Lightening Online

We’re big on games in our family.

They’re great for quality time, lots of laughs and have many educational benefits too!

In fact, we have an entire cupboard full of games (not so full now that I’ve shifted some into the caravan for when we go away).

Some are more popular than others.

One game we all seem to enjoy is…

It’s a strategy game where you each have a colour and can only add on to the corner of your own pieces.

The idea is to get as many of your pieces on the board as possible before you are completely blocked (and some of the pieces are shaped quite strangely).

It’s one of the few games we have that seems to balance out the age gap between our children (it does involve strategy and thinking but also quite a bit of luck that someone else doesn’t play where you want to go).

Right now, the kids are asking to play it most nights!

Aren’t I a self sacrificing mother, letting Singstar Princess have the red while I get boring YELLOW!  LOL.

While the game is designed for 2-4 players, my kids also like to play it solo.

Trailer Boy can spend hours just playing with the pieces like a puzzle, trying to fit them into the board and making patterns with the colours.

I do like me a game that can be used in more than 1 way!

What about your family?  Do you play board games together and which is your favourite?

I’m always interested in what works for others and always on the lookout for new games to add to our cupboard.

I tried to set up a Lightening Online Facebook Page a while ago but never got around to actually publishing it (the story of my life at the moment).

Sometimes I just want to ask my readers a question or post something really brief and it seems like such a chore to do a full post on it and expect people to click through in order to answer it (different if it’s more of a discussion of course).

So, if you’re on facebook, please like my page:

And if your website or blog has a page on facebook, please mention it in the comments section or comment on my page as it would be nice to tag a few “like minded” pages.

What do you think? Is it a good move to have a page for your blog on facebook?

I would also love to hear suggestions on how you use it, does it help with blog growth, do you find you post even less on your actual blog for having one? That kind of stuff.

Singstar Princess has been asking to make chocolate mousse.

Not something I’ve ever made before.

Off I went to the internet, trying to find a simple recipe that didn’t contain too many raw eggs (not a big fan of eating raw egg white in great quantities).

We thought we’d found one.

It was AWFUL!!!

SO, try Facebook instead.

At least that way we’d get a “tried and true” recipe.

My friend Naomi made the following suggestion:

Whipped Cream with Vittorio Hot Chocolate Powder mixed in.

Now that’s MY idea of simple!!!

I made the appropriate purchases then we lightly whipped the cream (I think we used about 400ml of cream but you can make whatever quantity you like), set aside a small quantity of whipped cream for garnishing and then began to add the Hot Chocolate Mix a bit at a time until we had the taste we desired.

Here’s how they turned out:

I bought these Martini Glasses from Kmart one Christmas to put homemade slushies in and they’ve come in handy as dessert glasses as well.

Singstar Princess made the chocolate garnishing while they were setting.

I’m sure they’d look even better if we’d had strawberries to put on top (but at $8.99 a punnet right now, that just isn’t going to happen!!!!).

They were a big hit with the whole family although none of us managed to get through it all in one serving.

So we added a wine glass marker tag to each stem and put them in the fridge.  Everyone knew what picture they had and could grab theirs whenever they felt like it.

I think Singstar Princess was pretty happy with her efforts:

Every time a busy season comes around on the farm and I become a “temporary widow” and “temporary single parent”, I am overwhelmed by how hard the task can be (and in awe of those who do it on a more permanent basis).

I will admit that it is easier these days than it was when the kids were younger.

Except when they are sick!

Which all 3 currently are.

Even harder when I’m not feeling the best myself.

At the moment I am juggling dealing out medication doses, cleaning up tissues, cleaning up bodily fluids (mainly due to phlegm), dr’s appointments, cuddling sick kids, driving the tractor, transporting hubby between farms, cooking, cleaning, washing….

On top of that there’s the usual stuff like parent-teacher interviews, parents & friends meetings and follow ups, submission writing for funding, netball coaching, personal training, grocery shopping, dealing with mail, dealing with the mess kids are making being home from school, broken sleep due to kids waking up from coughing so much….

Is it any wonder I feel like crawling under the doona and staying there until everyone is well again and seeding is over????

* For those not familiar with our farming program, seeding is a busy time of the year where the tractors go many, many hours a day spraying weeds and putting seed in the ground to grow our years crops.  During this time, my husband is rarely seen hence the term “seeding widow” (or “temporary widow”).  Fortunately, with larger equipment and not tilling the soil as much, our seeding program tends to run 3-4 weeks instead of the 6-8 it did when my kids were babies.

