Tales From the Fairy Blogmother

other guy = patrick dempsey

2012-01-30T23:02:00.000-05:00

This afternoon they were showing the Phineas and Ferb talk show episode the Guy Fieri guested on. As the mini episode finished up I said to no one in particular.....

Me: There goes my boyfriend.
Abby: Mom! You're cheating.
Me: What?!
Abby: You said that's your boyfriend, so you're cheating.
Me: On who?
Abby: On Daddy........ and.... that other guy.

It sounds so classy when she says it.

sunday randoms

2012-01-30T00:29:00.000-05:00

Well this was another pretty terrific weekend. What can I say, my life is pretty freakin' great these days. It's just so full of really great stuff. I can't even tell you. I am a lucky lucky girl.

This video made me laugh like crazy. In fact, I may have watched it on more than one occasion this week while thinking... man, Dave would agree with all of this.

Survivor starts soon! Yay!

Maya's drive in birthday party was a total hit! I'm so happy it came out the way I saw it in my head. Major cool Mom points scored with that one.

I love family dinner, we don't do it near enough though. Love hanging with my sisters-in-law and their families. So many laughs.

I know you won't believe me, but some how one of our bestie families convinced Mike to head out in the dead of winter for a hike down the trail. We all came back with pink cheeks and big smiles. It was a nice way to spend the afternoon and I got to try out my mapmyfitness app. Pretty much love it.

Still in total love with my Kobo. I've read three books on it since the first of the year.

fictional

2012-01-28T23:13:00.000-05:00

So the other day I read Ali's post about being emotionally attached to fictional characters and I did have to wonder what my list would look like.

Well, as it turns out, it looks like this.....

1. Jim Halpert. The Office. Utter perfection.

2. Danny Ocean. Oceans 11 (also 12 and 13). So suave.

3. Nate Fisher. Six Feet Under.My favourite part of the show.

4. Noah Calhoun. The Notebook. Because, of course.

5. Flynn Rider. Tangled. So worth leaving the tower for. Be careful ladies that is a picture of his "smoulder" I can't be held responsible for y'all succumbing to it.

Who is on your list?

firday high five - maya's favourite things

2012-01-27T22:31:00.000-05:00

Well there is one more little party for our brand new six year old. A couple of her little friends are coming over for a movie and that will officially wrap up the birthday celebrations for MyPie. So to recap, we've had dinner at her favourite restaurant, we shared some of her favoruite treats with grandmas and papas and the rest of her nearest and dearest, I wrote her letter, so the only thing left to record is her five favourite things.....

1. Jesse, from Toy Story. My gosh she loves Jesse. It almost blew her ever loving mind when she dressed up as her for Halloween. She does have a Jesse doll that's included in her play no matter what she's playing with.

2. Hot dogs on hamburg buns. Yeah, I don't get it either, but that's how she like them.

3. Phineas and Ferb. The TV show and the games on family.ca. It used to be all Dora all the time, so this is a nice break. As a bonus Mike and I both find the show hilarious. That doesn't happen very often in the world of children's television programing.

4. Drawing. Our house is littered with pictures. Mike laughed at me the first year I bought them a ream of paper for Christmas, but when you crank out 20 masterpieces a day, it adds up quick.

5. Homework. Gosh does this kid beg me for homework... while Abby shoots her a death stare.

tired

2012-01-25T23:20:00.002-05:00

Five out of the seven lights in our kitchen fixture are burnt out. We'll be blinded the day we finally remember to buy light bulbs.

Coincidentally the light burnt out in Maya's room tonight. I didn't notice until bedtime when Maya yelled down that the power was out in her room.

I asked Maya to put her boots, hat and mitts away. She'd dropped them on the floor just inside the door because of course she did. She told me she couldn't because she had "pulled a muscle in her feet, hands, knee, leg, neck and head." Poor kid. I kinda feel like I should take her to the imaginary doctor.

I rolled a strike tonight in 100 pin bowling on the wii. That's how I roll.

Abby beat me eleventy billion times at joust.

That kid can talk some smack, I tell you what.

And with that this super sleepy Mama is headed to bed.

what's cooking wednesday - grilled chicken greek style

2012-01-24T22:09:00.002-05:00

Cooking when you are on Weight Watchers is vastly different then cooking when you aren't. Obviously. I'm trying to keep it interesting because it's real easy to make nothing but grilled chicken, salad and veggies. So while this recipe is grilled chicken and veggies..... there's a twist.

Greek Inspired Grilled Chicken and Veggies

grilled boneless skinless chicken breasts
grilled veggies - mushrooms, peppers, onion
cooked rice
crumbled feta
tzatziki

Season the chicken with salt and pepper and then grill until cooked through, I use my contact grill for this. Cut chicken into bite sized pieces and place on top of the rice you've placed on your plate. I use brown rice, but feel free to use whatever floats your boat. Top the chicken with your veggies. I usually go the mushroom, onion and pepper route. Throw them in a frying pan with a drizzle of olive oil and cook them up. Top with crumbled feta and tzatziki.

So yummy. This has been our favourite dinner 'round here.

What is What's Cooking Wednesday and how can I play?

What's cooking Wednesday was born out of a desire to get out of that what's for dinner rut. Playing is easy, on Wednesday post a recipe that has been tried and tested by you and then pop over here and add your name to the Mr. Linky. When entering your name also add the name of the recipe in brackets and make sure you link to your What's Cooking Wednesday post and not just your blog's front page.

*All front page links will be deleted!*
*Posts that aren't linked back will be deleted*
*Posts that don't include some sort of a recipe will be deleted*

Don't make me be a jerk. And don't forget to link back here, the home of What's Cooking Wednesday.

So for example I would write Shan (Speedy Chicken Stir Fry) in the name section. For the URL section I would post this: http://shanrev.blogspot.com/2007/10/whats-cooking-wednesday-speedy-chicken.html

I'll let you in on a little secret, my WCW recipes are almost never made on a Wednesday. So feel free to cook and photograph whenever you have time and join us posting on Wednesday

dear maya

2012-01-23T23:40:00.000-05:00

Dear Maya;

Some how I always manage to be surprised when January rolls around and I'm faced with the realization that you are another year older. At times I have a hard time believing you are six already. It seems like you have only been here a minute yet at the same time you've been here forever. I can't even imagine what we ever did before you showed up to make this family complete

You are still determined to take the long way around. Not long ago we had you at the hospital getting you checked out after a tumble at school. That happens a fair bit, actually. Well not the hospital bit, but the tumbles. We average one "oops note" a week from school. Oops Maya tripped and bumped her knee. Oops Maya bumped her head on her hook and so on. I think you get that klutzy bit from you Dad. This particular tumble those was bigger than an "oops note", it was more an oops we think she may have broken her hand sort of situation. It was as we sat there waiting to see the doctor that I first realized your lisp was gone. That cute little adorable lisp had just disappeared. I remembered that the speech therapist had said it could take until you turned six to master the 's' sound and in typical Maya fashion you took it right to the limit.

Oh MyPie, you continue to be a riddle. I was overwhelmed to the point of tears to see you up on stage performing in the Christmas pageant at church and you were so incredibly proud of yourself. You told me that you loved being in the show and yet you still refuse to sing with the kids at church. You are the Queen of practicing though. Every Sunday when they call for the junior choir I ask if you would like to go up and every Sunday you shake you head and say no, thank you, I'm still too shy. You leap into Auntie Mel's arms when you see her, but you continue to make Uncle Dave work for your attention. You are excelling at school, but the day Dad and I were there you had a hard time getting through the morning routine because you were suddenly too shy.

And school, my gosh you love school. You cannot wait to get to grade one so you can go every day. Your first day back after Christmas break you unpacked your backpack of all the kindergarten stuff convinced you were starting grade one. It was a new year after all. You were heartbroken to learn you have six more months of kindergarten to go. You love to read and to be read to. This past week you brought a reading award home, 53 books since the beginning of the school year.

You love being with family. Love quiet nights at home playing boards games or watching movies. Love sleep overs with the grandparents. You have an endless supply of hugs and kisses. Blankey is still your best friend. You continue to be a picky eater. Whenever you are ready to outgrow that little bit of fun is just fine with me. You've started eating cheddar cheese, but how chicken nuggets appear to be off the list. You still love to crawl into my lap for a snuggle and you hero worship your sister. Not that you guys don't have your spats because you do and you can hold your own. I can't wait to see what six will bring us.

I love you baby girl, to the moon and back.
Mama xo

sunday randoms

2012-01-22T23:19:00.000-05:00

This was the kind of weekend I'd just like to put on repeat. It was that good.

Saturday our house was full of love and hugs and laughs as some of our very favourite people gathered to celebrate with our brand new six year old.

In related news, I ate my weight in samosas. Thanks to my best girl Robin for bringing them. Yum-o!

Uncle Dave & Auntie Melly made the long trip from the north for a visit that was way too short..... heck aren't they all? If the town they lived in wasn't so stinkin' cute I'd be a lot madder at them. As per usual Maya took her sweet time warming up to Uncle Dave. I think she does it on purpose, just to keep him in line.

Is there anything better than party guests that wash your dishes for you? No, there is not. Thanks again Robin! xo

Tonight we hit up the 3D version of Beauty & the Beast with some friends. The Tangled short was uber cute. I can remember seeing it in the theater the first time around and loving it from the opening scene.

This weekend has been a bit of a vacation from weight watchers. It's been nice, but back to the grind tomorrow.

How was your weekend?

i think she meant thank you

2012-01-18T23:22:00.000-05:00

Monday night in the middle of choir practice our very sweet choir director and the rest of the kids started singing happy birthday in honour of Little MyPie's birthday, which is tomorrow.

So Maya sat there all smiles while they sang and when they were finished she had this to say.....

My birthday is on Thursday.

Oh my gosh does she crack me up!

what's cooking wednesday - peanut butter cup ice cream

2012-01-17T23:40:00.002-05:00

I got an ice cream maker! I got an ice cream maker! For Christmas from Papa and Grandma Linda, but I am still THAT excited about it. My only problem now is my lack of freezer space. We only have the top freezer in our fridge. It was fine when we were a family of two and even three, but in the past year since I've been doing more couponing and bulk buying, well..... real estate in there is at a premium in there.

So I have an ice cream maker, what's the first thing I had to make? Peanut butter ice cream, of course! It's the girls' favourite.

1 1/8 cups good quality peanut butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/4 cups whole milk
2 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup chopped peanut butter cups

Using a mixer or a whisk to mix peanut butter and sugar until it's smooth. Add the milk and mix on low speed for 1 to 2 minutes or until the sugar is dissolved. Next stir in the heavy cream and vanilla. Turn the ice cream machine on and pour the mix into the freezer bowl and let it do it's thing until it's thickened. It should take about 25 - 35 minutes. Add the chopped peanut butter cups 5 minutes before the mixing is finished. Store in an air tight container in the freezer.

Well the end result was delicious. The kids loved it, but it hadn't really thickened into ice cream by the end of the mixing phase. I had my freezer bowl in the the freezer, but I think I took it out too early. In the end it froze up just fine in the freezer. The girlie girls have already asked for me to make this again.

What is What's Cooking Wednesday and how can I play?

What's cooking Wednesday was born out of a desire to get out of that what's for dinner rut. Playing is easy, on Wednesday post a recipe that has been tried and tested by you and then pop over here and add your name to the Mr. Linky. When entering your name also add the name of the recipe in brackets and make sure you link to your What's Cooking Wednesday post and not just your blog's front page.

*All front page links will be deleted!*
*Posts that aren't linked back will be deleted*
*Posts that don't include some sort of a recipe will be deleted*

one day i'll learn

2012-01-16T23:03:00.000-05:00

So I bought myself a box of that new Perk tea by Tetley. Have you heard of it? It's orange pekoe tea with caffeine equal to the caffeine in a cup of coffee. I routinely stay up too late and suffer from bouts of insomnia every now and then and there are many days when getting through that after school/dinner hour is a real struggle for me. I am not a huge coffee fan, but I love love love tea. So this perk tea seemed like it would be a great solution..... you know instead of maybe going to bed at a reasonable time on a regular basis.

So I bought it and I could feel the difference right away. I was more alert in the afternoon. I'm trying not to abuse it, sticking to one cup a few times a week after work. Then tonight happened. I slept poorly the night before and was trying to get everyone fed and out the door for choir practice by 6:30 and I was dragging my ass, so I made myself a cup to take with me.

The clock has ticked it's way up to 1am now, so I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that a fully caffeinated drink at 7pm for a caffeine drinking newbie was a huge mistake. Oy.

sunday randoms

2012-01-15T23:23:00.001-05:00

So this was an odd weekend for us in that we had no real plans. It was nice for a change. We used the little bit of snow we had out there as an excuse to stay in our jammies reading and watching movies all day Saturday.

Friday night I did meet some girlfriends for dinner at a pub. My purse and I met them for dinner, but my wallet opted to stay at home. My friends found it highly amusing that I had left my wallet at home. I, of course, was mortified. Thank goodness for awesome friends who are willing to help a sister out.

So Abby has become a freak for Harry Potter all of the sudden. Going so far as to make a Hogwarts hotdog Saturday night. Hogwarts hotdog = a normal hotdog with alternating dots of ketchup and mustard so it looks like a Hogwarts scarf. We've watched the first two movies, it feels like a gagillion times already. Mike and I have always been pretty meh about HP, but we both admit to enjoying the first two movies very much. Guess I'll have to read the books now.

Weekends are tough in regards to weight watchers. Especially ones where there is not much on the docket. More time to snack. I don't think I came through it too badly.

My baby girl is turning six in four days. How the heck did that happen?

project 366

2012-01-14T23:01:00.000-05:00

I've always taken a lot of pictures on everything from my Grandpa's old pentax SLR (which out of all the cameras I have owned has always remained my most favourite) to film point and shoots to digital point and shoots to my cell phone. I covet a DSLR very much, but it seems like an extravagant purchase when our couches are literally falling apart beneath us. One day... maybe. Anyway the past year I didn't take many pictures at all for a few reasons. My fuji point and shoot was behaving like a two year old, happy to take pictures at one moment and then refusing to even turn on the next despite fully charged batteries. The camera in my cellie was a miserable 1.3mp. It took some not so bad pictures in the sunlight and it's best feature was I always had it with me. Then the second half of last year really kicked my ass. Couple that with losing the first half of the year's pictures when my hard drive died.... well I was pretty sour on the whole picture taking thing.

