Throw it away.

I LOVE to toss.

 Or at least that's what Justin loudly exclaims when he cant find something he left out and I joyfully mistakenly tossed in the garbage.

I came across this flow chart today. I am in LOVE.

http://scribbit.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2010-05-19T00%3A00%3A00-08%3A00

There's nothing so liberating as not needing something to survive and nothing so precious as extra closet space.

I found this on Scribbit, a blog I think is fantastic- even if only for her amazing throw-it-away attitude!

Pow-wow.

Did you attend the Pow-wow?

 

K did.... or did she just get into mommys markers?

This week it has been VERY apparent that my sweet darling child is TWO!

She has been into everything!

Oh I do love her.
I think the green marker really highlights her eyes! LOL.

My 1 year old is LEARNING from her big sister.

Learning how to climb on things and get Mommys attention. Climbing on the panio, sure got mommys attention- they both got long time outs... the 2 year can just climb down where as the 1 year old can not. 

Looking back, again.

As I have mentioned before. Every so often I enjoying looking back in my photos to see what we were doing 1,2 or 3 years ago at this time and to see how far we've come.

1 year ago- We were hanging curtains in my house and having a BBQ on dirt (now lushes grass) this weekend. A was 5 months old and GROWING and K was just 19 months old!

2 years ago- Just moved into this house (that we now have up for sale) and we hung out at the zoo with 8 month old K. Justin also rolled his quad and hurt his shoulder that took him out of commission for 1 month!

3 years ago- Pregnant and just off bed rest I had the opportunity to travel to England with my parents and siblings to attend my cousins wedding. Justin worked (he loves me)

Reading

I enjoy reading. A lot. In fact -for all you readers out there, how many have a spouse that also reads?

I imagine it would be nice to talk about things together. Discuss your favourite characters, plots, twists and authors....

Alas I will never know.
So instead I blog.

Ken Follett, one of my all-time favourite authors.

He wrote my favourite book..

I rate this book 5/5 stars. The plot is fantastic, the story line different- not to predictable but not ridiculous either. The characters are well rounded although he is not overly descriptive. If you want to read it, Ken has a Excerpt on his web page, just to get you going. As well this book is on Oprah book list and is being made into a MOVIE.

Read it.

But my real reason for posting about Ken- I am looking for another author to fall in love with. I have read all of Ken's and ready to dive into someone new. Who do you read? And what book of theirs is your favourite?

7-11

What is 7-11 to my 2 year old?

We are pulling into 7-11 today:

Kalia says "The Drink store!"

Daddy "what store??!?"

Kalia "the DRINK store."

Daddy "whats the drink store?"

Kalia "to get mommys pepper."

Oh dear. Maybe I drink a few to many of these??

Picture from healthy diet podcast

Children- I love them.

Something fell out of my mouth today...

Kalia had been whining all through Walmart... whining about everything.

So finally I said to her "Is that the best you can do? Come on you can whine better then THAT. Come on, let me REALLY hear you."
Right then another Mother (with HER obedient children) happened to be rounding the aisle at that EXACT moment, gives me the weirdest look, then laughed.

Yup that's right. My parenting skills are getting giggles.

NOTE: Usually my girls are really good in public places. Some times I even get comments on how good they are being. NOT TODAY.

The cashier who was checking me out (ha ha) (you know scanning me through)- watched in wonder as I tried to break up a hitting/biting fiasco whilst loading the cart and trying to pay at the same time.

Even though the my Lethbridge trip did not go very well, I really appreciate my children.

The love they show each other and the way they light up my life. Cause with days like today I am MORE thankful for the good days.

All you Mammas

Heres to you. All you Mini- driving Mammas!

Did you see her?? SPRING?

Shes HERE! After the snow and rain (yes the farmers were blessed) sitting in the house looking outside at winter but now-SPRING has arrived in Southern Alberta!

We had dinner outside, on the girls Easter picnic table for the FIRST TIME!

I was going to do Chimichanges but it was to hot in the house to turn the oven on, so we had BBQ pork chops instead.

Happy SPRING everyone!

Have you seen THESE?

I may LOVE ruffles... but have you seen these??

Do know what this is?? A Ruffle Purse...

done by Kinies

a ruffle fanny pack if you will.

I ask you is this Hot or Not?

Meal Plan Monday

Its that time again... I LOVE doing meal planning, I swear by it.


Monday- Whole Chicken with rice cooker Spanish Rice. I was positive I had posted this but I cant find it! I make a whole chicken every-so-often and feeds us for like 3 meals. I use this recipe, (No Thyme..yuck) let me tell you super tasty and the chicken is nicely flavoured -but you can use the chicken in other meals after it is cooked! Spanish Rice recipe in the rice cooker then serve with green veggie.
Tuesday- Tacos! YUMMY!

