Hummus recipe

 Here is the recipe I use for my homemade hummus as promised. I season mine with fresh ground pepper, lots of garlic and some fresh rosemary. LOVE this flavor combination. If you have another flavor you prefer that's fine! Have fun and play around!

To start, I cook the chickpeas myself. I found the recipe and adapted it from in jennies kitchen . If you want to, you could use canned chickpeas. If you want to take the extra time and cook them yourself, I do think it's worth it. Here is what you do:

1 cup dried chickpeas, picked over & rinsed
5 cups water
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 bay leaf
2 cloves of garlic, peeled & smashed
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

 Add all the ingredients to a medium-sized pot. Bring to a boil, then cover, reduce heat to low, and let beans simmer until tender but still toothsome. This will take forty five minutes to an hour. When they are done remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Take out the bay leaf.

 Now put the chickpeas and some of their cooking liquid in a food processor, or high powered blender. Add 4 Tbsp of tahini. Add 1/2 cloves of garlic, depending on your taste and the size of the clove. Add about 1/4 tsp - 1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper, again according to taste. Lastly add fresh rosemary. I generally add one or two sprigs worth. Process or blend until smooth. This will store around a week or two. It makes pretty big batch, so if you don't have hummus lovers at your house plan to share!

Green smoothies

 So far my morning has been quite busy! It started out early. All the normal tasks of a mom. Showering and getting myself ready. Getting the kids ready for school and lunches packed. Then since it is Tuesday I was off to the breakfast program where I volunteer one morning a week. When I got home I found out my sister was sick, so I offered to go man the phones at my dad and grandfathers lumber mill.

 I am NOT a morning person, but I have to tell you, this morning has been pretty great! It's stunning outside right now. We had our first storm of winter yesterday and the trees all have a coat of ice which has just began to melt. There is a beautiful shimmering white crust on the ground. I tried to get a few photos of the beautiful drive I had to Lucy's school and then to work this morning. I only had my iPhone so I didn't quite manage to capture the magic, but here are some photos.

  The beautiful views this morning really helped put in a great mood. I do however feel like my breakfast deserves a lot of credit too. Since this was such a busy morning full of lots of running around I whipped up one of the green smoothies I told you all about the other day. I wanted to take a photo and show you just how amazing they look! Ok, I know the bright green color might throw some people off, but please don't knock it until you've tried it! The green color was a little scary for me to, at first. Now I can honestly say it's one of my favorite parts of this smoothie. I look and it feel energized. It just looks so fresh and healthy (because it is!). Here it is, my yummy, healthy breakfast.

 For those of you who missed the recipe for this beauty at the bottom of a previous post, here it is.

 Green smoothie:

 1/2 cup pineapple juice

 1/2 cup coconut water

 4-5 frozen peach slices

 4-5 chunks of frozen mango

 2 handfuls of spinach

 1 Tsp flax oil

 Keep in mind that you can play around and make your own variation. Have some fun! You can use Kale or spinach for your green. Fresh ground flax seeds or chia seeds can be used instead of the flax oil. Other veggies are optional and the fruit combinations are endless! My advice? Just keep it simple at first. Enjoy the great health benefits in this quick and yummy breakfast. You can have a glass with your kids (Yes kids love these, honest, I've tested it out on mine) or pop it in a travel mug if you have somewhere to be.



Current favorite snack!

 On  fluke yesterday I decided to heat up some hummus. Actually, it all started with me trying to jazz up some store bought hummus. It was suppose to be garlic flavor, but to be honest I wasn't enjoying it as much as my homemade hummus.

 Sadly I haven't made any in a couple months because my blender cannot handle it and my food processor hasn't fared so well the last couple times. It actually shut off on me. Boo. Anyway, back to jazzing up the store bought hummus. I was going to add some rosemary, then decided to go with cumin because I only have dried rosemary. I have issues with dried herbs such as rosemary and thyme. I find they are stiff and you end up biting into them or getting them stuck in your teeth.

  After adding the cumin and tasting it, I decided it did need some rosemary after all. I think it was mostly because I was remembering fresh homemade garlic and rosemary hummus I made this summer. As most of you probably realize, adding herbs to cold items doesn't lend well for flavor. The herbs don't seem to be able to infuse the food as well as if it were warm. So I threw in some rosemary and some fresh ground pepper (don't worry I hadn't added much cumin) and popped the hummus in the microwave for a few seconds.

 Once I had heated it well I stirred it again to make sure the heat and seasonings were evenly distributed. It smelled A-MAZ-ING. I grabbed my grape tomatoes out of the fridge and dipped away. OH MY! It was so yummy. It reminded my of something. I knew I needed bread. Since bread was out of the question I grabbed a few corn chips and dipped away. Want to know a secret? creamy warm hummus tastes a lot like spinach and artichoke dip. Seriously! Who would have thought? Way less fat, yet just as creamy and delicious!

