Ruth(playworkeatrepeat)

Hi there friends it’s time for the December edition of Currently with Jennifer. Today we are looking at what we are currently – loving, gifting, wrapping, hoping and attending this month. Thanks so much for stopping by! LOVING This is my favourite time of the year and I love everything about it so I think it’s probably easier if I write a list of everything I am currently loving! The festive cheer Christmas music everywhere The excitement and anticipation as we get closer to Christmas Planning outfits for upcoming Christmas parties Beautiful decorations in the shops Summer clothes because it’s summer over here Watching Hallmark Christmas movies Seeing homes with twinkly lights and decorations while driving at night  Christmas markets Practicing for our preschool Christmas concerts which are on next week (Yikes!) Counting down until the summer school holidays – 9 days to go! Mangos and cherries. It’s time for summer fruits and I’m here for it!! Planning the games we are going to play with my family on Christmas Eve Feeling motivated to decorate after putting up the Christmas tree last Sunday Celebrating the season with friends and family GIFTING I visited my aunt and uncle on the weekend and I gifted them a very cute Christmas snow dome. Sometimes it’s hard to know what gifts to buy. But you can’t go wrong with a pretty Christmas ornament like this one. I have also been on the lookout for a Secret Santa for my lovely work friend. Luckily I found something at the Danish Christmas markets and I hope she loves it as much as I do. WRAPPING Except for my aunt and uncle’s gift, I haven’t wrapped a single present yet! This year our whole family decided that we would do a Secret Santa gift exchange and it has made all of our lives easier. My cousin organised this by using an online Secret Santa generator where we all entered our names. The generator then randomly assigned each of us a Secret Santa recipient.Easy peasy! We agreed on a budget and the generator even allowed us to create our wish list. This way whoever got our names knows exactly what to buy. The best part is that the Secret Santa generator is linked directly to Amazon, making shopping so convenient! I bought my Secret Santa gift for my cousin the minute I got an email saying that he had created his wish list. I’ll be wrapping up his present very soon. Although we are using a Secret Santa generator for our extended family. I will also be buying some presents for my immediate family. I just need to get to the shops ASAP!! HOPING I am hoping to stay focused on the reason for the season. I know that I get carried away with all the festive fun such as parties, gift-giving, delicious food and family celebrations. But I want to stay grounded in the true meaning behind the festivities – the birth of our Saviour, Jesus. ATTENDING I have two Christmas events that I am very excited to be attending in the next couple of weeks. Firstly, this Saturday our preschool staff is having Christmas lunch at Nola’s, a restaurant in Barangaroo. I am looking forward to spending the day with some work besties! Then the following Friday, Steve and I received an invitation to the Mayor’s Christmas party which was a lovely surprise! I am so excited to attend this function as I get to dress up in a festive cocktail dress and enjoy a fun night out. I can’t wait!! Thanks for stopping by to read my blog and I hope you have a wonderful Wednesday! I look forward to being back on Friday to share some favourites. See ya!  

