Life As I Know It

Sometimes you just have to move on..

2011-04-08T17:50:00.000-07:00

...and take all your friends with you!! I have a new blog! My very own space on the internet! Please follow me to My Busy Little House . I'm super excited to have my very own site. I'm still trying to figure it all out and tailor it to my needs but it's up and running now. :) From now on I'll be blogging there only. So come help me move! You don't even have to lift anything!

Wordless Wednesday: Mmm! Sushi!

2011-03-23T11:44:00.000-07:00

I made a bible cover. No really.. I did!

2011-03-17T16:09:00.000-07:00

Once again I've craft swappin' on Craftster . This time it was for the March Birthday Swap. The idea is if your birthday is in March you sign up and post a little bio about yourself along with a wish list of crafted items, supplies and extras you would like. Then you wait until someone claims an item from your list to send you as a birthday gift. Well I picked a lady in Virginia who is actually pretty similar to me. She's a crunchy, homeschooling mommy who had a list I could have made myself. One thing on her list was a surprise from her Wist so I headed on over and saw a bible cover.. this bible cover . I thought " Hey! I can make that!" I search for tutorials but quickly realized a zippered cover wasn't going to happen. ( Have I mentioned how much I dislike zippers??)

All was not lost though because I found this pattern and knew it was the one! I love the my partner loved black and white and found the perfect material.

It was a very straight forward pattern and very easy to put together. It turned out so very nice. Here it is.

It looks sharp. I was really really impressed with how it turned out! I love it when I make something for someone else and I am genuinely proud of it.

Here is the inside where you put the bible. There is a small pocket for pens. The whole kit and caboodle is tied closed with with a ribbon.

It was really fun putting this together for my partner. I hope she likes it. :)

New Things are Comin'!!

2011-03-09T19:46:00.000-08:00

Keep an eye out here for some changes, folks! Thanks to my oh-so-awesome friend I am starting a new and exciting adventure on the internets. Woot!

In the meantime.. PLAYDOUGH! Who doesn't love homemade playdough? Kneading the warm, just made dough in your hands. Forming balls and pancakes and swirls and little people and animals. Even as a grown up I enjoy homemade playdough.

The kids and I decided to make some yesterday. I didn't want to make a big batch because I hadn't tried the recipe before so we picked a Koolaid packet to colour one ball and mixed it up. By the way, a colour for playdough is the ONLY reason we keep Koolaid in the house.

So after a tense debate on what flavour of Koolaid we should use the group decided pink lemonade was the colour of the day and we got to work. I ended up adding more flour that the recipe called for to get it to the right texture and we learned that pink lemonade Koolaid doesn't make a very vibrant pink. More a a flesh tone really ( this actually proved very interesting for the kids as they have made various body parts with the dough).

Even the baby got in on the squishy playdough action. She sat on my lap squeezing the centre of a big ball between her fingers and squealing. Pure joy!

Today was day 2 with the playdough and it's still going strong. Well, if you don't count the bits that made it in to a certain little girl's mouth. I think next week we'll make another batch using the blue Koolaid packet and hope to get a more vibrant colour.

Here's the recipe we used:

2 cups flour
1/4 cup salt
3 tbsp oil
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 small packet of Koolaid
2 cups boiling water

Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. ( Note: I think next time I'm going to add the Koolaid to the water. I think it might make the colour more even.

In a measuring cup mix oil and boiling water then add to dry ingredients and mix.

Knead until you have a nice smooth ball of playdough. ( Here is where I added small amounts of flour at a time until it wasn't sticky anymore.)

Have fun!

Wordless Wednesdays: Summer Memories

2011-03-02T17:53:00.000-08:00

Hmm.. what's this? I bet it tastes good!

2011-02-28T14:12:00.000-08:00

I know, I know. Where have I been?? I've been here. I've just been quiet. I'm having a trying time and I guess I haven't been chatty. I did attempt to post a blog the other day but my wonderful, all hands and feet, baby decided to delete it. I'm sure she was trying to be helpful.:) Well, I'm here now and have something to say. lol

Today was grocery day. I don't like attempting groceries by myself during the week. Have you ever tried managing a herd of monkeys in a grocery store? I have! My 4 monkeys. Even though they have all been there many, many times every time is like a new adventure to them. It's bright. It's colourful. There's stuff at eye level everywhere! And the people. There are always new people. Needless to say a trip to the grocery store almost always puts new gray in my hair. Sometime you just have to venture out, monkeys and all. Today was that day.Mother Hubbard's cupboards were bare.

