So "Bill" me will you? or 10 things that worked in our family restaurant dinner

Eating out in a restaurant with gorgeous but small children is enough to strike fear into the hearts and minds of even the most stoic of parenting adventurers. Throw in autism with sides of a very limited diet and sensitivity to crowds and noise and you have a recipe for a less than relaxing evening.

Unless, you find the right place. And find the right place we have. *

On Sunday we had a dining experience at our local Taco Bill restaurant and it was a huge success. Huge success as in happy kids eating and happy parents eating too. So here are the 10 things that worked about our Taco Bill's experience:

1. The welcome - the restaurant manager James greeted us like we were old friends, he found out the kids names and exchanged high fives with them.

2. The table. At 5pm on a Sunday night the restaurant was very quiet and we were able to choose our table. The table chosen by the Batsman was next to a window with a very conveniently located train line. We love to watch the trains and the Bowler had a stellar viewing position from his high chair.

3. The ambiance. There was music playing but it wasn't intrusive and even added to the experience of eating our family Mexican. Places with really loud music are way too overwhelming for the Batsman, you can see it in his eyes. He was happy, relaxed and chatty.

4. The entertainment. The very lovely James provided little entertainment bags from here filled with crayons, stickers, paper to draw on and colouring in sheets. Instant hit.

5. The service. Orders taken quickly, food and drinks arrived quickly and we were told, "have a good time, don't worry about the mess, that's our job". You gotta love that.

6. The food. The boys demolished chicken nuggets, wedges, and cheesey nachos. It was appealingly presented and tasty. The proof is in the eating.

7. The drinks. The Batsman and the Bowler shared a lovely caramel milkshake which was not overly sweet. There are some seriously sugary drinks on the menu at Taco Bill so buyer beware on that front.

8. Did I mention the trains going past the window every few minutes?

9. The IPod packed in my bag helped the Batsman make it through the last ten minutes of the dining experience. Angry Birds anyone?

10. The take-home gift and the good bye. There was a little toy to take home for both boys and a personal goodbye from James. The boys talked about him on the way home, such was the impression he made.

While we sat and ate our dinner, the Captain and I talked about how happy we were to be able to share dinner out as a family, with the two lights of our lives. It's something we hope to do more as they grow and we get better and better at reading the Batsman's cues that he is feeling overwhelmed. It all just worked tonight and while we know that not every family restaurant meal will be peaceful and successful,, we have had a lovely window into what's possible.

We have been so completely impressed by our Taco Bill experience. That's why I am blogging about it. This post is completely unsolicited and there is no benefit to Segovia in it being written.
I believe in credit where credit is due.

So Taco Bill Kensington and James. Thank you. You made our weekend.

What has been your most successful dining experience? Do you have any tips for making it all work? Where do you go to eat with your kids?

*unsolicited review

One of the sweetest moments in the day...thank you Giggle and Hoot

The end of the day for little ones is nigh.
The Batsman and the Bowler are all clean, bundled in warm pyjamas.
Faces shining, hair still a little damp.
They perch on the couch, books and favourite toys close.
Dinner hour craziness is an escaping memory.
The lure of  a peaceful house beckons.
Little boys eyes are expectant as the Captain and I join them on the couch.
And then it is upon us.
One of the sweetest moments in the day.
As Giggle and Hoot serenade my boys to bed.

Hoots Lullaby

What a day its been, What a magic day Shhhh can you hear the moon is on its way.
It's time for all the stars, that sparkle in your eyes, to fly through the night and light up the sky.
What a day its been, laughing with our friends, now that the sun has sunk into its bed.
It's time for Hoot to go and watch over you at night, fill your head with sweet dreams under soft moon light.
And soon the smiling sun will rise again... and light the way to a bright new day.
"see you in the morning"... hoot hoot

Both the Batsman and the Bowler's eyes light up when Giggle and Hoot grace the screen and especially so during the "goodnight song".

And for me, the proudest mum in the world, it's just one of those wistful, sweet, sweet moments where I receive the gift of watching my children while they are enthralled in something they love.
Sweet, sweet love.

