Detoxing the diet

With a new year beginning I wanted our family to refocus on healthy eating and exercise habits.  With obesity in America and Australia booming I didn't want our family to become part of these ever growing statistics.  We are going to take 2013 to kick start our family into a healthier lifestyle.  

I know there are a lot of detox diets out there and this is not one of them.  I probably shouldn't even use the term detox but for lack of a better phrase coming to mind it is what it is. 

Around the holidays, and if I'm totally honest it's more like for the last year or so, I have let some bad habits slip in.  I've started drinking sodas instead of water, having at least one dessert a day (some days a bit more), having carb/starch laden meals instead of veggie ones, and overall not living as healthy and active as I should be.  The hubby and I have both been feeling the effects.   You know what I'm talking about:  tire easily, don't feel motivated to get up and get moving, more sluggish, grumpier, a few more inches and jiggles where there didn't use to be, get sick more easily, and just overall don't feel as well. 

The hubby has also decided he needs a healthy lifestyle change so to support and encourage him (instead of nagging which is another thing I'm trying to work on this year)  we have come up with a little challenge that a few other wonderful people have joined us in.

We didn't want something that was just about eating a certain way, but a plan that encouraged a healthier lifestyle.  We worked out a plan that integrates exercise, cutting out sugars, and adding more healthy meals choices.  

It's a 3 point a day system.  

1 point of you have no dessert that day:  including things like muffins, chocolate, etc.

1 point if you participate in 30 minutes of exercise.  We did clarify this a bit, it has to be purposeful exercise, not just strolling around the shops of something along those lines.

1 point if you eat less than 50 grams of carbs a day.

There it is, simple, yet for me (especially in the dessert department) it will be a willpower challenge.  

At the end of the month we are going to celebrate together, haven't quite decided the how yet. 

Do you need a healthy habit change?  Want to join our little challenge/encouragement group? I tend to work better with a challenge, and others to help hold me accountable.  What motivations have worked for you? 

On the brink. . .

Here we are at the close of yet another year.  Is it just me or do they seem to be going by more quickly?  It has been a wonderful whirlwind of a year full of laughs, tears, joys, hardships, new friendships, wonderful holidays, visits with family, and so much more. 

Even though I don't really get into making "resolutions", which lets be honest usually don't last into February, I always find the beginning of the year to be a good time to reflect on my life and look for improvements. 

I have decided the month of January for me is going to be a "cleansing/detox" month, and no I'm not talking about only drinking grapefruit juice or something as drastic as that, but instead more of a month to refocus my life in several ways.

1. Diet
2. Spending
3. My home


I'll go into the decisions and goals I've set for myself over the next several days, right now I am simply too tired to type much more.

Happy 2013!  Are you a resolution setter?  Do you find yourself keeping them?  Do you have goals for 2013 that you don't mind sharing?  Would love to hear them! 

Food Market in the City

One of the great things that Perth has to offer in the summer (besides the beaches and beautiful ocean) is the Friday night Food Hawkers Market in the city.  They turn the big plaza in the mall downtown into a foodies dream come true.  As you make the lap around the piazza you are greeted by wondrous sights and smells.  Choose your country, there is food for everyone from everywhere.  You can have Argentinian style ribs, Japanese sushi and dumplings, Moroccan dishes, Lebanese gozelemes (this is what the kiddies had) , Indian curries and those are only a few of the choices.  

Ed and I shared a couple of different dishes, our first was a wonderful Paella.  A spanish rice and meat dish that if you haven't had an opportunity to enjoy you should find one.  My favourite dish of the evening however, was a wrap we shared, which I hope to replicate pretty soon and will do it's very own blog post about so you'll just have to wait and see.   :)  Teaser to keep posted.  

This was our Friday activity for our advent calendar.  We combined enjoyment for the kids with something Ed and I were really wanting to do, so great night for everyone. It wasn't just fun for the foodies like me, but they also had things for the kids as well.  

Nate enjoying the last bits of their Lebanese toasted gozaleme 

 

We took the train into the city, which is always a favorite of the little people.   Tilly loved seeing the "fairies" on stilts making their way through the crowd.