Hi friends! It’s great to be back linking up with Holly and Sarah for a sneak peek into a few things we got up to over the weekend. I hope you guys had a fantastic weekend and are geared up for the start of December! Friday Night Friday night Sam and I watched ‘Elf’ – my favourite Christmas movie ever! It’s full of laugh-out-loud moments and even though I have seen it a zillion times. I still think it’s hilarious, cute, heartwarming and sentimental. I don’t think that I will ever get tired of watching it every holiday season. It’s number one on my list of favourite Christmas movies for sure! Saturday Saturday morning we had scrambled eggs, mushrooms and sausages for a late breakfast. Then I spent the rest of the day catching up on chores and getting ready for our cousin connect evening. Around midday, I got started preparing the main course for Cousin Connect dinner – Greek-style chicken! I made the marinade for the chicken thigh cutlets. I always use skinless thigh fillets which are less fatty and healthier. But I was going for less health, full flavour and crispy skin this time. So for this recipe, I used the thigh cutlets with the bone in and skin on. The marinade was a mixture of Greek yoghurt, garlic, olive oil, oregano, lemon juice and salt and pepper. I put the chicken with the marinade in zip-lock bags, making sure that all the pieces were coated well. Then I left them in the fridge for five hours and popped them in the oven to cook once everyone arrived. Easy peasy and oh so flavoursome! When my cousins arrived we started with a taco dip and a simple cheese platter. It’s such a busy time of the year and initially, I thought we were going to be down in numbers. I didn’t want to over-cater so I didn’t go overboard with the pre-dinner snacks. But in the end, we only had three cousins who couldn’t make it. So it was pretty much a full house! Dinner! After dinner, we had a small brownie cake to celebrate the three birthdays in December. Singing happy birthday to more than one person is a funny challenge. My cousin had the clever idea of singing ” Happy birthday dear…guys” Instead of trying to squeeze three names in! Brownies, ice cream and strawberries for all! Then it was time for our favourite board game. It was pouring rain and thundering outside but we soon drowned out all the noise from the storm with all our laughing and yelling. Sunday Sunday I went to visit my aunt and uncle. It was such a beautifully sunny day so I decided to walk an hour to their house instead of driving. Walking is so good for exercise and it’s also amazing for my head! I always feel so relaxed and uplifted after a long walk in the sunshine. On the way, I walked past this nursing home where my great-aunt lived to the ripe age of 104 before she passed five years ago. I thought about all those years when my mum and I would go and visit her every Wednesday afternoon. So many sweet and cherished memories. My aunt made a delicious lunch and we spent a wonderful time catching up. It had been a while since I had gone to see my aunt and uncle, life gets so busy! I made a mental note that next year I am going to see them on a more regular basis. Poinsettias I got home around 4.30 and decided to go to Bunnings to pick up some poinsettias.  After watching so many Hallmark Christmas movies over the last few days. Where every Christmas home seems to be decorated with a billion poinsettias. I decided that I couldn’t live another day without some. I had planned to buy one or two but when I got to Bunnings I found some for 50c because they were a little on the droopy side but I figured that I could probably revive them with a little care. This is what they looked like today after water and a little sun from the laundry window. They are looking much perkier even after Mochi pounced on them. She’s so nosey! Christmas Tree Time Sunday evening we put up the Christmas tree. Steve put the tree together which is my least favourite part because the plastic branches make my hands itchy. I decorated and Sam put the star on the top. Then I made some Glogg ( a traditional Nordic spiced wine). I bought this cute bag with all the ingredients from the Danish Christmas market. The bag was cleverly sewn down the middle with the spices on one side and the nuts and dried fruit on the other side. You add the nuts and dried fruit to the glogg once it’s infused on the stove with the spices and ready to drink. We enjoyed it with some macadamia shortbread. I introduced Steve to the wonders of a Hallmark Christmas movie. He hadn’t seen one before but Sam made a quick exit because he couldn’t understand the appeal after having seen a few minutes of one I was watching the other day. Haha! It was such a lovely evening with the Christmas tree all lit up, drinking glogg and watching a cozy Christmas movie. It’s so reassuring that in every movie the biggest catastrophe is a simple misunderstanding. Which gets resolved in ten minutes and then always ends with true love. Here is our tree! We are trying super hard to discourage Mochi from climbing it which isn’t easy. I think she thinks we have kindly decorated a giant scratching pole with pretty shiny things just for her! Aaaaargh!!! That’s a wrap! Thanks so much for stopping by and I look forward to being back here on Wednesday. Have a great Monday!

