from the farm to the table

Last week we looked after the animals at a friends place while they were away. Isaac LOVED feeding the chooks and collecting the eggs. He talked to the cows and watched the mushrooms popping up all over the paddocks after the rain.

In return we got to keep all of the eggs for the week. With a fridge full of eggs I decided it was time to do some baking. I went and borrowed Mums Kenwood Chef. Its not one of the fancy new stainless steel versions, its a genuine vintage original. It would have to be over 40 years old and is full of character, the ceramic bowl has a few chips from a lifetime of love..and no doubt is lucky to have survived the amature kitchen exploits of my sisters and I over the years. Anyway its works brilliantly, and actually made the whole baking experience SO much less stressful than using the little handheld beater that I have. Isaac could turn it on and off, I could do things while it was mixing. Isaac could measure and pour in ingredients, and learnt a valuable (and funny) lesson in why you turn it on very slowly after you add the flour in!

So we made a huge batch of yummy choc chip cookies. Here is the recipe.

Isaac's Choc Chip Cookies

(c/o womens weekly cookbook)

125g butter

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 t vanilla

1 egg

1 3/4 cup SR flour

1/2 t salt

125g choc chips

1. Cream Butter, sugar and vanilla.

2. Add beaten egg gradually.

3. Mix in sifted flour and salt (gently!!!) 4. Mix in Choc Chips.

5. Roll into balls and place on tray.

6. Bake in a moderate oven for 10-12 minutes

7. Cool on wire racks

8. Enjoy !



My little Chef must have enjoyed the experience. Yesterday as soon as Playschool finished there was a tug at my leg and a little voice pleading...
"can we mix nuffins today Mummy?"
(No matter how many times I we tell Isaac they are called Muffins, he still calls them Nuffins - its just one of those cute little him things!)


Since we still had the mixer, and lots of eggs, we had another baking day. Banana, coconut and sultana 'nuffins' (YUMMY) and a batch of fruit pikelets to pop in the freezer for the boys to take for recess.

Playschool is nearly finished for today, I wonder if we will bake again? Maybe some condensed milk biscuit dough to freeze and bake another time ?

Jacintas Room | Sneak Peek

Slowly but surely, piece by piece, its all starting to come together. Only a few more things to finish off and I will finally be able to fill her room with all these little goodies and see the complete picture.

So here is a little snippet of what Ive been up to....

looking for an inspirational site to check out - my new favorite blog Spearmint Baby . I found Spearmint Baby via the extremely talented Rachel Richter when she was showcased as the feature photographer. It is now a daily source of inspiration and eye candy!

Week 2 | Blur

Motion blur - glowsticks

Today

Today was haircut day

I was first - and boy did I need it!

'artfully' photographed by Isaac!

Then it was Isaacs turn

and then my little princess had her very first haircut. Not really a lot, but more of a tidy up, and a lesson for Mummy on how to (try) and best tame that lovely cowlick of hers. Lou assures me that in about 6 months the weight of her hair should have it falling beautifully around (as apposed to, all over, atm) her face, and that in the meantime she will just have to get used to having an elastic or clip in there...which should be placed on the opposite side to where I always put it! Before...

After...

Before...

After...

Week 1 | Rainbow

Im taking part in a weekly photography challenge on EB.

One photo a week with a set theme.

Im going to post them here too so I have a record of them.

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14 months

To my sweet little Jazz,
This month has whizzed by in a bit of a blur. It has been filled with lots of family time. Easter celebrations and two weeks of school holidays have kept us pretty busy. You seem to take it all in your stride through. You still dont sleep when we are out in the pram or the car, but you are usually happy so I dont really mind. If Im desperate for you to have a sleep, I pop you in the ergo carrier and can usually manage to get you to have a nap while I carry you around.

You loved Easter. You took to the sweet taste of chocoalte like a duck to water! We spent Easter Saturday with Mummys side of the family, and had lunch on Easter Sunday with Daddys side.

Now that you are crawling everywhere, your brothers are having lots of fun with you. What better way to steal their hearts than crawling all over them, and flashing them that gorgeous cheeky grin. They are captivated by your giggly little laugh as well. You got to spend some time with Caleb & Nathan over the holidays. Your face lights up when you are all together having fun. At 14 months old there isnt a lot of things you can play together, so when the boys decided to pull all their pillows, cushions and blankets into the playroom, for a game, you were right there in the middle of it, loving every moment. Its moments like that that really make Mummys heart want to burst with love for you all (especially since they are far out weighed by the day to day altications between your brothers!)

