The Modern Housewife

My drug of choice is "SLEEP". I discovered this in the last week after getting at least 6 hours straight sleep every night. Its like I am on a total high, like someone has slipped something into my drink. Everything is lovely and even when the kids are being naughty they are still as cute as pie. Six hours sleep you say, that isn't much. Well you know what, I'm OK with six hours and I don't want to push my luck, I am thankful for what I am getting. For those of you without children, you have NO idea. Oh yeah young people I hear you saying, "what I go out and don't sleep all night sometimes". Yes that may be, but you haven't felt the result of continued loss of sleep on a daily basis, for months on end. Every night only sleeping in 2 to 3 hour segments. Yes it adds up but you can never really get into that nice deep sleep that makes you feel alive in the morning. There is a reason they use sleep deprivation as a form of torture, it makes you g

Yes I actually made this, for people that know me they would be amazed.  Granted it doesn't look super pretty but dam it tasted good.  If only I had coffee essence as the coffee version tastes even better.  I thought I had better share this recipe as if I can make it then pretty much anyone can make it. I can't take credit for this recipe, the lovely golfers at Pahiatua golf club are and in particular Nola Fergus is responsible.  The Golf club publishes a recipe book every year, including their favourite recipes and dam they are brilliant, these ladies are geniuses. Sponge - gateau Beat 4 large eggs, add 1 cup sugar and 2 Tbsp. Hot water, beat until thick. Fold in 1 cup self raising flour. Bake in 2x9inch (23cm) tins. 20 minutes at 198.C Chocolate:- Use above mixture, using only 3/4 cup of flour and 1/2 cup of cocoa powder. Add extra 2 Tbsp. Water. Ice with chocolate icing. Coffee:- Same mixture add 1 Tbsp. Coffee essence. Ice with coffee icing. Filling:- 4

It was Friday evening and Hubby called up from work saying should we go out for dinner tonight. Since it had been over 6 months since we had been out to dinner with the kids I said "Why not". So he booked in very early to avoid the crowds that are inevitable at Monteiths on a Friday. So we turned up at about 5:15pm and I could see the people around us doing that 'oh no they have kids' look, although I think the two high chairs should have clued them on to that one slightly earlier. We secured both kids in their highchairs, and only put the 2 year old in there so that she couldn't escape. It was great, lovely food and a good atmosphere. Luckily it was slightly loud in there so when my daughter decided to use her outside voice we didn't get any stares. It was great, as she is old enough now to understand manners and listens when we explain why she should or shouldn't do something. Whether she actually does it is another thing. For once I was fully prepar

Some people get their thrills out of going to concerts, going on overseas trips or buying new fast cars. Myself I get excited about the small things in life. I always have and hopefully always will. Don't get me wrong I love new cars etc, but I probably get more excited by the number of drink holders than the actual car (sorry car enthusiasts). Its the small things that make me happy. A caramel cappuccino, poached eggs on toast oh and I hate to say it but a McDonalds breakfast. Sunshine on your face after days of rain. The smell of nice clean washing coming in from the line. Gentle raindrops on the roof when you are about to go to sleep. The smell of freshly cut grass. It has always been the small things that put a smile on my face and make me truly happy. Since having children I feel like those happy moments have been multiplied. It seems every time I turn around my daughter is doing something that makes me smile and laugh. Like when I ask her if she can do something for me

We are going for a short visit to my mums house this weekend. I was just getting used to travelling with my two year old daughter. She is potty trained now so her bag is substantially smaller than it used to be. I just pack her clothes as I would pack my own, maybe with a few extra pairs of underwear and pants. Since her clothes are soooooo much smaller than mine it means she only needs a little bag. Now I have to pack for a 5 month old as well, oh man. It seems silly that when you go and visit someone for two days that you take 50 bags and just about need a roof rack to hold everything. Ok it isn't hat bad, at least there is a cot, blankets and thousands of toys at mum and dads. Otherwise that car would really be packed to the rafters, with porta cot, blankets, teddy's for baby, nappies, clothes and toys for my daughter etc etc etc. Not to mention the two Nelly's (my daughters little soft toy doll she sleeps with). Why two Nelly's you ask? Well after my daughter got

I visited my parents this weekend and when I left they sent me packing with my old Lego from when I was a child. I have to admit I was DAM excited about getting home and having the chance to play with it. Although I didn't know if it would be the same without the other half of it. My brothers half that is. I always had the houses, post offices and a few cars and trucks. My brother had the roads, space ships and other vehicles. Basically between the two of us we had a little Lego empire. Cue evil laugh (Mew ha ha ha ha ha). Anyway after getting the Lego home, my daughter and I spent 2 hours sorting it out and putting it into its little slidy trays. That was a great job for a 2 year old as she LOVES sorting colours. To be honest it was a life saver and a great way to waste away the hours. Especially when a certain mumma forgot that there was a 4 hour power cut. So there we were sitting in the lounge in our PJ's playing with Lego until 2pm. Had I realised there was going to b

I knew I was getting old when I started to watch the news, preferred staying in rather than going out and started growing my own vegetable garden. I grew up on the farm so I am used to seeing giant vegetable patches that produce all of your vegetable needs. When I moved to the city and lived in rented properties I had all but given up on the idea of producing my own vegetables . Cue TV cooking shows that had chefs growing their own kitchen gardens. For example, James Martin Digs Deep and River cottage, which I quickly become addicted too. Hubby and I were inspired, surely we could grow something in our tiny wee 2 metre square garden. By this time we were living in our own home, so we could dig up what and where we wanted, to create our little slice of vegetable paradise. We started small and brought in some actual soil and sheep poo thanks to dad (our section was all rocks and clay). Hubby was in control of most of it as I was known to be a bit of a black finger (aka every plant

I thought putting my latest creation up here might encourage me to paint more, sorry about the photo it is a little wonky, but the painting is hanging up in the front door area and I couldn't get a better angle.  At the moment I am just painting to decorate our house which is very bland with hardly any pictures on the wall.  Also painting pictures for family presents, poor people, when you give someone a painted picture they feel obliged to hang it up even if they don't like it.  But we have a rule for grown up Christmas presents, that we only give presents that we made.  It makes you think and be a little creative and so much fun.

