Rabbiting on!

Growing up, my sisters and I had a pet rabbit.

Though it was really cute and captured all our attention (for the first couple of weeks), basically the main things I remember about our rabbit, was a huge wooden "cage" that my dad had built, and these really loud banging noises every now and then, which turned out to be the rabbit thumping it's feet on the cage floor (an afternoon of my sisters and I spying through the curtains led to this discovery).

As I've mentioned before, I'm not much of an NRL fan/follower. I do feel that this puts me into the minority living in Australia.

But, today marks the second NRL cake I've made so far in my baking career. Only 14 to go! I believe that this now nudges me closer to the majority of people, who have some sort of knowledge about NRL teams, colours, and rules, etc.

I often wonder where team mascots come from. If I was to be completely honest, an angry looking rabbit (quite likely on the juice), is one of the most unlikely, and random of animals to name a sports team after.

Next would be the budgie*.

* I've heard that budgies are good at smuggling things...

Sharks, tigers, broncos, bulldogs, dragons, and warriors, for example: They all sound like they can do some serious damage on a person's body! (and self-esteem)...

But bunnies???

All I think about is Easter!

Which is probably why this cake is chocolate ;)

Speaking of the cake. I based the design from the previous NRL one, because it's simple and effective:

Seeing that I'd made a shark to go with the Sharks cake, I figured that I better also make a rabbit to go with the Rabbitohs cake! So with a glad bake outline, and edible paint, this was what I'd made:

A little while later, with the rabbit, logo, and the team colours, I had this!

Sadly, the rabbit turned out to be far too heavy (even with two extra wires to "hold it in place"), and did not last the trip into the city to deliver the cake... Many tears were experienced. All mine. :'(

On the way back, I wondered if instead of M 'n' Ms around the base, I should have used jelly beans - purely because of this rabbit:

Buuuuut, perhaps that's enough Easter jokes.

Happy birthday, Tariq! :)

Mum's the word!

If there's anyone who has an eye for detail, it would be my mother.

For example, I once asked her about the stories of the births of myself and my two older sisters. She told me that we were all "about 6 pounds", born "about lunch time", and labour was "about 8 hours."

On the other extreme, one of the last things that Husband's mother told me before she passed away was that in the breastfeeding stage, your breasts will squirt milk out of them when you have an orgasm.

I do enjoy that God didn't make any two mothers alike.

In other news, I've wanted to attempt an ombre style cake for a while, but hadn't yet had the chance. I figured that my mother and family would accept being the candidates <cough-guineapigs-cough> for this 'experiment', on the occasion of my mother's birthday.

I can't remember why I didn't take any progress photos of the cake. I assume it was due to the fact that I am a third child, and am secretly suppressing resentment about having little to no photographs of me growing up.

Since everything must have a meaning when I design a cake, there are 9 silver hearts on top, because there are 9 people in my mother's family*. I also chose pink because I thought it would look pretty, and represent warmth, beauty, and femininity.

It had nothing to do with running out of time, and only having a bottle of pink colouring within reach on the bench next to me at the time.

* It would totally have been a great way to announce a pregnancy if I'd put 10 hearts on top, but that would mean that we'd actually need to be pregnant - which we are most definitely not.

Happy birthday Mum! x

If my calculations are correct...

NOTICE:

Due to recent budget cuts,

the light at the end of the tunnel

has been turned off.

I've recently suffered from another one of my far too regular meltdowns, due to not quite making it to the end of the fortnight with money still in my bank account.

It may have been caused by some spontaneous expenses coming up recently - a present for a new baby, a meal for a family in need, chocolates for the kindness of a neighbour, a new designer handbag I couldn't resist, etc, but I think it's actually due to my horrible and unstoppable addiction to Cadbury's Marvellous Creations new ice cream range:

It's meant that we've had to revisit our 'budget' again, and face the confrontation of my spending habits, because in less than two years, our eldest will be going to high school. Whenever I have these moments of dread and anxiety about the future, I always tend to go back to the basics of needs vs wants.

I'm realising more and more lately, that everything (even those tiny things on the shopping list that aren't given much thought, and probably aren't that expensive) adds up. I wanted to work out how much I would save if I stopped indulging in unnecessary, but oh so delicious, items.

Like Cadbury's Marvellous Creations ice creams.

The cheapest I've seen them is $6 for a 4 pack. But they're usually closer to $8 a pack.

Basically, if I eat just one of these a day (which is HARD! I can never stop at just one!), and that's without the kids spying them in the freezer and helping themselves to one also, then at an average of $2 each ice cream, at the end of one year, I'm spending a minimum of:

$730

Holy moly! Is this what my addiction is costing me??

