Mama moon

Molly turns 6. Part 3

2010-10-13T04:14:00.000-07:00

The Fairy Party
This was wonderful fun!
We had a perfect day for it too. The kids ran riot in the garden for most of it and the parents sunned themselves on the balcony.

We did have musical statues and a treasure hunt, but the most fun was had just playing outside in the sunshine.

The cake. A number 6 fairy cake. Colouring was beetroot juice. It's so strong that it only takes a tiny bit and no one notices the taste at all.

Two gorgeous little fairies....

....and a witch (I think I was meant to be!)....

....and a wizard
'

Treasure hunt

Cake time!

Molly turns 6. Part 2

2010-10-13T04:08:00.000-07:00

Family party number 2

We had a beautiful day for it and spent most of it out on the balcony
The cake

The family

Blowing out the candles

Cutting the cake

Love this one!

Pretend biscuit

Ballet

One of my all time favourites

Our baby girl turns 6! Part 1

2010-10-13T03:10:00.000-07:00

Hard to believe. I can still feel that squishy, tiny (well, she was huge but she looked tiny to me) newborn. I can still feel myself lifting her out of the water and up to my chest. I can still hear that first gurgly cry.
And she got lucky this year and had three parties!

Party 1
Just us on her actual birthday
Opening the fairy doll I made her

Rose 'surveying the scene'. Firweman Sam is a huge favourite with both

Playing the birthday pressie from Daddy

Blowing out the candles on the homemade icecream cake (made with rice milk. Caramel sauce over the top)

Chookie update

2010-10-10T17:08:00.001-07:00

Well, we have a definite three girls (Cauliflower, Penny and Broccoli). Ophelia and Calpurnia will have to have a name change as they are definitely boys (Othello and Orpheus perhaps?). It's very funny to watch them boss the girls and 'play fight' with their chests puffed out! Bella I'm still watching.
I didn't realise how full of personality chooks are. They're gorgeous! Cauliflower is our snuggler, just happy to sit in a lap and be patted. She and Calpurnia are the most asked for by the girls.
They're growing so fast. We've changed them to a bigger box but I nearly always come home to at least one chicken running round the house and a couple roosting on top of the box. Big mess to clean up, but they're worth it.

Ophelia (No, make that Orpheus!)

Rose and Cal

Daisy being introduced toBella. Note the 'mmm...dinner' look on her face

We have chooks!

2010-10-10T17:03:00.000-07:00

Our gorgeous cousins have given us 6 beautiful babies.
At these photos they were about 2 weeks old and very cute. The black one is Calpurnia, the white Cauliflower. The others are Bella, Penny, Broccoli and Ophelia. We think they are mostly girls, but time will tell.

A walk in the bush

2010-09-16T02:45:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was the first time it was warm enough to get out for a proper walk. We are so lucky to be able to step out of the front door and be surrounded by natural beauty.

Feeding a local resident

Two little monkeys sitting on a fence

Picking wild daffodils

Happy 'Day of the Father'

2010-09-08T04:55:00.000-07:00

Mol making a special cake for Daddy

Complete with scrabble tiles!

And one for Tata

The girls gave daddy a card and a DVD of them talking all about him. Very cute!

Cutting the cake

And the best part of the day (apparently) is that the Swans won their game. Not sure who shouted more loudly at the TV-Molly or her dad!

Spring!

2010-09-08T04:44:00.000-07:00

My favourite season. It is amazing what a difference the Sun makes. I've felt so flat and tired lately but a few hours in teh sun makes such a difference. I've been able to take Rose out and about and the kids can play outside til late again. The air has that lovely 'flowersy' smell and it's just...yum!

Word for the day written by 'The Word Fairy' and Mol

Mol going off to 'Red Day' at school with some flowers for her teacher for the first day of Spring

Some of the locals

Silly faces!

Food, not so glorious food....

2010-09-02T03:13:00.001-07:00

It's 7.25 at night and we've been home only an hour after another allergy treatment. Miss M has just ionformed me that tomorrow is 'Red Day' at school and they're having biscuits with red icing. Excellent. So after the kids are in bed guess what I'll be making??! I'm more than happy to do it so she doesn't miss out, but why oh why must they do so much with food at school? At least 3 times a term they have fund raising 'hot food' days. Last time it was pasta (not too bad, I made M carbonara), the time before that was donut and milo day (Ugh!), time before that icypole and something.... I know there are a heap of kids at school with allergies, I just wish they could find something other than food to raise money with. Plus Jamie Oliver would be horrified. It's almost always junk. The tuckshop is the same. Lollies, pies, red hot dogs (!), coloured icypoles, the ever present big M type flavoured milk. And these are for 5-12 year old kids. *Shudder*
On this note, for the past 6 weeks or so I've been really worried about M. She's had migraines twice in the past month (the screaming-in-pain-vomiting-type), she's had things like 'sneaky poos', rashes, a very sore red mouth, nightmares, silly behaviour. AAll the old signs. I'd asked her repeatedly if she'd been eating anything she shouldn't ('No Mummy!'). I was getting ready to speak to the school about possible reactions to cleaners, glues, paints etc when I find that she HAS been sharing food with her friends-amonst the list are chocolate biscuits, cheezles (speechless) and Laughing Cow cheese. No wonder she's been so sick.
Along with behaviour and stomach upsets this is some of what we've been dealing with
Painful rashes round her mouth and the red cheeks and ears. Rashes on her hands too.
Some info on food issues for anyone interested.
http://www.fedupwithfoodadditives.info/

More photos

2010-08-21T05:31:00.000-07:00

Both girls love dressing up and are right into fairies at the moment. Here's Rose as 'Fairy Serena'

Piano concert

This one makes me laugh!

Monkey in the bath

Molly with a creation from school

Snuggles

A thing of beauty....

2010-08-21T05:21:00.000-07:00

My midwives posted this on Facebook today and I just had to share it. I've watched it twice now with Rose and both times had tears streaming down my face. The photos are so beautiful, as is the song. Rose watched with me and kept saying 'Again.' Both the girls love watching homebirth videos and photos. It's one of their favourite pass-times.
Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knok1OK3Dd4

Here is another site I stumbled across with Molly the other day. By a male midwife in Mexico and while there are some things I dislike the amazing midwife has such confidence in the power of the birthing woman, it's just inspiring.
http://www.homebirth-only.com/Births.htm

Placenta planting day!

2010-08-21T04:40:00.000-07:00

I have been carrying Molly's placenta round (in the freezer!) for 6 years now (well, what's left of it after I made most of it into placenta pills after her birth). Rose's has been in the freezer for two years. Now we're in our own house and not planning to budge I figured it was time to plant them out.
Here is Rose's, all intact and still beatuiful (to me. I know many won't agree)

Taking it out of the bag and putting it into the hole

Kicking the dirt on

And throwing

Putting the tree in. Both girls chose apple trees

Watering

I had 6 trees of varous descriptions (apples, pears, almond, citrus). Molly insisted I plant Rose's in the next hole so 'it can be next to mine always.' Awww
Mol with her powdered placenta

She didn't like the smell!Not unpleasant to me, but definitely 'meaty'

Our new 'placenta orchard'.

It was lovely to finally honour those wonderful placentas. It did feel strange to 'let them go' though after holding on all this time. But now hopefully they will nourish the trees and the girls will be able to enjoy 'placenta apples' for many years to come.

Rose Turns Two.

2010-08-21T03:27:00.000-07:00

So my baby is no longer a baby-so we keep getting told!
She continues to be our sunshine child. Content and placid as the day she was born (most of the time!)

She has a great love of music (The Wiggles in particular, as well as Playschool) and one of her favourite pass-times is playing daddy's piano. She is also (like her sister) an avid reader and will sit for hours sorting, stacking and reading books to herself. She can retell-word for word- many different stories from memory.

Summer 2009

1st birthday

Just born

First feed

With a blessingway necklace made for me

Second birthday

Autumn in the hills

2010-05-21T03:33:00.000-07:00

I love this time of year. Freezing mornings and nights but beautiful days. Spring and Autumn have always been my favourites.
Here are some pictures of our garden.
Japanese maple...one of my favourite trees. This one overhangs our trampoline

Rose in bloom. This Rose was my grandmothers. It was in her garden until she died then travelled (in pot) with me from our house in Sherbrooke, then down to brighton, now it is planted out in our garden and is flourishing.

And another Rose!
Rose

One of our neighbours grows and sells beautiful herbs, vegies and fruit trees. I loved this pineapple sage plant (twas tiny!). It grows in our rose garden now, the tiny spinebills love it.

Vegie garden.
I wish I had more time to do it properly, but throwing newspaper, straw, compost and manure seems to work ok. It's doing beautifully, especially the herbs. I harvested these yesterday (first of the carrots, last of the chillies and some herbs)

This is from late summer
The spaghetti squash took over

Harvest of squash

Bug eaten cabbage (cabbage moths!) still tasty though

Crescent moon last night

Speechless

2010-05-03T20:28:00.000-07:00

I spend a lot of time reading and just came across this. I have to say I am speechless.

PHONE APP FOR CIO/CONTROLLED CRYING
* What is Ciao Baby?
Ciao Baby is an app which can help people who want to use the "Cry It (all) Out" or "Controlled Crying" method to sleep-train their infant.

NOTE: THIS METHOD IS ONLY RECOMMENDED FOR INFANTS WHO ARE AT LEAST 4 MONTHS OLD, PREFERABLY 6 MONTHS OLD.

** What is "Controlled Crying"?
The aim of Controlled Crying is to teach an infant how to go to sleep by themselves, without the need of parental assistance (e.g. Rocking, pacing, or late night drives listening to "The Boss" play on the radio).

In addition to removing stress at bedtime, it can also help the infant to re-settle themselves if they wake up during the night - which means lots more sleep for everyone in the house!

** What Does The App Do?
The app controls which "Wait" period you are on, and displays an alert after it has completed, so that you know when it's time to go and re-settle your baby without having to watch the clock! It works by doubling the "Wait" time after each settle, but you can also set your own "Wait" time if you wish.

** Other Features of the app:

- You must complete a checklist before you start. This forces you to think about whether there could be another reason why your baby is crying (Note: This can be switched off in the settings).

- App records a history of all the times you use the method. This allows you to determine whether or not it's working! You can also edit your history, or add new entries that you may have recorded on paper if you didn't have the app handy'

There is just SO much wrong with this. CC itself makes me shudder. Western culture is just so detached from its children, babies in particular are still treated as 'non-people', objects. I see it so often and it greatly saddens me. No matter how much my baby screamed I could never ignore here. Teaching her that no matter how upset, in pain or needy she is that no one cares. What an awful first lesson. Babies as young as 4-6 months have no understanding of time. They simply don't 'get' that when someone leaves they will come back. To them, if they can't see mum/dad then they are gone for good. It's not until around the age of 2-3 that children generally understand that mum will come back (anyone who has a toddler going through separation anxiety will understand this!).

