The Sunshine Award.

The Sunshine Award awarded to me by the fabulous Mumabulous and the very awesome RoboMum

The Sunshine Award is an award given by bloggers to other bloggers. The recipients of the Sunshine Award are: “Bloggers who positively and creatively inspire others in the blogsphere”. The way the award works is this: Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to them. Answer questions about yourself. Select 10 of your favourite bloggers, link their blogs to your post and let them know they have been awarded the Sunshine Award!

Wow thanks Mumabulous and Robomum!!

I am absolutely in love with blogging.  The writing and the reading.  I have loved every minute of my journey so far.  It really has become a hobby I enjoy.  I love sitting down when the house is quiet and churning out a post whether it be a whinge or a recipe or photos.  Its become a way to capture family memories and also improve my communication skills and keep my brain active!!  I love reading about other peoples experiences and opinions, some are completely different to my own and I love seeing situations from other points of view.

Now the fun part, answering of the questions.

1. Favourite Time of the Year?

Spring and autumn and winter!!  I love the temperatures of spring and autumn and I love winter when I do not have to leave the house and also the winter comfort food!!

2. Favourite Festive movie?

It is not Christmas without seeing National Lampoons Christmas Vacation!!

3. What is your Passion?

Hmmm good question.  At the moment I would have to say my passion is my boys first and foremost.  Followed by music and reading. 

4. Favourite Colour?

Most shades of blue!!  The colour of the sky on a clear day is one of my faves!!

5. Favourite time of the Day?

The moment as I get into bed at night and am just about to fall asleep.

6. Favourite Flower?

Gerberas, frangipani, gardenia, roses, lavender, hibiscus...........

7. Favourite Non-Alcoholic Beverage?

Depending on the time of day or temperature I like hot chocolate, tea, diet lemonade, cordial.  However the one main favourite is my first cup of coffee in the morning. 

8. Favourite Physical Activity?

I don't mind the odd walk but swimming is the thing for me.  I used to do aqua aerobics years ago and found that awesome exercise.  No I did not wear a frilly cossie or a bathing cap!!

9. Favourite Vacation?

Castaway Island Fiji.  That was easy!!

Now I get to choose 10 bloggers and in no particular order they are- drumroll please!!!

Jacana
Mums Take Five
Mrs D's Maunderings
Declutterbug versus Captain Stingypants
My Ranty Pants
Little White Dove
Four Little Piglets
K&Co
Make Me Up Mandy

Here is where I am stuck as not only did I receive this award not once but twice but all the fabulous people I had ready to bestow an award on have already been honoured.  So I am short one and I would love for you guys to nominate one on my behalf. 

Thanks again Mumabulous and RoboMum you guys have made my week!!

FFS Friday- Wardrobe malfunctions and other tales.

Last Saturday was the HOTH's work party, a Sydney harbour cruise.  I glammed myself up.  By that I mean I wore a dress and put some lipstick on.  Note to self- check the weather before leaving the house.  FFS

It was incredibly windy meaning I had to stand in a sheltered spot and hold my dress down to stop it from blowing up over my head.  FFS

I should have known better and worn pants.  FFS

The dress also requires the wearing of a strapless bra meaning my 4 year old maternity ones would not cut it and I needed a new one.  No probs, I got one, all good.  Until the end of the night when it was digging into me so much it left red marks.  FFS

There is a common theme of me and nice clothes and some kind of problem.  Its why I wear shorts, tshirts and thongs everywhere.  FFS

Example 1- We went out earlier in the year to look for house stuff.  It was a hot day and I took the opportunity of leaving the house to wear a nice maxi dress.  We were parked at a super centre thing and had walked a long way from the car when the heavens opened and it pissed down rain.  Not just a little shower but dead set a torrential down pour.  My dress was a little too long and dragged through the water as we ran for the car.  By the time we made it to the car I looked like a drowned rat.  That was our cue to head home, not before the HOTH made me go in and pay for the petrol looking like I had had a shower with my clothes on.  FFS

