weeks 46 to 50

This is almost it for my photo a day layouts for 2009. I have 2 more weeks to finish (for some reason 2 photos didn't get processed at the photo lab) then last year's project will be complete. I am looking forward to having these albums out to be enjoyed by our family and friends.

Here is week 46...

Week 47...

Week 48...

Week 49...

Week 50...

rare discovery

I don't know how the boy did it, but Jesse managed to find the small amount of dirt that wasn't frozen at the edge of our house yesterday morning. All the rain and warm temperatures this past weekend must have melted enough of the dirt in our garden. Do all little boys have the gift of sniffing out dirt? Mine certainly do. As I shoveled the driveway, he was heading into the backyard to find the trucks that haven't seen dirt in months.

Hello good friend, I am back!

I'm starting to think I need a special category label for Jesse and his love of dumping dirt.

Let's hope this brief return to digging in dirt keeps him charged until springtime.

spiced pear bread

Wow. It has been a little while since I posted a recipe. I was getting in one a week there for quite a while. As always, it was the challenge of finding a balance in life. I want to put energy into so many different facets of my life and not leave anything out for too long. I know that I suffer when there are too many compromises for too long. Anyways, back to this recipe. I had some time last night to bake and that always makes me feel good. My children enjoy helping, we have some yummy homemade treats and I love the feeling of having something homemade to give my kids. I spotted this recipe on Smitten Kitchen and then a friend brought it over to share. Well, no big surprise that my kids plowed through the loaf in one afternoon. That was a sure sign that I needed to make more. I put my little spin on the recipe - just made it a bit healthier and kicked up the spice a bit. From the picture above you can see that most of the loaf was gone by the morning. Right after this little photo shoot, Nathaniel snatched the piece that was cut. We started on the second loaf for an after school snack. Do you need anymore proof that this is a yummy recipe?

Spiced Pear Bread - Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Makes one bundt cake or 2 9x5 loaves

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup buttermilk

3 eggs, lightly beaten

1 3/4 cups sugar

2 to 4 pears firm, ripe pears, depending on size (you’ll need 2 grated cups total, but I don’t recommend you grate them until you are about to use them, so they don’t brown)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Heat your oven to 350°F (175°C) and lightly grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan or two 9-by-5-inch loaf pans.

Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and spices in a large mixing bowl, and stir with a fork to mix everything well.

Peel and core pears, then grate them. You’ll want two grated cups total; set them briefly aside. In a medium bowl, combine the oil, buttermilk, eggs, sugar, grated pear, and vanilla, and stir to mix everything well. Scrape the pear mixture into the flour mixture and stir just until the flour disappears and the batter is evenly moistened.

Quickly scrape the batter into the prepared pans and bake at 350°F (175°C) for 60 to 70 minutes, or until the bread is handsomely browned and firm on top and a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool the bread in the pan on a wire rack or folded kitchen towel for about 10 minutes. Then turn it out onto a plate or a wire rack to cool completely, top side up. Serve it as is, sprinkle it with confectioners sugar or drizzle it with a simple glaze made from whisking 3 tablespoons buttermilk, a dash of vanilla and 2 cups of confectioners’ sugar together.

surprises

I'm not sure if it is the new year or the approaching one year anniversary of my blog that has me looking at my life in 2009. The word 'surprises' is such a great word for capturing many of my thoughts about the past year. There have been so many surprising things that I have learned about myself. Here are a few that have been revealed so far.

I began running in the spring of 2009 and I am SO surprised by how much I love it. I don't even mind running in the winter. I actually prefer it to those crazy hot, humid days of summer. (Although last summer didn't see many of these days.)

I have loved having this blog to express myself in the written word. I have never considered myself a writer so I have been very surprised by how much I have enjoyed writing. It has felt very natural to put my thoughts down in this form.

I continue to be surprised by how much I enjoy expressing myself creatively. As a child I never connected with myself as an artist. I still can't draw but love that I have been able to push myself out of this box. For me it was being able to widen my view of what art is. My photos and scrapbooking are all works of art. And I am proud to share them here.

My long term plan did not include me going back to work at this point in my children's lives. Returning to work has been such a wonderful surprise. I have really enjoyed using my skills as a social worker. As a student I never really considered doing this form of counselling. I regret not seeking out this kind of placement in my social work training.

