Muddy Boy and His Sacrifical Snake Dog

We have a sacrificial snake dog, he's a Jack Russell and his name is N-G-O, he's a cheeky character, who from day one has refused to sleep in his kennel and has camped under our bedroom. The Muddy Girls have always loved him, they play with him on and off, but if he's not there they are not fussed.

 

My Muddy Baby Boy thought is enraptured by him, he seeks him out, he chases him, he rolls on the grass with him, pats him, wrestles him and just sits companionably with him. They have this special bond that the Muddy Girls don't have. I just love to watch them together, it makes me smile every time.

 

Easy Shortbread Biscuits

Shortbread is something I have always been a little bit scared of making, I've made it before (a few years ago) and it was not a success. This year though I figured I would give it another go. I'm so pleased I did, as it is so yummy and worked out just as I remember having as a kid, all buttery goodness. I used a recipe from 'The Country Table', but adapted the method a little bit, as I'm lazy like that!

Ingredients:
250 Butter, Softened
1/3 Cup Caster Sugar
1 Tablespoon Water
2 Cups Plain Flour
1/2 Cup Rice Flour
1 Dessert Spoon Icing Sugar

Method:
Throw it all in the Food Processor, whizz it around until it's all combined. Pull it out, either roll it out on a floured bench or press out with your hands. I used Christmas Shape cutters to make them all Christmasy and cut out the shapes. You can make them thick or thin (just vary your cooking time). Bake in the oven on greased trays for 30-40mins. Cool them on the tray. Dust with Icing Sugar before serving.

They were a big hit at the class party, and made a nice option from chips and lollies that were on offer. The rest of the batch will go in for the Presentation Night Supper, as the leftovers will send me up a dress size.

Scattered Thoughts

Chaos reigns supreme at the moment, there are swimming bags and towels and swimmers everywhere. There are half folded piles of washing spread around the house. The kitchen is overflowing with Christmas cooking, a variety of delightful things made for parties, catch ups and just because it's Christmas. Containers of leftovers and 'don't touch until Christmas' goodies.

No matter how hard I try my house looks like a tornado has gone through it. I am learning to let things slide a 'little bit' but do not function very well if they're let slide for too long. Tonight I employed flat out bribery to get the toy room and lounge room tidy for the first time in a few weeks. The 3 Muddy Girls were rewarded with a square of Cadbury Mint Bubbly Chocolate for doing a superb job of tidying up!

I am feeling a little bit calmer. I know that the tidiness of my house should not affect my mood so much, but it does. I find it unsettling, the messier my house gets the more out of control I feel. I don't mind so much the dust and the cleaning, as I do the best that time allows, as long as things are tidy I can find a balance. With school holidays starting in a couple of days and people coming in to look after my kids I have a pressing need for things to be in order!

Please tell me I am not alone in feeling like this! Do you need things tidy or a you a sparkling clean and tidy person? Any advice on how to let things slide a bit more???

Everything Old is New Again

One of the things I love about my Muddy Organiser going to school is reliving my childhood, or parts of it anyway! There's been stories they're reading at school or that she brings home from the library, sports I'd forgotten about like tunnel ball. I love watching her learn new songs and dances for the school social and singing along with her.

I was extra excited though last week when she bought home some string. Not just any string, but a loop of string to do Cat's Cradle with. I can remember spending hours and hours trying new tricks with the string, I was hopeless but it didn't stop me trying! My Muddy Organiser though has proved to be quite a whizz with the string, she can already do the Harbour Bridge and is teaching her friends how to do it. My Mum (god bless the teacher in her) has dug through her bookshelf and found a book on Cat's Cradle and other string things which the Muddy Organiser is learning from to add to her string repertoire. She has already well surpassed my string abilities.

The thing I love most about the string is it's portable, she takes it everywhere, it's not electronic, it's just good old fashioned fun at it's best, just like my childhood. A teacher friend tells me elastics are the next thing coming back in!

Lotions and Potions for my Scavenger

I'm starting to wonder if my Muddy Puzzler might become a bit of a Chemist, either that or a treasure hunter. Every time I turn my back she has snuck away another one of our creams, or soap or gels. Glue has also gone missing in action, as well as sunscreen or lipstick. It's not only creams and gels though, nothing is exempt from my little scavenger, before we went to a BBQ on the weekend she snaffled the salad servers, they took me 15 minutes to find hidden under the spare bed, my iPad gets the same treatment, as does any bit of jewellery. The one that got me last week though was a box full of band aids and Muddy Hubby's lunchbox which had his leftover afternoon tea in it. By the time I found her she had a full belly and both her and the lunch box were covered in band aids.

 

Nobody is able to escape her ministrations though, Muddy Pixie has been decorated in makeup and had her hair cut, Muddy Bubby has had his hair styled with sunscreen, and the pillows on my bed are often smeared with hair gel or deodorant. My phone is one of her favourite things to sneak away, she puts it on silent so she can watch videos of herself or play games and I follow the vibrations in the floor as I ring it, until I find it and her!

 

I am not worried, I know she's bored, very bored, very ready for preschool next year and some outside stimulation. I make no excuses for the busy way things are at the moment, we will get there and she won't forever be sneaking under beds with make-up and creams (I hope). Each time it happens though I am reminded to pack things away properly in either very high or lockable spots to help minimise the chance of it happening again!

 

 

 

 

 

Moving On

Friday night I put my glad rags on, blinged it up and headed out for a Girl's only farewell for a friend who is moving away. It was a very, very fun night. Everyone bought a plate to share, there was lots of uninterrupted catch up and talking time, with a few drinks and dances thrown in for good measure, even a disco ball hing in a tree to add some extra bling.

As I made my way home though I started to think about the impact on our town when a large family, or any family really, leaves town. This lovely friend is the mother of four gorgeous kids, her husband has already left to start his new job and she is staying on with the kids til the end of the school year.

The council has lost a good worker, the High School will lose a good teacher, my Muddy Organiser and Muddy Pixie will each lose a classmate and that's not to mention the loss of friends and being able to easily catch up, whether it be at school or preschool pick up, or a quick chat down the street.

Yes, other families move into town, just as much as families move on, but the impact felt is still a great loss. I often wonder if the same impact is felt in large cities and towns when a family moves on, or is it felt more in a small town like ours, where there are less people to fill that gap left behind?

Concert Fever

The last week has passed in a rush of pretty dresses, parties, preschool concerts and ballet concerts. We've had rehearsals and our scary first foray into ballet concert make-up! We've had costume changes and hair spray in abundance to keep the wispy bits of hair in a tight bun.

 

Through it all we have had lots of fun, lots of photos and lots of proud Muddy Mummy, tear-in-the-eye moments. Each day I wake up and pinch myself in amazement that I have 4 beautiful Muddy Kids and feel like I've blinked and missed the last 6 years, as I now have a little ballerina, who proudly danced on stage, accepted her cup and her encouragement trophy, all without a clingy moment or worried cry!

 

Both the preschool concert and the ballet concert were hot, hot, hot days, 40 plus degrees, and my lovely Mum (Nana) came and sat through them both, helping me to look after the Muddy Kids and take photos and videos to make sure we don't miss a bit of it! I am now officially exhausted and we have a few weeks of school, birthday parties and Christmas parties still to come before the guy in the big red suit visits, somehow I'm not sure that the next few weeks will pass without a few tantrums from all of us!