Well it is officially 2012!

Although I accomplished quite a lot in 2011, including completing and passing year 12 and starting up my new online business, I just wasn't satisfied with the way my life was going.

2011 was a funny year. I got far but didn't get far at the same time!

But through the tears, tantrums, giggles and fun I have decided that it is time to settle down, grow up a little bit and get myself sorted out! So here are my 2012 New Years Resolutions:

~ To get Fit and Healthy

2011 saw me getting sick a lot just due to being unhealthy! more vitamins and healthier eating and exercise could easily fix this! so new menus and zumba could be on the cards this year :)

~ Get into University

All I want is a decent job! so I can provide for my family! University is my first step!

~ Writing (finish and start new projects)

One thing I rediscovered over 2011 was my love for writing fiction and I have applied to do a creative writing course at uni! but wether I get in or not I want to write more this year :)

~ Be More Organised

As far as paperwork, school work and business i'm the most organised person on the planet - but look at my house and it is a different story! it is time to be a better housewife and be more organised at home!

~ Get out of debt

Yes! not having a job has proved rather difficult as well as my bad shopping habits! so this year it is time to start a savings jar, stop ridiculous spending habits and get rid of all those past debts!

~ Learn to Swim

Yep! you heard right. I can't swim, in fact being in the water scares me to death! but living in Australia it is one of the main recreations to do! with water slides and pools and the beaches! So this year it is time to tackle the fears and get in the water and swim swim swim.......eeek this one is the scariest on the list for me and will take some time but it has to happen!

~ Run a successful market

This year I have been asked to take over the running of a market! the idea is crazy and fun and I am so excited! But it will take hard work, patience and organisation to get it right! so another goal! make this market amazing! easy right :P

Last One:

~ Be more social and get out and about

This year I was always busy or just too tired and catching up with people was just too hard but it took its toll on me emotionally! i miss people, i miss conversation and so this year I plan to make more of an effort to catch up with people even just for an hour with coffee. I also plan to get out more with my fiance! talk more and spend more quality time together :D

So there is my resolutions for 2012! Some will be tough and some will be easy but I hope to get them all sorted this year!

What are your New Years resolutions?

Liane xxxxx

Christmas Eve 2011!

This year we had so many relatives to visit and partie

s to attend and of course the kids had their other parents families to visit as well so we decided to split our family events over the whole weekend! Christmas Eve we had a lovely lunch at our place with My mummy and siblings :D

All the presents were under the tree ready for the BIG day! and yes the kids were trying desperately to feel what was inside them.....and the cat was doing her best to get into them as well :P

I really enjoyed spending the day with my family! we had a few platters out on the bench including turkey, ham, prawns, salads and fruits! which were perfect for the HOT 36 degree day :D

me and my brother Gerad

My sister and I got lots of giggles in during the day watching movies and hanging out together like sisters do.

And of course all our board games got pulled out! which meant we all decided to go up against Mummy and try and beat her at every game! and we succeeded haha much to our delight.....as when we were younger Mum always seemed to win :P

Overall a great day was had by all and we got to have a little present opening session before they left! everybody was allowed to open one small present! before my family left for home and we all grabbed our pyjamas and got ready for santa......

the kids left a mince pie and milk out for Santa as well as carrots for the reindeer!

Couldn't have asked for a better day :D

Liane xx

Christmas Cookies!

Today the kids and I decided to make some Christmas Cookies :D We made stars, christmas trees, santas and little people :P

It was so much fun and they were so tasty I decided to share the finished product with you and the simple recipe that we used to create them!

Because we can't all be fabulous at baking.....I know that baking is certainly NOT my forte.....which is why I am soooo easily impressed with anyone who can bake more than 12 cookies and make them look amazing! This recipe is just pure simple....which is exactly what you want when baking with little munchkins :D

Basic Biscuit Dough

125g butter (softened)

1/2 cup caster sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 egg

2 cups plain flour

1 tablespoon milk

1 teaspoon baking powder

Christmas Cookie Cutters (mine were from my local Coles)

1. Place all ingredients into a bowl or if you are as cheeky as me throw it all into your electric mixer (I love my mixer) and then just mix away until you get a nice dough.

2. roll into a ball and place in refrigerator for 5 - 10 minutes meanwhile pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees.

3. Sprinkle the benchtop with flour and roll out dough! then cut out as many cookies as you can using the cookie cutters.

