A Good Old Fashioned Party

Yesterday saw myself and the Muddy Kids attend a lovely 4th Birthday Party morning tea for one of Muddy Pixie's little friends. It was low key with only close friends invited (mind you we all have between 2-4 kids so there were quite a few kids running around). There was no big theme, there were a few balloons, the usual backyard toys (plus chooks and a puppy), pass-the-parcel, musical statues and an ice cream cake. Simple, enjoyable party goodness.

The kids used their imaginations and created their own games, they ganged up girls vs boys to take over the tent filled with balloons, the girls held strong for a while until the boys launched a strong campaign and the balloons were no more. The boys played policeman, and hunters, while the girls played princesses and fairies. They all busted some moves under the clothesline to the music, some moves which left us all wondering 'where did they learn how to do that?'.

It reminded me so much of when I was a kid and went to parties. My kids had a ball, Muddy Bubby included, they collected a small lolly bag at the end and came home exhausted, having run around and enjoyed just being kids. Sometimes when life is rushing by so fast and everything is pushing kids to grow up quicker than we are ready for it's nice to be reminded of simple old fashioned fun and to sit and relish in the kids enjoyment.

Do your kids get to go to parties like we did when we were kids?

Or is it all about the 'theme' nowadays?

Chicken, Leek and Bacon Pot Pie

The weather has turned cold, the blustery windy cold, where the sun is still shining but the wind dries out your skin and lips and you have rosy red cheeks and feel chilled to the bone. For me this means comfort food, warm hearty meals that fill you up and warm you from the inside out.

My favourite Pie to make at the moment is Chicken Leek and Bacon Pot Pies. My friend and neighbour gave me this recipe after we had dinner there last winter and it has become a regular in our household, especially in cold weather.

Ingredients:
40g Unsalted Butter
1 tbs Olive Oil
3 Leeks (pale part only), thinly sliced
4 bacon rashers, rind removed, chopped
800g chicken thigh fillets, cut into 2cm pieces
1tbs plain flour
Pinch of nutmeg
200ml chicken stock
300ml light sour cream or creme fraiche
2 tbs chopped flat leaf parsley
2 tbs lemon juice
4 sheets frozen puff pastry
1 egg, lightly beaten

The Filling:
Heat the butter and oil in a pan over low heat. Add the leek, bacon and chicken and cook, stirring for 6-8 minutes until the leek is soft and the chicken is almost cooked. Stir in the flour and nutmeg and cook for 1-2 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Stir in the stock, increase heat to medium and bring to the boil. Season, then remove from the heat and stir in the sour cream, lemon juice and parsley. Cool completely.

Putting It Together:
Preheat the Oven to 200 degrees Celsius
Cut two 1cm  strips from the side of each pastry sheet. Set aside. Cut pie lids from the remaining pastry, 1 cm wider than the top of the 300ml pie dishes or ramekins. Divide chicken mixture among dishes. Press pastry strips around the rim of each dish to make a 'collar' and brush with some of the egg. Carefully top with pie lids, press firmly into the collar to seal, then trim edges if necessary. Make 2 cuts in each pie top, then brush with remaining egg. Bake the pies for 20 mins or until puffed and golden.

Enjoy!

* I used small ramekins for the kid's and my pies and used bigger bowls for the men's pies. When I've used them for dinner parties I've made them in small ramekins and served them up with green veggies.
* As there is lots of sauce I often throw in veggies like broccoli, peas or corn, before throwing them in the oven.

What's your favourite winter warmer?

Wordless Wednesday - Dad's Little Helper

While Muddy Hubby works he has an overseer to make sure he's doing the job right!

Linking up with Trish at My Little Drummer Boys for Wordless Wednesday

An Easter Bathroom

One of my favourite types of shows to watch are those home renovation ones, I loved the original couple of series of The Block where they did most of it themselves, and I loved The Renovators, especially the houses where they did it themselves, rather than just getting the tradies in. So I was a little bit excited when Muddy Hubby said we were going to fix up the bathroom, take out the window that joins the office and plumb a proper shower into the wall!!

It didn't take long for my illusions about renovating to be shattered. I knew it was going to be hard work, I knew it would take longer than the Easter Weekend (even though Muddy Hubby was certain it would be done by Easter Monday!). What I wasn't prepared for was the nightmare of plumbing in an old farm house that has been added on and added on, and dodgy pipes and a 39 year old hot water system that chose to give up the ghost while we were working on the bathroom, or the toilet that decided to block up and continually overfill my septic system. It's these little bits that have made for a stressful experience, that and intermittent water with 4 kids and 4 adults in the house!

