tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-335349402024-03-28T17:24:37.856+08:00Red Dirt MummyLiving life in the hills and looking at the sunny side of life.Red Dirt Mummyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14659525164389759979noreply@blogger.comBlogger647125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33534940.post-48081714616215159532011-03-10T14:29:00.000+08:002011-03-10T14:29:46.062+08:00Hello ThereI tried really hard to make this site work again but, alas, it's not going to plan. So instead I've imported the whole thing across to my new blog - <a href="http://1onthesunnyside.blogspot.com/">On The Sunny Side</a>.<br />
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I really hope that, if you're still checking in here, you'll come across and join me there.Red Dirt Mummyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14659525164389759979noreply@blogger.com38tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33534940.post-89861428415923478922011-03-10T11:07:00.000+08:002011-03-10T13:12:01.305+08:00I Am...<div style="text-align: justify;">eating banana cake and enjoying every single mouthful. I'm thinking there's gonna have to be an extra 4km walk fitted in somewhere today!</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I'm not falling off the wagon again. I've made a deliberate decision to enjoy a small piece of cake and then eat carefully and sensibly for the rest of the day. The old me would have scoffed two pieces of cake, felt sick, then gone back for more later. </div>Red Dirt Mummyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14659525164389759979noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33534940.post-27323795502610224062011-03-09T07:25:00.000+08:002011-03-10T13:12:01.353+08:00Gratituesday<div style="text-align: justify;">Yesterday was hectic so I'm sneaking this in first thing Wednesday morning. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">As I said, yesterday was hectic. Hectic. HECTIC! I worked back late and raced home to grab in washing and get dinner on thinking I'd have to sacrifice my walk to make a meeting at 7.30 that night. Instead I arrived home to kids playing nicely and a Hubby getting dinner sorted. I did grab the washing in then chucked on my sneakers and took off for my walk and got back to dinner being served. When we'd finished eating Hubby wrangled the kids into the shower while I showered and dressed for my meeting and then headed out leaving him to do the bedtime stuff.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">So, today, I'm really glad to have a wonderful husband who steps up when I need him to. Especially one who steps up without me having to ask.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Thanks Honey. I love you. xx</div>Red Dirt Mummyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14659525164389759979noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33534940.post-43680844163517335112011-03-07T13:16:00.000+08:002011-03-10T13:12:01.368+08:00Warning: Gratuitous Kitten Post<div style="text-align: justify;">What is it about cats and comfy places to sleep? Spike is only 10 weeks old and he's already found the best place to nap.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY_Xlrozi_5RWlGEZ43lBGp1YnKmxG8LkWfRi0tDgxhlk0wakTpQ3Q-hPBuaWzWBinWP9PuFuEchsqmDWLDcuHH9ae7asbKnoVOgNn2w6u9gMbHR1xzhXj8eBttTreIoH54k8MUA/s1600/ironing+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY_Xlrozi_5RWlGEZ43lBGp1YnKmxG8LkWfRi0tDgxhlk0wakTpQ3Q-hPBuaWzWBinWP9PuFuEchsqmDWLDcuHH9ae7asbKnoVOgNn2w6u9gMbHR1xzhXj8eBttTreIoH54k8MUA/s320/ironing+copy.jpg" width="267" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Sadly for him the ironing pile is no longer there. It's all ironed and put away so he's had to settle for the couch instead. It's a hard life alright - sleeping, eating and no chores!</div>Red Dirt Mummyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14659525164389759979noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33534940.post-89072337953208507332011-03-06T16:03:00.000+08:002011-03-10T13:12:01.390+08:00Oh. Hello.<div style="text-align: justify;">Sorry, it's been a while. I feel like I have lots I want to say but... time gets away and then I can't decide if I want to say it anymore and, truth be told, I miss Red Dirt Mummy way more than I thought I would. I'm still thinking about what to do about that.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In brief dot point,here's what's been happening:</div><div style="text-align: justify;">- kids are both good. Badly behaved right this very second, but otherwise fine.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">- I'm feeling very much over the whole motherhood gig right now. I need a babysitter and a couple of hours away from both the house and my offspring VERY badly. But it's not likely to happen anytime soon so I will just have to, as the saying goes, suck it up Princess!</div><div style="text-align: justify;">- work is Flat Out. I hardly every manage a lunch break - lunch is snatched at my desk while I work furiously to get tasks done before yet more people arrive at my door with demands I can't meet. It's exhausting and my head spins the whole time I'm there. Sadly it means I think about work a whole lot more than I should when I'm not there too. </div><div style="text-align: justify;">- Hubby has hurt his arm quite badly so, along with being a <em>wee</em> bit bad-tempered because of the pain, he is terribly frustrated by all the things he can't do. Not pretty.