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Yup, I did!  That’s my answer.  

Yes, I did get the new version.  

And yes, I DO love it!  That’s my next answer.  

I DO ACTUALLY use it daily, sometimes several times a day.  Sometimes not.  It just depends on the day and what we feel like and what I need to get done for meals or prepping for the week.  

I have found that I prep a whole lot with it.  More than I ever thought I would.  

I need to convert more of our usual and familiar recipes.  This is probably the one area where we should be utilizing it more.  

Yes, I believe it is worth it.  But you need to not be scared of using the thing.  It isn’t scary.  It’s a tool.  Use it!!  Experiment.  Try a few new things.  Challenge your family to try it out (if you’re game!!).

I have had my Thermomix since November last year.  I do love it.  Honestly!  I am cooking more things from scratch, sometimes because it’s just that little bit easier and faster.  Sometimes because I want to test out something new and specifically for the Thermomix.  Sometimes because I have seen something on Instagram or Facebook that catches my taste buds’ attention.  Marc even likes it.  Whether it was the novelty of it inititally, or the ease of use and friendly instructions (hello fresh pizza dough!  Made by Marc!! That is made just as fast as ordering take away…)  He cooks more than he ever has, and that is a benefit that has paid for the machine in itself, kind of!! 

Either way, it gets used a whole lot.  And I am happy I finally invested in one.  And it is an investment.  I see it as an investment.  

HOWEVER!  We are NORMAL!  

We still have ‘off’ days.  You know, days where I call Marc on his way home to get take away.  We still buy bread, even though I have made bread rolls and scrolls and bagels etc.  We still buy jars of pasta sauce.  I can honestly say that this will probaly always be the norm for our family.  

And that is totally OK with me.  

Mxo

This rainy weekend, I decided to try a couple of new recipes for snacks and lunches for the Clowns for the coming week.

Firstly, this bread recipe from The Road to Loving my Thermo Mixer, which I made into Vegemite and cheese scrolls.  I also made a few with tomato sauce, Italian herb mix and some grated cheese.  Just for a bit of a change from the Vegemite.  Definitely a winner, but will use pizza sauce for a bit of extra zing next time!

Secondly, I tried these Honey and Almond Energy Balls from Make It Fake It Bake It.  Except I was super lazy.  I make it into a slice and cut it into bite size squares instead of rolling out little balls.  I also didn’t add the almonds to the mix, we have one Clown who doesn’t like almonds.  I just added them to the top of half the ‘slice’ so everyone was happy happy joy joy!  Winning!!

On a serious note….  I haven’t been able to stop eating this stuff.  It’s just the right about of peanut buttery sweetness and that pop of crunch… Ahhhhhmazing!!!  And too easy not to make!

This Bacon Jam is one recipe that is on my To Try list….  mmmm Bacon Jam…  Seriously delicious!  Like, spoon out with your finger from the jar type deliciousness….  Am I drooling?  Probably….!!

Have you got any recipes, Thermomix friendly or not, for me to try out?  I am always on the look out for lunchbox friendly and freezable things for the kids that aren’t too terrible for them 🙂

M xo

* warning : there are a lot of shouty words in this post.  I tried not to, but couldn’t help myself.  

Yep, I’m making up words again…

Adjustmenting : the act of changing tact to cope with one’s situation

I should start writing my own dictionary…
The 2015 Harvey Edition…
6000 new and improved words to add to your vocabulary!
I’m sure I could stretch it out to a least 6001…  

Any who….!  Back to what I actually wanted to talk about!!  

We have all three clowns at school now.  Prep, grade one and grade four.  And it’s been a bigger adjustment for this mum than I probably care to let on.  But this is the place to talk of all things, no matter if they are the good, the bad, or the ugly…  So let’s get on with it, shall we?!

Ella going into prep?  The child I ever so confidently thought would BREEZE through that classroom door everyday, from day one.  Yeah, well.  That didn’t happen.  She obviously didn’t get the memo.  How can you go from practically owning the Kindy, to digging your heals in AT THE DOOR on most days, because you just DO NOT want to go to school?  I don’t get it.  And because I am a mean mum, I leave her there.  In the care of a wonderful teaching team and she has an awesome day.  Every.  Single.  Day.  This child is doing my head in.