 It was in the 80's on Friday, not exactly the traditional Christmas weather. It does take some getting use to walking around in shorts listening to winter wonderland.  We all have to adjust, even Santa.

Nathan loved seeing Santa and even greeted him with a fist bump.

Tilly was less enthusiastic.  This is pretty much as close as she would allow the picture to be taken.

Much to our surprise and enjoyment we met up with some wonderful friends down in the city.
Good food, Christmas music, good friends, not much more you could ask for for a fun filled Friday night.

What is your favourite ethnicity of food?  What is your favourite dishes to make?  Do share

Day 2

I mentioned in a previous post that we were using an Advent calendar with our kids to help spread out the festivities.  After brainstorming ideas for the month I simply used place cards in our M. Word and funny enough they had a beach Santa that goes right along with our hot summer Christmas's.

Day 2 of our advent Calendar

We set up our tree on Sunday afternoon and then put up the lights and ornaments after bible study that evening.  The children were absolutely excited about get the tree set up.  Even though it was in the mid 80's Sunday and wasn't really feeling like Christmas weather, it was so fun to see Tilly and Nate's excitement with each new ornament we pulled out.

Nathan was surprisingly gentle with the ornaments and kept urging us to look at all the different ones he was putting on the tree.

You couldn't help but feel festive with the Christmas music filling the house and our little elves buzzing around.  I love Christmas with our little kiddos in the house.  

Do you have an special ornaments or ways you decorate the tree?  

It has begun. . . .

The official countdown to Christmas has begun and we are already on day 4.

Day 1 was a crazy Saturday here where we had a baby shower in the morning and lawn bowling church event in the evening, so the activity that day was open and read a Christmas story.  They chose "An Aussie Night Before Christmas"

I don't even know if you can get this in America but it is wonderful, so if you can somehow order it off Amazon or somewhere like that you should!!  You can find all the words on multiple websites so figured it was ok to put them down.  Since moving here, we have tried to collect a different Australian Christmas book each year, but I have to say this one is probably my favourite:  

‘Twas the night before Christmas; there wasn’t a sound.

Not a possum was stirring; no-one was around.
We’d left on the table some tucker and kole beer (kind of like root beer) ,
Hoping that Santa soon would be here;

We children were snuggled up safe in our beds,
While dreams of pavlova danced ’round in our heads;
And Mum in her nightie, and Dad in his shorts,
Had just settled down to watch TV sports.

When outside the house a mad ruckus arose;
Loud squeaking and banging woke us from our doze.
We ran to the screen door, peeked cautiously out,
snuck onto the deck, then let out a shout.

Guess what had woken us up from our snooze,
But a rusty old Ute pulled by eight mighty ’roos.
The cheerful man driving was giggling with glee,
And we both knew at once who this plump bloke must be.

Now, I’m telling the truth it’s all dinki-di,
Those eight kangaroos fairly soared through the sky.
Santa leaned out the window to pull at the reins,
And encouraged the ’roos, by calling their names.

“Now, Kylie! Now, Kirsty! Now, Shazza and Shane!
On Kipper! On, Skipper! On, Bazza and Wayne!
Park up on that water tank. Grab a quick drink,
I’ll scoot down the gum tree. Be back in a wink!”

So up to the tank those eight kangaroos flew,
With the Ute full of toys, and Santa Claus too.
He slid down the gum tree and jumped to the ground,
Then in through the window he sprang with a bound.

He had bright sunburned cheeks and a milky white beard.
A jolly old joker was how he appeared.
He wore red stubby shorts and old thongs on his feet,
And a hat of deep crimson as shade from the heat.

His eyes - bright as opals - Oh! How they twinkled!
And, like a goanna, his skin was quite wrinkled!
His shirt was stretched over a round bulging belly
Which shook when he moved, like a plate full of jelly.

A fat stack of prezzies he flung from his back,
And he looked like a swaggie unfastening his pack.
He spoke not a word, but bent down on one knee,
To position our goodies beneath the yule tree.

