Stories of Grandeur

Lucy! Lucy!

2012-01-30T18:25:00.000-08:00

I've never been to Cuba and I hear the food is bland but this sandwich that is apparently Cuban inspired wasn't bland. In fact, I'm still tasting the cilantro and onions...

It all started when I watched the last five minutes of an episode of Eat Street. I don't normally watch Food TV, especially with my current "health condition". I just get bored of watching someone make food if I don't also get to eat it. (I enjoy cooking classes because I actually get to eat the food too!) The featured food cart was Babaloo Food Cart in San Fransisco. Every sandwich they showed, I wanted to eat. And this Lucy! Lucy! sandwich especially stood out.

This is the photo of the Lucy! Lucy sandwich from the Babaloo website.

Mine looked different since I used a panini bun and was going off memory. Now that I'm reviewing what was in the Lucy! Lucy! I bet Babaloo's is better, but mine was pretty good.

Here's what I did.

Chicken breast marinated in Chef Ann's Tequi-Lime marinade
Diced mango
Diced avocado
Finely chopped red onion
Chopped cilantro
Lime juice
Salt

Mash the mango, avocado, onion, cilantro, lime juice and a little salt together. Grill the chicken breasts on a grill pan (they ended up being much more char-grilled than I wanted, but they were cooked). Spread a little mayonnaise on the bottom of your bun/bread and then slather the top with a thick helping of the avocado mixture. Lay the chicken on the bun and eat! (If you have a panini maker I bet it would be a perfect time to use it, but I don't and it was fine as is.)

The real Lucy! Lucy! has meunster cheese also... I think that would have just topped it off perfectly. Also, I recall that they put the breast on whole, but I sliced my chicken up a bit since it was so char-grilled.

I liked it so much that I had it for lunch today, and then made two more for Jordan and I for dinner. He agreed that it was keeper recipe.

Finding Out

2012-01-27T09:17:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, October 22, we were planning to host our monthly wine club. Our wine club is four couples who appreciate wine, getting together for some blind taste tests. The host couple also makes the food for the evening, so I knew that my day was going to be busy and full. I planned on spending most of the day in the kitchen. Since I knew I'd be tasting a few glasses of wine it was best to double check that I wasn't pregnant.

I'm not regular so to be seven days "late" is pretty normal for me. I got up first and grabbed the test. There was no "two-minute wait" necessary - as the liquid soaked into the wand, the + sign appeared just as fast. There it was. I was pregnant again. Definitely not planned. Sort of prevented. I threw the test into the garbage and started my day as usual: got the kids' breakfast ready and did my morning things.

Jordan got up shortly after and came into the kitchen. "So, when does this mean you're due?"

"I haven't figured it out yet... but probably June."

"So, I guess we're not going to France, huh?"

My dad has a business meeting in Paris in September, so they planned to rent a house for us all to come and stay for a few weeks. We were planning on joining them, without kids, for two weeks. We had discussed the third child that we wanted and that we would be exactly 4-6 months pregnant while in France - feeling good, not too large and no newborn. It was a perfect plan.

I know that many people have gone on holidays with a 3-month-old, but that's not something that sounds like an enjoyable vacation to me. My babies all were up a few times each night until 6 months old, so a vacation with no sleep is not a vacation at all!

Shortly after breakfast, the news hit Jordan. He started to panic, "You need to make sure you get your maternity hours in" and "are you going to up your hours?" and "what are you going to do with childcare?" and "this is definitely our last child!"

I responded, "Can we just get through this day and worry tomorrow?" I'm a worrier by nature, so these questions weren't helping me! He responded with, "I'll come around, just I'm a little shocked. Give me a few days."

Later that night with our friends over I started the meal with, "When you are hosting a wine club at your house, the thing you hope doesn't happen is find out you are pregnant. Well... I'm pregnant."

With my previous pregnancies, I didn't share until 10-12 weeks pregnant, so this was very early. I just wasn't really sure how I was supposed to pretend to taste the four wines without my glass ever emptying! So, a few of our friends found out the same day we did.

And as for Jordan, yes, he came around a few days later. Now we're both excited. I'm excited for all these little movements and to meet this baby in five months and enjoying all these pregnant moments and then the bonus of all the newborn cuddles. Jordan? He's happy that we will be done this baby stage soon and he's still excited because this is our last child!

(And yes, God surprised us with this one, so He could always surprise us with another one...)

Deep Freeze

2012-01-18T16:56:00.000-08:00

We've been getting some cold weather in our area. Minus twelve is what I refer to as cold... and then the wind chill makes it -23. That's WAY too cold for me to venture outside with the kiddies in tow. Especially when the boy instantly cries when it's windy - cold or not. (Anyone from outside of the Lower Mainland, laugh away. We just ain't used to that type of weather down here, okay?)

But this deep freeze I'm referring to is the type that I can store food in. We don't have one. If you have one, you're likely thinking, "How do you live?" We barely survive... it's true!

It means that my Costco shops have to be done very cautiously. I can't purchase all the frozen foods that I want to have on hand. I have to take an inventory of our freezer before I leave and see if I have room to store anything extra in the side-by-side freezer we have in the kitchen. Our side-by-side isn't small, but I can't get the frozen appetizers, frozen hamburger patties, two loaves of bread we go through each week, muffins for Jordan's breakfast on the go, ground beef broken up into Ziploc bags, ice cream, frozen chicken breasts, and other fast meal ideas in the freezer. There's just no room. So Costco suffers greatly (ha!), and my bank account wins, because we don't have a deep freezer.

It means that when I don't have any idea of what to make for dinner, I literally don't have any back up food on hand to whip up. It means that our back up dinners are made up of pasta with a tomato sauce (boring and my kids don't like tomato sauce this week), or like tonight, waffles.

It means that when it's berry season and I want to flash freeze some raspberries for the year, I can maybe max out at one flat... maybe! I would have to plan ahead to make sure that I hadn't already filled up the freezer with other foods. And really, one flat!? That lasts one week! Barely worth the hassle.

Freezer jam? Not gonna fit.
Preparing casseroles to freeze for future dinners? Not possible.
Frozen pizzas? There's only enough space for one to slide in very carefully next to the ice maker.

But then it comes down to this... I could spend the money and purchase an upright deep freezer (we have room for that in our basement), or I could purchase the bookshelves that I want to help organize our den/toy room. I'll probably choose the bookshelves and continue living on waffles.

What can I say?

I love me some waffles.

The Birth of my First Child

2012-01-11T12:40:00.000-08:00

I started this blog when Sloan was nine months old. I never told her birth story on the blog and I'm feeling kinda nostalgic today, along with feeling like typing. So here's the story of Sloan's birth.

My due date was August 23rd, and I never intended to have my baby on that day. Our city's old hospital was closing on August 24th, meaning that the brand new, state of the art, beautiful, sparkling clean hospital was opening on that same day. I was NOT going to have my baby in the old, crappy hospital if I had any control over it. So, when at 38 weeks, my doctor asked if I was interested in being checked, I told him, "No way. We're keeping this baby in here until after that hospital is open!" August 23rd ended and I was still pregnant... and relieved.

I also figured that I would be late. I never was one to wish that my baby was out - I was happy to keep the baby in as long as possible. And because I value natural things, I was also willing to go as long overdue as needed for my body to naturally release the child. My doctor had also told me that he was on holidays until the 26th and I REALLY wanted him to be the one who delivered my babe. I knew that he was on a rotation with three other doctors but since I had 95% of my prenatal appointments with him, I was emotionally attached.

On August 27th at 4:00am, I got up to use the bathroom. After I had peed, I heard a "pop" sound and continued to pee. Because I was somewhat still sleeping while on the toilet, I slowly clued in that I stopped pee-ing, but was still pee-ing. Maybe it wasn't pee? Maybe my water had just broken? I wasn't sure what to do so I softly yelled for Jordan (you know that voice when you want to yell but you don't want to wake up everyone in the house so you yell quietly... ya, that voice). Well, Jordan didn't hear me and I realized that there was no one in the house so I could scream if I wanted to and then he may hear me. (Yes, he's a very deep sleeper.)

I realized he wasn't waking up and because the dripping stopped, I walked on the tiled bathroom floor to wake him up and ask him to get the towel from the laundry room and put it on the bed. I already was sleeping on a towel but I wanted another one. He came into the bathroom and like a confused child asked, "Do I have time to have a shower or do we need to go right now?!" I told him to just get the towel and go back to bed.

I got myself together and crawled into bed. I had contractions every 15-20 mintues but was able to sleep in between them or maybe even through them. They weren't very intense. At 6:30 am I was done being woken up every 15 minutes and I got out of bed. Had a shower, ate some breakfast and sat on a towel on the couch. I asked Jordan to time the contractions: how long they were and how often. After the first one, I told him and when the second one started I informed him. He said, "That was like 10 minutes or so..." I did the same thing for the next one and then asked him how long it was for. He replied that he didn't know what he was timing... I believe it was then that I used some foul language directed towards him. His response was "If this is what it's going to be like and it's only been an hour, I'm not sure how we are going to survive this day!" True.

I explained exactly what he was timing and tried to fall asleep in between the mild contractions. I woke up at one point and looked at the clock. It had been 30 minutes. Obviously the contractions had stopped. I called the doctor's office and he told me to come in and they'd check me out. We got to his office at around 10:30am and I had a contraction or two while in the waiting room. I wasn't dilated at all, so he doc pulled his mini-ultra sound machine into the room to have a quick peek. The first thing he said when placing the wand over my lower pelvis region, was "Oh Baby, where is your head?" He then moved the wand quickly up to the top of my stomach and then put it away. He grabbed his phone and dialed a number. He said into the phone, "I need to book a C-section for a breech." Then he looked at Jordan and I and said, "Sorry... Ya, you'll be having a C-section."

For the last six weeks, at every appointment, both doctors I had seen just felt the position of the baby and said, "Yep, head's down..." and continued on with measuring, etc. It turns out that Sloan's bum was perfectly in place in my pelvis that it felt like it was her head.

The doctor told us we could head to the hospital now and they would get us in as soon as they could. I wasn't interested in going through more contractions if I was getting a section anyway, so we headed in. It was just around 11:30 when we got there and the nurses were still trying to figure out where everything was, how the paging system worked and what they were supposed to do. It didn't help that every person who was due with a baby within a 50km radius also wanted to go to the new hospital so they were a little busy, to say the least. After two hours of hanging out in room 4030, I was given an IV. I was starving and not allowed to eat so the IV helped with my energy a bit. I don't know if I've ever mentioned that I had insane water retention with Sloan. At four months pregnant I couldn't wear my wedding rings, and it just got worse as time went on. Yes, it was summer, but it was bad from April onward. The IV? Didn't help!

At 4:00 pm my doctor and the on-call OB came to chat. The OB told me that if I really wanted to deliver I could... I cut him off and told him that I had no intention of trying that. Not worth the risk! At 7:00pm, still with no drugs, no food and no nurses caring for me, I was told that I would likely have the baby before midnight. Midnight? That was still another 5 hours away! My contractions still weren't very painful, not consistent but I also wasn't doing anything to promote their progression. I just lay in bed, napped, read, etc. They started to increase closer to 10pm, so at 10:30pm my IV pole and I got into the shower.

By 11:30 I got out of the shower and the nurse came to visit me. She asked if I was having any more contractions. Yep, I replied. My hour-long shower consisted of waves of three. Two horrible contractions followed my one insanely terrible one. She cheerily replied, "Oh great! Well lets check you out!" She checked and rather than saying anything, went into the hallway to ask for another nurse to come check. A more experienced nurse checked and said, "Oh, I could tell you if it's a boy or a girl right now!" and told me I was 6 centimeters dilated. When my doctor returned he gave me a quick lecture that I don't need to be a hero and I should have said I was in so much pain. I wasn't really in that much pain, and I was definitely not trying to be a hero.

Everything was in motion quickly after that. Catheter, waivers, surgeons, Jordan almost passing out, etc. I was wheeled into the operating room and they gave me my spinal. I felt warm and fuzzy all over and was relieved that the shaking contractions had stopped. I told the OB that I wanted a pretty scar (the funny things that go through your mind in the heat of the moment) and the cutting began. A few minutes later he asked for the scalpel again and I reminded him of my cute little scar I asked for. He said that the baby's bum was too big so they had to cut it larger! Darn big-bummed baby! At 1:12am on August 28th my little GIRL peeked over the blue curtain at us.

Unfortunately, after an unscheduled, overnight Caesarean, the baby doesn't come with you, so my new baby went with Daddy and I was wheeled to recovery. By 3:30am we were all united in our room again and we decided on her name: Sloan Elizabeth. Both Jordan and my Paternal Grandmothers are Elizabeth's so it was a perfect middle name for her contemporary first name. The first name was between two finalists. My name choice was for if it was a blonde baby girl and Jordan's choice was for a brunette baby. Sloan was born with brown hair so Sloan she is.

For the two people who actually read this entire 40-month-old story, thank you. It was fun to reminisce about how this spunky, observant, sharing, inquisitive, friendly, deep-thinking, little GIRL came into our world. It feels like she's been here forever and I cannot imagine our lives without her. She gives us so much joy with her comments and her behaviours. I love her little voice, even if it's too early in the morning or with the same why question, over and over and over again. I don't love parenting every moment of every day, but the good moments make up for the tough ones and I love this little girl.

I'm a Terrible Blogger

2012-01-03T11:16:00.001-08:00

I'm a perfectionist. I hate doing things that aren't done perfectly and because of this, I am also a procrastinator. This is part of the reason that I haven't blogged lately. I have nothing particularly exciting to write about.

In fact, in mid-December I was in line for Santa with the kiddies and bumped into someone who said, "Can't wait to read about this on your blog!" But the whole sitting on Santa's knee thing kinda went off without a hitch so I thought, "Shoot. Still have nothing to write about..."

The other reason is that I'm tired. I work, make dinner, put kids to bed, and shortly there after, I'm in bed too. Working two days a week is tiring! Ha.

But even on the other days during the week we have other things going on and it's the same thing. When the kids are napping, if I'm not also napping, I'm possibly doing things around the house. (Have I mentioned that there are four loads of laundry that still haven't folded themselves!)

So, I apologize to anyone who has visited this blog lately. It's boring over here, I know.

I forgot to do a New Years Resolution this year... and even when I mentioned it to the Hubby he replied, "Oh yeah! I forgot that's part of the New Years thing." But we still didn't make any big goals. The only one I would like to say is:

I will post at least once per week for the entire year.

Wow. I actually wrote that. I guess I need to do it now. Like mentioned above, I'm a perfectionist so I guess I really need to do that now! Look out, blog, I'm back.

And a picture for you from our photo shoot for Grandma & Grandpa's Christmas gift.

#75... expensive but Done!

2011-12-20T15:57:00.000-08:00

#75 on my 101 in 1001 is to watch Gone with the Wind.

In August 2011 I borrowed the 4 hour saga from the public library and intended to watch it right away. But then the excuses started. First, I was busy with other things. Then, we were finishing our media room. Then the DVD player moved into the media room, but I didn't want to go and watch all 4-hours in the basement room, but rather wanted to watch it upstairs in the family room. But the DVD player stayed downstairs. Finally after three months the DVD player was moved back upstairs and I took two evenings and watched the movie.

In the meantime, I had renewed my rental of the movie with the library four or five times. It had been three months when I finally returned the movie and realized that I had missed the last due date by one month.

$15 in fines later - I watched the movie.

My review: not worth the three months of anticipation or the $15. I enjoyed the movie during the first three hours, but I was so frustrated with Scarlet's self-centeredness at the end that I was just looking forward to it being over! I did enjoy learning about the South but after the fourth and final hour, I was relieved the movie was over - I was bored and sick of Rhett and Scarlet's back and forth romance. Seriously?! I need to believe that she did win him back by realizing that she loved him all along and somehow proving it to him, but only because it makes me feel that I didn't waste quite as much time!

I'm glad I watched it because it seems like one of those movies that you just need to see, but if there's anyone out there who thinks the same thing... don't worry about it. It's not that great.

New Sideboard

2011-11-24T13:30:00.001-08:00

We were just given this piece of furniture from one of our grandparents who is downsizing and needed to get rid of some stuff. Jordan went to pick up the items in his pick-up and came back with the surprise pieces. When I first saw this one, I thought we would just bring it to the thrift store because I wasn't sure what we would do with it... but now I like it!

It's in it's new home although it's not finished how I want, but it's just too cold to refinish it in the garage right now.

I think it "may" need some new knobs. Jordan says big square ones...

