School

Big change for us in November... typically children start school in September and some unfortunate souls start in August (BLAH).... Not us though. Heck, that would be waaaaaaay to easy and it would make sense! I like to do things when I want to do them (A stick it to "the Man" kind of thing). Anyways that is another tangent for yet another day. This will be Ellie's second full week. She loves it. We love it (mostly).

Ellie and her weird face...



One of her many "looks".

She has a choice of jumper, skirt, or pants

and

blouse, turtle neck, polo

Skating- They use some of the "older" kids to teach the littler ones the how-to's



And that's it.

Well not really.

but for tonight.

AND now that she is in school I might actually have time to breath....

and blog

or craft

and cook....

oh the possibilities are endless.

sorta.

today

there is snow on the tops of the mountains.

ribs are baking in the oven

A Christmas movie is playing.

I should go get the mail

but

I don't have to go out.

I love quiet days at home.

Wax On Wax Off

Ellie and Lucy started karate this year.

They have had the best time.

They were a little hesitant at first but now they absolutely LOVE it.

Normal.

For the past oh I don't know like 8months our life has been dare I say hectic.... I have been pouting a bit (just a bit... and not really out loud) and I keep saying that I just want things to go back to normal. But I had this epiphany today that maybe THIS is normal?!?!

So now I think I would like to be abnormal.

Our day today wasn't so bad. I have been a tad on the tardy side of blogging so instead of just updating you all I am just going to carry on and ramble like you should know what I am talking about....

So someone came to look at our house today. That was exciting and terrifying. I had a bit of a panic attack for 2 er 3 reasons. 1) I feel like my house is NEVER clean enough
2) I really want it to sell so I can just move on
3) I don't really want it to sell because I am not ready.

anyways, we had some really positive feedback so that's good....

Lucy had swimming today and she loves it. I told her she must be part fish. She informed me that if something was PART fish it was called a MERMAID..... hahahaha what a kid.

Ellie is sick. One person gets better then we are back at the doctor. I think I must have a lesson to learn somewhere in all these doctors visits. She isn't going to die by the way.... in case there was concern.... she's fine.

Penny is well..... penny. Loud.... bossy.... did I mention loud????

well that is life on Wednesday. I am pumped for bedtime popcorn and a diet Pepsi. It's the small things in life people!

mumified

I had a break from reality..... or maybe it was a snap..... anyways, it was kind of nice to cancel everything one day and just hang out with the girls. In school the unit we are on is called, "Once Upon a Time". One of the chapters is about the story of the gingerbread man.... it suggested we bake some. BUT I am opposed to out of season baking.... like really morally against it. So I decided to change the suggestion (you have that sort of control when you're in charge ;) ). So we made sugar cookies with the gingy cut out and decorated them into mummies.

Now sometimes I might come across as fun but it is a myth. My children will tell you I am a horrid supporter of sticker books, colouring pages, playdough, and cookie decorating for children. I cannot sit idly by and watch children INCORRECTLY colour, decorate, and place stickers. It drives me crazy. BUT like I said.... i had snapped. So the kids actually got to decorate the cookies. I may let them do it again. It wasn`t so bad. There were only but a few times I had to distract myself with facebook.

Now with out further adu.......

THE MUMMIES

some of them may suffer from the egyptian flu.....

falling back

It's felt like fall the last few days here. I thought I would feel melancholy about the entire ordeal but instead I find myself smiling. I am smiling because I love the leaves and the crispness in the air. I smile for the polar fleece sweaters and squishy hugs. I smile because of the smell of fresh bread and soup. I also smile because of play dates and girls nights out and lunches with friends. I love the break from rushing from one weekend to the next trying to squeeze every ounce of summer out. I love looking through Halloween magazines and looking at the treats and decorations and costumes.

Life's Garbage.

I am feeling the need to spring clean....
Right now I feel very bogged down..... I have sympathy for my house (which is also probably wanting to be dejunked).

Anyways, I am not going to get into all the garbage I was carrying around but I turned to a friend for some advice and she told me to read the serenity prayer (commonly used in addictions counselling)....

Serenity Prayer

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.

Garbage being disposed of.......

I am thankful today for my friends. I am thankful that Lucy is feeling better. I am thankful for my computer and my blog. I am thankful for the opportunity church gives me to grow and to continually push myself. I am thankful the breeze and the fresh air. I am thankful for Dusty's stable job. I am thankful for my family. I am mostly thankful for life.

Oh the Places You'll Go

The girls are beyond excited. Ecstatic would be a more accurate description. Ellie and Lucy LOVE LOVE their quads. In fact, it is the first thing they ask for in the morning.... and they make me promise every night that I'll let them ride them. I'm not going to lie, the things TERRIFY me. Dusty assures me that they are governed down and that they won't perish...... none the less I still spend most of the time with my hand firmly wrapped around the kill buttons!

Lucy- first one on the brand new quad and testing out her new quad helmet. 

Ellie's turn and a little more than happy (she had to borrow Lucy's helmet... hers was at home) 

Ellie trying to make it up the ditch with a little coaching from Dusty- I may have asked for them to be governed a little low.... she couldn't quite make it up the "hill".

Lucy at the lake with "stealthy black little girl pirate" quad..... hahaha we bought one quad thinking that we would see how it would go but it was such a huge hit that Grampa kicked it and helped Lucy buy hers.

Ellie at the lake with her quad and helmet.. this picture freaks me out.....I think I may have a lot of years of worry ahead of me......

Well our little life has been seriously crazy lately but it's amazing how fast a trip to the emergency room can slow you down!! And in all honest one should of slowed us down.... Too bad it took me 2 times to get it through my head! I was really sick a couple weeks ago and I ran myself right down till I was so sick that I had to go to emerg. And then I got some antibiotics and was right back in the thick of things... Well this week it's Lucy who's takin the beating. Poor little girl. I took her the emergency room yesterday morning and even when we got home and Ellie was ZOOMING around our yard on her quad, Lucy just curled up on the couch with her blankie and stinky and fell asleep. I think it might be a quiet couple of days.....

Life in June Looks like.....

I finally got the trailer to the lake!!! We have had a whirl-wind of a weekend/week. It has been so super awesome.
SOOOOO I am totally going to start from the top..... (but in list form so it's way easier to read... I am doing this for you.... haha not really....it's also way easier for me to type)

This starts in May.... like the 30th
1) had my visiting teachers over
2) put books together for all the primary kids (I am still not done handing them all out but I am totally going to post them cause they turned out pretty cool... in my humble opinion ;) )
3) handed some of the books out
4) packed the trailer
5) went out for lunch with a friend
6) handed out more books
7)TOOK THE TRAILER TO THE LAKE!!!!!!
8) went to Lethbridge and helped my folks
9) visited Dusty's parents
10) went on a date (to homedepot..... my favorite kind.... for real.... LOVE IT)
11) hung out with katlyn just us girls and the kids
12) Went to the temple with a couple of super fine ladies (I meant super fine like super awesome not like ghetto attractive although they are also good looking as well but I just thought I should clarify)
13) hung out with Amy totally alone for like an hour. we ate carrots. it was pretty sweet.
14) walked on my 'rents (is this even gangster?!?) new floors..... they were also super fine.
15) bought a kids quad (pink camo) and put it together
16) bought another kids quad (stealthy black) after riding around on the pink one cause it was so awesome. (thanks dad for stealthy black quad)
17) came home. AHHHHH  (huge sigh) oh so good to be home.... for 12 hours...... we are off to the lake first thing in the morning.... EEEEPPPPPPPSSSS (mass hysteria now kicking in)

I now must prepare a lesson for sunday, bake a bunch of squares, posters, packing and unpacking, and sheesh.... 1 million other things....

I will post pictures of the awesome quads. and the most adorable kids ever..... when I come back...

and PS i ALMOST bought an iphone this weekend BUT I totally decided to spend the money on a new camera. I am so so so excited for a new camera. Mine has been testy lately (which is the reason for the lack of pictures) so I am going to splurge and buy a semi-fancy pants camera..... anyone have a camera they LOVE and why???

Head, heart, and a serving of Cheesecake please.

