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?

Some might think I'm exaggerating when I call E the world's most spoilt toddler but I'm really not joking. This is his playroom ... And doesn't include the toys in his bedroom and the outdoor gear he has (balls, bikes, scooter, Cozy Coupe truck, sandpit, Tonka trucks, trampoline etc):


Those boxes are jam-packed with Little People sets, talking dinosaurs and giant rubber animals, cars - both wooden and die cast, crafts, puzzles and anything else you've ever seen in the boys toy section at your local store. There is also a home corner to the right beside where I took the pic from with Little Tikes BBQ, food etc and dress up boxes.

There are a handful of toys that can be packed away as they are older baby aged but there is not a lot of point given Charlie will be into them in no time and we have two of the cubes dedicated to just Lamaze pram toys and rattles. And bright side, we don't have to re-buy any age appropriate toys for our littlest guy.

Cube storage is a godsend for playrooms and helps keep it all grouped in some semblance of order and packed away neatly... its also fun for toddlers to pull out every cube and dump the contents then exclaim 'A MESS, EINY MADE A MESS' with an oh so proud smile.

As much as I love to have a clean tidy home, I find toys strewn everywhere and all over my house doesn't bother me as much as I would have expected. I think I accept that this is my life for at least the next 5-10 years with young children and I'm happy to see the gifts he is given bring E so much joy. I'd hate to pack to pack things away from him and forget about them when they were chosen with such thought and care.

Our prerequisite with future house hunting is a dedicated children's space or family room for the boys and their toys. Somewhere located centrally in the house to the kitchen that they can play in together and when they have friends over with loose supervision. I have pinned a million playrooms on Pinterest and have some fabulous ideas I can't wait to put in place but for now, this space is fun, keeps E busy and I can close the door on it if I don't feel like facing it at the end of the day.

B2's arrival is getting closer and closer with everyday ... heck, I thought baby was going to make its arrival over the weekend with all the niggles and apparent 'early' labour signs I seemed to be undergoing. As the days pass, I worry sometimes about the arrival of B2 and if I will love this baby as much as I love E. I know I will love my baby, but will it be the all consuming, heart melting love that I get just from looking at my precious first born who makes my heart squeeze and sing.

Most of all, I worry that E won't understand the changes and will be upset at the loss of having S and I solely devoted to him only. I worry that he will think he has been displaced and isn't as loved or important anymore. Thinking of this actually gives me a physical ache and I know S has been feeling the same.

1. Aldi had children's books for $5 this week and titles included Graeme Base hardcovers, Disney hardcovers, Margaret Wise Brown hardcovers, Willibee the Bumblebee (by the Wonky Donkey writer) and lots of Scholastic books like Dear Zoo. We grabbed Animalia, Goodnight Little One, Willibee the Bumblebee and a couple of others to add to E's well documented library.
2. Coles has Babylove nappypants at 50% so just $8.50 a bag which for the walker size (25 nappies) equates to 34c a pair. At that price I stocked up in prep for tackling toilet training when I start maternity leave.
3. Target has long sleeve children's tops for $4 from today ... only down from $5 but still great to stock up on for kindy & play. We have lots already but they wash and wear so well plus little boys tend to get dirty a lot so extras in the cupboard never hurt.
4. Mary Higgins Clark finally has a new book out - I've Got You Under My Skin. Hoping I will get some time on my aforementioned maternity leave (only 1 week to go) to read this.
5. A bunny sippy cup for E for Easter ... only $5 from Target and holiday themed. How could I resist?
6. Mix apparel ruffle band lounge/sleep pants on sale for only $8 (from $14). In a soft jersey, I figured these will be perfect for hospital with nursing singlets and for home after so I bought a pair in navy and grey marle.
7. Lindt Lady Bug Boxes were $7.50 on sale at Coles and will make the perfect gifts for E's kindy carers ... now I just need to remember to take them in before Easter.

So to be entirely truthful, I was still not one hundred percent sold on the Thermie when it arrived - worrying given the cost but my mum was so enthusiastic on hers that I figured I'd fall in love eventually. Fast forward a few days and I am head over heels! Everyone needs to have a Thermomix now in my mind.

So when your Thermomix arrives, the consultant delivers it to your home, does a little run through of assembling and washing the machine, flicking through the manual and cookbooks and then gets you started by assisting to make a vegetable stock paste from scratch. Can I say, what a breeze it is to make stock! Roughly chop a heap of ingredients, toss it in and 20 mins later, fresh homemade stock paste.

Sunday was my day to really 'attack' the Thermomix as we made it to the markets in the morning to stock up on fresh produce and then the supermarket. My mum had already made us cheesymite scrolls in her TMX previously and we were all a fan so I thought fresh hot scrolls would make E and I a yummy lunch. They took all of ten minutes to prep (not including dough rising time obviously) from tossing the flour in the TMX to sliding them into the oven with relatively little mess or fuss. Hot out of the oven, E finished a whole one with gusto and I scoffed at least two... maybe three. Buoyed by the ease of preparing a tasty lunch for E and I in record time with no unknown extras, I was looking forward to dinner!

I had decided we would try the creamy tomato and salami fettucine from the Basics cookbook for S and I. We unexpectedly had my niece for a few hours in the afternoon so E went down late and it was 8pm before we were ready to get started on our dinner ... this would be a true test of the TMX value in our eyes - could it provide a healthy dinner quickly and with minimal cleanup. We took our time working through the steps, double checking instructions etc and threw in a few extra's but within 30 minutes we were sitting down to a restaurant quality pasta and both 100 percent sold on the investment.

