Stress Free Lunch Box Planning

Last week I dropped three of my four children off to start of the new school year. To say that I have to be better organised this year than I was last year is an understatement. Each one of them has sports, library, music and swimming on different days so keeping on top of their timetables is essential for a stress free morning. Now knowing who's doing what each day has helped but organising their lunches everyday is time consuming and somewhat difficult at times. My younger sister told me about a great Lunch Box Planner that she had being using and she'd found it saved her time and stress in the morning getting ready.

While she explained the concept to me I realised that she was using a 'menu plan' which is a concept the two of us have been using for years. As of yet I haven't had the time to organise myself but starting Monday I plan on having a very similar set up so that our mornings are less stressful, better organised and this should then allow me to eat my breakfast at the table instead of on the way to the car.

The first thing she did was purchase a PDF file from The Organised Housewife and she then got it printed. To save time on printing it out each week my sister put it inside a picture frame and this allows her to write on the glass using a fine non permanent white board marker, once the week is over she wipes it off with a tissue and then starts again. It's that easy and the best part is that when she bakes she know how many muffins, biscuits etc she needs to make and it saves her time as these items can be frozen to allow them to be fresh when the kids eat them.

Pictures provided to me for use in this post

Now according to my sister, her children are going to have Mini Hot Dogs and a peach for lunch tomorrow at school. The best thing about her plan is that she can make her own bread rolls the day before so that they're fresh for the children. The planner allows my sister to cater to her children's eating requirements (also great for children with allergies). If she gets sick, her husband can see what the kids are having for the day and the planner also allows her to have everything on hand when she needs it.

Pictures provided to me for use in this post

The PDF file also provides other templates that you can choose from. There's one that has the fruit up before the morning tea picture and this plan would help me plan out the fruit that the kids would take to school each day. That PDF file would come in handy for me as two of my children have fruit snacks at the beginning of the day and I know that taking an apple everyday becomes boring after a while.

So this weekend I plan on sitting down and planning out what we're all eating for the week and what the children will be taking to school. I'll also know what biscuits I need to make and I can have these frozen ahead of time. The other great thing about doing this all together is if I'm doing sandwiches I'll be able to prepare them over the weekend, freeze them and pull them out on the morning they're needed.

Now I'm off to get new lunch box idea's from Pinterest, no one is going to want to have sandwiches 5 days a week like we've been doing. So do you plan what your kids are eating for the week or do you just wing it? I know that this is going to save me money when it comes to planning my grocery list for the week and it'll allow me to get into the kitchen some more instead of buying packet biscuits.

Megan

Pet Rocks

A few weeks ago I was on Facebook when someone posted a picture of a family of Pet Rocks and I thought that it would be fun to have the kids make their own. I was lucky enough to already have all the supplies so it was as simple as sitting down and watching what the kids created. As you will know Quinlan is only two so he needed a lot of help but he did enjoy putting the glitter on his rock and he helped pass the googly eyes to me so that I could glue them on.

 

I'm sure that you all know what's needed to make a pet rock however, the kids used the following items to create their pet rock's:

• good size rocks (not too big and not too small)
• PVA glue
• glitter
• googly eyes
• felt pens



As you can see you really don't need much in order to create these cute little pet's. However, there is one additional item I would use and that's hair spray or spray adhesive just so the glitter is protected. Once the PVA glue has dried (I'd leave it a few days) use the hair spray or spray adhesive and spray the entire rock lightly (I'd also leave the rocks to dry again so that they aren't tacky to touch). It was good to see the kids doing this mini craft project and it was a good way to fill in thirty minutes on a Saturday afternoon.

 

 

The children were going to name their rocks but they decided not too because they started fighting over who had the better name. I've come up this a neat idea of how we can preserve their pet rocks for years to come. This will also allow me to display them without been worried about the googly eyes or glitter been ruined by little people touching them, moving them and playing with them.

 

I'll share with you the project I create with the children's pet rocks in the coming weeks. Our calendar is really busy for the next few weeks what with Christmas approaching and school coming to an end for the year so I hope it doesn't take me too long to organise. So have you or your kids ever made pet rocks? We might just have to make a few more of these for our garden as it needs a little bit of happiness out there.

 

I have a heap of pictures to share with you in the coming day's and a post about what I got up to last weekend. First though I might catch up on some sleep first.

 

 Megan

Teaching children to pack for a trip.

