Yummy things....

It was Fayes first birthday today. She didn't seem to notice anything different. She did however enjoy demolishing the cupcake I gave her and had so much fun with the wrapping paper, who cares about the new goodies inside (thats what brothers and sisters are there for!). Well Emily and Dennis liked her new toys! Off to Windhoek tomorrow so no more blogging till I get back...

Happy Birthday Faye

My Saturday nanny, Christine made this for Fayes 1st Birthday from seeds. Very thoughtful of her.

Spiderman etc

Yesterday Dennis told me a story. It goes like this :

Once upon a time there was Spiderman. He spinned a web. Markie likes Bakugans. Jack also likes Bakugans. I like Thomas the Tank Engine and Tinkerbell and the Lost Treasure. The end.

Twinkle twinkle little star....

I have been making stars from magazine paper over the past few days. My friend, Janine who visited recently showed me how to make them. They are fun, quick and easy to make. I know there is a website or blog somewhere that shows you how to make them (maybe Janine can make a comment as to where to find it). For those of you who never knew all the lyrics to Twinkle, twinkle little star by Jane Taylor (and I am one of them) here it is:

Twinkle, twinkle little star,

How I wonder what you are.

Up above the world so high,

Like a diamond in the sky.

Twinkle, twinkle little star,

How I wonder what you are!

When the blazing sun is gone,

When theres nothing he shines upon,

Then you show your little light,

Twinkle, twinkle through the night.

Twinkle, twinkle little star,

How I wonder what you are!

In the dark blue sky so deep

Through my curtains often peep

For you never close your eyes

Till the morning sun does rise

Twinkle, twinkle little star,

How I wonder what you are

Twinkle, twinkle little star,

How I wonder what you are!

Spinach, beads 'n other nice things

Today I took Emily and Dennis for a little 'outing' to a farm nearby called Sugarbush. We actually went there to pick some fresh spinach, but when we got there we found out they were having a little market. So me being so deprived of nice things in this town bribed the children with homemade ice-cream (a little bit of a messy affair!) so I could have a wander. Beautiful leather goodies, beaded jewellery and clothing were on show amongst other niceties. The kids had (sticky) fun, I had fun and we even came back with some spinach too!

Marshmallows and Liquorice Allsorts

Aren't these bowls just lovely. I found them in a little shop here in Lusaka called Lush and thought my sisters kids would love to eat their cereal out of them in the mornings...just makes you want to eat Marshmallows and Liquorice Allsorts too!

Knitted toys

Today I went to a little shop here in Lusaka to buy Faye some knitted toys for her first birthday. Take a peek at their website http://www.little-ndaba.com/ they have some really gorgeous things. Quite a find in this town!!

Haircut

The other day I walked in to the lounge only to be greeted by a mound of mousey brown hair and a pair of scissors. No one was around. By the amount of hair I saw I thought that some serious 'damage' had been done. I managed to locate the culprit - darling Emily decided that she wanted to 'play' hairdresser. I must say she did not do a too bad a job - obviously a natural!!

Avocado Baby

Baby Faye is rather keen on avocado too. I mix it with pureed apples and she woofs it down. Just hope she doesn't get as strong as the baby in The Avocado Baby by John Burningham, she may just end up breaking out of her cot!

The Princess and the Fox

Today I asked my daughter Emily aged 4 to tell me a story and this is what she said :

Once upon a time there was a princess and then it did sleep over at someones' house and then it went to a forest and there was a fox and they were best friends but the fox did bite her and then there was a pea inside the foxes mouth and then the fox did point his finger to the princess and the pea then came out of the foxes mouth and then the fox went away back into the forest. The end.

It amazes me where they get this stuff!!!!

Avocado Chocolate Pudding

For all my Zambian friends asking 'what the heck do I do with all these avo's?', heres the recipe for Chocolate Pudding:

1/4 cup margarine
1 cup avocado puree
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1/4 cup cornstarch

Melt the margarine over low heat. Stir in the avocado puree, sugar, cocoa powder and vanilla. Cook, mashing well with a spatula to smooth out any lumps until the mixture thickens, 3 to 4 minutes. Off the heat gradually stir in the cornstarch. Serve warm. Yummy!!!!

Recycled Ribbons

Today I found a lovely blogspot with some great crafty ideas howaboutorange.blogspot.com and tried out the recycled ribbon post. My first attempt was rather successful (gloat, gloat!). Am definitely going to be doing more of these, it's fun and saves on spending money on shop bought ribbons.

Avocado

There are just so many HUGE avocado's here one does not know what to do with them all. Well yesterday I decided to make something with them and it turned out rather yummy. It was a chocolate pudding and low and behold the kids loved it......and they were unaware of the avocado content which is always good...deceptive mum!!!