A peek into my pantry

Welcome to my pantry!!!

I thought since I was going on a mission to clean up and clean out as most people do from time to time I would take some pic's to share


....you know the clean up days where you think "okay, this time it's going to stay organised and clean so everything is easy to see"

...lol well it never seems to work but at least you might find some exciting food that was hibernating at the back of the cupboard or have a few minutes, hours or days of that contented feeling of being somewhat organised

...that is when and until the hubby or child moves everything around and finds a oh so wrong place for what seems like every item!!!


enough of my ranter :P

The reason I wanted to share was to show what a pantry of family with severe allergy's looks like.


Living with a child who has anaphalaxis towards eggs and nuts isn't easy...every shopping expedition becomes very interesting.

Diving into a world of "may contain......" or "made in the same factory as.." can be somewhat frustrating and expensive.


Needless to say 1 3/4 out of my 6 pantry shelves are dedicated to baking alone.

It's been over a year since we found out about Declan's allergy's and it has changed our family's daily life in more than one aspect. We are very fortunate to have a few friends that also have allergy's in their family's and can understand, share recipes, brain storm how to convert that oh so yummy recipe to make it safe and so on.

We are also blessed that their are company's out there that make safe food for people like us...."HALLELUJAH!!!"

Yep, I'm that crazy woman standing in the isle of your local food store who smiles quietly to herself and does a happy dance while pure happiness, excitement and relief flows though her veins....over a new found safe ingredient or product. :)

There are also some very good benefit's of all the jazz that goes with living a allergy life.....baking (a forgotten skill and activity for all ages in past years), knowing exactly what's in your food (preservatives, chemicals etc), becoming more aware of your surroundings and probably much more that I can't think of at the moment.

On decluttering my pantry over the last few days and emptying boxes I saved 2 empty boxes for a specific purpose.
A bit of background information: For part of Thalia's Christmas present she will be getting some play food and play kitchen items and then for her birthday in Feb. she will get a play kitchen to go with them.
The play food we have brought has pretend eggs in it which made us think...do we let them play with it? should we take it out of the pack? leave it in?

After a few chats with some friends we have decided that yes we will leave the egg's in with the presents for the children to play with as a educational tool.
Obviously Declan isn't allergic to a plastic egg, we know that but we were worried at the age of 3, Declan might be confused with the whole concept that it's safe to pretend but not safe to eat the real thing etc..

So the egg will be their to show our children what an egg is,what it's used for, where it comes from, that other people can eat them etc
then as an addition to the play food I will place the 'orgran no egg' box pictured above for the children to pretend to use when they are "baking a cake" to make it safe etc. The no egg box and the safe biscuit box will also show and hopefully educate the children when they are a little older how to read labels and identify safe foods.

Well that's a day in the life of my beloved pantry....

remember eat, live, love and learn :)
ox

The Dino-mite party!

I loooooove planning party's for my munchkins, creating a theme based on a obsession or subject of interest to my children...okay okay I confess I'm a children's party addict! lol

This post is a quick look into Declan's 3rd Birthday party last month....after much commiserating with Mr 3 and leafing several times through the much loved cake books he picked his theme...

It should be no surprise that our Dino loving Declan decided on a roaring dinosaur party.

So the planning commenced, invites made, loot bags put together, sparkly play dough made for the dino's to stomp through, the munchkins loved creating dino art and crafts for party decorations, mummy found some dino print outs for colouring, dino footprints cut out for following, balloon's blown up, party treats baked.....and lastly the Mr Stegosaurus cake was completed!! phew

all in time for our friends to come on over for a roaring good time in dino land :)

Here are some pic's of the day

If you look through the screen door you will see a very excited little man waiting for his friends to arrive

footprints left by the dinosaurs for little feet to follow :)

the lovely wall art that my munchkins and I had great delight in creating

the play dough that sparkled! can't really see the sparkles in the photo but the green play dough was riddled in green sparkles and the blue play dough in blue sparkles...the children thought it was a bit special :P

our little man and his good friend Mr Brachiosaurus

Thalia queen of the food table

play dough fun

a thorn between 2 roses opening the present of the day in Declan's eyes.....his special T-Rex dinosaur...very much loved!

