A New Weekend Tradition?

We seem to have developed a new weekend tradition - making Sushi.

It's quick, cheap, easy and healthy.
And The Man and I love it.

Miss Piggy seems to as well.

At least. the Wasabi doesn't seem to affect her!

I think it's only going to last while Avocado Pear is in season though.

 Wasabi goes really well with Avocado Pear!

The Man seems to think I'm the only one who can do the rolling.

I think he could probably roll these things better than I can, but we seem to have fallen into the habit - I roll... he slices...

...and does presentation...

...and sorts the garnish.

We have to have the pickled ginger - it just doesn't work quite as well without it!

The kids are slowly acquiring a taste for it. (Emphasis on slowly)

Despite the thumbs up in the bottom picture, the minute Jord heard the dark stuff was seaweed he unwrapped his portion and ate the filling with a fork!

You should have seen the reactions the kids gave us when they tasted Wasabi Sauce for the first time...

The Frog stuck his tongue out of his mouth to cool it off!

The Jord went and poured them both a glass of milk to sooth the sting...

Yes...

we are mean parents...

In other news, please send positive thoughts and prayers towards my children.

Miss Piggy's impending arrival has them feeling rather insecure.

And the fact that their mum isn't her normal rough-and-tumble self has them questioning their place in the world.

Patience isn't a virtue I possess in abundance at the moment and the fact that these precious boys don't even have school to escape to during the day... well! Let's just say that 7 week school holidays and end-of-pregnancy niggles don't go well together!

Thank goodness school starts this week! Sighs of relief all round!

Things I'm Loving!

PaisleyJade is doing a Things I'm Loving link-type thingie on her blog.
I'm not sure how the whole thing works but, I figure, instead of sitting here and complaining about pregnancy niggles, it's probably a good idea to count my blessings.

Or at least a few of them anyway - if I listed them all, we'd probably be here all day!

1.
Grannies who abduct their grandsons and take them to the movies to watch Yogi Bear...

You can bet I'm loving that!

2.
The Rain

Mostly because it means I don't have to water my veggie garden, and that the veggies are getting better nutrients than they would be getting from the tap!

But also because it signifies blessing (maybe not in Queensland though...) and we are very shortly about to be very blessed as a family!

3.
A Saviour who understands our needs and has made provision for them before we even ask.

Today The Man and I made a list of needs to pray for. You know, those things that normally just don't fit into your weekly/monthly budget. We've made this list and we're praying, and I know that God will provide all of it - some of it miraculously. He's done so many many times before.





And I'm thankful to PaisleyJade for reminding me to be thankful.
Life doesn't suck as much as I like to make out.

Amen!

False Alarms

We had yet another false alarm today...

...this brings the grand total of false alarms up to three...

You'd think, having been through this twice before, I'd know what I'm doing, wouldn't you?

But clearly I don't. And I'm sick of it.

I'm so anxious for this baby to be born that I get overly excited at the slightest twinge.

Luckily I have great friends in Lynne and her fiance, Jason, who came and took the boys for the entire day and kept them entertained while we did our best to get things going properly.

Lynne and Jason are very good at this job - as you can see. The Frog had such a busy day he's passed out!

Second Thoughts...

Should I have taught my child how to do this at the tender age of 8?

ROARRRR!

The Jord came home from our neighbor-down-the-road Cirran's house with this...


I did a double take when I saw it.

The only recognisable part of his face are his eyes!

But Cirran is cool, The Jord loves her house and begs constantly to go there.

I say no alot to give the poor girl a break!

In other news...
there is no other news.

I now tell myself that Miss Piggy is coming on saturday so that I don't get excited everytime I have a Braxton Hicks contraction...

And if she doesn't arrive on saturday I'll tell myself she's coming on wednesday.

That way I con myself into thinking that this will end...

Artsy Fun

One of The Frog's birthday gifts this year were these interesting markers.

I don't know what they are called because the packaging seemed to be in russian.


That's ok, they were still fun!

You are supposed to blow through them and the ink sprays out of the other side...

Of course it's not just the ink that sometimes sprays out.

Which made for an interesting clean up afterwards...

But The Jord (having been so bored for weeks on end) got right into it and created quite the masterpiece with the stencils provided.

Well done boy!

Paying It Forward - Gift Three of Five.

Now these were fun to make...

I even made up the pattern.

It's a sewing organiser set, one of my recipients is very big on sewing. Find her here.

I wanted to make her something to keep all the bits and pieces together that float around a sewing table (you can bet I'm making myself some of these for various spots around my house!)

So she has a pin cushion and two 'bowls.'

The Man - Kitchen Extraordinaire!

The Man took some chicken out of the freezer yesterday and decided he wanted something a bit more sophisticated than the usual - roasted drummies, baked potatoes and salad...

As you can see, I've been feeling uninspired of late!

In fact, I have to say this: I don't know what I did to deserve this man...
yesterday he cleaned just about the whole house and also cooked dinner, all the while telling me to sit!

The Man happens to be a genius when it comes to marinades and sauces and he has very kindly written down what he used in this dish.

Not quantities - he plays that by ear (or tastebud?)