I'm thinking I'll just re-stain it a very similar colour to what it is - a warm medium brown. The other option is to paint it a vibrant peacock blue. What do you think? I'll probably choose a brown, not be happy with it, sand it again and redo it... but I think brown looks nice.

I'm kinda excited to do it, but I have a feeling it's not going to happen until March... once the cold has lifted a bit and I'm more motivated to work in the garage for a few hours on this beast.

The Lonely Corner

2011-11-21T13:32:00.001-08:00

I have this corner in our Great Room that needs something... but I can't figure out what it needs. It used to be the toy area, but now that the kids are fabulous at playing in the playroom (designed for a office/den but playroom is more useful right now), we try not to keep toys in the main room. Please give me suggestions for what to do with this nook to finish off the room.

The sub has to stay there. And one big chair doesn't make sense since we have the round blue chair in the opposite corner, so what do we put in this corner to balance out the sectional and blue chair?

Next weekend, when we put up our 8 foot Christmas tree in that corner our room looks so full and welcoming, but then on December 26th when we take the tree down, the house again becomes naked and boring.

Also, I've been contemplating window coverings... like drapes? Or something like that? Some thing to warm up the room a bit... but I just don't know how to do that or how it would look. Besides the windows start at 9 feet, so the curtains would need to be almost 10 feet long. Those wouldn't be cheap drapes!

Now that the toys are all cleared out of the room, theres more room to have dance parties. And yes... this is one of his regular moves - he's a breakdancer, what can I say!?

So peeps, help me out. What should I put in this corner?

(And stay tuned for later this week when I have a new piece of furniture I need your advice for how to refinish...)

Halloween ISO

2011-11-15T07:00:00.000-08:00

I realized after I had snapped my photos that I had my ISO set to 200 on a overcast evening at 5:30pm on October 31. Way too low for such low light.

All my photos were fuzzy since my "film" was too slow.

We had a frog, a zebra rider, a unicorn rider, a lion, and Elmo.

Elmo was LOVING Halloween. He was right there with the bigger kids at every door... usually 5 minutes behind them but he loved going to each door and seeing if they had a "puppy" which he was so excited to see.

See, what I mean though... FUZZY! Not cool... and a similar thing happened last year too. I'll learn next year...

Hand Foot Mouth Disease

2011-11-12T16:48:00.001-08:00

Two weeks ago, Sloan got a cold sore on her lip.... which then developed into a cold and some dots under her mouth. Smith got a nasty bum rash at the same time and it was then that I heard about Hand Foot Mouth Disease and that it's running rampant in these areas. Mouth sores, fevers and rashes are all part of the symptoms. I thought we were in the clear... got it and it wasn't too bad.

Then the kids' daycare called last Thursday to say that the little boy had woken up with a rash and a fever... I quickly ran to rescue my kids, but already knowing that they had it so I wasn't too concerned. I was wrong. So wrong. What they had two weeks ago was just that: a cold sore and a teething bum rash.

This is what developed after the real run in with HFMD. (I'm not normally into sharing naked bum photos but it's so sad that I wanted to share.)

Smith's legs were covered too... I began to think that it was possibly not HFMD since there's no LEG in the name, but the leg rash is common, also.

And the boy's face.

But the thing that made me saddest was his poor little hands. And when he would hold his sippy cup he would say "Owie. Owie. Owie." because everything hurt. (His feet looked similar which was why, you can imagine, he wasn't so interested in walking on the blistered things.)

And yes, he's dreaming of leaving the quarantine we call home. It's been a few days since we left and we're all going a little stir crazy!

So... yeah... HFMD is not cool. It's not just a little fever and cold with two little bumps around the mouth. It can be so much worse. The good news is that it's getting better, and apparently, the rash doesn't scar, but for the three days and nights of cuddling a boy that wanted to move but hurt to do so, it wasn't fun for anyone. Avoid people with this plague... that's my advice.

Summer, then Autumn

2011-10-25T08:46:00.000-07:00

Summer:

Autumn:

Christmas is Coming...

2011-10-24T07:00:00.000-07:00

Around October is when both sides of our family often draw names to decide who we are going to purchase gifts for come Christmas. This year is the same. Christmas is on the brain.

And this year is going to be great with Sloan! She is all about the Sears Wish Book. She'll be quietly sitting on the couch, and I think she's playing with her guys, when she says "I want a castle for Christmas." And yet again, she is looking through the catalogue and picking her favourites.

When I was a kid, I would create my Christmas list, but cutting and pasting from the Wish Book and putting my dream Christmas list up on the fridge. When I was 16 and still doing the same thing, I'm sure my family thought I was being demanding and ungrateful, but actually I just love shopping and this was my cheaper way to shop and dream at the same time without spending any money. And I honestly thought I was being helpful... now they knew the things I was interested in. I wasn't trying to be demanding and ungrateful.

This year, I'm looking forward to watching the kids enjoy Christmas. Smith walking and Sloan understanding so much more. I hope that I can instill in her that it's very nice to give and watch others enjoy their gifts and that it's not ALL about what she gets. I'm not sure that a 3-year-old will fully get that... I'm looking forward to taking her with me to fill up the Samaritan's Purse shoe boxes. Picking out things for kids in other countries. I'm looking forward to getting a Christmas card made... well, hopefully. We were going to get family photos taken this past weekend, but then the weather was too wet and we ended up cancelling altogether. I'm hoping I can get a good family pic taken of us by family to make into a card. We'll see how that pans out. I'm also looking forward to Mennonite Peppermint Cookies. Mmmmmm....

As for Christmas shopping, last year, I intended to spend $50 maximum on Sloan's gifts. BUT... then I was done in November and still had some shopping to do for the rest of the family, so while I was out and about I saw even more cute things... so I spent more money than I wanted to. It was probably like $125 on Sloan! Way more than she needed, that's for sure. I was talking with some friends and heard two ideas that I may incorporate into our shopping habits.

Idea #1: Three gifts per child. Not worrying about value at this point. My friend's goal also includes having one of the gifts as a homemade gift, but I'm not nearly as crafty as she is so that's not part of my plan. However, I'm considering getting a sewing machine (or asking for one for Christmas) so maybe in future years that could be included.

Idea #2: Three gifts per child where one is a Want, one is a Need and one is for God. I'm not sure what the For God one can be after three years, though. Bible. Bible stories. Bible movies... then what? I'll need to think more on this, but I do like the idea.

Do you have any Christmas ideas that you can share with me? What do you do for your kids for Christmas? How do you teach them about giving and not JUST the awesomeness of receiving?

Monzie had a Baby

2011-10-21T03:54:00.000-07:00

At our house, we have a rule. You can't leave the room until the sun is orange. What if it's cloudy, you ask? Well, the sun we're talking about is the Good Nite Lite, and it's always orange at exactly 7:28am.

This handy-dandy "clock" works by lighting up at whatever time you set, signalling to your child that they are allowed out of their room. The clock/nightlight is aimed for kids age 3-5. We got it when Sloan was 2 and that was too young. We still used it, but she was too young to figure it out. BUT she couldn't open doors until she was two-and-a-half and that was the precise age that she started to understand the nightlight.

I remember the day when I heard her door open at 6:00 am and I thought to myself, NOOOOOO!!!!!! I know that many parents have children mastering doorknobs well before this age, but she wasn't interested, and we weren't teaching! It only took two days for us to tell her that she couldn't open the door until the sun was orange and she was hooked. Slowly I increased the time from 6:45 to 7:00 to 7:10 and finally to 7:30am.

That's not to say that she's sleeping until 7:30, by the way. She's often up before 7:00, but she doesn't leave her room (except to use the bathroom) until that sun's face is glowing orange.

Thankfully both of my kids are pretty good at playing independently, so she's quite content to play with her 24 "guys" that she has in her room: Bunny, Monkey, Monzie, Hello Kitty, Owl, Smitten, Bubbly... to name a few. She quite enjoys playing with them. In fact, just last week she came into my room at 7:30am and announced that her white plush bear, Monzie, had a baby last night. Really, what did she have? To which she responded, "Hello Kitty." Well, congratulations Monzie!

The other thing that she spends time doing is arranging the days outfits.

(And yes, I used to do the same thing when I was a kid... except I would lay out the entire week's worth.)

And come to think of it, I have all four of our outfits line up on our bedroom floor for our family pictures this weekend...

I guess she is my child.

How to Be the Perfect Parent

2011-10-19T15:19:00.000-07:00

There's only one way to be the perfect parent, and it involves three little words. Not "I Love You" but three other words. Don't. Have. Children.

That's it. You want to be the perfect parent, don't have children. Then you will keep your perfect parent status... I'm coming to realize that it may be the only way to retain the status.

The other day, my brother was over, I was trying to have a conversation with him (about a girl too!) and Sloan was trying to get my attention while bouncing on the couch next to me. Having a conversation with my brother is somewhat similar to having a conversation with a brick wall, so having a 3-year-old bouncing around near me because she wants a "kid show" on the TV didn't make the conversation any easier. While I was telling her that she had to be patient, she bounced up in a frustrated sigh, smacked her forehead against my chin, and I bit my tongue or cheek lightly. I reacted and shoved her aside.

She immediately started to cry. Not because she was hurt, but because I had hurt her feelings, and in the process hurt my own too. I felt TERRIBLE! The guilt kicked in quickly: What kind of mother does that? Tosses her kid to the side because the child bumped her? I am a terrible mother!

I know that I reacted this way because I was being selfish - I wanted to have my conversation rather than deal with her childish wants. I wanted her to be patient, but it was just before bedtime and she was tired. Why couldn't I have talked to her, turned on the cartoon she wanted and then continued my conversation. Not that difficult. But I reacted instead.

Immediately after, I reached over, pulled her to me and apologized for pushing her. She sobbed in my arms while hugging me, and if my brother wasn't right there with me, I likely would have been sobbing too.

I've been talking to other moms and this thought of ruining your kids' lives comes up very often. Why do we all have this fear of being a terrible mother? Part of it must be that we know that the decisions our parents made have affected us and that fear that our decisions will also affect them can overtake us. I'm trying to remember that it's both the bad and the GOOD decisions that affect them. When I choose to discipline my kids, that will affect them for the good too. When I choose to spend time with them, that will affect them for the good. I know there are things I am doing that are good, but I know I make (and will continue to make) mistakes too.

The important thing for me is that I continue to recognize and apologize for my mistakes that I make with my kids, and then move on. Move on to do things better next time, and stop reliving, in my mind, all the mistakes I've made. The guilt isn't going to get me anywhere, but learning from those mistakes will. And isn't that what forgiveness is all about: learn from it and then Move On.

Moving on...

I choose yes

2011-10-09T08:00:00.000-07:00

Our church has been studying the seven churches of Revelation this Fall and one of the points discussed last weekend was martyrdom in reference to Antipas (Revelation 2:13). Our pastor relayed the story of Antipas to the congregation. Apparently Antipas isn't mentioned elsewhere in the Bible and the details of his death aren't recorded, but the story that has been passed on regarding Saint Antipas was that he was killed in a Brazen Bull. A brazen bull was a copper statue of a bull that had a door on one side that you could put a person into. Then the fire was lit under the bull and it being bronze and all... it heated up. Basically the criminal was roasted alive... similar to being boiled, really.

So, as is common after a sermon that mentions martyrs, the pastor challenged us with the question of if our faith was put to the test, would you still declare Jesus as Lord of your life? My answer has always been a resounding YES!

Later on last Sunday night, I was thinking about how easy I find it to say that I wouldn't deny my Saviour, but if I was actually in a position of persecution, would I be so quick to say yes? I remember the retelling of Rachel Scott's death at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado in 1999. After being shot in the leg, one of the "Columbine killers" asked Rachel if she still believed in God, to which she responded, "You know I do." She then received her fatal shot.

I started to imagine that this is what happened to my daughter. I would have been so overpoweringly proud of her that she stuck to her faith and chose to do what is right rather than what is safe. And at the same time I would be so overpoweringly devastated that I lost my daughter. By looking at what Rachel's parents have done to honour their daughter's memory, you can see that they are proud of her decision even if it means that they no longer get to see her face.

I started to mention these thoughts to Jordan and got all choked up as another thought came to me. If I knew that my death was immenent because of my faith, I would still declare Jesus as my king... but what if my kids were there watching it? Then suddenly, it becomes more real. I don't want my kids with their childlike minds and faith to see their mommy die in front of their eyes, especially in what would seem to them, by my own choice. Would they ever recover from that memory? Would they be haunted forever from it? Would they still choose to one day follow the Lord after they saw what it meant for dear old mommy? Could this ruin them forever?

But one look at the alternative and I have my answer. The alternative is that they learn that mom changed her mind at the last second when it really mattered. Mommy says one thing, but she means something else altogether. Mommy is afraid of what God's plans are for her life. Mommy cannot be trusted to tell the truth about Jesus because remember when she was asked if she really loved Him and she said "No." Since mommy couldn't trust God, I guess I shouldn't trust Him either.

So, although my resounding "yes" is true today and forever, looking at the hard facts makes it ever more real to me. Jesus is the Lord of my life. God-willing, I won't ever be asked to make a death decision like that, but now, I know in my heart I would choose Jesus.

Just like He chose me.

Two little boys

2011-10-06T08:00:00.000-07:00

I was going to say "Two little ____s" and throw my last name in there, but that doesn't sound very nice. So here are the two little boys who were at the birthday parties.

First off, this cute little mischievous guy who also got a present, because he's spoiled. I seem to remember him enjoying the tissue paper most of all...

Yes, you, Blue Eyes. What kinda trouble are you getting yourself into????

You're not eating cat food again are you? Nope. Just smirkin' at me and looking cute... okay. Go ahead. Continue.

And then there was this little man. Snuggly, warm and a little ball of cuddles.

(Have I mentioned that I miss having a newborn to snuggle with and really, really would like to have one soon.) Jordan suggested that I just hold Baby Zakk for longer.

A Three Year Old

2011-10-05T16:09:00.000-07:00

August 28. That's when Sloan's birthday was. Yep, that's what, six weeks ago? That's how long it took me to get this post together.

(And yes, I'm really embarrassed.)

For the kids' first birthday we have started a tradition of doing both sides of our families together so that we can celebrate all at once. For Sloan's third birthday we did two parties... but not because we don't want our families together. We just have a lot of August birthdays on both sides of the family so they needed to be divided and conquered.

When I was a kid, I often got a bunny cake made by my Grandma for my birthday...

I remember watching my grandma (who looks fabulous in this picture!) make it and since Sloan is madly attached to her bunny, I wanted to make a bunny cake for her too. She told me she wanted a pink bunny cake, just like Bunny. Done.

I admit, my Grandma's was much fancier with coconut and licorice whiskers and jellybean buttons, but we don't like coconut, I couldn't find skinny black licorice and I thought I had some Smarties at home. All that mattered is that she liked it! And she did.

Her favourite gift was the new scooter she got. I picked one up for her and because I wanted her to kind of understand the birthday thing and be excited for the scooter, I was coaching her to want it. The problem arose when Nana and Papa asked what she wanted for her birthday and she asked for a scooter. She sounded coached (which she was but for a different reason) and they listened to her and picked out a very cute pink Radio Flyer scooter for her.

Fast forward to birthday party... and she got two scooters! We kept the red Radio Flyer one from us since it was already put together and non-returnable and Sloan finished off the evening going for a ride up and down the street with her Auntie Courtney. Good party!

Then the next day we celebrated with Grandma and Grandpa. Sloan scored some cool Colour Wonder sparkly princess colouring sheets that were all completed four days later... I was not surprised.

And a cool nursery set for her babies. Since her birthday she now sleeps with about 14 stuffed animals plus tucks another four or five into the two cribs she received.

And in case you are wondering. She has three braids in her hair, "cuz I'm free now."

(More pics tomorrow of the two little boys who were at the birthday party. They're pretty cute too!)

Inspiration and Family Dinners

2011-09-27T07:00:00.000-07:00

I may not have anything inspiring to put me in the mood to write on my blog, but my literature life is still going strong. I just love reading and it's helpful that I married a man who also enjoys reading before bed.

I've read a few more good titles over the last two weeks: Redeeming Love was another great one by, who is turning out to be one of my favourite authors, Francine Rivers. It's about a prositute who is chosen to be the wife of a loving and noble man. She fights his love because she doesn't feel deserving... a likely tale! It's impressive that I actually understood where she was coming from - again proving that it was well-written.

And right now I'm in the middle of Sideways on a Scooter: Life and Love in India by Miranda Kennedy, a biography about her time spent living in Mumbai, India. I love reading about other countries, and non-fiction is more likely to give you the real story. As I'm still in the middle of it, I can't say for sure if I'll love the entire book, but I'm enjoying learning about how women are viewed and treated in India. I look forward to continuing to read this book each evening.

