Misty's Diner

This is our 'place'... We don't go out for dinner often, but when we do, this is where we go! It's a heart attack on a plate, but it's delicious, US diner style comfort food... We have been twice in the last month with Cricket and Dave! Squeezing in dates before they become parents...

I just about always have the same dish, and then I move on... I have had numerous BBQ bacon and mushroom burgers, more recently meatball sub and tonight I went back to the 24 hour pulled pork sub, always with curly fries instead of straight fries, and the mozzarella cheese sticks... All delicious, all the time! Tonight we had our first dessert, the red velvet volcano cake, it was pretty good... Glad I only had half though, such a serious amount of food! Everyone needs to go there!!!

The Wiggles - Taking Off - Comedy Theatre

June 2013

The new Wiggles tour was surprisingly intimate, I have seen them 4 times in the past 2 years, so I feel qualified to say that! The comedy theatre is not a great theatre for kids, they can't see over the people in front... There are loads more theatres that would have been better suited... But between our 4 seats, with a kid on each lap (aisle dancing aside), we shuffled around until we found a good view for both babies...

The show was as entertaining as any that I have seen, and I have seen the wiggles in all possible combinations! The addition of Emma has been a welcome one... It's so nice to have a girl, for all the girls, and boys, to adore... She's a proper sweetheart too, being lovely about taking a pic with Marley... The songs were mostly new songs, little bits of old songs, and a couple full old songs, but definitely more new stuff... Which was a little disappointing, but refreshing, it's nice to see a new path being forged...

Friday baking... Red velvet crinkles stuffed with Oreos...

Red velvet crinkles stuffed with Oreos... These looked amazing on the website, so I was in immediately...

http://www.sprinklebakes.com/2012/12/oreo-stuffed-red-velvet-crinkles.html

I did the work, made the deliciously smelling cookies, took them out of the oven, and they were one big blob, no crinkle anything... Too ugly to photograph! But they did taste good, really good... I'm still undecided as to whether I will make them again...

Monsters University

We ALL love Monsters Inc, so we thought we would try to see it at the cinema, as a family... Hahaha... Taking Mace to the movies was a gamble, one we planned for... We got through the first 30 minutes and he was done, so Marley and I watched the rest together... 

The prequel to Monsters Inc was hilarious... Something for Marley, and something for me... The story was brilliant, and less 'scary' then Monsters Inc, I loved the characters, back stories, watching the friendships develop and how Mike and Sully ended up where they are... Nothing not to like! 5 stars from each of us... As we walked out, as I opened the door and Marley said 'that was amazing!', I agree!

Friday baking... Chocolate chip cookies filled with Nutella...

When I saw this recipe, I was in! The reality was much more serious... We had a kinder party at ten so I baked these without the help of the babies... The whole recipe made only 9 muffin sized biscuits filled with Nutella! And eating one for breakfast was the wrong idea... These are almost suitable as an actual dessert, rather then a little cheeky snack... As a dessert they excel... 

http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/giant-nutella-stuffed-chocolate-chip-cookies/

Y'all gonn make me lose my mind! Hip hop cross stitch...

I have seen hip hop cross stitch around and really wanted this particular one in my kitchen... I sing this to my kids when they are acting crazy, songs truly get me through my hardest parenting days! I saw a complete one framed, on etsy for $60, or the pattern for under $6, I grabbed the pattern! 

I have never cross stitched before and with sick kids and my own exhaustion, I never started it... Mum offered to start it, and then finish it and I said yes please! So a week later it is framed in my kitchen... I LOVE IT! It captures my family perfectly!

Mothers Day Classic...

I meant to blog about the Mother's Day classic at the time that it was on, but it was a crazy time as we had just returned from Vegas... Now the Mother's Day classic has let the world know that it has raised five million dollars!!! Thanks to all of the participants and sponsors! I raised $600 this year, taking my total over $3,000 over the years, had some amazing sponsors as usual... Our team raised around $1500, and we had a lovely morning walking together... 

