Life Lately

Things have been pretty quiet on my blog recently, and I thought I would let you know I am still around! I have been dealing with a few health issues, which have taken their toll on my energy level, and I also have a new job so I have been doing training for that. With longer daytime hours, social events, days where I am in a lot of pain and also day-to-day planning of our family calendar, time to sit at the computer and type has been rare.

Here is a quick overview of what I have been up to- and I would love to hear what you have been doing as well!

I celebrated my birthday at the end of October, which meant a long overdue dinner date with my other half. We went to a local restaurant that has superb gluten free food, and then met up with some friends for the local quiz night.



I also spent Labour Weekend studying up for a fundraiser quiz night, which my team won! Quiz nights have become my new thing since my drama rehearsals have finished, and the bar tabs help!



Since I have a new job, my morning playgroup has finished, which I am really sad about as Adam and I loved going. He was happy with his dragon face paint on his last day, and he was very spoilt with a lovely goodbye gift and chocolate cake.



I got into the Halloween spirit with a group of friends, heading to the local pub for a dress up evening with great music, bar tabs up for grabs, and Halloween themed drinks. I went along as a Day of the Dead Senorita and enjoyed a few skeleton cocktails, as well as having a good boogie.



In the weekend we also took the the time to celebrate Guy Fawkes with a BBQ and sparklers! My boys have been very hesitant about fireworks in the past, but this year they loved making shapes in the air with sparklers and watching the fireworks when it got dark. I enjoyed sitting back and watching my kids play with the other children, and it was so nice to catch up with one of my goo friends who has also been unwell.



As you can see, I have been focusing on family and friends over the last month as the weather warms up. Having a health scare has made me realise what is important, and making memories is a huge priority for me.

My health is still not 100% and I have a few more investigations planned, but in the meantime I am looking forward to preparing for the Christmas rush, Lucas' birthday, getting comfortable with my new job, and finally sharing more blog posts!

Virtual Book Club- Owl Babies

The book for this week's Virtual Book Club was Owl Babies by Marin Waddell.

I had the pleasure of reading this book to a group of preschoolers in the holidays when I was running a craft area in the mall, and we did a cute owl activity using black, yellow, brown and orange paper, cotton wool, stick on stars and googly eyes.



The branch was stuck across the black paper, and I helped to cut beaks and feet from the orange paper. Big blobs of cotton wool became the owls, and we added the eyes to each baby owl.

The finishing touch was adding the stars and moon to the night sky, and I had some happy parents and preschoolers!

This book is such a great one to share with children who have separation anxiety or simply love reading about animals. Our version is a small board book, great for little ones to look through by themselves.

For more owl activities, check out this post!

WCW- Chicken and Chorizo Rice Pot

Even though Spring has arrived, we are still having some chilly evenings and there is nothing I like better than some warm comfort food in a bowl!  Even better if there is minimal prep and clean up. This rice pot is perfect for family dinners when you want something without much effort that still tastes delicious.

White wine, chicken stock, chorizo, chicken and rice pair together perfectly in this combination. You can also use shrimp in place of the chicken if wished.



The chicken is cooked first, then the chorizo is cooked to allow the oils to release. This gives the red pepper such a depth of flavour, and allows the flavour of the chorizo to permeate through the entire dish.



Cooking everything in one pot means minimal clean up- always a bonus in this house!



As this mixture simmers, it emits a beautiful smell and makes my whole house smell welcoming and homey.



Best served in a bowl with some mixed vegetables (either mixed through or on the side) and some parmesan cheese sprinkled on top. This goes great with some crusty bread and a glass of red wine for a dinner date, and is just as welcome during a busy weekend or cold evening.

print recipe

Chicken and Chorizo Rice Pot

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon rice bran oil
• 500 grams chicken breast fillets
• 1, finely chopped red capsicum
• 2, sliced chorizo sausage
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon Tuscan seasoning
• 2/3 cup white wine
• 3 cups chicken stock
• 2 cups white rice

Instructions

Heat oil in a large frypan. Cook chicken for 5-6 minutes until browned. Transfer chicken to a plate. Reduce heat to medium. Add capsicum to casserole dish and cook for 10 minutes, until softened. Add chorizo and cook for 2 minutes, until chorizo has released some of its oils. Stir in tomato paste. Return chicken to the dish with Tuscan seasoning, wine and stock. Increase heat to high and bring to boil. Cover with a tight fitting lid and simmer for 30 minutes. Add rice and stir to combine. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook for 15 minutes until the rice is tender. Remove from heat and stand for 10 minutes.

Details

Prep time: 10 mins Cook time: 45 mins Total time: 55 mins 

Eric Carle inspired Mosaic Spider

My four year old has really enjoyed The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle, so we thought we would make our own busy spiders! I love the mosaic-like look of the spider in hues of blues and greens, so we set about creating our own blue and green spider.

My son started out by sticking some green and blue scraps of cardstock to an 8x8" piece of white cardstock.



