs)

3 beaten egg

Place onions and apple in food processor and process till fine. Add curry powder, salt and sausage meat and process till well mixed.

Slice the tomatoes and place 1/2 in the base of the uncooked pastry, sprinkle with herbs and pour over 1/2 the eggs. Cover with 1/2 the sausage meat and then repeat the process, reserving a little egg for the top.

Roll out remaining pastry and cover the pie, overlapping the edges, sealing them with a brush of water and then press them together firmly. Brush top with the reserved egg. Bake for approx 20 minutes at 220oC (till nicely browned), then reduce to 180oC and bake for a further 30 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to rest for approx 20-30 minutes before serving.

NB, I used more meaty sausages than just sausage meat, but this did produce excess water during cooking, so would go with the regular sausage meat as suggested next time.

Blueberry Buckle - This was way yum!

175 gm butter or margarine

3/4 cup caster sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

3 eggs

3 cups flours

4 tsp baking powder

dash of milk

For the top:

Cup blueberries

Tblspn coffee crystals or raw sugar

Cream butter and sugar (make it real light and fluffy), add the vanilla then beat in eggs one at a time.

Fold in the flour and baking powder, about a cup at a time. Add a dash of milk and mix through. Spread batter over the base of a greased rectangular tin. Evenly distribute the blueberries over the top, then sprinkle over the sugar. Bake at 190oC for about 20 minutes until golden brown. Can be served warm or cold. (Also good with some flaked almonds and dusted icing sugar on top).

A bit of baking

A few weeks ago I decided I was getting a bit tired of the same old food making it's way to the table. With the busy times and odd dinner times some days, I'd got down to about a dozen or so trusted easy meals and found I was repeating them each fortnight. I'd also been watching Glenna and Wendy's blogs on their baking and it got me inspired. Time for a change. I'd just bought a Woman's Day (which i hadn't done in the past few months) and that had some nice looking recipes in it. I then took down some cook books (dusting off the cobwebs..lol) and had a good look through.

Since then, in between the craziness and whilst the painted writing was drying on the tiles etc, I managed to bake 4 new things that I have never made before and so far, all have the thumbs up from Mike. The kids weren't as pleased with the pie, stating they really liked my other pies, but hey still pretty good stats if you ask me.

So, I've decided to share them (and the recipes - slightly altered to suit in some cases) with you. Let me know if you try them and how they turn out.

First was Popovers - weird name?

3 eggs

1/3 cup cheese

1 cup milk

1 cup plain flour

1/2 tspn salt

other ingredients of your choice - bacon, onion etc - I used some basil pesto, pine nuts and diced chorizo sausage.

Place muffin pan in hot oven to heat. (I used 215 oC)

Whisk eggs and mil together, then whisk in flour and salt, then stir in cheese and other ingredients.

Remove pan from oven, spray with oil and pour batter evenly into each muffin cup. Return to hot oven and bake for 25 minutes until well risen and golden brown. Super yum as light dinner with a salad or a good snack.

Easy Lemon Tart

Firstly, I have to admit it is meant to be in a smaller dish and therefore a bit higher, but didn't have one, so wide and thin it was!

Into a food processor, place:

4 eggs

1 cup sugar

100gm melted butter

1/2 cup flour

3/4 cup coconut

zest of 2 lemons

1/3 cup lemon juice

1 cup milk

Process till thoroughly mixed, pour into 20-23cm pan and bake at 170 oC for 45 minuets or until pie is turning dark golden on top and the filing is set. We had this hot with a bit of icecream the first night, but it was also pretty good cold when it had set a bit firmer in the fridge.

Both easy, both yum. More photos and recipes to follow.

There's busy, very busy, then CRAZY!

That's what it has been like for me for the past couple of weeks. I'm just starting to come to the end of it now, so looking forward to some downtime. This blog post might be a bit of a marathon, but will try and keep it sort as possible while I recount the past 2 weeks.

So, it started with a surprise visit from my brother at the end of October (as per previous posts) and all the preparations (baking etc), for my sister Jo's birthday. There were also gardening jobs, cricket practice, Parent Support Group and preparations for the upcoming Plunket baby feet tiling sessions at my house.

The second week commenced with Monday and Tuesday being hugely busy with the tiling. Nearly 100 baby/toddler prints on tiles, mugs and plates. Then off to cricket practice and for me - training on how to score girls cricket. Then there was the clean up work on the Wednesday and the first load of tiles into the kiln, followed by kids after school ceramic classes, and the usual evening stuff. Thursday was shopping for supplies for the catering job Jo and I had for the Saturday, along with baking some of the items that could be stored for 2 days. Also had to pop out and do Mike's banking, pay some bills, do at least some washing and the try and tidy the kitchen a little before more baking on the Friday. Friday was more baking (brownie - yum), buying more serving trays, buying an electric knife and getting everything ready for the catering job the next day after Taryn's cricket. Cooked dinner and had just washed the mini muffin pans ready to take over to Jo's with the ingredients she needed for the baking she was going to do. I had 2 batches of brownie to go when Wendy rang to say she'd been having niggles all day and would I come over and sit with her, as Ashley was out getting ready to play at the final of battle of the bands. OF COURSE I would!!! No way she needed to ask me that one twice. I was super excited for her, especially considering how long she'd been wanting for this and the fact she was a week overdue. So a mad dash to Jo's, then on the Motorway. - On arrival at Wendy's, some plan's had changed, as the band had pulled out of the final (long story and let's not go there), so Ashley was in fact on his way home. Wendy and I sat and chatted, with the odd contraction here and there, then Ashley arrived home and things ramped up some. I wont go into detail, as it wasn't my labour and so not my place, but let's just say Wendy did an awesome job and stayed at home well past what most new mums would have I'm sure. It was really getting excited. Then it was time for them to head off to the birthing unit. I headed home. I was on such a high, but fell completely flat on the way home and had a good cry. Labour is emotional, even when it's not your own. If you are there experiencing it, you can't help but get caught up in it. Plus, I was way tired and hadn't stopped for the better part of 2 weeks. I got home just after midnight but was still totally wired, waiting on news baby had arrived, so as much as I needed sleep, I couldn't, so got another brownie done. I then went to bed around 12.45 and lay there awake wondering how Wendy was doing. baby arrived at 1.46 and Wendy txt me at about 2.45. I think I dropped off around 3.30 and was up again around 7am, totally buggered, with a big day ahead.

