Lemonade Scones

From www.recipes4us.co.uk

There's nothing like a scone with jam and cream, think devonshire tea. Very English and very delicious. We've made them twice in the last week and a bit. The lemonade scone must be the easiest scone in the world to make. Even I managed to not mess them up. The last lot I made I even had to leave the house to pick up Isabella from school before they had finished cooking. I had to leave the house, so what would you do? I turned the oven way down and left the scones in the oven for another 40 minutes. AND they still turned out okay. Yum!

I used 1 cup lemonade, 1 cup cream and 3 cups of self-raising flour. I mixed it with a knife until barely mixed together and then tipped it out onto a floured surface. The oven was preheated to 200C and I baked the scones for 20 minutes or so. I cut the scones into circles and put them close enough together so that they would be joined together when they cooked. I brushed them with milk. Super easy and super yummy.

I saw this Aussie site on food called ChocolateSuze.com and she mentioned the lovely lemonade scones. So I had to link to her! Plus she has great photos of the scones.
Here is that page.

Hair clips and a timetable

A new menu

I've been very busy settling everyone into school and blogging has been right at the bottom of my todo list. So I thought I'd try and get back into it.

Today I made a new menu board. The last one was just made out of the biggest photo frame I had lying around at home. This time I actually went and bought a frame. It cost $10. Pretty cheap and nice and big. I was finding it hard to fit our weekly menu into the space I had!!

Well I rummaged through my scrapbook supplies and found some letter stickers, flower stickers and paper. It took me about 10 minutes to put the board together and it's made it much easier to write on and see. The kids actually noticed it as soon as they got home from school today.

I've been plodding along with my menu planning and only missed a week when we got back from our holidays. I should try and write them down so I can reuse the meal plans that worked. I'd like to plan a whole terms worth of meals for when I'm back at work. That's 10 weeks worth. We'd probably do a 3 week rotation of easy meals that just work. It'll be one less thing to worry about! I need to find some more no-fail recipes now.

Work...

I don't even want to think about going back yet. I'm just enjoying being a mum who coffees, lunches and organists play dates. Lol it's not quite as easy as that, but that would be the ideal.

Valentine Date Night

Dave and I had our second date night with Josh looking after all the kids. Last Tuesday we went to a restaurant in our street and Hamish and Isabella behaved beautifully and they both slept while we were out. It was wonderful to spend some time together with no kids around! This last Tuesday we weren't quite as lucky. We had just started on our mains when there was a call from 'home' that put us both into high alert mode. Dave answered with, "What's wrong? Is Hamish okay?" (We told Josh if anything happened he should call us, even if it was minor. It didn't stop us from stressing when that phone rang.) Luckily all was well but Hamish had woken up and Josh was unsure of what to do. We told him to hold him and watch TV quietly with him on the couch and the lights down low. We told him that we'd be back shortly. The restaurant was about a 4 minute drive from our house. We then finished our dinner, had a quick dessert and hurried off home. It was a set menu and so we had to pay for dessert anyway so we decided to stay and eat it. We told Josh to call if Hamish started crying. Josh had said he was fine and just lying with Sammy on the couch. When we got back we gave Josh a little extra money for coping with a more stressful situation. I have to mention too that Josh made dinner for the girls and him both last week and this week. Last week was omelettes and this week he cooked cheeseburgers. I'm looking forward to our next date night. Maybe we'll be able to go and watch a movie. If we're brave.

Isabella's first day at school

Isabella has now been at school for just over a week and has made herself a little friend. I was hoping that she'd make herself a nice little girl friend. Am I sexist to want her to have a girlfriend? The little person that she's made friends with is a little boy by the name of Tom. Better known as 'Tommy Tom-Tom'. Isabella says that he doesn't have a bad attitude and that he says nice things about her drawings. So cute. I talked to Tom's mom and she said that Tom had told her that Isabella is an artist! How funny! I've managed to organise a playdate for them after school next week. Isabella is very excited and Tom said that it doesn't matter that Isabella is a girl. I think that was supposed to be a compliment. Aren't they so sweet at 5!


Isabella has been getting herself ready the night before school just like Sammy and Josh. She gets out her uniform and then we get her lunch and recess ready together. She has had a go at spreading butter on bread and is getting better and better. She sees her older siblings getting their lunches ready and so she wants to be just the same.


The only problem we've had is trying to find interesting things to eat at school. Today I made zucchini, sweet potato and cheese muffins which Isabella thought were very tasty and that will make a great addition to her lunch box. Breakfast cereal is another great snack, nutritous and tasty (Nutrigrain). We've also made weet-bix slice, crunchies and chocolate pikelets. All of these have been things that I ate as a child.

Looking gorgeous in her uniform.

My bumblebee and Hamish.

Isabella's first lunch at school.

Newcastle Holiday 2012

As you can see from the heading I'm finally going to post about our recent January holiday. We actually hadn't planned on going away during the school Christmas holidays because of the expense, work commitements, too many of us, etc etc and I'm really so glad that we did!

