Spiritual Journeys in Emerging Adulthood: A Narrative Study

My sister's Master's Thesis is online! Check it out, if for no other reason than to acknowledge and honor the blood, sweat and tears that went into completeing it. I'm still amazed at the amount of work, time and dedication that it took to complete. Well done!

Heather, your acknowledgement even made me tear up a little bit, and not because I'm not mentioned :)

Spiritual Journeys in Emerging Adulthood: A Narrative Study

New Reading Material

My sister finally lent me the first 3 books in the Twilight series. I've seen the first 2 movies, but had had no desire to read the books before hand. I couldn't understand what the thrill was. Now that I know, everyone has successfully convinced me that the books are a MUST READ. And, as we all know that the book is always much better than the movie it's been made into... I'm looking forward to my reading time!

See you in a few days LOL!

Awesome Coloring Book Idea

Both Mikah and my neice Clover are very interested in coloring. Clover, being 4 and a girl, is an advanced colorer. Mikah, who is almost 3 and a little boy, simply loves to fill a page with various colors. I wanted to get him some coloring books for Christmas to help him with his artiscic endeavours, but nothing really seemed appropriate. Every coloring book is either full of cartoon characters, to which he has little or no attachment to, or pictures full of tiny details which would be impossible for him to color. I think I eventually found a Christmas coloring book, but I wish that I had seen this idea instead.

Kathy, from Merriment Design, shares an awesome tutorial for making a family themed coloring book. I haven't attempted it yet because we are still at my parents farm, but when I get home... look out! With any luck I'll be cranking these babies out left and right!

Come back soon to check out my attempt, and check out Kathy's tutorial now.

Anti-Viral Tea and a Little Christmas

The kids and I have been have been fighting off a cold since the beginning of October. It never seems to fully go away, and I am so tired of snotty noses and night time coughs that I could just scream. I'm always willing to try something natural, so my sister-in-law told me about some horrid sounding tea made with ginger, cayene pepper, garlic, lemon juice... need I go on?

I did manage to buy the supplies but never got around to actually making the tea. I honestly don't think that I could have managed to drink it. So I went on the hunt for something similar and I found this... (here)

Strong Anti-Viral Tea

Step One

One cup of peeled, chopped and minced fresh ginger

10 cups of water

 

Step Two

Apple cider (1/2 cup per serving)

Lemon juice

 

Directions

Peel and mince the ginger (a food processor makes little work of this job).

Simmer the minced ginger in 10 cups of water for an hour or so. Strain.

When ready to have a serving place 1/2 cup of the strained ginger water in a pan with 1/2

cup of apple cider and a squirt or two of lemon juice. Heat and serve.

Ginger is fantastic and treats so many things. Fortunately this tea tastes great, which will definately encourage me to drink it for a ginger lover I am not.

Random Thoughts From A Tired Mammma

Mikah woke me up at 5:30 this morning and Lukas at 6:00; such an awesome start to the second day of holidays. Mikah is quite sick with another cold though so I can't be too mad at him. He looks sick too, so that makes it alittle easier to deal with his super bad behaviour as well. Well, maybe only a bit easier.

Of course this is the pre-Christmas rush as well, so I have tons to do around here and not much time to get it all finished. I'm stressed and that makes me a less than stellar mommy. Does a good mommy lock her kids out of the kitchen, then crank the music to drown out their fighting and whinning while she tries to get some Christmas baking done? Somehow I managed to drown them out enough to have these random thoughts while rolling cookies:

• Drinking alone shouldn't be such a bad thing; it would be amuch better idea than encouraging your kids to drink with you.
• I wonder where the cat is living. I wonder why I care.
• What ever happened to Uncle Kracker? I should download some of his music.
• I wish foam wreath forms weren't so darned expensive.
• Maybe I should watch The Sound of Music sometime. I can't believe that I've never seen it. I wonder if I'm the only one?
• Crap, I forgot about the van full of stuff that I have to take to second hand!
• I wonder if Alek will recognize Santa's wrapping paper after he saw it in the back of the van?
• God I need a drink.
• I really have to stop saying "shut up" all the time. And I have to stop smiling when Lukas says it. Not good parenting behaviour.
• I should download Love Actually to watch tonight while I'm wrapping presents.
• I hate wrapping presents!
• What was I going to use my glue gun for? Why did I take it out?
• When I make our Chrismas Eve Clam Chowder I should laddle some aside for Laura before I add the clams. Why have I never thought of this?
• I'm not sure I can manage spin class. I might really die.
• Why won't they shut up and play nice together? Will it ever happen while they are still living under my roof?

Christmas Miracle

Today the unthinkable; the unimaginable happened.

Alek and I cleaned his room. And I mean, cleaned his room. But the true miracle was that I managed to convince him to throw away and give away more stuff than he actually kept. He is a packrat to the extreme so this was no easy feat, but today he did it happily.

Somewhere the angels are singing.

Funny Jesus Story

First a little background info...

A few of the other teachers and I were standing around this morning discussing Christmas; which led to a discussion about beliefs, which led to a discussion about how Alek wondered how Jesus could really be a son of a god, which led to a brief discussion about his most likely illegitamate birth (IMO), which lead to us talking about Mary, which led to this...

