Weeden's Christmas

Well this was the first year EVER we have celebrated Christmas at our own place! Usually while we have lived up the North we have traveled to Hobart and stayed with my Mum and done the family rounds. And when we lived in Hobart we always had lunch with Mum and then dinner with Ryan's parents, so this year was a very different. As you would have read Amelia came down with Chickenpox so we had to make a decision last weekend on what we would do so that I could prepare food etc. Amelia was still in the infectiouse stage so we decided to stay home and celebrate and not travel, which was sad that we missed time with family, but it was also good to do something different.

On Christmas eve we went for dinner and then delivered some treats to people. We got home at about 8, which was great and the kids went to bed. Ryan and I spent the next remainder of the night getting the dinner organised for the next day and I decorated the biscuit house.

Will had so much fun eating the chocolates he was given from Sister Shaw!

On Christmas morning I was awake at 5.45 and managed to do a few jobs before anyone else woke up! By 7.30 Ryan decided that an intervention was needed as the kids were still asleep so he stood in the hall and yelled out that Santa had been, which got Amelia up straight away, Will on the other hand was a had to go in and actually wake up as he was sound asleep!

We came out and saw all the pressies under the tree, which the kids were excited about, highlights for Will was the underwater play dough cutter thing, and his train set. Amelia's big highlight was the mp3 player and a colouring in book. Charlotte's was her books and hopefully her new sun shade which we are hoping to be able to use soon either at the beach or out the back. Ryan's highlight was the a new book, and mine was my iphone case and new sports bag! The BIG family gift left from Santa was a Wii! Which we finally got to use late in the afternoon and the kids loved it! We did some family bowling which was great BUT the kids were not the keenest on waiting as we went through everyone to have a go. Later that night Ryan and I got to try out some of the other games and enjoyed the tennis and boxing the most!

After the present opening we had a gourmet breakfast of crossonts, scrambled eggs and ham, washed down with some egg nog!

I love this photo of Will, he managed to find a box of biscuits and even after a BIG breakfast found a spot to put them into!

The rest of the morning I prepared the food and got myself organised for lunch as we had Amy and Kirk over, which was lovely. After a lovely lunch or glazed ham, turkey, roast vegies, and Christmas pudding with double cream, custard and home made vanilla iceream we all enjoyed the rest and relaxation of the afternoon. Kirk and Amy had to travel to Hobart to see family for dinner, and when they left we hung out with the kids and played with their toys with them.

I tried a honey glaze on the ham this year and it was really good! I so love the free magazines that Coles and Woolies put out each year as I get many ideas from them.

The ice cream in the mix!

Ryan just being his usual self!

Hmm what should I play with next! Will enjoyed his new train set and looks very relaxed!

Christmas day was one of the most relaxing days we have had for a while. As much as we missed spending time with family we really enjoyed just spending the time with our own family and doing our own thing, and the kids were able to keep their toys out and got to open and play with all their toys as we didn't have to pack them away or have no where for them to put them out.

Lovely Sunny Weather

Well we have finally been having some lovely weather so I have taken the opportunity to take the kids out to a few parks. On Monday we had a CD player put in the car (thanks to Ryan who thought he would be Mr fixit man, he pulled out my radio and made a mess of it so had to then buy a more expensive one and then pay for it to go in, cost him alot more than the $10 he thought it would when he brought the old one). So I had to leave the car for about an hour, so instead of coming home we went and had Amelia's last injection and visited the playground outside the hospital. It is a great playground, doesn't have a stack of things but hardly anyone ever uses it. We played for about 40 minutes then went and picked up the car, hooray to say we now have music!

Today I thought that I would get in early to get the vegies for Christmas so we left at 9 and went to Young's, well everyone else must have had the same idea as it was packed!!!!! I thought it would be rather quiet but oh no they had lines at every checkout. Amelia and Will were being their usual selfs where they were feeding off each other, Amelia was giving Will dizzie whizzies in the middle of the walkway and I was getting over stressed that they would hurt someone! So after some bribery they started to behave. We ended up at the playground in Riverside that again no one ever seems to use. It is a little bit big for Will but I was impressed that he did a good job climbing up and trying new things! It was really cute when he said while walking over a tricky bar thing 'Mummy I''m scared'! After a little play, the weather was getting rather hot and they don't have any shade, we came home to get things done around the house.

Merry Christmas!

Well today was one of those days parents dread! We woke up like normal and started the usual routine of bathing, dressing etc. I had my glasses off and was turning on the shower for Amelia when I got this biggest scare, red dots on her back. What is worse is that I am almost blind without glasses and everything is very blurry BUT that said I was still able to see very well that she had a problem. A quick whip of the contact lenses in and a call out to Ryan and we pretty much confirmed that she had chickenpox! A letter came home last week saying that a child had come down with it last week SO we were pretty sure! So after a stress this morning of packing all the present for teachers, we sent along with Charlotte as her bus stops at Amelia's school, we then ventured out to the supermaket, chemist and video shop as I was not staying home with her getting grouchy with the video selection, or lack of at home! And after our outing we have been home and will be home for a very long time, or at least until the spots are not catching any more, and then I am sure Lottie will come down with it then! Will had been immunised BUT their is still a 75% chance that they can get it as well!
I must say that so far Amelia has been really good and I have not had to talk to her too much about scratching as it doesn't seem to be bothering her too much YET! My fingers are crossed that it continues.