A few months ago, my boss (and aunt), gave me a book to review and see if it was worth carrying at Lepp Farm Market. I brought The Family Dinner home and tried to read it. I thought it was a recipe book that would have recipes that kids would enjoy. Boy, did I misinterpret that one! First off, it does have recipes, but it had a whole lot more than that. There's a lot of info about the benefits of having a Family Dinner, some pretty pictures, some recipes and other ideas to keep your kids at the table (games, for example).

My main problem with the book was that I felt overwhelmed with the pages and didn't know what to read. It is somewhat set up like a magazine with lots of little articles on each page but with a magazine, I feel like I want to read the articles, and with this book I just felt overwhelmed and instead wanted to just put the book away.

Before I made my full judgement of the book I wanted to try at least one recipe. I made this meal:

Mine looked similar. And although I modified the recipe so that the kids "may" eat it, they only ate one bite each, because I made them! This is not a recipe book with meals for kids, it's an informative book about having family dinners with your children of all ages. Encouraging them to participate in the conversations and you being part of their lives.

The one thing I did learn from the book: when trying to get your preschooler to eat, don't focus on "take a bite, take a bite, take a bite" but rather just include them with the table discussions and they'll naturally eat the food in front of them. It's true! It worked, however, I was SO exhausted afterward from continuously asking Sloan about her ballet class, and "tell Dad about..." and "what did you do today?" that after dinner I was ready to go straight to bed, too. That wasn't the first time that I learned that it's tiring being a parent...

As for Family Dinners, we try to keep Sloan involved but most times we revert back to "take a bite", "try it" and "you're not getting dessert".

Sigh...

Day One of Ballet!

2011-09-12T08:46:00.000-07:00

Sloan starts ballet today. I'm so excited. And so is she! I reminded her first thing this morning when she came out of her bedroom. "Do you remember what you're doing today, Sloan?"

"Costco?"

"Nope. Ballet!"

"Woo-hoo!" (Insert roof raising, arm-pumping, dance around the room... by her, not me. I was still laying in bed.)

And of course, since the class starts at 9:30am, there was no reason to dress in anything else... just straight to the ballet tights and bodysuit and slippers.

She even let me do her hair in a single bun, since it's what ballerinas do. I love the bodysuit (which she calls her swimsuit) because the tutu is attached so it won't fall off and it's stinkin' cute (Old Navy, btw).

She's so excited... although she truly doesn't know what to expect.

We've been discussing "toe points" and "little kicks" and listening to the teacher, but mostly she probably thinks its going to be just like we dance at home - you know, jumping wildly with some urban beat music on.

Smith was so excited he ripped his shirt open in a fit of joy!

Okay, it's just that he's so wiggly I can't get him dressed all in one shot, but hey... I got one kid dressed without a battle. That's a great day!

(Forgot that this was one of my 101 in 1001... YEAH!)

New Hair Cut???

2011-09-09T14:58:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't posted much lately. Have I been busy? If by busy, you mean "wasting a lot of time on the InStyle website", then yes, I've been busy!

Here's the photo I uploaded to www.instyle.com/instyle/makeover/:

And then the fun began!

I have a hair appointment for next week and I'm not sure what I'm going to get done... it's likely to be more of the same, like so:

And yes, I fully added eyeshadow, mascara and a little bit of lip gloss. Because the program is amazing!

But maybe when I get my hair done next week, I'll get it chopped a bit more... like so:

Or maybe it could be a fun colour like Lady Gaga:

But I'm probably too old to suddenly have blue hair. But maybe I could go red. I've never been interested in being flaming orange, but why not try it... and with the right make-up its not as flamboyant as I thought it would be.

How about a brunette? I went darker after Sloan was born, so I could do that again too.

The problem with going dark is that I want to get family photos done this fall and I would like to look like myself in the picture that will go on our wall... is that too vain? I don't think so.

Or I could go super short! I have always wanted to go short but I'm not sure if I want to be forced to do my hair everyday. I like being able to throw it into a pony and not think about it. What do short-haired ladies do on days when they don't feel like doing their hair?

I have a good idea of what I'm going to do. Now that you've seen some of the options, what do you think?

I want more.

2011-09-06T08:00:00.000-07:00

When I see cute photos like this, I want to have 11 kids. I just want to make more babies just like him.

Thankfully these feelings pass... 11 kids is a little crazy!

I'm sure 5 would be plenty.

Look at that Face

2011-09-01T08:18:00.000-07:00

I'm not gonna lie. I don't remember why he was crying. By some of the other pictures that were taken I know that he was happy while playing on the blue chair, but then I have these three pictures.

I don't think it was a fake cry...

But I would bet money on him being over-dramatic...

How come both of my kids picked up on that trait from their mother? Drama queens... both of them.

Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries

2011-08-30T07:19:00.000-07:00

Earlier in the summer, I had a girls' night at my house. There ended up only being five of us who could make it that day, but I still went with my original plan for dessert and it turned out nicely.

I found the recipe during my blog/web surfing a month or so before the girls' night but I knew that I wanted to make this dessert at some point. Girls are perfect for this dessert - strawberries, cheesecake and chocolate. That's what ladies like to eat.

Here's the recipe (originally found at bugaboo, mini mr & me):

About 2 lbs of large strawberries

8oz package cream cheese

1/2 cup icing sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/3 cup graham cracker crumbs

magic shell ice cream topping

Cut the tops off the strawberries and use a small paring knife to core the insides. (I accidently poked holes in some of them, and they just ended up being a little delicate when we ate them.)
Beat the cream cheese until creamy. Add the icing sugar and vanilla. Beat until smooth.
Place the cream cheese mixture into a Ziploc bag and cut the corner off. Pipe the cheese into the cored out strawberries. Fill to the top, plus a bit more.
Dip the strawberries into the graham cracker crumbs, cheesecake side down.
For the chocolate dip, put the strawberries in the freezer for 10 minutes. Shake the magic shell really well and then pour about a 1/4 cup into a bowl. Dip the strawberries into the chocolate. Put on a baking sheet and place back into the freezer for 5 mins. Take out and serve.

I don't love strawberries - my berry of choice - but these were very good. And I'm not too proud to admit that I ate most of them! Probably like six or something like that...

Pretty easy and pretty tasty!

A Birthday Girl in the House

2011-08-29T07:08:00.000-07:00

Sloan turned three yesterday. Three. THREE! Where did the time go? (So cliche, I know...) How do I have a three-year-old?

Rather than go on and on about how I can't believe it, I'll tell you two recent stories.

#1. (Background: we visit Costco regularly and there is often homeless men asking for help at the traffic light when leaving.) So, we're stopped at a different red light and there's a man waiting to walk across the street. Sloan asks, "Does he need money, Mum?"
"No, Hunny. He's just walking across the street to go to Starbucks."
"He needs a job."
"Oh Sloan, you crack me up."

#2. Yesterday, she's being a goofer and running around the family room and talking in jibberish. I'm smiling and watching her when she stops beside me and asks, "Are you cracked, Mom?"
"I'm not cracked, but yes, Sloan, you crack me up."

And now to show off her "talents".

She's been able to draw faces for a few months, but the most recent addition to her drawings are legs and feet. We now have faces with legs. Perfect.

Sloan is perfect.

Read Some Books (that's Read, not Read)

2011-08-25T15:39:00.000-07:00

I've been looking at that title for so long that READ no longer looks like a real word... do you get that, ever? The title, by the way, is not a command like "Read some books!" but it's supposed to be "read some books", as in "I read some books"... like past tense. Get it? Pronounced red, not reed.

On to the books:

Our church library is closed for renovations, so they mentioned in our Sunday morning service a couple months ago that if we wanted any books, we would be able to keep them until September when the library would open again. I had to entertain #2 during the service and ended up in the library looking at the titles on the shelves. I saw the 3-part Mark of the Lion series by Francine Rivers. I remember friends of mine reading it during high school and although the Ancient Rome plot doesn't even remotely get me interested in a book, I thought I would take the two that were available home with me.

I was wrong. I love Ancient Rome! Jordan laughed at me, when every night I would tell him about gladiators, the persecution of Christians, the debauchery... I didn't know that Ancient Rome (and Ephesus) was so interesting! Plus, the story was enthralling. What would happen to Hadassah next? Would she ever get the man she had fallen in love with? Would she stay true to God and abandon her feelings? Would she survive?

I really loved the first two books, The Voice in the Wind and The Echo in the Darkness that focused on Hadassah, and I burned through the two 500+ page books in two weeks. When they were done and it was time to start the next one, As Sure as the Dawn, I wasn't in such a rush. I was interested in the Gladiator tale but I took a break. Then once I hit page 20, I again couldn't put the book down. I know it's so 1994 of me to go on and on about this 1994 series, but I recommend it wholeheartedly.

After my wonderful experience with Francine Rivers' work, I decided to find another series to read. I picked up the 2-part Martha's Legacy books from my public library. First is Her Mother's Hope. We were just on holidays and someone noticed I was reading it. She asked if I was enjoying it but even before I could answer she said that she stopped half-way because she was so angry with the mother. That was exactly like I felt! The mother is so amazingly terrible with her daughter - and it's very frustrating to see the mistakes she's making but that Martha doesn't seem to notice! I understand why this lady put the book down, however, I'm so glad I didn't.

The second book, Her Daughter's Dream, is even better! Not that a book should be judged by the amount of tears shed, but if it was, the second book would be 800 times better than the first (and better than pretty much any book I've ever read). If you are a mother, or have a mother, I'm pretty sure you would enjoy the series. It's about the sacrifices that mother's make and how communication is so important.

Yes, you have to be willing to get past the part about the horrible mistakes the mother makes, but isn't that like life? You need to realize that mother's aren't perfect, and need to learn to forgive them for the mistakes they make.

Both series were great. But after just plowing through 2500 pages in the last 6 weeks, I'm taking a break... until tomorrow, when the library tells me my newest request is in...

Blog Surf

2011-08-15T07:15:00.000-07:00

Do you blog surf? Maybe that's not even the correct terminology, but I mean when you go to one blog and then follow one or more of their links to "recommended blogs" or maybe it's a link in one of the posts. Then from that blog you do the same thing. And repeat. Then you realize that you have no idea how you are now looking at photos of DIY rock landscaping when you started by reading a birth story?

I don't blog surf often because time just doesn't allow it very often. But the other night, at dinner, I had two glasses of cold, delicious Coca-Cola and when 11:30pm hit, I still wasn't tired - one of the reasons I don't drink caffeine! So I spent the time from 10 until midnight surfing a few blogs. I don't remember all of them but here are a few that I really enjoyed and maybe you will too.

I know that I started at Birch & Bird. Someone told me that it was the local pair, Birch & Bird, who organized a recent Vintage Fair. I'm not really a vintage style person but I got addicted to scrolling through page after page of beautiful photos that then linked to other websites. Addicted! I think I had gone through three months of posts, and they post at least a couple times each week. (Don't do the math... it's too many.)

Vintage is one of those things that I see and like but can't figure out where to place it in my house and then I move on. I would like to have more of it in my house, but with our 9 foot windows that cover most of the walls in our house, and little hands that grab anything nice that is within reach, I don't want to spend money on things that will break. See the crown in the frame below? I want it... but have nowhere for it to go.

And this living room photo is from West Elm. I heart the below room - the modern look of the sofa and lamp, and then the rustic wood panelling walls, and all in neutral colours. West Elm is not a blog, but I still checked it out, and it turns out, I want many things from the site! This picture is actually selling the tree-stump side table, which I hardly noticed.

One of the things I did notice is this bedroom furniture. Again, what is with my new love of rustic??? What is going on here!? We need some new nightstands - the Ikea $15 side tables are fine, but I want drawers to hide things in. These could work... but they are $300 each so I need to consider it for a while...

Then, on a totally random note, I found They Draw & Cook. They have a cookbook coming out, or maybe it's out already, with recipes intertwined in artwork. It seems that different people have submitted their drawings because the Corn & Curry recipe wasn't quite in proper English ;) But how cool are they?!

I need to look up this recipe book and possibly buy it for myself, or more likely, as a gift. It looks too cool!

And on the note of cookbooks, I have two cookbooks that I will review soon. I wanted to cook a few recipes from them before I reviewed them so it will be soon...

Finally some Sun!

2011-08-10T15:18:00.000-07:00

I know the stats say that it hasn't been that unseasonably cold, just 1.8C cooler than normal - but it sure seems like a chilly summer. And it's not like August has been crazy hot. We had a few warm days, but I'm still not spending my afternoon suntanning!

But we were able to enjoy some sun last weekend at the in-laws pool and back 40 (or back 3.5, whatever you wish to call it).

My kids were lovin' the sun! (PS, these SwimWays reuseable swimmers are wonderful! All babies should have them - $6. Walmart.)

Smith was Grandpa's favourite grandchild of the day.

How could Smith not be the favourite? Loving the lawnmower, not afraid of Grandpa and spending time with him!

Sloan wanted a turn too and ran to where they were unloading the clippings, but then realized that the machine is even louder up close, so the little chicken declined.

Until it was silent and not moving. You know... nonthreatening.

Then they both were willing to pose.

I've created chickens, folks, chickens. Very cautious and afraid of many things. People advise that things will be different with a boy - they're not as afraid.

I'm not convinced yet. But I'm not writing it off either.

Family Photo

2011-08-04T21:44:00.000-07:00

I definitely want to get some new family photos taken this fall now that we have two kids, but while we were at the beach, we got a few snapped of us. One worked... sort of. As good as it gets with two toddlers - one who only "cheese" smiles and the other who you have to act like a monkey to get a smile for the camera.

THEN... the train came past.

Highlight for the kids, for sure. The next day Sloan told her Nana that "we saw Thomas at the beach, but he had no eyes." Awesome. All trains have names. She later told me it was Percy because it wasn't #1.

And because she's cute:

She's getting so big!

The Beach

2011-08-03T08:01:00.000-07:00

Since Sloan was born, we've been to the local Ocean three times. Two of the times were last week. Once was for extended family photos, and the next time was for fun. Here are some photos from the evening-trip with friends.

One taste of ice cream and he was hooked!

Smith wouldn't leave Auntie Jen's side, so she gave him the cone to enjoy for himself...

Sloan was licking her ice cream cone and loving every second of it. The funniest part is that some tourists stopped along the promenade and started snapping photos of her licking her cone!

My kids were in heaven with their ice cream cones:

#68 - Swimming Lessons for Sloan

2011-07-28T10:59:00.000-07:00

From April thru June, Sloan was enrolled in Sea Turtle... Level One for preschool swimming lessons. There are other earlier swimming lessons, but the parents have to get in the water, and that's not something I'm interested in doing.

Some of the things the kids have to do to pass the level are submersion for three seconds, assisted back float for three seconds, and assisted front float for three seconds.

The results: Sloan will be in Sea Turtle again in Fall. :)

I'm okay with this, because, you see, she is her mother's daughter. We're cautious in the water. And in most other things too.

#68. Check.

Ready for Church

2011-07-26T08:00:00.000-07:00

The kids were sitting on the stairs getting their shoes on, lookin' all cute and I grabbed the camera. This is what I got.

Try again.

Where's Sloan?

Seriously!? Why can't my kids just listen and do everything I say all the time????

I'll try again another day...

Am I New at This?

2011-07-25T07:42:00.000-07:00

Yep, I kinda am.

Last Wednesday, Sloan wasn't herself. She was pretty normal for the morning but her breath was REALLY bad so I forced her to let me brush her teeth (she normally does the morning brush while we do the evening polish). Thirty minutes into her afternoon nap she woke up and was freaking out about something in her room - pointing to the ceiling in fear. I brushed it off as a mini "night" terror and coaxed her back to sleep. But while I was in her room, I noticed that her breath was still terrible. As in, dead fish terrible!

When she woke up she was back to her ways, but wasn't interested in eating dinner, after just nibbling on her lunch. I was perplexed until our babysitter arrived at 6 o'clock and after Sloan laid down on the stairs and told me to pick her up, I took her temperature - 100.7 degrees. That explained the drama, the not eating and the bad breath - she was obviously sick. Gave her some Advil, and we went out for our anniversary anyway... our trusty babysitter had her in bed shortly after we walked out the door. Thankfully, she slept all night.