This is totally against all instincts and the recommendation of the Australian Association of Infant Mental Health
policy statement on controlled crying issued by the Australian Association of Infant Mental Health (AAIMHI) advises, ‘Controlled crying is not consistent with what infants need for their optimal emotional and psychological health, and may have unintended negative consequences.’ According to AAIMHI, ‘There have been no studies, such as sleep laboratory studies, to our knowledge, that assess the physiological stress levels of infants who undergo controlled crying, or its emotional or psychological impact on the developing child.’

Despite the popularity of controlled crying, it is not an evidence-based practice. In a talk at the International Association of Infant Mental Health 9th World Congress held in Melbourne in 2004, Professor James McKenna, director of the Mother–Baby Behavioural Sleep Laboratory at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana, and acclaimed SIDS expert, described controlled crying as ‘social ideology masquerading as science’.What this means is that despite a plethora of opinions on how long you should leave your baby to cry in order to train her to sleep, nobody has studied exactly how long it is safe to leave a baby to cry, if at all.'

Although many baby sleep trainers claim there is no evidence of harm from practices such as controlled crying, it is worth noting that there is a vast difference between ‘no evidence of harm’ and ‘evidence of no harm’.

A policy statement on controlled crying issued by the Australian Association of Infant Mental Health (AAIMHI) advises, ‘Controlled crying is not consistent with what infants need for their optimal emotional and psychological health, and may have unintended negative consequences.’ According to AAIMHI, ‘There have been no studies, such as sleep laboratory studies, to our knowledge, that assess the physiological stress levels of infants who undergo controlled crying, or its emotional or psychological impact on the developing child.’

Despite the popularity of controlled crying, it is not an evidence-based practice. In a talk at the International Association of Infant Mental Health 9th World Congress held in Melbourne in 2004, Professor James McKenna, director of the Mother–Baby Behavioural Sleep Laboratory at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana, and acclaimed SIDS expert, described controlled crying as ‘social ideology masquerading as science’.What this means is that despite a plethora of opinions on how long you should leave your baby to cry in order to train her to sleep, nobody has studied exactly how long it is safe to leave a baby to cry, if at all.
Babies can indeed be ‘brand new and blue’ with an actual diagnosis of clinical depression. Often the predisposing conditions for depression in infants are beyond our control, such as trauma due to early hospitalisation and medical treatments. However, if we consider the baby’s perspective, it is easy to understand how extremely rigid regimes can also be associated with infant depression and why it isn’t worth risking, especially if your child has already experienced early separation. You too would withdraw and become sad if the people you loved avoided eye contact, as some sleep training techniques advise, and repeatedly ignored your cries.

Leaving a baby to cry evokes physiological responses that increase stress hormones. Crying infants experience an increase in heart rate, body temperature and blood pressure. These reactions are likely to result in overheating and, along with vomiting due to extreme distress, could pose a potential risk of SIDS in vulnerable infants. There may also be longer-term emotional effects. Babies need our help to learn how to regulate their emotions, meaning that when we respond to and soothe their cries, we help them understand that when they are upset, they can calm down. On the other hand, when infants are left alone to cry it out, they fail to develop the understanding that they can regulate their own emotions. There is also compelling evidence that increased levels of stress hormones may cause permanent changes in the stress responses of the infant’s developing brain. These changes then affect memory, attention, and emotion, and can trigger an elevated response to stress throughout life, including a predisposition to later anxiety and depressive disorders. English psychotherapist, Sue Gerhardt, author of Why Love Matters: How Affection Shapes a Baby’s Brain, explains that when a baby is upset, the hypothalamus produces cortisol. In normal amounts cortisol is fine, but if a baby is exposed for too long or too often to stressful situations (such as being left to cry) its brain becomes flooded with cortisol and it will then either over- or under-produce cortisol whenever the child is exposed to stress. Too much cortisol is linked to depression and fearfulness; too little to emotional detachment and aggression.

Stress levels in infancy may have implications for learning, too. While it seems fairly obvious that a calm baby will be available for learning, studies have shown that children with the lowest scores on mental and motor ability tests were those with the highest cortisol levels in their blood. There is also research showing that children with anxiety disorders have a higher level of sleep difficulties as infants. Although these studies weren’t about controlled crying and I am making no direct connection, my point is that perhaps some of the babies who are presenting with sleep difficulties are infants who need extra help to regulate their emotions or are more sensitive to stress, so it is possible that these little people would be more at risk if they were exposed to controlled crying.' From- Thde Con of Controlled Crying by Pinky Mckay

Is it any wonder depression, apathy towards others and suicide in our culture is sky high?

Happy 40th Birthday!

2010-05-03T19:29:00.001-07:00

Despite both Sholtz and I feeling under the weather we managed to have a lovely few days. On Saturday we packed a picnic and headed off to watch 'The Mighty Bloods'. Girls had a lovely time yelling 'Go Bloods!', running round, picking dandelions, waving to puffing billy and kicking 'the Rooster' round (a football, not the bird).

Sunday we just pottered at home. Monday Rose and I were busy making a cake and preparing a birthday dinner which was very much appreciated after a day at school and dancing class for Mol and work for sholtz. Nothing fancy. We made some fresh bread, salad, rice and cabbage and chicken marinated in a little maple syrup, oil and fresh garlic. Then cake and homemade icecream for dessert. Delish!

cake face!

Opening the locket

All in all a really lovely few days!

Some random pics

2009-10-31T17:18:00.000-07:00

Childrens' Week has just finished here, but one thing we did do was to go and see Paul Jamieson, the Music Man, at tthe library. It was great fun and Mol really enjoyed it, although Rose slept through the whole thing. Again!

Here is Rose in the Garden. She loves 'fow'-flowers.

I went to a garage sale and found these real leather police hats, for a dollar for both. Bargain!

Reading a story

Sweet Dreams

Halloween/Beltane

2009-10-31T16:16:00.000-07:00

The history of Halloween.
Taken from here http://www.history.com/content/halloween/real-story-of-halloween

Halloween's origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in).

The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31, they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future. For a people entirely dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source of comfort and direction during the long, dark winter.

To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities.

During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other's fortunes. When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which they had extinguished earlier that evening, from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter.

By A.D. 43, Romans had conquered the majority of Celtic territory. In the course of the four hundred years that they ruled the Celtic lands, two festivals of Roman origin were combined with the traditional Celtic celebration of Samhain.
An ancient Celtic Harvest Festival.
The first was Feralia, a day in late October when the Romans traditionally commemorated the passing of the dead. The second was a day to honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. The symbol of Pomona is the apple and the incorporation of this celebration into Samhain probably explains the tradition of "bobbing" for apples that is practiced today on Halloween.

By the 800s, the influence of Christianity had spread into Celtic lands. In the seventh century, Pope Boniface IV designated November 1 All Saints' Day, a time to honor saints and martyrs. It is widely believed today that the pope was attempting to replace the Celtic festival of the dead with a related, but church-sanctioned holiday. The celebration was also called All-hallows or All-hallowmas (from Middle English Alholowmesse meaning All Saints' Day) and the night before it, the night of Samhain, began to be called All-hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween. Even later, in A.D. 1000, the church would make November 2 All Souls' Day, a day to honor the dead. It was celebrated similarly to Samhain, with big bonfires, parades, and dressing up in costumes as saints, angels, and devils. Together, the three celebrations, the eve of All Saints', All Saints', and All Souls', were called Hallowmas

BELTANE/BELTAINE
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beltane
http://www.dynionmwyn.net/Beltaine.html
Has its origins in Celtic Ireland and is otherwise known as 'Mayday'. It is celebrated in the Northern hemesphere on 1st May, here in Australia, on the 1st November. Beltaine marked the beginning of the Summer season and was a time of transformation and purification. It is the holiday of fertility, love, growth and passion.

I had a rather sick baby so we didn't do much, but I did make a ghost cake and carve some apples, so we had dinner by Jack-O-Lantern light!

The cake-a maple syrup cake-was baked in a small lamington tin. Pieces were cut off for the arms. It was then iced with fluffy frosting and decorated. For the Beltane part I used egg shells and flowers for eyes and had him holding a bunch of daisies.

FLUFFY FROSTING
Two egg whites
1 cup water
1/2 cup sugar

Place sugar and water into a small saucepan and stir on low heat until sugar has melted.Turn up heat and boil rapidly for 3-5 minutes without stirring. To check if syrup is done place a teaspoon of the mix in cold water. It should form a ball when rolled between fingers. Take off heat and let it stop bubbling.
While sugar mix is boiling beat egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Gradually pour sugar mixture over egg whites in a thin, continuous stream, beating all the time. Continue to beat until mix is very thick. You can add flavouring and/or colouring at this point. Spread over cake.
I like this frosting as it is not too sweet, is very light, and looks terrific!

The apple Jack-O-Lanterns were easy and a lot of fun. I hollowed out two apples and froze the flesh for later. Then I carved a face and placed a birthday candle inside. They looked fantastic in the dark!

More recipes

2009-10-25T02:44:00.000-07:00

Chicken and chive hamburgers
INGREDIENTS
500G Minced chicken
1-2 cloves garlic
.5 leek, chopped finely
Egg
I cup homemade bread crumbs
about 1 tbsp chives, one of parsley (more if wanted)
Homemade hummous (chickpeas, oil, lots of parsley and chives, about .5 teaspoon citric acid, sea salt. Whizz in blender until done)
Beetroot (if tolerated)
Carrot
lettuce
Rolls

To make the burgers
In bowl put the mince. Mix in chopped chives and parsley, minced garlic and leek. Add an egg and 1 cup rice or bread crumbs (I use gluten free)
Mix with hands.Shape into patties. Fry in frypan until browned. These can also be baked in the oven

Heat homemade bread rolls (I do gluten free potato bread or wheat free loaf)
Spread with hummous. Assemble chicken patties and salad. Enjoy with homemade chips or wedges and a salad if desired.

CHINESE CHICKEN AND NOODLES
From the RPA allergy cookbook 'Friendly Foods'
We had this tonight and it was yummy!
INGREDIENTS
500 grams of either breast or thigh fillets, skinned and finely sliced.
2 tbsp chives
Parsley if wanted
sea salt
about 1 cup sunflower oil
Sprinkle citric acid
Rice noodles
1 egg, beaten
Cornflour
Assorted vegies, chopped for stirfry

METHOD
Place chicken into a bowl. Add chopped herbs, 3 tbsp oil, salt and citric acid. Stir and chill for at least 1 hour. The longer it marinates, the better it tastes!
Drain chicken, roll in cornflour and then dip in egg.
Heat about half a cup of oil in the wok. Cook chicken in batches til crispy and keep warm. Get rid of all but 2 tbsp of the oil. Stirfry vegies and toss through noodles. Serve with rice if wanted. I served with brown rice and quinoa.

