When in doubt - DO!

Note to self:  That saying "when in doubt, don't" is not always correct.  In fact, it might be wrong more times than right.  I used to think it was golden, but it's bitten me in the butt a few times, and today is one of those times.

I made my first ever banana bread today.  I actually wasn't expecting much but knew if I let those bananas go any further, they'd have to go in the bin and the next day I will be kicking myself for wasting food.  I had 4 very over-ripe bananas and the recipe called for 2, so like I do when I usually bake, I doubled the recipe and made two loaves.  I almost didn't, I didn't want to waste the flour and sugar and eggs and milk etc because I really didn't expect the final product to be all that great.  I doubted, but I did anyway.

Oh my!  The banana bread is DELICIOUS!  I am so glad I doubled and made two.  I may not even let the others know about the second loaf....

How is this a bite in the butt?  Last week I was grocery shopping and as I walked past the margarine, I wondered to myself "do I need some more?"  I didn't know.  I really had no idea.  I doubted, so I didn't buy any.  ARGH!  Now I have all this beautiful banana bread and am scraping the sides of the margarine tub!  And I LOVE a hell of a lot of marg on my bread - any kind of bread.  I know, I know, use real butter, but I prefer the taste of margarine on already cooked things.  I always use real butter in a recipe, but on things like bread, I really don't fancy the taste at all.

I have learnt over the years, when it comes to milk and bread and apples, if I'm out and about and the thought crosses my mind, if I'm not sure how much we have at home, always buy.  I will now add marg to that list.  If in doubt - DO!

New toy

This was taken really early in the morning.  Why don't any of the kids look as early-morning as I do???

Christmas 2011 has come and gone, and we got a new toy.  I'll admit I never wanted one, and when I opened it, I was a bit apprehensive.  I knew I would be under pressure to give it a go, but I had actually only ever heard far more bad things about them than good.  What am I talking about?  A slow cooker.  On Boxing Day I saw the box there and was still nervous about it being in my house.  The next day, I decided to bite the bullet and just give it a go so at least I could say I had.  I got out the booklet and had a look at the recipes.  Honestly, none were appealing to me at all.  There's one or two I will go back and tweek, but otherwise I was not filled with eagerness.  But I decided I would make the most of my effort and kept looking for inspiration.  We had some meat we have had in our deep freezer for an embarrassingly long time because I've never been much of a meat cooker, and it wasn't that good a cut anyway which I knew I wouldn't be able to do anything with.  But I got it out, and put it in the fridge to defrost.  I then went through some of those packet mixes things you buy that have been in our pantry for again, too long to admit and found a Tuscan Meatball Sauce I got as a free sample.  At least if the meal is a disaster, I won't have wasted any money on it. 

The next morning I got out the meat, cut it up {and thank you Townsville heat, you are good for something - defrosting the meat while I'm cutting it so it's ready when I'm done!} found a tomato and put them in the slow cooker with the sauce mixture, some water and some extra Tuscan seasoning I have.  By now I'm happy to admit, I was getting excited - very excited.  I was trying to not get my hopes up, just in case it ended up awful {in which case I planned to blame the bad cut of meat} and started searching high and low for some more meal inspiration.  It's no secret I don't like recipes.  Often I'm missing some ingredients, don't like some ingredients or just think I could do it, not necessarily better, but better for us. 

The hardest thing I found with the slow cooker is the waiting!  It'll be much better during the school terms when I am out of the house, but I can't not go have a look {worry about the liquid} and stir.  I'm sorry, I just can't help myself. 

Well dinner ended up being the biggest hit we've had here in a long time.  The boys, even the extremely fussy 6 year old ate theirs up completely, and did it all again the next day with their left overs.  My husband loved it, and even I loved it, and I rarely love red meat.

Tonight I'm trying Apricot Chicken.  And again I put in way too much liquid.  But the French Onion Soup mix said 4 cups, then with the Apricot Nectar, it was just ridiculous.  And there's no way a slow cooker can reduce that amount of liquid, so I ended up scooping probably close to half the liquid, and will use it next time.  I used to hate Apricot Chicken as a kid.  I just couldn't stand mixing fruit with savoury meals.  After I had Elijah though, a friend brought some around and it was DELICIOUS!  I'm assuming it was done in a slow cooker, because it was chicken drumsticks, and the meat just fell off.  It also had slivered almonds in it {another thing I hated in food as a kid}.  I was really surprised with how much I liked it, so I'm trying to recreate it tonight.  And guess what, I'm excited! 