S has started enjoying cooking but likes to follow a recipe to the tee and is very precise with his measuring, chopping etc which of course takes time and creates a lot of mess. I'm a little more haphazard with quantities etc born from years of cooking and experimenting. Both of us loved that the TMX weighed each ingredient as required, cooked it all in one pan (instead of having frypans, saucepans, knives and boards to clean), timed and stirred it and beeped when ready. It was as good as eating at a restaurant and S told me he was so happy we bought a TMX!

Feeling confident after watching me prep dinner, S got up early this morning and made us some CADA - a fresh muesli of coconut, almonds, dates and apples in the Basic cookbook. He added some greek yoghurt and fresh mango to serve and told me he couldn't believe it only took him 4 seconds to chop the ingredients for a breakfast he would pay over $10 for in a cafe.

I'm looking forward to trying out a few other recipes this week and so our menu looks like this:

Mon
Chicken cashew nut with steamed veg and a soy ginger sauce all prepared in the TMX

Tues
Balsamic steaks on the BBQ with a side of Mediterranean quinoa salad prepared in the TMX

Wed
Chicken and veggie sausage rolls - filling chopped and combined in TMX

Thurs 
Beef stroganoff on mash all done in TMX (including unpeeled potatoes mashed to a creamy texture that disguises the skin!!)

Fri
Home made pizzas with dough made and veggies/toppings chopped in TMX

I will also make up some apricot balls and mini quiche mix for baking one night this week in the TMX to cover E's lunches and snacks.


So, while I've always had a healthy approach to E's diet and at the very least, a balanced one to S and my diet,  I've never been one to read labels every time or rigidly monitor additives etc. but knowing that I can prepare fresh food quickly for my family that is wholesome and healthy definitely makes me happy. I can also see how valuable the TMX is going to be for time saving once B2 arrives as in those early days with E, and even now, there are nights we have toasted sandwiches at 9:30pm because we are both exhausted and can't be bothered prepping anything else.

I would love to hear some of your favourite Thermomix recipes to try.

Only recently, Scott and I, at the urging of my mother in law, have once again recognised our need for regular date nights. We always talked about them and we know they are important but when you're working full time and a parent, most nights you want to have quality time with baby, eat dinner and go to bed. The last thing you can feel like doing is getting dressed and heading out! We also value every moment with E as we are away from him for work and so prefer to do things that we can include him in.

With baby 2 joining us a little sooner than expected, mother in law has insisted we concentrate on some quality couple time and make the most of it while we can. We are very lucky in that both sets of parents are more than happy to watch E for us and have him stay over but we are always conscious of how often we call upon them and not abuse it. E has had 3 sleepovers now with MIL and is according to all reports, an absolute delight. I figure she must be telling the truth or she wouldn't be so keen to have him as regularly as she requests.

Only last weekend before Scott's parents went away, they insisted on having E and us having a date night. I have to admit, I was a little bit excited when Scott suggested we take advantage and go to the newly opened Hurricane's in the Soul building at Surfers Paradise for dinner. We have both eaten at and enjoyed Hurricane's in Sydney at Bondi and Darling Harbour so were eager to see how that translated to the Gold Coast.

It was a disastrous start to the afternoon with me breaking down on the way home after dropping E off thanks to a faulty petrol gauge. Luckily Scott had finished work and was able to come and rescue me with a gerry can.

I admit, it was lovely to shower and get ready without having to amuse and entertain a toddler underfoot and it was a novelty to chat in the car about this and that on the way to dinner without having to break into Dr Knickbocker.

The restaurant is beautifully located on the first floor beach side and has a similar fit out to its Sydney counterparts. The service was prompt, we were quickly shown to our table and drinks orders placed - sparkling water for me sadly. Being a Grill, the menu emphasis was steaks, BBQ and ribs so I went with the beef skewer and Scott couldn't say no to a full rack of pork ribs. Neither of us were disappointed with our choices - the food was hot, tasty and well presented with a wait long enough for us to know it was fresh but not for us to get hungry. Scott even went so far as to say they were the best ribs he had tried! Although a little pricey, it was well worth it for service and food and we have already made a booking to go with friends for Scott's birthday in December.

Unfortunately I can't vouch for the dessert menu as there is a Baskin Robbins in Surfers and nothing beats a Sunset Sherbet scoop for me!

I have to say, the restaurant was stylish, the food was great, but the best part of the night was getting to just talk and listen uninterrupted to Scott. It made me realise we really do need to commit to regular date nights as its that one on one time together that makes our relationship strong and gives us the solid foundation to get through those days and weeks where sleep is out the window, work is stressful and E is having a Wonder Week. Those days are only going to get harder (and better) with another little person in the mix so now is the time to strengthen those foundations of ours.

Its also reminded me that its so important not to lose your romantic relationship in the midst of raising children. A close family friend who went through divorce after 2 children and 20+ years of marriage once told me she was blindsided by her husband's request for divorce and her best advice is to always work on your relationship because otherwise the kids become your life and when they're all grown up and moved on, its too late, there is nothing left to work on.

And here are some pics of E hamming it up for his Granny and the camera during his sleepover -