One of those Days...

Do you ever have one of those days (or weeks) where it just seems that nothing is going well? 

Perhaps you're constantly running late, the kids are misbehaving and it is really getting to you (you think there are underlying issues but you can't quite put your finger on it, & if anyone else told you what they thought, you'd probably dismiss it anyway just because of your mood), someone's sick, stupidly you say to your 8 month old baby "Stop it!" in a stern voice because he won't take his dummy in preparation for a nap when he is clearly tired & you immediately feel guilty about it, you're tired from staying up too late & getting up several times through the night, there's something else there too but you just aren't sure what it is.

This is my day today!

Not good. 

I feel like I need to blurt it all out to a friend but at the same time I feel like all I have been doing is whingeing and whineing to my friends in dribs and drabs and feel I haven't had anything nice to say.  Well, the negative seems to be outweighing the positive anyway.

It's kind of one of those days where a good cry might help but I need a trigger.

So, in an attempt to try & lift my own mood (& perhaps yours too if you need it) here is a short list of things I am grateful for:

• I have a hard working husband who provides all of the needs, and some of the wants, for our family
• Generally speaking, my children are fit and healthy
• My knowledge & understanding of the bible and all that entails is growing
• The time that people are willing to spend with me to learn, grow with and understand our Lord and saviour
• My decision to set up a small table in the loungeroom and move my sewing machine, felt and templates out here so that I can do some creating and still be able to keep an eye on the kids (and also grateful that Mr C didn't chuck a big wobbly & insist I get rid of it. Lol)
• Without going into details I am also grateful for Paul Grimmond (author), Pam, Bec, Danny and the Monday night guys (this is just today, other people feature on my list at times too).  They are all AWESOME people in my life and the lives of my family :D

Hmmm, funny how when you focus on what you are grateful for the other stuff doesn't seem so important.  Don't even feel like that cry anymore. (Think I'll start a daily written list of what I'm grateful for.  Have you ever done that?)

Have a great afternoon!!!

Bye for now, K

Hello Again...

I know it's been a while since I've spent time here on my blog and you know, I have missed it, but I've also been relieved not to "have" to create posts.

We all had a GREAT holiday together.  I am ever so grateful that Mr C & I had so much time to reconnect.  I think that was the best part of the whole trip.  He, off course, is straight back to his old mood with work but he is more willing to share with me now & I am more accepting of those challenges he faces too.

Having had time away it has given me a slightly different view of things.  I know before we left that I was talking about slowing down & simplifying our lives in our tiny house.  Well, having had time away together has made that seem all the more important.  Before I left I drafted a few posts along those lines so I guess I'll finish them off & share them with you.

Having been home for a week and a bit we are pretty much back into routine & it just seems too much.  Too much happening through the week to get to, not enough time spent at home working on little projects and more importantly on orders, and even more importantly than that, just spending time with my family in a relaxed atmosphere.  I think I have a short term solution to the sewing projects.  I just haven't done anything about it yet.  Hmmm, must get to it.

Well, I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday period as much as I did! 

Can't believe we are alredy half way through this year.

Bye for now, K

Vegetable & Tortellini Soup

I made this yummy little soup a couple of weeks ago. It was DE-LISH!!!  I got it out of the June 2012 issue of Recipes +.

INGREDIENTS
1 tbspn vegetable or olive oil
1 brown onion, chopped
1 celery stick, chopped
1 red capsicum, chopped (but I only used a half)
400g can diced tomatoes with basil & garlic
2 large vegetable stock cubes
1zucchini, quartered lengthwise, sliced
250g dried cheese tortellini (found in the dry pasta aisle)
400g can cannellini beans, rinsed
1/2 cup shredded basil leaves
(And to please the non vege eaters in our house I also included 250g diced bacon but this soup really didn't need it!)

METHOD
1. Heat oil in a saucepan over hightheat. Add onion, celery & capsicum (I also added the bacon in this step); cook and stir for 3 minutes or until soft.  Add tomatoes, crumbled stock cubes and 3 cups water.  Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low; cover.  Simmer for 30 minutes or unti lvegetables are tender.  add zucchini; simmer, covered, for 5 minutes more or until tender.
2.  Meanwhile, cook tortellini in a saucepan of voiling salted water for 8 minutes or until tneder. drain.
3.  Add beans to soup; cook and stir until heated.  Stir in tortellini and half the basil.  Season.  Serve topped with remaining basil. I served it up with some yummy bread.

Here are the pics I took on Mr C's iPhone (because I couldn't find my camera. he he heh, opps).

Mr Magoo had a small sip and declared "Wow, this tastes HEAPS better than I thought it would!"  Yeah thanks Mr almost 9...  
H liked the tortellini ad bacon best and ate them first.  Silly duffer should have saved them for last but he hasdn't figured that out yet. Lol.

I will DEFINATELY make this again!