Here is the link {click on image above} to the recipe I'm going off.  I probably should have had another look at it just before starting to remember to put the soup mix in the nectar, not the 4 cups of water it says on the packet.  I've added chopped celery as a very mild vegetable that won't play with the flavour too much, and slivered almonds.  I also won't be using the sour cream, and didn't use apricots, just the nectar {I know Justin won't like it with apricots chunks in it}.

Come on dinner time!

Elf on the Shelf - our way

I've read so much on the great ol' internet about Elf on the Shelf.

Click on image to go to their website

Do you have an elf?  If not, why not?  Is it because you've heard a few horror tales to go along with this innocent idea????  I've heard a few.  Still, I love the idea, and one day would love to get our own elf.  You would think at Christmastime you would be able to go to any store and buy a small cheap elf.  Or maybe go to a couple of shops and buy an elf.  Or even just find AN ELF in a shop SOMEWHERE!  But no.  I tried.  I don't know, maybe I just didn't try hard enough but the point is, we don't have an elf.  We have however, been visited by an elf! 

An elf that gets boys too, by the way.  Our mischievous little elf visited us overnight while we were all fast asleep, and left before anyone woke up, and while he was here, he played a little trick.  He switched all our jocks around, so Adrian's were in my drawer, Justin was in Adrian's, mine were in Jordan's, and Jordan's were in Justin's. 

It was a little bit of fun, and since we don't know when, or if ever again, he will come visit us again, there's no pressure on me to think up something new each night.  There's also no "she touched the elf!" drama I've heard a few mothers retell.  Plus, it's completely and utterly free - and that's always a great thing.  So who knows, maybe one day we'll adopt an elf, but maybe we'll just keep up this free and pressure-less take on the idea - which I still love by the way!

Christmas is coming..... so why aren't I excited?

Hello there!  Long time no.... write?

I seem to be doing a lot of no.... lately.  I can't even seem to get excited for Christmas.  Today however, I have finally started writing some Christmas cards, one of the traditions I usually love about Christmas.  So much so, that they're usually all hand written, addressed and with a photo of two all ready to go in the middle on November, but I wait until the first week of December to send them cause I don't want to come across too eager!  I'm thinking perhaps a drive around the 'Ville looking at pretty Christmas lights could possibly pull at some Christmas heart strings, but either people in the town I live aren't feeling too Christmas-y either, or they're concerned about their power bills!  I can't blame them though, since we don't have any up.  Although, in my defense, about a week ago I did go downstairs, checked out what we have in storage and tried to work out how to put them up, but gave up since our house is still just a construction site anyway.  I even thought about just decorating the fence, until I remembered we've still got cement trucks coming and going, bobcats and when the final stage of the driveway is poured, I don't even know how much fence we'll have left since part of it goes through the middle.  We're totally impressed with our next door neighbour though.  He literally does have the worst house in the street, but since he's the only one in our street with any lights, he's got the best looking lights {because technically the only other house with lights is actually the corner house of the other street}.

I have made sure we get our Santa photo for the year.  And even managed to get in while school was still in so we don't have to wait in line for an hour or so.  We made two different attempts at Santa photos this year, because Elijah really doesn't like the man in red.  I thought perhaps the first time was just due to being tired or something, but the second time he still wasn't up for it, so instead we went with this one:

 

I must admit, I am partial to those crying Santa photos {when they're really little} because they really do capture the moment.  I hate looking at those photos from moments when the family was fighting and tensions were so thick, but everyone is smiling and you know how fake it is because you're really remembering that moment.  I hate those ones!  Plus Elijah is just too stinking cute with his "HELP ME!!!" face.  And just so you know, the poor Santa isn't trying to be mean by grabbing his shirt and not letting him go, they're all up in a sleigh and he's just trying to make sure he doesn't fall off.

I guess at the end of the day, I have a good excuse for being too tired for Christmas for this year.  If you haven't already heard, I have a pretty exciting announcement to make.  I'M PREGNANT!!!  In less than a week I will have finished my first trimester, and hopefully with that, will be getting back some energy and a more settled tummy.  I've been very lucky though, I haven't been sick - not once!  I'm bloated like crazy and it actually hurts quite often, but so far, I've been one of the really lucky ones.  My appetite has been all over the place.  Either I could easily not eat for days, and literally have to force feed myself, or I go through bouts where I just want to eat eat eat, however can rarely find anything I want.  I've been very partial to fruit and boiled eggs and just about anything salty!  

A lot has happened since I last blogged.  Adrian has graduated from kindy and his playgroups.