4. Place in oven and bake for 10 - 12 mins (time varies on ovens so keep an eye on them)

5. Leave to cool on a wire rack and start preparing the icing!

Basic Biscuit Icing

1 cup icing sugar

2 teaspoons milk

2 teaspoons light corn syrup

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

red and green food colouring

1. In a small bowl stir together sugar and milk until smooth. Beat in corn syrup and almond extract until icing is smooth. If icing is too thick add a small amount more of corn syrup.

2. Divide into seperate bowls and add food colourings to each until you get the desired colour.

Spread onto Cooled Cookies and....

ENJOY!

Liane xx

Fitness Box!

When kids are at school they manage to get learning, reading and fitness all during their school day.....but what happens when they have no school for 6 weeks.....well the answer is simple!

They slack off and end up like couch potatoes!

Well Mummy has decided that these Christmas Holidays we will be trying something new!!

So today we came up with the Fitness Box !

The plan is for the kids to choose an activity from a box....activities will be either small activities such as 50 star jumps or big activities such as a family beach walk......

Here are the papers we wrote out today...........

These will all go into this box...made out of an old cherry punnet box! which isn't completed yet (we still need to glue bits on and make it funky)


The aim of the box is to get the kids involved in phyiscal activity everyday during the holidays! and also spending some quality family time with each other in the process!!

Today we did some dancing!! The kids played Dance Central on the Xbox 360 which I must admit is a real workout!! And then Mummy did a 20 minute express Zumba workout (with Mr eight copying the moves alongside me)

I hope the kids enjoy it!

Liane xx

Pinterest - School Holiday Style

Well today is officially School Holidays and Christmas is fast approaching!
So we all know that the next week is going to be chock fu

ll of christmas cheer and fun! Family gatherings for the kids to

enjoy, great christmas movies for them to

enjoy and lots of ch

ristmas shopping to organise but once Christmas is over the bor

edom of holidays start to set in and then it is Mummy's job to entertain!
These holidays my plan is to get some fun activity ideas from my new favourite website:

Pinterest!

So here are just a few of the ideas that I will be try

ing with my kids these holidays :D

Now my kids are getting older so little activities just aren't exciting anymore! So with an 8 year old and 12 year old I need to get creative:

These donut felt toys look so fun and simple to make.....i' m sure my kids will love making them!

And i'm sure Miss 12 will love to sit down with me and make some of these super COOL friendship bracelets! yep these will bring hours of fun i'm sure :D

There will be plenty of time over the next 6 weeks to get some baking done and these pinwheels look soooo scrummy and FUN!

DIY Clay! need I say more?

Can never get enough of baking! i'm sure the kids will love to create these no bake cake batter balls! YUMMY! and mummy makes cake pops often so i'm sure will these will bring some extra inspiration to my world :D

So there are 5 crazy and fun activities for me to get busy orgainsing! So excited!

I'm sure there will be more......so keep an eye out for future blogs!

What activities will you be doing with your kids these holidays?

Liane xx

A Quick and Easy Meal!

Well today has been a very warm day so even thinking about cooking a meal was making me tired and even more hot and bothered!

So I opted for a quick and extremely simple meal which I would love to share with you!

Southern Fried Chicken and French Onion Homestyle Chips

yum yum yum! and the kids love it too :D
All you need is:

~ 2 x chicken breast fillets
~ potatoes
~ southern fried chicken mix
~ french onion soup mix
~ vegetable oil
~ a salad to serve

First up is to get the chips cooking! as they take the longest......
Heat the oven to 200 degrees.
Peel the potatoes and slice up into thick chips
then place in a bowl add a tablespoon of oil and shake some french onion soup mix over the top! gently toss with your fingers and place on a tray lined with baking paper.
Then place in oven for about 30 - 45 minutes (time varies on different ovens I have discovered)

(my fries just before heading into the oven)

meanwhile slice chicken breast fillets into chunks as big or little as you prefer! I like to cut mine into pieces that resemble KFC's crispy strips! coat evenly with the southern fried chicken mix and fry turning once or twice, until cooked through (about 2 - 3 minutes).

they should come out like this:
Yum!

Once your fries are golden and slightly crispy.....



.........take them out the oven and serve with chicken and a small salad! easy peasy


It is not gourmet and doesn't take much effort at all!
which means it is absolutely perfect :D and scrummy!!

Enjoy!

Liane xx

An Early Unexpected Christmas Gift!

Well this week we have had some adventures.

This gorgeous little kitten has been roaming our garden for the last week....waiting on the doorstep everyday for the kids to get home from school and sitting patiently in the back garden catching some rays and crying for food!

We didn't want to feed the little one in case she never went back home to it's owner but after waiting for days and the poor thing never leaving we decided it was time to take some action.