Newcastle is only an hour and a half from us and is almost too close to be a holiday destination. That didn't deter us though. We figured that if we were to go away somewhere warmer it would be at least a four hour drive, which you could easily multiply by four now that we have Hamish with us as well. So we decided that somewhere close would be much better. I don't really know Newcastle well and Dave would really like us to explore more of Australia, so we really killed two birds with one stone. Plus to top it off, we had a great time and came back well rested and recuperated.

Here is a few slide shows of our time.
Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

We took a 1000 piece puzzle with us and managed to complete it over the week. We left it at the holiday apartment for someone else to enjoy. It was a great quiet activity for the older people in the family.

It was a great holiday and of course I can't wait for our next adventure.

First day at high school

My baby girl started high school today and she was braver than me!! It is a new school for me too and so it was much harder than Kindy!! In Kindergarten Sammy went along to where Josh was, but now they're in different high schools and it's all new. I got a children's sore tummy today. I wonder what that says about me?

Back from our holiday and ready for school

We've been away for a week of rest and relaxation, no computers, minimal TV and electronics (the kids were allowed to use electronics for a short period of quiet time at night) and lots of craft, walks, meals out and time spent together. It was wonderful!

I'll put together photos very soon I promise, but I'm trying to get three children ready for school. Two of them are starting new schools and one of them is starting school for the first time. So lots of change!!

This year is going to be very busy with settling all the kids into new routines, keeping up with menu planning which has been on hold while on holiday, keeping up with my new running routine, reading (I'm up to my third book of the year), getting my craft day organised (I'm going to be holding a craft day at home with friends [old and new] on Thursdays) and generally trying to finish all those half finished projects.

Here's to 2012!!!

Date night and a cup of sadness

Yesterday I finally had my hair done after quite an extended break from my hairdresser. Diana had a break over Christmas and then Hamish was sick and because she's newly pregnant I had to cancel the appointment. I didn't want her getting sick in her first trimester.  I managed to make another appointment for this week. But it's felt like the longest break ever!!I also discovered that I'm incredibly grey. And that is an understatement! I was running out of 'hair' options to hide my crown of white. Now my hair has not decided to behave itself and go grey gracefully. No. It looks like someone tipped grey paint on the top of my head in a splotch and that it is slowly oozing down my head. Sort of like a growing fungii. Gross.

After Diana left I felt myself again. Yay for small pleasures.

I packed Isabella up for an overnight stay at Granny's house, packed the car (who hates doing this?) and raced over to catch up with my mum and sister for a cup of tea before leaving Isabella for the night. My mum tries to take the grand-kiddies one at a time for a sleepover over the holidays. They absolutely love this. Isabella's turn was last night. That meant that there was just Dave, Hamish and myself left and my 'just done' hair. What more are you going to do with 'just done' hair than go out. So we went out for a grown-up meal in a proper restaurant at 'Hurricane' in Top Ryde.

Overflowing 'cup of sadness' yummy goodness!

And the finished product. : )

We both had divine steaks and a glass of wine. Hamish behaved beautifully and smiled at all the wait staff as they walked by our table. Most of them stopped and cooed at him, which of course made him smile even more. My little baby tried steak for the first time and LOVED it. He had red juice running down both elbows, and a vice like grip on his piece of steak with both hands. Very cute. We ummed and ahhed about having dessert there, but there wasn't anything worth having. They hadn't changed their dessert menu since we were last there and because I can't have any gluten there was only ice-cream and chocolate sauce for me. I said to Dave that we could go home and have ice-cream and a cuppa rather than fork out extra money at the restaurant AND we could watch a movie. So we went home.

I put Hamish to bed.

The chocolate munchies started and after eating about 3 handfuls of chocolate chips while searching the cupboard for inspiration I decided to google 'chocolate cake in a mug'. Well I came across a recipe for something called 'A cup of sadness' and after reading the post I had to make the recipe. I substituted the flour for 'gluten free' flour, but left everything else as is. I cooked it for 1 and 1/2 minutes and tested it with a fork and then cooked it for another 30 seconds. I then piled it high with ice-cream plus more ice-cream on the side and put a little bit of frozen berries on mine. I don't know how this recipe could only be for one, because it made two small bowls of sadness and then I couldn't even finish mine. So rich! Dave and I decided that this was the best chocolate cake in a bowl ever. You've got to try it. Yummo!

Thank you ladies over at 'Some Kitchen Stories', you are amazing. Here is the recipe.

Ikea craft

Waiting to be ironed so that they will stick together.

Isabella creating three at once. None finished!

The last two days have seen the girls doing craft stuff I love it!! Here's Sammy's lovely creations. And here is Isabella's craft creations.

Sick again...

Hamish had an awful night last night with waking. I forgot how hard it was without any sleep. Well when I finally opened my eyes in the morning I noticed that Hamish had a little rash on his face and his arms. I lifted his shirt and there it was too. So I showered quickly, text my hairdresser Diana, who is 14 weeks pregnant to let her know that it wasn't a good idea for her to come over to do my hair and then rang the doctor to make an appointment. I could only get in at 12:45pm. The doctor thinks it is either Roseola or a reaction to the amoxicillin that he was given when we went to the doctors last week. I got a 2nd opinion and it looks to be Roseola. So no hairdresser appointment for me and the kids are missing out on seeing their dad. It should only last a couple of days. So hopefully we can drop them at their dad's house on Sunday.