Failsafe feasts

2009-10-24T18:46:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd post some recipes of what we've been eating lately.
LEMON AND POPPYSEED BISCUITS
This is based on a recipe from www.taste.com.au

Ingredients
150g nuttelex
1 cup caster sugar (I use less, about 1/2 cup)
1 egg
2 cups plain flour (I use orgran)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon poppyseeds
1-1.5 teaspoons citric acid in water. Put in a little at a time until you have the flavour you want)

icing sugar mixture, to serve (optional)

Method
Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan-forced. Line 3 baking trays with baking paper. Using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until pale and creamy. Add egg. Beat to combine.
Sift flour and baking powder over butter mixture. Add poppyseeds, citric acid mixture. Stir to combine. Roll level tablespoons of mixture into balls. Place balls, 5cm apart, on prepared trays.
Bake, one tray at a time, for 12 to 15 minutes or until light golden. Cool on trays for 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Dust with icing sugar. Serve.

PIZZA WITH WEDGES AND SALAD
Potato wedges
4 potatoes peeled and chopped into wedge shapes
Salt
Canola or sunflower oil (I use crisco which is failsafe. Many other brands have hidden antioxidants)

Put wedges into a bowl of cold water for at least one hour
Drain, dry and sprinkle with salt. Drizzle oil over. Place onto oiled tray and bake in oven (about 180 degrees for approx 40 minutes

Pizza

BASE
3 cups flour
2 x 7 sachets yeast (or approx 2 teaspoons)
I teasp sea salt
1 1/2 tbs canola/sunflower oil
1 cup warm water

Put flour into bowl. Add salt. Make a well in centre and add combined water/oil mix. Mix until almost combined. Use your hands to mix into a soft dough.
Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and kneed until smooth. Place into a lightly oiled bowl, cover with cloth and put in a warm place until dough has doubled in size (about 1 hour).
Use your fist to punch down dough then kneed until it returns to its original size. Lightly grease two pizza trays. Divide dough into two portions. Roll each out thinly to fit trays.

MEAT SAUCE
500g minced lamb, chicken or beef
2 cups chicken, vegie or lamb stock
1-2 cups water
chopped/minced failsafe vegies such as carrot, cabbage, swede, celery
parsley, chives. About 2tbsp. Rosemary if tolerated.

Put oil in saucepan. Stirfry garlic and leek til soft. Add meat and brown. Add other vegies and mix about 5 mins. At this point I put into slowcooker. Add stock (good stock is essential) and water. Add salt to taste. Add herbs. Slowcook 6 hours if in a hurry but I usually do at least 24, topping up stock/water as needed. If you need to thicken take 2tbsp of the cooking liquid, add 2-3 tbsp cornflour. Mix to combine. Stir back into meat mixture. Let thicken.

TOPPING

I infused some oil with rosemary and parsley and brushed the pizza base with it (makes it quite moist). I then added...potato and leek soup! It was very thick and makes a great base. I then added meat sauce (also use for pasta etc). Sprinkled with chives and baked in oven at 200 degrees for approx 25 minutes.

SAN CHOI BAO
INGREDIENTS
Meat sauce-I used a lamb one
cabbage 1/2-1 cup finely chopped
Lettuce leaves, washed and whole
1-2 cloves garlic
Rice noodles
Rice
Grated carrot, optional

Method
Prepare rice noodles by soaking in cold water til soft. Cut into bite sized strands. . Heat 1 tbsp oil in wok, crush and stirfry garlic one minute. Add cabbage and stirfry two-three minutes. Mix noodles and meat sauce together. Add to cabbage and stir til heated through.
Put some rice, white or brown in centre of each plate. Put lettuce leaf on top. Fill with meat and noodles, top with carrot, parsley/chives. Roll up and eat!

BEST EVER BANANA BREAD
This is mostly failsafe, depending on how well you tolerate LSA Mix (sunflower,,linseed and almond ) and amines in banana. Flour could be substituted instead for LSA and stewed golden delicious apple instead of banana.
INGREDIENTS
1.5 cups mashed banana
.5-1 cup maple syrup
.5 cup oil
2 teaspoons baking powder
2cups plain flour
1.5-2 cups LSA mix

METHOD
Grease loaf pan/cake tin
Combine ingredients & pour into loaf pan.
Bake on 180 for 55 mins or until cooked

Baby signing update

2009-10-23T03:53:00.000-07:00

Rose learned four new signs today from reading a baby signing book with photos. She now knows 'apple', 'cereal', 'icecream' and 'bib'.
I go some photos of her going through all her signs. She gets so much joy out of communicating.
Here are some pics
Signing 'Cereal' -hands up, finger and thumbs form an 'o' shape

'Eat'-Fingertips to mouth

'House'-Hands make a triangle shape with fingertips touching

'Icecream'-Hand in a fist, tonge out 'licking' fist

Bit of a rant

2009-10-21T04:23:00.000-07:00

Rose has added another couple of words to her repetoire-'Sho' (shoes) and 'se' (swing). Oh, I forgot too, tonight she copied Sholtz and kept saying 'foo' (foot) and grabbing her foot. She's very interested in her body at the moment. Keeps pointing to everything and asking what the word is. She like sto do this with me when she's feeding. Very cute.
And we now have 'egg', 'house' and 'frog' to add to the signs. It astounds me just how fast they learn at this age. I'm in awe!
It's 10pm and it's just me and our resident frogs. Everyone else is asleep. I find the night very soothing, although I'm exhausted. It's the only time I get to think, to breathe. Life with two small children is so busy, I get no time to just 'be'.
Molly....she's so grown up. She really is her own person. I''m finding myself more and more faced with the issue of me vs her. That's not right, it's more what do you do when your child grows, changes and forms their own opinions that don't match yours. Mostly, I'm just so proud of the way she stands up for who she is and what she believes in. She has a very strong view of what is right and wrong and how things should be done. But, up til now we've been the authority (in her mind) on the way things should be. Now, it's her friends. What does one do when their child comes home and says 'I want high heels' or 'I'm putting on my make-up'or 'I love barbies', when your whole philosophy screams at the very thought of consumerism and worse, the sexualisation of little girls. To her at this point, it's 'just'play. Barbies are just a doll that her friends have. But when does 'just play' become a way of life. Do I raise our child to believe that all this stuff is ok? How do I teach her that different families live their lives in all sorts of ways. That what is not ok for us, is ok for someone else's family? Or vice versa?
I rarely buy new clothes for us. We shop at op shops. But when I do venture out to shopping centres I'm appalled at the clothing for young children. Little girls in particular. While boys are mostly army fatigue style (yuck) the clothes for girls are truly disgusting. Bras for girls as young as four. Horribly short skirts, you can rarely buy anything not 'barbie' or 'disney princess' or (shudder) 'Bratz'. What is this teaching our little girls? That dressing like a tart at the age of four is desirable? And then we complain that our children are growing up too fast. That the values of young people are shameful, non-existant. Yet they are force fed this from babyhood.
So far, all we have is alove of barbies and high heels. But it does concern me. Little girls are exposed to a lot these days. How do I find a balance between protecting them from that, and letting them lead their own lives?
This growing up business is hard!

In the garden

2009-10-19T03:26:00.000-07:00

The Spring weather has us spending far more time in the garden. Our vegie garden really is up and running now. Thanks to a huge peppermint gum falling we have a lovely border made from the logs. After months of preparing a no dig patch (see here for info http://www.no-dig-vegetablegarden.com/index.html )we've planted it out beautifully. The spring onions, chives and parsley are going crazy. The asparagus is very small, but happy, as is the bay leaf tree.
Over the last few weekends we've also planted the following
Curry plant
oregano
thyme
chillis
beans
brussel sprouts
leeks
cabbages
marigolds
lavender
potatoes
chocolate mint
mint
apple mint

I also have in pots
sage
pineapple sage
majoram
another bay tree
more lavender
passionfruit vine
grape vines (hmm...ambitious maybe. Shall see how we go with this)

Our huge apple trees are covered in blossoms. They really need to be pruned when the time comes but I don't have the heart! Our pear is struggling along, even has a few
flowers.

Now all I need are the chooks and a goat and we're well on the way!

A week at Apollo Bay

2009-10-05T04:14:00.001-07:00

September 29, 2009
A week at Apollo Bay
As in the title, we have just had the most wonderful week away. The weather was mixed, as it always is there, but we did have some spectacular days and the girls had plenty of beach time. Mol is a seasoned beach goer but this was Rose's first time. She loved the sand-especially eating it! Had her first dip which she did not enjoy. I can't blame her, the water was freezing.

Molly was in her element. There is something about the ocean that is so soothing, and so freeing to the soul.

Molly had her birthday while we were down there and we had a lovely day with some friends, some beach cricket and a rock pool cake. Happy 5th birthday my lovely girl. I still can't believe it!

Rollerskates were a hit!

The cake. Not only was it yummy but Mol spent ages playing 'rockpools' with it afterwards!

Happiness is....

During the week we took a boat out to see the seals. They are such beautiful creatures. Mol loved the boat though did become a little seasick at one point. Rose slept through most of it, waking just as we were leaving the seals. At least she got to see them!

We were also lucky enough to 'chook sit' for a few days. Yummy fresh eggs!

Yep those are blue eggs

At just under 15 months Rose is standing from a sitting position, no holding on to anything. She is so proud! Her 6th tooth has popped through too.

And just coz I love them, some more beach pics

Followed this little guy for ages, swimming along, fishing at the shore where the waves break.

Posted by Mamamoon at 4:47 AM 0 comments

Various pictures

2009-10-02T03:53:00.000-07:00

Taken over the last few months
Mol all dressed up and off to a party

Exploring my new camera. This was when we were burning off a few weeks ago

A picnic up here. Was the most glorious day, the kids had a ball

New hairstyle

The day Rose met Uncle Luke for the first time.

Spring garden

Cool kid!

Riding 'Neigh'

After a big day

Dressing up, and new toy

Molly and Micky

Baby signing

2009-10-01T05:24:00.000-07:00

If you are thinking about it I can't recommend it enough. It just makes life so much easier for us, and Rose. It must be so frustrating to be little, to be trying so hard to make people understand you, and fail. No wonder babies have tantrums! I liken it to when I lived in China, spoke next to no chinese and had to try and make myself understood. I remember the frustration, and at times sheer fury, all too well.
Rose now has an impressive vocabulary.
She can sign:
milk
eat (smacking lips, 'yum')
drink
tired/sleep
more (with word 'mo)
all gone
finished
dog (with sound woof woof/word 'do')
cat (with word ca)
elephant (with sound)
giraffe
koala
kangaroo
bounce (with word bou bou)
cuddle
pain (with sound ow)
hot
cold (with sound brrr)
bird (with word-bir or sound 'tweet tweet))
fish
head
hat
brush teeth
brush hair
duck (with sound 'caca' (quack quack))
bath (with word 'ba')

They're not very refined yet, but they are very clear
She's made some up herself *like eat) but most we have taken from this AUSLAN site.
http://www.auslan.org.au/
These are adult AUSLAN signs which we've used or adapted
The best baby sign language to follow is MAKATON.

