Ham & Spinach Quiche with a rocket & roast vegetable salad

HAM & SPINACH QUICHE RECIPE 

5 eggs

a dallop of thickened cream

2 cups of chopped ham

1 cup of chopped baby spinach

1 cup of tasty cheese

It's that easy.

Combine all ingredients together, spray a baking dish with olive oil and pour in.

Bake for 20-25 minutes on 180 degrees.

ROCKET & ROAST VEGETABLE SALAD RECIPE

1 Sweet potato diced

1 quarter of a butternut pumpkin diced

A cup of rocket per person

half a red onion (outer layers only)

1 grated carrot

Place sweet potato & pumpkin into an oven proof dish.

Drizzle with olive oil and shake on some salt and pepper.

Bake on 180 degrees for 30 minutes.

Once cooked combine all ingredients together.

And toss through your desired salad dressing.

And dinner is done.

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Swimming Milestones..

 Milestones to remember about today..

• Jiedyn leaning to swim underwater
• Nevaeh wearing goggles for the first time
• All three of us in the big pool together
• Nevaeh swimming in a pool floatie on her own
• Nevaeh and Jie jumping into the big pool together and at the same time

Other fun things I saw today..

• Nevaeh taking selfies with the underwater camera
• Jie trying to dive and belly flopping or front flipping underwater
• Nevaeh looking up to Jie and wanting to try the things she sees him do
• Jie sunbaking pool side
• Nevaeh jumping out then back into the pool at least 30 times
• Nevaeh telling me to swim away because she can jump in by herself
• Jiedyn introducing his little sister to his friends
• Jie helping Nevaeh to the steps 
• Nevaeh wanting to swim without her floatie ring
• The kids enjoying an icypole
• The kids patiently waiting 25 minutes after their snacks to go back into the pool
• The kids being kids and making each other laugh
• Independents of both of my kids wanting to do for themselves
• Smiles and lots of them

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For we are young and free..

As the last hours wind down of this beautiful country celebrating it's long weekend 

I thought I would share what I love most about this beautiful land in a poem..

Paddocks full of rolled hay bails.

Rivers full of fish.

and a tapestry of stars above

waiting for your wish.

Old pubs full of locals

Juke box full of coins.

Putting money on a pool table

hoping someone joins.

Rissoles on the Barbie

while keeping backyard cricket scores

Doesn't matter where you live

Just as long as your outdoors.

Beaches full of tourists

capturing photo's to take home

Fresh produce sold for as cheap as chips

on the side of the road.

Everyday Australians 

flashing headlights for whats ahead.

Camping by a river or brook

is better than any bed.

Fishing taught from the age of three

first fish put in the family album

Native birds and wildlife everywhere

and my favorite tree is the red flowering gum

Food is what we know and love

But sport is in our blood

Locals supporting locals

In any sporting club.

I love our sun burnt country

Here on the land I was born a native

No wonder people seek asylum here

It's an amazing place to live.

Photos taken at Angelsea, Victoria, Australia.

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Australia Day at Sanatorium Lake..

The day started off slow with a good Aussie breakfast of Vegemite crumpets and orange juice to the sound of Pop (my dad) rustling his newspaper, The Herald Sun.

In the distance the sound of cockatoos and in the next room the sound of the kids watching Storm Boy, a fabulous Aussie film from the 70's.

When Dad had finished reading the sports section he and I picked a few horses out of the form guide and listened to them lose on his little sports radio.

But if anyone knows my Dad they would know how much he can't stand sitting in the one spot all day. Adventure is in his blood. He loves the outdoors and if the weathers fine you won't find him sitting on the couch.

So in the car we hopped for one of Poppies wild adventures ending at Mt Macedon's, Sanatorium Lake.

Famous for it's incredible reflections it was a beautiful little spot to explore and look for a koala or two.

On the way home, just past Gisborne we saw a large family of Kangaroo's close to the road in a paddock. We slowed the cars down so the kids could have a better look and Nevaeh was excited to see a baby joey in one of the roo's pouches.