Menu Plan Wednesday

I found this last week very easy as far as meals go. How nice to know exactly what we were having for dinner and what I needed to grab from the shop or get Dave to get on the way home. No more wondering what to eat for dinner or trying to answer the 'What's for dinner?' question while blankly staring into the open fridge hoping for inspiration.

So here is week 2:

Thursday: Shepard's pie and salad
Friday: Omellette and salad
Saturday: Going out for dinner. Yay!
Sunday: Breakfast for dinner. Bacon and eggs
Monday: Roast and vegies. I'm hoping that David will cook the roast. Fingers crossed. ; )
Tuesday: Left overs.
Wednesday: Satay chicken skewers, rice and salad

Fitness begins

I downloaded the couch to 5 K run app quite a few months ago and I've been procrastinating waiting for the perfect opportunity to begin it. Well I managed to talk Josh into doing it with me. So tonight we started. We walked and ran for 2.65km in 26 min. I'm guessing we will improve. Well I hope we will. No I know we will!! Positive thinking of course. I don't have any photos of us running or walking as I don't want to show off our incrediblysweatymuscly bodies.

Chocolate Monopoly set. Sorry about the grainy photo!

So here is a photo of us playing chocolate monopoly instead. Josh was nice enough to share it with us. You win the chocolate and then get to eat it as you go. Josh decided that it would be fairer to wait until the end of the game and then share the chocolate out fairly. What a sweet boy I have.

The Art of the Brick

Waiting for the ferry.

Today we went to the city to see 'The Art of the Brick' at the townhall exhibition centre. It was a Lego exhibition.

We were running a little late leaving the house to drive to the ferry wharf and luckily found parking right at the wharf. Great stuff. We ended up being right on time and only had to wait for a few minutes before the ferry arrived. Every Sunday you can get family tickets for $2.50 for each person to travel on public transport in Sydney as many times as you like. That means our travel only cost $12.50 (Hamish was free) return today. Yay for cheap travel. Because there are so many of us everything seems to always add up and become quite expensive.

Hamish in his hat.

Cheeky boy.

Two trays to feed us all.

Of course I had booked for us to go to the Lego at 1:00pm and the ferry left the wharf at 12pm which meant that we didn't have any lunch before we went. A quick visit to the Golden Arches (McDonalds) was called for on our walk from Circular Quay to Townhall. We all woofed down the food and made it to the Townhall not long after 1:00pm. Good timing again. We had to do a pit-stop at another Maccas on the way to visit the bathrooms because Isabella gives us about 2 minutes to find a toilet when she has to go.
Isabella, "I''m busting."
Me, "You mean you have to go right now."
Isabella, "I'm busting."
Me, "Can you wait?"
Isabella, "I have to go now Momma."
Me, "Do you think you're going to have an accident?"
Isabella nods.

Josh with Lego man.

Mum with Lego man.

Dave and I posing with Lego couple.

Sammy as Lego swimmer.

Bella as Lego man.

I then proceed to yell at Dave that I've got to take Isabella to the bathroom and can he meet me outside the Maccas (which is a block away). While I'm running and dragging Isabella along the road I'm also dealing with Josh and Sammy who also now need to go to the toilet. It was very funny.

We arrived relatively calmy to the Townhall exhibition and took a ton of photos with the kids and us posing with the Lego sculptures. A lot of fun and giggling was had by all. We then had a half hour wait to do the 'playing with Lego' part of our day. I brought textas and a book full of masks for the kids to colour in, Dave played on his Iphone and I fed Hamish.

Playing with the Lego.

Two of my boys.

The playing part of the day was a lot of fun. They had challenges for the kids to do. The first challenge was to build the tallest tower. Parents were allowed to help. I'm sorry to say we didn't even get a placing. My fault really. It's been some time since I played with Lego. They then had to build a car to race. Dave helped the kids, except for Isabella who wanted to do it all by herself. I love 5 year olds. So fiercely independent. Josh and Sammy's cars went okay and then Isabella had her turn along with a little boy who also had made his himself. They were the only two kids who hadn't listened to the instructions of building their cars at least 20cm long. A bit hard to tell children that don't even know what 1cm is to build something bigger. Both of their cars fell apart on the way down and there were quite a few tears from Isabella. After we told her that she'd done a great job for someone who'd never built a car before she was a lot better. It probably helped that we had a Japanese hip-hop come skipping group to watch just outside the Queen Victoria Building. They were amazing to watch. We also took the kids out for afternoon tea.

Afternoon tea of scones and iced chocolate.

On the way back to the ferry wharves over at Circular Quay we had to stop at the Apple store. Everyone had fun playing with the Iphones, the Ipads and the notebooks. It is a very cool looking store.

Next to the Christmas tree.

A very tired Hamish holding on to his toy.

Back home by 6:00pm exhausted but happy.