Jewellery give-away

Who would like to own this lovely jewellery set? It contains a necklace, elastic bracelet, a pair of earrings and a set of hair-pins.

All you need to do is leave a comment and I will let you know who the winner is on the 5th of January.

'Tis the Season to be Jolly and Joyous...

Fa La La...

Our 2008 Christmas was very successful!
Every Sunday we did an advent, (and we were supposed to do it on Christmas Eve, but forgot), we watched Christmas movies, which you can see on Mum's blog, we prepared and planned the presents and food, had events and received lots of cards!





The food was miraculous!

Popping the crackers.

Enjoying the three seater swing.

Dad giving the demonstration for the motor-bike.

Lily was very excited about receiving Lucy, her umbrella.

Michael having a turn of Lily's goofy glasses.

She called herself 'Mary the Shepherd'.

Lily and Michael.

I hope that you all enjoyed your Christmas as much as we did!

Christmas Eve

It's The Night Before Christmas!

Holiday Activities #2

This afternoon I helped the little boys make Christmas candy canes. They were simple and look great, but I can't guarantee that they will taste nice, as they are made out of marzipan; only Mum, Jordan and Lily like them!

Marzipan Canes

To make about four canes, you will need:

90g (31/2oz) "white" marzipan cut from a block

red food dye

Cut the marzipan into three pieces of the same size. Then, cut two of the pieces in half and, using your fingers, roll them into sticks.

Put the third piece of marzipan in a bowl. Add three drops of red food dye. Mix it in with your fingers until the marzipan is red all over. Cut the red marzipan into a thin stick that is about three times as long as your middle finger.

Starting at one end, wind a red stick around a white one. Do this with the rest of the sticks, making three more striped sticks.

Roll the sticks on a clean work surface to make them smooth. Then, bend the end of each one into a curve to make a cane.

A candy maker in Indiana wanted to make a candy that would be witness for Jesus, so he made the Christmas Candy Cane. He incorporated several symbols for the birth, ministry and death of Jesus Christ.He began with a stick of pure white hard candy.

White to symbolize the Virgin Birth and sinless nature of Jesus.

Hard to symbolize the Solid Rock, the Foundation of the Church and firmness of the promises of God.

The candy maker made this candy in the form of a "J" to represent this precious name of Jesus, who came to earth as our Savior. It also represents the staff of the "Good Shepherd" with which he reaches down into the ditches of the world to lift out the fallen lambs who, like all sheep, have gone astray.

Thinking that the candy was somewhat plain, the candy maker stained it with red stripes. He used three small stripes to show the stripes of scourging Jesus received by which we are healed. The large red stripe was for the blood shed by Christ at the cross so we could have the promise of eternal life.

Sadly, the candy became known only as "the candy cane" and its original meaning has been lost.

Mazal Tov, Daniel!

Already seven, where has the time gone?

This morning we started the celebrations early in order to accomplish the present opening, pancake eating and organising of the day before the morning was actually out, which all passed quite smoothly. We then went to the Bungendore tennis court and playground for about an hour.

After lunch (which consisted of very special banana sandwiches - we don't usually eat bread, so it was special) we watched a very much appreciated gift, 'Meet the Robinsons'. For dinner we had crumbed veal and assorted veggies and Jess made a number seven cake.

Here are seven facts about Daniel that I thought I would share with you:

1. Dan's favourite sport is tennis.
2. His favourite dinner is chips and crumbed chicken.
3. His favourite dessert is every type of ice-cream.
4. He enjoys writing made up stories as a past time.
5. His favourite animals are dinosaurs (if only they still exist).
6. It is very easy to take photos of him, as he is rather compliant.
7. When Daniel was a toddler he had very light blonde hair, it is now dark brown.

The dough table was a big hit!

Michael ready to ride out to battle with his trusty steed, Jamie.

At the park

At the tennis court

Happy Birthday Dan!

Holiday Activities

For the Christmas holidays I have been doing some activities with the two little boys to keep them occupied and out of trouble. We have had a lot of fun playing Numpty, Go Fish, Piggy-in-the-middle, Squiggle drawing, Keep Talking (you can imagine that they didn't have any trouble with that one); and we also made some lovely food such as Shining star biscuits, Festive fudge, and Marshmallow crunch. I do not have any photos of the games we played, as I had to partake in them and therefore wasn't able to take the shots but I did manage to get some of the finished results of the...




Marshmallow Crunch,


and the Festive Fudge.


And also what the pictures on the cards looked like.


Well, these foods were a big hit at our place so I thought I would write out the recipe for the fudge for you to try out, at your own convenience. And perhaps I will be able to write out the recipes for the crunch and biscuits another time!

Festive Fudge
To make about 50 pieces of fudge, you will need:

350g (12oz) icing sugar
75g (3oz) unsalted butter (or nuttelex)
4 teaspoons of milk (or rice/soy)
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla essence
75g (3oz) pink and white marshmallows
2 tablespoons of sugar sprinkles
a shallow 18cm (7in) square tin, wiped with cooking oil
greaseproof paper

Put the tin on the greaseproof paper. Draw around it and cut out the square. Press the paper into the oiled tin. Use a paper towel to wipe the square with oil.
Sift the icing sugar into a bowl. Make a hollow in the middle of the sugar.
Put the butter, milk and vanilla essence into a small pan. Then, cut the marshmallows in half and add them to the pan. Gently heat the pan. Stir the mixture every now and then with a wooden spoon, until everything has melted.
Pour the mixture into the hollow in the middle of the sugar. Quickly stir it all together, until the mixture is smooth. Pour the mixture into the the tin and push it into the corners. Smooth the top, then sprinkle the sugar sprinkles over it. Press the sprinkles into the fudge with your fingers. When the fudge is cool, chill it in a fridge for two hours.
Loosen the edges of the fudge with a blunt knife. Turn it out onto the a board and remove the greaseproof paper. Turn the fudge over. Cut it into small squares.
Put the fudge in an airtight container. Chill it in the fridge for two more hours.

Keep the fudge in a fridge, in an airtight container, and eat within a week.

Christmas Carols

Last night we held our annual Carols with most of our friends attending. Ma flew down specially for it.

Our visitors started arriving at 7pm. Last year, the younger children played a couple of carols with bells before we all sang together, but we didn't have time to practice for this year, so decided on something a little different. Jess, Beka and Amy sang "O Holy Night" and Karli, Sam and I joined them to sing "Silent Night."

Everybody joined in then with the other carols such as "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen", "Joy To The World," "O Little Town of Bethlehem" to name a few.

Dessert followed along with chatting and a game of Articulate for the older children, which we didn't get to finish as the party began to break up at 11:30.

And, of course, we had to discuss it all when everyone had gone and ended up getting to bed at 2:15.

All in all, the night passed very nicely and Mum has already started planning for the next one :)

The gingerbread train that I helped the little boys put together.

Amy played the music for all the songs but 2.

Ma and Jess.



Caleb and Mum.

O Holy Night.

Silent Night.

Singing some carols...

Playing Articulate

(this photo was not taken by me)