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">- Further to that all work on the house has come to a grinding halt.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">- The new kitty is growing nicely. He's cute and fluffy and purry and we're all slavishly devoted to him. I would however like if he would stop weeing on my bed. Yes, you read that right.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">- We had a stompingly good storm earlier in the week. It was all rather exciting with massive rain, spectacular wind gusts, an amazing thunder storm and trees falling down all about the place. There was so much rain that the nearly-empty water tank filled up inside less than 30 minutes. It was all very exciting right up until the power stayed off for 30 odd hours and everything in the freezer partially defrosted resulting in it all needing to be thrown out. Also the kitchen ceiling at Mum's place cracked and partly caved in because of the amount of water that hit the roof and I had to deal with the housesitter and the insurance company in her "I'm on a lovely long holiday on the other side of the country and I won't be back till April" absence. </div><div style="text-align: justify;">- And partly because of the stress at work, the lack of power, dealing with Mum's place and a lack of attention to detail I completely fell off the healthy lifestyle wagon this week. Like, I'm lying in the muddy path having been run over by the wagon's wheels, kind of fell off. So I'm beating myself up about that and feeling crappy.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Sorry. This isn't a remotely sunny side up kind of post but I feel a whole heap better having just spewed all that out. So I guess it kind of served a purpose. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">And to borrow a phrase from Kim at <a href="http://www.allconsuming.com.au/">allconsuming</a>... onward!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>Red Dirt Mummyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14659525164389759979noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33534940.post-76980723255791275612011-02-08T21:18:00.000+08:002011-03-10T13:12:01.412+08:00Gratituesday<div style="text-align: justify;">Thing's I'm happy, grateful or otherwise thankful about this week:</div><ul><li><div style="text-align: justify;">The new little man who has stolen my heart (see previous post!)</div></li><li><div style="text-align: justify;">That I'm sticking to my new 'healthy lifestyle plan' and, at yesterday's check in (ie weigh in) I'd lost 2 kilo's. </div></li><li><div style="text-align: justify;">We've had no hiccups with school yet. </div></li><li><div style="text-align: justify;">We added after-school care into the mix today and the kids were disappointed that Daddy arrived so early because they didn't get to have their afternoon tea.</div></li><li><div style="text-align: justify;">I made some yummy<a href="http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/2839/lamb+kofta"> Lamb Koftas</a> for dinner tonight from taste.com.au and everyone liked them. There's one left and my boy has 'baggsed' it for his lunch.</div></li></ul>Red Dirt Mummyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14659525164389759979noreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33534940.post-14196449864414297832011-02-06T21:23:00.000+08:002011-03-10T13:12:01.432+08:00Introducing....<div style="text-align: justify;">our newest family member. <em><strong>Spike.</strong></em></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCedCZPtSvFZp6Zh9xlkB4LIKaKiOweS8ULNG8r50xDSyF-DIXy75XLC9Co7V5Ys4rIecZDSSo48PIus-mXw4IdZPM9t2_lyeh8p-g2CDhD08Qf0M6lSkS6w0IpgAGwzazJVknvQ/s1600/spike1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCedCZPtSvFZp6Zh9xlkB4LIKaKiOweS8ULNG8r50xDSyF-DIXy75XLC9Co7V5Ys4rIecZDSSo48PIus-mXw4IdZPM9t2_lyeh8p-g2CDhD08Qf0M6lSkS6w0IpgAGwzazJVknvQ/s320/spike1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">He's six weeks old, slightly mental in the way that only kittens (and puppies) can be and has just about stolen my heart. </div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgp4LKhh1pNSJLWwDVXjSUnh25O9O76cXWZVDA0lK-JaNrFMtLOfISU9YVhSGgGwqlD-SnhmbGOzqyWqhdAfDqogrY-AOEqGl5doFWTsDfW31-JAY1AONg0nzeS_J_kLXEYaehDQ/s1600/spike2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgp4LKhh1pNSJLWwDVXjSUnh25O9O76cXWZVDA0lK-JaNrFMtLOfISU9YVhSGgGwqlD-SnhmbGOzqyWqhdAfDqogrY-AOEqGl5doFWTsDfW31-JAY1AONg0nzeS_J_kLXEYaehDQ/s320/spike2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />We saw him yesterday and Hubby, who is usually the hard-hearted one and had sworn he didn't ever want another cat, decided then and there that this little boy was the cat for us. He did some serious sweet-talking until I caved and so we collected him today.