Saturday morning, started with cricket in Mt Roskill and we had to be there by 8am! Straight home from cricket and off to the catering job. right after that, had to go and pick up Taryn's friend Wiloh for Taryn's birthday sleepover. Then off to Gary and Tracy's for dinner (arranged by Mike). It was good not to have to cook that night, but my bed was calling me. Had 3 1/2 glasses of wine and i was toast! Slept most of Sunday, but obviously not long enough, as headed over to the birthing unit to do baby feet prints on tiles for Wendy, only to get all the way out there (Botany) and find I had left the paints behind!!!

Since then I have been busy trying to get these tiles, mugs and plates fired, staying up late at night to get another load into the kiln, (baking in between the paint drying), attending cricket practice and more scoring training, Camp Maynard meetings and letting tradesmen in at the camp during the day to get some work done. Finally today I got a short breather around 11am. I considered having a quick nap, but as I walked down the hall, I noticed that the dust bunnies were so bad, they were trying to grab my leg as I walked past, so out came the vacuum. From there I decided something scrummy for tea was in order and so made a sausage pie (first time) and it wasn't too bad. I'd change it up a bit next time, but good first attempt.

Looking forward to Monday afternoon. Tiles etc are being picked up Monday morning, so get to have a decent breather. As for tomorrow, 2 ladies will be here doing some work on their clay pieces, then if time permits I'll pop over to Wendy's to get those precious feet painted up and if that doesn't a day with her next week might be in order. I thought I would have seen much more of tiny by now, by my CRAZY schedule just hasn't allowed for that. Dang it all!

So, here's looking forward to a bit of normal.

ps. for those that are reading this saying so much for the hand sitting, I am still practicing that, but when something involves financial reward, one must say yes in these economic times. Posts and photos of baking soon.

Sleeping Baby

My brother just sent through this photo of Connor sleeping on me last Wednesday and I had to share it. Yes my eyes welled up when I saw it, but happy memories!

One last visit - or maybe two!

On Friday night, we made one last visit down to mum and Dad's to see Brian, Cathie & Conner, as they were flying out the next day and Taryn had cricket all day Saturday, so it was likely Friday night would be the last time we saw them.

Managed to get in another good lot of cuddles with Connor. Then found out their flight on Saturday was at 3.40, they needed to be at the airport by 1.40 and so would be leaving mum's at 1pm Saturday. That meant that after Taryn's game finished, we could probably make it back to say good-bye, (which we did end up doing).

Taryn's game went well for a first game and they won by 6 runs. Taryn batted 5th and made 5 runs. When fielding, she played 1/2 a game as Wicket Keeper - which she enjoyed and seemed quite good at. She bowled several overs and managed to get 2 wickets by bowling the batter out. Her best friend - Wiloh - who at first practice said "I suck at bowling" also bowled a batter out and took another wicket by running the girl out. A great day was had by all. Not sure about these early Saturday morning though. 7am!!!

After cricket, we went straight to mums to catch Bri, Cathie and Conner. More quick cuddles and this time I really cuddled him tight, right into my neck and kissed him heaps. I knew I was going to miss this little man something wicked. As they left, it was hugs all round. I was determined not to cry and so held it together quite well. I made it through the whole day with my eyes welling up a little when I thought about it, but otherwise did okay. It wasn't until I was making dinner and Taryn came and gave me a hug and said "Oh Mum, you smell just like Connor", that I lost the plot - I quickly went to my room and had myself a little cry. Then I tried in vein to smell him, by sniffing the shoulder of my top, but I couldn't smell what Taryn had smelt. In fact I seemed to have little smell at all.

I woke up the next morning with a sinus infection - that explained my inability to smell and I figured it was probably better that way, cause had I smelt him on me, not sure dinner would have been finished. We will have to skype them soon so Connor keeps seeing us. Man I miss him so much already! I commented on Facebook that 10 days wasn't long enough and that maybe 10 years would be a little more acceptable!

D-Day with Miss Wendy

Today I went and spent the day with Miss Wendy. It was Tiny's due date. First off, Paula, Wendy and I went to the movies to see Julie and Julia. It was really good. We went to Sylvia Park and into cinema 9 which was in the Directors Lounge area. Small cinema, but way comfy seats, that were wide enough that you could put your legs up and curl up like you would at home. We enjoyed the movie and then (after watching all that yummy cooking) went and had some lunch.

Then it was time for a spot of shopping. We wandered through Sylvia Park stopping here and there. I bought some cookie cutters. Wendy found a pourer spout for Ashley's vodka. We then saw a neat metal tree that we thought could be used as a stencil with Glimmer Mist, so convinced Paula she needed to buy it - and we can then borrow it. lol! Then onto the Bling shop where we bought some goodies, then down to warehouse, where we all seemed to find something we were looking for. A good shopping trip, considering it was just tagged on to the end.

Wendy did amazingly well, considering we near dragged her from one end of the mall to the other at 40 weeks pregnant - still though, labour did not set in!

