A Change of Plan

Greetings from the farm. I haven't posted for a day or 2, and there is a very good reason for this. We were planning to drive a couple of loads of stuff we don't really need (books, keyboard etc) down to the farm on Thursday or Friday. However, the weather forecast was not looking good, so on Sunday morning we made the decision to fast forward the move to Tuesday. Thank goodness we did! Tuesday's weather was beautiful, but it has been raining since then (also a good thing - we need more rain on the farm).

The tough thing about the change of plan was that we had to cram into 2 days what was going to be hard to achieve in 4. It was crazy busy and more than a little stressful. We had to pack all the things we wanted to move, rearrange the things we didn't, and keep the kids from mixing the 2 up. Sometimes it felt like 1 step forward, 2 steps back. Our house looked like a bomb had gone off. There was stuff everywhere.

In amongst this, we also needed to pack clothes etc to be away for a while, The Country Boy had to go and buy materials to renovate our farm house a little, and I needed to take Meg to the Children's Hospital for a checkup (she had hip dysplasia as a baby and had to wear a brace - all fine now).

Fortunately, we got there in the end, and are now ensconced in my lovely in laws house for a few days whilst we do some organising, and as I write this the rain is falling on the tin roof, the kids are playing happily and  I am sitting by the fire! 

Loss of (my) Innocence

Hannah has just got to the stage where she can confidently read chapter books.  She is so proud of herself. I am also excited because I have got out a lot of the books I used to read when I was about her age or a little older. In particular, I have got out a stack of  Enid Blyton books I used to read over and over again. Many of them are very brown and have pages just about coming out, but they are classic books which I loved.

She and I were reading The Faraway Tree together, when I discovered something; Jo, Bessie, and Fanny's parents were not, shall we say, great parents. Even before we discuss choice of names (poor Fanny); would you let your 9, 7, and 5 year old go off to the woods (where you have never been) for a whole day? What about letting them hang about with strange people, including one who claims to not know his own name, and one who wears saucepans all over his body? I consider myself to be fairly relaxed and trusting of others but I don't imagine I will be allowing my kids to do this.

In the books, the children's father "looses" a great deal of money at one point, forcing the mother to take in extra washing to make ends meet. It seems however, that Bessie (the 7 year old) does most of it (child labour!), and then gets in trouble when she accidentally scorches a table cloth she was ironing. Jo gets in trouble for breaking a spade whilst planting potatoes.

When their mother gets sick, Jo goes and gets a magic potion for her AND SHE DRINKS IT!!!  I cannot imagine trying any "magic" potions my kids whip up. In addition to this they never seem to go to school. I know kids can be home schooled, but I am not sure that ironing and digging potatoes is considered a rounded education.

This is just one series too. A whole family literally joins the circus in another series, and in another the kids run the boarding school (though they are more officious than most adults). And don't even start me on Secret Seven!

Clearly Enid Blyton was writing for another time. Her goodies are good, and her baddies are bad; Children are independent and resourceful, and do not need parents other than to provide the occasional piece of bread and dripping. The adventures are always exciting and there is always a happy ending.

There is something beautifully innocent about the stories. Hannah is loving them. I loved them as a child too, but am having trouble reading them as an adult. My modern "grown up" perspective is saying "what are the parents thinking?". I don't want to read anymore… it is spoiling the memories for me.

What books did you love as a child? Have you read them as an adult and had a similar experience to me?

Things for kids to do

School holidays have just begun here, and although I don't think lack of things to do is going to be a problem in our house, I am sharing some of the great kid activities that I have found on Pinterest. If we don't do them these holidays, I am sure we will do them another time.

This magic milk paint looks fun and easy, and I don't need to go and buy anything; it is all in the cupboard.



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 This salt painting is one of the first things I "pinned". It looks beautiful!



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These hearts are beautiful and easy. I was thinking of changing the shape to stars or something similar for Christmas.