This Christmas brought a new thing or two to my life. I upgraded my cellie to an android smart phone that I am crazy in love with. It comes with a 5mp camera. Today I downloaded a fun instagram-like app to play with. Thanks to Grandma Sandi, I replaced my misbehaving camera with a new point and shoot that I got for a steal. Thank you Boxing Day deals and Michael for using his lunch hour to pick it up for me. So those alone should go a long way to ensuring that I take many many more pictures this year.

New Year's Day found us at Grandma Linda and Papa's for dinner, as we finished I decided to do what the rest of the internet appeared to be doing.... project 366 - a photo a day. I thought, maybe, perhaps, I would attempt to do it with my cellphone.

I'm not going to lie to you guys, two days in and I was at a loss of what to take pictures of. I was pretty sure I was going to ditch the whole project. Then I thought it would go easier if I gave myself a theme each month. So I decided January's theme would be new....

Then after hearing Maya say her birthday was January 19th for the 653rd time I switched my theme to Maya.

I haven't been uploading them everyday, but every few days when I think about it. I like having a theme to work towards every month. I think I can go the distance with that plan.

Is anybody else doing a Project366

fu cancer bootle drive

2012-01-12T23:19:00.001-05:00

Join me, won't you, raise your middle finger and give cancer a really big FU! I lost a friend this week. It wasn't unexpected and yet, totally unexpected.... know what I mean? He was too young and too nice. I will miss his smile. I will miss him. It's just a sucky sucky thing and I hate it. I am heartbroken to have to add his name to my shirt when I walk in the Relay for Life this summer.

Last year my team of newbies raised over $3000, making us a dream team. We hope to do even better this year. None of us want to add another name to our memory shirts. For my local peeps, The Jersey Girls are holding a bottle drive with all funds going towards our team total.

If you have any wine, beer or liquor bottles hanging around consider donating them to our growing collection and help us be a dream team again this year. We will be collecting bottles until May.

what's cooking wednesday - saved it

2012-01-10T23:51:00.000-05:00

Over Christmas Mike hatched an ambitious plan. He was going to make turkey stock with our turkey carcass. So he spent ages researching it on the internet while I kept my nose out of the whole thing.

So into the pot went the carcass with enough water to cover it and he simmered it for a few hours. At some point he took out the bones and moved the stock to the crock pot where he tossed in some carrots, celery, onion, garlic and some bay leaves and it tasted like.... to quote Michael.... hot turkey water. That's when he asked me to step in and help.

A little salt and pepper went a long way to improving it, much to Mike's surprise, but I decided to go a step further and added a few glugs from the ole salsa jar, a splash of milk and then thickened it with a roux. I served it up with some shredded cheddar and a dollop of sour cream. It went from yawn to yum.

Have you salvaged any kitchen disasters lately? Any tips for beginner stock makers?

What is What's Cooking Wednesday and how can I play?

What's cooking Wednesday was born out of a desire to get out of that what's for dinner rut. Playing is easy, on Wednesday post a recipe that has been tried and tested by you and then pop over here and add your name to the Mr. Linky. When entering your name also add the name of the recipe in brackets and make sure you link to your What's Cooking Wednesday post and not just your blog's front page.

*All front page links will be deleted!*
*Posts that aren't linked back will be deleted*
*Posts that don't include some sort of a recipe will be deleted*

sunday randoms

2012-01-08T23:19:00.002-05:00

I am so in love with my kobo I can't even tell you. I borrowed my first book from the library on it last week. That thrilled me beyond belief. It's a Marian Keyes book, gosh I love her and I've read 37% of it so far. I am such a book nerd.

I downloaded a weight watchers app to my phone. Love it! So much. I have never tracked my points so diligently before. The app has a bar code scanner that calculates the points for me. So handy when grocery shopping.

Abby and I went for a run on the weekend, we hadn't been out in a month. It hurt way less than I was expecting it too, but at the same time it was no walk in the park... literally. It was too muddy on the trail so we ran up the road, nothing but open fields out there, boy was that wind bitter. At about the half way mark when I was truly hating myself for suggesting we go out for a run you won't believe which song popped up on my ipod..... bump bumpbumpbump bumpbumpbump bumpbumpbuuuummmpppp... the Eye of the Tiger. True story. So I dug down, found my inner Rocky and powered through the rest of it.

As of 2:30 this morning I was able cross "wash dinner dishes for 300" off my bucket list. Trust me, it was way more fun then you would think. I'm sure it was largely due to the company I was keeping.

Tried to see Breaking Dawn with a couple of my besties and my newly unofficially adopted nephew and would you believe it was sold out! Sold out! Haven't all the tweenie Twihards in this city seen it yet? Actually, I have never seen a movie theater that busy before in my life. A burger and a chat was a fantastic substitution..... tracked the points and everything, thanks to my beloved android phone.

Am I a bad Mom if I burst into hysterical giggles when I overheard Maya say.... this paper is a piece of shit? ahahahah I'm not going to lie to you, I'm laughing right now, just typing it out. Is it better if I tell you that I didn't let her I found it so funny?

Eggs benny with chorizo and cornbread...... yes, please. Which brings me to my next question, why do I watch the foodnetwork so late at night? Also can I add "try some new restaurants" to my 2012 to-do list? I can? Great, because I tried one Saturday night. Prepare to read about it soon.

friday high five - teenaged shannon

2012-01-06T23:26:00.000-05:00

You know I was just thinking the other day about my life now and what my teenaged self imagined my life would be. I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest that teenage Shannon would be surprised by quite a bit of it....

1. That I blog. Well first I'd have to take the time to explain what a blog was. We were just barely becoming computer savvy at my house when back when. I do remember a lot of late nights "writing stories" on my electric typewriter. At the time I dreamed of becoming a writer, like a published author loved by millions ala Danielle Steel, who I had mad love for back in the day. Gosh it's been a lot of years since I've read anything of hers, but I see at the bookstore that she's still cranking them out. Those dreams are long since gone, there is no desire for that any more. I'm happy with what I have here and the gifts it's brought to me. And in that vein.....

2. That I would have friends scattered across the globe, most that I have never met in person. I've got to be honest that still seems kind of strange, but that's the beauty of blogging and social media it's allowed me to connect with fabulous people that before now geography never would have allowed me to meet in any kind of a real fashion.

3. That volunteering would be such a big part of my life. That I would be involved with planning committees for fundraising events. That I would help organize people to raise thousands and thousands of dollars for good causes. That I would be vocal on these committees and toss in my two cents. Me, who doesn't like to speak to people. I still don't go for the public speaking bit, though.

4. That I have such an incredible group of friends. I mean, it wasn't like I was friendless back then, but I tended to keep to a few close friends. Now I have lovely group of ladies I can count on to make me laugh or let me vent or get out of bed in the middle of the night to watch my kids or bandage up one of them up on Christmas day or walk in a 12 hour relay or wash a gazillion dishes or just hang out in my living room in our jammies.

5. And finally the one I think would shock teenage Shannon the most.... natural childbirth.... not once, but twice. I could tell you all that's what I had planned from the start. That I wrote it right there in ink on my birth plan, but to be truthful there was no birth plan and the natural childbirth thing (and Abby was breech... bum first, the cheeky little monkey) came about only due to my own poor time management skills and that both girls were very determined to be born.... quickly.

What would your teenage self be surprised by?

funny girl

2012-01-05T23:12:00.000-05:00

The speakers on my laptop are not great and my kids are loud, so at times I am forced to use headphones. Tonight was one of those nights. Maya used my laptop after me and then she hunted me down in the shower to ask....

Maya: Mom, do you know your headphones for your laptop?
Me: Yes.
Maya: Well they don't fit in my ears, can I plug them out?
Me: Can you what?
Maya: Can I plug them out?

Yes, it did take me a second to figure out she wanted to *unplug* them.

santa bag care packages

2012-01-05T00:22:00.003-05:00

This year I implemented the very successful Christmas theme - Less is More and It's the Thought That Counts. You know, to say it's a nice sentiment, but I wasn't sure how I was going to make it a reality because I like to give gifts. Then in the weeks leading up to Christmas I found myself thinking about my Grandmas. Thinking about Santa Bags and Care Packages and came up with a sort of a hybrid of the two. Let's just knock the rest out bullet style....

Santa Bags were a stocking type gift we got from my Dad's Mom. Who doesn't like getting a stocking? So many little treasures tucked into them. Care Packages were something my Mom's Mom used to do, but to be fair they didn't necessarily show up for Christmas... an anniversary, sure. There would be sensible things in there like pasta and fun treats like chocolate bars. Even after my Dad passed away she would still tuck in some snickers bars because those were his favourite.

Instead of gift bags I bought reusable shopping bags. Each bag was loaded with goodies for the family, so we did family gifts this year instead of strict individual gifts.

I made treats like puppy chow, cookies and tomato sauce and in addition I bought treats like fancy nuts and favourite chocolate bars. I bought those kinds of things slowly in the weeks leading up to Christmas. I had all the bags lined up along the wall in my bedroom and would drop the item in the appropriate bag as I purchased them. So it didn't take much to get them ready for the big day.

I did buy some actual presents to tuck into the bags. Things like books, movies or in my Mom's case, oven mitts because she'd admired mine so much. I kept my eyes on the sales and bought things in little bits in the weeks before. The vast majority of what I did buy was on sale. I have to give a shout out to Mrs January and BargainMoose Canada for keeping me up to date with the deals.

In Mike's family we have a big stocking tradition. It's one of those giant 5 foot stockings that Papa Al bought for Papa Joyce years ago and now each family gets a turn receiving it, the rest of us all chip in to fill it. So I used coupons to score some great deals on cleaning supplies, shampoo, soap and such. I also used coupons on products that we might not use, but that were gratefully accepted at the agency we donate to.

I kept an eye on all the deal sites like groupon, wag jag and the like and bought up deals for dinners out to tuck into bags. I also managed to scoop an incredible deal for photo calendars that went to all the grandparents and for our yearly family photobook. Would you believe in the days after Christmas I picked up a groupon to use towards next year's photobook?

What would I do differently? Not much to be honest. I would start earlier with a better plan about what treats I's like to add to the bags. So I can start stocking my pantry. I'd make things easier on myself and have the same home made treats right across the board. That way I'm not making 6 different recipes. The bags were a great hit with everyone and I absolutely loved making them. Expect to see them again next year!

what's cooking wednesday - garlic & cheese biscuits

2012-01-03T22:37:00.001-05:00

Time to get back in the swing of things. Time to get back to cooking. Especially since one of my best girls got me a subscription to a cooking magazine for Christmas. This recipe is an oldie, but with a twist. Papa came to join us for dinner last week and I had sent Mike a text asking him to grab some buns on the way home, but he didn't see it until he was home so I had to come up with something else. I knew I didn't have time to make buns, but I could make biscuits. So I did.

2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter
1 egg yolk (reserve egg white)
1 cup sour cream

Cut the butter into the dry ingredients until it's crumbly. Mix in the sour cream. Roll the dough out to 1 inch thick, cut into circles and brush tops with egg whites. Bake at 375 degrees F on an ungreased baking sheet for 15 minutes.

So that's my go-to biscuit recipe. This time around, since I had made lasagna I tossed in some minced garlic. I had some of the jarred stuff, so I threw in a couple of tsp-ish. Then I cut up some cheddar into cubes and kneaded it into the dough. I never get out my rolling pin for this. I find it easier to just press out the dough with my hands. They were delicious. In fact, I could go for a couple right now, but I'm out of points.

What is What's Cooking Wednesday and how can I play?

What's cooking Wednesday was born out of a desire to get out of that what's for dinner rut. Playing is easy, on Wednesday post a recipe that has been tried and tested by you and then pop over here and add your name to the Mr. Linky. When entering your name also add the name of the recipe in brackets and make sure you link to your What's Cooking Wednesday post and not just your blog's front page.

*All front page links will be deleted!*
*Posts that aren't linked back will be deleted*
*Posts that don't include some sort of a recipe will be deleted*

to do in 12

2012-01-02T23:47:00.001-05:00

So to continue with the theme of yesterday's post.... my to do list for 2012.

1. Get my passport. Geez, it is not that hard. I should just do it already.
2. Get the girls their SIN cards.
3. Knit 15 scarves to donate.
4. Knit 15 cancer caps.
5. Knit 15 hats.
6. Complete the couch to 5k program.
7. Read 20 books.
8. Participate in my 3rd Relay for Life and my 2nd as a part of a Dream Team.
9. Follow the weight watchers plan and lose 35lbs.

That ought to keep me busy for a little while. What do you have on your 2012 to-do list?

how did i do

2012-01-01T23:44:00.002-05:00

So it is January 1st, the start of a new year. I'm not entirely sad to be seeing the ass end of 2011, it was a very busy roller coaster ride for us and it's nice to see it all behind us. Twelve months ago I made myself a to-do list and then I kinda sorta forgot about it a little bit. I pulled it back up to see how I fared.......

Get the girls their SIN cards.
Absolutely 100% not done. I'm not sure I even attempted to complete this.

Get my passport.
Again, not done. I think I may have googled it, but it never went any further than that. Both these items are pretty easy to complete, I have absolutely no excuse. I have to get on the passport thing though or ML & JB shall disown me as friends.

Make 12 scarves to donate.
Between ML & I we donated 16 scarves to charity. So yes I did make my goal of 12.

Make 12 cloths to donate to Wesley.
I knit lots and lots of cloths and I gave a lot to family and friends. I have a stack to send to Wesley with my next donation, but I'm not sure how many are there.

Read 15 books.
Not quite sure how well I did with this one, since I neglected to keep track. I am going to guess that I was in the neighbourhood. Looking forward to more reading this year on my new kobo, thanks Mama! Oh and I'll keep a list.

Participate in my second Relay for Life.
I did, with my Jersey Girls and we were a Dream Team. Plans are in the works to participate again this year. It was one of the best nights of my life!

Do yoga once a week.
Oh I sucked miserably at this one. Moving on.....

Lose 35 lbs.
Again..... moving on.

Have a perogie making day.
Nope.

Drink more water.
The past few months have been great for water drinking. Abby and I have been challenging to make sure we're getting it all in.

Drink more green tea.
I've kind of slacked off the past month or two. My allergies have not been appreciative.

Watch 10 movies from my "to-be-watched" stack.
Again, I didn't keep track, but I think I was in the ball park here too.

Cut my hair short.
Did it! Love it! Wish I had done it ages ago!

Stay tuned for my 2012 to-do list!!

happy happy

2011-12-31T18:44:00.003-05:00

Here's to everyone having a very safe and happy New Year's Eve.