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIneyRr26gEYrCVxiNrAIoQx94KFFYoxhz9u-o46-MILgo-ab8_kR9dHPhbXIdIGfAOQZSk8t8uHEu3udOAENIN29XqtvI6E5qYRwrHBYWoW65stjWPfQrBOGIWMEyNXDU8NkclQ/s1600/spike3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIneyRr26gEYrCVxiNrAIoQx94KFFYoxhz9u-o46-MILgo-ab8_kR9dHPhbXIdIGfAOQZSk8t8uHEu3udOAENIN29XqtvI6E5qYRwrHBYWoW65stjWPfQrBOGIWMEyNXDU8NkclQ/s320/spike3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">The kids are completely captivated and if they don't kill poor Spike with kindess or wear him out completely with their 'playing' within the week I'll be pleasantly surprised. </div>Red Dirt Mummyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14659525164389759979noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33534940.post-30900065336740024872011-02-02T22:01:00.000+08:002011-03-10T13:12:01.454+08:00An Excellent Day<div style="text-align: justify;">The kids both had a fantastic first day at school. My boy came home bubbling over about all that had happened through the day and my girl was just happy which makes me one very relieved Mummy. I headed back to work after two and half weeks off and also had a great day - busy, didn't stop, ran like a crazy woman all day long, but great. I'm very lucky to have an awesome boss who 'gets' the whole working mum thing and is very flexible so I was only at work for 4 or 5 hours today so that I could deliver and collect the kids on their first day. </div><div style="text-align: justify;">And, being the loving Mum I am, I made their favourite meal for dinner. I really did get extra points when I served up the spag bol!</div><div style="text-align: justify;">So a nice short work day, happy kids and the work/mum thing balancing nicely. All in all an excellent day.</div>Red Dirt Mummyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14659525164389759979noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33534940.post-71862331298984221372011-02-01T20:35:00.000+08:002011-03-10T13:12:01.480+08:00Gratituesday<div style="text-align: justify;">School goes back tomorrow (and that's a whole lot of thankfulness all by itself!) and we stopped in to collect uniforms and find out about classes/teachers today. I'm so pleased. My boy has the teacher we were hoping for and the class I wanted him in. Yay, yay, yay. Here's hoping this year is going to be brilliant for him.</div>Red Dirt Mummyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14659525164389759979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33534940.post-17432387984110082282011-01-31T20:34:00.000+08:002011-03-10T13:12:01.505+08:00Cooking Mojo v Huge Butt<div style="text-align: justify;">The sixth season of The Biggest Loser Australia started last night and, for the first time in its history, I'm planning to not sit on my butt and eat chocolate while I watch it. I want to lose eight kilograms. It <em>was</em> six but Christmas added one kilo and then last week's road trip/bakery run added another. So now it's eight. </div><div style="text-align: justify;">Tonight the first episode of My Kitchen Rules is screening on a different channel and I can feel my cooking mojo coming back. So not fair. But I will use my cooking mojo for good not evil and channel it into healthy, weight loss-y type meals.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">In an effort to up my activity level I've walked around the block every day for the past five days. The block is 3.3 km's so not too bad an effort. And I'm doing it with a neighbour who fairly bolts along so we're doing it in about 20 minutes. And sweating a bucketload. I think we're just about ready to start doing the block twice.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Now to reduce my meal sizes and get rid of the rubbish. You know, the cookies and cakes that I love. And coke. And chocolate. Always with the chocolate. </div>Red Dirt Mummyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14659525164389759979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33534940.post-35166756470398592912011-01-30T20:46:00.000+08:002011-03-10T13:12:01.524+08:00Cook, Cook, Cooking<div style="text-align: justify;">Despite the absolutely revoltingly hot weather we've had over the past few days I've been busy in the kitchen gearing up for back to school and the need to fill lunch-boxes. My girl will be starting full time school this year so three days a week I'll be trying to get lunch boxes sorted for all four of us and the other two days I'll only have three lunches to organise. I know both the kids like variety so I'm trying to come up with a system where they can have sandwiches a couple of days a week and have different kinds of lunches to mix it up a bit. Since I already bake most weekends I'm just planning to get a wee bit more organised and bake something savoury for the lunchboxes as well as something treat-like that can be popped into the lunchbox a couple of times a week. The biggest challenge will be making sure I can freeze it. The grand-plan is that I'll make sandwiches the days I don't work (and in theory am less rushed in the morning) and grab things from the freezer on the days I do work. That said, it'll still be me directing the lunchbox filling. It won't be a free-for-all choose-what-you-want kinda thing. For one, they're kids so they don't always cope well with lots of choices. For two, my head would explode. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">So to get through the first week and give us a bit of surplus to fall back on I've made meatballs, <a href="http://www.bega.net.au/recipe/page/3/21/Bacon-Cheese-Muffins">cheese and bacon muffins</a> and our very favourite <a href="http://reddirtmummy.blogspot.com/2008/02/i-found-it.html">choc-chip cookies</a>. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB5Z9n88KARg8eMaRWMVqBE9F-eI5Zw74lUQ4kRyrrB8P4t-u2Hqni9qA63PIRPP6wJc0-88CkMIwVTEHKGus7-id3UpT-wWQqzCvAyvOoEG5R34jjJ9EYJA-OS5OZ4xdjt7vpZA/s1600/choc+chip+cookies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB5Z9n88KARg8eMaRWMVqBE9F-eI5Zw74lUQ4kRyrrB8P4t-u2Hqni9qA63PIRPP6wJc0-88CkMIwVTEHKGus7-id3UpT-wWQqzCvAyvOoEG5R34jjJ9EYJA-OS5OZ4xdjt7vpZA/s320/choc+chip+cookies.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I figure the kids will eat two or three meatballs and I'll pack a small container of vegie and cheese sticks to go with them. The muffins can be sliced and buttered - and since they're a bit dry due to a touch of overcooking I think they'll need it - and I'll send some sliced vegies or perhaps some dried fruit to go with them. Add in their drink bottle and a piece of fruit and they're all set. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I have some more ideas and a few recipes put aside but I'd love to hear what you do for school lunches. Got any ideas you want to share?</div>Red Dirt Mummyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14659525164389759979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33534940.post-71792179449440133212011-01-27T20:45:00.000+08:002011-03-10T13:12:01.539+08:00Gratituesday (a couple of days late!)<div style="text-align: justify;">I didn't have access to the internet on Tuesday because I was traipsing 'round the countryside on the family road trip so this week's edition of Gratituesday should maybe be called Grati<em>thursday </em>instead.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The thing I'm most grateful for this week is being able to run away and spend time with my family. We had a ball on our short holiday - the kids enjoyed themselves (which was actually the main purpose) and Hubby and I relaxed and enjoyed just being with the kids. Here are a few playground pics of my lot having fun.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF8PR6IOgTQLJr7mgkYtRIQu7mHfLXsLvDO5zLPjIhoDsgif3h6I8spqAIbY5kBNr_XDG89LE4jf_wt0TyumABtuzWWafGobFkONpac-twL3l8oPc_XIrolds9MVVXV5PkkLJE6A/s1600/ben+rope+swing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF8PR6IOgTQLJr7mgkYtRIQu7mHfLXsLvDO5zLPjIhoDsgif3h6I8spqAIbY5kBNr_XDG89LE4jf_wt0TyumABtuzWWafGobFkONpac-twL3l8oPc_XIrolds9MVVXV5PkkLJE6A/s320/ben+rope+swing.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi972cElqEXmAnqtwQZUZFUzkzNdzBRMW_NesAgCICbml7P6n56331jdDaRyLx7bTnsP5kSE0HtpCGumuWg_SUuNx3OZE1n2B0CRoBF7aL0Ok2D5Qs7ljLh2QyPGkrjN_omv7Twag/s1600/kids+at+donnybrook.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi972cElqEXmAnqtwQZUZFUzkzNdzBRMW_NesAgCICbml7P6n56331jdDaRyLx7bTnsP5kSE0HtpCGumuWg_SUuNx3OZE1n2B0CRoBF7aL0Ok2D5Qs7ljLh2QyPGkrjN_omv7Twag/s320/kids+at+donnybrook.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVcOdhbLAz_o8LGMTIElqvypqoxIAWUg4hlBBUKyy-Z7Yfsusi6ZHioz0ZXEJ3kDXqv0OsTW9SfM8z0kK5EqRNXVgPKHffm3G6hf3CA5Vtc2LNnCc4AuayNnTQe-356LRMARPiTA/s1600/libby+rope+walk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVcOdhbLAz_o8LGMTIElqvypqoxIAWUg4hlBBUKyy-Z7Yfsusi6ZHioz0ZXEJ3kDXqv0OsTW9SfM8z0kK5EqRNXVgPKHffm3G6hf3CA5Vtc2LNnCc4AuayNnTQe-356LRMARPiTA/s320/libby+rope+walk.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><br /> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>Red Dirt Mummyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14659525164389759979noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33534940.post-49433821477875087392011-01-26T14:39:00.000+08:002011-03-10T13:12:01.553+08:00Road Trip<div style="text-align: justify;">We just got back from a three day road trip. We (okay, I) decided that we all needed to get out of the house for a couple of day and do some fun stuff so I sweet-talked Hubby into a quick road-trip. We stopped at playgrounds, snacked at bakeries, walked through the forest and saw more dams and weirs than the kids ever wanted to see in their lives. We found camp-sites that we're planning to head back to, tourist-y things that we'll see next time and tried to make sure that we finished off the school holidays with lots of fun. Photos will follow! You've been warned. </div>Red Dirt Mummyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14659525164389759979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33534940.post-21726752441459535362011-01-23T20:59:00.000+08:002011-03-10T13:12:01.568+08:00Lovin' The New Barbie<div style="text-align: justify;">Barbecue that is! Hubby has been perfecting the art of pizza-making in the hooded barbie. I'm torn between telling him how fantastic they are and telling him they're not quite right so he'll keep experimenting and we can eat more yummy pizza.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">My favourite - Moroccan Lamb</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOrcTdVs9EPC1HqGNLDl1-6_K8oBES4hyphenhyphenyaeSBlI1irPk7M4yFeKGtVE6tTHIrFCawGfIo3D21SxwuvwU3RWAlmkZ-SkmGofeBaa7AKo8xptmYoHRIgWPJZdM67cWUGDpZhYWPow/s1600/moroccan+lamb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOrcTdVs9EPC1HqGNLDl1-6_K8oBES4hyphenhyphenyaeSBlI1irPk7M4yFeKGtVE6tTHIrFCawGfIo3D21SxwuvwU3RWAlmkZ-SkmGofeBaa7AKo8xptmYoHRIgWPJZdM67cWUGDpZhYWPow/s320/moroccan+lamb.