Home we went. Paula headed off to get tea for her troupe, but considering it was by then after 4pm, I decided no way was I tackling the traffic back to the North Shore, so asked Wendy what was for dinner, to which she replied "What ever you're cooking"-not the answer I was looking for. So instead, I sampled her fudge - big yum and a choc chip & oat cookie (I've had them before, but had to sample to ensure consistency and yes, just as good as always). Then we got out the crochet blanket, wrapped Miss Wendy up in it and I took some photos of her gorgeous 40 week belly. Some standing and a couple lying down with booties on top the belly - (1 of them is on her blog - go see, it's way cute). That was loads of fun. Finally it was time to head home to my family and let Miss Wendy have a rest from the big day out, so I said good-bye to Wendy, rubbed her tummy and told tiny I was looking forward to meeting him/her and headed home. A great Friday spent in great company.

Dinner with the Moore's

Bri, Cathie and Connor came over for dinner last night. We had vegetable bake (potato, kumara and pumpkin cooked in coconut milk, herb mix and a cheese topping), Scotch fillet steaks and salad. It was yummy. Finally opened the bottle of Calais Cab Sav 2000, that I bought in the Hunter Valley with Bri when we went to visit in September a few years back. It was good! Was great to be drinking it with him. Bri even reckoned it could have gone another few years. Bri and I were the only 2 drinking it, but we still ran out way too quickly.

Mike decided to let off a few fireworks (yeah lets not even go there about the fact he let them off on the deck! He said it was wet, so would be fine, which it seemed to be, but still!!!) and so Connor had his first cracker night. He was amazed at them. I half expected him to cry or be frightened, but no, he just looked on with wonder. I took loads of photos and a short video of him with the crackling firework - watch the eye movement as he blinks his way through it. Still no tears though.

Taryn (who is not at all like a clucky preteen, in fact has little interest in babies full stop), finally asked for a cuddle, so I grabbed the opportunity to snap some photos of them together. The two of them then sat down and watch Spongebob Squarepants together. It was way cute.

All round a great night. Can't believe this week has gone so fast and that they are leaving tomorrow, it has come around all too quickly. I think I really am going to have to get motivated and get some stuff on trademe to sell off and make enough money for spending and supporting myself for a week, so that I can get to Sydney to spend some time with them soon. I already have enough points for a free flight, so that's my goal for the new year (once it's not so hot in Sydney) - save some $$.

No Connor fix tonight!

Phoned to go over and get a good dose, but Bri, Cathie and Connor were heading out to Jo's for dinner, so it would have to wait till tomorrow. Then decided to head out to the movies with mum. We saw couples retreat. It was light hearted fun. First time I've had to pay for the movies for a while, as we have always used vouchers from fly Buys. Boy it's expensive to go to the movies!

Dropped mum home afterwards and as the lights were on got excited about the possibility of a late night cuddle before going home, but wasn't to be, as Connor was fast asleep in bed. Bri advised they were heading down to Mitch's around lunch tomorrow. Mum and I were going to be gardening, so said I'd pick her up in the morning and try and get in a cuddle at the same time. made plans for Bri, Cathie and Connor to come to dinner on Thursday night - Yeah, more cuddles!

Connor Withdrawals

For the past 2 days, have had so much going on (and had also made a decision that I wouldn't invade mum's house every day while Bri, Cathie and Connor were here), that I am now having Connor withdrawals. I need a fix, will try and get over to see him tonight.

Cricket Girl

Taryn signed up to play cricket this year and despite only ever playing in inter-school tournaments previously, shows some good natural skill at the game. Their season kicked off today with a 6-a-side tournament at Melville Park in Epsom.

We had to be up at 7am (despite having been at my sister Jo's 40th party the night before) to get on the road by 7.30 to avoid any delays with the 2 lanes on the bridge being closed for the Auckland Marathon. Little did we know however, that not only were 2 lanes on the bridge closed, but so was Onewa Rd, which I had headed down for a quick entry onto the motorway. So I took the detour thinking I could go down Sylvan Ave - No! that was closed too. Ok, on at Northcote - ah No! That too was closed, after which, the detour signs promptly disappeared??? So, round the corner to Barry's Point Rd - closed!!! I knew then, there was no way I was going to make it on time - freaking out! Made a call to let them know. Finally managed to get onto the motorway after travelling through Takapuna to Esmonde Road. We were late, but didn't miss the start of any games, just the Managers (of which I am one) briefing! But it all turned out fine in the end.

Taryn's team were the winners in their grade. A great morning's fun. Unfortunately, no photo's, as I forgot the camera at home and Mike who was going to bring it for me, also forgot - must have something to do with that late night/early morning after Jo's party.

Sweet and Juicy

That's what this strawberry from my plant was. And, as you can see, there are more on the way to mouths very, very soon.

This picture doesn't show it very clearly, but one of the strawberries has a hammer head end. Instead of starting wide at the stem, it starts narrow and goes out at each side on the other end - weird, but I'm sure it will taste just fine!

Baking for the Birthday

Friday and Saturday I did some baking for Jo's 40th birthday party. 32 chocolate brownie squares and 48 tart cases (ready to make mini lemon meringue tarts and banoffee pies) - yum!

I thought whilst I was at it, might as well do some baking for the family, so made a large batch of 60 fudgey bite biscuits and with the left over sweet short pastry from the tart cases, I also made Mike some soaked fruit (Christmas cake fruit soak in rum, brandy and Marsala wine) tartlets.

My kitchen smelt absolutely divine. Here's what my bench looked like 1/2 way through and a picture of the finished cookies (recipe to follow). I didn't get a chance to get any pics of the tarts once completed, as the evening just flew on by and the tarts were eaten in a flash!