 My point? Hummus, go get yourself some! Or better yet, cook up a batch! I'll even post my recipe tomorrow. It's delicious. Delicious with everything from carrots and grape tomatoes, to bread or corn chips. Even better? My kids like it, and it's on the list of "safe" foods for them to take in school lunches!

The new normal

 Yesterday I talked about the many food allergies and intolerances we have recently had to deal with.  I have to be honest. Before our journey with these issues began I was one of those parents who got annoyed with other kids food allergies. I had very little understanding or respect for just what those kids and their parents were dealing with. I could only think of how it affected me and my children. I never gave any thought to how much those other parents must worry. I never thought about how hard the simple things like family get togethers could be for someone with an allergy to wheat, gluten or dairy.

  One thing that was frustrating for me is the nut allergy issue. I think it's a bit different in the states, but here in Canada all schools have banned peanuts. Our local school has banned all nuts and strawberries. This can make it difficult to pack a healthy, well rounded, simple vegan lunch. Some days I just want to be able to do a good old peanut butter sandwich for Jacob. However, I cannot.

  I have slowly come to terms with not being able so send nut products. It does make baking a little harder. I would normally send homemade granola bars with almond butter or peanut butter in them. Many of my healthy muffins call for nuts. It is what it is though and I have had to make the necessary adjustments to recipes when I plan on sending them to school with Jacob or preschool with Lucy. Yes even preschool has nut bans here!

  One of the things that makes me a little upset is that schools have gone so far to accommodate certain allergy issues but not others. I understand they ban items that cause anaphylactic reactions, which makes sense as much as I hate it admit that when I'm having a stubborn redheaded moment. I am talking more about what they offer at the school cafeteria. I would like to see the cafeteria be a little bit more sensitive to those with dairy issues. The only thing my son can buy as a vegan is French fries. You guessed it, he doesn't buy often!

  I'm not suggesting I want him to purchase his school lunch all the time. I like packing it at home so I know what he is eating. Lets be honest though, kids like to be included in all aspects of "normal" school life. When he sees his friends buying lunch he would like to buy lunch too. They have a "healthy" meal option each day, which always includes meat and dairy. They offer pizza almost daily and fries. Generally a meat sub (as in sandwich) or something similar as well.  As you can see, not vegan friendly. My children are not the only non meat eaters or kids with dairy issues at the school, although I admit the numbers are very low. Rural Canada doesn't produce many vegetarian/vegan kids.

  Is it too much for a mother to ask to see some salad on the menu? Maybe a veggie stir-fry? How about a veggie burger? I could even deal with that. Every time I have tried to find the right person to talk to about this issue I hit a brick wall. I guess our cafeteria is run by an outside party. They are separate from the school. This has proven to make contact with the head person difficult.

  I want to take a time out for one minute to say that our school does amazing at trying to encourage kids to eat healthy, as in fruits and veggies. They also have this amazing program called paw fit, in which the kids run or walk laps around our new track every morning! In an age where gym classes are being cut at many schools I appreciate our school working hard to add physical activity instead of cutting it out. They also offer a breakfast program for all the kids every morning. They do a lot of positive.

  Back to my point. Now that my kids have allergies we have to deal with I better understand what these other parents go through. It is really hard to monitor everything that goes in the kids mouths everyday. It is hard when they are at friends houses or visiting family. Thankfully none of their allergies are life threatening. We have been very blessed in that way.

  Eating out is not something we do often as a family. It tends to be something that Trev and I do for a date. The kids get restless in restaurants and it ends up being more stress then it's worth. The few times we have taken them out since going vegan, we have been able to find items for them to eat without much trouble. Sometimes a little imagination has been needed, but we have managed just fine. Eating out with a wheat intolerance? Well that's a whole different story!

  Last Sunday Trevor and I attempted to go on a date. Our usual date as I mentioned before would be a nice dinner out. The problem? Every vegan option I would normally go for at the "sit down" restaurants contains wheat! Pasta is our usual go to. We like to go to East Side and enjoy pasta, salad and bread. Obviously that was out. Any place where I could get a veggie stir fry was a big temptation for Trev in the meat department. We didn't want fries. So we ended up going to Thai takeout. Not the healthiest, but it's what we could find! I guess I'll be a cheep date from now on since I'll be sticking to salads when eating out most of the time.

  That was probably the lowest moment for me during the last week in dealing with my own personal food allergies and issues. Realizing something that was once fun, eating out with friends and family, is something that will now be a challenge. I am a huge food lover and losing wheat from my diet has taken a lot of joy out of food for me. I'm hoping that's a temporary thing. For now I'm sticking close to home, because home is safe. I control what we eat here.