 



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Hannah was asking us just the other day whether we could get some more fish (ours die with alarming regularity). I don't want to get any more with us moving house soon. Maybe this aquarium will do?



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If she doesn't like the above aquarium, maybe this would be fun to make!


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If you would like to see some more of my Pinterest-ing finds for kids, click here. Alternatively you can follow me on Pinterest by clicking on the button on the side bar.


I'm linking up with tinagray{dot}me for "Ooh that's Pinteresting" (though for the life of me, I cannot make the button thing work)

Colin

We are off to a Colin Buchanan concert tomorrow afternoon. In our house we LOVE Colin (we are also on a first name basis - mention Colin and there is no need to say anymore, we know what you are talking about!). The Country Boy and I love him because his music is actually good (how many children's musicians can say this?) and the messages are also excellent. The kids love him because the music is good and he is "super" crazy and funny!



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We have been to 2 concerts before and they are also great. When we go we always run into soooo many people we know. The lower mountains really is quite a small community!

At the previous 2 concerts Colin shot off streamers and confetti at the end of the concert, and my kids enjoyed picking up the confetti and putting it into a clean nappy sack to take home as a souvenir (hello there recycling bin). They have been looking forward to this all week!

The first concert we went to Meg was only 14 months. She was a good walker and we had a hard time keeping her from joining the mosh pit of 8 year olds. We went a second time last year and had a ball. I don't know who is more excited about the concert tomorrow - me or the kids!

What great events have you enjoyed taking the kids to?

Nacho Nacho Man!

Nachos are always popular in our family. So the girls were particularly happy that the meal plan had nachos for last night. By coincidence I made nachos with one of my classes last week. We made the usual, lots of meat - no vegetable variety. The kids at school loved it and we all sang "Nacho Nacho Man" (a Simpsons reference) for the rest of the afternoon.

At home I make nachos differently to the "proper" way. One of the ways I get the kids to eat more vegetables is to "hide" them in food. Nachos is a great recipe to do this, because it tastes great, and they are too busy eating with their fingers to notice the vegetables. Hannah counted 10 vegetables in this one and was very impressed!

The only down side is that once again I am singing "Nacho Nacho Man" in my head.

Ingredients - Meat and Vegetable Sauce - Serves 6

1T olive oil

400g mince

1 onion - finely diced

1 celery stick - finely diced

2 garlic cloves - chopped

1 carrot - finely cut*

1 zucchini - finely cut

1t cumin

1t coriander

1/2 t chilli powder (or to taste)

1 can of borlotti beans - drain and rinse well (trust me on this), then mash or puree.

1 can of corn

1 can of diced tomatoes

Ingredients - salsa

2 tomatoes

1/2 cucumber

1 avocado

Nachos

1c grated cheese

1/2 c low fat sour cream

1 packet corn chips (I tend get mine in a deli - they often have other vegetables in them, which makes them look pretty, and they contain a lot less salt than Doritos or similar. Their fat contents are much the same though.)

1. Brown the meat in the oil.

2. Add the onion, celery and garlic and cook until softened.

3. Add in the carrot and zucchini and cook a further 2 minutes.

4. Add in cumin coriander, and chilli powder.

5. Add in the corn, tomato and pureed beans.

6. Add a small amount of water to bring the ingredients together.

7. Adjust seasoning.

8. Allow to simmer 10-15 minutes.

9. Place corn chips around the edge of a dish.

10. Put the meat and vegetable sauce in the center. Top with cheese.

11. Place in oven or under grill until cheese is melted and almost golden.

12. Dice tomato, cucumber, and avocado. Combine in a bowl.

13. Top with salsa and sour cream.

This made heaps more than we ate for dinner, but the country boy happily volunteered to have the leftovers for lunch!

* I have a cheap Japanese mandolin which I use to finely cut vegetables. They are quite lethal looking, but make cutting up veggies much easier, especially when there is a lot that need to be finely cut - just remember to use the guard.