Wednesday -Chimichanga's. I am going to use some of the chicken from Mondays meal. I will de-bone the rest of chicken Monday and cut it up for today. For Chimichangas I use chicken, beans, cheese and salsa. Place on soft taco shells, place in baking dish (side by side) put a a cup or 2 of salsa on top, then bake in oven for 20 mins and serve.
Thursday- Pasta. I will be at the Activity day Mother Daughter dinner so Justin will do Pasta with chicken (see above) Alfredo sauce.
Friday- Beef on a bun. This recipe is from my friend Dawns cookbook, and I have not gotten her permission to post it.

Saturday- Jambalaya Casserole. Just to mention again, just because the recipe calls for it.... you don't have to use it. (fresh parsley, hot pepper sauce)

Sunday- Tinfoil fish and Mashed potatoes! Yummy!

Happy Cooking!

Delicious Dessert

This recipe is from my sister-in-law Kim and my mother-in-law Terry. They have some good desserts and it is REALLY yummy!
So here is the recipe... hopefully I can do it right and get it to be FLUFFY like it is intended.

Delicious Dessert.

1 1/2 whipping cream
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
4 eggs (separated)
1 1/2-2 cups graham cracker crumbs.

Make graham cracker crust into 9x13 pan. Whip the cream add the sugar and vanilla. (The cream is to be whipped almost to whipping.) Beat eggs yolks well add to the cream gently... beat eggs whites stiff then gently fold into cream mixture. Pour into pan slowly. Freeze until set. Serve frozen.

Rain/Snow + No husband working= PROJECTS!

As many of us are experiencing crappy wet and snowy weather, lots of husbands who work outside have been effected. Therefore my husband has been home, more often then usual.

I enjoy it for the most part... especially since his hunny-do-list is growing shorter!

Lately we have been able to:

• tile the back splash in the kitchen

• put a shower and vanity in the basement bathroom

• tile the basement bathroom floor
• put the house up for sale
• cover some pillows

• and make a mothers day gift!

Ok so the last 2 was just me... but He watched the kids so I could do them!

I got the tutorial from here and it was easy to follow her directions, and not too hard to make. Hopefully mom will like them, I think they turned out adorable!

Hope the weather is having SOME postive effect on you?!?

School Over

Yesterday marked the end of the Kalia's Parent Preschool. She just LOVES going to "school" and was not impressed that yesterday was her last day. Every Monday morning she helped pack her backpack (diapers, wipes and bottle) and was so excited to go. In fact we have to tell her the school is locked during the week, or she cries when we drive by!

So we had a last day big-to-do at the fire hall. Kalia and Annaliesse got to climb all over the trucks, and sit in the drivers seat!

 I am very thankful for the Parent Link Center and all the free classes and support they offer! Thank you for a great year!

Meal Plan Monday

Don't judge me. I feel like I am taking the easy road this month. I did the meal planning today and my inspiration level was at -234, so don't be too hard on me!
If you have any great dinner recipes that you have not seen me do, PLEASE send them! I LOVE trying new things.

Monday- BBQ pork chops and Spanish rice.
Tuesday- Pita Pizza. I still have the fixings in the fridge and the girls thought it was good.
           Here's my secret (some of you know this) I. despise. bread. So when I am cooking for my family and I am not a fan (bread and pasta things), I still eat a little bit of it at the dinner table. But.... I secretly eat/munch before I serve supper. So I munch on leftovers from the fridge as I am making pizza, but still demonstrate that EVERYONE eats what is served for dinner. HA HA I am SOOOO sneaky!
Wednesday- Wings and Fries. My mother-in-law make really good homemade wings. Terry's wings- 3tbs soy sauce 3/4 cup water 1 cup white sugar 1/2 cup vinegar 1/2 tsp salt. mix. add a little corn starch to thicken. brown chicken wings, bake for a couple of hours in 300 degree oven (crock pot for me). baste continually. Super yummy... could be the cup of sugar, but super yummy.
Thursday- Funeral Potatoes with something...not sure what.
Friday- Perogie Casserole. See recipe here. I am doing this kind of recipe 2 days in a row so I can do the base 1 time and do 2 dinners at once. FYI perogie casserole and funeral potatoes are VERY similar.
Saturday- Potatoes skins- This is not REALLY a recipe, this is just how I do it. I bake the potatoes till they are almost done. Then scoop out the insides and put bacon and chive on some, broccoli and cheese on some, corn and salsa on some, and I am going to try tuna on some this next time. Apparently it is really tasty tuna and potatoes, we shall see.
Sunday- BBQ steak again. Last week it was snowing so that was a no go.