One of the teachers had a little grade 2 student who came up to her one day and asked this question...

Student:   "Mrs. K, you know how there's the Mary that is Jesus' mother?"

Mrs. K:   says quite hesitatingly (while wondering just where this was going to go), "Yes..."

Student:   " Is she the same Mary that had the little lamb?"

We roared. hopefully the hilarity translated on here to.

Oh, the things that kids come up with.

The True Extent of My Patheticness

Hmm, while on my daily forays into the bloggershere, I have noticed a recurring theme lately; wishlists. Some of the lists are full of crazy dream items, some are realistic dream items, and some are a mix of both.  Well, why the hell not? I feel like I am so busy always putting the kids and everyone else ahead of me, maybe this once I could take the time and indulge in a little web window shopping just for me. Let's see...

I have an extreme love for African dance. I think these should help fill the void in my life due to the lack of classes here in Saskatoon...

Kukuwa Dance Workout DVD $19.99






~Edited to add... Ok, I started this list over a week ago and saved it to return to as I thought of other things to add. I finally decided to post it because this is really all that I came up with. Pathetic.

What You are About to See

Let me just start by appologizing. I'm so sorry, but you are about to get picture overload. It has been a long time since I managed to post on here and an even longer time since I managed to download pictures from my camera. Which explains what you about to experience. The below posts are some family highlights from the last 3 months...

Christmas Pirate

Last night was Alek's school Christmas concert. The grade 3's addition to the program was a skit about pirates. Let me just say, they all looked awesome! Lev tried to get a video of the skit, but the little ones weren't cooperating. As he was trying to tape it, Lukas was busy digging in his pants pocket trying to make off with his wallet and phone, while Mikah kept trying to cover the lens with his hands. That was annoying enough, but Lukas decided that this would be the perfect opportunity to try out his "ho, ho, ho." Loudly. It's all you can really hear.

I was reminded of the scene from Parenthood when they go their kids Christmas concert; there are times when you just have to sit back and enjoy the ride.

I did manage to get some photos of fierce Pirate 6.

Welcoming Willow

My sister and sister-in-law started a new family custrom when I had Lukas. Or, was it Mikah??? Anywho, they showed up at my door dressed as Geisha and treated me to yummy eats and a relaxing good time. So, we thought that since Becky just gave birth to our beaautiful neice, Willow, it would only be fair that we treat her to the same experience. But Geisha wouldn't do again. So, I'd like you to meet...
Inga and Oona, the Swedish baby nurses. They were bossy yet super efficient. They spoiled the mommy, hugged the baby and brought supper and goodies.

Hmm, I think poor Oona needs to work on her sexy Swedish

babynurse look. Looks more like she's about to pick her nose.

p.s. here's the new mommy breastfeeding in one of my wraps (which Inga made for her). They are a lifesaver I tell ya, a lifesaver.

Birthday Cake & A Chef

Lukas loves his mom's birthday cake.

A lot.

So much that he got right to work in his kitchen

making another one.

Celebration Time!

Nothing says, "Thank god I've finally finished my Thesis defence," than a

bottle of Baby Duck!

Well done Heather. Well done.

~Mikah just saw this picture and he laughed and said, "Auntie Heather got some rum for me."

Thanks for that dad.

Forestry Farm...

Lukas sees the bears.

Oops, Lukas sees a bench. Fun!

A wolf sees Lukas.

Mikah sees a Llama.

We see buffalo.

I see brotherly love.

I see a little boy climbing a BIG hill.

The cougar sees Lukas too.

The camera sees a mom and her number one boy.

Halloween 2009

First Trick-or-Treat

Happiest Sock Monkey Ever.

Baba Feeding the Monkeys

Spooky 9th Birthday

Alek celebrated his 9th birthday with a Halloween party. I, of course, got to go nuts making gross food, and the kids got to go nuts gobbling it up.

Witch's Fingers & Blood Sauce

Chocolate Covered Armpit Hair & Used Q-tips

Bloody Worms & Eyeballs

Catlitter Cake

A Couch of Clone Troopers (the irony was lost on them)

Serenading the Embarassed Birthday Clone Trooper.

Blue Eyes

It's Beginning to Feel A Lot Like Christmas

Less than a month and the countdown begins around my house. We always try to put our tree up the first weekend in December; we decided that this weekend is close enough. Now I'm going to have to locate and dig out all of the decorations. Argh!

Christmas planning starts now, baking starts now and the serious present buying starts now too. I always have good intentions to have it all finished by now but... realistically I'm always just getting started. I have a few ideas and thankfully none of them are included in this list...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/27/15-toys-not-to-buy-your-k_n_351369.html?slidenumber=mOUGXKuMGkw%3D

Twilight

I'm stuck at home on the couch today with my box of kleenex and a sinus infection. My body doesn't feel capable of much and being alone in the house provided me with the opportunity to finally watch Twilight. I've never really seen the appeal. I wanted to read the books just to see what the hype was about, and while I still can't speak for the story in the books, I can finally see why there is this obsession with Edward Cullen.

