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How To Entertain Children

Buy A Bucket

Fill Bucket with Soap and Water

(There goes a few hours of your day)

Get out some paint

(Who needs paper when there are so many other things to paint?)

Now fill up a clam shell pool and sit back while they clean themselves off.

(They are clean enough we can skip the shower, right?)

Getting restless?

Bubbles!

Blow some bubbles and they will laugh as they pop them one by one.

(Simple pleasures in life, hey?)

So there it is, the cheapest, and easiest way to entertain two small children, without leaving your home.

Obviously outings are a good thing too, but when the temperature soars to a sweaty 32* inside, being out in the sun is the last place you want to be!

Soaking Up The Country Sunshine

Hello?
I'm here!
Yes, I didn't disappear into the dark abyss of the internet, I am here!
I have recently relocated to a bit of a remote area in country NSW.
It is lovely.
My kids are happy.
I am happy.
I have decided to start work on my cookbooks.
Finally!
It will take a long, long time to cook, photograph and edit, and then finally they will be available to purchase through here and if Facebook allows it, on my page over there too.
I will divide the book into sections so if you only want one part, you can pick and chose exactly what you are interested in.
Forewarning: There will not be much meat in these recipes, if any at all.
There will be butter, lots of butter.
There will be sweet treats, as well as healthy salads and even a bunch of kid-friendly recipes to get those little ones involved.

For now I will leave you with some photos of the beauty that surrounds me...
See you soon!

My 3yr Old Watches YouTube More Than I Do

Yes, it is true.
My daughter has discovered YouTube.
Mostly for music videos.

She has some time every day where she can play on my iPad.
Instead of the puzzle, stories or other children's games I have on there, she chooses to go straight to YouTube.

Her biggest obsession?

Gangnam Style.



Oh yes, she LOVES it!
She mumbles the words and dances along.

Her other obsession?




She bounces and grooves along.
(Here's a little video to giggle at)

I am sure that she has contributed thousands of views to the count!

There is one more that she loves...



It's a bit of a funky Disney's Alive in Wonderland mash-up.

Do your kids love YouTube?
Do you?
I know my husband can spend hours on there!
Not me though!

Recipe Organization, A Dull Necessity.

Yesterday I spent hours doing the dull job of organizing all of my loose recipes.
The magazine pages I had torn out.
The pages I had printed off.
The popular ones with splatters on the page.
The crisp, new ones, waiting to be experimented with.

I had a mammoth task ahead of me.
This is what I started with:

(Please excuse the horrible photo photos)

I started with a box, which I separated into three piles.
Sweet
Savoury
Rubbish

I had to be brutal and throw away recipes that were too simple, too bland, or that I knew my kids would never eat.
After numerous cups of coffee, and some horrible trashy tv (see my post over here on trashy tv)...
I finally regained some order!

One neatly arranged folder.
Busting at the seams it is so full, every plastic sleeve holding a handful of recipes.
I need to get another folder so I can have one for sweet and one for savoury...
But this is good enough for now!

How do you organize your recipes?

Why I Watch TV (And No, I Don't Feel Bad About It)

I watch a fair bit of tv shows.
I do not watch many Australian shows, and I prefer to watch them online.

I know that people say tv 'rots your brain'.
Yes, I do think that reality shows like "Big Brother". or "X-Factor" don't really stir up the brain matter much.
They are purely based on entertaining you.
(Not that I find them entertaining at all)

I like the shows that make you think.
I like the shows that make you sit in awe as you watch one man portray a character that deepens with every episode.
That makes me appreciate acting.

I like the shows that are historical, educational, or just good for a laugh.
I like the shows that make you gasp at the end of each episode, asking yourself a million questions while you wait for the next.

Do you like to watch tv?

Some shows bore me.
I zone out and end up busying myself with other things and listen to the dull dialogue.
Others pull me into an obsession, they weave such wonderful stories that suck me in.
They create characters that I love.

I'm not obsessed with tv.
I am not ruled over by my 'idiot box'.

But at the end of the day, when the house is still and the kids are fast asleep, I like to relax.
A glass of wine, an episode of my favourite show.
I need to relax.
With two kids full of burning energy and attitude, I need to relax.

I go through shows frequently, some I come back for more, some I drift away from, not interested any more.

I noticed that one of my most popular blog posts is the one about Doctor Who.

Since I wrote that, I have become more obsessed.
I get up on a Sunday morning and settle down in front of the computer with my hot coffee and fresh breakfast and open up the Abc iView.
Those genius' thought to upload the newest episodes within hours of them screening on tv in the UK, for all the Aussie fans.
Thank you!

But I don't just watch Doctor Who.
My other recent obsessions:

Breaking Bad (I was told about this for so long and finally caved in. It is amazing, raw, real, gritty, with the best acting I have seen)

Game of Thrones (This started off a bit slow for me, but now I am hooked!)

Sherlock Holmes (Love it! Brilliant acting and great sleuthing stories)

Once Upon A Time (I was quickly addicted to this real world/fairy tale drama. It is sometimes cheesey but overall, fantastic!)

