{Apple Mint Iced Tea}

In this hot Sydney summer weather it's always nice to find cool refreshing ways to take the edge off the heat. Especially when 7 months pregnant and mostly hot and uncomfortable ;) Today I made a delicious Apple and Mint Iced Tea and I used my T2 iced tea jug. This is very handy as it has a built in infuser but it's not essential. You'll Need: - 2L jug - 3 Peppermint tea bags - 2 cups boiling water - 1L Apple juice (fresh would be best but I just used my usual bottled juice to make it easier) - Sprig or two of Mint (I used the chocolate mint growing in the garden). - 1 Lime - 1 Green Apple & Ice Cubes to serve Make up the tea as you normally would in a jug and leave to steep for a moment. Chill in fridge. Add the apple juice and then add the mint, bruising the leaves a little before adding it. Juice the lime and add it along with some of the apple finely chopped and ice to serve. (I ended up grating 1/4 of the apple to add a little extra flavor). Garnish with left over off cuts if you wish. It is such a delicious way to feel refreshed in this heat for sure. This will definitely be added regularly to the fridge this summer.



Lauren x

{Count Your Many Blessings}

This year I have finally put into place something I wanted to do all last year but never got around to doing. I have a big jar that has a simple sign on it "Count your many blessings" on the front.

Quite simply this jar is in a central place of the home and every time a special moment happens or a prayer is answered, a little note with a brief description goes in the jar. This jar will fill over the next year and then on New Years Eve we will open it as a family and look back on the blessings that have been lavished on our family. It's a great way to keep a positive outlook front and centre and a tangible way to see it grow.

Even if you live by yourself or just with a couple, you could still do it with an individual sized jar next to your bed or something...it's an idea totally adaptable to your circumstance.

Why not try it? It's only half way through January and not too late. You could always add one or two notes to describe any wonderful moments that have happened so far in 2014.


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

{It's a GIRL!!!}

I have clearly been falling a bit behind in blog land, but I think I have my mojo back. Last week we had our 19 week scan for bub which meant we were able to see (hopefully) what gender little bub is. We were both very keen to know, we also found out with our two boys what they were. From our perspective it helps us to prepare and bond much more, but I totally understand those that hang on suspense for the big reveal at birth too. 

We decided our family wasn't quite complete and didn't go into this wanting or trying for a particular gender, so any news was going to be great news. 
Once all the important measurements were made in regards to the organs and the like she announced to us we were having a GIRL!
Of course we were VERY excited, it is going to add such a new and different element to our family. Our boys can't wait to meet her already.

In order to tell the big brothers, I baked some pink cupcakes and iced them with white icing. We gave the cakes to them for dessert and told them there was a clue inside about their new baby brother or sister. When they started eating, they figured it out pretty quickly.   

Most of our family we notified first. Then I decided to reveal the news to a bunch of my girlfriends at our connect group that night with a larger version of the gender reveal cake. This one just used a bundt tin I already had and then I filled the hole with pink pearl sprinkles and covered the lot with white icing. 
My girlfriends were shocked and excited and it was such a fun way to reveal it to them. Plus, we all got some yummy cake to celebrate.

So, here is a photo of the little princess and I can't wait to see what she looks like in real life. Baby cuddles coming soon.....YAY!!!!!

Lauren x

{Coffee For Summer}

If your like me and love a caffeine hit but the thought of a hot coffee in summer makes you sweat, check this out!



1. Make a black coffee as you would normally but don't add milk. If you normally add sugar, add it now. I use my Nespresso maker, but instant or other machines will do the same thing.
2. Pour into ice cube trays and stick in the freezer. Once solid, I popped them into a labelled zip lock bag and made more.
3. Then as desired, place a few cubes into a chilled glass of your choice of milk (cows, almond, oat, soy would all work). I added some vanilla extract for taste too.

It is a delicious way to have a gentle and cool caffeine hit this summer! Yum!

Lauren x