A little time away

Hmm I dont think Ill get a recipe up for tonight... sorry! We are having steak and mash in a lovely arrangement above! After a 12+ hour flight for Hubby we decided we would get out of the city for a couple of days with the children. We headed down to my in-laws place for a couple of nights. It was so nice to have some open space and let the children have some time with their Grandmother and Aunties. Every morning when Mr 3 woke up he was asking where his 'other friend' had gone referring to his Aunty who leaves the house at 5am to go to work ... at a mine none the less! We even snuck a dinner out at a restaurant without kids. I seriously had forgotten what it is like to eat out by ourselves, after dark without having a time limit!

Have you checked out the FIFO Families website (for meets in your local area with other families or partners of people who work away? Go to the drop down box "Find Your Group". the groups are run by volunteer members in each area so it is important to rsvp and register to attend so they are able to get in contact with you if there is a last minute change to the event. I think its great that this has been set up we attended our first one last month and look forward to tomorrows catch up :)

We are off on another family outing to check out the Vivid Light Festival in the city tomorrow night too which is exciting! The lights go on at 6pm so I'm hoping Its not such a late night for the kids. Im at a loss for where to start with the event so much to see.

On another note if you are looking to connect with some other partners, wives or mums with significant others who work away from home please check out this little Facebook Group, Australian Mining Partners.

Have a lovely weekend!

P.s. we got to enjoy pasta and pizza in peace and really over ate ... I'm a huge fan of a nachos pizza and chili prawn pizza... We had to get half half as we couldn't decide... 

FIFO Family: Fly In day house hunting

FIFO Mum: In between the trees is usually where you can see Sydney city not a blanket of fog! 
http://imafifomum.blogspot.com

WOW what a Fly-In day! For a day that is suppose to be full of excitement and a fairly cruise day mine has been a shocker! Looking for a house to buy and the place we quite liked was suppose to go to auction later in June we get a call from agent after a week on the market to say if we want it we have to put our best offer in by 10am this morning unconditionally! Agh pulling my hair out! This was the week we were going to organise building/pest inspection and decide what we thought it was worth.

Yesterday at 5pm Hubby quickly arranges a building inspection for 8.30am next morning as he usually lands at 6.30am only for me to wake to the news that the airport is closed and flights are delayed some 4 hours.... great. So in my mad rush to get out the door with two kids, one baby who is sick with a fever, while staying at a friends place while the place we are renting is being painted, I decided to do daycare drop off for Mr 3 as I hadn't heard from Hubby. Luckily I did! Poor boy was so excited he was going to see Dad today and I felt so guilty I had told him last night that Dad is home tomorrow. Drop off done now I still couldn't get hold of Hubby and time was quickly running out so I left for the inspection. Mr 8 mo was loosing it (as was I), he was well past his only good sleep in the day along with being sick not such a great mix.

Finally Hubby called about 9.30am to let me know he was on the airplane in Melbourne and they had no idea if they were getting off or staying on plane. He left on midnight flight home and is still on an airplane some 12 hours later how unfortunate.

It was 9.50am and the man was still doing the building inspection yikes hurry up I need to have an offer in by 10am!!! Oh the joys! Why is it that it always falls on me! Its just like how its guaranteed that the kids will be sick or awake all night the week he is away and perfect little angels the week he is home. Finally the inspection is finished. 10.10am. Got hold of Hubby to let him know the outcome of report and ask him what he wanted to do. Along with having called agent and said I was going to email offer shortly.

All before 10.30am I still hadn't eaten anything or had the morning coffee.... and the builder was a lovely man but he just wanted to chat for ages all while I'm trying to call Hubby and the agent to put in an offer! All done time to pack up bubs and have that coffee and breakfast YAY. Then the old duck from next door comes out and wants to have a chat. Poor love I had to say hello and speak with her, she is a very sweet lady. She also told me that I shouldn't go back to work if I don't have to as its not worth the stress with young children to just stay at home and enjoy them! Gosh I must look stressed! She then wished me luck and said she hopes we get the house aww.