See you all in 2012.

sharing christmas cheer

2011-12-29T23:48:00.000-05:00

One of our 25 days of Christmas activities was a multi-day project - making treats to share with friends.

First the kids made a list of who they would like to share treats with so we would know how many to make. Then we got to work making hot chocolate stirrers a fun little project I found on pinterest. They are dead easy. Jab a sucker stick into a marshmallow and dip into chocolate. Leave them upright on waxed paper until they are set and then bag up and tie with a ribbon.

The kids did most of the dipping themselves, I just made sure the sucker sticks were securely engaged. The kids had a blast with this. Some of them they dipped in sprinkles, but most they just left plain. We dipped an entire bag of marshmallows and then left them to dry.

We took another night to pack stirrers and hot chocolate into gifts bags for our friends. We passed the Christmas cards around the table so everyone could sign their own names. Even this part was a fun little family project.

Of course the most fun part was the delivering.

Another fun for the whole family activity.

Abby was super eager to share some Christmas cheer.

Maya was a bit slower to come around, but was having fun by the time we got to the bitterly cold end.

I have to say this was a great family Christmas activity. The kids loved being able to share something they had made themselves. We will definitely be doing this again next year.

christmas round up

2011-12-28T23:09:00.000-05:00

You guys, I think I am finally over the worst of this cold. Last night I slept for 11 hours in a row and so did the kids. It was heaven and just what I needed. Towards the end of Christmas day and the two days following it were the worst I've felt so far and I chalk a lot of it up to lack of sleep. Oh and just for kicks the universe decided to throw in a bout of intestinal distress that lasted from Christmas Eve until Boxing Day. Good times.

Actually despite all that it was good times.

Best Gift Ever.
That Uncle Dave and Auntie Mel were here with us for four days! A lot of their visits lately have been of the one day variety so the kids were thrilled to have them here for so long to play board games, go for walks and just generally be available to be sat upon.

Easiest Christmas Ever
This was the nicest, easiest, and most stress free holiday we've ever enjoyed. For the first time in many years we didn't go anywhere Christmas day and instead everyone came to us. Dinner came together pretty dang easy in large part thanks to Auntie Mel and Michael. Maya even ate it in her jammies.

Surprise Gift!
For me, I got an ice cream maker!! What?! I have been coveting one for quite some time, but Mike has always poo pooed the idea. He claims that I have too many kitchen gadgets that I don't use, which is completely untrue. I am not a kitchen gadget junkie by any stretch of the imagination. There are no slap chops in my kitchen. I can't wait to make my first batch of ice cream. Kind of surprised I haven't yet? Yeah, I was that sick.

Board Game of Christmas
Blokus! I'd never really heard of it before this year, but we picked it up to take advantage of Zellers buy one get one free board game deal they had on before Christmas. Mom had three games in the buggy and me on the phone trying to pick another one since it would be free. Board games are always a big Christmas present for me because I know they give much more back than another polly pocket. This one was a hit across all ages groups. I could see it generating a lot of trash talk if we were to pull it out for game night with adult friends.

Less is More and it's the Thought That Counts Christmas
Epic! Really! Well Mike and I thought it was anyway. That is a picture of our tree after Santa had been and the kids presents from Mike and I were under there. The stockings were by the coffee table. That was it and the kids were happy with what they got.

Cool Gift of Christmas
Goes to Auntie Mel and Uncle Dave. They gifted the kids with needle felting kits, each in their own storage boxes. It was so cute to see them both go back to their projects again and again Christmas day, tucked up beside Auntie Mel and her needle felting, of course. Maya is an absolute weapon, she needle felts at about 90 miles an hour and very rarely looks at what her hands are doing. I'm not quite sure how she didn't stab herself.

Gift with the most pressure
I got a gift card and some cash with instructions to spend them on myself. Easier said then done, when it comes to me. Yesterday I forced myself to take advantage of the great deals at Old Navy online and picked out some clothes for myself. Can't wait for my cardis, khakis, skirt, tops and black "dressy" lounge pants to get here. I also checked the deals and picked up a new camera to replace my current cranky camera. Gosh it is super small though. I'm afraid of dropping it, but excited I can pop it in my pocket. Of course now I gotta get over the guilt I have over spending so much money on myself yesterday. Oy.

There was more to Christmas, of course. Dinners with family... so much delicious food. Church with loved ones. Tea and coffee and chocolate. Gifts received and gifts given. Joy and laughter and coughing. So much coughing. I can only hope that your Christmas was just as wonderful.

winning

2011-12-26T23:39:00.002-05:00

At some point this morning Mike and Abby crossed paths in the kitchen and had the following conversation....

Abby: You know what my favourite part of Christmas was?
Mike: What?
Abby: Spending time with my family. You know, it's not about the presents Dad.

So I think we can declare this year's theme of less is more and it's the thought that counts a complete success.

christmas hourly photo project

2011-12-26T10:49:00.000-05:00

So I'm still kind of sorta sick with a cold and then Christmas Eve I came down with some intestinal distress both of which have kept me from sleeping the past couple of nights. I'd probably feel a bunch better with a few more hours of sleep under my belt, but I still enjoyed Christmas day spent with Uncle Dave, Auntie Mel, my Mama, Michael and my baby girls. Wanna see... because it just isn't Christmas without Andrea's hourly photo project.

Oh and would you believe my stinkin' camera is broken. Guess I know what's on my birthday wishlist. Anyway all these were taken with my cellphone. Thank goodness it has a pretty decent camera in it.

Abby was actually up at 6am, but I convinced her to get into bed with me which bought me an extra 30 minutes of dozing at which point we moved the party downstairs where I made her watch TV and ignore the stack of presents under the tree until......

7am - Before the chaos. That is the "less is more" theme in full effect right there peeps!

8am -Creating a masterpiece.

9am - Waiting patiently for breakfast.

10am - Watching the Wizard of Oz. Snuggled up to Auntie Mel for protection during the scary bits.

11am - Boo boo! Pretty big one too actually. Somehow she managed to step/fall onto a garbage bag in which I had just put a broken bowl, that Mike was in the process of taking outside. We thought she might have needed stitches, but my girl JJ brought her incredibly well stocked first aid kit over. We assessed the damage and felt she'd be fine if we wrapped it up with gauze and tape.

12pm - A3, you sunk my Battleship!

1pm - Granny's here. Time for more presents.

2pm - The aftermath.

3pm - Time for tea and the Eat Street marathon. Love holiday TV.

4pm - Needle felting with Auntie Mel.

5pm - Making dinner! Mmmmm broccoli!

6pm - Just back from "Granny's Peel and Stick Nail Salon".

7pm - After dinner convo. Doesn't it look fascinating?

8pm - Completely stuffed and chilling on the couch.

The rest of the evening looked just like that, thanks to the Big Bang Theory marathon and the tryptophan that kept our buts glued to the couch.

it's here

2011-12-25T01:13:00.001-05:00

From our house to yours.... Merry Christmas!

i did it

2011-12-24T12:18:00.003-05:00

Well I did it! Well sorta. My goal was to have everything done before the 23rd when Uncle Dave and Auntie Mel got here. I wasn't all finished before the 23rd, but I was finished on the 23rd *before* Dave and Mel got here. Thanks guys for not rolling in until after 10pm.

Mike and I slipped out to get groceries early this morning, the store was very quiet and we were in and out relatively quickly. Mike is a man of the people and there was lots of people in the store this morning that we stopped to chat with. The hard part was finding room for everything in our stuffed fridge and pantry! The natural refrigerator is being used to full effect this weekend. Natural refrigerator equals the space between the two doors out to our deck.

The kids and I went caroling with some of the neighbours. It was totally adorable and super freezing cold. Luckily our choir director extraordinaire had hot chocolate for us when we finished.

Now I'm looking forward to enjoying the time spent with my family. I hope you are all enjoying the time spent with yours. Merry Christmas everyone!

promised land

2011-12-22T00:42:00.000-05:00

So last weekend these two darling little girls performed in the Christmas pageant at our church.

Did you catch that? These *TWO* girls.

Maya loves going to practice, but almost never performs with the choir. In fact for last year's pageant she wouldn't even rehearse with the rest of the kids. This year she told me she was going to get up on stage, but to be honest I remained skeptical. Then we got all the way to dress rehearsal and there she was on stage, in her costume and I switch from skeptical to cautiously optimistic, but I wasn't going to be surprised if she bailed at the last minute.

Abby is Abby... loves to sing. She sings all the time at home and she's been up singing with the choir for years now. I knew she'd be right up there singing her face off, but Maya... oh Maya... you just never know with that one.

You guys.... when she walked out on that stage with the rest of the kids I could have put my head in my hands and wept. Make no mistake, there was more than a tear of two that worked it's way to the surface and that was despite me holding my shit together. I said to Mike later I was just overwhelmed to see her up there, smiling, relaxed, having fun because I feel like everything with Maya has been the hard way, the long way around, the slow boat and finally here was something easy even if we did take our time getting there. She's just changing so much so quickly and bit by bit I can feel it getting easier. I can see her getting comfortable in her own skin. She's finding her place and I am so relieved.

Not only was she up there singing like it was her job, she came down to sing to the people in the pews. I was pretty sure she was going to balk at that point, but she shocked me again.

The pageant was an original production, music and lyrics were written by our neighbour. The kids and the senior choir sang the heck out of it! I was thrilled that I had the chance to see the kids perform it four times over the weekend (2 dress rehearsal run throughs and 2 performances). It's going to rank up there as one of my best parenting moments. One I have played over in my head a million times already along with the music, that I still can't stop humming. I'm so thankful we got to share it with family and friends. Lots of pews full of our nearest and dearest.

You know I was already thinking this was going to be the best Christmas ever.

uh oh

2011-12-20T22:09:00.000-05:00

I don't want to say this too loud.... shhhh come closer..... I think I'm getting sick. Oh yes. Right before Christmas. How much ass does that suck?

I am doing my best to fight it with all the very best remedies that nature has to offer. One of my best girls hooked me up. She knows her shiz folks. So far I feel just slightly off and tired. Of course that may have something to do with my habit of burning the candle at both ends. So tonight I am forcing myself to go to bed now and not hours from now as per usual.

As of 5 minutes ago my little insomniac was still awake. She's the happy helper in her class tomorrow and add that on top of her class party, Christmas concert (that Mike and I both get to attend), Uncle Dave and Aunt Mel visit and then of course Christmas itself, it's almost too much for her to take.

All that to say that I plan on climbing into bed IF she's FINALLY asleep. Here's hoping.

Hope you are all feeling well!

we're getting there

2011-12-19T22:41:00.004-05:00

How are y'all doing out there? Managing? Stressed to the eyeballs? Zen? I'm pretty zen I think. My promise to myself was to have everything ready to go by the 22nd. I start my holidays on the 23rd by spending the day serving Christmas lunch to all the staff and students at Abby and Maya's school. Uncle Dave and Auntie Mel are set to arrive at some point that day, so I want to be able to sit and relax and visit with them from the moment they get here. Hear that you guys? I'm clearing the decks for you.... you better be entertaining and interesting.

I tackled most of the wrapping last night. I am dangerously low on wrapping paper and tape now though. Gifts are all bought for the most part. Just a quick little shopping trip tomorrow night should wrap everything up. I keep eying up the stocking and wondering if the kids will notice they're missing if I stuff them early and stash them with the rest of the presents. What do you think?

And the kids, they're pretty zen. Maya is suffering from a titch of "waiting for Christmas Eve" based insomnia which has been making her a bit testy, but it's a pretty mild case. And Abby's just Abby, going along with the flow, excited, but patient.

How are things at your place?

sunday randoms

2011-12-18T23:26:00.000-05:00

My gosh this weekend was everything I expected it to be. Just lovely from start to finish.

The girls did two performances of an original Christmas pageant, Saturday evening and Sunday morning. It was overwhelming, in a very good way. I'm going to tell you all about it, once I figure out how to get my pictures off my new phone. Which I love, but it's not letting me message pictures. I'm thinking it's some sort of setting issue, but damned if I can figure it out.

Yes in the middle of grocery shopping Saturday morning I decided the time had come for me to upgrade to a smart phone. Did I get my much coveted iphone? I did not. I went with an android. Sorry iphone friends.

Can you believe Christmas is only a week away? Maya is absolutely beside herself. She can't sleep for the excitement. I predict a long week filled with lots of crying jags. Abby is playing it cool.

They are both counting down the days until Uncle Dave and Auntie Mel get here. So much to be excited about.

Speaking of Uncle Dave, he celebrated a birthday this weekend. If you're following Maya's school of thought, her turned 20 because I'm 22 and Uncle Dave is two years younger than me.

taking a break

2011-12-14T23:33:00.002-05:00

So here's the deal folks, What's Cooking Wednesday is going on hiatus until the new year. As I mentioned this week is chock full of fright nights*. Full of baking, rehearsals, homework, Elwood, reading, work, school. Things like laundry, housework and any real cooking to speak of have fallen by the wayside.

I'm eying my holidays up pretty hard. They can't get here quick enough. Of course I'm not exactly what I would call "ready" for Christmas, so speeding things up could be an issue. Looking forward to jammie days, sleeping in, reading and watching movies.

*fright night = a night that has you scrambling to get everything done. Typically Thursday is our fright night, Abby has riding so we have a later dinner and then we rush to get to homework etc before bed. A full week of them is a tall order to handle. I'm not sure how parents with kids in a lot of activities manage it. Hats off to you, if that's your family.

practice

2011-12-12T23:21:00.001-05:00

Tonight the kids got to practice their bits of the Christmas pageant on stage. It still looks like a bit of utter chaos to me, but I know it will all come together in the end. Can't wait to see the whole thing.

I'm still very shocked that Maya got up on stage to practice with the rest of the choir. Last year she refused to practice on stage or take part in the actual production. It will be interesting to see what happens on Saturday night. Will she or won't she? She continues to be a riddle, that one.

sunday randoms

2011-12-11T23:58:00.001-05:00

This week is full of fright nights. Full of them! The girls have extra choir practice to get ready for the pageant this weekend. Mike has meetings and dinners to attend. Then there's riding lessons and dress rehearsal. Oh boy. We'll be scrambling all week.

This weekend was full of lovely people. I'd like to hit rewind and do it all again.

Today ML and I donated 17 scarves to charity. Not too shabby!

Hershey's candy cane kisses are mucho delicious.

