Mr. McGreggor's Garden Soup

As winter thrusts all her glory upon us..... My heart truly cherishes the root vegetables. I am frozen with the deepest chill and so I had a whole bunch of vegetable ends (not because I was frozen but because I was cooking supper... ). Long story longer... I through them (the vegetables) into a pot and made soup.

It is good and worth a try.

The culprits

- 2 celery stalks
- a hand full of carrots like 8 baby carrots
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 2 parsnips
Dice them all up and throw them in water.
Boil the water... Add some vegetable stock seasoning (I use knorr)
Don't measure anything.... It's soup....
After the veggies are soft add a can of creamed corn and chopped ham.
A splash of milk and some pepper. Voila!
Instant Canadian de-chiller

Ps I do have a picture but I have yet to figure out how to upload them from the iPad....

Themes

Last year I was totally into thee whole new years resolution thing. This year..... Not so much. But I thought I would at least confess my sins of last year...

The whole meatless thing actually went pretty well... Well except for the meal planning bit.... I am not that committed to my detailed planning. I am way better with the whole bigger picture concept.

Through the whole meatless thing I gained some insight into some other nutritional benefits of being more diligent in food management.... ie weight-loss (who knew obesity and food were connected ;) ).

We had a good year. We have a lot to be thankful for and we have learned some valuable lessons. This has most certainly been a year of big changes and a LOT of stress. For the most part both dusty and I have felt like we hover from one chaotic moment to the next. But we have managed and still are happy and didn't even fight (that much).

As I have contemplated my lack of enthusiasm for new years it has become quite evident that I what I need this yeAr is to just be.

I want to BE healthy. I will try to make choices daily that will get me there. Last year I spent a lot of time and energy in this department. This year my goal is to make smart clean food choices and exercise 1/2 an hour to an hour daily.

I want to BE happy. For me that means simple things that I love. Make time for lunch dates with friends, knitting, reading, blogging, cooking...

I want to BE a good primary president.

I want to BE a good mom.

We have some big changes in the very short future and after the chaos of moving I am totally just going to breath this year And take it easy!

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......