Hey, friends welcome to the November edition of ‘What’s Up Wednesday’. Wow, it’s the last Wednesday of November. Can you believe how fast the year has gone by? I’m excited to be here today linking up with Shay to share a little bit of what’s been going on for us in November. Let’s go! WHAT WE’RE EATING THIS WEEK It’s nearly the end of the school year and I feel as if I’m running a bit low on inspiration. So I’m keeping my meal planning simple and mainly sticking to old favourites. This is what this week’s menu looks like. Monday – Turkey burgers and chips Tuesday – Spinach, fetta and ricotta rolls Wednesday – Barramundi, baby potatoes and salad Thursday – Chicken pie, mashed potatoes and peas Friday – Steak sandwiches Saturday – Roast chicken, rice and salad WHAT I’M REMINISCING ABOUT I can’t think of anything that I’m reminiscing about at the moment because this is my favourite time of the year. I’m too busy thinking about all the fun events that are on the horizon! WHAT I’M LOVING My new reading glasses! Ha, I didn’t think that this would be something I would be loving but I sure am! When I saw the optometrist earlier this month she confirmed what I already knew – my vision had changed. I have always worn glasses for distance but when the food on my plate started to look blurry and I lost my superpower ability to read the teeniest tiniest writing. I knew something had shifted. Now that I have been wearing my new glasses for a few weeks. I have been loving the frames that I chose because they are so light. The glasses came in a bright yellow case I will never lose because you can spot them instantly. But best of all now I can see so much better when I’m reading and working on the computer. I hadn’t even realised how almost without noticing I was getting closer and closer to the screen so I could see better. Now I can sit in a much more comfortable position without having my nose practically touch the screen. Winning! WHAT WE’VE BEEN UP TO We’ve had a great November and we’ve done quite a few fun things. First of all, in early November the weather was so good! It was sunny and the temps were on the way up. I really enjoyed seeing all the pretty gardens blooming and the Jacaranda trees on my walks. I have been eating this nougat almost nonstop. But I’ve stopped now because Aldi has run out of them. We enjoyed some nice meals out. As well as many cozy evenings at home in front of the TV eating sweet treats. I went to the city with my lovely friend and we enjoyed looking at the beautiful David Jones Christmas windows. They have done a great job this year and I think they are the most festive and colourful ones I have seen in a while. If you are in Sydney then you should definitely go and have a look. I think you’ll really like them. I hosted a fun Miss Universe watch party and now we have decided to make this a yearly tradition. We visited the Danish Christmas markets and I saw my cousin perform in the NSW School Spectacular. November was a great month! WHAT I’M DREADING I’m not dreading anything and that always makes me happy! WHAT I’M EXCITED ABOUT I’m off from work tomorrow and Friday.  I have some time owing for attending after-work staff meetings and I accumulated enough hours to have two whole days off. So I’m going Christmas shopping in the city on Thursday and I’ve got a lunch date with my husband on Friday. With my two days off this week, it means that I only have twelve more work days to go until we break up for the summer holidays! Yee-ha! WHAT I’M LISTENING TO Mochi was jumping all over me as I was trying to type. I got her off me as her little nails are kind of sharp so she plonked herself on top of my keyboard. I figured that the only way I was going to be able to keep typing was to turn on her automatic laser cat toy. So now I’m listening to the gentle hum of her toy and mochi pouncing around trying to catch the red laser light. Good luck with that Mochi! WHAT I’M WATCHING I started watching part I season 6 of ‘The Crown’. I didn’t like season 5 and now I can’t say that I’m totally enjoying season 6 as it’s so sad. But I do think that it’s better than the previous season. Part II of season 6 comes out on the 12th of December. We are up to season 12 of Blue Bloods and still loving it so much. Did you hear that season 14 will be the final season ever? I’ll miss watching the Reagans having family dinner and I’m sad that this amazing show is coming to an end. WHAT I’M WEARING I always forget to take pics of what I’m wearing. These are the only two photos that I took of what I wore in November. My favourite soft flared jeans with front pockets. I have also been wearing my favourite canvas shoes that I bought when The Gap store opened up in Sydney for about 5 minutes many years ago. Sadly Gap didn’t take off over here and all their stores closed down. But at least I have these nice canvas slip-ons that are super comfortable and have lasted forever! WHAT I’M DOING THIS WEEKEND It’s time for Cousin Connect on Saturday and I’m hosting. I always look forward to our monthly family catch-ups! Then on Sunday, we are putting our Christmas tree up. I always wait until the first weekend in December to put the tree up. We usually play some Christmas music, drink egg

