Buddy, totally original right? But S loves Will Ferrell and the movie Elf so my suggestion of Twinkle got overridden pretty quickly.

We introduced Buddy last year when E was just 2 and lets just say, it was a good idea to start while he was young and not really all over it because it taught us we'd better lift our game for this year and make sure we're on the ball... panicked Elf placement while the other distracts the children is not going to cut it this year.

With this in mind, I've decided to get prepared, did some research and have come up with a list of placements and gimmicks for our Elf along with a purpose.

We love Christmas, like really really love Christmas - our tree has been up since the 8th of November! But the things we love most are the cheer, the giving and the spirit of the season more so than the presents and its really important to S and I that we teach the boys about this.
We want our boys to have a strong social conscience and be aware that while they are very blessed to be spoilt by those around them and want for nothing, others aren't so lucky and its important for them to do what they can to help others, especially at Christmastime.

We have a wooden Advent calendar of little boxes and a hanging fabric one so my plan this year is have Buddy make a big arrival and with him he'll bring a list of tasks for the boys to complete each day of December.
Once they complete Buddy's task, they can check the stocking and see if he's left a treat - a sticker, matchbox car, chocolate elf etc.


The tasks we have this year are:

1. Choose a Christmas book to give to the Wishing Tree
2. Bake and deliver treats to the local Police Station to thank them for looking after us
3. Leave a thank you card and gift to the garbage man for collecting our rubbish each week and always smiling and waving
4. Choose a gift for a little boy and for a daddy to leave at the Kmart Wishing Tree
5. Christmas cards for kindy friends
6. Bake and deliver treats to the local Ambulance station to thank them for looking after us
7. Choose 5 toys and books to donate to charity 
8. Choose and give gifts and thank you cards to kindy teachers for educating us
9. Visit Santa and have a family photo taken
10. Attend Christmas Carols with family
11. Make a donation of food/blankets & toys to the local RSPCA
12. Make & decorate a gingerbread house
13. Write a letter to Santa
14. Go to the park and pick up any rubbish to help keep our environment clean
15. Light candles and talk about great grandparents
16. Choose and take some non perishable food items to a local Christmas food drive
17. Make a list of 3 kind things to do for others before Christmas Day
18. Say good morning to everyone we see and wish them well
19. Visit local Christmas light displays
20. Leave a candy cane on 5 cars at the shopping centre
21. Give swimming coach a thank you letter and small gift
22. Take a cold drink to someone working in the hot sun
23. Donate some money box money to a charity at the shops
24. Buy a bunch of flowers and give them out to make people smile

And for Buddy's morning arrivals from the North Pole so far we have:

1. Decorate the boys' rooms with tinsel, swinging from the end of one piece in Cs room
2. Riding in Mack Truck with snowman drink cups for the boys (from Kmart - $3 each)
3. Sleepover with the Ninja Turtles in Es socks
4. Swinging from the Christmas decorations
5. Popping out of the Christmas stocking that hangs on Es bedroom door - spoilt first child has 2 stockings
6. In the fridge drinking from the boys' milk
7. Riding a reindeer (decoration) on the shelf
8. In the Christmas lolly jar
9. Being eaten by a toy shark
10. Riding the boys' toy train with the animals
11. Camping out in the mini teepee with the Dino Train crew
12. Taking selfies with the Toy Story camera & Toy Story crew
13. Making a snow angel with 100s & 1000s
14. Reading a book in Cs reading corner
15. Colouring in a colour book with crayons
16. Flying with Toothless the dragon
17. Tea party/picnic with Olaf
18. With a rolled up Christmas scavenger hunt for E

and I have to come up with a few more in the coming days. Any ideas or suggestions?

Its been ages since I've waxed lyrical about how much I love my Thermomix and what a game changer it is - c'mon, I know you've missed my thermo-mixing ha ha - so here goes:

S was in Europe a few weeks ago for 10 days - lucky guy - and left me to fend for myself with the two tiny terrors underfoot. We survived and even ate nutritious meals every most nights with the thermomix saving my life a few times when the littlest boy ramped up his arsenic hour behaviour right on meal prep time.

