Hoot Hoot!

After seeing photos of my nephew and my cousin's little girl both wearing an owl beanie, I decided Miss L must have one too!
I have been hooked on crocheting lately and figured that surely there must be a pattern for these super cute hats ... so I googled ... and found one!
It was relatively easy to follow and took me a day to make.  Lucy is sick with a cold so we had lots of couch time!  She wasn't a very eager model though :(
I am now making my second one, experimenting with the size.

Fruit, Honey and Oat Bar

This recipe is a favourite amongst us sisters!  It is actually a recipe I have kept from Home Ec class in Year Eight ... a looong time ago :)  I think it may have originally come from the Australian Woman's Weekly Cakes and Slices cookbook.

Ingredients

1 cup rolled oats

1 cup rice bubbles

4 crushed weet bix

1 cup coconut

1 cup dried fruit medley

-------------------------------

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup honey

125g butter

Method

Mix first five ingredients together in a large mixing bowl.

Put remaining ingredients in a saucepan.  Stir until melted and dissolved.

Bring to the boil, then simmer until sauce thickens.

Mix with dry ingredients.

Pour into a slice tin lined with baking paper.

Refrigerate.

Once set, cut into squares.

YUMMMMMMM

Fifty Shades ... Oh My!

I have recently finished reading the Fifty Shades trilogy by E. L. James.  I think the majority of the female population have read or are reading these saucy books!  I first heard about them when they were being reviewed by the Today show quite a while ago.
I ordered them over the internet but they were taking so long to come that I ended up buying them through i books ... which worked out quite well as I could read them inconspicuously on my phone :)

The Setting

The stories are set mainly in Seattle USA

The Characters

Anastasia Steele is a young, inexperienced uni graduate.
Christian Grey is a mega rich, extremely handsome CEO with a BDSM addiction.

The Story

Christian tries to convince Anna to become his 'submissive' and enter into a dark world of bondage, domination and sadism.  Anna, however, manages to show him another way and ends up stealing his heart.

My Thoughts

Being an avid reader and a bit of a book nerd, I have to say that the writing was not that good.  I found the story line to be pretty flaky (although it did get a little better by the third instalment).  The author used the same phrases repeatedly and all the naughty business got a bit too much at times.
Despite this, I did read them all and did like them ... something different!  I reckon I would give them a 7 out of 10!

Welcome Will!

I had one of the most AMAZING days of my life last Friday ... I got to help my sister Maree bring her little boy Will into the world!
I got the phone call at 3:30 in the morning.  After quickly getting dressed, my other sister Libby and I headed into the Mater.  Maree and Steve had just been moved into the birth suite and her contractions were getting pretty strong and regular.  We spent the next few hours sipping coffees and helping Maree as much as we could.  She was incredibly brave!  The gas wasn't really working for her and she didn't want an epidural.
At about 8:30 the midwife broke her waters and soon after the pushing began.  It was pretty hard to watch your sister in so much pain.  At one stage she almost pulled me off the chair during a contraction!  At 9:25, Libby, who is a midwife, delivered Will ... the most incredible thing I have ever seen!  He was perfect!  We all high fived each other on a job well done :)
Welcome to the world William!

Anne of Green Gables

I love reading ... I pretty much always have a book on the go and a pile on the bookshelf waiting their turn.  I can still remember the first novel I ever read.  It was Anne of Green Gables and was given to me by my Nanna who was always encouraging us to read.  I reckon I would have been 10 or 11.  After that, I then read all the rest of the books in the series.  As a teacher, I know how important it is to instil a love of books and reading into children.  I try and read a story to Lucy every night although that doesn't always happen!  Her favourite at the moment is The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

We were in a book shop the other day and I saw a copy of Anne of Green Gables.  It looked so pretty that I just had to buy it for Lucy ... although I think I may have to reread it myself first!  Hopefully when she is a bit older she will enjoy reading it as much as I did!

