no masterchef here

OK so I know the whole Masterchef thing has been big but I'm afraid I missed the boat (unusual as I admit to having a weakness for reality TV). I love to cook (driven by my love to eat) and I seem to have hit a phase of preparing something different every night and even taking time to think about it early in the day. So much so that my darling husband recently commented on such - which of course only egged me on even more (wise man).

In my cockiness I thought I'd share tonight's evening meal with you. Crispy cauliflower and fish bake.

I started by taking this photo. Did I mention cockiness? Well yes, let's just say that it all went downhill from here. 

Kids were in the bath. The dish turned out to have more processes than expected... kids still in the bath.... kids screaming in the bath..... mum madly trying to drain the cauliflower & milk in a hurry....spilt milk all over bench (and camera on bench).... now mum & kids all screaming!!

Dad arrives home from work. Dad fixes kids. Dad brings wine home. We love Dad.

Dinner gets served. Dad says yuck. Mum says yuck. Sachin says yuck. Ruby enjoys her chicken strips (non fish eater). We all watch her in envy.

To make it worse last nights dinner was also a disaster. After a day weeding in the garden I made a quick run to the supermarket to grab milk. In my tired state I weakened and purchased a "Chicken Tonight" and noodles thinking it would be a quick fix for dinner. Now let me say the last dish of this kind I ate was probably at least 10 years ago. All I can assume is that my taste buds have grown up as it was not edible! It was like covering your food in liquid plastic... and if that's not bad enough why not throw in a cup of sugar!! Even the kids pushed their plates away.

Must find that cooking mojo again. If you see it please tell it to get home.... :)

our house, this morning

We pushed their beds together as Ruby was having nightmares and needed a little extra security from her younger brother - it appears to have done the trick! They look so cute sleeping together like that.


The alphabet freeze on the wall above the beds just arrived this morning in the mail from Miriam Bereson. It is just delightful as is the rest of her work available here.


Hope you have a lovely weekend.

butterfly, batman & bunnies

We have recently acquired a set of face paints.

The face painting has lead to dressing up. Lots of dressing up. They make me laugh!

I read back my last blog post and realised that I sounded like I have issues with girls being girls and boys being boys. If I can please clarify. What I was trying to say is that I wish children weren't taught to act a certain way based on their gender. I believe that every child should be encouraged to play with and play as whatever they choose. As a Mum I try to demonstrate to my children that we can be whatever we dream of - male or female/boy or girl makes no difference. I was never the best student at school when it came to english & literature.... nothing has changed! Maybe I should just stick to the arty stuff :)

boy versus girl bedroom

Sharing a bedroom is a lot of fun for our 2 youngsters, but decorating the room has proven to challenge me. As a result it is still a work in progress.

Ruby is an almost 5 year old young lady who loves all things pretty & girly. Sachin on the other hand is a 3.5 year old boy who has recently had a clash with testosterone.... much to my shock & surprise! My gentle sweet fella is turning into a karate chopping, motorbike crazy, cheeky but oh so hilarious little monster.

Over the last year there have been sporadic decorating additions to the room which seem to have (quite unconsciously) evolved the space into a half & half boy v's girl design. I had dreamed that I could avoid such sexist typecasting but I resign to the fact that this is the reality of our society. There is only so much influence we can have on our children with the idea of non-gender play when there is a whole world out there that suggests otherwise. Ruby is soon to start school where girls will be girls and boys will be boys. She already announced to me yesterday that she doesn't like playing with boys anymore, apparently, they are "boring"!

Anyway, getting back to the decorating dilemma.

A recent addition to the room on Sachin's side is this bunting which I made double sided with girly fabrics on the reverse. In truth it was designed as a birthday party decoration but we thought it was too much fun to pack away.

I picked up a couple of embroidery rings from the op shop (thrift store) and framed some favourite vintage fabrics. You may recognise the letters fabric in the large ring from here.

It may be in need of a little TLC, but I'm super excited about my latest find from our local second hand shop. I think it will be perfect to display a mix of quirky things in the children's bedroom - all those little toys that are constantly getting lost around the house. Roof restoration required. Until then, it makes me smile every time I look at it sitting on the dining room floor. Simple pleasures.

holiday play time