We started our trip with the usual warnings. " Stay with mommy. If you won't stay with mommy you *will* sit in the cart. Don't touch anything!!" Even with the warnings the monkeys were immediately captivated with he wonder that is the grocery store.

I don't think I have ever said my kids' names so much in their entire lives. Even random customers knew all their names in the first 30 seconds. Making my way through the produce, where I start my shopping always, was looking grim. That was until I wander across this vision of beauty. This beautiful piece of fruit with hot pink skin and leaves curling from it's soft body. What was that? My son noticed it at the same time. " What is that?" "I think it's a dragon fruit. I think.."

My son took the fruit out of my hand and went over the the lady stocking the produce to ask her what it was. I walked over too and asked a boatload of questions. Surprisingly I was the only one who asked about this fruit. She told us that you peel away the pink skin and the flesh is white with a ton of little black seeds, like a kiwi. We were all intrigued. I decided today was the day we were trying dragon fruit.

My son also found a passion fruit and although I have no idea how we would eat that I threw one in the cart any how.

The rest of the trip was actually pretty manageable. I think the kids were really excited to try this mysterious fruit. So was I really. I love trying new things.

At this point I need to apologize to anyone reading this post. I am not a good foodie. :( I didn't even think to take pictures. Can you believe that? Guess I'll have to buy another one. :)

When we got home I cut up some veggies and cheese for lunch and while the kids were eating I sat down to my pretty dragon fruit. Peeling it was very easy. Underneath the thin pink peel was a bright white flesh peppered with little black seeds. I sliced it up and gave everyone a piece. It was glorious! A very mild, sweet flavour. It was actually pretty similar to kiwi. It was also a huge hit. I will be buying more.

Let me just tell you that is pretty big in the teeny tiny place I live in. Very rarely can you find truly exotic fruit in the local grocery store. The produce lady told me if I wanted to see more things like that then I should talk to the manager. She also told me I need to buy them. Makes sense. lol I can imagine there are very few people around here who would try something they had no idea how to eat. I am game for trying most anything though. Apparently, so are my kids.

In the spirit of trying new things and keeping these new things coming to my grocery store I'm going to try to pick up new produce every grocery trip. If I'm buying they will keep supplying. This is my hope.

In the meantime, I think I'm going to stop in again tonight and buy another dragon fruit. This time I promise to take pictures. :)

What new thing have you tried recently?

What Did You Have For Supper?

2011-02-10T15:54:00.000-08:00

I had pure yummy in a bowl with biscuits on the side! Cream of Cauliflower soup with cheese biscuits. Oh my gosh it was yummy! Winter is definately soup season and I've been having a great time playing with recipes.

The soup:

So thick and creamy! And so easy to make. Onions, garlic, potatoes, carrots and cauliflower all boiled in stock then pureed. Add some milk, nutmeg, a splash of sherry and voila! Soup!

The biscuits were your basic biscuits with cheese and garlic added.

I brushed them with melted butter and garlic powder when they were done.

I'm really trying to eat a real food diet. I think we were exsisting on so much processed that we were starting the think that's what food is supposed to taste like. No, dear tastebuds, THIS is what food is supposed to taste like.

What did you have for supper ?

Wordless Wednesday

2011-02-09T06:32:00.000-08:00

I've decided to follow other bloggers and have Wordless Wednesday every week. I'll post pictures that have some meaning to me. Hopefully they amuse you.

Thinking About The Future

2011-02-08T07:31:00.000-08:00

So, the price of dairy has gone up. Apparently so has the price of eggs and meat. The reason? Grain. A poor growing season has made it very expensive. This is just one more thing for me to think about when planning the future.

I have been thinking of ways that my family can be more self sustaining. We put in a vegetable garden every year but I have to admit I'm so bad at actually taking care of said garden. We rarely get much out of it with the exception of tomatoes. Tons and tons of tomatoes. Even though I have been so lazy when it comes to tending to my garden I have learned so much about what we can grow, what will actually grow here. This year I'm going to use those lessons and get serious about my past time. I want to be able to feed my family with my garden. I want to be able to can food for the winter. This year we WILL build the potato box.