I needed a day like today. I have a new calling at church and it's been a huge change for me. I have had to dedicate much much much more time not only to the direct needs of that calling (sort of like a job at church) but also a lot of time indirectly and more time on just making sure that I am up to par. The last 5 or so Sundays have been so super busy like can't breathe busy but finally today, I finally caught up. I felt like finally I was on top of it... (that and I stayed for an extra hour and wasn't rushing out the door to go home or to another meeting)....
It's funny how things turn out in life. I never thought I was good with kids (in fact they totally freak me out). I never liked to babysit. I didn't mind older kids but for the most part I would of way rather spent time with old people. I became a mother and thought that I really only liked my kids and that I was good with them because they were actually mine. I felt really inadequate at this new calling. I still do. But today, I sat at the front of the primary (the children's organization at church) children and I looked at them, I felt home. I wish that my brain could just follow my heart and trust that I will be good at this. I know that I am in store for an uphill climb that promises an amazing view.... I hope my legs hold out for the next couple weeks while everything gets tweaked...

I also got to go for dinner to a friends house. It has been a long time since we've been to "Sunday dinner". Both Dusty and I grew up with Sunday dinner and we both loved it. The tradition of getting a good meal and visiting with everyone. Dusty works shift work and we've found it very challenging to make it "home" for dinners and we've found it equalling as challenging to do Sunday Dinner at our home. he is either working or we are starving when we get home.... Today was lovely. Sunday dinner and visiting and it just felt so good. I would say my goal for next week would be to have Sunday dinner BUT it's the long weekend and Dusty is working and I have extra meetings at church.... so alas.... I may have to settle for Saturday night dinner.

Do you know what else is awesome about sunday dinner?
Dessert. and especially cheesecake. YUM!

Hope the rest of ya'll had a good sunday!

The trip... part 4...

We woke up in Comox

(cause that's where the hotel was)

Did I mention we stayed at the holiday Inn?

It was nice.

Reasonably priced... good continental breakfast... clean... good pool

After getting loaded we decided to stop at the information desk just to see if there was anything so amazing we couldn't pass up the opportunity to see it.

There wasn't.

BUT

on our way over the power steering went out on the truck.

I thought for sure that was it.

Vacation over.

heading home.

BUT

oh no...

dusty pulls out yet another surprise.

He wanted to keep going.

Why let a "little" thing like power steering stop us?

So we went to cathedral grove

(which is awesome)

(the bathrooms there....not so much)

and then we decided to go to Ucluelet.

and as we are going through that pass..

the power breaks went on the truck.

So we had no steering or breaks.

I was ready to come home.

BUT

I think Dusty was determined to eat fresh fish and chips.

and we did.

and they had palm trees.

(which was the HUGEST deal)

Ellie said a vacation isn't a vacation if you don't get to see palm trees

(she really wants to go to Disneyland... and Hawaii... and Mexico... and Bahamas and pretty much anywhere that had palm trees)

After lunch we went out the the light house.

The girls wanted to go climb on the rocks with their dad.

I said no.

I am mean like that.

(mostly because a few years ago a little boy was standing on a rocky shore like this and his parents turned around and he was gone. They suspect a rip tide carried him away but no one knows for sure because they couldn't find him. This story was particularly traumatizing because on a previous trip to the coast I stood on that EXACT same spot and was looking at the water. Freaked me out... anyways. I did tell dusty this story and yet he still went out there. he is crazy)

After the light house we hit two more beaches on the way back to the ferry.

It was incredible.

The first beach was black rock and crushed shells. It was so pretty.

but the second was

heaven.

Long sandy beaches, tons of shells, and we got to dig for clams.

Lucy was a digging machine.

She could of dug all day.

Finally after convincing them

(which took bribing them with ice cream)

we started heading back to the truck.

Lucy passed dusty her bucket of shells and looked at us and said,

" I want to move here right now forever"

she then took off running, barefoot, jeans rolled up and as she was running full out down the beach we could hear her yelling,

"This is the beeessssst dayyyy EEEEEEEEvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvEEEEEEEERRRRRRR!"

(it was the best part... I thought)

If he had a job there that's where I'd be.

We headed back and got on the 900pm ferry.

By 1200am we were in Chilliwack.

and 10 hours

and only a little bit of crying

we were home.

The bestest most awesomest trip we've taken in 6 years Part 3 photos

We woke up bright and early

(mostly because Dusty was ready to get outa the city)

We decided the night before to walk down to a corner grocery store and pick up some necessities..

like cookies.

and that is most certainly a necessity for

Penny.

We ate breakfast in bed and then got up and dressed and took the dog for a walk.

We were two blocks from the beach so we walked down there and the girls were

AMAZED

at how many people were walking downtown.

But not nearly as amazed as when they hit the beach and started seeing all the sea shells!

It took them 20 minutes to walk like 10 feet.

The dog who was thirsty, took a HUGE gulp of water...

hahahaha it was hilarious.

In a torturey bad pet owner sorta way....

We promised the girls we would find a Wal-mart and get them some buckets and shovels....

(which honestly was the hardest part of the vacation... We started looking for a walmart in Creston and didn't find one until Naniamo)

We got back from the walk and loaded the truck and took off to find the Vancouver Aquarium.

The Aquarium was cool (and freakishly expensive).

Ellie loved it.

Lucy not so much.

She could of blown through that place in an hour.

Ellie and Dusty had to stop and read every SINGLE sign....

We did find a 4-D dora movie and that was pretty fantastic.

We all loved it

except for Penny...

who would of thought a baby wouldn't like being sprayed in the face with water.....

The shark tank.

probably one of my fav's.

Ellie with the Beluga Whales.

She thought they were pretty cool...

she kept asking where the orca's were...

(maybe we'll eventually make it to sea world...

we thought of going on a whale watching trip when we got to the island

BUT

then Dusty saw that he would be in a "dingy" and decided

that on the scale of righteousness

he would be Jonah

BEFORE

the whale...

so the dingy situation was out)

 The dolphin show.

Dusty's favorite and Penny's.

She shrieked every time they came out of the water.

And finally the ferry...

Everyone loved the ferry.

We had an awesome time watching the big trucks load and unload. We also went up and had some lunch... which the girls thought was pretty amazing. We hung out up top and then went back down to where the truck was and just watched the water. By the time we were getting off the ferry the girls were completely tuckered out....

Which made for an AWESOMELY quiet trip to Comox. We took the ocean-side hiway and it was beautiful. Dusty said it was the best part of the whole trip... we stayed at the new Holiday Inn express and it was SO SO SO SO clean. and our room was right by the waterslide and pool. We had an awesome evening there. PLUS there were walking paths behind the hotel so the dog was super happy!

A Song and a Dance... without the Dance...

Last night was Monday.

Not really a profound revelation

but

in our house Monday's mean one thing and that is

 Family Home Evening.

An evening dedicated to spending time with one another and it usually has some sort of spiritual message.

This year the Primary's (The Children's portion of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) theme is, "I know the Scriptures are True" and so as a family we decided that on Monday nights that is what our focus would be.
Last night we were talking about, "If we got to go back in time and live in the scriptures, where would we live?".... 

One of the answers was from Ellie and she would want to live in the time of Ammon and her reason was because she LOVES this verse in the song, "Book of Mormon Stories".

Well one thing lead to another and we got talking about King Benjamin and the girls asked why there wasn't a verse for him in the song.

Soooo we ended up making on up for him.
It was actually really fun.

First we wrote down some of the things the girls remembered about King Benjamin.

Then we looked for a pattern in the previous verses.

It was actually perfect timing because Ellie is learning to write basic poems in school based on rhyming words....

and then we got to work... and the result is this...

Benjamin was the king and Nephites did rejoice.

He built a tower and they flocked to hear his loving voice.

His message was of love and God and living peacefully,

This he lived, until he died righteously.

The girls are so very proud of themselves.

They really wanted to sing it on Sunday....

Hahahaha maybe next week will be writing a letter to President Monson....

The much anticipated bestest trip in 6 years part 2 photos....

We woke up the next morning and ate our continental breakfast

(don't you love continental breakfast?!?)

(I do... who can hate a "free" breakfast)

After we got all our stuff loaded we decided to go for one last walk...

mostly to tucker out the dog

(yes we did actually bring her)

It was beautiful!

I honestly don't know why I live in the land of perpetual winter when there are places like

oosoyos in the world.

The flowers were all starting to come out.

The trees were all in bloom and budding.

Ellie LOVED this tree. 

It was covered in yellow flowers.

That is her yelling, "I LOVE springgggggggggggg!!!" 

 Our tree huggers....

They were actually clinging to it for dear life because we were turning around and they were terrified to return to the land of snow and ice.

for real.

Terrified.

at points in our trip there were actual tears shed over the fact that they would have to come home to the snow.

 Ellie.

She was absolutely astonished that as we drove through Creston and Oosoyos that there were actual "popcorn" trees. I think I heard her belting out that song like a million times....

We loaded up and headed out. The 5 hour drive flew by.... (ummm so that is totally made up... in fact two seconds after leaving the city limits Lucy began to incessantly bug us until we finally caved and gave her the leapster.... so instead of thoroughly enjoying the sereneness we were plauged by the sounds of Dora and backyardagans). So 5 (or more since we did get lost) we finally arrived in Langley. Hurray.

 We pulled into the temple parking lot to a menacing sky but alas that would not stop the dog or the kids from begging to be released. The drive up was interesting... You turn at the meeting house and then you are driving and it seems like you are totally going the wrong way cause you can't see the temple at all and then wabam. There it is. Anyways, we all unloaded to check things out and to see if the chapel or distribution center was open (and a bathroom....). During this escapade we discover that a) the distribution center is only open on Fridays and Saturdays (not so great for an unplanned spontaneous road trip) b) the chapel is locked and c) this temple has a HUGE family/ward picnic area. It is covered and there are bathrooms (locked???) and a huge grassy area.

So we were heading back over to the temple to take a few quick pictures and Ellie and Lucy were amazed at how angel Moroni was shinning. The sky was really gray and there was just enough light that hit him that the gold was really brilliant. As soon as I took the picture we got dumped on. A rain/ snow (ARGH... Dusty's joke this entire time was that we would drive to the coast and still find snow.... blast!) mix drenched us. We were soaking by the time we made it to the truck. We hung out there for a half an hour and then in cleared right up. 

 The flowers were so so so pretty

 Ellie and Lucy by the sign at the front of the temple.

 A really nice man came over and took our picture.

After this we loaded up and headed to the hotel.... and to find a bathroom.

We finally made it.

It was quite the experience.

I've been to Vancouver once after I graduated high school and one of the experiences I remember vividly was driving down Hastings street and where it intersects with Main. UMMM so it's quite a culture shock for a small town kid from the prairies. I thought maybe it had been made bigger in my head... Dusty is VERY VERY glad the kids were past out! We pasted that area of Vancouver on our way to the hotel. We stayed right by Stanley park and we had an amazing view.

We were on the 29th floor of the hotel and as soon as we walked in Ellie headed for the balcony. She wouldn't come in till it was time for bed. She just sat out there and stared and stared. Dusty poked his head out at one point to see how she was and she looked at him and said she wanted to live right here forever. I never in a million years thought she would of been the one to love the city! She loved looking at all the women and men in their business suits and the trendy shops and all the little food stores. She loved the traffic and the ambulances and the firetrucks. She loved the apartment buildings with the gardens on the rooftops. We finally hauled her in off the balcony at 10. What a kid! (I think it terrified Dusty... more than we were terrified of going home to the snow.... the idea of coming back to downtown Vancouver was enough to make him want to cry ;) )

The much anticipated bestest trip we've had in 6 years photos!

So we started day one bright and early. We were up at 6 and on the road by 730am.

(which for us is freakishly early!)

Ellie had a field trip to Castlegar to release baby Sturgeon into the Columbia River.

Dusty was more excited than anyone...

I think I remember suggesting we could go shopping instead

(I was out voted)

Dusty has never been past Creston so this was a real adventure.

We of course were ridiculously early (even thought we totally got lost)

A wrong turn in Creston took us on an awesome little detour...

good thing we forgot about the time change!

We arrived and there were loads of kids and buses and FISH!

This is Ellie and Lucy but a big holding tank of baby Sturgeon.

They were all about 6-8 inches long.

All the kids took turn going down in groups of 10 or so.

They had someone down at the water that tags the fish so you can keep track of "your" fish.

They also had a person down there that has tons of fish facts about Sturgeon.

This is Lucy holding her sturgeon.

They don't feel like regular old slimy scaly fish.

They feel like skin.

odd.

and much less freaky.

Still wouldn't touch it though.

(I was holding the baby *wink*)

Ellie holding her fish.

She was a little more unsure of this endeavor...

She would of voted to go shopping at this point.

 

Ellie and Lucy with the other kids from the school.

This is how long a mature Sturgeon is.

CRAZY.

They catch them by putting whole chickens on their hooks!

We got done at about 2 and were just going to go back to a hotel in Castlegar and play in the water slides but Dusty still wanted to explore a little.

So much to Lucy's dismay,

we continued.

We ended up in Oosoyos.

Can I just say....

HEAVEN.

Like for real.

plus 16 and no snow!!

I told Dusty he could come get me in July.

It was seriously so so so so so nice.

and because it's on off season we paid 100 bucks and stayed RIGHT on the water. It was lovely. This was the view from the hotel.

We even got a water slide.

I am pretty sure Lucy would of fired us if we hadn't!

We went for a walk around the lake and found a stick for the dog.

Belle was happy.

The girls were happy.

I was happy.

Even Dusty was relaxed.

We walked until dark and went back to the hotel for a swim and some pizza.

After the girls got tucked in and {quickly} fell asleep,

Dusty and i reminisced of the day and lamented about going home!

Dusty looked at a map of BC and we were only 5 hours from the coast so

we (mostly he) decided to just keep going.

I wasn't going to argue.

Hurray!

Phew

It has been so long I almost forget what blogger looked like!! Even my mom (who isn't a frequent reader) has been on my case!
As I am sure most of you have assumed I am swamped. My life has been more than hectic and I definitely needed the time. But I am back. For sure. I have missed sending my thoughts out into universe.
We just got back from a VERY spontaneous (have you ever had to wash your underwear in the sink?!?) trip to the west coast of Canada. Dusty's never been... he's never even touched the ocean.... CRAZY! Sometimes I forget how sheltered he is! It was amazing. I can't even tell you how amazing it was. Our family needed to get away from reality for a moment and just forget the day to day and remember that it is just so awesome to be alive and with each other. I did actually remember to take my camera and I have a million photo's trying to download but it's taking forever and I honestly have like half an hour until I have to be out the door again so alas it will wait till thursday...
I love my blog. and I really am so so so glad that I can get back to it. I hope you all bare with me because this next little bit in our life is really going to be nuts and crazy and new and I am so very looking forward to telling you all about it.

So I opted not to post anything in February just to keep myself from complaining but it's march now and I am thrilled. Horray for march. Expect posts. Lots of them. I can't even express how happy I am to be out of February even if I am surrounded by snow... Seriously. I will put up some pictures. The snow in the front of our house is higher than our 1 ton truck!

Keep your Eye(s) on the prize

It is February.

THE

most

Depressing

month

of

the

year.

The novelty of winter is wearing,

Christmas has long since past,

new years resolutions mostly put away,

and my birthday.... gone.

Not much to look forward to in February.

I guess there are those who celebrate Valentine's day....

NOt us though.

We do make a cake.

Cause who doesn't like cake?

and seriously it is a Perfect reason to have cake.

So I have cake to look forward to and then

march much of the same...

dusty looks forward to the soda bread.

April???

ahhhhh April.

Lovely winter is over and spring has begun April.

The season of purples and greens and yellows.

Daffoldills and tulips.

Easter.

and The Lake season.

It's hard to believe that in 7 more weeks I will be parked somewhere not at home CAMPING.

If you can call what I do camping....

7 more weeks.

I think I might have to start my to-do list.

ps I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE my itouch.

the Earth has never been so happy that my lists have gone paperless.

Let a Sleeping dog er Woolf lay

Lucy is the funniest sleeper.

She HATES going to sleep so she fights it until she passes out somewhere.

We find her in the oddest positions or places.

She cracks me up.

Penny.

She loves to sleep in her Jolly Jumper.

She'll lull off and be completely out but then all of sudden she'll start to jump again

(still completely asleep). Or she twitches her leg to rock. She's a funny little girl.

An update. Sometimes I forget that people just like a straight up update. Life is pretty darn good. The whole "meatless" (using the term super lightly) is going really well. It's not as hard as I thought, mind you there are days I just want a big ol' hamburger. But it certainly makes red meat days special. It has helPed out the budget A LOT. It's crazy. And we even eat quite a bit of game (hunting.... A lOt of it... One good thing that comes out of all the "man-cations") Hmmmm school... Also easier than I thought. We've done a really good job sticking to the schedule. Ellie really loves it. In a moment of "uncertainty" I asked Ellie if she wanted to go to school with the other kids but she very confidently told me that she loved being at home with me and Lucy. She is doing really well and is reading on her own. She loves doing math. She's confident in her adding and printing. Lucy is also doing really well. She is determined to "keep up" with Ellie. Dusty is the same. He loves his new snowblOwer and has spent his now "spare" time from shoveling digging out snow caves with tue girls. Our yard is full of tunnels and holes. As for me, I am busy doing what I normally do. I am really excited with a new project I've been workIng on. I along with a group of wOmen are going to be knitting and crocheting blankets to donate. I am really looking forward to it and I've been planning it for a long time so I'm glad that it's actually happening. That's about it. Life is simple and it's awesome.

Meal Plan Week 2

Okay so I am a TERRIBLE meal planner. I don't plan meals. Well I do but only supper. Who plans breakfast???(well except for you terribly organized moms who I'm pretty sure do it just to make the rest of us look even more unorganized than we already are....) so in Kristin's world of meal planning we only plan supper.

Monday Night supper- Vegetable Pizza (and I must say we do pizza a lot. and this was a REALLY good one) I shoulda taken a picture but I was like, "It's pizza, who hasn't seen a pizza?!?" but I shoulda and I shoulda written it down. Maybe next week. Maybe tonight. I am hungry. and pizza is delish. Especially at night in the quiet while the kids are sleeping and I am blogging. Too bad I'm in my Jammies and feeling particularly lazy.

Tuesday Supper- Beans and Cornbread. Emphasis on the cornbread. YUM.

Wednesday- Chicken Cesar Salad

Thursday- Chicken Fried Steak, mashed potatoes, and peas and gravy.

Friday- Tomato Artichoke Pasta

Saturday- Indian (not so politically correct) Tacos (with salsa chicken instead of beef)

Sunday- Chicken Fingers with Sweet Potato Wedges and Veggies and dip.

A year in the life Of

Today is my birthday and since it's pretty close to New Year's I usually spend my birthday reflecting on the year before and the one before me. Last Year was a good year for me. The last two have been really great. There have been some really great things happen to me in regards to my physical environment and also some really great things emotionally and spiritually.

This last year's highlight would of been Penny.
I was content with having two little girls but when we found out that we were expecting another baby it felt right. I'm glad she wasn't planned but a very pleasant surprise. We kept her a secret for a quite a long time (almost 25 weeks) and cherished the quiet excitement in our family. Her birth in the spring gave me an opportunity to know myself in ways that only a crisis can. It was confirmed that my strength is undeniable. I am very good in a crisis. Good in the kind of way that I am the one you want with you. I will hold it together. I am clear headed and focused. I learned that my beliefs are the core of my being. I know the plan of salvation is real. I have always loved my sisters but I learned that I NEED my sisters. I will be forever grateful for them ignoring my instruction to stay away. There was a very long night spent as they were getting ready to transport Penny. My mom and Dusty were spending time with the transport team trying to get all the information together. My sisters sat in my hospital room. Just sat. And after the hospital, Penny has taught me a great number of things this year. Things I didn't think that after having two children I would have to learn. I learned that it doesn't matter what you do, some babies just don't like to sleep. I remember one time in my life wanting to feel like I was the one my babies wanted. Both Ellie and Lucy loved me and liked to cuddle but they were both pretty content to be passed off or spend time by themselves. I learned to be careful what to wish for. After 8 months of having my house in chaos that there ARE more important things than a clean house. But I have also learned to appreciate a clean house. The last month with Penny has seen great changes (crawling) and I actually can get to things like my desk.... and it's lovely.

This year we also bought a camping trailer. We LOVE it. I love it. I have a countdown for spring. Our little family had such a great time last year camping. I left in June and didn't come home until October. Awesome.

The end of last year also saw all the framing and drywalling in our basement. Pretty exciting.

The last couple of years I have become my own woman. I feel long past my teenage no responsibility discovering personality traits time in my life. I feel like the the 20year old something of college and ideologies has been somewhat humbled with the word Compromise that comes with marriage and children. I feel like the clueless zombie stage of motherhood (which was never really my thing) has dissipated and I am left feeling like. I know who I am. I am fine with who I am. I would even go so far to say I like who I am. I feel a little unapologetic and strong. I also know that there is a lot of life in front of me but the woman right now says, "Bring it on."

Menu plan January 3-8th

So I thought it would be a good idea to keep track of the meals I've cooked so that if I'm stuck for a dinner idea one night I can just look and wala inspiration.

Saturday
B- eggs and toast
L- lasagna
S- greek chicken roasted in peppers, onion, mushrooms, garlic, and Greek seasoning, sweet potatoe fries, and Greek salad

Friday
B- omelete
L- meatless taco salad
S- vegetarian lasagna

Thursday
B- granola, yogurt, and peaches
L- (we went out for lunch)
S- shepards pie with peanut and pretzel salad

Wednesday
B- toast
L- fish, rice, and stirfry veggies
S- sheppards pie and cesar salad

Tuesday
B- yogurt and granola and pears
L- stew
S- chick pea patties, rice, stirfry veggies

Monday
S- stew
L- grilled cheese sandwiches
B- cereal

Train Our Dragon Er dog....

So these are a little late..... better late than never though.... right?!?

Vikings at the trick or trunk or the trunk or treat or whatever the heck it was called.

"toothless and Ellie"

Oh Shepard, Where Art Thou?

Not in the field with the lambs... or traditionally in North American the cow pasture.... I found him (or her) in the Lentils.

Okay but for real even if you think I'm NUTS (which most people do at some point... but if we're being honest... who isn't?) you must give this recipe a whirl. We eat Shepard's Pie a fair bit around this house. It's usually my "go-to" meal. It's easy, comforting, and delish. So I swapped out the hamburger to try to make a quick and easy meatless meal.

A Vegetable Eating Shepard's Pie

Ingredients

1 onion

3-4 small celery stalks

3 cloves of garlic

1Tbsp vegetable oil

1 Tbsp butter

Salt

Pepper

1 can of Lentils

1/4- 1/2 cup of flour

1 1/2 cups ish Stock (vegetable, chicken, beef)
(I had homemade beef stock frozen in my freezer so that's what I used)

peas

mashed potatoes

cheese

 Directions:

1) put oil and putter in a deep skillet

2) put in (diced) onions and celery and a little salt and let them cook over medium heat until cooked (they'll turn a bit translucent)

3) add garlic and let that cook for a minute or so.

4) Add in can of lentils (drained)

Let that cook for a minute or two

 5) add flour and give it a mix. The white should be gone and you're left with a goo.

 6) slowly add your stock mixing while you pour.

7)  Once it looks like a gravy then let it cook at a simmer for 5 to 10 minutes.

8) Pour into casserole dish (I used a 9x13)

10) Sprinkle with peas (you could use a frozen mixed vegetable)

 11) Cover with mashed potatoes

12) cover top in grated cheese

13) put in the oven and bake at 350 for 1 hour or until the top of the potatoes gets a good crust on top

14) add a bit of Parmesan cheese and waala. Dinner.