We had a playdate scheduled for Thursday as Sloan woke up normal, we headed out! I buckled the kids into the car when I noticed that Sloan's breath was awful again. I quickly grabbed the toothbrush, and tried to give her a once-over. The drama was as if I was pulling teeth - screaming, crying, fighting, all of it! I noticed this time that there was blood on her toothbrush, and her gums were incredibly inflamed. And then I looked where she seemed to be the most sensitive and the gums were a mess. Was it an abcessed tooth? What should I do. I was already a half hour late, so we showed up anyway... the playdate wasn't great... whiny, clingy and not herself. I felt bad for bringing my sick and annoying child over to someone else's house, but we were there anyway.

I discussed my kid's mouth and was encouraged to bring her to the dentist... maybe they could drain the abcess or something...

We went home and, after suffering through another long evening with Sloan not really touching her dinner and not being able to touch her inflamed gums with the toothbrush, she still slept soundly all night long.

On Friday morning I bit the bullet and called the dentist. Before we left for the appointment I did the worst thing ever and looked up abscessed teeth in children on the Internet. Then I prepared for the worst and headed out. I tried to talk about the dentist all morning so that Sloan would be brave, but that didn't really work out.

When she got into the dentist chair I could tell she was nervous. The dentist was great with her, but she still started to cry when he reached into her mouth. I'm sure she was afraid that he would poke and prod like I had (which he didn't do at all!). He finishes looking after 15 seconds and says this:

"It's teething."

My dumbfounded look must have proven that I required more information and he explained that it was all normal for teething - inflamed gums, really sore, bad breath because the gums are basically rotting away to make room for the tooth, extremely swollen gums because she's been biting down on it, the fever... all of it. Totally normal for teething.

I felt the need to explain to him that she never had any fevers from teething, never this much pain, she always eats, the breath is REALLY bad -you know, trying to defend myself... All normal!

So, at almost three-years-old, her second 2-year-old molar is causing all kinds of trouble in our house. The first one popped in and she had no issues, this second one had even emerged without any problems, but two-weeks later we have problems.

Thankfully, the boy, with his three random teeth, is teething beautifully, but wait, that's just like Sloan did at that age too...

My Girl Can Count

2011-07-22T09:41:00.000-07:00

It's been a little while since she learned to count, but I really wanted to get it on film.

For some background info for this video, I had just been filming Smith giggling his face off and Sloan wanted in on the action... the perfect time to get her to do some tricks!

The reason this was even on my 101 in 1001 is because I know kids who had been counting to 20 before they were two so we had been practicing since that same age, and we couldn't get 1, 2, 3 until she was two-and-a-half. She wasn't interested in what I was trying to force... that's odd!?

She could recognize all 26 letters of the alphabet and recognize numbers 1-9, before she could count to five. Memorizing isn't her thing, but she's quick to learn. Could recognize colours quickly, learned animals sounds quickly, but memorizing a Bible verse? We're still working on her first assignment from last July! She still cannot sing all the words to any song and sadly that is just like me. I can't recall words to any hit songs, but I do know all the words to all the kids songs that we listen to all the time ;) She's getting close to remembering all the words to Twinkle, Twinkle, but not there yet. And same goes for Jesus Loves Me - almost there...

So I'm proud that she can now count... and yes, you did notice that after 13 is 16.

It always is.

Whole Grain Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

2011-07-19T07:30:00.000-07:00

I don't know that the following endorsement will get you excited about making these muffins, but they were also quite tasty...

My little boy was recently on some medication and the side-effects included constipation... luckily with cherries in season, and these muffins in the freezer, we were good to go!

No, I didn't have most of these ingredients, but the bulk section of my grocery store did, and now that I know how much Smith enjoyed them, I would purchase the bigger packages of the ingredients to make them again to keep in my freezer for handy lunches on-the-go.

Whole Grain Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
from www.mairlynsmith.com Makes 12 large muffins

Dry Ingredients
1 cup whole wheat flour
¾ cup wheat bran
¾ cup ground flaxseed
2 tbsp wheat germ
¼ cup chopped dark chocolate; M & M’s baking bits, or mini chocolate chips
1 ½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 Tbsp cinnamon

Wet Ingredients
1 ½ cups mashed banana, approx. 4 really ripe bananas
¾ cup dark brown sugar
¾ cup buttermilk
1 egg

1. Preheat the oven to 400F°. Line a muffin tin with paper cup liners.

2. In a large bowl using a fork or a wire whisk mix together all the dry ingredients: whole wheat flour, wheat bran, flaxseed, wheat germ, chocolate, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon.

3. In a medium bowl beat together all the wet ingredients: mashed banana, brown sugar, buttermilk and egg. The mashed banana really needs to be mixed in well

4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix till just combined.

5. Scoop into muffin cups and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until done. (mine were done at 20 mins)

I made them smaller (medium-sized liners) because I wanted to have just the right size for the kids. If I had one of those mini muffin pans I would probably use that... they'd be the perfect size for little mouths to eat easily.

Birthday Brownie

2011-07-18T10:07:00.000-07:00

Jordan celebrated his 33rd birthday on Saturday. We had tickets to go to the Vancouver Whitecaps game against Real Salt Lake (the Xango sponsored team). We don't like soccer - definitely not to play it, and only World Cup to watch it. But the tickets were given to us, and we thought it would be something interesting to do. Organized a babysitter and we were off for the day.

On our route, we learned that the soccer game was cancelled!? Cancelling professional soccer... seemed odd to me, but we learned that they had just replaced the turf earlier in the week and the ridiculous amounts of rain we had received had turned it into a mess! Plus, Manchester United is apparently coming soon and the field needs to be nice for the out-of-town visitors.

We were dressed to watch a rainy-day game, but we were too vain to spend our time sans kids enjoying a nice lunch in a restaurant dressed in our rain gear. So we went home, and I had to figure out how to make the day a nice birthday for Jordan now that all our plans were cancelled...

I pulled out a recipe I wanted to try and made this:

Chocolate Chip Oreo Brownie Bar.

I used my favourite chocolate chip cookie recipe for the bottom, topped it all off with a layer of Oreo cookies, and then mixed up a box of Brownies and poured it on top. Baked it for 40 minutes and after letting it cool for 30 minutes, we dug in!. And because it seemed like a good idea at the time, I added ice cream and hot fudge on top of the warm dessert. (It was a great idea!!!)

We put a candle on the cake and sang happy birthday. I believe we were each in our own key, but we made it through the song (barely) and Sloan helped blow the candle out.

Low key birthday at home... until Jordan celebrated later when his buddy came over to play video games All. Night. Long.

(The candle is a question mark because although he turned 33, he's still a 12-year-old boy at heart!)

Oh, and PS... cutting the 8x8 pan into 9ths wasn't necessary! Our pieces were about three times too big and we both had to lay on the couch for a while after in order to digest the rich double stacked square! My tummy still hurts just thinking about it...

Someone Got His Hair Cut

2011-07-14T08:57:00.000-07:00

This little boy's hair was getting a little too wispy.

I had already trimmed the sides and it was time to trim the top... and trim I did!

A few people have commented "don't worry, it'll grow back", but I really like it short! I just looked back at a few pictures and it was not good when it was long...

Check this one out:

It isn't a great haircut by me, but using proper clippers will help next time, and I actually like how he looks more like a little boy now... he's growing up.
Now I have to go have a cry...

Happy Canada Day!

2011-07-11T23:03:00.000-07:00

What?! You think that July 11th is too late to post about July 1st? Well, we've had some stuff going on at home and I just haven't found the time to post. Please accept my apologies.

On Canada Day we attended our local parade down Main Street. Jordan said to me during the big event, "I think that next year I'm going to be busy." To which, I replied, "Me too."

Smith was tired of it at the same time that we were. But Sloan really enjoyed it. It's too bad that we couldn't sit right up at the edge (we were more like second row), because then Sloan could have enjoyed more of the candy, balloons and other goodies that were passed out by the volunteers.

Sloan spent most of the parade on my sister's lap (the beautiful girl on the left).

Besides it being a little long, I'm glad we went for two reasons - it was something different to do with the kids, and secondly, I was so proud to be an alumni of MEI, because their marching band rocked! I didn't know anyone in the band, and the band didn't exist when I went there, but it was sooo good. Way to go MEI!

As for if we'll be there next year... most likely...

Easy Strawberry Rhubarb Dessert

2011-07-04T15:15:00.000-07:00

I love Strawberry-Rhubarb pie... well, I love anything that has sugar in it, but strawberry-rhubarb is a good one. I'm not nuts over strawberries normally, give me raspberries any day of the week! But this combo in a pie is Goooooood!

But... I'm not totally into making pie, the crust just takes too long... and I don't have any issues with store-bought dough, but I never have it on hand and then I have to run to the store to get it, and since my market that I normally shop at doesn't have it, it means I have to go to the grocery store instead, and it's just a hassle. But crumbles, I have all those ingredients on hand all the time!

This was so good! I like my crumbles to have lots of crumble, so I usually double the recipe for the topping, but this one, I made the amount called for it was perfect. It was crunchy, and sweet and then topped with ice cream!?!?!?! WOW!

Make this soon.

Strawberry Rhubarb Crunch

1 cup white sugar

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

3 cups sliced fresh strawberries

3 cups diced rhubarb

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup rolled oats

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Place strawberries, rhubarb, white sugar and 3 tablespoons flour into 9x13 pan and stir until well coated.

3. Mix 1 1/2 cups flour, brown sugar, butter, and oats until crumbly. Crumble on top of the rhubarb and strawberry mixture.

4. Bake 45 minutes in the preheated oven.

Serve with ice cream. And enjoy!

(Featured on Sweet as Sugar Cookies site.)

A Birthday Here!

2011-06-26T22:38:00.000-07:00

Smith will be ONE on Wednesday. First of all, how did this happen? where did the last year go? Secondly, we had a great time celebrating his first year with our families. Thanks to all of you who made a great effort to make it to the party! Everyone in our immediate families was able to make an appearance at the big event.

In typical grandparent fashion, Sloan also received a gift at the party. She was pretty pumped for all the excitement!

I found a great idea from a blog about her son's one year old party. I thanked her for the download of the party hats and copied the idea. (Her party WAY outshines my kid's but I'm just not as crazy as she is!) Aren't they great?! Everyone loved them.

Smith loved his new toys! A ride on dump truck, a rockin' John Deere, a toy lawnmower (that someone else small is REALLY enjoying), a Melissa & Doug barn set, a Little People parking garage set-up and some new clothes. He was spoiled!

I love his hair in this pic:

I was busy making mojitos with our overgrowing mint supply, organizing the condiments and making sure my bbq-ing brother had cheese for the patties that I forgot to get photos of everything! So frustrating when you remember after everyone left... But thankfully my F-I-L took this one of us - we're not all looking, but it's the best I could get!

Then Smith got his cupcake.

That's what happy looks like!

A successful party that everyone seemed to enjoy. It's really nice when both families get along so well that we can do one big party with both the in-laws and out-laws! Easy and fun... good times!

The Nursery

2011-06-20T07:52:00.000-07:00

# 87 - Find a way to serve at my church of 101 in 1001 goals.

Our church is large. If you want to go unnoticed, it's large enough to be forgotten. If you want to just show up on the weekend to attend the service and go home, it's large enough to just blend in. If you want to find a program for you to fit into, it's large enough to offer lots of different programs... For example, the womens ministry is great, as is the childrens ministry. If you want to serve, there are lots of places to serve... but you have to find the one that you want to serve in.

I knew that I wanted to get involved, but I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. I know what my natural tendencies are, and I also know my weaknesses so I wasn't super keen on doing some of the more obvious choices for service. Ushering is not something that comes easily to me; I can't say that greeting everyone and trying to find seats for latecomers is my favourite thing to do. I know that service isn't always about what you want to do, but I thought that if I could find something I could cheerfully do, that would be best!

So I volunteered for the nursery. I've been using it for the past three years, so it seems like the appropriate place to serve. Because it's a large structured church, there are requirements to serve with children - criminal record check, for example. I thought it would be a hassle to go to the police station to have it completed, but it wasn't nearly as much of a problem.

Three weeks ago, my paperwork was finally approved so I was given the opportunity to help out in the nursery. It was a great experience. I now know how much respect needs to be given to those who spend two hours with 20 kids under two... it's not easy! Especially if one of the kids starts to cry! It sets off a chain reaction and there's no control over what happens next...

The next week at church, the bulletin noted that they needed a new nursery supervisor for the service we attend. A supervisor is the one who checks in the babies and makes sure that there are enough volunteers, deals with the parents, etc... you know? General supervising.

So I signed up for that too! I shadowed a supervisor last weekend, and I loved it. I'm really excited to finally be getting involved with my church and be part of it. If you go to our church, and you make it there early enough to get your kid into the nursery in time, I may be the one there... once each month, at least.

What kind of things do you do to be involved in your church?

Mamma Gina's

2011-06-16T10:38:00.000-07:00

On an evening in Palm Springs, we had the opportunity to go out for dinner with our friends. I did some online research into some of the restaurants that looked interesting. Firecliff in Palm Desert looked good but with some of the meals ranging from $30-$35 we thought we were paying a little too much for ambience and not enough for great food. The La Quinta Cliff House looks very neat - it's built right into the hillside - so we looked it up, but again, prices were high and since we've actually heard in the past that it wasn't all that spectacular, we declined. We were about to book a reservation at Firecliff, when I looked once more at the recommended restaurants on Trip Advisor.

Mamma Gina's Ristorante stood out, although I didn't see it previously. Prices sounded reasonable, we love Italian, it looked like a nice ambience and it was on El Paseo so we thought we could walk around for a bit before or after dinner. I called and all they had available for that night was 8:00 pm - the exact time we had hoped to eat!

When we found the place we were happy with our choice, and the boys were especially happy when they saw the masterpiece who was sitting nearby us...

The man looked like a gangster straight out of the Sopranos! Imagine a 5'10" tall Martin Scorsese with white hair; white patent leather dress shoes, white pants, gold belt, white half-unbuttoned dress shirt, large gold chain with a dramatic cross hung around his neck and heavy rimmed glasses told us that we didn't want to mess with him. If it wasn't enough, he talked in such a LOUD voice that we could basically hear his entire conversation. We couldn't hear his wife or friends as much but since he dominated the conversation it didn't matter.

Some of the things that we heard him ask his table-mates were, "Do you remember when you made your first million?" and "When did you first get laid?"

Meanwhile, we TRIED to carry on a conversation but the boys were so enthralled with listening to this guy talk that we really couldn't. I tried to talk with my friend but since us girls were closer to the loud talker, we kept giggling when we heard him say these things!

But when our food came, our thoughts drifted from this neighbouring table, on to our tantalizing food in front of us. My gnocchi was incredible. (Sitting here writing this I can feel my mouth watering!) I love gnocchi and this was soft, flavourful and melty - everything I love in gnocchi. I forgot to mention, the bread that was delivered to our table shortly after sitting down was SO good. Fresh made foccacia with tomatoes on top... and since we polished it off so fast, we got another basket that we didn't finish in order to leave room for the meal.

And when our friend also asked for the fresh shaved parmesan cheese on his meal, the waiter said in his heavy Italian accent, "No. The Carbonara already has cheese. Parmesan will wreck the flavour." You knew you were in the presence of real Italians who really knew what they were cooking!

The food was so good. I am pretty convinced that the next time we are in the PS area, we will be hitting up this restaurant again.

If you go to the Palm Springs area, go to this Restaurant. It was so good!

(One of my 101 in 1001 goals is to try 5 new restaurants, this is number 2.)

#100 - Take a Cooking Class

2011-06-15T08:51:00.000-07:00

Back in April, I was a student at the Mennonite Girls Can Cook zweiback and paska cooking class at Lepp Farm Market.

I have made zweiback before using a MGCC recipe, but I have never made paska. Paska is a Mennonite sweet bread covered in icing that us Mennos eat at Easter time. I'm not sure why we only eat it at Easter because it's so good that we should eat it more often! Everyone thinks that their grandma makes it the best, and true to form, I think my grandma's is the best. She doesn't add citrus fruits to her recipe and really, the bread isn't all that flavourful. But she makes up for it in lightness, fluffiness and icing - pure DELICIOUSNESS!

Most Menno ladies form the paska into a loaf pan, or as the the MGCC ladies used: muffin tins. Great idea... but my grandma makes hers in old coffee tins, and then slices them up into 1" thick round pieces of bread, and then covers the entire slice in icing... the icing to bread ratio is much higher. Thus, equalling a better paska!

But the deciding factor for the bestness of my grandma's paska is that she rests the paska on pillows after she bakes them so that they are light and fluffy when they cool. Yep, pillows! How can one compete with that? That's why my grandma is the best!!

Anyway, back to the cooking class.

The MGCC girls were gracious.