This spring I will be getting chickens too. We go through quite a lot of eggs and it feels like every week the cost of eggs is just a little bit higher. I think raising chickens with also be a great learning experience for the kids. The responsibility of chickens will be a good thing.

Richard has been plotting out our freedom from hydro as well. He would like us to be off the grid and I agree. He's coming up with plans for solar and wind power. He is a total nerd for this kind of technical stuff so he's been running with it. It feels really good to see him so excited and committed to a plan. We won't be going with solar or wind power in this house since we hope to sell this year so he has lots of time to come with a solid plan. We need to be less reliant on commercial hydro. The bills have been insanely high and they will only get higher, unfortunately.

There are so many changes I want to make for the benefit of my family's future. Changes that need to happen. I just need to remember to take it one step at a time. I get so overwhelmed just thinking about everything all at once. One step at a time, Erikka. One step at a time.

Mug Rug. What Every Coffee Cup Needs!

2011-02-03T13:08:00.000-08:00

I am a Craftster swap addict! I love joining swaps that challenge me. Joining different swaps gives me the excuse to try a new craft. Recently, I joined 2 swaps. Keep Me Warm Swap and Mug Rug Swap. The Keep Me Warm swap is all about the hot drinks we consume to keep our bones warm and toasty so the mission is to send your partner hot yummies, something cozy to wear and an accessory for said hot yummies. The Mug Rug Swap is just that, a swap of mug rugs. Never seen a mug rug? Here's a pretty one. Basically, they are a small place mat for your mug. They are usually quilted. I have never quilted. I have always wanted to quilt. Perfect! An excuse to learn quilting.

I've already mentioned the Keep Me Warm Swap. Hey! An ideal situation to practice said mug rug! So I sat down with some fabric scraps that were sent to me with a fabric I purchased on Ebay and this tutorial on Stash Manicure , this tutorial for binding from That Girl...That Quilt and this binding tutorial from Oh, Fransson!

I would like to tell you it was so easy I had it done in 15 minutes.. but I can't. I can say, though, that is was very straightforward and once I figured each step out it was much easier. I really need to learn to measure, measure, measure!

The binding was a bit tricky but after making a royal mess out of the first try with a binding I made too narrow the second try was much better. I think with practice it will only get better though.

Overall, I really enjoyed making this and I really hope my Keep Me Warm Partner loves it just as much as I do. I'm darn proud of that mug rug!!

Oh! Wanna see it?

Tada!

*I'm not sure what's going on with the colours in this picture but the purples are much nicer and all the orange you see is actually pink. Odd camera I guess.*

Summer summer summer

2009-08-13T07:25:00.000-07:00

I suddenly felt this huge urge to update this blog. Hmm.. Could it because I've been MIA all summer? Maybe..lol

This has been a crazy busy summer. ALl the things I had planned on doin this summer never happened. I was planning on a couple of neat science projecst for the kids to do over the course of the summer but they fell to the wayside when they both realized that the summer drop in was way more fun than anyhting mommy could do. To be honest, I was totally ok with that.

So now we're coming to the end of the summer and we need to get in to the swing of some amount of schooling again. I've decided we are goin gto try workboxes this year. ( I'd post a link but I can't seem to find it.. I'll come back to that later.) The idea is the set out the days worth of work in boxes, drawers, file folders, whatever works for you. Every activity is number and the child just works from 1 to 12 over the course of the day. I really liked this idea because I think it really encourages self-motivation, the ability to work independantly and problem solving skills. All of which the little man needs to work on.

So I went out and bought a few of those plastic storage drawers and I'm going to make up the numbered labels and put this plan in to action. When I get this on the go I'll post pictures.

I really thing using workboxes will be motivation for me too. I find that it's way to easy to get sidetracked and not do the work that I had planned to do with the kids. I have terrible issues with organization so hopefully this will help that as well.

Anyway, it's been a busy summer but I'm looking forward to the fall ( I can't say the same about winter, though. Ugh. ).

Mmmm! Hummus!

2009-02-11T10:45:00.000-08:00

I have this new obsession. I'm obsessed with hummus. I used to buy it from the grocery store every now and then for snacks for me and Erynn. ( We were the only 2 in the house who liked it) Recently I bougth some and it was horrible! It was the same brand I always bought but apparently they felt it needed improvement. The improvement was an epic fail. It had a weird bitter after taste. The baby thought it was yummy though so I decided it was time to make my own.