What are the sweetest moments in your day? Do you love Giggle and Hoot?
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Do you hide the vegetables?

I do.

I know that not everyone is a fan of hiding vegetables in food for their children. In an ideal world I know that all of our kids would be sitting down to a delicate saute of six vegetables but it just. doesn't. happen. here. Not with the Batsman. You can read all about his love hate relationship with food here. Thankfully the Bowler has not followed in his big brother's "Captain Beige" food footsteps and is having a red hot crack at every food you put in front of him.

So back to the vege hiding. I am a card carrying member of Jessica Seinfeld's Deceptively Delicious brigade. She has come up with purees I have barely even heard of and wow, can she hide vegetables. My favourite place to hide them is in muffins and cakes. During the Great Zucchini Glut of 2010 we did Chocolate Zucchini cake and I have had big success with both boys eating Pear, Almond, Zucchini and Carrot muffins.

This week I happened upon some very cheap sweet potatoes and I went in search of a muffin recipe that could incorporate them. I found one here. The Frugal Girl is a fabulous blog with loads of ideas for "cheerfully living on less". Kristen, who writes it, hosts a link up each week called Food Waste Friday where people post photographs of food that has been wasted in their household that week, as a means of motivating everyone not to contribute to the massive amount of food the world wastes. Go check it out, it's fascinating.

I had to adapt Kristen's recipe a little, mainly because I wanted to use fresh sweet potato not the American canned version. I also added some cocoa to make them extra chocolatey.

So here it is:

Sweet Potato & Chocolate Chip Muffins
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
450g mashed sweet potato (without butter, salt, or milk)
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup oil
2 cups plain flour
1 cup whole meal flour
4 tablespoons of cocoa
2 teaspoons bicarb soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 or 4 handfuls of chocolate chips

In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs, sugar, pumpkin, milk, and oil until smooth. In a separate bowl, whisk dry ingredients together. Add dry ingredients to liquid ingredients, and stir just until combined. Fold in chocolate chips. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups 3/4 full. Bake 16-20 minutes at 180 degrees. Makes around 40 small muffins.

And here they are:



They were beyond delicious and four hungry children cheerfully put away a dozen of them after swimming lessons this morning.

All hail the hidden vegetable.

Do you hide veges to get extra goodness into the family diet? Do share your ideas. I'd love to hear them.



Weekend grateful - a friend

I have missed a couple of weeks of Weekend Grateful.

Life got in the way of being grateful. Oops.

But this week I am back. Being in the presence of gratitude for what we have in our lives is a lovely thing. Thanks Maxabella.

This week I am grateful for my friend T. I am so very fortunate to have her in my life.

She is the voice of reason. The one who, when I am full of angst about something, says “Yeah, except I’m going to be the voice who says.....” and all of this wisdom comes out. She gives, both the wisdom, and the friendship, without expectation or judgement. She has stuck with me but not crowded me. She loves my boys and watches them grow with the pride of the proudest aunty. She writes postcards and letters to the Batsman with pictures of trains and penguins, whatever she knows is his latest craze. The joy on his face as he fetches T’s latest offering from the letterbox is pure gold.

My friendship with T is one of those ones where even if we don’t speak for a while, there is no gap in the communication. We talk about everything and anything. We tolerate each other’s football team choices.

I saw T yesterday. We had coffee and a chat. I told her about my never ending to-do list and how when I get some time to complete some tasks without the boys with me that I am often struck by the paralysis of what to do first. Quick Suz, make the most of the time. Productive. And then came the wisdom.

T said, “how about instead of thinking about what you’re going to do, you think about what you’re going to be?”

A to-be list instead of a to-do list. More gold. Thanks T.

PS: I’m also grateful for this post. You made a huge difference yesterday Bianca. If you haven’t read the post, read it and follow Bianca. She has good stuff to say.

Another PS: I’m grateful to have lost 4.9kg and crashed through a weight barrier I haven’t been under for way too long. This woman is my inspiration. Thanks Lucy. You should read her blog too. In a “to-be” kind of way of course.