You can slightly see the poor little honeys lovely red dots!

She has been flashing me alot today and showing off her tummy and back and asking me to check them out! She is a very brave girl and very good not to scratch.

Little Elves

Last night we came home after dropping Amelia off at her leavers dinner and found this lovely little suprise at our door!!!!!!!And it was two different little elves who dropped off!  It was lovely to receive such yummy biscuits and treats. Thanks go out to our little elves, you know who you are.

School Leavers DInner

Last nigth was Amelia's leavers dinner at Trevallyn Primary! I still am in shock that my little girl is growing up. She had a lovely night from what I have heard and she looked lovely and very grown up in her dress. I must say I was a bit shocked at some of the dresses the girls were wearing as they are only grade 6, mind you it was supposed to be neat and casual, at least the boys kept to the dress code.

I gave Amelia a quick trim last night before she went out as her hair was really whispy, looking MUCH better!

Amelia and Cameron have hung out together for the past few years, they use to fight really bad, but they are now good mates. Cameron will be going to St Gorges full time with Amelia next year, at least he will have a familiar face to hang out with.

Monica has been Amelia's TA for the past few months, she is a wonderful person and it always so full of life and energy. Amelia will miss her next year :(

Amelia loved the table she was at last night.

Amelia waiting with Anthony, who has been in her class this year.

They even had name cards as to where that were seated.

End of Year BBQ

On Friday Amelia's school had an end of year assembly and BBQ. I missed the assembly as I had to work but managed to get to the BBQ. It was a lovely day as the weather was bright and sunny. The most exciting part for the kids was not the many sausages that were being cooked by the wonderful helpers BUT the visit from the Big Man in the red suit! It was funny as the kids who have been at the school for  while knew which was he was coming so they were waiting very patiently for him to arrive, Amelia included!
When he did arrive all the kids flocked him, sometimes I hope that Santa doesn't mind being swamped by a sea of little people as the kids were literally walking side by side with him. Amelia was waiting very well and listening for her name, finally it was called and she toddled up to get a special gift from Santa, suprise suprise a colouring in book and texta's Santa is good at knowing what she loves to do in her spare time! She was happier still when she realised it was a Saddle Club colouring in book, as she LOVES horses! So much so that she has found the Sadle Club DVD's at home and has started watching them again.

Will had a great time playing with a little girl and even got to borrow her reindeer ears! He thought he was the coolest of coolest wearing them!

Chocolate Brownies

Ok so here is the OTHER recipe in high demand!

200g butter
200g chocolate
1 cup brown sugar
3 eggs lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup plain flour
2 tablespoons coco powder

Preheat oven to 190. Line a 5cm  x 18cm square cake pan. Or a slice tray with non stick paper.

Heat butter, chocolate and sugar in a saucepan over a low heat stirring constantly, until melted and smooth. Transfer a bowl to cool slightly.

Add eggs and vanilla to chocolate mixture. Mix well. Sift flour and coco over chocolate mixture. Stir to combine.

Pour brownie mixture into pan. Bake for 20 minutes, or until just set. Set aside to cool. Once cool, lift out of conatiner. Cut into whatever size you want.

Store in an airtight container.

This is what I used these brownies for

To make these you just melt some chocolate, if your feeling really tricky you can colour your chocolate with oil based food colour. I tried the small bag to pipe over but found it just a bit too messy when the chocolate was setting in it! I actaully just flicked it over using a spoon. Add your mini m&m's or any other deoctaion for your tree. The candy canes are mini's and you break the curved end off and just puch them in to the base to make the trunk. Leave them to set then eat and enjoy!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Really Good Truffles!

Ok so I have had a few people that are begging for this recipe and I am putting it here to get them off my back! Now the recipe I originally found came from a Taste. com (I think). They are called Oreo Truffle Balls and the recipe is as follows:

2x 150g Packets Oreo Biscuits
250g Cream Cheese
Milk or white chocolate to melt (optional)

1. Crush the biscuits in a food processor to a crumb mix.
2. Add in the softened creamed cheese
3. Roll into balls and then dip into the chocolate.
4. allow to set in the fridge for at least an hour.

Now I have also made a variation recipe that is very similar BUT it makes a few more.

2 pakets of cheap chocolate biscuits with cream in the middle (got them at Woolies)
1and 3/4 packets of cream cheese
White chocolate melted

The method is the same as above but makes more, I also am not a big fan of Oreo biscuits and I think that they are a little over priced.

I have put some into celophane bags and plan to give them to teachers at the end of school!

Charlotte's Assembly

Well we have just got home after visiting Charlotte's school and seeing their end of year assembly. It was all about the beach theme. The children had contributed using the PODD communication  and added their own writing elements to the story. Some of the students did this independently and some did it with help from the staff. It was a great story we got to join the kids as they went on the bus ride to the beach and the listen as they ate and played under the water with the very cool octopus! Once they ha finished their story we watched a slide show of each group and they got books given with certificates on progress they had made this year. Charlotte has come along way this year with sitting independently on the peanut (similar to a fitball) at school. She still needs to have an adult close by but she is sitting and correcting herself when she starts to lean to one side! After the assembly the parents stayed for morning tea with the children, we hung around and chatted to Charlotte and the staff but decided to get moving no to long after as I have some secret cooking business to attend to!