Tuesday 25 February 2014

Fresh Soft Pretzels

Yesterday I shared our menu for the week. Today we made homemade pretzels. Oh my goodness they were good. Truth be told I have only once had pretzels like this before, when I was on holiday in the USA. They really aren't common or popular here, if you say pretzels most people will think of those hard crunchy little snack things. I hate those things.
The recipe called for a salt topping but I opted for cinnamon sugar. Yum!

You can find the recipe HERE


Monday 24 February 2014

Weekly Menus

I have found that writing a weekly menu every week saves me time, money and often my sanity. I love not having to think about what we are going to have or wanting to make something and realizing that we don't have all the ingredients etc. I am a firm believer in making food from scratch it's not often that I packaged food or sachets and cans of ingredients.

Here is our weekly menu for this week. I shop on Friday afternoons. Once the milk/bread/ anything runs out too bad we aren't going back to the store. We just make do with what's left over.  As we all know when you go into buy a loaf of bread you come out with about 10 other things you really didn't need! I do baking for the week on Sunday or Monday. My Husband takes his lunch to work so it's nice for him to have some nice baking to accompany his boring peanut butter and jam sandwiches...his choice of sandwich filling.

You may have to click on the menu to see it all in full size


Sunday 23 February 2014

Rest Time: My Best Idea All Year...(and it's only February!)

Two weeks ago now I was reading on someone's blog about how when her kids were younger she started implementing 1 hour quiet time. Even now that she home schools and has 8 kids in total she has still been able to carry it on. I thought "THAT IS WHAT I NEED TO DO!" Seriously though even though I just have 2 kids they already take a decent amount of energy on top of all the usual things that come with running a house and being a wife. 
For the last 10 days we have been having "rest time". I was a little pessimistic about how receptive Auron would be to it, but he was all to happy to comply with my bright idea. So now after lunch we clean up the mess from the mornings fun and games and give the kitchen a quick tidy then Lili goes down for a nap. This kid still resists naps every single day! Once she is finally asleep (given up) Auron and I head down to my room. I usually read a book or scriptures sometimes I will even manage a nap too. Auron either watches a movie on the ipad, reads a book or plays quietly. The rule is NO TALKING. I think that's the key. Auron gets it too which is great. He's at the age where he is asking questions non-stop so an hours break from that in pure bliss. 
After an hour (usually down to the minute) Lili wakes up and rest time is over. It's great. I feel refreshed and have an extra boost of energy to carry out the rest of the day's activities. I have noticed a difference in Auron too. He is so much calmer and less whiny in the late afternoon. I only wish I had figured this out sooner! 

My nephew Hale....Nothing better than a sleeping baby!

Thursday 20 February 2014

Sometime You Just Give Up Caring

Last Sunday after church Aarahi was bringing in some laundry from the clothesline. The kids were hanging out with him outside. Next thing he turns around and they are in the paddling pool fully clothed in their Sunday best. He called me out to have a look at them. They were awfully cute. Oh well who cares if they are swimming fully clothed they're already wet haha not much you can do about it now.

I think sometime I just have to remember some things really just don't matter. So what if Lili spills her drink for the 100th time today. She's still little and still learning how to be careful. Does it really matter that Auron put on a load of laundry with one pair of dirty underwear and enough washing powder for 10 loads! He was only trying to help. That's life you can either laugh and enjoy it or be frustrated and grumpy, it's up to you.




Tuesday 18 February 2014

A Beautiful Wedding

Last month we flew back home to New Zealand for one of my best friends weddings. The timing was perfect as Melbourne was just about to start a horrible heat wave. Spending a few weeks in the mid 20's sounded like bliss. The wedding photos have just come in so I thought I would share a few of them with you. I was lucky enough to be asked to be one of the bridesmaids. Ash and I have know each other for more than 15 years now. Which considering we aren't actually that old is quite a long time! She is one of those friends who you know will love and support you no matter what. While my life is more about having babies and being a wife and mother and she is a super cool lawyer, travelling all over the world we still never lack for things to talk about and she is just as excited about my life as I am about hers. Ryan her new husband is lovely too. Simply perfect for Ash. I have been wonderfully blessed to have them both in my life.
The wedding was supposed to be an out door wedding in the beautiful Wairarapa but just as we were getting ready to walk out it poured with rain! It was a bit of a sad moment when we saw the boys rushing to bring all the chairs etc inside. None the less the wedding was beautiful and Ash was a exquisite bride.






Friday 7 February 2014

Hot Hot Hot

I am so over Summer! The heat drives me crazy, makes everyone grumpy and down right lazy. It's too hot to go outside and do much, too hot to turn on the oven, too hot for everything! Today for instance it's 40 degrees (104 Fahrenheit)
Thankfully we only have another month or so of intense heat.
So what to do on a hot summers day? My kids kind of love it, maybe it's because they were born here or something? Today they played in the paddling pool and had a water fight with Daddy while he washed the car. I was content to take photos and hang out in the shade. After the fun in the sun everyone went inside for a nap. Pretty much a perfect day around here today. If only it would cool down now.








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