Hi there friends, welcome to this week’s edition of Hello Monday! I can hardly believe we’re already heading into December.  I mean seriously. What happened to November?? I’m torn between wanting time to speed up because the summer break can’t come fast enough for me. But at the same time, I want things to slow down because there is so much to do! Anyway, I’m so glad you have stopped by today to join me as I share a bit about my fun weekend. The Danish Christmas Markets Saturday was just so much fun! I had been looking forward to the Danish Christmas markets for weeks and finally, Saturday was the day. My friends picked me up and we drove an hour to get there. It’s such a long way! In the car, we were talking about the possibility of next year making it a mini Christmas getaway and staying somewhere overnight. Because driving so far made us all feel like we were going on a holiday. So we thought why not make it one next year? The weather was just so gloomy and rainy. I was a bit worried the whole event might get cancelled because it rained quite heavily overnight. But luckily the rain held off and it only drizzled very lightly. All the cheery red and white Danish flags and beautiful Christmas decorations more than made up for the grey skies. The Danish Church in Australia hosted the Christmas market. I thought they did an amazing job organising this big event, considering how small the church grounds are. The whole venue was packed full when we arrived! There were people everywhere and I was so happy to be there. We missed going last year because we went to a beautiful wedding instead. Then the two years before  COVID took away all the fun Christmas events. Christmas Decorations There were so many beautiful handmade Christmas decorations. I didn’t want to buy anything as I’m being more intentional with how I spend and I really don’t need any more Christmas ornaments. But it wasn’t easy and I did give in and I bought one small decoration. These advent candles are great. I’m sure that I have one stored away from last year. Hopefully, I’ll find it when I get my tree and Christmas decor out on the weekend. More cute decorations! I love these simple white Christmas tree ornaments. They’d go great on a minimalist-style tree. I bought some three years ago and I liked to hang them on some decorative sticks I had in a big pot in the dining room. Except I recently changed things up a bit and I replaced the sticks with a plant. I’ll have to find a new place to hang these cute white ornaments this year. A Danish Lunch After wandering around for a bit we were all starving so we stopped at the church hall for some Danish fare. We had a choice of different types of open sandwiches. I ended up choosing the sandwich with the prawns because it came with Danish brown bread (I can’t remember the name). I figured that if I wanted the full Danish experience then I should eat the traditional bread instead of the usual white bread. The sweet almond pastry I got on the side for dessert was delicious. I could have easily eaten another of everything it was so good! I had a Danish beer even though I don’t often drink beer. The real Santa came and said hello. Hehe. It felt great to be there enjoying the tradition of going along to the Christmas markets. Now I can tick this off my mental bucket list. I haven’t written my December bucket list yet. So I better hop on it because it will be January before I know it! 2023 School Spectacular On Saturday evening I went to the Qudos Bank Arena in Olympic Park to see my little cousin perform in the 2023 School Spectacular. I was quite literally blown away by the amazing talented kids who performed. Oh my goodness, there were so many kids!! The NSW School Spectacular is a huge annual event. It features students from various schools near and far performing dance, music and drama. Friends, it was absolutely amazing!! The whole arena was packed once everyone was seated. There were so many colourful costumes and the dance routines were amazing. It was the 40th anniversary of the School Spectacular which began in 1983. To celebrate they did a whole medley of 80s songs and I wanted to jump out of my seat and dance because I think 80s music is the best! The kids wore 80s-style wigs to celebrate the decade with the most interesting and iconic hairstyles. We got these light-up wristbands that we could wave around during the show. Look at all those kids! We Found Our Girl! There was a sea of kids everywhere and while we were trying to find my cousin. We all joked that it was like playing a big game of ‘Where’s Wally’. But we managed to spot her when she came onto the stage to perform and miraculously she spotted us after she scanned the crowd. It helped that we were waving and practically jumping out of our seats like crazy. When she saw us she was in the middle of her song and dance routine. She gave us a huge smile and a little wave and then she couldn’t help herself. She paused her performance and jumped up and down waving back big time. It was just the cutest moment! After the show, we walked along with the masses to find my little cousin who was waiting at a designated spot. There were big hugs and huge congratulations on a fabulous performance. We battled the crazy traffic home and everyone came back to my place for a cup of tea. I had such a fun time and I was so proud of my little cousin. She’s eleven

