I’m writing this post at ten o’clock at night with my terrified children in the next room waiting for me.  It’s my own fault and I do feel a little guilty so I’ll explain the situation.  You see my girls (aged 5 & 7) really enjoy the TV series ‘Ghost Whisperer’ so I tape it for them to watch during the day.  Today I let them watch an episode and I have to admit it did have a horror movie element to it which made it scarier than previous episodes.  When bed time rolled around my girls were not keen on the idea so I let them read for a while with the lights on.  This usually calms them down and my youngest often falls asleep with book in hand… not tonight!  Wide eyed and teary they asked me to sleep in their room tonight so I kind of feel obliged to do so.  My husband asked me which episode I let them watch so I told him and he replied with a stern “how could you?”  I told him that I didn’t think it was that scary but then he pointed out that I’m thirty one and at five I was probably scared of all kinds of crazy stuff. So as the youngsters say these days “my bad”, now I’m off to spend a night squeezed onto a single bed with my kids… goodnight.

I don’t buy 2 minute noodles very often because I find then quite tasteless with practically no nutritional value what so ever.  My youngest however does like them so I buy the baked variety rather than the fried, no need to add unnecessary fat to her diet.  This past shopping trip I came home with the latest from Maggi 2 minute range – extra delicious 2 minute noodles!  They come with a sachet of vegetables inside so I thought “at last noodles with a nutritional value greater than cardboard.”  When it came time to cook these vegetables I was sorely disappointed as I cut the top off the sachet and looked inside all that stared back at me was ONE dried corn kernel and about five tiny pieces of diced carrot.  Let me also say that those carrot pieces were SO small that I have seen my three year old nephew pick bigger boogers!  I truly feel that perhaps the noodle packet should say “new game in every pack – hunt for the vegetables.”

I was reading one of the kids Beatrix Potter books and I found myself completely dumbstruck. I read the words “Mr. Jeremy put on a macintosh” and wondered what on earth a toad wanted with a computer while on a fishing trip? I asked Luke what a macintosh was and he looked at me as if I were an idiot and said “an Apple Mac”. I then read the sentence out to him and he said “yeah – he turned the computer on!” to which I replied with “oh der” and rolled my eyes since the story was first published in 1906. I had to look it up in Wikipedia because the only macintosh I was aware of was the computer and I was surprised to learn that way back in 1824 a Scottish inventor made a rubberized fabric coat… a waterproof raincoat… the macintosh! So just as ‘gay’ has lost it’s meaning and is now a sexual preference, the original meaning of macintosh has gone the way of the dinosaur.

While clean up little odds and ends around the house I came across a little cup that had some coins in it, unfortunately the cup was used as a pen holder and the coins had ink all over them.  I was going to throw them out but Luke suggested that I soak them in Coke.  Since the coins were out of currency one and two cent pieces I didn’t think it was worth the effort but Luke pointed out that there was a penny in there (still worth nothing) and he insisted I soak them.  So I wrote Coke on my shopping list and Luke yelled out “vanilla coke please.”  At the shops the only vanilla Coke on the shelf was a 2 litre bottle for $3 so I bought it and soaked the coins in that.  After 2 days of soaking the coins were a little better and I discovered that one of the coins was a ten cent piece but overall the coins were still badly stained.  A ten cent return on a three dollar investment is a BAD business venture.  The only gain out of this exercise was the smile on Luke’s face as he consumed the vanilla coke…  I think I was swindled!

This morning at the shops Claire and I were standing in the bread aisle deciding what bread to buy as an old lady pushing a trolley slowly passed us. Then all of a sudden this sweet looking woman let out an almighty fart!  She just kept going at a steady pace as if nothing had happened. Claire and I looked at each other and I reached out and took the first loaf my hand touched.  We then hightailed it out of there as fast as our legs could carry us.

Today my five year old plucked up enough courage to shoot zombies on the wii with her father.  It must have been quite scary for her because not long after she started I heard the game pause, she had decided it was best just to watch.  The game didn’t end there however, oh no…  Luke played the two player mode with a gun in each hand and lot’s of attitude.  Now that’s gangster!

My nephew seems to be going through a macho growth stage at the moment because at three and a half most of his play is rough play.  With two girls of my own I’m assuming this is just a matter of boys being boys but I tell you what… it can be painful!  Just yesterday I was walking down the hallway when he jumped out in front of me and stretched out his arms and legs blocking my path. He then said to me “you want to play rough, I’ll give you rough!” and then proceeded to use me as a punching bag.  I don’t remember saying I wanted to play rough, I was in the middle of washing my teeth.  Let’s hope he finds his more sensitive side soon because my body can’t take much more of this!

Have you ever seen an item for sale with the words ‘unwanted gift’ beside it?  I wonder what the gift giver would think if they saw it for sale? Personally I’m grateful for any gift I get and free is free in my eyes.  Actually that would have to be one of my favourite words… free… it has a nice sound to it.  A gift however is given out of love from a friend or relative and it really saddens me to see people selling their ‘unwanted gifts’.  It made me think of how God must feel about people not wanting his free gift of salvation… before you start  – NO I’m not going to go on a religious rant.  I’m just saying that even when something is free it doesn’t mean people will want it.  I’m different, I’ll take anything that is free, salvation included!

This recipe is another of my grandmothers gems (thanks Mama) and I just have to share it with you.  I use whatever chicken I have -  wings, drums, strips , cubes, it’s ALL good.  Just remember to vary your cooking time according to the cut you use.

Ingredients
* chicken (500g boneless or around 1kg for drums etc)
* 1/3 cup honey
* 1/3 cup lemon
* 1/3 cup hot water
* 3 chicken stock cubes
* 3 tablespoons of plain flour (approximately)

Procedure
1. Toss your chicken in some flour then cook in a little olive oil until almost done.
2. Mix the remaining ingredients together and add to the chicken. ( I mix it all in the measuring cup)
3. Simmer with the lid on until the chicken is completely cooked and the sauce has reduced and thickened.

It’s so easy to remember that once you read this you would have to hire some one to help you forget it.  Just think “3″… 1/3, 1/3, 1/3 and 3 stock cubes… dead easy!

We love wii fit, it really brings out the competitiveness in our family and we get to tone up at the same time.  However I caught Luke cheating the other day so I’m not sure if he is getting as much out of it as he could be.  He was doing the two person jog with Claire and as I was watching I noticed him move behind her.  With Claire unable to see what her father was doing he stopped jogging and simply moved his arms with the wii controller in his hand.  He was caught cheating against a seven year old… shame, shame, shame.  Then during the same work out session I caught him doing the jack knife exercises but instead of bringing both his legs AND his arms up at the same time he was only lifting his legs.  That’s not a jack knife, it’s more of a plastic picnic knife… shame, shame, shame.  He is very good at the hula hoop though, I am trying desperately to beat him but I just can’t swing my hips fast enough.  Perhaps now I’ll resort to cheating!