Example 2- When we went on our city adventure with the kids I again dressed up in a dress and my cute sandals.  I discovered my sandals are not made for walking they just look good.  I had to stop and buy a pair of havis to get home in.  FFS

Another wardrobe malfunction I witnessed which could possibly be some kind of fashion crime or just a complete HELL NO was a girl in a bar in a caftan wearing no underwear.  After the cruise we headed to a trendy city bar.  You know the type, the funky furniture, the weird lighting and the drinks with prices you need to ask twice what the bar tender said as surely $9 for a beer is simply wrong.  Anyway we were all set up at our tables which were near the toilets and a girl walks past and in the wrong light it was clearly apparent that she had no underwear on underneath her flimsy caftan.  FFS

Now a public apology to the HOTH for not pointing this out to him when I saw it.  FFS

We never got home until 230am and Sunday was called early as the day of rest/do nothing.  The baby thwarted these plans by spilling a whole cup of juice, breaking a plate and smashing an empty glass.  All pretty much after I had finished cleaning up from the last spilt/smashed thing.  FFS

Sunday was a long day.  FFS

My kids are smart and convinced our babysitter to open the barrel of play doh I had stashed in the shed.  There is still play doh everywhere.  FFS

That right there is the reason I had it stashed.  FFS

Tuesday saw a certain 3 year old having an absolute meltdown.  I put it down to the fact he ate so much sugar and crap at our playgroup party but now I am thinking hormones??  FFS

I am still waging a war with Telstra.  Wednesday night they call me at nearly 7pm and say my broadband should be good to go.  An hour later and it wasn't.  I get told they will phone back at 12pm Thursday.  I get a call at 6pm which clearly is the new 12pm and I said I could not talk now as I was on my way out the door.  Who calls people with kids between 5pm and bedtime.  Apparently they will be calling today.  FFS

Lastly craziest most extravagant Christmas present for a child/children I have seen so far this year- A $999 cubby house.  FFS

Linking up with Dear Baby G for FFS Friday.

Readers Choice- My Christmas Menu or my dream Christmas day

I do not remember a Christmas where there was not some kind of controversy.  Growing up Christmas was always at our place.  Mum would always cook a massive hot lunch which was fine as we lived in England and various family members would come over depending on who was around etc.  Then we moved here and mum still continues to cook a hot lunch even though it is summer which honestly drives me nuts.  More of my opinions on the topic of Christmas and the cooking of a lunch can be found here!!

 Christmas got a lot quieter as we do not have much family here.  Then I met the HOTH and the joys of dividing Christmas began.  Plus I worked Christmas morning for a lot of years as well so the last 10 odd years have become a living nightmare.  One year we made 4 stops and every year seem to spend half the day in the car. 

Then the kids came along and everyone has to see the kids and we made the decision to only see one side of the family on Christmas day and then swap the next year which worked well in theory but in practise was not a viable option.  The guilt factor from both sides is enough to do my head in.  So for many years I have dreamt of a Christmas day just for us and here it is.

• Wake up around 7am ish.  Open pressies.  Let kids play with the pressies.
• Walk down the road and get some fresh bread rolls, come back and have ham and egg rolls.
• More playing with pressies.  Maybe a quick trip to the park if there are bikes, scooters or footballs involved.
• Head down to the beach with an esky of food for a few hours of fun.
• Come home and Nana naps for all
• Wake up feeling fabulous
• Between 4pm and 6pm have visitors.  Fire up the bbq, make a couple of easy salads and kick back with a few cold bevvies.
• All visitors to be gone by 7pm, kids to bed not long after, more quiet cold bevvies reflecting on how great our day was.

The last few years the reality has been the exact opposite.  We spend Christmas day rushing around like blue assed flies and this year is going to be absolutely no different.  I have come to terms with the fact Christmas is what it is but it still irritates the hell out of me.  Add in potentially having Christmas interstate next year with my family and all the logistics that entails and its no wonder I become a cranky grinch at this time of year!!