More Connor Time

Just can't get enough. Had loads more cuddles today and also had the gorgeous pleasure of having him fall asleep on me - that is the ultimate in my book. And best of all, when this happens, no-one comes to grab him from you - mwah-ha-ha. Long may he sleep on me. Actually, after about 15 minutes, I went and put him in his bed as I still had loads to do before Jo's party, but there's still a whole week to go before they head home. Actually, that's not that long, might have to come back later for more cuddles!!! Here's a picture of Connor with his mum, my sister in law, Cathie.

Haircut Diversion

Dad called me and asked about getting a haircut, asking if I could come to his house to do it - that was a first, a little weird too I thought, but what the heck. I told him I'd come around lunchtime. Mike then got home and asked if we could go to the mall and do a few things and have lunch together, so i called Dad and advised him I'd be there is an hour, unless he wanted to come over right away and I could cut his hair while Mike was in the shower - his reply, no I'll wait for you to come here. OK, I said.

So when I arrived, imagine my surprise to find out the haircut was a diversion 9although he did actually want it cut). What he was really after was getting me to his house to discover my Brother, his wife Cathie and my new nephew Conner were there (over from Australia). Can't remember what I said. it may have been Holy Crap, (or worse), but loads of hugs all round.

Connor is a placid little baby boy with loads of laughs and giggles in him. I got in as many cuddles as I could. he is so sweet, I could just bite him!!! But give him a gentle squeeze instead.

They are here for 10 days - yeah. Not really long enough, but at least I finally got to meet my new nephew. He's gorgeous.

Yeah for long weekends

I love long weekends - 2 good sleep ins (although if you asked my hubby, he'd tell you I get one every morning, seeing as he does the breakfast thing with the kids and I get to sleep in till 7.45am) , loads of time to do those jobs you seem to have put off for a while and plenty of family time.

Yesterday was a semi spring cleaning day. The kids did their rooms, I cleaned out the fish tank, the kitchen, some of the studio and generally just did loads of housework and washing.

Mike then took the kids out to see his mum, brother and nephew and I took the opportunity to clear out the office a little and then decided to give the place a bit of a vacuum. As I started, I noticed the hose had split in an entirely new place. This old vacuum already had tape in 2 other places and had started making weird nosies lately, so the new hole was the final straw. So, with the knowledge that I had just sold some glazes on Trademe, I went out and bought a new one. A cheap one, but quite good for the price. I got a bagless one with a Hepa filter. I hadn't had a new vacuum for about 15 years, so I was very excited by the purchase and couldn't wait to get home and try it. It was then that I laughed out loud to myself (once in my car), realising that I use to get excited just before a race, back when I dabbled in a touch of motor sport, or excited as I thought about my upcoming jump as I went up in the plane, when I used to skydive and here I was, married with kids and all sensible and safe now, being excited over a new vacuum cleaner. Boy how my life has changed. The vacuum is damn good - we have majorly clean floors now!!

We had a very easy going balance of the day and a nice family dinner together. The kids stayed up till nearly 11pm and I went to bed not long after that. This morning they were up way too early, but that was kind of good for me, as I needed to be up getting organised to teach for a kids ceramic birthday party at 11am. Mike went off with the kids to my parents house and removed some rubbish for them and took a load to the tip. We all then went over to Don's place for a BBQ for Jayden's rugby coach's 30th birthday. We got home around 8.30, to give the kids a slightly earlier night tonight. I've just finished updating all the booking info and payments for camp and am now completely up to date!

A good weekend all round and the best part - there is still another day of it to go. Yeah for long weekends!

School Camp at MERC

Got back from Taryn's school camp at MERC last night. We had a great time. What an awesome bunch of kids. Some of the little darlings did keep us up till 3am on the first night though and so with just on 3 hours sleep, a few of the teachers and parents were not happy campers the second morning, however the groups responsible was soon identified and had therefore volunteered themselves for clean up duties for the balance of camp. I am happy to report my daughter was not part of this group (although she was caught out of bed at 10pm the following night).

So I came home somewhat tired last night and after getting the kids to bed, went to bed myself at 8.15pm!!! Slept right through, but could still do a few extra hours.

I took loads of photos during camp and have come home with over 300 photos and a couple of videos as well. I know I'll have to cull that lot before I can print them, but that's a job a find really difficult, to get rid of shots. Of course any out of focus or too distant photos (them sailing) will be easy, but I'd like to get it down to around 200 before I print. I want to do an album for Taryn and perhaps a couple of small photo books for the kids from my group.

Hope I get to go on camp in year 8 as well!

Old friends and memories

I've posted a bit recently on friendships and lately I have found myself (mainly through Facebook) reconnecting with friends from years gone by. Whilst it is only online and I am still to meet some of them face to face (and with others this is not likely due to being in different countries), I am amazed at the clarity of memories that suddenly stream to the surface when you start thinking so much about that particular person.

It's interesting to see what people have been up to and see where they currently are. There have certainly been some surprises. I have found 1 friend who had sworn off ever having children and along with her husband had decided to proceed in other directions. She has since divorced, found a new man and is now a mum! Upon asking her about it, she said it just felt right with this new man and perhaps originally (in her first marriage), she just wasn't with the right person after all.

In some cases (whilst I am happy in life at present), it has made me yearn for the days gone by, especially some of those carefree teen and early 20's years. Life seemed so good back then. I can sit back know and fully understand that saying "If I knew then, what I know now". For sure my life would be a whole lot different. Not sure if that would be a good thing or not, because I truly believe it is all our life experiences that make us who we are and so my life would be different, but then I guess I would be too right?

So I took some time out for myself and thought back over my life. I've actually had a pretty damn good life. I have way, way more happy memories than sad ones and now as a parent myself, I can clearly see why my parents did some of the things they did (because they loved me and wanted to keep me safe) and I understand this so well, because I'm now doing some of them with my own children. I've made some really good decisions in life that have been very fruitful and placed me where I am today. And, Yes I made some mistakes along the way. A couple of really big ones where the regret of my actions sort of stayed with me all this time. I've now realised that as per the above, I am who I am because of those mistakes and so I need to just get over or past them now and keep moving forward, leaving them way in the past where they belong.

That in mind, I've decided to work more towards what I really want in life. I'm going to do a little less for others (as I've mentioned before) and start focusing more on my immediately family and creating more happy memories with and for them. This in itself has made me think deeply about how I am with certain things and what I am and am not happy with. Some tough discussions will no doubt follow - nothing serious, but I'm just not happy to settle for anything less than what it will take to get me (and my family) to where I want to be. So watch this space!

Kids @ Camp

Every school holidays, I take the kids up to camp with me for 2 days (1 night), so that they get to have a bit of fun before my ScrapCamp starts. This time around, I had 7 with me. My 2, my sister's 2, 2 of one friends and 1 of another, as well as 2 other kids that were there at the same time. 9 kids altogether - madness! (actually the more there are, the easier it seems). They all had a great time, but the most fun of all, I think, was held by 3 of the boys on the last day. It had rained just about continually, so our usual scavenger hunt was not as extensive as it would have been as we couldn't really send them down into the bush. It had however made the grass outside the building very soggy-perfect I thought for a wee bit of a mud slide. Only Shelby was brave enough my from crew. But Bailey and his friend were keen as and joined in as well. Here's a video of Shelby during one of his slides. Note the pose on the end - truly his fathers son! sorry Paul!

Yummy Day

hat a yummy day yesterday was. It started with a sleep in after a late night out at Jeni's (where for once, being with Jeni didn't spell trouble for me-amazing!). Late breakfast, followed by shopping with Taryn for new sports shoes. That started to shape up like a 'go home with nothing' shopping trip, but after (almost tearfully) coming to accept mum's warning about those flat, all white, Velcro on shoes not really being suitable for school camp speech, Taryn found a pair of sand shoes that she liked. And they were on special, with $20 off - double yeah! We also bought some new potting mix and a couple of tomato plants and home we went.

The sun was shining, so onto the deck we went and cleared out last years soggy potting mix from the planter boxes. The boys (who were water blasting Mike's work equipment), kindly washed out all the pots for me too. We then planted the new plants and I transplanted some of the strawberry plants to space them out a little. Some of them have a bunch of berries on them. Can't wait for those babies to ripen up!

Then Mike took the kids and headed off to see his mum and brother and I changed into a singlet, grabbed a cold Madori RTD and sat on the deck reading New Moon for about an hour. It was bliss, with the sun on my back, not too hot for any chance of sunburn, but just enough to keep me warm. As the temperature dropped, I headed inside to prepare dinner. Steaks, chicken kebabs and garlic/herb potatoes on the BBQ - Yum.

Family came home and we enjoyed a nice leisurely dinner together followed by brandy snap baskets and ice-cream. Man I love the warmer weather. Bring on summer!

A little Inspiration

Mike and I were lucky enough to go to an opening night art exhibition last night at La Premiere Lounge, Sylvia Park, to view the absolutely inspirational work of Dave Sotogi.

Many of his paintings were in colours and tones that would suit our decor beautifully and I fell in lovely with one in particular. Our financial situation being what it is however, there was never a chance of coming away with one of those gorgeous masterpieces. Deep blood reds against neutral tones really stood out. There was one of a Maori chief and it was exquisite. The lines and the tattoos on his face seemed to lean out of the painting at you with a depth that would normally only be seen in a crystal clear, larger than life photograph.

I was astounded at his ability to paint portraits, landscapes and nature all so beautifully. I have seen many artists paint on type very well, but he seems able to do it all. Most definitely a very talented painter and if you ever get the opportunity to see his work, I highly recommend doing so.

There were also some ceramic lamps and vases on display (on loan) and these caught my eye. They were pierced pieces with the holes forming intricate patterns and they certainly gave me some well needed inspiration to get back into the studio and hand build some ceramic pieces, play with some clay and get designing some new pieces of my own. Of course with the school holidays and camp upon us, that will all have to wait a couple of weeks, but I am definitely inspired to reconnect to my creative side with ceramics.

A little indulgence!

I'd had a heap of stuff going on over the past few weeks, so on Friday, when it came to 6pm and the end of the 40th anniversary celebrations at school, I decided tonight was the night for a little indulgence. We went over to Janine's for birthday drinks. I told Mike that I only wanted to stay for about an hour, have a drink with her and come home, as I was stuffed. However, Jeni was there and that always spells trouble for me! I ended up indulging a little more than I had planned, but it was all good. As midnight approached, Mike let me know it was time to go and my bottle of wine was empty anyway, so we headed home. I pretty much went straight to bed!

Saturday morning I slept in till 9.30am. It was bliss. We had a slow easy morning, followed by Jayden's Rugby prize giving in the afternoon. Saturday night I indulged again, this time in a deep, hot, bath, with a dash of Radox muscle soak which produced masses of bubbles. Glorious!

This morning, another wonderful sleep in till 9am (bless those Darlings for sleeping in till 9!!!) So I have unwound, relaxed, soaked away the stress that being so busy had created and now look forward to a nice family afternoon and will be ready to face the new week with renewed zest tomorrow morning!

I can highly recommend a little indulgence every now and then. It really does do wonders for your soul!