Having you all home gave me the chance to get an updated photo of the four of you. Ive been pretty slack with the camera this month. Im getting frustrated with not being able to achieve the crisp clear images Id like to. I think its time to upgrade to a nice new lense. Its is getting much more dificult to get photos now you are on the move though! Im in the middle of creating a photobook of your first year. Its a belated 1st birthday gift for you. As I wade through all the photos of you Im reminded of how much you have grown, and how grateful I am to have so many pictures of you, so many moments captured by photographs that might otherwise be forgotten.

Isaac is such a wonderful brother to you. He loves that you can crawl around after him. He is pretty tolerant of you taking his toys, and getting right into the middle of what he is doing. He loves nothing more than to show you all the joyous delights of being a child. And he is over the moon when you achieve something new or do something that makes him laugh. You will really miss him when he heads off to Kindy next year.

You are really starting to show a little personality now. You have a stubborn streak, but as yet havnt really tried to push the boundaries. A simple aahhh, is enough to stop you doing or touching something you shouldnt. When ever I need to 'growl' to stop you doing something you immediately put your hands over your ears. The same way you do when you hear a loud noise or are about to cry. The other day I saw you go to touch the TV. You pulled yourslef up on the TV cabinet, gingerly reached your hand out towards the screen, then quickly pulled it back and sat down, your hands over your ears. You are learning the ways of the world!

At 14 months...

...You have finally hit the 9kg mark, you weigh 9.06kg. You are only a shorty though, so you still have the delightful look of a chubby little baby.

...You love to visit the playground and swing high on the swings

...You are crawling everywhere and pulling up on everything

...You have managed a couple of assisited steps behind your walker/pram. When I hold your hands for you to practice walking you lift your knees up so high on each step , you remind of a new born foal.

...You always wake up with the most unruley, but divinely cute, bed hair

...You love to look at all the birdies and butterflys that are around your bedroom as Mummy continues to redecorate it.

...You have a growing collection of cloth nappies as I build up a big enough stash to see us through washing and drying over winter. We have gone back to some fitteds and knitted longies as well.

...You have a breastfeed morning and night, and have a sippy cup of cows milk after your lunch

...You have not tried juice yet. You are more than happy with water from your strawcup.

...You make a funny little squelchy noise when you are hungry or thirsty and grunt in reply to questions.

...when its nearly bedtime and I ask if your 'peepee' (tired) you climb up to me and start waving goodnight to everyone.

...You lay your head on my shoulder when I ask for cuddles, and offer me your cheek when I ask for kisses

...You still get upset when you are left with other people.

...You go down to sleep at about 6pm ish, and usually sleep though the night until about 7am ish

...You have a morning sleep at about 9.30am for a couple of hours, and another sleep about 2pm

...You eat pretty much anything...and everything!

...You are still travelling rear facing in your carseat, and are generally happy and content while we are driving.

...You are not saying many words, but you are talking a lot. You are even starting to get quite loud at times!

...You have your tea at 5pm, and like to have someones attention from then until bedtime. You would ideally like to be cuddled and played with for that while time. Now if only I had a chef, maid, tutor, chauffer, cleaner, etc etc Id love to do that for you!

...You LOVE the bath. You 'wash' your hair and tip water over yourslef, and love splashing in there with Isaac. As soon as your undressed, you flip yourself over and head for the bathroom as fast as those little legs will let you crawl.

...You have just started trying to escape whenever Im changing your nappy, and evertime Im trying to dress and undress you.

...You usually have your hair pulled to one side in a little piggytail. The fringe is getting too long to leave down, and is still to short to stay off your face. You just pull headbands straight off now, and most days you pull out he hair elastics too! Its nearly time for your first haircut...good luck to Louise trying to do something with the large cowlick you have!

You really are at such a delightful age my baby girl. I know in the blink of an eye you will be walking and talking, so as always Im trying to treasure every precious moment with you.

Love You Sweetie

Mummy xxx

Easter Saturday

We spent today at my Mum & Dads place. Brunch stretched into the afternoon and ended up turning into chicken, chips and salad for tea! Jazz was only four weeks old last easter, so this was her first easter hunt. Grandpa helped her find her eggs in the garden, and she was into them! This girl definately has a sweet tooth!

Isaac loved finding his eggs

excuse the blurry photo, its the only one I got of him hunting

- note to self....always have camera set on auto when attempting to

capture children hunting for easter eggs.

