{R.A.C.K. 2014 : Random Acts of Christmas Kindness}

Christmas is my favourite time of the year. I love the festivity, the food, the celebrations and the traditions. We have many traditions but this year we are ramping up the tradition we started over the last few years where we use this season to focus on generosity. {original post here}. I have written before {link here} about how easy it is to over-indulge at this time of year with food, gifts and money in general.
I love going all out at this time of year, but I also love teaching the kids (as I try to do all year long) that it's not just about us. There is more to life than what's in it for me? If I leave a legacy to my kids of generosity being a standard and always looking out for others, I will be a happy Mum. 

{Secret Santa Helper}

I don't mean to alarm you, but Christmas is 40 days away! I still have a bunch of shopping to do so I hope your more organised than me. It's crept up very quickly here this year. 

For those who do a secret Santa, my husbands side of the family is using a great website to draw secret Santa names. Since we aren't all in the same state, it has made drawing names so easy I just had to share!

If you log on to drawnames.com it allows you to set up a group. You enter email addresses and can even set exceptions (i.e. spouses don't get each other for example). Then each person gets an email allowing the to log in and set a wish list with examples of things they may like. 

I like my shopping done by December so as soon as I get back from my vacation - I mean Tresilian, it's going to be a big shopping day for me I think. 

Do you do a secret Santa in your family or an all out gift fest?
 
Lauren  x

{Surviving Christmas : Tip 1}

            

                  
It's almost that time. Christmas tree time. Whether yours is in a box in the garage or about to be chopped down and waiting to be chosen, it's coming. Everyone has there own traditions about when and how they decorate the trees. If you are like us, you wait with baited breath for the first of December and fill the house with Christmas music whilst the tree goes up. However, my social media feeds have seen some beautiful trees already go up in November. Some very keen Christmas spirit indeed!

Although my boys are 7 and 4 now, the past few years have seen little kids crawling and running around the house. I felt terrible rousing on them to not touch the ornaments in case they pulled them off and broke them. Those suckers are fragile and can shatter into shards you don't want near little children. Regardless if they are prized ornaments or cheaper ones.

When I discussed this with my very wise Mother-in-law years ago, she explained her very simple solution that has been a  lifesaver for us. Rather than try to contain the kids and make them feel like they are becoming a burden for simply being curious, contain the tree instead.
I picked up a second hand wooden playpen for $50 and assembled our tree inside. This helped keep the ornaments in one piece and the children could still enjoy the beautiful tree without me having to work overtime keeping them away from it. WIN - WIN!
                                           
This will be the first christmas in a while without the playpen, but we are obviously not throwing it out considering we will have a 8 month old princess crawling around next Christmas...(woah that's crazy to think about!)

Q: Do you already have your tree up? Are there any special traditions your family enjoys at this time?  

Lauren x

{You've Been Rack'd!}

Today marks one week until Christmas. I found an idea on pinterest (from tsj) that I adapted to our family. We are counting down the week by performing 'Random Acts of Christmas Kindness'. I have had so much fun with Mr. 6 dreaming of ways we could bless people just because. We may even have to "RACK" on the 12 days of Christmas next year! I will keep you updated on how this goes. A little bit of generosity always goes a long way and I think it is important to build this into our children at a time when it is commercially all about 'me, me, me' and 'get, get, get'!

 

  

Lauren x

{Childhood Treats That Turn Into Adult Aversions}

Final day of Kindy is tomorrow! I can hardly believe where that's gone.
Today the kids had a party for lunch and each family was sent home with a note with what to bring (saving 20 plates of cupcakes being brought).
I don't normally freak out at such a task. Until I read the note and it said 'cocktail frankfurts'. YUCK!
I have never bought these for my kids and I have never prepared it before either.
To me it is 'poached mystery meat wrapped in red plastic'. Again, YUCK! I could think of literally hundreds of things if prefer my kids to eat before I came to this!
I visited the deli, googled how to bring them and joined Kindy in their class party. Despite the disgusting "sausages" they had a blast.


But, this got me thinking. What else did I eat as a kid that I wouldn't touch now. My top 3 in no particular order:
- Cocktail frankfurts
- Devon
- Junket (anyone else remember this milky jelly stuff).
I guess this also happens in reverse too. For example, I never liked olives or zucchini as a kid, but I quite like them now.
Q: What did you eat as a kid that you won't touch now? Vise-versa?