Fish and Chips was decided for dinner and would you believe, not one drink. 

Almost un-Australian.

Good Morning Australia!

Good morning Daddy-O!

Dad and the kids reading a map.

Dad and Nevaeh walking through the rainforest.

The stunning Sanatorium Lake at Mt Macedon.

The same photo - Flipped.

My beautiful Aussie Babe.

Nevaeh's cute little neck tat.

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Behind the Scenes.

Last year I had to draft my 2011 and a few 2012 posts as my photo's went missing. I have slowly been trying to find the photos to go with the posts, peice the memories back together again and publish them. This has been very frustrating as my photos are unorganised on my computer and I'm having trouble finding what goes with what. Tonight I'm making progress. I was finally able to track down our baptism photos and was able to publish them. A few posts wont again be published due to missing photo's. But know I'm here although not in the newsfeed. I'm actually enjoying revisiting some of our old memories and rereading posts I'd once blogged. Please bare with me as I try and catch up on all we lost. Be back soon.

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Four Quick Statements.

Music always makes me want to dance.

If one song represents how I feel right now it is Free by Dara Maclean. 

In 2013 my biggest challenge was Parenting and made me fully trust in God.

I feel excited about making New Year’s resolutions.

Linking up with..

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Tattoo Love.

Never in my life have I ever wanted a tattoo. It was always one of those things that have entered my mind and then left again in an instant. Mostly because of my Dad who forbid me from ever getting one and because of what I was taught through my first few years of church (A few bible verses here). But with all that said I now desire a tattoo. Or three. I think that is what I'm most afraid of. Wanting more and more. I've always wanted my kids names on my feet. Jiedyn Karl and Nevaeh Anne on the outsides of my feet as they have kept me grounded. But today I found two more I like and would love this one on the inside of my wrist..

I guess the easiest part of the whole idea is that I have two very talented tattoo artist friends who would love to put ink on me. The hardest decision is who to choose. I'm not going to rush into anything but suddenly I have the urge to want a tattoo. Something for me of He who gave me this beautiful life. Like a permanent reminder of his love for me and my faith in him. 

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Give Blood. Check!

30/9/2013

I did it!

I donated blood.

{ Full Post Here }

Check!

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Complete a Certificate. Check!

This goal has been on my bucket list for a very long time now. I have always been good at everything but not really good at anything. I put 'Complete a Certificate' on my blog bucket list after I hit a hurdle with another course I attempted when Nevaeh was young. I was feeling like a failure. I havn't completed anything since being in year 10 and getting my junior certificate.. 10 years ago. Everytime I attempt a course I always get excited to start but end up dropping out due to needing to be home with my kids. You see I have never had the luxury of a babysitter or even family to take care of my kids so I can have some me time. I've never known what it's like to just pick up the phone and have a family member on the other end ask me what they can do to help. Even when I was with my husband he was unreliable. He had a drug and alcohol addiction which took him away from us while in the middle of a course in 2010. Again I had to drop out to care for our daughter. Last year, after many many prayers and after Matt leaving us I got the opportunity to finally do something for me. I enrolled Nevaeh into Kinder and I enrolled into a course. The course was three days a week and Nevaeh went to Kinder two days a week. Thanks to friends I was able to successfully complete something for myself. The feeling of accomplishment was such a high and on graduation day I sat and just cried. Never did I ever think of myself able to achieve such a thing. The course trainer who knew I wanted to continue onto a certificate 4 in youth work gave me the best compliment ever that day. After completing only a certificate 2 I didn't know whether I wanted to take a leap into a certificate 4. But on graduation day the trainer pulled me aside and told me that she believed I could do it. She believed I could pass and by next year I could be a qualified Youth Worker. I was astounded at how much she believed in me and my dream. I love her for that because it was the confidence boost I needed. I soaked it all in and was for once actually excited about my future.