After hunting the neighbourhood for the owner and having nobody claim her. Mummy (that would me) decided that we should feed her.
Daddy hates cats and has always told us that we can never get a cat!
But it seems even Daddy couldn't resist this gorgeous face!

And so last night the little one (whom Daddy has named Tsuki) was fed and given somewhere warm to sleep and is now a part of the family! much to the excitement of the kiddies :D

Tsuki is a wonderful addition to our family!
She has had no accidents in the house and is extremely cuddly and friendly!

We hope she enjoys staying with us......

Liane xx

Top 5 Christmas Films!

Well the Christmas season has begun and of course I have pulled out all our xmas DVDs to start watching. But I do have certain favourites that I can never get enough of.....

So today I am going to share with you my top 5 Christmas flicks:

1. The Snowman ever since I can remember my mummy would put this film on every Christmas and it is a tradition that hasn't changed. This film is absolutely beautiful and my kids love it even though it has no words just gorgeous music. The kids follow the story and yep mummy cries everytime.........

2. Love Actually Now this film has EVERYTHING, laughs, loads of great actors, romance, christmas and dramas.....such a great flick and I fall more in love with the characters and the storyline every time I watch it.....including the over aged rock star haha!

3. Home Alone this one is one of my kids ultimate favourite movies and i'm so glad! this movie just plain rocks! how cute is Macauley Culkin? and the film is just hilarious and clever! add a great soundtrack and christmas and I don't need to say anymore :D

4. Miracle on 34th Street This one is pure sweetness. I love movies where people learn to believe....and this one is perfect! cuteness all around from little Mara Wilson and even Mr Dylan McDermott (yum) hehe......watch this once and you'll be a believer for life just like me :P

5. The Holiday now The Holiday I love because everyone deserves some love at christmas and this film shows that true love is out there.....absolutely gorgeous and I get some eye candy with Jude Law who is absolutely gorgeous in this one. There are giggles to be had and tears to cry which is why this one makes my top 5.....I always watch this one more than once during the Christmas season....

Ok so that is my top 5 favourite Christmas movies.......If you haven't seen them I suggest you organise some movie nights and head out and hire these to kick start your Christmas season. Grab some popcorn and maybe some mince pies covered in brand custard and ENJOY!

Liane xx

The Excitement of Christmas

Well it is that time of the year again....

CHRISTMAS!!

And I get extremely over excited during the Christmas season!

This year will be no diferent! Our tree is already up and sparkling it's beautiful lights throughout the house! My favourite Santa ornament is up and watching to see who is naughty or nice....



And Mrs Claus is in my kitchen spreading good luck on all my new christmas recipes for the upcoming christmas parties and just to enjoy throughout the christmas season....

the christmas songs are being played frequently in the house and being sung by all members of the family including me who has been annoying everyone with regular viewings of the wiggles "wiggly wiggly christmas"

I am ever so excited! and coming up over the next few weeks will be the journey and adventures of the 2011 christmas season from my fairy-tale mansion :D

Liane xx

Pinterest!

Yep I have become obsessed with Pinterest recently!
I absolutely love it and spend hours of my time just browsing all the wonderful ideas and pics just wishing for the day when I can have everything and visit everywhere! it is like the new chocolate and soppy romantic movie to cure a woman's blue days :D

Well this week on Pinterest I have taken a particular interest in some ideas for the kids!
and gosh! there are a lot.....here is a peek at some of the things I enjoyed and hope to make over the holidays to help organise the household better and entertain the kids...



The Journal Jar: love this idea...fill a jar with all sorts of topics for kids to write about in their journal. I'm very big on writing in my house and my kids are getting to that age where they should start keeping journals! or fill it with homework ideas!

This one is also a great idea "Tech Tickets" don't know if my kids would like me but basically each week you give the kids 10 tickets and each ticket is worth 30 minutes of technology. T.V, computer games, internet etc. You can use the tickets whenever but once they are gone that's it!......great idea for kids who spend too much time in front of a screen :D



HaHa now this one I love just because of the name "Crap Baskets" this one is simple and easy.....Mummy (that would be me) collects things that have been left out around the house as the day goes on and at the end of the day everyone takes their basket to bed with them and packs it all away.....great for those little items that get overlooked and end up under the couch most of the time.
Wish I had the stairs to make the baskets look even cooler! (hint hint hubby)

Well if you haven't discovered Pinterest yet I highly recommend taking a peek and checking out the wide world of ideas, fashion tips, recipes and much more :D

Liane xx