Of lizards, fairies and cake. Lots of cake.

They grow up so quickly.

Not long ago he was holding out on making his grand entrance, causing his mother a whole lot of pain and delayed relief, keeping everyone waiting....waiting...

And now all of a sudden he is five.  A big, grown-up preppie in the class next to mum, with tastes and likes and personality by the bucketload.

I love my nephew and on Wednesday he had his birthday.  Today was the party.  I love a good party and there is nothing better than a five-year-old's party.  There was even a jumping castle!  How cool!!!

My contribution was the cake.

Inspired by this cake...

Nothing says five-year-old like a lizard cake.

A mulit-coloured lizard at that.  With an abundance of sugar icing balls just right for chomping!

It was his sister's birthday last month.  She, unfortunately, had her party cancelled.  Not postponed...cancelled.  I can't begin to imagine what she did that got her party cancelled.  And after the invitations had been sent too.  She must have been reeeallllyy naughty!

Anyway, I didn't get to do a cake for her then.  So I did one now.

And she loved it.  She called me tonight from her mum's iPhone (young ones and technology!!) and told me that it was too pretty to eat and that she was freezing it so that she could keep it forever.  Glad you like it little one!

But truly, just eat it.  I'll make you another...!

I consider it my prerogative as an aunty to be able to flout rules imposed by parents.  Particularly rules regarding cake!  Now....to tell mum that one...!! 

And so that was Christmas

Phew.  Another one bites the dust.  Belated Merry Christmas Wishes All!

Christmas for the LOML and I is all about doing as little as possible.  At this time of year we've been working 7 days a week, about 13 hours a day.  So when Christmas Eve comes around,  the alarm clock is turned off, a post-dinner liqueur (or three) is consumed before heading off to bed safe in the knowledge that the phones can't ring in the morning if they're turned off and that Christmas is a lunch do this year so no one will be knocking on the door before 11am at the earliest!

The year we again hosted the Christmas Day festivities - putting on the spread for all and sundry.  I know, I know, why on earth would I offer to host with no time to prepare etc etc.  But I had an ulterior motive (insert evil chuckle here...)  By hosting, I got to crack the champagne in the AM and consume it well into the PM and then the LOML and I got to wave everyone off after the designated drivers shepherded crying, over-tired, sugar-high children into cars and nagged tipsy other-halves keen to continue the merriment to 'just hurry up already'.... and then we walked upstairs and collapsed on the lounge!  Nothing wrong with that at all!  Bwhah-hah-hah-haha!

The weather this year was perfect.  The clouds cleared and the threatened forecast for rain didn't eventuate - truly, it was like summer (hang on, it is summer.  dang it.  everyday should be like this!!!).  We headed outside for the day.  Fold up chairs, gazebo-awning-thing, fold up tables, drinks fridge in the shed, table laden with food.  Perfect.

After lunch and the chaos that was present unwrapping, a tarp was found and set up on the lawn, the hose turned on, bubble bath snaffled from the bathroom and the fun was on.  Memories of childhood summer created right there on a homemade slip-and-dip.

The big boys had their own fun with my nephew's go-cart, built by his father (my brother).  Never mind the fact that Super C has only just turned one and won't be able to experience his cart any time in the near future.....nor that it is more off-road-dirt-buggy than go-cart.....  I don't know if it was coincidence or not but half an hour after the beast was packed up and taken home the police did a drive-by.  Unhappy neighbours maybe?  

And so another year has been and gone and the new year is looming on the horizon.  The fridge is groaning with leftovers, the bin is stinky with prawn shells (ewwwwww!!!) and the countdown is now on for next weekend's celebrations to farewell 2011.  

I think I'm getting old.  I don't know if I have it in me.... :)

One for the fellas.

Tonight my sister handed me the latest junk mail catalogue from the Shaver Shop.  

This page was towards the end...

Clearly, the hair free man is all the rage this December.  

As disconcerting as it was to see a picture of a male model with a shaving implement so close to his tender bits (careful!), it was this bit that left me lost for words.....(go on, click on it and make it bigger - no pun intended!)

The guffawing and not-for-young-ears-jokes that my sister and I then went on with sparked the attention of my too-smart-for-her-own-good 8-year-old niece who will no doubt be digging this catalogue out and trying to work out what we were laughing at.  And then asking her mother questions that shouldn't be asked for a couple of years yet.