Oops...I missed it! My baby's first birthday

2009-10-01T03:57:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics, complete with rather scary looking dog cake. Dogs are Rose's favourite animal. And yep, I do know it looks more like a koala. Being failsafe it's fard to decorate cakes. Have to improvise!
Tata and Rose with new doll

First ever taste of cake (maple syrup cake)

With uncle Ben

Exhausted after a big day

Tiptoe through the tulips....

2009-10-01T03:18:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we had an amazing day. Took the girls to the Silvan tulip festival and they had a ball. They had a special childrens' day yesterday with concerts by Paul Jamieson and 'Bongo' the monkey, Fairy Monica and story telling. Plus the firls loved just climbing teh trees and picking (umm...illegally!) the flowers.

Rose didn't appreciate the animal farm at all. Scared!

Both loved bopping to Paul and Bongo's concert

Fairy Monica and her story telling was Molly's highlight

And just running, playing and enjoying being alive!

Mol drew this butterfly in the sand

Mother of an issue

2009-09-13T05:25:00.000-07:00

OK, here's the deal.
Women can choose to get inductions. For no good reason. Such as this http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sto...38-661,00.html
DOCTORS will on Wednesday induce the birth of Western Bulldog Brian Lake's girl, ensuring the star full-back will be available for the finals.
Lake said he was looking forward to confronting Geelong at the MCG on Saturday and then welcoming the latest addition to his family home for Father's Day.
"I'm excited, but there's a bit of nerves as well," he said.
(anyone see something wrong with this picture?)

Women can get choose to get abortions.

Women can choose to hire expensive OBs to tell them when and how they will have their baby. Yes?
Women can choose to have their baby by elective C-section, even when there is absolutely no health reason. Yes?
Women can choose to have their baby at home with an independent midwife. Yes? Um...no.
You may not agree with these choices, but you generally agree with a womans right to choose. Yes?
So why is it that our government in its infinite wisdome has decided that as of July next year homebirth with a midwife will be illegal???
Since the early 2000s Independent midwives have not been able to get insirance. NOT because homebirth is too risky as you may have seen reported in some places, but because, due to the small nmber of IMs in this country it is not profitable for the insurance companies to do so.
Roxton is introducing new legislation that says all health profs must have insurance.
IM cannot get insurance therefore they cannot practice. If they do they face $30000 fines or time in jail.
Does no one see an issue with this?
How dare a government tell me how and with whom I can give birth
Oh, and just think about this for a second
Tired doctors told to drink coffee

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/health/85...-tired-doctors

A new Queensland Health policy to combat fatigue among health workers recommends doctors drink six cups of coffee per day, according to reports.

The issue of public hospital doctors' working hours is back on the radar after doctors admitted being responsible for the deaths of patients while working up to 80 hours non-stop in an anonymous survey by Salaried Doctors Queensland.

The survey of more than 100 doctors found 59 percent had made mistakes in performing procedures while fatigued, including two which led to the deaths of patients
FEELING HAPPY AND SAFE IN HOSPITAL???

And if you are interested here are some very interesting statistics

http://hoydenabouttown.com/20090902.6454/canadian-study-finds-mothers-babies-much-less-likely-to-be-injured-in-homebirth/
http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/rapidpdf/cmaj.081869 Canadian study finds mothers & babies much less likely to be injured in homebirth

Perinatal Data Collection Unit:

2005 STATISTICS
Source: http://www.npsu.unsw.edu.au/npsuweb.nsf/resources/AMB_2004_2008/$file/ps20.pdf

In 2005, 601 homebirths were reported nationally. It is probable that not all homebirths were reported to the perinatal data collection unit.

Of 601 women who had homebirths in 2005:

- 98.5% had spontaneous vaginal births
- 99.7% of homebirthed babies were liveborn
- 2 foetal deaths out of 601 - 0.3% infant mortality rate

2006 STATISTICS
280,078 babies were born in Australia in 2006

There were 2091 foetal deaths in Australian hospitals in 2006. No babies died at home during planned homebirths.

708 babies were born at home in 2006. The infant mortality rate was 0.0%

560 women in Victoria alone gave birth at home in 2008.

The transfer rate for homebirths nationally is 19%. Some Independent Midwives have a transfer rate of 4%.

1. 31 August 2009

Outcomes of planned homebirths with Registered Midwives versus planned hospital births with midwives or physicians
This study showed a mortality rate of 0.35 per thousand for homebirths and 0.57 per thousand for low risk women in hospitals.

Here is the conclusion:

"Our study showed that planned home birth attended by a registered midwife was associated with very low and comparable rates of perinatal death and reduced rates of obstetric interventions and adverse maternal outcomes compared with planned hospital birth attended by a midwife or physician - less than 1 perinatal death per 1000."

2. 15 April, 2009

Perinatal mortality and morbidity in a nationwide cohort of 529,688 low-risk planned home and hospital births
15 April, 2009
This study concluded, "... planning a home birth does not increase the risks of perinatal mortality and severe perinatal morbidity among low-risk women, provided the maternity care system facilitates this choice through the availability of well-trained midwives and through a good transportation and referral system."

3. June 2005
Outcomes of Planned Homebirths with Certified Nurse Midwives - Large Prospective Study in North America
British Medical Journal, June 2005.
This study of 5418 women who planned to give birth at home in 2000 with a trained midwife showed that -
12% transfered to hospital either during pregnancy or labour (compared to a more than 40% transfer rate out of our birth centres in Australia)
5% had epidurals (compared to 26% of all births in Victoria in 2005)
1.6% had forceps or ventouse (compared to 13% of all births in Victoria in 2005)
3.7% had caesareans (that is about a tenth of the caesarean rate generally in America and Australia)
There were 1.7 baby deaths per 1000, compared with a national average of 4 baby deaths per 1000 in USA and Australia - one quarter of the average.
Conclusions: "Planned home birth for low risk women in North America using certified professional midwives was associated with lower rates of medical intervention but similar intrapartum and neonatal mortality to that of low risk hospital births in the United States."
This is the largest prospective study of planned home births to date.
Quote:
"Despite a wealth of evidence supporting planned home birth as a safe option for women with low risk pregnancies, the setting remains controversial in most high resource settings," note Kenneth Johnson (Public Health Agency of
Canada) and Betty-Anne Daviss (International Federation of Gynecology and
Obstetrics, Ottawa). "Our study of certified professional midwives suggests that they achieve good outcomes among low-risk women without routine use of expensive hospital interventions," conclude Johnson and Daviss.

4. Choosing Between Home and Hospital ********: Home Birth in Britain Can Be Safe
British Medical Journal, March 2000.
Quote: "There has been no intrapartum death and only one neonatal (0-27 day) death in the past 15 years among the estimated 3400 mothers (0.6%) who were booked for home birth when labour started. That home birth has become statistically “safer” than hospital birth is not, of course, unexpected, as high risk mothers seldom press for home ********. There is no evidence that hospital is the safest place to give birth."

5. An editorial from the British Medical Journal, 1996: Homebirth is safe for selected women, with adequate infrastructure and support. This editorial overviews 4 studies that indicate that although it is commonly assumed that hospital based *******ies are safer for mother and child, homebirth is a safe and real option.

6. November 1996
Outcome of Planned Home and Planned Hospital Births in Low Risk Pregnancies: - prospective study in midwifery practices in the Netherlands. British Medical Journal, November 1996
This is a study of 1836 women, considered to be 'low risk', attended by 97 midwives who planned to give birth at home or in hospital in The Netherlands
Results:
There was no relation between the planned place of birth and perinatal outcome in primiparous women when controlling for a favourable or less favourable background. In multiparous women, perinatal outcome was significantly better for planned home births than for planned hospital births, with or without control for background variables.
Conclusions:
The outcome of planned home births is at least as good as that of planned hospital births in women at low risk receiving midwifery care in the Netherlands.

Last week well over 2000 men, women and children (and plenty of babies in slings!) stood in the freezing rain outside Parliament House in Canberra to protest.
The atmosphere was incredible and I was so proud to be a part of this.
Some pics
Rose and I off to the Rally

Mol

At the Welcome to country ceremony.

Walking to the rally

My Tshirts

And Rose's

And here is some video of speeches (no, I didn;'t take it)
http://www.onetruemedia.com/otm_site/view_shared?p=980a51c90e1910cc9ec1f6

Oh, and even more interesting. The government in the UK has just pledged to make homebirth available and affordable for ALL WOMEN WHO WISH TO HAVE ONE
And this in the U.S.A-11,000 IM get indemnity insurance
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/163135.php

Canberra

2009-09-13T02:49:00.000-07:00

I'm sure you've heard of the government's marvellous plan to make homebirth with and independent midwife illegal as of 2010 (and if not, why not??). Naturally this has outraged many people and recently there was a rally held in Canberra 'The mother of all Rallies'. We headed up for the weekend. That deserves a separate post.
Here are some pics from our day 'out on the town.'
At the airport'

Molly trying to watch the DVD in front

Rose slept all the way

At the playground

Fathers' Day

At Questacon

Rose not a fan of the dinosaurs

By the lake

Very appropriate considering why we were here

A wonderful holiday...

Failsafe party food

2009-09-12T21:19:00.000-07:00

Well we have come a LONG way since the early failsafe days. I admit the food was pretty...unpalatable to say the least.
With parties I always try and match our food with whatever the other kids are having.

This is what Mol took to a party she went to yesterday

LOLLYBAG! Made by the wonderful failsafe site 'LITTLE LOLLY SHOP'

*Organic failsafe chips. These are trhe only brand she can tolerate
*failsafe lemonade (just mineral water mixed with a cordial made of sugar, citric acid and hot water)-Add to taste
*Chicken sandwiches
*Sausage rolls
*Fruit kebabs made of banana and apple
*Cupcakes and birthday cake

Recipes
These are adapted from the RPA 'FRIENDLY FOODS' book

POTATO BREAD/ROLLS
2x7 sachets of dried yeast (tandaco brand)
1tbs maple syrp (I don't use white sugar)
2 1/2 cups warm water
3 1/2 cups plain flour (eg orgran)
2 teasp salt
80ml canola/sunflower oil (crisco brand is failsafe)
approx 2 cups mashed potato (no butter/milk added)

Combine yeast, maple syrup and warm water. Let sit in warm place for 10 mins or until it is frothy.
Combine flour and salt
Add Potato
Make a well and add yeast mixture.
Beat well with wooden spoon
Pour into bread tin (or shape into rolls and place on tray).
Put in warm place for around 20 mins or until bread has risen to top of tin/rolls have doubled in size
Place in oven and bake another 30-35 mins. Baste with oil at least twice for a lovely crunchy top.
Enjoy!

For the filling I just placed some cooked chicken, mayo-recipe is somewhere on blog!, and home grown parsley in food processor and whizzed. This is mum's recipe and a huge fave in this house!

Potato pastry is what I use for the sausage rolls
SAUSAGE ROLLS
POTATO PASTRY
400g potatoes peeled, chopped, boiled/steamed and mashed (you need one cup for recipe)
1tbsp canola oil
1 cup gluten free self raising flour or plain flour with baking powder added (2 teasp)
1/2 teasp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg or egg replacer
Combine potato and oil in a bowl. Add sifted dry ingredients and enough egg to mix to a smooth dough. Kneed on floured surface until smooth. Roll dough out into a square and cut into about 3 strips.

