Happy Holidays

It's time to hang up the stockings and put my feet up

Happy Holiday wishes to all out in Blog land

Best wishes for a Wonderful Christmas Season

And may your New Year bring much Joy

Love the EarthWalker family

xxxxx

A bunch of grapes

I love a fresh bunch of crispy, crunchy seedless grapes in the summer.  They have to burst with the first crunch or they are not worthy of me continuing on to another.

Pre-school Christmas cheer

Here we are again!!!

It's one of those times where, what you thought was going to happen and what you had planned....didn't eventuate.  We had plans of fitting a tow bar to our car in the hopes of taking our trailer up to Queensland for the holidays.  To load it up with bikes for the boys, the mini bike, Christmas presents and just general stuff that you need when you're spending Christmas away from home.

The car was booked in yesterday to have that tow bar fitted and to be serviced ready to go this morning.  The day before the garage phoned to say that the tow bar hadn't arrived and may not be in until Friday (even though they had ordered it nearly two weeks ago, suppliers fault).  We decided to dispense with the tow bar as I needed to be in Brisbane on Saturday for my friends wedding.

The car was serviced and ready to go.  It was packed up.  A lot of hard work went into refining the packing and fitting into the car.  Scooters fitted, presents hidden, suitcases and essentials all sorted.

With lunches and snacks all packed for the trip, portable dvd player set to go, ipods at the ready, we jumped into the car.  We said our prayers and our goodbyes to Donald, he is flying up next week, and started the car....and started the car.......and started the car.

It must be the battery!!  NRMA didn't think so when they tried to revive our Naboo Starship.  So it's back to the garage again by tow truck.  I swear this car has been towed more than the Millenium  (Horrendous) Falcon!!  So here we are!! Just waiting to see when our trip to Brisbane will start....It's obviously not our time to go to Brisbane today and that's how I'm looking at it all. 

Maybe I'll get the garage to fit the tow bar on while they're fixing car.....that is if it's come in yet!!

Update:  The car's been fixed and has been delivered to our doorstep with apologies...it was a problem they caused when servicing it yesterday.  :+/   I think we're going to head off tomorrow, early in the cool of the day, it's another stinking hot day here today 41° C.  I also just want to check and see that the car will start up tomorrow after a nights rest.  I've seen this pattern before:  fix...rest...won't start...fix...rest...won't start....

Our new bookshelf

It has nice wide arms on it to hold lots of books.  They don't get lost down in the depths of the soggy cushions.

Sleepy heads

An afternoon at church, an evening of Christmas Carols in the park

Much glow stick waving and glow stick battles

Exploding fireworks

A visit to the temple lights

A tired boy who's finding it hard to wake up after a busy night 

I love that warm delicious sleepy smell

Two

It's been two years since I started this blog.  I remember I was so anxious every time I posted, was it ok, what will people think, how will my photo's look, should I press the publish button??  It is now not so nerve wracking and I really enjoy sharing with family, friends and the blogging community little bits and pieces of our life.  I have met some lovely bloggers online who share their lives and inspiration as well.

Hopefully in the past two years my writing and photography has improved.  My photo's are what give me the fuel to keep on blogging (so are my children and the happenings in our life) if I don't take  lots of photo's my memory starts playing tricks on me.

So have a look back at December 2007, it's not that much different from today, except the boys have grown a whole lot and I have worked out a few more things about blogging.  Have a look over at what has grown from this blog, "What's for Dinner Mum?".  My talents are slowly expanding bit by bit, and keeps me a little creative in this crazy, busy family. I hope you enjoy visiting my blogs.  As a little two year celebration here's my Christmas chocolate star cookie recipe to share.  It is the Christmas Season after all, so Happy Holidays to all!!

Cookie baking day

It has been such a theraputic day today.  No shops, no cleaning, just baking and playing with Toby.  I spent last night cleaning the house so there was nothing to distract me from my task for the day.

I was a cookie making machine.  I made lots.  Mainly stars, but I also dabbled in some snow flakes which the boys iced when they came home from school.