Mother's Day

Well Sunday was my first Mother's Day!  Lucy was up early and came in for morning cuddles and present opening.  While sipping my coffee I opened up my beautiful card (chosen by Miss L herself!), some cosy slippers, a Witchery jumper and a kindle!  How lucky am I!

We got ourselves organised and headed down the road to Mum's for breakfast with all the sisters and their families.  We gave Mum a Delicious magazine subscription as she loves cooking, and a Grandma Memory Book from Kikki K.

Mum gave all of us girls a lovely bar of Glasshouse Soap and OPI nail polish ... very sweet!

We all brought a plate of food for breakfast ... croissants, breakfast buns, muffins, and fresh fruit.

Later in the day we had a BBQ at our house with Luke's Mum and sister, my Mum and Lib.  Again lots of yummy food ... haloumi on the barbie and delish marinated chicken (according to mum the best chicken she has ever had in her life!) and apple crumble for dessert.  Lucy loved munching on the lamb cutlets.  The day before, Luke bought an outdoor fire pit from Bunnings.  We had that going ... I think it is going to get a lot of use this winter.  Nothing like sitting around a fire and having a few drinks!

My amazing Mum has her own blog and always writes such beautiful posts ... my four pretty girls

Five Year Engagement

I went and saw Five Year Engagement with my mum and sister last night.  It was hilarious!  I think I had a smile on my face the whole way through.  Heaps of funny one liners and Emily and Jason are both great.  It was quite a long movie and perhaps could have been shortened a little.  I would still sit through it again though :)  Hot tip ... Balmoral Movies are so much cheaper than Carindale!

Beach Babe

 Yesterday we took Lucy to the beach for the first time.  It was an absolutely magical day, weather wise and just perfect to be sitting in the sun.  We packed up the beach umbrella and headed down the coast to Miami ... a favourite beach of mine as we used to have a holiday house there.  We found a spot and set ourselves up.  Lucy absolutely loved it!  She thought the sand was fabulous.  It ended up EVERYWHERE of course ... she even tried eating a handful!  The water was too cold for swimming but she enjoyed splashing her feet at the edge.  It was such a lovely outing and we have promised ourselves that we will do it again soon.

Yoga

Many years ago, my sisters and I started doing yoga.  We went to a lady's house in Wynnum where she had set up a yoga studio under her house.  I loved it but for one reason or another, we stopped going.

When I found out I was pregnant with Lucy, I really wanted to start doing yoga classes again.  I found a pregnancy yoga teacher at Thornlands and went to evening sessions there for a few months.  It was, however, really expensive! And the lady was very much into alternate birthing techniques which didn't really sit well with me.

I decided to search itunes to see if I could possibly download some yoga classes and do them myself at home.  I stumbled across the audio books section and found Yoga2Hear Guided Audio Yoga Sessions.  They were cheap to download, came with a helpful booklet and they even had Pregnancy ones!  Yay!!!

Starting Solids with Lucy

The day Lucy turned four months old I wanted to try giving her some baby rice cereal.  I was so excited for her to be trying her first solids.  Lucy, however, wasn't so keen.  She didn't quite know what to do with this weird stuff in her mouth and it ended up being a messy job.  At the same time, we were having some breast feeding issues and unfortunately Lucy wasn't gaining the weight that she should.  So the solids were put on hold for a while.

I tried her again at five months and this time she was much more interested.  I found it really difficult to work out what foods to introduce when and found myself doing a lot of research.  There are so many different opinions out there and it took me ages to formulate a plan as to how we would progress.  Being the teacher that I am, I typed up a meal plan for Lucy, printed it out, stuck it on the fridge and highlighted what was eaten each day ... I am a highlighter addict!

Here is the meal plan ...

