My Journey as a Homemaker

LK is Two!

2012-02-07T18:49:00.000-06:00

This past weekend we celebrated LK's second birthday. What a big boy he is! We just had a low key celebration with Grandpa being the only guest (and one of Star's friends was over for the day). But we did have balloons.

And of course party hats. LK wasn't too fond of his.

But Lil didn't seem to mind hers.

Then when someone was impatient for dinner to be served he decided that a plate made a better hat.

Birthday cake with candles is a requirement. It took a couple of blows but he got those candles out.

Then it was present time (And yes they are just wrapped in newsprint but he didn't seem to mind.)

It has been a great year LK and I can't wait to see what this next year holds for you.

A Toolbox

2012-02-06T20:43:00.003-06:00

Star made this toolbox for LK for his 2nd birthday to go along with the crocheted tools I am making. She and her dad came up with the design just using some scrap wood they had. Dad did all the cutting and Star drilled all the holes and pounded all the nails in. Then both Sky and Star sanded and painted it. It turned out pretty cute and it could be used to store anything. Star was quite pleased with herself. She loves to make things.

Star and Sky painting.

Of course LK wanted to paint as well when he saw the older girls painting. So I gave him a paintbrush and some water and let him "paint" on a piece of construction paper. He was quite content with that until he finally wore a hole in the wet paper and got upset.

LK "painting".

Yarn Along - tool set

2012-02-01T20:30:00.000-06:00

Just popping in to do a quick yarn along post. This week I am working on an amigurumi tool set for LK. This is a quick and easy crochet project. I have completed the hammer, screwdriver, and file. I just have the pliers to finish up.

On the reading front I am continuing with The Friday Night Knitting Club series by Kate Jacobs. I am currently reading Knit Two and am enjoying it.

Well that's all for this week. The little ones (and the big ones) keep me busy so I don't have much time for reading or crocheting but I keep trying to sneak it in when I have a moment or two.

Daybook - Jan 31, 2012

2012-01-31T16:35:00.000-06:00

FOR TODAY

Outside my window . . . It is a beautiful, warm, sunny day. And can you believe it?

Yes, I have a load of towels hanging outside to dry. In Saskatchewan, in January, and my hands didn't even get cold hanging it up. This is a first for me.

I am thinking . . . that is is peaceful and quiet right now. Both kids are napping and I probably should be too.

I am thankful . . . for all my family and especially my husband who puts up with me and works so hard for us.

In the kitchen . . . fried chicken for supper tonight.

I am creating . . . some things for LK's birthday this weekend.

I am wearing . . . navy sweatpants, and a navy tank top with a zip up sweater over top.

I am going . . . nowhere today. I like having days when we can stay at home.

I am wondering . . . whether all this nice weather now means that winter will really hit us later and it will be nasty in March and April.

I am reading . . . The Friday Night Knitting Club series by Kate Jacobs.

I am hoping . . . to make some muffins today.

I am looking forward to . . . not much just trying to enjoy each day as it comes.

I am learning . . . that I need to drink more water.

Around the house . . . our basement is getting demolished. The older girls have been moved back upstairs and things are getting tore down in the basement. It is our plan to jackhammer out the floor and pour new cement. However, that means a lot of things have to happen. The scope of this project overwhelms me but it will sure be nice when it is finished.

A favorite quote for today . . . "That's what life is all about - laughing and loving each other and knowing they're not really gone when they die." Charles Ingalls

One of my favorite things . . . baby giggles.

A few plans for the rest of the week: looking after the little ones, tot spot and shopping on Thursday, the older girls have skating on Friday, and LK's birthday is Saturday. We have no big plans for his birthday but we will eat some cake.

A peek into my day . . . Our snow is disappearing quickly but the girls found enough to make a snowman over the weekend. You can see LK wandering off in the background with a cat following him.

Yarn Along - Legwarmers & Tool Set

2012-01-25T15:41:00.001-06:00

This week I finished crocheting these leg warmers for Star. They worked up quickly and she seems happy with them.

I am once again making something from Amigurumi Two! Crochet Toys For Me, You, And Baby Too. This book has lot's of great toy and animal patterns. This time I am making some tools for LK's second birthday. For fiction reading, after seeing it on a couple of different Yarn Alongs, I picked up The Friday Night Knitting Club from the library. It was an enjoyable read with a diverse cast of characters. However, I did want to point out that this is not a Christian book and there is some profanity in it.

Have a great week and thanks to all who are stopping by from the Yarn Along.

LT is 4 Months!

2012-01-25T15:15:00.000-06:00

Can you believe another month has gone by already? LT is now four months old. She is growing like a weed and getting stronger every day.

She can roll over quite easily now and spends a lot of time on her tummy, looking around and trying to grab things. Whatever she does manage to grab ends up going in her mouth. She also got her first two teeth this month. She likes to grab my fingers and put them in her mouth, but ouch, those tiny teeth are sharp!

Another discovery she has made is her toes. She spends a lot of time grabbing them but she can't quite get them in her mouth.

She is strong enough now to spend short periods of time in the exersaucer.

She continues to be a fairly good sleeper. That thumb continues to find its way into her mouth though. Here she has fallen asleep on the floor, thumb in mouth, with her arm through one of her toys.

Playing inside on cold days!

2012-01-20T13:31:00.000-06:00

Star and Sky missed two days of school this week. The buses didn't run because of severe wind chill
(-41 to -49*C). I had some big plans to do some baking and sewing with them. However, that didn't happen but they happily played for hours. With school and other activities they don't have much time to just play and while they are getting older they still love to dress up and play pretend. LK was excited to have his big sisters home to play with too and they happily included him. It was a couple of wonderful days. Today it is back to school for them and I have to try to get myself going this morning as well.

LK wanted to feed this bottle to LT (I am not sure why as she has never had a bottle) so Sky showed him how to feed her doll instead.

Star is making some turtle egg soup.

Mmmm looks good!

Of course dressing up is required.

One of the hazards of having older sisters is that they want to dress you up too. I am not too sure what he thinks of the dress.

But I do know that he loves playing with his older sisters.

LT's favorite plaything right now is her toes but soon she will be joining in with the others.

Toddler Activites: Button Sorting

2012-01-19T10:28:00.000-06:00

The other day as I was cleaning I came across some inserts from chocolate boxes that were laying around leftover from the holidays. As I was getting ready to toss them in the garbage I thought maybe LK would like to play with them for a while. I got out our jar of buttons and poured them on a jelly roll pan (using it as a tray to keep the buttons somewhat contained). Then I had him sort the buttons into the chocolate insert. It kept him occupied for a little while and while he wasn't all that interested in sorting them he would find matching buttons and put them together.

Of course, buttons are a choking hazard, so if you do this be sure to supervise your child.

Yarn Along: Turtle and Legwarmers

2012-01-18T12:22:00.002-06:00

Once again I am participating in the Yarn Along hosted by Ginny at Small Things. It has been slow going with my yarn projects as the two little ones keep me busy (as do the two older ones). However I am pretty much finished with the turtle for Sky. There is a mommy turtle, two babies, and four eggs. They all fit inside of the large turtle's shell for storage. Sky has enjoyed playing with it so far and LK is always running off with the eggs.

This week I am reading The Handbook for Catholic Moms by Lisa Hendey. This is a good book with many tips. It is not a parenting book per say but a book on how to care for ourselves as mothers so as to better care for our children. It is written in a casual, friendly style which is easy to read but there is also depth to the message and a lot to ponder within.

I am also working on some leg warmers for Star. This is a very simple project and they are coming along quickly. And for light fiction reading I am reading To Win Her Heart by Karen Witemeyer. It is an enjoyable read so far.

For more yarning and reading inspiration be sure to visit Small Things.

Book Review: Daily Gifts of Grace

2012-01-16T18:47:00.000-06:00

This book is a daily devotional. For each day of the year there is a bible verse, followed by a reflection, and a short prayer. Written by a large number of Women of Faith contributors I think that this book would appeal to women of all ages, no matter what stage of life they are in. Young, old or somewhere in between the gift of God’s grace is for everyone.

I have a number of daily devotional books and this is one of my favorites. I find each day’s entry to be inspiring, thought-provoking, and encouraging. This is a great book to sit down with a cup of tea, a journal, and a pen as the entries invite some quiet reflection. However, if you are a busy mom and you don’t have time to make a cup of tea, much less drink it you can still use this book as each day’s entry is short. They only take a couple of minutes to read but they leave you with something to ponder throughout the day.

If you are having trouble finding time for prayer and reflection in your busy day take just a couple minutes (even if it is in the bathroom) to read this book each day. You won’t be sorry you did.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

LT's Baptism

2012-01-10T11:53:00.000-06:00

This past weekend LT was baptised in the Catholic faith. It was a nice ceremony held during the Saturday evening mass. I am thankful for all the family members who travelled to share this day with us and for the others who could not make it but kept us in their prayers. Star and Sky were altar servers at the mass. My brother was the Godfather and a cousin was the Godmother. LT was very good. She got a little fussy during the homily but then fell asleep. She woke up and fussed a bit when the water was poured over her head. But she quickly found her thumb and settled back to sleep. LK was a bit rambunctious as nearly two year old boys tend to be. He played with his tractors a bit and walked about visiting family members in the pew behind us but overall was very good. Hubby wasn't happy that he discovered a granola bar in my bag just before we went up for the baptism but he wasn't about to take it away from him as that probably would have resulted in a major fit. So LK was eating a granola bar as LT was baptised but it kept him happy.

The Baptism

The Family

With the Godparents

LT in her Baptismal Gown. Hubby was baptized in this gown and all of our children as well.

Christmas Baking: Sugar Cookies

2011-12-30T10:57:00.001-06:00

So I did manage this year to make all the Christmas goodies I had on my list. For the final cookie I made sugar cookies. I used this recipe that I found in a What's Cooking magazine a few years ago. These are a soft, delicious sugar cookie. The addition of cream cheese makes them a bit more expensive to make but it also makes them oh so good. They are easy to roll out as well. I always get the kids to help with these. This year we cut them out with a star and tree shaped cookie cutter. I then made some icing, divided it into two, and coloured it yellow (for the stars) and green (for the trees) and let the kids decorate them with candy and sprinkles. They turned out very tasty and were a lot of fun to make too. LK even helped to decorate them.

Christmas Baking: Butter Tart Slice

2011-12-29T10:39:00.001-06:00

Well here it is January already. I hope everyone had a good holiday. Ours was busy, fun-filled and over too fast. I know this is late in going up but I wanted to finish posting all the recipes for the Christmas goodies I baked. I am back dating this for December so that next year I can find all the Christmas baking posts in December. All of the goodies went over well and I had plenty to put out a large tray of cookies at least 3 times over the holidays.

Today I am sharing with you a recipe for a butter tart slice. I love butter tarts! However, I don't always have the time to make a crust, roll it out, and cut out circles for tarts. So instead I throw together this butter tart slice. It is simple and easy to make. The only thing I suggest is lining the pan with parchment paper as the filling is quite sticky.

Butter Tart Slice

1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup brown sugar

Combine and press into a 9 inch pan. Bake 15 minutes at 350* F.

1/3 cup melted butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp. flour
2 tbsp. cream
1 cup raisans
1 egg beaten slightly

Mix above ingredients and spread over baked base. Bake again for 20 to 30 minutes in a 350*F oven. Cool and slice.

I doubled this recipe and made it in a large approx. 9" x 13" pan.

LT is 3 Months Old!

2011-12-23T08:07:00.001-06:00

I can't believe LT is 3 months old already. The time has just flown by. She has been a very happy baby (except when she was sick the other day but that is to be expected). This month she has learned how to roll over and can roll from front to back and from back to front.

She is also discovering her hands and is starting to grasp objects and toys.

While discovering her hands she also found out that her thumb is perfect for sucking on.

And this month she reached one of my favorite milestones, sleeping through the night. I am not getting too excited as I know this can change but for right now I am enjoying the nights of (mostly) uninterrupted sleep.

What a wonderful little girl she is and such a blessing to our family.

Christmas Baking: GIngerbread Boys

2011-12-20T18:00:00.000-06:00

Here is another one of our Christmas recipes, gingerbread boys. I got this recipe from my mom. My kids don't like regular gingersnaps as they are not a fan of the molasses flavor. However they really like these gingerbread boys as they have no molasses. We had a lot of fun making these this past weekend but for some reason the cookies expanded into gingerbread blobs. So no pretty pictures of fancy cookies but we had a lot of fun laughing at our gingerbread blobs.

Gingerbread Boys (or blobs)

1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
4 tsp grated orange peel
2 tbsp corn syrup
3 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ginger
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp salt

Thoroughly cream butter and sugar together. Add eggs; beat until light and fluffy. Add orange peel and corn syrup; mix well. Sift together dry ingredients, stir into creamed mixture. Chill dough thoroughly. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut with gingerbread man cookie cutter. Place 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake in 375* oven for 8-10 minutes. Cool 1 minute before removing from pan.

Enjoy!

If you are in a hurry I have made these No Chill Gingerbread Cookies and enjoyed them. However they have molasses and weren't such a hit with the kiddos.

Christmas Baking: Vanilla Walnut Crescents

2011-12-16T20:47:00.000-06:00

This week I got another item crossed off of my Christmas baking list. I made these delicious Vanilla Walnut Crescents. This is not a traditional family recipe but one I started making a few years ago after coming across the recipe in a Country Woman magazine. They have quickly become a favorite and are one of the most popular items on my Christmas goodie tray. You can find the recipe here http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Vanilla-Walnut-Crescents. They are delicious and very easy to make.

Book Review: The Ride of a Lifetime by Kitty McGregor

2011-12-14T21:17:00.000-06:00

I received this book from booksneeze.com to review. In The Ride of a Lifetime Lucas McCade, a superstar rodeo cowboy, has retired and is trying to make up for lost time with his family. He moves with his wife and teenage son Conner to Oklahoma where he takes a job at the Falling Star Ranch. His wife is happy but Conner is not impressed. He misses his life back in Texas and feels this effort by Lucas to be a father is too little, too late. As the McCades settle into life in Oklahoma they find a church but feel something is not quite right in the community.