FILLING
300g minced chicken
1 egg
40g g/f bread crumbs or rice crumbs
1 spring onion-I don't use this, just lots of parsley!
1/2 tsp salt
water
1 egg
Mix all together

Divide into 3 portions and place on dough. Roll up and seal-use egg brushed onto pastry if you need to. Cut into sausage rolls. Prick with a fork and brush tops with egg. Bake in oven around 180 degrees til done.
They can be cooked and frozen. Then reheated in oven

Cakes!
The icing is coloured with beetroot but don't tell Mol! I use so little that you can't taste it.
The cake is a butter cake recipe but I use maple syrup instead of sugar. Varies from 2/3 cup to a whole bottle. Play around with it.
The top is decorated with a marshmallow

MARSHMALLOW RECIPE
50g powdered gelatin
1 cup cold water
4 cups sugar
2 cups boiling water
1 cup pure icing sugar
1/2 cup maize cornflour-whitewings brand
Could add vanilla if desired

Sprinkle gelatin over cold water
Put sugar and boiling water into a large saucepan. Stir over low heat until sugar is dissolved. Add gelatine mixture. Stir until well combined. Boil steadily without a lid for 15 minutes. This drives away the sulphites-we react. Remove from heat and cool until lukewarm.
Pour mixture into large bowl of electric mixer. Beat on high until white and thick. Pour into two wet 20cm square pans. Put in fridge 1-2 hours. Overnight is better until set.
Sift icing sugar and cornflour together into a bowl. Cutr marshmallows into squares using large wet knife. Remove from tins and toss in sugar mixture. Store marshmallows in layers, separating each layer with waxed paper to prevent sticking.

Catch up

2009-09-12T21:10:00.001-07:00

Again, it's been months. Rose is now nearly 15 months and Molly almost 5.
Here are some random pics of the last few months
Rose-she loves anything even resembling hats

Baby signing-'Cat'. One hand stroking other. She's so proud of this!

Love co-sleeping

Out on the swing

Reading in the bath

Cool girl!

Using a cardboard box to practice walking

Catch up

2009-09-11T21:49:00.001-07:00

Again! Mol is only a week or so from her 5th birthday and Rose is 15 months old. Here are some random pics of the last few months.
Gotta love co-sleeping! This was four nights ago

And they continue to grow

2009-03-06T21:01:00.000-08:00

happily and healthily despite rushing from pillar to post in the past two weeks due to fire threat. We did have a lovely few days down at Sorrento with 'Auntie Co-ee'

Rose is now 8 months, and has just decided she is interested in a bit of solid food. Just potato and rice to start with, and most of it goes on the floor, but it is a new adventure

Down on the Farm

2009-02-28T15:46:00.000-08:00

We had a great day yesterday. Packed a picnic and visited Chesterfield farm on FernTree Gully Road. We loved it. Lovely people, lots to do including feeding the animals, tractor rides, pony rides and a 'show'-demonstration of cattle dogs and shep shearing. The baby animal nursery was a hit, especially the goats (who really do eat anything). Highly recommend!
Our favourite-the baby goats

'Devil goat'

Piglets (and me!)

Ostritch on the tractor ride

Pony ride

Fire

2009-02-24T17:03:00.000-08:00

We have evacuated twice in the last week thanks to an unseasonably dry, hot summer. We have not been in danger, but the fires have been close enough to warrant leaving, to be on the safe side.
Here is what we saw last Monday when we left.

Unsettling to say the least. And quite awe inspiring.

First day of kinder..

2009-02-04T19:07:00.000-08:00

Would not be complete without a spider terrifying said kinder kid and Rose pooing all over the carpet. And me losing the car keys!
It went pretty well. I stayed the whole three hours. Molly did say 'mum I don't need ypu to be here, I'm kicking you out', early on, but as I walked away she came running after me. There were a few bouts of tears, but overall she loved it. In time she'll be more secure and hopefully I will have three hours not sitting on child sized chairs and reading children's books (forgot to bring my own!)

Last days...

2009-02-04T02:24:00.000-08:00

Childhood is full of firsts and lasts (to state the obvious!). Molly starts Kinder tomorrow and I am so excited for her. Sad though, that part of our life has finished..babyhood, I guess. This is the start of at least 14 years of education and she'll never have quite that carefree existence again. 'All grown up' according to her! We are lucky in that we have found a wonderful kinder. She told me last night 'I love it more even than Nanya and Tata's'. The highest praise she could bestow!

The family

2009-01-26T01:10:00.000-08:00

Just some pics
Molly and Micky

Sweeping

Rather large caterpillar

Cricket!

Pre-crawler

Playing Kinder
Baking

Drawing

Dancing to 'Bop in the bath'

The days go by....

2009-01-26T01:00:00.000-08:00

Lots of gardening here. We have half of a 'no dig' vegie patch, and also a new rose garden. The no dig patch is hard work but the seedlings seem happy so far.

RECIPE FOR A NO DIG VEGIE PATCH
First lay newspaper and cardboard over the grass to kill it.

Then a layer of pea staw. Then compost/manure/mulch. Then potting mix. Plant the seedlings. Surround with pea straw.

ROSE GARDEN

Keeping cool

2009-01-21T01:31:00.001-08:00

It's been stinking hot the last few days, so where better to go than the pool?Molly would spend the whole day there if we let her, little fish!

Look who's up!

2009-01-21T01:16:00.000-08:00

On hands and knees. Yep Rose is in precrawl mode, up on hands and knees and very pleased with herself! Rolls everywhere and is starting on te 'backwards shuffle'

Visitors and a present from Nanya

2009-01-18T01:53:00.001-08:00

Walking out onto the balcony I met the birds for breakfast. Red browed fire tails-mum and babies, parrots and two we don't usually get-two galahs!

I had to put this photo in. Molly just loves them. Thanks Nanya!

She was trying to show them off here but Rose was rather partial to the pom pom on her hat.

Warming the house

2009-01-18T01:25:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we had our Housewarming party. What a wonderful day and a beautiful way of making this house really feel like our home. The place was filled with friends, family and children were everywhere!
The few days before were spent preparing. Here is Molly doing the cupcakes. All food was FAILSAFE and was a huge success.

Cake baking is not complete without licking the bowl!

The finished product

Recipe for FAILSAFE Cake or cupcakes
2 cups gluten free self raising flour (we use orgran) or regular sr flour if not gluten free
1/4 teasp salt
125 g nuttelex (or butter of not dairy free)
1/2 cup rice milk (or soy or regular)
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs beaten
Grease cake tin or use patty pans. Preheat oven to 180deg celcius
sift flour and salt. Cream butter and sugar. Add beaten eggs gradually. Add flour mix alternately with milk. Bake. Ice with white icing

WHITE ICING
1 cup pure icing sugar
2 teasp nuttelex, melted
1 tbsp warm water
Mix all together, Spread on cake

The party

We received some beautiful gifts and cards

but Rose just enjoyed the wrapping!

A long and exciting day for a little girl. Letting off steam!

A visit from Caitlin

2009-01-18T01:14:00.000-08:00

Here are some photos of the girls with their cousin, Caitlin (first cousin, once removed to be precise!)

The girls received some christmas presents, Molly a gorgeous book and Rose a beautiful teddy

The weather is getting very hot and our girls have various ways to cool town.
Icypoles are a favourite with Molly as you can see!
alt="Photobucket">

These are FAILSAFE 'Lemon' icypoles. I use 'magic cordial' instead of lemonade. A teaspoon of citric acid, half a cup of sugar mixed with warm water. This is then diluted to cordial which I freeze to make icypoles. A real hit! Sometimes I do half magic cordial, half 'ricecream' (rice milk icecream) to make half and halves.

Rice milk icecream (thanks to Sue Dengate's 'The Failsafe cookbook'
2 cups of cold rice milk (must be cold)
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 tbsp maple syrup or 4 drops pure vanilla
1 tbsp xanthan gum
1 egg or egg replacer
Mix all together and pour into icecream maker. Takes about 15 mins. I then freeze in freezer to finish off. It can be served with caramel sauce (see picture)

Caramel sauce
60g nuttelex
1 cup brown sugar
2 egg yolks, beaten
80ml soy or rice milk (normal if not dairy free)
Melt nuttelex and sugar. Add egg yolks, mixing well. Stir in milk and cook until boils and thickens. Cool and store in fridge. Can also be used in cakes or as a spread.

Rose loves exploring water

Happy anniversary, a garden and a pear tree.

2009-01-18T01:02:00.000-08:00

I tried to post this on our actual anniversary, the 16th, but the photos wouldn't work. Anyway, we spent the day in the garden. We had a few trees cut down for safety reasons and Chris spent the previous day with a hired log splitter cutting them up into smaller chunks.

Seriously hard work, but Molly had a great time watching

and helping to pile the wood in the shed.

Our actual anniversary was spent almost entirely in the garden moving wood and planting a pear tree. Pears are the only real FAILSAFE fruit so I hope it does well!

Rose meanwhile slept blissfully through it in the Ergo.

A lovely day

Rose and baby signing

2009-01-11T12:28:00.000-08:00

I have been signing to our little 6 1/2 month old since birth and yesterday she started signing back! I started with the word 'milk' (made my opening and closing fist and moving hand up and down as you would when milking a cow). For awhile she's been giving me big gummy grins when she sees me do it, but to watch her ask for milk by signing is so wonderful :)
Here she is signing 'milk'

What is 'Failsafe'?

2009-01-10T20:32:00.000-08:00

We have been 'failsafe' for quite a few months now. We are following the Royal Prince Alfred's allergy unit recommendations, only we are also fructose (me only) dairy and wheat free. It means free from additives, preservatives and natural food chemicals called salicylates and amines. Salicylates are in many foods, such as fruit and veg and amines in foods like chocolate and pork.
To understand failsafe one needs to understand the difference between 'allergy' and 'intolerance'. 'Allergy' is an immune system response and is easily diagnosed by skin prick tests. 'Intolerance is much harder to diagnose and can only be done by a full elimination diet and introducing 'challenges'.
Intolerances can show up in many different ways and reactions are usually delayed by a few days which makes the connection very hard to pick up. Intolerances work on a threshold basis. Usually some of these chemicals can be tolerated, but only to a certain point before buildup happens and symptoms appear.
In our case these foods affect us in the following ways
behaviour changes (excessive reactions to things, tantrums, bedwetting, nightmares)
migraines and headaches
stomach upsets
rashes, hives. Bright red cheeks and ears (as in photos), allergy 'shiners' (dark circles under eyes', pale skin
skin and joint pain
In Rose, terrible nappy rash after I consume salicylates

After peach

After mango

After strawberries

After citrus

The difference since we started is huge. Now we rarely have any tantrums, nightmares or bedwetting. Redness in cheeks and ears only since we've been 'challenging' foods. I am rarely achey now and only ever have the odd headache. It is a hard slog as everything must be prepared from scratch and only from certain ingredients (though the list is quite extensive). I have to read lables carefully every time I shop to make sure they are preservative, additive and sal free, but the result has been worth it.