Chatterbox

Toby has turned into quite a little chatterbox. He can't actually use words yet (why would he, when we understand and cater to his every whim anyway?!) but his little, musical "ah dah"s form a background sound track to our lives. The only time he stops is when someone has left the bathroom door open and he has snuck in - perhaps he thinks by being quiet we won't notice.

Sunday was a particularly chatty day. We woke to the sounds of him singing in his cot. In church, he was merrily chatting away to himself and distracting all the people behind us. We took his favourite toys, including his onion (yes a real onion - he really likes playing with them for some reason), but he still preferred just to chat. After his sleep he "helped" the Country Boy to paint the front entrance to the house and spent the afternoon chatting to himself.

I know that in no time at all he will be talking away, but right now I love hearing his little voice.

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A weekend in pictures

Well the weekend was gorgeous. Beautiful weather meant we spent most of the time outside. Have a look at what we got up to!

We had some rugs that needed cleaning so we hired a steam cleaner and spread them out in the back yard to dry. Once they were (almost) dry the girls took the opportunity to enjoy playing on carpet outside.

Hannah got her face painted at a fete for the local nursing home. This is a big achievement, because Hannah has never liked having strangers come near enough to her to get her face painted. I was so proud that she actually wanted to do it.

The Country Boy painted our front entrance with Toby's enthusiastic "assistance".

We got a new (secondhand) couch and got rid of an old one. We put the old one out the back and the kids enjoyed playing on it for an hour.

Hannah has been studying animals at school. She and Meg "caught" a snail and put it in a container. It's name is Kelly. I've never really felt sorry for a snail before, but the phrase "killing with kindness" certainly comes to mind.

I began packing boxes - again with Toby's "assistance". He can unpack almost as quickly as I can pack. We are hoping to take alot of bits and pieces down to the farm these school holidays, so I am trying to work out what we need to pack now. I also managed to stuff my back up - which doesn't bode well for the rest of the move!

Despite this, the weather was beautiful, the kids loved spending time outside, and we had a relaxing weekend.

What did you get up to this weekend?

Addicted

I have a new addiction - I love pinterest! I have only just discovered it, and I am trying very hard not to spend too much time on it, but there are soooo many beautiful things. I could sit there and pin away all day. I also love that I can put all the great ideas I find in the one place to access (my favourites bar was getting too full).

So I am sharing some of the beautiful things I have found on pinterest this week…

Peanutbutter Nutella Cookies - yum. The Country Boy also enjoys pinterest (using my account of course) and found this recipe, which he just had to make. As always I am only too happy to support him making delicious food! Oh my, they are goooood!

Delightful bites

 Lime and Coconut cookies - The Country Boy also made these this week, and unsurprisingly these are also delicious. He didn't roll them in sugar like the recipe says, but they were still delicious.



The girl who ate everything

Caramel Apple Cheesecake Dip

I had this once at a party and love it... so one day soon I am going to try it again.



half-baked baker

Caramelised Strawberry and Banana

This may have to wait until Bananas are no longer so expensive.

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Frozen Fruit Iceblocks

This looks like a great summer treat!



We heart it

 

You can see more of my pinterest finds by clicking on the button on the sidebar!

Linking up today with Tina Gray for That’s Pinterest-ing.

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I am a winner!!!!

Yesterday evening was a bit chaotic (Thursday evening is always crazy at our house), The Country Boy was having a shower with Toby, and I was attempting a post dinner clean up with the girls when there was a knock at the door.....

Look at the hamper that was delivered!!!

An explanation - since I started blogging, I have noticed that some blogs (with more readers than I have) have giveaways. Often all you have to do is leave an appropriate comment. Well on Monday I got an email from Kate of Picklebums telling me I had won a hamper worth $100 from Aldi. Yay!

By coincidence I had just written a comment on A little space like home, where I had said that I didn't want to win lotto. You can read my comment there if you want to know why. I still don't want to win lotto, but I am more than happy to win hampers.

