Birthday get together...

Five in my family have their birthdays in November... Love Birthday get togetherness... The company, the food, the laughter and egging each other on. One bites then so do the rest... I totally love my family!

Love it when we get together...

Blessings,

Oh, soooo much food!!!

Markus, Christian and me... And Tim photo bombing!

Lovely Lis, beautiful Tina and I...

Especially requested New York Baked Cheesecake from my Mummy... So spoilt! And I shared... Very nice of me ;)

Too much...

The boys went to Youthgroup one last time for the year... They attended a Christmas party! I attended to dinner at mussels. Love that restaurant :)

Took leftovers home for Timothy who is always hungry :)

'Twas very, very yummy!!!

Blessings, 

Looks sooooo easy...

I tried wearing contacts and each time I tried, I would get tiny blisters under my eyelids... Even with the sensitive solutions, it still hurt my ultra sensitive eyes... It's the main reason I don't wear eye makeup or mascara either...

Josh has had his lenses now since the beginning of this school year. He's had plenty of practice and though it was hard to put them in to begin with, now it's all a breeze... He's amazingly fast and it's cool to watch him in action :)

What a pro! He wears them on special occasions and every day at school. So glad he can wear them as it's helped him allot. No more bullying about his glasses. Yay! If anything, he gets comments of his beautiful blue eyes quite a bit nowadays ;)

Blessings,

Yep, I am spoilt...

Jasper wants a scratch and Josh is only happy to oblige...

Blessings,

First Sponge...

This morning, I made my first two sponges, ever... Mixed in the Thermomix, just three ingredients and in about 7 mins it was into the tins and 40 mins into the oven...

The spring form cake I sliced in half and put cream and raspberry jam in it and topped with cream. Then grated some chocolate on top. 

I made the big cake for our monthly community morning tea. This month was at my house. The next one is not till January now :)

Two pieces are left of the round cake and the whole square one too for dessert tonight (I hid that in the fridge so I wouldn't get complaints of anyone missing out...).

Bimby did a great job, as did the oven! Tim also helped allot with eating it, among a couple of other locals ;)

Will try that receipe again I reckon. Too easy not to ;)

Blessings,

Birthday Girl...

Yep, it was my day yesterday... Had a great day. Finished it off with dinner at our favourite Chinese Restaurant :)

Blessings,

Yummy Decadent Chocolate Cake...

Feeling the love...

Shiner...

Tim was coming out the front door to get Russell and I for dinner... When he walked into the door, literally!

The resulting lump is big and I reckon he'll have a black eye in the morning...

Poor darlin'!

Blessings,

Set Free... Sort Of...

This afternoon the 15 chicks seriously were stir crazy... They are getting so big now and have half their feathers... Big babies... Love seeing how much they've grown over the last three weeks and a bit!

Seeing that we have so much warmth during the day and night these days, we decided to give them a go at being outside with loads of shade, water and food as well as shelter.

I reckon they'll be fine...

It was funny watching the ex battery hens while we were putting the chicks in their cage! They were so curious as to what these little squawking, flighty things were.  One tried very hard to get in with them. I reckon they were after the chick starter ;)

Blessings,

High School Done and Dusted...

Tonight was his night... Timothy can't quite believe it just yet. It's all over. He's a bit sad. Especially about not seeing his friends and his teachers anymore. Told him he can always visit :) That cheered him up.

He has come so incredibly far. Tonight they showed his Grade 8 photo and then Grade 12... What a huge difference!!! Tim looked so smart tonight... He insisted on wearing his formal suit! Asked the Head of Department twice to make sure he could :) He was very determined...

The audience sat and applauded the 220 odd students as they all entered. They each had a carnation flower for their mums... I got a beautiful deep red one. They even had a skit. The speeches were the best I'd ever heard... The whole ceremony was just wonderful. Hehe so was the food before the ceremony...

He ended up getting a fantastic reference from his Principal as well as his completed Cert II in Rural Operations! Oh, what a day... An era has finished... Now for the start of the next chapter of his life...

Feeling very blessed...

Blessings,

My treasured carnation...

Tim walking up the stairs as they showed his Grade 8 school photo...

Getting his Graduation Certificate while they show his Grade 12 school photo...

He's finished Grade 12!!!

His Cert II in Rural Operations...

Most of the Grade 12 students...

He's checking out his paperwork...

Graduating from High School...

I didn't think the day would get here so fast but here it is... Timothy is leaving school today!

I saw him make his lunch one last time, I ironed his formal uniform one last time, I hugged and kissed him goodbye one last time, Russell dropped him off at the bus stop one last time... 

Where oh where has the time gone? From Grade 8 where he spent all his lessons in the support unit, Grade 9 and 10 he had 3 subjects in mainstream classes... Grade 11 and 12 he was all mainstream. We've had the most awesome support unit and teachers looking after him for five whole years... He has learnt so much, he has come so far, he has such a blessed future ahead of him...