Coffee check. Screaming, overtired, sick baby check. Now to try relax  and hope Hubby is home soon.

x A

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Mamma FIFO's baking efforts: Bee Hive

FIFO Mum : http://imafifomum.blogspot.com.au/

It's no secret that I love to bake and cake decorate. I have a great time being a Mum I get a little party crazy and every year I tell myself that I wont do it again next year (or the next family birthday or excuse to make a cake) ... but who am I kidding! There has been a zoo cake, Lightening McQueen, Spot, love heart engagement cake and giant cupcake cakes. I love the excitement of choosing a theme and researching decorated cakes for inspiration its so much fun. There is something homely about the smell of home baked goods.

I thought I would share with you a recent cake I made. I was looking for a simple cake (if that exists!). I decided I would try the Bee Hive cake from Debbie Brown book. Off I went and baked my divine caramel cake and split the chocolate mud cake into two smaller pans.

How I made my Bees? The yellow fondant was rolled into bee shapes, the black strips were cut and glued with sugar glue, and I used a small love heart cutter for the wings. For the antennas I bend some gold wire around a pen to get a nice curved antenna. These were left to set overnight.

I decided to use buttercream for this cake instead of the usual ganache. I have never seen so much buttercream in my life! The cakes were stacked, glued with a layer of buttercream and cut into a beehive shape. I did a crumb layer and allowed the buttercream to set before I put another layer of buttercream over the top to put the rolled fondant over the top. The crumb layer allowed for smooth fondant finish.

Once finished I allowed the fondant to set overnight and added toothpicks to the bottom of the bees so I could position and attach them to the cake. I was lazy I didn't bother to cover the board...I really wish I had!

I wonder what I will make for our first birthday later this year?!

x A

FIFO Mum : http://imafifomum.blogspot.com.au/

FIFO Mum : http://imafifomum.blogspot.com.au/

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Sweet FIFO Wife: Recipe: Biscuits galore

Finished Sugar Cookies - FIFO Mum : http://imafifomum.blogspot.com.au/

Yum biscuits! Here is my favourite sugar cookie recipe for those of you looking for something easy and tasty to cook over the weekend :). We are a failsafe family (www.fedup.com.au) and use all natural colours and sprinkles (Hopper foods) as Mr 3 reacts to artificial colours.

Enjoy!
x A

Sugar Cookies (makes about 2 dozen)

Ingredients:

170g butter, softened

1 cups white sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 200'C and line trays with baking paper.

2. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla until combined. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover and chill dough for at least one hour (or can be chilled overnight if you want to be prepared).

3. Roll out dough on floured surface to desired thickness. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 2cm apart on baking paper. Note - if the dough becomes too hard to work with place back in fridge to cool off again.

4. Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.

Icing

Ingredients:

1 Cup of Icing sugar - I use pink CSR brand (not pure icing sugar)

Milk

Colouring

Steps: 

Mix milk into icing sugar to get desired consistency to dip or paint onto biscuit. Note - a little milk goes a long way I think I used roughly a teaspoon for every 1 cup of milk and remember you also have liquid in the colour 

Rolled Sugar Cookies - FIFO Mum : http://imafifomum.blogspot.com.au/

Baked Sugar Cookies - FIFO Mum : http://imafifomum.blogspot.com.au/

Cooling Sugar Cookies - FIFO Mum : http://imafifomum.blogspot.com.au/

Finished Sugar Cookies - FIFO Mum : http://imafifomum.blogspot.com.au/

FIFO Family Relationship

FIFO Mum : http://imafifomum.blogspot.com.au/

We are lucky enough to have a roster of 8/6days it goes fairly quickly! Some days are very slow and seem to never end however before I know it Wednesday fly-in day is here ... Phew. There are some rough days Im not going to lie however when my husband is home its time with no disruptions its just us! We share the housework, day care drop offs/pick ups, any sports lessons and the cookings. We try to share the sleep in's too... however I think I should have all of them as I'm up all night with a baby! 

Every relationship takes work marriage is no different. I believe if you are both happy parents then this will flow through to your children. After all we are role models right? Have fun! Laugh! Remember that feeling when you first fell in love at the start and don't let go of that. Have a cuddle and smooch in front of the kids show them affection is normal.

