In just 24 hrs...

under 8's day

we didn't make it past the emergency vehicles :D

One happy little Kangaroo driving the Ambulance

Paramedic Kangaroo and patient Kookaburra

Woohoo! The Fire Brigade!!! I hope that they're ready for the gazillion
questions coming their way.

Inside access to the Fire Engine.
These little boys are so excited!

One on one with Mr. Fire Brigade and what a gem of a man.

He answered the questions and show and told for quite a while.
Our boys always have another question up their sleeve
and they have no hesitation asking.

So that's the other side of the news!
Questions about the Channel 7 crew filming a segment
near the park we were visiting.
It's so much fun realizing what kids thought and then
seeing them realize what actually is.

Scootering and exploring.

I love the purple carpet the Jacaranda's drop every Spring.

Such happy kids.

They have done so much this week and have been incredibly active.

Seriously happier together this week :)

I Love this photo!!!
Kookaburra is so, so very happy here. My Beautiful Boy :)

Baking a cake.
Inspired by Junior Masterchef which we've started watching online.

We all enjoyed the results a little too much.

Kangaroo is 'hunting myself a plum bird'.

Playing cowboy with his op shop find.

Kangaroo didn't have to think too hard about parting
with his pocket money for his companion.
He's named 'Star Bright' named after the colts in the book
Farmer Boy and Kangaroo's bum has barely left the pony's saddle.

Beach fun last weekend was such a hit
that we're making it a Friday afternoon ritual.

Roll on Summer Sunshine :D

I'm really enjoying taking photo's of my boys at the moment.

Actually, I'm also having loads of fun just taking photo's.

Trying to capture all those special moments.

They do ask me to put the camera away and come play though.

With or without the camera I'm glad I'm not missing a thing.

I have been struggling a bit this week though.

Grumpy, irritable and even a bit angry - a nasty ball of tight horribleness sitting in the pit of my stomach gnawing my innards. I can't really figure out why. I suspect the source. So today I'm going to have some me time. I'm off to the beach with a beautiful, sweet friend and we're going Kayaking and then, just because I'm nuts and terrified of sharks, I thought it would terrifyingly hilarious to go to the shark show afterward. Hopefully it won't reinforce my fears too much but I think it will be crazy, scary, funny to see just how close to being shark bait we'd come.

I think I need to practice gratefulness too. Our life is so good.

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Just a little update. That shark show we were going to see was suitably terrifying and consequently there will be more visits to the pool this summer than the beach. Even though I look over my shoulder in the pool as well as the beach, I know in which I'm least likely to be consumed by such a savage killing machine.

:P

'Feed Us!', They Cry.

Some nights making dinner is like extracting a tooth.

I don't want to do it and even if it's fast, it still feels pretty painful. Throw in the vegetarian complication of trying to eat meals that satisfy without tasting completely strange, after all our tastes have been trained a certain way, it all feels a bit too much. So I threw a plea out to Mr E this arvo to please hunt and gather my favourite chocolate (mmmmm..... Greens & Black Organic Dark Chocolate - Maya Gold ,thanks Babe) to help fortify poor little me :P for my mini ordeal of meal preparation. Tonight's recipe is so easy it's kind of a crime to complain and it's a great one to have as its mostly healthy. I haven't yet mentioned that for our family of four, it will feed us for at least two or three meals with usually leftovers for Mr E's lunch. So this is how it goes:

Tortellini with Ricotta and Roast Vegetables in Pasta Sauce

* 630g bag of Tortellini with Ricotta and Roast Vegetables

* Jensens Organic Pasta Sauce Basil & Garlic 500g x 2

* 800g tinned crushed tomatoes

* 1 medium onion, finely diced

* 2 small zucchinis, finely grated

* approx 350g mushrooms, sliced

* 3 celery sticks, finely diced

* 200g baby spinach, washed

:) In one big pot fry diced onion with a splash of olive oil until it changes colour.

:) Add the zucchini, and wait until its cooked. Be sure to stir so it doesn't stick to the bottom.

:) Add Mushrooms and once they've cooked through add the diced celery.

:) Once its all cooked up, pour in the crushed tomatoes and pasta sauce. Bring to the boil and then turn it down to a simmer and let the pasta sauce reduce its liquid whilst you're putting on a big pot full of water to get ready for the pasta. Very near the end when the pasta is nearly ready, turn off the heat to the pasta sauce and add the spinach leaves which will curl up with the heat. Stir in.

:) Follow the instructions on the pasta and when cooked combine the pasta and pasta sauce ready to serve with a little Parmesan sprinkled on top.

:) Voila! One mostly healthy, fairly easy, filling and tasty, vegetarian meal. Not ingenious but fills the belly's of my little family with loads extra to spare!