A School Social

I am on a roll with blogging so I am not stopping!!!

Tonight William went to his first social!!! He was super excited and was keen to have his hair spiked and done, but at the moment it is rather long so the spike thing was a little hard to do!!! However I found some blue hairspray which he thought was pretty cool!
All week the school has had a group in teaching all the kids dance moves, William came home on Monday showing me the bum dance and was super excited to show us how the moves were done in typical Will style!!!! I didn't go with him I left that job to Ryan BUT I heard he was having a super time and was going crazy busting out the dance moves!!!!! I know he doesn't get those moves from his Dad as it would have only been a two step shuffle!!!!

Here is the little dude!

Cenovis Vita Jellies and a GIVEAWAY

A few months ago I came across a web site called Vibe Village. It is a site where companies will post looking for people to test products and to give feedback. It is a site dedicated to word of mouth marketing and recently we were selected to test the Cenovis Vita Jellies, which are a multi vitamin that is in the shape of a bear that is just like a lolly. The Vita Jellies are designed to be taken by children aged 4-12 and William is loving them! He even is at me to take them if I forget!!
In the pack sent out we even got a great little cookbook with great ideas of easy and healthy recipes, now the only thing left to do is make some!!!!!
Oh and as a treat I even got a Women's Multi Vitamin to try as well!!
So if you are looking for a great tasting multi vitamin for your kiddies, may I suggest you give the Cenovis Vita Jellies a try!
As a treat I am also offering a give away of a bottle of Vita Jellies and a cookbook! All you need to do is leave a comment at the end of this post with your name and email address and a winner will be selected at random. SO get to it!!!! The winner will be drawn on Friday the 13th, so for someone it will be a lucky day for them!!!! So get commenting!

New Tea Set

Ryan and I have been trying to find a specific tea set with cups like these for ages!!!! We have looked both here in Tassie and also in Melbourne but have not been able to find anything like we want. Last week we happened to be at the Asian shop in Mowbray getting a few bits and pieces and as we were about to leave we found exactly what we had been looking for! Needless to say we grabbed one straight up and have enjoyed drinking our herbal and green teas in style this week!!!!

Choc Chip Cookie POPS

I was super excited to find the idea of making choc chip cookie dough pops the other day that I couldn't wait to make them as they combined my two favourite things, cookies and pops!!!!

The recipe was super easy and the result was super yummy!!!!

The Recipe

1 cup butter (room temperature)
1/2 Cup Caster Sugar
1 cup brown sugar
4 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
2 1/2 cups plain flour
t teaspoon salt
1 cup of choc chips

Chocolate to melt
Copha ( I have found of late that the melts have not been very smooth when melted so I have been adding copha to make it more workable!

Cream the butter until light and add the sugar and cream together until light and fluffy.
Mix in the vanilla and milk.
Add the flour and mix on a low speed until combined (do not over mix the mixture).
Stir in the choc chips.
Chill the dough in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Roll the dough into balls and put on grease proof paper then place in the freezer for at least 15 minutes or longer if needed. I sometimes leave the balls in the freezer for a week and take out as needed.
Melt the chocolate melts and the copha (I do mine in the microwave).
Put the lolly pop stick into the melted chocolate then stick it into the ball (by doing this it helps hold the pop on). Tap off any excess chocolate.
Add sprinkles if wanted.
I use some polystyrene to put my pops in to set.
When set put in an airtight container and keep for up to a week.

Soup Soup Soup

Ok so I am LOVING making soup in the slow cooker at the moment, in fact I LOVE my slow cooker full stop! So My recent creation for soups is a Cauliflower and Leek Soup!

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion
2 leeks sliced
1 cauliflower head
1 litre of stock (I used a powder stock mixed with water)
Salt and Pepper to taster (however I like a lot of pepper)
Parmesan Cheese grated on top (optional)

The Cooking!

Ok so in a fry pan on medium heat add the olive oil and the garlic and sliced leek and soften, do not brown.
Cut the cauliflower and remove the stems and leaves and put into the slow cooker. Add the softened leek and onion mix and add the stock. Place the lid on the cooker and either cook on high setting for 4 hours or the low setting for 8 hours. When ready use your blender (I have a stick blender and I zap it, otherwise do it in batches in a blender). Serve warm with some shaved or grated Parmesan.

Our new Family Members!

Ok so William has been hammering on about wanting a pet so after some consideration and discussion here is what we decided!!!! Even tho it's not a cat or a dog both were asked for we settled on 5 goldfish which I have been told are two boys and two girls not sure about the 5th one but Amelia owns the white 2 and william own the 2 orange and Charlotte is the owner of the mixed up colour!!!! SO now that the fish have survived the past 4 weeks I am not the official feeder as the kids have lost interest, shock horror!! SO glad we didn't get the cat or dog or that would have been dumped as well!!!!

