Blackfish

Blackfish

I knew going into this that it would be bad... And it was... I felt sick from the get go... Aside from learning more about beautiful Orca Whales, I learnt mostly about how awful humans are... Watching the way the whales are captured, and kept, in tiny pools was akin to putting a human in a cage, like prison, these whales are prisoners... Their babies are taken away, and the despair the mother expresses when this happens is parallel to human grief... 

The lies these parks tell are awful, about the age whales live to be, about their floppy dorsal fins, saying that the whales live in their family groups, when in the wild babies stay with their mums/families their whole lives! As a mum and someone who loves animals it just broke my heart...  It's unbelievable that the staff aren't given access to the amount of and type of accidents for trainers working with the whales, further perpetuating the lies... Surely it would cross your mind that these are HUGE, wild animals that have no way to let off steam for many, many years... It seems obvious to me that they may lash out from time to time...

I remember being pregnant with Marley (08), there was a baby whale orphaned in the Sydney harbour area... Poor little love was suckling yachts, trying desperately to find it's mama... I cried for days over that, broke my heart, and eventually they put the baby whale to sleep... After watching this, I am glad they put it to sleep and didn't try to capture and train it... It's all just awful... I have had flashbacks over the 20 hours since I watched it, I still don't feel composed about it... Too heartbreaking...

Routines vs School Holidays

Routines vs School Holiday's

I am a routine type of woman... I love to be organised and for the kids to know what's happening next, so a routine is the way forward for us as a family... School holidays started over two weeks ago, and Mark's and my holidays started exactly two weeks ago... We have wanted to make the most of this time together as a family, I am all too aware that Marley is starting school at the end of the month, and I'm getting nervous about it... Because of this, we have made lots of plans, done a lot of activities, been to the zoo, scooters at the park, play centres, play dates, the list goes on... The kids have been tired, and when they are tired, they seem to sleep less, I have never been woken up so many mornings before 7am since they were under 6 months! And because of it, we were all exhausted... From the weekend they have finally gone back to sleeping from 7-7.30, and what a difference it has made!

To combat the exhaustion, I schedule in 'chill times' on top of 12.30-2 rest/nap times... During which we might watch a movie, read books, just have downtime... I am doing this every day, yet the kids are still tired, which makes parenting a little more tricky then it is while we are all in the thick of our routine... I miss it... I miss us all getting up and ready for kinder, the drop off, the hanging out with mace, I'm sure time spent apart helps the kids relationships! The pick up, cuddles on the couch, dinner, bed, no incidents, just a smooth operation... And while kinder is not on the cards now until Mace goes, yesterday I really enjoyed our return to work (having Daddy home is seriously exciting for them), to our routine being semi back on track, so that the rest of the school holidays is a bit more relaxed, and we can make the most of spending time with Marley before she goes off to school! 

Happy new year! And the Myer Melbourne Christmas windows...

Happy new year my people!! Hope everyone has has a great holiday period... I go back to work Monday and am quite looking forward to getting back to my routine, and using my brain for non parenting related duties! 

Things were hectic with work last month and I didn't get a chance to tell you all to take advantage of the myer Christmas experience... They had a magical Christmas area with Santa (photos) and a Christmas train (free) as well as the myer Christmas windows which were lovely this year (also free), I'm pretty sure that  they are open through January... We had an awesome morning there... The trick is to go see the windows before myer opens and then leg it to the Christmas area as doors open... This years doors opened half hour before the Christmas area opened, so we left mark in line and took our time with the windows... Santa was lovely, the kids loved the train ride, overall a lovely morning out!

Merry Christmas to you!

I have been meaning to write a post about how great the Myer Melbourne windows and Christmas experience was, and about all if the awesome things our football club, Melbourne Victory, have been putting on for it's fans, but this is the busiest time of the year... For my work, it gets crazy, looking after around 100 high school students book and uniform lists... And then there is the general Christmas social fun, and planning for the big day... So here I am saying Merry Christmas to you! From my family to yours... We have the kinder, soon school, holidays and we are both home with the kids for two weeks! So there will be loads of fun, probably not much posting! See you in the new year!

Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Catching Fire: Hunger Games Trilogy

If you are new in my life or to my blog, you may not know about how much I enjoyed The Hunger Games books... I read them twice in a row, and once we saw the movie, I read all 3 books aloud to Mark... The first film was actually that bad that I felt bad he had to sit through it before knowing the story...

We went to see the film with the same couple that we saw the first film with, who had also read the stories... Gold class is the only way to see a film this long (over two hours), and it was worth every cent... I was really happy with everything about this film, I felt that it was true to the books, as well as being something someone who hadn't read the books could get easily... Even if you were disappointed with the first one, definitely give the second one a go!

Perfect Mums?

Perfect Mums?

I don't read tabloid magazines... No interest, no time, would prefer to read a book... But today I was at my Nanna's and had a moment of browsing her Woman's Day... This was a mistake... Front cover is Katherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, new mum, on the front cover with what is effectively a before and after Prince George picture... She looks tired... I was horrified that there is even comment about this, let alone a front cover!!! The woman is a first time mum, raising a Prince and doing it without all of the usual household staff required to raise a prince... Way to let all the new mums down, nobody feels great after a bad night, the last thing they need is some before and after shots...

Then Fifi Box going on about losing weight to be a mum her kid can look up to... Seriously... Sure if the actual focus was the healthy lifestyle she says she has taken on to lose the weight... But ultimately the headline was that she lost the baby weight to be a good mum...

Now I know that parenthood is different strokes for different folks, and what I think is best for my family may make you cringe, and we can all be a bit judgy sometimes, but ultimately we all do our best with our families, what works for us... And we should all support each other in that... Whole I think it makes all the sense in the world to lead by example, to eat healthy meals with your kids, and let them see you exercise and prioritise being healthy, but being thin doesn't make you a good mum... If there are days that you look and feel like crap, that doesn't make you a bad mum... It's all so bad... I hope that only old people read these magazines and that no new mums out there can possibly take these publications seriously or let them affect their self worth...

Clean November...

Clean November

Late October I was reading my girl Amy Cohen's fitness newsletter (find her at AC fitness on Facebook) and she suggested we all try Clean November, giving up wheat, sugar, sugar substitutes, dairy, dairy substitutes, processed foods, caffeine and alcohol... Immediately the answer was no, the more she wrote about it, and the staggered approach, giving up food groups one by one, by the time November 1st came, I was ready! Was completely sucked in to the idea, and as a happy surprise, Cassie decided to join me in this venture... This was a highlight because there was support, only a text away, in moments of triumph and moments of weakness... 

There was one caffeine detox headache, it was mild, but then I only drink a couple cups of tea a day... The most surprising thing that happened was sugar detox! Holy moly it was bad!!! I was feeling so low, I thought I was getting really sick, this went on for a couple days, ending in me having a 10 hour sleep, and waking up fine! Until I really thought about it, I didn't realise that sugar is in just about everything we eat... It's bad! And of course explains the detox...

The meals themselves were mostly delicious, though more then once I are food just because it was nutritious instead of being because I actually wanted to eat that particular meal... I felt like I was eating all the time, I have never consumed so much food! 

Once that first week was over (even though it was a staggered approach, I cut just about everything immediately), my skin was glowing... My insides felt great, my body was functioning brilliantly! Overall it did feel like my body was happy with my eating choices... And as a reward I lost cms off everywhere, which is a nice kick start to Dirty December! 

I definitely learnt a lot about my own willpower... Preparing food for the kids was very hard, but I did it, I even threw out sweets they didn't want! I baked chocolate caramel brownies for a kinder meeting, and didn't even lick the batter off my fingers! We went to Sydney for a weekend and I even kept it together there! 

A great experience, highly recommend doing it...

Veronica Mars Movie

When the call came out that the Veronica Mars movie would go ahead, if they could raise the money, I wanted to be involved... It took them a while to work out the logistics of overseas backers, once they did, I backed it... For $50 plus shipping I got the tshirt and will get the DVD, once released, delivered to my door! The tshirt and sticker pack is cute, can't wait for the film!!!