Twilight is crack-cocaine-porn for women.

Watching the on-screen interaction between Edward and Bella left me breathless more than once. Is that what we want as women? Is it the utterly passionate longing that makes us go weak in the knees? Girls long to experience it, and women want to experience it again.

Dear god.

Dear god.

Lordy!

Well, if you've been looking for me and my stories, we're still here. I've been having a hell of a time kicking this cold/flu and haven't had the energy or ambition to sit down and post as often as I should have been. Look forward to posts about Alek's birthday, Halloween and my birthday in the upcoming future.

Hmm, I just realized that I have been sick for well over a month now and my cough has just come back stronger and more hateful than before.

I despise being sick. I think Jose and I just might sit down tonight and try a new remedy. I'm going to try and drown it.

H1N1

Well, if you are looking for me tonight, I will be the one with two little boys (one will be crying and one will be screaming) waiting for their shots at Prairieland Park. I've decided to go ahead and get them vaccinated. So far the flu shot has gone against all of my beliefs, but I am in a process of re-evaluation...

I'm a mom with mixed feelings.

Regretsy

Now here is a site that I definately don't Regretsy going to! Check it out; it's so funny.

Now, don't get me wrong, I love Etsy (seen as even I have a shop there) but now I have proof that I'm not alone in thinking that some of the items listed on there are CRAZY!

When you feel in the need of a good laugh... Regretsy!

Adam

Here's a movie that I'm going to see; I think that everyone else should too.

The trailer makes me happy that Alek is so high-functioning, but the quirks that the man has seem oh so familiar.

Yes, you Can Open Wine With Your Shoe

This drunk guy is a genius! A genius I say.

My Sister is Officially a Brainiac

Well, my sister had her thesis defence yesterday (which she passed; YAY Heather!!!) and here is a list of things that I'm glad that she didn't do/say...

• Describe parts of her thesis using interpretive dance
• "You call THAT a question? How the hell did they make you a professor?"
• Group prayer
  
• Sell T-shirts to recoup the cost of copying, binding, etc.
  
• Mime
  
• Hold a sex toy party
  
• "In protest of our government's systematic and brutal opression of minorities..."
  
• "Anybody else as drunk as I am?"
  
• Use a Super Soaker to point at people
  
• "Please phrase your question in the form of an answer..."
  
• Present her entire talk in iambic pentameter.
  
• Cry
  
• "Which reminds me of a story - A Black guy, a Chinese guy, and a Jew walked into a bar..."
  
• Leave Jehovah's Witness pamphlets scattered about.
  
• "There will be a short quiz after my presentation..."
  
• "OK - which one of you farted?"
  
• Post signs: "Due to a computer error at the Registrar's Office, the original room is not available, and the defense has been relocated to (Made-up non-existent room number)"
  
• Make each professor remove an item of clothing for each question he asks.
  
• "I'm sorry Professor Smith, I didn't say 'SIMON SAYS any questions?'. You're out."
  
• Show slides of her last vacation.
  
• Put her powerpoint on a film strip. Designate a professor to be in charge of turning the strip when the tape recording beeps.
  
• Call her advisor "sweetie".
  
• Have everyone pose for a group photo.
  
• Answer every question with a question.
  

Well, to be honest, I kind of wish that she would have tried a few of these; I could have used the laughs.

Chicken Feet

While talking about dim sum in the staffroom at lunch today, one of my co-workers made this comment...

"eating chicken feet is the same thing as licking the batter off the beaters; you just

get a taste of the flavour."

Hmm, what flavour would that be; chicken toe-jam? I think I'll pass thanks!

Hmm...

Are there any other 9 year-olds out there that use the word, "lame?"

I had no idea that "lame" even existed in a modern kids vocabulary.

Nothing Like Monetary Incentives

Alek has a hard time getting along with Mikah. Not all the time, only 80% of the time or so. He torments him and it drives. us. crazy. Not only the tormenting, but the screaming that ensues. Please refer to this post.

We've tried all kinds of things to get Alek to stop, or at least curb it to a manageable and normal-for-brothers level but nothing seems to work. So, realizing that nothing talks to our son quite like money does, we've decided to implement a good-behaviour jar. Up to this point (and he turned 9 yesterday) Alek has never gotten an allowance but we've been thinking that it's time. So, here's what we're going to do... At the start of each month $20 in quaters are going to go into a jar, but each time that we have to get after him about purposefully driving his brother crazy a quarter is going to come out. Whatever is left at the end of the month is his. Eventually we will start putting quarters back in when we notice nice things that he does. Not right away though, first he has to work on cutting out the wrong behaviour. Cross your fingers that this will help re-inforce the positive behaviour that we know he is capable of.

When I explained this plan to Alek tonight he had this to say: "So what you're saying is, I had better get it all out of my system before the end of the month."   ~sigh~

I sigh because he's partially kidding and partially not.

I was the good Bond girl, but I wanted to have the dresses and the high heels. I wanted the funky, sexy name. ~ Izabella Scorupco

If these hung in my closet (and I could fit in them) I would never wear pants again. 12 beautiful reasons to get this extra weight off. Check out ModCloth and find some inspiration for yourself!

