My cooking adventures this week.

Well if you know me well.. you will know I am not a very good cook nor am I a regular cook lol, much to my husbands dismay and his hard work to pick up the slack (in all fairness he is a great cook, I snagged a winner there)

So anyway every now and then I get a boost of cooking enthusiasm and want to get back in the kitchen. I do find it hard with a 19 month old who wants to be with mummy all the time but with a hot oven it gets a little tricky... thank you ABC kids for a little relief there :-)

Anyway so this week I tried a few NEW things...

1. Roasted Pumpkin Risotto

Which I was pretty impressed at, as my very first attempt some time ago was a bit of a disaster.. this time was much better. 

A tip for anyone who wants to try it.. just be sure to take it off the heat before all the stock is gone cause it will go a little gluggy. (my reminder for next time, as a little more creamier would have been nicer)

I kind of worked off 2 recipes to make it work better for me .... 

http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/13775/roast+pumpkin+pesto+risotto 

(although i didn't have the pesto because i had forgotten to get it)

http://www2.woolworthsonline.com.au/Shop/Recipe/703?name=pumpkin-risotto

2. Cream of chicken soup 

(i had tried this one at my sister in-laws recently and really like it.. Thanks Anni).. it was an easy and quick one and was really yummy. My effort was not quite as yummy.. a little more practise and better veggie cutting skills needed but all the same was pretty good. 

(sorry forgot to take a picture of mine, here is an image from the taste recipe)

http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/965/cream+of+chicken+soup

3. pumpkin scones

 My first attempt at scones ever I think.. hahaha.. yeah hello prob one of the easiest things to make and I have left it this long. They worked out pretty good although next time I would fix the size (they were a little too small) and also watch the oven temp but otherwise not a bad effort.. (Hubby ate them, so that is a good sign) :-)

Recipe was from my Womans weekly toddler cook book

This may be the last cooking exercise for a week or so hehehe. but hopefully not...

Life is a roller coaster!

I've found there are so many amazing blogs out there. They are interesting and so well written, by friends and strangers & I just stop & think WOW, and when sometimes I'm excited to keep going with mine & make it better, often I get a little discouraged because I cant seem to..
 (A) keep this regular .... or AT ALL the last few months & 
(B) I'm hopeless at writing! .. I've always struggled with starting to write any piece of work.. 
I just wish I could record our life beautifully like so many others, I tend to get excited and motivated to start something and then it falls by the wayside. Life just gets on top of me and I forget to continue the things I love.. (loss off passion?... maybe lack of willingness? or simply just too tired to think straight)

Anyway that's how I've been feeling lately, and then I get down because events pass and I don't record them. Then it seems too hard to go back and write about it later.. its seems to be a cycle.

SO anyway I guess I just need to keep trying, no one can do it for or me sadly..

this is speaking directly to me...

So things have to change right...

I must say I AM amazed and in Awe, of all those I follow that manage to be amazing mothers and wives, make their house a home, cook and clean for their families, fulfill work commitments and or callings and continue to write for their own blogs.  

Well done!! You should be proud of yourselves, I honestly don't know how you do it!  You all have special talents.

Well here I go one again trying to motivate myself to find time and be "more"... Pull up my socks and as my hubby likes to joke with me sometimes.. "SUCK IT UP PRINCESS" :-)  

I really want to record special times with my family even if its just a nice photo (so it doesn't just get lost in the hundreds on the computer.
You'll probably find random older posts pop up eventually as I need to have them in date order (my memory is not so good these days)

quotes thanks to Google images

On a lighter note, ... Today is ANZAC DAY.. OH how I love being an Australian and living in this beautiful country, I am so greatful for all those who fight and have fought for our country.We are so lucky and blessed. 

I also enjoy the fun of Anzac day Football! ... Now I will admit, I am not a die hard supporter that knows everything but I do enjoy the fun of this particular game because its my footy team (& most of my family) against My hubbys team (and most of his family) .. so its always a good laugh no matter who wins...

But HAPPILY THE BOMBERS WON TODAY but a whopping 40+ points.. isnt that great.. Hubby was not so happy but it was fun to be the winning team all the same...

Of course I always try to get right into the spirit of things like this and dress the part... And because i was the one to dress Carter he was black and red hahaha.. In all fairness he did have his Collingwood jumper with him and socks on for Daddys sake.

Lollipops Play land = WINNER!

It has been a rainy couple of days and we needed to get out of the house. Carter and I were both going a little nuts being stuck in our flat, So when our friends Rin & Bec said they were taking Sage to Lollipops playland today and asked if Carter would like to come we jumped at the opportunity.

I'd heard about Lollipops playland before but had never been (cause I mean its not really the kind of place you randomly hang out at if you don't have kids, so until now there was no need :-) hehe) ... anyway I'd always thought it was for bigger kids but happily there was a junior section for 0-3 year olds and the main feature of that section was a "Ball Pit"

My boy was in BALL HEAVEN!!!! 