Image via weheartit

The Captain and me

The Captain is the broad shoulders that sometimes carry all four of us.

The Captain is the one who always says "it's ok, it's gonna be ok".

The Captain is so very often the calm in the storm, the one who is happy to wrestle on the floor till there are giggles all round, the one who puts out the rubbish without complaint and empties the constantly overflowing dishwasher.

The Captain always reads my blog and tells me what he thinks. He reads your comments too and even though he is not a big blog reader or commenter, he is getting to know bits and pieces about this blogging community of ours.

Big things and some small things but all of it keeps everything chugging in our little home.

Sometimes when the "two of us" becomes the "three of us" and then the "four of us", the "two of us" can get a little bit lost in the traffic jam. We don't mean for that to happen, it just does. We have planned a little one night getaway in a couple of months time, just so we don't forget the "two of us".

So I just wanted to share a pic of my beautiful man and me (bad res pic - sorry!)

He's been having a bit of a tough week so send a bit of blog love to the Captain will you?

Necessity as the mother of invention or how about some quiche?

This is not a food blog.
But I adore food. A little too much I think.
So when I discovered the tub of very lovely, very expensive smoked trout dip in the fridge with a next day expiry date I couldn't bear to waste it.
Given that I am doing my best to reduce my blogger butt, I decided that it wasn't the best plan to consume a whole tub of dip in an evening.
So the fridge rummage began in search of a solution.

And 8 eggs
whisked with the trout dip and half a cup of cream,
some chopped herbs,
some shortcrust pastry from the freezer,
a little bit of oven time
and we have this

It was delicious. The Captain and the Bowler mowed it down. The Batsman not so much. But that's ok.
I reckon you could make this with any flavour of cream cheese based dip....yum.

I love a bit of necessity as the mother of invention in the kitchen.
What has been your best (or worst) invention in the kitchen?

Just keeping myself useful, love.

I love visiting the op shop. I may have said that here before.

I love browsing through old books, vintage clothes and kitchen treasures.

I love picking up a bargain - a book for the Batsman or the Bowler, some great new jars for preserving, some rugged old camo pants for the Bowler to cover in spaghetti bolognese wear at child care each week.

But there is another reason why I make a point of dropping in to the little op shop up the road.

This week I made my usual visit to the op shop.

I bought a book for the Bowler and a lovely old vase.

But the prize of the day, by far, was a slot car set for the Batsman. It's a treasure I have been seeking for a while. Awesome. Complete with cars. He already loves it.

I took my purchases up to the counter and there he was.

He has one of those faces. Craggy with age, ready smile, his face the launching pad for the million stories I reckon are stored inside.

I don't know his name but I do know that his wife died a couple of years ago.

He works at the op shop, like all the others, as a volunteer, as a service to his local church and community.

His face lights up when he sees I want to buy the slot car set.

He eagerly tells me that he has tested the whole thing, checked every piece, made a couple of repairs and it's ready to race.

"I've even had it going up on my kitchen table" he tells me. "It's a beauty".

I thank him, genuinely and profusely.

I am moved that at around 80 years of age, he has gone to those lengths to prepare a toy to go to a new home.

He seems a little embarassed by my gratitude and mutters "it's nothing darl" under his breath as he takes the coins I give him.

I tell him it's not nothing and it will mean hours of fun for my boys.

"That's terrific but you know, I'm just keeping myself useful love".

It's the people. That's the other reason I'm always at the op shop.

Wherever we are in life, at whatever age, stage, station or rung of the ladder, it's about people.

Do you love op shopping? What do you buy?

What everyday human encounter have you had recently that has moved you?

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The Happiness Project and what I learnt from it

This past month I have participated in the Happiness Project, a lovely blogging for life idea hosted by the very gorgeous Naomi at Seven Cherubs. A simple project, the HP required all who participated to keep a one sentence a day journal about what made us happy on that day.

Today is the day when the posts of all those who participated link up in one very happy little gathering.

Here is mine. You can read others who have linked up here.