Back to the topic of the menu my dream would be something like this

• Ham and egg rolls for breakie
• Ham and salad rolls for lunch
• Bbq something maybe prawns, snags and homemade chicken kebabs
• One Mother Hen's watermelon salad, my mango and bacon salad and a noodle salad. (recipes for these will be up on Monday)!!
• Christmas pudding.  I will try my hand at making one one year!!
• Chocolate truffles
• Key Lime Pie depending on how much time is available the day before to prepare stuff!!

I would love to know what other people do for Christmas and whats on your menu.  If you are a blogger you can link up with Musings of the Misguided and share your menu that way or feel free to comment with whats on your table this year!!

Wordless Wednesday- I grabbed the camera and this is what I got 12/12/12

Bubba cat

 This hibiscus is a battler.  It has survived being dug up by the dogs after we planted it.  We used blood and bone and they love to eat it by the bag!!  Also years of neglect, holes being dug around it for plumbing and not long ago the HOTH sprayed weed killer at the base of it. Still it keeps flowering pretty much all year. 

Chili when we got him 13/10/12

2 months on and some serious amounts of child "care" including digging the dirt around it, being used as a seat by the baby and some serious over watering.  Ta Da!!

Linking up with My Little Drummer Boys for Wordless Wednesday.

Online grocery shopping is my new thing.

Following up from last week which was my giant list.  Hmmm I got a fair amount done although nowhere near finished!!  Some of it was a little out of my control like the wireless modem (nice work telstra) and the craft (it has been too windy to set up glitter etc outside!!) but I am pretty stoked with most of what got done!!  Thanks to everyone for the comments and suggestions on the "grandpa" present. 

One thing that came out of the list was my discovery of online grocery shopping.  I know its been around for years and I have checked out websites from time to time but last week out of a little desperation I gave it a go.  I am now a convert but after using it once I have worked out some of the pros and cons.

Cons

• The website was hard to navigate as there was way too much to choose from.
• I especially found the specials section annoying.
• The 3 hour delivery window only suits me a few days a week if I want cheap delivery.
• I would not buy fruit and veg, bread and meat online (I am fussy!!) so its not a one stop shop
• I may never have to leave my town again which may see me turn into a recluse.
• I quite often buy marked down stuff but this cannot happen online.
• Sometimes I like to read ingredients which can be hard to do if you do not have the product sitting in front of you.
• Knowing the correct names and spelling of stuff so the computer can find it. 
• I really had to pay attention to prices to make sure I was getting a good deal.  Eg I needed a carton of soft drink and found 24 cans + 6 free was the same price as 24 (duh) but that was not marked as a special and if I had not been looking really hard I would have missed it.
• The delivery driver nearly drove off with a carton of beer.  Lucky it was a big item and I could instantly tell it was missing.  If you are getting a lot of stuff it  can take a while to do an inventory of whats there and if something is missing I can only imagine what a nightmare that would be to deal with the shop.

Pros

• No longer will I have to lug huge bags of dog food or cartons of drink.
• I can buy cheap booze from the comfort of my dining room table.  We live in a small town and the 2 bottlos we have charge whatever they like!!
• I will not have to do battle with the crazy Christmas crowds.  The shops will be shut for 2 days in a row it is not the end of the world people.
• Although the delivery is pricey if I factor in my time, petrol and stuff for the kids to keep them happy it probably works out cheaper.
• I can still buy all the stuff I won't buy online at my local supermarket so there is no pressure to have to do it all in one go.
• Finding sizes of stuff I never knew existed like a giant tub of nappy rash cream.
• Finding cat food on special.  Cat food is never on sale anymore.

