Mum

My mum and my 4 kiddies. xxxxx

On the 15th July 2012, my mother passed away from Cancer. This is why I have been away. I have been far too numb, weak and tired to blog. I won't apologize, as I think this is a normal human reaction.

She was diagnosed with Gall Bladder Cancer in November last year, almost exactly 2 weeks after my grandmother passed away. So we have gone from nursing my grandmother, to nursing my mother. It has been had hard few years. But the last month of my life, have been a blurry hell. I have barely been home. It has been a blessing that Chris has been able to be off work for so long as we get things in place for our move to QLD. He has taken the reins at home with the kids and the housework, and the cooking, for me, so I could spend time with my mum. For this I am eternally grateful to him. I got to spend the time with her, just me and her, without having to keep kids in line.

I am having very vivid flashes in my head of her last breath. I blink and I see it, it stops me in my tracks. You see, no one else was with me when she passed. My Aunty was outside on the phone. It was just me. We knew it was close. So she was calling my other Aunty to come over. So I sat and told my mum a story, about how she will get to see her mum again, and they can go fishing off a pier and catch rainbow coloured fish. Then they could sit on the beach and eat fish and chips. And walk hand in hand into the sunset. I hated seeing her in pain, so I whispered to her that it was ok. Ok to go into the sunset with nanna. About 30 seconds after I said that, she was gone, and I was left sobbing in the lounge room of her home, alone, holding her hand and wishing she would take another breathe so I could tell her once again that I loved her.

I have been floating in a blurred state the last 2 weeks, the first week I had to plan her funeral totally on my own. I had never done that before, and it was hard, scary, and horridly sad. I cried like a baby when reading her eulogy, and I am not embarrassed to admit that. But I stood there, on my own, and said what I wanted to say, about a lady that had a heart of gold, soul of an angel, and the kindness of a saint. My mum.

Mum, I will love you always, and there will not be a day I won't think about you. xxxx

Dancing Queen - Take 2!

Well I am bragging today! My Miss8 Holly had her dancing concert last weekend, and she did a FANTASTIC job!! I am a very proud mumma! 

All glittered up! The amount of Hairspray, and glitter hairspray, in this room, was enough to choke all us mums!!

Eating! LOL

Ready for the 2nd dance. Note: Her lippy has not smeared, she had red powerade! LOL!

....and chips! lol

The gang! (Holly is the one laying down!) :)

Well thats my little brag for tonight! :) 

Tiff xx 

Costco Rocks!

A few months back I got a Costco membership. I went down with another mum from school and we had a BALL! It was great to get out and do stuff together.
On the weekend I convinced hubby to let me stop there, so he could see the bargains for himself (and to pick up a few more things lol).

This is what we got:

$15 - Meat Lovers

It was too big to fit in my oven! I had to cut it in half! :O

18 pack  2 Min Noodles = $10

5kg Long grain Rice $7.50

2x 1kg Nutella $9

12 x tins diced tomatoes $7.50 & 6 jars (700ml) passata sauce $5

Shredded Ham - $8

2 x 750g packs

Koala March 25xlittle packs (like tiny teddies kind of) $7

1 kg! Minced Garlic $5

I am so impressed with what they have to offer! I would highly recommend people to go if you can. I am waiting until Tax time when I can take a lot of money in, and stock up for a few months! Looking forward to it. If anyone has any questions about Costco, please feel free to ask. Its really quite daunting spending $60 on a membership on something you don't know much about. :)

Quick, easy Cannelloni!

 Easy Lamb Cannelloni.


You will need: 
- Fresh lasagne sheets
- 600g Lamb Mince (or beef, I had lamb though)
- 700g Jar pasta sauce
- 3 tsp Tuscan seasoning
- 100g Feta cheese, crumbled
- Mozzarella Cheese, grated

The Play Room

Recently we did a 'room swap'. We swapped our 'living area' with our lounge room. It has worked wonders for us as we have now made the lounge room a Play Room/Study area. Here is some pics!

3 x Flat packs! $59 each from The Warehouse.

Mums Swedish Meatballs!

My mum calls this recipe Swedish Meatballs. I don't know what make them Swedish, but its a cool name so I am going to stick with it :)

Ok so you need:
1 large carrot, grated
1kg Sausage Mince
About half cup breadcrums
1 egg
2 cans tomato soup
Anything extra you want to add, grated zucchini for example
Salt and Pepper - of course!

This is how you do it:

1 - Put your grated carrot in a bowl with your sausage mince bread crumbs egg and any extras. Season with salt and pepper.

2 - Squish it all together with your hands until its all combined. This is really fun, maybe a good one to get the kids to help with!

3 - Roll meat mixture into meatball sizes.

4 - Brown edges in a frying pan with a little bit of oil. Do this in batches so you don't over crowd your pan.

5 - Put all the meatballs back into the frying pan, and add 2 cans tomato soup to the pan.

6 - Bring to the boil, then allow to simmer until the meatballs are cooked through - about 30 minutes, depending on how big you make them.

7 - Serve with rice, mashed potato or whatever else you would like.

8 - Clean up - this is the bad part!

Note: I sometimes add some dried mixed herb if I have them and remember to the meatball mixture.

Cheese and Bacon Rolls

 My kids LOVE Cheese and Bacon Rolls, here is my recipe. I make double batches and freeze what I can salvage from when they were originally baked, Great for School Lunches.

CHEESE AND BACON ROLLS. (Single batch, works just as well if you double everything)