Surfboard and footy-ball shapes for us two.
And for Dad, tongs to use on the new barbeque.
A mysterious package he left for our Mum,
Then he turned and he winked and he held up his thumb;

He strolled out on deck and his ’roos came on cue;
Flung his sack in the back and prepared to shoot through.
He bellowed out loud as they swooped past the gates -
Merry Christmas to all, and goodonya, Mates!

Let me know if you need a translator?  I'm telling you, it's a whole other English here :)

A buzzin shower

We are blessed with an abundance of babies in the congregation I attend.  For the last several years there have been at least 5 new little ones each year, and with lots of new little babies, comes lots of opportunities for baby showers.

The beautiful expecting mum.  Her sign says "Mummy to bee" 

One of the hard things that come with so many baby showers is trying to think of new themes and games.

 Our most recent shower was yesterday at my house and we went with the "bee theme".  I found so many great ideas of course while surfing through Pinterest (feel a lot of my post say that lately).

What's a party without some cupcakes

 I have realised how crucial it is to have helpers and delegate out jobs and couldn't have done it without the help of a few different ladies, one in particular (J.T.) who is worth about 3 people alone.  She was my amazing go to person, who took the ideas and made them reality.  She is wonderful!!! I can not sing her praises enough.

Little Rice Krispy bees

 It was a lovely party.  The weather was perfect, their was a great turnout, and some fun games.

Make your own lolly bags for people to take away.  

 As I prepped everything for the shower, I couldn't help but think back to when we started our family and the anticipation of what lay ahead.

We wanted the shower to be more than just presents, so we decided it would be great to take the opportunity to give the new mom some words of wisdom.  

 I remember the excitement of seeing all the new tiny little clothes, the toys, and sweet blankets.

The punch fountain

One of the tips I recall clearly was when a friend told me before I gave birth that when you feel like you are about to die and can't take it any longer it's almost over.

After Tilly was born I kept thinking that no matter how much you prepare and feel like you know before hand, nothing really prepares you for what life will be like when that new little one arrives.  

Are there any shower or party themes you've done or been to that you really liked?  What would your words of advice be to a new mom?  

Something yummy. . . .

I found this recipe recently when I was browsing around Pinterest.   When I saw the list of ingredients I thought there is nothing wrong with this:

How can you go wrong with a dessert when these are the three main ingredients?  

First mix cake mix, 1 stick butter (125g softened), and 1 egg together and press into 9x13 in casserole dish.  Helps to butter up your hands because it's a bit sticky.

Crumble up one sleeve of Oreo's and sprinkle over brownie cake mix.  

Next pore the sweetened condensed milk over it:

If this isn't wonderful enough, throw on some chocolate chips.

Then place it in the oven 350 degrees or 180 for those on the metric system for 20-25 minutes until nice  and ooey gooey.  Delish!!!

Go ahead lick the spoon while you wait, that's what we do around here anyways.

We were so excited when they were done that I forgot to take a finished product picture, so you will have to make your own to see that. :)  I now refer to this as the trifecta dessert and have already had multiple request for it.

***Side note:  it really helps to use the cake mix made this way instead of a regular brownie mix, tried the other and the SCM just oozed to the bottom during baking.  

Go enjoy something sweet for me!!

Let me know if you have tried any wonderful desserts lately.  I'm always looking for something new to bake.

Christmas is coming. . .

Christmas is fast approaching and I again find myself not nearly as prepared as I had planned to be. Christmas always sneaks up on me here in Australia, I don't know if it's because it's hot, or merely because our lives are so busy, but it feels like I blink and there is December yet again.

Christmas in Oz is hot so Santa dresses accordingly :)

Last year was our inaugural year for our advent calendar.  I decided to try this for two different reasons.  1.  As the kiddos are getting a little bit bigger, we wanted to start establishing our own Christmas family traditions. I wanted our focus to be on friends and family and spending quality time with both.  2.  In Australia christmas time is so different that what I was use to and it never really felt like Christmas here.  The first couple of years we lived here we didn't decorate or anything, but with the kids we've decided to embrace the differences and celebrate anyways.

