Public announcement.

Perhaps there is a need for public re-education on the meaning of this sign. It appears that some people are confused about what this symbol represents when it appears on bathroom doors or parking spaces.

You see that symbol is supposed to represent a person in a wheelchair. It is not a symbol for YOU needing a bit of a break for any of the reasons listed below:

* You are in a hurry/ will only be a minute/ just need to quickly use the ATM/didn't see the sign/there were no other spots.
* You have a whinging toddler and simple can't put up with another tantrum today (come back to me with you have a screaming child with autism who is also in a wheelchair and I'll give you a stiff drink)
* You have totally gorgeous but really uncomfortable shoes on and it is a bit tricky to walk too far.
* You have borrowed a friends/grandparents pass and it's so cool to not have to pay for street parking.
* You or your child were just really busting and the other toilets are full/ dirty/ too squishy/ smelly/ unattractive.

I really could go on and ON and ON... there are some outstanding excuses.

While someone is fluffing about in a disabled bathroom (and boy some people really do a great deal of time consuming fluffing about) somebody with an ACTUAL disability doesn't get there in time and faces the humiliation of needing to be cleaned up and changed.

While you just duck in to use the ATM I will accidentally scratch the side of your car while trying to negotiate a wheelchair with a very narrow space to do it- oppps sorry about that ;) I think I may have also strained my back again too- do you mind paying my physio bill?? You see disabled parking spots are not just placed closest to the door for your convenience but they are significantly wider in order to fit a wheelchair beside the car.

Rant over.

PS Thank you so much to all those lovely people who hold doors open for us, offer to lift the wheelchair into the boot for me, offer to carry our tray, let us get into a full elevator ahead of you, smile and say hello :) You know who you are!!!

The art of the cake pop.

You will either roll your eyes at the pointlessness of cake pops... or you might appreciate a few little tips that have made our finished products a little less amusing and wonky.

I had no idea that cake pop construction was an art form. Oh my the beauty that can be created in the form of a little ball of cake on a stick. It's serious business! We will just be sticking with the cute,  yummy and slightly less amusing versions.

No matter how hilariously clumsy they look, my perpetually starving boys gobble them up with a grin. I burst out laughing when I found this photo last week. Bits of chocolate hanging off in odd directions and sprinkles from one end of the kitchen to the other, but eaten with gusto nevertheless.

They did vary a bit from one time to the next....

But we have discovered a few tricks now to help make them look at little less lopsided and awkward.

We bought some cake pop tins that produce lovely, perfectly round balls of cakey goodness. They were in Aldi last week for only $12, so we indulged in having 2 tins. The extra tin meant that one packet mix of batter could all go in the oven at once. Yes, we really are taking this popping business quite seriously!!

We started making batches in advance and putting them in the freezer, which ended up being a handy trick. The chocolate dipping is so much easier with frozen cake. The chocolate sets much faster which saves lots of drippy mess.

We also dip the sticks in the melted chocolate before we stick them into the cake and stops the cake falling off into the chocolate.

We devised this excellent drying stand!!! HAHAHA! Check it out. My resourceful hubby set it on the kitchen bench one day when I was howling about dripping chocolate and had nothing to stick the cake pops into while they dried. It is the foam insert from an old car booster seat and it did the trick.

Thankfully Aldi came to our rescue again last week with these little stands. A bargain too- they were about $3- $4.

I also use the Aldi mud cake mix for the cake bit. (I LOVE Aldi) I use all of the chocolate in the pack, including the extra that is supposed to be used to make the icing. It makes the cake nice and dense which helps it stay on the stick better. I have tried other packet mixes and they just crumbled and fell off the sticks. I also use a little bit less liquid than the instructions suggest. 

I used to sit the chocolate coated pops into the sprinkles which led to the funny, lopsided results. I found it better to twist the cake around until all the excess chocolate drips off and them sprinkle over the top. Much smoother and prettier result.

They still taste the same of course, no matter how funny they look :)

Pizza Night.

