Vegie Garden

I thought today would be a good day to report back on how our little vegie plots are going. We have two plots at a nearby community garden. Chloe and I originally planted brocolli, cauliflower, spinach, beetroot and peas. The garden already had capsicum, potato and rhubarb in it growing. Since planting out the garden almost three months ago we have eaten alot of rhubarb, stewed with apples, we have also eaten capsicum, spinach and potato. We had stuffed capsicums for dinner last night (stuffed with chicken and rice) and we eat the stewed fruit with custard. Both the girls have been eating the spinach in different meals which I love. I have only pulled out a few potatoes so far and I mashed those up for Elyssa with some other veg. We are loving looking after our garden, we try and get there a couple of times a week. It is next to a park so Chloe usually rides her bike, we stop at the garden then we go over to the park. Ben came this morning for the first time. He isn't really into gardening!

The garden was recently over run with snails and cabbage moths but I have dealt with that now and the garden is starting to recover. The peas however where the first to go, they literally disapeared over night when they were just seedlings. I am trying to decide what else to plant in there place. Here are some pics..

Chloe and her Paper Flowers

My little Chloe is a vibrant happy girl but struggles to sit still for more than a few minutes at a time. So I was very surprised yesterday when she announced that she would like to make paper flowers on straws like she did at Kinder. I had no idea what she was talking about but I remembered a craft project I used to do with kids that involved patty pans and straws so I got out all of the bits we needed and helped her get started. I thought, this will keep her amused for ten minutes but how wrong I was. By the end of the day she was making them completely on her own and we had about 80 of these flowers all over the place! She made them for hours, none of them rushed, each of them with the same amount of love and care and thought as the next. I suggested a few different ways she could do it but she wasn't interested. She had the process down and wasn't changing it for anything. I had no idea that she could stick at a task for that long, or that she could follow a project with so many different steps. Im very proud of her but now I have to figure out what to do with all the flowers! I think a few family members will be getting bunches for mothers day! I stuck some up around the house and the rest she is playing with.

My Girls

Ok, this is just an excuse to put up more pictures of my lovely girls. These photos were taken when Elyssa was 6-8 months old, Chloe is 3.5 years old. I love watching them interact more than anything, it always makes me smile.

Blowing Raspberries

Easter 2010

We started a new Easter tradition last year with some friends of ours. We decided that as Christmas is a really extended family driven holiday, Easter was going to be more about our family and catching up with friends. So Nell, Glenn and Brenda came down on Easter Sunday for lots of yummy food and drinks. They all stayed the night so that we could enjpy all of the left overs the next day. Chloe loves it when the gang comes and couldn't wait. We made chocolates and Easter Egg biscuits (arrowroot biscuits, iced with melted chocolate, then decorated with sprinkles) while we waited for them all to arrive.

Chloe and Elyssa waiting for the gang to arrive

When everyone arrived the food fest began. Brenda made awesome shortbread biscuits and other treats, Nell made an incredible Easter cake shaped like a basket and Ben cooked up a beautiful Roast Pork. Nell also made some champagne punch. The night included a trip to Emergency because Elyssa had Croup but other than that we had a great time. We played the Wii and had lots of chats and listened to music. The next morning Ben made a Mexican breakfast feast that was to die for. Lots of food was eaten, punch drank and we all had a fab time. We can't wait for the next gathering!