observations...& a catch up

Been pretty busy! so here's a quick run down of things!

* I had the parent teacher & child interview this tuesday @ 4.25pm. A bit annoying.. seeing as it meant waiting around for 55mins! (by the time we walked home we'd have to walk back and end up being 5mins late for the interview. We could have walked 15mins to hubbys work and sat there for 30mins.. but too tired. Also staying at school meant Tia was entertained with the play equipment, sand pit and various classmates coming and going. She also had all her fruit for the day which she hadn't eaten. So it all worked out to wait around!)

* Tia has started home readers. Interesting considering she has some difficulty saying her alphabet and recognizing letters.. yet surprisingly she knows what some of the words are already! She also wrote "dad" the other day without any help. Weirdly tho she wrote both D's before adding the A in the middle. LOL! Ive noticed that with some words even doing her name sometimes she will write it out of order (like she did with "dad") Im helping out in her class on a monday afternoon while they do hopping, jumping, balancing, stilt walking etc time and tuesday morning i help out in the class, listening to each kid read their home readers, let them pick a new book and mark it off on the list. I might help out on a friday morning as there doesnt seem to be a helper written down on that day... altho that would conflict with a morning friday parents meeting but they were trying to figure a new time seeing as the board member of the spot i declined can't make it that time! lol!

* Alyssa has 2 new teeth. A total of 4 teeth which are all cut thru (2 bottom around 3months. 2 top at 7months) and i can feel and see 1 more bottom one starting to poke thru. She has a very toothy cheeky grin now!!!

* Alyssa got her 6month needles today. A rotavirus imm (rotatek) by mouth (which is meant to be sweet but she hates it) and a needle in each leg of just about everything! They do it now both shoots at the same time, hence why its a nurse and dr doing the injections these days! (you'd hate it, if u hated needles... they um, count it down.. so yeah.) Again tho Alyssa cried right after but after a few seconds was her happy self again! (not like the baby we heard while we waited! GOSH did she scream!!)

* I think it was the bush fire warning sms day.. i predicted no such heat wave. Walked out to collect Tia and swore that we were having a dust storm. made me wish i had a pair of sunnies!!!

* I took a break from video games to go on hubbys pc. Which is moved from office/guest room into the lounge room.. and was a bit freaked to feel the chair and table shake..(i believe i told the boys that the table was shaking... so it was interesting to tell them that it was a earth quake, that they did not notice! LOL!) there was no noise.. the next day i read online that there was a earth quake in melb that measured 4.6 on the scale! That makes 5 or 6 earthquakes ive experienced in my lifetime all in australia!!! (only one in victoria)

*went to a parents etc group meeting at the school... it was there AGM which they changed the constitution. interestingly that some take it all veeeerrrryy seriously while others are relaxed, wanting to make it easier etc... you can imagine which side i'd rather be on! ;) Luckily its not like that normally, im told! I was offered a spot on the board but declined after i thought "can i do it?" and no i can't... I'll have my hands full come august with the new baby and a 13month old... it would take me awhile to adjust to the new bub, feeding, sleeping and collecting tia schedule!

*Im now 18weeks preggy! whoot!!!! Have my first drs appt tomorrow! If started to feel it kick, usually when im trying to go off to bed! Time is flying! Now that morning sickness is over, i dont really feel pregnant, to me i dont really look pregnant (altho i do, as hubby keeps going on bout the mummy tummy) i guess it comes down to me remembering the last few weeks of enormous mummy tummy and yet its not like that yet! I just look fatter! LOL!

* Congrats to Maria & Paul! :) God bless your family and all the best!!!

Observations today!

* spotted a pair of undies on the footpath on the way to the drs.. suppose someone is missing their spare pair? lol

* 2 Ladies (in separate places) with awful dress sense.. imagine blue pattern pants mixed with a old looking bright floral pattern t-shirt!

* a sign read "hot chips" "charcoal souvlaki" yumm burnt souvlaki anyone?

* another sign said "no alcohol zone. Max fine $2000" now thats a expensive drink!

* the new dr on days of our lives (given that Australia is waaaay behind thanks to cricket, tennis and golf) looks like Ben cousins!

* bought hubby a new razor today. interestingly it has a personal trimmer at the bottom powered by 1 AAA battery. Is shower OK.... Im not keen on the facial hair thing he has going on and he is pretty aware of it. If its there i prefer it short.. im just not into feeling facial hair when i kiss him... bleh!!!!!!!!!!!