I looked all over until I found a recipe that looked right to me ( you would not believe how many different ways there are to make hummus! ) and then I tweaked it suit me. Thanks to http://www.allrecipes.com and my own taste buds this is what I came up with:

Hummus

garlic cloves, 1 or 2 to your tastes
19 oz. can of chick peas, drained but keep the liquid
3 big teaspoons tahini
4 tablespoons lemon juice, this can also be adjusted
1 tablespoon olive oil
cumin, to taste ( I used about 1/2 tsp)
salt, to taste

What I do is crush my garlic either in the blended or the garlic press first. Then add your chick peas, tahini, lemon juice and salt. I puree it until it's smooth and then add cumin. Puree again then add the olive oil. Spoon it in to a bowl and serve with pita pieces or veggies. Ta da!

I LOVE this stuff! Ruby and Erynn just devour it. Bryan won't try it because it didn't come out of a box or have some cartoon character attached to it. Grr.

I think this is the handiest stuff to have around for snacks or to put on sandwiches. Yummy!!

I just realized I should have taken some pictures..lol Now it's all eaten. Next time.

In a Sea of Snot

2008-12-01T11:06:00.000-08:00

That title made me a gag a little.lol It's the truth though.

Today the majority of us are sick so we are all taking a sick day. No school today. The kids are pretty miserable. Erynn is tired because she spends all night coughing, Ruby is miserable because she can't breathe and has a cough that keeps her up all night. She wants to nurse but she can't breathe out of her nose so she can't nurse, but that's all she wants to do because she doesn't feel well. Poor baby..

Bryan is acting like he has cabin-fever. This is the kind of day we would have all went out to do something away from here but with all the sickness it's not an option.

Needless to say, I am also miserable. I'm tired because the baby is keeping me up all night and I'm not feeling great either. Everytime I cough it feels like my lungs are on fire. When I woke up this morning I also couldn't breathe.

Blah! I hate when we're sick. I'm going to go load up on EmergenC.

Mother Nature Likes to Play With Dolls

2008-11-28T06:33:00.000-08:00

This morning I was sitting on the bed, getting the baby ready for the day. Erynn was standing behind me playing with my hair and Bryan was dancing in and out of my room.

On one of Bryan's twirls through my door he tells me " Mother Nature plays with us when we're sleeping." Odd.. and a little shocking.

I asked him how he knew that and he said he just knew. I told him that must be why I'm so tired all the time.

Then Erynn chimes in, still playing with my hair, " Mother Nature plays with us all the time, like dolls." :O

For those of you who know little Miss Erynn every now and then she comes out with some pretty interesting stuff, this was one of those mornings.

Ever wonder if children know things, important things about how the world really works, that we as adults don't know?

I was going to ask more questions but it just turned into an argument between the two monkeys about when Mother Nature plays with us.

My kids are crazy!

Snow is for kids

2008-11-26T13:16:00.000-08:00

For anyone reading this who doesn't already know this about me, I hate winter!! No, I REALLY hate winter. Just thinking about the impending winter season while we're still in summer makes me physically ill. I don't shovel snow, I don't toboggan, I don't ice skate, I don't snow shoe, I don't have snowball fights, I don't play in the snow. As a matter of fact, I barely even leave the house during the winter. That being said, I used to. I used to skate the Rideau Canal every year. I loved building snow forts and I even snowshoed a few times. I even used to cross country ski.

Somewhere along the line I developed a huge feat of the snow and ice. I fall a lot and ice really doesn't help that. Then I started to drive and that open a whole new can of frosty, snow covered worms. Somewhere in my life I lost that magical feeling that the first bit of snow gives you as a child. Luckily for me, I have 3 chances at experiencing that all over. This brings me to my point.

So today it's been snowing. Big sticky flakes that are staying on the ground. The kids and I took a walk to the store to buy bread for lunch and Bryan decided he wanted to play outside when we got back. Stellar idea, I thought. That will give me time to do a few things inside.