Grade one is just plain HARD.  Hard classroom, hard homework, hard playtime, hard swimming lessons.  You get the picture.  Life is just hard for the middle child.   And Reuben will tell anyone who will listen (or not, he’s not picky) all about his predicament that doesn’t seem to be changing to his liking.  I can’t get over how much his reading has improved in just a few short weeks of grade one, even though it’s all so HARD.  I think once he gets over himself, grade one will be fantastic everyday, not just on PE days.

Owen is loving grade four.  The extra responsibility and independence you are allowed once you hit grade four is significantly different to grade three.  And the teachers let them know just WHO is responsible, too. And that person is not me, or Marc.  It’s the kid.  It’s all Owen.  And that has been GOOD.   Excellent for him.  He doesn’t need to be reminded (too much) about what he needs to get ready for the day, or what uniform he needs to wear, whether it’s homework day etc etc.  I only hope that this new enthusiasm and responsibility lasts the whole year.  I have my fingers and toes crossed.  The workload he brings home however, is MASSIVE.  I really do feel for those parents of kids who don’t or wont do their homework.  Thankfully, Owen just takes it in his stride, and buckles down and just gets it done.  I have heard of parents having to bribe their kids to do homework or read or practice their spelling words.  So glad we haven’t had to resort to these measures.  Although, if you had of asked me two years ago, I would have jumped at the chance to try anything and everything to get him to do his homework without fighting about it!!

Marc has started a new role.  Which means more travel.  More time at the office. More meetings.  More of everything.  Which is great, really it is.  He revels in the challenge.  We, the other four, however are used to him being home more rather than less and not having to go away so much.  We have been spoilt these last couple of years so now we adjust accordingly.  Dinner times are sometimes Dad-less.  Nights are sometimes Dad-less.  But that’s OK.  We can handle it!  Some days ‘handling it’ requires more m and ms or an extra coffee…  But that’s OK too.

See?  Adjustmenting is a perfect word to use here!  We are all trying to go with the flow and fit everything in and adjust accordingly.

One day we will get it right.  One day…

M xo

I can’t help myself.

Hi, my name is Meegan  and I am a Pinterest addict.

I am sitting at the computer, fresh vanilla latte in hand, the washing machine is telling my I have 38 sweet, sweet minutes before it demands my attention.  So what do I do?  START PINNING!
Emails that have been staring at me for a few days?
Pffft!
They can wait.
Replying to text messages and Facebook?
Nup.
PINNING.
PIN PIN PINNING…..!  My happy place 🙂

That (and catching up on Lost Girl) is all I really want to do for those few short 38 minutes.

It’s a disease, I tell you!

So what have I been pinning, I hear you ask?  Well, everything.  New dinner ideas, Thermomixing (is so a word.  I just added it to my dictionary, so it must be!) inspiration, things to help my three clowns with their homework and to keep the younger two occupied quietly while the biggest is still going on his school work, exercise tutorials, crafting things, inspiration for the house…  So much!!  

You can follow my pinning adventures, there it a button up on this blog to come see what I’ve been pinning.
I also share a few things on the Harvey Circus Facebook page. If you don’t already, come follow me on FB!
Would love to see you there 🙂

What an amazingly FAST year!
With two Clowns at school, and the littlest Clown at Kindy, this year has been one filled with loads of running around, drop offs and pick ups, house renovating stuff, sport, homework, sight words, readers, finding my exercise mojo and making that part of our week, fitting in a new job, a puppy addition to the circus, Marc going on loads of business trips and diving into a new role. To say it’s been a massive year is probably a perfect description!

My plan initially was to blog (more than not at all!) and cruise through this year, helping Reuben transition to Prep and enjoying Ella’s last year before all three Clowns are at school. Well that didn’t really happen too often… I am thankful for our regular coffee dates and the quiet Monday’s we had at home after full on weekends, just us girls at home, cleaning up and regrouping with a Barbie movie (or three) and some down time before the next round of craziness started each Tuesday.

