happy new year and best wishes for 2012 :)

Post Christmas Pea and Ham Soup

Each year we buy a ham from the local European Small Goods as they have the BEST hams around!! They smoke them on their premises. You have to pre order them and show your licence to pick up the hams!!

We always use the left over bone to make pea and ham soup and buy fresh crunchy french stick smeared with lashings of butter to have with it.




In our soup we use yellow split peas (2 bags washed), celery, carrot, turnip, parsnip, swede and onion which is finally peeled/grated/chopped and added to a big pot of water. We cook this all day then take the bone out and blend til smooth. Delish! I also made some pumpkin soup for those who declared they didn't like pea and ham (Aliya, Callum and Silas) but Aliya even decided to have a bowl anyways :)


This was the last of the pumpkins from our very own harvest! We already have vines growing for next season!

Merry Christmas Everyone

A very Merry Christmas from my family to yours, I hope you had a blessed day with your loved ones .

Baby #7 - 20 weeks :)

Well its xmas eve here and though I'm busy with the xmas lunch prep, I thought I would drop in here and update with the exciting news that we are expecting another little.........

BOY

while I'm lucky to have a good mix of both boys and girls I am very excited about having 2 little boys in a row to share growing up close in age together :) I've had boy, girl, girl (but a 4 yr gap) then boy, girl, boy and now boy :)

Now comes the tricky part of choosing a name to 'go' with our other names!! Eek!

Oh and this little man looks like he might be another little porker, already measuring 2 wks ahead of his dates!! I'm hoping he doesn't end up as big as Silas who was 10 pound 12 ounces!!!

Now I just have to wait til the 4th of January to find out when the doc's want to schedule my c/s :)

A day of Christmas Craft :)

Today was a day of entertaining kids so that they didn't drive me up the wall :) I find that structured 'organised' activity stops them from squabbling with each other and constantly nagging to use the computers.





We made chains (with the dreaded leftover brochures that the kids deliver), while singing along to Christmas songs. Callum (no picture allowed to be taken, too cool you see) made Christmas biscuits to decorate (job for tomorrow) and he also organised the kids to do some Christmas coloring ins and word searches. Callum then decided to make lunches, fresh egg sangas (run out of lettuce lol) since the dodo birds are laying so well atm.





It was a fun day, no pressure to be out and about. The kids had minimal tiffs which were resolved quickly :) Since the kids behaved so well, the big kids were rewarded with computer time, and Mumma was rewarded with quiet time as both the little ones went down for a nap together :) YAY for me :)

WW - Wordless Wednesday

Livia and Braith laughing at each other cause its fun!

End of year kindy breakup for Silas :)

Its amazing how fast this year has come and gone!! It seems like yesterday I was sending my sweet and gentle, but always cheeky Silas off to Kindy! At the break up the kids participated in a Nativity Play and Silas was a Inn Keeper :)

We then sang Christmas songs and the kids presented the parents with a present (a 2012 calendar) and they were given a gift from the centre, handmade costumes, Silas got a cape and mask :) Very cute and well thought out :) I think he was more excited to be giving me his present then getting a present for himself!

We then feasted for lunch and Silas said his goodbyes to his friends (though some he was seeing for his b'day party on Saturday)

His most talked about mates Josh (who Silas includes in random stories so much that people think he is an imaginary friend, and Ella who took a interest in his pokemon card obsession).

And of course little brother Braith joined in with feasting, 1st icecream in a cone and lots of other foods the kids were sharing with him, lucky for me we don't have food allergies :)

Baby #7 - 17 weeks :)

Atm I'm very weary! Tired alot! I still have Kaydence and Braith waking several times a night, and we have alot going on atm, a wedding, school/kindy/guide breakups, all the xmas stuff that is going on and also Silas's birthday party (held early so his kindy friends have a chance to attend since its so close to xmas!).

Or perhaps my body has just realised I'm pregnant and not just fat! ;) I also have my 1st hospital appointment next friday at 6.50pm - yes a night time appointment!! For some reason my hospital likes to have the initial appt at night, which is ok this time around as Mike now works a day shift - last 2 times I had all the children with me and it was chaos! Trying to run through all my birth history with the midwife for the file, with children that are usually having dinner/baths/getting ready for bed is crazy!!

I'm almost at the stage that we can find out what we are having!!! and since we are so close to xmas I thought it would be fun to get the gender written down, so we can wrap it and open it up on xmas eve :)

Perhaps a new tradition of finding out what the next baby will be EVERY XMAS EVE! lol! oh I wish! When I look at Braith and he cracks a cheeky smile at me, I feel sad that perhaps this will be my last pregnancy.....most doctors are shocked that this will be my 5th c/s so I'm not so sure I'll get the ok to have another after this baby :( Stupid body!! Not that I would keep having babies foreva! just perhaps one more....in a few years time....