On the eve of my gap year

“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.”~Socrates

Tomorrow my youngest child starts school. There is sadness that my baby is growing up and all that, but it is also a bit like Christmas Eve.

I’m having a gap year.

I know that traditionally it is used for high school graduates taking a year off to travel or what not before starting university. But I’m claiming it to describe what I am doing this year: not going back to work despite both my children heading off to school so that I can discover myself.

Sounds a bit airy fairy. Maybe it is.

When I first set out to have kids and be a stay at home mum I never imagined how tired, crummy, grumpy, zombie, frustrated and generally worn down I would become over the 6 years that followed. We all know there is boundless joy, laughs and surprises with kids, but kids are yin and yang, up and down, highs and lows. All these combining forces are like physics. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Especially on me.

I have changed.

I’m going to find out who this new person is, take her out for a run, do some yoga with her, get her to take some photos, paint a picture with her and then see what kind of career moves she wants to make in 2016.
It’s going to be quite the year, huh?

I couldn’t do this without the support and encouragement of my husband. He’s THE BEST.
I hope one day I can be the breadwinner and he can take a gap year.

Here is me, post mountain hike with the kids, post dinner making, post 6 years of full on, 24/7 motherdom……

I wonder what I’ll be like post gap year?

Coconut Butter – Monday Made

I really love coconut. I love pretty much all things made with coconut.

I really want to make some Vegan Oreos, or maybe these Raw Oreos today, but realised that what I needed to make them was coconut butter. As it turns out, making that is not very hard at all.

From a 500g bag of shredded coconut I made two jars of butter. RE-SULT!

I used my Bellini, which is pretty much like a Thermomix or Vita-Mix when talking about blending power. You could use a regular blender too, but it might take a bit longer.

What you need:

• 500g shredded coconut
• 2 sterilized jars

What to do:

1. Put the coconut in your blender and set it to high for about 3 minutes or until it turns to liquid. Scrape down side if necessary. At this point, I guess you could add cocoa powder to it and some hazelnuts perhaps…..that sound a little bit like Nutella to me!
2. Pour into jars and let set in fridge for a few hours.
3. While you wait, grab a spoon and eat all the little bits left in your blender……..nomnomnomnom.

Water Fight!! – Monday Made

“While we’re young and beautiful, living free and easy. Here without a worry, dancing in our bare feet because when the summer’s done we might not be so young and beautiful.”~Unknown

We celebrated Christmas with our friend-families on Boxing day. Gifts aren’t a big thing but this year there was a candidate for Best Australian Christmas Gift……water bombs.

Probably not relevant in the Northern hemisphere since it is winter in December, but here in Oz, it can be stinking hot during the festive season. This gift filled our afternoon with active fun in the backyard, cooled down its participants, entertained the onlookers and tired out the kids.

It was, unsurprisingly (well, to me, anyhow) a bit of craftspiration (I declare that a word, now) found on Pinterest by our friend. She whipped up these little gems using kitchen sponges and fishing wire. Amazing.

You can find the instructions for them here.