Twilight...

The baby and i arrived at the movies to see Twilight. I had decked out the pram with all the essential quiet baby toys (teething items mostly), bottle and some biscuits.

It was in cinema 8... which im guessing means it will shortly stop showing. It seems thats how this cinema runs.. you go to see a movie "on its last legs" and its in the smaller cinema rooms (and definately not in the club lounge)

Twilight was interesting. Im a sucker for a love movie, preferably with no big names, no blonde men (just not into them), and not in some well known city e.g New york, paris...
I also do enjoy the odd vampire movie... not the ultra ugly ones (e.g count nerfatu? the old black and white movie) not the over-the-top gore n crap (e.g blade)...

anyways back to Twilight... i thought the vampire speed and grace of climbing
of which there was alot of... reminded me of ang lees (crouching tiger hidden dragon) and of Zhang Yimou (hero) use of wires in those jumping, flying, climbing vertical walls scenes...

Its a dead give away what the cullen family (kids are "adopted") are (being vampires) and a dead giveaway that the native americans in the movie are werewolves.. (obviously something in the next movie) but everyone else just seems "charmed" and oblivious to the facts.. lol.

The main characters being isabella (human) or "bella" and edward cullen (vampire) are acted out well. Edward in the first 15-30mins wasn't attractive... once he stopped looking soo angry/sick he really was stunningly pretty.. (matter of opinon i suppose)

I was intrigued just how this movie would turn out, i didn't watch any trailers or look up story lines.. so i feel partly dispointed in that it wasn't a huge story line with tons of plots, weaves in and outs of story etc.. But i did enjoy it for the simplicity!

It was interesting that these vampires had reflections in water & mirrors and that they could go out in the sun (and not fry to a crisp) they just glowed a bit... a nice twist on the old traditional.

My favourite scene was Bella going to meet the Cullen family. The "dad" is Dr Cullen, his wife and they have 5 vampire teenagers. Anyways you see the Cullen family watching a italian cook on tv making dinner (if not for the first time in a loooong time) i thought that was really sweet. Upon entering the kitchen the mum says hi and whatever and then says "youve given us a reason to use the kitchen for the first time!" LOL!!! and then edward says "she's already eaten", bella "yes, im sorry..i just thought since you didn't" and then the mum "of course.. you were just being considerate" (but in a happy voice)

*the cullen family only feed on animals. None of them make proud of what they are.. they are very much aware that they are monsters..

March into Merivale

Thumbs up to the event/advertising people behind march into Merivale. The advertising is eye catching, bold, tasteful and arty... "Exposing our chiefs cuisine"

Its a Sydney event, so will be passing it up unfortunately.. starts March 3
If youre interested in their pictures ;) go have a look

One the home page... i know it must be awkward being in a room full of nude chefs... is that why so many are busy looking at the guy slicing up the fish? are they thinking "wow he must be nervous no one cuts a fish like that..."

breville wizz mix professional stand mixer prezzie

Ive been using my new christmas present! :) and decided lol, i should probably blog about it.. seeing as its late feb already!

I had been eyeing off this beautiful kitchen appliance for quite a long time, waiting for it to be on special... or perhaps be released in green (Not going to happen)
If it wasn't green i was deciding between the silver/platinum look and the red... So many decisions..
It wasn't cheap so i did do my research into the best mix masters... and since my budget is only half? of that of a kitchenmaid...(which i'd have to hunt down to goodness knows where to buy) well.. i wasn't going to get one of those. Altho it would be a preference.. having all those attachments a mincer too?!! would save in the cupboard space but then how often would i make my own mince?!Altho style wise i dont like how the kitchenmaids look.. must say the attachments for the breville are funky!The pav in its mighty glory..... before it sinks after i take it out.. out of practice!


Goji berry cupcakes... late addition of vanilla.. how could i forget??!!Goji Berry cupcakes all mixed and ready to spoon out.

Choc chip cookies (recipe without PB) mix.. looking yummy!!!!!!
Out of practice again... giant thin, chewy, hand size choc chip cookies

My review: Its pretty cool.. many settings (think ive forgotten one?); folding, mixing, beating,creaming, whipping and the last one aerating (yet to get there)

I do find that when i'm creaming sugar and butter it sticks to the side, so when it comes to adding the egg it needs to be scrapped off the sides before turning on again. Only a tiny bit at the bottom usually is left un creamed or mixed, but so tiny u can mix it altogether and not notice.