Great grandma helping at the drawing table

opening his puff the magic dragon book and CD

cake time!!!

Mr stegosaurus cake before he got butchered

Creating Dinosaur land

Dinosaurs as I have mentioned before are one of the very extra special creatures that encompass all that Declan loves.
Our house at times looks like a scene from a prehistoric world...Declan's owns many different sizes of plastic dino friends that participate in going potty, sitting up at the dinner table to watch, having a tea party, dancing along to the wiggles, reading books and many other day to day activities...okay you get the point he is obsessed to the max!!!

When the dinosaurs are not being man handled by my munchkins ( Thalia too now is quite fond of our Dino friends) they are stored in a see though plastic box with the exception of Brachiosaurous who often sits proud on Declan's Big boy shelf in his room or tucked in bed alongside Declan.
Other than outdoor play in the garden and the use of imagination our dino friends didn't have a "home" of their own. Hence the Dinosaur land project commenced.

I sat with Declan about 2 weeks ago and showed him a big shoe box (that my new big black boots came in :D) and we discussed about making it into a dinosaur land. After lots of idea's and identifying just what the dinosaurs needed according to Declan we set out on our task at hand.

On the list of requirements was listed :

• A Volcano
• Water
• trees including a "Nickle Nackle tree" :P
• rocks
• hills and mountains
• grass

We came up with a collection of old "junk" from around the house such as boxes of different sizes, a drink holder from McDonald's, a cardboard baking paper roll, newspaper and placed them in the box in different positions until we were happy.
Declan helped glue them in place and I made some paper mache glue and while Declan was alseep started the process of paper macheing over the boxes to convert them into the listed items. The paper mache glue only consists of flour, water and a touch of salt (the salt helps to preserve the glue and when used in hunid climates it prevents the project from moulding).
When Declan's older cousins arrived from nsw on school holidays I asked them to join us in the making process....Jess helped me finish the paper mache process and added a cave to the project which myself and Declan are now very grateful of. Both Josh and Jess helped Declan and myself paint when the paper mache had dried and the finishing touches were made.
With the help of a cheap packet of small river rocks ($2 from choice), some different colours of felt from a craft/art store ($1.80 a piece), a small dinosaur bag packet from The Warehouse ($2.95 i think) containing small plastic dinosaurs and trees we glued in the finishing touches (with pva glue). Just before finishing Jess yet again came up with a great idea...quickly ran outside in the freezing cold I might add, and gathered some sticks to glue in for a nest. why did I not think of that.
We all enjoyed playing with it for the first time when the finished product was revealed and I'm sure it will be very much loved and used.
This project just goes to show how cheap something so special can be, the process is just as special as the product and it was lots of fun to do!!!! It took imagination, concentration,collaboration, skill, use of fine and gross motor skills, thought, the art of mixing colours and much more to create.
The finished product gives the player/user an amazing sensory experience with its vibrant colours, unique shapes, soft felt, sculptured trees, bumpy rocks, textured paint and pure invitation to play. .....and the look on Declan's face every time he sees it is worth every minute.
the photo's that follow will explain the journey...

" mummy I am different!"

Today I had the pleasure of some wonderful Mummy moments and I simply must share them with you.

Since Declan was diagnosed with Anaphylaxis to eggs and nuts roughly a year ago, our every day family life has changed to suit. Even though Declan was a month shy of 2 when he was diagnosed and he cannot fully understand the severity of his allergies Andy and I have made sure spoken about it with him with age appropriate explanations.
We hope to educate him and give him the correct tools emotionally to cope with these allergies and show him that he is different but he is not strange or weird but just special in his own way.