Image Credit http://www.suburbanpediatrics.org/ParentingTips.html

Image via Wikipedia

Thank you so much for your ideas.  It’s really helped me open my mind to things “outside” of my normal realm of consideration.

I’ve been browsing around the internet and came across soy candle making kits.

You can get kits where you make the candles and then sell them (if you want to sell them that is).

That kind of appeals to me.

I’m just wondering if anyone has tried their hand at candle making?

I do love candles but the parrafin ones give me headaches.

I have a beautiful vanilla soy candle that I’m scared to use because I don’t want to use it all up.

Kinda silly I know!

Anyway, if I could make my own I wouldn’t have to worry about that.

I could make some nice gifts.

And maybe if I love it enough, even make myself a bit of pocket money down the track.

We’ll see.

So far, it’s the one thing that seems to be really “exciting” me.

So what do you think?  A good hobby?

If anyone has had any experience with candle making, I’d love to hear it.  Or any recommendations on where to purchase supplies.  It’s kind of overwhelming at first trying to sort through the options and information and first hand experience is always helpful. 

This is not a new realisation.

I’ve always struggled with finding something I could just relax and enjoy doing.

I learnt piano for a while.

Until it became more of a “chore” than a “hobby”.

Netball is kind of a hobby.

Only at the moment I’m not enjoying it at all.

I am enjoying my coaching.

But it does take a lot out of me so I’m not sure if I can class it as a hobby or not.

At different times I’ve enjoyed doing some craft.

Right now I feel like my life is in a rut.

I am so over housework.

I’m just not really enjoying netball this year.

I can’t blog because my life feels so boring.

I just don’t know where to go from here.

I think I need to try something different.

Something new.

So, what kinds of things do you do as a hobby?

I could really do with some ideas or thoughts on how to get out of this rut.

The fitness and weight loss wagon that is.

Today I started back with my Fitness Trainer at our tiny local gym.

It’s been almost 2 years since we were meeting together on a weekly basis.

We were away and then she went on Maternity Leave.

I have battled on with my fitness myself but I KNOW I do so much better when I’m working with her once a week.

However, my fitness is less of a concern to me than my eating habits.

I have a disfunctional relationship with food.

I remember feeling hungry a lot growing up and suffering from a lot of stomach aches (stress and hunger induced).

I now have an intense fear of feeling hungry.

Going wheat free has certainly helped with the stomach-aches and hunger pains (that were actually stomach aches).

Yet still I struggle with weight loss/gain.

Up - Down - Up - Down goes my weight constantly.

And if I ignore it, it just goes up and up and up.

Some days I get tired of the constant battle with my weight and wish I could just “give up”.

But I know where that will take me.

UP.

So, today begins a fresh attempt at losing a few kg’s.

The good news is that in the past 12 months I have managed to lose around 8kg.

The not so good news is that before that, I managed to gradually gain 19kg.

So there’s still 11kg to get back to the lowest weight that I’ve been in the past 10 years.

15kg to get back to what I was before kids.

But I’d be happy to lose another 7kg.

Actually, I’d just be happy to lose another 1kg.

That’s all it takes doesn’t it?  1kg at a time.

Between my weekly sessions with my trainer at the gym, netball training and netball, I think I have the physical activity pretty much covered.

If I can just stay away from the junk food….

Easier said than done!

But I’m going to give it a go.

Everyone seems to be commenting on how fast these School Holidays have gone.  I think having Easter in the middle of the holidays was one factor.

Then again, I’m not sure I ever find 2 weeks enough.

When the kids were smaller, I used to hang out for school to go back.

When you’re in a blur of babies, toddlers and preschoolers or junior primary kids, school holidays can be kind of hard work.

But now that my kids are older, holidays are so much easier.

I love the relaxed pace, no lunch boxes, not trying to catch the bus or having to help with homework at the same time as getting the evening meal.

I love that we can take off for a days shopping or the movies.

Or go camping as a family.

I love spending quantity time with my kids.

I love that the kids can help out around the farm and learn valuable life-skills that will make them more employable as adults (and they’re lucky their dad is very generous and pays them for their help).

I will admit though that I also enjoy having days home alone.

With time to potter around and put things back into place (and having them stay there longer than 5 minutes).

My kids are easing me back into a life of “solitude” though.

Only 2 of the 3 made it to school this morning.