We have had a thoroughly lovely night with some thoroughly lovely people. There may have been a great deal of squealing for our neighbours to enjoy and a perfectly positioned muddy foot print on my lounge room wall- but that's what it's all about! The jar of matches were hidden away before the children set off to the dark corners of the yard ;)

Lots of old fashioned frolicking in the dark with good mates while the adults chat and drink wine. I certainly remember the fondest of memories from my childhood of night time antics while the parents were too busy to notice.

The pizza was good too- well done darling husband and mini chef Joe.

The dessert was waited upon with great anticipation. What disciplined children. So well trained. Dribble running down their chins until somebody said "GO!" There really is no way of choosing when both cake pops and chocolate mousse are on offer.

Thank you to our friends for such a great night and tell your kids how great they are.... mud and all.

A very exciting day!

Warning this post is going to contain an excessive amount of exclamation marks. It is bound to be irritating. Forgive me, I am very excited!!

Jonas spoke at school today!!!!!!

To another kid!!!!!

He even read his book aloud to him!!!!!!

I was thrilled yesterday when he was willing to speak to me in front of a teacher's aide while we had a game of Beetle.

 It was a massive break through and I was amazed at how quickly he progressed from whispering into my ear to speaking with a normal talking voice. He wasn't ready to address her directly but he was willing to let her hear him speak. On top of that he also spoke aloud in front of our gorgeous chiropractor during his afternoon appointment.

I couldn't wait to get back to school with him today to see if he could do it again. He did!!! But better!!

He moved from whispering to speaking very quickly today, even though there was an addition of a school friend. I had expected him to need to go back to whispering for a few sessions until he became accustomed to the idea of speaking in front of a friend, but he did it within minutes. I left them all to play for 20 minutes to see how they would go without me and returned to find them all chatting and laughing. Jonas had progressed to speaking directly to the aide and his friend within the 1 hour session. When I took him back to the classroom to help in reading groups, he was comfortable enough to read aloud to his friend and I, and to chat about the story too. It was soon the talk of the classroom as the other kids realised that Jonas had spoken out loud. He wasn't embarrassed, like he would normally be, he was beaming with pride- and so was I!

He is finally ready to do it. The relief I feel today is immense.

The program and support from The Selective Mutism Clinic is the reason for his success. I am posting this because we searched for so long to find help for our beautiful boy and I really hope that spreading the word makes it easier for the next family who need the support. The process we are using is called 'sliding- in' and here is some extra info if you want to know more.

I am so grateful that I have been able to take a break from work to do this with Joe. The progress has been so quick because I have been able to be there every day. In fact I came and went 3 times today to work around the timetable.

Happy, happy day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jonas makes dessert!

I couldn't go past a $15 box of mandarins today. It was only when I filled one rather large bowl, and then another...and then a third that I started to think my locusts may not get through them as quickly as I thought.
The recipe search began with all sorts of tempting options!
Joe and I decided on chocolate mandarin mousse. Never heard of it?? Well it's one we kind of made up on our own.

Here's the explanation:

1, 2, 3 inhale!!!

The actual recipe:

125g dark chocolate

1 Tablespoon of mandarin juice (you could use orange juice instead)

4 eggs (separated)

300ml thickened cream.

You'll have to beat the egg white to soft peaks  (in case it wasn't clear in Joe's explanation).

This weeks lunch boxes.

After last weeks old fashioned favourite from my Nanna's archives, I tried out a new version of weet bix slice this week. This one didn't even need baking & only took a few minutes to throw together.

1/2 tin of condensed milk (I accidentally used a whole tin & it's fine)
125g butter
10 crumbled weet bix
1 cup fruit & nuts (I also added some white choc chips too)
1/2 cup coconut
1 tablespoon cocoa powder

I melted the butter & mixed in the condensed milk & then added the dry ingredients.
Press it into a slice tray lined with baking paper & pop it in the fridge.
That's it!!!!
You could put icing on it too but I just added some sprinkles before I put it in the fridge.
No complaints from the resident locusts so it must be edible ;)

One of those days...

