Lightening Online

Here is the recipe I used to use up our extra rice bubbles.

Honey Bubble Crunch Bars

75g butter or margarine
1/2 cup sugar
2 Tbsp honey
4 cups rice bubbles

Melt butter, sugar and honey together in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Allow to slow boil for a minute or 2.

Mix into rice bubbles and set in a greased slice tray (18×28cm).

Top with choc chips, sprinkles or a chocolate/butter mixture.

It’s pretty similar to honey crackles only with rice bubbles and is VERY popular - especially topped with chocolate!!!!

Last weekend, Singstar Princess had her first dance performance as part of our annual community talent concert.

She was SO excited.

I was SO nervous.

Instructions came home and what to wear and what make up.

Eek!!!!

This was the part of dance I was concerned about (and why I held off letting her dance for a while).  Fortunately, her teacher is wonderful when it comes to costumes and we all pay a set fee per year and she handles all the costumes.

So, it was really only her regular dance clothes, get her hair into a neat bun (no mean feat when it’s layered) and put on red lipstick and blue eyeshadow.  The make up had me a bit nervous.  How much?  Do I put foundation etc on as well?  Etc.  Etc.  Anyway, I asked around and in the end realised I had nothing to worry about as they all wore it slightly differently.  LOL.

Here she is all ready to go:

She looked SO beautiful!!!!

When we got there, most of the other dancers were actually wearing CLOTHES over their outfits - not just a jacket.  I felt like a bad mother for not dressing her more warmly.  LOL.  I shouldn’t have worried because after her performance, she was running around WITHOUT the jacket on.

It wasn’t easy to capture a picture of her while dancing - she kept moving on me!!!!  I nearly missed the whole dance trying to get some nice photographs.  Thankfully Farmboy recorded it.

She did SUCH a good job and didn’t look like someone who had just started dance.  Even more importantly, she looked like she was having SO much fun!!!! 

But the biggest smiley moment came after the performance, watching my little dancer have a cuddle on her daddy’s lap while watching the rest of the concert.  :)  I kept missing the concert because I wanted to keep staring at the two of them.

I hope you’ve all got something to smile about this Smiley Saturday.

I’m giving up on Mr Linky.  If you have a smiley saturday post, please feel free to link to it in the comments section.

After a massive baking session yesterday, I think I might be all “cooked out”.

I started the day with the jelly cups, knowing that they would take all day by the time each colour set, ready to add the next colour.  I made 31 in total.  30 to take to the kidz klub sleepover we’re helping with tonight and 1 for Trailer Boy who is too young to go to the sleepover.

I couldn’t believe that I ended up using 11 packets of jelly!  So 5.5Litres of jelly!!!!  Sounds like a LOT of jelly to me!  And the cups aren’t even full (which is fine because they’re yet to have a chocolate frog and a scoop of ice cream added to them).

Here’s the final product:

I made 2 batches of soy & linseed knots rolls in an effort to use up my breadmix before we go.  I think I have enough left for 1 more batch which I’ll try and make next week.  I make the dough for these in the breadmaker (takes 2.5 hours) then shape into the rolls.

Generally I only have time to do 1 batch in a day but I got started in reasonable time so just scraped 2 lots in before having to head off to training.

I’ve been researching different recipes of late in an attempt to use up some things that aren’t getting touched.  Rice Bubbles was one such thing.  So, I found this Honey Bubble Crunch recipe and have been playing around with it.

The first batch I made (Wednesday), I topped with melted chocolate/butter.  Yummo!!!

Then, I had used up my chocolate, so when I made another batch yesterday, I put sprinkles on top instead.

I also made a batch of cupcakes for supper tonight:

Then realised that I’d done nearly all my baking for other stuff and should make *something* for us.  So, I made these white choc and macadamia biscuits:

I think I’m finally getting there with using up ingredients in the cupboard.  Not that I don’t still have quite a bit there but the bits and pieces and opened packets are now mostly used up.

I did spend a bit of time yesterday while I was in the kitchen just sorting the cupboard out and putting a few things into airtight containers that are normally just sitting in open packets.

I guess it’ll be my last “baking day” before we head off.  I may bake a few bits and pieces next week but not a big day like this one was.

If your screen is shaking, don’t be alarmed.  That’s just me jumping around like an excited madwoman.  LOL.