Bye for now, K

3 Minute Chocolate cake

This week for the Friday Food Find I have cheated ever so slightly.  I have made this cake a few times.  Even Mr Magoo has made this cake.  He made it when his grandparents were coming to visit.  Well, a few weekends ago Mr C was pretty bored so he & Miss Pants spent some time together and made a cake.  Now, except for the bit where Mr C used a slightly too small cake tin (ring tin) & it over flowed all over my oven, and stank the house out for DAYS, it turned out REALLY well.

INGREDIENTS
90g margarine or soft butter
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
2 tbspn cocoa
1/2 cup milk
1 cup self raising flour

METHOD
Preheat oven to 180 deg C.
Beat the margarine and cocoa to a paste.
Add eggs, then flour,sugar & milk all together.
Beat for 3 minutes.
Spoon into a greased ring tin or 7" x 11" pan.
Bake for 25-30 minutes.
ice when cool as desired.

Mr C iced it upside down & cut off the bits that hung over the sides of the tin, then ate them.  He served it up with a dollop of lite cream.  THANKS DEAR!!  'Twas Yummo. 

Bye for now, K

Mum's Advising Mums

I've been thinking about this post for a while.  It never seemed quite finished but now I think perhaps I'm not supposed to finish it.  Perhaps YOU are...

Remember in May I went to the Christian Women's Conference.  Well after that I was thinking that it'd be pretty cool if there was something like that for Mum's.  Just Mum's, not "women" generally.  Not that big though because it would be near impossible to get through what you wanted to get through.  Much like a typical day as a Mum I guess, but when you are taking time out from your normal day to learn about how you can better connect with your kids or get some useful advice about dealing with particular ages & stages you want it to be time well spent.

Then a few weeks ago I read this post.  I quite like the blog 71 Toes.  I've been quite busy dealing with sick kids, and trying to catch up with things in between, but  I thoroughly enjoyed this post.  Especially the first lot of dot points in the post.

They called it a Motherhood Retreat. 

I think it sounds like a fabulous idea.  They ALL stayed at someones house.  I can't imagine anyone having a house big enough to accommodate all those women, however, it wouldn't be that difficult to rent a furnished house for a long weekend and find a bunch of cheap hotel rooms nearby to fit everyone in.

Each of the women seemed to take a turn to present 'something' of interest to everyone regarding motherhood.  I think the fact that each of them prepared information to share is really great.  It says to me that they really are interested in being better mothers.  They are seeking out information to help themselves and other Mum's to grow in their roles.  After reading the post I'd really like to take a look at the book Your Child's Self Esteem.

Don't you think it would be AWESOME to participate in something like this.  You contribute but also learn!!  I think I would LOVE it!!

Bye for now, K

Autumn is Gone...

Winter is here ALREADY. *Sigh*

We didn't really have much of a Summer here :( Yet Autumn came along quickly & now it is Winter ALREADY. *Sigh*

Spring and Autumn are my favourite seasons. My Nanna used to love visiting us here in Autumn. Here are a few pics I took with my very-old-very-in-need-of-replacement mobile phone.

Love these reds

Lovely Yellows & Reds

I got these pic's using Mr C's fancy pants camera and wanted to share them earlier but I've been slack & my laptop doesn't share the same software as Mr C's camera (so I couldn't get the photos for a while because the PC had a temporary holiday).

See the little sucker leaves, even they are changing colour.

Love this view in the afternoons.  These trees look like they're on fire some days.  They look better when it's cloudy.

Beautiful colours

We enjoyed some walks this Autumn.  We collected some leaves, and enjoyed stomping through the crunchy crackly leaves too!!

The first lot we collected dried out, cracked & came unglued from the pages they'd been stuck to, so I laminated the pages.  We collected more leaves & I laminated them before we used them for anything.  It seems to have helped them keep their colours too.   The great thing about laminating them is that we can use them again.

Here's a picture of our family, created by H.  That's me holding Little H on the right.

There are a few Winter related crafts I have in mind. Have to wait & see whether we get to them.

Now, just to share how lucky our family is I thought I'd point out that as you read this, we are on our way to sunny Cairns!!  Yep Far North Queensland awaits!  (Not so sure we'll want to come back.) 

Bye for now, K

Ham & Cheese Scrolls

This weeks Friday Food Find comes from Nicole (aka The Planning Queen) at Planning with Kids.  I've made vegemite & cheese scrolls & twists before but I'd never done this variety so technically they're new to me & qualify for my FFF.

I didn't actually go & use Nicole's blog so I'll just let you know what I used.

INGREDIENTS
3 sheets of puff pastry
approx 200g shaved ham, roughly chopped
a few handfuls of grated cheese

METHOD
Preheat oven to 200 deg C
Line a bikkie tray with baking paper
Sprinkle ham & grated cheese over the sheets of puff pastry making sure you leave a couple of centimetres at one edge bare.

Roll the pastry towards the bare edge forming a log.  This edge will help seal the scroll.

Cut the log into pieces 2-3 cm wide.
Place on baking tray & pop in the oven for about 15 minutes.

I wasn't sure whether they'd cook better on their side or flat.  I think they cook better flat but look nicer truned upside down after being cooked on their side.  What are your thoughts?

Bye for now, K