Duvet Days.....

Our gas heater downstairs is broken. The thing is so old, I think the repair man may condemn it (no joke). So we will be having central heating installed sooner rather than later. Till we can get someone in, the downstairs living room is colder than the artic in winter. With a 3 year old and a 6 year old who aren't afraid to tell me how they feel, I am more than aware that they are unhappy with the present set of circumstances. So.... bust out the duvets!

Saul has a Spiderman one and Joel has a Lightning McQueen one and once they were able to take their duvet's with them they were happy as larry. The great thing about kids is, the solution tends to be easy.

HAPPY DAYS!

Tag I'm it....

Because she's my best friend, I'm doing this....

I have been tagged and need to let you know 6 random crazy things about myself that you may not already know. Actually, 5 truths and 1 white lie. Can you guess which one is the falsehood?

1. I hate pidgeons.

2. I like brownies.

3. My favorite memory from high school is of a egg fight I had at 3 am at night.

4. My worst memory from high school was when I ran away from home and ended up in foster care.

5. I lived in a caravan in Boulder Creek, CA for 2 months

6. I met Sean Penn at an airport.

So...... Any guesses????

GUY FAWKES DAY!!!

"Remember, remember the 5th of November,
The Gunpowder Treason and Plot.

I know of no reason why the Gunpowder Treason,

should EVER be forgot."

And I am happy to blow stuff up in celebration! We had Gareth's Dad, his partner Val, Brother-inlaw Tom and his Girlfriend Shell over and had a brilliant time. I made hotdogs and hamburgers, potato salad, chineses stirfry veg and chicken and we had chocolate fondue for pudding then the real fun began.

It was smoky, dark and wet, and Pickle didn't stay outside long before he was too scared and demanded to go back in; but it was still great fun thanks to Gareth and Dad keeping the festivities going with a never ending parade of fireworks. I would like to add there were a few times I thought Dad might lose a hand or an eye, but he was unscathed despite handling and standing over lit fireworks. Then we had a nice cuppa and everyone made their way home. It was a great evening.

HEBBY BERFDAY CELA!

Happy Birthday Keala! I miss you and love you with all my heart. Have a fantastic day and I hope to speak to you soon.

xxx

Rubbish Creations

Saul and Joel decided they wanted to make robots out of some old empty cereal boxes, soda bottles, milk caps and anything else they could get their hands on (feathers and qtips!). Here are their creations!

I really am suprised at the ingenuity Saul shows. His teacher has told me she's sure he will be an engineer one day as he seems to make magnificent creations out of just about anything and has very clear thought process when he is trying to create!

Cooking From Around The World

I was given some cheap sausages, cod fillets and prawns and told to make dinner with them. So I decided to make a dish I grew up with from the deep cajun south; GUMBO!

You know, for the life of me I can't remember what I put in it that made it turn out better than all my previous attempts. I think what made it good was the spanish paprika, tumeric and garlic. But I'll have to try it again to make sure that was indeed the secret to it's success.

I also made strawberry cupcakes with the kids. Making cakes from scratch is so much more rewarding than making them from a box. The boys love measuring out all the ingredients and using the mixer more than once. I'm sure you've noticed there's no pictures. The boys ate them all within an hour. Which leads me to my next baking tip: never turn you're back on a 3 and 6 year old when cupcakes are in the vicinity.

I made Brioche. The one on the right has mars bars in it (too many left over from halloween). I had half a loaf to myself; obviously to ensure the quality was of the highest standard.

Well the boys just waited for the baking to be done so that I could make their dinner. But I was so fed up with cooking by then, I ordered pizza.

Happy Halloween! Well we didn't go to trunk or treat but we DID scare the beejeesus out of trick or treaters. Whenever some one knocked on the door, I growled at the them and Joel and Saul screamed really loudly. It's an excellent tactic if you don't have much candy as we had less trick or treaters this year (because word had gotten out that our house was the most terrifying).

Gareth made chicken burgers and curly fries. Then we had haloween cupcakes and watched ghost busters and had family cuddles. It was a brilliant ! Next year I will make the front entrance like a haunted house and put spooky music on so that people are EVEN MORE terrified than ever.