Now, I'm pretty sure everyone has some guilty pleasures. Shows that are horrible, but you just can't stop watching. Ones that make you laugh, or yell at your screen "Oh no, did you see what they just gave their child!?!"

Please don't judge me for these guilty pleasures....

Here Comes Honey Boo Boo (I have seen Toddlers & Tiaras and it was another guilty pleasure a while ago, even my husband would watch with me! But this show follows one of the families and never ceases to amaze me with what they get up to... Not in a good way!)

Teen Mom  (Yep, a long time ago I watched 16 & Pregnant when I was pregnant. Now this follows the new mums on their journey. Some shockers, some who turn out to be natural mums and others who get in trouble with the law. Trashy tv at it's finest!)

Hoarders (It makes me feel like my house is spotless when I watch this show, and motivates me to clean even more! Warning: Do not eat while watching! One episode they found 16 dead cats in the house while they cleaned it up. The owner had no idea. *Spew*)

I also like to watch random documentaries on the iView and other shows that grab my interest. I love Grand Designs and other home building shows. Though it does make me wish for my own build!

So what is your favourite show?
Do you watch tv?
Are you addicted to trash?

A Big Blog Spring Cleaning!

Hello!
Well, after days of fiddling with blog templates, tweaking html and throwing the towel in numerous times...
I finally did it.
I gave my blog a complete overhaul.
I love the clean, fresh look.
I still have a few little things to add, and play with, but for now it is finished.
I even did a little makeover on the recipes page.
I had a lot of recipes waiting to be added to please pop on over HERE to check them out.

I love getting feedback, so if there is anything you think I should add, or even remove, please leave a comment for me.
Thanks!

A Fluffy Addition To The Family

After weeks of discussion, my husband & I finally settled it.
We would get a puppy.
We called the surrounding animal shelters that we knew had small puppies (can't have a big dog here especially with little kids) and we were put on waiting lists.
We received message after message...
Puppy sold.
All gone to homes.
Sorry, none left.
We did want to rescue a pup, but it seems there were plenty of others who wanted to as well!
We had done some research into what breeds are good with kids, and found one that we both fell in love with:
Japanese Spitz.
Fluffy, puffy, balls of white fur with rounded bear-like ears.
Gorgeous!
But they were expensive, very expensive.
We put it off, and decided that we would wait.

One afternoon we decided to go for a drive with a friend of ours to the local pet store so Eve could say hello to all the animals.
She had heard all of our puppy talk and was so desperate to see one.
We got the to see an empty shop.
No puppies.
We had a quick chat to the man who runs the place and he said new pups would be arriving the following week.
Oh, what breed?
Japanese Spitz.
REALLY??
We couldn't believe it!
The one pet store was getting the breed we were after.
And for a bargain price, much less than every private breeder.
We went home and thought about it.
We had a week to decide.
We had shocking nights of sleepless kids and gave up on the idea of looking after a puppy.
But then we had Eve making up "The Puppy Song" and they began to settle.

So now, say hello to Bailey...

The kids are madly in love with her.
Eve loves to cuddle, and Eli loves to run around and play with her.
Perfect!

Wild & Windy Weather

The weather has been a little crazy lately.
A big old gumtree in our neighbours yard came crashing down with an almighty crack and fell into our backyard.
It didn't reach the house (Thank God!), it didn't damage the fence, but it crushed my father-in-law's shed with all his car bits and pieces in it...

Not good!

But it is ok, nothing terribly valuable in there. 

But we are now facing the mammoth task of removing the tree!

It's a big complicated mess with our neighbour, solicitors, and the not so helpful council.

But my task, lately, has been trying to keep the kids happy while being stuck inside!

We have been getting a bit crafty...

Eve has figured out how to take photos of herself with my phone...

We have taken the kids to the local shopping centre for play time with other kids in a big, fun play ground...

The really love these days!

Our cat, Cedric, has been super affectionate lately, he just can't get enough of me!
(Maybe he knows what is coming.....)

I gave the kids hair cuts, and decided to go back to having a fringe...

And for the first time ever I went and got acrylic nails!
I have very thin, weak nails that I have been trying to grow forever but they always peel and chip off, no matter what treatments I try.
Now I have super strong nails, but I still kept them short, so I can function!!

(I treated myself to a Lindt Cafe coffee afterwards!)

And when the sun shines in through the kid's bedroom window...

 We all lap it up!!

Puppy Fever

My darling girl wandered over to me the other morning and jumped on my lap with a sad look on her face.
"Mummy?"
"Yes darling?"
*Sigh* "I need a puppy dog."
"You need a puppy dog?"
"Yes mummy, I do."

Oh dear, what do we do?
Both my husband and I love dogs.
We have wanted to get another since we sadly had to say goodbye to our last two.
They were our furry babies, and we loved them so much.

As you can see we do love small dogs.
Seeing photos like this make us all gooey inside with love...

(Though I have always wanted a Dalmation, ever since I was a little girl)

But, sadly, we cannot get one right now.
So, every time my girl sees a puppy, and tells me how cute it is, and how much she would love a puppy dog,  it pulls at my heart strings, but I have to say no, soon sweetie. Not yet.
Soon.

It's Winter... So We Go To The Beach!

Bring on Summer!!