 Even though we fell a little behind using our calendar last year and probably only did 1/2 the days, using it really stretched out the celebration.  It changed the focus from one day of presents to a month of spending time with friends and family and doing special things together.

For our advent calendar I started out by brainstorming ideas for each day, what were traditions that I wanted to keep, what were special things we could do as a family?  Here are a few of ours:

1 Decorate Christmas tree

2 Make cinnamon ornaments for the tree

3 Open a special present

4  Go on campout with family

5 Unwrap a book to read

6 Go to get picture with Santa

7 Make Jammie and Papa and Nana and Grandad Presents

8 Make Christmas cards

9 Make gumball Christmas tree

10 Go to the Christmas party at church

11 Night out seeing Christmas lights

12 Make ornaments for tree

13 Have a family Christmas movie night with treats

14 Go to carols by candlelight

15 Open Christmas Eve gift and read Night before Christmas

16 Make goodies for neighbors

17 Bake cookies and decorate them with friends

18 Have lunch at a special restaurant with our family

19 Go for a picnic at the park

20 Make rice crispy trees to take to kids at church

21   Polar Express night 

22 Read a Christmas story together

23 Open presents and Call grandparents on Skype

24  picnic and play at the beach

I haven't finished our list yet, but thought this was a good start.  

What sort of things do you do as a family to celebrate the season?  

Fairy Princess skirt

Matilda's 4th birthday party was 'Fairy Themed".  Being the crafty DYI wannabe momma I am, I wanted to make her party unique using as small a budget as possible.  I had Matilda search through Pinterest with me (I know I'm starting her early aren't I), and we found several ideas for decorations and favours that she liked.  I'm not sure if it is the same in America as it is here in Australia because we didn't have children until we moved here, but it is standard to give gift bags/favours at birthday parties.  Instead of the standard bag of lollies (candy) we decided to give each girl a fairy skirt and headband to turn them into little fairies for the party then could be taken home as the gift.  

I love tulle tutu's and you can easily do this same skirt with tulle, but it cost around $8 a meter, and we had 12 little girls to make skirts for, so that made that idea out of our budget.  Instead I began looking around the house, and found heaps of leftover fabric from various projects, so we altered the design and instead of making tulle tutus we made fabric strip ones, and ended up decluttering lots of fabric I had lying around and not spending extra money. . . my kind of project.  

It gave a different look to the skirts, but they ended up being adorable on all the girls.

What you'll need:

Per skir (for approximately 3-5 year old):

1- 1 1/2 meters of ribbon

2 meters of fabric

(and in my case a wonderful sister who helped me make them)

The easiest way to cut the strips is to fold the fabric in half long ways multiple times.

 Next cut strips 2 inch strips.

Then unfold and cut these strips in half (or if you want them longer leave them as is because they will end up half the length.

 Next take your ribbon, measure about 10 inches in to leave room to tie a bow,

Fold strips in half, loop the loose ends around the ribbon and through the looped in, pull tightly, repeat with all the other strips.

 It is a GREAT skirt pattern because you can mix and match to suit your color scheme, use tulle or fabric, make them longer or shorter. In other words, very versatile, and most importantly the kids loved them.

Even Nate, he saw all of the girls dressing up and wanted to join in.  At least he came out roaring at everyone and whacking the ground with his fairy wand.

What has been one of your DIY projects that has come out great?  Any great party ideas to share?

6 Years and counting. . . . .

November 16th, 2006 we arrived for our new life and work in Australia.

I still can easily recall the feelings as we packed up, sold off/stored all our worldly possessions, and loaded our suitcases.  We stood looking around our home, as we prepared to leave, experiencing both a sense of fear and uncertainty and an overwhelming sense of excitement. We were about to begin a life and ministry that we had both desired long before we knew each other, and that we had prayed for since being together.  We stood there knowing we were headed to a place we had never been, to live around people we had never met.  Ed was nervously fluttering around the house trying to remember all the last minute things he was sure he had forgotten.  My nerves wouldn't attack until later.

