Mama, mama, mama...

It's so funny that when you have a baby, you just can't wait to hear that baby call out your name 'mama'... I remember hearing other mothers with older babies saying that they want peace and quiet, I couldn't ever imagine wanting my baby (Marley was just a baby) to be quiet... Fast forward 3 years: Mace is obsessed with me, the minute I go to the loo, or prepare dinner, or someone else picks him up, it's 'mama, mama, mama...' Sometime I think he just likes the sound of it... He can, and does say loads of other words and word combinations, but Mama is his favourite by far... By the time Mark got home from work he had been chanting it for a couple hours, and did so all the way to bed time... Even kissing him goodnight, he was trying to climb on to me... And I finally get it, why Mum's want some peace and quiet, want a break from hearing their name... I look forward to yet another day of the Mama chant tomorrow, it doesn't feel so bad after a couple hours of mindless television!

The photo's are of my little crazies this morning... Starting to think about our Christmas card photo this year, have no idea how we are going to get them both in a good shot!

Nike delivery... Kids Nike Dunk Hi...

I love getting a delivery of trainers... These are so cute! I got the cherry dunks for Marley, again, because I loved them so much on her little feet the first time! And Mace doesn't have loads of dunks coming up in his wardrobe, so why not!

Friday Baking... Chocolate pudding chocolate chip cookies...

Friday baking, it has been 2 weeks! But felt like an eternity! Was lovely to bake with Marley today... I did a take on two peas and their pod's banana pudding cookies with stuff I bought in case that recipe didn't work out! They are delicious...




Banana Pudding Cookies
Yield: 3 dozen cookies
Soft banana pudding cookies with white chocolate chips and vanilla wafers. These cookies taste just like banana pudding!

The original recipe from
http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/banana-pudding-cookies/
I just replaced chocolate pudding and chocolate chips to make a yummy chocolate explosion!!!

ingredients:
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 (3.4 oz) package banana cream instant pudding mix
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose Gold Medal flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped vanilla wafer cookies
1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips

directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat baking mat and set aside.

2. Using a mixer, beat together butter and sugars until creamy. Add in pudding mix, eggs, and vanilla extract. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Stir in the vanilla wafer cookies and white chocolate chips.

3. Drop cookie dough by rounded tablespoons onto prepared baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes, or until slightly golden around the edges and set. Remove cookies from oven and let cool on baking sheet for two minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely.

Zombie Garden Gnomes...

After being with someone for 8 years, the last thing you want to do is lose your creativity when giving them gifts... Marks birthday is this month and of course I have had his gifts ready for months, I saw this after I had bought everything I wanted to get him and knew he had to have one... We both love zombies and I adore flamingo's so this was a perfect fit! There was quite a long turn around, being hand moulded and painted as well as coming from the US... I was so excited when they arrived that I gave it to him early...

If you would like one, or at least to check out the collection go to etsy.com and type in zombie gnomes... They are brilliant!

Football V Football (Soccer V AFL)

With the AFL finishing up and the A League starting up, there has been a lot of smack talking on the Internet from die hard fans from one or the other... Personally, AFL doesn't do it for me, unlike the A League, I have been to AFL games and it has not inspired any passion in me, for football it was love at first site... But I can absolutely appreciate that people love to watch and play it, we can't all like the same thing! Imagine if we did, memberships would be harder to get for a start... It's a bit like religion, well a lot like religion, I feel like everyone should be able to respect each others passions, doesn't have to be a fight...

Last night Marley and Mace had their first AFL experience... My cute little ones playing in the garden with their big cousins, both trying to kick it like a football, no hands! Haha... Ultimately, while I would be ecstatic if both of my babies fell in love with the round ball like we have, to watch and play, I will just be happy that they love to play anything, should their passion and talent lay somewhere else...

Baby toes...

Baby toes are an absolute highlight of being a parent... These tiny little feet carrying them around, up, over the world around them, but still manage to be the cutest! Mace's toes are much more masculine then Marley's, he has the biggest big toe ever! Thinking his feet might end up a size 13 like Daddies, time will tell... Baby feet are just as good as hands, they use them to experience the world, and so I always do my best to keep shoes off them, unless we are going out, even then Mace has been known to throw away his shoes on shopping trips! I have been waiting to see at what age their toes lose their cuteness to me, Marley is 3.5 and hers are still beautiful!

