A rainy weekend

Meet Lady Princess Ga Ga (that's the one with wings) and the Queen!

These are just a sample of the delightful dress-ups we saw in our house on the weekend. As well as: a few blanket cubbie houses, heaps of drawing, kite-making, playing in the rain with umbrellas, playing in the rain without umbrellas, and tea parties.



I made big pots of soup (some from this book) and finally got started on my softies for Christchurch.



On Sunday I picked up Nanny from the airport. It's great to have her home. We were all spoilt rotten with prezies. Thank-you Mum.



Mr Moo and I even have had a chance for an afternoon nap. I'm talking about a proper sleep, not a 20 minute Nana nap. Mr Moo slept for over two hours on Saturday afternoon and I slept for over two hours on Sunday afternoon. It was heaven.

Then when I woke up yesterday, this old movie was on TV. The kids were happy gardening in the rain with Daddy. So I settled into the lounge and stitched faces on my softies. Yes I do love a rainy weekend.

How do you like to spend your rainy weekends?

The soup kitchen

On so many occasions in the last weeks I have had found myself thinking 'takeaway' for dinner. A trip to our local fruit barn and farmers market soon put a stop to those thoughts. Stealing 20 minutes here and there to chop ingredients and put a big pot of yummy soup onto boil, we have instead, been enjoying warming nutritious dinners.

And, the added bonus is, my kids finally love soup, almost as much as me! Last week they each ate 3 full bowls of chicken soup and piles of bread. Phrases like 'yummy,' 'hmmm, my favourite' and 'good one mum' are coming from my their little mouths. Delightful.



In the last 2 weeks we have made (some for the freezer, some for dinner) Moroccan chicken and chickpea soup, minestrone, creamy broccoli and lemon soup, cauliflower and cheese soup, borscht and smoked sausage and bean soup.

The chunky soups were the favourites and naturally the little monkeys did not touch the borscht!

What soups are you making at the moment that are warming the souls of your family?

Images are from the Little Golden Book, "The Tawny Scrawny Lion and the Clever Monkey"