Play Doh Marvel Super Hero Squad and Strawberry Shortcake

Play Doh Marvel Super Hero Squad and Strawberry Shortcake 

Mace is deep into superheroes, seriously deep... He found these at Target at the bargain price of $13, my plan was to come back in a couple of days and buy them in secret, but there weren't thaaaat many of them and I would have kicked myself if I missed them... For $13 you get 4 different colour mini tubs, a full body mould and the heads of all the characters, plus a knife and rolling pin... I think that is pretty good value, for the hours of play (and it really is hours) that they get, making them and doing imaginary play with their new friends... Great fun!

Exploding Volcanoes

At kinder last week the kids made volcanoes and exploded them, it was a great success... Marley brought hers home with instructions on how to explode it...

Volcano

Upside down cup covered in foil, decorated and stuck on card

Explosion

Fill concave at top of cup with vinegar and two drops of red food colouring

Add a teaspoon of bicarbonate soda and watch it fizz

This brought great joy to our house this morning!

Peppa Pig Live! Treasure Hunt

Peppa Pig Live! Treasure Hunt

Arts Centre Melbourne, Playhouse

Melbourne, VIC

We all love Peppa Pig in this family.. I think the kids have had long periods of time where they thought that they were Peppa and George... When Mace was smaller and had fewer words, that was their favourite game to play... We were lucky enough to get tickets to see the show, I am so glad we did!!! 

The show was a great production, puppets, sets, songs, interaction with the crowd and the story... Both of the kids (2.5 and 4.5) thoroughly enjoyed it! Dancing, shouting back when called for, bopping along to the music... Completely sold on it! As was I! It was one of the best children's productions we have been to... Highly recommend...

Cherry ripe cheesecake balls...

I love both of these together, so when I saw the recipe on www.stayathomemum.com.au I thought it would be a great 3rd sweet for my cup day afternoon tea... It was the only one with anything left at the end of the day, but it was a very small amount, and people took them home!

250g cream cheese softened

4 cherry ripe bars diced

3/4 cup coconut

1tblsp sugar

Coconut to coat

Chocolate dukkah (I used cadburys drinking chocolate) to coat

Beat cheese and sugar until smooth

Add coconut, mix well

Add cherry ripes and mix with wooden spoon

Roll teaspoon sized balls

Coat in coconut

Cost in chocolate

Refrigerate for an hour before serving

These go straight from fridge to table, they will keep in fridge for 5 days in an airtight container

No pictures because the day was just so busy, I didn't even touch my phone!

It's Halloween in the house of spooks!

It's Halloween in the house of spooks!

I know people get their back up on Halloween, it's fairly new over here in Australia, but it's a nice celebration, we have celebrated it for years... This year it fell on crèche and kinder day so the kids did dress up, but we did a part two to it today, with some Halloween craft activities and carving our annual pumpkin... Marley loves Halloween, mace does too, but I'm sure it grows as you get bigger... The only confusing part is that it's really meant for autumn, so much like Christmas with that seasonally weird feeling!

A day out with Thomas the tank engine at Puffing Billy

A Day Out With Thomas The Tank Engine at Puffing Billy

We have talked about going to Puffing Billy since having Marley, but never really got around to it... I had heard about Thomas at Puffing Billy and thought that Mace would dig it, so booked with some friends and their little boys... All in all, it was a good day, there were pros and cons of course, it sort of felt that it could do with a bit of an organisational and customer service overhaul...

My first tip is to print two sets of tickets if you have 2 children, so you can separate if you desire... They aren't always staunch about checking tickets in the non train ride section, but it is inconsistent, and I prefer to be able to comply with the rules... So we had to show tickets at the face painting for Marley, and the boys were going to get seats at the pantomime, we needed tickets for both! Luckily I had my email saved and showed the pantomime people that to get in...

The train ride was the highlight, 20 minutes on a train with open windows, pulled by Thomas... The best tip I have here is sit on the same side as you enter for the best views! Rolling hills, lots of greenery... 

The pantomime was boring as can be... It was completely uninteresting for all 4 of us, and the seating is organised in such a way that if you are at the far right of the stage, you catch about an 8th of the show... Complete waste of time!

The jumping castle and animals were a nice add on, what kid doesn't like those!?! And the face painting was a bit hit and miss... Marley wanted a rainbow unicorn, I knew it could be a stretch and had seen some lovely butterflies, so I suggested that the artist (?) do something else... Unfortunately she didn't think unicorn was above her expertise, she was wrong! It looked like a dinosaur drawn by Marley, it was embarrassingly bad!