Lactose and comfort food...

Today I bought Mark some Lacteeze, in hope that we can eat cheese every now and again... It gives him the enzyme required to digest lactose effectively, sounds like a dream come true... It would be nice to have cheese in a meal every now and again! Or to be able to go out for a meal together and not be stressing that Australia in general doesn't cater for vegans...

Tonight he gave it a go, I made one of my comfort meals, cheesy tomato rice.. Rice, tomato, stock, peppers, corn, onion and garlic... Nothing complex about it, just yummy goodness... It was so cute, Mace was loving it so much he dropped his cutlery and started feeding himself with fistfuls like a cave man! I allowed it because it must suck taking so long to get something do delicious into your mouth! So far Mark hasn't shown any signs of sickness, which is brilliant!!!

The pic looks a bit dodgy, but it is so good! I got it from our BBC UK Vegetarian cook book, but this is the same recipe but they have added meat

http://f00d-for-thought.blogspot.com.au/2007/03/baked-cheddar-and-tomato-rice.html?m=1

Girls Day Out: the latest Tinkerbell movie at Village Cinema...

Marley saw an ad for Tinkerbell Secret of the Wings on one of the kids Foxtel channels... While we have watched many Tinkerbell films, I usually put then on so we can lay on the couch together and I can nap! So I have never seen an entire one... Even now while I watch, I also blog! Wishing I could sleep - cant get over the tiredness from Friday night!

I most wanted to tell you about the awesome kids box that they are doing for only $6! It has a small popcorn, juice box and some raspberry soft lollies... I noticed it said only for children's tickets, but asked if the dude could hook me up, not only did he hook me up, he gave me double the popcorn! Wooooo!

DAS EFX and Black Sheep at Prince of Wales 28.09.12

Probably the wrong title because there is much more to say then just a review of the show! In fact I have very little to say about the show... Bullet points...
- Maundz looked much more comfortable on the stage then the Hilltop Hoods show, I can officially see what the hype is about now... Might even listen to the album, at some point!
- Reason did a solid job as host, but that is absolutely to be expected
- Black Sheep/Dres was okay, dude has charisma and skills, but the track selection sucked
- DAS EFX was weird... I'm not sure why, but most of the show seemed to be about hype, but using other people obvious beats, and a LOT of talk and smoking weed... I care not for artists who get on stage and try to push an agenda... Sloppy lounge room style performance...

The high light for me was seeing a bunch of dudes we used to go out with, and it felt exactly as it used to... You wouldn't know that 4 years have passed... Everyone was just as warm and welcoming as they were when we saw them every other week! That was awesome... Have a few hip hop events coming up, feels good to see everyone again!

Peppermint tea and sore throats!

Tomorrow night Mark and I are going out! DAS FX and Black Sheep are playing at the Prince of Wales, the idea of a date night with hip hop as well as the kids sleeping at mums which means we get to sleep in! It is too exciting, but today my throat has become a bit sore... It's pretty upsetting, I don't want to get sick, I managed to avoid it last week when EVERYONE was sick, I just powered on, and now my throat is sore... I haven't had a sore throat in one or two years, annoying... So tonight I thought I might have a peppermint tea, I used to have a mild addiction to peppermint tea, in the cold winter of London, and our first winter back... Strangely enough my throat went numb afterwards, and is still! It probably won't last, but I just thought I would put it out there...

I am going to dose up on it tomorrow in hope that it sorts itself out! If not, I am just going to have to drink through the pain... And pay for it later...

The five year engagement...

Been meaning to watch this for some time... We did, well we didn't even finish it, it was that bad... Seriously... We love Jason Segel, but I don't know what he and his crew were hoping for here... It was long and not funny, at all...

We watch so few movies, I forget just how bad some are... Like how do they make them? Doesn't someone say 'dude, this sucks!' before it is made? Oh well...




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

The Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern

I was recommended this book by a dear friend who makes a living being a bookworm/author... He wrote Coconut Unlimited (Nikesh Shukla), read it! I digress, I started reading a sample on my kindle and when it came time to purchase, I just wasn't sure, but there was a feeling that I wanted to know WTF was going on, so I clicked 'buy'...

The whole time I was reading I just felt it was weirder then I like my books to be... I did enjoy it, in a really offbeat way... I'm not even sure if I could recommend it, in case it was too weird for you too... I was really into it, wanted to read more, but also looked forward to it not being my only source of literature... I'm still confused I think...