The food was delicious.

There was an opportunity to try your hand at pinching zweiback... my girl-friends had a try. I didn't. I told them it was because I had made them recently so I didn't need to practice, but really I just didn't want them to heckle me like I did to them!

My favourite to watch was my cousin Carrie and her Oma. Oma has a unique technique for creating the buns - rolling them rather than pinching... but they turned out just as smooth and round.

It was a very fun evening. I would definitely take another class. It was a nice evening out with friends while eating good food and learning something too. Try a class... you'd probably enjoy it too.

A Mouse in the House

2011-06-14T08:39:00.000-07:00

Sunday was a beautiful day. We went to church, came home, ate lunch, worked in the garden for a bit, put the kids to bed, watered the garden and then went to watch Jordan play touch football. Throughout the day the front door and patio door were open at different times. After the football game, Jordan gave the floor a quick vacuum from the abundance of crumbs and we prepared for our dinner guests. These are new friends to us, so although we were having a casual meal of barbecued hamburgers, we still wanted to appear that we have clean floors...

Texas, our cat, was playing around in the front coat closet while Jordan was vacuuming and in frustration with the cat, he locked him in. He opened it shortly later and the cat ran outside. (He's an outside cat, so this is normal...)

After dinner, we had put our kids to bed and were enjoying our evening. After Sloan had been asleep for a couple hours, she woke up suddenly, quite upset about something. I went upstairs to console her, but she wanted to come out of her room (nightmare or something...) Our friends/neighbours were packing up to walk back home while Tex was slowly sauntering back home. Once the cat got inside he started sniffing all over the ground at the front door. Three of the kids coats were laying on the ground and he was nosing around in them and quite obviously looking for something...

I was still holding Sloan and asked Jordan if he thought that maybe there was a mouse in the house. He replied that he was just thinking the same thing. He carefully picked up the three coats, and found nothing. Then he opened the front closet and started to carefully pick up the slippers and toys on the ground. Meanwhile, I was still cuddling Sloan on the couch.

Then Jordan broke the silence with a sudden, "Yep! There's a mouse in here! There it is." I quickly pulled my feet up on the couch while Jordan called Texas. Texas was confused and thought he was in trouble so he ran out the open front door... not the plan at all!

Jordan grabbed the cat's treats and shook them to signal Tex that he should come back to rescue us! I took Sloan up the stairs and watched from the landing while Jordan coaxed the cat back in the house. While walking past the open closet with Sloan in my arms her fingers and legs clenched onto my body. The tone of our voices and the quickness of our responses signalled to her that this was something to be afraid of.

Texas saw the mouse this time and the chase began! All over the living room. Then the mouse got under the couch... and somehow, this wonderful cat of ours, grabbed the mouse in his mouth and headed out of the living room. The front door was wide open, but why would he go outside when he had a mouse inside!?!?! Instead he headed into the basement with Jordan in close pursuit. I wasn't about to venture away from my safe stairs, but I could hear Jordan talking to Tex while in the basement.

"Come here Tex!"

"No! Don't let him go!"

"Tex! Get him!"

"What are you doing Tex? Get him!"

"Ang! Open the door. I'm coming!"

The front door was already open and up came Jordan with the mouse in a dustpan and broom sandwich. Tex was hot on his heels and meowing for his toy back. Jordan chucked the mouse out into the front yard and Tex ran after him.

We were safe!

The thoughts that went through my mind after the ordeal was over were 1) I'm glad our friends were already home! 2) This mouse was in my house with my kids earlier in the day... Had Smith seen it and thought, "Cool. What's that?" and 3) What if we hadn't found it and Tex chased it all night and we woke up in the morning to a "gift" at our bedroom door? GROSS!

I don't like my cat very often. He kinda drives me crazy. But Sunday night? Very thankful to have a cat!

Random 101s Completed

2011-06-13T07:45:00.000-07:00

I reviewed my 101 in 1001 list and noticed that I have completed some of the goals, but I don't have any elaborate comments that require an entire post. So here are some that are done:

#14 Get an updated version of Photoshop.
I hat 7.0 and I now have CS3. It's no CS5, but it's fine for what I am doing! I am SO relieved. In the meantime, while I had this new computer and no Photoshop on it, I was using GIMP, which is freeware that is pretty comparable to PS, but I still had to relearn how to do things that were really easy to me before. Even cropping was a challenge at first. But now that PS is back on my computer, I am happy again!

#18 Go on a picnic.
We do this often now that the weather is getting warmer. I think we've been on five in the last couple months. The only catch is that we go to a park, and it's REALLY hard to get the almost-three-year-old to focus on food when there are swings nearby!

#19 Create recipe cards for Lepp Farm Market.
This one wasn't really me... our marketing company designed them, we have a chef that creates the recipes, and I just do the upkeep of formatting. But hey, I didn't know that would be the case when I set the goal, and I do what I can to keep the recipe cards alive... so hey. I call it a check-mark!

#73 Sweep the floors twice a week for one month.
What was I thinking with this goal? Seriously??? I probably sweep or vacuum the floors four times a week. I really don't know what I was thinking with this one! When you have children that eat, you need to clean the floors regularly. Then when you have another child who is crawling on that floor, you need to clean them so that the crumbs don't get eaten up. So yes, this one was completed a LONG time ago!

#81 Delete games on my iPod.
Done a while ago too. There was one game that I was holding on to: Words with Friends. It is a great game of scrabble with people you know. It was addicting, but once I stopped watching insane amounts of TV, stopped playing the other games on the iPod and basically found other things to do, I didn't even remember my Words with Friends games, and so, all the games were deleted. It simplified my life. I like it better this way.

There are a few more that are complete, but I have photos and details, so I will make separate posts for them... coming soon.

Hat for Me

2011-06-10T07:21:00.000-07:00

#96 of my 101 in 1001 goals is to wear a hat in public. I do regularly lately. It's not as cool as I hoped, but this is more useful than what I was maybe intending when I set the goal.

I bought it in Palm Springs with the intention that I could wear it when I'm out with the kids at the park and need some head coverage. I've worn it often!

The only problem is that it's tough to fit the hat and the sunglasses at the same time and if it's really sunny, this blue-eyed girl needs to wear my glasses too. If I do wear both, in order for it to be comfortable, I look like this:

Awesome, huh?

A Craft for Your Extra Buttons

2011-06-09T14:21:00.000-07:00

I'm one of those people who saves every extra little button that I get from a new shirt, a pair of pants or a coat; even if it's from a new shirt for the 11-month-old boy, I save it too. Needless to say, when you take almost nine-years of marriage and lots of new clothes, it equals a LOT of buttons. I didn't actually count, but 200 would probably be in the ballpark.

Through some internet surfing a few months ago, I found a great idea for what to do with all these extra buttons I had accumulated.

First, I got my supplies:

Buttons

Hot glue gun

Carbon paper

Heavy cardstock

Brads, assorted sizes and matching colours

Straight pin

Shadow box frame

I printed a giant letter D on my computer. I don't remember what font I used... possibly Perpetua Titling MT, and the font size was probably 700pts. Resist the urge to print it in Bold.

Then, I purchased Carbon Paper and used it to transfer the letter onto my paper. This was my first time using carbon paper and I found it pretty easy to work with, but I was very careful not to smudge it or accidentally move it around. I traced just inside the edges of the letter so that there was plenty of room to cover up my lines with buttons and brads. This is why it's not necessary to print the letter in Bold... you can make it bold with your button choices.

I started with the large buttons first, and then filled in the places with the smaller ones. I wanted to be sure I got to use any of the funkier ones I had so I used those ones first. Then I started hot glue gunning them on. Because I used one of the Benjamin Moore 18x18 colour swatches, I found that the glue didn't stick particularly well, but when I took a straight pin and scratched up the surface a bit, they stuck great. You'll find that on cardstock they will stick perfectly!

After I had used as many buttons as I wanted, I finished it off by filling any gaps with brads. I had bought all different sizes (mostly sparkly) to really finish it off. The brads helped with a few things... making the edges more defined by filling in the gaps, and holding the buttons on. I found it very helpful to use a straight pin to poke a starter hole through the paper, and then poke the brad through.

All that was left to do was frame it. Pretty much the day I completed it, I drove out to Ikea and picked up the 24" shadowbox for $19.99. Because I'm frugal, $20 was more than I wanted to spend, but since the rest of the craft cost about $4 for some brads, I sucked it up and bought the frame.

When I turned the framed picture over, I noticed that I hadn't quite cleaned my counter off enough and a little bit of jam was on the matting! I opened it back up, tried to wipe it clean, smudged it a bit more, and then decided to turn the matting right over. As it turns out, the other, less-finished side of the matting is actually white, not "Ikea White" and I was much happier with the result.

I already knew where I was going to put my new craft: next to our front door. The pictures we had there are neat - I took them when we were in Italy in 2006. But, hanging off just a plain nail meant that they were constantly crooked, and one had already fallen off and the glass had shattered and I hadn't replaced the glass - it was looking a little rough.

So now it looks like this:

Total time requirement: 2 hours.

This is one of five that I have made but the others are gifts, so I can't show them on this blog, just yet... But I can tell you this, don't leave your two-year-old daughter alone with the half-completed project: the buttons can be ripped off pretty easily by little fingers!

In My Heart

2011-06-08T13:39:00.000-07:00

I looked at Sloan's take home paper from church, and they were learning about Acts 16 - when Lydia becomes a Christian. It doesn't fully explain the conversation I had with Sloan on Sunday night before bed.

She hadn't been behaving when she was in the bath (throwing toys, not getting out when I asked her to, getting the floor soaking wet, etc.) so I told her that she wouldn't be getting a bedtime story if she wasn't going to listen to me. Jammies were on and I was about to pray when she started to cry that she wanted a story. I told her that she wasn't listening so there was no story... but because I'm a big softy I got suckered in and told her that I would read one story from her Bible because she needed to learn about Jesus.

She asked for "Mary", so I read the children's version of the birth of Baby Jesus. After the VERY short story I tucked her back into bed and we prayed that Jesus would help her to listen and obey and that she would have a soft heart to be kind to Baby Smith - these are what every prayer has in them when you have a 2-year-old! After she said 'Amen', the following thoughts came pouring out in her little voice while I cuddled with her for a minute:

Jesus and Mary are in my heart

What does my heart say? Bump-bump?

You listen to my heart, Mom?

What does your heart say? Bump-bump like my's? My heart is in my tummy?

Jesus is in my tummy. Nooooo.... Jesus is in my heart!

Is Jesus in your heart?

Him's always in my heart.

You love Jesus, Mom? I love Jesus.

Jesus not scary, he's our friend. I talk about Jesus in my room.

Good night, Mom. I love you too.

I was all smiles.

The next morning she told me about the cross in her room where Jesus is, and again that he was in her heart. Then she wanted to read my Bible with me, so I read the passage I was studying... she seemed bored and asked for Mary instead.

I understand now that it is going to be a wonderful day when this little girl understands what it means to have Jesus is in her heart!

A New Hat

2011-06-06T07:56:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago, I made some online purchases at Gap.ca and ChildrensPlace.ca. I love Gap but usually can't rationalize their clothes for my kids - I just don't see the point in purchasing a $38 dress for a 2-year-old. Sure, the quality is awesome and the styles are cute, but it's just too much money for something the kids so quickly grow out of. But there was a promotion of 20% off Sale stuff so I bought the few things that I had been eyeing up for a while: mostly stuff for the boy.

Then I visited The Children's Place new Canadian site and spend some more cash on stuff, but this time the Girl got most of the goods. A skirt, some tops, and a couple pairs of shoes. Everything was about $6 each! (By the way, the stuff came less than two days later... FAST shipping, but I did order on the very first day they offered Canadian shipping...)

The best reaction came when I unsealed the Gap box and told Sloan to open it up and see what was in the box. She let out a huge GASP and said, "What's this Mom? A cowboy hat for me?!?"

I replied that it was for Smith for next year, but that she could wear it for a while...

The fact that it's not ACTUALLY a cowboy hat at all, doesn't really matter to her.

She was pumped! And the best part happened the next day when we watched Toy Story 3 and when Woody appeared, she gasped, "I need my cowboy hat!" Ran upstairs to find it and wore it for the rest of the movie. Awesome!

I did give it to the little old man to try on, but he would have none of it.

He was all about shaking it wildly in his hands.

Hopefully by next year he'll learn to appreciate the awesomeness of his cool sun hat.

Trained

2011-06-02T21:55:00.000-07:00

On January 5th I last posted about the dreaded parenting task of Potty Training. Well, I guess there COULD be parents out there who enjoy potty training, but I've never met one of them, and if I ever do, I'd have a list of people who would be putting their child on the next bus to their house!

I despise potty training. First, I'm not very patient (working on that), second, I don't like cleaning up or touching pee or poop (who does?) and third, I don't really know what I'm doing.

In December we started potty training and after two solid months of trying to make it work, I had very few successes. Over the two months, it had only happened once that she told me that she had to go pee. Otherwise it was just because we were going out somewhere so she needed to go on the toilet before we left the house, or it was before a nap, or before bed... We didn't have a TONNE of accidents but enough to make me crazy a few days. Everyone would say, "It will just click one day!" After two months and no clicking, one day I just said, "I'm done."

Jordan came home from work and I told him that we were back in diapers and there was to be NO talk whatsoever of the potty. No offering the potty. Nothing. If she asked - fine. But we wouldn't offer. And the next day was the happiest day EVER. Sloan was relaxed, her nervous twitch she had developed was gone and I was happier! The best thing I ever did (in regards to potty training).

After a few weeks, we started to ask before bed, and that was it. She usually said no and we never pushed it. At the end of March (almost two months later), she told me one day that she had to go poop. We went to the toilet and she did her business. The next day the exact same thing happened. And later that same day, again! (Most kids are #2 trained after mastering #1, but not my kid.) I called Jordan for advice: was I missing the boat if I didn't jump at this? We agreed that it was time since she seemed to be interested, and sure enough we caught the boat...

After the first week and a few pee filled pants, I realized that my child was a stubborn one. (Ha, that implies that I never knew it before, which isn't true.) I'm not a believer in spanking for potty training because I believe that part of it is a biological thing - if she isn't able to biologically control her bladder why should I punish her for it? But I realized that she was able to control the bladder muscles and she knew EXACTLY what to do to force a pee. She had for the last six months...

So this time, I told her that if she peed in her pants she would get a (gasp) spanking. I had to spank three times and I haven't had any accidents at home since.* She just needed some "motivation" to keep her pants dry and chocolate, stickers, suckers, toys, TV shows, computer games or special time didn't do it for her.

I still don't think that spanking for potty training is the best route, but we had missed the first sailing of this boat and in order to get it back on track we needed some big waves.

The moral of the story: Don't miss the boat, and every kid is different. I REALLY hope that #2 is easier!

The End.

*She has had a few accidents when we were in new situations: once at Walmart while looking at toys, a couple with others who were babysitting and they forgot to ask her at opportune times...

* This was one of my goals! Yeah... another one done!

Back to Basics

2011-05-30T22:34:00.000-07:00

These tomatoes have nothing to do with this post: I just wanted to showcase the beautiful heirloom tomatoes that we have been enjoying over the last few weeks. I had never tried them before and they're really good! Especially the little green guys in the background. They are similar to cherry tomatoes in size, but they are meatier... less juice, but more flavour. I thought they were fabulous!

This post is actually about power. We had no power from 10:30am - 1:30pm on Monday. We received a notice from the Hydro company on Wednesday last week that our power would be turned off for a period of time ranging from 20 minutes to five hours on Thursday, Friday, Monday or Tuesday. The notice explained that they were upgrading the power services so it was necessary but they would be as fast as possible.

I read the notice, and threw it into the recycling. No Big Deal.

Monday morning, I finished my workout at 10:00 am, hopped into the shower with Sloan while Smith was still snoozing. When I went into the walk-in closet to get dressed at 10:30 and flipped the light switch, nothing happened. At first I thought that we just needed to replace the bulb but we had just done that a couple months ago... and then it dawned on me: the notice.

Oh well, get dressed in the dark closet: No Problem, the five foot window in the adjoining bathroom lets in lots of light. After we were both dressed, chatting about what to get at Costco, I realized that I wasn't getting out of the garage until the power came back on. I hoped it would be quick, as did Sloan. When my two-year-old knows we're going somewhere, we had better go there!

At 11:30, and still stuck at home, the kids started to whine for lunch. No microwave meant no warmed-up leftovers. But the handy-dandy box of KD would work on the gas stove... my mistake! Without power there's no spark. I guess that I COULD have grabbed a match but the smell of natural gas was too frightening for me. We ended up "surviving" with crackers, cheese, apple sauce, yogurt and granola bars for lunch.