Hand Sitting Practice

I've had a lot on my plate over the past few weeks and this week and next week aren't going to be any better, with loads of work to do for school, for the camp, at home, for Plunket and preparing for ScrapCamp. So when I went to my last meeting, I decided it was time to put my hand sitting into practice. As required items were read out, I resisted the temptation to put my hand up and offer to do it. Instead I took the opportunity to really think about what was being asked and consider whether or not I actually had the time to do it. There was a bit of silence for almost a minute, but then, someone else put their hand up. Wow, waiting a bit longer actually gives others the opportunity to come forward. Next item took a little bit longer again, but same thing. The third item wasn't quite as easy, but in the end, it was mentioned that we could just buy in what was required at a very reasonable price, seeing as everyone really had enough jobs each. Everyone agreed. Next item someone offered to do straight away (that's what I would normally have done). So, at the end of the meeting I hadn't put my hand up to do a single solitary thing and you know what happened - nothing! I left the meeting with the same list of jobs to do as I went in with, knowing that I would not have the extra stress of more jobs and that I was actually already doing enough and that others will offer if you give them sufficient time to do so and the world doesn't end if you decide that you are not going to take on anything more at the moment.

So that's one down and many to go, but I am determined to continue practicing hand sitting, thinking ahead before offering additional help, knowing that it will actually all be OK!

Mother & Son Day

On Saturday, Mike had planned to take the kids to the rugby. It was cold and wet outside and there was no way I was going to be going to the rugby in that weather. I also had Paula's birthday drinks/party in Papakura, so wanted to head off while it was still light as I hadn't been there before. Jayden decided he really didn't want to go to the rugby either and wanted to stay home with me. Initially Mike said No, but when I saw that he really didn't want to go, I explained that I had quite a few things to do and was going out to Paula's that afternoon and so as long as he understood that and could keep himself occupied at home for a while and was happy to go to Paula's with me if dad didn't come home in time, then he could stay home with me. Yeah!!! was his reaction.

Before Mike and Taryn left for the rugby, I started getting stuck into all the things I needed to do. By the time they left, I was ahead of myself and so when Jayden asked me if we could lie on the couch and watch a bit of TV I said "sure". It was one of the nicest cuddles I'd had with him in a long time. We lay there for nearly an hour and I couldn't even tell you what was on the TV, I wasn't really paying attention. I was thinking more about how nice it was that at 8 he was still happy to snuggle up on the couch with me and chill out. I was also enjoying a bit of the sometimes rare calm and quiet Jayden, which you don't often get with ADHD children. Of course the hour didn't go by without him trying to tickle me once or twice and push me off the couch, but for the most of it, it was just nice and relaxing being there with him.

When I heard the washing machine beep, sounding the end of the load, I resumed my housework activities and shortly afterwards, we left for Paula's house. I told Jayden where we were going and the name of the turnoff we were looking for. All along the way, he started pointing out different off ramps, saying that one leads to where the Easter Show is, that one leads to the hospital Taryn went to, that one leads to Aunt Lynne's etc. I was amazed at his memory, as many of the places we have been only once or twice. He then saw the Papakura exit sign and promptly told me we needed to turn off at the next exit. When we arrived, Jayden helped Paula and I carry a few things outside to set up the tables, but then found he was a little bored, until Kurt (Paula's stepson) set up the Playstation for him. We don't have a Playstation or XBox at home, so it's always a treat when he gets to have a go on someone else's and in this case, all to himself. I checked on him several times, but he was just happy playing away, not even wanting dinner (although he did come out quite quickly for pudding!!!).

Around 9pm, we headed home and he chatted all the way and told me he'd had a great day just the two of us and asked if we could have another Mother and Son day soon. How nice was that. No-one was home when we got home, so we changed for bed, read some stories and then he drifted off to sleep and I finished off a few bits and pieces before Taryn and Mike came home just after 10pm. What a great day all round and yes I will most definitely do it again real soon.

Sitting On My Hands

I've learnt that I need to do a lot more of this. This may sound kind of selfish, but I have realised that I need to start doing more for myself and less for others. Actually I have known this for a long time, but this past week has made it really sink in.

Too often I will put my hand up to help or do something and then find I am stretched for time to complete the stuff I need to do for myself, so my own stuff - which in fact can sometimes be related to the business, or just making the time for my family and friends -goes on the back burner.

So, I'm not suddenly going to stop helping others, but I am going to actively let others take their turn. I'm going to sit on my hands in meetings and give others a fair chance to make their contribution. I'm going to learn to delegate better. I'm going to think things through thoroughly, considering all items I already have on my plate before offering my services to others. Most of all, I'm just going to try and make my own family, business and friends my priority above those of others, so that what I do give out to others can be given freely, without guilt and without stretching myself.

That's the plan anyway - I'll keep you posted. Right now however, I'm off to print off 700 photos for the books I'm making for the school's 40th anniversary celebrations next week.

My Friendships

The previous post, along with some SARK books I have been reading lately got me thinking about some of my friendships.

Two of my best childhood friends moved overseas. One I kept in contact with continually and though we have only seen each other 3 or 4 times in what must be the last near 20 years (god am I really that old), we can pick up the phone and it is always just like yesterday. I do miss her terribly and wish I had the money to go see her, but Perth is one of those places that seems way more expensive than anywhere else to get to and so I've only ever managed 1 visit to her. The other friend, I lost contact with for approximately 10 years and just reconnected 4 years ago. After several months of talking on the phone, I went and surprised her in Brisbane, not knowing what our friendship would really be like. She looked a little different, having grown her hair long and of course had grown up, married and had children, as had I. We sat and talked for a while, then all of a sudden I looked at her and said 'Oh there you are'. The old person had sort of just come back to me. We laughed, we cried and my time with her was all too short. I also miss her terribly. Her Mother (who was friends with my mother - we were neighbours), recently passed away and I felt loads of pain, for the loss of a very special lady, for my friend and for not being able to be there for her in person.