Staying connected as a couple for us involves alot of communication. Its hard to be away from each other however those phone calls or texts when available are important. I have to say though there are some swings we don't even speak due to work schedules, sick kids and the time difference! A text here and there but it may not be responded to :).

Routine is quite important in our house. Our children thrive on this and feel secure knowing what to expect. This routine is the same when its just one parent as it is when there are two parents... however we can divide and conquer at bath and bed time!! We eat very early at 5pm ish its the only way I can make it work on my week alone and if someone needs a snack after this they can have some fruit. Its just what we do.

We love to put the kids to bed 'early' and have a date night in where we order in home delivery and hire out a video. It gives us a break from the household chores and the children duties (when Mr3 stays in bed).

There was a point where he use to say that Dad worked at the airport and once he realised we could drive to the airport the following swing was 'can we go pick Daddy up from the airport today'. I wonder what Mr 7mo will make of it all when he gets a little older or if he will be too distracted by Mr3! 

Daddy is going to work today he will be home soon give him a big cuddle and a kiss followed by the ever so cute 'I love you Daddy'.

x A

Poo Jokes & Sleep of a FIFO families child

As I put Mr3 back into bed for the 6th maybe 7th time last night ... actually who am I kidding I gave up counting months ago ... all I could think about was why can't I tell him that there are monsters in the hall way at night time and if he gets up again they will be there?!!! Oh yes its because he is only 3 and me being the parent and an adult I just have to suck it up, stay calm, say nothing to him, place him in bed and say calmly its bedtime, goodnight I love you (over and over and over again). I think he just likes to make me walk up and down the stairs a million times each night while Im trying to clean the kitchen!

So tonight as he was sitting on the bottom of the stairs waiting for me to notice him I calmly said to him that the moon was out and the stars were a little upset that he was out of bed and not asleep for him to dream lovely dreams - to which his matter of fact reply was 'There no upset mummy the stars don't have faces'. Yep your right ... silly Mummy!

Again as usual I took him upstairs he started to cry upset by the fact he had to go to bed and sure enough he woke Bubs up. Story of my life! Who can empathise that they never sleep at the same time?! Im sure when they are teens it will be the opposite I may not have to stay up all night to wait for them to go to sleep but ill have trouble getting them out of bed!

Its just like our lovely little poo phase at the moment where every sentence no matter what it is ends in POO. Yes im sure ill have to do this again when Bubs gets to this age! To think Mr3's nick name for me use to be the nice and polite 'Honey' and now that has been replaced with the awesome 'Doody Head'. Score! Dont you love being a parent? I was pleasantly reassured by other parents in our local area that doody head was nice compared to some of the poo songs that her son was shown on you tube by a friend... oh dear whats to come?! Im sure it will be some other crude jokes!

Thanks to http://www.workpoop.com/history.html I now understand that apparently according to Eric Partridge in the Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, the word 'poo' came from the Middle English word poupen or popen meaning "fart" based on its sound. Robert Chapman author of American Slang says it got its current meaning around 1900. And I now know where the word dangle berry came from! Now I haven't checked these sources so please don't quote me on it - its a pure internet search!

Welcome to my journey of parenthood its going to be great being the only girl in our
house!

x A

Family FIFO Sunday

FIFO Mum

Another beautiful day in our part of the world. We have been out all day its been a long one! We won tickets to see Peter Pan at the movies so Mr 3 was stoked to be able to see the 'tick tock crocodile' on the 'big TV'. I love Disney movies. Mr 3 was asking if he could have cornflakes at the movies Hubby and I were a little confused. It wasn't until we were half way through the movie and he was saying I want more cornflakes please that we realised it was code for POPCORN!

Dad decided to treat us to sushi train while bubba boy slept ... Ahhh to have a meal in peace! No jumping jack on either of our laps!

Then off to one of the local nurseries to feed the chickens and rabbits. We were there for ages! Mr 3 is a chatterbox and got chatting to one of the workers who was walking around everywhere with him explaining the different plants and different animals what a treat to learn about something different to the animals at the aquarium. 

