Present were wrapped in plain old brown paper, because really where does it all end up anyway?! $1.70 for a large roll of brown paper that will last ages compared to up to $4 for one sheet of wrapping paper.
We made cupcakes the night before. Some to take to preschool with them. And they were loved by everyone. Thomas the Tank Engine for Zachary and Fairy ones for Anna (although she found Thomas more interesting, she really is my little tomboy! I guess what so you expect with two brothers!)
They slept in a little for me - little sweeties! Then we opened up some pressies. Not to many, because you know these kids have way to much stuff already! Not in need of ANY clothes and definitely didn't need any more toys. So we just got a few things for them to celebrate this special day.
(Zach showing me his new book)
Anna getting her new bike - so they don't fight over the one we have!
(excuse the bum! Little Miss has decided she doesn't really like nappies and spends most of the time at home nappy free. Good sign I guess)
And she LOVES the baby doll rocker that Nanny got her!
Opening books...
Then they coloured in their new books until it was time to go to preschool
(Mitchell)
(Zachary)
(Anna)
Anna had zonked by 5:30pm and Zach went to bed after a feed not long after. A long day but a fun day. I still can't believe they are two!
Good bye for now....make sure you check out my giveaway!
I have written 200 posts and I want to celebrate, so I'm having a GIVEAWAY and EVERYONE is welcome!
Have you heard about PENDANTIC?! Well, its an awesome online store over at Madeit.com! Just something about handmade that really sets me off - in a nice way!
Dani from Pendanticover at Madeit has kindly offered this beautiful pendant to be put up for grabs!
{ Summer Citrus }
Dani has a beautiful range of handmade scrabble tile pendants in her shop at an absolutely wonderful price! Perfect for gifts or even just grab one for yourself! I'm considering buying one for everyday of the week!
From Sweet
To Sassy
To Creative
To Naughty
Or just plan Yummy! There is something here for everybody!
All you have to do is make a comment telling usyour favourite item in the Pendanitc Shop & your email address, that's it! I will choose a winner and notify the winner by email as well as announce it right here!
Contest ends Sunday May 31st at 8pm EST - that's Australian Time. The Winner will be announced on Monday June 1st! Just in time to celebrate my daughters 12th birthday!
Good Luck to all of you and get posting!!!!
EDIT: I really apologise to everyone! The last link was wrong, I have no idea where the esty link came from as I hardly ever go there - prefer the Australian Made It :) Link is now fixed and everyone already entered is still in the running.
I REPEAT - DO NOT leave your children unattended and accidentally leave the toilet door open!
You may just end up with 4 - yes 4! - rolls of toilet paper in the toilet. But that's not all! After you remove the 4 rolls of toilet paper, all wet and soggy, your may just find a dozen ' women's ' products stuffed down there. And when I say stuffed I mean 'take the toilet brush and jam them down there' stuffed!
No pictures of this disaster. I wasn't thinking of that at the time - although I should have been! I just wanted it out of my toilet and all I was thinking about at the time was just how much 4 rolls of toilet paper costs these days!
My two little ones looked quite impressed with themselves really but if you ask Anna - 'Zachy did it!' I can laugh now and I blame myself, I really should close the toilet - I normally do and I'm always on everyone else's butt to close the door!
So please make sure you close the toilet door if you have little ones! I wouldn't want you to have pull wet and soggy toilet paper out of the toilet.....yuck! Hahahaha.
.....to all you over worked and under paid Mummies (and of course Mummies to be) out there!
"Happy Mother's Day" to my beautiful Mum! Love you!
My morning so far:
Breakfast in bed - tomatoes on toast, with a sprinkling of sugar (yummy) and a lovely cup of tea. Lovely pressies and plenty of cards (photos to come) Lots of kisses and cuddles!
So far I have done very little. Ashlee has gotten the kids breakfast, changed their nappies and sorted them all out - Thanks Ash!
(Brett has gone wood carting......no comment on that!)
I have so many things saved in my bookmarks that have found through blogs and other places. I really want to get into some of them! There are just sooooooo many of them (and I'm talking hundreds) that its hard to pick where to start!
I'm also incorporating this with Works for me Wednesday - Frugal edition.....
So - this weekend I'm going to start trying some of them out, hopefully with the help of my lovely daughter Ashlee. Tomorrow I'm going to spend doing my usual Saturday clean and make sure my washing is all up to date so when Saturday actually comes around I won't have anything to do.