Lauren x

{Nativity & Advent Calendars}

A few weeks ago, I visited 'The Yellow Dresser' for the first time. I picked up this gorgeous Advent calendar (and a few other gorgeous things) and couldn't wait to fill it with things to count down to Christmas. 
I searched for ideas, and there were a tonne of them thanks to google and pinterest mainly. I decided to keep it simple and I came across a lady who had a free printable on her blog of exactly what I wanted. All the hard work was done for me! {Here is the link} to the printable for the advent and this is an example of one of the days.





I chose not to add treats, as I wanted the excitement each day to be mainly about what happens next in the story. They definitely remind me to do it and it has become a real highlight for us.
Another good advent printable I found from one of my favourite bloggers, Be a Fun Mum, can be found {here} also. 

The other addition this year (which I wish I had found years ago) was an idea I had to make some visual aids to support the bits of the story we read each day. I found some images of the nativity online and simply printed them off, laminated them and glued magnets to the back.


Both my kids have been playing with them on the fridge and we sometimes use them to act out or help tell the part of the story we are up to. 
***tip: rather than buying expensive magnets form the craft store, save the large 'calendar magnets' you get given free in the mail from tradespeople etc... and cut up and glue on laminated pictures. Because of this and the laminating pouches I had, this cost me nothing***
{click for image of the nativity characters}
{click for image of the background}

I hope the lead up to Christmas isn't too stressful and you are taking some time to enjoy it with your loved ones.
Lauren x

{Extra Special Twinkle Lights}

So, December is in full swing and I hope your enjoying adding touches of festivity to your house. I have been a bit busy over here working on a special project that I can reveal soon, but can share a simple craft that added something special to our staircase this Christmas. 

Materials:
- 1 length of Christmas lights. 
- 3m of stiff tulle in your choice of colours (I chose red and white). I got mine for about $2 per meter.
- Craft scissors. 

{Creating a Simpler Christmas}

 

Back in 2010, I read something that changed my attitude on Christmas for my family. Pretty much from mid year toy sales onwards, my letter box is invaded with toy catalogues galore! All shouting at you messages of your kid wants THIS. Your kid "NEEDS" this. THIS will make your kid happy. Looking back on my childhood, I remember a few of gifts, but most of the gifts I remember had a sentimental attachment to them. I couldn't tell you majority of them now. For me, I mostly remember putting up decorations on the tree as a family with carols in the background, making the pudding with cousins with Grandma and Grandpa. I remember TIME spent together, laughing, sharing and giving. 

So, hubby and I made a decision to scale back on the ridiculous amount of gifts that can be given. Let's face it, when you add up this plus presents from Grandparents and Aunties/ Uncles, our kids DON'T go without! Don't you find that it's almost as if Christmas has a free seasonal ticket straight to Over Indulgence City? Between the food, gifts, and alcohol for some I guess, when is enough exactly that. Enough?!

So, each year we now scale right back. We now give them 7 gifts each. They aren't always expensive, in fact I think the more we steer away from the cheap "made in china" , "trashed by New Years" kinda gifts the better. 
Here is how we do it on Christmas morning. Each of my boys receives something from each of these categories. The seventh one listed (give) is something they give to someone else i.e. a goat for a 3rd world family, a gift for their sponsor child etc... 

We are also starting a few new traditions which I will be sharing soon. Watch this space ;)

Do you find that the silly season gets exactly that....silly? 

Q: How do you fight Over indulgence in your house?

Lauren x

{Homemade Christmas : Yummy Successes & a Failure too}

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you enjoyed some quality time with those you love over the Christmas/ New years period. Such a nice time of year...I just love it.

I have had a few recipes requested so this post is dedicated to the Muesli.

I searched everywhere for a porcelain pen/ texta I'd seen used on a blog to create handmade christmas gifts. Part worked well and part was an epic fail!

The plan was to design and personalize some bowls and include a jar of homemade toasted muesli. These were some we made:



However, even after doubling the drying time on the bowls, the writing came off! To make matters worse, I trusted the product and actually had a recipient of these tell me the next morning. I was furious and hurt. Some gifts I put so much thought into were ruined! I have been in talks with the company and the craft store I bought it from, hoping to find an answer soon. If anyone has had a win or a failure with this technique - please comment!

The muesli however, was a massive HIT!


I have had texts and calls from people who didn't even receive the gift wanting the recipe. So since I kinda made it up, I have spent time figuring out what the recipe was! I love this type of cooking where each batch could be potentially customized to taste or contents of the pantry! Never buying this again!