I'm lost for words.

And I'm still laughing.

Booby Prize

Is this a thing unique to our family - the giving of booby prizes as gifts?  Or are there others out there doing it too?  Sometimes I think I'm speaking another language when I tell other people about who won the 'booby prize' prize over Christmas.....

In our family it was started by my sister and BIL when they were fresh-faced teenagers living in their first flat (half house) together whilst studying.  Being uni students they had no money and lived close to the line every week.  They also played a lot of tricks on each other and were always laughing together at their antics.

Anyway, one year they decided to get a joke present for each other.  I don't quite know why but somehow it escalated to be more about who could get the other the best joke present for minimal outlay.  And so the booby prize entered our family's traditions.

So what is a booby prize exactly?  Well, think of something completely un-gift-related, something a person doesn't need, most likely something they don't actually want, something that has cost you very little if anything at all - and then wrap it and give it.  Ta-dah - booby prize.  

To give you an example, one year my sister wrapped up a pair of my BIL's socks and put them under the Christmas tree.  Not new socks, no, she wrapped up a pair of old socks from his drawer.  Another year my BIL wrapped up the dustpan and brush.  Last year my nephew (then 3yrs old - they start 'em young in this family!) wrapped up a tin of corn kernels from the pantry for his mum.  

At present my niece holds the title of best booby prize for the Christmas she wrapped a pamphlet for my BIL (he delivers junk mail as a means to keep fit and earn a little pocket money).  That she was 7 years old and not only thought of it herself but managed to keep it a secret until the day was the icing on the cake that gave her the crown!

So it was a given that I would receive a booby prize for my birthday.

Excitement was fever pitch when I rocked up at my sister's house.  It was even more heightened when the wrapped up booby prize was handed over.  Little people jumped around the room with excitement, laughter got more hysterical, the noise level reached epic levels.  I couldn't unwrap quick enough to satisfy little hands that kept reaching in to hurry up proceedings.....  

What did I get.....?

Yep.  I got an orange, a pear and an apple.  Go booby prize!

After the kids picked themselves up from the floor and calmed their raucous laughing and screeching, my nephew said to me, very seriously, 'you can juggle with them you know' and then proceeded to eat my pear!

Love it!

Sticky Tape Pudding

Last night my sister, BIL, niece and nephew came over for dinner.  Always a good night when they come over even if it is loud and boisterous. In fact, the louder and more boisterous the better!

Early yesterday the order for Chicken and Cashew Nut came in so it, along with Sweet and Sour Chicken and steamed rice, was on the menu.

Family dinners at our house are never complete without the addition of a dessert course to the menu.  Most times the choice of main meal in our family is determined around the dessert selection, so seriously do we take sweets!  And don't even get me started on the dilemmas posed by the overconsumption of pre-dinner nibbles impacting on one's ability to fit dessert in comfortably!  

Needless to say, dessert was served last night!  Something of a first for me - I've eaten it before (my BIL does a melt-in-the-mouth version!) but never actually cooked it myself before last night - let me just say that I will definitely be cooking this little number again!

My beautiful niece, after being told what was for dessert, questioned my ability to cook it.  'Aunty Shelley can't cook that.  It'll taste disgusting', she said with screwed up face to really convey her distaste.

'No it won't.  It's delicious.  You've had it before and you liked it a lot.' reasoned her mum.

'Sticky tape pudding?  I've never eaten that.  Aunty Shelley can't cook sticky tape pudding.'

'You have eaten it before and you liked it a lot.  Dad has made it before too and you liked it then.  You'll like it tonight as well.'

'But you can't eat sticky tape.  It's bad for you.  You can't eat it.'

It went on like this for a while I'm told before the light when on.

'Sticky date pudding you crazy! Not sticky tape!'

I, too, question my ability to cook sticky tape pudding!  And I agree, that would taste disgusting!  Sticky date pudding on the other hand, delicious and definitely within my capabilities!

Wedding Fever

Photo: Matt Dunham/ AP

As no doubt the entire universe knows, yesterday was the day Kate and Wills got hitched.  I'm sure they would have preferred eloping to Vegas and being married by Elvis* over the monumental affair they had.  But I guess that's the downside of being the future King and Queen of England.  Can't win them all!