This book is a modern western featuring a battle of good versus evil. It is rich in description and the author does a good job of drawing you into the story. The book does jump around from setting to setting a bit but it is easy to follow as the author skillfully brings you along. The plot is interesting but I was a little a taken a back by the evil spirits in the book. I am not a huge fan of books about the occult and was surprised to find it in this Christian book (I guess I should have read the product description a little better). Overall, I found the story engaging, the scenery lovely, and the book was full of action. However, while I enjoyed the beginning of the book I was a bit disappointed with the ending. I thought it was melodramatic and a bit over the top.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Christmas Baking: Shortbread Cookies

2011-12-13T13:58:00.000-06:00

So last week I got another item of Christmas baking completed. I made a large batch of shortbread cookies. I think shortbread is one of my most favourite Christmas cookies. This a cookie that we only ever make at Christmas time and I love the way it just melts in your mouth. This is the recipe that my mother made. It was also found on the back of a box of cornstarch for many years. Some people fancy them up by adding candied cherries, sprinkles or other things but for me I just prefer them plain.

Here is the recipe:

1/2 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup icing sugar
1 cup flour
3/4 cup butter, softened (not melted)

Sift dry ingredients together then add butter. With large wooden spoon work butter in thoroughly. Work with hands until soft, smooth dough forms. Shape into 1 inch balls. Place 1 1/2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet, flatten with lightly floured fork. Bake in 300*F oven for 15-20 min. or until edges are lightly browned. Store in tightly covered container.

Enjoy!

Yarn Along - Turtle

2011-12-07T13:24:00.000-06:00

Yarning along this week again with Ginny from Small Things. I am still working on this turtle for Sky. I have a lot of the pieces done I just have to sew them together (which is my least favorite part of the process).

As far as reading goes I am reading Large Family Logistics by Kim Brenneman. I know I don't have a really large family but she has some good tips in the book that are helpful for families of any size. My biggest complaint about this book is that it is a large hardcover book. Most of my reading these days is done while nursing LT and it is difficult to hold that large of a book while nursing a baby. Also on my Kobo I am currently reading The Ride of a Lifetime by Kitty McGregor that I will be reviewing for Booksneeze.com.

Christmas Baking: Date Squares

2011-12-06T08:16:00.007-06:00

I don't do a lot of Christmas baking but I do love me some cookies. So I try to make a few extra goodies for Christmas. Some of these only get made at Christmas time so they are an extra treat. Also I try to let the older girls help with baking so it can become a fun family time (it doesn't always work though as mom has trouble giving up control but we try). I thought I would share what is on my Christmas baking list for this year along with some of the recipes.

My baking list for this year is:

Shortbread Cookies
Gingerbread Men
Sugar Cookies
Vanilla Walnut Crescents
Butter Tart Squares
Date Squares

Yesterday I made some Date Squares. This isn't the most Christmassy goodie but I really like Date Squares and I hardly ever make them. Also this is one of the more healthier recipes I make for Christmas. It is full of good fibre, iron, and magnesium.

Without further ado here is the recipe:

Date Squares

Filling
5 cups (2 3/4 lb/1.25 kg) pitted dates, coarsely chopped
Finely grated rind and juice of 1 lemon
1 1/2 cups water

Crust
3cups quick oats
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup butter, melted

For filling: in saucepan combine dates, lemon rind and juice, and water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered, for about 15 minutes or until dates are very soft. stir mixture well to mash dates.

For crust: in bowl, combine oats, flour, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt. Stir in melted butter until thoroughly combined and crumbly.

Pat half the crust mixture onto bottom of lightly greased 9 inch by 13 inch baking pan. Spread filling over crust evenly, sprinkle with remaining crumbs. Bake in preheated oven 350*C for about 45 minutes or until deeply golden.

Cool before cutting into squares. I then place them in paper muffin cups.

I make this recipe pretty much as written. I didn't have a lemon on hand though so I just put some bottled lemon juice in the filling. Also I like oats so I added an extra cup without changing any of the other ingredients. I imagine this might have made the crust a bit more crumbly but that was okay by me. Enjoy!

What are you baking this Christmas?

Here the girls are making Sweet Potato Whole Wheat Gingersnaps.

Daybook - Nov. 28, 2011

2011-11-28T09:10:00.000-06:00

FOR TODAY

Outside my window...the trees are bare of any leaves, there are a few white patches of snow that haven't melted from our last snowfall, and the windmill is turning swiftly in the wind.

I am thinking...about celebrating advent and the upcoming Christmas holiday.

I am thankful...for a kind, loving, helpful, hardworking husband.

In the kitchen...I have some banana's that are going to be made into banana bread today and some ground beef that is going to be made into meatballs. The meatballs will go into the slow cooker so as to be ready when we get home from skating today.

I am wearing...gray sweatpants and a gray T-shirt. I am all about comfort when I am at home.

I am creating...a crochet turtle for Sky. Also we are starting to put up a few Christmas decorations and I have to get a Jesse tree put together today.

I am going... to take the older girls to skating tonight and on Friday. Tomorrow I will do some shopping and take LK to the tot spot. Hopefully the rest of the week I will be able to stay at home.

I am wondering...why on the slough there are spots where the ice is so clear it almost looks like open water when the rest of the ice is white (the clear spots seem to be frozen just as hard as the everywhere else but it looks so different).

Here Star is checking out one of the afore mentioned spots.

I am reading...Large Family Logistics by Kim Brenneman. I don't think I quite qualify as having a large family but it has some good tips. For light reading I am enjoying Mrs. Miracle by Debbie Macomber.

I am hoping...that we continue to get some nice weather in December. It is much nicer when we can spend time everyday outside.

I am looking forward to...having some company on the weekend and celebrating Sky's 8th birthday.

I am hearing...LK watching TV in the background. Time to get to get off the computer so as to turn the TV off and have him help me do laundry.

Around the house...today the living room needs vacuuming and laundry needs to be done. Hubby was wonderful and cleaned the porch and the kitchen yesterday. I have the advent wreath out but still need to set up a Jesse Tree.

One of my favorite things...the Christmas season. I am excited advent is here and we start the countdown to Christmas.

A few plans for the rest of the week: I am hoping to get started on some Christmas baking this week. Also I have to go through LK's clothes. Most of his pants are too short. I have lot's of hand me downs for him to wear I just have to go through them and get them into his dresser and the too small stuff put away.

Here is picture (or two) for thought I am sharing...

Two of my most precious blessings.

LT sure is growing fast.

Skating on the Slough

2011-11-27T20:20:00.000-06:00

Remember in the spring we were able to canoe on the slough near our house. Well this past weekend we were able to skate on it. It was a beautiful day with temperatures right around 0*C. The girls were quite excited and we had a good time. Unfortunately I didn't skate as I was wearing LT in the wrap but Daddy joined the girls for a skate when he was done vaccinating cows. LK enjoyed walking on the ice for a while and when he got tired he got a ride in the sled.

A beautiful day for skating.

Sky doing a spiral.

Star doing a spiral.

It is not often that the slough is this full of water and that it freezes into nice ice. We were lucky to get this opportunity. Living in the country definitely has its challenges but it also has many blessings. We hope to find more time this winter to take advantage of this ice.

Yarn Along - Stroller Toy

2011-11-16T15:57:00.004-06:00

So I am once again joining in Wednesdays Yarn Along over at Small Things. This week I finished the fish stroller toy. The fish came from this Lion Brand pattern for a fish mobile, but then I decided to make them into a stroller toy. The pattern for the stroller toy is from the book Amigurumi Two, Crocheted Toys for Me, You and Baby Too. It turned out pretty good I think. LK is always stealing them from LT's car seat and waving them them around saying "sh, sh" (he can't say fish yet).

The next project I will be working on is the turtle from the same book Amigurumi Two, Crocheted Toys for Me, You and Baby Too. Sky has been asking for it for a while so I plan to work on that next and hopefully it will be done in time for me to give it to her for Christmas. With two little ones I don't have a lot of time to crochet these days.

The book I have been reading this week is The Creative Family by Amanda Blake Soule. I enjoyed this book. It had a lot of ideas of how to encourage creativity in our children and ourselves. It really focuses on enjoying the process of creating rather than the end product. I've never really considered myself a creative person but I do think there is some creativity in all of us. And we all can find joy in creating if we let go of any expectations for the end product.

That's all for this week. Be sure and check all the wonderful projects over at Small Things.

Brush Cut

2011-11-15T13:57:00.003-06:00

LK has thick hair that grows pretty fast. He has had 3 or 4 haircuts already and he is not yet two. He hair was once again getting pretty long so this past weekend hubby decided it was time to cut it. Now LK has never been good about getting his hair cut. He won't sit still, tries to grab the scissors, and it usually ends in tears and screaming. This time was no different. He was not about to let us cut his hair. So hubby decided it was time for a brush cut. I wasn't too sure about it, thinking the clippers would frighten him and it would still be a problem. However he didn't seem to mind them that much. Now I am not saying he sat perfectly still, but hubby was able to get the job done. I kind of miss his long hair, but he still looks super cute with his brush cut. Hopefully it will be a while now before we have to cut his hair again.

Sorry I don't have any before pictures but here is LK sporting his new hair do.

Yarn Along

2011-11-10T14:15:00.001-06:00

I was updating my Ravelry page and thought I would share with you some the crochet projects I've been working on. Since reading is another one of my favourite pastimes I am joing in with Ginny over at Small Things by participating in my first Yarn Along.

This little mini-pouch is cute and super quick to crochet.

I made a few pairs of these mittens for the girls to wear. We keep these in their skating bags so they always have a dry pair of mitts for skating.

And I am currently working on this Fish stroller toy for LT.

As for reading I am currently reading the 10 Habits for Healthy Mothers on my Kobo. Also on my Kobo for light reading is About That Man by Sheryl Woods.

Daybook

2011-11-02T11:21:00.001-06:00

FOR TODAY

Outside my window...it is cool outside and a little cloudy but I can see a bit of sun peeking through the clouds.

I am thinking...about living a simple life.

I am thankful...for cool fall days, little smiling faces, and warm food.

In the kitchen...pumpkin muffins are in the oven and a batch of cornbread is awaiting its turn. There are plastic containers all over the floor as LK emptied my cupboard. The broom is also laying on the floor as he then attempted to sweep them up.

I am wearing...navy blue sweatpants, and a badly stained white cotton ginny t-shirt.

I am creating...I just finished some crocheted mittens for the girls and am currently working on a fish.

I am going...to the tot spot tomorrow (toddler playgroup).

I am reading...the Secret Refuge series by Lauraine Snelling. Enjoyable light historical fiction set in the time of the civil war.

I am hoping...for this nice fall weather to continue.

I am looking forward to...not much. Just trying to enjoy each day as it comes.

I am hearing...it is pretty quiet. I hear the oven as it turns on and the faint voices of the girls and LK as they play downstairs.

Around the house...I am going to try to clean the porch this week and bring out the winter stuff. It has been pretty nice here but it is getting cooler and I know winter is on its way.

One of my favorite things...nursing my adorable little girl and reading a good book.

A few plans for the rest of the week: going to the tot spot tomorrow, taking the girls to skating on Friday, and other than I will be trying to keep a certain 21 month old out of trouble, and snuggling a sweet one month old as much as possible.

Here is picture (or two) for thought I am sharing...

A sweet smiling LT at one month old.

LT and LK

Camping in the Pasture

2011-10-05T09:03:00.000-06:00

We have been having some unseasonably warm weather here in Saskatchewan so this past weekend hubby wanted to take advantage of it and go on a little camping trip. With having a baby who was not quite two weeks old I was a little uncertain. However hubby did all the packing and it was decided that we would camp in the pasture at our ranch so I could take the little ones home to sleep. It was gorgeous out and I think the older girls really enjoyed it. We did some hiking in the hills. I carried the baby in a wrap and she slept peacefully. In the evening we sat around the campfire and a copious amount of marshmellows were consumed. Then I took LK and the baby home to sleep and Daddy and the girls slept outside. They didn't even set up the tent and decided to just sleep out under the stars. We could hear coyotes howling in the distance and the cows came to visit us.

In the morning the girls and dad enjoyed breakfast cooked over the campfire. I joined them a little later and we went on another hike through the hills and then enjoyed a picnic lunch before heading home. It was a lot of fun and something I think the older girls will remember. A big thanks to hubby who did all the packing and cleaning up. He has been a great help as we adjust to life as the parents of four.

Checking out the campsite we picked.

Going for a hike.

Me with the baby in the wrap.

Sky enjoyed traipsing through the brush.

Playing in the dirt.

Star caught a frog.

Tending the campfire.

Sitting around the fire.

LK on the beds with the cows in distance.

A New Baby Girl

2011-09-29T16:25:00.000-06:00

Last Monday Sept. 19 we welcomed a new baby girl to our family. She weighed 7 lbs and 15 oz. and was about 19 1/2" long. We were so excited to meet her.

She is doing well. She latched on right away and continues to be a great nurser.

Star and Sky love her and are enthralled with her sweet face.

(LK is not so interested but he tolerates her).

What a precious blessing!

Doll for LK

2011-09-15T17:10:00.000-06:00

I just finished crocheting this doll for LK the other day. It is to be a gift for him when the new baby arrives. He is a true boy and definitely prefers playing with trucks rather than dolls but I made him a doll anyway. I used the pattern from the book Amigurumi Two: Crochet Toys For Me and You and Baby Too. The materials used didn't cost more than a couple of bucks, so if he doesn't like him I am not out much. But I think the doll is sorta cute and the girls like him (although they wish he had hair). It was a simple crochet project and I find crocheting relaxes me. I am sure I won't find much time for crocheting once this baby is born as my hands will be full.

PS. Yes, today is my due date but no sign of baby yet.

Daybook Sept 13, 2011

2011-09-13T14:40:00.000-06:00

When you haven't been keeping up with your blog for a while it is hard to know how to jump back into it. So I thought I would just do a Daybook post and go from there. Although truth be told I don't know if there will be any more posts as I am awaiting the birth of my 4th child any day now which I'm sure will keep my hands busy.