Lets move onto some linky love now. Here are some things I would like to try out this weekend:
Stop using plastic zip lock bags!
We use so many lunch bags around here. You know those little snack sized ziplock bags. I'm really need good with washing and reusing them, I really can't be bothered...I know I know such waste. So here is a great tut about making your own reusable snack bags. I think they are a great idea but will probably add a little snapable flap to it so that it can be closed up for the lunch box. This is a maybe....
Don't buy them a bag for preschool - make them one!
Zach and Anna are in need of a little bag to take to preschool. Something that will just hold their lunch box, drink bottle and a change of clothes. I thought this would be a good idea consider I have a ton of ton of towels around here.
Make your own kids clothes and save money!
I wouldn't mind giving this a try either. I actually have a couple of pretty tea towels in the fabric cupboard that I kept just for something like this.
Then you have Shorts from tea towels! This also appeals to me. Tea towels can be picked up for very little in your local Sam's (or dollar store).
I love Baby Legs but we only have 1 pair each for the twins because the cost so much. Now I can get out the old stockings of Anna's and cut them up to make these. Great idea I think and would be a huge saving!
I think that would be it. I don't even know if I will get through them! We will see what the weekend holds.
This giveaway is incredibly awesome! Want to win a STUNNING sterling silver ring?! Head on over toMissie Krissie who has one up for grabs!
Missie Krissie makes the most stunningly beautiful jewellery. Unfortunately I didn't come across these in time to put in a Mother's Day order but will definitely be getting one of these some how!
I have actually wanted one of these since I first saw them here after following a link from another blog. So, a necklace with all my sweet babies names on it......anyone?! (hahaha)
While reading blogs this morning I came across some sad news.....
Sweet little Elizabeth who was born at 28 weeks just 2 weeks ago went gently into the arms of Jesus Sunday night. Please pray for her family at this time.
This brings tears to my eyes and really hits home. Having my own babies at just 29 weeks it really makes me remember how close we came to losing them and just what miracles they are!
Also keep in your thoughts and prayers:
Noah and his family - At just 5 months old, little Noah was shaken by his daycare provider. Can you believe that?! And is now in hospital with what is suspected - serious brain damage.
And little Kayleigh and her family - Kayleigh was in June last year, 3 months early. She is now 10 months old and is still in hospital. Read her story here. Things are not looking great right now and she will probably be brought home soon with nursing care until the time comes....
Click above to head over to Org Junkie for more Menu Plans!
For Christmas I received '4 Ingredients #2' by Kim McCosker & Rachael Bermingham and for birthday I received '4 Ingredients'. Great books! Highly recommended!
All these recipes are from those two books but some have been slightly modified for the slow cooker/crockpot. I will be adding some links and recipes later today but now I have to run off and get some grocery shopping done! Come back - they are all super yummy and super easy recipes! There is a lot of Lamb this week as we have a lot of it in the freezer and I want to use it up before the next lot of meat comes in (from FIL's farm).
Tues 5th May – Sun 10th May
Meals with recipes in BOLD - Recipes Added Below!
Mains:
Easy Casserole - with mashed potato
Chicken Casserole - with rice
Balsamic Glazed Lamb - with garlic potato and honey carrots
Chinese Style Lamb Roast - with roasted vegetables
Irish Stew - with mashed potato
Lamb & Bacon Parcels - with zucchini hash browns
Sides:
Easy Fried Rice
Garlic Potato
Honey Carrots
ZucchiniHash Browns
Kids:
Bugs in a Rug
Fish Cocktails
Vegetable Lasagne
Baby Meatballs
Sweets:
Jam Drops
Custard Tarts
RECIPES:
Easy Casserole
Serves 4 - 6
1kg round steak, cubed
500g bag mixed frozen vegetables, thawed
(or fresh vegies of your choice)
2 cups V8 juice
Place steak and vegetables in a slow cooker, pour over V8 juice, covering contents well. Cook for 3 - 4 hours or until meat is nice and tender.
NOTE: I will be using fresh veggies this time. I'm also making double and freezing half for another meal.
**********
Chicken Casserole
Serves 4
440g can condensed cream of chicken soup
8 chicken pieces
4 rashes bacon, roughly chopped
Vegetables of your choice
Fry bacon, place chicken, vegetables, bacon and soup in slow cooker and cook for at least 4 hours.