We kept layering the blues and greens until he was happy with the pattern.



I then took a side plate and traced around it, and cut out a circle from the mosaic pieces. I also glued down any loose pieces.



We added some googly eyes, and Adam chose the colours of popsicle sticks for the spider's legs.



Our finished mosaic spider is complete!



This was such a great activity for hand-eye coordination as well as an understanding of what a mosaic is. Of course, there was also the ever important practice with glue and scissors!

Frocktober Week One Recap

Every year, I participate in Frocktober. Frocktober is an annual philanthropic campaign held each October. The campaign invites anyone to take on one or all of the Frocktober challenges (yes, the boys too!) or simply sponsor/donate to those friends, family and colleagues who support the campaign. It’s all about having some fun with fashion with heart in order to raise awareness of ovarian cancer and help to fund research.

Day one started off with my simple black dress, paired with a floral kimono and tan shoes.



Day two as a bit chillier than expected, so I layered a grey tee under a grey swing dress and accessorized with flat sandals and a green beaded necklace.



Day 3 had my six year old as a photographer! Still experiencing some cooler weather so i put on some tights and boots with this floral dress.



Day 4 was off to a Christmas launch and so I glammed up my little black dress with a fun blazer and a statement necklace.



My navy boots came in handy again for day 5, where I paired them with my leopard print dress and a corduroy jacket.



Saturday evening was the opening celebration of my friend's cafe, so I wore this maxidress with some gold shoes and a cream bolero.



My LBD was worn again for a lazy Sunday scrapbooking, paired with a simple grey jersey, black flats and some bling.



Next week may be tricky as I have some medical appointments and physio scheduled, and I am finding that the wind leaves me with a few Marilyn Monroe moments during school pick ups! However, I still have a lot more dresses to wear and I look forward to showing you a few more of my favourites.

My Top Five Christmas Photos

There is something about photos that always makes me smile- I love flicking through my scrapbooks and remembering all of the things that have happened.

Christmas is a time where I tend to take a lot of photos- I document our daily Christmas activities and December also happens to be my son's birthday, so my camera is often out.

Sharing these moments every year with my family and friends in Christmas cards is also a wonderful way of keeping people up to date with what is happening in my life, and who doesn't love a Christmas card with a family photo?

Christmas 2009 was extremely special to me, as I had just welcomed my first son into the world! He was a week old on Christmas Day and even though he slept right through the celebrations, I still took a lot of photos.



One tradition that happens every year is that my father dresses up like Santa Claus, and I just love the wonder in my son's eyes in this photo. My Dad has also been known to dress up like Batman- he is such a kid at heart!



My son then had a big announcement to make on Christmas Day 2011, when we told the family that our second son would be making an appearance in July 2012.



By Christmas 2012 we were a family of four in our new house. This photo was the header for our family newsletter, which was sent all over the world.



Spending Christmas Day with my boys and husband is important, but I also get my other family members involved. I absolutely love this photo of me and my sister on Christmas Day last year, and once again I wanted to share it with my friends overseas.



 Family photos are a must in my family on Christmas Day, and  putting my favourite photos from the year on our Christmas cards and letters is one thing I love to do each December.

I have family and friends all over the world that receive my cards, and I have recently discovered that I can send photo cards or even online cards with minimal fuss that will still allow me to share my photos and Christmas greetings. I do take a specific family photo each year with the intention of sending it out to people, and so to have it on the front of a card is the perfect solution. My favourite design this year is a toss up between the Christmas Finestra or the Happy Happy Joy Joy for multiple photos for my overseas friends, as Paperless Post ships to the US, UK, Canada and Australia.

Do you send out Christmas cards every year- or even a newsletter? I would love to know your traditions on this!

Dinosaur Week for preschoolers

Continuing on my weekly themes for my four year old, we recently spent a week looking at dinosaurs.

Adam loves art and craft activities, so we made our own triceratops. We started by painting a small egg carton piece with green sparkle paint.



We used a cupcake liner for the ruffle, googly eyes, and a popsicle stick cut into three pieces for the horns.



As you can see, green and dinosaurs are popular in this household!



We also excavated our own dinosaur from an egg (purchased here) and it took us a good hour to retrieve the dinosaur from within- a great way to keep the boys occupied although I had a go too!



We then washed the excavated dinosaur and talked about which species it could be.



Some dinosaur dot-to-dot printables were a fun activity for both boys to do after school.



I cut out some different shapes from green cardstock and we played dinosaur Tangrams.



My six year old really enjoyed this activity, and spent ages making different animals from the shapes. Yes, he has dinosaur pajamas too!



Our family movie night was The Good Dinosaur, and I had purchased a kid's magazine that luckily had this Dino-Flake activity included.



It also had a dinosaur Peppa Pig workbook, which came in very handy!



We read the Dinosaurumpus book together and played the Listen & Move game during a wet day.



Dinosaur week was a big success with both boys!