In honour of the occasion my sister and her family (BIL, niece and nephew) came over to ours and we celebrated the royal nuptials with pizza and wine (beer and scotch on the part of the fellas, cordial for the kidliwinks).  Nothing says posh-nosh more than mozzarella and tomato paste on a bread dough followed by a wine chaser!  Said wine was of course consumed with obligatory pinky finger raised - v. elegant, v. high society.

I do love a good wedding and royal families know how to throw a good shindig.  They've got nothing on me though.  My wedding rocked.  Funny how I say 'my wedding' instead of 'our wedding'.  As much as I love the LOML with all my heart, weddings are women's business - men just have to turn up (in a suit, no jeans, no joggers).  

Anyhoo, the LOML and I sealed our fate on a beautiful spring day at our friend's house in the Granite Belt in SE Queensland nearly eight years ago.  Ceremony in their garden, party in their shed, complete with hay bales, band, port-a-loo and fairy lights.  Rock on!  

So here's cheers to Wills and Kate - may your days as husband and wife be full of personal jokes, double entendres, snuggling on the couch in front of the telly, brekky in bed on a Sunday morning, romantic walks along beaches in the rain and lots of hot, married-people sex (don't believe what you hear, married people do it HEAPS!).  Cheers!!

Photo: Toby Melville/ Reuters/ Landov

* this option was a serious consideration when the LOML and I got married.  As we didn't choose to go with it, I'm owed it.  So I'm putting it out there that our 10th anniversary will see us in Vegas getting married (again) by Elvis.  Skinny, young Elvis that is. I don't want no fat man in a jumpsuit telling me to love and honour my husband till death do us part!**

Easter Sunday

My BIL was a chef in a past life.  So when the invite for lunch is received, it is always accepted.  Today was no exception.

Mmmmmm.....roast beef and veg....delish!

My little niece got into the spirit as well making these beautiful table seating arrangements.  It's the Easter egg that sets it all off I think!

All in all, a beautiful way to spend a Sunday afternoon - surrounded by family, laughing lots, telling stories, playing football with the kids, and eating too much!  And best of all, tomorrow is a public holiday!  Hooray!!!

D-day (S-day)

Last night was S-day  - Sleepover Day.

It went EXTREMELY well.

I went over and picked up my neice and nephew at 11am (they had been counting down the hours, then the minutes, then I was greeted as I pulled into the driveway by 'Aunty Shelley, Aunty Shelley, AUNTY SHELLEY!!!!!). 

Oh the excitement!  They had their bags packed and on their backs.  They were in my car without a backward glance at mum and dad - byeee!.  They were ready to start their sleepover!!!

First up we headed down-town for some groceries (missing essentials for baking of goodies for the afternoon), followed by lunch at a fast-food 'restaurant' (I felt sick afterwards and wished I had taken them home for a sandwich!), then home to start the fun stuff!

First off....we made some bread dough....which eventually became jam/ vegemite & cheese scrolls...

Thanks Picnik for the photo collage capabilities!

Then some little people went and played in the rain....the mud puddles actually!  Oh the mud - I was scrubbing it out of ears and noses and eyes....and as for their clothes, well, mum has a good supply of Napisan so not my problem!!!

Then we made some biscuits....

The licking of the bowl is the BEST part of making biscuits!



Icing the bikkies - thanks Cattle, Kids & Chaos for the idea of using syringes for the icing....so not messy!

 And finally we made dinner (pizza.....yummmmm!).

Then we made a 'tent' in front of the telly (well, Uncle Phil did, Aunty Shelley was DONE for a little bit.....!)

And put on a DVD and fell asleep (little people fell asleep that is!).  All as per the plan!

In the morning we woke up and cooked bacon and eggs for brekky....

Aunty Shelley did the eggs - the bacon cooking was a shared task.....

....before heading down to Nan's to wait for mum and dad to sober up enough come pick up their children.

We found out after the fact that a little boy didn't last the distance of the trip home (out like a light) but a little girl was ECSTATIC and recounted the whole weekend, complete with actions and photos, for mum and dad's viewing pleasure. 

I totally LOVE my neice and nephew!