Is awesome with the whisk attachment... can't leave cream on and walk away as its quick to whip! Pavs go stiff nice, easily and quick.

Its pretty quiet, compared to my mums old one (if she still has it.. must be as old as me!) and much quieter than previous hand held mix masters!

Easy to lift beaters out of bowl and no chance it will fall back down when your trying to scrape off the mixture.

Easy to take beaters off and on!!!! YAY!!!

Not much room when it comes to adding ingrediants into the bowl while working. So needs a bit of careful addition or just turn it off and lift attachment/head out of the bowl.

Love the big bowl and big attachments! I'll have to get around to making one of those 10egg whites pavlovas one day... lol!

am yet to use the dough hook... while i do appreciate and love using my hands to play with pasta dough (rare) and feel like a jamie oliver (visions of mixing in the egg yolks into a pile of flour on a bench.. yes why use a bowl?!! LOL!)

Tia's first day of school! :)

On Monday 2nd of feb we had a interview/assessment time with Tia's teacher. We had to bring all the books and things we bought via the book list thru officemax or something like that. I was unsure whether the books had to be covered... in my school years it wasn't until high school or year 6 when they HAD to be covered. (i think because young kids go thru the books so quickly perhaps? but then our books were free and supplied by the government/school)
Anyways we did a crazy dash and had these covered just in time to leave! 8 books and 8.8m of contact later.. lol Tia wanted lil bratz covering. But i thought it would be to distracting.. i could envision her in class just looking at the bratz pictures and tuning out everything else! So I found a optical illusion pink and red metallic contact instead and cute lil bratz name stickers.

Its a good 30min walk to her school. Its lovely when the weather is nice.... but in the heat there isn't much shade on the way :( She has a school hat, supplied by the school that stays at school. So i bring along a hat from home so she has some sun protection on the way home.When tia gets to school she puts her bag in a line and goes off to play in the sand pit or equipment in the fenced off prep area. When the bell goes she has to get in the line, take out her classroom water and a piece of fruit & put her bag on. Once the teacher says they may go in she walks in to the bag room and puts her bag in her cubby hole.Then she is meant to put her class water bottle & fruit on her name on a special desk and sit down on the floor. The past 2 days (friday and monday) ive noticed she skips putting her bag away (as she has her hands full already with the water and fruit) and puts her water and fruit away and then the teacher or aid will notice she is in the classroom (about to be fully dsitracted by kids, toys etc) with her bag on her back! LOL!

Enough of the heat already...

So yesterday places here in Australia were hotter than the sahara, then kenya and so on... Im just thankful that i still live by the coast! Where there is a great breeze off the water and if need be theres the beach. (if i brave the UV rays, no shade etc)

Hubby decided i would be spoiled and at 11am we all headed off to the shops!Goodbye 27deg heat in our house ;)
It was much hotter outside! Hurrying off with nappies and formula supplies we went off to go shopping. Hubby decided he would look at water pistols.. i was more interested in the slime gun ;) only draw back is the expensive slime refills x.x

But we came back with none. James decided he'd had enough shopping.. we'd gone to myer (several times) in which we all came out smelling; James- Kourkos or something like that. I like frangipani (found some interesting body mists) and Tia like lime and coconut. I also found a pot that said perfume balm, but there was no tester. :(

When i got back at 3pm with the kidlets, it was 33deg cel in the house. It rose to 36 deg cels and then started dropping when i noticed it was cooler outside.

Decided to have a very early night, not even staying up to finish watching iron chef. I woke up at 5 am to a storm.. a few minutes later (we had our window open) there was a huge crackle of lightning and flash what seemed just outside. The noise was huge! I was pretty freaked out and checked outside to see if there was a tree on fire or something.. but everything looked normal.
Today has been a really nice day (max of 22deg c) with rain and storm up to lunch time. It was not until 10 had a break with the news that we found out that overnight or yesterday many lives had been lost, with fires burning in our state. :( I hope the houses lost were insured, that the people affected will go on to bigger and better things as they start over.

If this was...cake??!!

then i would NOT have a weight problem! lol!

The above picture was taken on wednesday.. i believe it is cottee's orange and mango crush cordial (straight) and milk.. its curdled and was pretty chunky.

This is what Tia made while she was waiting (impatiently in the kitchen) to make some betty crocker cookies with me.. she did come to me asking for some eggs.. i can only imagine how much worse this could have been? lol