Ladies' Business | The Lattimore Acre

Come Take a Trip!

Ben and I started the day beautifully. Here we are playing with his kindy-made binoculars.

The late afternoon didn’t go so well. We got stuck in this!!!

A drive that should have taken 45 minutes took around 1 hour and 30 minutes. I can not recall a more uncomfortable drive home. I went through my entire spectrum of emotions trying to console Ben in the back of the car. He was beside himself.

This photo just breaks my heart xo I thought taking a photo might make him smile…what was I thinking!!

I finally calmed Ben…. by rubbing his foot (that was all I could reach) while still driving the car. Can you picture it?

I know that this is not the most uplifting or cheerful post. I am just keeping it real. Putting it out there that parenting for me is not always ‘all roses’. I am pretty sure it is this way for most Mums. But I don’t know a Mum who would change any of it. Being a Mum is precious, even after a long screaming drive home. Nothing really prepared me for being a mother which I was reminded of in the car today…. it made me think of this –

The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before. The woman existed, but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new. ~Rajneesh

Something pretty….. wonderful xo

Linking to – Embrace the Camera

Dinner in 15 minutes!

Mini Shell Pasta with creamy smoked bacon and pea sauce…..delicious! Even better is that it only takes 15 minutes…SO EASY and child friendly!!

Ingredients
10 slices of bacon
a small bunch of fresh mint
150 parmesan cheese
sea salt
pepper
400g dried mini shell pasta
olive oil
a knob of butter
300g frozen peas
2 heaped dessertspoons of creme fraiche
1 lemon

(I use either light sour cream or light philli cooking cream instead of the creme fraiche and what ever pasta is in the cupboard)

You can watch Jamie here and he will take you through the steps.

linking with Heather – Recipe swap and What we ate Wednesday

Baked Carrots in a Bag

This recipe comes from Jamie Oliver’s Ministry of Food cook-book. This is a great side dish for a BBQ or simply tasty vegetables for dinner. It can be prepared early and popped in the oven for cooking at anytime. It’s so easy!! But more importantly sooooo YUM!

Ingredients

1 ¾ lbs/700 grams carrots
1 sprigs fresh rosemary
1 clove garlic
1 orange, zest and juice
1 tsp marmalade
1 rasher of bacon
2 pats/ 2 teaspoonsbutter
Salt and pepper

Method

Preheat your oven to 400F or 200C.
Peel carrots.
Leave them whole if small, chopping any larger ones up.
Get yourself a sheet of aluminum foil about 2 feet/60cm long, fold it in half to make a crease, and then open it out again.
Pile your carrots in the middle of the aluminum foil on one side of the crease.
Pick the leaves off the rosemary and finely chop.
Peel and finely slice garlic.
Scatter the rosemary and garlic over the carrots.
Grate over the zest from half of the orange, and add the marmalade,chopped bacon, butter and a pinch of salt and pepper.
Fold the other half of the aluminum foil over the carrots and scrunch and seal the two sides of the aluminum foil bag together, leaving one end open.
Halve the orange and squeeze all the juice into the bag
Seal up the final side.
Place your aluminum foil bag on a baking tray in the preheated oven for around 50 minutes.
To serve, carefully pour the carrots and all their juices into a nice big serving dish.

Linking up with Heather – Recipe Swap

Baking for Play School

As I have already blogged Ben’s Kindy hosted the Play School Concert. Part of the role as hosts was to provide a simply morning tea for the cast and crew of seven people (including ALEX!!!). I sat in the committee meeting listening to everyone talk about it for thirty minutes but no one volunteered to make it. It was even suggested we buy something from Coles…!!!! Well no one was going to feed the Play School Cast rubbish from Coles so I volunteered. Another lady volunteered to provide a fruit platter. I can bake but I am no genius baker. My mother-in-law is the queen of baking!! It was just a pitty she was overseas!!

Ben and I decided to bake our all time family favorite Kiwi Crisps (chocolate chunk cookies), Apple crumble muffins (a home made apple muffin with Bette’s Crumble) and Oatmeal and Raisin Cookies from my new cookbook. Ben helped me a little before he went to bed. He loves to bake…. well he loves to steal the chocolate and eat it!!

I think the final product turned out ok. If nothing else it looked good. I didn’t hear of any food poisoning cases …..thank goodness!!!

Honda the HERO!

The scrub turkey is back – chasing the chickens, eating their food, and making a mess of their pen. I was watching the turkey last week and again today and was amazed at what I saw. Honda (our most dominate chicken) raced after it and chased it away!!

WAY TO GO HONDA!!!

A Pyjama Angel

“We each have an enormous capacity to make a difference and The Pyjama Foundation is actually doing that; changing the world, one child at a time” Bryce Courtenay AM

Yesterday I opened a new and exciting door in my life. I had my interview to become a ‘Pyjama Angel’. What is a ‘Pyjama Angel’ I hear you say?. It is a Volunteer from the community that is recruited, screened, trained and supported to help children improve their literacy skills. You must commit to one hour each week to read aloud to the same child – a child placed in Foster Care. You go to the child’s home and share a wonderful hour reading and playing literacy/numeracy games. It can be as easy as reading a picture book together and playing a game of UNO. But what is important is that you are there, with a very special child, giving them your attention and making reading a positive experience. ‘Pyjama Angels deliver The Pyjama Foundation Love of Learning Program®, a literacy-based mentoring program which addresses statistics around children in care:

92% of children in care are below the average reading level at age seven
75% of these children do not complete schooling
50% of the homeless come from a care background
35% enter the juvenile justice system at some point (82% of Australian prisoners have below grade 4 level of functional literacy)
28% of care-leavers are parents within 12 months of leaving care

There are around 31,000 children in care in Australia, a figure which doubled in the last decade. Indigenous children vastly over-represented.’

I still have to complete one evening of training before I start. Corrin our Ipswich Coordinator will then place me with a child and then the fun begins. I am really excited. I have shelves full of books and cupboards full of games now that I am not teaching. Ben and I of coarse enjoy using them but the ‘more the merrier’ they say. I love to read stories aloud – it was my favorite time of the day as a teacher and now it is amazing to read with my son. I am so excited to share my love of books with another little person who may not have experienced such joy before. I will keep you updated – no names or photos just wonderful stories!!