FOR TODAY
Outside my window...It is sunny but cool. This pregnant mother is glad for some cool weather after the plus 30*C we have been having lately. Also the combining is finished so fall can come now!

I am thinking...about having a new baby in the house.

I am thankful...for a loving, healthy family.

From the learning rooms...the girls are off to school these days and the year seems to be going well for them so far. LK misses them but has been pretty happy overall.

In the kitchen...I am raosting a chicken tonight so we will have leftovers for the rest of the week. I am also hoping to make a large pot of applesauce for the girls lunches.

I am wearing...maternity jeans and a baggy blue T-shirt.

I am creating...I just finished crocheting a doll for LK for when the baby comes. Not sure what my next project will be yet.

I am going...to the city tomorrow for an OB appointment.

I am wondering...when this baby is going to arrive. Also I have been really curious as to whether it will be a boy or a girl.

I am reading...Rivers of Gold by Tracie Peterson and Caring For Your Child From Birth to Age 5.

I am hoping...for an easy labour and delivery and a healthy baby.

I am looking forward to...meeting this new child.

I am hearing...some country music playing on the computer and crickets chirping.

Around the house...Hubby did a lot of working cleaning out our basement and now the girls are sleeping down there. So I have nearly empty room to work with upstairs.

One of my favorite things...reading.

A few plans for the rest of the week: Not much, a trip to the city, and then just trying to stay on top of things at home.

Here is picture for thought I am sharing...

LK as a newborn.

Summer Camping Trip

2011-07-27T10:51:00.000-06:00

Well we are back from our annual summer camping trip. A good time was had by all. This year was a little different for us as it was just our immediate family. Usually some of my siblings and other relatives join us. So I had plenty of food packed as my girls don't eat nearly as much as my brothers.

The first day of our trip we drove to Little Bow Provincial Park in Alberta. We spent the next day at the beach there. It was a nice beach area and the weather was hot. We spent the whole day at the beach as it was much to hot to do anything else.

Daddy throws Sky into the water.

Star and Sky play in the sand.

Daddy takes LK for a ride in our inflatable kayak.

LK has a snack on the beach.

The next day we headed off to Kananaskis Country where we were staying at Peter Lougheed Provincial Park. One nice thing about travelling by yourselves is that you can stop where ever and whenever you want. We made a number of stops along the way, including a stop at a cool looking playground we saw with this climbing apparatus.

The first full day we were in Kananaskis it was cool and rainy (quite a contrast from the heat we had at Little Bow). We didn't do all that much. The girls and Dad had their bikes so they went for some bike rides. (This was an excellent place for bike riding as there are lot's of bike paths and many of them are paved.) We don't usually have room to bring bikes along on our camping trips so the girls were really excited to have them. We also attended a family event on being Bear Aware which the girls really enjoyed and at night they went to a talk given by someone from the Windriver Bear Institute. The next night they went to another interpretive program put on by the park which they really enjoyed. The programs put on by this park are excellent. Really entertaining and informative.

Being over seventh months pregnant and having a 17 month old I wasn't able to do quite as much as I would have liked but I still had a lot of fun and felt pretty good most of the time. LK wasn't much for sitting around the campfire but he did love to hike and explore.

LK hiking along a trail.

Daddy was there to carry him when he got tired.

LK loved throwing rocks in the water.

The next day at Kananaskis the weather was slightly warmer and not so rainy so we were able to do a number of different hikes. Including one that was over 5km and had an elevation gain of over 700 ft. I wasn't sure about hiking up that steep of a trail but I made it and it was worth the effort as we ended up in a beautiful alpine meadow with rocks and waterfalls.

On our hike.

The wildflowers were spectacular.

Star on our hike. What beautiful scenery!

Daddy and LK on the hike.

As you can see I was usually trailing the pack as I mostly got pictures of peoples backs.

The next morning we packed up camp as the forecast was for rain all day that day. We were lucky that it wasn't raining in the morning when we packed up but a lot of stuff was still wet from the rain we did have. We headed in to Calgary and got a hotel room with a small pool and water slide. (This is treat we usually allow ourselves after camping for a week in a tent.) We spent the afternoon at the Calgary Zoo. We saw lot's of animals. Of course it was raining which made it not quite as nice but there were a number of buildings to duck into and view the animals. Near the end of the day we just braved the rain and wandered outside. We ending up getting some great close up views of the bears and cougars. All the kids enjoyed the zoo, especially LK. We saw giraffes, hippos, lions, tigers, and more. How ever I think LK's favourites were the fish. He kept pointing out all the fish and saying "dsh" (fish) to anyone who would listen.

LK looking at the fish.

A giraffe at the zoo.

We drove home the next day. And that was our trip. Camping is great family time and the girls really love it. I wonder where we will go next year.

Weekly Update: Kitchen Cupboards, Swimming, Reading

2011-07-10T20:25:00.001-06:00

Last weekend my parents and two of my brother's were out for the long weekend. We had decided we were going to paint our kitchen including the cupboards. It was a lot of work but we got it done and even had time to go to the beach one afternoon. We didn't really change the colour in the kitchen so it doesn't look that different but it definitely looks fresh and clean.

LK enjoyed climbing and hiding in the empty cupboards.

Since the weather was nice and warm the Uncles kept the kids cool with some water play.

Old dish soap bottles (well-rinsed) make excellent squirt bottles for water fights.

LK enjoyed pouring water into a pail.

The girls started swimming lessons this week and they are enjoying them. The weather was nice and warm and we also spent two afternoons at the pool. LK is not crazy about being in the water but he is okay with it. Being pregnant in this heat I enjoyed the water almost as much as the girls.

As far as other activities on our Summer List the girls have been keeping up their summer journals so far, and been doing quite a bit of reading. For an end of the school year present I gave them a set of four adapted classic books for girls. It included Anne of Green Gables, Little Women, The Secret Garden, and A Little Princess (all books I read as a child/teen). I told them we could watch the movies after they had read the books. So far Sky has read all four and Star has read three and is working on the fourth. They have enjoyed them all. When they are little older I will have to make sure they read the originals.

Hmm, what else have we done from our list? We did a little weeding in the garden and Sky was excited to be able to pick some radishes. She does not like to eat them though. Star wanted to work on her rug-hooking but when we went to open and work on her kit (that she got at Christmas) we could not find the instructions or chart the supposedly came with it. I will have to do some looking online to see if I can figure out what we are suppose to do.

Well that's all for now. We are going on our camping trip next week. So this coming week will be busy with preparations for that.

Enjoy your summer!

Summer Activities

2011-06-28T21:08:00.004-06:00

It is here. Today is the girls last day of school. The other day we made a list of the activities that we want to do this summer. Here it is in no particular order:

-swimming lessons
-swim at the pool
-reading club at the library
-family camping trip
-the girls are going to a 3 day sleep over camp
-keep a summer journal
-read lot's of books
-Star wants to work on her rug hooking craft and sewing
-leaf collecting, press flowers
-Sky wants to do bubble art
-rock painting
-gardening (we only have a little garden because of the flooding this spring)
-pick raspberries
-go for lot's of walks/bike rides
-horseback riding
-visit our cousins (3.5 hr drive away)
-go to the beach
-and start to think about getting stuff ready for our new arrival in September

Also my parents are coming to visit this weekend and they volunteered to help us paint our kitchen. So that is our big project to kick off the summer.

What activities do you have planned this summer?

Daybook

2011-06-23T14:08:00.000-06:00

FOR TODAY

Outside my window... it is a warm sunny day (finally). It is a little breezy though but everything looks nice and green from all the rain we have been having.

I am thinking... that the girls only have three more days of school left. I can hardly believe it is almost time for summer holidays.

I am thankful... for so many things family, warm summer days, plenty of food to eat.

In the kitchen... not much is happening in there at the moment. I have some dishes to do. Sky was supposed to be making supper tonight but she never did decide what she was going to make.

I am wearing... green shorts and a white T-shirt.

I am creating... I am still working on LK's 1st year scrapbook. Hoping to have it complete before the new baby arrives. I have a few crochet projects on the go but haven't really spent much time crocheting lately.

I am going... to two barbeque's tomorrow. One at the girls school for lunch and then they have playday in the afternoon. For supper Hubby's work is having a BBQ during the towns Summer Funfest to raise money for a local park. It will be a fun but busy day. Hopefully we have another nice, sunny day.

I am wondering... where we will end up going on our family camping trip this summer. We were planning on going Yellowstone. However, I will be just about 32 weeks pregnant at that time and am unable to get travel health insurance. So I would have no health coverage if we went down there. We are thinking of heading to Kananaskis Country instead.

I am reading... The Brides of Culdee Creek series by Kathleen Morgan

I am hoping... for more nice weather.

I am looking forward to... the girls being home for summer.

I am hearing... all is quiet right now as LK is taking a nap. All I hear is the hum of the computer and the ticking of a clock.

Around the house... a cleaning definitely is in order but I am not tackling any big projects right now as (a) I don't have the energy and (b) I want to spend as much time outside as I can while the weather is nice.

One of my favorite things... warm sunny days! (in case you haven't guessed by now)

A few plans for the rest of the week: There is the two barbeque's to go to tomorrow but other than that I have no plans.

Here is picture for thought I am sharing...

Canoeing on the slough

2011-06-16T12:53:00.000-06:00

It continues to be a very wet spring here. The slough ((in the prairies) a large hole where water collects or the water in such a hole) near our yard is fuller than it has ever been. Some years this area is completely dry but such is not the case this year. The other night we decided to take the canoe out on the slough. It was a nice evening and we enjoyed the ride. As we were canoeing we saw some snails in the water and we tried to grab them (nearly tipping the canoe in the process). The girls enjoyed looking at the snails but LK just crushed them in his hand. When we arrived back at shore the girls were delighted to find that there were hundreds of snails in the shallows and quickly started collecting them. LK of course has to be where they are and ended getting all wet (good thing it was a fairly warm night). The girls enjoyed finding all these snails and a jar of them made its way to school the next day for show and tell.

Star collecting snails.

Sky with a handful of snails.

Yes, LK got all wet.

Weekly Update: A Wet Spring, LK Outside, A Night Away

2011-06-07T20:13:00.016-06:00

It has been a very wet spring here and this past week was no different. I have not got any garden planted yet and this is what my garden looked like last week.

As you can see it is very muddy and full of standing water. As it has been raining all day today I don't think it is getting any drier. As it is already pretty late in the season I think I may not have a garden this year. It is a little disappointing. However with being pregnant and having a busy little guy who keeps me hopping it may be for the best. I am already feeling quite large, sore, and tired with this pregnancy. It's hard to believe with my first at this time I was barely showing and with this fourth pregnancy I am already starting to waddle when I am tired.

LK is getting to be very active. He loves being outside and cries when we have to go in. One of his favorite places to go to is the chicken coop. He likes watching the chickens and feeding them some grass. There is also a kitten that hangs out their that he likes to visit.

I have to be on my toes when outside as he does wander off on me frequently. However in most cases when I can't find him I go look by the chicken coop and there he is chasing the kitten around or watching the chickens.

In other news this past weekend Hubby and I went away for a night. Grandma graciously volunteered to watch the kiddos. It was our first time being apart from LK and I was a little worried about leaving him as he is a bit of a mama's boy. However, he was fine and everyone was happy because he would let them hold him since I wasn't around to cling to. Hubby and I spent the night at the Manitou Springs Resort Hotel and Mineral Spa. It was a nice, relaxing time. The water there is really interesting and you float with no effort. With this pregnant belly I could literally be straight up in down in the deep water and I would just float there. Hubby wasn't quite as buoyant but he definitely could easily float on his back with no effort.

We also spent the day in the city yesterday getting our applications in for our passports. We are thinking of going to Yellowstone this year for our camping trip. LK was not happy about getting his picture taken but we were able to get an acceptable one after giving him the keys to play with.

Here I am with my pregnant belly in front of Manitou Lake.

A Weekly Update : New Chicks, Dandylions, and Doll Houses

2011-05-29T13:00:00.000-06:00

Well it's been awhile again since I posted anything here on this blog. Time seems to fly by these days. I am going to try and do a weekly update so as to record some of the activities that happen each week. Hopefully it will motivate me to spend some time with the kiddos and take some pictures.

This week we got some chicks that my father-in-law and his wife hatched for us. New chicks are always so cute and fun. The girls as always enjoyed holding them. LK was very excited to see them but it was a challenge to keep him from too rough with them.

Sky holding a chick.

Star with a chick.

Chicks

It has been really rainy here is Sask. My garden is just a huge puddle. We did have one nice day this week though so we bought some flowers and were able to plant them in our flower bed by the house.

The girls planting flowers.

Of course LK has to help too!

We also did some dandelion picking on that nice day. As you can see we have no shortage of them.

And what did we do on all the rainy days? Well, I will admit that some TV watching did happen. But then Star asked Dad to bring home some boxes from work so that they could make doll houses in the basement.

Sky with her dolls and doll house.

Star going into her doll house.

So that is a few things that we did this past week. We also managed to brand the calves this weekend as it was too wet for seeding. It was a little mucky in the corrals but luckily we didn't get rained on too much. How was your week?

Washing the Floor

2011-04-07T15:17:00.000-06:00

My floor was in desperate need of a washing the other day. Since the girls were home from school (it was a snow day) I decided to enlist their help. I had them change into their old swimsuits. Then I gave them a pail of water and some rags and let them go to town. They think that this is a lot of fun. They get to wear their swimsuits in the winter, play with water, and help mom. When they are done washing I give them an old towel to dry the floor. Voila, a clean floor and fun activity for kids.

Star and Sky hard at work scrubbing the floor.

Menu Plan Monday

2011-04-04T20:24:00.000-06:00

My menu planning has been pretty haphazard while I wasn't posting it on my blog. That combined with general pregnancy fatigue and a lack of desire to cook (and sometimes to even eat) while pregnant has led to a few too many convenience meals. I know my menus are never very interesting to read but posting them helps me to actually put together a menu and follow it. So this is the plan for this week:

Monday: Roast chicken, potatoes, gravy, and corn.
I still have some old hens in my freezer that I need to use up so I will cook a couple in my slow cooker. They turn out nice and tender that way and we can use the leftover meat all week.