This year I looked into doing the Certificate 4 in Youth Work but quickly realised that it was not to be. At least not this year. According to the course criteria I needed to do 25 hrs a week of placement, working in my desired field. With Nevaeh at Kinder only 15 hours a week it just wouldn't be possible. So I have hit a hurdle in my goal for now. I was a little disappointed but my family have to come first. While my friends without children are reaching their career goals I am stuck waiting for mine. I know I'll get there but in the meantime I have to find a certificate three in something that will be benificial to working with youth homelessness to study this year. Any ideas?

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Healthy Choices

Last year I was adamant that I wanted lap ban surgery to loose weight. A friend got it done and booked me an appointment with her doctor who made me a priority on the Lap banning waiting list. Just a few months later I was due to go into surgery. I wussed out. I actually got real with myself. Not band around my stomach was going to stop my love of food. I love food. My diet last year sucked. I'd miss breakfast and lunch daily and eat a large dinner (plus the kids left overs) at night. Our deep fryer lived on the bench and chips, chiko rolls and dim sims would always be in stock in our fridge. I didn't need a lap band. I needed a reality check.. Not only was I eating junk, I'd eat a lot of it. My portions were huge and my body was in starvation mode constantly.

This year I am eating breakfast and lunch most days. But I struggle as I feel that I'm not hungry in the morning or at lunch time so I have to do this by watching the clock. 7-9am Breakfast. 12-1pm Lunch. 5-6pm Dinner. I have even set reminder on my phone to eat.

Because I have started eating well so have the kids. I buy fresh and tend to now stick to the outside of the supermarket and avoiding the isles as much as possible. Because of the lack of junk, when the kids are hungry Nevaeh and Jiedyn both have tried things they have never attempted. Nuts and kiwi fruit, Carrots, tomato and cucumber on a salad roll and Jie finally tried Avocado. Salad used to be an occasional food. For dinner parties or barbecues with friends. Salad is now a big part of our menu and you can guarantee to find it on the shelves of our fridge daily. Fruit has become the kids after breakfast before lunch snack while nuts and rice crackers are usually eaten between lunch and dinner. Water is the drink of choice since we switched to low fat milk. But juice (with no added sugar) with dinner is a nice treat!

I'm so impressed with the kids. We have labeled processed food "Fat Food" and now use these two words together a lot. We have substituted KFC for Subway (costing around the same price) and we now enjoy encouraging each other to make healthy choices at McDonalds. "Don't have that Mum, it's fat food." they tell me. Keeping me accountable.

On top of making healthy food decisions, we have started walking together as a family three times a week. Nevaeh and Jie are on the trampoline daily and I use the Wii Fit and exercise bike too. But I'm mostly in love with Zumba. The kids and I love to dance and Zumba has us all working out or abs with laughter when we muck up. It's so fun!

This is just the beginning of a healthier family and I'm on the look out for healthy recipes which dont cost a fortune so if you have any tips, I'd love to hear them!

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Too Much Summer.

I got crazy excited an hour ago when one of two of our fans started blowing out cool air for the first time this week. It felt like Christmas! This past week here in Bacchus Marsh we have endured temperatures of low to mid 40° every day. The kids have literally lived in knickers and Jocks and I have worn my bathers/togs everyday this week and bought another pair to keep cool. Here are a few photo's of how we stayed cool this week..


Backyard pool retreating.

Pool & sprinkler fun with friends.

Dancing in Air Con with The Kazoos.

Watching lighting and worshiping (to this song) in the driveway.

With our super cool sunnies & hats.

And a lot of swimming at the local pool.

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My goals for 2014 are to..

- keep counting the moments and making the moments count!

- listen more to my children's wants and needs individually.

- create a home I love to be in.

- be 100% honest.

- search for and be thankful for the blessings in my live each and every day.

- look for validation, support, encouragement and wisdom from the Lord and trust in his comfort, timing and protection of this family.

- try new recipes and taste the flavors of the world.

- discover and explore new places.

- Believe in myself enough to want a better life for me.

- Get more involved with the kids education and encourage them to reach their full potential.

- worship more as a family.

- forgive.

- learn something new.

- be more patient.

- judge less.

- pray.

- lead my family to love, be kind and be courageous.

- do what is right, even if it means standing alone.

- stay together.

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