Tomorrow is the last day of our R & R it has been another fast swing. This roster flies by so before I know it he will be home again. 

x A


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No baking required: FIFO Family especially Dad's Fav Mars Bar Slice Recipe

Here we go a simple yummy indulge for those looking to try a new recipe for the weekend. We have had this one for so long I cant remember where I found it. Enjoy!

Mars Bar Slice

Ingredients:

3 x 65g mars bars

90g butter

3 cups rice bubbles

200g milk chocolate

30g extra butter (optional)

Steps: 

1. Combine mars bars and butter in saucepan

2. Stir over low heat until smooth

3. Mix in rice bubbles

4. Press into a greased tray

5. Melt 30g butter and chocolate over hot water

6. Spread of rice bubble mix and refrigerate

Aghh just lost my coffee to the carpet care of the 3yo!!!!

xA


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One, two you know what to do! FIFO family at the Opera House

Off FIFO Mum and Dad went to swimming lessons and once we finished swimming Mr 3 turned to Dad with much anticipation and asks "are you coming to see the music at the castle with us too??" - Yes! 

One, two you know what to do! Swing!

Now to the 'castle' aka Opera House to see the baby proms performance that we love. We have been taking Mr 3 since he was 11months old and were excited as Mr 7mo is actually able to enjoy this time too!

Today we enjoyed the jive and tap performance of Wayne Scott Kermond to the rhythm of swing and Im so grateful our little boys enjoyed a good boogie today. The excitement and awe on their faces as they enjoyed the performance is priceless. We were all involved in the get up and dance act especially the tap performance! We have always attended the early performance however today we went to the lunch time one and were pleasantly surprised by the small group compared to the popular weekend morning performances we usually attend. 

A very peaceful trip home with a sleeping beauty and an excitable 3yo asking when we will go back again and see more music. What a wonderful day with the children! The Harbour was so beautiful today... mesmerising.

x A


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Our Morning of FIFO Family time :)

Wow what a beautiful morning it is today in our part of the world! We have been out and about balance bike riding to our local beach, crab spotting and rock climbing! I am finding it hard to keep up with Mr3 on his bike now... way too quick especially when pushing a pram! Mr7mo has decided he loves to eat the grass and dirt eww. He has started to recognise Dad when he is home on break :) such a nice thing to watch.

Usually our R&R week is packed with things to do so this week off is no different. Sadly makes it go too fast for me. Ill try keep up the posts while he is home.

Looking forward to taking the boys to the kids at the Opera House performance tomorrow though its always a nice family day. Especially when Mr3 asks when we are going to go see the music at the 'castle'.

x A

FIFO Mum & Dad: Cupcakes in tow

I have two beautiful boys Mr3 and Mr7mo so it is busy while Hubby is away - but who isnt busy right?!

Today we have volunteered our morning to help out at daycare and do some cooking well icing of cakes! We are decorating cupcakes with a class of 20 x 3-4yo kids yikes! They are learning about colours at the moment so it will be a bit of fun to mix up some colours and get icing everywhere!

The old centre we had Mr3 in had a male teacher which was great for me as when Dad was away he had another male role model he was around often. The new centre doesn't so it is good to get Dad in there to help out as well! I thought it would be lovely for our son to share his Dad with his friends.

The week I have Hubby at home are jam packed with things to do that I thought it we should take this step back and spend some time with our children to really show them how much we love and treasure them.

So bags packed off we go to daycare with 20+ cupcakes it tow for some family time!

x A

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x A

Early riser

Morning

I really don't mind when my 3yo wakes at 6-630am anything before that I am not so fond of!!! Especially when master babe 7mo is still sleeping.... 

Hope today clears up to a nice day it's looking very grey outside 

One more sleep until fly in day! I'm intrigued to know how other fifo families spend pre fly in day mine is usually a manic cleaning day so we don't have to worry about it while hubby is home. Oh and I suppose I try and fit in mums group also :) the best way to make time fly keeping busy 

X A

FIFO Mum

I have two young kids and a FIFO mining husband

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x A