If you've been visiting for a while you'd know that I have four children, my eldest been an eight year old. At school this year part of the curriculum involves all year three students participating in an over night camp in order to prepare him for future camps in the coming years. Last week during school drop off I saw the year five students all standing around waiting for there bus to arrive. We attend a small school so there's about forty children going away on camp. However, if you'd driven pass you would have thought that each child was going away for an entire week.

 

Now I know what you're thinking 'how hard can it be to pack for an overnight trip'. For the majority of the children in my son's class it also appeared that many of them were going away for a week. As this is my son's first camp we worked with him to help him understand what he needed to pack while also getting his input about were to place his things in the suitcase.

 

1. Choose a suitcase, bag or backpack. We started by choosing the correct case to take, we all decided that an overnight case would work perfectly for him.

 

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2. Collect all the items needed.  Find an clean area that will allow you to collect all the items you need. Once you have all the clothing, shoes, toiletries, towels and bedding start ticking them off your list.

 

3. Add small items into pockets. If your case has pockets make sure you take advantage of them, put your socks, swimmers, underpants and or toiletries in these pockets. This will free up the space inside the case allowing you to add more important things.

 

4. Roll, roll and roll some more. This is important especially if you have a few different things to pack. Once you have all your t-shirts together its important to roll them up and then placing them together inside the case. Continue working through all the clothing and place each group inside the case.

 

5. Place larger items inside the case. This is a good time to place your shoes and toiletries inside the case. If you're shoes are a bit dirty place them inside a plastic shopping bag and this will protect your clothes.

 

6. Use your zippers. If you have a zip on your case that allows you to expand the depth of the case take advantage of this option. I was able to fold my sons pillow in half, place it on top of the clothes and then close it just by using the expanding zipper.

 

 

The picture above is the bag that my son took on camp with him and he held everything he needs except his sleeping bag. He has an extra set of clothes which he decided he would need in case he got wet or dirty. As we didn't have a raincoat we left that out of the bag, Caelan wasn't happy about this but as the shops had closed there was nothing we could do about it.

 

I am please to say that we didn't have any issues packing the bag, Caelan was really good at picking the clothing he would need and the entire process took us about twenty minutes. If you have any good packing tips I'd love to hear them. I'll leave you with a picture of my happy little camper just moments before he walked out to the bus.

 

 

Megan

Time flies when you're having FUN

 

Today I've been reminded of the old saying 'Time flies when you're having fun' and I have to say although we weren't always having fun the time has flown by. Last Friday was Quinlan's second birthday and I have to say I don't really know were the times gone. I know we've moved three times, built a house, dealt with a couple of trips to the hospital and we've taken a trip away for the weekend but it seems to have flown by.  I must admit that we've packed a heap into the last twenty four months, however I just didn't seem to really notice that my baby was growing up and before I knew it he's two years old.

Quinlan has bought a heap of laughter, joy and happiness into our family and I thank God every day for having him in our lives. My favourite moments with Quinlan are when I make him giggle just by simply placing my hand up under his t-shirt and putting a finger near his armpit. The sound of him giggling fills the house and the smile on his face is priceless. Of all the children Quinlan has a very close and special bond with his daddy. He's more of a daddy's boy and to see the excitement when Mr Opoes walks through the door after work is enough to melt any ones heart. In saying all that I don't have a heap of photo's of Quinlan on his own or of Quinlan and his daddy together. So in the coming months I'm going to try and take more individual pictures of the children instead of group pictures.

I thought today I'd share a few of my favourite pictures with you to celebrate my baby turning two because before I know it he'll be standing in front of me getting ready for his first day of school. I sometimes wish that if I had a super power I'd slow time down as the years seem to be flying by and before you know it another year has gone by.

 

We had a fun weekend celebrating Quinlan's birthday and I would have to say that the highlight had to be watching all four of the children Ten Pin Bowling. Unfortunately, I didn't get the greatest photo's because I forgot to turn the flash on. I really need to enrol in a photography course and then I'd be brilliant.

 

Megan

Banana and Strawberry Muffins

Over the last few months I've realised that I haven't baked any special treats for the kid's lunches, so yesterday I jumped into the kitchen to make some yummy muffins for the kid's lunch boxes. I like my time in the kitchen as it's relaxing and I get to escape what's going on in the house. However, as I made the muffins before the kid's morning nap I had three eager and willing helpers standing on their chairs watching me like hawks. I allowed them to help get some of the ingredients out of the pantry, throw the egg shells and carton in the rubbish bin and lastly I let them do the hardest job lick the beaters and spoon. They licked them so clean that it didn't even look like I'd used them to do any cooking.