Hey everyone! Welcome to Hello Monday, I hope you all had an amazing weekend and are ready for a fresh start to the week.  We’re now in week seven of term four. Friends, I’m on the countdown to the end of the school year because this girl needs a holiday!! I’m so glad that you have stopped by. Today I’m sharing some highlights from our weekend so let’s get to it! Saturday The best thing about Saturday morning is not having to wake up to the alarm! But having said that these days I have a different kind of alarm-our cats! They haven’t gotten the memo that Saturday morning breakfast for them doesn’t need to happen at 5.45 am! I fed them and went back to bed but couldn’t sleep, so I got up to do a few things. As I have shared before I try super hard to get my chores all done during the week so that the weekends are mainly chore-free. But of course, as I’m sure you ladies know, there are always things to be done! Like emptying the dishwasher. But at least I’m not handwashing dishes anymore like we used to before we got a whole kitchen renovation about three years ago. Now every time I open the dishwasher and see shiny clean dishes, glassware, pots, pans and baking trays. I am extremely thankful!! I also used the Dr Beckmann washing machine cleaner and ran the drum cycle on my washing machine. When the cycle finished my machine smelled clean and fresh. Then it was time to go to the shops to get a few things that I needed for Sunday. I decided to invite my girl cousins over for lunch and to watch the live broadcast of the Miss Universe final on the Miss Universe YouTube channel. It took me a little while for my brain to kick into action and remember what I needed to buy. So I sat there and stared at the notepad for a while before I put together a thorough list. I have learned that I absolutely need a list otherwise I forget things. Ironically, there have been times when I have reached the shops only to realise that I left my detailed list behind on the kitchen counter…grrrr!! So this time I wrote my list and put it in my handbag straightaway. Sunday One of my fondest memories as a kid and teenager was watching the Miss Universe pageant with my mum. She loved this beauty pageant so much, and together we would sit, admiring all the stunning outfits and cheering for our favourite contestants. Who of course were Miss Australia and Miss Peru! Surprisingly, when I compiled my mum’s tribute video for her funeral ( I wasn’t brave enough to get up and speak, so I spoke on the video) this is one of the cherished memories I shared. Astonishingly, when my brave cousin got up to speak she also said that it was one of her fondest memories of spending time with my mum! We hadn’t coordinated what we were going to say at my mum’s funeral, yet we both shared this significant memory. This is why the Miss Universe pageant holds such special meaning for us and why I decided to host a watch party this year. We had such a fun time and we kept wondering what my mum would have thought of some of the gowns (she was very cheeky, so we had a good laugh imagining some of her possible commentaries). Now we have decided that the Miss Universe pageant watch party will be a yearly event. It seems that we have started another tradition in memory of my mum. Miss Universe 2023 Watch Party I bought some crowns for us to wear. They were only $2.00 each from the dollar shop. I found some really nice decorations at Kmart, they have such good and affordable stuff for any occasion! I hung these paper decorations on my wire thingy that I have on the wall in the lounge room. For lunch, I decided to opt for finger foods. That way we could eat and watch at the same time. I went for a high tea vibe and served dainty snacks and treats. I made chicken sandwiches and they were so delicious! I’ve had much less successful attempts in the past, but this time was different. The secret is to use a mix of half mayonnaise and half sour cream. This combination really elevated the flavour and the texture of the sandwiches. They were much lighter and tastier. So good! Boconcini, grape tomatoes and salami skewers. Mini quiches – I bought them frozen from the supermarket and then heated them in the oven. I’m so glad that I bought this cute stand for the sweet treats, another great find from Kmart. It’s made from strong shiny cardboard and it was easy to put together too. I also love it because I can dismantle it until I need to use it again another time. So it doesn’t take up any storage space. We got super excited when Miss Australia made the top three. But the Miss Universe 2023 title went to Miss Nicaragua. We had a fantastic time and after everyone left I texted my husband who had gone to hang out at the local pool. He didn’t want to be in the way of our girls-only event. By the time he got home, I had cleared everything away and we sat down to eat some of the leftover sweet treats with a cup of coffee and watch TV. It was a really lovely weekend! I know that I have shared this photo before but I have to share it again. Here is my favourite Miss Universe, we took this pic back in 2021 when we had a family Halloween party. It was a perfect costume for our number-one Miss Universe fan! I hope you had a wonderful weekend too! Linking up with