Then came nap time: how do you warm up a bottle of milk for a child? Sure, tap water is hot-ish, but is it hot enough to actually warm up the bottle of cold milk? As it turns out, yes it is. I just had to replace the hot water from the hot water bath a couple of times in order for the bottle to be hot enough for this temperature-picky boy.

Put both kids to bed and five minutes later, the power came back on. I felt very resourceful during this three-hour outage, but I'm really hoping that it doesn't go off again tomorrow... one day is enough.

* I've had a few people offer advice about how to open a garage door when the power is off, and I know about the red pull cord, it's just that our garage doesn't have any windows so it's pitch black in there, and I'd need a ladder to reach the cord, so I'd have to climb through the dark to get the ladder. Plus then the garage isn't locked while you're gone. I just figured it was better to stay home. Yes, we were bored, but we survived it.

Books for Moms

2011-05-30T10:22:00.000-07:00

I just recently read two GREAT books and I have to recommend them to anyone who enjoys reading!

The Midwife of Venice, by Roberta Rich, takes place in 1575, and it's about a Jewish midwife who is called on to help a Christian woman who is struggling during childbirth. It's against the law for both the midwife and the family, but she can't resist helping someone in need. If something was to go wrong during the birth she would be held responsible... Meanwhile, her husband is on a ship to Malta to work on some new business deal when his boat is captured by pirates and he is sold into slavery. She needs to save this man who has chosen to love her through thick and thin. I loved the story! This was a great mix of two of my favourites: I LOVE Venice and I've always liked a good midwife story. (Two other midwives tales I liked were Midwives, by Chris Bohjalian, and The Midwife: A Memoir, by Jennifer Worth.)

Secret Daughter, by Shilpi Somaya Gowda, is about two simultaneous stories: a new mother in India who is forced to give her newborn daughter up for adoption and a doctor-couple in San Francisco who are struggling to get pregnant. By now, you've guessed how their lives will be intertwined... and you're probably on the right track. At 20-years-old, the daughter gets the chance to go back to India, for the first time, and stay with her adoptive father's family. While there she truly learns of her heritage... and secretly searches for her birth parents. I enjoyed the story of love from the two mothers towards the daughter they both love.

I've read a number of other stories about India and Secret Daughter was my favourite. A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry was too depressing, which I realize is the point of the book, but it was just too much for me. The Space Between Us by Thrity Umrigar was very good also, in fact a large portion of Secret Daughter really reminded me of this one. Because of the vivid descriptions in both of these books, it's hard for me to know if it was Secret Daughter that described them well, or if I already knew what the countryside looked like, what the slums smelled like and what the food tasted like...

On another side note, I also recently read The Secret Lives of Dresses by Erin McKean, and although I enjoyed it at the time (while on the pool deck in Palm Springs), it seems very shallow when compared to these other tales. So if you are looking for an enjoyable, easy read, it's fairly entertaining. The main character is in college, so keep that in mind for the type of story it will be.

Now... for what to pick up and start reading now...

Pancakes

2011-05-27T06:29:00.000-07:00

It's hard to say for sure, but I think he liked his chocolate-chip pancake.

He probably loved them as much as I did...

(You should have seen the chocolate all over my face!)

Late Easter

2011-05-26T15:23:00.000-07:00

So what if it's a month late... don't worry about it! :)

A month ago... wow! I can't believe I'm this behind on posting about our trip to Palm Springs! I was just searching through my folders and found these keepers from Easter Sunday. We had just gone to church, came back to eat brunch, took some family photos and then finally let the kids search for their Easter treats.

Don't mind my daughter the model...

Oh, another egg in the garden!

Sloan gave one of her finds to her buddy, and then he reached over and stuck one of his treats in her Easter basket. They are so kind to one another... when they feel like it!

The best option of the three 2-year-olds:

Oh... there goes the model again... seeing if there were any more chocolates that she missed!

I had to add this one of her decorating her Easter eggs because there's a funny little story with it. I never make hard-boiled eggs - or any kind of eggs, really because I don't actually like eggs. Mix them with flour, sugar, and chocolate and call it a cake or cookies, and I'll eat them! But straight up eggs, I'll pass. This little girl, on the other hand, LOVES eggs (just like her daddy)! So, I made a potato salad the other day while Sloan was "helping" me in the kitchen.

She was holding the cooled hard-boiled eggs while I was cracking and chopping one, when she said, "Oh, I need to get my stickers to put on the eggs." I told her that these ones didn't need stickers because they're not Easter eggs, and she said, "Okay, maybe later."

Love that kid!

Little Old Man

2011-05-24T09:17:00.000-07:00

Smith is not a thinker like Sloan is (and yes, she was a thinker by his age). He is a smiley little boy who is at one of my favourite ages (I know that I say that at every age, but really each stage has such wonderful things about them).

This one is fun because his world has just gotten so much bigger - crawling around to discover, walking in the walker, reaching things on the couch and coffee tables. He's aware of things around him and not just things that are in his immediate eyesight. He loves to play peek-a-boo and when the cat disappears into another room, he is on the move to find him!

While we were in Palm Springs, this was his hangout:

When the landscapers came to weed, pool-boy came to skim the pool, or greens-keepers were moving the hole, he was interested in looking out the window at the world all around him.

Yes, it's just like a little old man... but at least he's not one of the grouchy ones who yell at little kids near him, he's more of the drooly type in the old-folks home that reaches out to grab you as you walk past. He just wants to be friends with you!

And I want to be friends with him.

My Thinker

2011-05-19T08:05:00.000-07:00

Sloan's a thinker. I would say that she always has been...

And part of being a thinker like she is, is that she doesn't smile much. (I've mentioned it before, I know.)

In fact, in picking her up from Sunday School the other day, the teacher said to me, "Sloan is such a funny girl."

So I asked what she did that was so funny. The teacher said, "I've never met a kid who is... so... sober. She is just so serious!"

I tried not to be hurt, because it's was not meant to be a hurtful statement, but I feel like people just don't know my kid. She is a thinker, and an observer, but she is so fun! She is a goof at home, and she is the first to tell us. She'll do something silly and then she says, "I'm a big goofer!"

Get her around Uncle James and she's crazy! Jumps all over him, runs around like a little nut and tells him to chase her - the smiles don't come off her face! But in group settings she's just very serious. I would have said that it's in "new places", but she's been going to church twice-a-week for the past eight months, so church is not a new setting.

Apparently she's just like me as a kid. A serious observer and thinker. And there is nothing wrong with that!

The Thing about Accountability

2011-05-17T08:50:00.000-07:00

A while ago I mentioned that I had joined Weight Watchers and had lost my goal of 18lbs. And then I also posted about how memorizing verses in the Bible had really transformed me. I was doing really good then. Watching what I put into my body - in more than one way!

The thing about telling others what you are up to is that there is automatticaly this form of accountability, which is actually why I chose to share the information. I thought that if I knew I had shared so honestly with you, that I would keep on, keepin' on because I didn't want to let you down (even though it's kinda unlikely that you would tell me that I let you down).

Well, it didn't really work out that way... well, I guess it sorta did. I started to fall off the WW bandwagon when we went on holidays. I just wasn't really all that concerned about eating a lunch of Doritos and water, or eating gelato for dessert. I did want to enjoy myself while I was sitting in the sun. Also while on vacation, I didn't have the regular routine of waking up 30-minutes before the kids to do my Bible reading and memorizing. (This happens when your kids decide that it's cool to wake up at 5:45am while on holidays.)

So, because I was sliding backwards, and feeling guilty about it, I kinda avoided this blog... I didn't really know what to write about because in the back of my mind was this idea that I had let you (and me) down so I didn't know what to say. I wasn't even sure what was interesting to write about because what if whatever I said wasn't true for long again.. I didn't want to tell you about how awesome I was, because it sure wasn't true!

But in my course that I'm taking at our church, I was honest with myself and the ladies in my small group and then I felt the release of being honest. I'm not perfect. I confessed that I was sliding and I was suffering for it. And after doing that I had some great devotions and prayer time and I'm feeling better about everything! And that my friends, is why I've been on a bit of a hiatus.

I promise that next time I'm feeling embarrassed, guilty and lonely, I will just let you know. I won't avoid and withdraw which tends to be my first tendency...

Next time, I will try to do better. (That's kinda my motto, these days.)

Children's Museum, Palm Desert

2011-05-15T22:36:00.000-07:00

Before we went to Palm Springs, we had heard about the great Children's Museum in Palm Desert. So I looked it up online and it looked pretty good... They mentioned the Police Bike, a mini grocery store, and dress-up - things that my daughter would enjoy. I thought that the three kidlets, at 2-years-old, may be a little young for some of the stuff, and I was right. But that didn't stop them. Even though we had to explain what they were supposed to do at each little station, they seemed to really enjoy Discovering what the stations did.

This one was an archaeologist station where the kids would use tools to brush away the dirt and find fossils in the sand... She didn't understand that part, but aren't the hat and goggles adorable! (This is one of my favourite pictures from the trip.)

Dr. Sloan, Vetrinarian.

Her "favourite thing" was painting an old VW Bug. She would have stayed there for hours if we would have let her. She loves painting on a good day, but painting a CAR! Are you serious!?!? Awesome.

The police motorcycle. Unfortunately it didn't have a button to turn the siren on, but it was neat for her to feel safe enough to sit on it.

And the mini Pizza Parlour. The kids could make felt pizza, ring it in through the cash register, pay with money and pretend to eat at the little tables. My daughter, on the other hand, thought the little bell next to the cash register was the coolest part of the Parlour!

She seemed to enjoy our hour-and-a-half at the Children's Discovery Museum of the Desert, and it's not that she learned a lot but it was something different to try while on holidays last month.

For $8 per person, I don't think we will all be going back next year... BUT they offer a Toddler time in the morning so I think we would sign her up for that. I think the Toddler Time was $10 for 90 minutes... sounds like Mom and Dad could go get a coffee and the kids can play with the teachers - sounds like a great idea to me!

Awesome Faces

2011-05-09T08:48:00.000-07:00

My son is going through the phase of scrunching up his nose and sniffing over and over again. I remember seeing pictures of my brother doing this same face (which I cannot find!) and I know that Sloan did it too.

It's one of my favourite "stages". All photos look kind of ridiculous... there aren't really any ones of him smiling anymore. Just silly faces.

I actually can do a similar face that Jordan calls my "long frog face." I wish I had a picture of that one....

Hockey Sport

2011-05-05T22:06:00.000-07:00

Sloan calls it "hockey sport". This started because there are MANY sports that are watched in our home, and Jordan would ask Sloan, "what sport is that?" Understandably she started to believe that they all need to have "sport" added to the end.

The other day, my dad told us that he had an extra ticket for Game 2 of the Second Round of Canucks Playoff Hockey and he gave Jordan and I the option to decide who would go. I pulled the "blood card" and got my way! (Unfortunately, the Canucks lost, but I had a nice time with my dad and I enjoyed being part of the towel-waving, loudly-cheering crowd!)

My little point-and-shoot's battery had just died, so we just took a few photos at home before heading to the game.

(not my jersey, but thankful to borrow it)

And the happiest little Canucks fan too!

I just have one little rant to give regarding fans of the Vancouver Canucks. We have a number of friends who HATE the Canucks. As in, they cheer against them. They cheer for anyone who they play against. They actually purposely watch the games, or buy tickets for the games, just to cheer against them - who has time or money for that!?! But the main reason that I hear of why they don't like the home team is because Canucks have fair-weather, bandwagon fans.

Are you serious!? First of all, do you honestly believe that in Calgary or Detroit or Denver that all the fans are just as strongly supportive when the team is losing as when the team is winning? Really? And also, when did it become okay to judge a team because of their fans? Isn't that sort of like judging God because of the "hypocrites" (a.k.a. humans) that follow Him? (Ya, that's right... I said it!)

You know what the funny part of that above rant is... I don't even watch the games on TV. Yes, if I had to choose a team to support it would most-definitely be the Vancouver Canucks, but when the games are on TV, I'm usually doing something else. So, I'm no super fan, but just felt like giving my two cents ;)

But Not Cautious Enough

2011-05-04T18:09:00.000-07:00

Sloan is a cautious kid. We were just in Palm Springs (photos FINALLY were uploaded last night so I'll be posting about it soon...) and while the other 2-year-olds jumped into the pool constantly, Sloan never did. I don't worry about her dancing near the pool, because she's nervous about being too close to it anyway. At 2-and-a-half, she still doesn't know how to lift her feet of the ground to jump.

But then yesterday happened.

We had some friends over for dinner and the game and Sloan and her friend were playing in the playroom. I heard the door SLAM shut and saw Jordan head towards the room. I thought he was going to tell Sloan not to slam the doors, but then next thing I heard was, "We've got a problem here. We've got a problem here. I need some help." So I headed that way, while he headed mine.

I heard the crying first, then saw her face covered in blood.

She was repeating, "I hurt me," in amongst her sobbing. Once her face was all cleaned up I clearly saw the gash in her hairline.

Since both girls were alone in the room, we tried to get to the bottom of the story. Since Sloan openly admitted to hurting herself, she also explained that she was jumping on the couch and hit her head on the table.

So... off to Emergency we went. In the waiting room I took these last two pictures. She had completely stopped crying by this point, and loudly said "Cheese!" as soon as I pulled my camera out. Some other patients waiting for their turn were laughing at her...

Even once it was our turn, and they put the numbing stuff on the gash, she was still in great spirits.

But once the doctor came to start stitching it up, she wasn't cooperative anymore. They used a pillowcase behind her back to keep her arms pinned to her sides, then a nurse held her head steady while the doctor stitched her back together. Although she couldn't feel any pain, she could feel pressure, and when the doctor did inject some freezing, she started to lose it.

I kept it together the entire evening, but I felt myself starting to crack when she was sobbing, "Mommy. Mommy. Mommy." She was staring at me, while I was leaning most of my weight on her body to keep her from thrashing on the table. I had to look away at one point because I didn't want her to see me crying (why, I wonder now - would that even affect her?). It didn't help that the person in the next curtain, was sighing, "Ahhhhh..." while listening to my girl crying away. After the eternity it took to put in the four stitches, she stopped crying.

When the doctor took the mask-thing off, she was like a cow that has just been branded - kicking and thrusting herself upwards so that she could get away from the doctor who just did this horrible thing to her!

Another nurse, who was happy to be the "good-guy" handed my girl a popsicle. Relief.

And on the way home from the hospital, at nine o'clock pm, she asked me, "Did the Doctor kiss it better with his tools?"

Yes, dear. Exactly.

She's fine with them now... in fact, after church this morning (women's group) she told me, "I said, 'Look at my stitches'." Obviously she's forgotten the pain, and is now into showing off her war wounds.

The Royal Wedding

2011-04-29T14:18:00.000-07:00

I truly don't understand the hype leading up to this event. I actually didn't have any desire to watch the wedding... and I'm a "wedding person"! I cry at almost every wedding I go to, and I really love the romance and drama involved with them. But this one: not really interested. First of all, I think William kinda looks like his dad - not attractive! And secondly, I imagined (correctly) that the wedding would be rather boring - six hours of coverage for a wedding ceremony!

But I really didn't want to be the sole person in the world who didn't watch the ceremony, so I set the PVR and watched it this morning. It was beautiful. Kate is a gorgeous and glamorous woman and it was true that you could see the love between them. Her dress was perfect. The little "bridesmaids" were so adorable. And the incredibly long walk up the aisle was every bride's dream.

So, yes, I watched the wedding... all six hours of it. But thanks to the handy-dandy PVR it only took 30 minutes. And one day, when my little girl asks me if I watched the Prince and Princess get married, I can tell her that we both did. She sat right beside me and asked a million questions about the event.

"Where's the princess?"

"Where'd the horses go?"

"What is the prince wearing?"

"What song is it?"

"Where's the boys singing?"

Then she got bored, started whining, and I turned it off.

I still don't understand the media frenzy and hoopla, but I'm glad I got to watch it... I guess.

Change

2011-04-22T14:56:00.000-07:00

I've always thought of myself as someone who likes change. During interviews when I would get the question, "How do you react to change?" I could honestly answer that I enjoyed it. At first I thought it was because I liked watching people squirm, but I discovered that wasn't really the truth. I liked change because it was often for the good. When new policies were coming into place, and they would be beneficial for the team, I would be the first one on board. I could champion those changes.

