Just a proud mummy moment that was long overdue.

A post that's a bit different today and I wanted to document it mostly for me, so on those days when I feel like shrinking into a hole I can look back at this and remember why it's worth it.

As I've mentioned before we have a peaceful/respectful parenting philosophy and of late things hadn't been that peaceful around here or at least all I'd been noticing was all the not so peaceful moments.
The kids have been fighting what felt like constantly , I had been a bit highly strung which isn't the norm for me, once fun outings had become chores and everyone had been blowing there top a little too often :( and when things seem to be constantly in chaos I won't lie sometimes you do question how and what your doing with your parenting.

Well this morning I got an absolutely beautiful reminder of why we do things as we do and boy did I need it.

The kids were having a crafty/arty morning which started with the boys using the chalks outside and Miss L doing cutting and pasting inside. Mr W did some of the most impressive creations I have ever seen him do. The first of a beach with a orange fish and then the veggie patch and another of what he tells me is "green man" who we have overlooking our garden and 2 figures now who is the sun god and the moon goddess. When did my biggest little guy get so imaginative and how did I miss this.

The boys came inside and joined Miss L and this is where the really special moment for me took place and it was something they discovered all on there own there was no input from me.
They were all crafting away and there is only one glue stick left and all they found was one pair of scissors and one tape dispenser.

As I stood in the kitchen quietly tidying up my heart swelled as I listened in to there dialogue. They spoke to each other in such a respectful way, saying please and thank you to each other as they shared the craft supplies with one another. Then Mr R had a revelation and exclaimed " this is so great sharing kids".

This beautiful moment re affirmed for me that indeed we are doing the right thing when it comes to our kids. Trying to parent with love and respect always and teaching them not by enforcing rules but by showing them with the way we behave ourselves.

I'm sure there has been many more of these moment but in my funk that I've been in of late I had missed them, I've been a bit hassled and frantic and stressed about other things and I must have missed a lot of these beautiful moments.

Thank goodness witnessed this one as its cleared the funk and again I'm reminded that I am raising some pretty amazing little people <3 and PB and I are great parents.

I am a great mum.

Artisan bread- last weeks tester.

As some of you would already know from the Facebook page the last 2 weeks I've been trialling Artisan bread or more specifically spelt artisan bread which I did use the Thermomix to mix but what appealed to me was 1. You can keep the dough in the fridge and pull out what you need when you need it and 2. It's no kneed the you let the dough do all the work with the long rise time.

You don't need a Thermomix at all to make this bread I just choose a TMX recipe well because I own one and it is quick and easy. You can find the recipe here
http://quirkycooking.blogspot.com.au/2010/03/wholemeal-spelt-artisan-bread.html

For anyone without a tmx that might find that recipe hard to convert here's a non tmx version http://breadmakingblog.breadexperience.com/2009/08/artisan-free-form-loaf-boule.html

So with this bread you just mix all the ingredients together well no kneading at all and you leave it to rise for at least 2 hrs or up to 5 then put into the fridge and you can keep it in the fridge for however long you like and pull out what you need as you go. With the research I've done on it it seems too you don't need to wash out the dough bucket when you add a fresh batch to it all you have to do is mix it in.

The big plus for me is the fact you make it earlier and it won't over rise like other breads for me with 4 kids and a husband who works long hrs convenience is a big thing for me and just pulling what you need out of the fridge when you need it is great and leaves me no excuse not to make our own bread.

So how did we find the bread itself? Flavour wise it's delicious but its quite a stronger flavour which some may not like but we love the nutty, salty taste. Texture is lovely too quite fluffy and airy and a bit chewy which I also loved so overall here it got a bit A++.

Here's some photos below I was hoping to get one at each step but I always forget :D I'm too into the task at hand I forget the photo bit. The second picture is after the dough has risen a bit but it actually wasn't fully risen here it rises all the way to the top before it collapses.