 

Yeck

I wonder if this is a new low...

pulling some chips out of the bag for a little indulgent snack and while nibbling, find a purple-ketchup-chip-encrusted jellybean hiding in the bowl. Think about it for a few seconds, and then toss the bean and keep eating the chips, even while remembering that the bag was left out the night before, and while laying on the couch in a too-early-to-be-up stupor the carpet monsters had themselves an early morning treat. While still eating chips, wonder what grosser things could still be hidden in the bag.

Halloween Is A'Coming

There are many times that I wish that Alek never noticed all the glossy, gaudy costumes hanging in the stores. Alek is creative, but he has a very hard time with the concept of 'original creativity.' Aspergers definitely has something to do with this. He loves to play, but will most often re-enact specific scenarios instead of just going where the play may take him. So, for Halloween he MUST be something specific, something that he knows, and it has to look exactly like the real version. Easy right? Well, it would be if I would just give in and save us both the hassle and buy a pre-made crap costume. But what would that teach him? I want him to learn that making something can be so much more satisfying in the end than just buying it. Yeah, maybe the end result won't be perfect in a mass-produced sort of way, but it will be perfect to you.

So... last year Alek was a Clone Trooper; Commander Cody to be exact, and I made his costume minus the helmet. I'm still impressed with myself, and you'd think he must be too since he wants to repeat the costume again this year. But no, he still wants one that was made in China instead of one that his mother slaved over. He found his costume a bit too hard to move in, so he wants a redo. Now I just have to figure out how to actually sew the costume instead of using handy colored duct tape and poster board. Gah.
On a not-much-easier but happier note, Lukas and Mikah are going to be sock monkeys. I should probably start sewing their costumes this week...

Here's his costume from last year...

And my funny costume when I was pregnant with Mikah...

To the Woman Who Wasted My Valuable Time

You can suck it.

I. Must. Have. These.

I found a new shop on Etsy. You must check out Nothing Elegant's shop, she has such cute creative stuff! Darn that Etsy.

1. Paper Deco Box Tape - apples

2. Cute Deco Stamp Set

3. Handmade Craft Label Sticker Set

4. Colored Paper Masking Tape

5. Iron on Fabric Sticker Set – garden

6. Lovely COCORO Russian Doll Index Postit Sticky Note Set

Oatmeal Pancakes

I tried out a new recipe this morning. New to me anyway. It was just one of those mornings where there was nothing that I wanted to eat. The kids just have to go with whatever whim I am having, Hahaha! Thanks to my trusty allrecipes.com we whipped this up and it was really good. I added a mashed banana, but it would be better if you had at least 3 bananas. And some coconut syrup... mmmm. If only I knew someone who lived in Hawaii...


Oatmeal Pancakes
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup quick cooking oats
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups buttermilk (I just used regular because that was all that I had)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 eggs, beaten

• Pour the oatmeal and the milk into a bowl. Let it sit for about 10 minutes to soften the oatmeal.
• Add in the beaten eggs, oil, and vanilla. Stir good with a whisk.
• Add in the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk good.
• Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake.

Hmm, some crushed walnuts would also be awesome in this. I must try that next time.

Strange Voices

Alek was excited when he got home from school tonight because he has his first birthday invitation of the year, from one of his BFF's, Miller. I asked to see it so that I could read it and see what it said. Being the dork that I am, I somehow started reading the invite in my channeled My Big Fat Greek Wedding Voice (think the greek dad). I read the whole invitation like that. When I was done, Alek snickered once, and then said "I wonder why he wrote it like that, it sure sounded wierd."

Ah, my poor funny aspy boy.

Cupcakes Please...

The other day while driving down 8th St, I noticed a sign for the Cupcake Corner. About time I thought! I have been waiting for someone in Saskatoon to take advantage of the cupcake craze for a couple of years now. I could wonder why it's taken so long, but then again, we don't have an Olive Garden either (a post for another time).

Friday afternoon I stopped at the Cupcake Corner with my 3 boys for an end-of-the-week treat on the way home from school/work. I thought the sign looked cute, which lead me to expect cute things inside. Not so. The layout of the store is very strange. When we walked in we were greeted (and by that I mean not greeted) with the site of a man sitting at a desk that looked like it would be much more at home in a Travel Office; low and big. I felt a moment's unease wondering if they were just specializing in custom orders, but out of the corner of my eye I spotted the bakery display WAY off to the back of the store. That's more like it, bring on the cupcakes! The woman working the counter was friendly and the cupcakes looked good but somewhat boring. Alek was impressed with the big Oreo cupakes so we got one of those and a variety of six mini's to try. I was expecting something clever and imaginative, not just basic cupcakes like chocolate, banana, strawberry and peanut butter. Where are the clever names? I want to be enticed!


