Our Ironman

Our weekend was spent in Busselton for the running of the Busselton 1/2 Ironman 2010 .

1.9km SWIM
90.1km BIKE
21.1km RUN

Both Derek and his brother Gav were competing. This is all taken very seriously in our house for many months of the year. so we have many nerves and lots of excitement in the lead up,
Busselton is a beautiful place to spend some time together as a family and have the kids with their cousins and both Derek and I with our siblings....

Go Honey...not long now!!!

"Is Dad coming soon?"

Our Ironman Champ...

29th in his age group
252 place overall ( 1193 competiors in total)

A well earned rest for this star....

Congrats to Gav also on a job well done!

Oh What Fun...

We have just had the most fun weekend...the weather was absolutely perfect..being away with family is a bonus and celebrating achievements that are to be shouted about all make for a relaxing and tiring weekend all rolled into one....

This week

This week although made short by our Monday public holiday has been jam packed...
three days of work, a 3 year old birthday party, a church connect group meeting,2 playgroup sessions, all the household duties and before the week has ended.....

Yes I know a very strange collection of things to photograph but it sums up the weekend ahead for us as a family.

More after the weekend.

Have a great one.

Playgroup this week

Butterflies were the subject today...I just love how I can provide a set of materials and each creation is different.
I purposely don't make a prototype to look at so that it encourages the mums and their little ones to create their own unique piece.
So with these lovely heart shapes and some glitter and glue we had an assortment of beautiful butterflies.

A Day Near The River

Today was a public holiday in lieu of ANZAC Day. We spent the day with friends along the Canning River. The kids had a fantastic time on bikes and scooters while we endeavoured to keep up by foot.
Once again the hobby of Geocaching kept us moving along all day. On returning home we had some very tired members of our family...pity it wasn't the youngest who was in need of convincing that bed was a good option.

(it is nice to see that someones kids are still free to have some fun...a cubby we came across on our journey)

ANZAC Day 2010

Saturday

A spot of geocaching at an interesting place not far from home.

Friday

While my car was at the garage today I got to spend some time with my sister and her littlest guy.(he is the only one of our 6 not at school now). We don't get to spend much time together where we just enjoy each others company, it is usually between dropping off kids or at a activity that is common to both of us. So today we dragged out the sewing machines and worked on some small projects together....

The question was asked today whether we thought little people get bored all by them selves.....this little guy didn't stop chattering either to us or off by himself....I don't think he was bored ,I thought he probably enjoyed the chance to be in his own company.

All that chattering and busy work finally caught up with him though...

So we used the opportunity for me to teach Merran some crocheting......the verdict by my sister was "I think I will knit that dishcloth and leave the crocheting for another day"

This was a lovely way to spend the day before the busyness of Friday afternoon / evenings set in.

Melon?

Not quite the melon we were expecting from the vine growing in the garden.....
but what a beauty of a butternut it is.
The satisfaction of picking your own fresh produce is great.

Cake in a mug?

With the school term off and running it is time for all the other things that keep me busy during the week to start back...
Today was MOPS and we had an inspirational talk on how we sometimes can be polar opposites with our partner and if that is the case not to despair but there is a way to make it all work beautifully.
Waiting for us at the create time was all the ingredients to make a
"Chocolate Cake in A Mug"
The idea being all the dry ingredients are in the mug which we packaged up nicely and attached a list of the remaining wet ingredients and how to cook it in the microwave for 5 mins.
Before I left my workplace I had decided that someone needed that sweet fix more than I and so gifted them with it.
I will though be trying my own very soon as they were so easy to whip up and would make a fabulous gift.

Clever cooking

I am loving this book at the moment.....

Unfortunately I have to return this copy to the library but I have had it long enough to be convinced about going and buying my own copy.

It is full of clever recipes that help load easy meals with lots of hidden extras and still make them tasty as ever. The title implies that it is only for little eaters but I have tried a number of the recipes on the whole family and big and small we agreed that they were winners.
Here is one of the things I tried and remembered to photograph....

Muscle Power Balls
2/3 cup Dried Apricots
1/2 cup Pitted Dates
1 cup Sultanas
4 Tablespoon Boiling Water
1/2 cup ground almonds
1 1/2 cups of Dessicated Coconut
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Essence

Place the dried apricots, dates and sultanas into a food processor and pulse until finally chopped.
Add the boiling water and leave fruit to soak for 10 mins or so.
Add the ground almonds, 1/2 a cup of the coconut and the vanilla essence and blend until it forms a firm paste.
Roll the mixture into small balls and coat in remaining coconut. Keep in an airtight container in the fridge.

Other recipes I have tried and we have loved...
Beef Sausages
Chicken Nuggets
Easy chicken Snags
Tricky Pumpkin Soup

You can pick this up at your local ABC Store.

What Season??

Summer came back for a visit today...so ice cream was the must for the arvo.

(Meg was spending time with a friend-just for the record so not to be accused of biased photo taking)

Chickens, Bees and Vegies

We spent a fun day at some friends place today. We enjoyed picking their brains about chickens, vegies and just generally being inspired to get on and make ours happen. Yes even the chickens...Meg (who has a bird phobia) has come around to the idea of a couple of chooks in the yard. Our friend has come up with this genius of a plan and is currently in the manufacturing process of these mobile chicken coops.
We signed up for one of the first of the ranks today!
It was also nice to check and see how the bees are going...we also gained some great vegie growing tips...

and a bonus up close look at these 2 day old chicks...

How blessed were we to even return home with a dozen fresh eggs.
Thanks guys for a lovely day.