The girls were super excited (I was too)! I had to hold them back so that they didn't just rip into everything! They were particularly impressed with the lollies, dried fruit, and jam. They made an effort to be interested in the baking tray and breadcrumbs!

Hannah reads every label just to check what it is.

Meg can't believe her luck - a huge packet of lollies!

After the kids were in bed, The Country Boy and I tried some of the organic, fair trade chocolate and watched Gourmet farmer. A great way to end a busy day!

What great (or otherwise) things have you won?

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Smile!

For my mother's birthday, my siblings and I had a "family" photo shoot. My mother is so hard to think of a present for. We thought whilst we had all of us in the one country and town, we should try and get some photos of us all together. We then put them in a frame for mum's birthday.

The instructions were pretty simple. Everyone turn up in coloured t-shirts, smile cooperatively and we will take a whole lot of photos. Well that was the idea. 8 adults (I have 2 sisters and a brother, plus their husbands/wife) and 5 children (including 2 babies) meant that it wasn't as simple as we thought.

  

We had to get all the combinations: couples, families, girls, boys, siblings, in-laws, kids. Wrangling everyone to be in the right place, looking happy etc. was a task worthy of a navy logistics specialist.

It took 329 photos but we got there in the end and had fun while we were doing so.

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Osso Bucco

At work we have an agriculture department, complete with a couple of sheep, some chickens, plenty of space for some crops, and a few steers. The steers are always entered into a competition to see which school can raise the best steer in the "hoof and hook" competition. Agriculture is about producing food and resources for humans, not a petting zoos, and this is one of the realities of farm life.

Recently one of our school steers was slaughtered for the competition, with the resulting meat being of such a high quality that you would be hard pressed to find it in a butcher (most restaurants get this quality first). One of my colleagues and I went halves in a box of meat. The meat quality is beautiful, but I am finding myself cooking meals with cuts of meat I have rarely use (we are lamb eaters  - we farm sheep after all).

Osso Bucco is one of those cuts which I know I should have used, but just haven't.

After reading around the internet for some inspiration, here is what I have done with it:

Ingredients

2 pieces of osso bucco beef (approx 600g)

1T olive oil

1 onion - finely diced

1 celery stick - diced

1 carrot - diced

2 garlic cloves finely sliced

1c white wine

400g tin chopped tomatoes

1T tomato paste

1 bay leaf

1 small bunch of thyme (our thyme is looking a bit sad at the moment so we don’t have much)

Method

1. Heat oil in an oven proof pan and seal meat well.
2. Remove from pan and set to one side
3. Add onion, celery and carrot and cook for 2 minutes until softened and slightly caramelised
4. Add garlic and cook 1 minute more

1. Add white wine, chopped tomatoes, tomato paste, bay leaf and thyme
2. Return meat to pan and immerse in sauce

7. Cover well and place in oven for approx 2 hours or until the meat is falling from the bones. Check seasoning and adjust.

8. Serve with mash, or polenta

Yum!

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Nesting Instincts

On the way home from Mary Poppins on Saturday night (which, incidentally, was brilliant!), we somehow got talking about the nesting instinct - that insatiable need to get the house ready for the impending baby which many women feel, and which is often a sign that labor is going to set in soon.

I only had one labor for my 3 children - the younger 2 were caesareans (there is a whole other post about that sometime!) - but I certainly got the nesting instinct.

Toby was born 2 days later, but no nesting instinct!

Hannah was due on December 10, but the day came and went uneventfully, as did the next couple of days. The weather was hot, and the complications I was suffering meant that it was nearly impossible for me to stand up for more than 10 minutes without fainting. Needless to say I wanted the baby out.

On the morning of December 16 I woke up, and for some unexplainable reason decided that the house needed cleaning. It was already pretty good (there were no kids to make a mess!), but I discovered there were fingerprints on the light switches and door handles. Like a woman possessed, I had to get these light switches clean. I worked like a demon, scrubbing the light switches, and miraculously managed to stay upright for up to an hour at a time before needing to lie down for half an hour (this was more than I had managed in about 3 months). Unsurprisingly, I went into labor that night, though it was another 30 hours before we met Hannah for the first time.