Ingredients (this made 4 gift jars):
5 cups oats
1 cup pepitas
1 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup flaked almonds
2 cups of sultanas
3/4 cup dried cranberries
1 cup of shredded coconut
2 Tbl sesame seeds

4T unflavored oil (I used rice bran oil)
100g honey

Preheat oven to 150'C
1. Combine dry ingredients in a big bowl.
2. Heat oil and honey in microwave or saucepan then stir into mixture.
3. Spread onto some baking trays and bake for about 30 mins. You want the mixture to be slightly browned and the fruits to become chewy. Then remove from oven and cool before putting into airtight container.


Enjoy,
Lauren x

Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

{The Final Christmas Touches}

Well, this will be probably be my last post for Christmas and maybe for 2011. It is very busy around here as we prepare the trimmings for a great Christmas. There is a lot of carols playing, gifts being wrapped decorations and crafts being made and recipes being baked. I LOVE Christmas!

Here are a few of the things we have done to help bring the festive season to life in our house.

1. The Advent Calendar:
Ever hear of 'Real Estate Speak'? Terms like renovators delight or fixer-upper??? Well in 'Craft Speak' a labor of love means something that took much more work than I anticipated, was GLAD to finish but happy I did! This advent calendar was one of those type projects. I know I winged it and made it up as I went, but there was something that I had to contemplate or re-do at several stages along the way. I am very happy with how it turned out though.




2. Snow Dough Ornaments I made salt dough using this recipe from taste.com.au and we cut out mini circles using a lid in the kitchen. The boys pressed a thumb print into half of the circles each and then we painted them white and strung them on a ribbon to make a garland for the tree. 3. Gingerbread Houses: With two little boys 2 & 5 years old, making a full blown ginger house mansion complete with kilo's of sugar seemed a feat that would have me cleaning the kitchen for days and adding an extra coffee or 10 to my day. So, because I still wanted to do this activity WITH my boys, I decided to make it a little different and go 2D instead. This was a BIG hit!!!! (gingerbread recipe here) (pattern for house copied from here) (royal icing recipe here) There are a few other crafts like a hand print wreath and some other ornaments along the way.

So, from my house to yours, I wish you a VERY special Christmas and may your 2012 be blessed and fruitful!

Lauren x

{Being Intentional and Fighting 'Distractions' this Christmas}

I was challenged by something our pastor said at church last Sunday (not a rare occurrence) about not just preparing our credit cards but also our hearts this Christmas.
So, today I did something that's been on my list for the last little while.
Whilst at spotlight (I can tell your shocked I was there too lol!) I found a black board for $15. It was light so i knew it would hang on the wall easily with the 3M Velcro tabs I already had.

I have decided to put up a verse for the Christmas month and use it as a reference point with Mr 5 who loves to read and learn.
I also intend to keep it there and write more verses/ sayings all year round.

(p.s. excuse my terrible 'haven't practiced teacher writing since uni' handwriting lol)!

I love Christmas SO much and it's very easy to get carried away with the decorations and festivities.
Due to its location in the house, it's something we will walk past frequently and it is a nice practical way we are trying to put the focus back on the REAL reason for the season!

Lauren x

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

{A Vegetarian Christmas: Sweet Potato & Leek Roulade}

We hosted a Christmas Dinner/ Feast for two of our dear friends last Friday night. I had a blast planning the menu and trying to find a yummy main for my beautiful friend who also is a vegetarian. Now I don't have a problem using imagination for meat free meals normally, as we eat that a lot here.
However, when I think Christmas, I think hams and roast lambs, chicken or pork. I wanted something delicious and not an 'after thought'. I would never want anyone coming over for dinner feel like an after thought just because they don't eat meat. Insert Google and here was the menu:

Entree
Goats cheese and Cranberry Tartlets

Mains
Minted Roast Lamb
Sweet Potato and Leek Roulade

Sides
Balsamic Vine Tomatoes
Chili and Almond Asparagus
Honey Carrots
Rosemary and Garlic Smashed Potatoes

Drinks
Chilled Egg Nog
Warm Mulled Wine

Dessert
Christmas Pudding Ice Cream with Frozen Chocolate Sauce
Tea & Coffee

The mulled wine was a little bitter as I think I let it simmer too long but it was still worth a try.
Here is the recipe for the Roulade...Mine didn't look that pretty, but it held its shape and was DE-LISSSHH!!! Its worth the effort ;)

(image from taste.com.au)

INGREDIENTS:
Roulade

20ml (1 tbs) olive oil
1 leek, finely chopped
60g butter
1/3 cup plain flour
300ml milk
4 eggs, separated
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/4 cup grated parmesan

Stuffing
30g unsalted butter
1 brown onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 1/2 cups fresh white breadcrumbs
1 tbs chopped fresh sage
1 tbs chopped flat-leaf parsley

Filling
500g sweet potato, peeled, chopped
15g unsalted butter
100ml thin cream
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease and line a 39 x 26cm Swiss roll pan.