Our First Hawks Game!!

Well Amelia is a bit of a Hawthorn supporter, not really sure who corrupted her considering Dad's a Carlton and I am a Saints supporter but each to their own I suppose!!!!

We have been taking Amelia to a few of the team training days that they have when the come to Tassie and play and Amelia LOVES to check out the boys as well as hang with Hawka, who is a favourite to her when we go and we always have to have a picture with her beloved Hawks! So when we got the chance to get some tickets to the game a few weeks back we couldn't turn it up!!! So we did the whole support the Hawks thing with Amelia going on the Friday evening to watch them train and then on the Saturday we did the walk from City Park to Aurora stadium with the supporters and the flags! When we got to the ground we  found our seats which were right behind the goal posts and close to the ground which was great when the action was right up our end!!! We loved the game and really enjoyed the last 1/4 as the Hawks were kicking our end and the play pretty much was owned by the Hawks so the action was all at our end which made it exciting! The day was a fun one and I must say that even tho it was FREEZING and our teams were not playing we had a great time and look forward to doing it again!!!

A Sore Paw

Ok well maybe not a paw but how about a Femur!!!!

Charlotte decided a few week ago to do something she never does and that is roll over, now most people including myself would shout yippeee as she has not rolled over for years BUT maybe she could have timed the roll a little better and not rolled off her bed onto the floor!!!! And the worse thing is that Charlotte's bed is not a normal height bed which made the fall oh so much worse!!!! After we settled the poor little poppett we discussed what might be hurt, so the next day it was a trip to the emergency to have her checked over as she couldn't tell us what was hurting her. Ryan did the brave job and sat with her in the emergency and after a couple of X rays of her ankle and knee on her right leg it was deemed nothing broken and the Dr said panadol was all the love drug for pain she was getting!!! So we like followed the Dr's advice and dosed her every 4 hours on panadol for the first few days. She still had no relief so after the 2nd week of being grumpy at us when we moved her legs and then two afternoons of crying for what seemed like no reason at 2am on a Friday morning I said to Ryan enough is enough and she was going to need to go back to hospital as things were getting no were near better! So poor Ryan got to hang out in emergency once again!! This time we saw a Dr who was a little more interested and this time ordered x rays of both legs from the hips down, and guess what???? She had a break in her right femur!!!!! So for two weeks she had been in a world of pain as I have been told a broken femur is the worse bone pain wise to break!!!!

So the Dr's got her a cast put on but before this they were all doom and gloom and talking about wanting to splint her leg, which would mean a operation to drill plates in and cutting hamstrings to straighten out her leg (as Charlotte sits most of her day in her wheelchair she does not have a good range of movement in her legs). And to do all this would mean at least a 2 week stay in hospital!!!!! So with a cast on and the joys of morphine she was moved to the kids ward at the LGH. Luck thing got a room to herself which was away from everyone and was super quiet which meant a good thing for us who stayed at night. I did the first two nights and Ryan did the third and then I stayed a 4th all in all the staff were super good and when they let us escape they could not do enough to help us with giving us plenty of extra bits and pieces to help keep the cast from digging in and tubes to help with the new feeding pump to take with us. They even let us wheel her down in her bed and to just transfer straight from bed to car, which was wonderful as she had not sat up since having the cast on and we were pretty worried that it would hurt!!!!

So now that she is home she is improving, however she does not like having the leg touched at all and is very grouchy when being moved and changed BUT she at least is happy when she sits and is out and about. We have had a bit of a set back with trying to get the feeding stuff right as the hospital have changed companies who they order products through and as a result we can no longer get the same formula, so after the first 2 days of having an upset tummy from the new food we had a change to less fibre and now we have the issue of vomiting so we are hoping that this all settles down soon as it's not cool to have to change beds all the time with a broken leg when one is still in it at night!!!!!!

A Legend!

I have a friend who 4 months ago lost a son. Charlotte and Noah were at school together and it was sad knowing that Charlotte and Noah would no more get the chance to dance together in there wheelchairs and share glances at each other as they did there work!

Less than a week ago Lisa also lost her husband Aaron, who was such a wonderful guy and was also someone that I know Ryan had a lot of respect for as a husband and a father. Today I was able to listen as brave Lisa shared her memories of a wonderful husband, father to four boys and a son and son in law as well as a brother to many. One of the stories she shared was about how Aaron enjoyed his music and how he LOVED to dress up in his ACDC gear which reminded me of a great photo I captured a church dance!

Aaron was a great guy who was a giver to all, the stories I have read and heard either on facebook or through friends have all been the same. He was someone who was admired and respected for his ability to make people feel good about themselves as well as to make them laugh. I will always remember the funny side of Aaron as I fondly think back to the many times he was the M.C at many a church dance and the way he would have everyone having a great time and including all in the many games he played!