One of the meals on my list while solo parenting was enchiladas - I love Mexican, the boys do too and enchiladas taste great for lunch the next day.
I defrosted the chicken breast and was all set to steam, season and shred the chicken as per the TRLMT Chimichangas steps with a few minor alterations (add grated zucchini and enchilada sauce) when I realised my pantry was bare of Taco seasoning! The horror! Seriously, I usually have at least 4 packets of this stuff floating around. I was ready to give up but then remembered the chicken had to be cooked and I didn't want to be wasteful.
Light bulb moment... why not mill my own Taco seasoning in the TMX? I googled blends, found one that I had the herbs and spices for and literally 30 seconds later, was back on track with my own Taco seasoning.
Seriously, how good is that!?

Lately I've whipped up the Egg & Bacon Pie from the 4 Blades magazine Budget Issue. Super easy, my only tweak is to whisk and combine the eggs with a little milk and seasoning before pouring it over the bacon ... I throw in some extra cheese too ;)
Its a quick tasty dinner or an easy lunch (served hot or cold as the weather warms) as we almost always have the ingredients on hand - even the day before grocery day.

Individual lasagnes have also been a big hit. I use a basic bolognaise recipe from the EDC with beef mince and lots of veg in the base, fresh pasta sheets and a dash of ricotta on top. S loves them cold for lunch at work and the boys scoff them for dinner. They're pretty fuss free to make although don't do what I did and try and form the uncooked pasta sheets ... they tear and break.!  If I read the recipe properly instead of skipping ahead, I would have realised they need blanching first.


And my favourite find recently was again from the 4 Blades magazine, the Asian Noodle Cakes with Bok Choy. Such a simple use of 2 minute noodles and tasty enough for the whole family. Also another perfect meal for Summer weather and packed cold in lunchboxes (if they last that long). They also freeze quite well so I keep a batch in the freezer for weeknight dinners and kindy lunches when I haven't got fresh bread on hand.

Do you have a Thermie (or a Bellini)? What are your go to recipes?

My ongoing confessions to a not so perfect life:

I don't blow dry my hair ... ever! Ain't no one got time for that with 2 little boys to get out the door ... make that 3 (the husband). Plus I have no idea how to other than wave the dryer around in my hair. The only time my hair ever gets a blow dry is when I finally get to the hairdresser.

Christmas 2013

I'm definitely going to try and break out the Christmas decorations and maybe even our tree this weekend - S will pay lip service to it being to early but he won't stop me. I live for this time of year and am happy to follow a slightly delayed retail calendar when it comes to decorating. #itsthemostwonderfultimeoftheyear

The KFC $5 lunch box is back and we have an outlet within walking distance to work... you do the math.

I quite enjoyed S being in Europe for 10 days last month  ... I liked drinking my wine in peace once the dinner/bath/bedtime battle was won and eating stir fried veg or ice cream and popcorn for dinner.

I spent my last night before he came home on a Pitch Perfect 1 & 2 marathon ... it was a toss up between that and Harry Potter.

I've put on weight. I'm noticing it around my midsection mostly and I need to do something about it but I don't feel strongly enough to cut out the likely culprits - I'm looking at you Boatshed Bay and cheese.

The boys have been eating dry cereal for breakfast ... and fruit, but dry cereal, winning at the mum thing and providing my boys nourishing balanced meals clearly! Throwing out a fresh omelette/french toast/porridge for the 100th 10,000th time had me drawing a line and dry cereal it is. Plus side, its easier to clean up.

S had gut pain last night and I found it impossible to muster sympathy with his tossing and moaning and dramatic acting. He's a bit of a drama queen at the best of times and I've already used up my Florence Nightingale quota on a bout of man flu earlier this year.