The amature photographer trying to capture such events using

manual settings will end up with LOTS of out of focus photos!!!!)

a quick snap of me and my girl (and the kettle LOL)Not much to share of the older kids. They are too quick at finding their eggs, and very unco-operative in front of the camera atm! Here is the best shot of the kids and I we could manage!

Autumn

The balmy summer evenings have given way to the crispness of Autumn nights. The mornings are no longer filled with the whispers of the impending days heat, instead the chill of the air is a reminder of the approaching winter cold.Im always awed by the intense beauty of nature at this time of year. Despite the drought, the stunning colours of autumn abound.

Soon the fire will be alight, and the smell of the slow cooker and pots of homemade soup will fill the house. Beanies, coats and warm socks will replace T Shirts and thongs. As much as I dont like being either hot or cold (Im definaltely a spring and autumn girl) there are so many things I love about each of the seasons.

With winter appraoching I couldnt resist this cute beanie for Jazz. Looking at these photos I took at the park today, I think it will fit her for the next five years, but who can resist a baby in an oversized beanie LOL. Here are a couple of my favourites.

Cheeky girl - this was her 'Im gonna pull it off again Mummy' look!

A trip to the Dentist

Isaac had his first trip to the dentist last week.

I was a little nervous about his first trip to the dentist. Three is proving to be quite a challenging age. Melt downs and tantrums are a common occurance but on the flip side so are gorgeous huge cuddles coupled with "I Love you sooooooo much Mummy" that are enough to melt your heart back into submission - at least until the next cranky pants episode anyway LOL

I decided to take him at the same time as Nathan. Nathan is a great calming influence most of the time. Caleb and Jacinta stayed with Grandma - Caleb and Isaac together is often like throwing kero onto a fire, and having Jacinta there would have left me with no spare hands, and a good excuse for him to play up and get attention.

I needn't have worried. He sat quielty and still on my lap- well still for him anyway - while Nathan had his check. When it was his time, he pulled the Im shy and cant talk or climb up on the chair card. I intervened straight away and popped him up on the chair. He then got to 'drive' the chair, and he and the dentist counted teeth, and fingers and toes, and chatted away like they were long lost friends.

He was thrilled to get a toothbrush and a sticker at the end. Alls well that ends well LOL

A pleasant first expereince with the dentist, a sticker, a toothbrush, and a very healthy set of teeth all doing exactly what they should be!

13 months (and one week!)

To my darling girl,
By far the most exciting thing that has happened this month is that you are finally crawling. Two days before you turned 13 months it all clicked and you were off. I had taken Caleb to the plaza for the day and it was Daddy that got to see it happen for the first time. He was very excited to be able to share the special moment with you. Now the fun begins.

You cut your ninth tooth at 12 1/2 months. The top left molar, once again the amber teething jewellery seemed to provide enough pain relief for most of the time. Although you were a bit unsettled on the night it fianlly cut, and I used a little bit of teething gel on your gum to settle you.

A couple of days after your birthday I decided to take you to the doctor. You were a bit flat, grizzly and not yourself. At first I put it down to the busy weekend with your party etc. then tiredness and/or teething, but my mothers instinct told me it was more, so off we went. You had tonsilitis. After one dose of antibiotics you broke out in a horrible rash, we ended up just treating it with panadol and lots of TLC for a few days. You managed to fight it off eventually. Once you were well again, you had your 12 month immunisations, which thankfully you breezed through with no side effects at all.

Im am loving seeing the relationship between you and Isaac blossom. You spend all day together, and he is relishing in you being able to join in and play with him a lot more now. He is wonderful with you. So gentle and patient - something that we dont often see from him! He is always telling me that "cinta is my best frind" and "Mummy I love cinta". It melts my heart. You really do complete our family Jazz, its hard to imagine what life would have been like if we hadnt been blessed with a fourth child.

You have all these cute little things you do...

You always put both hands over your ears when you hear a loud noise, or your about to cry

You wave goodbye

You love to clap

You dance and jiggle everytime you hear music

You love watching the TV

You crane your neck around things to look for people or things that have moved out of sight

You burst into heart wrenching tears when I arrived to pick you up from Grandmas the other day (you had only been there an hour or so, and were fine the whole time)

You love to sit and pull the toys out of your tub. One by one. Until it is empty.

You stop for a bit of a play if something catches your attention, but the game is the unpacking and spreading out all the toys.

You love listening out for the birdies in the garden, and trying to spot them if you hear them.