Family Time

2009-01-10T20:25:00.000-08:00

This morning Molly went off for a day of fun with Nanya and Tata. We had a wonderful bushwalk with Rose and the dogs.

Local Flora
Maidenhair fern

Native violet

How to make fairy floss

2009-01-10T20:16:00.000-08:00

For Christmas, Molly received a fairy floss maker and yesterday she and her aunties tried it out. Much fun was had by all! I would highly recommend them to anyone, especially those families with food sensitive children. Only about a tablespoon of sugar per batch and so much fun.
Setting up the FF maker

Molly and aunty Chloe

Relax Max

Rose and Tata

'Knees balancing'

Molly's Favourite pass time....

2009-01-09T15:10:00.000-08:00

Dolls? Hmm...close, swing set? Closer. Vaccuuming? Got it! Yep, our four year olds current favourite pass time is vaccuuming with her friend 'Dyson.' I'm certainly not complaining and they do a fantastic job. Great team!

Molly's favourite 'camera face' at present

Meanwhile in the last two days Rose has started rolling everywhere. It's her first self propelled mode of transport. and she is rather pleased that she can now reach all the interesting things that a floor has to offer.

Bush life

2009-01-07T17:36:00.000-08:00

Living where we do, we see lots of beautiful birds. The most common are the wrens. Apologies for the bad photography. They are not easy to catch!
yellow robbin

honey eater

Red browed fire tail

pair of blue wrens

flowers of the christmas bush

Acacia pods

As they grow....

2009-01-07T17:22:00.000-08:00

I am still amazed at just how quickly babies and young children grow and change. Rose is now 6 months old and starting to roll all over the house, Molly four years old and just about to head off to kinder.
Rose was a tiny 6 pound 4 at birth now she is quite a chubba!

She is so keen to do wshat her big sister does. She insists on having a bowl and spoon of her own much of the time. We did try some rice at 6 months but she's not ready yet, but she loves feeding herself breast milk as you can see!

Molly's favourite thing is still reading, though she is also an extremely active child who loves her swing, trampoline and bushwalking.
Feet OFF the table please!\

At the bush bridge

Very into 'silly faces' at present!

Snuggly

Another day in paradise

2009-01-07T15:36:00.000-08:00

One of the biggest changes for us in 2008 was moving house. We have finished our stint at boarding house living and are back in our beloved hills.
Yesterday was spent in the garden carting wood around. We had three trees cut down so quite a bit had to be done.

Micky and Daisy

Wind In The Willows

2009-01-07T03:26:00.000-08:00

Yeasterday we went into the Botanical Gardens to see Wind in the Willows. We made a day of it and took a picnic in on the train. Molly loves train travel and it is far less stressful than riding in the car with a 6 month old who hates being confined in a car seat!
The day was wonderful. The play fantastic, engaging kids and adults alike. Molly fell in love with 'Moley' and would happily have taken her home! Afterwards we visited the Ian Potter Children's garden where Molly had a ball in the water sprayers. Perfect on a 30 degree day. All in all a highly sucessful day!

Molly and 'Moley'

Molly, 'Otter' and 'portley'

Picnic in the gardens

Puffing Billy

2009-01-07T03:18:00.000-08:00

I think I've caught up with as much as I can..sooo...last weekend. Wonderful. Saturday we went to Puffing Billy and Emerald Lake Park with friends. The kids had a ball and it was perfect weather.

Jude with Rose

Will and Sholtz

Georgia and Molly

Molly and Rose

2009-01-07T02:31:00.001-08:00

More pics!
First smiles

Meeting Auntie laura

Just some fave pics!

On the quilt I made

Rose's first swim

Molly and tata

At Mike and Wendy's wedding

'shower cap twins'

Molly and her Rose
sion

footy at South road with Mike

Father's day piano cake

More Rose

2009-01-07T01:52:00.000-08:00

Just for Fun!
Mercy Birth Centre

First Feed

Meeting Tata and nanya

And grandma Ginny

Snuggles

With the blessingway necklace made by a friend from 'Intuitive Parenting'

Rose..welcoming party

2009-01-07T01:46:00.000-08:00

We officially welcomed Rose when she turned a month old. She was unimpressed, sleeping through the majority of it, but it was a lovely day.

Present from Molly-'Miffy'

With Nanya

A tribute

2009-01-07T01:27:00.000-08:00

Molly has been asking me for pictures of her great granny whom we lost a few weeks before Rose was born. Here are some of thew most amaziong, vibrant ond wonderful people I will ever know. Granny.

A year in pictures

2009-01-07T00:50:00.000-08:00

As the title says!
Go swans!

Molly in the favourite sleep suit

Molly and Mummy in the patchwork quilt I made

Says it all really

Molly having just 'given birth'

Baby in the sling

9 Months pregnant

Molly at Waves

Kindergym

Tata's Birthday

Lotus transition/birth

2009-01-06T18:04:00.000-08:00

I thought I'd explain a little about lotus birth or transition.
Lotus birth is the practice of leaving cord attached to the baby after birth (no cutting) and allowing it to separate of its own accord. There are quite a few cultures that practice this and it is a very gentle transition for the baby.
With Rose we are blessed with a very long cord (midwives said they'd never seen such a long one) which made it easy. After birth the placenta was set in a seive over a bowl to drain.

In the morning I washed it, patted it dry and wrapped it in a nappy 'parcel' for the car trip home. Most people choose to treat the placenta with sea salt, but I used dried rosemary from our garden instead. Twice a day at least the placenta was treated by rubbing the rosemary in. I also sprinkled lavender essence on it. Both help to dry the placenta out and stop any smell. Unfortunately, because we had Mol wanting to hold Rose so much the placenta had to be wrapped most of the time and left in a parcel on Rose's tummy so that the cord didn't pull, so it didn't dry the way it should have. Lotus placentas should be aired as much as possible.

Molly examining the cord and planenta on Rose's first morning home. She was fascinated!

Rose with cord and 'placenta parcel'

Rose with cord drying around a cloth. It is wrapped around the cloth because it is extremely tough when dried and if left straight is impossible to manouver for nappy changes etc

Notice how quickly the cord dries and shrinks.

Rose and I just after the cord separated

The separation was quite amazing to watch. We had rarely heared Rose cry, but on the third night she cried and cried for about 5 mins, then all of a sudden it was as if someone had flicked a switch. It was instant peace. Then we realised that the cord had separated. Rose smiled and fell asleep.

Changes...changes

2009-01-06T17:47:00.000-08:00

Oh what a disgrace that it's been a year since I updated this! And what a year it was too, with the birth of our beautiful daughter Rose Amelia. Born 28th June at near midnight. It was a beautiful, healing birth in so many ways. She was also born 'in the caul' which apparently means she'll never drown if the old tales are to be believed.... We had a lovely, peaceful lotus transition also, which means the cord was not cut at birth but was left to dry out and separate on its own (baby and placenta are left as one unit until this happens). All in all it took about 3 days, very quick.
Here are some pictures of her after birth.
New born

Daddy and Rose

Molly and Rose

Molly just adores her little sister and Rose thinks she is the best thing in the world. We are very, very lucky.

Home again

2008-01-21T01:06:00.000-08:00

We haven't stopped since we got home either!

Here are some pics of a family dinner. Luke (brother) who lives in Ireland, Laura (youngest sister) who lives in Queensland and Chloe, a first year resident doctor and myself the night before Luke flew back to Ireland.

Last weekend was packed also.
On Saturday we headed down to Frankston to see the sand sculptures. Absolutely amazing and huge. Depicting fairy tales from all over the world.

The Little Mermaid

Molly's favourite-Aliced in Wonderland

Gumnut babies

The Wizard of Oz

Gulliver's Travels

And Molly getting creative!

On Sunday we visited 'Ginny' and 'Dang' (her grandparents) where she had a great time reading Mr Men books (favourites), then to the park to feed the ducks. Molly befriended one little brown pigeon which was very tame (or well fed!!)

Here is a pic of a Morning Glory, some of my favourite flowers. They close at night then 'wake' again in the morning. A vine of open flowers looks stunning

We then headed into the city to our favourite restaurant-the Noodle House in China Town, then to the TianJin Kite Festival.
Molly eating dumplings

Face painting at the festival-a butterfly (first face paint)

Watching the Lion Dance

Then back home where she decided she wanted to ride her Christmas bike. Up til now she's refused to wear a helmet, but now we can't get it off her!

Holidays

2008-01-20T18:19:00.000-08:00

After Christmas we headed off for two glorious weeks holiday. The first week we spent in a caravan park in the Grampians. Lots of swimming in natural pools, bushwalking and BBQs. It was 40 degrees plus every day we were there so we couldn't do anything much after about 11am but we packed plenty in.

Molly and friends at the wildlife park

Bushwalking at Beehive Falls. Molly insisted on doing most herself...trouper!

Picnic at the falls

Artistic shot. I loved the light and the way the moon was framed by the trees

Wildflower

The Aboriginal people call this time of year 'Butterfly Season' which I think is beautiful. And there were butterflies everywhere

Kisses for Mummy

At Venus baths. We took a picnic up there two mornings and swam. Bliss!

The moss made a natural water slide....

...even teddy had a go!

Tummy shot 3 1/2 months

Cooling off

A friend

We then had a week at Apollo bay. More swimming and bushwalking and Molly had her first games of beach cricket

Handstands

Sandy face!

Bushwalks at Paradise

We also visited a carnival and Molly won some new friends there-'Bluey the teddy' and 'Blackie the poodle'

On the way home from AB we visited a fairy park, a place I can remember going to as a child. The unique playground was the highlight for Molly!

A few days after we returned home we were off again! This time to the Dandenongs. It was out anniversary and my lovely husband had organised two nights at a B and B as a surprise. It was beautiful.

Daddy with his bock tower

Mummy and Molly by the fire

We did do bushwalking also but I didn't have the camera..for once!

We're back!

2008-01-20T18:08:00.000-08:00

Wow, it has been a busy few months!
Christmas was wonderful. Spent with family at Lindenderry, thanks to my wonderful grandmother and everyone had a ball. The swimming pool was a highlight for Molly. Unfortunately I mislaid my camera and didn't find it until the evening, but here are some of the pictures I did get.

The Sunday before Christmas we had a 'Christmas tree day' at Mum and dad's.
Auntie Laura and Molly

Even Winnie joined in...

Christmas Eve was wonderful also. We watched Carols by Candlelight and Molly loved dancing to the music. We put out home made cake and milk for Santa and some carrots for the reindeers. We have chosen to tell Molly the St Nicholas story (the original Santa) and do the Santa thing also. It's such a magical part of childhood and I love magic :)

Molly and daddy by the christmas tree (complete with homemade angel)

Christmas morning was amazing. Presents is the word I think. She got so much, the highlights being her very first bike and a wooden fruit and vegie cutting set.