A friend of mine tells of how, at 40 weeks, she decided that her husband's work ute was disgusting and in the 40*c heat, was out washing and vacuuming it furiously, refusing to listen to her husband who said he would do it.

The Country Boy says he almost wishes I had gone into labor with the other 2 kids - I might have managed to clean something else in a fit of nesting. More likely I would have found something equally unnecessary to do (alphabetize the spice rack, sort the towels out according the light spectrum etc.), rather than do something useful like scrub the toilet or vacuum.

Did you have a nesting urge? Did you do anything crazy or unnecessary?

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A Technological Issue

One of the things that has happened since I began blogging is that we have discovered we (the Country Boy and I) cannot share very well. Let me clarify this. We share child care, cars, chores etc fairly well; we even share desserts well (mostly); we do not share 1 laptop well at all.

I want to get onto the computer once the kids go to bed to write posts, read blogs, and do other "important" bloggy type things. CB will tell you that he has some equally important thing he needs to do.

I have a small laptop from work. It is one of those laptops that are given to all year 9 students to allow them to play games use technology in their learning. Unfortunately it's screen is miniscule, it is 3 years old, and it takes 5 minutes to load facebook. In addition to this, I have to return it to work when I take leave at the end of the year. Obviously it is far from ideal.  

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CB thinks that because I have the school laptop, he should be able to use our home laptop (which was bought in my name). I think because it is bought in my name, I should use it. Obviously we are at an impasse.

In the spirit of marital harmony, I have come up with a solution to this problem - I am about to purchase another laptop. Then we can just disagree over who has which laptop.

Old Friends

Yesterday I went over to my parents house and had lunch with them and my godmother. My mother has known my godmother since they were in 5th class (over 50 years), which I think is incredible.

When I kid my godmother would come up and stay with us after work, and spend the evening chatting to my parents once we kids had been put to bed. Typically, I remember she always bought us smarties!

Yesterday they told us stories of what they used to get up to as kids, and teenagers, and remembered people from their past. Many of the stories I have heard before, but it is always great to hear them again. They also talked about what they were up to and their plans for the future.

This weekend I am off to see Mary Poppins with some friends who I went to school with. We have known each other for about 22 years (hardly any time compared to my mother). We don't see each other as often as we should - children keep us all busy - but I am really looking forward to meeting up.

I imagine we will share stories of our past and our plans for our future over dinner afterwards (without kids interrupting us too!).

Hopefully in another 30 years, we will telling stories to each others children and grandchildren about what we got up to when we were young.

Where I was on September 11, 2001

I imagine over the weekend there will be a lot of posts and articles appearing about the 9/11 anniversary. It was after all one of the defining moments of our lives. My father talks about JFK's assasination, and man walking on the moon. I can remember the death of Princess Diana too. Culturally though, I think 9/11 has changed the way we live more than any other moment in recent history

The Country Boy and I spent 2001 living and working in England. Over the summer we backpacked around Europe. We had gone through Germany, Austria, France and Spain. So by September we were in Sorrento in southern Italy. We had explored Pompei, caught a bus down the Amalfi coast and sat on the beach in Positano eating gelato.

We were soaking up every moment and enjoying the Mediterranean climate. It was late afternoon and we were in our cabin where we were camping just out of the town, when another backpacker came back and we heard snippets of conversations. Some one said that a plane had flown into the Empire State Building. We raced up to the office to see what was on the television. Unfortunately my Italian was limited to what I had learnt in primary school (I could ask the way to the toilet and play "what's the time, Mr Wolf" very well!) so I didn't understand what was being said, but the images said enough.

Later we decided to go get dinner in Sorrento and found a "Irish" pub with pay tv (I know - who want to go to an Irish pub in Southern Italy???) and sat there watching gobsmacked what was going on.