 As we made our way through customs my knees were shaking, and I was so nervous I could hardly speak.  Here we were, about to meet the people who would fill our lives for the next few years.  After we were cleared to enter the country, we manned our backpacks and our suitcases and began to head through the doors. Unfortunately,  that is when my bags became tangled and toppled over and Ed proceeded through doors, not knowing I was scrambling to get my stuff together.  After finally managing to reorganise everything,  I looked up and Eddie had disappeared, what was I going to do but but walk through those terrifying doors all by myself.  What a way to start our journey as a team :)   Luckily we were greeted by a wonderful, loving group of people.

Kangaroo Paws

 We originally had agreed to dedicating two years of our lives to the work here.   Little did we know then what adventures lay ahead, that 6 years later we would still be here, and that those people would be some of our dearest friends.  It has been the hardest, most rewarding thing we have ever done.

the barrenness that is the center of Australia

Our time here has taught both of us so many things.  I have learned the power of prayer, and seen God working in our lives and others around us.  I have learned patience.  I have learned what it means to be hospitable and to serve others (though I am a constant work in progress with these things).  We have dealt with the hardships of infertility issues, and were able to experience the joy of parenthood.  I have learned that I can do nothing through my strength alone but it's God that works through me.  I have learned that "home is wherever you plant your feet" and that nothing great comes without sacrifice.  I have discovered remarkable friendships from people of all ages and backgrounds.  I've learned that I am made of tougher stuff that I had imagined before.  I have learned to discover my faith and beliefs for myself not just because I have always done it that way.  I have learned that sometimes we have to take steps into the unknown to experience God's greatest blessings.

This is the sand outside Uluru, now you know why they call it the 'Red Center'.

 

 It has been an amazing and incredibly challenging 6 years.  I am so thankful for the sacrifices our families have made by us living so far away, the prayers that have gone up on our behalf (please keep them coming), and for the love, support, and encouragement we are blessed enough to experience working with this group of believers here.  We don't know where our lives will lead from here or how much longer we may stay in Australia, but we are thankful to God for the opportunity he has given us here and now.

Fauna

When most people think of Australian animals there are two that typically pop up first, kangaroos and koalas.  These two, I have to admit are pretty amazing creatures, but Australia  in chock-a-block (another aussie slang word for you) with interesting, unusual animals that you can only find here.


There are animals that you are sure God made just out of left over parts that were lying around.

Animals that look like they must be a direct descendants to dinosaurs.  This is a Cassowary.  We were able to see them in a wildlife park in Cairns, Queensland, which is their native habitat, the rainforest.  Sidenote:  These birds make the strangest drumming vibrations in their chest when they get angry.

 These Gallah's are very common around here and happen to be Tilly's favourite bird, why you ask?  because they are pink of course. :)

Another aussie animal we were able to get up-close and personal with in Cairns were salt water crocs, aka salties.  These monsters kill people.  In northern Australia you don't go swimming in any billabong or river you happen to come across.  These are one of the few creatures on earth that actually hunt people, they see us as potential prey.

Australia's very own turkey, the bush turkey, though I don't think anyone stuffs these for dinner.

Finally. . . .


 No animal post on Australia would be complete without our two Australian icons.

Koalas are one of my absolute favourites.  Their fur is incredibly soft and they smell like Eucalyptus.  They are the only animal I know of that you want to smell their breath.

Then of course there is the Kangaroo.

In Western Australia we see lots of roos.  We see them driving to the shops, when we are out bush-walking, at cemeteries, golf courses, and pretty much anywhere you have open space and grass to eat.  Don't get me wrong they aren't hopping through our neighbourhood, but we don't have to drive very far to get a peak at these Australian icons.

There is also a park that is a few minutes away that is a wildlife centre only for native animals.  It is one of the must see sites when we have visitors because it gives them a true taste of Australia.  You can get up close and personal with the kangaroos, pet a koala, crack a whip, swing a billy, and get to view lots of Aussie wildlife.

Nathan with a wallaby

Australia is chock-full of amazing animals that you can't witness anywhere else.  Come on over and see, we'll put you up.