For some reason, I'm not as ok with this as I was when Jordan did.  I'm a lot more worried for Adrian I guess, with school next year, having to make all new friends {plus he appreciated and enjoyed his playgroups much more than Jordan did}.  Academically I know he's ready for school, I just don't know how he's going to cope socially and emotionally.  

Both big boys have finished with gymnastics.  At their last competition, Adrian got 4 out of 4 gold scores, and Jordan 2 gold and 2 silver, with both boys coming away with gold medals.  At the end of the year awards, Jordan got this:

He also got straight A's for his behaviour and effort at school.  He's had a really good year, and some really great friends.  I have everything crossed that he's in class with his best mate again next year.  They fight and play like brothers, but this kid is such a great example for Jordan.  I already know Adrian is in the same class as his little brother, however those two don't have quite the same relationship.  They can play ok, but their personalities sometimes clash and when they clash, it's BIG.  But we did specifically ask for Adrian to be with him so he knows at least one person, and we can work on their friendship. 

I hope your Christmas season is going smoothly and joyfully, and if you're not into Christmas, that your own special celebrations {or non-celebrations} bring you peace, love and happiness.

One very special year

22 months ago, {yes, 22 months, not 21 - Elijah, just like the others, was overdue} Adrian had an announcement to make:

Then 12 months ago, Elijah Cameron is welcomed into the world:

Elijah, you turned one much earlier than I would have liked, probably because you were such an easy baby, and as you get older, well, you're not quite as easy. But you're still the happiest little guy and you still bring so much joy to everyone who is in the same room as you. I took you for your injections the day after you turned one, and even the grumpy old men in the waiting room just couldn't hold back a smile when you flashed them one of yours. For your first birthday, we went to the Waterpark at the Strand. You were having so much fun with your friends and family that you didn't actually go into the water, except right at the end when Poppy took you down to the beach {one of your most favourite places on earth}. So many people came to celebrate you.

Happy Birthday Elijah Cameron.

A note to TishiaJ and other bloggers

Hey TishiaJ!!!!  I've missed you and so glad you're back and blogging again.  I've been rather quiet here too, but I probably don't need to explain to anyone how life gets busy and we get tired etc etc. 

Anyway, TishiaJ, I need to tell you something, and for some reason I can't email you.  I was about to give up trying to contact you when I remembered how we met in the first place - through blogging! I also thought it might help others if I write it here anyway because so many people have this problem.

I can't comment on your blog!  And while I don't think my comments are so important that you need to change your settings just for me, if I'm having this problem, then others might be too which means you might be missing out on quite a few comments. 

So far I have only had this problem with blogs in America, but I did have a friend here in Australia who couldn't comment on my blog, so I don't really know where the problem lies.  I can however give you a pointer that was given to me, and has helped everyone I've mentioned it to so far. 

In your settings, you will need to change your comment settings to a pop-up box, rather than comments under a post.  If this still doesn't help, you may also need to change it so you can have anyone comment, even anonymously.  If you don't want anonymous comments, I totally understand.  Even with comment moderation, you still need to read the comment to approve it or not, and people can get nasty when they don't have to put their name to their words, but if it helps, in my experience, every anonymous comment I can think of has had the person sign their name off at the end, or they have facebooked me later to tell me it was them.  But try just changing the settings to a pop up window first and see how that goes.  TishiaJ, let me know if you change yours and I can try comment again - I'm so excited your back in blogland.

So what's been going on around here?  Elijah turns ONE this Sunday!  And the closer we get to it, the sadder I become.  Maybe that's why I'm having so much trouble getting his party organised?!?!  I can't decide on a cake and stick to it, and haven't even thought about buying any ingredients for any food I'll be serving.  Maybe I'm subconsiously thinking that if this party doesn't happen, or is a disaster and not worth recording, then he wouldn't have turned one and I can do it properly next year.  Absurd I know, but surely I'm not the only Mummy who desperately wants to cling to her baby while he's still a baby and you're still the best thing in the room. 

Just look at what happened to my other babies when I let them have birthdays....

 

Elijah's first haircut

I know Daddy won't be happy, but it was time.  It was beyond time, for Eli to finally have that hair cut.  The poor kid was getting so annoyed with it in his eyes.  You can see just how long it was by the photo of him with a pig tail in the top collage.  I know many a baby girl who would be hard-pressed to be able to do that at his age, and many a girl-mum who would be jealous.

But to keep Daddy happy, I kept it still rather long.  His fringe will probably be back in his eyes quite soon.  But it's still amazing how those very few centimeters of hair can transform a baby into a boy!  But out of all three boys, this haircut has been by far the least transforming, and I'm so happy about that.