Notes on Andrew Belinda & Benjamin Lattimore

A Little Treat xo

After Andrew had a very average day at work and Ben had to stay indoors until the sun went down due to his Slap Cheek rash I thought they deserved a treat tonight. I called out to them as they were putting the chickens in for the night that their special treats were melting. Ben quickly yelled ‘Sorry Dad…… can’t help’, threw the stick he was play with and ran inside with his gumboots on. He looked up at me when he saw his ice cream snowman and said ‘Merry Christmas Mum’. Oh his lovely xo.

It made them both smile.

Excited!!

As I have previously said….. I am easily excited.

Yesterday I had decided to pull the cucumber plants out of the garden. They looked a little sick and didn’t seem to be growing anything. I squealed with delight when I went to pull out a plant and I found this:

I told you I was easily excited! I quickly covered it back up, puffed out my chest and felt a little bit clever. As you can gather I am not a very experienced gardener. I’m learning as I go. However the tomatoes and beans seem to be going well – touch wood. We are getting plenty of beans but they never seem to make it to the kitchen. We eat them as we pick them! I am hoping I can make tomato chutney with my tomatoes this season.

And on a not so sucessful note. I pulled out the corn. It went all soggy! The chickens didn’t even want it!! And I am also not sure what is going on with the pumpkin and zucchini plants.

If anyone has any garden tips I would be grateful. Otherwise I will consult with Stephanie Alexander …… my gardening book.

Twelve Christmas Favourites #1

For the next twelve days I will share one of my very favourite things about Christmas. I will also have my usual posts….. if something comes up xo.

#1 Christmas Favourite – Christmas Decorations

I love Christmas decorations. I always have. Some of my favourite childhood memories are of decorating the Christmas Tree. I remember everyone in my family had special decorations. This is something I have continued with Andrew and Ben. Even as an adult I still get excited about putting up the tree. I have difficulty waiting until the first of December. Most years I just can’t wait. This year Ben was excited to decorate the tree and Andrew ……. well not so much! Here are some of my favourite decorations. They are favourites because I made them, they have been given to me by someone special or they have a memory attached to them.

Happy Christmas xo

We’ve Been Slapped!

Slapped Cheek…….. ever heard of it? I hadn’t. It is also called Fifth Disease. Ben has it…… it’s not serious but it has stopped us from visiting anyone with small children or babies :(. We had planned to visit cousins and attend a 3rd birthday party this weekend – BUMMER!

About a fortnight ago Ben had a high temperature for one night. That was it …. nothing else. About fourteen days later a rash started on his arms and legs. I took him to the doctor and they said it was just a topical rash. His probably allergic to something. But the rash became much worse and we couldn’t work out what he was allergic to. I took him back to our family doctor this time and she diagnosed him with Slapped Cheek. She also said that now the rash is out he probably isn’t contagious but he shouldn’t be playing with any small children just in case. Oh yeah and adults can get it too! It is a virus and is spread by coughing or sneezing. The rash is not itchy but gets hot and spreads when Ben runs around or is outside. So for the next little while we are indoors with the air conditioning on. The treatment is to stay cool and take an antihistamine. It looks worse than it actually is. He is happy and still his mischievous little self!

Andrew had a high temperature during the night last week. We are just waiting for the rash. He is on holidays in a week. For sure that will be when the rash appears!! Oh my boys!!!

Christmas Treats

There is something pretty wonderful about this time of the year. I just love planning for Christmas. I have already began gathering ingredients to make those special treats that are saved just for the Christmas season. My favorite of all is Rum Balls – with no fruit and made with Bundy rum. I seriously had the yummiest rum ball recipe…….. but I lost it! I have this habit of writing recipes on scraps of paper and losing them. I have found this recipe. It is not quite the same but I think it will still be super tasty.

I also came across this cute idea. Not really for Christmas day but I thought I would surprise the boys with it this week. Just a little something to make everyone smile.

What’s your favorite Christmas treat?

Star Wars on a Plate

I was excited when we picked up this today.

Ben’s very first drawn melamine plate. Trudy’s daughters Kindy was collecting orders for their fundraiser and I couldn’t resist. Ben drew the pictures in September when his Star Wars interest was still at it’s peak. What am I saying……. he still loves Star Wars. He has drawn Jango Fett, General Grievous and Princess Leia. Our pictures were on paper and now….voila……. they are on a plate! I’m not sure Ben is as excited about it as I am?!