Potato fritters

I've been quite uninspired about dinner recently. Cooking for two children is never quite the same as cooking for two adults. And I'm a little out of routine, I'm not in my own kitchen, and Esther has been a bit funny about vegetables over the last few days. But the more picky the kids get, the more determined I am to make dinner work, and I nailed it the other night. Esther seems to have got back to her usual quite-well-eating self too.

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A portrait of my children every week for a year.

Hummingbird Cake

We had a good day the other day. A good day! Reuben and Esther played together beautifully when he came home from kindy and that makes everything better. It was another hot day and I just felt like making a cake - and managed to do just that amid the peace and quiet. Actually, the quiet was interrupted just as I was about to put the cakes in the oven, by loud, crackling, heavy rain. It took me a moment to realise what the noise was, then I threw the cakes in to the oven and flew down the stairs to get the windows of the car up, the car in to the garage and the washing off the line - preferably simultaneously.

Heavenly Blackberry Pie

Blackberry Pie! Now there is something worth living for. Nana braved the heat and the thorns at a secret South Wairarapa location the other day, and brought home a container full of blackberry jewels. Oh the options! We started with homemade blackberry icecream, which was out of this world, and the next day moved on to blackberry pie. Gosh it's good. I'm suddenly ecstatic about the idea of free blackberries, and am feeling very motivated to hunt down some edible ones a little closer to home - right after I've finished eating the leftovers.

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A portrait of my children every week for a year.

Sticky Situation

Stickers are great for kids aren't they? And for parents. They're cheap to buy and they make kids' eyes light up. They're easy to pop in your bag and get out at those moments where a little distraction or entertainment is needed. There's an infinite variety and everyone can find something they like.

But what on earth does anyone actually do with them?

Book Summaries - "How to Talk So Kids Will Listen..." Chapter 2.

Book Summaries are summaries of books I have been reading about bringing up children. They're not book reviews. Their purpose is to help me clarify what I have been reading, and you, too, may be interested in the main points of some of these books. I intend to use them as a useful quick reference, and you may like to as well. Not everything that I read (and therefore write here) will be my own point of view, though it's highly likely that the books I've chosen to read will be on par with my own ways and views. Though perhaps not always. Sometimes learning about different approaches can really cement my own views. These summaries are not me suggesting to you how you should bring up your children. Take what you wish from them, or if you don't feel the need to have any further input on how you do your job, pass this post by and I'll see you on another topic.

HOW TO TALK SO KIDS WILL LISTEN AND LISTEN SO KIDS WILL TALK 

Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish 

CHAPTER TWO - ENGAGING COOPERATION                           

This book is packed with information and includes loads of examples, including many cartoon strips! My summary will include a lot of their examples (including some paraphrasing for brevity), and many direct quotes.

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A portrait of my children every week for a year.

Pukeiti - favourite places

While on holiday we visited Pukeiti, one of my favourite places in the world, and the home of long ago family memories. Pukeiti rain featured on my list of favourite things, but in its place I am quite happy to be featuring Pukeiti sunshine here instead. The rain was lovely to listen to, tucked up in the Lodge - my grandparent's home - when I was little, but the truth is I would prefer a day like this...

This one's for you family.

Don't miss the attempted sibling pic where we used to have our cousin photos taken.

Snow Dough

Yes I do spend a little bit of time gazing around Pinterest. It can be useful, inspiring, and a total waste of time, but I'm happy with that combo. I must say that after the initial excitement of a new thing, I now only have the patience for a fairly brief look. My pinning goes in bursts, and I think it will wane once I have a new house that is looking totally perfect. Ha! I am definitely a sucker for beautiful decor.

I also pin quite a lot of food photography, and poetry and prose that hits the spot. I haven't quite got in to gardening, as it may never stop, and I still mark websites that I want to revisit using old-fashioned bookmarks - Pinterest for me is just single image inspiration.