Raspberry Banana Muffins

This afternoon Little Miss and I did some baking. It's so much more fun to bake together as she has gotten older. Little Miss is 3 1/2years old now and much more patient and relaxed about cooking. It is no longer a race to get all the ingredients in the bowl before they are eaten or poured on the floor. 

Today we made Raspberry and Banana Muffins. My bananas were spotty and we made banana bread yesterday, so I had to be creative with what I could find in the kitchen. I found an old muffin recipe and mixed it up a bit! Needless to say, yummy!!!

Raspberry and Banana Muffins

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups of self raising flour

1/4 cup of sugar

60g of melted butter

1 egg (lightly whisked)

1/2 cup of milk

2 ripe (mashed) bananas

1 cup of raspberries (ours were frozen)

Method

1. Mix flour and sugar.

2. Add melted butter, lightly whisked egg and milk. 

3. Gently mix through mashed banana and raspberries. Leave mixture chunky. 

4. Cook in a moderate oven at 180degrees Celsius for 20minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. 

Bliss balls

It's been an incredibly long journey to reach a state where I am feeling that I can balance the mammaslife and just being. 

My second baby girl was planned and we were so excited for her to join us but I never realised how hard it would be to be the mamma I wanted to be, to overcome my personal limitations and just find a way to manage day to day. I have two beautiful girls and such a blessed life but each day exhaustion hits and I begin to struggle to do everything I need to do and everything I want to do. 

Today I was awesome. I took my girls on a play date, I chatted with girlfriends, I learned to make Onigiri, I cleaned the kitchen and vacuumed the floor, I mixed oaty cookie dough and I made bliss balls.     

There are days where we never get out of our pjs, we don't even leave the house or see the sunshine, and then there are days like today. I'm happy I'm getting my energy back. I grieve over the time we've lost but I don't feel guilty, mammaslife is full of guilt and worry, I know that there are some things beyond my control. Time is lost. Today is ours. Tomorrow will be what it will be

Octonauts Characters for my daughters birthday invitations

My eldest daughter is due for another birthday and this year I started working on her invitations a tad early. We had the big party when she turned one and then since then we have a playdate at her favourite park with her friends instead of the big birthday celebration.

My daughter loves the Octonauts at the moment. We purchased Octonaut figures for her birthday cake and I decided to decorate her birthday playdate invites with her favourite characters.

I had a play around with Adobe Illustrator and made some cute vector images of her favourite oceanic team. As I built the characters my daughter sat by my side, providing a running commentary on what I should add/edit! She is the leading expert on the Octonauts in our home.

It was a fun activity and I thought I might add the .png files to my blog, just in case there are other mammas out there looking for images for similar activities!

Please note: Octonauts characters belong to Meomi Design Inc. These images are fan art only and not for sale.

(Octonaut team)

 

 

(Kwasii)

 

 

 

(Peso)

 

 

 

(Shellington)

 

 

 

(Turnip)

 

 

 

(Tweak)

 

 

 

(Captain Barnicles)

 

 

 

(Dashi)

 

 

 

(Professor Inkling)

 

 

My little banshee

Littlest Miss is nearly six months now and found her voice. Once a happy energetic baby she has suddenly transformed into a howling Banshee! She is so active but not able to move enough yet, so social so gets bored of independent play quickly and cheeky, she is so so so cheeky!

Better check the wonder week app again and see what fun developments she is up to. It's great for new ideas and games. A little insight into the challenges Littlest Miss is taking on. 

Australia Summer

Living in the outback is hot and sunny. Being born in Australia with fair skin means sunscreen is just a way of life. Having a baby in an Australian summer is difficult, protecting fair and sensitive skin from the elements is a challenge! 

My first baby girl tanned like her daddy, a dark summer sunset, I was shocked when I noticed our baby sunscreen wasn't protecting her like it should. Then as she became older we switched to a better coverage. My second daughter is a fair english rose, her dark lashes frame porcelain skin. 

Nearly six months of wraps, hats, shade, long clothing in the heat of summer, everything to protect her skin. Now the milestone is looming and we can finally get her skin used to stronger sun protection!

Early morning giggles!

My girls had a party at three am. My toddler brought her pillow, Elmo and Grover plushies into our room and chucked them all in between my husband and me, got comfy and she started chatting and giggling. 

Our baby girl decided at that moment that she was hungry so my husband made a bottle while I tried to convince our toddler it was still sleepy time. Sleep was no fun when she knew baby girl was up, so she wiggled down off the bed and ran to help Daddy. I dragged myself out of bed and snuggled with everyone on the couch. 

Today I cancelled all social outings, chucked on my crazy Aztec pants (that my husband thinks are too lare-y for public viewing) and decided we will have a lazy day at home. Completely understandable right?

Rediscovering old toys

We did a bit of a tidy yesterday and organised all the fluffy toys. This morning my little one is rediscovering old toys and having a blast! 

She came out of her room with an armful of elephants. Five in total. Such a joyous and LOUD household this morning with so many elephants running around!

Holey Doley, praise nap time!

Both little ones napping at the same time! I've dreamt of this for months!!!!

Now I'm torn, nap or put on a grown-up movie with a warm cuppa?

I've been wanting to watch "Keeping Mum" for ages, too much "Postman Pat" with my toddler can made me crave more adult version of English adventures! Hello, Rowan Atkinson and Maggie Smith, english humour and easy laughs.

Lets see how much I get to watch before my girls stir.

Mamma is sick

Being a mamma is hard! Being a mamma with a toddler and a new born is very hard! Being a mamma with a toddler, new born and a cold is miserable! 

My husband let me sleep as much as I could on the weekend but as he left for work this morning I held him tight wishing he could stay home and care for us. 

Last night, after both girls were in bed, we stacked nappies and wipes, cut up fruit for snacks and savoury bits for lunch, sterilised bottles and filled formula dispensers. Little things to help today, to make being a sick mamma a little easier.

Talk like a pirate day "Arrrr!"

 

 

I am getting excited about "talk like a pirate day". My daughter and I have been watching a little too much ABC4Kids and there has been a lot of promotion for Friday's programming with all the pirate-y shows planned ... this Mamma needs a tad more sleep, but its impossible with a newborn and a toddler. 

So I decided to make us pirate eye patches! Arrrr! 

Here is a visual step by step process:

 

 

 

After drawing/cutting a cardboard template it was easy to cut two matching oval pieces of felt, to make two eye patches.

I used a basic running stitch to join the elastic and folded the oval over the elastic to create an eyepatch shape.

I used the same basic running stitch to join the halves of the felt together and hid the elastic join underneath the felt. I used white crochet cotton, because it was easy to grab, I think the contrasting stitches look pretty awesome.

Tada!

 

"Arrrr" one very pirate-y pillow!

 

All completed!

 

Now make another one! But don't accidentally twist the elastic and sew it all together before you realise what you have done {like I did}.

Tada! All ready for Talk like a Pirate Day!

Note: An older child could easily make something like this while supervised. Have fun with your eye patches activity!