April 10
A half hour on a rainy Sunday afternoon curled up on the bed with the Batsman, watching the curl of his eyelashes and the delight in his eye as a new book unfolds...and the moment where the Batsman, watching the Captain planting vegetable seedlings with gardening gloves on, races with intent into the bathroom and comes out wearing a hot pink loofah glove, all ready to help with the gardening.
April 11
A half hour on the computer with no interruptions, the Bowler sleeping for almost two hours mid afternoon and a new book purchase on making preserves....jam and jelly here we come.
April 12
The rain drizzling down on the newly planted winter vegie seedlings, two little boys enjoying home made baby cinos, the arrival of beautiful pink cupcake papers, pear and cinnamon pudding baking slowly and a spontaneous rendition of "When You're Happy and You Know it".
April 13
The buzz following my 6am gym workout
April 14
Meeting an old friend and coffee, sweet coffee
April 15
Beautiful photographs hung on the wall by a professional picture hanger....I could sit and look at these photos all day.
April 16
Good coffee.....I'd like some more please.
April 17
Getting to the bottom of the washing basket - small miracle.
April 18
A trip to the gym at 6am (so proud of myself for getting out of bed) and an aquarium visit where the Batsman managed his sensory issues sooooooo well
April 19
The most divine Lebanese dinner with two lovely friends and children that go to bed peacefully on time.
April 20
A wee bit of weight loss and seeing my boy have a red hot go at learning to ride a scooter.
April 21
A little bit of me time with some music, a cup of tea and a gourmet traveller magazine.
April 22
Good Friday fish and chips with friends with chocolate in abundance and an Easter egg hunt with plenty of action
April 23
Making hot cross buns from scratch
April 24
A 12 hour roasted leg of lamb and duck fat roast potatoes.....oooo la la
April 25
A solo walk through the Fitzroy Gardens in the autumn sunshine
April 26
Watching my boys frolic among the autumn leaves and our beautiful Batsman really master his scooter riding.
April 27
Getting my over indulged Easter butt out of bed and to the gym at 6am and a friend offering to take a turn to record minutes at the kinder meeting
April 28
A sparkiling clean house - thanks Marj! - a coffee with my old boss and realising that I don't really miss work and date night with the Captain to see "I Love You Phillip Morris"
April 29
A brilliant report for the Batsman at our 6 monthly developmental paediatrician appointment and a gorgeous, sunshiney Mummy and Batsman excursion to the Queen Victoria Market which produced THE juiciest sweetest strawberries I have ever tasted, a chicken and Chinese rice wine ready for poaching and a calorie free spicy lamb borek that just oozed with flavour.
April 30
A haircut, a massage from the myotherapist and a date night to see a concert at the Melbourne Recital Centre to see these guys.
May 1
The farmers market for fresh chinese greens, a slow day for everyone, some bewdiful chocolate and a snuggle with the Batsman on the couch.
May 2
Getting motivated to do a circuit class at the gym, making it to the other end of the whole gym hour and the Batsman initiating to do a wee in the loo all by himself. Oh, and losing 2.3kg in 3 weeks makes me pretty happy too.
May 3
Ginger cake rich with golden syrup, a playdate for toddlers and a warm bath to soak away the sore muscles from yesterday's exercise class debacle achievement.
May 4
Gym work out and pilates in the one day and a total of 3.3kg dropped in 3 weeks of healthier living
May 5
Poached eggs on toast, alone, and completing the task of wrapping up home made jam and relish for the kinder Mother's Day stall
May 6
Being told by the childcare staff what a joy my Bowler is to look after and how happy and mischievious and inquisitive he is at child care
May 7
The Batsman helping himself become accustomed and less fearful of the dark by playing a lovely pre-bedtime game of "now it's light" and "now it's dark"....joy and excitement and daring are in his voice.
May 8
A mother's day sleep in, cuddles with my boys and a wintry afternoon inside at the beach house, watching the waves chop around and the dark grey clouds roll over us.
May 9
The Batsman's achievements at his OT appointment were many and varied this month and that always makes my heart sing.
May 10
I heart Pilates, stretching and learning to move my body well makes me happy.