It’s very exciting you know.  My very FIRST goal!!!!

At the end of training, we did a bit of a fun “let’s swap positions”.  I figure it’s the only way I’m going to have a go at goalie so I did.

After a few misses, I went for a shot against my better judgement.  I’m sure no-one expected me to get it in.

But.  I.  Did!!!!!

Go Me!!!!  ROFLOL.

I LOVE easy!!!!!  Especially when it comes to cooking.  So, when I found this recipe, I just had to record it for future reference.

Most cake recipes require creaming butter and sugar and all those steps.  This one, you simply chuck it all in, whiz it for a couple of minutes with an electric mixer (or by hand if you’re game - not my definition of easy though!!!!) and it’s good to go.

Here are the ingredients:

2 cups SR flour

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla essence

125g  butter or margarine

2 eggs

2/3 cup milk

It makes around 35 cupcakes.  No idea what size in a normal cake (helpful aren’t I?  ).

I’ve been very industrious in the kitchen today!  I’ll post more either later today or tomorrow about what I’ve been busy making.

This week I am focusing on getting the house as close as possible to how I want to leave it.  I’m hoping then that it’s a matter of maintenance tidying and cleaning to keep it that way.

At the same time, I’m trying to move toward being organised to go.

Basically, I’ve been keeping my same “daily focus” but adding in a few extra things that need doing before we head off.

Monday – Office Day

Did my general office type stuff (paying bills etc) as well as making a plan for accessing money while we’re away (still need to do some transferring of funds but will wait until closer to the trip to do that).

Started on my “emergency box” by photocopying what is in our purse/wallet in case they get stolen while we’re away.  I’m planning to keep those copies plus some spare cash and a spare credit card hidden away in the caravan “just in case”.

Wrote up a plan for the next 2 weeks so I don’t stress about getting everything done.  Writing down what is happening on what days as well as what my goals are will hopefully keep me on track to being ready to leave on time.

Tuesday – Cleaning Day

Usually I clean the floors throughout the entire house plus the wet areas (shower, basins, toilets).  Everything is getting a deeper clean this week so cleaning tasks will stretch out throughout the week.

Wednesday – Town Day

On top of my regular appointments, I’ve also taken out some money for our “emergency cash” and made some more appointments.  Also catching up with the kids teachers to make arrangements for what work we’re taking with us.

Before I left this morning I also got the laundry cleaned after having housed our cat while she was recovering from her little “op”  to end her mothering days.

Thursday – Kitchen Day

I’m hoping to get the kitchen clean (which I normally do on a Thursday) as well as sort out the pantry cupboard a bit.  I also need to make a list of what ingredients are yet to be used up.

Friday – Catch Up Day

Fridays are usually my days to relax, recover and catch up if I’ve had a busy week.  I don’t think there’ll be too much relaxing happening between now and when we’ll leave.  I can “catch up” then.  However, we have a kidz klub sleepover this Friday night so I have some packing and cooking to do for that.  I doubt I’ll get much else done.

Saturday – Sport

No sport this Saturday (other than Lleyton who is playing for another club).  I guess we’ll be tired from the sleepover.  Plans are to get some work done in the garden (getting it ready for it’s “rest” ) and start getting some of the kids gear ready to take (things like DVD’s for the car).

The Car Is Ready To Go

This week we had new tyres, new windscreen, a service and some new fan belts put on the car.  It’s pretty much ready to go (mechanically anyway).  Next step will be to clean out some of our regular “stuff” so that we’re not taking anything unnecessary with us.

Packing Has Started

I have a box in the family room which I’ve been dropping stuff into ready to empty it into the caravan.  At the moment the caravan is in the shed but it may get moved down to the carport this weekend so that I can clean it and start to pack in earnest.

Farm Stuff

Poor Farmboy has had 2 funerals in the past 2 weeks.  On top of his normally busy life, it’s making preparations a little “tighter”  timeline wise.  Still, he thinks he’s on track to be ready to leave by our planned departure date of July 1st.  It will depend a little on the weather though.

Time seems to be flying by at the rate of knots!!!!