It all got me thinking about how despite the miles apart, the fact I had lost contact with one of them at one stage and the fact that sometimes we may get so caught up in our own lives that we might not speak for a couple of months, we managed to remain such good friends. Certainly I have or have had friends that live just around the corner and time apart has meant a weakening in the friendship. I also have friends here who fit into the above category of remaining friends despite a lack of contact and pondered what the difference is between the two types of groups. My conclusion - the difference is expectations!

Those friendships that have remained strongest, were ones where there was no set or hidden expectations. There was no rule for the amount of contact, or time between contact or any form of keeping score on who phoned who last (which believe it or not, 1 of my friendships died a slow natural death of, because it had apparently been my turn to call her for way too long???)

SARK puts it nicely too, when she says, that "no 1 friend can be everything". Different friends bring different things, have different needs etc and so we need lots of different friends to fulfill all our needs. She also talks about the fact that sometimes friendship do die and it can be sad, but that just really makes room for something else to grow in the friendship garden - what a nice way to put it.

So, that said, I openly admit to the fact that I often get caught up in my own life and what's going on with me, to the point that I have neglected friendships or failed to put in sufficient effort to strengthen a friendship and I am aware that I need to make more of an effort with many of them. I'm also aware, that sometimes I will fail at this too (as was the case with Lisa) and that sometimes this may mean the end of a friendship (definitely and thankfully not the case with Lisa) . I'm confident however that my friendships without expectations will be the ones that continue regardless, as these are the ones where both parties have come to realise that the friendship is a gift, not an obligation!

And when all is said and done, before we can truly be great friends with others, we need to be great friends with ourselves, accepting all our own faults, so we can accept those in others.

Not ready for Lisa to go!

I met Lisa through Sylvia. We were at ScrapCamp and Lisa came up to visit Sylvia. Then Lisa started coming to ScrapCamp and we all (the regulars at ScrapCamp) came to love her. Early on, during one camp, I was talking about Jayden being ADHD and the things he did and Lisa commented how she could almost use the same text and just insert her daughter's name. She met Jayden and then everything seemed to fit. We talked about the steps I went through with Jayden in finding out what was going on with him and sent her some emails on what we had gone through, from the school, other parents and how we dealt with things at home. Her daughter was diagnosed shortly thereafter with ADHD.

I joked that we should get the two of them together for a play date, just to see what would happen!!! I had also decided that I wanted to further develop the friendship outside of scrapbooking and had some grand plans to start getting together for coffee once a month or so. Weeks went by and another camp was upon us, still having not met for coffee. We did manage to get both our families along to see Ashley's band Reverence play at their re-launch party at Jayce's place, but that was probably down to good luck rather than good management. So, another ScrapCamp came along and we still hadn't gotten together for that coffee. So many things kept coming up for me and so I'd put off making a date until the next week and so it went on. Lisa didn't make the last ScrapCamp and she was certainly missed. Then she announced she was moving overseas. I felt pangs of sadness and regret. Suddenly that coffee was a now or never situation! How did this happen? I guess in the back of my mind I had the thought, well there's always tomorrow, or next week. Really though, you never do know what is just around the corner.

I thought back to a poem about friendship, called Reason, Season, Lifetime. I remembered most of it's content was pretty spot on. I looked it up on the web and located it here: http://www.yuni.com/library/docs/631.html and had another read through. At the beginning I was thinking hey, my reason is not fulfilled, I'm not ready for her to go. Then I thought oh, maybe it was her reason that has been fulfilled. I then realised that I was reacting emotionally and perhaps being a little short sighted and that in actual fact, she may well be one of the Lifetime friends, we just don't know that yet. Do we ever really know?

Well we finally got together for that coffee 2 weeks ago and it was good. I learned that she most definitely plans to be back in NZ in April 2010 for ScrapCamp. I'll be hanging out for that, because I just thoroughly enjoy being around Lisa. She is just who she is, no matter what. If your cup of joy is getting low, Lisa's the one that can help you top it up.

So I'm still sad she is leaving, but knowing she'll be back soon and knowing how quickly time flies, it'll be April 2010 before I know it and we will again have loads of laughs, so no more regret, just looking forward to the fun times to come.

Baking for the 1st time

We recently had a Korean home stay student for 5 weeks. During this time we went out shopping, to Motat, Timezone etc, but I think the most fun she had might have been baking. We made cookies - Gingerbread Men actually. She advised she had never baked before. She had fun rolling out the dough and cutting it with the cookie cutters. She loved icing them and certainly enjoyed eating them as well! She asked if we could do it again and so we made some more the following weekend. My mum went out and bought her a cookie cutting set as a gift to take home, although from what she said, not sure her mum will be too keen on her making them at home. She said her mum usually doesn't let her help, let alone be loose in the kitchen.

I loved her help. My kids sat by whilst she would help unpack the groceries, she always asked if she could help and readily tried her hand at anything and everything. She didn't like everything, but at least tried most things.

Easy as 1,2,3!

Jayden came home with a recipe he had copied out of a book by Joy Cowley. It was very simple and I did wonder if he had written it all down, but we got the ingredients - 1 cup of cream, 1 cup of condensed milk and 1 cup crushed kiwifruit (actually we used canned strawberries). Beat together the cream and condensed milk, add the fruit, then freeze for 2 hours, stir and freeze again. (We cheated a little and used our ice cream machine to speed up the freezing process).

It worked. It's a very rich ice cream and so you only need a small amount, but yummy just the same. Here is a picture of the finished product.

Plum Blossoms

I love to look out our window and see our Plum tree in blossom. It's the first sign that spring is here and that the weather is about to start getting better. It brings to mind thoughts of lazy weekend afternoons out on the deck with friends, a good barbecue and a couple of cold ones.