The staff were mostly abrasive, car park staff aside... It felt that they were doing us a favour by being there... Lots of bad communication over crossing the tracks, lots of grumpy faces...

Korma time...

Pre kids, curry was a huge part of our lives, many nights a week we would eat it, and love it! Lots of types, it sort of became my specialty. Then I got pregnant with Marley, and the smell of curry didn't sit with me, then we ate it out a couple times and it made me sick. Just like that, it was over. Poor Mark, taking away an easy vegetarian dish out of his life! We have been talking curry with people lately, and it has been on my mind, then out of the blue today, I decided it was time to go back. It was delicious, Marley disagreed!

Veggie korma

Big onion

2 garlic

Tblsp coriander

.5 Tblsp cumin

.5 Tblsp turmeric

.5 Tblsp garam masala

Chilli to your taste

1-2 cups veg water

1/2 cup pasata

Tin lentils

Cup of soy milk

Whatever veg you like

2 zucchini 

2 carrot

Fry up onion, garlic and spices, fry up veggies, add vegetable stock, pasata, boil up and let simmer for 20 mins or so. Pour in soy milk and keep simmering until you are ready to eat. At this point I stick blend almost half to beef it up a bit, give it a good texture. And serve, with rice or roti. Mmmmm

Friday baking: clinker slice...

It's been a while since I have baked on a Friday, there have been too many sweets in our lives! But today by 8.30 I had made a chocolate caramel tray of brownies for my beautiful girlfriend and her husband to celebrate their new baby girl, and a clinker slice for our family to celebrate the weekend! Haha... The caramel slice is surprisingly good! Sweeeet, but good!

The recipe was from the stay at home mum website...

This Is a Call: The Life and Times of Dave Grohl - Paul Brannigan

This Is a Call: The Life and Times of Dave Grohl

Paul Brannigan

As a Foo Fighters and Dave Grohl fan, I have read a few books about them, this was a good one... The beginning can be a bit much, way too much about other bands, bands Dave liked, bands that were around at the time Dave was growing up, it just felt like it was more about bands on general then Dave and his bands... As he enters Nirvana the story gets really interesting, I love reading about Dave's life, the path he was on... The touring, the band, Kurt, Krist, and then the Foo Fighters... When nirvana and the foo fighters started, the internet wasn't quite what it is today, so it is nice to read about things that weren't highly publicised, things that I have never read before... It's also really interesting to go deep into each Foo Fighters album, tracks, touring, band changes, Taylor's path... It covers a lot, and the vast majority is really interesting...

Honey Joys

Honey joys

After the Little Mermaid tiffin, the kids fell in love with honey joys... So I grabbed the recipe and made a batch, non dairy to suit Marks needs... The recipe online is the same as the one on the side of the Cornflakes packet... They are delicious... It's very hard to stop eating them once you start!

Little Mermaid Childrens’ Tiffin at the Langham hotel

Little Mermaid Childrens’ Tiffin at the Langham hotel

We heard about this and booked immediately for the one day mace is in crèche... Girls morning out! 

The hotel is beautiful and the Aria Lounge is lovely, perfect for high tea... Big cushy couches, amazing food, and gorgeous little girls dressed as princesses everywhere... Definitely a lovely treat for your special little one...

The kids menu was:

King Triton Cupcake

Ocean Jelly Square

Ursula Red Lip Cookie

Sabastian Cakepop

Flounder Honey Joy 

Starfish Fairybread

Ham & Cheese Sandwich

Scones with jam & cream

Babyccino’s or Ariel Red Hair Lemonade

Marley loved it, couldn't eat even half, brought the rest home to share with Mace after dessert!

FourFourTwo magazine A League preview...

As you may know, we love our football…  We are fierce supporters of Melbourne Victory Football Club and were lucky enough to be included in the 'Who do you sing for?' fan special in A League preview of FourFourTwo magazine this month... I must add that the A League preview was awesome, thoroughly enjoyed it! Bought a copy for my Nanu, another Victory supporter, and he was blown away 'a whole book about football?!'...  Definitely amped me up for the impending season!