Plans For Next Week:

* Keep the house tidy (ha ha ha)

* Make sure all Laundry is up to date

* Trip to Whyalla for some last minute shopping (and to return our electric blanket that isn’t working – still under warranty)

* Most likely a visit from my parents to pick up our cats

* Clean Caravan

* Pack bedding, towels, check toiletries, check kitchen etc.

* Finalise kids school work and what we need to take.

Netball on Saturday ended up being a day of firsts for me.

First Number One

My first game without the regular coach.  She was our coach last year so I haven’t played too much without her around.  I felt a bit like a 5 year old on their first day of school without their mum.  LOL.

First Number Two

Said “mum” (ie coach - who’ll probably kill me for calling her mum given she’s not that much older than me ) decided in her absence to throw me into a new position.  CENTRE!!!!!  For those not familiar with netball, Centre is the position that does the most running.

In her defence, I did tell her one time that I would like to learn how to play Centre.  I just wasn’t expected it THIS week. 

It was only 1 quarter and after a mild panic at the beginning of the quarter where I couldn’t remember whether to jump into the circle before or after the whistle, I seemed to cope okay.

I think I did okay for my first attempt and quite enjoyed myself.

First Number Three

I played my first full game!!!!!

1/4 in Centre AND my first full game.  Yep, I slept well Saturday night.

Last year I played mostly half games while I was learning and this year I’ve played mostly 3/4.  We have a large team so most people play 3/4.

I played the rest of the game in WA which is also a new position for me.  I had quite a few calls of contact from the opposition so that was lots of fun after playing mostly defence where you’re always the one being pinged for contact.

Pity about the stepping problem I seemed to be having though.  By the end of the game I was throwing some really strange passes because I was so afraid of getting picked up for stepping.  LOL.  They got where they needed to go which I guess is the main thing.

First Number Four

One of my friends, who has played a lot of netball, told Farmboy that if I didn’t get picked as the best player for our team, there was something wrong.  I don’t know how biased she is but it was a nice thing to say. 

I guess with missing a couple of a our key players and a couple of our other reliable players seeming to be off their game a little, anything is possible.  But the very thought makes me laugh.

First Number Five

We got thrashed.

I’m used to playing in a team that either wins or only loses by a goal or 2.

Actually, we did lose 1 other game by a reasonable number of goals.  And that team got beaten by the one we played on Saturday, so perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised.  We drew with this team (actually, I should probably say “club” because I’m not sure the team was much the same) last time we played them.

Of course, when you play in new positions and get thrashed, there’s this nagging doubt “what if it was my fault”?  Not that you could put that big a loss down to any one player.  But, you know how it goes, yeah?

I Had So Much Fun!!!

In instances like this, I think it helps that I’m not overly competitive.  Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE to win.  Winning is awesome (particularly when it’s the Grand Final) BUT, I can still have fun and lose.

The only person I get competitive with is myself.  I want to keep improving.  And I don’t want it to be my “fault” if we do lose.  If someone else is off their game (and I think it happens to all of us), that’s cool.  Not cool if it’s me though.  LOL.  Yeah, I’m too hard on myself at times.

The girls I was playing against were so lovely.  As it turned out, they had both had jobs in the previous game so we’d been chatting and having a lovely time before we even knew we’d be playing each other.  The girl who played WD against me was even helping me along at different parts throughout the game.  It’s not a club that’s known for good sportsmanship so it was rather nice.

I think the only downside to the day was not having the coach there.  Her opinion always seems to matter to me more than anyone elses.

P.S.  Oh, and not a first because I did get one last year.  But I was awarded the incentive award this week.  A $25 Caltex card (which looks like we can use it anywhere so that’ll go toward the “big trip” ).

P.P.S. The stand in coach was lovely.  I think she was a bit down on herself that we lost by so much but well, these things do happen.  I was talking to one of the more seasoned players in our team and asking her opinion of what happened and her comment was that they were simply a better team.

P.P.P.S.  No, that’s it.  I’ve finished raving on about netball for now.  LOL.  Wish I had a photo of me in Centre though - that would have been one for the album!!!! 

Note from Lightening - I’m posting Smiley Saturday a little early this week. It seemed too late to post a separate post today but I didn’t want to wait until the morning to publish something.

For Christmas last year, we gave each of our children a digital camera so they’d each have one for the big trip.

This week, I’ve been busy downloading their photographs so that we can clear the memory cards before we head off.