My precious baby boy (shhh don't tell him I just said that) is a selective mute. What that means is that he only talks to our immediate family. He chats away to his hearts content, screams and shouts in the most impressive way, and can talk over the top of his brothers to gain control of a conversation...but only when it is just the family. As soon as he gets to school he refuses to utter a word. When friends ask him a question they will get nothing more than a smile. He has a dynamite smile by the way. There are people who have known him since he was a mere bump in my belly- but they have never heard him speak.

We have searched high and low for support for him. Selective Mutism is not a recognised disability (I can only hope that the introduction of the National Disability Insurance scheme changes that) which means that there is no funding or support agencies. At the moment we are working with a private agency- The Selective Mutism Clinic at St. Leonards. I found them after many, many hours of googling!! Crazy to think that after years of requests for support and direction it came down to google. It was not a referral from a GP, psychologist or paediatrician- all of whom we have seen in the meantime. Our former GP tried the aggressive approach by cornering him to get him to talk- FAIL!!! AND a new GP. The Paediatrician wanted to put him on anti- depressant meds with no evidence to support it! We had a wonderful psychologist who helped him address the social anxiety he has, but it just wasn't enough to get him talking. In frustration and desperation I decided one day that there HAD to be something else out there. You know how when you start to google it takes you along a yellow brick road and you wonder if you will ever, ever find Emerald City. Well I got there and I think I may have found 'The Wizard'. The Wizard of course equates to high expense, but so far we can see amazing growth. Heart, brains and courage are absolutely the essence of it all. Jonas and I are on this journey together and we are bringing the Munchkins along for the journey (that's you Eric, Campbell and Andrew).  I was terrified when I realised it was all in my hands to make it happen. I have also taken extended leave from work so that I can follow-up with the program at school. The pressure is on and I only have one term to make it happen. Can I have a new pair of shiny red shoes to help me on my way???

There have been great days, the joy I have felt by being just the Mummy is something I could never measure. Joe is fully aware that I am taking time off work just for him and he is bursting with happiness. As lovely as that is, I feel so terribly sad that I will be forced to go back to our very busy life soon enough, and that he won't feel like the centre of my universe any more.

However, today was one of those days were you just have to let it all go in that hysterical laugh at the end of the day.

During my leave I go to school with Jonas at least 3 days each week to work with his teacher (and sneakily fit in as many other visits as I can get away with) . For the first 3 weeks of my leave the teacher was off sick with shingles and we couldn't do what we needed to do. I went along with my own thing anyway and we coasted along nicely.
Today his teacher forgot (or got too busy) to come to our appointment. In addition, the $190 phone call between the teacher and the Selective Mutism Clinic (yes it really does cost us that much for a phone call) was cut short 30 minutes early because his teacher had to go back to her class sooner than anticipated. I got the bill via email for the full amount regardless. If anyone knows how hard it is to juggle a class without additional responsibilities it's me! I get it, but I was kind of smiling that fake smile of understanding at the time. This clinic is making the most amazing difference and we need them, but I am starting to think we will have to fashion clothing out of old blankets this winter ;)

To top it off we rushed about to get ready for swimming lessons after school, passing cozzies around the room, a flurry of jumpers and trackie dacks. A quick, early dinner before we set off into the Autumn air. It all appeared to come together, like it usually does. When Drew's class was over and Joe had to strip off for his I realised he was standing there in a pair of undies!!! I did that ppffttt thing and laughingly said "where are your cozzies?" Joe looked down in horror and declared that he must have forgotten to put them on under his trackies. I did that mad scurry within my head...no he can't swim in undies.... Hey boys quickly go and swap pants- Hurry!!... as if they would be willing...who could blame them. So off we went. Up to the shops so I could withdraw some money to pay for my Mother's Day present at school tomorrow!!!

It was just one of those days.

There's no place like home, there's no place like home, there's no place like home.....

Hey Toto- Kansas was over-rated!!! Baulkham Hills is the place to be these days. That's where you hear hysterical laughter coming out of houses all the time ;)

I love you my Jojo x