Not long after his allergies became known we purchased a allergy alert wrist band for him (he has never really worn it as he never liked it) and he received the wonderful book pictured below as a gift from his Great Gran parents.

We have many conversations about what is "safe food" and what makes Declan sick. He loves and often helps me in the kitchen whether it be making biscuits for the family, baking cakes, helping make lunch and dinner and so on.
The last couple of months he has started to really grasp what his allergies are and we have noticed on occasion him asking others if a food has eggs or nuts or simply reminding them that he can't have them.This showed us that all the information was starting to sink in.
Declan and I sat down yesterday afternoon and got out the woman's weekly birthday cake books and made sure Decaln was still happy with the cake he picked out months ago (a stegosaurus cake ). After talking about all the different animals, shapes colours etc he finally agreed to mummy's relief that the Stegosaurus cake was still the best for his party next month. Mind you Mummy had already gone shopping and brought the party hats, plates and cups all with a dinosaur theme!
Declan sat at the dinning table at breakfast this morning and was obviously thinking back on yesterdays activity looking through the cake books. He soon reminded me that we were going to have a party for Declan soon and then explained..
Declan: "no eggs and nuts, keep them away...they will make Declan sick"
Me: "Yes that's right Declan! We are having a special dinosaur party for you next month. We will have lots of yummy food but it will all "safe food" because we don't eat eggs and nuts, they are not safe. It would be very sad if you got sick"
Decaln: "Thankyou Mummy, I don't want to get sick"
I smiled to myself thinking wow, he really does understand to a degree! and he was confident in himself.
It was even better before dinner tonight as he was reading his "why am I different?" allergy book with daddy, pointing to the pictures of eggs and nuts and telling daddy they were not safe for Declan. By the end of the book he was happy to wear his special allergy alert wrist band and continued looking through the book again without daddy as if it was the best book ever.
About 5 minutes later he stood up and exclaimed with a loud voice very confidently "Mummy I am different!". Andy and I were quite surprised and quickly said something to the effect of "Yes Declan you are, you are different and your very special because your you. We love you!".
Decaln had the biggest smile on his face and looked very chuffed as though he had just explained to Mummy and Daddy that he understood the book and his situation.
It was an awesome moment and Andy and I couldn't have wiped the smiles of our faces if we tried.....our little man was showing confidence in who he was and enjoying the learning process!!! horray
We are so proud of you Little man! ox

Simple little treasures

Simple little treasures.....and no I'm not talking about my children, although Declan and Thalia are my 'little treasures' I assure you that they are in no way SIMPLE!! lol

When I say Simple little treasures I am referring to the simple things that make us happy, smile, explore, understand, learn, laugh, create, imagine and much much more.
They can be the most simple items that becomes special,not just for the initial joy of having it and what it does, but for what it becomes.
The memories, adventures, dreams, games, sentimental value, comfort and moments we have over time with our treasures is what makes them so precious.

This post is dedicated to some of the Simple little treasures that are close to my children's hearts.

Firstly both my children own their own very special sleep buddy, from birth Declan and Thalia have slept with a selected stuffed toy that acts as a comforter for them at night no matter where they sleep (home, friends houses, nan and pops etc).
Both Declan and Thalia didn't have a dummy/pacifier for any long period of time, we got rid of Decaln's without a fuss around 3-5 months and Thalia only had one sometimes in the first 12 or so weeks.....and to tell you the truth I really hate dummy's unless you REALLY need it.

Declan pictured below with "MONKEY" is one of his most loved possessions and usually when he gets a new toy/book monkey always gets a special introduction :)
Monkey was kindly given to Declan as a birth present from the Gibson's and mummy and daddy liked it so much it soon became the sleep buddy.