I wonder what word will describe 2010?

weeks 40 to 45

The year of taking a photo a day is over. The challenge I took on at the beginning of the year was to take a picture every day in an effort to capture the everyday moments in our family with the added benefit of improving my photography skills. So, how did it go? There was success with getting the photos taken. There were just a handful of days when a photo didn't get taken and I substituted a picture from another day. Were my skills improved upon? I don't know if I can answer that. I certainly learned more about my camera. Were there challenges? My biggest challenge was getting enough pictures of Abigail. With her at school all day I really tried to capture shots of her on the weekend. I definitely needed to be purposeful in having the camera along or taking it outside with me. I really tried not to create photo ops. There were a few shots that were a bit more posed in order to get a shot in better light (eg. the picture of Nathaniel sleeping on the floor by his bedroom door). Thankfully there were only a number of days that I had to struggle with what to take a picture of. Opportunities just seemed to be created naturally. I am thankful for that. So what now? Obviously I am playing catch up with finishing up my album. The pictures are complete but the journalling is not. I am almost finished and hope to get everything posted in the next week or so. I want this project to be finished. Am I going to keep going? I thought about it around a month ago and thought that I needed a break. Then I looked at what I had created and how much I love looking through the photos. So, yes. I will be continuing. And this time it will be much easier. Instead of creating my own book, photoshoping every single photo with the date, printing off the journalling cards and cutting them to fit the album, I am actually using a kit. Hallelujah! The kit available last year was sold out so I improvised. This year, all I need to do is take the photos, develop them, pop them in the album and journal. I am so excited! You can go here to check out the kit that I am using. They are still available.

So, let's get on with sharing. Here is week 40...

Week 41...

Week 42...

Week 43...

Week 44...

Week 45...

christmas ornament mini books

I love mini books. They can be much faster to put together compared to a large scrapbook. They are perfect for documenting a special event (a special holiday, anniversary) and can be a great place for a beginner to start experimenting with scrapbooking. I created these small books for each of my children 2 years ago. They are a nice place to document each new ornament they receive at Christmas time. The set up couldn't be easier. I cut a white piece of cardstock to fit into the 6x6 inch album, attach a photo of the ornament and write a short description of the ornament. Done. I like that there is a place to describe the ornament and why it was chosen for each child. I try to pick ornaments that reflect something about the child. I realize that this might be a challenge some years. At this age my children just like seeing the pictures. They loved getting them out this year as we prepared to decorate our Christmas tree. Now there will never be confusion over whose decoration belongs to who. And I hope they will be special when they are adults.

This is the title page.

Here are the pages from Abigail's book.

And Nathaniel's.

And Jesse's.

five

My boy is now five years old. Yesterday was Nathaniel's birthday and he was so excited! His first words when he woke up were "Did you ice my cake? Did you buy me the hamburger maker?" It's too bad that he had to go to school on his special day. He doesn't ask to stay home from school but yesterday morning he did. I actually considered it for a moment but we had made 20 cupcakes for his classmates the day before that needed to get delivered and eaten.

He had very few requests for his big day. He wanted pizza for supper, a chocolate cake with smarties for dessert and a Playdoh hamburger maker as his gift. And we delivered on all of them.

He spotted the hamburger maker at the grocery store a few weeks back and has asked the whole week if I bought it for him. I kept telling him that it was going to be a surprise. Of course it needed to be played with when the box was unwrapped. And everyone wanted a turn at making the buns, patties, condiments and chips. Everyone was so into hamburger making I had to really push eating cake.

Like every other year, the smarties won the hearts of my children. This cake is so easy to make and thankfully is received so well. I used a different chocolate cake recipe this year. You can check it out here. (It's not too sugary and has a nice depth of chocolate flavour. It really is better suited for more adult tastes. My kids usually just eat the icing and smarties anyway. I used the same recipe for making cupcakes which got positive reviews. Instead of David Lebovitz's frosting recipe I substituted this one instead.)

hockey mom

I know I have blogged about hockey before. I've commented on my feelings about the sport and the life of a parent who cheers their child on in the cold skating arena. My future as a hockey mom just became more inevitable after this weekend. Andrew has been working on a small ice pad in our backyard. Nathaniel has been most excited about helping out with this task. New skates were purchased on Sunday and Nathaniel hit the ice for the first time this season a few hours later with his new skates on. The boy seems hooked. When he has a hockey stick in hand and his eye on the puck, the falling and slipping on ice are irrelevant. He gets himself to his goal and practices his wicked slap shot.