Tuesday: Chicken quesadillas (made with leftover chicken) and broccoli salad.

Wednesday: Chicken noodle soup (made with leftover chicken again) and biscuits.

Thursday: It is Star's day to cook. I think she is wanting to make devilled eggs or egg salad sandwiches.

Friday: Not sure yet. Either pizza or pasta.

For more menus check out orgjunkie.com.

A Little Update

2011-04-04T09:03:00.002-06:00

So I thought I would update you all on a few things that happened during my blogging break. First of all LK turned 1 in February. I cannot believe my little boy is one. He is walking all over the place now and is quite a climber. I have found him standing on the kitchen table numerous times and he also climbs right up on top of the back of the couch. He is not saying and words yet but he does make a few sounds (mmmm for cow, vrmm for vehicles, grrrrr for lions and other animals). He loves books with real pictures of animals and can make the signs for most farm animals. For his 1st birthday we didn't have much of a party as the girls had a skating competition that same weekend but we did have Grandpa over for supper and I made an apple crisp for his birthday cake.

LK in his highchair

LK awaiting his birthday cake.

In other news the girls were keeping busy with skating and school. They went to one skating competition in a neighbouring town and the year ended with the clubs own skating carnival. The girls both enjoyed a good year in skating and improved a lot.

Sky at the skating carnival.

Star at the skating carnival.

So currently the girls are not in any activities which makes our schedule a little less busy. I was hoping that we would be spending a lot of time outside by now biking, horseback riding, and what not. However we are still covered by a blanket of snow here in Sask. In fact the girls are home from school today on a snow day as we were hit with a big snow storm over the weekend. Hopefully we will have some warmer weather soon.

I'm Back With An Announcement

2011-03-31T16:20:00.000-06:00

Well I took a long and unexpected blogging break but I am back with big (at least for me) news. Baby #4 is on its way and expected to arrive sometime in the fall. The last few months have been a bit rough as I have been very tired and nauseated along with trying to keep up with a very active 1 yr old boy. I hope that I feel a bit better in the next few months. We will see. I am not sure how much blogging I will be doing as things will continue to be busy but I hope to post some about activities with the kiddos (I have hardly taken any pictures of them the last couple months so hopefully I will moved to take some and post them). Also I want to continue with some homemaking posts to help keep me on track with the cleaning and cooking.

I am really looking forward to some nice spring weather so we can spend more time outside. Our yard currently is still filled with snow. Today it is melting a bit so we also have a huge mud puddle in the midst of the snow piles.

Well that is all for now. Hopefully I will be back with more soon.

Daybook

2011-01-12T13:31:00.000-06:00

FOR TODAY

Outside my window...it is very cold, windy, and snowy.

I am thinking...brrr, I do not want to go outside today.

I am thankful for...so many things but most especially my family.

From the kitchen...not much happening in there right now. I need to get some ground beef out of the freezer for Hamburger roll-ups tonight.

I am wearing...jeans, an old softball T-shirt, and a sweater.

I am creating...not much at this time. I need to make some time for that.

I am going...nowhere today, thank goodness. It is not nice outside.

I am reading...a bit of this and that this week.

I am hoping...the weather co-operates and my cousins/sisters can come visit this weekend.

I am hearing...the wind howling outside.

Around the house...the kitchen is clean, now I need to work on the living room. Hubby helped clean our bedroom on the weekend but I still need to go through my clothes in the closet and do some decluttering.

One of my favorite things...watching LK work on taking his first teetering steps.

A few plans for the rest of the week: get the house ready for company this weekend, play with LK, and work with girls on their confirmation book.

Here is picture for thought I am sharing...

Emptying the cupboards is so much fun and mom's pots make a great drum set.

http://thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com/

Menu Plan Monday

2011-01-10T08:57:00.007-06:00

Well it is a full back at school this week and we are getting back into our regular routines. That means it is time to put a menu together. I always do so much better getting supper on the table when I have a menu plan.

Monday: Today the girls have skating after school so a slow cooker meal is in order. Roast Beef in the slowcooker, potatoes with gravy, peas.

Tuesday: I am all out of homemade bread so I will make bread and use the leftover roast beef to make BBQ beef sandwiches. We will have carrot sticks on the side.

Wednesday: Hamburger roll-ups (recipe to come). I will have the girls help me make this. Broccoli will be our vegetable.

Thursday: Leftovers.

Friday: Another skating day so we will have Sweet and Sour Ribs in the slowcooker with rice and corn.

Saturday: I think we will be having some company and I plan to make pizza.

Sunday: Leftovers or soup & sandwiches.

That's it for this week. Head over to orgjunkie.com for more fabulous menus.

Happy New Year!

2011-01-05T15:21:00.000-06:00

Yes, I realize that New Years Day was a few days ago but today was the girls first day back at school after the holidays so it feels like now is the start of the new year. I hope everyone had a good holiday. Ours went quite well. We ate too much food, got lot's presents, and played a lot of games. It was great to have a lot of our family come and visit. While nobody was able to stay very long, it was kind of nice to see everyone without having to travel. We did travel for the New Year's weekend to my sister-in-laws place (about a 3 1/2 hour drive). The roads were good and we made use of our vans DVD player so the trip was no hardship. The girls really enjoyed playing with all their cousins there. We did go skating a few times over the holiday as well which is always fun and it was good to get out and get some exercise to offset all the eating we were doing.

Star and Sky at the skating rink.

LK was happy to hang out and watch us skate.

So with the new year comes of course New Year's resolutions. I don't always make New Years resolutions (and never actually keep them) but I do like to have some goals that I am working on and the new year does seem like a good place to start. I did find it hard to pick what I wanted to work on for this year as there is so much I would like to go. I decided to work on establishing 3 daily habits that always seem to make the rest of my day go smoother but they always seem to go undone when things get busy.

The three daily habits that I want to establish are:

1. A prayer/meditation time.
2. Exercise.
3. Doing the dishes each night so as to wake up to a clean kitchen.

At this point I am not worried about how long or productive #'s 1 & 2. I just want to establish the habit of doing these things daily. I plan to keep track on a calendar the days I reach this goal.

In addition I will be posting some monthly goals. This month my goal is to clean and declutter the master bedroom. This room is somewhat of a dumping ground and I really need to go through, get rid of stuff I no longer need/wear and give it a good cleaning. It has gotten so bad that sometimes when I ask the girls to clean their room they say, "But your room isn't clean, so why do we have to clean ours." Eeeek, time to get that cleaned up and lead by example.

Also this month I want to work on LK's first year scrapbook. I can't believe that his 1st birthday is rapidly approaching. I would like to get this book mostly complete this month.

There you have it. My new year's resolution and some monthly goals for January. I will check in at the end of the month and let you know how it is going.

Do you make New Year's resolutions? What are you working on this year?

Water Bottle Slings, Christmas Trees, and Lasagna

2010-12-19T17:45:00.000-06:00

Well a couple days ago I shared what the girls have been making for Christmas gifts. I haven't done a whole lot of crafting but the other day I made these water bottle carriers. Now I am not much of a sewer but this tutorial at Make It and Love It was very clear and made it very easy to do (I did have a few fights with my sewing machine as it continues to dislike me, but I made it through). So the girls are getting new water bottles with nice slings to go with them for Christmas. My husband works at a furniture store and came home with a big box of upholstery samples one day. That is the material I used to make these which is why they aren't all done with the same material.

In other news, since we had put our tree up on a chest, I was hopeful that LK wouldn't be able to get into it. However, at ten months old he has decided that climbing is a fun thing to do so he can now get into more stuff then ever before. Here he climbed up onto the table that our Nativity set is on and pulled a star ornament off the tree. He is really proud of himself.

And now I bet you were wondering about the lasagna in the title. I just wanted to share this tidbit as I thought it was quite amusing. As hubby was picking out some songs to sing in church this weekend. Sky suggested that he sing the "lasagna" song. It took as a while to figure out that she meant "Hosanna".

Well that's all for now.

Teacher Gifts

2010-12-16T13:29:00.000-06:00

If your like me the last day of school is coming up and your frantically trying to think of a gift for your children's teachers. I'm never sure what to get them and I am working from a limited budget, but I did want to give them a little something to show our appreciation for all they do. After some debate I decided chocolate was the way to go. They can serve it up at a holiday gathering, regift it as a hostess gift or to the mailman, or freeze it for a sweet treat when the holidays are just a memory.

Then I came across this M&M nativity legend and decided that M&M's it would be. I purchased a couple bags of M&M's and then printed out the M&M nativity legend and glued it onto card stock. The girls made their teachers a card and then I tied it all together with some ribbon. Hopefully they will enjoy it.

Homemade Fun

2010-12-15T11:12:00.001-06:00

This Christmas the girls (Star especially) have been into making gifts for others. Star has gotten into sewing and is enjoying it and Sky has even been doing a little bit. We have the book Homemade Fun by Rae Grant and the girls have been getting ideas from there. It has a good section on hand sewing. (We have her other books Cooking Fun and Crafting Fun too and you can find many of her projects from here books at her website here.) We really enjoy her books. One thing though is they have no pictures of completed projects. This can be a good thing in that you are not comparing your craft to the picture perfect one in the book. However, when we first got these books Sky was not into them as she couldn't read much and without pictures she couldn't pick out what she liked. Star has always really liked them and I really like the vintage graphics in the books. So I would recommend these books for ages 7- 12 or so.

Sky made this purse for her cousin. She came up with idea, did all the stitching herself, and made a crocheted chain for the handle.

Star made this stuffed bunny for LK. She started this project when I wasn't even home. She traced the pattern onto the fabric and cut it out all by herself. Then I looked on YouTube to find a video on how to do a blanket stitch and she took it from there.

Now I realize that these are not works of art but they turned out pretty good for the girls having done most of the work themselves. In the past they would have wanted to make these things but I would have ended up doing all the work. This way they got to feel the joy of making something themselves and learned some handy skills along the way. If you notice both projects involved sewing on a button and that is a something everyone should know how to do. You never know when you will lose a button.

One other thing that Star made was this "I Spy Jar" for another of her cousins. It is simply a jar filled with rice and small "treasures" that you have to find in the rice by moving or shaking the jar. She just went on hunt for small items around the house put them in a jar and filled it almost to the top with rice (you want to leave some room so the rice can move around). You can find more pictures and instructions here.

So those are a few things that the girls have been working on this December. It has been a joy to watch them create things to give to others.

O Christmas Tree

2010-12-12T13:13:00.000-06:00

Star and Sky decorating the Christmas tree.

Today we put up our Christmas tree. The girls have been asking for weeks to put it up. It is one of our favorite Christmas things to do. Daddy sets up the tree and puts on the lights. Then we let the girls do all the decorating. They love looking through the ornaments and finding their favorites. Also we have a lot of homemade ornaments that they have made through the years and they always seem to remember who made what. (Amazing considering they can never remember to pick up their socks even after being reminded a thousand times.) Our tree is definitely not fancy but fun.

We have a small artificial tree that we put up. I love the smell of a real Christmas tree but they can be a little pricey here on the prairies. This small tree we inherited from my Aunt and it is really old but it still works. It doesn't take up too much room which is nice as our living room is full!! Also we can put it up a little higher so hopefully LK doesn't knock it over. We may get a real tree again in a future year but this is working for us this year.

Last year I bought this Little People Nativity Set as our other one was quite destroyed. If you have little ones I highly recommend this or some other nativity set that they can play with, without doing much damage to it. Kids love to play with the figures and act out the Christmas story.

Star setting up the Nativity Set under the tree.

LK playing with the Nativity Set.

That really is the extent of the decorating we do. We hang our stockings up and have a few other odds and ends that we put out; but the real highlight is the Christmas tree and Nativity set.

Now that the decorating is done I just have to focus on keeping the place neat and clean which is always a challenge for me.

Advent Time!

2010-12-10T21:17:00.000-06:00

I know this post is coming a little late as advent is nearly half over but I thought I would share with you what we do during advent. We have an advent wreath which we light during our evening prayers. The girls really like lighting the candles and blowing them out so it makes our prayer time a little special. The other tradition we have started is having a Jesse tree. For our Jesse tree I just clip a branch from one of the bushes or trees in our yard, put it in a flower pot and keep it in place with some stones. In some places I have read that a Jesse tree should be green but this works for us and then we put up our evergreen Christmas tree a little closer to Christmas. I use the devotional and symbols found here with our Jesse tree. For the ornaments I just printed out the symbols and had the girls colour them. Then we glued them onto some red and green card stock and used some yarn to hang them on our tree. It isn't much but I know the girls appreciate the little extra effort. The other day Star said that her favorite time of day is lighting the candles on the wreath.

Our Jesse tree and Advent wreath.

Oh, and as we light the advent candles we sing this song to tune of Jingle Bells.

Advent time, Advent time,

It' Advent everyone.

It's the getting ready time

to welcome God's own Son. (2 times)

One (two, three, four) candle(s) on the wreath,

Shining oh so bright,

Help us all to think about

The coming of our light.

How do you make Advent special on your home?

Daybook

2010-12-08T16:32:00.003-06:00

FOR TODAY

Outside my window...the sun is starting to set and it is not even 5 PM. The days sure are getting short.

I am thinking...about Christmas gifts. There is a flurry of crafting happening here as we make some gifts and cards.

I am thankful for...my family. My children bring a lot of joy to my life.

From the kitchen...I have some homemade chicken soup simmering on the stove. It smells delicious. I hope it tastes as good as it smells. I think I may make some biscuits to go with it.

I am wearing...jeans, a t-shirt, and a sweater.

I am creating...water bottle slings for the girls for Christmas.

I am going...nowhere today. It is nice to have a full day at home.

I am reading...Flowers on Main by Sheryl Woods. A fluffy, feel good romance.

I am hoping...to keep a peaceful feeling all through December.

