Cameron's in the kitchen.

Once a week, after homework, Cameron and I do some easy cooking, just for something different.   He enjoys making treats for himself and his sister, and something that can occasionally be packed in his lunch box for school that he can show off.  I expect he does that, because I remember I used to do that when I was at school.  Behold! - my homemade treat.

Most mums probably know this recipe already; these are cheap and dead easy, you can make them on a whim and throw them in the freezer ahead of time, pulling them out when little unexpected visitors drop by, or for impromptu school parties.  If you process the biscuits into crumbs for the kids beforehand, they can basically be left to make these themselves (save for opening the can of milk -  gosh, I hate those tin-can lids).

Chocolate Coconut Truffles

250g plain sweet biscuits (we use Arnott's Milk Arrowroot)
1/2 cup desiccated coconut
2 tablespoons cocoa
340g tin condensed milk
about 1/2 - 3/4 cup of desiccated coconut, extra.  Put this measure onto a flat plate.

Pulverise the biscuits into fine crumbs in a food processor (I do this earlier in the day - Sophie's usually falling off to sleep when Cameron's in the kitchen).  Pop them into a mixing bowl with the first measure of coconut and the cocoa.  Mix to combine.

Pour the entire can of condensed milk into the dry mixture and stir it in thoroughly.  You may need to use your hands to push and combine everything together.  When you can mould it into a big ball shape and it all sticks together nicely, your on the money.

Roll the mixture into balls of about one inch.  Drop the balls onto the flat plate of coconut and roll them about until covered.  Refrigerate to set.

Another added bonus with these is that they only take about fifteen to twenty minutes to make, which includes cleaning up time.  Yahoo!  And very popular with little sisters, too.  So much so, they may try to fit two or three into their mouth at one time when you are not looking. 

Clowning about

I had just enough black linen to make this smock.  I'm managing (albeit, slowly) to get rid of some of the fabric remnants that have been hanging around in bags scattered over my sewing room floor.  I'm beginning to see the carpet again - hooray!

The pom poms are not permanent fixtures, but just a couple of quickies I made that have brooch pins on the back.  I went to see Cirque du Soleil's production of Ovo on Saturday.  Wow, what a brilliant show that was!  So, it really seemed a bit boring to come home and photograph a plain black smock after having my brain burning with all that colour!   So I thought I'd have a bit of fun and play dress-ups with it.

 

 But as fun as that looks, Sophie would have those pom poms ripped out and stuffed in her mouth within a minute, so the de-clowned version is probably a safer bet for everyday wear.

Franken-bunny paper doll

It has been persisting with rain over the last few nights, so it was time to drag out the craft box and have a muck about.  Cameron and I started this a couple of nights ago, and finished it tonight (we had a break last night because I was at work, and arts and crafts isn't Paul's thing.  They watched Iron Man cartoons instead).

It's basically lots of cardboard scraps and odds and sods and magazine pages stuck together with paper fasteners.  And then all tied up with a lovely bow.

 

Check out the baby penguin foot.  That was totally his idea.  We'll just call it quirky.

 

♫ One of these days.. ♫

...I might do something other than a shirt re-fashion.  Yeah, that'd be nice!

This is a re-fit for Sophie.  I originally found this Foo Fighters 2005 European tour tee at a local second hand store, snapped it up immediately and took it home with the intention of adjusting the boxy-ness out of it and wearing it myself.   Then I got pregnant and very fat and no amount of adjusting was going to make it fit, so I forgot about it.

I found it again when Cameron was about four, and made it into a shirt for him, but I sort of botched it up around the neck.  I think he wore it about twice and it's been shamefully hiding away in his bottom drawer since then.  I came across it the other day and thought I'd butcher it again, for old times sake, slicing it down to a size 3T sort of tunic thing, which Sophie can wear with leggings and sneakers.
 

Luckily,  Sophie likes cows.

This poor, poor shirt.  I sort of wish I had kept it in it's original state now, because I can get really grotty at work and I never have enough black t-shirts.  What are the chances of finding another one like this in this neck of the woods?  I'd say quite probably impossible.

....oooo, lunch time. 

Spotty.

...sorry for the pictures - washed out!  Even the bright bits look dull.  I probably should have waited for a sunnier day to take photos, but I haven't posted anything for a while and, well, I just felt I had to do it today.  Once I make the bottoms to go with this, I'll re-post a better picture (which I promise will be taken after a better ironing effort - gee WHIZ!  Nothing's going right today!)

The last plum...

...drats!  I wanted that.

It's been nearly two weeks already...

...and I'm still getting used to life without my dear dog, Tiera.  I'm still getting use to not letting her out into the yard before we leave the house.  I'm still getting use to not hearing her huff and snuffle throughout her marathon naps.  And I'm still getting used to not having to check the back lawn for poos before I let the kids outside (which you'd think would be a good thing, but I'm finding I'm missing even those not-very-nice parts of pet ownership).  Thank you to everyone who left their lovely thoughts and messages, both here and via email, and to those real-life friends who offered me hugs and kind words and tissues when I found myself welling up.  Bless you. x