Guys, I have been killing it this year at Christmas shopping. I'd been scoring great deals all over the place. That makes me and my wallet very happy.

Only 9 more work days until I'm on holidays. I cannot wait!

I love taking Abby's ipod and adding new apps to it, then just leaving it for her to find.

friday high five - 25 days of Christmas

2011-12-09T21:38:00.000-05:00

Once again Elwood has been a huge hit at our house and yes, Abby still believes. What's great is friends of ours have borrowed our idea for their kids and their daughter, who's in Abby's class, wasn't sure if she was quite buying the whole Christmas Elf deal either and they've been helping to make believers out of each other. They're even hoping that the elves plan a little activity for the two families to do together. (I guess we better get working on something there JB.)

We've been doing some pretty low key things, very low key. We're just sort of winding down from a very very busy and emotionally draining fall so this is good. We're liking it very much. It feels like magic. Of course I'm sure you've been wondering what Elwood has had us up to.....

1. Reading. Last year I purchased a bunch of Christmas themed books and after the holidays I packed them away in my closet. Elwood's been dropping them off one by one, telling the kids they are on loan from the North Pole library and they'll need to be returned on Christmas Eve.

2.Christmas Shows. We have some on DVD and we've watched a couple of the shorter ones like the Penguins of Madagascar (shitake mushrooms I love those guys!) and the new Ice Age one that I picked up for only $5.

3. Colouring. Colouring pages printed off the internet are the best and the kids love it when you colour with them. This week I printed off a picture of an Elf and Elwood told the kids it was a picture of him. They were blown away to finally know what he looked like.

4. Decorate. We put our tree up and I let the kids go to it. They did a really great job. I still have to pull their trees out. I'm surprised they haven't asked yet. Maybe that will be tomorrow's project.

5. Writing. We wrote our letters to Santa and the girls have been leaving notes for Elwood to pick up.

This may be the best 25 days of Christmas yet.

Are you doing the 25 days of Christmas?

maya

2011-12-07T00:30:00.001-05:00

Recently we got to spend some time in Maya's classroom for parent observation day. I just love parent observation day. I love to see how they are managing their little independent world. Maya is such a chatterbox at home, but she's surprisingly on the quiet side at school. Her teacher said she'd like to see her put her hand up more and I bet by the end of the year she will be. You know that one, she can take a very long time to warm up, but once she does, look out. So socially she's managing just fine.

Academically she's excelling. She's reading at a higher level than the rest of her class. So you know what that means.... extra homework. She's thrilled about that, of course. Her teacher pointed out that she probably wasn't telling us anything we didn't already know, but Mike told her it's always nice to hear it from someone else.

I'm so happy that she's settled into school so easily. I had some real concerns about how she was going to manage it all, but she just loves going to school. I can't wait to see what the rest of the year is going to bring us.

less

2011-12-06T00:05:00.001-05:00

Tonight I let the kids decorate the tree. It's not quite perfect. There are some areas that are devoid of ornaments and there are some that are a little bit ornament heavy, but I left them to it and swore to myself that I wouldn't move a single ornament when they were done. Not all of the ornaments made it out of their boxes.I only took a handful of Christmas cheer out to sprinkle around the house. I've decided that my theme of less is more this year can extend to the decorating too. I'll be thrilled in the new year when it's time to pack it all up. Easy peasy.

The days seem to be flying by. In a blink Christmas will be here. I'm not quite done my shopping, but it's okay. It will all get done. My goal is to have it all done and ready to go by December 22nd. Uncle Dave and Auntie Mel are due to roll into town right after that and I want to be able to sit and chat and watch dvds and play board games and laugh and soak up every minute of their visit because you just never know when we'll all be together again.

sunday randoms

2011-12-04T23:18:00.000-05:00

Had my first cookie order of the holiday season. Eight dozen cookies to go out tomorrow. Brought in the folding table from the garage as an island. Made cookie baking a million times easier.

I think I love Robert Downey Jr. He looks like he's wound pretty tight.... I like that.

Abby read aloud at church today in front of the entire congregation. That was huge! She would have never attempted that a year ago. I am forever grateful to the Empower program and so thankful that our school offers it.

This year, so far, the tree has been a multi-step process. We got it in the house on Saturday... Mike, the girls and Papa cut it down Saturday morning.... put the lights on it this afternoon and that's as far as we got.

The kids and I cleaned the toyroom. Gosh what a huge job that was, but since it doubles as our guest room, we needed to get it ready for Uncle Dave and Aunt Mel's visit at the end of the month. The kids are beside themselves! Can't wait until they get here.

As you may know Maya is of the opinion that I am only 22 years old. She will not be swayed on this point at all and it drives Abby right around the bend. Today they were having the same conversation that they've had a million times before.......
Abby: Mom is not 22! She's the same age as Dad. She's 38.
Maya: No she isn't, she's 22.
Abby: She is not, if she was 22 she would look a lot younger than that!

Well, ouch Abby and a Merry Christmas to you too.

friday high five - running music

2011-12-02T23:54:00.001-05:00

So there hasn't been much time for running this week. Also the weather is crap. We probably should have started this adventure in the spring. When we do run this is which songs on the ipod keep me moving forward.

1. I Got the Moves Like Jagger. Maya loves to sing this song. It is tres cute.
2. Love you Like a Love Song. The girls may not like the Biebs, but they do have mad love for his girl friend Selena Gomez. When we first started running I could figure out how to play her playlist through the app so there was a run or two that song played in an endless loop.
3. I'm Sexy and I Know It. This song makes me smile. As does the video.
4. Raise Your Glass.... Glee or the original.
5.We R Who We R... don't judge.

best night ever

2011-12-01T22:22:00.001-05:00

It's December 1st! The kids have been waiting for this day. The first day of the 25 days of Christmas.... an incredibly awesome idea I borrowed from the fabulous Andrea from a peek inside the fishbowl. I put a bit of my own spin on the idea and invented Elwood, the Elf who's in charge of Christmas fun. Every night Elwood leaves a note telling us what that day's activity is.

Thursday is fright night around here. Abby has her riding lesson, it's an hour long, but it equals about two hours at the stable once it's all said and done. By the time we get home it's headed for 7 and nobody has had dinner. Abby made sure the basket was in place before we left for riding, but I didn't have a chance to get the note into it before we left.

The kids came home to an empty basket, so we tidied and had dinner while the two of them speculated when he would show up and Abby checked on the basket every three seconds.

I work incredibly hard at making things into events for my kids. I want them to have warm and fuzzy memories of their childhood. I want them to always know how important I think this family is because I know..... well I just know. So I do things like the 25 days of Christmas, and sleepover movie nights, family fun night, and family game night. And I know.... I know, it means just as much to them as it does to me, even if they don't realize that it is me.

Some time after dinner as Mike and the kids were cleaning up I slipped away to write "the note", the one from Elwood that said how much he'd missed them, answered a question Abby had asked in a note she'd written and left them some hot chocolate and instructions to write their letters to Santa.

You guys, when Abby saw that note in the basket, she was overwhelmed to the point of tears. She couldn't even bring herself to read the note. She just grabbed onto Mike and I and hugged as hard as she could. You see earlier that evening she'd told me that she's been thinking about Elwood on the bus, how she thought maybe Elwood was me, but then she realized that no, he had to be real. She's nine, so she's just on the brink of figuring it out, to be honest I think she probably already knows on some level, but isn't willing to own it just yet.

I'm not going to lie to you fine folks, I got teary watching her. It's definitely up there as one of my top five parenting moments. One I will replay over and over. I'm pretty sure she will too.

finally

2011-11-30T22:37:00.001-05:00

Tonight we got to see ML & T's new barn in action, well it was the first time for the kids and I, Mike's been up there the past two evenings. The cows need to be trained to use the robotic milker and as you can imagine some are faster learners than others.

ML gave us a little tour and Abby was fascinated by the entire setup. Abby loved checking out the robot room and having a front row seat for the milking. It's been months and months and months of talking about this barn and many more months of planning and building. I am thrilled for them that it's finally a reality.

what's cooking wednesday - favourites

2011-11-29T22:44:00.001-05:00

I am one sleepy Mama tonight. Ready to crawl into bed and maybe read a page and a half of my book before it bonks me in the face.... because I feel asleep reading it. zzzzzzzzz

My kitchen has been a busy place the past few days. I've been cooking up a storm trying to keep some hungry farmers fed while they train a herd of cows how to live in their new barn. And what have I been cooking them?

Pulled pork. This go around was okay, but not as stellar as my first attempt... in my opinion anyway. They ate it up just fine. I blame the onion. I threw an onion in this time around and it messed with the balance of spices. Much better without.

Chili. Hearty, stick to your ribs and chock full of veggies. I fed this to ML for lunch before and she requested it. It's all prepped and ready to go into the crockpot tomorrow morning.

Lasagna. I think this may be my favourite dish that I make. Mmmmm. The house smelled delicious.

What is What's Cooking Wednesday and how can I play?

What's cooking Wednesday was born out of a desire to get out of that what's for dinner rut. Playing is easy, on Wednesday post a recipe that has been tried and tested by you and then pop over here and add your name to the Mr. Linky. When entering your name also add the name of the recipe in brackets and make sure you link to your What's Cooking Wednesday post and not just your blog's front page.

*All front page links will be deleted!*
*Posts that aren't linked back will be deleted*
*Posts that don't include some sort of a recipe will be deleted*

shaving years off my life

2011-11-28T23:38:00.001-05:00

Oh my gosh, it is always something around here. Neither Mike or I were expecting the call we got this afternoon. Maya took a tumble at school and they thought perhaps she may have broken her hand or her wrist.

What?!

Did I mention today was the day I was cooking dinner for our dairy farming friends and that Mike was headed to the farm to help out after work? Yeah. So we made some calls and got Grandma Sandi to pick up Abby and take care of dinner. Luckily I had mostly ready to go. Thank goodness I prepped so much the day before.

We got to the school to find Maya sitting quietly in the office waiting for us. She had an ice pack for her hand and she had a little cry when she saw us, but she was pretty together. Her hand was very swollen and bruised in one localized area, so off to emerg we went.

It took us just over 2 hours to find out that Maya had no broken bones, but rather had a pretty nasty bruise on that fleshy part of your palm underneath the thumb. Nothing a little tylenol, an ice pack and some time won't cure. Thank goodness. Maya was a trooper through all the waiting and the poking.

And we were still home in time to get dinner to the farmers, Mike got a few hours of work in and Grandma Linda was kind enough to load my dishwasher and! wash my dishes while I had a shower before getting the kids to choir practice....where Maya promptly forgot about her hand and attempted to clap along to the music. She remembered in a darn hurry, I tell ya!!

sunday randoms

2011-11-27T21:14:00.001-05:00

So it's Sunday night.... that weekend was a whirlwind! Phew.

Today the power kept going out at the house which was a total pain in the arse because I was trying to bake and prep for all the cooking I need to do this week. The power went out, once again, after the sun went down so it was pitch black in the house. Abby was in the bathroom at the time and in trying to get out of it, walked nose first right into the door jam. She ended up a nice bump on the bridge of her nose and a bit of a headache. Poor thing.

So what's the deal with all this baking and cooking. Well our fabulous dairy farming friends ML & T are finally moving the herd into their new barn! It's a very exciting time for them. It's been so much work to get to this point, I'm glad it's finally here. From the way I understand it, it's going to take 3 days to get everyone settled into the new barn. It's a 24 hour, all hands on deck sort of situation so I volunteered to take care of feeding them so they can concentrate on the cows.

And the power is out again!! Where did those dang kids leave the flashlight? Okay it's back on.

Okay so yeah.... cows. Mike will be headed there after work to lend a hand and taking dinner with him when he goes.

I think I finally nailed down a plan for Christmas. Actually I thought I already had one, but we kind of threw it out the window last night and started from scratch. I like the new plan. It makes me happy.

Got the kids Christmas presents mostly done as well. Not a lot going under the tree this year. Really running with the less is more and it's the thought that counts theme this year. Lots of really great outside the box ideas for gift giving. That makes me happy too.

Went for a run on Saturday. It was a tough go for both of us. I think we took too long of a break in between. Abby has riding lessons on Thursday night. An hour long lessons equals two hours at the stable so we didn't run, nor did we on Friday. We hadn't run since Tuesday. We facebooked a picture of our pathetic faces and begged for some words of encouragement. They must have worked because Abby had me downloading Bootcamp today. My body is sore just thinking about it.

Strained a muscle running on Saturday then went and stood in the cold to watch the Santa Claus parade. I was sore walking in, but no pain walking back to the van. Did Santa cure my muscle strain? I think he did. The first Festivus miracle of the season.

Only three more days until Movember is over. Get your razors ready fellas. I am ready to be done with the creepy staches. Love the cause, but..... ick.

halloween

2011-11-26T21:45:00.001-05:00

It occurred to me that whiel I told you all about the awfulness that was Halloween I neglected to tell you about the fun.... and it was fun, minus those 45 minutes we were all frantically searching.

Maya dressed up as her beloved Jessie. I thought her little head was going to explode from the excitement of being Jessie. Abby wanted to be a cowgirl, which was easy since we already had the boots so we just picked up a shirt from value village and a new cowgirl hat.

I'm adding this picture even though it's blurry because it was her favourite part of the costume.... a bit of red yarn, braided and tied with a yellow ribbon. Just like Jessie. She still has it.

I wasn't overwhelmed by the pumpkins I did this year. I really liked this one, but the others were duds.

I'll finish up with a rare family portrait.

friday high five - foods i shouldn't buy

2011-11-25T23:11:00.001-05:00

So my personal trainer, Abby, has me running and doing yoga and has directed me to download a bootcamp app from itunes this weekend. She's serious about this, yo! I guess that means I have to get serious about this too. That means being smarter at the grocery store and that means no more buying those foods that I just can't leave alone, like........

1. Fresh bread. Like super duper fresh bakery bread. I may have bought some very fresh, very delicious multi-seed rolls while grocery shopping this afternoon.
2. Cream cheese... well really all cheese makes me weak in the knees, but cream cheese is the worst.
3. Cracked black pepper cashews. Oh my. I could eat the whole can in one sitting. Yes, I could.
4. Salt and vinegar chips. While I love s&v I am always vaguely disappointed. They are never salty or vinegary enough.
5. Honey maple ham. I am not a real fan of lunch meat. I think it's kind of gross, but the stuff we get at the deli counter is the best lunch meat ever invented. I'm not even sure who makes it, but it has a very distinct maple flavour that I love. I almost wept this afternoon when I attempted to purchase some only to be told they were sold out. They also sold out of my favourite pretzel buns so this week's shopping trip was clearly and epic fail!

