Alex and Marty.

This morning Husband Deluxe took the tots to see Alex and Marty at a special Brand Depot Breakfast. The kids by the looks of it had a ball. I was busy at the gym and couldn't join them unfortunately.

They managed to catch up with friends who were also there: Maria, Arnold and the kids. I guess we'll be visiting again sooner rather than later as the kids each received a free entry to the new Lollipops Play Centre.

String Bean: "I had fun at Brand Depot with Rainbow Bear. The best part was the photos with Alex and Marty."

Box Construction!

String Bean came home with this wonderful creation today. I assumed incorrectly that it was a Robot. No it is actually a model of herself.

So very cool. She must have spent a substantial amount of time on this project. I love how beautifully colour coordinated the whole thing is.

I also love the pipe cleaner smile. Always happy, that's my girl.

World Thinking Day

String Bean (the model) and Fuzzy Wuzzy (cracking himself up) visited Egypt and were dressed up as Mummies!

Sunday was World Thinking Day and Guides held a day long activity at the lush and very beautiful grounds of Government House at Yarralumla. Each Guiding region set up an activity to do with an international Country. The kids visited: Egypt, India, Japan, Africa, Papua New Guinea and a few others that I can't remember.

Each country was well set up with activities (mostly craft or a game) and the kids had an absolute ball. It helped that there were so many Murrungundie girls there for Stringy to hang out with and good family friends to share lunch with as well (thanks Bel & Alex).

Fuzzy and the gorgeous grounds, view of Government House in the background.

A Good Poker Night!

On a semi regular basis we have our friends over for a night of heavy drinking (scotch, schnapps & beer), jokes & Texas Hold 'Em Poker.

We had the best night. So many laughs! The best being when Tim inadvertently burnt Macca. Husband Deluxe owed him big time and spent the remainder of the evening in hysterics!


Macca, Tim & Alex.



Husband Deluxe & his Glenlivet.

One for Kelli. Mr B looking his best!

Good poker, good conversation. I ended up winning a few rounds once Macca (master Poker teacher) got my head around the fact that it is indeed gambling: so bet goddammit!!!

Of course no one but me was sober enough to actually use the camera properly! So no photos of yours truly, probably a good thing :-)

Macca & Husband Deluxe: hysterical!

Bath Time Fun.

Lucky for us all three kids still fit in the bath together. Having a string bean in the house certainly has its advantages!

It is so nice to see them smiling after a long week at school. Especially Fuzzy. He's not taken to school that well. Although I think visiting the school library today and borrowing a book about Penguins has certainly helped to perk him up.





I adore this photo of the boys together. Fuzzy is so tender with his younger brother. Gently pulling his hair back, so that I can show his latest bruise. Quite spectacular, nearly knocked himself out in the process of acquiring it.

Happy Valentine's

Time for a soppy blog post?

Nah not my scene. But I am thinking about tonight. We'll be having a few stolen hours kid free. Thanks Mum. Heading out to dinner somewhere. A chance to reconnect and chat. Full time work seems to be stealing what little time we have together.

Heading for 14 years together and our 10th wedding anniversary later in 2009. Still happy to be together. Love you babe!

So this is me.....

....this year. My new classroom. Two weeks in and I'm thoroughly enjoying myself.

Stimulating, humorous staff: a laugh a minute.

Delightful children: making me happy to be there everyday.

A wonderful, enthusiastic team teaching partner: same wavelength.

A school in my local community: lots of familiar faces.

What more can I say? So grateful for life handing me such a wonderful opportunity.

Sequined Fish mobile: FISH Philosophy revision.

We're on our way...

At long last the goal is in sight. The milestone I am desperate to reach: 3 fully toilet trained tots.

Squealy finally did a #2 on the potty.

Much joy and jubilation ensued. He looked like the cat who'd eaten the canary as we all cheered, clapped and laughed.

Although to my thinking he is very young to toilet train.....only 2 years 4 months. Stringy and Fuzzy trained at 3. Maybe the youngest is more advanced? He does have good teachers and doesn't want to ever miss out on anything! Bring it on: I'm over nappies.

Big Splash

Today it got to some ridiculously high temperature in Canberra and we were so pleased to have a play date with friends already organised. We decided to meet up at Big Splash for the afternoon.

We all had a fabulous time and the water was so blissfully cool. Just what we needed on such a hot day. The kids loved playing on slides in the baby pool. They also spent quite a bit of time sliding on the Splash Island slides. They are still way too little for the big slides!

We were actually surprised by the entry cost ($6 per adult and $5 for the kids over 4). Cheaper than some of the local pools and heaps more to do! I think we'll be visiting more often.

Telly Quilt

String Bean's telly quilt.

I decided to make the kids some small lap quilts to use on cold winter mornings when they get up early to watch TV. Well String Bean's has ended up becoming nearly a single bed sized quilt! Not a lap quilt at all really.

Her quilt ended up being so big because the focal point was a series of 7 batik squares of gorgeous butterflies. To match in with her room decor of course.

I used a variety of stunning Japanese fabrics. All using the same tonal palette and incorporating a black back ground. The only exceptions were the strips used to boarder the main blocks. I chose a batik though.

Back of the quilt: strip quilting.

This quilt is fully reversible with a 'strip quilting' back. I had it machine quilted by the very talented Fran from Willow Patch Quilting. So finished at long last, argh I hate doing the binding & it always takes far longer than it should. Now off to start Fuzzy's telly quilt.

Tortilla with a Twist!

I decided to make a Tortilla the other night but wanted to use up all the leftovers in the fridge. This is so delicious I've decided to share the recipe so I don't forget it.

Tortilla With A Twist

Ingredients:

*left over roast chicken, potatoes and sweet potato, roughly chopped
*onion and bacon, diced
*mushrooms & zucchini, finely diced
* 6 eggs beaten with some milk and a good handful of parmesan cheese

1. Brown the onion and bacon
2. Add mushrooms and zucchini and cook till slightly softened
3. gently stir through the leftover chicken and veg
4. smooth down and pour the egg evenly over the veg mix
5. pop into a mod over for about 20-30mins.

We had ours served with garlic bread and salad.

100% success rate. Based on the fact that the kids ate it all without any complaints! Woohoo!!! Plus I used up a whole heap of bitsy bits out of the fridge.

ETA: it's a twist on the original as the ingredients are totally different! The traditional recipe passed on by my Abuela, the real deal Spanish recipe is just: fried onion and potato in olive oil with lots of salt. Once it's all soft, scoop out the potato. Add back into the pan with the beaten eggs and fry one side & then turning the whole omelet with a large dinner plate. So a hugely different recipe, but one that is diet and salt intake sensitive.

First Day of School 2009

First Day of School 2009: Radford College.

Well it's that time of year and as another school year begins it's a great time of joy in our household. Signalling my return to work and the start of many new adventures for the children. I'm sure that 2009 is going to be a year of growth and learning for all of us.

String Bean is in the lovely Mrs Malcomn's Kinder class and Fuzzy is in Ms Boardman's Pre-Kinder class. So far so good. They are both happy campers :-)

I've also started my appointment at a new school and having a ball. So far, so good.