I'm hoping that the lack of store design and character was due to the fact that they had only been open for 2 days. I'm being generous. The only decorations were the menu board and a "Yay, you're open!" bouquet. Boring, boring, boring. Even the walls were bland, I'm sure they were white??? Obviously not very memorable. Funk it up people. Funk. It. Up.  Even the take out containers could use some work. The cupcakes were placed inside clear plastic containers, no dividers and no branding on the container. Even a cute, Cupcake Corner sticker would help. The cupcakes did make it home in one piece though, so that's a good thing.

On to the cupcakes...
When we got home we decided to have a cupcake sampling picnic on the floor. Alek gobbled his Oreo cupcake up in record time and was looking for taste of the others. Lukas enjoyed the icing off his chocolate cupcake with vanilla icing (he crumbed the cupcake itself) and Mikah LOVED his lemon cupcake so much that I caught him sneaking the other one later in the evening. I tried parts of the peanut butter cupcake (icing was good, chocolate cupcake was not as moist as it could be); the chocolate chocolate (icing was rich and delicious); and a lick of the lemon icing (tasted like lemon extract).

Verdict:
Alek: gave it a thumb and a half. He wanted the Oreo cupcake to taste exactly like an oreo (total Aspy response), he thought the cupcake was a bit too dry - and not as good as mom's.

Lukas: enjoyed the sweet icing and especially loved crumbling the cupcake all over the floor. Then again, he loves doing this with all his food.

Mikah: had seconds.

Me: I thought the cupcakes were good but not exceptional. They lacked depth of flavour and ingredients. Overall marketing could use a flavour infusion.

I'll be interested to hear what others have to say. Go try them out and see what you think.

Anyone Need This?

Too bad that Lukas is too big for such a costume! I think this is hilarious and so fitting. Although... it might work for a couple of other boys that I know as well. (Don't worry Alek and Stephen, I won't mention you ; )

WTH Blogger?!?

Blogger is making me very mad lately! The formatting is getrting messed up somewhere in the cyber-space rough draft to finished draft room. I appologize if the spacing is messed up, no matter what I try it's outsmarting me!

Can anyone help? I'm REALLY frustrated!

My Newest Must Have

I love sitting in the drugstore waiting for prescriptions to be filled; as long as there are no children with me. Hey, I'll take my alone time where ever I can get it! My first stop is the magazine rack where I grab one or two magazines that capture my interest. Then I high-tail it back to the waiting area and settle in silence to read.

Tonight on such an occasion, I was looking through the new Martha Stewart mag, Whole Living. I must have a subscription to this magazine!!! The articles were interesting and plentiful, anf the recipes are to die for! Here are a few that I'm dreaming of right now...

Soba Noodles, Shrimp, and Baby Bok Choy
Simmer shelled shrimp and baby bok choy wedges in salted water until shrimp are opaque and bok choy is tender, about 3 minutes. Lift from pot; set aside. Add soba to boiling water; drain when al dente and rinse in cold water. Stir minced ginger, sesame oil, tamari, and lime into noodles to taste. Divide among bowls and top with shrimp and bok choy.

 
 
 
 

Fattoush Salad
Combine diced red and green peppers, cucumber, and red onion with halved cherry tomatoes, chopped herbs (mint and parsley), and chickpeas. Dress with red-wine vinegar and extra-virgin olive oil, and season. Toast whole-wheat pita until crisp and break into small pieces; toss into salad and serve.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Heirloom Tomato Sandwich with Herbs and Creamy Tofu Spread
Pat dry 1/2 block extra firm tofu and blend with 3 tablespoons safflower oil, 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, and 2 tablespoons lemon juice; season to taste. Spread onto sliced whole-grain bread and add tomato slices. Top with a handful of herbs, such as parsley, basil, chives, and cilantro. Season with sea salt.

 
 
 
 
 
 

 

Mussels in Tomato-and-Herb Broth
Simmer 1 1/2 cups water with 2 chopped tomatoes, 1/4 cup pitted oil-cured black olives, and 1/2 cup chopped herbs (thyme, basil, and parsley), about 5 minutes. Add 3 dozen mussels, cover and simmer until mussels open; discard any that don't. Serve with broth and crusty bread.

Overheard From the Back of the Van

***Warning, this is gross, unless you are a boy

ranging in age from 3-8o.***

While driving home from school/work the other day Alek and I had this enlightening conversation...

Alek: Mom, haveyoueverheardofameloncalledasewermelon?

Me: What? A melon?

Alek: Yah, a sewer melon.

Me: Did you just ask if there are sewer melons???

Alek: (with a bit of exasperation in his voice) Yes. Are there such things as sewer melons? You know, that grow in the sewer.

Me: No! Yuck! Where did you come up with such a thing? (why I asked this I will never know)

Alek: Well, lots of people eat the seeds when they eat watermelons. The the seeds don't get digested and people poop them out. Then the seeds end up in the sewer. So... the seeds could grow there couldn't they? And then there would be sewer melons. Juicy sewer melons.

Reader, I was more then gagging at this point in the conversation. And the more Alek heard the desperation in my voice for this particular conversation to be over, the more he embellished and elaborated just how juicy the melon would be if grown in the sewer.

When asked if he would like to eat one if they existed, he said that he didn't know. Then he said that maybe all the melons in the grocery store are sewer melons and we just don't know the difference.