You should have seen him, he was swimming in them, crawling on them, throwing them around .. I'd never seen him so excited and every time a  bigger kid jumped into the ball pit (balls going everywhere) he thought it was the funniest thing ever.

It made me happy to see him enjoying himself so much ... it really was a great day.

Lollipops Play land, we'll definitely be back! 

1 sick, 2 sick, 3 sick... All Sick!

Yep as it turned out (& the other mother's out there will already know this) we all got sick. It was a tough week, not only did we all get Carter's bad cold but because Carter wasn't sleeping we were all severely sleep deprived too, so we didn't get the chance to get better quickly. We tried to tag team as much as we could but it was really hard.

Gone are the days of me missing out on being sick.... before Carter was born I was able to avoid getting sick most of the time..but now his germs are all over us.

I am a lucky girl though because hubby did take over the cooking and cleaning for me, so I could just concentrate on looking after bubba and myself.

I really missed my family this week. I was wishing my mum and sisters where here to pop over and help me out, but living interstate makes it hard... We managed though and got through this tiring week.

Finally we saw the change, and Carter started to get his gorgeous happy personality back and he was feeling much better.. RELIEF!!! 

... We even left the house finally.

One sick little boy.

As a woman seeing someone feeling sick is one thing but as a mother, especially a first time mum it really breaks your heart.

My little man has been getting sick over the last few days ... we thought it was just a cold and it would pass without too much fuss but its now moved to his chest and to see him struggle is so hard. 

Being so little there isn't much you can do for them.  As an adult I hate coughing so imagine how helpless and miserable he feels..

He has never looked so bad, puffy eyes, red face, constantly running nose... He wont take any Panadol, no matter what we try, so when he coughs you can see in his face how sore it is.... my little soldier.

We did try rubbing Vicks baby balm (vapour rub) onto his chest and the soles of his feet, (cause we have read that in a few place that is supposed to help) it did help to sooth him a little so that is one small relief.

Lots of TLC is needed today... endless cuddles when he wants them and sleeping on mummy or daddys chest.

I Hope it passes quickly...so my little funny munchkin comes back.

Canberra Calls

Late last night while at the in-laws, my hubby decided we would join them on a day trip to Canberra, to visit one of his brothers and his family.

Canberra is 3 hours from us so as you could imagine, it is quite a long road trip for one day & it was very unlike us to decide to do it last minute, but we figured it would be fun so we agreed.

We had to hit the road pretty early, so keeping in mind that we would be attending church when we got there, I tried to pick a really easy and comfy outfit.... Thank you Leopard Print Maxi dress! It covers all the bases from easy to throw on, comfy for the car, not to hot or cold and to top it off, my favourite - quite slimming :-)

Maxi from Jay Jays

I also gave my hair a quick curl (or if you ask Hubby, NOT so quick lol) packed a few snacks and away we were...

It was a long trip, I kept myself amused by taking photos, flicking through Instagram & Pinterest and trying to get organised for the week. My usual "task list" of things to do.. but my goal this week is to actually DO IT!

It was a nice visit with the family in Canberra, I was also able to run into a couple of old friends which was really nice (it's such a small world). We then we headed back to the house for some lunch and to let the kiddies play before the big drive home. 

Oh and I fell in love with this cute Pottery Barn Kids Arm Chair. I had talked about this before with my good friends Bec & Rin, but I wasn't 100% sure if I should spend the money .. but seeing it in person I now HAVE to get one for Carter (not pink of course)

PB kids "Anywhere" arm chair found here

 As the day when on Carter actually started to get quite unwell, and he was not himself at all, he was very unhappy and he wouldn't eat or drink much and wouldn't take any Panadole or anything to help to settle him. 

So we headed off sooner than planned, luckily we had the portable DVD player in the car which kept him occupied on the long trip home.

I hope my little man will be ok.

Laura xx

For the love of Maxi

I love Maxi Skirts, there is just something about them that they seem suitable for almost any occasion and all weather conditions. When I find a good one I like, that is super flattering I usually buy them in a few colours ha ha ha...

Today was supposed to be pretty hot (it got to 30 which wasn't too bad, I guess when sitting in air con) and so I decided to wear a maxi skirt to church... trying to keep my little man entertained tends to get hard in shorter skirts as I am usually down on the floor with him.  

This Tangerine one from Glassons is one of my favourites, it is super light weight & cool and breezy enough so I knew it wouldn't stick to my legs if it got to warm.

Tangerine Maxi & Tshirt- Glassons (last season)
Belt - Thrifted,  Necklace - Collette,
Sunnies - Dotti

Hubby took these pics on his iphone, so quality not the best. We were trying to work out best place for outfit photos. The skirt looks a different colour in the light.

Thanks for Reading about my first outfit post, it seems a little strange, but i know my mum will be loving the photos.

Laura xo