Meal Planning Monday

Hey Guys, We've had a sick household all weekend so I didn't achieve much other than lots of time spent with my 2 unwell little men, Mr 1 & Mr 7. I too am sick so I don't think this meal plan will be too adventurous..

Monday (Meatless Monday) Tomato Soup & Toast (told you it wouldn't be too adventurous!)
Tuesday: Herbed fish w/ vegetables.
Wednesday: Apricot Chicken on Rice.
Thursday: Ravioli with Tomato & Basil Sauce.
Friday: Homemade Pizza's
Saturday: Salmon & Vegetable Bake.
Sunday: Sunday Roast (chicken) with Veggies.

Bake List:
Choc chip cookies
Vanilla cupcakes
Pikelets

You might see Iv made Monday, 'Meatless Monday' something a little different to always having meat with our meals (other than scrambled eggs or spaghetti dinners! Lol)

Till next week ~ happy cooking xx

A Sick Weekend..

Friday afternoon Mr 1 had a low temperature of 35.6 and all night (I know because I tested his temp every 10 minutes I reckon) it wavered between that & 36.1. I was especially worried because just before school pickup the tap fell off the house outside & we both got drenched with mains water.. So I was on high alert, not knowing if Mr 1 had swallowed water as he was in his pram when the pipe went wild! Scared us both that's for sure & certainly caught me off guard. I rang 13HEALTH & discussed my concerns & they reassured me that he should be fine & the temperature was moreso viral sounding. I had the home doctors visit who said the same, moreso viral. The next morning (or later that morning as the home doctor was there at 12:30) we took Mr 1 to our regular GP as he now had a cough.. Our doctor also thought it was a virus! & yes you guessed it another home visit from a Doctor Saturday evening who agreed with everyone else, didn't check a whole lot himself & spent the whole visit asking about our cat! (hubby later said he thought they'd sent a vet) lol.

So overnight his nose started running, sneezing & coughing & I too started feeling much the same. Mr 7 rang me late Saturday as he too wasn't feeling the best & wanted to come home from his Dads. We all had low fevers of around 37 degrees and aside from the fact Mr 7 had a headache, I had a sore throat & Mr 1 had a cough we all have similar symptoms. That's the problem with school returning.. BUGS! I hate illness & as the paragraph above reads, I get super paranoid about the kids being sick.

So today we had a restful weekend, lots of cuddles, games of little people, a movie afternoon for Mr 7 & tucked in now for sleep. Sick weekends certainly slow one down from the usual routine but I think it's a timely reminder to say take it easy & relax!

Fridays are my worst day...

 

Most people say that they hate Mondays, well it's official I'm a crazy person.. because I hate Fridays & I have for the past 6 years.. It's a hard one to explain and I really don't know if anyone will understand my reasoning but here goes...

 

Fridays are an emotionally charged day for me as they are our swap over day.. And today is the first swap over day for 2013 after having the kids altogether for a whole month! So I'm probably feeling it more so today than ever.  So every 2nd Friday this term my Step kids go back to their Mums for the weekend and Mr 7 goes off to his Dad's for the weekend every 2nd weekend all year round. 

 

You go from having a household of 5 kid's to having only 1 child at home.. So to say it's a bit of a downer is an understatement.  I know they are off having fun, that part i'm okay with, it's just that radical change of environment that really throws me out.   I was a lot worse at it before Mr 1 came along because the weekend's go alot faster now I have another little person to keep me busy, but I still notice that Thursday night and Friday are off days for me.

 

And of course your mind always wonders what their up to, are they being safe, are they having fun are they feeling okay etc.  Some people used to say Hubby and I should be having a ball on our kid free weekends, but whilst the kids aren't here physically, it's not really a kid free weekend after all. Now we have Mr 1 there are no such thing as 'kid free weekends' but thats ok, who needs a life anyways.. LOL. 

 

Then on the flip side the opposite Friday we have a  houseful of kidlets in residence and the term when my Step kids are at their Mums during the school week and return home on the Friday, Friday is chaos day.. fighting, settling in, adjusting, lots of noise and lots of crazy as they adjust to being in our home again.  A few years ago, I used to stop into the video shop on the way home from school on a Friday afternoon to hire some movies and buy a big bottle of Coke to get me through & the guy on the counter would always look knowingly at me and say 'Stepkids home?' LOL  -- that and I'm sure he could hear them 3 blocks away LOL. 

 

But you get used to the noise, you get used to the crazy and you get used to the busyness that is five kids in a blended household, its just the coming and going part that is the hard part for me and I'm sure the kids.. Their lives change frequently with different rules etc.  I often look upon large families whose children are all biologically theirs and think 'geez I wonder what that is like?'  but obviously I'll never know.  When the routine settles in again for the year I do breathe a sigh of relief because its also a lot of adjusting for a parent.. after all when you become a parent you don't imagine having to spend time away from your kids regularly... It's not something you think of from the outset..