What foods are you powerless against?

what's cooking wednesday - pulled pork

2011-11-22T21:53:00.001-05:00

I love love love the pioneer woman, but don't we all. I finally got around to making her cinnamon buns which were to die for, just as promised. I've had her cookbook for a while now (thanks Mama!!), but I haven't made too many recipes out of it. I have decided that this winter I need to change that. I got a great deal on some pork tenderloin, so I thought I would tweak her spicy pulled pork recipe a bit.

Funny story before we get to the recipe, when I first got this book Abby spent quite a long time looking through it. If you haven't seen it the book is full of gorgeous pictures or their ranch life on top of all the amazing looking food. So there's lots of pictures of horses and cows in amongst the cinnamon buns, pulled pork and sheey cake. Abby finished with the book and set it aside with a scowl. I don't like that book, she tells me. Really? I'm a little surprised pictures of horses is right up her alley. "Why not?" I can't believe you have a horse cook book.

Ahhh my sweet girl thought all those pictures of horses in the book meant the recipes were for horse meat. Poor girl. Now on to the recipe...

Spicy Pulled Pork

I tossed two pork tenderloins in my crock pot.

In a bowl I mixed together:

1tbsp chili powder
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp oregano
2 tsp ground cumin
a large-ish pinch of salt
freshly ground black pepper

Then I sprinkled that all over the tenderloins in the crockpot. I added a splash of water to the bottom and cooked in on low for 8 hours.

I moved the tenderloins to a casserole dish and shredded the meat with two forks. The drippings I put in a pot and brought to a boil on the stove. I whisked in some flour and water to thicken it up and poured it over the shredded pork. I served this on buns with coleslaw and baked potatoes. I'm pretty sure Mike wanted to marry me all over again.

Most definitely will make these again.

What is What's Cooking Wednesday and how can I play?

What's cooking Wednesday was born out of a desire to get out of that what's for dinner rut. Playing is easy, on Wednesday post a recipe that has been tried and tested by you and then pop over here and add your name to the Mr. Linky. When entering your name also add the name of the recipe in brackets and make sure you link to your What's Cooking Wednesday post and not just your blog's front page.

*All front page links will be deleted!*
*Posts that aren't linked back will be deleted*
*Posts that don't include some sort of a recipe will be deleted*

7.7/145

2011-11-21T23:21:00.001-05:00

It's been 145 days since I took an unplanned break from Weight Watchers. At first it was just a fun little holiday and then everything went a bit pear shaped around here and it was just easier to not think about it. And that decision right there was good for seven point seven pounds. Ugh! To be honest I was expecting it to be 10 or more, so I won't complain too much.

Lately there has been some general rumblings of... oh I need to get back on track..... I need to get my head back in the game..... and so on. Seemed like a good idea in on paper, but it was really hard to put into practice.

Then along came something to give me a huge kick in the ass.

Her name is Abby.

She wants to run a 5k next summer.

She wants to start training now and she's nine so she can't train alone.

So this Mama bought and downloaded Couch to 5k to her ipod this weekend and then I hit the trail with her Sunday afternoon to complete day one of week one. We had to take Maya with us because Michael has been farming up a storm the past couple of weeks and they both totally out paced me. In fact by the end of the session I was holding them up. Enough that Maya turned to me and said... Mommy you need to go faster and without missing a beat my Abby girl shot back.... she's can't, she's old.

Oh yes, I am old. And I don't run, not ever, but I'm giving it a go. I'm kind of impressed I finished day one and am kind of looking forward to going out with her again tomorrow Maya will have to come with, which is cramping Abby's style, but there's still farming to be done.

Today was a day off from running, so Abby had us doing some yoga and some stretching instead. We both agreed we felt better for it. I'm interested to see where this is going to go and am very much in awe of my baby girl and the goal she's set for herself.

sunday randoms

2011-11-20T22:38:00.001-05:00

Saw Crazy Stupid Love this weekend and loved it. Why aren't there more movies where Ryan Gosling is shirtless? For serious! We should be pumping them out at a rate of 2 per year. Get on that Hollywood.

I really want to watch The Notebook now.

So the question of the night was.... who let the cows out? Well as it turns out they let themselves out when they knocked over the gate, but guess who got to help herd the ten of them back in the barn...... yep, that's right.... this gal. This is usually Mike's deal, but since he was out at a function I got to take his place. I was a poor replacement, that's for sure, having no idea what I was even doing, but we got them all back in so it wasn't a total failure.

When you're herding escaped cattle in the dark of night, you hear just as much cussing as one would expect, from the youngest to the oldest herder. That was worth the price of admission right there.

ML told me the "calves" were out. Those were not calves. I don't care what she tries to tell you. I could barely see over the backs of some of those "calves".

Cows make me nervous. True story.

Was I herding cows in my jammies? Why yes, yes I was.

While I was busy chasing cows all over the barnyard, the girls were at Medieval Times with Grandma Sandi, an experience that blew their little minds. They were team Blue Knight all the way. They were still excited at church on Sunday morning, so much so that I had to tell them twice that waving their blue knight flag was not appropriate during the service.

I'm really unwilling to admit this weekend is over. I'm going to regret this in the morning.

progress

2011-11-19T23:00:00.000-05:00

So progress reports came home this week, they aren't quite a report card, but rather just something to give you an idea how they are progressing so far. In a nutshell, Abby's said she's progressing nicely in grade four. It was pretty much what I was expecting. To be honest I was more interested in the parent teacher interview, than I was with the report which is full of a lot of "canned educator speak". I mean no disrespect to the teachers out there. I've got mad respect for them, yo! Teachers are a huge part of why I am so active on our Parent's Council, outside of my own kids of course. We have exceptional teachers at our school. I know how hard they work and if I can help in any way to make that easier, then I am happy to do that.

No question, last year was a struggle for Abby on a personal level. I do not regret, for a second, having her in Empower which is a intense reading recovery program, but it was hard on her. She hated how it separated her from her class and that she missed out on gym and library.... missing math didn't bother her so much, not surprisingly. Of course now we are in a situation where she needs some extra math work, but it's a really small price to pay to now have a kid who takes chapter books to bed with her to read by herself!!

I can tell this year, that Abby is excited about school. More excited than she has been in a year or more, but as her teacher pointed out to me, we do a lot of reading here and if I was having reading issues then I would hate coming here too. Good point, Mr. Teacher, very good point. And that right there told me all I needed to know about him, he gets her. In fact you can quickly tell by talking to him that he is a very engaged teacher.

He feels she's settled in quite well socially. She's a great group member and she's really improved on staying on task without needing prompts and reminders to do so. As I am typing this out I'm realizing that her lack of focus probably had more to do with her struggle with reading rather than just a general lack of focus. This is the first report we've had in a while where she received "goods" in responsibility, organization, independent work, initiative and self-regulation.

The best point of the interview was when we discussed the results of the reading assessment. Last September Abby's reading level was 18. This September her reading level is a 40! A 40 people!! I almost jumped on the table. I almost cried! I definitely walked around the rest of the evening randomly shouting out 40, with a fist pump! The part she needs the most work on is reading out loud, so he's suggested for homework she read her sister a bedtime story. That had Maya walking around all night randomly shouting out Yes! with a fist pump!

She's not 100% there yet, but she's close, so close. Thank you Empower. I will sing this program's praises forever to whoever will listen.

friday high five - pie

2011-11-18T22:19:00.001-05:00

Tonight we were at a fundraising dinner that I was asked to donate a couple of pies to. So dessert ends up being a buffet of different pies. Mmmmm pies. I love pie....... so for this week's Friday High Five.... Pie!

1. Apple Pie. I feel about apple pie the same way Mike feels about pizza, even a bad one is pretty good.
2. Butter Tart Pie. Oh my. So delicious. That's what I made tonight.
3. Chocolate. Oh yum! Pastry crust, graham crust... they're all good.
4. Strawberry Rhubarb. Would you believe I was 30 before I realized how good strawberry rhubarb pie is?
5. Blueberry... it was a toss up between this and lemon, blueberry is just a smidge better.

What's your favourite kind of pie?

now what

2011-11-16T23:11:00.001-05:00

No question I am pretty stinkin' proud of the Abster for winning that ipod, but it kind of threw everything out of whack. You see the plan was for the big guy in red to bring her an ipod and MyPie a leap pad. So, now what?

Exactly... now what.

For starters I think we're going to push the leap pad back to Maya's birthday.

And then I don't know. I picked up some art canvases for them and a webkinz for each of them. I know I don't want a lot more "stuff". It's kind of weird not to have a plan. I always have a plan for Christmas. I figure it'll all come together at some point.

Hopefully before the 25th.

what's cooking wendesday - chex mix

2011-11-15T22:29:00.001-05:00

So I made chex mix on the weekend. It was way easier than I thought it was going to be.

I didn't take a picture because it's chex mix. I think we all know what it looks like.

Buffalo Chex Mix

4 cups rice chex
4 cups wheat chex
2 cups parmesan flavoured crackers
2 cups pretzels
6 tbsp butter
2 1/2 tbsp hot sauce
1 packet ranch dressing mix
2 tsp celery seed

In a large microwaveable bowl mix cereals, crackers and pretzels. In a small bowl microwave butter until melted, stir in the hot sauce, ranc sesoning mix and celery seed. Pour over the cereal mixture and stir until evenly coated.

Microwave uncovered on high for 4 minutes, stirring after every 2 minutes. Spread on paper towels to cool. Store in an air tight container.

Recipe: Well I felt kind of meh about this, but Mike and Maya both really liked it. I used Frank's Buffalo Sauce instead of straight up hot sauce. I thought this needed more of that buffalo wing flavour, but Mike thought it had just enough. Next time I would leave out the celery, maybe throw in some cheese nips. Oh and cut back on the chex. We both thought the chex to everything else ratio was way off.

What is What's Cooking Wednesday and how can I play?

What's cooking Wednesday was born out of a desire to get out of that what's for dinner rut. Playing is easy, on Wednesday post a recipe that has been tried and tested by you and then pop over here and add your name to the Mr. Linky. When entering your name also add the name of the recipe in brackets and make sure you link to your What's Cooking Wednesday post and not just your blog's front page.

*All front page links will be deleted!*
*Posts that aren't linked back will be deleted*
*Posts that don't include some sort of a recipe will be deleted*

never a dull moment

2011-11-14T23:12:00.001-05:00

Tonight the girls were tidying up the toy room. We recently got Granny's hand me down futon and we need to make some room for it in there. Yep, Uncle Dave and Auntie Mel are moving up in the world... no more air mattress on the floor in amongst the Polly Pockets, Little Pets and Barbies for them. So I sent them in their to tidy, but they were mostly arguing because they're sisters and that's what you do with your sibling when you are five and nine respectively. Also Abby is the one that actually cleans while Maya always has tired and/or sore legs.

So they are in there arguing and Abby is insisting that Maya get off her duff and help when Maya shoots back...

Well your name is Blah for the rest of my life now. Okay, Blah?

And then every time Abby said something to her I heard any one of the following...

What Blah?

Blah, I'm not listening to you.

Blah. Blah. Blah. Blah.

Don't forget your name is Blah now.

She's just too much that one.

sunday randoms

2011-11-13T21:04:00.001-05:00

This was kind of a quiet weekend. Just the girls and I for the most part. Now that Mike's back to his regular hours he was able to spend the large part of the weekend driving a tractor for our dairy farming friends. I know he was missing helping out there.

We did manage to squeeze in three movies this weekend though. How to Train Your Dragon with the kids Friday night. Saturday night the girls and I went to movie night at the church and watched Blizzard, a movie I'd never even heard of before. It was cute, but seeing it once in my life is probably enough. Then Michael (the closet Twihard) and I watched Eclipse because Breaking Dawn Part 1 comes out soon and he needed to get caught up. I am under strict instructions not to go to the movies without him. Hope Robin & ML don't mind him tagging along.

Christmas shopping is officially underway. I'm feeling pretty excited about the whole thing!

Are webkinz totally freaking adorable or is it just me?

You know, Uncle Dave doesn't post on the internet all that much, but when it does it's usually pure awesomeness like birds and light test.

So started watching Big Bang Theory. Why on earth was I not watching this from the beginning? Bazinga!

Made chex mix today. Not totally in love with it, but Mike says it's good. Meh.

bootles for our dream team

2011-11-12T23:36:00.000-05:00

It many ways I am in the best place of my life. Right here, right now. Sure the past couple of months have been a bit of a test, but the people in my life made it bearable. All of them. So what's making my life so great right now, the people I have in it. No question, from my family to my funny girls at work who make me laugh like crazy every day, to my Jersey Girls who also make me laugh while they sit around my house in their pajamas.

Those same Jersey Girls are the ones that raised over $3000 for cancer research, who stayed up and walked all night with me just because I asked them if they would. And guess what when I asked them if they wanted to do it all again this year and raise even more money they all said yes. Well the majority of them said yes right away, I'll work on the others... I'm looking at you ML, Sherry, JJ & Jen. It will be an easy sell I'm thinking.... I mean who wants to miss out on this much fun?

The relay doesn't happen until June, so why am I bugging these people in November. Well this year I thought we'd try some group fundraising and I want to get our first one going for the holiday season. Don't worry I'm not going to ask you to empty your pockets when there a lot of other very deserving organizations that may need your support. Nope. I'm just interested in your bottles.

Bottles you say.... or bootles as my very funny friend calls them..... yes bootles. We want your bootles. When you're finished sharing Christmas cheer with your kith and kin consider donating your empty wine, liquor and beer bottles to support the Jersey Girls Relay for Life team. Get in touch with me or one of my fab Jersey Girls if you have bottles you'd like us to pick up.

Help us be a dream team two years in a row!

friday high five - comfort food

2011-11-11T22:34:00.001-05:00

So it's that time of the year again. Time to switch from summer cooking to winter cooking. And winter cooking = comfort food!

1. Shepherds pie. Oh my gosh I love shepherd's pie. It's just perfection.
2. Soup. Y'all know how much I love soup. I've got mushroom soup on the meal plan for this week.
3. Spaghetti and meatballs. Pasta is my kryptonite. I am powerless against it.
4. Macaroni and cheese. Mmmmm pasta.
5. Sausage rolls. I can't get enough of their flaky deliciousness.