I hide in the laundry (like actually hide behind the fridge not just stand in there) when I hear bath time coming to an end so I don't have to wrangle pajamas and the overtired 18m old for an extra few minutes. Usually I have a glass of wine in hand.

I play Candy Crush ... but I don't send invitations to my friends, I don't want them to know I play.

I set up an online gambling account to bet on the Melbourne Cup. Going to the TAB was just too much effort and it would be un-Australian not to have had a flutter. Despite a near perfect two decade first place record, I bombed this year.

Annabel Karmel toddler freezer meals get served regularly in our house ... and they are scoffed quicker than almost anything I cook. Mumma's get on to them, especially when they're half price.

I've struggled a little with post natal depression since having C and have days where I find it really hard to feel happy or joyful at all. I'm lucky enough to be surrounded by some wonderful people though and a caring husband who support and help me - some without even realising.

Our big boy E was born in late June and at just on 3, we have already submitted applications for Prep (months ago) and have finalised kindergarten offers for next year ... you read right, applications over 18 months in advance! This is cutting it pretty fine in comparison to some of the prestigious Sydney schools that require you to enroll at conception to be considered but the Gold Coast is not quite there - yet.

So applications for Kindergarten were made early 2014 and offers have been sent out with orientations taking place as I type. We had decided on two preferred kindergarten options for E next year, one being a pre-prep long daycare program at my alma mater and the other, a classroom type 5 day fortnight at a local Community Kindergarten.
S is very happy for me to keep him in the loop but to make all the main decisions around schooling so to be entirely honest, my preference was (and is) for the Community Kinder because of the program structure, replicating of 'school' with the same class for the entire year and the excellent learning and social outcomes they produce.

Earlier this year after submitting our application, I was contacted by my former school to advise they were deferring E's application to a place the following year due to his birthday being so close to the June 30 cutoff Queensland has. They advised it was policy to not consider enrolments for children with birthdays after March the year they are due to start and to defer them for the following year. So essentially they were telling me E wouldn't be ready or eligible by their policy to start Prep the year he was due (2017) and I would need to hold him back. I was furious initially... that they didn't consult with us or ask our plans and intentions around E's schooling first and foremost or even request to meet him and assess his readiness.

Here's where the dilemma can kick in ... in my experience and circle, many parents are now being told that if children are too close to the cutoff, they should be held back and start school a year later to give them time to get school ready and gain the necessary maturity, particularly in the case of boys.
From what I can tell, and this is a personal observation only, this is causing a massive skew of the system that was never intended where in some cases there are almost 6 years olds starting in a class with 4.5 year olds. The system was designed for a natural range of 12 months that would eventually even out over the years not the 18+ months we are starting to see and there is an expectation now that children have a level of maturity and school readiness that was previously thought to be gained by starting school.

With this all in mind, and I understand we all only want the best for our children, we have decided we would be disadvantaging E by holding him back a year at the rate he is tracking. His carers and educators have informed us he is a keen learner and clever little boy with an excellent vocabulary and memory. His learning is at the higher end of his peers and having him repeat a curriculum like the kindergarten program would do him no favours at this time.
Thankfully he has been offered a place at the Community Kindergarten and after his orientation last week, we enormously impressed by the facility and especially his lead educator. We feel it will provide a positive opportunity to help get him as 'school ready' as possible and from there, its on us to choose the right school community to nurture him with our input regardless of his age.


Now we wait with bated breath for Prep offers to come in around February next year ... we have made 3 enrollment applications and I have put a bit of groundwork and effort into our first preference with opportunities that have presented but we would be happy with any of the 3 ultimately.

Its scary in some ways to be making such enormous decisions around our child's future and the pressure to get it right and set him up for a bright future. In other ways, its exciting to be planning his next step forward with anticipation to watch him grow and learn so much more than he already knows.

What is your experience with choosing your child's pathway to the education system? I know some exclusive schools in our capital cities require enrollment at conception even along with non-refundable deposits in the thousands of dollars so I guess we're pretty lucky here that while its competitive, its not insanely so.