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The kids' favourite - Hawaiian</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh9u9D9I3iXmI1o1LpqSjV-3d_yp8cczezHA5V6ky2oEhvs-8SR3VO6WQxhhFApRbB0jOpJS7gPaHNS4nqgJvWvmxAiFMMRuRbIvRpZPFzOrVmqLRrCWbLsrjxHNW46FulCuaTkg/s1600/hawaiian.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh9u9D9I3iXmI1o1LpqSjV-3d_yp8cczezHA5V6ky2oEhvs-8SR3VO6WQxhhFApRbB0jOpJS7gPaHNS4nqgJvWvmxAiFMMRuRbIvRpZPFzOrVmqLRrCWbLsrjxHNW46FulCuaTkg/s320/hawaiian.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">And a pic I couldn't resist adding - Daddy's girl loving her cheesy pizza.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRrMq3-K3kauR0tUa6teQvIlCPFda59mzSjoPr5kq23Ij7btB1nDTWiUp7aH30faFrh4obkSxnFnOqBQfLh3P5mkdBPm9J13X073dsnSAKEe6d8aKwM6h9oXw2wWzX7V0UNhxU-Q/s1600/cheesey+pizza.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRrMq3-K3kauR0tUa6teQvIlCPFda59mzSjoPr5kq23Ij7btB1nDTWiUp7aH30faFrh4obkSxnFnOqBQfLh3P5mkdBPm9J13X073dsnSAKEe6d8aKwM6h9oXw2wWzX7V0UNhxU-Q/s320/cheesey+pizza.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>Red Dirt Mummyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14659525164389759979noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33534940.post-57541123730807834432011-01-22T11:15:00.000+08:002011-03-10T13:12:01.583+08:00Lunch With Friends<div style="text-align: justify;">This weekend we were supposed to be having a rather larger catch-up with a whole heap of friends from when we were teaching up in the middle of nowhere but it didn't quite all manage to come together. Several were away on holidays (it is after all the long summer hol's here), some couldn't make it and a few just didn't let me know one way or the other so when we ended up with only a very small number coming we made the decision to postpone the big catch-up to a later date. </div><div style="text-align: justify;">So instead of twelve or so families to lunch we've got just one family coming and we're so excited to be seeing them. They live about an hour and a half away and, with five kids between us, a variety of full-time, part-time and shift work for the adults and the general stuff that keeps us all busy, finding time to catch up can be a little tricky.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The meal itself has been very much thrown together at the last minute:</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Butterflied, marinated chicken cooked on the new bbq - courtesy of the butcher at Woolies.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">A big garden salad.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Roasted garlic potatoes.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">And for dessert - my favourite pavlova.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Add in the wine that's chilling, relaxing on the new deck and all the kids running around together and I think we're in for a lovely afternoon.</div>Red Dirt Mummyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14659525164389759979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33534940.post-26752805849569350522011-01-21T16:56:00.000+08:002011-03-10T13:12:01.601+08:00Brotherly Love<div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">My boy has been learning to play chess. Now he's trying to teach his sister. She's easier to beat than his Dad.</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5paQ28FqjUZAs_RFrVK3Wfg8gnTMHXH7_MndTLFEIem3lpefhK3cwmW2vOABy52D1HWdsWk2LqxLEfJvDraQduQ8TTaNw2fFPgkzs64rmQbHXFOLE_ggzjZditkELjLweWMoqeA/s1600/chess.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5paQ28FqjUZAs_RFrVK3Wfg8gnTMHXH7_MndTLFEIem3lpefhK3cwmW2vOABy52D1HWdsWk2LqxLEfJvDraQduQ8TTaNw2fFPgkzs64rmQbHXFOLE_ggzjZditkELjLweWMoqeA/s320/chess.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br /></div>Red Dirt Mummyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14659525164389759979noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33534940.post-30806424887934434392011-01-19T15:30:00.000+08:002011-03-10T13:12:01.620+08:00Just Plain Rude (Or Mandi's On Her Soapbox Again)<div style="text-align: justify;">We were in the waiting room of a radiology place this morning and, because I knew we'd be there a while, I'd thrown some colouring/puzzle books and pencils into my bag for the kids. They were so perfectly behaved and I was so proud of them - no fighting, yelling, pointing, staring, etc. Yes, we'd drummed it into them during the car-ride but still, I was happy.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">It's a pretty big clinic with several areas to wait and as you check in at the desk you're directed to a particular area. My girl was sitting on the floor colouring and my boy was sitting on the chair next to me looking at a car magazine when three women came into the section we were in. There were only two spare chairs and as I went to ask him to hop off his chair he was already sliding off and getting comfy on the floor. Again with the Mummy-pride. I smiled a the lady nearest me, nodding towards the empty chair to indicate that it was free. And without returning my smile, nodding at my boy or indicated in any way at all that he'd just hopped up for her she sat down and carried on her conversation with the two other women who were now spread across the area.