2. To make the roulade, heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the leek and cook gently for five minutes until soft. Remove leek from pan. Wipe pan, then add the butter. When it has melted, add the flour and cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly. Start adding the milk, a little at a time, whisking until all the milk is combined and the sauce has thickened. Remove from the heat, beat in egg yolks, one at a time and season.

3. In a separate, clean bowl, beat the eggwhites until stiff. Add a quarter of the eggwhites to the roux, then gently fold in the remaining eggwhites. Fold in leeks and cheddar until just combined, then pour into the prepared pan and bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until golden and puffed.

4. Meanwhile, to make stuffing, melt butter in a frying pan over medium heat. Add onion and cook for five minutes until soft and translucent. Add garlic and breadcrumbs and cook for a further 3-4 minutes. Stir in herbs and season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

5. For the filling, steam or boil the sweet potato until tender. Drain and mash with the butter, cream and nutmeg. Season well and set aside.

6. When the roulade is cooked, place a clean tea towel on your workbench and sprinkle with the parmesan. Turn the roulade out onto the tea towel and peel off the baking paper. Allow to cool for 1-2 minutes, then spread the sweet potato over the roulade.

7. Sprinkle the stuffing over the sweet potato. Using the edge of the tea towel, carefully roll up the roulade from the longest side finishing with the seam-side down. Slice and serve warm.

I hope you enjoy the idea and even if I wasn't serving for a vegetarian...I would definitely make this again :)

Lauren x

{Christmas 4 month countdown}

My favourite time of year is quickly approaching. Sorry if I scare you by mentioning the "Christmas" word too early. I am not a quickly shop on midnight Christmas eve kinda gal.

I like organisation.
I like order.
I like planing.
I am a list queeen!

So i have lists going on ages before the 25th of December. Lists of gifts, menus, shopping lists, time line to-do lists, lists for anything! So, yesterday as the 4 month mark arrived, I found some pretties online and swooned for a while.

In my 12 days of Christmas countdown last year I dedicated a post to the beautiful advent calendar.
I have been re-inspired from Pinterest and with 4 months to go until Christmas I have plenty of time to plan ahead and make one for us this year. Now to decide on the design. I want to do it in fabric so that it is something that will last and I can pass on. This is just the tip of the iceberg though....there are so many homemade Christmas decorations I want to do this year, better get planning ;)

Linaloo

Inchmark


Green Jello


Frugal Home Designs



Ucreate (guest post by wippleberry)



The House of Smiths

There were so many other pictures and eye candy I could post.....so if you want some inspiration for this (or anything) get onto pinterest!

I would love to know if you created an advent calendar idea at your place and what kind of design you have, please link it up in the comments or on the facebook page if you have ;)

Lauren x

{Mid Year Toy Sales}

If your a parent (especially of a young child) you are more than likely to have heard words in the media recently like TOY SALE, TOY EXTRAVAGANZA or TOY BONANZA!!!
In true style to my personality I got the toy catalogues in the mail and armed with my sharpie marker circling things I know would make my boys 'happy'. Before I knew it I had enough things circled to fill a toy room (regardless of the fact that that there are enough toys in this house to sink a ship already).

Then In amidst it all, I remembered a blog post I put up last year entitled "{12 Days of Christmas ::: Day 10} Fighting OVERindulgence with kids at Christmas".
Suddenly, a fog lifted and it all came back to me. How I want to stop the madness of 'STUFF' at christmas, because let's be honest, there are enough gifts from grandparents etc.... to create a frenzy on the day as it is!

So, inspired by the blog post above I am buying only 5 gifts for the boys this year. They fall into 5 categories :
*Want
*Need
*Wear
*Read
I have decided to add a 5th one that wasn't in the origional post taht inspired the idea. That category is *Give. For this gift, it is something from them to another person and helping them bless someone else. You could give a gift to the kmart wish tree, a donation to a charity or buy a goat from the tear catalogue.
What we are planning on for the 'give' gift is a Compassion Child each who has the same birthday/ birthyear (or similar) to each boy. This way they have a personal and tangible way to live out their faith and understand the gravity of poverty and what they can do about it to help.

I hope this inspires you to put down the cataglogues for a moment and think about what Christmas is really about and how the choices you make help shape the values that shape your children and the grown men and women they will become.

Lauren x