So living through instagram as my social media outlet has been my thing this year. I love instagram. I love my little community of real life and virtual friends around the globe. I love the support and friendship and real life antics of these people that have become part of my everyday. Checking in with my ig friends has kept me sane, kept boredom at bay, kept me laughing, has made me shed a tear or few, found me a bargain, taught me things, opened my eyes to yet a wider world.

It’s a special place, that instagram.

2015 though, is going to me yet another crazy year, I’m sure. But one that has a little more focus on me and what I want to achieve in the next twelve months. I have plans, people! Plans that need action! Plans that need my family to start the process of supporting me, not necessarily me supporting them 100% of the time.

Now it’s time for a break though, to start the school holidays on the right foot, with loads of down time to recharge and rest those weary kid brains. Time for our family to have a proper break before 2015 takes hold with both hands and doesn’t let go.

M xo

It’s been a funny break, this lot of school holidays. I wouldn’t even call it a holiday or a break really. Maybe that will come in the Easter break. I really hope it does. We all need it. Already.

We have had some major changes around our parts. Mainly, moving house right before Christmas. Which of course meant great upheaval and mess and chaos and anxiousness and uncertainty and pressure. But excitement and happiness and relief and contentment, too.

Change is as good as a holiday, right? Well we made a change IN the holidays, so what does that mean? Well, for us, it has meant that there really hasn’t been a holiday. Not at all. Not even much down time, where we literally act like sloths and laze about for a few days straight. Nup. That hasn’t happened. And this family generally requires that time to get it (back) together. To regroup. To refocus. To reset. Not this time though. There has been too much to get done, with deadlines.

I am not organised. I have not been organised for about three months, if I am honest with myself. And I hate it. I hate this place I’m in. It’s not me. Not at all.

I completely bombed out at Christmas. Acting so unlike me, and not having presents ready, Christmas cards were not even thought of, let alone sent out. We didn’t fit in as much of our usual Christmas traditions. We didn’t make it into the city to see the lighting of the tree. We missed out on quite a few Christmas events. I didn’t have Christmas day/ Boxing Day food prepped or even thought of until the very last minute. I even ran out of sticky tape and wrapping paper at the eleventh hour.
To me, it was a Christmas Fail.

And I will do much better this year.

Then there has been the unenthusiastic, on strike cook. It’s as if all motivation and inspiration has done an exit stage left from my brain. It keeps getting to 5pm and I have no desire to get started and nothing in mind for dinner, much less the ingredients on hand to make anything remotely decent for the Circus. So very unlike me. I love to cook, just seemingly not right now.

Exercise and good diet have been a distant friends. I could blame the heat, but that is just a pitiful excuse. I could blame the holidays, in general. That I will take on as a genuine reason. Oh and house packing up, moving, painting, unpacking, adding in Christmas to the mix as well, and you don’t really have a great routine going to make that time for myself.
In hindsight though, I think I should have at least stuck fast with the excerise. I think it would have kept me more focused. More patient. More fun to be around. More normal. More me.

School prep has been slow too. Thankfully, my former organised Self, decided to purchase all the boys school uniforms and paraphernalia long before school finished for the year. However, I of course was not able to order books and stationery etc etc that far in advance, so I kind of conveniently forgot about all that other stuff that has to be done. It’s all done now. But not in my usual fashion.

But it has now hit the business end of the holidays.
Procrastination can’t be allowed in anymore.
There has to be a turning point.

Now. It has to be today.

Because tomorrow is the beginning of Reuben’s schooling career.
Because Owen is embarking on Grade Three.
Because Ella starts Kindergarten on Thursday.
Because Marc already knows he has a massive year ahead, work wise.
Because I need to get my shit together so we function well.

So. As I sit here, confessing my holiday sins, I have mustered up enough effort to make a batch of banana choc chip muffins for the poor kids lunches.
Dinner prep has started. At the very least, today I thought about it way before 5pm…
I have almost finished getting the boys ready for school tomorrow.
Three books that require contacting are staring me down. Waiting for the sticky face off that must happen sooner rather than later.
Two spanking new school hats need labels ironed on.

Good luck to all those Preppies and Parents starting school this week. And to all those starting in new schools, I hope you make at least one friend on your very first day. I’m sure you will do great. Smile. Be kind.