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I was kinda gobsmacked to be honest. I'm all for kids giving up seats for adults. But I also think that common courtesy dictates that the child is thanked for doing so. How on earth are we supposed to reinforce good behaviour if we don't even acknowledge it? For every rotten, spoilt, no-good kid that gets talked about I guarantee I can find you an equally rude adult who lacks basic manners. Just because it's a child not another adult doesn't give you a free 'rude' pass.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">We talked about it in the car later and I told my boy that I was proud of him for giving up his seat and I was disappointed that the lady he stood up for didn't even say thankyou. He told me he knew that standing up for an adult was the right thing to do and that's why he'd done it. As for the lady involved not thanking him? As he said, that's just rude.</div>Red Dirt Mummyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14659525164389759979noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33534940.post-37556164976344796442011-01-18T20:43:00.000+08:002011-03-10T13:12:01.635+08:00Gratituesday<div style="text-align: justify;">In case you missed the idea of Gratituesday when I started it a few weeks ago, here's the recap...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><em>Yeah, I totally made that word up. But the idea behind it is something I'm planning to do each week. Working on the 'glass half full' mindset that I'm striving for I'm actively looking for the little things in my life that I'm grateful for, thankful for or otherwise just plain happy about. Of course some of them are big things. Huge even. But the little things tend to get lost in the day-do-day bits of living. My Tuesday posts are going to be short - a photo or two and a few words about whatever I'm feeling grateful for that week. If you want to join in on your blog leave a note in the comments and I'll come check it out. Or, if you're not a blogger, just leave a comment saying what you're grateful for.</em></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">So today's Gratituesday post.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Hubby and I took the kids to the movies today. We saw the new Disney movie, Tangled, which is based on the story of Rapunzel. We all loved it (and yes, I cried!) but what I loved most was when my girl climbed onto my lap about thirty minutes into the movie and snuggled in for a cuddle. She stayed there til near the end of the movie when my legs were completely dead and I had no feeling left in my feet and only hopped off after I begged her to go sit on her Daddy's lap for a while. And when we left the movie her little hand found its way into mine and stayed there.And that makes my heart feel good.</div>Red Dirt Mummyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14659525164389759979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33534940.post-28823458335162584662011-01-16T21:01:00.000+08:002011-03-10T13:12:01.651+08:00Girl's Day Out<div style="text-align: justify;">My boys were invited to a birthday party (the small boy as a playmate to the birthday boy and the rather bigger boy as a playmate to the birthday boy's dad!) so the girl-child and I decided a 'girl's day out' was in order. Among other things we planned to do a little shopping and go out for lunch but the first item on our agenda was the most important as far as I was concerned. And that first item? Getting the girl a haircut.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">And so.... here's the <em>before</em> shot. Lots of hair and a cheekier-than-cheeky grin.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh79J9tJjDmobMbiAG8_n9D_JB2ktGfe_OvOunT_htPStGmwjTlDpemo7SGAaWwWKzIo8AVVKHFgwT7s05u2prqf571sRIbqGadEDG4yKjRJZwnh7xqKMfXhUaWSgGOrYuSNnFVtQ/s1600/libby+hair2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh79J9tJjDmobMbiAG8_n9D_JB2ktGfe_OvOunT_htPStGmwjTlDpemo7SGAaWwWKzIo8AVVKHFgwT7s05u2prqf571sRIbqGadEDG4yKjRJZwnh7xqKMfXhUaWSgGOrYuSNnFVtQ/s320/libby+hair2.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">And the <em>after </em>shot. Neat and sweet and so much easier to get the tangles out.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZq5NvOuKpO3c8aqkX9wuVp6Yi9TLcq4FxOyTqdr6tim4MohghTQEI6Vgcjv0gqPa2zbx22hlRKIhhS7Bq7TCw6n2jHDBfr5Eyyiie295WdbdCc4YF7yCXVhyEiv-Ukk6dl6rf5w/s1600/libby+hair4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZq5NvOuKpO3c8aqkX9wuVp6Yi9TLcq4FxOyTqdr6tim4MohghTQEI6Vgcjv0gqPa2zbx22hlRKIhhS7Bq7TCw6n2jHDBfr5Eyyiie295WdbdCc4YF7yCXVhyEiv-Ukk6dl6rf5w/s320/libby+hair4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Tonight's Sunday night hair-washing routine was about 148 times easier and drying it was even simpler than that. Gotta love that.</div>Red Dirt Mummyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14659525164389759979noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33534940.post-2127672786209219362011-01-15T07:58:00.000+08:002011-03-10T13:12:01.669+08:00<div style="text-align: justify;">It's been a little quiet here this week. With the tragedy unfolding throughout Queensland everything I thought of posting seemed trivial and a little ridiculous. As one of my cousins wrote on Facebook earlier in the week, "<span class="messageBody"><em>You can't complain about the rain when you're moving house when other people are having their house moved by the rain. Good luck QLD!!!"