What is your favourite comfort food?

android

2011-11-11T00:31:00.001-05:00

So if you've been hanging around here for even a little bit then you know that I covet an iphone very much. I didn't have much hope of getting one since the cell phone company we are with didn't offer them, but I love everything about the company and even an iphone wasn't enough to lure me away. Mike has a blackberry and has been suggesting I get one as well, but I'm fairly happy with the phone I do have.

So imagine my excitement when our cellphone provider started offering the iphone. That was months ago and I still don't have one yet. I know. Believe me, no one is more surprised than I. As I have mentioned things have been a bit rocky around here and it was something I was willing to put it off for a while because, truly, I am not displeased with the phone I currently have.

Then Abby won that ipod and Mike developed an addiction to Angry Birds and he began coveting an iphone as well. Before I knew it we were at the store checking out phones.We expressed interest in the iphone and the lady behind the counter said.... have you considered an android?

And now we are... considering an android, that is. She brought up a lot of good points and in the end we left with no new phones and a lot of information to digest. Having had a week or so to consider we're leaning towards the android, but I'm not above asking the internet what it thinks...., so what say you internet? Any android fans out there?

she's not funny

2011-11-10T00:10:00.001-05:00

I was putting Maya to bed the other night while singing... out loud... that ~~ear worm~~ song, I'm sexy and I know it.

Me: I'm sexy and I know it.
Maya: You're sixty?!

what's cooking wednesday - italian tortellini soup

2011-11-08T22:27:00.002-05:00

If you've been reading here for a while then y'all know how I feel about soup. I love it so much! Soup is one of my favourite things about fall.

Italian Tortellini Soup

1/2 lb sliced fresh mushrooms
2 tsp olive oil
4 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes
1 tbsp prepared pesto
1 jar roasted sweet red peppers, drained
1 pkg (9 oz) refrigerated cheese tortellini

In a large pot saute mushrooms in oil until tender. Add the brother, tomatoes, and pesto. Put the peppers in a food processor and process until blended, add to the soup and bring to a boil. Cover and let simmer for 30 minutes. Add the tortellini and bring to a boil. Cook for 7 - 9 minutes or until pasta is tender. Serve topped with shredded cheese.

Recipe Notes: You know what I love about soup? That it's pretty forgiving. So I added some diced onion to the mushrooms. I also pureed the peppers in their liquid with my immersion blender. Oh and my can of tomatoes was twice the size the recipe called for. Also I used a whole tetra box of chicken broth... whatever that works out to. I topped this with shredded mozzarella and for lunch the next day with cheddar. Both were delicious. Parmesan would also work here.

What is What's Cooking Wednesday and how can I play?

What's cooking Wednesday was born out of a desire to get out of that what's for dinner rut. Playing is easy, on Wednesday post a recipe that has been tried and tested by you and then pop over here and add your name to the Mr. Linky. When entering your name also add the name of the recipe in brackets and make sure you link to your What's Cooking Wednesday post and not just your blog's front page.

*All front page links will be deleted!*
*Posts that aren't linked back will be deleted*
*Posts that don't include some sort of a recipe will be deleted*

ho ho ho

2011-11-07T23:15:00.000-05:00

Christmas has been on my mind lots the past couple of weeks. Usually by this point I'm well into my Christmas shopping, but I'm not there this year. I'm not sure why, but I can take an educated guess. Things have been a whirlwind since the summer and we've had a bit of a rough patch. We tried something new and it didn't work out, it's unfortunate and the whole thing has been really difficult on the four of us. On top of that Mike and I both had pretty heavy workloads with our various volunteer endeavours over the past two months. It's been all we can do to keep our heads above water. All of that of course, doesn't matter because at the end of the day Christmas is coming whether I'm ready or not.

Mike and I have been running things up the flagpole for a couple of weeks now. We've decided that our theme for Christmas this year is going to be less is more and it's the thought that counts. It's been kind of fun coming up with outside of the box gift ideas. I'd love to tell you more about them, but I've got real life peeps that read this thing. I will say this though, I'm very excited about the plan we've come up with. I'm hoping that everyone else has as much fun with this as I'm going to have.

Have you planned out your holiday gift giving yet?

sunday randoms

2011-11-06T21:37:00.001-05:00

So the Christmas commercials are off the hook already!! I've lost count of how many I've seen already.

My apologies to all my Words With Friends opponents. Sometimes fb lets me play and sometimes it does not.

This was a really nice weekend. Our first one with life back to normal... meaning Mike was home, more or less. He had a meeting he had to attend on Saturday, but he wasn't working so it's all good!

Last night the kids slept over with Grandma Linda while Mike and I were having dinner with some friends. We were trying to make a monthly date with a couple of other couples for dinner and cards once a month. We had the first one in April..... the second was last night. Apparently we all hit a busy patch.

It may have taken a while to get ourselves together, but it was well worth the wait. It's such fun when we all get together even if we all get our asses handed to us during the cards portion of the evening. Apparently one of the six of us is the Rainman of Mexican Rummy..... and it ain't me folks. I got caught with a 120 point hand. Ouch. Hopefully it won't take as long to organize the next one.

We are officially booked for every Saturday in December. What?! We have one Saturday still open in November. Eek!

I put my kids to bed tonight at 7:30. Oh yes I did. Maya was in her room crying her eyes out because she couldn't "get the song about the bears" out of her head. I figured that was a sure sign she had not yet adjusted to the time change and if she didn't get to sleep soon we were going to be in a world of hurt in the morning. I was going to let Abby stay up a bit, but she saw Maya was in bed so she hopped in her bed to read for a while and was out like a light in no time.

Today I beat the laundry back to a reasonable level.

And how was your weekend?

friday high five - christmas wishes

2011-11-05T13:21:00.001-04:00

So any long time readers know that every year Grandma Linda bugs me for my Christmas list and every year I drag my feet on getting one to her. I'm not sure why I find it so difficult to make a list of things I'd like to have, but I do. I figured one way to get it done was to make it this week's Friday High Five....

1. Bamboo knitting needles, size 13 & 8.

2. This is not as easy as you would think. All the things I'd like aren't necessarily for me... like cotton "wool" to knit more chemo caps, regular wool for more scarves and hats. Does that count?

3. The pioneer woman's new cookbook... will that be out before Christmas? Prolly not. Oh wait it appears it will be out in time for my birthday! How about her other book... Black Heels to Tractor Wheels.Or Mindy Kaling's book. Gosh I love her!

4. Gift cards are always good... to the movies or Old Navy or Chapters or The Thirsty Cactus.

5. Really have no idea. I mean I'd like a kobo, but I don't really need one.

What's on your list?

knowing me, knowing you - November 2011

2011-11-03T23:55:00.000-04:00

It's time once again for that monthly interview project, Knowing Me, Knowing You!!

1. What keeps you up late at night?

The internet, west coast feeds of TV shows, books and blogging.... not necessarily in that order.

2. Do you collect anything?

Ummmm not really. I used to collect all things Princess Diana and Gone With The Wind related, but I've gotten rid of most of that stuff over the years and just kept a few of my favourite pieces. I guess, maybe books. Although being able to store 8000 books on the new Kobo sounds pretty sweet.

3. Are you addicted to Angry Birds?

No, but The Abster and Michael definitely are! It's only a matter of time before Mike has an iphone of his very own..... which is awesome news, because that means I'll be getting one too. My poison is Plants vs Zombies!

4. What's your idea of a perfect evening?

My jammies, a cup of green tea and a movie with my family..... Tangled or Despicable Me... those are my favourites these days.

5. Are you looking forward to winter?

I am. Well I say that until the first snow flies, but really I love the slower pace, the early nights and the comfort food. Time to start cooking up some soup!

what's cooking wednesday - leftovers

2011-11-01T23:33:00.000-04:00

So it's well documented that my Mom is a go big or go home kind of lady. She's from Polish stock, one of five kids so large family dinners are just that..... large.

While we worked and froze our behinds off at Touch a Truck my sweet Mama was here preparing a feast... roast beef, mashed potatoes, veggies and salad. In the end we had 6 extra people join us for dinner and there was still enough left overs to sink a sizable ship.

So what to do with all those leftovers?

In a flash of genius, Mike shredded what was left of the roast beef and heated it up in a pan with a nice big squirt of our favourite bbq sauce. We served it on buns, with some diced onion and cheddar. They were beyond delicious. I think they would have been amazing with some coleslaw, but alas we had none.

Usually roast beef leftovers are a tough sell around here. The kids don't like them and I'm not a huge fan either once it's sat in the fridge over night. This was a definite home run though. Can't wait to have it again.

What is What's Cooking Wednesday and how can I play?

What's cooking Wednesday was born out of a desire to get out of that what's for dinner rut. Playing is easy, on Wednesday post a recipe that has been tried and tested by you and then pop over here and add your name to the Mr. Linky. When entering your name also add the name of the recipe in brackets and make sure you link to your What's Cooking Wednesday post and not just your blog's front page.

*All front page links will be deleted!*
*Posts that aren't linked back will be deleted*
*Posts that don't include some sort of a recipe will be deleted*

that was one scary halloween

2011-11-01T00:01:00.000-04:00

Halloween is over. The candles in the pumpkins are out. The front door is locked. The lights turned off. I am on my couch mentally and physically exhausted. I feel cold and weary down to my bones. I feel like I need to sleep for a week.

I lost Abby tonight.

The plan was to head out with two other couples and their kids. We got started together, but the bigger kids were less than patient with Maya's slower pace and her nervousness about the actual act of trick or treating. After a couple of houses they raced on ahead while we lagged along behind allowing Maya to pick and choose the houses she felt comfortable going to. Grandma Linda and Maya carried on trick or treating while ML and I waited for the kids to trick or treat their way back to us on the other side of the street.

And we waited.

And we waited.

And we waited.

We headed back the way they had gone. They weren't there. We called their names. No answer. I texted Mike, she wasn't with him.

The panic was beginning to creep up.

We hopped in vehicles and went out looking for them. Three vehicles and friends out on foot. The panic was rising.

I've mentioned before that we live in a rural area. Street lights are not something we have a lot of out here.

In all Abby and her two friends were "missing" for 45 minutes. That's what Mike told me afterwards. I had no idea. You know how they say time stands still. It did. It could have been three hours, it could have been 5 minutes for all I could tell you. While we were all frantically looking for them, they were happily trick or treating. Oblivious to the fact that they were missing. Confident that we were still lagging along behind with Maya. Having a great time, taking care of each other, staying with their group.

We crossed paths with them countless times as we were driving around, we just kept missing them, see two paragraphs above.

In the end Papa and Grandma Linda found them. Another thing we have out here in the sticks is long driveways, so back in the beginning of the story while we were waiting for them, they were cutting across lawns rather than walking back up the driveways to us. ML and I were chatting and didn't notice them and they assumed we did.

I probably don't have to tell you there some ~~angry~~ scared adults, some suitably scared kids.... once they realized they were lost...... and a tear or two was shed.

The rest of the night occurred without further incident, but not before it had shaved several years off my life.

sunday randoms

2011-10-30T23:23:00.000-04:00

So if you're hanging with me on facebook or twitter then you already know The Abster won an ipod touch at school for raising the most money for the Halloween dance-a-thon. As you can imagine her feet have barely touched the ground since.

After getting her all charged up we put some music on it, but more importantly we downloaded Angry Birds. Michael is officially addicted and is planning on ditching his bberry for an iphone.

Go ahead and guess how many times I have said the following phrase this weekend..... that's it! You're all grounded from Angry Birds.

I will admit to a smallish addiction to Plants vs Zombies. Gosh it's fun.

Free apps rock, by the way.

I have met my goal of knitting twelve scarves to donate to a local agency. I'm now knitting up some cancer caps for the local children's hospital.

Looking forward to trick or treating with the kids tomorrow night.... I know, who am I turning into!?

I can't be the only one who's ears don't seem to be compatible with ear buds can I? Am I wearing them wrong? What the heck?

Our theme for this coming Christmas is less is more and it's the thought that counts. Mike and I were tossing around some ideas this afternoon. We're both pretty excited about it.

friday high five - halloween candy

2011-10-28T23:04:00.000-04:00

Well in honour of Halloween this weekend I thought we'd Friday High Five what I'm going to sneak out of the girls candy haul first....

1. Kitkat!! Always number one!!
2. Aero. Gotta love the bubbles.
3. Coffee Crisp. How do you like your coffee?
4. Peanut butter cups. How can you go wrong with chocolate and peanut butter?
5. Caramilk. How do they get the caramel in there?

still

2011-10-28T00:47:00.000-04:00

My Mom stopped by to visit me at work today. Just for a minute. Just to give me a hug. I appreciated it, but was a little baffled as to why I needed a hug on a random Thursday afternoon. Don't get me wrong, I love hugs any day of the week, but bear in mind my Mom lives 30 minutes away. So she hugged me and then she said, it was 26 years yesterday...... how soon we forget.

So yes, maybe I didn't realize that yesterday was the 26th anniversary of the day my Dad passed away. I never called to check in with my Mom. Never lit a candle. Nobody mentioned the day to me. I did text with my brother, but we were watching Survivor and discussing what a horrible game move Ozzy was making and wondering why Coach was such a tool.

I'm not one to get hung up on "the day". The years click over, but it doesn't really matter. Yesterday was the same as today and it will be the same as tomorrow. He's not here. When my kids want to call Papa, they'll talk to Mike's Dad. When the pipes are leaking under the house, we'll call Mike's Dad. My Dad won't be here for birthdays or Christmas or babysitting or to brag on his grandbabies.

It's not how soon we forget. How can you ever forget? Every day I look at my girls and a part of me is crushed that he's missing this. Every day.

all i want for christmas

2011-10-26T22:25:00.000-04:00

While we were out for a walk the other night Abby and I were discussing Christmas and what she was going to put on her Christmas list.

Me: So what are you going to put on your list for Christmas?
Abby: An ipod and a dsi!
Me: And what would you like after those things?
Abby: A bean bag chair! No wait, I already asked Grandma for a bean bag chair.
Me: Okay, what else?
Abby: World Peace. And a sign that says save the environment. Anything about saving the world. I'm going to be a hippie.
Me: When you grow up, you're going to be a hippie?
Abby: No, next Halloween I'm going to be a hippie.

what's cooking wednesday - tamale pie

2011-10-25T23:36:00.002-04:00

My favourite little local Mexican restaurant has a pretty fantastic tamale pie on their menu, so when I cam across this recipe I knew I had to try and recreate it at home.