I iced a few myself too!I think they're very pretty, and very satisfying. I feel I have accomplished something today.

Tis the season to be jolly

We have a wonderful playgroup down the road from where we live. It is held in a Baptist church and the leaders are volunteers. The playgroup runs 4 days in the week and there are volunteers for each day. It is very organised and well set out with library, toys and activities for the children and mums/grandma's/dads etc to particitpate in. It runs with love and the help of everyone. We love our playgroup leaders.

I have personally been going to this playgroup for 9 years. Sam started when he was 1 year old and when Ethan arrived he came along too. When Sam went to school and it was just Ethan and I, we still went. Then along came Toby here we still are.

Last week on our "slow down" day, I took all of my boys to playgroup. They were under strict instructions to be on their best behaviour and to be mindful of the little children around them. I was so proud of my beautiful boys. They were everything you want your children to be, helpful with Toby and other children, calm, quiet and they really enjoyed themselves. My feathers were fluffing that day.

Sam asked me if they could go to playgroup again sometime. He liked to play with one of Toby's little friends. I think he felt the freedom of being little again, plus he had an admirer who wanted to follow him around and who thought he was wonderful. I want my boys to feel that again. I'm glad we slowed down and took a day out for ourselves.

Today was the playgroup Christmas party. The children dress up for the Nativity and we go upstairs into the chapel to hear the story of the birth of Jesus. Toby was a Wise man (we always go as Wise men) in the same costume that all of my boys have worn to every playgroup Christmas party. Although Wise man Toby has a little difficulty with stage fright and his cheeks puff out, feels a little frozen sometimes, but he goes the distance and sits through the story and songs. The costume even stayed on for the most part, before it got a bit too hot.

I have one more year of playgroup before all of my boys are grown up school boys. I think I'll have to have another slow day next year sometime, give the boys one more chance at playgroup and a little freedom.  Or maybe three or four....

Weekend bits and pieces

A visit with Sam and Ethan to Geranium Cottage for some scented geraniums. While Toby was at a Christmas party for his church Primary class, Sam, Ethan and I chose some geraniums to pot up with some herbs for their school teachers Christmas presents. Sam chose Peppermint geranium and Ethan chose Lemon geranium. I chose my favourite, a rose geranium for Toby's pre-school teachers. We just have to pot them all up now.

A little cooking for our church's Relief Society Christmas dinner. An Orange Poppy Seed Roast veggie salad with Brie cheese, an old favourite of mine, and another caramel mud cake. Recipe for the veggie salad pop over here.

It was a very uplifting evening shared by the women from my church, and the highlight was hearing Holy Night sung most beautifully by one of the sisters. I really feel the spirit of Christmas when I hear Holy Night sung. It lifts my soul, it takes me up with the angels, it melts my heart and it gives me goosebumps, especially when it's sung by a woman. Here is a lovely version of Holy Night to lift your spirits if they need a little lifting.

This morning was spent dabbling in a little more Christmas decorating.

If you're wondering what Donald is doing....he's air brushing our twig branches that will be displaying some of our decorations. We haven't a tree this year as we'll be up at my mum's for Christmas so we're making do with what we've got to hang a few decorations on.

This afternoon was spent being enlightened at church, it's been a lovely weekend. I hope yours was good too!!

Little things

The first nasturtium with it's deep red velvet that beckons me to pick, smell and taste it for nectar.

How the bunny greets us every day with such enthusiasm and how his coat is slowly changing from longer winter fur to a short dark summer coat.

My tea towel which is stained with black spots that looks so bright and fresh hanging in the sunlight.

This patch of parsley that has been keeping a colony of caterpillars alive and fed since September and still lives.

My rose geranium has managed to grow nearly 5ft tall even after being hacked to pieces with a toy sword by one of Toby's friends. I wish you could smell it's gentle sweetness that is oh so calming at this time of year.

A little man's cheeks that are so warm and inviting to kiss, whose little eyebrows are lifted in a quzzical yet humoured way that reminds me of my dad (who has passed)......and me.