And as I sit here now with my glass of 'something alcoholic' (eg. some bad, nasty, Queensland-er stuff but oh so....alcoholic!) reflecting on a wonderful weekend, I realise I am TOTALLY ready for bed - those kids have worn me out completely!

Sleepover day is here!

It all started between my sister and I weeks ago.

While she and my BIL went to the races to support fundraising for their daughter's school (I know right!) we would look after the kids.  Originally just for the afternoon, I then suggested a sleepover (I had a feeling mum and dad would be feeling quite poorly on Sunday morning!!) and it was quickly (not even a pause!) accepted!

But we didn't tell the kids.

Instead, on Tuesday I sent them an invitation.....

On Wednesday I got a phone call from my neice.  'We just got your card, can we really come over for a sleepover?'.  Indeedly you can!  We are going to have sooooo much fun!  I don't think you realise how much fun we're going to have?  'Yes I do, it says on the card that we need our shoes and our hats and our aprons and that we're going to cook pizzas for dinner and make some biscuits and play soccer in the backyard and build a tent in the loungeroom.....' 

On Thursday I got another phone call, 'Aunty Shelley the news said it's going to be stormy on Saturday but we have to play soccer in the backyard with Uncle Phil but we can't if it's raining?'.  No worries little dude!  We'll just play in the rain and then when we come inside we'll straight away have a hot bath!  It's all good!

On Friday morning (early - too early for me!), another phone call.  I can't really remember what was asked (like I said, too early for me!) but I remember saying something along the lines of 'No worries little dude!  It's all good!'.  And then I went back to sleep....

On Friday night, another phone call.  'On the card it says to bring our aprons but we can't find ours so I'm going to use mum's but Nicko won't have one, will that be alright?'. No worries little dude!  He can just wear an old shirt!  It's all good!  See you tomorrow!

I was so certain the phone would ring at some unGodly hour this morning with a little person on the end asking 'what time are you coming to pick us up?  How soon can you get here?  Why aren't you here yet?'  that I put it on silent!  I needed all the sleep I could get last night because I doubt there will be much tonight!

They are soooooo excited it is unbelievable!
But we are too.  We love having them over and this time we have lots of fun stuff planned! 

So the big question is, who do you think will have more fun, them or us?

Let them eat cake!

I've been doing a cake decorating course one night a week for the past few weeks with a few more to go - loving every minute of it and learning SOOO much.

To put some of my newly-learned skills into practice I made my niece's 7th birthday cake over the weekend......she had picked out the design ages ago from a book on my shelf (I suspect the two little dollies were a big influence on the choice of this cake....!).

.....this is what it turned out like......

What do you think?  I'm pretty happy with the result considering I did it the night before.  With a bit more time I could have got the layers a bit neater and smoother (the cake itself was so soft it was hard to do anything!)....certainly a learning curve.  Watch out next year!

No matter what I thought of it (and I always see the faults and flaws in stuff I do myself) my niece was thrilled and absolutely loved it.  And really, that's all that matters.  :)

Show & Share

In this photo - Whitey, Blackie, Crazy & a red one (?)

I have six chickens. They have fun personalities with a few ideosyncracies thrown in for good measure. 

Their names are Big Red (she's the boss), Little Red (she's not), Medium Red (she's in the middle), Blackie (she's the black one), Whitey (she's the white one) and Crazy (she's the little bantam-cross who is the bottom of the pecking order.  And she's crazy). 



 Crazy is crazy - there is no other word for it.  She is very skittish and will take off like a rocket if you even so much as look at her.  She's also the most vocal and is guaranteed to be the one cackling like a....crazy chicken....at six in the morning after laying an egg.  She's also the only one of all six to reliably lay an egg every day (I can tell, hers are smaller than the others').  She's also the only one to get clucky every now and then and find herself in chook jail (so named by my nephew and niece) - the isolation pen without the nesting box.

Big Red is the boss hen.  She'll stand on your feet as you enter the pen, she'll take on my mum's mini foxy if he gets too close and she'll follow me around when they're allowed out of their pen.  She's also the most docile and is happy to be picked up and petted.

The rest are individuals in themselves but Crazy and Big Red stand out from the crowd.

The love of my life says that we actually have seven chooks.  But I am the only one allowed inside the house.  Needless to say, I didn't find that one very funny.

I will understand if he sleeps on the couch.
:)