The aftermath of that becomes rather blurry for me because the Country Boy caught the worst flu ever and spent the next 3 weeks very sick (giving us some interesting stories about Italian Hospitals etc). I know that we had trouble trying to take medication onto our flight back to London (no carry on luggage at all!). I know too that there seemed to be a change in the 'vibe' of the people we met. Certainly it dominated the conversations we had.

That time seems to me to be a time in my life of heightened experience. I didn't know anyone personally affected by the events of 9/11. No-one we knew had anyone lost or injured. And yet something had changed for us personally, and I am sure that most people feel this way too.

Getting Kids to Eat

At work the other day I was talking to some students about the importance of teaching children healthy eating habits. It made me reflect on how far we have come in getting our kids to eat. Most parents agree that it is a good idea to teach kids healthy eating habits, but there is also a reality of trying to 'negotiate' with a toddler who refuses to eat anything that isn't white.

My girls have never been terrible eaters. Meg is currently in a no meat phase (which is fine), and Hannah, thanks to her Kindy teacher (to whom I am very grateful), believes you have to try every food at least 30 times before you are allowed to not like it. However over the years we have had to deal with food fads and phases.

Mmmm, this is yummy!

As a kid, I distinctly remember having to eat soggy weetbix for lunch (it only happened once). I was probably extremely painful and deserved what I got, but I don't remember that part. What I do remember is being locked in a battle of wills over food. Even before I had kids, I knew that I did not want to fight with them over food.

When Hannah was about 2 she refused to eat anything at dinner time. Not wanting to make her eat something she didn't want to, we gave her the option of a vegemite sandwich instead. Stupid move. Though we would rather our tasty dinner, 2 year olds prefer to eat vegemite sandwiches all day everyday.

We pressed on, having pasta every other night so that she would eat something other than vegemite sandwiches.

At the same time the Country Boy started cooking with her. She seemed happy to eat food that she had helped cook, so slowly the repertoire of food she would eat expanded. Eventually we got to the point where she would happily eat a wide range of food but would still eat only a little bit before requesting a vegemite sandwich. So the sandwiches had to go.

Now our rule is you don't have to eat what is served, but you don't get anything else.

We continue to cook with the kids as often as we can, particularly on weekends. We order our vegetables through Hannah's school fruit and vegetable co-op, which she loves, and we have started putting up a menu plan. The kid's help choose the meals and love to "help" grocery shopping. CB is a life long garden lover and has got the kids growing lots of vegetables.

Meg still doesn't love meat, but surprisingly is starting to like chicken. She will eat as much as she wants and isn't fading away. Hannah is getting more and more enthusiastic about healthy eating and is willing to try new foods at last. It has been a long journey but finally I feel that they are embracing eating healthily. Now we just have to train Toby!

What are your tricks or tips do you have to encourage your kids to eat well?

Changes

The reality of our upcoming move is beginning to dawn on the girls. Hannah in particular is feeling quite sad about the idea of leaving her school and friends. She knows that she won't be at her school next year, but can't really envisage what life will look like. Consequently she is feeling a bit stressed by the changes.

Of course everybody feels stress during times of change, but Hannah feels it more than many other children.

We have been talking about how we imagine life will be on the farm with her. She is looking forward to having chickens, riding her bike to her grandparents' house, and having lots of room to play. She is not looking forward to leaving her friends in the mountains and moving away from her house and cousins.

I lived in the same house my entire childhood, and so did the Country Boy so we don't really understand how she is feeling. I know that once we get there it will be a good thing for our family, but right now I feel a bit guilty about moving her on a whim of ours.

Help me please! How can I help the girls make the adjustment to the country life? All advice gladly received!

A Sound Track for My Life

At the garage sale I had recently, I put out all our old tapes for free, and was quite surprised when someone took MC Hammer and several other tapes best forgotten about, and never admitted to.