I am hearing...country music playing in the background. I seem to always have music playing lately but that is better than having the TV on in the background.

Around the house...I cleaned out some kitchen cupboards yesterday, got rid of a few things and organized them a bit. They are looking a lot better.

One of my favorite things...a hot cup of tea.

A few plans for the rest of the week: I have to clean out the porch and take the recycling in. The girls have skating on Friday and I plan to do some shopping while I am in town.

Here is picture for thought I am sharing...

LK trying to grab the camera as I take his picture.

Hosted by http://thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com/

Baking: Ranger Cookies

2010-12-07T16:03:00.004-06:00

Well it is time for me to start thinking about doing some Christmas baking. I don't do a lot of baking but we do have some favourite cookies that we make only at Christmas time. I am looking forward to shortbread, gingerbread, and sugar cookies. However, as I don't have any baking on hand right now I decided to make these Ranger cookies first so we can snack on them and save the Christmas cookies for Christmas. I wouldn't really consider these cookies a healthy cookie as they are fairly high in sugar and fat but they are pretty filling and make a yummy snack (and the oatmeal means they have to be somewhat healthy, right?) I did reduce the sugar a little in this recipe and it was still plenty sweet. I also used 1/2 whole wheat flour and 1/2 white flour. The cranberries give them a little bit of a festive feel as well. Enjoy!

Ranger Cookies

1/2 lb (1 cup) butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
3 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups oats
1 cup corn flakes (crushed)
1 1/2 cups dried cranberries
2 cups shredded coconut

Beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Then beat in eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla.
Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Then add to cream mixture and stir until well blended.
Stir in oats, corn flakes, dried cranberries, and coconut. Drop by tablespoon onto cookie sheet and bake in a 350*F preheated oven for 8-10 minutes.
If desired you can roll the dough into logs with the help of flour and wrap well with cling wrap. Freeze wrapped cookie dough logs. When ready to bake cookies, take logs out of the freezer and slice into half inch thick cookie disks and bake as directed above.
Recipe makes approx. 3 1/2 dozen cookies.

Menu Plan Monday

2010-12-06T12:25:00.002-06:00

It is a busy season here with girls skating a couple times a week and other seasonal activities popping up so making a menu is more important than ever. Otherwise I know we would be eating less that healthy meals and convenience food. Admittedly not all my planned meals are super healthy but at least I have an idea of something I can serve that is better (and cheaper) than eating out.

Monday: Roast chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn. Monday is one of our skating days so I will do the chicken in the slow cooker and have the potatoes ready to go before I leave.

Tuesday: Smokies, perogies, and mixed vegetables.

Wednesday: I need to make some bread so we will have chicken sandwiches with the leftover roast chicken on fresh bread.

Thursday: Chicken noodle soup. I will make some soup using the carcass from our roast chicken. I might get the girls to make some biscuits to serve along side.

Friday: Beef Stroganoff, egg noodles, and peas. I will make the stroganoff in the slow cooker as Friday is one of the skating days so we don't get home until supper time.

That's the menu for this week. What's on your menu?

Sky's Birthday, Christmas Shopping, Getting Sick

2010-12-05T12:52:00.000-06:00

Sky and her cousin celebrating Sky's 7th Birthday.

I'm back! I know I have been MIA for a little while. Last weekend we went to the city to visit Grandma (and Grandpa and various aunts, uncles, and cousins). While there we celebrated Sky's 7th birthday. (7 already! I swear the older I get the faster time flies). For her birthday we took her to the Science Center. They have a lot of interactive displays and play areas there and the girls had a lot of fun. Then we had pizza and of course cake at Grandma's. Lot's of my siblings were there and it was great to visit with everyone.

Also while in the city I took off by myself for a couple of hours Saturday morning and got most of my Christmas shopping done. It was nice to shop by myself for a change and I went early enough that the stores were fairly quiet. We try to keep things pretty simple for Christmas here. The girls get one gift from us usually $20 to $40. This year Star is getting a build a bear kit as she really wanted a teddy bear, Sky is getting a mega block set as she likes to build, and LK is getting a wooden playset. In addition in their stockings they are each getting a board game, a craft kit, a book and a few other trinkets (like a new toothbrush). LK's stocking is a bit slim as he is a little young for games, books, and crafts but I don't think he will mind. We draw names for the adults on my side of the family and keep a price limit at $30 to $40 dollars. This year we decided not to exchange gifts on hubby's side of the family. That keeps Christmas shopping pretty simple and we spend a lot less than the average person on Christmas. I am happy to be mostly done with Christmas shopping.

When we got back from the city we all (except for Sky) got sick with some sort of stomach virus. It was not a fun week but we are all finally recovered and things are starting to get back to normal around here. I hope your week was a better than mine. But here's hoping that since the virus went through our house now we will all be healthy for Christmas. (Wishful thinking maybe, but I am hoping).

Daybook

2010-11-25T15:32:00.000-06:00

FOR TODAY

Outside my window...it is a beautiful cold, clear winter's day.
I am thinking...even if it is cold, I should spend some time outside.

I am thankful for...a warm house.

From the kitchen...yesterday I made blueberry muffins for breakfast (yummy)! Tonight I am making tuna patties, oven fries, and carrots.

I am wearing...maternity jeans (no I am not pregnant but they are comfy), a t-shirt, and a nice warm sweater.

I am creating...ornaments for our Jesse Tree.

I am going...to help out at a pancake breakfast at the girls school tomorrow morning.

I am reading...a book by Debbie Macomber.

I am hoping...no one else in our family gets sick. Sky was sick on Tuesday. She's all better now and hopefully no one else gets it.

I am hearing...it is pretty quiet right now. LK is napping and there is some soft music in the background.

Around the house...the living room needs to be tidied yet again. LK gets into everything now and it is hard to keep it looking nice.

One of my favorite things...music.

A few plans for the rest of the week: We are heading to the city for the weekend. We will be staying at Grandma's and celebrating Sky's 7th birthday. I am also hoping to get a bunch of my Christmas shopping done.

Here is picture for thought I am sharing...

Our house still has the original windows and frost builds up on them. But we are enjoying the beautiful designs the frost makes.

Homemade Baby Food

2010-11-23T13:10:00.001-06:00

I have been making most of LK's food myself. I have made fruit, vegetable, and meat purees. Now he is slowing moving on to table food but I still feed him purees sometimes, particularly when the meal we are having isn't very baby friendly. Now I always thought making the purees was a lot of work, but when you just get down and do it, it doesn't take very long. And because babies don't eat a whole lot it will last for a long time. I freeze the purees in ice cube trays, then pop them out and keep the frozen cubes in ziploc bags. While I did start LK on commercial rice cereal I have quickly moved on to making my own baby cereal. Usually I make oatmeal or barley cereal.

Now I don't always use homemade baby food. I have picked up some store bought commercial baby food when it goes on sale and I use that when I am away from home. For example I will be packing some this weekend when we travel to Grandma's and will be using it if I need to. As with so many things it doesn't have to be an all or nothing situation. You just do what you can and when you can't you do the next best thing.

There is so much information and lots of recipes out there for homemade baby food. If you are at all interested in homemade baby food check out:

http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/ and http://www.nurturebaby.com/.

There is also a new movement (which is really just going back to the old ways before blenders) known as baby led weaning which skips the purees altogether and goes straight to serving the baby table food.

You can find more out about that here http://babyledweaning.blogware.com/ and wholesomebabyfood.com has a page on baby led weaning as well.

However, you choose to feed your baby enjoy the process and relish those smiling, messy faces.

LK snacking on some pears.

Menu Plan Monday

2010-11-22T13:05:00.001-06:00

I am very late in getting this posted. So without further ado this is our menu for the week.

Monday: Leftovers

Tuesday: Oven omelet, fruit salad.

Wednesday: Lasagna, broccoli, potato rolls

Thursday: Tuna patties, oven fries, carrot raisin salad.

Friday: We are headed out of town for the weekend so we will clean up the leftovers or grab a quick sandwich before hitting the road.

I hope you are all having a great week. For menu ideas head over to orgjunkie.com.

First Haircut

2010-11-20T17:33:00.000-06:00

Today LK had his first haircut. It was getting really long and needed to be done. But let me say this, "Cutting a nine month old's hair is not easy." He kept trying to grab the scissors. When I held his hands down, he kept turning his head trying to see what daddy was doing. Holding his head still was nigh near impossible. So we gave him some snacks and tried to quickly clip while he was distracted. He wasn't distracted long. So it wasn't the best haircut but I still think he looks really cute. With a few days growth I don't think it will look bad at all.

Here is LK before haircut (and yes combs are really yummy).

And here is the "after" picture.

Random Act of Culture: Hallelujah Chorus

2010-11-19T08:44:00.000-06:00

In my blog surfing today I came across this video and thought it was really cool.

This past weekend, shoppers at the the Macy's in Philadelphia were surprised when over 600 choristers who were there mingling with regular shoppers suddenly burst into Handel's Hallelujah Chorus. It's pretty awesome.

The Opera Company of Philadelphia was instrumental in bringing it together to perform one of the Knight Foundation's "1000 Random Acts of Culture" which they'll be doing over the next three years across the country. Accompanied by the Wanamaker Organ - the world's largest pipe organ - the singers burst into song at exactly noon.

Check it out.

Daybook

2010-11-17T14:42:00.000-06:00

FOR TODAY

Outside my window...it is overcast and few large snowflakes are slowly drifting down. It is cold out. Winter is here.

I am thinking...that my son is a handful as he is currently pulling papers out of the garbage.

I am thankful for...being able to stay home and spend time with him.

From the kitchen... I have potato rolls rising on my counter and will making some BBQ beef to go along side for supper.

I am wearing...jeans, t-shirt, and a zip up sweater.

I am creating...some Christmas planning sheets.

I am going...to have to clean up my kitchen later.

I am reading...A Mother's Rule of Life by Holly Pierlot.

I am hoping...to fit in some exercise later today.

I am hearing...music playing in the background and LK's jabbering as he is trying to reach the computer mouse.

Around the house...there is lot's to be done as usual. A vacuum and mopping of the floors is on the agenda.

One of my favorite things...reading.

A few plans for the rest of the week: I have parent teacher interviews on Friday, the girls have skating, and then I think we will be having some company for the weekend.

Here is picture for thought I am sharing

Winter means bundled up babies but he doesn't seem to mind.

Visit a Simple Women's Daybook to see more daybooks.

Homemade Toys

2010-11-16T18:20:00.000-06:00

When it comes to young kids homemade toys are often just as good or better than store bought and they are much more frugal. We all know that at a child's first Birthday or Christmas they seem to enjoy the paper and box that the toy came in more than the actual toy itself. Below are two things I made for LK. The smaller bottle is a shaker made from an old plastic spice container. I filled it with some beans and lentils from my kitchen and taped the lid closed. Simple and easy. Of all the rattles and shakers we have this one is his favorite. He can see the things inside and he enjoys shaking it around.

The coke bottle I filled half full with water and put a couple drops of blue food colouring in it. Then I put about 1/3 cup of oil in. This one even the girls enjoy playing with as they shake it around and then watch the oil and water separate. It has spawned some science discussion as they ask why the oil and water do not mix. (Although the answer is beyond even me, it has something to do with water being charged positively on the oxygen end, and negatively on the hydrogen end. Oil does not have a charge (it's neutral), so the oil does not mix with the water.)

So there you go. Some simple homemade toys that cost pennies to make.

Menu Plan Monday

2010-11-15T14:30:00.000-06:00

Well another week is here and so it is time again to think about what we will be eating this week.

Monday: The girls have skating today so a quick and easy supper is on the menu. Whole wheat oatmeal pancakes, bacon, and apple sauce.

Tuesday: Roast beef, mashed potatoes, gravy, peas.

Wednesday: Golden potato rolls, leftover roast beef, raw veggies.

Thursday: We will either have leftovers or I will make some sort of egg dish.

Friday: The girls have skating again so I will make some lasagna ahead of time and have it baking in the oven to come home to. I hope to make two and freeze one for a future skating night.

Saturday: Homemade pizza

Sunday: Something simple, maybe soup and sandwiches.

There that's my menu for the week and one thing I can cross off my to do list. For more menus check out orgjunkie.com.

Simple Womans Daybook

2010-11-10T17:07:00.000-06:00

I have come across a number of blogs who participate in the Simple Woman's Daybook and I enjoyed the posts. So I have decided to participate. Here is my daybook for today.

FOR TODAY

Outside my window...it is cool and cloudy. The trees are bare of all leaves. Winter is arriving.

I am thinking...about my husband traveling on the roads today. I hope they are not too icy.

I am thankful for...my family and my nice warm house.

From the kitchen...today I am baking bread. I am also making some cinnamon buns with the bread dough. Mmmm good.

I am wearing...grey sweatpants with a T-shirt and a zip-up sweater.

I am creating...a crochet scarf (to be a Christmas gift for my mother-in-law).

I am going...nowhere today and it is nice to be home.

I am reading...Remembered by Tamera Alexander.

I am hoping...for a relaxing evening.

I am hearing...some music from VBS playing on the computer.

Around the house...Star is working on some needle point, Sky is doing a craft with stickers, and LK is trying to help me type.

One of my favorite things... fresh bread. My loaves are ready to go in the oven.

A few plans for the rest of the week: We are butchering a beef this weekend. Time to restock the freezer. Also on Friday the girls don't have school and I plan to take them skating.

Here is picture for thought I am sharing

9 Months Old and Getting Into Everything

2010-11-09T14:46:00.000-06:00

LK with his elephant at 9 months old.

LK is now 9 months old. Wow does time fly. He is a very proficient crawler and can zoom across a room in no time. He can also pull himself to standing and cruise along the furniture and walls so nothing is safe from him anymore. We have strategically placed our coffee table and infant rocker in front of our entertainment unit to try and keep him away from all the fun buttons that there is to push there. And remotes? What is it with kids and remotes? You cannot leave them anywhere below waist high or he will have them in 15 seconds flat. He likes to grab them, push all the buttons messing the TV, satellite dish, PlayStation, etc. completely up and then bang the remotes violently on the floor so that even if we knew how to fix up the mess he made; we cannot as he has now damaged the remote beyond repair.