</em></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="messageBody">But life does go on and it has been awe-inspiring watching people start the clean-up as the flood waters have receded. People who weren't affected are out helping their neighbours, young couples whose first house has been almost destroyed by the water have shrugged their shoulders, put on their wellies and dug in to start cleaning. I'm sure there are many tears being shed but the message coming across is one of strength and unity. It will take months for Queensland to get back on it's feet. In some cases, it's fair to say it will take years. But with nearly $50 million in donations from Australian people in just a few days, the support of politicians, the manpower of the army and of course the strength of the Queenslanders themselves one thing you can guarantee is that it will be rebuilt.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="messageBody">I was planning to donate to the flood appeal but have had a different idea instead. I'm going to buy gift vouchers for a group of nation-wide stores to the same value as I would have donated and send them to a friend in Queensland who knows some people badly affected - one of her friends had water three meters above her roof. She has a three year old child and their house is uninhabitable and Felicity is going to pass the vouchers on to her for immediate use. </span></div>Red Dirt Mummyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14659525164389759979noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33534940.post-86156092425693113622011-01-11T20:54:00.000+08:002011-03-10T13:12:01.686+08:00Gratituesday<div style="text-align: justify;">I've been watching the news updates on the flooding in Queensland all day and can hardly believe what I'm seeing. A good third of the state is affected by the floods.You can see a map of how many towns are affected <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/infographics/qld-floods/default.htm">here</a>. And we're not talking about a little bit of water. Whole towns are under water, houses have been ripped from their foundations and swept away, people are dead and families are missing. Toowoomba had a catastrophic flash flood this morning that has been called and 'inland tsunami' - watch this <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/video/2011/01/11/3110855.htm?site=&section=latest&date=(none)">news report</a> and see the sheer force of the water that swept through the town.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">In my own state we've had a massive fire burning out of control an hour or so south of Perth after an arsonist decided it would be fun to the bush alight. Five houses have burnt to the ground and hundreds of acres have been burnt out. To the north, <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/video/2010/12/20/3097921.htm?site=northwestwa">Carnarvon</a> is dealing with the aftermath of two floods, the worst in the history of the town, in as many weeks with houses flattened, banana plantations destroyed and peoples lives ruined. </div><div style="text-align: justify;">I guess for this Gratituesday I'm so thankful to be safe and dry in my own little house. I know where my family are and that they're all safe. I'm glad to be Australian and know that the people of this wonderful country will band together to help all those affected by the devastation.<br /><br />*Edited to add, this is now the biggest disaster that Australia has ever seen. It has affected 75% of Queensland, an absolutely huge area. To put it into perspective it is approximately twice the size of Texas. The death toll grows each day as the water subsides and more bodies are found.</div>Red Dirt Mummyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14659525164389759979noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33534940.post-42840453946125055322011-01-10T21:12:00.000+08:002011-03-10T13:12:01.704+08:00Inspirational People<div style="text-align: justify;">A loooong time ago I went to school with a boy called Clinton. Not so long ago we reconnected on Facebook and I've been following his progress to lose weight and get fit. Let's not beat about the bush. He is one big man. But, he used to be a lot bigger and sometime in the future he's hoping to be a lot smaller. Being the complete sloth I am, I'm in awe of the stuff he does - he's taken part in triathlons, done some seriously massive bike rides and even ran in the annual City to Surf race last year. A few days ago he posted that he'd decided to take part in a marathon. Seriously? A marathon? I weigh a little less than half of what he currently does and I can't be bothered getting off my bum to walk around the block. Sure, I can say that the block is 3.8 kilometres but really, that's just an excuse and we all know it. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Today he posted that he'd started a blog, <a href="http://clinton-runfatboyrun.blogspot.com/">Run Fatboy Run</a>, proving that not only is he up for a challenge but that he can have a laugh along the way. I hope you'll go check out his new blog and join me in cheering him on from the bloggy sidelines. Who knows, he might even inspire me to actually get off the couch (or computer, as the case might be!).