 

With my Husband's children we used to have 70/30 custody of the kids in our favour, then week on/week off when Mr 9 was in prep and now we still have 50/50 shared care but we've adjusted it to term on/term off simply so these comings and goings don't happen as frequently.  When it was week on/week off, I swear none of us knew if we were Arthur or Martha!  So whilst lengthening the time they spend in one house has its advantages while they are home, it also sucks when they are away as it can be quite a while between visits.  During the away time Mr 7 and Mr 1 adjust to a whole different way of life, then Mr 12, Miss 11 and Mr 9 come home and everything changes again.. it's like living in a roller coaster at times.

 

So this weekend it will be very quiet and odd (Except for Mr 1 who can at times Party with the best of them!) But come Monday the house will be full of laughter, playing, fighting, tantrums and lots of Mummy cuddles.  So Friday's, bloody Friday's... give me Monday any day of the week. :) 

Wordless Wednesday January 30th 2013 {Flooding}

Today the sun is shining & you would never know that our town faced flooding again this week. Alike everyone I feared a repeat of 2011 & although the water thankfully fell short I guess it is no less devastating for those once again affected. These pictures were taken on Monday 27th January a few hours before the river peaked. Thinking of all those affected.. My heart goes out to you all. Xx

 

Linking up with My Little Drummer Boys for Wordless Wednesday

School Lunches! Back to school Today!

 

School goes back today. The kids are very excited.. Iv already had Mr 7 & 9 wake up countless times each throughout the night. I half expect to see them awake and dressed by 5am at this rate! Let's hope not..

So each year I'm a bit of a sucker for new bags & lunch boxes. Quite possibly the kids could have recycled their old school bag this year, but when I saw the Mambo bags at Big W I decided I'd get them some new ones anyway. Mr 7 nearly took his old one though as he was rather miffed the new one didn't have any room for bag-tags! {oh the injustice of it all!}

I'm pretty happy with their lunchbox choice. Miss 11 got her lunchbox from Smiggle ($15), Mr 9's came from Big W as part of a larger 'Smash' back to school pack for $10 & Mr 7 found his comical bargain buy for only $7 at K-Mart. 3 different shops, but sometimes you JUST HAVE TO to find the perfect one.. {Mr 7 will tell you so everytime}

Their old bags I donate to Lifeline as they are still in good condition & I'd like to think that someone got use of them that needed them.

So now to filling them..

I usually pack 2 things for morning tea/first break a piece of fruit & something else such as an LCM, Cheese & Crackers, Corn chips & salsa, muffins, biscuits, lamingtons etc. as well as a juice/popper. For big lunch I will pack 3 things plus they have their water bottles. 4 years ago I found these handy containers with 3 compartments. So useful for putting big lunch into. I have used them for many combo's over the years but usually I stick to the pattern of entree, main & desert LOL. Which can be as simple as crackers, sandwich & lamington finger! Or as complex as you like too! Mr 7 is loving cheese & crackers at the moment so this is his lunchbox. In the morning I will add olives & cherry tomatoes also, but won't add them at night or the cheese tends to go soggy overnight. I usually try to make the lunches the night prior so I'm more organised in the morning.

I always try to be as creative and generous as possible where lunches are concerned because knowing how fussy & hungry they get when their at home I don't want them feeling empty or bored with their lunchbox choices at school. However, I don't think the lunchbox should be the place to experiment with new foods.. When teaching I saw far too many children throwing food away they claimed not to like.

A couple of hints Iv found that seem to work well. Pack 2 lunch boxes, 1 for first break & 1 for second break that way your child will be less likely to eat all their food on the one break. My eldest is terrible at this, Mr 12 will devour all of his lunch in one sitting then come home ravenous at afternoon tea time..

Make sure you wash the kids fruit before you pack it.

Wrap cutlery in a piece of paper towel or add a serviette to the lunchbox. Iv had far too many yoghurt explosions in Mr 7's lunchbox to realise they need it at school to clean themselves up :)

The kids also get Tuckshop once a week on 'Tuckshop Tuesday' which when they were younger and at home (or even now when they are on holidays) is 'Subway Tuesday' I don't remember where this started, but it stuck! Lol. Our school Tuckshop only does big lunch so on a Tuesday I am happy for them to order what they'd like. And on a Friday I send along 50c each for them to spend at the Tuckshop.

So that is school lunches in our home.. They take forever to make some nights and are devoured in seconds or bought home wasted, but I like to think while I'm making them they think of me {probably not} while they're eating them LOL.

Australia Day 2013

I'm thankful to be an Aussie & proud to say so.. I have lived here all my life & have never travelled outside my state, let alone my country. So although I don't have anything to compare it to, I couldn't imagine calling anywhere else home.

I was watching the Ellen show the other day {as you do} and she was interviewing 'Australian' actor Simon Baker Denny & he was speaking of his home in Australia amongst the fig tree's & the back deck of his home & the bird song etc & I thought to myself, he hit it on the head...His description was so PURE, he wasn't fancying it up & I believe that is what Australia is all about; it has such breathtaking beauty from something so simple.. And it's those things I love the best, the simple things such as beautiful beaches, tall tree's, stunning weather {although not so stunning here today!} the cleanliness of communities & the availability of services to its citizens.