NOTE: Again I'm doubling this one for later meals
**********
Balsamic Glazed Lamb
Serves 4
12 lamb cutlets
1tbs. Balsamic Vinegar
1 tbs. Honey
2 tbs. fresh Rosemary Leaves
Heat fry pan, grill or BBQ. Mix last3 ingredients. Cook cutlets for 1 - 2 minutes each side or until just brown. Brush with baste and cook a further 3 minutes each side, basting occasionally. Drizzle some juice over cutlets once served.
**********
Chinese Style Lamb Roast
Serves 4 - 6
1.5kg lamb roast
375ml can evaporated milk
1/2 cup hoi sin sauce
Place the lamb into an oven bag. Combine milk and sauce. Pour about half over lamb (remander can be frozen for another time) and seal the bag, piercing a few holes around the end. Roast the lamb in a 180c oven for 1 hour and 45 minutes or until desired doneness.
NOTE: Left over meat is great on sandwiches for lunch!
**********
Lamb & Bacon Parcels
Serves 4
4 loin lamb chops
2 rashers of bacon, cut in half
4 tbs. wholegrain mustard
2 sheets puff pastry
Cut meat off the bone and trim fat. Cut puff pastry sheets in half and spread each generously with mustard. Place the lamb in the middle of the pastry and top with a half rasher of bacon. Seal edges and bake in 180c oven 20 - 30 minutes or until golden brown.
NOTE: Haven't tried this one before, maybe cook the meat before putting it into parcels?
**********
Zucchini Hash Browns
Makes 4
1 cup zucchini, grated
2 tbs. oil to fry in
2 eggs, beaten slightly
Mixed seasoning to taste
Heat oil in a heavy pan. Mix all ingredients together in a medium size bowl and gently drop 1 tbs. of mixture in hot oil. When brown on one side, turn over and cook on the other side. Stack on a plate and keep warm until whole batched is cooked.
NOTE: Kids love these!
**********
Bugs in a rug
Makes 12
3 slices brown bread
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1/4 cup butter, melted
12 cocktail frankfurters
Preheat oven to 180c. Pierce frankfurters all over with folk. Spread tomato sauce on bread, then cut into quarters. Place frankfurter diagonally on each quarter of bread. Bring up edges and secure with a toothpick. Brush with melted butter. Place on greased baking tray and bake for 10 minutes until bread is crisp and lightly brown.
**********
Baby Meatballs
250g lean mince
1/2 cup mashed potatoes
Preheat oven to 180c. Combine ingredients. Roll into little balls and place on baking tray. Cook for around 20 minutes. Drain excess liquid before serving.
NOTE: I serve these with a side of greens.
**********
Custard Tarts
Makes 12
2 sheets puff pastry, thawed
500g premium vanilla custard
3 tbs. brown sugar
Preheat oven to 200c. Cut 6 rounds from each sheet of pastry and line a non-stick muffin tray with them. Place a circle of baking paper with some uncooked rice on each and blind bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove paper and rice and cool. Spoon an equal amount of custard into each and sprinkle with brown sugar. Place tarts under a preheated grill to melt sugar before serving.
NOTE: Another yummy filling is Caramel Top 'n' fill! Just beat caramel well before spooning into tarts and top with fresh whipped cream - delicious!
I've decided that I'm selling my bike and my twin pram and buying this!
What a BRILLIANT IDEA! Its costly, costing around $2100 (including postage though!) in Australian dollars. I personally think, for me, it would be a great investment. When you take into account that my bike cost $800 and the pram was $600, that's $1400 anyway. It would really be great to take the kids for a ride. Both Zach and Anna can fit in the front.
I'm back! Again participating in the Cindy's Eye Spy Sunday (on a Monday). This weeks theme is thanks to One Red Robin.
I have a real problem with blog reading - I'm hooked on it! I have hundreds and hundreds of blogs on my reader and if I don't read regularly it turns into a real disaster! BUT I can't stop, its hard to unsubscribe so usually I don't. I do however get many brilliant, awesome and excellent ideas from all these blogs and I love the insight into other peoples lives.
I am always finding new blogs to read. Reading one blog that links to another and another - whats a girl to do?! Here are just a few of my more recent finds....