I love seeing life through the eyes of a child.  They’re so uninhibited in front of the camera.

Particularly when taking photo’s of themselves:

And their body parts:

Nose

Teeth

Making Funny Faces:

Although I’m not sure if it was actually “meant”  to be a funny face.

They can even get adults having fun:

And we’re pretty sure this one is a FINGER close to the lens:

I have to admit that wasn’t my first thought though!!!! 

I hope you’re all having a Smiley Saturday.

Catch you all next week.

Lightening

Time is flying by so fast that I’m starting to feel a little nervous.

I had these Grandiose visions of leaving our house all “Martha Stewart Esque”

Hmmm…..

NOT going to happen.

I tend to do this.

The longer we’re going to be away, the more important it is to me to have the house “perfect” or at least close to it.

So, naturally, being away for 3 months means the house needs to be freshly painted, scrubbed from top to bottom and all the cupboards decluttered and in perfect order.

Idiot!

No wonder I often go away exhausted.

I’ve spent the last 6 weeks working my way through decluttering various areas of the house.  And it is helping.  Although, for the most part, the house looks similar to what it did before.  Kind of “lived in”.  Hard to avoid that look when you actually live here!  I know some people manage to but I’m not one of them.

So I’m choosing to lower my standards of perfection (which I never meet anyway) in favour of not being a crazed, exhausted, stressed out excuse for a human being by the time we leave.

Instead, I’ll be using the next 3 weeks to focus on preparations for the trip and enjoying the anticipation.

No matter what I do, I expect the last few days will be a little on the frantic side with last minute packing, cleaning and tidying (I still want to leave the place reasonable for those staying here in our absence).

So, this week I’m focusing on schoolwork and food.

I’ve sent a letter to each of our children’s teachers and finished off some ideas I have for them to look at.

Next task will be to get on with the recipe cards I was planning to do a looonnngggg time ago.

Will review what’s next when next week arrives. 

We had a lovely weekend away, spending time with Farmboy’s sister and her children at the family shack.

On Saturday, we drove down to Port Lincoln to catch up with the rest of the family for our annual “cousins birthday party”.

It ended up being somewhat of a “progressive party” in the end.  One of the families had a sick child and the other a newborn so they didn’t want to mix the 2.  We visited the family with the newborn and then went on to finish the party where it was originally supposed to be.

It was disappointing that we couldn’t all be together but we did get to see everyone and the progressive part made it all the more interesting in a way.

Someone asked if Trailer Boy and his cousin ever get sick of being given the same gifts (they’re only 3 months apart in age).

The answer was a resounding no.  They LOVE it!!!!  :)   They were given matching Spiderman jackets from Granny (which they wore constantly for the rest of the weekend).  And the sweatbands and basketballs from Farmboys brother and his family.  The sweatbands were also worn all weekend!

The cousins birthday party works out so great for my kids as their birthdays are all so close to Christmas.  The gifts they get now are all the more precious because it’s all they get.

It’s so much fun all sharing together like this and enjoying the kids as they play together and explore their new things. 

Here’s a close up of the cake I made.  It wasn’t easy to get a decent photo as the laminated photograph kept reflecting the flash:

The actual cake is supposed to look like a lolly photo frame.  We didn’t have a photograph with all the cousins so I made this collage using Picasa.  It was surprisingly simple to do and the kids all loved it (and the adults - luckily I’d made extra copies of the photograph anticipating that they’d all like one).

And so, the cousins birthday party is over again for another year.  The city cousins headed home this morning after a few more days of getting to play with their “country cousins”.  They even had a night on the farm this time and left from here this morning (after we’d spent the weekend at the beach).

We haven’t made definite plans but I think next year might be another city one (I’d like to do something like all go to the zoo together) and then the year after we’re planning a “farm” one.  We want to wait a couple of years until more of the kids are old enough to enjoy a campfire and spotlighting on the farm.

Oh, and I didn’t get any more cuddles with the newborn. :(  But I did have lovely cuddles with the 9 month old.  He was the one who’s been sick so I wasn’t sure if he’d come to me.  He’s such a happy and placid little thing though so we had some lovely cuddle time.

It’s hard to think that we won’t see any of them now for around 4 months or more.  The babies are going to change so much in that time!!!!

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