Amazing Cinnamon Rolls

I found this recipe for Cinnamon Sticky Rolls on a blog called Dinner with Julie.

They are pretty easy to make - and I've never made anything like this before. One afterschool afternoon, the two little ones scrambled and played, while Yasmin and I threw this together. Twenty minutes later, our house smelled like a bakery. These were simply, AMAZING. Next time we have a brunch, I'll throw this in the oven. We enjoyed them for several days after, but nothing came close to eating them out of the oven.

Here's Julie's recipe.

Cinnamon Sticky Biscuits

Stickiness:
2 Tbsp. butter
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 Tbsp. honey or corn syrup

Biscuits:
2 cups flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 Tbsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup canola oil


Filling:
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 cup raisins and/or chopped pecans (optional)
Put the butter, brown sugar and honey into an 8”x8” pan that has been sprayed with non-stick spray, put it in the oven and turn it on to 350°F.


In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Add the milk and canola oil and stir by hand just until you have a soft dough. Do not overmix!

On a lightly floured surface, pat or roll the dough into a 9” x 14” rectangle. Sprinkle with brown sugar, cinnamon and raisins or nuts. Starting from a long side, roll tightly jelly-roll style into a log. Cut into 9 biscuits using dental floss or a serrated knife, and place cut side down in the pan.


Bake for 20 minutes, until golden and bubbly. Invert onto a platter while still warm.
Makes 9 sticky biscuits.


Here's our before and after shots.

They won't disappoint you! 

Welcome back...to me

I've been AWOL for a couple of weeks, busy with girls in school holidays, away in Queensland and then back into the swing of things.

I saw this rocking chair idea on Design Mom and LOVED IT! And then immediately wondered...do these sorts of projects photograph better than they look in real life?



Photo from Design Mom

I will have my own DIY project soon on a shadow box I bought for a steal on ebay which came from the States.

I'm planning to strip and paint it and use it in our holiday house (on track for being ready in December YAY!). I love the idea of shadow boxes - it gives a special home to display small objects or nick nacks which kids seem to love (but otherwise lose).

I'm hoping my AFTER picture looks a little like this....

And on the home front...these three little girls are growing up, getting bigger, wiser and older.

Love to your house too.

xx

It's been a busy few weeks. Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, a couple of lingering viruses, and now, our Term 3 School Holidays. However, I am happy to report:

1. I am finally on the mend, thanks to resting and LOTS of vitamins and herbs.
2. The girls have been (mostly) lovely these holidays, playing well, enjoying being together and fighting far less.
3. My Urban Outfitters package arrived and my $40 jeans fit PERFECTLY!
4. Layla has FINALLY, FINALLY said goodbye to her dummies. It was far less traumatic than last time I anticipated and I spent a few days both immensely proud of her and shocked that she'd actually done it.

We celebrated with my first ever batch of meringues, as requested by Layla.

Finally, inspired by my lovely friend of 15 years from halfway across the world, we've been getting busy with FIMO making alien creatures. If you haven't used it before, FIMO is modelling clay that you bake in your oven to harden. So, after showing Yasmin Meri's blog featuring her own Alien Army, we set to work. It was fun for the girls and I. It's always great to find an activity that all three girls (2.5, 4.5 and nearly 7 years) can do.

Hope you've got a happy house too.

xxx

Etsy love part 53

I stumbled upon these gorgeous prints on Etsy, via Charlotte's Fancy. Even better, they're on sale! I think the Paris picture with the balloon might be gorgeous in a contemporary bathroom or girls bedroom.

The Red Balloon, by Irene Suchocki

Looking for Love, by Irene Suchocki

You can find more here at Irene's Etsy shop.

Shana Tova and a little craft for a gorgeous Wednesday

We have a few days off school in honour of Rosh Hashanah. The table is set, the apples and honey are ready, and we're (mostly, mostly I say) taking it easy. I took the girls on a long walk and play in the park today, to celebrate a gorgeous spring day. The older two were on their scooter and the little one in our Radio Flyer wagon - all this resulted in two long naps and one long rest for three girls. Check!

I'm going to try this crafty little project - looks perfect for 2, 4, and 6 year olds. Check out Sunset Skyline Art Project.

Here's a snap of our festive table. The placemats are actually scrapbook sheets I got from my local art shop for 25c, and the placecards are handmade by me.

Warm greetings to you all.

xx

As I've mentioned before, I'm an avid reader of the Nie Nie Dialogues. And I've oohed and aahed at their gorgeous, vibrant and love filled family shots by an American photographer husband and wife duo called Blue Lily. So, when I read on Nie Nie's blog that Blue Lily are coming down unda! Wowza, I went straight to their link and booked in....for next April. I already can't wait.