Tamale Pie

2 cups water
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 1/2 ground beef
1 lrg onion, chopped
1 medium green pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (16 oz) kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (10 oz) enchilada sauce
1 can (4 oz) chopped green chilies
1 can (2 1/4 oz) sliced ripe olives
2 tsp chili powder
2tsp minced fresh cilantro
3/4 cup shredded cheese

In a small sauce pan, bring the water, salt and a cayenne to a boil. Reduce heat to a gentle boil and slowly whisk in the cornmeal. Cook and stir with a wooden spoon for 15-20 minutes or until polenta is thickened and pulls away cleanly from the sides of the pan.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook the beef, onion, green pepper and garlic over medium heat until cooked through. Stir in the beans, enchilada sauce, chilies, olives, chili powder and cilantro, heat through.

Spread polenta on the bottom of a greased 8 inch square baking dish. Top with meat mixture. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese and bake for 5 minutes longer until the cheese is melted.

Recipe Notes: So I ended up building this upside down. You see it's more like a shepherd's pie at my favourite Mexican place in presentation, so that 's what I did. As much as I wanted to love this I didn't. Mike was pretty unimpressed with it as well. This won't be making it into rotation, I'm just going to leave the tamale pie up the professionals at the Thirsty Cactus.

What is What's Cooking Wednesday and how can I play?

What's cooking Wednesday was born out of a desire to get out of that what's for dinner rut. Playing is easy, on Wednesday post a recipe that has been tried and tested by you and then pop over here and add your name to the Mr. Linky. When entering your name also add the name of the recipe in brackets and make sure you link to your What's Cooking Wednesday post and not just your blog's front page.

*All front page links will be deleted!*
*Posts that aren't linked back will be deleted*
*Posts that don't include some sort of a recipe will be deleted*

gratitude

2011-10-24T22:17:00.001-04:00

I've started posting a daily gratitude list on twitter. Things have been crummy lately and I've felt lower than low. The tide is slowly turning and I'm eager to help it along. I recently read that making a daily gratitude list improves your quality of life, which is the same thing The Oprah told me years ago, so that story checks out. I'm game to give it a try.

So for the past few days I've been posting as many things I am grateful for that can fit within the 140 character twitter limit, including the #gratitudelist hash tag. Why on twitter? Seems the easiest option for me. The option that pretty much guarantees I'll post it every day. Want to join me? Just post your gratitude list on twitter once a day and use the hash tag.

Have you ever made a gratitude list?

sunday randoms

2011-10-23T23:29:00.003-04:00

After running all day yesterday for Touch a Truck I would have loved to spend a day in my jammies, but alas the girls and Granny wanted to go to the mall.

There were a lot of people in Value Village today. Like way too many. Also that place smells like a basement. On a more positive note though, we got Abby a pretty kick ass denim cow girl appropriate shirt for Halloween.

I'm drowning in laundry, please send help.

I forgot there is leftover cheesecake in the fridge.

You just never know where you're going to meet a new friend. That's kind of nice.

Maya loves to try on clothes, Abby participates grudgingly.

I'm just finishing up my 12th scarf. My goal was to donate a dozen scarves to charity this year. Now I'm moving on to cancer caps for kids.

Time to serious about Weight Watchers again. I've been ignoring it for far too long.

is that score out of ten

2011-10-22T22:53:00.002-04:00

My Mom had the kids today while Mike and I were busy with all things Touch a Truck. She made sure that the girls got to Touch a Truck and that Maya got to her little friend's party.... she also picked up milk, because I was out, cooked me dinner and tidied my house a bit.... for which I am overwhelmingly grateful, but this post is about Maya.

As I was tucking MyPie into bed tonight I asked her....
Me: Did you have fun today?
Maya: Yep!
Me: What was more fun, Touch a Truck or the birthday party.
Maya: Both. They were both 150.

friday high five - i was raised on

2011-10-21T22:30:00.000-04:00

1. Judy Blume novels.
2. Rod Stewart's Do Ya Think I'm Sexy... on vinyl.
3. Dukes of Hazzard
4. Soccer croquet in my Grandma's backyard.
5. Perogies and cabbage rolls.

What were you raised on?

finding the good

2011-10-19T23:53:00.001-04:00

I was feeling a little run down and overwhelmed today, but sitting here I realized.....Abby is rocking the heck out French this year. She's had three tests so far, on the first she got two wrong and the other two were both perfect! She's loving the class. Loves her French teacher. I am beyond excited to have her so excited about school this year.

So all these hours I've spent putting together this fundraiser that will benefit her school. All the hours I'm going to spend on Saturday making sure it all goes off without a hitch.... all worth it! Every single minute of it because I know it's all going to support the incredibly great things that happen at our little school and our incredibly fantastic teachers. Yeah. So worth it!

what's cooking wedneday

2011-10-19T00:04:00.000-04:00

Oh my gosh it's only a few days until Touch a Truck. Will we survive the chaos? Only time will tell.

So with all that busyness that means there's no cooking going on here.... well nothing worth talking about, but y'all tell me what you've been cooking up.

better late than never

2011-10-17T22:58:00.002-04:00

Sometime in the past year one of my girl friend's was over visiting, she had just arrived as the kids were finishing up dinner. That night Maya was eating a wrap with peanut butter and cheddar cheese on it. My friend couldn't believe she was actually eating that and it's become somewhat of a joke between us ever since.

So tonight, we had tacos for dinner. Now 75% of the family loves tacos.... which makes it a win in my books. Maya won't eat them because she doesn't eat lettuce, ground beef, tomatoes, or sour cream. So tonight she had peanut butter on a wrap with some shredded cheddar on the side, just to snack on.

Part way through dinner she had this to say.....

Know what you shouldn't eat together? Peanut butter and cheese. It's disgusting. If you ate that then you would have something horrible in your mouth. Blech!

And it only took her the better part of a year to come to that conclusion!

sunday randoms

2011-10-16T22:23:00.000-04:00

So Saturday night found me at a hoedown. I know, right? I'm kind of wondering what I've become myself. So we had a lovely beef dinner and then hung around to hear a couple of our besties sing. They haven't in a while, but even still I love the way they sing I'll Fly Away. Love it. Then there was square dancing. Oh yes there was. I did not partake, but that may have been me up there line dancing. Maybe.

At this point my Mom's finger will be itching to press the comment button so she can tell y'all that I did in fact take line dancing classes back in the day. Oh yes I did.

So I play scrabble on fb with my sister-in-law, the scrabble queen, every once in a while she throws me a bone and lets me win one. She's actually making me a better player because her level of play is way up there. I gotta bring it or she'll slaughter me for sure. Anyway I also started playing Words With Friends with some friends, it's the same but different and for some reason it only likes to work for me some of the time! It's so annoying. Does this happen to anyone else? Also anybody up for a game of either?

My pal Leah almost scarred her daughter for life, does it make a bad person if I laughed my tail off when I read it?

Still reading Valley of Horses. ML is itching for me to finish it because she just finished the first book, Clan of the Cave Bear and wants to get on with the second. I just need the world to stop for a day and I'd be able to wrap it up. Only 6 days until Touch a Truck and then things should quiet down. Ha... right.

She's only 9, but she's got the teenager thing down already! Twenty-five minutes before bed on a Sunday night is when she decided it was time to do her homework.

Recipe testing this week.... cake batter fudge. Oh yum!

what's cooking wednesday - hot chocolate floats

2011-10-13T01:32:00.001-04:00

Gosh, you give me a Monday off and that just throws me off for the rest of the week.I should have posted this last night, but better late than never, right?

It's that time of the year, hot chocolate season! Abby asked me to pick some up this week since we were out. She was helping put the stuff away when she got very excited... you got hot chocolate floats?!

I hadn't. In fact I had never heard of such a thing. I bought hot chocolate, but she showed me the side of the package and there was a recipe for hot chocolate floats printed right there. Mike had to work afternoons all weekend so the girls and I settled in with a movie and hot chocolate floats.

They are pretty easy to make too.....

Make yourself a mug of hot chocolate and add a scoop of ice cream. Topping with whipped cream is completely optional.

No surprise these were big hits here. I'm thinking jammies, hot chocolate floats and a Christmas movie will work it's way into the 25 days of Christmas this year.

What is What's Cooking Wednesday and how can I play?

What's cooking Wednesday was born out of a desire to get out of that what's for dinner rut. Playing is easy, on Wednesday post a recipe that has been tried and tested by you and then pop over here and add your name to the Mr. Linky. When entering your name also add the name of the recipe in brackets and make sure you link to your What's Cooking Wednesday post and not just your blog's front page.

*All front page links will be deleted!*
*Posts that aren't linked back will be deleted*
*Posts that don't include some sort of a recipe will be deleted*

things that go bump in the night

2011-10-11T22:28:00.001-04:00

Last night I was enjoying my weekly gab fest with ML while we knitted away on donation scarves when there was a loud thump from upstairs. I set aside my knitting and went to investigate only to fin Maya sitting up in her bed.

Me: Are you okay?
Maya: I bumped my brain.
Me: You what?
Maya: I bumped my brain.
Me: But you're okay?
Maya: Yeah.
Me: Did you fall out of bed?
Maya: Uh huh and I bumped my brain.

#10photos

2011-10-10T20:26:00.002-04:00

Today the lovely Andrea over at a Peek Inside the Fishbowl was hosting her ever popular #10photos for Thanksgiving. The idea is you take one picture an hour of whatever you happen to be doing at the time and post on twitter or your blog or both if twitpic is working... which it was not for me today. The horror. I managed to make it through though. First world problems, as they say.

Anyway.... here is my day as boring as it may seem.

9am- breakfast!

10am- attempting to beat the Scrabble Queen.

11am- on the deck.

12pm- Little People with MyPie

1pm- tea and twitter.

2pm- roasting onions with the chicken

3pm- decorating for Halloween

4pm- mashed for dinner

5pm- butter tart pie

6pm- who wants to clean up?

sunday randoms

2011-10-09T23:04:00.000-04:00

So I have spent just about every free minute in front of my laptop working on Touch a Truck or alternately School fair paper work. I am happy to report I am finally 100% caught up with both! Yay!

Hmmmm I wonder if choir practice was cancelled for tomorrow night.

It's always interesting when you find kids playing in your yard even when your kids aren't playing in your yard.

This may have been the quietest Thanksgiving in the history of Thanksgivings for us. Planning on cooking a little chicken tomorrow night and we'll pretend it's turkey.

I've said it before, but I'll say it again. Tangled is my favourite Disney movie. Sorry Toy Story, Lion King and Cinderella.

Alright, who else is excited about the Footloose remake. I know who else..... Michael. Shhh don't tell anybody.

friday high five - thankful

2011-10-07T23:27:00.000-04:00

Happy Thanksgiving weekend to all my Canadian friends out there. We aren't actually having a big Thanksgiving dinner this weekend........ Mike is working afternoons all weekend, so it's going to be a nice quiet weekend just the girls and I thinking about how much we have to be thankful for.......

1. My family. Honestly the past two months have been tough. So tough. Luckily our families have allowed us to lean on them, very heavily. We appreciate it beyond words. Then there is Michael, going through such a stressful time can sometimes bring out the worst in us when it comes to our spouses. I am happy to report that, if anything, this has made us tighter than ever.... likely because I play the role of long suffering and uber supportive wife to Oscar level qualities. I kid. I kid........ sorta. As for my baby girls, well they've been managing the best they can.... which for Maya means more crying than usual.

2. My family by choice. There are plenty of people out there who we have welcomed into our lives like family and these past two months would have been a lot more difficult if not for their support, willingness to listen, texts, emails and lots of hugs and the occasional comment about my new sexy haircut. It's made the tough stuff a little easier to manage. I am thankful for each and every one of you.

3. Reading. I'm fairly certain that my insomnia would be off the charts if not for The Earth Child Series by Jean M Auel. Every night I have crawled into bed and forced myself to concentrate on the story until my eyes couldn't stay open a minute longer. Easy to do with a story as engrossing as this one has been. I love long books and I love that there are six thick books in this series. I'm only on book two, Valley of the Horses, so I have plenty of time ahead with Ayla and Jondalar.

4. Work. I have lots of work to do right now. On top of my regular job.... where my best girls there have really been bringing the funny lately. Thanks ladies it's been great to put all the other stuff aside and have some laughs at work. You have all been good for my soul. xo Also there's a lot of post fair work I need to get done, sooner than later, so that's been grabbing most of my free time. So much that I have yet to see a full episode of Glee (I hear I'm not missing much this season) or Dancing with the Stars. Also I have my next big project coming up in a couple of weeks... (Touch a Truck!!) that I have to be ready for. So there hasn't been a lot of time to wallow, but don't worry we've been managing to squeeze it in.

5. Health. We are all healthy. What more can you ask for?

What are you thankful this weekend?

knowing me, knowing you - october 2011

2011-10-05T23:30:00.001-04:00

It's time once again for the monthly interview project... knowing me, knowing you....

1. Are you watching Revenge?

Oh I am! It's reminds me a bit of those great night time soaps like Dynasty, Dallas and Knots Landing, just darker. It's been my favourite new show so far! Related...... Madeline Stowe is one scary matriarch. I would not want to cross her.

2. Do you decorate for Halloween?

I've just started in the past couple of years. Every year I've been trying to add to the decor. This past weekend Abby hung up the spiders and the scarecrow outside. I've got gravestones for the yard. I've seen super cute wreathes on pinterest that I'm dying to make. Who would have ever thought I would start to love this holiday.

3. Do you have any crafty plans for Christmas presents?

Umm not as of yet. I guess I better get moving on that. It's coming faster than you think.

4.What's your dream vacation?

These days I am obsessed with the idea of a cottage vacation with a bunch of friends and all our kids. What? I blame Hollywood blockbusters like Grown Ups and Dan in Real Life.

5. Which of your relatives live closest to your house.

Papa and Grandma Linda. It's a little less than five minutes from our front door to theirs by car.

what's cooking wednesday - cashew chicken

2011-10-05T15:41:00.000-04:00

I say I hate nuts, but that isn't really true. I really detest walnuts, brazil nuts, hazelnuts. 100%. I love almonds and cashews... especially the sea salt and black pepper ones...... and peanuts if they've been beer nutified. So when I came across this recipe for cashew chicken I was game to try.