Thirty has been an changing year. I didn't plan it that way but none-the-less, it happened. First I decided to work on me: trying to change some of my bad habits, and working on making a better version of me. I was waiting for everyone else to change around me, but that's not how things work. I can't count the number of times I've read or heard that if you change yourself, people around you are likely to change. I know this to be true - but it's much more difficult than just "knowing", isn't it? Knowing and doing are different things...

Some of the changes or goals are listed in my 101 in 1001, but some others are bigger than those little goals and are going to take time. I try to remember that it took me 30 years to get to this point, making a change isn't going to happen over night. And even more important than trying to remember that, is remembering that God isn't finished with me yet: "He who began a good work in me will carry it on to completion."

One of the "little" changes was to lose the extra weight I've been carrying for the last while. I needed to make the effort to have self-control. (Who doesn't love a spoonful of peanut butter or Nutella? Or my childhood favourite: spread peanut butter on wax paper, top with melted chocolate chips and freeze. Homemade peanut butter cups. Mmmm...)

Watching too much TV.
Playing too many games on my iPod Touch.
Not doing devotions or spending time with God regularly.
Not spending enough quality time with my kids.

So many changes I've made already, and I still have another four months until I celebrate another birthday. I like to think that at some point I will "arrive" but the truth is that we never do while here on Earth. I will never have it all figured out and I'm starting to be okay with that. All I can do is my best... and I know that even then, I will still be able to do better...

Thirty has been a wonderful year!

And dear young ones in the world, do not be afraid of 30 - it's been my best year to date... even better than 21!

Moving Backwards

2011-04-21T10:16:00.000-07:00

My prediction is that the boy will be crawling by the end of April. He is so close! Gets up on all fours and rocks, but then when he gets back onto his tummy again, he is farther backwards than where he started.

He kinda got himself stuck into a corner.

Nobody puts Baby in a corner!

Except Baby.

He can do basically anything he wants...

Wonderful World of Disney

2011-04-15T07:47:00.000-07:00

When I was a kid, I remember watching the CBC special every Sunday night. I'm sure it was the first way I saw some of those Disney classics. And I looked forward to it every week. I didn't know that it was still running! I'm not sure if it's every Sunday because I've tried to find it before and hadn't.

A few weeks ago we saw that Bolt was on and we started watching it with Sloan. She loved it! The story was cute... about animals, which I think most 2-year-olds like. And I admit, I teared up a little bit near the end. (I often do in Disney movies.)

So this week when we saw that The Incredibles was on, we taped it again. Sloan was enthralled. There's a bit more action in The Incredibles, meaning that there were moments when Sloan curled up a little bit closer and said "its too scary". I wasn't sure if she was able to follow what was going on - not that she showed signs of misunderstanding but because I doubt if two-year-olds can follow these things.

But near the end of the movie, I saw that she was catching on.

The Parr family has just returned home after defeating the crazy ball-robot-monster thing, and realize that Jack Jack is with a new babysitter. They run into the house to see Buddy/Syndrome holding their baby. He proceeds to jet through the roof and takes the screaming Jack Jack with him towards his rocket in the sky.

It was then that Sloan's eyes welled up with tears and with a whimpering voice she asked, "Where's the baby?"

We quickly told her that the baby was fine, and thankfully, right then Mr. Incredible threw Elastigirl into the air and she retrieved her littlest child. Sloan was relieved! The baby was back with the mama.

I guess she understands a bit more than I thought...

A Closet

2011-04-12T14:48:00.000-07:00

I'm super busy. I have 800 things that have to be done to prepare for the Birthday Celebration at Lepp Farm Market this weekend. And the rest of the week isn't looking any less stressful. So, while I am sitting here and supposed to be getting a handle on the stress, I'm surfing the Web...

I found a link to a cool site yesterday and I had a great time wasting an hour while I looked at all the recommended clothes.
http://aclosetthatworks.blogspot.com/

Basically, Amy (the writer) has created Polyvore "pages" that she posts to her blog. I had heard of Polyvore before and thought it was cool, but I'm too busy to create my own pages... for now... But I'm not too busy to look at Amy's creations.

Here is an example of a photo she posted. The image is called Buds and Bunches.

Wearing Today - Buds and Bunches by amy's closet featuring slim fit jeans

I want those shoes, and that top, and the jeans are cute, and if I didn't have to carry diapers, a potty seat and wipes with me everywhere I go, I would get the purse too.

The description of what "A Closet that Works" does sounds pretty cool:

Go through your current closet with you, evaluating what works and what does not.

Discuss what needs to be replaced or added to your closet to make it work. Together we'll make a comprehensive wishlist of clothes, accessories, and shoes.

Shop - either together, or we can shop for you and bring the new pieces to your home or office. We'll return what doesn't work. We are committed to staying within your budget, so we may make a wishlist, and add new items as they go on sale.

Style your closet into outfits that reflect your style, and can be remixed a number of ways.

If I lived in the San Deigo area and had plenty of cash to update my wardrobe as well as give/throw things away, I would jump all over this!

I sometimes look in my closet and wonder how to put things together. And then I look at my overflowing jewelry box and realize that I only wear two necklaces, one pair of earrings, and two rings. And then I look at my 30+ pairs of shoes and only wear four pairs regularly. And then I look at the FIVE giant bins of clothes and realize that I have way too much! But... I still intend to get pregnant again, so those bins of all different sizes can't go too far...

Sometimes I wish I had a fashion stylist, but then I remember that since I'm a mom, I get half eaten cookies on me every day.

Sigh....

I exist.

2011-04-11T10:07:00.000-07:00

Like most moms, if you look through our family's photos, you may not realize that I exist... or after a vacation, that I was actually on the vacation. I am terrible at asking others to snap shots of me, and the same is true when we're at home.

I remembered the other day and posed with each of the kids while my husband took a few.

I now exist in two photos.

Pink Hat

2011-04-08T07:37:00.000-07:00

He was sitting on the floor, playing with his toys, talking away to his reflection in the fireplace. And then he grabbed Sloan's hat and somehow he managed to get it directly on his giant melon.

Hello Blue Eyes.

Not the most masculine hat in the world...

But he's still stinkin' cute!

Lucky to Forgive

2011-04-07T09:04:00.000-07:00

Three (or more) years ago I received a book for a Christmas gift: Lucky by Alice Sebold. I asked for it because I had read The Lovely Bones and I wanted to read the author's memoir. I knew that it was about the author's experience with being raped at 18-years-old, but once I received the book, I just never felt like actually reading about the horrible act that she lived through.

Two weeks ago, after finishing Swallow the Ocean (you can read my post), I wanted to read a new book to fill my evening hours. I picked up Lucky and flipped through to see what the writing was like. Would it be an easy read and would I enjoy it? I read the first paragraph. Then the second. Then the third. Next thing you know, I had completed the first chapter.

Three days later, I finished the book. So, I guess that means it was an "easy" read... but not easy subject matter, just well-written so that I stayed interested. The first chapter was horrible. Reading about this true-life story of what this woman went through was heart-breaking and worrying. I shouldn't read books like this in the evening because it makes me worry about these things happening to me or others I love (like my daughter!).

At the end of the book there is a "A conversation with Alice Sebold" where an interview is transcribed. The last question really hit me. The interviewer asked if she had the type of compassion for her rapist that Alice had just described someone else had for her tormentor. Alice's response was:

I would say eventually, certainly not immediately... I don't know a lot about him, but some of the things I do know led me to feel compassion for him... I don't forgive him, but, you know, he's a human being. You have to move on. It's just as simple as that. And so you find a way to move on, and having compassion for people just in general is a good way to live in life.

While reading the Aftermath (epilogue) I kept hoping that she was going to become a Christian. I just felt so sad that she turned to sex and drugs and I was hoping and hoping that she had turned to Jesus in the end. After finishing it I was sad, not only had she not turned to Jesus (at least not from what I've read), she also didn't understand the benefit of forgiveness. And although compassion is wonderful, the freedom from forgiveness is something that she would probably benefit from.

I started thinking that maybe she did "forgive" without realizing it or using the word specifically. But since Alice specifically said that she did not forgive, maybe she truly hasn't.

Forgiveness is tough to understand. One of the tough things for me to understand was that the phrase "forgive and forget" is so well-known that I thought I needed to forget. I don't believe this to be true. I will forget to remember all the time and forget to be bitter, but I won't truly forget what has happened. That could be foolish. Trust is something completely different from forgiveness. Trust needs to be re-earned - if that is even possible.

Forgiveness, also, does not mean that I condone what was done. I forgive the person for what they have done, but I still do not believe it to be right.

Forgiveness is for me. And it's between me and God. I choose to forgive because God has forgiven my wrongs and I owe it to Him to do the same. And really, the other person doesn't even need to know about my forgiveness. All that matters is that I am releasing the bitterness that had taken root, and acting in obedience. I am moving on.

Daily.

Caffeine Alert

2011-04-06T08:54:00.000-07:00

Here's something interesting about me: I don't drink caffeine.

And no, I'm not Mormon - to prove it I'll admit that I have NO problem what-so-ever drinking a glass of wine with dinner. (Although my loving husband will argue that I rarely drink a full glass - he usually reminds me a couple of times that my half-empty glass is still on the dinner table. Eventually he finishes it off because I'm crawling into bed while the glass is still sitting on the table.)

But coffee... not my friend. I should clarify: caffeinated coffee is not my friend.

A tall, decaf, non-fat, half-sweet cinnamon dolce latte with no whip is definitely my friend! Mmmmmm... that could be my friend right now. Or someone who would bring that over to me could be my friend! Hint, hint...

Yesterday I had a unique craving for a cola... Coca-Cola Classic, to be exact. I was working at the Market and although I had planned to buy a bottle of water, I never got around to it. I picked up my groceries just before I headed home and saw that little 591 mL bottle staring at me. I had no self-control and I bought it. I put the groceries in the car and headed home.

After I turned onto the highway I realized the bottle was just behind the drivers seat and I tried to reach back to grab it. After swerving into the other lane - thankfully the car behind me hadn't switched into that lane - I realized I couldn't reach it. Once I picked up my children, I grabbed that bottle and took a big swig. Delicious! It had been a long while since I last had a Coke and it hit the spot.

Fast forward to an hour later: I was jittery, shaky and my heart was palpitating. It was not good. I felt like I just wanted to go to sleep to let it wear off, but of course, I wasn't tired and I couldn't sit still. I just needed to GO! I was on the verge of an anxiety attack.

I painted my nails, did some work on the computer, wrote this blog post, did my devotions and tried to calm down. After another hour it started to wear off and I again remembered why I don't drink caffeine.

If you had this type of reaction to caffeine I bet you wouldn't drink it either. It's not enjoyable.

But the Coke sure tasted good going down! Do you know, is decaffeinated Coke still on the market?

Must. Find. Decaf. Coke.

Trike Time

2011-04-05T08:15:00.000-07:00

We started potty training Sloan again a few weeks ago. She showed actual, real signs of being ready, so I decided to not miss the signs again. It's been fairly successful... moments of success.

I thought that maybe we needed to increase the value of the prize for potty-use from the standard jelly bean or chocolate chip. We noticed her excitement when she saw bicycles and we decided that could maybe be the prize. I found one for $29 and stored it in the garage.

Two days later "daddy" saw the look on his sweet little girl's face while she was gazing out the window at her friend on her bike. It took him about two minutes to open the garage and start putting the bike together.

The girl was THRILLED. But how is her toilet use going, you ask?

Not potty-trained. Just has her daddy wrapped around her little pinky finger.

WW Update

2011-04-04T08:43:00.000-07:00

When I started Weight Watchers in January, I set a goal weight that I thought was attainable. There's a "number" that I would love to be, however, I haven't been that number since I was 22. I'm realistic - I'm not 22 anymore. And so I picked a number that was five pounds more than that dream number. The number meant that I would lose 18 pounds. Eighteen pounds sounds like a big number to me and I was sure it would take me a long time to get there - like at least six months.

Well, here's the good news... I'm at that number! (#13 of my 101 in 1001, Get to target weight by eating better... check.)

It took three months of learning about portion size and point values, three months of self-control and one stint of the flu. And here I am.

I have to say that I found it a bit easier than I thought it would be. I thought I would be hungry all the time, feel deprived and I wasn't convinced it would work for me. I was wrong.

After the initial week of feeling faint and hungry, I got used to it: started to eat more filling foods, and got over the infatuation of feeling "full". At first I believed that it wasn't "right" for a weight program to restrict what I ate. Shouldn't I be allowed to eat whatever I want, whenever I want? But then I realized that its not necessary for me to feel full in order for me to feel satisfied. In fact, I'm more satisfied now when I don't feel full. I don't feel tired after I eat, but instead I feel refreshed. I'm sure that's the "right" way to feel!

As for pictures... the before shots I took are with me in a bikini, and the current bathing suit body is still not ready for the Internet. (My 30-year-old body is not 22.) I strongly urge anyone who is planning to lose weight to take before and during shots. When I felt like I didn't see any difference, I looked at those pictures, and there is definitely a difference. The places that I notice it the most are in my butt, thighs and face. The butt and thighs is most noticeable in my pants size change. I've gone down two-and-a-half sizes (depending on store and item).

Anyway... that's enough. I need to confess that after I hit my target weight last Sunday, I then proceeded to follow it up with a week of indulgences. I had dessert four nights last week, and ate pretty-much whatever I wanted. It wasn't a healthy week, but I enjoyed each and every cookie, piece of cake and chocolate bar that I ate!

The great thing about Weight Watchers is that every week is new. Sunday is my Day One, and I'm back on track... and yes, since these 18 pounds came off relatively easy, I'm now attempting to lose those last five pounds that I thought would be impossible. And starting in May, I'll be adding some physical activity into the mix.

#8 Completed

2011-04-01T00:09:00.000-07:00

First of all, sorry for the delay in postings. I've been busy: lots of work for the Market, lots of entertaining, lots of kids stuff going on, lots of going out... and then we ran out of toilet paper one day so I HAD to go shopping. Just lots going on.

This post has been in my mind for a few months but only was possible to check this off when I picked up my recent package in the States last week... it was my second canvas! And one of my 101 in 1001 Goals is Get canvases made of photos I took.

I heart my canvases.

If you haven't actually met my kids in person, these photos depict them perfectly. Sloan is a serious thinker, observer and watcher. She doesn't smile very often... but when she does, she's SERIOUSLY happy or excited or laughing.

Smith, on the other hand, is my happy-boy. All. The. Time. I mean, he does get cranky, but he is only cranky for specific reasons... then he's happy again. He smiles at strangers. Smiles at the cat. Smiles at Sloan. The photo is him.

I bought two Groupons for the canvases. The Sloan canvas was from Picture it on Canvas and the Smith canvas was from Canvas on Demand. The finishing of the Picture it on Canvas one is better than the Canvas on Demand one - the colour looks right. That said, only if you inspected them (like I did) would you actually notice the difference. They are both wonderful 16x20's of my kids.

(and yes, it really is 12:09 am and I'm still up... it's time for bed.)

Do Not Feed the Ducks

2011-03-29T08:47:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I was reminiscing about when I was a kid and we used to go to the park with our stale slices of bread. We would head straight to the water and beckon the ducks over to us with our desirable treats. Maybe the rules were the same then, but we fed the ducks all the time! Now, there are signs up everywhere that you aren't allowed to feed them.

And although the signs say that it's healthier for the ducks to forage on the natural surroundings, I think that they just don't want to encourage more ducks to come to the local lake. My question is this: where can you take your kids to feed ducks? That's fun for them, but nobody allows it anymore.

So, when we went to the park a few weeks ago and I heard a gaggle of geese and a sord of mallards (did you know that is what a group of ducks is called?), I was pretty sure they were getting the mother load. Sure enough, we rounded the corner and there was an elderly man surrounded by the ducks.

I got Sloan out of the stroller and we went to visit them.

We asked the gentleman if we could share in his wheat kernels and he willingly agreed. Sloan reached into the bag and grabbed a handful (read: three kernels) and tossed them to the waiting ducks. Then she went back for 20 more handfuls. When the ducks realized that she wasn't a threat, they ventured very close and Sloan tried to touch them... which is where I drew the line. I have always believed that ducks and birds are dirty so I didn't allow the touching.

Then we said thank you to "Grandpa" and continued on our walk. So, without deliberately disobeying the rule, Sloan got to experience feeding the wildlife.

Swallow the Ocean

2011-03-24T10:21:00.000-07:00

I just finished reading a book. As in, I just put it down three minutes ago. It was troubling, moving and it felt like me. It's hard for me to describe what I think of books, sometimes, as I just want to say it was "interesting".