Banana and Strawberry Muffins

Ingredients

150g softened butter

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

¾ cup castor sugar

2 banana's peeled
100g strawberries, cut into quarters
2 eggs
1½ cups plain flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
¾ cup milk

Method
1. Preheat oven to 180°C and prepare muffin tin with patty liners.

2. Cream butter, vanilla and sugar until light and fluffy.

3. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

4. Add banana's and strawberries, mix well.

5. Sift flour and baking powder together. Fold into creamed mixture.

6. Add sufficient milk to give a soft dropping consistency (you want to be able to spoon the mixture into your pan easily).

7. Spoon enough mixture into your liners so that they are three quarters filled.

8. Bake for 20-25 minutes making sure that they are cooked in the centre. Leave in tray for 10 minutes before placing them on a wire rack.

9. When cool decorate with icing.

I iced a few of these for Mr Opoes but I left the muffins plain for the children because when packing them into lunch boxes the plastic wrap tends to remove the icing making it messy to eat. I prefer mine plain with a little butter however I don't get many opportunities to eat them because the other hungry monkey's eat them before I get a chance. The kids love these so much I might get into the kitchen over the weekend and do more baking.

Megan

Handmade Birthday Cards

Yesterday was the last day of the school holiday's and I'm happy to say that I haven't heard I'm bored once during the two weeks that they've been off school and kindy. Last week the kids and I took a trip to Bribie Island for a few hours of fun, playing in the sun, relaxation, shopping and eating fish and chips. Having visited the area previously I wanted to call into the local craft store as they have a huge range of paper and accessories that makes it idea to find craft supplies that are ideal for the kid's to use and the price is good. After talking it over with the children they decided they wanted to make some birthday cards.

 

As soon as they'd gone to bed I got onto Pinterest and I started pinning cards that I thought would be easy to do with the kids. The following day I asked each of the kids to choose two designs they liked, I then set about collecting all the materials needed and I went about taping all the pieces so that the kids could just stick them down. This method worked well with the girls due to their ages, they're five and three BUT I think that I could have just given Caelan pieces of information and he could have worked on it himself. He worked well and he got both his cards done relatively quick due to the simplicity of the cards he chose.

 

So with the younger two down for their daytime sleep I set to work getting the older two working on their cards.  It was fairly simple giving each of them directions and it also helped having the laptop set up so that they could see were they wanted to place their papers.


Unfortunately, Caelan and I fell that the cards he's made a more suitable for younger boys and won't really be good to give out next year to his mates. This won't be too much of an issue as it just means that we can work on making more masculine cards over the Christmas holidays. Caelan's already put in a request to make a few Christmas cards for his friends, teacher and family members so I'm looking forward to working on that project with him in the coming weeks.

Viveca and I worked really well together on her card as she was good at following my directions and this made it quiet simple to put her card together. I got Viveca to choose the paper she wanted to use for the star and circle because her card was really colourful and having her pick the colours turned into an educational opportunity. Although she isn't good at saying her colours she did a really good job with the ones she picked and this is her card. The other thing she did well at was pressing down on the stamp, hers was clear and I was impressed especially as I didn't think I'd inked the stamp too well.

So after putting a bit of effort into the cards over the course of two days the children have created six birthday cards. When I added the cost of all the supplies minus some of the embellishments because I already had them each card ended up costing $0.96. I can't buy a handmade card anywhere for that price and I still have six cards left to decorate which will reduce the overall price again. So for about seven hours work I am happy with the cards the kids have made.

 

Best of all the kids will have a card to take to the next birthday party they get invited to and there won't be another card like theirs which is always a winner. I will definitely be doing this again with the kids next school holidays, maybe next time they can design their own cards and I'll just help with the taping side of things.

 

Here are the finished cards that the kids made.

Viveca's Cards

Mackenna's Cards



Caelan's Cards

So tell me do you make your own cards or do you buy a card from the shop when you're purchasing the present. Mummy is hoping that the kids all make me a birthday card next year because I'd love to have one of these given to me on my special day.

 

Megan

6 Steps for a Successful Trip to the Movies with Young Children.

In my little part of the universe it's school holidays, this means that I have two weeks to fill with fun, food, activity and excitement. In order to achieve these goals I need to have planned something FUN to do for every day. And as you would have guessed I haven't planned anything FUN or EXCITING for the children as the holidays sort of snuck up on me.