At his 9 month check up we discovered that he now weighs 22 lbs and is 29 inches tall. This is exactly the upper limit on the infant carrier car seat we have. So I had to purchase a new convertible carseat for him to ride in. I got the True Fit for a good price from Zellers and so far we are liking it. I like that you can adjust the harness height without rethreading it.

So that's whats new with LK. He is still breastfeeding 4 times a day and continues to eat more and more solid food. He sleeps through the night most of the time. In general he has been a fairly happy, active baby. He does like a lot of attention though which is making it harder to get everything I want to done but I am enjoying him and trying to learn to be flexible.

LK getting into trouble under the computer desk.

Menu Plan Monday

2010-11-08T14:35:00.001-06:00

Well, it has been a while since I last posted. I have been keeping busy with the kiddo's and their activities. As well this past weekend we had a large birthday party for my father-in-law who turned 70. We served supper to about 50 people (Not me by myself, it was a group effort and I really did very little). So I had a bunch of company for the weekend and I have a bunch of turkey I need to use up. Here is the menu plan for this week.

Monday: Chicken (turkey) stuffing casserole.

Tuesday: leftovers

Wednesday: This will be my bread making day so we will have BBQ turkey sandwiches on fresh bread.

Thursday: Beef Teriyaki and mixed vegetables.

Friday: Fettuccine Alfredo

Saturday: Not sure yet probably something simple like cheese bread and raw veggies.

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T22:48:00.001-06:00

I hope everyone had a great Halloween. The weather was really beautiful here which is unusual for Halloween in Saskatchewan. We don't generally do a lot for Halloween. This year the girls did want to go trick or treating and with Halloween being on a Sunday we were able to go in the afternoon. We met up with some friends in town and enjoyed a nice walk around town chattting as the kids ran door to door getting their treats. Hubby didn't come along as he had work he wanted to get done around the yard but he made up for it by carving Jack-O-Lanterns with the kids in the morning. They had a great time and the girls were able to clean their pumpkins pretty well. They then drew the faces they wanted on a piece of paper and Daddy tried to replicate it on the pumpkins. They turned out pretty well if I do say so myself. Carving jack-o-lanterns is one Halloween tradition we do every year.

Cleaning out the pumpkins.

Star with her Jack-O-Lantern.

Sky with her Jack-O-Lantern.

Winter Stuff

2010-10-26T15:02:00.000-06:00

Well today we are getting our first real taste of winter. It is cold, windy, and snowing. So that meant it was time to bring out the winter jackets, snow pants, boots, mitts, toques, and scarves. I have a big rubbermaid bin into which all the mitts, toques and scarves get thrown into. Today I dumped it out and sorted through all the stuff in there. I threw away anything that was worn and/or ragged as well as the mitts with no mates. The girls each have a small bin in the porch for their stuff, so into each of their bins went one set of mitts, a toque, and a scarf. The rest of the good stuff went back into the large bin for we will need many extras throughout the winter. I used some cardboard to divide the bin into three sections. One each for the mitts, toques and scarves. Hopefully that will keep it a little neater so that when we are looking for something we don't have search through the whole bin.

Menu Plan Monday

2010-10-25T12:43:00.000-06:00

Monday: Hamburgers

Tuesday: Chicken noodle soup and biscuits.

Wednesday: Mini meat loafs, oven fries, and cooked carrots.

Thursday: Oven omelet and fruit salad.

Friday: Slow cooker lasagna

Saturday: Fettuccine Alfredo with chicken.

Menu Plan Monday is at orgjunkie.com.

Cloth Diapers

2010-10-24T19:58:00.000-06:00

This past week Simple Mom did a series on cloth diapering. So I thought I would share with you how and why I use cloth diapers. My mom used cloth diapers for all her children. If you remember I am the oldest of seven children so I had changed many a cloth diaper before becoming a parent. This made it a fairly easy choice for me as I already had experience with it and knew that it really wasn't that difficult. The main reason I cloth diaper is for the money savings. I got many cloth diapers from my mom when I had my first child so I do it old school with flat folds, diaper pins, and I use a variety of diaper covers (pull ons, velcro on, whatever I can find for cheap).

Here is a picture of a diaper folded and ready to go. This one actually was a receiving blanket. (They make great diapers and are pretty cheap.) I believe this is called a kite or triangular fold. If you search on YouTube you can find lot's of videos showing various ways to fold cloth diapers.

Here it is pinned on LK.

And here he is with the water proof diaper cover on. This one velcros on.

Now I don't exclusively cloth diaper. I use cloth diapers when I am at home and disposables when I travel or am going to be away from home for a while. There is a great post at Simple Organic about how cloth diapering doesn't have to be all or nothing.

I don't find it to be any more difficult dealing with a poopy cloth diaper than a disposable one. I just dump the poop in the toilet and throw the diaper in the diaper pail. I wash diapers about every three days and I don't launder them any special way. I just throw them in the washing machine like any other load of laundry. I do line dry them in the summer like I do all my laundry. (The sun does a good job of removing any stains there may be.) In the winter I either hang them in the basement to dry or use the dryer. The nice thing about flat diapers is they don't take much time to dry.

My diapers drying on the line.

So that's my cloth diapering story. Like I said my decision to cloth diaper was mainly a financial one but I am glad to be also doing some good for the environment. If you are interested in cloth diaper check out all the great info at Simple Mom and just give it a try. It isn't as hard as one might think.

Patience...Something I Need More Of

2010-10-21T19:30:00.000-06:00

My daughter Star (9) is slow, I mean she moves at her own pace which is usually slower than I would like. She takes forever to get ready for school, she is the last one changed after gym class, she usually runs out of time to eat her lunch, and she just moves at a slow pace. This has caused me no end of frustration over the years. I am always after her to hurry up. However, the other day the thought came to me, "Why am I always in a rush?" I am one of those people who likes to always be on time and often we arrive early even with Star slowing us down. Yelling at her hasn't sped her up all these years so why do I continue to do this. I need to work on being patient and letting her move at her own pace. If she gets distracted I can gently remind her to stay on task but I have got to stop yelling at her to hurry up.

The other day at the rink after skating I was getting impatient with how slow she was getting undressed but as I watched her meticulously clean her blades and put her skates away I realized she wasn't going slow to defy me. Actually she was doing what I asked and taking good care of her new (expensive) skates. If supper was five minutes later that night it really wouldn't matter but having her take care of her own stuff without me jumping in and rushing her along would matter to her. As I was thinking this I remembered how when I was a kid playing ringette and hockey I was often the last one out of the dressing room and I never remember my parents getting annoyed, or constantly harping on me to hurry up. As the parents of seven with most of us in organized sports if anyone had a reason to rush it was them.

So the next time I tempted to yell at my kid to hurry up just because I want to get home I am going to remember to follow the example my parents set and be patient, let her do it herself, relax, and realize that there really is no need to be in a rush. And maybe, maybe if I don't rush her everyday, when we really do need to hurry, she will move a little quicker (But I'm not holding my breath).

Menu Plan Monday

2010-10-19T14:59:00.000-06:00

Although my menus are never that interesting it is one of the main reasons that I blog. For years I have wanted to get into menu planning and tried many times using many methods but until I started this blog I never kept it up. Posting my menu every week is keeping me accountable. So here is my menu for the week.

Monday: Leftovers

Tuesday: Spaghetti with tomato meat sauce.

Wednesday: Leftover spaghetti sauce on french bread, topped with cheese, and baked in the oven. Broccoli and cauliflower salad.

Thursday: I plan to make bread on this day and I think we will make egg salad to go with the fresh bread.

Friday: Cheddar-Cauliflower soup in the slow cooker and Golden Potato Rolls.

Saturday: Hamburgers and salad.

Sunday: Not sure yet. Probably something simple.

For more menu ideas head over to orgjunkie.com.

Sunday Afternoon at the Ranch

2010-10-19T14:45:00.000-06:00

Today hubby had some work to do on the corrals at the ranch and we all went along. The day before he had brought back some little fish for the girls to look at that he found when working in the creek. So the girls brought some strainers along to try and catch some fish.

Sky searching for fish.

Star soon got wet and muddy so she was hanging out in the feed trough.

They did not catch any fish but they did catch a water beetle and some other little water critters that I couldn't identify.

Star was feeling tired and got a little bored so she ended up reading in the van (where LK was napping). Sky however seemed to have lot's of energy and ran up and down the hills.

And here are the men using the tractor to pull the fence up.

It was a nice Sunday afternoon. I hope we continue to have nice weather for a while.

A Late Update On Our Thanksgiving Weekend

2010-10-15T19:44:00.000-06:00

Sorry I have been MIA for a little while. Things are busy here as always and as LK gets more mobile I have less time to sit at the computer as I have to chase him around.

Last weekend was Thanksgiving here in Canada and most of my family to came to our house for the weekend. On Saturday we worked on our garage roof. Now our house and garage have matching green tin roofs that will hopefully last for a long time. Sunday morning was church and in the afternoon we played games outside as the weather was nice. We played Capture The Flag, Home Free (also know as Hide and Seek Tag) and Sardines. I only played a little bit as I had to look after LK and cook dinner. But is was a lot of fun, good exercise, and it was great to have an activity that was fun for everyone.

On Sunday night we ate our Thanksgiving dinner. We had turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, sweet sweet potato casserole, and corn (froze from the garden). For dessert we had apple and pumpkin pie (made by my mother) with whipped cream. It was all very delicious and of course we ate a little too much. We have much to be thankful for this year and it is always good to take some time to remember that.

Magic Mud

2010-10-05T10:36:00.001-06:00

The other day I had to take our van into town for an oil change. Hubby was home so he volunteered to watch the girls after school until I got home. When I arrived home this is what they were doing. Playing with Magic Mud. Magic mud is simply made with cornstarch and water. If you squeeze it, it hardens into a solid. If you open your hand it will melt away like a liquid. It is really cool stuff. The girls had fun playing with it. It is a little messy, but as it is just cornstarch and water, it is not too hard to clean up (Hubby did most of the clean up anyway since he started the messiness. How awesome is that?)

Oooh, Star and Sky love the sliminess of it all.

Menu Plan Monday

2010-10-04T22:22:00.006-06:00

Well, I am a little late in getting this up as always. Even if I don't get it up in time though I have been working on making a menu every week. This really helps lessen meal time stress as I don't have to make a decision every night on what to make. On the menu this week:

Monday: Wraps with seasoned ground beef, cheese, lettuce, peppers, salsa and sour cream.

Tuesday: Cheddar-Ham Oven Omelet with fresh bread and fruit salad.

Wednesday: Beef Teriyaki, Rice, Broccoli, Beets

Thursday: Perogies, Ham, Carrots, and Corn

Friday: Leftovers

Saturday: Steak on the BBQ, potatoes, peas, and carrots.

Sunday: We will be having our Thanksgiving dinner. Turkey, mashed potatoes, broccoli salad, corn, and sweet potatoes are all on the menu. And of course pie for dessert: pumpkin and apple with whipped cream.

For more menu ides head over to orgjunkie.com.

An Impromptu Camping Trip

2010-10-03T14:10:00.002-06:00

With harvest finally being done and the nice weather continuing we decided to go on a one night camping trip to Buffalo Pound Provincial Park this weekend. It was good to get away even for a day. Camping is a great way to just get away from it all. It can be a bit of work but when you are only going for one night you only have to pack the bare essentials. There is not much you can't live without for one day. We arrived Friday evening, set up camp, cooked our supper over the fire, and then just sat around enjoying the fire and snacks. My two sisters, and one of my brothers joined us and we helped them set up their tent in the dark.

Saturday morning after breakfast we went on a hike. We hiked to this old house. It was built in 1903 and is pretty impressive looking. It is part of the Nicolle homestead. It was a good hike, we got some exercise, and enjoyed a nice fall day.

In the afternoon we spent some time on the beach. It was pretty windy but the girls still enjoyed playing in the sand.

LK enjoyed crawling around outside eating leaves and dirt. However all the fresh air tired him out and he had a snooze in the stroller.

After going on another short walk through a marsh on the boardwalk, it was time to head home. It was great to get away even for a little while.

Just a Quick Update

2010-09-30T20:13:00.000-06:00

I thought I would give you a quick update on how Star's birthday party went. In a word, great! We are finally getting some nice weather here after having most of September be cool, cloudy, and rainy. The girls spent most of their time outside. They emptied out our garden shed/playhouse, cleaned it up, and proceeded to play "Olden days" or "Little House on the Prairie". They were so busy with their game that I actually had to convince them to come do the few activities I did have planned.

Last weekend as well my parents and brother were out as we are redoing our roof. We are replacing the original cedar shingles on our house with tin. It is a big job but the tin should last for a long, long time. Hubby has put a lot of work into it but is almost done with the house. The garage is next on the list but it should be much easier than the house.

Also today we finished harvesting our grain. The yield and quality was poor, but it is good to be done for another year. It went very well with not many equipment breakdowns, which is always good.

I am on day two of my sugar free week. I have been sticking to it pretty good but I am definitely craving some sugar. Hopefully it will get easier as time goes on. I pretty crabby tonight but I am not sure if it has anything to do with wanting sugar or if I am just crabby (because sometimes I just am).

Well that's all for today. We have been busy here and it shows in the lack of house cleaning I have done. Tomorrow I want to do a thorough vacuum as LK is crawling all over and he puts every little thing he can find in his mouth.

Weigh-In Wednesday: Cutting Out Sugar

2010-09-29T11:40:00.001-06:00

Well the scale still isn't budging and I know why. It is because I continue to eat and drink too much, especially sweets. I have not been doing so well at cutting pop out of my diet and when I do I replace it with sweetened tea which I love to enjoy with a sweet treat (cookies anyone?). So for one week I am going to cut out sugar in the hopes that it will reduce my cravings for sweets. I know this will be difficult but I am only doing it for one week to start with. I can last one week without sweets, right?

So that is my goal for the week, no sugar! Anyone care to join me in a sugar free week?