It got me thinking about mix tapes. When I was 13 or 14 we used to make "mix tapes" of our favourite songs for our friends and swap them. The songs were always terribly meaningful. With ipods you can now have 2000 of your favourite songs with you at all times, meaning you don't need to choose which songs you will listen to for the day. This can be a good thing, but there is something nice (in a retro way) about the idea of having 10 or so songs that represent a time in your life or provide a soundtrack for your life.

So here is my challenge: Pick 10 songs that I would put on a mix tape for a soundtrack of my life (so far). Here is what I finally chose:

1. A World Of Our Own - the Seekers. One of my earliest memories is listening to mix tapes of my parents in the car when we drove to Newcastle to visit our grandparents. They were big Seekers fans. I was always a little confused by the words - how do you build a world?

2. Girls Just Want To Have Fun - Cyndi Lauper. In 4th class I saw the movie 'Girls just want to have fun' starring a young Helen Hunt and Sarah Jessica Parker with some friends at a sleep over. I knew that when I was in High School I wanted to be just like those girls… I was going to have fun too!

3. You’re The Voice - John Farnham. I can still remember lying in bed listening to John Farnham live at Expo88. I taped it off the radio and listened to it constantly for the next few years. My poor sister probably hated it because we shared a bedroom. I have introduced Hannah and Meg to John Farnham recently and they like him too!

4. Surfin' USA - The Beach Boys. Again this was one off my parents mix tapes. It reminds me of long, hot summers, jumping on the trampoline with the boy who lived next door.

5. Every Step You Take - The Police. The first tape I ever bought was The Best of The Police. I got it the same year I got my "Ghetto Blaster' with 2 tape decks. At last I could make my own mix tapes. Unfortunately, I didn't realise that the lyrics were about a stalker.

6. To Her Door - Paul Kelly. I just always loved this song. I can't explain why but it reminds me of when I was in university. I used to listen to Paul Kelly when I was writing essays, and studying for exams.

7. All I Need Is You - Ella Fitzgerald. Our bridal waltz. Both the Country Boy and I love old Jazz and swing music. The words say it all…. I don't need anything, all I need is you!

8. Beautiful Day - U2. In 2001 we spent 12 months working in England and backpacking Europe. Where ever we went that summer, U2's Beautiful Day was playing, and it seemed so pertinent. We were young, we were embarking on a once in a lifetime experience, we didn't want to let it get away. It became a bit of an anthem for our adventures.

9. The Special Two - Missy Higgins. I was given Missy Higgins' album for Christmas just after Hannah was born. In the hormonal fug that followed a traumatic birth and stressful couple of weeks of poor feeding and postpartum infections, I listened to The Special Two and it used to make me cry every time. I wasn't even listening to the words (which really had nothing to do with my situation). Now I still love listening to Missy Higgins and remembering those special, if stressful, weeks when the Country Boy and Hannah were my 'special two'. Pathetic, I know!

10. Press on Mums - Colin Buchanan. I first heard this song soon after Meg was born. I love that it encourages me to keep on going when times are tough. When the kids are trying my patience, or I have been woken up for the 5th time in the night (which really doesn't happen that often), I remember the words "when all your earthly energy is gone, look towards your Jesus and press on" and I keep on going. Colin is the one children's performer I don't mind listening to!

11. Best Day - Taylor Swift. As I have wrote yesterday, this is a current favourite. It reminds me that the time we have with young kids is fleeting. They are growing up so quickly, and I want to do what ever I can to give them a solid, loving family background like Taylor Swift sings about. I want them to have lots of "best days". All 5 of us love to daggy dance to Taylor Swift.

I am sure you have noticed that there are actually 11 songs in my top 10 mix tape. I couldn't narrow it down any more. If I was to write this post again in 5 years I feel certain that I would have some different songs, or perhaps I may just have to make it a "double album".

What songs would be on the mix tape of your life? Feel free to write your own post and tell me, just add a link in the comment section below!