Thursday, December 5, 2013

Rice Salad

1 cup brown rice
2 spring onions
3 stalks celery
30g dried cranberries
1 tin whole kernal corn
1 red pepper
walnuts/sliced almond/sunflower seeds/tamari seeds
Cook rice according to packet directions. Cool. Slice spring onions, finely dice celery and red pepper.
Toast your chosen seeds and nuts and add a splash of tamari or soy sauce.
Mix all together in a large bowl and stir through the dressing
Dressing
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tsp finely diced ginger
1 tsp finely diced garlic
3T soy sauce
Put all ingredients in a screw top jar and shake to combine



Monday, November 11, 2013

Sofia's Mermaid Party

Our eldest daughter Sofia turned six this week. She is interested in mermaids at the moment so I created a birthday party with a mermaid/underwater theme...
 My two nieces came to help with decorations, set up and organising games

 Sushi
 Grape 'seaweed'
 'Starfish'
 Sharks in jelly
 Clam shells with pearls
Cheerio Octopuses
 Little coloured tin buckets for the guests to collect their prizes in and take home
 Treasure hunting. I photographed some beachy objects (sunhat, suncream, jandals, bucket and spade etc.) and printed the pictures. Zoe and Willow then hid those objects around our yard with a picture attached to each. At the end the girls found a beach towel with the 'treasure' wrapped inside
 Water balloon target throw

 Zoe handing out prizes (we had mermaid stickers, mini bubbles, gold chocolate coins, a pretty bracelet, star shaped scented bath oil and some sweets
 Pass the parcel
 The birthday girl

 Cake time
 Seaweed Limbo
 Tallulah takes a turn
This incredible mermaid costume was a gift from Sofia's friend (made by her Mum! So clever)

Baptising Haniteli

On 3rd November we baptised our son in a Tongan Catholic Ceremony. Afterwards we celebrated his baptism and coming 1st birthday with the church community and some friends. With the help of family and friends we put on a lunch for around 100 people.
 The girls helping their cousin and Aunty prepare the ngatu (tapa cloth) to be used as a back drop in the hall
Boys spit roasting 10 pigs in the early hours of the morning
 The cake(s)
 Pretty big sisters
 Hani with his godmother, our niece Felixe
 Hani's godfather, our nephew Vincent, having a last minute practise of his reading

 Proud Aunties
 Lots of guests!
 Sign painted by Paula's friend
 The front table
 The man of the moment in his Tongan outfit
Hani not looking the best with a nasty cough that had us taking him to the 24 hour doctor to be put on a nebuliser at 4am on this morning...poor little chap.

Australia Holiday

A few photos from our recent trip to Sydney. It was a first aeroplane journey for Haniteli, first trip for us with three children and it all went really well. It was so nice to catch up with Paula's family and visit places we had not been before in the Sydney area. The kids had a lovely time with Aunties, Uncles and cousins. We enjoyed beautiful warm weather. Ten days in the big city was enough for us and we were ready to come. Glad we had left before the big bush fires in the Blue Mountains. It was amazing and sad to see places that we had visited days earlier being devastated by the fires.
 Crazy cousins dressing up
 Featherdale Wildlife Park
 
 Hani with Aunty Mia
 Hani with Uncle Soa
The Three Sisters at Katoomba
Paula and Na admiring The Blue Mountains
Haniteli with Aunty Mafi'ila
So many balls!
Fun times at Ingrid's house

 Sofia by the harbour in Newcastle
 Testing the water at Shelley Beach near Wyong
 Bondi Beach
 Coogee Beach
 Brothers
 Fun in Uncle and Aunty's pool
Cousins and second cousins
We love family time!