Star's 9th Birthday Party

2010-09-23T20:55:00.000-06:00

Star's Birthday is this weekend. At our place we usually only have a family party or a small party with just a few friends. This year Star is having two friends over for a sleepover. We printed off some paper invitations and envelopes from DLTK Kids website. (This is a great website for preschoolers and as you can see we continue to use it.) Star coloured and decorated the invitations. I am not planning a lot of games and activities as I believe the girls will just have fun playing on their own. I am hoping the weather is nice so they can play outside a lot.

One of the activities we are doing is a pinata. The girls and I made it using a balloon and then putting strips of newspaper dipped in flour and water (we used this recipe) and layering them over the balloon. We did a couple a layers letting it dry in between (If you plan on doing this start a couple weeks in advance so you have plenty of time for it to dry. FYI putting a balloon pinata into a warm oven to speed up the drying process is not a great idea, not that I would know;) ). I took Star to the dollar store and let her have $5 to spend on stuff to put in the pinata. We placed her purchases in the pinata, taped it closed, and then the girls painted it.

Star and Sky painting our homemade pinata.

The other activity I am planning is a treasure hunt. I will set up a bunch of clues that will send them all over the yard (we live on a farm so it is a big yard) and there will be a treasure at the end. The treasure is a small key ring bead kit so if they desire they can then do that as an activity.

Oh, and instead of a cake we are having cupcakes and I will get the girls to decorate them. I will also pick up a couple of movies for them to watch before bed. With only a couple of girls coming over I think (hope?) it will be pretty relaxed.

How do you like to celebrate birthdays? family only? themed party's? small and simple? large and elaborate?

Weigh-In Wednesday and Buying Exercise DVD's

2010-09-22T23:39:00.000-06:00

Wednesday is here again. I weighed myself this morning and the scale still hasn't budged. It is stuck at 159 lbs. But don't worry I'm not giving up and I know I still have a lot of changes to make. But first, how did I do last week? I did pretty well on the exercise front exercising every day (except the weekend) during LK's morning nap. This definitely is a habit I want to continue and I feel so much better when I do it. I drank my water pretty faithfully as well. On the pop front I did have 3 cans of coke over the week but that is definitely better than the 7+ cans I will sometimes drink. For this week coming up I want to work on reducing my portion sizes and eating more fruits and vegetables.

Now I mentioned previously that I typically work out using exercise videos. This work well for me as I do not live close to a gym, the weather is Sask is pretty unpredictable and most of the year not great for working out in, and the DVD's motivate me to keep going. If you are looking to purchase exercise DVD's I recommend checking out Collage Video. They have so many workout videos there with short clips so you can get a feel for what you are buying. They also have user reviews and a bar graph showing how many minutes in the video are devoted to warm-up, aerobics, toning, and stretching. In addition Collage Video has a forum so if you are interested in a particular video you can post there asking for others opinions of it. Before you buy a workout video be sure to check if it requires any equipment. This is important to know as you don't want to get a video home only to discover it requires equipment you don't have (there are many videos that don't require any equipment). Another option for those of us who are cheap (ahem, frugal) is to check the discount bins at Walmart and other stores. I have picked up a number of videos for only a dollar or two this way. Some of them were not so good but others I have really liked so I think I have come out ahead. The other place I have purchased videos is Amazon.ca. Because Collage Video is based in the States and I am in Canada by buying from Amazon.ca I can save on shipping and customs fees.

Do you do workout videos? Where do you typically purchase them?

Taylor Swift Video - Mine

2010-09-22T18:28:00.000-06:00

Since posting the video yesterday I saw Taylor Swift's video to her new song "Mine" and I really like it so I thought I would share it with you as well. I hope you enjoy it.

A (More Real) Love Story

2010-09-21T13:23:00.000-06:00

Hi all! I just had to share this video with you all. It is a parody of Taylor Swift's song Love Story.

PS. We love Taylor Swift here but must admit this video is funny and definately more real.

Menu Plan Monday

2010-09-20T19:18:00.002-06:00

Monday: We will use up some leftovers from the weekend.

Tuesday: I will be baking bread so we will have tuna sandwiches on fresh bread.

Wednesday: We are starting to run low on beef in our freezer but we have lot's of beef ribs left as they are not our favorite. We will try these Slow Cooker BBQ Ribs with rice and coleslaw.

Thursday: Scrambled eggs, biscuits, and fruit salad.

Friday: Star is having her birthday sleep over today. I think we will either be having make your own pizza's or taco in a bag.

Saturday: Spaghetti and tomato sauce.

Sunday: Roast chicken, mashed potatoes, and corn.

Making a menu plan means less stress when dinner time rolls around. For more menu ideas head over to orgjunkie.com.

Freezing Corn

2010-09-20T16:27:00.000-06:00

Well I have been busy the last little while trying to preserve some of the stuff from the garden. I have shredded and frozen zucchini, made applesauce and chopped apples to freeze, picked tomatoes and put them in the basement (still have to can some of them), and I froze some corn. Now I had never attempted to freeze corn before as we usually eat most of it fresh and the idea of cutting all the corn off the ears seemed like a lot of work. However after reading this post at Heavenly Homemakers and checking out this post at Amy's Finer Things I decided to give it a try.

One of the things that made this easier was using an electric knife. Now I have an electric knife but rarely use it except to cut fresh bread (it cuts fresh bread really nice without squishing the loaf) so I wouldn't have thought to use it if Amy hadn't mentioned it. It made cutting the corn off the cob really simple and it didn't take any effort at all. I also used a bundt cake pan and held the corn cob on the part that makes the hole in the cake and then when I cut off the corn it all fell into the cake pan.

So the process was pretty simple. I picked and shucked the corn. Then I placed the ears of corn a few at time into a pot of boiling water for three minutes. Once the three minutes was up I transferred them to a sink full of ice water to stop the cooking process. I then cut the corn off the cob and packed it into ziploc bags and froze them. Mmmm, now we will be able to enjoy home grown corn for a while to come.

Now if you are wondering how I did this all with a 7 month old baby, I will share (because when I read other blogs I always wonder how they manage to do all they do with young children). While I was picking and shucking the corn I had LK in the backpack (which I mention in this post). Then I brought him into the kitchen and gave him a pot and a wooden spoon to play with, which kept him busy for a while. I had to pause the process partway through to nurse him and then I put him down for a nap. That meant I could finish up in peace.

Weigh-In Wednesday and Book Review: Baby Boot Camp

2010-09-16T20:50:00.000-06:00

Well I am a little late in posting this but as I do want to be accountable I thought I better get this posted. I am afraid that I didn't do all that well with my goals last week. We made pizza last weekend and I ate a ton of pizza and drank coke. We had lot's leftover so the next day I continued to eat pizza and drink coke. So I was not suprised when I steppped on the scale today to find out that I had not lost any weight. If I want to reach my goal I am going to have to get serious about this. I also did not do as much activity as I would have liked. However it is a new week and I am recommitting to my goals. I want to drink only one coke this week and focus on drinking water. Also I want to fit in a workout every day. I know I can lose weight faster by focusing on diet and cutting calories but as a nursing mom I don't want to cut calories too drastically . Also I find that exercises helps me to feel better about myself which in turn leads to me making healthier choices in what I eat. So exercise will be my main focus. I have already worked out three days this week so I hope I can keep it up. My favourite way to exercise (as it is most convient for me) is to use exercise DVDs. This week I have done Kathy Smith's Power Walk for Weight Loss, the Upper Body portion of Kathy Smith's Lift Weights to Lose Weight 2, and part of Leslie Sansone's Walk Slim 4 Fast Miles.

However, I wanted to talk a little about this book I have Baby Boot Camp. If you are new mom who wants to workout at your own pace and incorporate your baby into some of your moves this is a great book. It has excellent pictures showing every exercise. It is broken down into chapters by your baby's age (0-3 months, 3-6 months, 6-9 months, and 9-12 months). Each chapter has two nine minute total body strength workouts: one using your baby and your body weight, and the other using dumbells. It also has cardio workout guidelines, tips for walking with your baby, and a chapter on stretching. I have done a number of the workouts in this book and enjoyed them. I like the tips on using your baby so I can play with my baby while I get some activity in.This book would be a great gift for any new mom in your life. I still like doing DVDs when I can but this book has great workout tips for when I have to workout when my baby is awake.

This post is linked to Watch My Weight Wednesday's at Angie's Healthy Living Blog.

An Update of my Little Guy

2010-09-10T19:53:00.000-06:00

So I thought I would give you an update of how my little guy is doing since he turned 7 months last week. He has grown and changed a lot in the last month. The biggest change is that he is very mobile. Nothing lower than 2 feet is safe from him. Which means I have to work on keeping our floors clean and safe as everything he finds goes in his mouth. He will crawl on his hands and knees a little bit but mostly he scoots around on his tummy using his hands and feet to push himself along. He can also get into a sitting position on his own. Which means that he can crawl up to the entertainment centre, open the drawer, sit up, and then remove all the DVDs from the drawer.

He remains a fairly happy and content baby. He is a thumb sucker, which while it can be a hard habit to break later on, makes for a good sleeper as he sleeps 11 hours straight each night. My eldest (Star) was also a thumb sucker and she was a good sleeper as well. What is interesting is that Star sucked her right thumb but LK sucks his left. Star is right handed, will LK be left-handed? Time will tell I guess. LK also got his first two teeth (the bottom front ones) last month.

Today LK once again demonstrated a new skill as he managed to pull himself into a standing position. It seems everyday he manages to do something new. One position he often gets into is something similar to the downward facing-dog pose in yoga. But when I tried to take a picture of him doing it he just crawled toward me and tried to grab the camera.

Well that's all for now. Relish whatever stage your child is in because they pass so quickly.

Nicknames

2010-09-10T11:28:00.000-06:00

When I started this blog I decided that while I would like to post pictures I would not use my children's names. Many bloggers use nicknames or pet names when referring to their children but I couldn't come up with nicknames I liked. You spend so much time deciding on a name for them that it seems a shame to call them anything else. However I am getting tired of referring to my children by their ages (which will soon be changing) so I decided to bite the bullet and come up with some nicknames.

My eldest I will call Star. She will be turning 9 this month. (Oh my goodness I can't believe I will be the mother of a 9 year old. No way am I that old!)

Next is Sky, who is 6 and will be 7 in November.

And the little guy I will just call LK. He is now 7 months old.

So that's it. There was no rhyme or reason to how I came up with these names. But those are my little people.

How did you come up with Internet names for your kids or do you just use their real names?

Weigh-In Wednesday

2010-09-08T11:29:00.000-06:00

Well today was that dreaded day to step on the scale again. I did pretty good with drinking my water last week, but I am afraid I ate a lot this past weekend. We had company and I like to make dessert when we have company. But do I eat one small piece as a weekend treat. No, I eat a large piece and go back for seconds.

On the exercise front I didn't do a whole lot but I did try to fit some extra movement into my days. With diet and exercise I have to work on getting that all or nothing attitude out of my head. Small changes do add up and they are easier to maintain for the long-term. My little guy is going to bed a little earlier now so I am going to try and do some yoga each evening after he goes to bed. During the day I will try to fit in a walk and/or some strength exercises.

So this weeks weight is the same as last week 159 lbs. I am just glad that number did not go up. Hopefully I will see that number go down in the next few weeks.

For this week I am going to continue focusing on drinking my water and in addition I am going to try to cut out pop. Over the summer I started drinking coke again and now I am drinking almost one a day. This week I am going to try to only have one coke the entire week. Pop has no nutritional benefit and cutting it out is a simple way to reduce your calorie intake. Note I said a simple but not easy way. As those of you know who have been hooked on pop it is a hard habit to break.

So that's it for this week: drink lot's of water, no pop, and add in some extra movement by doing some yoga at night, and strength exercises and walking during the day.

This post is linked to Watch My Weight Wednesday's at Angie's Healthy Living Blog.

Menu Plan Monday (or Tuesday)

2010-09-07T13:17:00.000-06:00

Well once again I am late in posting my weekly menu. But this week I have an excuse as yesterday was a holiday and I had company. My menu is fairly simple this week and there a few things carried over from last week as we didn't get around to eating everything.

Tuesday: Roast beef, potatoes & gravy, peas, fresh tomatoes.

Wednesday: It is parent info night at school and they are having a BBQ.

Thursday: Pork chops, rice, corn on the cob.

Friday: BLT sandwiches, hopefully on fresh bread as I will need to make bread by then.

Saturday: Not sure yet. Either leftovers, or sandwiches, or maybe something cooked over the fire.

For more (and probably better) menu ideas check out orgjunkie.com.

Celebrating Birthdays With Paper Hats

2010-09-06T23:04:00.003-06:00

First of all Happy Labour Day to everyone. A long weekend is always reason to celebrate. But we had extra reason as today was my brother's birthday. We don't usually have large parties or anything for birthdays but usually celebrate with a family dinner and birthday cake. My girls wanted to make the celebration a little extra special though so we decided to make some party hats out of newspaper. This is very simple to do (you can find some instructions here) and the girls had fun decorating them and then making my brother wear the special one they made for him.

Here is a picture of the birthday boy.

The girls with their hats beside the pink (yes they love pink) cake they made him.

(Oh in case your confused, no he is not 30 but we reuse candles around here. I'm sure he would like to think he is still only 30.)

Of course the little guy had to have a hat too.

It was a an easy, cheap, and fun way to add to our simple birthday celebrations. The girls could make these on their own and it was an activity that kept them occupied for at least a little while.

Wrap Your Baby

2010-09-02T16:13:00.000-06:00

My son and I at the Big Muddy this summer. He is 5 months old in this picture.

I thought I would share with you the wrap I made and am using with my son. It is made from 100% cotton and I just bought the fabric at Walmart for about $5/meter. To make a wrap you need about 5 meters of fabric (it is advisable to buy extra as you can always make it shorter but it is more difficult to make it longer.) Cut the fabric anywhere from 25 to 30 inches wide and hem it all around. That's it. You can find more detailed tutorials if you search the web but basically it is just a piece of fabric. The tricky part is wrapping your baby in it. I highly reccomend the site Wrap Your Baby. It has lot's of videos and instructions for wrapping your baby. The two I use most often are the cross carry (I like this one because you can pretie it on you and easily pop your baby in and out) and the the front wrap cross carry (this one offers a little more support for longer hikes).