Many a time I have chatted with a good friend in the US whose availability to health care services limited her in getting a scan with her 3rd Child. This is ludicrous to think because here in Australia they will scan every week if need be! And free too! Only 2 days ago I opened a letter from the Government stating that my two eldest were entitled to a free dental voucher up to the value of $165.00. We have so many amazing resources available to us & to be thankful for its no wonder many are envious of our beautiful country.

We had planned on heading to the beach today to celebrate Australia Day in one of our favourite locations but with the rain setting in, staying at home and a quick trip to the local shops seemed far more sensible. The kids were quite dissapointed as in previous years we have gone fishing etc. so they seem to look forward to and expect certain things to happen. But oh well, a wet Australia Day it has been, but surrounded by family it has still been a good one.

I hope you all had a wonderful Australia Day xx

My Hopes For The New School Year

 

 

So we're all organised for back to school! The supplies have been purchased, covered & packed. Lunch boxes & drink bottles labelled & uniforms washed, labelled, ironed & hung.. It is with sadness the school holidays draw to a close, I looked forward to them for so long & now they're over, it's just gone way too quick for my liking. I'm not one of these Mums who count down the days till school goes back because I enjoy the freedom of no routine, I enjoy spending time with the kids and it takes 1 million worries off your mind when their close by rather than out in the big wide world. So no, I'm not really looking forward to them going back at all. However, I know they love it.. They thrive on learning and the interaction and they have become bored of the holidays.. 7 weeks to them must feel like forever.

I didn't enjoy the kids school last year, not at all. I didn't like the kids Teachers nor the overall atmosphere of the school or the way it conducted many of its program's & events. I bit my lip through assemblies where I felt like bursting into laughter or yelling back at the Principal at times out of the sheer frustration of how useless I felt the school had become. I gritted my teeth when I paid the fee's each term as I felt it was money better spent elsewhere.. But we will still be returning.. Why? Because my kids love it & I wonder if I missed something?

So it is my hope that this year I can find some joy in the school. Staff left in droves at the end of last year & I wonder if this will freshen things up? I hope that I will love my kids Teacher's this year & that they will seem excited to be there {the Teacher's that is} I hope we as parents will be made to feel comfortable within the school as I felt far from welcome last year. I hope that the School has tweaked their motivation, behaviour & rewards program so that it will be more inclusive of the whole school population & that kids who do the right thing all the time won't be ignored as I felt they were last year. And at the same time I hope those kids who struggle to achieve & do the right thing are given the opportunity to shine. I'm going back this year with an open mind but have decided if I am still not happy by the end of this year I will change schools. I'm not looking forward to that so I hope my faith is restored in the school during 2013. These are my hopes for the kids this year;

I hope that Mr 12 has a smooth transition into high school & that he makes new friends quickly, that he stays safe in his new found independence & makes the most of his new Highshool despite not wanting to go there. I hope that others are kind to him & that he works hard to achieve. I hope that he is able to find himself this year & make the most of every opportunity that arises.

I hope that Miss 12 enjoys year 7 and the leadership that comes with being the highest grade in the school. I hope we are able to find some peace with her ADHD this year & find a happy balance for her medication & an end to the tumultuous behaviour that seems to have emerged of late. I hope that she can tell the truth & that she regains the trust and respect of her peers. I hope her Teacher is firm but fair & that she finds her work easier to understand than in the previous year. No one likes to see their child struggle and success would be fantastic for her self esteem. I hope that she finds a hobby she loves and that she takes many happy memories away from her last year at Primary School.

I hope that Mr 9 starts to mature this year & that he loses the 'class clown' facade that he puts on. The sooner he realises he is worth far more than everyone laughing at his expense the better. He has friends that are no good for him, yet he plays with them despite knowing they are bad news. I hope in 2013 he has the courage to break out of his comfort zone and find new friends. I hope he experiences many great things & enjoys his first school camp later year.

I hope that Mr 7 continues to grow in confidence & that he continues to try new things. In the past, shy and unsure he has been unwilling to 'have a go' and easily embarrasses when trialling new things. I'd love for him to feel courageous in all that he does. I hope the Teacher's don't continue to 'tar' him with the same brush as my Step kids as each is an individual & should be treated as such. Thankfully the teacher he has this year hasn't taught any of my Stepchildren so he may be on a fairer wicket. I hope he stays connected with his friends even though they have been dispersed throughout different classes & I hope the emotional roller coaster he has been riding of late (school holiday boredom I hope?) will soon come to an end & he will feel excited to be going back to school once more.

On the whole I hope that their school year is fun, exciting & filled with many memories that will last them a lifetime. I hope they are eager to go to school each day & have a look of contentment & inspired awe when I collect them each afternoon. I hope they get every opportunity to learn, share, express themselves & succeed. I wish them a fantastic year of school in 2013 because school is meant to be exciting & memorable for all the right reasons.

 

Linking up with Jess @ http://essentiallyjess.com/