Maree's Baby Shower

On the weekend we hosted a baby shower for my sister.  Maree is due to have her baby boy in two weeks time ... super exciting!  We had the shower at Gen's house and we all chipped in with the food, decorations, favours, etc.  The food was super yummy ... we had cheese and asparagus croissants, devils on horseback, mini quiches, finger sandwiches, and chicken balls.  Sweets were served after the presents were opened and they included passionfruit slice, scones, pikelets, cupcakes, lemon cake, caramel slice, chocolate cake and merengues.
The party favours were blue sugar coated almonds in cute little jars.  Maree got lots of great presents.  I loved the Crobots crocheting book and the baby-safe jewellery from Jellystone Designs.  My aunty crocheted some baby cocoons that were really cute ... might have a go at making one myself!

 

Baby boy is due to arrive on Mother's Day and if all goes to plan I am hoping to be in the delivery room with Maree and her partner.  I can't wait to meet the next addition to our family!

Winter Weather is here ...

My Mum is coming over to babysit Lucy tonight while Luke and I head out to the footy.  Unfortunately she is unwell with a cold so I thought I would whip up some delish soup for her dinner ... plus this rainy, cool weather is perfect for soup eating!

Zucchini And Leek Soup

Ingredients

2 Leeks

2 Sticks Celery

750g Zucchini

1 Carrot

1 Large Potato

60g (3 tbs) Butter

3 ½ cups Water

4 Chicken Stock Cubes

Salt (one teaspoon), Pepper

2 tbs chopped parsley

1/3 cup Cream (if desired)

Crusty Bread to serve

Method

Trim leeks, wash thoroughly.

Slice celery, leeks, zucchini.  Peel and slice carrot and potato.

Heat butter in large saucepan and add vegetables.  Stir to coat.

Cover and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally (don’t let veggies brown).

Add water, crumbled stock cubes, salt and pepper.  Mix well.

Bring soup to boil, reduce heat, simmer covered for 15 minutes or until veggies are tender.

Stir in parsley.  Puree veggies and liquid in electric blender (1 cup at a time on medium speed).

Return soup to saucepan, add cream, reheat without boiling.

** Serve with crusty bread

Show and Tell

As the weather gets cooler, it is time to dig out the crochet hook and balls of yarn.  This seems to be a bit of a family addiction as Mum and 2 of my sisters are keen on crochet too, as well as my Aunties and cousins!  After digging out my stash of wool and unfinished projects from last year, I decided to make scarves ... one for me and one for Lucy.

Mum then introduced me to the fantastic blog Attic 24 ... I was hooked!  My first mission was to master the ripple blanket.  The pattern on the blog is easy to follow once you work out the different stitches.  I made a "Raspberry Ripple" pram blanket for Lucy, then I started on a "Tiggers Bounce" pram blanket for my nephew who is due in 2 weeks (more on that to come!).

   

  

ANZAC Day

ANZAC Day is almost here.  In the past we have tried to make it to a dawn service.  I have been to one at Morningside and one at Wynnum.  The most moving service was the one at Currumbin.  Thousands of people make the annual early morning trek to the Gold Coast to attend this event and I highly recommend it.  Although we had to park ages away and it was quite a bit of a walk, it was definitely well worth it.  That same year we also went to the RSL and played two-up ... so much fun!  It is great to see everybody getting into the spirit and remembering those who served and are serving for our country.

I have just pulled a second batch of yummy ANZAC biscuits out of the oven ... something I always make each year, usually with the kiddos at school. Luke and I have already made a dint in the first batch ... yummo!
Here is the recipe I use:
Ingredients
> 1 cup flour
> 1 cup rolled oats
> 1 cup coconut
> 1 cup sugar
> 155g melted butter
> 1 tsp bicarb soda
> 1 tbs golden syrup
> 2 tbs hot water

Method
> Combine first 4 ingredients and mix.
> Add butter.
> In a bowl, mix together last 3 ingredients.
> Add these to the oats mixture and stir to combine.
> Place small balls of the mixture on an oven tray covered with baking powder.  Evenly space them as they will spread.
> Cook in moderate oven for 10 to 15 minutes or until golden brown.
> Allow to cool and try not to eat them!

Have a great ANZAC Day ... Lest We Forget