The kids went out after lunch ( Erynn needed coaxing, I think she might be like me when it comes to winter..). Apparently they were making snowmen. Bryan came in to ask for a carrot but we didn't have any so he took a peice of celery instead. lol

I was cleaning out the fridge and Ruby was looking out the door. I had an idea. We should go outide too! So I bundled Ruby up, grabbed my camera and out we went.

She doesn't look impressed does she? lol

Ruby did her awkward baby in a snowsuit walk around the yard and Bryan and Erynn introduced me to their new snow friends.

I was very impressed.

I watched the kids play in the snow for a bit and took some pictures. The batteries died and I missed some really funny things.

Ruby was watching Bryan face-dive in to the snow so she decided to try it out. It didn't work out so hot for her. She went down, she didn not come back up.lol I picked her up and she was totally covered in snow. It was fantastic. She disagreed.

All in all it was a lot for fun watching the 2 older ones making things out of snow and watching the baby wonder what the heck was going on.

This is the part when I show off how beautiful my kids are. Bask in their cuteness!!

Meet Prince Bryan

2008-11-25T09:56:00.001-08:00

Prince Bryan used to be the lowly magician but he worked his way up the ranks to become prince. All hail Prince Bryan!

So this is what my beautiful daughter dreams up. I think she saw finger people on a show and it just popped in to her head this morning.

I was doing school work with the original Bryan and Erynn was doing her own thing. We were taking a break before lunch when Erynn came over to me with a little face drawn on her thumb. She told me he was a magician and he needed a hat and a cape. So out came the handy dandy contruction paper, scissors and tape. I made him a little hat, which you can see, and a little black cape, which is a little harder to see in the picture. We tied his cape on with a bit of kitchen twine. Erynn thought he was the greatest thing ever and then decided he was too good looking to be just a magician. He was indeed a prince!

I asked her what his name was and she told me he was Prince Bryan. As soon as original Bryan heard that he started wailing, " No I'm Bryan!! I hate that!!" ( Hate is Bryan's new favourite word. He hates everything right now. lol)

Erynn is so easily entertained. :) She reminds me of original Aaron that way..lol!!

Adventures in Sock Monkey Construction

2008-11-19T09:27:00.000-08:00

So I decided I needed to make a sock monkey. I'm not totally sure why but I'm sure it would be safe to blame Miss A and Craftster.

First I scoured the internet for dummy-proof instructions. (Yes I know they're simply buy hey.. I am a dummy! ) I found a lot of really great websites but decided on this one. It has plenty of pictures. Right up my alley!!

I'm a silly woman so I didn't think to take pictures of my progress until last night and by then it was mostly done. Doh!

Here is my silly little monkey before I went to bed. His body has been stuffed, he has a tail and one arm.

So far so good, huh? Just to let you know, I was planning on making this little guy for my kids. I was going to make one for each of them for Yule. It was going to be a grand suprise! The plan was to work on him after the kids went to bed so they wouldn't see it. Well this morning,when I came downstairs, it became very apparent that my children can smell sock monkeys. They found his little half formed body and carted him around the house, getting in to stuff. Grr... Oh well. I told them it was supposed to be a suprise and no I'll have to find some other kids to suprise. Hopefully that bit of "mean mommy" will actually make sure they are suprised when they get their monkeys. lol ( No, I'm not THAT mean.. I just like to front that I am..)

Anyway, due to his early exposure, I figured I might as well finish him up this morning. I sew on the remaining arm, his face, his sweet ears and a lovely mouth. The I looked for eyes. Two buttons would have done it. Think I could find buttons? Nope! So he's still blind but I'll remedy that this weekend.

Here is my finished product:

I am so excited that I made this! It really was way too much fun to make. Last night Richard said " You are having too much fun making that monkey thing." He was totally right!! That's right.. I'm easily amused..

So I have one mare pair of socks like this one so I'll start a new monkey tonight. This weekend I'll get some more socks and I'll be able to have a monkey for each little crazy. I was thinking of making a pink bow for Ruby's monkey and a purple bow for Erynn's just so all 3 look a little different.

If things go well I'm sure a few more people will be getting sock monkeys for Yule/ Christmas this year. Wee!

And so it begins..

2008-10-27T14:31:00.000-07:00

I'm going to come back in a bit to post an actual blog but I just wanted to get the ball rolling and say hi! Welcome to my madness..umm.. I mean intersting life..lol Can't wait to get it started!