Snow hunting

Dh took Ginger Ninja and Briar Rose off road in search of snow on the weekend, and they had a fantastic time by all accounts!


I was pleased that Briar Rose finally agreed to wear tracksuit pants under her leggings - I don't think she really remembered how cold snow can be!

A kind passerby took this photo of the evil snowman.
And Briar Rose and the Ginger Ninja had plenty of snowball fights.
And what trip to the snow would be complete without snow angels? Ugh - cold, wet, muddy backs... and they loved it!

Thanks, Nic!

A parcel for Ginger Rose?

What could it be?

It's one of our FAVOURITE books! Hooray! Big thanks and kisses to cousin Nic!

Peanut Butter Cookies

Yum! We made these today to take on our excursions with Grandad D, which included a photographic exhibition, shopping at our favourite bookshop, a ride on the carousel, and a few hours at Questacon.

A big hit with the adults, and quite clearly childproof. Clearly, cookies just aren't cookies if they don't contain chocolate!

Peanut Butter Cookies

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup brown sugar

Sift together flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Cream butter with sugar, brown sugar and peanut butter, creaming after each addition until light and fluffy. Add egg and mix thoroughly. Add flour mixture gradually. Beat until smooth. Drop mixture, 1 teaspoon at a time and about 2" apart on to an undressed baking sheet. Flatten with a fork 2 times to form a criscross pattern on the cookie surface. Bake in a 350 F oven for 8-10 min. Remove from oven and cool.

Note: Kindly donated by San Francisco pastry chef Greg Léon.
For more great recipes like this one, be sure to visit http://www.christmas-cookies.com

First holiday visit

Grandma E was our first school holiday visitor. She made herself incredibly exhaustingly useful, so we barely had time to grab the camera!

Listening to her helping Briar Rose sing her new choir pieces was delightful - I hadn't realised what a nice voice Briar Rose has until I heard her after some professional coaching!

We were very sad to see her go...

Dog for the weekend!

We've been missing Coda, and were thrilled to be allowed to dog-sit last weekend! Doofus is our first trial of a small dog, and was just wonderful. Just like a real dog, only smaller...

The Ginger Ninja was feeling sick when he arrived, but Doofus knew exactly how to deal with invalids!

Even The Little Prince enjoyed playing with a puppy.

And The Ginger Ninja was eventually enticed out of his sick bed to share some germs with Doofus and a toy rabbit.

We're still not at the stage of wanting another dog, but if the right one came along, we'd be happy to give it a home. And exceedingly happy to get a puppy fix any time Doofus needs a weekend home again!