I was sitting down finally having a rest after putting both kids to bed.  Tired after a night of taking care of a little girl with a tummy bug, changing sheets after sheets.  Washing clothes, clothes and more clothes after she was sick on us all.  When the door bell rang, I got a little ray of sunshine.  Clare from goshorty was stopping by to drop off the dribble bibs and beanie that I had ordered for my little man.  Wow they are cool, not sure what it is about baby gear but it is so dam exciting.  I wish I could sew but alas I can't and even if I could I doubt my creations would be anywhere as brilliant as these goshorty ones. Check out her website, facebook page and blog Webiste: http://www.goshorty.co.nz/ Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/goshorty.nz Blog: http://www.shortbutnot.blogspot.com/

OK man flu has officially hit our house. Lucky for me, the rest of us have already had it, so I only have the one grown man to take care off. OK apart from the fact that we have a sick wee girl that must have a tummy bug today. I can't blame hubby for feeling so sick though , I had this flu about three weeks ago and it was hideous, in fact at one stage I remember saying "Oh my gosh I think I have the man flu" it was that bad. In saying that, I was at my sickest during the week so I was looking after both kids at the same time as feeling like a bus had run me over. Sure I wasn't paying them my fullest attention, after all I did have trouble keeping my eyes open. But baby had clean nappies on and they were both being fed. Unlike hubby I found it very difficult to get any sleep during the day time and I fully blame the Wiggles for this. Every time I closed my eyes my daughter would race up to me and yell "WAKE UP MUMMA, WAKE UP". Bonus is that I am now feel

When I was pregnant with my first child I decided to start something that would keep me busy and utilise my creativeness.  I came up with this giant activity mat.  It was hard to get a picture of this one as it is giant, about three meters by two meters.  I painted onto the calico with material pants, that you iron on after the paint dries.  I painted a collection of pictures and words on the mat and also added numbers, English and Arabic and the alphabet. I initially wanted to put a waterproof cover on the back but due to the lack of my sewing skills and my uncooperative very old sewing machine, I pulled out of that idea.  My two year old is just really starting to enjoy it and loves me shouting out a word and she then runs and jumps on the matching picture.  It is also great for my 4 month old little boy to roll around on as it stops him eating hairy carpet.

Making Finger puppet butterflies It has been raining for way to long now, so I decided that I needed some special activities for my little girl to do.  While watching some of the many hours of Kids Zone that I seem to be watching these days, I saw this idea and thought it was brilliant.  My daughter loves stickers and zooming around like a crazy person so something that incorporates both was a goer. Remember that all I did was cut out the shape (note to self, try and make sure the next butterflies don't look like she is giving the finger).  My daughter stuck the stickers on, where ever she wanted to.  Then I wrapped a bit of cardboard around my finger and stick that to the back of the butterfly after she had decorated it and we were ready to fly. After this we proceeded to zoom around the lounge being butterflies.  This held my daughters attention for a good 30mins, which is kind of a record with her.  I am now motivated to do more fun activities.  More updates soon.

I made a pact with myself recently, to keep myself and my house in a presentable state. Simple task you may think, alas not when you are me. Its not that I am a messy person its just that I seem to have inherited a lazy gene, when it comes to keeping a nice house. Add to that mix, the fact that I have a 2 1/2 year old little girl that is like a toy hurricane and a 4month old little boy to take care of. So I set myself the following rule: I will have the house and myself in a presentable state at all times. This means that anyone can knock on my door at any point in the day and I will not be embarrassed about what I am wearing or the way my house looks. When I say at any point in the day I mean after 9am and before 9pm any other time you may catch me in my snuggly PJ's. I set this pact with myself as I was sick of looking like a homeless person, who was living in a tip (ok my house wasn't that bad). We never used to get random visitors, we always had some sort of warning. So

Tonight I feel like a bit of a hippy. We have just finished dinner of Dahl (lentils) curry with homemade preserved lemon.  I will follow that with a homemade double layered butter cake with butter icing (not so healthy, I know). I would have included a picture of the lentils but lets be honest, they don't look pretty. I have not included a recipe for the Dahl curry, as I am not sure if anyone would actually be into that. Plus I have no idea what I actually put in it. I am a bit of a random chef and throw a bit of this and a bit of that, then if it doesn't taste quite right I throw a bit more in. Plus I used my secret spice mix from my mother-in-law (authentic Indian). I have to say the curry was exactly what we needed, both Hubby and I were feeling a little unhealthy and lacking in vegies. Plus it tasted dam delicious, warmed the cockles of my heart, it did (smiling as I say that). Perfect for this cold and rainy weather we have been having. Hubby is a bit reluctant to jus