At it again! {Wellington Portrait Photography}

It's been a good few years, and I feel a bit out of practice, but I'm shooting again! I have some lovely friends here in Welly that have kindly donated their families to the cause. Well, let's put it this way - if you haven't ridden a bike in 10 years, you aren't going to win the Tour de France?! You get the jist. :)

These are some of my favourites from Sunday's outing with Lucy and her lovely little family!

I'm really looking forward to photographing more over the next few weeks! Check back for more soon!!

x

Vegan Corn Chowder - Meatless Monday

This weather! Rain, rain and more rain! If this is the start to winter, I'm not sure I'm looking forward to it anymore. Everything is damp, laundry is taking forever to dry, everything smells musty. At least it's not cold... Yet!

Last week, I made this super hearty soup with a heap of leftover corn on the cob that I completely spaced serving at our latest family cook-off. Yeah. It happens. Nobody went home hungry. The corn was not missed. So score for us!

Vegan Corn Chowder

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Total time: 45 minutes
Yield: 4-6 servings

Ingredients :

• 1 onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1-2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 celery stalks, diced
• 1 potato, peeled and diced
• 1 kumara, peeled and diced
• 5 corn cobs, already cooked, kernels removed
• 1 litre vegetable stock
• freshly ground pepper

Method :

1. Saute the onion and garlic in oil for 5 minutes in a large saucepan.
2. Add the celery, carrots, potato and kumara and saute for another 5 minutes.
3. Add the corn kernels and stock to the veggies. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 20 minutes.
4. Puree with a soup wand or in a blender.
5. Serve up with some freshly ground pepper and done!

I served this with some roasted cabbage and it was amazingly filling! All three boys devoured it! And the leftovers were popped into the freezer.

Enjoy!

x

A short afternoon to Waikanae

One of Jacob's best friends lives in Sydney with his beautiful partner and their, now, TWO kiddos! We got to meet the newest edition this past weekend out in Waikanae! 

Hello Ollie!!!!

Such a happy and handsome little man! The boys were a little curious about him. Willem especially. Sorry Willem, no little siblings for you! You'll have to make due with the "cousins"! 

We had a lovely time and it is always so nice to see so many lovely people, I always feel like I'm part of their family and that makes me feel incredibly special, even though it's usually chaos with our boys around.. So thank you!!!

And how could we all not love a picnic lunch for the boys and Eden!! (Thanks Sue!) They LOOOOOVED the chocolate yogurts! Hopefully, next time, Hendrik will actually use his spoon!

xoxo

Willem and Apple.

I know I post a lot of photos of my two wee nuggets... But I can't help it! And of course, I have to post them for Grammy Weber! We love you! Miss you!! x

Hendrik wants the camera. Always. Wants. the Camera.

These toes of Hendrik's are now walking toes. Look out world.

Willem and apple. And YES this is Willem...

Giggles for Timmy.

Have a great weekend!!

x

The Shampoo Dilemma, and oh yeah, I finally cut my hair!

A little back story on this. My hair. I've had it all sorts of ways over the years... 

Long and brown.

Marilyn Monroe short and platinum blonde. 

Annie Lennox short and blonde. And brown.

Medium length and bright red.

Streaks.

Highlights.

Long again.

Short again. 

Fringe. 

No fringe. 

You get the idea. 

My latest hair dilemma was the fact that my last hair cut was when I was still pregnant with the boys! No lie. My hair was down to my waist. Long. Tired. And the fact that I hadn't worn it down in about six months was a good indication that it needed to go. So ta-da!

Loving it! And sorry about the no-makeup me. It's a bit frightening! I know! Also, I think it's quite funny how my long hair doesn't even fit into the frame. And how much do I look like my Mom!!! (Love you Mom xx) But having short hair feels so much better for me. 

One thing I had forgotten about with having short hair was - I have to wash my hair everyday! Or least every other day.. When I had long hair, I would easily go a week or more without washing it. Maybe a little cocoa-cornstarch dry shampoo here and there, but not everyday maintenance.

The shampoo I was using still left my hair a little sludgy. There was a lot of buildup going on and for shorter hair, it felt noticeable. Blah. It was an "earth-friendly" product, no names here. But...

Anywho - in steps ecostore! I was asked via KiwiMummyBlogs to review one of their latest shampoo and conditioner combos! What perfect timing! 