Here is Molly after Christmas lunch in the pool at Lindenderry

and conked out after a very exciting and busy day!

Christmas creativity

2007-12-17T16:52:00.000-08:00

Our little elf has had so much fun getting ready for Christmas this year. We went out and purchased the tree and Molly picked it out herself. We didn't have many decorations but we made many ourselves and picked the rest up in an op shop. Molly helped me make the Christmas angel for the top.

Showing Dorothy the tree

Decorating the baby tree 'Nanya' gave us last year

Handmade christmas decorations

And the angel!

We made lots of the decorations out of playdough, baked on a very low heat in a slow oven and painted. The angel was made out of an old pizza base (the wings), a tube from the glad bake, and some left over craft paper and wool (who says recycling's not fun?)

We also had a great time making gingerbread and a christmas cake.
Here is molly 'choonging' the almonds out of their skins. A family tradition that goes way back :)

cutting up up the cake ingredients.

And licking the beater

Making gingerbread

We also made many of our christmas pressies ourselves and Molly loved helping me put together the hampers

A snuggly caterpillar resting after all that hard work

Outings

2007-12-16T13:57:00.000-08:00

We have had a few outings lately. We took Molly to the zoo a few weeks ago for a lovely picnic and to say hello0 to the animals. It was a million and one degrees but people were everywhere. It's a popular place for christmas parties it seems! Molly had a ball though and there are beautiful shady areas everywhere.
The only photos we got were of fake animals though!

Merry Christmas!

We have also been spending a lot of the time at the beach as the weather has been so hot.

In the 'Molly pool'

Fish!

New growth

2007-11-27T01:02:00.000-08:00

Apologies for such a long absence. I have been very sick with Morning Sickness, which, thankfully seems to be subsiding slowly. Yep, baby number two on the way! Molly alternates between excitement and 'No way'. A fairly normal reaction!

It has been a busy few months. As you can see finger painting has featured highly (thanks Aunties!)

Molly also loves drawing
Here is part of her name that she drew on the blackboard

Dressing up

A ride with Daddy Bear

And in the vegie garden...
Our snow peas have been absolutely laden

As is the passionfruit vine

The apple tree has baby apples

We have had heaps of lettuce, spinach and lots of delicious baby carrots. The beans were doing well before the heat really hit, but hopefully they will come back.

A basket full of goodness

A day in the hills

2007-10-28T02:56:00.000-07:00

Today was our day off so we took off...to the gorgeous Dandenongs. It was very nostalgic for us as it is where we used to live.
We started at a fair they have every year at Upwey called 'Kidfest'. Molly had a ball, I think we all did.
Here she is with the animals
'So wooly mummy!'

In the ball pit (she went back for more)

And on the mini train-a huge hit!

And having lunch. Felafel and pizza , plus an freshly sqeezed organic apple juice and an organic apple and orance icypole to finish

Kidfest is a real community effort, with stalls from the local kinders, ABA, Multiple birth association, demonstrations about native wild life, local businesses and more. I can't recommend it highly enough.

Afterwards, we went to our old park. It is at the end of our old street and we used to walk there most days
Molly at the bubbler-it was a HOT day

Amongst the daisies

At the upper pool

Climbing the trees

And some feathered friends-a mum and three very curious babies

And a white rhodedendron

When we got home Molly cooled off in the wading pool (the water went on the vegie garden).

Summer Calls

2007-10-19T02:07:00.000-07:00

We have had our first real 'summer' (oops, I just wrote, 'Simmer'...freudian slip??) weather in the last week. Yesterday was our first real beach day. It was unplanned but we spent most of the morning down there. It was wonderful. We padddled, built sand castles and 'molly pools', watched seagulls and Molly was intrigued by the mass of jellyfish that had washed up. All in all a beautiful and memorable morning.

Here she is sampling sea lettuce. She spat it out but kept coming back for more!

Rainbows and Vegies

2007-10-19T01:45:00.000-07:00

I recently bought Molly a suncatcher from Ebay. Hand made and just gorgeous. Quan Yin (protector) and moonstone and rose quartz crystals. Molly just loves her 'rainbow room'. So much so that I plan to get more and hang them all over the house.

In the vegie patch we are now picking snow peas, carrots, spinach and lettuce and use the tops of the onions in salads. The tomatoes are flowering, the bean plants shooting, the passionfruit is absolutely covered in flowers, although last year the resident possum (lives in the passionfruit vine!) ate the lot. I have just planted a third patch with lemongrass, zucchini, spring onions and strawberries. I have also purchased a dwarf apple tree (Ballerina apple) and a dwarf lemon tree, both covered in flowers. I plan to get a dward peach tree too. We are renting so I want to be able to take them with us when we leave. I hope that by Christmas we will be relatively self sufficient in the vegie stakes anyway. Will have to wait awhile before I can plant an orchard and have chooks.
Apple tree blossom

Our spinach is huge!

Basil

Cabbage plant. Isn't it lovely?

Assorted babies

Snow peas...mmmm

Here is Molly helping me put the pea straw down

The weather has meant that Molly is spending most of her time outdoors...the way it should be!
Here she is in her 'monkey' pose

And on the jumping mats

And with Tata...he was teaching her a new song. Lots of giggles

Molly's Pet slug

2007-10-08T03:38:00.000-07:00

Well that's what she thought when she came home from an afternoon with 'Tata' to discover mummy and daddy had found a slug in their organic cauliflower. She was very interested in her 'pet slug.' Not around my vegie garden!! But we found him a lovely home in the daisies in the front yard, well away from the precious veg patch. Molly did 'pat' him before he trundled off to a new home. I think she prefers her dogs though.

Last night I made a yummy veg pie for dinner and made jam tarts ( a rare treat!) out of the pastry. We had the pie with freshly picked spinach, lettuce and parsley made into a salad. Enjoyed by all.

We spent a lovely morning down at great Granny's place this morning. Mainly playing in the garden. Molly was fascinated by the crows. They are beautiful birds. We watched them wash their food in the bird bath before eating it, then scraping their beaks clean on the roof and rinsing them in the water after they had finished. Such manners!
Molly and Granny had fun playing ball and playing on 'Neigh' the old (but refurbished) rocking horse. I used to love him when I was young...still do :)
With Neigh

In the garden

Swim baby swim!

2007-10-06T01:56:00.000-07:00

How proud I was of my little girl this week. She had an intensive swim class every morning, juts for half an hour. She just loves swimming but is terrified of putting her face under, so much so that she wasn't doing anything even remotely related to getting even a splash on her face. So I thought swimming every day with a teacher she loves and trusts (apart from us!) would help. And it did. She still won't put her face under but she isn't afraid any more. And she swims like a champ! She is in 'seahorse' class-for 3 years and up. The three other kids in her class were all a year older, but Molly was teriffic. She cried the first two days but didn'tr want to get out, she was just worried that she'd have to put her face under. Once she realised that wasn't happening she had a ball. And she seems to be a natural swimmer, she just looks so at home in the water. And most importantly, she adores it. She's always happiest in water (comes from being a water birth?!)
Here she is on her first day, her first time in the pool without me

With daddy in the wave pool on her second day

Daddy writing her a swim school song

Thumbs up!

Through the hoop on day two

On her 'horsie'

With her fishie

With teacher Lisa

Floating

Boo!

Bubble blowing

High Five from Lisa

Wow, my first ever certificate!

I was just so proud of her, not because she 'won' anything, but because she was so scared, but she still tried it and came through the fear. Well done Molly!

Beach Holiday

2007-10-04T15:03:00.000-07:00

Well, we have been busy! Apologies for the lack of photos.
Last week we spent a few days down at Apollo Bay, wonderful time. Lots of beach and rain forest walks and not doeing much in particular.
Molly particularly loved the rain forest and walked like a little trouper. She complained that the beach was 'too sandy' although did enjoy running from and (eventually) paddling in the waves until her feet turned blue! We had a full moon on the last night and watching it shine a path over the water was truly spectacular.
We visited a water fall, saw rabbits, wallabies, hopping mice and lots of birds...plus some beach snails!

Quiet time with daddy

Beach baby

Molly at sunrise..with feathered friends

Rain forest canopy

Tall trees!!

Hopetoun Falls

Beach friends

Worn out

Full moon over the water

We got back to find out vegies towering giants! We have already picked (and eaten) lettuce and carrots. Out passionfruit has flowers, our potatoes are poking their heads up for the first time, baby figs and lemons are growing rapidly and our peas are flowering. Molly had fun with her friend Nicky on the weekend doing the watering
.

Passionfruit flowers

Baby figs

Pulling carrots

I got one!

Give it a wash

Yum!

Happy birthday Sweetheart!

2007-09-23T22:22:00.000-07:00

3 today. I can hardly believe it! We had a wonderful party yesterday complete with Mr Strong cake, pig, frog and flower cupcakes, dress ups and a whole lot of fun! All the kids got on really well, they are a beautiful bunch. It was just a wonderful, wonderful day.
Here she is the morning before admiring Mr Strong and eye-ing off the cakes!

And let the party begin!
She and her friend Zoe reading 'The hungry Caterpillar' The girls are inseparable.

Blowing out the candles and cutting the cake

YUM!

And play time-The kids had a ball with the dress ups

The wand in this pic was made by Finn, the little boy here

Two of Molly's 'hills buddies'-the most gorgeous boys!

Quiet time after the party

And this is this morning opening Mum and daddy's presents
Three books, A Mrs Potato head and a doll I made that Molly calls 'Little Bo Peep'

The day before

2007-09-22T04:08:00.000-07:00

Busy busy! It's the day before Molly's third birthday party.
Here she is helping me with the cupcakes. We made flowers, frogs and pigs.

I also finished her 'Mr Strong' cake. Unusual choice for a 3 year old but she loves the Mr men series and Mr Strong is a favourite.

And soaps made for the gift bags. Molly wanted yellow so yellow lavender soap with teddy embeds it is!

We have spent a lot of the last few days out in the garden and she actually picked our fist vegies yesterday-some lettuce that we picked to thin them out, give the others room to grow. She usually doesn't eat lettuce but she gobbled this down and asked for more!

And the third vegie patch. You can see the different layers-paper, straw mulch, t-tree mulch. Not ready for planting yet.

And I know these are weeds but they are so beautiful

And finally...a trampoline shot

Trampoline trials

2007-09-19T00:37:00.000-07:00

For Molly's birthday we chose to buy her a trampoline. Great idea except that we had to assemble it.
Ah.
Enlisted the help of 'tata' (grandpa') and he and Sholtz spent a good three hours putting it together. Not a good start when the instructions included are
a) Not in english
and b) are not the right ones

This last photo was taken in howling wind and rain.