So it was great when my mother (Oomie) asked to take Caelan for a week because at the moment he really wants some one on one time and with three other siblings it's extremely difficult to give him that time. So while he's away I know he'll be going to the movies with his uncle which means he'll talk non-stop about the movies when he gets home and this will upset his sisters. So with this in mind I took the girls to see The Smurfs 2. My girls are 5 and 3½ years old and this means that I have to work within certain limits otherwise a trip to the cinema can go horribly wrong. So here are my 6 steps to a successful trip to the movies.

Source

1. Purchase your tickets on-line.
Until yesterday I'd never purchased a movie ticket on-line so I was somewhat surprised when I had 10 minutes to complete my transaction. My local cinema had charges that went along with this service but because our telephone company has a special deal with the cinema we were able to get our tickets cheaper and there was no booking fee attached. I saved a total of $17 which is a great saving. The other great thing about buying on-line you get to jump the cue at the cinema to pick up your tickets.

2. Arrive about 15 minutes before the movie starts.
During this time pick up the tickets at the box office, take your children to the toilet, find your seats in the movie theatre and talk to them about the behaviour you expect of them during the movie. Also when you talk to the children during this time I'd whisper as it allows you to help them realise how loud they might be talking prior to the movie starting. I was able to pick my own seats when purchasing my tickets so I had the opportunity to pick seats up the back and no one would be climbing over us to get into their seats.

3. Take advantage of the booster seats provided.
Our local cinema offers booster seats that have cup holders and food holders built in so that the children don't have to pass thing back and forward all the time. It also helps if you've picked an easy to access seat otherwise you might hit people with the booster seats you're carrying.

4. If possible sit between younger children.
This method works beautifully if you have two children with you. If you have more than two children I would suggest sitting between the younger children as this allows you to monitor their behaviour and to address problems before they get to big. Also have your handbag available in case you need to find something while the movie is playing.

5. Bring your own small snack with you.
Come prepared. If you have children who like to eat while they're watching a movie and you know that the cinema's candy bar is really expensive then bring your own food.  As our cinema is within a shopping centre, the cinema has an expectation that people will bring their own food and drinks into the theatre. However, a number of parents purchase from the candy bar and if each child get a drink and popcorn you can easily spend an additional $30 plus on refreshments. I took a packet of biscuits, a popper each and a small selection of lollies to share between the two girls. I'm happy to reports that I came home with everything I'd bought with me as the cinema was hosting an event.
NOTE: the cinema was celebrating the release of Diana and they were giving away pink lemonade, biscuits and cupcakes for each patron and my girls got a small drink, mini cupcake and biscuit each.

6. When picking a session time work within your children routine.
I would have to say that this is the most important point to remember when picking a movie. I chose a 6.20pm session last night and that's the start of Viveca's tired time. As I needed my husband home to babysit Quinlan I choose a late session thinking that as she'd had a big sleep during the day I'd get away with it. However, I was wrong and about 40 minutes into it she wanted to lie down and have a sleep. So if you work within their routine you should have a successful visit to the cinemas.

If you follow these six steps you should have a successful movie experience. However, I think that one of the most important things to remember is to select a movie that you know your children want to watch.  Also 'if you're unsure whether or not a visit to the cinema will work with our children' then you can always have a movie experience at home. I hope that these six steps can help you when you get to go to the cinema with your children. If you have any other tips I'd love to hear what has worked for you.

Megan

12 Days of Christmas

There are 18 sleeps until Christmas Day and like so many, my children are super excited that they will be receiving lots of presents. It's easy to see why we have forgotten the true meaning of Christmas, we spend hours shopping for gifts, preparing for celebrations leading up to the B I G day, planning the meal and ripping into the presents under the tree at lightning speed.

This year I want my children to see Christmas as a time of sharing and traditions - sharing gifts of course, but also sharing stories, laughter, good times as we prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus and with Quinlan been older I want a tradition that will be special to us. The simple things like decorating the tree and helping prepare for visiting family and friends are wonderful opportunities to remind ourselves and our children how important it is to bond with others. But Christmas shouldn't be the only time when we pause to celebrate Jesus and everything that he's done for us. I want the children to see past the presents, food and Christmas lights, I want them to understand the meaning behind the story, to realise the importance of the occasion while also taking the time to think about other people who are less fortunate than us.

So during the next 12 day's I'm going to create a few activities that help me and the kids share time together. We will make a few decorations together, create some Christmas inspired food and look at a few kid friendly religious activities. This year I'm going to have the children help me with my annual charitable event and maybe as the kids get older they will want to make this their 'family tradition'.
 