It also pushes some sort of button in the brain that it's time to get the house in order (yip, the good old spring clean) and start thinking (again) about losing some of the many extra kilos I carry, before summer arrives. So, the sorting begins, as does the start of walking again. I've got about 5 weeks before the touch season starts, so I need to get some sort of fitness going in order to last on the field for more than 2 minutes at a time. lol!

Spring is the time of year I like the most, because everything seems so fresh and new. Roll on the better weather.

The Tooth

I hate the dentist and only go when absolutely necessary. Last year, I cracked a back tooth and really had no option but to go. I told them just pull it out, but they insisted I needed that back tooth and so I had it repaired. About a month ago, I started getting toothache on and off around the same tooth. Two weeks ago the toothache became continuous and unbearable, so I finally gave in and went back to the dentist. An X-ray revealed that it was not that tooth itself causing the problem, but a wisdom tooth coming through with no where to go. It was totally impacted between my jaw bone and the back tooth. Major surgery, or remove the back tooth to allow the wisdom to come through. Ha, wouldn't have removing the tooth the first time I asked have avoided this - um, yes! I opted for removing the back tooth. It took 1 hour and 5 injections to satisfactorily numb the area up and get the damn tooth out. I was surprised at how big the root was, so of course had to bring the tooth home for a photo and to show the kids.

Good things about having a big tooth out:

1. Lost weight as could only eat soft food for 3 days
2. Mike enjoyed the weekend as I couldn't talk
3. Got to sleep in and lie around without guilt (well not much anyway)
4. No more toothache

Bad things about having a big tooth out:

1. Could only eat soft food for 3 days
2. Couldn't talk the whole weekend
3. Had a fatter than normal face for 3 days

Almost back to normal now, although the wisdom tooth is already starting to pop through, so we'll have to see how that goes.

Well at least it wasn't her hand - right?

So we were back at A&E last week and wouldn't you know it, the doctor who saw her the last 3 times with her hand was there, but going off duty. He took what seemed to be an extended look in our direction, no doubt wanting to see if she was in again for her hand, until Taryn stood up and hopped over to the magazine rack and grabbed a mag to read. That seemed to satisfy his curiosity and on went his coat and off he went.

We were then seen by a lovely English lady doctor. An X-ray (to confirm it wasn't broken - which it wasn't thankfully), a pair of crutches and $80 later, we left A&E and headed home.

So how did she injure her ankle? Running up the hill in our back yard, managing to find a hole, put her foot in it and then fall over twisting it sideways. Where there's a way, she'll find the will!!! She came off crutches yesterday and was almost back to her normal self today. So that's August's adventure, let's see what next month will bring.

Perfect Hair!

Taryn loves her music. She used to love playing the keyboard and the piano and whilst she still does play them every now and then, she is more into playing her drums at the moment as it fits better with the type of music she is currently listening to. She will belt away to Green Day and other similar music as well as some heavier rock music. Her taste in music has certainly astounded us at times. She has previously listened to Elvis, The Beatles and a few of our other 'older' music CD's. One of her current favourites is Janis Joplin! She loves playing air guitar to that too.

It was just this weekend whilst playing air guitar to some hard rock on the radio, that she announced to me - Hey Mum, I have the Perfect Hair for headbanging!!!!! I'm sure it's no co-incidence this started after seeing Reverence perform!!! Yes Ashley, that means you are her influence here!

Here are the pics I snapped or her in motion.

Meet Blossom

My gorgeous new bear. I won this as part of a raffle prize at Craft Out West over the weekend. It was actually 2nd place, with the 1st prize being a huge grocery hamper. In my opinion, the winner lucked out, cause this 2nd place pamper pack was just lovely and the bear (made by Annetta Flaunty of Cedel Downs) is just totally gorgeous.

I even had offers from others there, who wanted to buy it off me, but hey, it's purple and pink and has a butterfly on one hand, so how could I ever sell her???

Here is the original Pamper Pack prize. Hard to see what's in there, but there is a selection of body gels and scrubs, aromatherapy candle, soaps and petals, potpourri, embroidered cushion, notebook and amethyst crystal angel. Thanks to Glenna for picking a winning number for me.

That poor hand!

Yip, she's been at it again - injuring her right hand that is. This week we got a call from school to come and collect Taryn, as she had sustained a burn to the top of her right hand. Her class was working with hot melt glue guns and one child had basically leaned over Taryn with the gun, to pass it to another child and as he did so, glue poured from the gun and landed on Taryn's hand. So off to the emergency we went and who should she get, but the same doctor that saw her the last 2 times she injured herself. I'm wondering when we might get a call from the authorities regarding all her injuries! Photo to follow (if she will let me get one this time!)

The dressing was changed yesterday and the blisters have gone down and the burn itself looks much better (and smaller) than on day 1, with no sign of infection, so that's all good. She now has a protective dressing that remains on for 7 days to allow the area to heal fully. How many more times can she hurt that one hand???

A smashing Cake!

At the last scrapcamp, I accidentally reversed into someone else's car, placing a good ding in the front. In my defence, it was pitch black outside and whilst everyone else had parked in a line against the edge of the carpark, this particular car was parked sideways right behind everyone else and I just didn't see it when I hoped in my car to go out, but still, I did hit it.

Anyway, luckily for me, the owner took it all very well and despite my offering to pay for damage, simply said Oh $50 and a cake and we're square!

It was really a no-brainer as to what type of cake to make, so during the weekend workshop, I baked and iced this car cake, then once finished, proceeded to mash in the front as a little joke. Paula took photos and video as I put the final touches (the mashing and the icing) to the cake. The owner then arrived and was handed their cake, at which they laughed and took it all in good fun.

I have to add, ever since this event, I have reversed into a parking position at camp, so that should I need to go out again at night, I can easily see what is in front of me.