New School Year

Just started crying now that the crazy day is over!  The girls are in two different schools this year.  Lily started Grade One at Our Lady Queen of Peace, and Sara started Grade Nine at St. Martin de Porres.

We had to move this summer in order for Sara to get home from school before Miss Lily!  But we're back in Luxstone and very happy!!

Lily handled the day like the level-headed, practical realist that she is.  I took her to school this a.m. because she had two backpacks full of supplies that weighed more than she did.  But by the time I navigated the traffic and the 915 students that were registered at her school this year, I was going to be late for work!!  So I checked her in with the teacher and threw her into the lineup, kissed her quick and ran!!!!  She was fine, I was not ...

You would think that after being at this school for 11 years, I would remember the traffic and the multitudes of children (not to mention the probably 750+ kids that go to the school across the street), and be a little earlier on the first day.  But nooooo, that's "next year territory", apparently!!

I met Lily after school and helped her find her bus.  She climbed on board, I waved at her and booked it back home so I could meet her at the bus stop to show her how to walk home.  She was smiling and fine, I was not ...

" I wasn't even scared on the bus!"
"I have a hook with my name on it for my coat and backpack!"
"I have a desk, not a table anymore"
" Look!  I have an agenda and you have to look at it every day"
"We got to go outside and play twice today!"

She is fine .... I guess I am too.

Weekend Cookin'

It seems like Saturday has become cooking day. I like to do some baking, maybe a couple casseroles to put in the freezer for the upcoming week.

This week I made a pumpkin pie to put in the freezer in preparation for Thanksgiving. I also made some gluten free pumpkin bars. The reason they are gluten free, is because now that I am in debt-free mode, I wanted to use up some flour that I had in the pantry, rather than going to the store and buying more. Here's the recipe ...

Paul's Pumpkin Bars www.allrecipes.com

4 eggs
1 2/3 cup white sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1-15 oz can pumpkin puree
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt

Substitutions:
- can use any kind of gluten free flour, I used Robin Hood Nutriblend
- can substitute up to half of the oil with applesauce
- cut the sugar up to half a cup

Preheat oven to 350
Mix eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin with an electric mixer until light and fluffy
Stir together the dry ingredients, then add to the pumpkin mixture
Pour into an ungreased 10x15 pan
Bake for 25-30 minutes
Cool before frosting

Frosting
3 oz. Cream cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups icing sugar

Next I made a chicken broth from about five dollar's worth of chicken necks and backs that I bought at the store. I baked them first in my toaster oven with some salt, pepper and poultry seasoning. I made sure they were nice and brown on both sides before I transferred them to my stock pot. Once there, I just barely covered them with water, added sage and lemon balm from my kitchen herbs, 4 or 5 pepper corns, 2 bay leaves, garlic and a little more salt. I put in half an onion, cut in half again, a stock of celery cut in half and a large carrot cut in about 4 pieces. This I brought to a boil and simmered for an hour. Voila! Hot soup for tomorrow's lunch

Then it was time to make supper! Popcorn chicken sounded good, with raw veggies, homemade potato chips and dill pickle dip!

The girls had been begging for potato chips for a couple days. I decided that since we had so many potatoes, having just picked up our Good Food Box, that I would make some homemade chips with my Pampered Chef chip maker. Then I found a recipe on Pinterest for dill pickle dip. Here it is ...

Dill Pickle Dip
4 oz softened cream cheese
8 oz sour cream
3 large dill pickle spears, diced
1 tablespoon pickle juice
1 teaspoon dill weed
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Beat cream cheese
Add sour cream, beat again
Add pickles and juice, stir
Stir in salt and pepper, garlic and dill
Refrigerate one hour

The dip was excellent for the chips, veggies and the chips!!! And we have dip left over for veggies in this week's lunches!

For the popcorn chicken I just coated the chicken pieces in one egg, then corn starch. I made a mixture of bread crumbs, Panko crumbs, salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder, oregano and rosemary. I covered the pieces with this then fried in hot oil.   I served them with Epicure's Chia Ketchup.  They were Fantastic!!

Banger's and Mash - English Pub Fare

Reminds me of the St. James Gate in Banff. I must say, my version of this old favorite was STELLAR!!!

I caramalized onions, then added a touch of Dijon! The layering of the Mashed Potatoes, the Banger's, and the onions was an idea I got from Rachel Ray. Oh, and BTW, I used fresh buffalo with Cracked Peppercorn sausage. Mmmmmm!

A pint of Ale and the night was PERFECT!

Potty Training ...

The most daunting two words in Parenting ...

I took Lily to her 18 month Doctor appointment ... Dr. S says, "18 months? You can start potty training!"; like he knew what he was talking about!!! I gave him my "Are you stupid?" look.

My first experience of potty training was so exhausting, frustrating, and scarring, that we both still have nightmares. Being a first-time mom, I wanted to do everything right. I listened to other mothers, grandmothers and even some fathers ... and well, ... I really must stop this train of thought because I feel myself starting to hyperventilate ...

When Liam came along, I vowed that I would not even THINK about those two words until he turned 3. But about 2 months before he turned 3, he gave me "all the signs". I said to myself, okay, I'll bite ... 1 week later he was trained! Or, at least, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

So along comes Sara, beautiful, sweet, determined and energetic Sara. Everyone told me how much easier girls were to potty train. And ............................................... I have absolutely no recollection of the potty training process with her. Poor girl ... There are a lot of things I don't remember about Sara, I even forgot to remember to take her with me when I left the grocery store once! But that's another blog ...

So here I am, child #4, and feeling total ambivilence toward the whole process. I used to fret and fuss when other mothers would talk about ages and stages with their children. I lost sleep about whether or not I was just a bad parent, or maybe the child was just BAD!

I guess I've finally learned something after over 4 decades and 4 children ... It's not a race, or a competition of any kind. Kids that are allowed to set their own pace are far more relaxed and able to just be kids! And mothers who don't put a lot of stock into what other people think drink far less alcohol!

Post Script ...
And I learned that wanting to do things perfect with the first child is completely normal ... and there are plenty of therapists out there willing to help first-borns come to terms with their parents!

Lily and the Art of Zen

I now know why God put HRH Lily into our lives ... she is so Zen!!!

Lily is a very happy, content baby ... ALL THE TIME! She just sits or lays on the floor and plays with her toys. Occasionally she watches a little TREEHOUSE when I am making meals or busy with other things. Lily has given us no sign of crawling or walking, for that matter. She is content to just watch the world from a sitting position on the floor or from the arms of a family member.

The other day, she met a little eight-month-old named Zoe. Zoe crawled circles around her and Lily just watched Zoe in amazement as if her only task was to sit quietly and be entertained. I was thinking, "Jeez, why isn't Lily crawling like that younger baby?" ... Lily was thinking, "Wow, look at that baby go, I'll just sit and watch and be entertained! Isn't this fun?!".

Lily was put into my life to keep me calm and grounded! She truly has been a blessing in our lives. She doesn't buy into the hustle and bustle life or the "Bigger the Better" attitude. I aspire to be more like her :)

On arriving home after our trip ...

I was just going through some posts that I started and never finished. This one is worthy of posting, even though it is in the past tense. It speaks to my frame of mind since having a new baby, and the fact that my memory isn't so good. Like, what was I smoking when I thought a nice little 12 hour drive to Montana was a good idea? And won't it be fun to show Lily off to all of my friends ... won't they think she is just the best baby?!! Yikes! Lily hates strangers and hates leaving home even more! Oh well, I can laugh now. But here is my post from November 2010...

I prayed and prayed that our trip to Montana would be safe and fun! Well, it certainly was! But now that I am home, I think I should have prayed that we would survive the week after our trip ....

I had an MRI booked on Sunday afternoon, which, as all of my Canadian friends know, is a much waited for, event! I had this appointment booked waaaaay back in April. November 14th was the soonest they could get me in. So, my trip was possible only if I could make it back to Calgary for the Sunday appointment at 3 p.m. Well, with the time change and the baby and the children having to go potty along the way, I missed that appointment. They are now booking into July!!!! Dangnabbit!!!!

That evening, Lily started to feel bad and by Monday morning she was a nasal-congested mess. Wanting to be nursed all the time and feeling quite miserable. Meanwhile, I woke up Monday morning with the Green-Apple-Two-Steps; achy all over and with a head-ache to boot.

Tuesday, Sara brings home a note from school that someone in her class had a case of the head lice! And guess what? I decided to look at Sara's hair on Wed. Morning and ... you guessed it ... she had lice too! John and I went ahead and treated ourselves as well cause .... well, just cause!

Meanwhile, my internet was disconnected until Wed. night. And that, right there, was the worst part of my week!

I have a headache ...

I want to be the Poster Child for Beauti Control Spa Products! I don't know if they are hiring, but if a casting call comes, I am IN!

Here's me on a headache day ... Is this not a face that only a mother could love? I've got my Therma del Sol Apothecary Aromatherapy Neck Patch on under my warm, green neck wrap. I've also got some Rejuvenating Eye Treatments on. I'm not sure they are helping my headache but I had them in the freezer, so they felt cold and soothing on my eyes. It never hurts to treat those wrinkles either!

And the MAGIC treatment for headaches that I learned years ago from my good friend Karen .... Wait for it .... Wait for it ... Peppermint Oil! Yeah! Just rub it on the back of your neck underneath the warm, green neck wrap and Whammo ... headache gone!

I'm feeling much better! Was going to take an "after" picture, you know ... one where my hair is done, my makeup is impeccable and I am smiling from ear to ear. But I kinda like my treatments, they feel good ... Gonna wear them the rest of the day. Maybe I can get a few more chores out of the kids with this getup!

Snappis, Bumbos and Baby Wearing

Having a baby in the house again reminds me of how much things have changed since my last babies. I feel like a brand new mom again! Like, you don't use diaper pins anymore, and there's a seat especially for your new baby to sit up in before he/she can actually sit up ... and everywhere I go, parents are wearing their babies!!!
This is Lily at 1 1/2 months in her Bumbo ...

At almost 6 months now, she is not quite sitting up yet so she sits in this seat to eat her rice cereal.

This is me ... wearing Lily!

I even attended a baby-wearing class at "Grow With Us", Airdrie's new children's consignment and retail store! I love that place!

And these ... are Snappis!!!!

They are little magical, plastic-y thingys that are made in South Africa and it enables you to fasten your baby's diaper with one hand! Ridonculous!!!

I am having sooooo much fun having a new baby again! But what I've realized the most from having a baby at an older, more mature age, is that with Lily, I am PRESENT IN EVERY MOMENT of her life. My head is attached and completely focused! Of course, because of my age, I probably still won't remember a lot of things :) but hey, I'm enjoying each and every moment!!!

Merry Christmas from Us to You!

We have a very simple Holiday Season at our house.
In preparation for the holidays, we do a little baking ......

And we make a few homemade gifts ...

Once the holidays are here, we like to relax.
We eat Christmas Dinner in our Pajamas
Do a little light reading ...


And take the time to thank God for all our blessings!
Merry Christmas to all!
Love from Wendy, John, Liam,Sara and Lily

The City Awakes ...

This is the scene outside my hospital room this morning. Cities never cease to amaze me. This picture is, essentially, the city asleep. Yet it is so alive! It is not a very good picture as I took it with my cell phone. I wanted to show you The Bow, which is the Encana building (Oil Company) that is being built. It is the tall building on the left. It has 3 cranes on top of it!!! Isn't that amazing??!!! How did they get up there? Too much for this little prairie girl to fathom. Apparently, the first thing to be built in these tall buildings is the elevator, then the cranes just catch a ride on the elevator to the top, then build the rest of the building around it. I am in awe.

Airdrie and Calgary are about 15 km apart, so not very far. They built a mega mall in between the two cities. It takes me about 7 minutes to get to it from my house! (I'm just sayin'. In case shopping is in your blood and you want to come visit!) Very dangerous!! Anyway, because of the mall, they built a new interchange/off ramp thingy. It was amazing to watch it being built! I would be travelling on this very busy 3 lane highway (The Deerfoot) and they would be digging and building a road UNDERNEATH me! Yikes! Then, when they were done that, they built a road above the traffic! Wow! I have much respect for the vision of the engineers!

Nurses don't make good patients!

I'm writing this from the family room of the Foothills Medical Center. I have been here since Friday afternoon. My heart was hurting, so I thought I better check it out. You might remember that it broke about 2 1/2 years ago ... Trying to figure out if it broke more. Meanwhile, I am very bored. Seems like being in this place has made me sicker, what with all the drugs they are giving me. Want to go home so I can feel better. And of course, there are 3 little people who need me there. Oh well, God knows what's best and I trust that He will straighten all this out.

Really I am a model patient, but boredom does tempt one to get into a little mischief! Like last night I was texting in the dark, under my blankies, so as not to be caught by the nurse. I was going to say "big bad nurse", but that would be totally unfair. She's quite average in size and seems to be a very good nurse. I've had her for three nights in a row! I am also finding myself, as always, craving contraband food! Like a great BIG double double from Tim Horton's or a BIG Mac from "you know where" (minus the fries, I've got to think of my heart for Heaven's sake!), or a BIG bowl of Vietnamese noodles from the Vietnamese restaurant next to my place. Are you catching the "BIG" theme I've got going with regard to food? I'm not really complaining about the food, just about the size of the food! But really, it is a good time to pare down my serving sizes. It is Christmas and I challenged L'Dene to lose 10 lbs. before January 1st. (what the hell was I thinking?!)

Lily was here with me today, but had to call my sis to come get her earlier than planned. The poor little thing has had to withstand formula for the last 3 days. She is not a happy girl! Poor little belly is not feeling so good. Needless to say, she was fussy and the man across the hall kept yelling to shut my door, he couldn't stand the noise! LOL! Poor old fart!

Plotting my next escapade into mischief .... hmmm ... might try doing wheelies in the hallway in a wheelchair. Maybe the night nurses will be up for some races?????

tuesdays with lily

it is 122 pm and i am still in my pajamas. holding a crying baby, feeling guilty for just feeding her 2 ounces of formula cause i seem to be out of milk. needed to journal cause i had to get these feelings out, thus the one handed typing, baby in other arm, with no capital letters and limited punctuation. was feeling overwhelmed and tired this morning so went back to bed, nursing lily in bed. now am stressed over messy house and very much needing a shower. could break down into a puddle on the floor very easily. but still thinking this is right where i need to be ...

Blessings ...

Lily is 4 weeks old now. She has already made such an impact on our lives. Soon we will not be able to imagine life without her. I feel such a calm and a sense of purpose to my life right now. There is just something about pacing to calm her crying, breastfeeding her hungry body, or just rocking her to sleep. It makes the rest of the world go away and brings me to that exact moment. I know that nothing else matters.

South African Dish: Bobotie

Okay, so dish #2 was a hit! It is from South Africa, and is called BOBOTIE. It is kind of a twist on meatloaf. Very interesting blend of spices and ingredients. I fed this to my Sister, her husband and their son. Everyone loved it! Deanna brought a rice pilaf to go with it, and I served mixed veggies on the side! Great meal!!!

Minced lamb or beef, or a mixture of the two (I would use 1 1/2 to 2 lbs. meat)
butter, vegetable oil
2 onions, chopped
1/2 teaspoon crushed garlic
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
2 slices bread, crumbled
1/4 cup milk
finely grated rind and juice of 1/2 small lemon
1 egg
1 teaspoon salt, and milled black pepper
3 oz. dried apricots, chopped
1 Granny Smith apple peeled, cored and chopped
1/4 cup sultana raisins
1 1/2 oz. slivered almonds, roasted in a dry frying pan
6 lemon, orange, or bay leaves

Topping
1 cup milk
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preparation
Set the oven at 325. Butter a large casserole. Heat butter and oil in a saucepan and fry the onion and garlic until translucent. Stir in the curry powder and turmeric, and cook briefly until fragrant. Remove the pot from the heat.

Mix in the meat. Add the crumbs, milk, lemon rind and juice, egg, salt, pepper, apricots, apple, raisins and almonds. Mix. Pile into the casserole and level the top. Roll up the leaves and bury them at regular intervals. Seal with foil and bake for 1 1/4 hours. Increase the oven temp to 400. Mix together the topping milk, eggs and salt (double the recipe if you need more), pour over and bake uncovered for a further 15 minutes until cooked and lightly browned. Serve with Yellow Rice (or Pilaf) and Blatjang (apricot,raisin chutney).

Scrapbooking ....

So I've been alone now for what ... 5 weeks? I've got a little over a week left until the kids get home. What to do ... What to do? Hmmmmmm ....

I finally, after using every excuse not to, have brought out the scrapbooking supplies. For me, scrapbooking is very rewarding, and I LOVE reminiscing on old pictures. I love stressing over how to make the perfect page and display the pictures in all their beauty and "cuteness" (since, really, they're mostly just pics of my kids). Even found a couple of the Farmer's wife in there. You'd think I would have kept up with the task all these years!

But NOOOOOOOOOO ... I've found that it is also the easiest thing in my life to procrastinate about. For one thing, it takes up a lot of room and makes a big mess! It also takes a lot of preparation to get to the point where I can put the pictures on the pages. There's the picture sorting and the inventory taking and the shopping for new paper and supplies! Not to mention the preparation of the house in order to make enough room for scrapbooking. One needs to clean up the everyday mess in order to have enough room to make the mess of scrapbooking! Huh?

Of course, it is totally possible to complete 10-12 years of scrapbooking in 9 days! Isn't it? I started working on Liam's book first, I got about 3 pages done then arrived at Christmas 2002 .... What? No pictures? Do I even remember where we went that Christmas? Was that a Christmas that the kids were with their dad? Did we go to Saskatchewan? Did ANYBODY TAKE PICTURES??? HELP!!! Well, I obviously can't go on with Liam's book until I figure out what happened to those pictures...

DAY 1: 3 PAGES SCRAPBOOKED, KICKING SELF FOR NOT AT LEAST KEEPING THE PICTURES ORGANIZED IN THE BOX! BUT AT LEAST LIAM'S SCRAPBOOK IS ONLY 8-9 YEARS BEHIND ... THAT'S DO-ABLE!

On to John's book ... he's got a whole drawer full of pictures, but none are in order! Spend one entire day sorting pictures and still not done! Am really seriously thinking about pitching some pictures in the garbage! Yikes!!

DAY 2: 3 PAGES SCRAPBOOKED! THINKING, WOW, DID I EVER TAKE A LOT OF PICTURES OF MY FIRST BORN ... ISN'T HE CUTE? ... JOHN'S SCRAPBOOK IS ABOUT 12 YEARS BEHIND WITH A RIDICULOUS AMOUNT OF PICTURES TO SORT THROUGH. HAVING SERIOUS WORDS WITH SELF ABOUT KEEPING PICTURES NEATLY ORGANIZED IN BOXES!!

I am looking at Sara's pile of pictures. Oh my Gosh! Her pile is very small! Did I forget to take pictures of her?

DAY 3: 3 PAGES SCRAPBOOKED! BERATING SELF FOR NOT TAKING ENOUGH PICTURES OF SARA. I MEAN, WHAT KIND OF A MOTHER AM I ANYWAY?!! (BUT WON'T IT BE EASY TO PUT HER ALBUM TOGETHER!) SWEAR TO TAKE MORE PICTURES OF HER FROM NOW ON.

I am thinking DIGITAL photo albums for Lily! Are you picking up what I'm laying down?

Lumpia (Phillipino Spring Rolls)

So I'm following a blog on Epicurious.com called "Around the World in 80 Dishes". This is the first recipe I have tried. It is a very good recipe for Spring Rolls and I like that it is not deep-fried, so it is a much healthier food choice. I did not make my own wraps, I bought frozen ones at the Asian Market in Calgary. Much easier as they are very thin, crepe-like things that I'm quite sure I wouldn't have the patience to make. In this recipe, I used chicken, cabbage, carrots, onions, garlic and bamboo shoots for the filling, and romaine lettuce leaves to wrap with. So here I am at 10:30 at night, eating Spring Rolls! Very Yummy! Here is the link to the Recipe ...

http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/cuisines/aroundtheworldin80dishes/philippineslumpiarecipe/recipes/food/views/Lumpia-Rolls-352989

TIP ... I used lots of water at all the edges so the wrap would seal.

If you're not from the prairie ...

For my Farmer friends ...

If you're not from the prairie,
You don't know what's flat.
You've never seen flat.

When travellers pass through across our great plain,
They all view our home, they all say the same:
"It's simple and flat!" They've not learned to see,
The particular beauty that's now part of me.

If you're not from the prairie,
You don't know what's flat.

From "If You're Not From The Prairie ..." by David Bouchard

This field of Canola took my breath away this morning. I had to take a picture of it. Beauty like this can only come from God. It makes me feel wonder, homesickness, gratitude and thanks. Although it is a picture from the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, and not that of the Flat Prairies where I grew up, it still makes me homesick for Saskatchewan and the beautiful "checkerboard" of fields that the farmers create for God to play checkers on. God Bless the Farmer!

For the Farmer and his Wife in Montana ... Hope you liked this post!

Shuckin' Peas

I went to the Farmer’s Market today. I didn’t really know what I wanted or needed, but knew it would hit me when I got there. The very first thing to catch my eye was a bag of peas, still in the shell. Of course my mouth watered thinking about how they would taste, both raw and cooked. Mmmmmmmmmmm! But what I yearned for the most was to sit on my couch in my cool house, watch television, and mindlessly shuck peas. My mom always had a large garden when we were kids. Sometimes she even had two gardens! I remember shucking lots of peas and tipping lots of beans! It was a chore left to my two sisters and I, and we usually chose to do it in the cool comfort of the basement, out of the hot Saskatchewan sun, while watching “Days of Our Lives” or some other silly soap! Ah, the lazy days of summer!

Of course, I bought a bag of peas! Then proceeded on to gather up all the ingredients to make a pot of fresh Borscht! Can’t wait to have a bowl!

Month 8

The eighth month of pregnancy includes some interesting twists and challenges. Apparently, one gets a bit off-balance, so to say, during normal physical tasks! Last Sat. I met Deanna F and her girls at a Stampede Breakfast. There were a thousand or more people there, horse rides, live band, etc. Well, forgetting that I am shaped much more like a watermelon, than the pear I am used to, I stepped up onto an 18 inch girder. Seems harmless! But the rocks at the top of the girder did not give me adequate support to gain my balance at the top! A few staggering steps (No worries, I’m going to gain my composure!), then ... “Uh Oh!” here comes a very large pregnant woman, careening out of control, towards a crowd of innocent bystanders (The poor things are just waiting in line to get their breakfast!} An audible “Gasp” comes from the crowd! Then, luckily, gravity kicks in and I fall to my knees! No one gets hurt ... PHEW! Except me ! No worse injury than that to my pride! The feeling is so surreal, as I have experienced this same crazy fall in previous pregnancies. But each time, after the initial stumble, I feel like I will easily gain my ground, but some unknown, unforeseen force suddenly begins to pull me down and there is nothing I can do!! Except laugh, of course!!

Al a Carte???

The first week that my kids were gone, my food consisted of toast, eggs and tea. This was accompanied by a few salads to round out my nutrition. Oh yeah, and I made one trip to OPA!, for a lamb pita and lemon potatoes, and also included a BBQ steak this week when I camped overnight with Collin and Carry! Not a horrible week as far as nutrition goes! This last week, I had a craving for a hot dog, so I bought a package ... and of course, ate them all week! My concentration was more on fruit this week than vegetables, unless you count the sauerkraut on the dogs! This last week also included a stampede trip at which I ate a chicken donair and fresh lemonade! Mmmm ... What shall I eat next week?