 

Caelan and Mackenna have noticed in the last few weeks that many of the Christmas pictures, cards and movies always have snow and Christmas trees that are covered in white stuff. Living in sunny Queensland there is no hope of experiencing a white Christmas so I set about trying to explain to them why some people have snow while other people have a hot Christmas.

I took Caelan out to Lincraft and we purchased a few items so that we could create a snow covered tree. Caelan lost interest in this little project really quickly so I ended up making most of the tree myself BUT I did get to explain the difference between our Christmas and a white Christmas. This project was easy and quick to complete. While in Lincraft,  I found some decorative elastic ribbon which I thought would be perfect for my little tree.

Because I used a polystyrene cone I wasn't able to use my hot glue gun so I just cut lengths of the elastic and I went about pinning it to the cone. I placed a purple glass bead on a sewing pin and then I inserted it through the elastic and into the cone, I placed a glass pin at the front and one at the back. As I worked my way around the cone I'd add a sewing pin in places that I thought needed it.

The elastic did slip but it's easily fixed so I just left it as it was. I folded some purple ribbon so that it looked like a star and I pinned it in place on top of the tree. I was really happy with the way it turned out and at night with the lights on it gives off a pearl shimmer effect.

The kids may have lost the message of what I was trying to create with them but there was a lesson behind our tree. My mother loved my tree so much that I gave it to her to use on her Christmas shelf and I then had the opportunity to talk to the children about how we shared the tree with Oomie (my mum's name for herself instead of Grandma). See you on Monday when I'll be trying out a kid's activity, fingers crossed that I can hold their interest. Enjoy your weekend.
 

Megan

Making Christmas ornaments with the kid's.

Back in September while walking through one of the big department stores at our local shopping centre I noticed that they had already put up the Christmas Tree's and all the ornaments, tinsel and wrapping paper was out on display. I couldn't believe that they had most of there Christmas stuff out already, Mackenna and Viveca looked at the tree's and they both agreed that the PURPLE tree was the prettiest. It was then that I got the idea of decorating our Christmas tree in a purple and silver theme.

I purchased a few ornaments and put them away. Then a few weeks ago Mackenna asked if she could do something crafty for our Christmas tree. I remembered that when Mackenna was a baby I'd visited a little shop on Brisbane's northside that makes has bisque figures and in October they introduce there Christmas. So I made a booking at Tea and bisque-it for Mackenna's special mummy and daddy time, I then changed our booking as I decided to make it a children's crafting session. We asked the kid's second cousin, Paige to join us and my children had a heap of fun. I'm so glad Paige joined us because when my girls had finished Paige and Caelan got to continue decorating and painting their pieces.
 

I painted this little bauble unfortunately the colours
 weren't what I wanted BUT it's still pretty.

Although Viveca enjoyed the activity I thought Viveca was a little too young as she her attention span was only good for about thirty to forty minutes. She did finish her little star ornament and we  had fun working on it together. Daddy came to take her and Mackenna for a walk while Caelan, Paige and I finished off the Christmas ornaments that we were painting.

 

                                                    

                                                              These are the star's that Mackenna and Viveca created they did a great job.

 

I thought I'd show you a few pictures of Paige painting her pieces before they were fired. Once you have finished painting your piece, Jenny allows it to dry for 24 hours before she applies the glaze. Each piece is then taken to her home and she fires them in her kiln. A week after painting your project its ready to be collected and taken home. The kid's were so excited that on Tuesday they all wanted to know how many more day's until their ornaments came home.

 

 

                                                                                             Paige's pieces before been fired in the kiln. 

 

This is what the Angle and Ginger bread man look like after they have been glazed and fired in the kiln.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

The kids all enjoyed the activity and I had the fun of also getting some craft time in without having to do it quickly or late at night after the kid's had gone to bed. So this Christmas we are going to have our hand crafted ornaments hanging on the Christmas tree.



Caelan's Star before he finished it off.

 

Caelan created his own colour and I think it
turned out really well.



Our pieces ready to go off to be glazed and fired.

 

Making these ornaments was really good activity to do with all the kids (aged 2, 4, 7 and 9 years old), they all had fun creating their unique Christmas Tree Ornament. I'm thinking that if we are able to look after them over the years it would be good to give the ornament back to each child when they get married so that they can share them with their family. I think this would be a great idea especially if your children move overseas, it could become a family heirloom.

 

Caelan's little drummer boy turned out really well, he
spent a heap of time working on this.



