My little pilot

Walker plane - beautifully hand crafted

June has been a very busy month for us. I expect it always will be. This month we had a long weekend away and went on a farm stay in Northern New South Wales, near Byron Bay. Lovely weekend, but it was cold and it did rain and rain and rain.

On this weekend we made our way into a little town called Bangalow, which hosts a farmers market on the weekend and has a number of little shops.  During our visit we saw a number of handcrafted wooden toys. I fell in love with all the toys, they were amazing and I wish I had taken a photo of all the toys they had available. In case want to know, they had a huge dump truck, train, truck with trailer for car transport (including the cars), rocking horse, cars, smaller trucks and a pram. All the items are made by a local craftsperson, from wood (look at the wood grain) and the workmanship is superior. If you are ever visiting Bangalow please visit Windhorse Gallery.

Unfortunately when travelling with twins there is never spare space in the car. So we could only buy one item. I was thinking a small car, however A had other plans. She saw the plane, her eyes were as huge as saucers and once she sat on the plane she had the hugest smile. There was no way we were getting out of the shop without the plane.

A and her plane - Future Pilot perhaps?

So, we are proud owners of a walker plane. A loves this plane and this is definitely hers. G does get to sit on it and have a ride, however, G is always quick to turn up and take over. I guess we will have to work on her sharing skills.

A (in striped top) taking over again. Poor G been sidelined (again)

In the kitchen - Butter Cake

"Cooking is Love made visible"

A and I had some one on one time. This is a rare treat and came about by pure chance. A, woke up early from her nap and G slept for another 45 minutes. Enough time for A and I to spend some time in the kitchen together.

I like baking but I try not to bake to often, because then I have to eat it as well. The recipe of the day, butter cake. I decided this is the cake recipe I will be using for their birthday cakes, which is a month away, so a test batch needed to be made.

When I bake with the girls around I place them in their highchairs. If I don't they will be under my feet. They are like kittens at the moment, sneaking up quietly when I'm not looking (or one distracts) and pouncing on my feet.

I place their highchairs on the other side of the bench across from me so they can have a clear view and can see what I'm doing. I talk to them the whole time I bake. I read out the recipe, discuss the ingredients, collect the ingredients, explain what equipment we need, tell them why I select one baking dish over another and I talk to them about the different ways to measure ingredients (scales, measuring cups and spoons.) As I make the mix I walk around to their side of the bench and show them how the mix changes as I add, mix, beat and fold new ingredients into the mix. I placed a small drop of the mix on A finger yesterday for her to taste and let her have the mixing spoons when I was finished.

A (and G) are too young to understand what I'm saying or doing, but it does keep them riveted and quiet for the time we are in the kitchen. I can't wait until they can be active participants in the baking process. A had the hugest big brown eyes yesterday watching me mix together the cake. A few times she tried to lift herself up from her seat to get a better look. I wonder what it looks like to her? Did it look as magical to her as it felt to me? I think it must have. There was so much love in the kitchen yesterday. Love it the special ingredient we add to all our recipes, it takes food to a whole different level. After eating we often say, "that was lovely, it must be all the love that's been added whilst the meal/cake/snack as been prepared."

We are sick

We are all sick. Some of us sicker than others. I think we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I hope so. There is a level to how much a mama can cope with, non eating, non drinking, non sleeping, clinging, grizzly and grumpy 10 month old twins is an endurance test.

The grandparents are arriving tonight it would be good to have another pair of arms to give cuddles.