I started using the Volumising Shampoo and Condition and within a day, my newly short hair was so much softer and - imagine this - much more voluminous! It's not very often I find something that does what it claims! And I can go days without any extra product. Dreamy. And I know this may seem like a silly thing - but to me it makes a difference... The design they have chosen for their caps has a nice small hole versus other shampoos that just ooze out product. Yeah, silly. But everything about these products are a plus.

     

We have (mostly) been an ecostore family since the day we moved to NZ. Everything from their cleaning products to body wash for the boys, we love them. And if you check out their site - read up on their ethics. Ace. 

So, as I said before - stoked. 

Hope you enjoy it as well!

x

A family weekend away - Castlepoint

The boys have had their first overnight, New Zealand road trip! I had tried to plan the drive out around the boys naps and it worked like a charm! They were happy and chilled out most of the ride.

We met up with the some of the clan in Masterton and had a lovely walk around Queen Elizabeth Park, with some good playground time, and some lunch. It was the perfect point to stop.

 Such beautiful weather, such beautiful autumn colour. Swans, ducks, acorn whistles and apples.

Another hour or so driving, lead to this...

Photos do not do it all justice. The rest of the weekend was rainy and windy, but still fantastic.

I am so proud of our little men. I wasn't sure how they would go with the long drive like that. But they were so great. I can't wait until the next road trip!

Suffering for their Art

Some time last year, when the boys and I went to a regular learning playgroup, they had their first go with paints. I was so excited! I imagined them being fascinated, still, natural artists. I watched the other new mums with their 9 month old babies having these beautiful bonding moments over the one thing I looked forward to, almost more than anything. 

Immediately the reality and stress set in. 

While I had Hendrik, someone took Willem, who eventually started to panic and was not a happy camper. So I took Willem, someone else took Hendrik and then Hendrik proceed to try and eat as much paint as possible. 

He was rather upset as you can see. 

I was gutted. I went home in tears and had another cry later that night. Somethings never quite go as planned. Or hoped. Or imagined. This was one of the many moments that went on the list of - "If there was only one". I'm sure other twin/multiple parents have this list. It's sort of a sad list. It's a hard list to forget. There have been many things added to it so far. 

Co-sleeping. 

Breastfeeding.

Easy trips around town.

More art time.

More nudey bum time. 

Regular walks on the beach.

Coffee dates.

It goes on.

But as I've had to deal with a lot of things I've never imagined, I've learnt to work around it. Since this time, we've had quiet reading time with both boys on my lap. Trips around town, coffee dates, things like that. It'll all work out in the end. And yes, we even have art time. Of course restrained to high chairs and washable markers, but it's awesome. 

I know someday that list will be tossed out as the list of  - "So Cool, because there's TWO!" finally begins to gain momentum. I love this list!

Stay positive! It happens, slowly, but it does happen!

Have a great weekend!!!

xoxo

A quick pantry lunch - Tuna Cakes

I've become one of those people that have a full pantry, basically my mother. You never know what you will need! Or, as I have found lately, "why did we need this?" I've come across a few things lately that I have NO idea what I bought them for... But this is not about my brain-fart moments... It's food related. I swear.

Anywho. I love being able to come home from playgroup and whip together something like this. It's not super flash, but it's good, I love it, the boys like it, and it takes all of about 10 minutes to make.

Tuna Cakes

Ingredients :

• 180 g Canned (tinned) Tuna in water
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• a little bit of dried herbs, chives, parsley (or fresh if you have them)
• 1 tsp seeded mustard
• 3 or 4 tbsp whole wheat flour
• 2 tbsp grapeseed oil, or canola is fine

Method :

1. Drain the tuna in a sieve.
2. Quickly beat the egg and add your herbs and mustard.
3. Add the drained tuna and flour to the egg mix and mush together with your fingers like you would meatloaf.
4. Separate into four equal amounts and roll into a patty shape.
5. Heat up the oil in a small fry pan and cook through until golden and crispy on the edges.
6. Drain them on a paper towel and devour.

Yum... I make a fake tartar sauce for mine, but the boys are happy to have them with some edamame.
Enjoy!
x

Chicken Quinoa Enchiladas

Someone in our family, who shall remain anonymous, isn't too keen on quinoa. And ok, I can see why... it does have a different flavour and the texture needs a little getting used to, but the rest of us don't have a problem with it. So, when I made my last batch of chicken enchiladas, I wanted to try a little experiment...

They look like normal enchiladas, yeah?

And I think it worked! He ate it! And liked it! I thought it was hard to get the boys to eat some days, but getting that man to eat quinoa... Woooooo! I never thought it would happen!

Here's the successful sneaky quinoa recipe...