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The Archives...Up in the air I Fly

This is one from the archives!

I am scheduling this post literally an hour before we leave for another flight!

I can only hope I have learnt these lessons well enough to not repeat the same mistakes!

Wish me luck!!!

We are home!!!

We had a lovely time away but it is good to be back into the routine of our daily lives

 (did I just say that?)

Travelling with two little ones by myself was  as eventful as I had predicted,

 but I did make some mental notes for next time.

1. Do not dress your children in white for travelling.  EVER.

2. Do not give children in white, M&M's on the plane unless you are going for the rainbow clown look on arrival.  Freddo frogs are just as bad, cheese and bacon balls, forget it.

3. M&M packets are hard to open whilst juggling an infant on your lap.  Contrary to popular belief,  air hostesses do not have permanent smiles on their face, especially whilst trying to dodge rolling M&M's with their food trolley.

4. Do not tell your child they can watch a movie on the plane until you definitely know that 

a) they have movies on the plane 

b)the movies will not be M rated

c) you have the ability to juggle an infant, whilst trying to get your credit card out of your purse and swipe it through a ridiculously small slot without elbowing your other child in the face.

5. Do not let your infant fall asleep on your lap with their head towards the aisle. You will either risk them being hit by that ridiculously large food trolley, a man posing as a giant as he goes to the toilet or attempting to move them closer towards you, without waking them up whilst trying to open the packet of M&M's....impossible. Face them the other way and risk being hit in the head with the arm rest as the other child continually raises it to try and put the head phone socket in.  If your infant can not sleep sitting up, with their massive metal seatbelt clasp in their back and the tray table centimetres from their face, 

perhaps don't expect them to sleep at all.

6. An adult and two children can not fit into an airplane toilet cubicle AND go to the toilet.  If you are willing to attempt it...

 place the infant in the wash basin, sitting up. 

Hold them with one hand.

 Lean against the door. HOLD the child going to the toilet with your legs.  

Use your spare hand to hold the child's shirt so it is not peed on. 

Be sure to lock the door before you scar the immaculately dressed air hostess for life.

If it is you who needs go to the toilet,

 forget it or invest in nappies for all three of you.

But we survived, we are home, 

with a few orange stained shirts and extra bruises but none the less, we made it!

Recipe of the week ~ Tiramisu ~ The Cheat's Version

This is not your "authentic" tiramisu recipe.

Tiramisu traditionally has Marsala (alchohol) Strong Coffee and Raw eggs.

But to make it a bit more family and pregnant women friendly here is a cheats version!

These are not mine but don't they look divine!

Ingredients

  5OOml  double cream

250g tub mascarpone

5 tbsp  caster sugar

Iced coffee milk.

175g pack sponge fingers (Savoiardi Biscuits)

2 Cadbury Flake Bars

What to do?

Whisk together the cream, mascarpone and caster sugar.

Pour your iced coffee into a shallow dish and dip the biscuits for a minute or two in the mixture.  Do not let them soak for too long!

Layer the biscuits and cream into a large dish or even individual dishes.

 Instead of shaving chocolate over the top just break a little of the flake chocolate bars over the top to serve!

Refrigerate for a few hours until the Tiramisu appears to have "set"

Enjoy!

Image Credit

~Here~

Me + IKEA = Idea - Launch Station Part 2

So I had an idea.

For our family to have a place in our home that will help make us more organised.

I had some inspiration.

Ok so it was more like dreaming, but it did provide me with a foundation on which to build.
I had the perfect place to shop and the perfect shopping buddy...

IKEA

with Katrina from The Organised Housewife.

Ok so there was lots of blog talk and of course we had to have breakfast in the Ikea restaurant, but we also did lots of shopping, well three hours worth actually!

I found lots of bits and pieces but my biggest find was

.....STUVA! 

STUVA, a  new range from IKEA appears to be targeted towards kids rooms but

IKEA does versatility like no one else.

This range comes in so many varied colours, combinations, and add ons it is great for any room or decor! 

Oh how I love IKEA!

This storage combination is AMAZING!

Believe it or not I don't think I need this whole set but it provides great inspiration!

In particular I love the bench seat with HUGE storage drawers underneath.

I dont really have need for cupboards for such big cupboards in our space.

The first item on the wish list are the..

Bench drawers. 

Perfect for storing school bags, hand bags, violins, out of sight!

I am thinking two of these side by side under our big window with 

some gorgeous cushions on top.

The perfect spot for reading those home readers! 

Naturally you can even choose what style of drawer you prefer.  

For me personally, our decor suits this more classic style with its simple black handles. 

The configurations in this range are endless!

Two large bottom drawers and a top cupboard.

There is a combination to suit any storage problem!

IKEA is also budget friendly and it is easy to buy what you need

 or can afford now and build on it bit by bit.  

But wait there's more...

Remember that versatility? 

The drawer pulls out and it becomes a desk, perfect for the first few years of school!

So what do you think?  Is it going to work?

Have you been to Ikea lately?

Spill the beans, what did you buy??

The Launch Station

Remember the "My Pigeon Pair" organisation station?