Cashew Chicken
1 lb boneless skinless chicken, cut into bite sized pieces
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp oil, divided
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tsp minced gingerroot
1 onion, diced
2 cups sliced mushrooms
1/4 cup catalina dressing
1/2 cup salted cashews

Mix chicken, cornstarch and soy sauce and marinate in the fridge for 15 minutes. Heat 1/2 tsp of oil in a large skillet or wok on high heat. Add garlic and gingerroot and stir fry for 1 minutes. Add the chicken and stir fry for 4-5 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from the wok and add the remaining oil, onions and mushrooms to the pan. Cook on medium high heat for 2 minutes and then add the chicken back in. Cook for another two minutes or until cooked through. Stir in the catalina dressing, top with the cashews and serve.

Recipe Notes: This was really great. The kids refused to try it, but Mike and I both really enjoyed it with rice. This will certainly be making it into the rotation.

What is What's Cooking Wednesday and how can I play?

What's cooking Wednesday was born out of a desire to get out of that what's for dinner rut. Playing is easy, on Wednesday post a recipe that has been tried and tested by you and then pop over here and add your name to the Mr. Linky. When entering your name also add the name of the recipe in brackets and make sure you link to your What's Cooking Wednesday post and not just your blog's front page.

*All front page links will be deleted!*
*Posts that aren't linked back will be deleted*
*Posts that don't include some sort of a recipe will be deleted*

angels

2011-10-03T23:24:00.000-04:00

This past weekend Maya was sitting at the kitchen table working on a masterpiece with her pencil crayons. I was nearby, tidying the kitchen counter when... out of nowhere...... Maya unleashed an epic sigh.

Maya: I wish I had a guardian angel.
Me: Oh, you have one!
Maya: (with more than a little whine in her voice) Not I don't!
Me: Maya, you walked away from a pretty serious car accident with a couple of scratches, trust me, you have a guardian angel.
Maya: (instantly perks up) I do? Who is it?

Now that I can't answer that for sure, but I do know that we have enough loved ones up there that somebody's clearly keeping an eye on us.

It was interesting that the car accident came up this weekend because today Grandma Sandi had to go to court because the guy that hit them was fighting the charge. I know, right? He turns into Maya's car door with enough force behind him that he flipped the car over, but he's going to fight it. And then when she got there he pleads guilty.

Say what now?

Yep he plead guilty. Isn't that intelligent use of our court system?

Mike figures he was betting on Grandma Sandi and/or the officer not showing up. I guess they fooled him.

sunday randoms

2011-10-02T21:40:00.000-04:00

Friday night Mike and I sat down to watch a movie I had recorded for us to watch in.... wait for it..... 2008. So it felt good to cross that off the old to do list, finally.

I am a good half way through the after the fair paperwork I have to deal with. I must have finally figured my own system out, because I am whipping through it this year. Good thing because Touch a Truck is only a few weeks away!

We had meet the teacher night this past week. It was nice to finally officially meet the kids teachers. I'm so excited for the class Abby is in. I think her teacher is the perfect match for where she is right now. I'm so excited to see how things go for her this year. Maya loves her new teacher as well. I admit, I am not fully over losing her old kindergarten teacher, but her new teacher seems nice and had a lot of nice things to say about Maya. What more can you ask for?

Mike and I have been on holidays this past week and I can't tell you how nice it's been to take a break from the roller coaster that our lives have been the past month. Of course tomorrow it's back to reality...... I'm pretty sure that's what brought Mike's migraine on today.

On a completely related note...... it would be nice if somebody could just tell you how it's all going to turn out. Did we make the right decision? Should we turn back now? See it through?

On another completely related note.... my insomnia's been off the chain this weekend.

Is anybody else excited that there's going to be new Arrested Development episodes and a movie?

never boring

2011-10-01T01:02:00.000-04:00

While I readily admit to being a card carrying Twi-hard, my kids aren't really all that interested. So you can imagine my surprise when I found this in Maya's room.

Me: Ummm what's with the poster?*
Maya: I had to put that up.
Me: How come?
Maya: Because the Biebs was on the other side.**
Me: ????***

*The poster came out of one of those "teen beat" type magazines that Granny bought them while they were camping.

**Both girls are pretty hardcore non-fans of Justin Bieber, much to my friend TC's dismay.

***At no time did it occur to her that she didn't need to put the poster up at all.

say cheese

2011-09-29T22:59:00.000-04:00

So the odds are pretty good that Abby had a big hand in the premature demise of my laptop. I am not entirely without blame, I should have taken control of the situation at the time, but I didn't and I paid for it in the end. So when Abby asked me if she could take my camera to school for camera day, you can imagine I was more than a little hesitant. My instinct was to straight up say no and that's what I did. Abby was more than a little upset with that so I switched gears and told her to convince me to change my mind.

And she said..... I feel that by breaking your stuff I have learned to be more responsible.

Ha ha! Hard to argue with logic like that isn't it?

So we laid out some ground rules, number one being not to let anyone else touch my camera and we sent her on her way.

At the end of the day the camera came home safe and sound. Abby told us she was very careful with it and at no time did anybody else touch it.

Then we uploaded the pictures.....

That's Abby in the pink shirt walking across the playground at school.

and that's her under the basketball net.

and there she is again.

and there she goes....

The best part is she has no idea who even took those pictures nor the dozen or so close ups of various kids in her class. Actually the best part was how shocked she was to see these pictures... but Mom I only put it on the picnic table to go to the bathroom..... then clearly forgot all about it and headed to the playground. Oh Abbers! Never a dull moment around here.

tractor canada

2011-09-28T23:12:00.001-04:00

With Mike being President of the fair this year, I'm sure you can imagine that we talked to dozens upon dozens of people this weekend. We talked to volunteers, friends, vendors, committee chairs, folks participating in the fair, those just visiting and so many more. Then we got a call on the radio.... the tractor guy is here. Mike was thrilled and I absolutely no idea what anybody was talking about.

Turns out the "Tractor Guy" is former MacMaster University professor Dr. John Varty who Mike had just read about in our local paper. Which would explain why I didn't know anything about it. I gave up reading the paper sometime ago. Reading the bad news was not gelling well with my insomnia. Now I count on twitter and my family to keep me informed with what's happening in the world.

In a nut shell the Tractor Guy along with his New Yorker fiancee have ditched their jobs and are driving across Canada in a tractor with a little farm house they've built on a trailer coming along behind. Why are they doing this? Well, to raise awareness about agriculture and family farming in Canada, to let the farmers have a voice, maybe bring about some change.

When John and his fiancee, Molly, were on the grounds we went over to introduce ourselves and I have to say I was truly awestruck. It's no secret that Mike and I do a lot in our community. We have our fingers in lots of different pies and I am always on the look out for ways we can give even more back, but taking on something like John and Molly (and their camera man Michael) are doing... well I'm not sure I have that in me. That is a true leap of faith, at the end of the day you have to be okay with the outcome, no matter which way it's going to go.

Having spent some time with John and Molly (Michael, their camera man, was on a little holiday) I know what a huge investment this trip is on many levels. When I do have the opportunity to meet some one like this I spend days afterwards wondering what it is that is missing in me. To be clear, I'm not getting down on myself in any way, but I just find it curious. It really is remarkable, don't you think? Meeting people like John and Molly inspires me, it makes me want to be better, to do more, to teach my kids the value in giving back. I was expecting a lot from this past weekend, but I wasn't expecting an experience like that. I'm thankful for it.

Thank you John and Molly for doing what you do. If you have a moment consider visiting John, Molly and Michael at Tractor Canada and consider making a donation to help them along their way.

what's cooking wednesday - tikka masala pizza

2011-09-27T22:51:00.000-04:00

This is a great recipe for leftovers. I came up with it one very rare night when there was nobody but me home. I have my brother to thank for introducing me to Indian food. He showed up here when newborn baby Maya was in the hospital and made us some chicken tikka masala for dinner.... after going to the hospital and checking on his brand new niece of course. I can't remember if Auntie Mel was with him that trip or not, some of the finer details during that time are a bit fuzzy. Bottom line is they were both a tremendous support during that time.

Anyway......

chicken tikka masala.....

There's no real recipe here.

I just took some naan bread and topped it with the tikka masala sauce, grated mozzarella and some grilled chicken. Then I put it over low heat on the barbecue and waited for the cheese to melt. Quick and easy dinner not to mention a great way to use up some leftovers.

What is What's Cooking Wednesday and how can I play?

What's cooking Wednesday was born out of a desire to get out of that what's for dinner rut. Playing is easy, on Wednesday post a recipe that has been tried and tested by you and then pop over here and add your name to the Mr. Linky. When entering your name also add the name of the recipe in brackets and make sure you link to your What's Cooking Wednesday post and not just your blog's front page.

*All front page links will be deleted!*
*Posts that aren't linked back will be deleted*
*Posts that don't include some sort of a recipe will be deleted*

and that's a wrap.

2011-09-27T00:15:00.001-04:00

There are so many people to thank for this weekend. All the volunteers, there is a literal army of them to pull everything off. They are a tremendous group of people. Closer to home though, there is the people that helped Mike and I pull this weekend off........in no particular order...

Grandma Sandi who kept Maya busy and ran Abby to riding lessons and a birthday party. Kept them over night and brought them out to the fair along with their cousins.

Grandma Linda who kept the kids busy and over night and brought them to the fair.

Papa who works like a dog through his birthday every year, but is still never too busy to explain things to me or listen to me ramble on about whatever new "great idea" that's popped into my head.

Jake, gosh I am so ready to adopt this kid, for serious. He is such a testament to what fantastic parents he has.... aunt and uncle too! Jake worked like a dog, the whole weekend, going wherever he was told to go and doing whatever he was told to do, without complaining.

ML, my girl, gosh we had a blast together! Of course we always do.

Debbie for the laptop, it sped my social media time up tenfold. Thank goodness.

Maureen for helping out with facebook...... she's my girl too!

My guy, Michael, for taking me along with him. It was an amazing weekend from start to finish. So glad I got to share it with him.

The Abster and MyPie, who are so great about the time away from home and us. Of course hanging out with Grandmas ain't such a bad gig!

All the fantastic people we met and talked to, all the volunteers, the staff and I'm sure there are more... many more.... thank you for everything you do. I am so proud to be a part of it. Until next year friends!

inspired

2011-09-24T23:30:00.000-04:00

I am wiped right out. I must have walked a gazillion kilometres today... times ten and I am on my way to climbing into my bed, but before I do.....

I am in awe of people with the ability to take a true leap of faith. It's so awe inspiring.

Cryptic... sure, but that's all I got for ya tonight. Trust me, though... there is a post there and I can't wait to tell you about it.

And also happy birthday Papa.

friday high five - the fair

2011-09-24T00:22:00.002-04:00

So we're in the midst of the busiest time of the year for us... it's fair time! Mike has been an active volunteer at the fair since he was a kid. As for me, volunteering at the fair is a relatively new thing. My big contribution used to be keeping things running at home while Mike was busy with fair business and then.... well I'm not quite sure how it happened, but somehow I ended up with my finger in a lot of pies. Ever wonder what it is I do around that place? I thought so......

and that brings us to this week's Friday High Five - What the heck does Shanny do at the fair.

1. I tweet. Yep. And facebook. If you happen to follow the fair on either, that's me behind the keyboard. Well I do have two other very cool facebook chicks that can post as well, but the lion share of the postings come from me. This weekend I am live tweeting the fair, posting pictures via facebook and doing some fun... find me here... giveaways.

2. My great fair passion is the school fair. I love love love dealing with the kid's artwork. I know what a thrill it is for them and also how proud the parents are. So I hang artwork after it's been judged, making sure the display boards aren't too crowded and that the kids can easily find their names.

3. I record results on judging day. The judges come in and... well they judge. Then we come along and record who scored first, second, third and staple on the appropriate ribbons.

4. Once all that recording is done I take the sheets home and sit down in front of my computer for weeks on end and figure out how much each kid needs to get paid. Then, of course, I pay them..... with much help from some friends. It's a very large project.

5. Pitch in when I can, where I can. Last night I accompanied Mike to the opening ceremonies to snap some pictures. I hung out with Papa and kept and eye on the school fair building. Went patrolling the perimeter with ML looking for fence jumpers (Papa caught 8 himself tonight).

Mike thinks it's pretty funny that I'm carrying a bigger workload than he is as President. It's been his favourite story so far this weekend.

on the news

2011-09-23T00:31:00.001-04:00

This was a big day around the Blogmother Ranch... which is in no way a ranch, we just like to live with illusions of grandeur....... my Michael represented our local fair on the local news. Poor guy had to get up at an ungodly hour to be ready to be on air at 6:20 and again at 6:40. He followed that up with a long day of getting the school fair building ready and then addressing the crowd at the opening ceremonies this evening. All in a day's work when you're the President of the local agricultural society.

He was fantastic at all of it. So proud of my guy today.

sunday randoms

2011-09-18T21:40:00.002-04:00

So we are 4 days away from the fair. I expect to be logging a lot of computer hours this week, what with the tweeting and the facebooking that is required of me.

The weather has been beautiful. I would be happy if it was fall all year long.

Okay did anybody else watch the Emmys? I'm watching right now. Soooo funny! Also Kate Winslet had the best rack of the evening. True story. Ty Burrell's speech was equal parts sweet and funny. I want to watch that Office bit again. And kudos to Charlie Sheen and his kind words about his former show. Anybody else surprised by that?

Can't wait for Grey's and The Office next week. Also Michael wants to check out Two and a Half Men now that Ashton Kutcher is on the show.

Got to go to a baby shower for one of my favourite girls TC. It was such a fun day, looks of laughs with some of my favourite girls, great food and no shower games other than pass the baby!

Capped with day off with a tour of our dairy farming friend's new barn. It is huge and state of the art! Can't wait to see it when it's all done. I know they're ready for it to be all done too.

Mike thought he was being funny by pinching my nose between his knuckles. Poor guy forgot I have a still healing nose piercing until he ripped the stud right outta my nose. A little blood. A little swelling. A new nose stud. Ouch.

Anybody else kind of excited about Pan Am? I am definitely going to be checking that one out.

i'm pretty sure that's not possible

2011-09-15T22:48:00.002-04:00

This afternoon riding lessons started back after the summer break. Abby moved from her half hour private lessons to a full hour group lesson. She was a little unsure of the change, but of course once she got going it was fine.

So then there was Maya. She got a minor case of ants in her pants towards the end of the lesson.... watching her sister ride a horse around in circles had lost it's luster. So climbing the gate to the arena seemed like a good idea.... to her. To me, not so much.

Me: Maya, get down from there.
Maya: Why?
Me: Because you are in the way and I don't want you to hurt yourself.
Maya: I wish I had never met you! You take all the fun out of me!

Awww she's a peach isn't she?