He left for school one last time this morning, armed with an old school shirt and a permanent marker... He's determined to have it signed by his friends :)

He has contact details of mates he wants to keep in contact with, which I'm glad about. He has been busy giving out his Skype details ;)

I'm amazed at how far he has come along. He leaves school on a high. He's over the moon with his achievements and results. Couldn't be prouder...

May the Lord bless you abundantly in all your future endeavours, Timothy! Sooooo proud of how well you've used your gifts and talents till now. The world is at your feet... May it continue to be one huge adventure!

Blessings,

My graduating young man...

Can't get the grin off his face ;)

Joshua will be on his own at school for the next two years... What a change for him too!

What the???

Turn your back and this is what happens...

Nah, he asked ever so sweetly... How could I refuse... And it was DELISH by all counts! Woohoo!!!

Blessings,

What the???

Jasper is trying to find a cool spot...

Don't ask me how this spot is cool but anyway...

Blessings,

Early Birthday Present...

Wow these are massive. There's no way they'll last till Saturday... These have come straight from the Rocklea Markets and are very ripe!

Humongous Mangoes for desert ;) Oh, they smell sooooooo devine... I can't wait to sink my teeth into the yummy flesh! Feeling so blessed and spoilt!

Thanks to my beautiful friend Sharon... She's such a blessing and treasure...

Blessings,

Getting there...

They're not so terribly shy anymore... One comes a long way to me when I talk to them. The others are a little more reserved...

Love spending time with them :) Hopefully, they'll venture further away from the house today :) Yep, I've fallen in love with them. They're so happy to check stuff out. So curious, more so then ones that are born on the land. They have allot to be happy about, being away from the horrid cages...

Blessings,

Peek a Boo...

It was on the move... First Tim spotted it on the window.

When we tried to find it we found a little dropping on the windowsill instead. Tim looked up with his torch and there is was, right up on the edge of the gutters... Love one of our many resident frogs ;)

Blessings,

Settling in...

Our five ex-battery hens spent their first night with the other dozen chooks in the big chook house last night...

Floppy was the only one that felt she needed to assert her authority as head hen ;) Not much happened, which I was grateful for. They all dust bathed straight away too which was awesome to see. They pecked at my toes and shoes. They kept chatting to Tim and I, which was cute to watch. 

This morning, I let them out really early so that everyone could get their spots before it got really hot. The new girls hung around the chook house and I made sure they had water there with a huge chunk of ice. One of the chooks also insisted on sunbathing, silly thing, as it was rather hot but she also loved the cold drink.

The other chooks got their chunk of ice down at the shed, where Bruce had them assembled in the shade :) 

The new girls made their own nest in the chook house and laid one egg there while the others laid six in the nesting boxes. 

It'll take a while before they're part of the flock and then another 15 chicks join the flock :) Soooooo cool watching the changing dynamics, I reckon anyway!

Blessings

Soapiness...

Love making our own soap. This time it was Tim making it at school as an assignment :) So cool... 

His soap is still curing. This soap was made by last year's Year 12 students...

Blessings,

Killin' time...

The boys and their friend where using up some energy and time while waiting for a water orientated fun filled evening at Youthgroup... They're both still sore today from youth. Park was fun as there weren't many people around!

Blessings,

Hide away...

I was getting the garden scissors when I rescued this fellow. Put him in the cool wet soil surrounding one of my potato plants... Looks happy... Especially after we've just had 40 degrees Celsius today...

Glad it's cooling down now :)

Blessings, 

Creamy Bacon and Sundried Tomatoes Chicken...

Love 4 Ingredients cookbooks... Tim made this one! Yummy!!!

Our new ladies...

Ex-Battery hens living here is something I've always wanted to try...

To give some hens the chance to be a chook. To scratch, dust bath, gobble up scraps, no pressure to lay, stretch their wings, pick their own food and sit under a bush... To be a chook!

I came across a Foundation that has been operating since 2009 and close by :) Another lady offered to bring me up my five ladies close to where I work. So blessed...

So yesterday, I came home after my shift with 5 new chooks. The boys and I got the orientation cage ready beforehand. Tim was home yesterday so he could help get the ladies into their new digs...

I was surprised when I saw them... They had most of their bodies already covered in feathers and knew how to get their own food and water :) Their first night was very uneventful. Today, I was even given two eggs! Yay!!! Didn't expect anything really for at least a week. And they were laid in the nesting box too :)

One thing is for sure... They love their food... :)

Am so happy that we've made the decision to have these ladies. I had been trying to stay with just purebreds but just couldn't say 'No'... They're only 18 months old so hope they'll be around for a long time yet ;)

Blessings,

Ladies busy with the food bowl...

Our first two eggs...

Sneek peek...

Cookie Club is on again at my baby sister's place in December...

Here are the boxes I'm using this year ;) The receipe this year is one from Russell's childhood... So honoured to be using it!

Can't wait to see what others bring ;)

Blessings,

Having fun...

Love it when the boys muck around and just have fun... Love watching and listening to my treasured boys!

Blessings,