One more thing that my children have ruined for me.

Good Friends Bring Rhubarb

Let this be an idea for any of you who wish to come and visit; rhubarb is a wonderful present. Fresh, beautiful stalks of rhubarb...

Alek wanted a rhubarb crisp for dessert the other night, but alas, we had no brown sugar. Time to break out of my comfort zone, and are we ever grateful for the lack of brown sugar in the house. I turned to my trusty allrecipes.com and found this...

Disclaimer: I borrowed this picture from here. By the time I remembered to take a picture of mine, it was all gone.

Rhubarb Pudding

INGREDIENTS
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 pinch salt
1 egg
1 tablespoon melted butter
1/2 cup milk

4 cups sliced rhubarb
2 cups white sugar
1 1/2 cups boiling water


DIRECTIONS
Preheat an oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

Whisk the flour, 1/2 cup of sugar, baking powder, and salt in a mixing bowl; set aside.

Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
Beat the egg, butter, and milk in a bowl until smooth.

Stir in the flour mixture until moistened, then spread into the prepared baking dish.

Stir together the rhubarb, 2 cups of sugar, and the water; pour into the baking dish.
Bake in the preheated oven until the dough has set and the rhubarb is bubbly, about 40 minutes.

Busy Busy Bee

Yep, that's me LOL!

Man, has it been crazy around here. Alek started back to school (grade 3), and the kids where I teach all came back for the regular school year as well. I'm teaching 5 pull-out academic classes this year instead of the 2 that I taught lat year. It's going to be fun, but is so much work figuring out where everyone is at, what they know, and how I am going to program for them all. I still don't have it figured out and they've been back since Tuesday, but shhhh don't tell. On top of that, I now have to work Fridays as well. So long 3 day weekends. Hopefully that will work out OK, but I'm feeling very worried at this point. Fridays were my day to play catch up around the house and I'm not sure how we'll fare now. Cross your fingers for me!

Our slipper business has also kicked back into high gear. We have a big sale this weekend and decided that we needed to revamp our brand as well as sew, sew, sew slippers. What a royal pain in the ass it has been messing around with the bag tags and the business cards! For some reason they just didn't want to work out. So, I've been up until 1am for the last few nights tweaking the design. And by George, I think I've finally figured it out! Now to just get my slippers finished...

the boys are all doing great. Growing, growing, growing! I guess I'd better get used to that, soon they will all be bigger than me which is a frightening thought. Lukas is 16 months and already has 4 words (besides mom, dad and Alee); this, there, hi and dance. Dance is new. He LURVES to shake it!

And I almost forgot the biggest news of all!!!

After a year away, our cat came back. I accidentally left him outside last September and he disappeared. We weren't able to find him anywhere. Alek loves Whiskers more than life itself and has asked about him every. single. day. for a year. No lie. Every. Single. Day. Out of the blue last Wednesday morning as I was desperately trying to get all the kids and my luggage loaded in the van to take us to school/babysitter/work, who sauntered through the door? Whiskers. After a year! He didn't call, he didn't write... But I had written him off, not that I told Alek that of course. Stupid cat. And now we have 3 boys madly in love with one hairy, smelly, ungrateful cat. Sigh.

On that note, I shall leave you with this tune. This one's for you Whiskers...

Breakfast Ideas

Well, to go along with my last post about how happy I am that school is starting again, I have to think about breakfast again. Quick nutritious breakfasts. I'm trying to wean out the Cinnamon Eggos; while quick, tasty and almost mess-less as they can be eaten without syrup I'm sure that they have the nutritional equivalent of cardboard. It's hard to get breakfast made and eaten and 3 boys plus myself up and ready and out of the door on time. Without a lot of screaming. I'm hoping that we can cut down on the amount of morning fits this year. That applies to all of us, but is another post entirely.

So, I'm going to start posting breakfast ideas. I'll try them out, you try them out and we'll compare notes. I found this one today at Balancing Beauty & Bedlam. Hm, it sounds good and it looks good, so we shall see. Plus, I bet it could be made and cooked the night before and re-heated in the morning.

Baked Oatmeal

5 cups rolled oats (not instant...rolled and steel cut are where the health benefits abound)

2 cups milk

4 large eggs

3/4 cup honey

1 TB Baking Powder

1 Tsp. Cinnamon

1 pinch of salt

1 Tsp. Vanilla Extract

1/2 cup raisins (optional)

Seasonal fruit ( I have enjoyed strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, peaches, apples etc).

Mix together and pour into a 9x13 baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until golden brown. We serve with milk and a bit of syrup (optional) This reheats well.

Welcome Back!

To school that is! Can you tell that I'm getting excited LOL! I'm both excited and apprehensive about Alek moving into grade 3.

He finally had a positive year last year and had such an AMAZING teacher, that I'm scared for what this year will bring. Alek has grown a lot over the last year, and his social skills are improving all the time, but... he can still be a challenge. His first few years of school were so horrible that I don't think any of us can handle any more experiences like that. Please, cross your fingers (and your toes, and your eyes, and you legs, and your arms and your feet) that he gets a teacher who "gets him" again this year. He's such a bright, funny loving kid and it's soooo hard for his mommma to see him labeled incorrectly.

I'm also looking forward to the kids coming back and getting into the swing of school here again. I can't wait to see them all again and hear how their summers were. Well, maybe after a few well deserved days off for me first LOL!

Star Wars Printable

While perusing my "must visit daily" blog list, I came across these which must find a home on some of Alek's school supplies. Maybe duotangs??? Pencil Crayons??? Pencil cases???

Get yours at Living Locurto.

Love

I love my boys. I've been wanting some jewelery memento to wear that honors my role as a mother to my sons, but have never found anything that calls to me until now. Everything is always too flashy and dare I say; gaudy. Tonight I came across The Vintage Pearl. My god, her stuff is amazing! Check out her site and you'll see what I mean.

I LOVE this pendent, and I think it would look cute on a cord necklace of some kind since I can't wear silver. I love the pendent so much that I would suck it up and wear it though. And wouldn't these spoons make a wonderful baby gift? Love, love, love it!

Oh, Chantal...

how I love you. I love this song, and almost everything that she has done.

Bakugan

Tonight Alek managed to unearth a game from the depths of his room. And I do mean depths. He tried to assure me that he has a system for finding things, but I honestly can't imagine what it would be. Whatever rolls off the heap is what he was looking for? He lets items find him and not the other way around?

Anyway, he came upstairs with a Bakugan card game that I had bought him quite awhile ago that he wanted to play. It was interesting since I know less than absolutely nothing about Bakugan and he couldn't seen to differentiate between the cartoon and the card game. I think we were playing separate versions of the same game most of the time LOL! It was fun, it was nice spending some one on one time with him and the teacher in me is happy, he knows the difference between greater and less than numbers!

I may just have to hide the game in the depths of my purse to play with some of my students before it is returned to the pile in his room.

A Naturist Doctor???

Tonight after his bath, while air drying, Mikah was pretending to be a doctor. This is one of his favorite games; he gets to check us over for any ailment, imaginary or real and then treats us in the way that he best sees fit. His remedies vary from a loving kiss, a gentle wipe with a cloth, a hard whack or a poke with a painful object, or a new solution... spitting on the bruise. He told me that that is what a Dr. does to make a bruise feel better.

He also told me that Dr.'s don't wear diapers, or pants for that matter. They have bare bums. I wonder how his future patients will feel about his naturist philosophy.

Mmm, Haggis...???

Alek has been after me for months to make him Haggis. Why??? I have no idea but I'm thinking that I have his teacher to thank for this particular idea. It seems that the grade 2's had an in depth study of Scotland going on near the end of the year.

I have tried everything to dissuade Alek from the notion that Haggis is really something that he wanted to eat. I told him that I would NEVER cook it (yuck), and I even showed him a YouTube video of someone cooking Haggis. It was disgusting, but his eyes never strayed from the screen. I could hardly watch, but it only renewed his passion for Haggis. I finally broke down and told him that if we ever went somewhere to eat where Haggis was on the menu I would happily order it for him. Then he was happy.

Last night was Alek's lucky night. Folk Fest is happening in the city right now and I heard that the Scottish Pavilion serves Haggis. Yay!!! So, the Mr. and I planned a little surprise for Alek and we loaded the brood into the van and headed to Prairieland Park. I had told Alek earlier in the day that we had a surprise for him that night, and he had been busy guessing for hours what it was that we were going to be doing. Man, that kid has an imagination! But, most of you know that already LOL! When we showed up at the exhibition grounds and he saw all of the cars he REALLY got excited. "Is it the RV show???" he screamed with more enthusiasm than a future Arizona-bound-snowbird. I think he actually leaped out of the van before we had even parked, he was that excited about touring trailers and RV's. "No," I finally managed to tell him when he would let me get a word in, "it's not the RV show. We're going to experience some culture." "Ok," said Alek, who still managed to look excited. "Wait a minute, isn't yogurt made out of culture? I can't believe you brought me to a place where all they have is yogurt!" His happiness had quickly been replaced with horror and anger. Which only deepened when he heard how hard Lev and I were laughing. Only our 8 year old son could make the leap from culture to yogurt! God, it was so funny, and maybe a little scary for me. There are times when I just can't believe how much this kid knows.

After that, Lev broke down and told him what I meant by "culture", and what we were about to do. A big part of me really believed that when confronted with the imminent arrival of Haggis, Alek would change his mind. But he didn't. He loved it. He licked his plate. I had two bites and still can't seem to get the taste out of my mouth. Alek wanted to buy an imported tinned Haggis to take home. We drew the line there.

Movies, Movies, Movies and Popcorn

I'm feeling the need people! You know, the need to go out and indulge in a big bag of buttery popcorn and a great movie.