While I was pregnant with the Thalia and knowing I was having a girl this time, I was on the mission to find the perfect sleep buddy. After seeing one of my friends little girls special toys I knew I wanted one and after asking my friend where she got it from, she volunteered to buy another for my baby :) I was a very happy mummy

Thalia absolutely loves her 'MISS CAT' and every night after we put her to bed you can hear her quiet little voice singing the bedtime song to miss cat and saying goodnight :P
Most mornings she says goodbye to miss cat on her way out of the room to go get brecky....so cute!
the pic below shows one of our wooden house clocks ( given to us as a wedding present) and Declan and Thalia's relatively new wooden watches. My mum picked them up from a educational toy shop for a whole $4 each!!! Thalia quite a few months ago showed an interest in clocks and has become quite obsessed so they were the perfect gift.
Both Declan and Thalia love their special watches and wear them with pride, showing them to everyone whether they want to see or not. The hands on the watches only move when the wearer manually moves them so I'm hoping they will become a good learning tool when it comes to learning to tell the time.

This next picture shows some items Andy and I picked up on our "wicked weekend for 2" (wedding anniversary weekend) a week ago.

The pillow case dress in the pic was a $5 bargain at the Coolangatta Wintersun Festival markets.

Due to our family's love of old cars and vintage it was the prefect piece for Thalia to parade around in. I'm not sure if you can see in the pic but it has pictures of old classic cars, gasoline pumps, route 66 signs etc on the material....love it!!!

We gave it to Thalia when we got home and it was love at first sight with the verbal long repetition of "car..car...CAR!!" that followed.

I made sure I remembered to collect a bag full of pine cones for the kids when we were staying at Mount Tamborine as I have always loved them. I remember studying them in my hands as a child and being fascinated. They are a wonderful example of natures beautiful creations but are good for craft projects, sensory development, learning about nature, shapes, an interesting item to paint with and the list goes on.

So far the kids are amazed with them and have examined them in their little hands, looking at the different shapes, if they are open or closed, talking about how they come from trees but I can see that having these pine cones will lead to craft idea's, pine cone painting and much more.
here's a pic of Declan having a closer look at a pine cone :)

A little less than a couple of months ago on a visit to a second hand store I spotted these two wooden crafted cars at $2 each!! it's not every day you see toy like these so I was quick to pick them up and add them to the shopping which the kids were simply thrilled with.

They have become very special cars to add to the ever growing car collection.

These three books were my bargain books from a second hand store just this week and have become the flavour of the week.

Both my children seem to have inherited my love of books and love leafing through books... some of the faves are Dr Seuss books, Each Peach Pear Plumb, ten little fingers and ten little toes, Animalia, Time for Bed, The very Hungary Caterpillar, Kisses for Daddy, Mr Little's noisy car .........

The last 2 pics show a collection of things that the children have kindly been given by my lovely Finnish friend Erna.

Over time we have received little parcels in the mail all the way from Finland, sometimes even from Santa :P

In the pic there is a lovely moomin's cd with a 3d flap in the cd holder that initially introduced Declan to the wonderful world of the moomins (children's cartoon in Finland), also pictured is a Finnish moomin's dvd (and no it doesn't have English subtitles but we enjoy it all the same), a gorgeous moomin's pillow case (baby/doll size) and this week we received the two large pink and blue moomin's pillow cases at the front of the pic.

Now and again we receive lovely post cards from Erna with the most magical pictures of Finland's country side/ culture on the front- in the pic you can see 3 lovely postcards of berries, mushrooms and flowers all found in Finland. The kids love looking at the 'special pictures' and talk about where they come from and what they are, these 3 postcards are currently on our fridge.

The last item in the picture is a lovely red and yellow striped long sleeve all in one which was given to Thalia last year, although it is still too big I can't wait till she fits in it as it's so cute with the Finnish words PIKKO SISKO (little sister) on the front.

The kids love their special things from Finland and both get so excited when Declan asks for the moomin's, whether it be the dvd or cd. Thank you so much Erna for opening their eyes to another culture and sharing the love!!!

