Grow your own stir-fry!

Our raised veggie beds are starting to really produce the goods. Last week we picked the following vegetables for a wholesome stir fry - bok choi, capsicum/peppers, white onions, carrots and silver beet.

What makes them notable is that we've fertilised them with alpaca poo!

I've been particularly pleased with the carrots which we grew from seed and seem to have cropped really well inhibited only by my reluctance to properly thin them out. Eli loves nothing more than crunching on a carrot after school. Last week he said carrots were his favourite food (after chocolate) so that's not too bad a thing..

fresh veggies

a post-school carrot!

Amy in the Canberra Weekly

The Canberra Weekly published a really nice article about Amy this week, in the lead up to next weekend's "Mother's Day Classic". Amy's also featuring on a radio interview on local ABC radio on Wednesday - she's becoming quite the media star! (click on the article to enlarge it).

Eloise

Last year Eli's pre-school teacher was a lovely lady called Eloise. Amy and I were always amazed how positive Eloise remained throughout the year she taught Eli's class - she was always friendly, nothing was ever too much and her enthusiasm and general happiness rubbed off on the kids.

 

Alas, Eloise left the school and she's now heading off with her husband to London (where her husband will study at the LSE for a few years). Amy and the kids met up with Eloise before she set off. Eli was in raptures - Amy said he was trying to get out of the car before they even arrived when he spotted Eloise heading to the café where they met. They had a great afternoon and Eli talked about it for days afterwards.

 

I hope our paths cross with Eloise in the future. As well as being a great teacher she's a lovely person and has made a real positive impact on Eli.

 

Running for the eggs at Rodney's!

Easter Egg Hunt at Rodney's Nursery

We enjoyed a lovely breakfast at the café at Rodney's nursery in Pialligo which was followed by an Easter Egg Hunt for the kids. It was a beautiful sunny morning and the kids ran around the playground where the eggs and chocolate rabbits had been stashed.

 

We had been warned by some friends that competition was rife and that the kids would have to use their elbows to get success, but this year the hunt had been divided into 6 and unders and 7 and olders so our two (at 6 and 5) stood a pretty good chance.

 

Regardless every kid who took part plundered large supplies of chocolate. Eli returned home and stored his in a shoe-box which he has kept under his bed!

 

Amy's trip to Thredbo

Amy and her parents enjoyed 4 nights in Thredbo a beautiful spot a couple of hours drive from Canberra.

In the winter it serves as a ski resort, but for the rest of the year there are throngs of mountain bikers and walkers.

Here's a few pictures of them enjoying their trip.

Eli's birthday party

Our little boy is soon to turn 5. It seems amazing really as the time has flown by so quickly.

We celebrated with a trip to the cinema to see the 'Lego Movie' which is a really big deal if your under 10, in fact it's a pretty big deal whatever your age.

I think there was about 23 of us when we finally went into the cinema - we took up an entire row across the middle of the theatre. Amy had cleverly planned to have the party preceding the school holidays (where everyone would have otherwise gone to watch the film) so it was the opening weekend.

The film itself was excellent - so many action scenes one after another and something for everyone boys, girls and adults alike. The hero of the film is Emmet (on which the cake was based).

Afterwards we went to the cafe next to the cinema where the chef came out to congratulate me on the cake (yes I was very chuffed). Unsurprisingly Eli received a whole ton of Lego toys for his birthday which will end up being sucked up into the vaccum cleaner/falling down the heating vents for months/years(?) to come.

He ended the day a really happy boy having seen all his friends, watched a film exclusively about lego and then had pizza for lunch. Do birthdays get much better?