Coconut Rough

It's the last day of term next Friday here in SA, so that means it's the last day of playgroup today. That means, instead of the usual healthy morning tea of fruit for the kids, we take party food.

 Popcorn has always been my easy take along party snack, but I don't have any in the pantry. What I do have in the fridge is a temptation that for the last few days has spelt disaster for my waistline. Leftover Easter eggs. 

I had no intention of using them, besides stuffing my face, if only I don't take that first piece.....but I went looking through my book and I found this little recipe from Jakes school days. 

I did have some choc chips but not enough, so I used some easter eggs. I just hope the other parents forgive me for chocolate loading their kids, as if they haven't had enough this week.

I made some cupcakes as well and popped the coconut rough on top. It's like double prizes at the show!  What is even better, the chocolate is walking out of my house on a tray and not in my belly!

Flogging my blog with Grace this week

The Easter bunny giveth, and the Easter bunny taketh away

{a post written on tuesday nite}

I am sitting here contemplating another wine or the shower I haven't had today. I think I will take my chances on getting one in the morning. 

The floor is still unswept, unmopped. It took three hours to get Summer to settle to sleep. I had plans. Check my emails, visit some blogs. Clean the floor. I have just folded and put away the washing that has been piled on my bed. It's now 11 pm and I should be in it, but I'm here, having that piece of me that everyone else has been taking bits of all day. 

Yesterday was a shit of a day. I was emotional, impatient, grumpy, not good company at all. 

Today hasn't been too bad really. A definite improvement.

Sunday was a good day. Nothing better than sharing the anticipation and joy with your kids on Easter morning.  I made flour footprints the night before and arranged the eggs out ready. Bit the end of the carrot  and left it laying next to the prints. Izzy was most excited and cautious at the same time, I had to reassure her that the bunny was now far away and not lurking behind the furniture, ready to pounce on her!

While the Easter Bunny bought chocolate, he took all the bottles on Sunday morning. No more milk bottles before bed for Izzy and no more cordial bottles for both of them during the day. I remember when Jake was the same age, the Easter Bunny took his milk bottles too.

Chocolate for breakfast!

Summer is still having me before bedtime. God knows how long I will keep that up for, she's almost 17 months! I fed Jake for 3 months and Izzy for 11. Maybe it's me who isn't ready to give it up. I was so ready with the other two. I think I could have stuck with it longer with Jakey, but Izzys biting was becoming unbearable and I'd had enough. 

It was about time the bottle left the building. All of Izzys friends (as far as I knew) hadn't had bottles for a long time. I had no problem giving her drinks in them during the day, and a milk one at bedtime. But I was conscience about letting her have them in front of other people, in public. I don't think it is very popular in this day and age, and I was wary of what people thought or judged of me. Most kids go straight onto a sippy cup before they can walk and talk. I'm not one for reading all the latest kid moulding wrangling books or taking advice from well meaning child health nurses, so I probably missed the memo about getting rid of the bottle at an early age.

The bottle had worked for me, it worked for us. But it was time that Izzy, at almost three and a half learned to live without it. This meant getting rid of them all together, so Summer has to get used to not having one either. It has worked out easier than I thought it was going to be. Although Isabel did sneak in a cheeky and quiet "I want it in a bottle", when I gave her her warm milk in a sippy cup, she didn't kick up a stink, and went off to sleep well. The next battle will be to successfully get her toilet trained at night. No nappies. Getting rid of her night time bottle is the first step towards dry nights, I hope!

Linking at Jacana

Buzz goes nuts for bubbles

Joining in with Trish for 
Wordless Wednesday

Stoopid stats - 200th post

This weeks open slather is my 200th post! I thought I would give you some stats to mull over bore you to death. They are very interesting, I promise, well probably only to me.

During the Easter weekend I clocked up just over twenty thousand page views. Who would have thought? I know compared to most that isn't much. To me, it's a heck of a lot. Towards the end of next month, I'd have been blogging for a year.

Unfrickin believable. I never realised how much work this bloggin caper took up. But I have enjoyed every minute. Every creativity block that made me push through. Every doubt, that made me believe I had something to contribute. Even if no one was interested, one day my kids would appreciate looking back and reading the scratchings I put here. 

It's me. I cook, I garden, I do shit,  I think shit. 

The post that has had the most page views, is about the cakes I made for the girls last birthday, 1200 views so far. Mind blown! All I can say is there is a lot of people searching on Google on how to make butterfly and peppa pig cakes. 

The next popular is my Broad bean salad, almost a thousand views to date.When I saw the Tassie couple, Ali and Samuel, make this on My Kitchen Rules, I had a feeling it would sky rocket. Thanks to Google. Who says I don't have my finger on the pulse!

The third most popular and rightly so is one my rose posts, Just Joey, with 300 views. I really have enjoyed photographing and sharing my roses.

The weirdest search to get to my blog was 'hen slathering'. Now what kind of person wants to slather a hen. Seriously!  I must admit I have heard worse, should I count myself lucky?

The funniest and maybe the most surprising thing this week, was watching my chooks fight over a drop tail lizard, the little brown chook nabbed it and it was hell funny to watch the other chooks trying to steal it. Who knew a droppy was a delicacy for a chook, lucky for the brown chook she gutsed  it down before the others got it. Gross! She does lay the best eggs though!

Hope you are all having a fantastic Easter long weekend. Oh and pinch and a punch for the first of the month. Don't forget it's April Fools Day, I always get caught out, I'm a sucker for a tall story. Usually something I hear on the radio, only to be reminded of what day it is, when I relay the story to someone else!