Over $700 a year on ICE CREAM!?

No wonder I am broke before the end of the fortnight!!

As it usually does, doing the yearly maths forces me to think about a lot of "stuff" I spend money on, that I don't actually need. I don't need ice cream. I want ice cream. And at the moment, I only want that ice cream!! (previous ice cream addictions have included Bounty ice creams, Connoisseur Cookies 'n' Cream, and anything from Ben & Jerry's).

So if my calculations are correct, I need to either stop buying and eating so much ice cream...

Or get a job.

<gasp> At Cadbury's!

Mmmmmm, chocolaaate.

On a semi-related note, here's some entertaining budgeting and money saving idea websites I've found in my journey to better budgeting:

Top 10 <I Wish I had Thought of These Myself> Money Saving Tips

Adding to #7 - Hotel shampoo and conditioners!

100 Easy Ways to Get Started in Saving Money

#6 is great when you suffer from a poor, um, brain-worky thingy.

Even More Ways to Save Money

... Pretty much, live like a Jew.

Happy Easter!

I know I'm a little late to the party, but...

HAPPY EASTER!

Last Sunday was Easter Sunday - the day, as a Christian, we celebrate the rising of Jesus on the third day, after his death on Good Friday.

For Easter Sunday, our church held an outreach event called an "eggstravaganza" to encourage the community to get involved, come and have fun, eat chocolate, and be able to hear about the great news about the true meaning of Easter (i.e. not the one with the bunny).

My job for the event, was to organise and oversee the biscuit "Easter egg" decorating. I was super eggcited about this, as I really enjoy crafts, especially the edible kinds. It also meant I could spend more  quality time with my close friends "Sugar" and "Cadbury".

As this was our first eggstravaganza, I wasn't sure what to eggspect. So, I made (because I'm also a bit crazy) 7 different colours of royal icing, in 14 different containers. Alll the colours of the rainbow! ;)

Next time, I might perhaps demonstrate the idea that I had in mind for the decorating part (as I would usually do at our 4FAMILIES program) as the children were sitting near a container of icing, and given a plate with:

- arrowroot biscuits

- smarties

- white chocolate bits

- sugar straps

I'm sure most of them were thinking "what the heck am I supposed to make with this?" ... But this was the idea I had in mind:

Next time, Gadget.

Really, though, no matter which way they were decorated, they made for a delicious breakfast! Hehehe. It was a really fun morning, and I am already looking forward to next year's event.

And though it is rumoured that chocolate eggs are hollow because it's cheaper to make them that way, and because it's much less sickening to eat than a massive solid egg, I am sticking to the story that it is because the tomb where Jesus lay after he died, was empty when He had risen on that first Easter morning.

Not many people benefit us after they've died. Some distant great relatives may give us 'things' or money as an inheritance, etc. But Jesus, through his death and resurrection, brings us something so much greater!

Jesus brings: A way out of darkness. Direction in life. Hope to the broken. Life to the full. Forgiveness of sin. Satisfaction to the satisfied. Rest for the weary. Eternal life.

Which one is most important to you? For me, on many days, it is this:

"Come to me, all who are weary and carry heavy burdens,

and I will give you rest."   -Jesus

Matthew 11:28

The Friday that was Good.

For the final week of a church kids club my two eldest have attended this year, I was asked if I'd be able to make some cupcakes to celebrate the end of term. "Of course!" I replied. But what should they look like? I wondered. (I do love a theme to work with).

Throughout the term at kids club, they had been learning about Jesus' life, leading up to what happened on the very first Easter.

As I was looking for inspiration for what to design for these end-of-term/Easter cupcakes, I bypassed the chickens, bunnies, and baskets, and looked back to the original Easter:

The previous week, my kids had also come home with this craft. Which (hard to see from the photo) also has the following poem on it:

Red is for the blood he gave

Green is for the grass he made

Yellow is for the sun so bright

Orange is for the edge of night

Black is for the sins we made

White is for the grace he gave

Purple is for the house of sorrow

Pink is for the new tomorrow

I now had a design, and I had the colours.

For the black and white parts, I made three crosses for each cupcake. I used dark chocolate for the 'black', and milk chocolate for the 'white', because milk is white!