You get so excited when the boys get home from school, and then when Daddy gets home from work.

You very rarely will go to sleep in the pram. (If we are out all day I can usually get you off in the ergo carrier, after lots of jiggling and patting)

You love peek-a-boo, round and round the garden, and this little piggy.

Your favourite song is twinkle twinkle little star and you try and do the actions.

You love being carried around by your big brothers.

You have Daddy wrapped around your little finger.

You are will clamp your mouth shut and push the spoon away when you have had enough to eat.

You will scream if the bowl is empty and you havnt had enough to eat.

You love your food, and want something to eat if anyone else has something.

You now have a sipper cup of cold cows milk after your lunch, and only breastfeed morning and night.

You go down to sleep at between 6pm and 7pm and wake anywhere from 6.30am - 8.30am. If its early you often have a feed and go back to sleep for another couple of hours before breakfast.

You are generally an easy going (as long as you can see Mum or Dad) and happy little girl

We had your built in robes put into your room this month. They are wonderful. Its prompted a little redecorating of your nursery. Im making you a new quilt (Im just waitng for some cute birdie fabric to arrive from the US to back it with) and Ive put the wall stickers on your robe that Grandma & Grandpa gave you for your birthday.

You love looking for the birdies in the tree! The blue curtains have gone and been replaced by some double roller blinds.

You weigh ***add weight here*** and are ***add height here*** cm tall. You have changed shape, and your large itti nappies are no longer fitting very well. Ive bought a few other brands to try. This pic is you in one of my favourites atm Its a gorgeous brown and pink floral print bettlebums. Very cute, and a great fit. Ive also got a couple of bubblebubs minkys and CK honeyboys - also both a great fit on you. You have been wearing your babylegs a lot in this weather. They are great for cool mornings, or after your bath, and are helping to protect your little knees a bit while you are crawling around.

My letter is a little late this month as Ive had an aweful cold/flu for the past week. You had a runny nose for a few days but seem to have fought it off. You are still breast feeding , so I guess you would have been recieving lots of antibodies from me. All the boys have had it to some degree as well...only Daddy has managed to escape being infected so far. Yesterday I had both boys home from school, We made a big pot of chicken soup and had a relax and recouperate day. Hopefully we are all on the mend this week.

My little sweetie, I look at you and cant believe how lucky we are to have you as part of your lives. Im trying to hang on tight to those few things that still make you my little baby. Slowly but surely they are disapearing one by one. You will soon be walking, and I guess offically then no longer a baby but a toddler. As eagerly as I await the next stage of your journey, and am trying to cherish every single moment of every day with you my darling.

Love you always

Mummy xxx

Handbag Day

Today I had a handbag day!

Its not often these days that I get to dust off the handbag and take it instead of a nappy bag or Thomas/Bob backpack or a reusable shopping bag stuffed to overflowing with all manner of things to keep a baby and a toddler fed, clean, nappied, watered, with changes of clothes and everything else for just in case!

Today I packed just my purse, my phone, my lip gloss and my list and headed to the plaza. I was desperate for some kid free time, but i decided to take Caleb with me as he needed some new runners. Seriously when did he grow up so much? He is now in men’s sized shoes, and you know what that means - for the privilege of having an extra 1 cm or so of fabric more than the junior equivalent shoe, there is a totally disproportionate increase in the cost !!!! Thanks goodness they didn’t all need new ones! Anyway we finally found a pair that were 'right' (mmmmm he and I definitely don’t have the same tastes in clothes or shoes - Im feeling old!!!!) and that I would (somewhat begrudgingly) fork out the ridiculous amount for. everyone was happy. We actually had a really pleasant day together. We did 'coffee', checked out the shops, gradually ticked things off the list, had a sushi snack at a new sushi bar thats opened up down there, had a go on the massage chairs (man, that was the best 2 bucks Ive ever spent...I will be doing that again!),and then had a really late lunch on the way home.

While we were away the little ones and Nath had a Daddy day. I think its the first time Ive left Jacinta for more than a couple of hours, and guess what she did.....................she crawled for her Daddy. Thats right, finally, a couple of days shy of turning 13 months, she worked it out. Boy is she pleased with herself. Daddy was a bit chuffed that he was the first to see it too :)
Here she is showing her new skill off for me once I got home (hope this works, Ive never put a video here before)



Im so proud of my little princess, but the pride is also a bit tinged with sadness...yet another part of her babyhood has slipped away.