With my other children I had a snuggli and that did work well but I thought I would try something new this time. I was also looking for something I could nurse in. I did nurse in the wrap a few times but honestly I prefer taking the few minutes that is takes to feed my son to sit and relax. Wrapping does take some practice to get it right and sometimes you have to readjust it but it is very comfortable to wear when you get it right. The fabric is long and bit difficult to deal with but if you pretie on a cross carry before you leave the house you can leave it on and pop the baby in and out as you run errands. I do have a stroller and use it regularly but I love having the option to carry my baby. I live on a farm so the ground isn't exactly stroller friendly and we have snow at least 6 months of the year which again isn't exactly stroller friendly. Also in the cold weather I can wrap the baby to me and zip a large coat over both of us so that I know that he is warm. I also use the wrap sometimes to get some work done around the house when my baby is fussy.

However, I have not yet been able to put my son in a back carry (there is video instruction at wrap your baby on how to do this but it doesn't seem secure to me and I am worried he is going to fall out). It is difficult to do some things when your baby is in front of you. Now that he is six months though I can carry him in the hiking back pack that I have. This is also a comfortable way to carry your baby and I have done many dishes with a child on my back. The back pack is nice in that I can easily put in on and off by my self and I can set it down with the child in it. I will say that the wrap cost me around $25 to make in 2010 and the backpack cost $150 in 2001. However, I definately got my money's worth out of it as it is now on child number 3 and I used it until each child was 2-1/2 or 3 years old.

My youngest daughter and I July 2005. She is 20 months old in this picture.

So there are the two things that I use regularly to carry my son. What is your favorite way to carry your baby?

Weigh-In Wednesday

2010-09-01T20:54:00.001-06:00

I need to restart weigh-in Wednesdays. While I have had an enjoyable summer I really didn't focus much on healthy eating or exercise. I enjoyed a lot of fruit and berries but I also a lot of ice cream with them. I did some hiking and yarrd work but I also spend a lot of time lounging around and I didn't do really any focused workouts. Now that we are getting back into a regular routine I need to add in some healthy habits. This week I am going to focus on adding in some small workouts (yoga, walking, some simple strength exercises) as well as drinking my water. I want to drink at least 4 bottles of water a day. This is such a simple thing to do but when I don't make a point of drinking water I just don't drink enough. When I am drinking my water I do feel better and I have more energy. So those will be my steps to work on for this week.

My current weight is 159 lbs. so my weight did not go up over the summer (but it did not go down either). My goal is to be 150 lbs by Dec. 1 and then to maintain that weight through the holiday season. So here's to a healthy fall season. What healthy goals are you working on this week?

This post is linked up with Watch My Weight Wednesdays at Angie's Healthy Living Blog.

Menu Plan Monday

2010-08-30T16:23:00.005-06:00

Here's what we will be eating this week.

Monday: We are butchering chickens today so we will have fresh fried chicken, with new potatoes and corn on the cob from the garden.

Tuesday: I will make wraps with leftover chicken.

Wednesday: Pork chops, rice, corn, and fresh tomatoes.

Thursday: Italian cheese bread wedges with tomatoes on top, corn on the cob.

Friday: BLT sandwiches and raw veggies.

This weekend I think I will be having some family over so I don't have an exact menu plan but some possibilities are roast chicken, we could BBQ hamburgers and hotdogs, ham with scalloped potatoes, or I could make some chilli in the slow cooker and make cornbread to go along with it. We will continue to eat the fresh tomatoes and corn from the garden, and my mom said she would bring out the stuff to make plum knaddle. Plum knaddle (or plum dumplings) is a favorite fall treat that we love to make when plums are in season. My cousin posted the recipe on her blog here and there is a similar recipe here.

Well that's it for this week. So far school it going well for the girls. We are still working on gettting back into a routine as my brother(15) and sister(19) have been visiting a lot. But we love having them and they do some cool stuff with the girls (like make home movies).

For more menu ideas head on over to orgjunkie.com.

Apple Torte

2010-08-27T14:38:00.000-06:00

I have been slowly working on dealing with the apples I picked from my father-in-laws tree. Generally I just chop them into bite-sized pieces throw them into freezer bags and store them in the freezer to be made into whatever we want later. Of course we have been eating them fresh as well as making a number of tasty desserts with them. Apple Torte is one of those delicious desserts. I got this recipe from my mom and my sister helped me make it today. It was sooo yummmmy! Here is the recipe. Enjoy!

Apple Torte

Crust:

1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour

Cream butter and sugar and vanilla together. Blend in flour. Spread dough on bottom and sides of 9 inch pie plate.

Filling:

1 8 oz package of cream cheese
1 egg
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

Mix well and pour into pastry lined pan.

Topping:

1/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
4 cup slices apples
1/4 cup sliced almonds (optional)

Combine sugar and cinnamon and toss apples in sugar mixture. Spoon apple mixture over cheese layer. Sprinkle with almonds. Bake at 450*F for ten minutes. Reduce to 400*F and bake for 25 more minutes. Cool.

Here it is all ready for the oven. I doubled the recipe and used a large baking pan. Not as pretty but it still tastes delicious and it will go fast.

Back to School

2010-08-26T09:14:00.000-06:00

Today was the girls first day back to school. My six year old was very excited to start grade two. My eight year old was not as excited but she still seemed okay with going back. She is in grade four this year. I cannot believe how quickly this time goes. Here are pictures I took of them this morning as we waited for the bus.

In other news we are enjoying fresh tomatoes and corn on the cob from the ~~garden~~ field of weeds. Seriously, it is amazing I get anything from the garden you literally have to search through the weeds to find the plants. But we are definately enjoying the fresh vegetables. Home grown tomatoes are so much better than store bought ones. I do have more than we can eat so I will have to can or freeze some this week. I also have a bunch of apples that I picked from my father-in-laws tree that I am slowly dealing with (freezing, eating, and baking).

My son is getting more mobile (still not actually crawling, but he moves around a lot) and he loves attention, so he keeps me pretty busy as well. With school starting I look forward to having more of routine and hopefully I will find time to fit in some exercise.

Here's to a good school year for everyone: children, parents and teachers.

Menu Plan Monday

2010-08-16T23:10:00.001-06:00

I haven't posted a menu for the last few weeks and it has shown in the meals (of lack thereof) that we have been having. So here is my menu for this week in hopes that it will help me get some good meals on the table this week.

Monday: Leftover spaghetti and tomato meat sauce, garlic bread.

Tuesday: Burritos with tomato meat sauce, raw veggies and dip.

Wednesday: I need to make some bread so we will have fresh bread, devilled eggs, and more raw veggies.

Thursday: I will put a chicken in the slow cooker and we will have potatoes and corn.

Friday: Cheddar Chicken Crunch Salad made with leftover chicken.

Saturday: Hamburgers and salad.

I also have a bunch of peaches and apples that I will need to use up this week. I see some yummy desserts in our future.

One of my favorite snacks this time of year combines my favorite summer fruits: peaches and raspberries. Simply toast a piece of bread (homemade is preferable) and spread with peanut butter or cream cheese (I don't like peanut butter so I use cream cheese but the rest of my family usually uses peanut butter), top with peaches and raspberries, sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon if desired. Mmmmm so good and so simple.

For more menu ideas check out orgjunkie.com.

Summer Just Keeps Flying By

2010-08-16T17:39:00.000-06:00

Another week has flown by. We had a good week last week. My sister-in-law came with her six kids to visit for a couple of days. With that many little ones running around you are kept on your toes. The girls had a great time with their cousins though and they would spend hours outside playing in the barn and whatnot. This is the stuff summers are made of; being able to just play outside all day. With the rural population in Sask. decreasing we don't have many close neighbours and none with young kids. The girls do get bored outside with just themselves to play with. So it was nice to have the cousins around.

Also last week the circus was in our town. The circus rarely comes to our small town so I thought I should support it. It wasn't a big show (no elephants) but it was enjoyable and the girls had fun there.

Then we had some cooler weather and the girls had fun playing (and making a mess) indoors. I made some play dough using this recipe. It turned out very nice and they played with it for quite a while. They also made a fort in my living room and had a lot of fun playing in it. My little boy even got to hang out in it for a while.

It is a simple fort just made with a card table and a sheet over it.

What cuties! I think they are having fun.

My house is messy, there is laundry to be done, and at times I can be a little impatient with children. I am going to try and enjoy the little bit of summer holidays that is left (without letting the house fall into utter chaos). There is only a week and a half until school starts and while I am looking forward to a more regular routine I am going to miss having my girls around and the freedom of no schedule.

Solid Food

2010-08-09T17:12:00.000-06:00

Over the weekend my little boy had his first real meal of solid food. I went the traditional route and offered him rice cereal mixed with breast milk. It wasn't an instant hit but he seemed to enjoy it after a bit and ate almost all that I had prepared.

Another thing I have been doing is having him sit in his highchair during family meals and letting him play with a bit of food while we eat. When I was in the city last I found this Nibbler by Nuby at Superstore. I bought this for him and having been letting him have some fruits and veggies to chew on in it. This Nibbler makes it easier for him to pick up the pieces of food and reduces the risk of choking.

He really seems to enjoy the peaches I have been giving him. I am afraid that I may be giving him a sweet tooth but I love fresh peaches at this time of year and he wants in on the fun.

I can't believe how fast my little baby is growing up. I am a little sad that it goes by so quickly. With my older children I was more excited by this milestone but I will miss being my little guy's sole source of nourishment. Still it is great to seem him growing up happy and healthy. What more could a mother want?

Raspberries!

2010-08-07T17:00:00.000-06:00

Raspberries are one of my favorite summer fruits. I have a bunch of raspberry plants in the garden (you may have to wade through a jungle of weeds to find them but they are there). We have been enjoying eating as many fresh raspberries as we can (Mmmmm raspberries on cereal, raspberries on toast, raspberries on ice cream, raspberries on yogurt, just a bowl of raspberries with a touch of sugar mmmmm!).

What we can't eat fresh we have been freezing. Either as whole raspberries to eat throughout the winter or as freezer jam. I have never really gotten into canning and preserving as it seems like a lot of work and I am a little intimidated by it. However making freezer jam is really simple.

You start by washing your berries.

Then you crush them up. I just use my potato masher for this. This is a good job for the kids to do although if they get a little vigorous you may end up with raspberry splatters all over (ask me how I know).

Then you mix together sugar and pectin in a bowl. As you can see I use Bernardin freezer jam pectin. This is about $2.20 at my grocery store. Follow the directions on the package for the amount of fruit and sugar to use.

Then you add your crushed berries to the sugar and pectin and mix well (my package says to stir for 3 minutes).

All that is left to do is pour the jam into any freezer safe container, let set for 30 minutes, and then store in the fridge for up to 3 weeks or the freezer for 6 months. I just use old glass jars to store my jam in; taking care not to fill them too full so there is room for expansion.

An Update on our Summer and Baby Boy

2010-08-05T14:03:00.000-06:00

Wow, it has been a while since I posted and the summer just seems to be flying by. We have been quite busy here. The girls were in swimming lessons for two weeks. (They passed their levels, yeah!) I think it is important for children to learn to swim as you never know when they might fall into a body of water and their swimming skills could save them. In our area there is only an outdoor pool so swimming lessons in the summer it is. The girls also attended VBS (Vacation Bible School) for a week and they really enjoyed that as always. Now the girls are off at camp for three days. It is weird not having them around and I get a little worried about them being so far away. But all must be well as I haven't received a phone call and I will be picking them up tonight so they will be home soon. (Isn't amazing how when your kids are around all you want is for them to leave you alone for a while but when they are gone you miss them like crazy?). We have no more scheduled activities this summer and I am looking forward to some slower days. There is lot's to be done in the house and garden but I also want to spend some time with the kids doing some activities around home and enjoying some lazy summer days. School is just around the corner and our schedule will soon be busy again.

I also wanted to give you an update on our little boy. He is now six months old. He had his six month appointment at the Doctor yesterday and he is 18.4 lbs (8.3 kg) and 27.6 inches (70 cm) which puts him at about the 75th percentile. He is getting so strong and can sit up on his own now. He is grabbing for anything he can reach and putting it all in his mouth. On the floor he is rolling all over the place and can turn himself around quite easily. Forward motion is still sort of eluding him but he does use his toes to push his bum way up into the air but all he really succeeds in doing is pushing his face into the floor. Up until this point he has been exclusively breastfed but the doctor gave the go ahead to start solid food so that will be happening soon. All in all he is a really contented boy. He likes getting lot's of attention though and tends to cry if I leave the room. He sleeps through the night regularly. We don't have a consistent nap routine as we have been on the go a lot this summer but he sleeps when he gets a chance and seems to be doing all right. He is such a joyful addition to the family and this third time around I am trying to enjoy every moment.

I will hopefully be posting a little more often now that our schedule is slowing down. But I never know what will happen. With three kids slowing down never really happens. I hope everyone is having a great summer because it will be gone before you know it.

Menu Plan Monday

2010-07-19T20:38:00.000-06:00

Yes, its that time again. Time to think about what we will be eating this week. The girls have swimming lessons in the morning this week and Vacation Bible School in the afternoons. So lunches will picnics in the park in between the two activities. Our picnics usually just consist of sandwiches, raw veggies and fruit, and a cookie or treat. On the supper menu is:

Monday: Fried chicken, mashed potatoes and corn.

Tuesday: Wraps with leftover chicken, lettuce, and tomatoes.

Wednesday: Bacon and egg sandwiches, fruit salad.

Thursday: Beef Teriyaki, rice, mixed veggies.

Friday: Leftovers.

I think I may be heading out of town this weekend for my niece's baptism so we will leave it at that. I know this week will be busy and fly by. My raspberries are started to ripen so I will be picking those and snacking on them at every opportunity. Have a great week!