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

The Killers at The Palace in January 2013

Today I received our tickets in the mail, I am crazy excited... I have seen The Killers at Festival Hall, Rod Laver Arena and Good Vibrations festival, I love them... And I love Brandon Flowers, I could listen to his beautiful voice all day! When I heard that they were doing Big Day Out, I was devastated! We have a long standing date at the football on Australia day, so I was hoping that they would do a side show, then they announced an intimate show at The Palace... I was almost certain that we wouldn't get tickets, but after some faffing about, I secured three! Feel blessed, can not wait for this show...



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Rattling the keys to the kingdom - Hilltop Hoods

I have enjoyed the Hoods new album 'Drinking from the sun', but this video takes enjoyment to a whole new level...  Not only is it an awesome single, the video is full of heads, many of whom I haven't seen since having babies...  It seriously fills my heart with joy, and ignites the sense of community spirit that I used to feel in our small scene...  Good one boys...

Friday baking: nutella and dark chocolate chunk brownies...

I got the idea of these from two peas and their pod, but made my own recipe... I love the caramel brownie batter, so substituted the chocolate for nutella and the rolo chocolate for dark chocolate chunks... They are good, in that I feel that this batter makes an amazing brownie, would have liked it to taste more like nutella, but I couldn't find hazelnut essence or extract anywhere! Boo! I am still obsessed with the chocolate caramel brownie, I can't foresee anything surpassing those, for me, right now...



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Toca Boca Band kids iPhone app...

Our kids are Toca Boca app crazy... I quite like them because they are just free play - so no help required, and no in app purchases! We have watched the Toca Boca Band app loads of times, and finally it has been released... The kids have been driving me batty today so the hour before Daddy gets home, I have let them have their first go on it! It's awesome, I love the music, it may grate later, but right now I'm feeling it... And I know people say not to palm kids off on electronic devices, but Mace has been clingy and crying since Saturday with this virus, and I'm taking this moment to have a cup of chai tea...





- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

The Kingmaker's Daughter - Philippa Gregory

Another of her books about the Cousins' war... This one focusing on Anne Neville's journey as the Kingmaker's daughter in England in the 1400's... In Philippa's style, this book is completely engrossing, after a lull in reading, while Tina Feys' book was good, it didn't suck me in... After that we became obsessed with UK's Celebrity Big Brother, and so we were watching that before bed every night instead of reading... Strolling along in Myer the other day I spotted this, came home and purchased! Only 3 days later I had finished it, completely enthralled...


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

My new custom Gelaskins iPhone skin... LL Cool J...

I just adore Mark's animations of hip hop artists, so much so, I got it turned into my latest skin... I did it at Gelaskins, their skins are awesome, though the custom element meant it took a little longer then usual! It's super cute! I'm pretty sure that you can get his iPhone cases on red bubble...
Redbubble.com/people/mark563
On redbubble we also got this made into a tshirt for Mace... Gorgeous!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Melbourne Victory Football Club membership kits have arrived!

Yesterday afternoon our membership kits arrived... I am really happy with the packs this year! Aside from never getting a pin, which is all either of us desires... The silver member scarf is a lovely light fabric, they haven't wasted resources on lots of junky bits and pieces like last year... The blue member boot bag for the kids is a great idea, Mace's will wait until he has boots and undoubtedly Marley will use hers as a my little pony bag! The kids stickers have their names on them, they are truly awesome... Obviously the most exciting thing is that we have our cards, our trusty seats and in less then a month we will be using them to get through the turnstiles... I am incredibly happy!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Jamie Oliver's Mountain Meatballs with Chilli Sauce - Vegetarian Adaption

We don't eat a lot of meat in our home, Mark is vegetarian, combined with lactose intolerance, so we eat a lot of vegan dishes... A couple of times a week I like the kids to eat meat, and don't mind a bit of it myself... This is one of those dishes that is incredibly easy to make a meat and vegetarian option, but overall it is a long dish... I like 30 minutes as a general meal preparation/cooking length, but this takes over an hour, which is why I don't do it often... But I love it when I do... You can find the recipe in Jamie's America, just make half of the meatball mix in a separate bowl for fake mince, and the other with real mince... I make double the sauce because I love it, but with a little less coffee...



You can't even tell the difference by looking at them!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone