Oats and more....

Hey Everyone!!!
I am still here, wishing I had more time to Blog these last few months..but life is busy and looking after the needs of my family leaves little time for blogging sometimes!

Our household is fairly healthy but the other night I noticed a bump on our 10 year old daughter, but thought nothing more until more of these blister looking things started appearing on her neck.
We got her into our family doctor right away and sure enough-she has the CHICKENPOX!!!

So we've been busy pampering her and she's been so good about the itchy part, being so careful not to scratch too much since she heard the Doctor say it can leave scars.
It's sad to watch your child go through pain and watch her sores worsen over the hours.
We tried to brighten her time at home from school by letting her use her library card to get out some new novels and movies in which she was pretty happy about. She also wanted to do something "fun" while she was home from school and chose to bake cookies for the family (bless her heart!!)

She did so well at picking a recipe and doing everything by herself!

Here she is with her first batch of cookies out of the oven!

I am so proud of her for being such a trooper even while sick and wanting to be in the kitchen. I guess it can get boring at home even with books and movies.

Tonight I'm trying something to help alleviate her itching and it looks like this:

I've been given lots of wonderful tips from other mom's and the Oatmeal bath was high on the list. I am so excited to try it...mainly because I really like trying homemade remedies and its natural! At first I was told to just put oats in the bath , but upon more research this may be the less messy way of doing it. Blending up the oats to a fine powder in blender would not only make less of a "porridge" bath but would mix with the water easily making a "silkier" bath. Plus I'm sure it would be soothing to the senses as well.

I have a feeling that if I like it I may just keep a glass jar of fine oats in the bathroom as a bath staple, especially since a  few of us suffer from excema.

I'll be sure to post how it worked later!



Grace....

This song sums everything in life up well! God' Grace....gives such an amazing perspective....(dont forget to shut off the Music Player at the bottom of this blog!)

Life!

Found this Pic. Loved it. 'nuf said...!

Some Christmas pics...part 1

Whew!
I finally get a bit of time to blog!

We had a wonderful holiday, with both Christmas and New Years....lots of visiting, meals, parties, playdates, skating with friends and some sledding. I totally meant to post during the holidays but it just didn't happen. Here are a few pictures of our Christmas Eve.

Our 2 oldest were given the priveledge to hold the candles at the Christmas Eve service at our church

Our beautiful children in front of the Christmas Tree at church

Children setting up the Nativity Scene. Each child holds a figurine and tells the family it's part in the nativity story, then they placed it in the stable. Hannah adored the Baby Jesus and was in awe.

Blurry picture..but I like how the focus is on Baby Jesus.

The first (and only!) Gift the children get to open on Christmas Eve...as tradition: New Pyjamas for all!

Christmas tree with Gifts all set up! Late Christmas Eve...

Well thats a glimpse into some of our Christmas..and I'll be sure to post the rest soon.  Many memories were made and we enjoyed our family time together celebrating with extended relatives and friends.
Look for part 2 coming soon.









a dessert ...in time for the holidays

Hello Everyone!

We are all busy preparing and enjoying the holidays and counting down the days till Christmas Eve! Believe it or not it is tomorrow night!! This past month we have been busy attending school pageants, carol sing alongs at an old age home, decorating, reading nativity stories and watching classic Christmas movies on t.v.  Have I mentioned that I simply LOVE this season?!!!

I thought it might be fun to share a familiar recipe with you all here as well.  This recipe is for a desert that my mother and grandmother made each and every Christmas when I was growing up, and I am proud to have also made this every year since our firstborn was a baby.  It goes by many different names, but I like to call it "Pineapple Delight".  It is very simple, fun for girls to help with  and I have had positive comments on it.

Here it is:

PINEAPPLE DELIGHT

A) CRUST:

2 cups graham crumbs
1/2 cut melted butter

-mix thoroughly and keep out 1/2 cup of graham crumb mixture for the top of the desert later.
-press crust mixter into a 9X13 Pan
-put in oven at 300* for 10 minutes
-cool completely

B) ICING LAYER:

1 1/2 cups icing sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 tsp vanilla to taste
enough milk to make spreadable

-mix all together and spread on top of the cooled graham crust in the pan

C) PINEAPPLE FILLING

1 large can of crushed pineapple (well drained!)
1/2 pint whipping cream

-whip cream on high till stiff, adding small amount of icing sugar if desired
-fold in pineapple in the whipped cream
-spread on top of the icing layer generously

Top the whole dessert with the remaining Graham Crumbs  and Chill (so it sets and flavors combine)
After the dessert has been chilled overnight, cut into squares, serve and enjoy!

and thats it!!

Our family can polish off a pan of these squares in no time!

Well there is still alot of small things I need to tackle tonight so that tomorrow it will be easier paced and we can enjoy our Christmas Eve day and night.  Hope you all have a blessed holiday! I will be back soon to update and post some pics.
Good Night!

Bring on the Cravings!

Hello everyone!

So, these days we have been busily preparing for Advent and the holiday season .  I have been enjoying every minute of it and loving the joy on our children's faces over things such as the first real snowfall, putting our star on the top of the decorated tree, tasting gingerbread dough and also our first sips of hot apple cider. There is something so magical about this season and I am reminded of my own childhood Christmas memories.

We have also been so wrapped up these days in the anticipation and excitement of announcing our news to family and friends! Well by the title of this post, you may have guessed it..hehe.... We are simply thrilled, honoured and soo grateful that we have been Blessed again and I am carrying the Gift of Life within!! Yes...we are Expecting another little precious one come spring!

This pregnancy has been relatively smooth going, with a little bit of morning sickness the first few months...and a bit of tiredness. We had an ultrasound at 11 weeks and it was simply amazing to see this little one on the screen with heart beating ever so fast and little limbs moving!

As the technician moved the doppler across my belly, I could feel tears coming..in that moment it was so "REAL" and watching our little one really moved me and I kept whispering praises to the Lord and the tears kept coming. Maybe it was hormones and I was a tad emotional, but I was just in awe at the miracle of Life before our very eyes! I felt so proud to be a woman and that God was forming this precious little one so precisely and intricately within my very own womb....words can't even sum up that moment in time, yet it is engraved within my heart forever.

When we told the other children, they jumped up and down in excitement and it was awesome to spend the night talking about the new baby.  Our little Elijah pats my belly everyday now and says "I'm petting the baby"..its quite adorable.

I have been really trying to get all the required nutrients in and even with taking my prenatal vitamins, I Crave Protein constantly.  I have tried over the months to satisfy it with beans, and lots of other substitutes for meat but it just doesn't cut it.  There was one night where I was so frustrated and finally at 9:30 at night, dear hubby ran to the grocery store for me and bought me a nice Sirloin steak!  Since then I have been having steaks every week...and the craving is satisfied. I crave horseradish and sauerkraut too, which is so weird!

Tomorrow we have another ultrasound scheduled out of town as they have a nicer facility and over the pregnancies, I have found they take their time and do not rush us out of there. The technician is very thorough in describing everything to us and even includes the husband and children...
We have debated finding out the sex of this little one, however as tempting as it will be, I think I would regret it later. I have never found out for ANY of our babies, and its that extra curiousity and suspense that gets me through those last few weeks of pregnancy and Labour. We'll see. Maybe we will find out afterall?...!

I will update on everything soon!

I'm still here....just been busy

Hi...just wanted to pop in...since I haven't been on here in awhile

Life is just so busy right now...with lots of amazing things happening and lots of preparations for the new season.
The weeks fly by and with a  housefull of Littles, the fun never ends.

It has finally started to snow where we are and I am so happy it looks like its not all melting away.

Nothing like waking up to big fluffy flakes falling from the sky, and a nice hot cup of cocoa. I have been tempted lately to start blasting Christmas tunes, but I think I'll wait till we put up our decorations and tree for that.

I've started my Baking with the girls for our Christmas festivities. This is my favorite time to put on my assortment of Christmas aprons and make lots of wonderful treats for the season. There is always a party to attend, a play, an event or gifts to give, so having alot of baking done ahead really helps!

I am doing alot of my traditional squares and cookies, but the Children have seen some cute new recipes in magazines that I think I may try.

On another note, I have not even started Christmas shopping! I've browsed alot, and I'm making lists but thats about it. Usually dear hubby and I take a weekend away each November and head down south for the Vaughan Mills mall and of course we go to Yorkdale and Eaton's Centre in Toronto.  I find the city we're in is so limited in variety and I enjoy the time checking out new stores and finding great things down south that we may not find here.

We also love to dine at the Keg..as its our tradition. We're not sure though which weekend we'll go away yet, or if we'll just do it sometime in December this year...(although that may be just too hectic as the malls are so jam-packed and CRAZY then....!!) We'll see.

Well thats about all I have time to write for now! I have homework to do with children and need to get baths happening...until later..

cheers!

sweet deals!

Today I went shopping and bought some sweet little things I thought I'd share for fun

I was excited when I came across a new product and  decided to try it out. I sometimes use Johnson's products on our babies and toddlers and this is apparently their new line! It's called "Honey Apple" and it smells sweet just like a fresh crisp granny smith apple (thus the name! lol ) and has a soothing scent as well that lingers. Now the Wal-Mart here only had the baby wash, but I'm hoping they will carry the cream as well soon.

Our Hannah was needing some new bibs. It's surpising how many washings a bib goes through and how stained  they can get over time. I have noticed that Hannah's clothes were getting dirtier as the small bibs just don't cover her as well. I found these today and I really liked them!  Also, Gerber has very good prices and good quality products.

Are these not the sweetest patterns?! they remind me of Hannah's nursery bedding that has the same core colors. I just think Pink and Greens look so great together. Plus they are easy clean and durable. The best part of these bibs are the "crumb catchers" ...what a great idea!

I also needed to buy new pyjamas for the older children and since Lidiyah loves pretty nightgowns, I came across this one and knew she would love it! It's supersweet for a little girl like her.

It made her happy when she saw it.

It's always fun to come home with fun purchases that are great deals!

supper

Tonight we're having a traditional meal of Moose Stew and Bannock.
This will be only my second time ever making bannock and I'm using a totally different recipe too. Hoping it's edible.

Here is the recipe for Bannock I am using

4 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup lard
2 cups lukewarm water

Mix dry ingredients together, add lard and mix

Mix dough until it is hard enough to knead into a ball, careful not to handle too much

Let dough stand 10 minutes (which i totally forgot to do!) before rolling on cookie sheet

After its all rolled out on a cookie sheet until it is 1/2 inch thick, then poke holes with fork!

bake in 400 degree oven for 40 minutes

This is the finished bannock. In my opinion it did not rise well! guess I really need to let the dough sit awhile. The texture was fine nonetheless.

Now all to do is cut it into rectangles and dip it in our stew.

Bannock is so versatile too in that you can add so many different ingredients to your liking (berries, currants, raisins, cheese...etc..)

The Moose stew is very simple!

First cut and dredge your meat generously.

Meanwhile have your pot of broth, veggies (potatoes, carrots, turnip, lots of onions) and cooking on the stove till soft cooked.
Then I dropped the meat into a hot pan with oil and browned it over medium heat, not enough to cook the meat though.

After you are satisfied with how browned the meat is, take it off the heat and add to your pot of broth with vegetables. Continue to cook and stir for about 1/2 hour more and shut off heat after thickened.

That is basically how I make my moose meat stew..nothing fancy and no certain recipe. You get the idea though.

Hope you enjoyed a glimpse into our kitchen! The children simply enjoy this meal and always ask for second helpings.

 



Friday Fun

So its Friday!!

Fridays have that extra special feel to them...I'm not exactly sure why but I find they just do. Friday is the day that I catch-up on any major housework that wasn't done during the week and I tackle the deep scrubbing so that our weekends are completely free from cleaning! Other than the usual loading of the dishwasher and a few laundry tasks, we do nothing else around the house and focus on being together as a family.

Fridays are also the day I do the big grocery shop for 2 reasons.
1) sale flyers start Friday mornings.
2) I can focus on my menu plans and have my fun meals for the weekend ready to roll with fresh ingredients and I dont have to wait till Sunday nights (like I did before) to think of menu planning for the week ahead.

I try to buy a special treat on Friday's for the weekend, nothing big, just something we don't usually have during the week.

Friday nights I do NOT cook. Ever. Sometimes that means we have a casserole prepared ahead or sometimes we order in. Tonight we have ordered Hawaiian Pizza for the children and Deluxe for the adults. The children are all growing (like kids do!) and we are at a point where we now order PARTY SIZED pizza just to fill them all up! You know you have a Large sized Family when the children's order alone is a Party Pizza! I like it too because there is usually some leftover's for Saturday lunch.

We like to stay up late Friday's and watch movies, or seasons of our favorite tv shows. The children really enjoy watching Little House on the Prairie's which we find sweet. Our oldest actually used some allowance and saved up just to buy the next season that we didn't have of LHOP.
Sometimes we watch Planet EArth episodes.

Another bonus about staying up late on a Friday night is that the children sleep in on Saturday! (ironic I'm writing this because it just so happens that tomorrow morning is the ONLY exception! but due to an event-!)

Tomorrow we have a fun conference we are attending put on by the Early Years Centre. The conference has over 15 different worshops/sessions with awesome hands-on learning oppurtunities that are interactive for both children and parents.  We enjoy taking part in it every year, as there are wonderful booths, displays, demos, draws, healthy snacks and great entertainment for the whole family. I will take some pictures and post soon! (check out http://www.letthelearningbegin.ca/  if any locals are interested and want to come out in the morning! )

Hope you all have a great weekend spending it with family and friends!