Swallow the Ocean is a memoir written by Laura Flynn about growing up with a mother who suffers from Schizophrenia in the 70s. Her father eventually leaves her mother, and only after doing so, realizes that it's not a great place for his three daughters to stay. He divorces Sally and then starts the proceedings to be given sole custody of his three young girls. In the 1970's the courts didn't see the benefit to having children live with their fathers.

I am thankful that my brother and I were able to choose to live with my dad.

As this blog is not private, anyone can read it. I can't stop anyone from reading it, and I don't want to stop anyone either. That's also why I feel that if someone doesn't want to read what I've written, that's fine too. But there is one thing I haven't shared on here. I don't want to upset "anyone" and I don't want to hang my underwear out there for the whole world to see.

One of the reasons that this book "struck" me and that I wanted to write a post three minutes after I put the book down is that I also have a mother who suffers with a mental illness. I have taken psychology courses so although I "understand" the illness part of mental illness, it is very difficult for me to really understand how one can not be in control. That is why I have decided that I need to do some more research into bipolar disorder - the specific mental illness in my family. For years, and I mean YEARS, I have blamed so many of my problems, my character flaws, and my choices on this mental illness and it's time for me to move on.

I know that God hand-selected my struggles for me. Some may find that a tough statement to understand, but I don't. I find comfort in that. God knew me when I was still in the womb and He knew exactly what I could handle in my life. He knew exactly what I would go through and He even knew that I would waste 30 years of my life blaming millions of problems on His decision. He knew that I could handle it. I feel empowered that he knew that little old me could handle this! And the best part, I don't have to handle it on my own. I have an amazing heavenly Father who is going to walk with me every step of the way. I am grateful.

I'm done blaming. I'm ready to move on.

Bring on the Freedom, baby! Bring on the Freedom.

A Lamp Tale: Part Two

2011-03-22T09:06:00.000-07:00

Background information required for Part Two:

Sloan had her light bulb privileges taken away about four months ago. She lost the privilege when she would awaken at 5:00 am and play in her room quietly with the light on until we discovered her, CRANKY, at 7:00 am, with her room in shambles... blankets, toys, books, shoes and clothes everywhere!
She has a lamp on her dresser.
The drawers of a dresser can be very handy steps. Sloan can empty all the clothes out of her drawers and then can reach the things on her dresser.
As mentioned in a recent post, Sloan can now open doors.

Now, on to Part Two of this tale...

After discovering that Sloan could not only climb into her dresser but that she could also reach her lamp, we realized that we needed to remove the lamp for night. So, the lamp is portable: we leave it in her room during the day, use it to light up the pages for the bedtime story, then unplug it and put it in the hallway for night.

A few nights ago, I woke up at 1:00 am and heard a little yelp from Sloan's room... then silence.

I fell back to sleep.

At 3:00 am, I heard the sounds of crying coming from her room. As soon as I started up the stairs I saw that there was light coming from under the door... and the lamp was no longer in the hallway.

The little stinker had opened her door, picked up her lamp, carried it into her room, closed her door behind her, placed the lamp on her nightstand, and plugged it in... besides it being crazy that she is that intelligent, it's also completely unsafe that she is playing with plugs!

So now, if you come to our home after 7:30 pm, you will see the cute little owl lamp on our kitchen island. It's a great piece of decor.

A Lamp Tale: Part One

2011-03-21T09:03:00.000-07:00

As I've mentioned, we visit the library quite frequently. My little girl loves it and so do I. I can't recall where I heard the recommendation for this book from, possibly from Amazon, or maybe from the library itself, or from other blogs I've visited, but I really like it!

Mary Had a Little Lamp, by Jack Lechner, illustrated by Bob Staake

This may seem obvious, but it's about Mary... who has a little lamp... and it goes everywhere that Mary goes... even to school. Kinda like you thought, huh? The rhymes are funny and the illustrations are awesome!

The first page:

Mary had a little lamp -
The bendy, gooseneck kind
And everywhere that Mary went
She dragged the lamp behind.

Another page reads:

She took it to the baseball game,
The circus, and the zoo.
And when she went to bed each night,
The lamp got tucked it too.

It's a silly little book that my toddler loves and I like to read it - win win!

Even the "reviews" on the back cover of the book are witty:

"This book is truly off the wall!" - Humpty Dumpty

I never would have thought that it would lead to bad habits. Yes, Sloan has a bunny that gets dragged around the house, but it doesn't get to come to the store or to "preschool" or church. She understands that Bunny has to wait on the stairs for her.

Tune it tomorrow to learn about the new habit that I think may have been spurred on by this book...

8.5

2011-03-18T09:22:00.000-07:00

Smith is now eight-and-a-half months old. (wow) And here are a few of his favourite things.

Putting things in his mouth. He has just started to eat Mum Mums, which is a lifesaver since it keeps him happy while I'm getting his actual meals ready. He still hasn't figured out how to put small things like Cheerios into his mouth, but maybe soon he will...

Exploring. Moving toys from hand to hand and inspecting every little thing about them.

Bottles. He sees the thing from afar and gets all jumpy and excited that he may be getting it soon. And after the month long retraining him to drink from a bottle, I'm glad that he will now take both. Relief!

Sloan. Everywhere she is, he stares at her, tries to get her attention and laughs as soon as she speaks to him. Smith adores Sloan!

But most of all, he loves me. He just wants to grab my face all day long. He actually loves to grab anyone's face... but I like to think that most of his love is for me.

I love this phase!

Memorize

2011-03-17T08:38:00.000-07:00

I'm taking a course through my church that encourages one to memorize Scripture. Then for Christmas, Jordan's grandfather gave our family a verse that he suggested we memorize. Then I started meeting with a Mentor who strongly urged me to start memorizing Scripture while I am still young enough to remember and recall.

Sometimes it takes me three times to hear something before I start to listen (I'm sure my dad would agree that when I was a child and teenager I needed to be told to do something more than once before I listened). So, I became obedient and started to memorize passages of the Bible. All I can say is that it has been wonderful.

It definitely seems that God has been directing me to the verses because I have read specific verses in completely unrelated places. For example, I had memorized Psalm 139:24-25, and two weeks later my day's devotional was based on the same passage. And not only that, but we had been studying it in my course earlier that morning. Some call it coincidence - I call it Divine.

Also, I've been pretty impressed with how easy it's been to remember the passages! I thought it was going to be so difficult, but when I make an effort to do it, it's not so tough. Every day I sit down for an hour to read my devotional books, read over my memorized verses and study the Bible. I've also noticed that it's simpler to remember the ones on my fridge. Even without realizing that I was memorizing them, there they were at the top of my mind.

(And a great one for the fridge is Psalm 63:5 "You satisfy me more than the richest of foods. I will praise you with songs of joy." It keeps me from more emotional eating...)

That may make it sound like I have it all together, but it's not true. I've only been memorizing for the last two months, and doing devotions for the last one. And the reason I started was because I needed it. I'm no angel. I don't treat people kindly all the time. And I sure don't parent like I should. And two months ago, I decided to leave the TV off the entire day - not just when the kids were awake. And with the kids napping for 2-3 hours, I needed something to do. I thought that if I spent time reading more of God's Word, maybe it would rub off on me and I could start to behave the way I want to.

Here's the verse that chose me this week:

Galatians 6:4-5
Be sure to do what you should, for then you will enjoy the personal satisfaciton of having done your work well, and you won't need to compare yourself to anyone else. For we are each responsible for our own conduct.

Like many women (I could probably say "most") I compare myself to others, and usually I don't measure up. So I'm trying to remember that as long as I do what I should, I will be happy with what I did and I don't need to compare myself to others. I am only responsible for me!

So many useful life lessons are in that leather-bound book of mine. I just need to continue reading them and hoping that one day my old habits will die.

One day.

Door Knob

2011-03-15T08:50:00.000-07:00

It was a sad day when it finally happened. Sloan learned to open our door knobs.

We have enjoyed all of the last two-and-a-half years of having a daughter who was unable to open doorknobs. This meant that she was trapped in her bedroom during her naps and, more importantly, at night. She was also trapped out of other rooms, like bathrooms and the pantry where all her snacks live. But not anymore.

We have now reached another level of independence. Getting into places a two-year-old isn't supposed to be.

For example, at 3:30am on Saturday morning (the night of the time change) I heard her voice much too clearly to be in her bedroom. I couldn't understand what she said but I knew that it out of her bedroom. As soon as I left our room and saw that there was light coming from the hallway, I knew my suspicions were correct. She was in her bathroom. Once I got up the stairs I saw that she was about to put toothpaste on her toothbrush. She told me, "I need to brush my teeth."

I put the paste and brush back into the bathroom drawer and ushered her back into her bedroom. After I got back down into my bed I realized that she was correct, I had forgotten to brush her teeth before bed that night.

Actually there is something about her teeth because before she could open doors I woke up one night to the sound of something banging upstairs. I ran up the stairs two at a time and there she was, standing just inside her bedroom door, banging her toothbrush on the door... waiting for someone to open the door and take the misplaced toothbrush away.

"Here!" She said,"Put it away in the baf-room."

I replied with a swift, "Get to bed."

And she was quiet for the rest of the night.

So, yes, independence can be great but it's also another test of boundaries. I'm hoping that she soon learns that when it's dark, it ALWAYS means that it's still sleeping time.

Soon.

#26 Completed

2011-03-14T08:18:00.000-07:00

I own 37 cookbooks plus countless cooking magazines that I'm keeping for some reason. I use a few of them much more than the others. And sadly, some of them I have never used.

Better Home & Gardens New Cook Book is great for all those recipes that everyone needs to have access to. Things like Green Beans Almondine, or Roasted Vegetables, or Ginger Snaps. I got it as a wedding shower gift and I use it all the time. It's my go to cookbook for all the basics. I need Better Home & Gardens in my kitchen.

The Rest of the Best and More is my other well used cookbook. Almost every recipe I have tried from the book is amazing. ALMOST. It's almost because I tried a fish recipe the other day and served it like the photo showed: with white rice and the suggested spinach recipe. It was terrible! And not like, don't-make-this-again-terrible, but as in I'm-gagging-and-cannot-swallow-this-bite-so-we-should-go-get-takeout-terrible. It was really bad. But don't judge the cookbook because of that one recipe because then you would miss out on the worlds best appetizer: Caramelized Onion Flatbread. Or the most incredible salad: Pears, Brie and Raspberry Spinach Salad. Or the spicy Patio Ribs which are great for a hot summer day. It is a wonderful cookbook!

And then one other one that I got as a Wedding Shower gift and was kinda offended by: Company's Coming The Rookie Cook. But, as it turns out, it's got some great simple recipes that are some of our family's favourites. We love Chicken a la King on top of puff pastry.

And as much as I love trying new recipes (and always do so with guests over), Jordan often laughs that I get him to rate a new menu as if I should make it again or not... and then I never make any of them again. The problem was that I would forget which cookbook a recipe was in, forget that it was good, and never make it again. In light of that, I knew that it would be super helpful to go through all my cookbooks and start a spreadsheet of all the recipes I use.

First of all, I can't believe that I have tried over 180 recipes... actually, I only recorded the ones that were good. If my notes next to recipe said that we didn't really like it much, I didn't record it. Secondly, it's super handy to look at the list and find the ones that say "good for guests" so I know what to make when we have someone over. Thirdly, I discovered which cookbooks I have never used and have decided to either find some recipes to try, or get rid of the book. If I haven't ever made a soup out of the soup book, maybe I never will!

So, I'm happy to have accomplished another goal on my 101 of 1001.

Check.

Sharing Sibs

2011-03-11T08:36:00.000-08:00

Sloan often tells me, "Thanks for sharing, Mom." Usually, it's even before I've given her a bite of my toast, or before she's snatched the iPod out of my hand... but she's starting to understand this sharing thing.

And amazingly, she's pretty kind to her brother. It's nice to see glimpses of that kindness in her.

"See Smith. These are the balls."

(by the way, did you notice the flatness of his head in that one?)

"And then the balls go through the hoop."

Smith replies, "Hey, can you pass me that bat? I just learned how to sit. And if I reach for something that far away, I'll fall over and then my head will get even flatter... So couldja help me out???"

"She doesn't understand me. Mama, can you help me?"

Of course, my dear boy. Of course. I'd do anything for you kids.

Dental Hygiene

2011-03-10T08:41:00.000-08:00

The best way to explain how I feel about visiting the dentist is this: when I was 7, I fell asleep in the dentist chair. I was getting a number of cavities filled and while laying there with the disgusting rubber dam attached to my tooth, and the sound of the drilling, I fell asleep. I remember hearing the story of falling asleep, but I also remember it. I remember waking up and the dental assistant giggling that I fell asleep. I don't know how many patients she had ever had that were relaxed enough to fall asleep, but I'm envisioning that it wasn't many.

But me - I feel relaxed.

In fact, I was 12 when I learned that dentists used needles... my original dentist was that gentle! (And I had received plenty of fillings by then.)

When I found out that the dental practice we "attend" was changing hands, yet again, I was sort of frustrated. I've been going to the same one since I was three (or however old I was at my first visit). Then my dentist passed away tragically, and the practice was purchased by two out-of-town dentists. Needless to say, they had enough of driving and hour or so to work. Just one month ago we received a letter with details of the new dentist that was taking over.

Up until my appointment yesterday afternoon, I was confused with what to do. We recently got a really nice looking advertisement for a new, updated dental group in town. They have a very cool looking childrens' area, and they have TV's overhead of the chairs! My old-school dental office doesn't have those fancy things. So, we talked about maybe leaving my dentist for a new one. But there was one more deciding factor.

Really, the only thing that matters is that my favourite hygienist, who has scraped, scaled, polished and flossed my teeth for the last 25+ years, is still there. It's her who I spend my time with.

So yesterday afternoon, I asked her the question: "When are you retiring?"

It turns out that I'll be with my same old dental practice for at least another four years... and then I'll ask her again.

I heart my dental hygienist.

Impatience

2011-03-08T08:31:00.000-08:00

I struggle with impatience and unlike most of my struggles, this is not one that I've known forever. If you told me that I was critical, a perfectionist, blunt, a nag (and the list goes on), I would have explained to you that I was well aware of these traits. However, if you would have said that I was impatient, I would have been sorta surprised.

In fact, in our house I often sing to Sloan, "Be patient. Be patient. Don't be in such a hurry." I never thought that I should look into the mirror and sing the same words.

I know that I like to drive fast, and when Jordan drives the speed limit it takes every ounce of my being to keep my mouth shut and not command him to speed up. Sadly, most times I outweigh myself and I become the passenger-seat driver. (And no, he's not a big fan of that!) And when stopped at the red traffic light he chooses the lane with 14 cars in it, rather than choosing the one with one car in it, I have to bite my tongue. His reply is always that there isn't a fire that we're racing to! And it's true - we're rarely in a rush to get somewhere.

But the biggest source of my impatience is my kids - let me rephrase that because the biggest source of my impatience is me - but the thing that gets my impatience flared up, is my kids. And honestly, I'm not too frustrated with the 8-month old.

When the girl is slow to eat her breakfast when we are running out of time to get to church, I get impatient. And when the girl refuses to stand up while the water is draining out of the tub, and instead chooses to wait until every last drop is gone, I get impatient (and she gets cold!). And when we tried potty-training for TWO MONTHS and she just wasn't getting it, I was impatient. And when she dumped out all one thousand pieces of cat food and chose to pick them all up one by one and proudly said to me, "I'm doing it slowly," I was impatient!

From what I've learned, when training yourself to remove a negative character trait, it's important to replace the negative trait with its opposite positive trait. And obviously, the opposite postive trait is patience. In order to replace my impatience with patience I need to purposely choose to be patient in circumstances that I choose. Here are some examples of things I have or will be doing in order to improve my impatience:

Choosing the longest line at the grocery store.
Driving in the slow lane.
Allow Sloan to pick up every last piece of clothing that she has strewn around her room, taking as much time as she needs.
Allow Sloan to pick up every last book that she has taken off her bookshelf, without getting frustrated and doing it for her.
Getting up a little bit earlier on Wednesday mornings so that we aren't as rushed to get to church on time.

I didn't remember all the lyrics to the childrens' song, but a simple Google search provided them.

Have patience. Have patience.
Don't be in such a hurry.
When you get impatient
You only start to worry.
Remember, remember that God is patient, too.
Just think of all the times when others
Have to wait for you.

And this is why I have started to realize that I need to work on my patience. Maybe others don't necessarily have to wait for me to get my coat on, or wait for me to hurry up the stairs, but I need to remember that God is patient with me, so hopefully I can extend that grace to others... and especially the small people who live in my house with me.