Daisy Chains and Picnics

This is a fun Christmas activity for the little ones to help with. Make these a few days before Christmas and watch their excitement as they lay them out on Christmas eve for the reindeer to eat. Put them in a small lidded jar for an easy simple early gift for children's friends or young cousins.    What you will need: Rolled Oats Green and red liquid food colouring Small zip lock bags Small lidded jar (optional) Gift tag (optional) Firstly, measure out how much oats you will need by filling your chosen jar. Divide them into 3. Keep 1/3rd uncoloured, set aside. Place the other 2/3rd's in separate zip lock bags.  Next, in 2 small bowls, mix a little water with a few drops of food colouring. Add a small amount of colouring to each bag (red in one and green in the other), you  just want enough to coat the oats, not soak them or they will end up like coloured porridge. Close each bag and shake so that the colouring spreads th...

Now that kids are much older, the traditional Christmas things we used to do when they were younger are now a thing of the past. We no longer read The Night before Christmas at bedtime on Christmas eve, nor do we leave milk and cookies for Santa 😔, they are long past waiting for the fireys Christmas eve lolly run!. But there are some traditions I am not quite ready to part with yet...the run up to Christmas movie nights, secret Santa, waiting until everyone is awake until we open gifts, baking Christmas cookies, chocolate advent calendars, (yep, the 3 of them still get their chocolate advents!), the Christmas eve trips to the beach. What can I say, I love all these things and I love the fact that my kids are still happy doing these traditions that I don't want to let go of. Below are some photos of Christmases past... All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth. 2011 Our gingerbread house 2012 Looking pretty cute Christmas day 2012 Waiting for Santa 2...

These fun festive hearts are easy to make and look so cute. Ideal for parties or gifts or leave out for Santa. Ingredients candy canes white chocolate melts sprinkles Method 1. Preheat oven to 110° C. Line a baking tray with grease proof paper. 2.  Pair up candy canes to make heart shapes, making sure candy canes touch at each ends. Bake for 4-5 minutes until slightly soft and very warm. 3.  Gently press the candy canes together to fuse them. Cool completely. 3.  Melt chocolate melts in a bowl in the microwave for 20 second bursts. Stirring in between. Once melted, spoon or pipe the chocolate inside the heart shapes, spreading to get into the edges. Sprinkle with festive sprinkles. Allow to cool and set before transferring to a plate. Merry Christmas.

Today was the last day of high school before the summer holidays.  After recess the grade 7 kids walked to the Glenorchy pool where they participated in structured physical activities followed by a BBQ lunch. Then they walked back to the school....someone will sleep well tonight!! I can't believe that is the end of her first year at high school already!

These easy to make brightly coloured cookies are perfect for kids school Christmas parties. Wrap some in Christmas cellophane gift bags to hand out to teachers or neighbours. Ingredients 120 g unsalted butter 120 g granulated sugar 250 g plain flour 1 egg, beaten 1 Tbsp milk 1 Tsp vanilla essence 1/2 Tsp baking powder 1/4 Tsp salt  1/2 Tsp ground ginger  red & green food colouring Method 1.  Preheat oven to 170° C. Line a baking tray with parchment paper. 2.  Sift together flour, salt and baking powder. Set aside. 3.  Using an electric stand mixer, cream butter and sugar together until light and creamy, add egg and vanilla essence, mix until combined, gradually add the flour and milk, mix on low until just incorporated, don't over combine. 4.  Divide dough into 3. Add a few drops of green food colouring to one third of the dough, add a few drops of red food colouring to the 2nd third, and ...

This is a cute and easy festive milkshake that the kids will love. Ingredients 1 1/2 cups milk 2-3 scoops vanilla ice cream 1/2 tsp vanilla essence chocolate finger biscuits whipped cream marshmallows M & M's Place milk, ice cream and vanilla essence into a blender and blend until smooth. Pour into a tall glass, add whipped cream on top. Add marshmallow, M & M'S and chocolate fingers. Enjoy and Merry Christmas

Darren announced that he had just bought his first car on Wednesday and is going to start learning to drive,  much to our delight . He has never shown any interest in driving up until now, so it will be very handy having another driver in the family. Scott painted the house roof. It was originally green which we did not like so now we have gone for Monument which is a lighter shade than black. We picked our secret Santa's. I am starting to get stressed over Christmas, it is coming way too fast!!, I am looking forward to a year where one of the kids will host it and I don't have to lift a finger!! 😆 Yeah right!

A great Christmas activity for the kids to help with. Make these easy cupcakes for school Christmas parties, get together's or even for Santa's visit.     What you will need: Packet cupcake mix Frosting Various Christmas sprinkles Mini M & M's Mini pretzels Instructions 1.  Make and bake cupcakes according to packet directions. Allow to cool completely. 2.  Spread top of cupcakes with frosting and decorate with various Christmas topping. For the reindeer I covered the cupcake in frosting them dipped it in chocolate flakes, but you can also use chocolate frosting. Break a pretzel in half for his antlers.  For the snowman, cover cake with frosting then dip in white sprinkles, M & M's for eyes and nose. For the melting snowman, spread frosting on cake, add a marshmallow, pretzels for arms. Have fun and Merry Christmas 🎅🎄