striving for happiness...

My life feels pretty small sometimes, especially when I have little moments of success with my kids. Anytime I can get them to try (and like) a new food, it feels like I have conquered the world. Like no one else anywhere has ever gotten their kids to like a new food. Silly, I know...

It was a lovely day here in Edmonton yesterday - so warm, which seems out of the ordinary now that we've seem some pretty chilly days! It's hard getting this family up and about before 10am, especially since G has his first really long nap in the morning, and because he's been waking up at 6:00am the past few days, he (and I!) really need that quiet time...

But we did get out to the grocery store and for a walk which was better than nothing. I love shopping at this time of year because I love Halloween and decorating for fall. I'm not so inspired to actually get my house in the season, but I sure love looking, and for us it's more about the food of fall. We start gettting the slow cooker out more for stews, soups, and chicken dishes, and yesterday I made my first apple Brown Betty of the season. It was delicious, and I got to use the apple peeler/slicer I got for Christmas last year. You need to get one, especially if you do any kind of baking with apples (and if you have kids - Hailey got a kick out of turning the handle and watching the peel come right off!)



I have found a recipe for pumpkin scones which I'm going to try next - if you have not tried the ones at Cobs bakery yet, get there now. They are definitely a guilty pleasure this time of year. I also found a little recipe to make a pumpkin spice infused coffee. The recipe was written and made for what looks like a French press coffee maker, but I've made it a few times in my regular drip coffee maker, and it has been such a treat, especially in the afternoon when I need a pick-me-up. And to tell you the truth, I almost prefer this to a Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte...don't tell anyone. You can use the regular premade pumpkin spice, but I just made some up using these measurements:

1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg (I have store bought...)
1 tbsp ground ginger
3 tbsp cinnamon

This makes way more than you actually need for your coffee so keep the extra in a small mason jar. I put about one teaspoon of the mix right in my filter and stir my grounds up with it. Seriously...it's a treat.

I made these sweet potato fries a few weeks ago, and they were so good! You would think the cinnamon would make them more of a sweet treat, but there's no sugar added to them so they just have a delicious flavor.

Here's a question to you: what do you make for lunch? Or do you even have lunch? This is my most challenging meal - I get stuck in ruts and have a hard time thinking of new foods my picky kids will eat.

 Thanks! Happy Sunday...and happy baking...

They have to be standing on the same chair at the same time now...

So my friend posted a link to this article on Facebook yesterday, and I cannot tell you how it completely hit home for me (plus, it made me laugh out loud the entire time I was reading it). Hailey is a pretty good kid most days, but at least once a day she's on a timeout. It usually happens because she is just so rough with her brother, or because she completely ignored what I say. I know it's just a phase and that every kid goes through it, but some days it feels like I am the only person in the world at that moment who is dealing with a toddler.

She starts preschool in September, and I am so pumped for her. She already mentions school all the time and gets so excited when we walk by it. I'm so interested in finding out how she deals with sharing toys and other things with kids because that is something we fight about at home. She takes everything out of Gavin's hands: toys, food, diapers, soothers, and more toys...(don't ask me why he would be holding a diaper...)

With that all said, I love her, and she has made my life so much fun. Especially now that she is in major pretend stage. She wants to cook for me, and go to Africa, and take a train, and play with all of her little Fisher Price people in her dollhouse. It's a pretty good time.

I'm off - have a lovely weekend. Here's what I'm looking forward to:

• seeing a long lost friend
• attending a margarita party and having a night off without the kids (thanks mom & dad!)
• days outside in the beautiful weather
• taking Hailey to her first soccer team meeting!!
• watching a movie with my sister
• seeing how many dresses Hailey picks out to wear

Have a good one!

c.

I'm ticked off right now, and it's because my husband was proactive. I know, right? Ridiculous. I started making this yummy looking recipe but when I went to get the chicken to finish everything off, I discovered that Sal had taken it down to the freezer for another date. Probably because he thought it was what I wanted. Needless to say, I have a jar of peanut sauce sitting in my fridge for later in the week :(

We are having hot dogs and roasted potato fries. It's not thai chicken thighs, but still a pretty tasty supper for this lovely spring day!

c.



...some outtakes from Gav's nine month pictures a few months ago...he does not.stop.moving.

...especially Tracey!

I got an email a few days ago saying that the Posterous website was closing down, thus closing down my blog. So here I am, back to where it all began. Back at the space where Jeaninne, Tracey and I shared this funny blog...I don't know why I like the idea of having one, especially since I hardly ever post. I mean, I could post photos and stories about being at home all day, but who wants to read that?


I've been stressing out a bit over the past few days as I got a letter in the mail from the damn guv'ment, saying that I have received my last EI maternity leave payment, despite the fact that I've still got over a month to go on my leave. Apparently, this is nothing new when it comes to the EI department. Have you had issues with them? Anyway, I'm still waiting for my promised phone call, although I'm not going to hold my breath. In the meantime, I'm going to start applying for new positions that are not full time, and hopefully something pans out. I still cannot imagine being away from these two little ones...


Sal is (finally!!!) done school for the summer. I can't wait to have a normal life once again, and now that the weather is nice I'm really looking forward to busting out our new trailer. He's already promised a daddy-daughter trip with Hailey which will be fantastic!!

So not much going on here - things are good, especially now that spring has finally come. For some reason this year I feel like I have finally come out of hibernation. I cannot tell you how much I love not having to put on the winter boots, jackets, toques, and mitts.


Have a lovely hump day!


c.