I hope that Lisa and her three boys will know that we all are thinking of them at this time and that we pray that  they may feel peace knowing that Noah and Aaron are together watching over them and being able to run together!

A friend of Lisa's has set up a fundraiser page and I ask that you may consider making a donation big or small it can all help. To read more click HERE!

A Wedding in Sydney

A few back I was lucky to travel with the Crossin family to Sydney to see Abby marry her man Adam!
They have such a special love for each other and you can see it in the way they look at each other that they are truly in love and just adore each other.

We flew up on the Thursday and after missing our connecting flight from Melbourne to Sydney we had to wait in the airport in Melbourne for 2 hours! So the whole plan of what we needed to do was thrown out the window! I will blog more on Sydney later but for now I will share the Wedding Day!

We all stayed in accommodation together with the girls having joining rooms so on the morning of the big day we all were able to help together get each other and importantly the bride ready.

The bride to be as she awoke!

Makala and I went flower shopping early in the morning and found these so we made these for the bride to carry!

Getting all the pretty's done!

The pretty dress!

The Cake made by Jai, and flew all the way from Launceston!

The groom waiting for his bride!

Grandma and Auntie waiting for the bride to arrive!

Coral doing a great job to make the groom a little less nervous!

Here come the bride

Some little fix ups before people see the dress!

How cute is she!

I think Dad is a little proud.

How cheeky is this look!!!! 

Signing to make it all official

The Happy Couple 

The Bishop who married them

Mak, Annouk and Mr and Mrs Rouse

The Crossin family gained a son!

Can always rely on Auntie Yvette to make you laugh!

I love this photo of kissing Grandma!

Sisters, just missed Zoe!

Just remember Adam that the Aunties are going to come for you if you make our Abby sad!

Sooo in love!

Don't mess with the father in law or his daughter!

Thanks Annouk for coming Abby loved having you there.

Mother and Daughter!

It was a lovely day, well apart from the weather Sydney out on a little Thunder and rain which did wreck the original plan for a wedding outdoors BUT I think it was still lovely where we had it in the end.

Thanks to Adam and Abby for letting us share your special day with you.

Wishing you all the best for your growing old together and being sealed in the temple this time next year!

Protein Balls

So I decided to make some protein balls the other day which were really good. I got the recipe from the Body Science web site but I did slightly change it. So here is the recipe I made pretty simialr just slight variation:

500 g dates

1 cup water

200g LSA (linseed – sunflower seed – almonds)

3 scoop Chocolate protein powder

150 g desiccated coconut

2 tablespoons cacoa powder

3 tablespoons tahini

Place the dates and water in a saucepan and place over medium heat until soft and water has been evaporated. Allow the dates to cool. Place all the ingredients into a food processor and mix together until the mix comes together. Roll the mixture into balls and place onto grease proof paper and place in fridge. May I also suggest to place some in the freezer as they taste really good on a hot day!

These are gluten free, low gi, protein and omega 3!

New Years Eve 2011

Well we had a quiet New Years Eve this year as it was just our family spending time together. IN the past we have had family stay the night and sat up and chatted and had the kids run around and have a ball but this year everyone had other things planned, which was nice for a change as it gave us a chance to go and check out New Year's on Royal held at Royal Park in Launceston. It was a really great night and was very family friendly as it had a fireworks display at 9.30 for the children to enjoy and then another display when the clock hit midnight. There was a variety of food vendors selling a variety of eats as well as wine and beer stalls. The best thing about it was that people could also take in a picnic if they wanted to as well. We took a lovely selection of salad and cold meats for some wraps.

The night was a great one as not only did they have musicians playing some groovy songs to dance to, they also had a area set up for the kids to play including a jumping castle, jumping slide, playgroup equipment and a bull ride along with the playground and gym equipment they already have down at the park. Amelia and William both begged to have a ride on the mechanical bull which was funny! William stayed on pretty well but Amelia was off as soon as it pretty much moved, plus she needed Ryan to help her get on which was not all that easy!

The only photo I got of Amelia is the falling off, seriously that's how quick the ride was for her!

After a bit of a play we got the kids a dagwood dog each which they LOVED! Ryan and I enjoyed a pancake one with blueberries and one with Raspberries and the kids enjoyed sharing a maple syrup one. After eating we moved positions to the front so the kids could get in and have a dance and it was really fun as the music was good and both William and Amelia loved it. At dead on 9.30 the fireworks went off and it was pretty good.

When the fireworks had finished we packed up and headed home as the kids were pretty tiered from the warm day as well as the late evening. All in all we had a great night and all were in bed before midnight, mind you the kids pretty much had their heads hot their pillows and were out to it and Ryan and I were in bed just before midnight and listened to the midnight fireworks going off. I just hope that they organise the same thing as it was heaps of fun next New Years!