How he gets around the ice can be entertaining to watch but he perseveres. Jesse has the job of being the zamboni. He loves this new job.

All Nathaniel could talk about on Monday (when I took these pictures) was getting on the ice after our trip to the grocery store was over. He wasn't so sure I knew how to put on skates but I proved to him that mothers are pretty intelligent people. He put me in net first and practiced his stick handling and goal scoring capabilities. I took a puck right in the foot and man it hurt. (Did you notice that I did not say skate? Yes, it is true. I do not own a pair of skates. Soon people. Soon.) No Jesse was not laughing at my sore foot in this picture. Actually, I don't know what he found so amusing. But something cracked him up.

Nathaniel stuck to his hockey practice for a few more minutes.

Then he called a time out and took a rest. Soon the skates came off and he played in net with his boots. It was hard getting him in for lunch. I envision many hours outside on our new ice rink. If you happen to drop by and we're not answering the doorbell, I think you can figure out where we'll be.

what number?

I can't believe I forgot this one. A few posts back I was documenting some of the memorable things that my children have been heard saying this past Christmas season. I am thankful that I remembered this new one. I honestly can't believe I forgot. This year we bought chocolate Advent calendars for each of the kids. This is the first year that we have done this. No big surprise that it was something that they remembered each morning when they woke up and went to the kitchen. Jesse was the best at remembering. Once he got the concept of getting chocolate every morning from opening a window, the first words out of his mouth each and every morning was "What number?" Without fail, these were his first words. He had no idea which number was which, but he learned from Nathaniel that you ask what day it is and then find the corresponding window number to get your chocolate for that day. Thankfully the transition to no chocolates was not a hard one. He asked the first day or so but was satisfied with the explanation that Christmas was over. He has just substituted his chocolates in the morning for his daily vitamin D and Omega 3 vitamins. So, instead of "What number?", Jesse's first words are usually "Me want my gummies!"

my mom

I was going through old pictures this afternoon (when I should have been doing something a bit more productive) and came across this picture of me as a newborn. I am very glad that I did not listen to the one side of my brain tugging me to work on one of my projects. It is amazing how pictures can have such a different meaning at different stages of life. Years ago I would have looked at this picture and focused on me. How bundled and peaceful I looked. Now I focus on my mother. While holding back tears, I see a mother with a newborn and 2 1/2 year old. I was probably only 4 days old here and I know how tired my mom would have been. I'm also guessing that she might have still been in the hospital. She might be thinking that she wished she could stay longer - having meals made for her and no toddler at her ankles. She might also be thinking that she just wants to go home to the comfort of her own bed and her own routines. I forget that my mother lived my life 30+ years ago. 3 kids, a stay at home mom and a busy husband at work. So much the same. Thank you mom for all your sacrifices so many years ago. I am thankful for this picture and the reminder of how complex a person you are. Especially at a time when you can be minimized to a person with cancer, I see you as so much more. I hope that I can be there for you now as you begin another long journey of chemotherapy treatments. Thank you for your endless love as my mother.

pumpkin muffins

Pat pat pat. What's that sound you ask? Well, that would be me patting myself on the back. Why you ask? Well, I am feeling very proud of my muffin baking capabilities. Particularly with this yummy specimen here. Although I feel very comfortable in the kitchen and enjoy tweaking recipes, I rarely develop a recipe on my own. Now, this recipe isn't exactly one that began by throwing things in a bowl. I was searching for a pumpkin muffin recipe and couldn't find one that looked exactly right. So, I took 2, heavily adapted both of them and came up with this muffin recipe. And I love them. So does every other person in my family. I did not expect some of my kids to go crazy over pumpkin muffins, but they did and still do. I'm glad I doubled the recipe. There are still a few more in the freezer and I anticipate making more very soon. And what I particularly like about them is that they are a nice change from the banana or blueberry muffins that often get made in the winter season. So, if you are looking for a nice change in your muffin repertoire, give them a try.