1kg chicken pieces was used for our family - adjust the quantity to suit yours. 
The marinade / sauce was made from –

Soy sauce

Honey

Wholegrain mustard

Tomato sauce

Juice from a can of sliced peaches and slice a few pieces finely sliced and added to the juice ( the rest can be eaten by the kids.....hehehehe )

About a glass of white wine

Salt & pepper

Multi Purpose seasoning / BBQ seasoning

Ground coriander

Paprika

4 whole cloves

2 big cloves of garlic finely chopped

1 large or 2 medium onions

Dijon mustard

Thyme

Mixed herbs

First rub all the pieces of chicken with the Dijon mustard and let it stand. Mix all the ingredients together in a plastic or glass container except for the Thyme. Place the chicken that was rubbed with the Dijon mustard in the marinade making sure that you do not cover it with the marinade. The marinade will enter the meat as it is sitting there. Sprinkle the thyme over the meat once it is in the marinade / dish. Leave out at room temperature for about and hour or so or overnight in the fridge.

Bake in the oven as is at 180 degrees celsius  for about 45 min to an hour or depending on the size and thickness of the meat. Mix in a little corn flour to thicken the sauce at the end and serve over rice.

This can also be used for Pork where you can change the peaches with apples depending on taste or even use some beef. The fruit option with this dish is totally up to the person cooking. Just make sure to change the white wine for red when using a red meat......

Cinderella Kids' Baby turns Two!

A few days ago, Cinderella Kids Mom's littlest one turned two.


 She is such a cutie! I've loved making up this little hat and purse set for her and I really hope she likes it!

And my littlest rat couldn't resist posing in the shot below.

Funny little munchkin!

Happy birthday Miss Mia!

The Frog Turns Three!

And so The Frog turns three...

No longer my baby!

I'm very blessed to have had so much help with this birthday party.

All the cake and cupcakes, except for this one, were made by my friend Lynne yesterday...

This one was bought by my mom and iced by 

me... lazy huh?

Here are some photos to commemorate the day.   

Many many thanks to Lynne for all the work she put into this party and for getting us the McD's party room - clever you!
And to my mom for all the stuff for the goodie bags.

And huge apologies to all the moms who had to deal with the day-long sugar highs.

You aren't alone...

Ready and Rarin' to go!!

All set and ready for Miss Piggy to make her appearance...

Yesterday, I was inspired by a random blogpost by some other extremely clever and crafty lady  I've just spent a significant amount of time trying to find the actual post, but I can't.

Sorry.


But it was for a cloth bag/bin like the one above.
I'm quite proud of it!

There it sits - next to the wonky rocking chair.

Something grinds on it everytime I try to rock in it, no matter what I tighten.

I think it's going to take The Man looking at it to make it happy again.

Come on Miss Piggy.

We're ready for you!

You have a carseat waiting so we can show you the world and show you off to the world...

With another one of my bright ideas - the carseat blanket and matching cap.

So come on, kid!

In other news, my longtime friend whom I've known since I was 12 delivered her third precious gift from God yesterday.

Congrats Mel and Brandon! I can't wait to see her...

Brown Paper Packages...

I have a friend in the States that I've never met.

I think we all have at least one of those.

She and I met on Karen Kingsbury's facebook fan page - we noticed each other's comments because we have the same unusual first name - Renette.

I think Renette's love language must be gifts, like mine...

...because she sends me beautiful packages - one of my favourite things!

This one had some gorgeous boxes in it - I'm so excited about these because this is what my side table next to my couch looks like...

I can organise!

She also sent me one of just about every size crochet hook you can get!

Woohoo!!!!!

Plus some really fine, colourful yarn so I can attempt making lace.

I'm really looking forward to that!

Some reading material - Karen Kingsbury's Unlocked.

I thought it would be months before I got the chance to read this, I don't think the library even has a copy yet!

I'm saving it for those long, lonely feed times...

Patterns!

And such useful and relevant-to-my-current-needs patterns too!

 She sent SO MUCH stuff for Miss Piggy - aren't those little shoes adorable!

And hair accessories that I can make up myself, satisfying my current obsession with creating things.

 Don't you just love the cuteness???

 The boys were also spoilt little rats!

Renette sent them shoes (which The Frog won't take off!) and activities for the holidays.

My kids are beyond bored!

And!

Stuff for skinned knees!

I've been battling lately because the heat and humidity has not been very good for scab formation.

(Sorry if that was a bit too ewww.....)

Both boys have had issues with skinned knees getting all mucky and septic.

Thanks Renette!!!

And have you ever seen these?

The kids are fascinated!

They fight over it...

It's a connection point that you screw two plastic bottles together with.

And with a bit of coloured water and some glitter you can create your own whirlpool.

Or tornado, as the kids keep calling it!

I think it's very clever...

...and scientific...

...and educational!

Of course, Miss Piggy is sucking all signs of intelligence from me and I'm unable to actually explain the physics of it all, but it's really fun to look at!

This is a balance bird.

Somehow it's weight is distributed in such a way that, you can balance the entire thing on it's beak.

The Frog doesn't quite get it.

He's just pretending it can fly!

But The Jord figured it out quite quickly!

As a result of this 'brown paper package' we were running late for my lift to my midwife appointment this monring!

I couldn't tear the boys away from the box of goodies and get them dressed and fed!

Miss Piggy is currently fully engaged, but facing my right, not my back like she should be doing.

Oh well, she'll get there...