Declan had no hesitation when I asked the to sit for a photo with all their special Finnish things, although Declan couldn't let go of his much loved duplo :P

As you can see they are very thrilled will all their gifts :)

I could go on forever about different things and their sentimental value for my children but I will stop here and say that it's mostly the simple things that mean the most and what a joy they are!

I once saw an Indian child on my travels who was ecstatic when he received a metal teaspoon for Christmas....it makes you think and feel blessed for all those simple things we have.

Things are just things until people make them alive :)

You might find yourself asking yourself what simple little treasures you or your family have.

Wicked Weekend for 2!!!

The Queens Birthday long weekend is always an eventful weekend in the Offord household as our Wedding Anniversary is the 12th of June. Although we usually have something planned this year being our 6th Anniversary was the first time we have ventured away for the weekend...and without the kids!!!
Andy and I have never both left our munchkins for a time period longer than 24hr up untill now, we have always made sure we have dinner dates and mummy and daddy time away but this year we felt it was time to have a holiday for two.
We were very blessed to have my parents come and look after the kids for the weekend, and although we missed them we made the most of our special time away and enjoyed it to the max...apparently the kids hardly battered an eye or asked for us :/ , thankfully we felt very loved when we were welcomed with running feet and big hugs loaded with excitement :)
We travel to Mount Tambourine on Friday morning and booked into our accommodation to start out on our adventure. Like little kids in a Theme park we were free to do whatever we pleased...no naps to work around, no lugging of nappy bags, no boundaries with food! and the list goes on
Our weekend in a nut shell consisted of Antique shopping, visiting winery's and wine tasting, the fudge shop, mt tambourine's Gallery walk, the markets, relaxing spa, a wonderful German restaurant, delighting in delish foods that's we can't normally eat (due to Declan's severe allergy's), Wintersun (car festival at Coolangatta), bush walk, sleep in's, a nanna nap, shopping and more and probably some things that you don't want to know :P
Here are just a few pic's from the weekend:
To explain the first two pic's here is a bit of background info-
For the past year roughly since Declan was diagnosed as Anaphlatic to Egg and nuts our house has been egg and nut free. His allergy is so severe that Andy, Thalia and I cannot eat egg and nuts either as it's too much of a danger to Declan. This means we don't eat any foods that are not only egg or nut based but everything that "may contain traces of" egg or nuts!!! eeekk i hear you say, just about everything in the shops say the dreaded "may contain" on the label......don't worry we do eat and it has just become a life style for us. When an opportunity like this weekend comes it is then a rare occasion that we have enough time away from declan to indulge in some "unsafe" foods and still be safe for Declan on our return. So we opened our mouths all manner of evil after a year of diddly swat and loved it while we could.
Here is a not so flattering pic of me eating my all day breakfast in pure delight...mmmm egg!

and Andy with a massive grin on his face digging in to his. His comment about 20 min later had me in stitches of laughter....apparently his all day breakfast was simply orgasmic!!! :D I guess he missed his eggs :P That night we enjoyed a drink and dinner at a lovely German restaurant, both ordering Schnitzel battered with egg of course after an entree of wood fire pizza.

I don't think Andy realised how BIG the his beer would be after ordering a German beer!!!!

here's a pic of his beer up again my normal size wine glass....yes that is 1/2 a litre of beer!!!All the following pic's are taken at Wintersun Car Festival....we had to contain ourselves to not drool as 2000 cars were all on display, definitely a sight to behold.

Firstly we have a pic for the kids, i couldn't resist taking this pic...how very cute!!!Next we have one for the bar lover.....2 cars creatively transformed into a bar lounge, bar, complete with bar stools, sink, hip flasks and all with a small bbq in between!

Another photo I just couldn't pass up.....It's not so much the car that caught my eye but the Vintage pram all restored in conjunction with the car (mmmm i guess it might be something only a mum could understand :P)
and Last but not least one of Andy's faves :)
all I can say is what a wonderful weekend!!

Happy Anniversary hon, my love grows for you year after year :D