</div>Red Dirt Mummyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14659525164389759979noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33534940.post-36117726645755205932011-01-09T12:02:00.000+08:002011-03-10T13:12:01.726+08:00It's Party-Time (All Year Long!)<div style="text-align: justify;">This is the year of the 40th's in my circle of friends and we kicked off last night with a girlfriend's 70's Disco party. They had decorated with mirror balls and mirrored walls and coloured lights, the food was 70's style with vol-au-vents, pigs in blankets (the prune wrapped in bacon thing), jelly moulded guacamole, cheese fondue, lasagna, and a whole heap of other fun things. We drank waaaay too much bubbly, laughed at each other's outfits, admired the guy's porn star moustaches, danced to some great 70's music and had a total blast. </div><div style="text-align: justify;">I've woken up this morning to the startling realisation that while I feel like I'm about 28 my body is, in fact, heading for 40. Oh my aching knees after dancing in wedge heels all night long. Oh my aching head after one, or possibly two, too many glasses of champers. And oh my poor hair. I tried to do the Farrah-flick with not a great deal of success. Three different sets of curlers and half a can of hairspray later it looked not all that different to how it does every single day. Just a lot more gunk in it. Oh well, we've a few more 70's parties to get through so by the end of the year I might have managed to work it out.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Here's me and my man in our very glam disco gear. I'm loving his open neck shirt, medallion and hairy chest! I'm not quite so sure about the mo, but then again I haven't actually seen his naked chin in about 12 years so it's all a bit of shock.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy8MF2ud3gOGM3YHt1YZjdF7EiDTkqz-VWKGHOD3_yEJPIoOmvPb6qBd8Ok2S9e6kr9qOfkhGPa3meBZAMCwf8vTjn7fVSSs9hkTVdidAi_D4EaPmJMNNVELzF0ye0M10MGavsgw/s1600/Glenn+and+Mandi1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy8MF2ud3gOGM3YHt1YZjdF7EiDTkqz-VWKGHOD3_yEJPIoOmvPb6qBd8Ok2S9e6kr9qOfkhGPa3meBZAMCwf8vTjn7fVSSs9hkTVdidAi_D4EaPmJMNNVELzF0ye0M10MGavsgw/s320/Glenn+and+Mandi1.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>Red Dirt Mummyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14659525164389759979noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33534940.post-41292230328145123632011-01-07T18:35:00.000+08:002011-03-10T13:12:01.756+08:00Swapping Roles<div style="text-align: justify;">Despite the actual working <em>every </em>day part I'm quite enjoying the role swap that's going on in our house at the moment. I'm working full time for a few weeks while Hubby is on school hol's with the kids. Thank heavens this week is a short week - four days has left me worn out! But I've loved coming home each day to a house that has been tidied and dinner that's been prepared and is then cooked for me. Awesome. Let me say it again.... Awe. Some!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Tonight when I walked in he poured me a drink, asked how to make my fave Moroccan lamb pizza and set to it. It's now cooking on (well, <em>in</em> really) the bbq - I simply provided instructions, he did the whole lot - and I'm enjoying a glass of bubbles. Again with the awesome. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">And on even more levels of awesome he also did the grocery shopping today. And put it all away. Bucket full of AWESOME!!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Sorry girls, he's all mine and I'm keeping him. </div>Red Dirt Mummyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14659525164389759979noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33534940.post-63942108784104690302011-01-06T20:11:00.000+08:002011-03-10T13:12:01.807+08:00Making Excuses<div style="text-align: justify;">I don't normally drink during the week. Partly because I figure I don't need the extra calories and partly because I'm not that big a drinker anyway so it's pretty easy to save a nice glass of something for the weekend. But sometimes something special happens and a celebratory drink is called for. In this case it was the christening of a very special Christmas present. Something Hubby and I had been wanting for a long time but couldn't quite afford. Or couldn't quite justify. Or couldn't agree on. Or all of the above. And then we found it, the very thing that would make our lives that much better.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaXjnKJhx_ywLbiUES08aBfHIm3aOir4n_MHK1ENXHsQ7JS6JjsA3K0-UPNpFbOjqSLrwTcQxRDyLcQdsHxxmmMeqcTn95FDxZbtVt1ZbzbRsje5LSAey1Cq7g1JXom8geaI2KYw/s1600/bbq.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaXjnKJhx_ywLbiUES08aBfHIm3aOir4n_MHK1ENXHsQ7JS6JjsA3K0-UPNpFbOjqSLrwTcQxRDyLcQdsHxxmmMeqcTn95FDxZbtVt1ZbzbRsje5LSAey1Cq7g1JXom8geaI2KYw/s320/bbq.jpg" width="220" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">And the maiden voyage of anything, even the new barbie, calls for a glass or two of bubbly. Right?</div>Red Dirt Mummyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14659525164389759979noreply@blogger.com3