I am aiming to do an online shop once a fortnight which means being organised and having a rough idea of a meal plan.  I think this would be the only way to do it rather than browse through every single section.  Hopefully next time will be slightly easier than the first go.  It seems like I have more cons than pros but in my case the pros are out weighing the cons!!  For me just getting the big bulky items delivered is a win!!

If you have any foolproof tips on online grocery shopping I would love to know them!!

Its Tuesday which is IBOT with Essentially Jess!!

Whats for dinner- Vol au vents

Not one I cooked!!  But you get the picture!!

I used to make these all the time and out of sheer desperation and lack of imagination and inspiration made them again the last couple of weeks in a row.  Not only because they are easy and the kids ate them but because meat is so bloody expensive and mince and chicken are on our menu at least once or twice a week and it is hard to come up with ways to make it interesting and different.  I love our local butchers but simply cannot afford to buy meat from them everyday.  I save the butcher meat for the weekend when we can bbq!!

I used 500g mince, grated onion, carrot and zucchini, garlic and a jar of bolognaise sauce.  Fry meat and veg until mince is browned add sauce, put into vol au vent cases (1 pack 4 big ones and 1 pack 6 medium) sprinkle with grated cheese and bake in the oven until cheese is melted.  Dinner done and eaten by every single family member, Happy Days!!

The week before same again except when it came time to cook I realised I had no bolognaise sauce, no chance I was going back to the supermarket and I didn't feel like "savoury mince" so I scoured the cupboards and came up with a jar of salsa and tin of baked beans.  Hello mexican vol au vents for the adults and plain meat and baked beans for the kids.  After the mince (plus the grated vegies!!  I always grate vegies into my mince dishes!!) was cooked I added the tin of beans and spooned some out for the kids and added a squirt of tomato sauce, then in ours just added the jar of salsa.  Same again put in cases sprinkle with cheese, in the oven, dinner done.

The vol au vents are a lighter alternative for dinner in summer and served with a salad make an easy dinner!!  As the HOTH takes leftovers everyday these also travel fairly well in their own container.

The only downside is the price, about $4 a packet, but I do see them on special sometimes.

Now the fun part.  You can basically put anything in them and not all recipes need cooking!!  When I was googling some images I cam across hundreds of recipes but here are some I have tried or want too

• Pizza sauce, ham and pineapple.  Mix it all together in a bowl, spoon into cases, sprinkle with cheese and into the oven until the cheese melts.
• Chicken, spring onion, mushroom.  Cook chicken, add other ingredients, add some cream (I used to make a white/ cheese sauce but laziness made me try cream!!) parmesan cheese works well on these ones!!  If you are using the small cases the ingredients have to be chopped up very well.
• One I haven't tried making but have eaten is nutella.  Yep simply spoon some nutella into the small cases.  No cooking required and bloody delicious!!
• Mini shepards pies.  Savoury mince with mashed potato on top.  I will try this in winter for sure!!

I would love to hear any other suggestions as vol au vents are here to stay at our place!!

Its Monday which is Open Slather over at One Mother Hen!!

Christmas wish list. I know I am dreaming!!

 tagged me in the Christmas wishlist which was started by Essentially Jess.  Simply what are my 5 wishes for Christmas.  Here they are!!

1. A weekly sleep in on a Sunday until 8am.  This would mean I need 2 kids and a cat to not stir at their normal 530-6am.  Chances of this ZERO.
2. A working not chuck a hissy fit computer.  Chances of this are slim to none.
3. Working home internet without being put on hold and transferred to a million departments.  Chances of this happening while I regain some sanity are pretty much zero.
4. A never ending bottle of wine or bourbon or malibu.  Chances of this would have to be zero!!
5. World bloody peace and harmony.  Chances of this also zero as there are way too many tools in the world.

I don't want a lot really!!

Now here are my 5 bloggers who now need to give me their 5 wishes and pass it on etc

• My Ranty Pants
• K&Co
• Musings of the Misguided
• Declutterbug versus Captain Stingypants
• Little White Dove