But onward we pressed, through Good Friday and Easter Sunday, one trip to Bunnings and one Chinese takeaway, a little bit of escorting the tractor, a lap in the tractor hay cutting for Muddy Hubby and several drinks and days later we can see an end in sight. I hope! There is now no leaks in the pipes, sheeting on the walls and they have started tiling. I have a new Solatube and exhaust fan. I am busying fixing up the office side, sanding walls, puttying and soon to be painting. Hoping to finish before the new carpet goes in from the flood damage! Big expectations, yes, sleepless nights yes! I keep repeating 'It will be good when it's finished!'. I'm looking forward to a hot shower, and giving the kids a big bubble bath.

Have you renovated? What were your little hiccups that made it last longer than you planned?

Or did you have a dream run?

Term One Over!

Yesterday marked the end of my Muddy Organiser's first term at school. The end of 10 weeks of getting up, getting dressed, racing to the bus, ironing uniforms, polishing shoes, packing news, packing bank books, remembering swimming clothes and homework folders.

This was her after her first day of school, rushing inside to tell Dad and her sisters about her first day!

This was my Muddy Organiser arriving home yesterday - exhausted! It took me a while to wake both of them.

It has been a fantastic start to her schooling life. In one term she has grown up so much and soaked up so much into her brain like a little sponge. She can now write her name without copying, count up past ten, know what comes after 50, if I help her remember 50, order her lunch from the canteen, read some sight words, read her homework readers, remember the names of almost all the 30 kids in her class plus the names of other kids in the school. My Muddy Organiser has made new friends and cemented strong bonds with old friends, she has turned from a little girl into a 'big' school girl. She plays more calmly with her sisters and brother, she is more polite at home and takes more care in her actions.

I am incredibly proud and amazed at how far she has come in such a short space of time, so can only imagine how much more she will have learn, grown and changed by the end of the year. For now we are all exhausted, we have no plans to go anywhere for a few days. We want to recharge our batteries as well as the Muddy kids, and get some work done on our bathroom, so our house can semi go back to normal. No holidays away, just enjoying spending time at home as a family, before the chaos starts again in 2 weeks.

Are your kids exhausted like mine?

Are you going to spend the first week of holidays staying home like we are?

Or are you more adventurous?

Wordless Wednesday - Let's Go Fly a Kite

From one of my all time favourite movies as a kid - Mary Poppins

'Let's go fly a kite
Up to the highest height
Let's go fly a kite
And send it soaring
Up through the atmosphere
Up where the air is clear
Oh, let's go fly a kite!'

- Robert Sherman

It's all good until it gets stuck up a powerpole!

Maybe we should have listened to Muddy Hubby and taken them all the way out into the paddock!

Linking up for Wordless Wednesday with Trish at My Little Drummer Boys

Last Wedding of the Month

Saturday night saw Muddy Hubby and I frock up for the last social event of the month - a Wedding! Now I love, love, love a good wedding. I love checking out the groomsmen, watching the bride enter the church on her proud Dad's arm, reviewing the bridesmaid's dresses and the mother of the bride and groom outfits. The bridal cars are always a talking point, and in this case it was Work Vehicles, Landcrusiers, that had the mud washed off and were polished up for the occasion.

I didn't have my camera at the church, only at the reception, so was able to take some shots of the lovely country decorations, crops in vases! It's been a common theme at Muddy family weddings to have crops feature as part of the table decorations, Saturday night's were Wheat, Millet and Sorghum. In the past we've had wheat, triticale, barley and we had sheep (toy ones of course) for our wedding. We scored some yummy lollies as the bomboniere, all packaged up nicely and a nice roast meal.

The best bit though, especially at a family wedding is catching up with family. Muddy Great Grandma had 18 of her 19 grandchildren at the wedding and proceeded to issue orders to the photographer about the photos she wanted taken with her grandchildren, then her 5 sons, as she rarely gets them all in the same spot at the same time. It also meant a lovely brunch on Sunday to check out the bride and groom's new home and catch up some more with family, before bringing the Muddy tribe home for a rest after a big morning, and some really nice quiet family time in the afternoon before we collapsed into bed. We're not coping very well with the end of daylight savings!!!

How did you spend your weekend?

What's your favourite part of a wedding?

How has your household coped with the end of Daylight Savings?

Linking up with the awesome Sonia at Life, Love and Hiccups for Wonderful Weekends.