... And because the white chocolate didn't melt properly and looked dodgy :(

I iced them all, not in order of the colours of the poem, but in order of whatever food colouring I grabbed first- I was running out of time. Because, I had this idea that I could photograph them in their colour groups, purely so that I could achieve this:

  Red is for the blood he gave         Green is for the grass he made

 Yellow is for the sun so bright        Orange is for the edge of night

Purple is for the house of sorrow          Pink is for the new tomorrow   

To make up for not having actual white on any of the cupcakes (even if I was the only one who cared), when I wrapped them in cellophane bags, I attached some curly white ribbon onto them all. But, by then I was really out of time, so couldn't take a photo of it. You'll just have to imagine!

For God so loved the world,

that He gave his only Son,

so that whoever believes in him may not perish,

but may have eternal life.

For God did not send his son into the world

to condemn the world,

but to save the world through Him.

John 3:16-17

And, one of my favourite songs, with lyrics that beautifully describe what God has done for us, which we sung this morning at church:

How deep the Father's love for us,
How vast beyond all measure.
That He should give His only Son,
And make a wretch His treasure.

How great the pain of searing loss,
The Father turns His face away.
As wounds which mar the Chosen One,
Bring many sons to glory.

Behold the Man upon the cross,
My sin upon His shoulders.
Ashamed I hear my mocking voice,
Call out among the scoffers.

It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished.
His dying breath has brought me life,
I know that it is finished.

I will not boast in anything:
No gifts, no power, no wisdom.
But I will boast in Jesus Christ,
His death and resurrection.

Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer.
But this I know with all my heart:
His wounds have paid my ransom.

Overdue poetry!

Exactly one month ago, Created Creatively reached 200 likes!

Finally, the promised celebratory poem has been written. This is therefore dedicated to the 200th liker. He knows who he is :)

There once lived a guy near my street,

Who is often referred to as Pete.

He's a nice kind of guy,
But some may start to cry
If they capture the scent of his feet.

On the side, I've a blog that I write,
And a Facebook page I created one night.

With the help of his wife,
Or the threat on his life,

Pete became my 200th 'like'!

I really prefer cupcakes and cake,

Because poems are much harder to make.

But I promised something wordy,

And since this poem’s not that sturdy...

The end.

Parenting level: Lazy.

The older my kids get, the lazier I become.

A couple of years ago, I had created our first chore chart for Ben and Tamara, to earn money for school banking at the end of each week. Last year, I had revised the chart, and created an updated one (which it appears I was too lazy to blog about).

I have recently created a "new and improved" version of all the previous charts combined, which debuted in our household last week!

To be completely honest, I am both amazed, and ashamed at myself.

When I think of the characteristics of a good mum, I think of a woman who loves and cares for her kids equally, a woman who makes sure they're up in time for school, prepares her children's lunches, ensures they're dressed appropriately for school, helps with homework, provides regular and balanced meals, reads books to them at bedtime, picks up after them (rubbish/clothes, etc), and generally has a calm and content disposition throughout the day, because she is full of love for those in her family.

She would never scream in their faces about trivial issues, like who ate the last of the M 'n' Ms, for example.

... I am not that kind of mum.

I break promises, break hearts, send kids to school with lunchboxes full of processed foods, refuse to buy new school uniforms even though they're growing out of them, assume they're lying about not having homework/cleaning their rooms/or breaking an arm, and, feed them lollies and chips for afternoon tea.

To make their lives worse, they also now do my housework for me!

This has been the chore chart progression so far.

2012:

In 2013, the chart was upgraded to a morning and afternoon chart:

I had added things like putting toys into the toy box, packing clothes away, playing with the dog, watering plants, taking the compost out, making beds, straightening pairs of shoes, and vacuuming.

It was also a bit ambitious to add Jonathan to the chore chart, as he sometimes doesn't even know how to get dressed without dribbling on himself.

And now, in 2014, I wonder if there's anything left for me to do:

Since I'm also a realist (or too lazy to convince him that he needs to do more around the house than play games and watch Play School), I've taken Jonathan off the chore chart until he starts school next year.

The few (but extremely essential-for-my-relaxation time) things that have been added to the chart include:

- Rolling up pairs of socks
- Taking out the trash
- Taking out the recycling
- Packing away clothes
- Tidying up a bookshelf
- Vacuuming an area* of the house

* I've created 8 "areas" in the house, which means that with this item added to the chore chart:
A) The whole house gets vacuumed once a fortnight, and
B) It's not even me doing it!!

I figure that the more things I get my kids to do around the house, the more time I have to sleep, drink coffee, and watch TV, because isn't that what stay-at-home-mums do all day anyway??

If I remember, I do give my kids money for school banking on a Friday, for all their efforts during the week with the chores. It's so nice, particularly having someone else to roll socks, play with the dog, and vacuum the house...

Or, just someone doing them full stop ;)