Here's their photos of the Nielson family. Beautiful I'm sure you'll agree. You can also see some more of their shots on Design Mom's blog.

PS. If you are looking for someone local in Melbourne, we used Tea and Jam Photography and loved their shots too. Highly recommended and fun to work with.

Hope you've had a lovely weekend. We've been passing bugs round between us so it's night night for me.
xxx

Our inaugural visit to holiday house

Our lovely abode in the mountains is now official, and we took the girls on Sunday for an adventure to look at the house again.

I quickly made some banana bread in the morning as well as some hot chocolate because it is COLD up there!

Our first stop - Bunnings. This is a loved Aussie tradition, complete with the morning sausage sizzle outside the store. By 10.30, we were in Bunnings, eating our sausages, white bread and ketchup. Yum. We bought our gumboots in anticipation of some serious mud, and a little while later the girls were gleefully jumping in the muddiest puddle they had ever come close to. They loved it.

We were joined by a kookaburra landing right next to us, some ducks grazing on grass, some rozellas, peered at some funny looking alpacas (belonging to the neighbours), and watched the cockatoos soaring in the sky. I do love it up there.

The girls were SUPER excited in the house. It's spacious, well laid out but needs a little facelift. They literally played for about 30 minutes tackling, wrestling, laughing and rolling on the floor. I couldn't believe they could entertain themselves for so long in an empty house while we discussed ideas, layouts and such, but as my insightful husband commented, 'they have nothing to fight over.'

It's been busy organising all the things needed to renovate a house - tiles, cabinet makers, carpets, furniture etc, but what an exciting project. I can't wait for it to be ready. Here are some gorgeous bits I found (from Simply Seleta) that have inspired me.

Strawberry Jam Slice

I've been looking for a recipe to make lately as a good standby for lunchboxes, snacks and the 8.14am-just- -buckled-all-three-girls-in-the-car-reversing-out-the-driveway-chorus: "I'm hungry."

And, after a big shop on the weekend, I challenged myself to make all our meals from scratch this week using whatever is in our pantry, fridge and freezer. So...back to Pioneer Woman I went, and found this recipe which I tweaked by swapping apricot jam with strawberry jam (because that's what was in our pantry).

I made it with Layla which was great. It's essentially an oat crumble with jam in the middle. I took the butter out a little earlier so she could cut it which she loved doing. Then she smooshed and squished the butter, oats, flour and sugar to her hearts content. She pressed half the mixture into a baking tin with a small spatula, poured and then gently spread the strawberry jam around, followed by the remaining mixture. Delicious! It's quite rich from the butter so for us, this is more for kids. Once cooled, I cut it into kids servings and put into the freezer. Easy and yummy.

I'm pleased to say things have been far more settled and relaxed on our end - no more wailing about tummy aches upon waking, less fighting and more calm, settled people in our house. Phew!

The Happiness Project

If you are looking for a book to give you some direction, get you a little spiritually energised and thinking about your life, The Happiness Project could be the one for you. A New York Times bestseller, this book is interesting, accessible and engaging.

One day the author has a sudden jolt of realisation - the time to be happy in life is NOW. Not in two months, not on vacation or in 12 months time. THIS. IS. IT.

She decides to research how she can get happy, and begins a 12 month project she calls, The Happiness Project. She reorders her life, values, behaviours and frame of mind to see if she can make herself happy. She exercises. She declutters her house. She stops nagging her husband. She is more patient and loving with her kids. She acts as if she has more energy to feel more energised. And so on. It's a great read. Here's Gretchen Rubin (the author)'s blog for more information.

Here's what I've taken away from it (so far):
1. Act how you feel.
2. Stop looking for gold stars.
3. Be yourself. Your true self.
4. Take up new challenges.
5. Recognise your kids' feelings instead of arguing or disputing them (ie. you can't be hungry! Come on, stop crying.)
6. Be lighter.
7. Do what ought to be done.
8. Kids - the days are long but the years are short (I love this one).

I'm not finished yet but I'm loving it.

And closer to home, here's what's making me happy...

I'm in love

..with this new blog I found, Pioneer Woman. It's amazing, so funny, and full of great stuff. And the writer is a city girl turned homeschooling mum of four living on a ranch. There are some great recipes too, I'm making this Pasta with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce on Friday night for dinner. You will love it, I promise.

This week I'm also loving:
- Layla's questions about robbers, God, whether we are allowed to talk on mobile phones in the car and "Mummy, how do you write dot com dot au?"
- this real life Summer Table Settings, some gorgeous inspiration in the thick of our Australian winter
- this Printable Alphabet Bunting - beautiful colours. Just click, print and cut.
- watching all the differences emerge in these three girls

- our Sunday night garden bonfire with toasted marshmallows

Hope you've got some lovin this week

xx

Fabric Wreath

Image from Ready 2 Quilt via Etsy

I am daydreaming of a little place in the country, and while biding some time on Etsy the other day, came across this lovely little fabric wreath. My first thought was, "oooooooh I want it!', quickly followed by, 'Hang on, I think even I could make that!'.

