6th birthday - Ben 10 style

Recently my 2nd son celebrated his 6th birthday!

Considering his last party was when he turned 1, to say he was excited about this one is an understatement!

He insisted on inviting his whole class (and about half the school, but we had a limit of 16 kids, so he had to settle for just his prep class).

Just like my first son's 6th birthday 2 years ago (again, Ben 10 themed) we contacted a fantastic company called 'Character city' and Ben 10 came to our house and had every single child involved and amazed!

Of course, the food had to be all green or Ben 10 related.



Omnitrix cookies and a twist on the 'frog in the ponds' - we called it '6 in the ponds' :)

Instead of making up lolly bags, I decided to make omnitrix cookies! I baked sugar biscuits, tinted white chocolate green and spread it over the cooled biscuit and placed a edible icing transfer of the omntrix on the cookie and decorated with sprinkles! Once they were set, I placed in a bag with a lolly pop, and handed them out to the kids when they were ready to leave!! A HUGE HIT!!



Mumma's coconut bread

Some of my best childhood memories revolve around my dear mumma! I miss her terribly!

It was guaranteed that everytime she visited, she came with her delicious homemade coconut bread! She knew it was my fave!

Some years after her passing we came across her hand written recipe for it. It is now a huge hit with my kids!

Ingredients:-
1 cup of dess coconut
1 cup of SR flour
1 cup of milk
3/4 cup sugar
Cinnamon sugar - a sprinkle (in batter and a bit more once cooked)

Preheat oven to 180, grease and line a loaf pan. Mix all in bowl with wooden spoon. Pour into pan and cook for 45-50 mins! When still warm spread some butter on top and sprinkle with a bit more cinn sugar.

Quick and easy!

Miss you mumma XXOO

Macka's Farm stay

Need a getaway? Want to try something different? Consider a farm stay!

We had a great 5 day experience at 'Macka's farm' in Princetown. It is just off the Great Ocean Road, only a short few minute drive to some marvellous wonders.

 The boys loved egg collecting every morning, watching the milking of the cows, watching the milk truck collect the daily intake of milk, feeding the baby animals, drinking fresh milk, eating fresh eggs we collected, roaming around the farm...I could go on and on and on!

Our room

The outdoor camp fire area

The milk truck collecting it's daily load

Hmmm, fresh milk

When we wanted a change of scenery we did some sight seeing.

What an refreshing experience!

Our trip to Kryal Castle

Australia is truly an amazing place! The options are endless for fun things to do with your family!

We recently had a trip to Ballarat and stayed at Kryal Castle!

The boys thought it was amazing, and I have to say, the staff there were amazing! They were the most helpful bunch of people, I could not fault their service!

Number 3 joining the show...'stoning of the drunken man' (dont fear...no staff were injured, sponges were used LOL)



The history of the castle



Forget the Naughty corner....pot of pitch sounds so more effective!!



Just call me queen of the castle please!!


If you ever get a chance, visit Ballarat (rug up...it can be COLD). The castle was something that kids dont get to experience every day. The minigolf was fun, and Sovereign Hill & the wildlife park has loads to offer too!! One weekend in Ballarat can be the best history lesson you can give your kids!



Meeting the wildlife



Digging for gold



In the mines

 Stay tuned for a future post on an awesome farm stay right on the Great Ocean Road!!

Our Ladybug's 1st birthday party - Ladybug style

Our lil ladybug recently celebrated her 1st birthday!

Alot of time and effort was put into her special day!

Instead of bowls for the food, I handpainted $2 pots and turned them into ladybug pots! You just need to purchase a pot from your local cheapy shop, paint them and glue on back pom poms...I also added a few ladybugs to finish it off!

I also made sure the kids had plenty of activities to keep them entertained (and less chance of trashing our home). I purchased wooden wands from an craft shop and painted them up in boy and girl colours. The kids then decorated them at the party!



I set up an outdoor craft table for the kids to work their magic. Sure beats kids running havoc in your house trashing all the bedrooms!



We then had a treasure hunt in the backyard. All you need to do is visit an art supply store or $2 shop and buy tubs of plastic 'jewells' and pirate coins. Throw them throughout the yard and give the kids a bag to fill up. The fullest bag wins a prize!




Looking for some treasure



We also had pinata fun, donut games and then some waterslide fun (the joys of a summer party).



Our 4 bugs



"HEY, THATS ME!!"



YUM YUM....eat up everyone!!



"IT'S MY PARTY AND I WILL CRY IF I WANT TOO"



Instead of stuffing lollybags for the kids, they were all sent home with a personalised lollypop (littledance invitations...check them out...sensational products available)

Bring on the next party now......Number 3 has requested a Wiggles party!!

The ladybugs bedroom

Well, I thought I better post some pics up of the ladybugs bedroom after my 'Mogwai' post.

As you can see below, the chaos I had created in the rumpus room paid off, and the blue toy room turned into a pretty pink room fit for a princess

The chaos I had created attempting to declutter the toy room to turn it into our lil ladybugs bedroom!

Daddy painting away

Very happy with the final result

What an Egglsecent Easter 2011

I dont know about yours, but our house now resembles a chocolate shop!

As a friend stated, "Easter is a calorific" time of year.....I tend to agree, right at this moment I can hear the 5000 easter eggs sitting in the bar screaming for me to "EAT ME EAT ME EAT ME"!

I am worried that this may be the last year that my 7 year old believes in the Easter bunny, so I made most of it this year with all the Easter fun. Bunny foot prints left all over the house (thanks to some powder and 3 finger tips), chewed up carrot spat out all over the house!

The older 3 had a great time on the good ol egg hunt (the 4th really had no idea what was going on, and at times didnt appear to be having much fun at all....until she discovered the taste for it)

                    To make it a challenge this year the bunny had to find some tricky spots!

Happy Easter from us XO