And in the kitchen...
This recipe is from another NP friend (thanks Kristi!) and is delicious! Laura, you especially should love this

Lentil, spinach and rice balls

Take
One cup of rice
One-1 1/2 cups of spinach
1/2 cup cheese, grated. More if wanted/needed
1/2 cup breadcrumbs (or more if needed)
One onion
Garlic
Half-One cup lentils (or a tin-wash them well!)
any other vegies you can find. In this I used a small amount of carrot and broccoli

If using dried lentils place in a saucpan of water and boil until done. Drain and set aside
Chop the vegies including spinach
In a pan or wok sautee the spinach until just wilted. Take out and set aside
Sautee the garlic and onion for a few minutes only, just til transparent
Add other chopped veg

Put vegies and lentils in blender and blend until smooth paste has formed.
In a bowl put the rice and mix in with the breadcrumbs.
Add cheese and vegie/lentil mix and stir through until combined
Roll into balls and roll in flour until coated (lightly!)
Cook in pan for a few minutes until lightly browned.
I put the balls on a bed of spinach leaves garnished with sliced apple, avocado and tomato
YUM!

Birthday bustle

2007-09-15T20:09:00.000-07:00

One week to go until Molly's third birthday. As she is currently afraid of the vaccuum, blender, and mixer and also has gone off cooking (used to love it) it has been impossible to get much done. I did make and freeze some patty cakes last week but she cried so much at the mixer noise it wasn't worth it.
So...this morning Sholtz took her out (park, ducks, grandparents) and I got moving! Have made a chocolate layer cake (I was going to make a plain vanilla cake but she insists on chocolate, and, after all you are only three once :) ), batches of gingerbread animals plus a gingerbread hat for her Mr Strong cake, two batches of soap (one is for the party bags-lavender and mesissa. YUM!) plus done all the house work. Not a bad days work all up.
Here are results of the kitchen frenzy
Gingerbread animals and hat. Mmm...love that smell!

Layer cake (will look much better when iced)

Soap cooling in the mould

and the finished product-Lavender and Melissa soap with coloured embeds

And leftover soap that has been remelted and will be used in our bathroom

Poor teddy-he didn't quite get covered-looks a little odd!

Here is Miss Molly in the nighty her grandmother made for her. She just loves it.

Meet our 'Feeling Friends'

2007-09-12T03:31:00.000-07:00

These came into our lives yesterday. Molly and I were shopping for party groceries yesterday when I saw these on sale. Out of all the animals they had Molly chose these two and named the 'Scarlet (bear) and 'Scrap' (dog). We have been talking about feelings a lot lately and doing role plays but I wanted to get her two special toys which we use specifically for this-thus the 'Feeling Friends'! Molly loves them.
Here she is with them on the swing set.

Our garden survived the down pour of the other day and is thriving. Here is Molly doing the watering a few hours before it bucketed down.

On a sad note though, the two boxes of vegies that I had in the front yard have been dug up by the dogs!

We had a very busy day this morning. We went swimming with 'Tata' for a few hours this morning. Uusally she has a 'back bubble (like floaties only attached to her back) but I took it off to adjust it and just didn't put it back on. She was fine. We are working on confidence in the water. She is such a little fish but is terrified of putting her face under. So we are doing lots of role play at bath time and playing games to help with this.

With peas and beans and lemon trees....

2007-09-10T05:20:00.000-07:00

RAIN! Beautiful rain. We had a downpour this afternoon. Only an hour after Molly and I had diligently watered the vegie patch. It will either drown my poor seedlings or they will really shoot up.

Here are our lettuce seedlings. How they have grown! They are mixed with some carrots too.

Here are my carrots, just starting to get that feathery top. Molly planted them so they are very squished!

Veg patch number one plus Micky

And veg patch number two. Most of 2 is still a work in progress but there are some vegies planted by the fence.

Our lemon tree is there too, but it isn't doing so well. It has heaps of flowers and baby lemons, but it drops them all before they reach maturity. Too little water? Needs a feed? Will have to look into that.

Here is some parsley that a friend gave me some cuttings of. It grows incredibly quickly!

Molly had a lovely time on the swings this afternoon. No more helping from mum. Everything has to be done herself. And can the girl go!!

How does your garden grow....?

2007-09-09T03:21:00.000-07:00

Another beautiful day here again and with all this gorgeous weather everything is just GROWING!
I took some photos of our garden and some special plants in it.
Here is a cherished orchid that belonged to my grandmother. It lived up in the hills with us and now is doing very nicely down by the beach. It started flowering a few days ago.

Isn't it gorgeous!

And here is the hibiscus that Chris gave me when we found out I was pregnant. It too has just started unfurling its leaves and seems to enjoy beach living.

As for growing and multiplying, we have been inundated with fruit flies!
It is like living in a tropical jungle by day, and by night our ceilings are covered in little black clusters. Molly is rather bemused and the dogs have a great time chasing them. They are clean enough so don't bother me.

Our vegie garden is growing so fast. The lettuce seedlings will be ready to transplant next week. The peas are growing the fastest though and some are flowering already. Since putting the organic dust on them we have had no more trouble with little nibblers either which is great.

Bop in the bath...and the chop!

2007-09-07T03:34:00.000-07:00

We have had two wonderful days here. The weather has been just beautiful (though no sign of rain), the scent of flowers is in the air..ahhh!
Yesterday Molly chose to forgo playgroup and asked to go swimming instead. So off we went. And had a ball. Also had a huge breakthrough. She has been terrified of putting her face under, or even having water anywhere near her face. But yesterday, during game playing I just gently ducked her. And she came up smiling! No tears at all. This we did quite a few times. I was so proud! And so was she. She's looking forward to showing everyone in her swimming lesson on Monday :) We spent hours in the garden after her sleep yesterday. Just playing, watering the garden and having fun. She slept til 3 so didn't go to bed that night til after 10. But it was a lovely day.

Today we had our first appointment with the osteopath. We had been seeing chiropractors since she was born, but the last visit we had Molly was in absolute terror. This osteo/cranial sacral therapist was reccommended to us, so off we went. Molly was very scared and in tears when we went in. But the osteo (Beth), was so lovely. Did nothing for the first ten minutes but talk and reassure Molly. She treated me first and reassured whenever Molly looked concerned. She stopped quite a few times to just talk and play with her. The treatment itself was bliss. Very like reiki. I could have fallen asleep! Molly slowly relaxed and had a wonderful time playing, reading and doing drawing. Bieth commented that it was nice to see a child so imaginative. She said she rarely sees it. Very sad. Evils of television at work. Molly satt with me and we read stories while she had her treatment. Afterwards she got a sticker and a balloon and came out smiling. She has talked about Beth all afternoon.

We visited the playground on the way home. This afternoon we had a lovely bubble bath. I use some lovely organic bubbles from 'Cherub Rubs'. Beautiful essential oils in them and suitable for everyone, even infants. The bubbles don't last long but are lovely while they do!
Here we are enjoying the water.

The other huge change in our lives today is Molly's hair. After battling with the brush for far too long now I had to give up and admit defeat. For a child who won't let me near her with a brush her hair was just too long. She's three in a few weeks and had never had a haircut. I'd raised the issue of a haircut with her a few days ago and met with very strong resistance. 'NO mummy, later!' Today I bit the bullet and did it. I chopped of her beautiful curls. At 3.20 this afternoon to be precise. She was upset at first, but I used heaps of distraction (namely the dreaded teletubbies-on before 'Playschool' and half a chocolate brownie). It's not the neatest job in the world, but it'll do and am quite pleased with it. And Molly is proud of her 'big girl haircut.'
Here is a pic of her hair a few days ago

and here is the 'new do'.

We collected all her 'choppings' and they are currently residing in a little plasic bag until I find a final resting spot.

Happy Father's day!

2007-09-05T04:28:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day!
Snuggles with Daddy

Giggles with 'Tata'

We had a wonderful day on Sunday. Molly gave daddy a home made book of 'Mollya nd Daddy' photos and a gorgeous picture book called 'No kisses for Daddy'. We had a pancake and hot chocolate breakfast then Sholtz took Molly to the in-laws in the morning (with a lengthy visit to the playground and the ducks also on the agenda!) Then Mum and dad came over mid-morning for tasty treats and a play with Molly. All was going swimmingly until our darling dog Daisy got out. She's always been a runner, ever since we got her from the RSPCA (I suspect that's why she was there in the first place as she is the sweetest animal) but while we loved in the bush it didn't matter. Down here, differnt story as we are on an extremely busy main road. So there were 'Nanya' (grandma) and I running up and down the streets in the middle of a rather hot day calling for the dog who, of course, didn't come. (Another of her endearing traits is listening to someone call her then obligingly bolting off in the opposite direction!). So then the cavalry was called in. Tata (grandpa) and Husband drove around in cars with about as much success as the women! By this time poor Molly was exhausted so I put her to bed. Five minutes later (over 3 hours since she'd gone missing) Sholtz turns up with Daisy who has decided to come home and is loitering by the gate. All well that ends well!! Can't say Father's day wasn't eventful :) And wasn't daisy tired!

Molly, Daisy and Micky having a cuddle

Bits and pieces

2007-09-05T04:04:00.000-07:00

I thought you might like to see some updates of my little daughter.
I have been inspired by a wonderful person on NP (Natural Parenting) to get moving with crafts that are both fun and help to nurture the planet.
We had aour first go at making soap. So much fun! The first batch was a disaster-too much essential oil and too much stirring. I have kept that lot for our own use as it still smells good :) The second batch, a honey and green tea with embeds turned out perfectly. Here is Molly inspecting the great creation!
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a236/reikiaquamarine/Molly/Picture3202.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a236/reikiaquamarine/Molly/Picture3201.jpg

A few weeks back I dusted off my sewing box and, from some old materials (dressing gown and jacket) made this.
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a236/reikiaquamarine/Molly/Picture2878.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a236/reikiaquamarine/Molly/Picture2879.jpg

Molly calls her 'Brittany Bear'. No oil painting but beautifully cuddly! Molly picked out the materials (I love the eyes especially!). It took half a day to make as I sew by hand, and Molly loved her.
I have also finished making a sock doll from Molly's Birthday. I am pretty proud of her as I do so little sewing. Will post a pic soon.

Here is our first vegie patch, minus the mulch which has now been put on.
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a236/reikiaquamarine/Molly/Picture3208.jpg

We planted peas, carrots, onions, cauliflower, tomatoes, spinach and broccoli.
We have lettuce, beets, more carrots and tomatoes growing in pots. I cheated and purchased most of the plants as seedlings, but the carrots and lettuce we have grown from seed. Here is Molly planting and watering the seeds a few weeks ago
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a236/reikiaquamarine/Molly/Picture2887.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a236/reikiaquamarine/Molly/Picture2890.jpg

And the first shoots appear!
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a236/reikiaquamarine/Molly/Picture3206.jpg
All this beatuiful sunshine and they are growing bigger every day. In a few weeks we will replant them into the second veg patch that I have nearly finished.

First things first

2007-09-05T04:01:00.000-07:00

It's about time I did this. Hello to Luke and Laura in particular. Maybe this will make up a little for my complete lack of emails! So...enjoy :)