Well it has been working well but in my insanity wisdom I have decided that the whole corner of the house needs an over haul.  

With Master O starting school next year we need more than an organisation station we need a 

"launch station".  

So what is a launch station?

A central place in your house where you can "launch" from each day!

We would love ours to hold, 

school bags, handbags, library bags, 

notes, calendars, 

a space for mobile phones and even a place to sit and read the home readers!

Naturally I was able to find numerous gorgeous pictures for inspiration, but all the inspiration in the world means nothing if it doesn't have a purpose!

Lots of storage space and love the hooks but nowhere to sit!

Love the organising sections on the wall and the bench but those drawers are not big enough a school bag!

Love this is as a reading space!

This fits our corner perfectly with it's shape! 

Love the BIG drawers and blackboard

Have to love a splash of colour!

small but practical

almost perfect but we don't really need a space for jackets in our climate!

Love the BIG drawers and noticeboards

very practical but nowhere to sit!

Just gorgeous sitting place but no drawers!

and....

drum roll........

If only you had the money, the space and the design know how!

So what do you do when the pictures still don't give you your answers.

You do the kindy drop off, pack plenty of snacks and head to....

IKEA!

What better IKEA shopping buddy then....

The Organised Housewife!

Wish us luck!

Colour Me Delicious

I have been trawling the blogosphere for some colour inspiration!

Why?  

Some changes are coming and I feel the need for some fresh and delicious colour.  

I will leave you to drool over these colour schemes for a moment.

What do they all have in common?

They find their inspiration in food what a fresh idea!

So do you have a favourite? Please share it with me below or on Facebook!

I need your advice!

Find them all and sooo many more at

design-seeds.com

What's for dinner? Meal Planning with The Organised Housewife

Monday

Pumpkin and Tuna Pasta

Ok so I have posted this one before, but we have more pumpkins than halloween at our place.  

This sounds like a strange combination but it is AMAZING!

Just grate some pumpkin.

Let it cook until soft in a frypan with some olive oil and onion.

Add a tin of drained tuna.

Add a splash of lemon juice and pinch of salt and pepper.

Serve mixed through your favourite pasta!

Tuesday

Chicken Pie

We love chicken but I have been searching for some different ideas as to what to do with it!

I use a bread base and puff pasty top with a chicken, leek and cream filling.

Wednesday

Mexican Meatballs

This is a new one for us.  I was looking for a few cost effective, child friendly recipes and this one appeared!

My kids love corn chips and I just know they are going to love this!

It would also make a great lunchbox treat!

Recipe and Picture ~ Here

Thursday

Spinach and Ricotta Canelloni

This weeks meat free meal.

The trick here is to buy the Latina Fresh past sheets.

Line them with your filling and then roll!

Sure beats trying to fill those fiddly tubes!

This one is great for leftovers!

Friday

Morrocan Lamb Casserole

I love using the slow cooker!  

Just through the lamb and veggies in with one of these slow cooker Recipe Bases and you have a quick and easy meal!

I serve this one with rice.

Recipe ~ Here

Saturday

Beef Fajitas

An easy build your own dinner!

These kits were on special for $5 at Woolworths!

Sunday

Freezer Find

Baking - Tiramisu (the non alcoholic cheats version)

Picture from taste.com

Egg less and non alcoholic 

recipe to come!

Linking up with

The Organised Housewife

I'm grateful for......my life in jeans

I am grateful that for the first 22 years of my life I rarely wore jeans.

Grateful that my mother refused to dress her child in jeans that would have looked like these....

Hey it was the 80's  

Nothing like a bit of fluorescent colour to brighten your day.

By the time I was old enough to select my own clothes 

these were my style icons...

Oh Beverley Hills how I miss thee, but oh so grateful I missed this jean trend.

I was a late bloomer with the jeans movement and it literally took me going to a "Levi" conference to change my mind.  I was working in retail when a levi rep came to give us a presentation about Levi's their history, current trends and which style best suited our shapes. For me it was bootcut.  But did I listen...NO!

These skin Tight lee jeans were calling my name and I listened and followed.

Problem was I thought my body looked like the one above aswell.

Hey it was uni days I was starving and drinking cask wine.

I probably looked more like this as I hit the dance floor.

Then came the Maternity Years.

No the dancing didn't lead to the pregnant state and

yes we have fast forwadred through a few years where I went out into the big wide work world, got married and was sensible enough to not attempt to wear jeans.

These maternity jeans with their ugly massive waist band were actually...soooo comfortable!

I lived in them!  I am courageous enough to say I still wear them!!!

enter Mum Jeans.  

Ok so I'll say what we are all thinking.

They do look comfortable?

They are so high waisted no chance of muffin top here!

Mum Jeans are all about that neck hugging waist line.

Hey if Katie Holmes wear them they must be good?

So thats wear I'm at.

Somewhere between Maternity and Mum jeans.

Hoping to avoid muffin top or bedazzled jeans, grateful for all the jeans in my life

 and dreaming of.....

Pajama jeans.....

say what???

Linking up with Maxabella Loves