We were able to create these 5 Christmas Tree Ornaments and an extra piece that I might be giving as a gift on Christmas Day. The total cost for this 2 hour activity for my three children and I was $58 which I thought was really good value for money. I will be coming back during the school holiday's especially it worked out to be $9.66 per child for the 2 hours that we were there. Overall, this was a great activity for the children and for our Christmas Tree.

 

 

Megan

Special Fairy Cakes



Pretty Dancing Fairies

 

A Fairy Dance.

Dance along to the fairy beat,

wave your wand and tap your feet.

Dance along as the fairies sing,

twirl around in a ring.

Dance along as the fairies play,

point your toes then fly away.

 

This little song is one of Mackenna's favourites and you will often see her dancing around the house with her fairy friends which Mr Opoes and myself can't see. Caelan is also on the outer now because he's becoming to old and fairies don't like boys according to Mackenna. This whole fairy thing started when Mackenna bought herself a fairy kit just over twelve months ago. She talks all the time about her fairy friends and when they will be arriving in our garden which we have to design, price and construct first before they can even think of move in.

 

So as I'd previously promised the girls I'd make Fairy Cakes with Mackenna and Viveca. Both girls were really excited and they rushed about going to the toilet, washing their hands and trying to find something safe to stand on so that they could reach the mixing bowl. They took it in turns to put all the ingredients into the mixing bowl and I was the safety officer.
 

The girl's looking very happy with their efforts.

 

Fairy Cakes
 

Ingredients:

125g butter

1/2 cup caster sugar

2 eggs

1/3 cup sultanas

1/2 cup self-raising flour

icing sugar to decorate

12 paper cases

 

Directions:

1. Ask an adult to turn the oven onto 180°C.

2. Mix the butter and caster sugar together using an electric beater.

3. Add the eggs, one at a time and beat well.

4. Stir in the sultanas and then mix in the flour.

5. If the mixture is too thick add a splash of milk to make it runnier.

6. Place the 12 paper cases inside the muffin tin. Spoon equal amounts of cake mixture into each one.

7. Ask an adult to put your fairy cakes into the oven and let the bake for 15-20 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to cool on a wire rack.

8. To decorate, sprinkle the top of the cakes with icing sugar.

 

The hardest part for the girls was waiting for them to cool down. I decided to have the cakes for dessert as we were having a meatless meal and usually the kids tend to complain that they haven't eaten enough. Everyone loved their fairy cake, Mr Opoes gets to take one to work and Quinlan also loved his cake. I was able to save four of the fairy cakes so the kids have something for their morning tea tomorrow.



The finished Fairy Cakes ready to be eaten by my Hungry Hippo's

These fairy cakes aren't bad for only 5 ingredients. If you want to change them up a little bit you could try to add other dried fruit instead of using the sultanas. I'm thinking that next time the girls want to make them I'll try using dried cranberries and see how the kids like them.

 

Megan

School Holiday Activities

 

Image found here

 

It's the second day of school holiday's here in sunny Queensland and already the children are having major issues. According to Caelan who is seven 'they're bored, so bored that it's hurting them', and they want to do something. This reaction shouldn't be surprising. I remember when I was in primary school I HATED school holiday's especially those 6 long and B O R I N G weeks at Christmas. My family never went away during the holiday's and I remember listening to my friends talk about all the fun things that they did during their holiday's. For my sister and I going to the shops to compete our Christmas shopping was the highlight of our time off school.

 

So at about 10am yesterday morning I grab the computer and spent the next few hours looking for things to do in and around the area so that the children would get to experience some fun these holiday's. I came up with a list of 12 things to do as I knew somethings might not be possible due to people having to change their plans. I thought my list was quiet good, it involved spending time at home, going out to do things as a family and also including activities that Caelan can do on his own without having to involve the girls.

 

1. Lunch with Daddy (pack a lunch just like daddy's

and go eat it somewhere together).

2. The girls and I cook Fairy Cupcakes together.

3. Caelan and I make biscuits together.

4. Jewellery making at home.

5. Do a DIY activity at Master's on a Saturday morning.

6. Organise a play date at the park with Cristopher.

7. Take Caelan to the Lego place at South Brisbane.

8. Balloon Art Chermside Library.

9. Puppet Show @ Aspley Hypermarket during the first week of holidays.

10. Lego competition @ Aspley Hypermarket from 1st October.

11. Muffin decorating on 2nd October @ Westfield.

12. Cooking Class @ Westfield North Lakes at 11am.

 

At the moment Caelan is really interested in helping out in the kitchen, we have allowed him to butter his own toast in the mornings. He is slowly learning to dip slide the butter knife over the butter and then to spread it across him muffin. With this in mind, I decided that we'd go and do the 11am cooking class at Westfield North Lakes especially as it's only 5 minutes away. I kept Quinlan awake with the plan of putting him and Viveca down for a sleep once we returned.