Here are some that are on my "wish to watch" list

• Funny People
• Julie & Julia
• The Ugly Truth
• Away We Go
• The Time Traveller's Wife

And movies that I need to watch while cozied up on my couch

• I Love You Man (I'm so buying this today!!!)
• Two Lovers
• Sunshine Cleaning
• One Week

Wedding Cupcakes

Okay, I'm finally getting around to posting pictures of the cupcakes that I made for my cousin's wedding. I've even had to sneak home for a few uninterrupted afternoon hours to get it done. Maybe I'll get other things accomplished around the house too, but I doubt it.

The cupcakes were painstaking but I loved every minute of it! Everything was handmade, right down to the tiny gumpaste flowers that decorated the stands. The cupcakes were a huge hit, and it was so nice to see people freely wandering past the table all night long snagging a treat for themselves. The carrot cupcakes with rich cream cheese icing were the hands down favorite; with many people requesting the recipe, and no, it's not a family secret.

So... here it is (note... I didn't have coconut in the cupcakes that I made).

Moist Carrot Cake

3 eggs
3/4 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
3 cups shredded carrots
1 cup flaked coconut
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple with juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour an 8x12 inch pan.
In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.
In a large bowl, combine eggs, buttermilk, oil, sugar and vanilla. Mix well. Add flour mixture and mix well.
In a medium bowl, combine shredded carrots, coconut, walnuts, pineapple.
Using a large wooden spoon or a very heavy whisk, add carrot mixture to batter and fold in well.
Pour into prepared 8x12 inch pan, and bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 1 hour. Check with toothpick.
Allow to cool for at least 20 minutes before serving.

Sinfully Rich Cream Cheese Icing
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 or 3cups confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS
In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy (about 6 minutes). Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the confectioners' sugar. Whip until light, about 3minutes. Store in the refrigerator after use.

Incognito

Don't you wish that you could just slap one of these on your face and go about your business. I would just be the strange mustache-lady moving about the house doing chores. The kids would be much too wary of me to make contact in any way.

Maybe something would finally get accomplished.

Cupcake Crazy

Oh, the things that I willingly get myself into LOL! My cousin is getting married August 1st, and I offered to make the cake for them. It sounded like fun because they want cupcakes instead of a traditional tier, and I was up for trying something new. Cupcakes sounded so much easier than my usual fondant covered tier cakes. And it has been, but what a lot of baking! My oven sure got a workout this weekend. Hmm, I think it deserves a few nights off. ~hint hint~

I baked 8 dozen Extreme Chocolate cupcakes on Friday and 9 dozen Carrot Cake muffins today, along with a 8" Carrot cake layer cake for the happy couple to cut into. I'm so glad that all the baking is finished!

I'm hot and tired, but it sure smells good in here!

A Look Inside My Head

Just the other night I finally realized that I spend an awful lot of time fantasizing about one particular thing. The fantasy never changes, and it can occupy me for hours. Before you get too excited, it's not that kind of fantasy. I fantasize about moving way up north and stockpiling groceries. I've done it now, I've just admitted how crazy I am.

I like to think about what I would take; what we couldn't live without; how much we would take; and about dropping a ridiculous amount of money on groceries and how long I would be able to make them last; and how organized my pantry would have to be. Can you say, OCD??? I seriously think about this all the time.

It just occurred to me that I've been thinking about this for much longer than a few years. I think it goes all the way back to the movie, Mountain Family Robinson. I loved that show, and even then I was interested in what they took for food staples.

I have more issues than I first thought.

Rain Rain Go Away

Yes, I usually love the rain this much; hence Lukas' middle name. But come on now, this is getting ridiculous! This is Saskatchewan, we are supposed to have low's of -40 in the winter and highs of 35 in the summer. Ok, I really don't want that much heat, but some sun would sure be nice for a change.

Someone Slap Me

After just posting about how exhausted I am, can you believe that I am posting this picture...

Isn't this little bunny sweet? Don't you want one? I do! I've been trying to figure out the logistics for building a hutch and wondering where/how we would keep the rabbit.

I've been giving this a lot of thought.

It's scaring me.

Back At It

This about sums up how I am feeling at the moment.
.

I've been hard at it for the last week preparing and teaching the summer session. Lord, did I ever forget just how tiring it is to teach little kids all day! You constantly have to be "on" and an entertainer/educator extraordinaire! Seriously, it's been about all I can manage to drive home at the end of the day! Hopefully it will all get better once the kids and I settle into our schedules.

My family had a great time at the lake though, the kids all loved the boat and my dad even let me lay in the sun for awhile while he ran herd on the kids as we drifted around the lake. It was heavenly! Alek had such a good time that he's still there. He doesn't write, he doesn't call... I wonder if he will just show up one day?

Lukas and Mikah are... energetic and inquisitive. Does that sound positive??? They are both adorable and love learning new things everyday. For example, today Mikah learned what happens when you open your sippy cup and dump the entire contents all over the satellite receiver and the DVD player. Bye, bye Treehouse and bye, bye Bob. Oh, the joys! Lukas has figured out how to spin. I love the look of sheer joy on his face, but why does he insist on spinning right next to the corner of the wall, the table, and the entertainment stand???

Which brings me to my thought for the day; no matter how tired you are as a mommy, the world keeps on spinning and you have to do your best to not lose your balance.

Wish me luck with that one!