After googling 'fabric wreath', I found this easy tutorial. I do have some fabric from my shortlived (ahem) stint with my sewing machine, and once I find a wreath frame, am going to give this a go. I love the idea and look of a wreath on a door.

See what you think....
xx

Some fun

Image from Made by Joel

Here's something so fun and simple you could do with your kids - and best of all, you only need to click and print and your own little paper city is ready to colour in and make. It's from Made by Joel's blog and it's a gorgeous little paper city he created. I've never seen a dad quite like him! What a blog (bordering on depressing) - full of the MOST creative things this dad makes for his twin toddlers.

Thanks Meri for the link to Made by Joel's. My lovely friend Meri has a great blog too, called Meri Cherry, full of fun crafty stuff to do with kids.

Hope your weekend is fun and relaxing (ish).
xx

No banana bread today

Ever have those weeks where you hear so much bad news around you, it makes you really stop and think. It shakes you, makes you hug your kids a bit tighter, or go back in after you've said goodnight to say 'I love you' again?

A terrible accident involving a young teenager from my girls' school, and some I discovered in the blog world. Well, it just seems a little trivial today to be posting about banana bread or dress ups. I'll leave you the links so you can read yourself. One involves a gorgeous mum called Marija whose blog, Holding Court, is about design, family and interiors. Suddenly her husband has posted informing his wife's readers that his wife has been killed in a car accident two days earlier.

At the very least, these terrible things always make me stop, take a breath and appreciate what we have. Our health, our family, our little sweet people and a pretty good life. And knowing that what seems to be so steady, even mundane at times, can be turned upside down in an instant. So, hug each other a little tighter, say your I love you's and be happy.

Wishing you only happy days.
xx

Stuff to do at home

I am loving all the kids art and craft activities all over the wonderful American blogs I read - isn't it funny that half way across the world, other mums are also doing the universal 'gotta keep my kids busy scramble' during their long summer break while us mums in Australia are doing the same in our mid year (but shorter) winter break.

Here is a lovely blog I found by an American mum of five now living in Israel, called Creative Jewish Mom. We'll be trying the homemade watercolours tomorrow.

My girls were content today doing our old favourite, making playdough, and then cutting and pasting pictures from old magazines and catalogues. A no brainer.

A lengthy kiddie disco ensued after dinner (although it was rather testing to wind Yasmin back DOWN) which was fun - and I got to play my favourite music (with one Chicken Dance request).

Hope you are having a little peace during these busy times.

And to paraphrase a quote (because, um, I couldn't remember where I read it...)

Life with young kids can be summed up - the days are long but the years are short.
xx

Some inspirational reading

If you haven't heard of the Nie Nie Dialogues you'll no doubt be moved, saddened and inspired all at once. I've been following Stephanie's blog for some time now, as well her sister CJane.

Stephanie is a gorgeous mother of 4 young kids in the States, and was in a horrific light airplane crash with her husband last year. She almost died from her burns, but survived. On her blog, which she started before the crash, she wrote witty, sweet and honest posts about life with her kids and her Mr Nielson. Stephanie was also a guest on the Oprah show and has a huge following of blog readers.

You can watch a video if Stephanie here and here.

At the very least, you'll be reminded how lucky most of us are and how we take all the little things for granted.

Hope you are having a lovely weekend.
xx

Blogs I luuuurve....while the kids are sleeping

I have a long, long list of bookmarked websites. Some inspire me (or on a bad day, leave me feeling inadequate), some distract me, some are just a mental break from ordinary mothering stuff.

My favourite blog that has inspired me and that I read every day, is Soulemama. It's written by Amanda Soule Blake, author of two books, on creative mothering, repurposing, sewing, homeschooling and living a simple, wholesome life. She has a huge following. As a homeschooling mother of four in mid west USA, her life could not be further removed from mine. But she has the calmest and most spiritual, positive take on mothering that I love to read it. And occasionally, makes me daydream about living in the country (for five seconds).

I love Ohdeedoh on Apartment Therapy. It's a great blog featuring all things children online - new products, websites, other blogs, recipes and ideas around the blogosphere. It's full of great stuff.

Of course, you can't go past People magazine (Who's sister magazine in the States) for some mindless celebrity gossip and even better, Celebrity Baby Blog.

A little bit closer to home, The Lark, a gorgeous little blog connected to a shop of the same name in Daylesford, and Hip Hip Hooray, which will give you lots of ideas for kids birthday parties. Enjoy. xx