So that was my month of happy moments.
And what did I learn from it?
Well.....
I think I already knew what makes me happy but I think what I fell in love with all over again is being present, being in the moment and being there to notice the happy moments. Not rushing so much that they pass you by in a blur. Showing up for the good stuff, trudging through the hard stuff and realising that there is "nowhere to get".

So......what makes me happy are
my kids and my man,
cooking as therapy,
blogging,
looking after myself,
small moments,
friends,
coffee.

I am fortunate. I have a great life. I'm glad I stopped to notice.

I want to go with her

 

They spent almost their whole lives together.

He, gruff, sometimes cranky but with a heart of gold beneath the bluster.
She, gentle, with a ready laugh and a finely tuned sense of the humour and ridiculousness of life.

They loved each other. It was always clear.

They raised a family. Two sons, one of them my father.
They worked, cared, grew vegetables and tended snapdragons and stocks and marigolds in their garden.
They welcomed and deeply loved four grandchildren.

There are cherished memories of vegetables in the garden, of trips to the royal show, of playground visits, tram rides and a thickly iced pink match filled with cream from the cake shop in Puckle Street.

Then came 1983 and with it cancer. Insidious, painful lung cancer. She hadn't smoked a cigarette in her life.

She struggled through treatments but the cancer spread and pain bristled cruelly all over her body. You could almost see it, creeping through, wreaking its destruction. Fucking cancer.

They came to 1984. Late May. She could fight no more. Palliative care would be her last tram stop. She lay there, unconscious, her bed surrounded with love and hope. He sat beside her, holding her hand, willing her to go on, but knowing she didn't have it in her. Much love, but little hope.

Next day. Etched forever. He fires a bullet from his boyhood shotgun through his brain. Kitchen floor, the worst discovery. He dies at midday.

She lives on, for another 17 hours. Not conscious but still breathing. Something within her knows it's time to let go. She dies peacefully.

Some months later, there is a note, found tucked inside his favourite gardening book. I don't remember the exact words but the message was clear.

"Forgive me, I want to go with her."

They loved each other. It was always clear.

Nan, wherever you are, Happy Mother's Day. I miss you and I wish you could have seen your great grandchildren. They are sunshine.

Pop, I love you and I miss you too. And I understand, I do.

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Weekend grateful - on the road

This week I am grateful for being on the road.
I am on the road to getting fit and fab after 3 weeks of healthier eating and much more exercise.
The scales have it - 3.3 kilograms gone. On the road.

Playing along with Lucy too. I really like the idea of drab 2 fab. It opens up all kinds of possibilities.


  
And this weekend our little cricket team is on the road too.
We are soaking up a lovely winter weekend at the beach. Warm house, rugged up kids, rosy cheeks, flannelette pyjamas, playing trains on the floor. I love my boys, so very much.

And as always grateful to Maxabella for the opportunity to pull some gratitude out of what is sometimes a bit of a quagmire!

I don't care about Osama, I just want this...

Image by Simon Howden/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Wishful, wishful thinking.

United in grief, strong in love

I lost two little babies, miscarriages early in pregnancy. One was the Batsman's twin and I look at my big four year old boy and I wonder, still, what his twin would have been like. Boy or girl? Fair or dark? Reserved like the Batsman or boisterous like the Bowler? On the road to giving myself some peace after the losses of the little ones we never came to know, I have met some of the most extraordinary women one is ever likely to find.

Grief stricken.

Fearful.

Brave.

Sad.

Hopeful.

Courageous.

Generous.

Strong.

Kind.

Awe inspiring.

You all know who you are don't you? Sal, Carly, Sophie, New Year Mum, Angie, Catherine and so many many more. Too many women with so much sadness.

I am proud to know you. You inspire me to be a better person.

On International Babylost Mother's Day I acknowledge you. I will always stand beside you, online and in person, in your grief, your hope, your sadness, your joy.

Extraordinary women who wish they had never been brought together by loss but remain always, united in grief and strong in love.

If you want to know more about International Babylost Mother's Day, go here.