We arrived early so that all three kids could get into the activity. The class wasn't set up in front of Coles like it said on the Internet so I went off to the concierge to find out it's location. Well after speaking to a not to friendly member of staff I was informed that they never had any cooking lessons planned. I could take the children off to the Madagascar 3 activity or I could let the kids do a sand art activity. The line for this activity was really, really long and I'd overheard a women was in line complaining about how long she'd been waiting. I didn't think my three would wait 40 minutes without complaining and I knew that Quinlan was beyond tired so we headed home.

So I'm now down to eleven planned activities. We have had a talk and decided that tomorrow will be the start of our school holiday activities. I might take them to the park near the lake tomorrow for lunch and this will hopefully wear them out a bit and then they'll be quiet. Oh if only, you're still allowed to dream aren't you. I won't be doing too many posts during the next two weeks because of the school holiday's and it's difficult to do things when you have four children who all want you at the same time. So fingers crossed I have something to show you soon.

Megan

 



Crafting with my girls

Over the weekend I was going through a couple of boxes when I located a few of last year's Christmas presents. I started packing up some for our stuff from the rental two days after Christmas so it was easy to choose the gifts that would travel easily, especially as we were leaving our rental in early March. So while I was going through one of the boxes I found a few small presents the girls had been given and I thought that it would be good to swap these over for some of their old and tired toys.

 

In one of the boxes I found a beading kit that Uncle Nathan and Aunty Renee had given Mackenna so I hid it away so that the girls and I could work on it during the week while Mackenna was at home and not at Kindy. So that is how I managed to do my first ever craft project with both my girls today. Just after lunch I sat down with both the girls and I showed them what I had for them to do.

 

I was greeted with smiles, happiness and loud voices. There were ten little bags of various wooden beads and three lengths of pink elastics, so I promised the girls a necklace each and a bracelet. As the girls are only eighteen months apart they have to do everything the same, this means they eat at the same time, they each the same food, they have the same coloured plastic plates and they generally want what the other has even when we only have one of them. Mackenna will regularly tell strangers that they are 'twins' and people generally believe them.

 

So I spilt the beads up evenly so each girl had the same number and coloured beads. I asked each of them to choose a few larger beads and we made these beads the feature of the necklace and bracelet. I had to help both of the girls thread the beads on as the activity was aimed at older children. The other thing I had to do was to stick a large needle into each hole so that the girls could thread the elastic through the beads to create their necklaces and bracelets.

 

I held the bead while the girl's threaded them.

Viveca's pushing the elastic into the bead.

Mackenna having a turn.

 

I didn't fill the elastic with a whole heap of beads because I wanted to save some of the beads for the bracelet. I threaded the remaining beads onto the elastic, I then measured what size each bracelet needed to be and I knotted them so that they wouldn't fall off their arm. The girls are very happy with their handy work and now they are running around showing off their special jewellery.

This is what the finished pieces look like and I'm glad we did this together because it meant that each of them got some one on one time with mummy and they even got to make their own special necklace and bracelet.

Mackenna's Necklace.

 

Mackenna's Butterfly Bracelet.

 

Viveca's Strawberry Necklace.



 

Viveca's Lady Beetle Bracelet

 

Viveca likes her pieces so much that she wore them to bed and Mackenna has put hers in a plastic bag so that they don't break. Maybe mummy might be able to make herself something pretty one day.

 

Megan

I'm in LOVE....

Quinlan is going to be 11 months old on Tuesday and I'm coming to the realisation that my little boy isn't a baby anymore. Sure, he'll always be the baby of the family but he's not a BABY. So two weeks ago when he started saying DAD DA the kids and I got all excited. When Mr Opoes heard those special words, he looked at me as if it was the first time Quinlan had ever done it. You see I've always hidden the fact that said child has just said their first word, taken their first step or lost their first tooth so that when he comes home for work he'll be surprised and it'll melt his heart.

 

The other three children have all said DAD DA for weeks if not months before MUM MA has pasted their lips. So imagine my surprise when we were sitting down at the table on Tuesday night and Quinlan calls out MUM MA while I'm feeding him his vegetables.

 

I smiled, looked at him and then something magical happened. Caelan, Mackenna and Viveca all clapped and called out words of encouragement. Quinlan's face lit up and he laughed along with them. I was so excited the I told Mr Opoes that night.