Marley showed a lot of interest this year, so I am going to take her with us next year... It really is the perfect way to spend Mother's Day, walking for my mum, who is a breast cancer survivor, and my Nanna who passed away from breast cancer in her early 50's... Looking forward to walking with my sweet girl, fingers crossed she manages! 

Friday baking - gingerbread...

We had a bit of a family baking session today... I made the dough at 7.30, we all went to Chadstone, on our return home Michelle and Mum helped the kids with cutting out the gingerbread, I baked it, and michelle and I helped the kids decorate it... Team work! I used a Betty Crocker recipe 

http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/gingerbread-cutouts/29072204-d392-4ce5-850d-7e3cf11f4cde

Baby Jordans...

In case you didn't realise, we love sneakers in this family! Our kids have quite a few pairs in each size, to match their outfits, moods, whatever... Mace is a full on diva when it comes to fashion, Marley has been since about the same age... Nike is Mace's sneaker of choice, the minute he realised his big winter jacket was Nike, he just wanted to wear his Nike's with his jacket alllllllllll the time! 

When Mark got the rerelease of fire red Jordan 5's, we got Mace some too, and from the moment he fit them, he resisted... Every morning when we discuss what shoes he is wearing and I asked 'Jordan?' His answer was 'NO JORDAN!', I was pretty sure that he wasn't ever going to wear them... And then on the weekend Mark wore his Jordans, Mace cottoned on, and now loves them! It's a relief, at the price that they were, that he finally likes them, with room to grow... So the men are happily wearing their Jordans, and now Marley wants some... Sigh...

Puzzles on cold days...

Winter is here, and this winter Mace isn't so babyish anymore... This bodes well for activities that match both kids skill sets... Mace has been killing 9 piece puzzles by himself, and Marley does 30-50 pieces on her own, so every afternoon we spend an hour or two doing puzzles... I also have some BIG floor puzzles that they do together, at around 20-30 minutes each, they kill am afternoon quite easily... If you have little ones at home, I highly recommend buying a bunch, they are relatively cheap compared to other toys, and bring hours of fun!

Art attack on a drizzly Friday morning...

In our house, Friday mornings are an equal worst parenting experience with Thursday nights... After they both have a 7/7.5 hour day at kinder/crèche, they are tired and grumpy, I get the brunt of it... It takes about an hour until they have pushed me to the edge, and then I usually bake, but today thought we should get into the Art Attack pack we bought last week, especially for a miserable day like this... Because we already have a cupboard full of arts and crafts, especially Pompoms and googley eyes which are in this pack, I thought we would be cheeky and got Mark to make extra colour copies on card for future use! I set up while they were in bed so I didn't have to deal with a whingefest while I was setting up, nothing happens quick enough for a tired 4yo... 

Mace needed some extra help, where Marley was fine on her own... We stuck on the Pompoms and eyes, when that was over, made a couple birthday cards and a spider... It was really really good and positive, until the end which inevitably ended up in tears (a Friday morning signature)... We distracted with puzzles and I promptly packed up... A great activity, would have been even better with non tired kids! The art attack packs are like $10, definitely money well spent, especially with the re-uses I have planned!

The Sapphires, Mandawuy Yunupingu, and racism...

Racism is rampant in Australia... It makes me sick... The casual racists get me the most (same exact thing applies for me with homophobia)... The 'its just a joke' 'I didn't mean anything by it' idiots... Race isn't a joke, minorities have been shat on since white people took over their countries... It's awful... And then to add insult to injury Mandawuy Yunupingu, passed away at a young age this week... Keeping in line with the 20 odd year gap for indigenous Australians and white Australians... Yesterday, upon hearing that news, I cried on and off all day, feeling powerless to undo all of the wrong thats been done... Way too emotional... And then I put on The Sapphires...

I had been meaning to watch this for ages, but we were listening to soul music and it reminded me... It was a really good film, great cast, can't fault any of them! The story was good, I did cry a bit, another reminder of our shameful history... It made me laugh too, really ticked all my boxes...