Alyssa's first steps

Video courtesy of Emily =)

Look who turned 1!!

Alyssa turned ONE today!!

I can't believe how quickly this last year has gone, it doesn't seem that long ago that we were driving down to the hospital to meet the latest addition to the family. And now, it won't be long before we're going to the hospital again but this time we'll go going to meet our grandchild :)  So excited!! Back to Alyssa's big day though!

 She was interested in her presents and even tried to help open them (with a little bit of help from Mummy)

 (And a bit more help from big brother, Tyler!)

 For a while she took herself off for some time out, to survey the scene and take in how many people were there.

 Great Grandma's present was a hit as she's starting to enjoy putting shapes into holes.

 Her little friend, Peter, was on hand to help with the birthday celebrations.

 And she was more than happy to go to Daddy when he got home.

Though Mummy is always a favourite :)

What made the day even more special is that she started to walk. Theresa said she had taken a couple of steps on her own before but wouldn't just go. Today she started walking between her Daddy and me and then a bit later between her Mummy and me. Now that she's started I'm sure it won't be long before she's walking all over the place! 

Emily (who also started walking on her 1st birthday) managed to capture some of her first steps on her little video camera. Once she's edited it I'll put it up on the blog because it's too cute!!

xx

Book Pass

As any of you who read my blog will know, last month I was the lucky one chosen to receive this book in the Book Pass started by Sian at From High in the Sky. Sandi at Living Life One Blessing at a Time was the first to get the book and she then passed it on to me. I've had a great time looking through it but it's now time for me to pass it on to the next person. 
If you would like a chance to get some inspiration from this book, leave me a comment and I'll choose the next recipient on the 28th.  Good luck :)
xx

Let's Eat Blog Hop - Curried Sausages

If you've come to my blog for the first time by following the Let's Eat Blog Hop, welcome!  You're likely to have come here from Cate's blog and I hope you'll enjoy the recipe I've got to share. When Amy suggested a blog hop where we all get to share a favourite recipe, I was more than ready to join in. If you haven't come here from Cate's blog but would like to carry on with the blog hop, you can either follow on to Deb's blog and keep going until you get back here or a full list of participating bloggers can be found on Amy's site. Enjoy!

The recipe I'm sharing today is one that I've developed over time but came about because I remember my Mum making Curried Sausages when we lived in South Africa. However, when I asked her for a recipe she couldn't remember how she'd made them and hence, my own version.

 You don't need many ingredients: Sausages, chopped onion, Oxo beef stock cubes, curry powder and tomato and herb sauce.  Quantities vary depending on how many sausages you're cooking so I'll give the amounts I use for 12 sausages and you can vary it to your taste.

 Firstly, fry 1 chopped onion in a little olive oil until onion begins to brown.

 Add in 2 tsp of Medium curry powder (I use Rajah Medium Curry Powder which I buy from the South Africa shop) and 3 Oxo beef stock cubes, crumbled.

 Stir it all together

 Then add the Tomato and Herb sauce ( I use 290g jar of Sainsbury's Tomato and Herb Pasta Sauce) and I normally half fill the jar with water and add that too.

 Let it cook for approx. 5 minutes

 In our household I then blend the sauce mixture (I have fussy children) and return it to the pot.

 Add the sausages to the mix, cover and leave to simmer for 20 - 30 minutes

 Until the sausages are cooked through.

Serve on a bed of rice and enjoy!

I look forward to hearing from anyone who may try the recipe out :)

Now it's time for you to move on to Deb at Paper Turtle for the next link in the blog hop. I'm sure she'll have another delicious recipe waiting for you.

xx