 

My friend Fiona took this picture last week.

I know I didn't wait for him to get home, considering he is interstate until tonight it's a big secret to keep. But Quinlan had another surprise up he sleeve. This morning at breakfast he said another word, so within three days he went from only having one word to now having three words.

 

So tonight when Daddy gets home I hope my sweet little BOY can share with his Daddy all the new words he can say. I'm hoping that Mr Opoes isn't to tired because he might just miss that Quinlan can now say DAD DA, MUM MA and BUB BUB.

 

 

Megan

Booster Cushion Seat Cover

So Caelan sits on a booster cushion seat which we have owned for a few years now. Now the plastic seat has a cushion cover which provides minimal padding to the child's bottom but it has worked well for a few years without any complaints for Caelan, his bottom or the cushion.

 

Last week he informed me that his cover wasn't working anymore I was a little worried. Now when I get told important information its always shared while I'm driving the car so it makes it impossible to solve the problem immediately. So the other night I went to the car to have a look the booster cushion to see how bad the cushion was. It was bad, the velcro wasn't working, the padding wasn't there anymore and the cushion was looking really sad. As I was already going off to the fabric store on Saturday morning I decided to take Caelan with me so that he could choose some fabric to make a  new cushion.

 

So boys being boys he went straight for a selection of quilting fabrics that were covered in various superhero designs. I had hoped that he would choose a simple cotton fabric that was fairly plain and boring, especially as his mother really has no idea how she is going to go about making one. My next step will be to search the Internet to see if I can find a tutorial. If this doesn't pan out then I'm going to have to create my own pattern and figure it out as I go.



The seat he is using at the moment is a Infa-secure
booster cushion that we purchased from Big W.



We are in Super Hero Heaven with this piece of quilting fabric.

I'm giving myself 2 months to find what I want and create it. So I'm hoping that I can find something because if I can't it'll take me the entire 2 months to create a pattern. Wish me luck because I've never created my own pattern, gosh I've never ever altered a sewing pattern in all the time I've owned a sewing machine.

 

I am hoping that I can make Caelan proud with the cushion I create for him and finger crossed that I'll find a way to make the cushion I need for his seat. If not I should have some fabric left over to make him an armband so that he can channel all his super hero powers.

 

Wish me luck and I hope to develop some of my own super powers soon.

 





Megan

Mini Mexican Tortilla Cups

Last week I made some Mini Bacon and Egg Tarts and I had all the kids asking me for more. So I had an idea of combining this tart idea with a Mexican flavoured mince which the children also liked. I'd bought a few things to have nachos but the kids only end up eating the corn chips. I found these mini tortillas in the Mexican Food section of the supermarket so I thought that use them to make Mini Mexican Tortilla Cups. These are ideal because I'd be able to hide vegetables, mix in some egg, cheese and the kid's will be able to eat them with their hands. I'm hoping that the kids remember they like mummies Mexican Mince and her Bacon and Egg Tarts. So I'll stop yapping and I'll just give you the recipe.

Mini Mexican Tortilla Cups

Cooking Spray

10 Mini Tortillas

500g lean mince

250g pork mince

10 mushrooms, sliced

1/2 red capsicum, finely diced

1/4 green capsicum, finely diced

400g corn kernels

2 spring onions, finely sliced

400g diced tomatoes

400g refried beans

2 eggs, beaten lightly

Splash of milk

2 cups cheese, grated

Method

1. Pre-heat oven to 180°C. Lightly spray a muffin tin with cooking spray and set aside.

2. Spray a frying pan with the cooking oil. Heat over a medium heat. Add the mushrooms, capsicums, and onion and mix well. Add both minces, breaking it up into small pieces as it cooks, cook until browned.

3. When browned add the diced tomatoes and corn kernels. Mix well together and heat through. Don't get the temperature too hot as the corn may start popping.

4. When its all cooked through remove from heat and add the grated cheese.

5. Beat the eggs and milk together. Sit it aside.

6. Microwave the mini tortillas according to the manufactures instructions. I did mine for 35 seconds. While they're still hot mould them into the muffin tins.
7. Place a heaped spoonful of refried beans into the tortilla base, top with the cheese mince mixture and then spoon the egg mixture over the top.

8. Place in an oven and bake for 10-15 minutes. Remove from the oven once the egg has set and leave in the tin for 5 minutes.

9. Serve with light salad and a spoonful of salsa OR serve as is. These are good to take on a picnic you'll want to make them the morning of the picnic and store them on paper towels in a container. Enjoy.

Megan