Pumpkin Muffins - makes 12

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup brown sugar

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. nutmeg (freshly grated if you have it)

1/8 tsp. ground ginger

1 cup pumpkin puree (I used a 14. oz can when I doubled the recipe)

1 egg

1/4 cup canola oil

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup yogurt (mine was vanilla flavoured, but you could use plain)

1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional - you could substitute raisins if you prefer)

Topping

2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Combine flours, brown sugar, baking powder, soda, salt and spices.

Whisk together pumpkin puree, egg, oil, vanilla, milk and yogurt. Add to the flour mixture and stir until just combined. Gently fold in chocolate chips.

Stir together the topping ingredients.

Divide batter among muffin tins and sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar topping.

Bake until puffed and golden brown and a wooden pick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Approximately 18 minutes.

Cool in pan on a rack for a few minutes then transfer muffins from pan to rack and cool to warm or room temperature.

clearing off the dust

My scrapbooking table has not been seeing much action lately. The school break did allow me some time (Thank you Andrew!) to work on the layouts that were gathering some dust. Although I am a bit farther behind then I like (more than a year), I know that my interest in scrapbooking really goes through its ups and downs. I tend to go crazy and finish a whole bunch in a short time frame, then let it sit for another month or so. (Some times longer.) Now, don't be deceived by the next two layouts. These pics are all from Christmas 2008. It was nice to look back on all the fun things we did last year. I just need to do the Christmas layouts for last year and A & N will be finished up to 2008. Jesse needs a bit more catching up. He's next on my list.

It is so much easier to stick with one layout and use it for all the kids. Although Jesse didn't have as many Christmas activities, so I might go for a different layout when I get to his pictures. This is based on Becky Higgins' sketch from the December 2009 Creating Keepsakes magazine.

do you hear what I hear?

These are the moments that you want to remember. The little things that you hear your children saying or the questions they ask. And you know you will forget them. You tell yourself that you couldn't possibly forget, but you do. I know that I have already forgotten many memorable quotes from my children this holiday season, but these are just a few things that were heard in our home this Christmas.

J - "You Jofes (Joseph), me Married!"

J - "Me have a baby in my tummy. The baby is Jesus!"

Many, many retellings of the Nativity story. Jesse loved having the story read to him in the morning and having it told to him at nighttime in his crib. I even used it to calm him down during a number of temper tantrums. It worked like a charm.

N - After planning what we would put out for Santa and the reindeer to eat - "Santa doesn't take anything else in our house, does he?"

N - "Rudolph is the strongest reindeer right? No, Donner is. Mom, which reindeer is the strongest?"

N - After being asked what his favorite part of Christmas is. "Nothing. You know what I didn't like the most. Presents. I don't like toys anymore." (4 year old version of sarcasm)

A - Trying to figure out "O Come All Ye Faithful" by ear on the piano. With 2 hands. She did amazingly well.

A- "I'm not Jesus! I want presents!!!" After a 'Jesus is the reason for the season' speech.

I'll maybe add more on if I remember something new.

N - "This is the only book that calms me down!" Talking about a Christmas look and find book.

oreo truffles

Happy New Year! Does anyone out there still make New Year's resolutions? Thinking back, I don't know if I have ever make a serious resolution. I am hoping that we can all agree to not make any ridiculous decision re: cutting out sweets for the next year. Where would my little blog be then? Moderation folks...moderation. So, instead of eating 10 of these yummy treats, stick with just a few. Just don't let them hang around in your fridge for too long. You never know how many quick trips you'll be taking to "check on them". Of course, I am not speaking from personal experience at all. (Hee hee!) Perhaps this is why I am feeling compelled to go running in a half hour in totally freezing conditions...

Oreo Truffles - makes 60

1 350 g. package Oreo cookies

8 oz. package softened cream cheese

Handful of white chocolate chips

Handful of semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 tsp. vegetable shortening

Crush the Oreos in a food processor (should be like crumbs). Pour into a mixing bowl. Add in the cream cheese and mix until well blended. Roll into balls. In a separate bowl, melt all the chocolate chips and vegetable shortening. Drizzle over balls. (I made a homemade piping bag using a Ziploc bag and cut a very small opening at one end.) Refrigerate until ready to serve.