  That said, the weekends have been a little sad. Trevor, being the amazing father and husband that he is, makes breakfast on Friday, Saturday and Sundays. He even lets the kids get involved and help out. His go-to's include cinnamon buns, pancakes, waffles and crapes. See the problem? Our tradition of nice family breakfast has been rained on! This morning he did take a crack at making me wheat free gingerbread pancakes. They were not half bad. I still miss wheat though!

  Breakfast in general has proven to be the hardest meal of the day. I would normally grab a healthy muffin from the freezer, or make some toast. Those are not an option. At least not until I manage to make a yummy wheat free bread and muffin! My breakfast of choice these days has been a green smoothie. Green smoothies are amazing! Packed full of good for you nutrients, energizing, and well, green. The color freaks Trevor out a bit, but even he has to admit the taste is awesome.

  I have been having green smoothies for the past several days. If it's a busy evening and I have to jet off somewhere before having dinner, I have even enjoyed a green smoothie for dinner. They are truly going far to repair my dull, pale competition and give me some pep in my step. My only complaint is my current blender. It can't process the chia seeds and flax seeds I would like to add. I'm coveting a Vitamix. I recently had a smoothie made in a Vitamix at Costco. There were not even strawberry seeds left. Awesome! Someday people, someday I will own one.

  Here is my favorite breakfast and dinner green smoothie. Keep in mind, if you don't have a high powered blender you may want to avoid the chia seeds and flax seeds, or just grind them up prior to adding them to your smoothie.

Green smoothie- Breakfast

2 handfuls of organic spinach
1 teaspoon of flax seeds OR one teaspoon of flax oil
4-5 peach slices (frozen)
5-6 chunks of frozen mangos
1/2 cup pineapple juice
1/2 cup coconut water (organic and pure)

Blend until smooth and enjoy!

Green smoothie- Dinner

1 handful of organic spinach
3-4 cherry or grape tomatoes
3-4 baby carrots or carrot sticks.
1 teaspoon chia seeds
1 banana
several chunks of frozen mangos, apricots, peaches
1/2 cup pineapple juice
1/2 cup coconut water (pure and organic)

*You can also add a few frozen strawberries if you want. I didn't like the flavor combination of the strawberries with the veggies. But that's just me.
 
Blend until smooth and enjoy!
 

I'm Back!

  Hi everyone, I'm so sorry I've been MIA recently! Things have been a little crazy here. It has been a busy few month full of lots of big changes for our family. As always, big changes with kids are a little harder. We have also just been plain busy with the crazy back to school schedule! Jake and Lucy are both in extracurricular activities this year. Combine that with all the committees we are on and the volunteering we do and it makes for some very full weeks. However that's not what I want to talk about.

  We have discovered the reason behind Jacob's MANY headaches and migraines. Many people have argued with me over the past few years and told me that a young child of six does not get migraines. Really? Because I have gotten them since I was that age. I still do. I know the signs. It's not normal for a child to get a headaches everyday. One that generally leads to him throwing up. It has kept him from leading a normal happy carefree life. After two years of trying to get somewhere with our family doctor I finally took matters into my own hands. We went to see a NAET certified allergy specialized.

  After the initial consultation we discovered that Jacob is allergic to whey and casein. The two main milk proteins. He is also allergic to refined sugars. Finally! An answer. This is why my little guy has been dealing with headaches and stomach aches  nearly everyday over the last few years! Everyone's first reaction was oh no! how are you going to cope with that?! My reply? Very easily! One of the biggest bonuses of baking and cooking our food from scratch is that I can easily control what goes into our food. I have wanted to go vegan for awhile, so I figured I would just do this with him.

  Lucy had also been complaining about her tummy hurting a lot. We decided to take her in to the clinic as well. Guess what she was allergic too? Food dyes! She also had a dairy intolerance. An intolerance and an allergy are two different things. That is why she was having different symptoms then Jacob. Different but no less painful and upsetting. Avary is still too young to "officially" diagnose but Lori (our NAET practitioner and natural doctor) says she shows many signs of a dairy issue as well. 

  I know your not going to believe what I say next, but here it is. Since all our children have issues with dairy my meat and cheese loving husband decided to go vegan!! Okay, to be completely honest, the movie forks over knives might have helped a little bit too.  Bottom line is, we have now been vegan for four months.

  Here we are four months into our journey and the kids are doing a lot better. Some foods they struggle with not being able to have, but over all they are being real troopers! Trev is doing wonderful. He has taken on this challenge and is seeing some great health benefits. He has increased  energy, has lost weight and says he feels a lot more alert and has greater mental clarity. That's amazing! I'm so proud of him!

  I have also been a little jealous! I've been eating the same food as him and yet I've been gaining weight, or rather, appear to be. I have had no energy and have been feeling generally worn down and blue. I knew there had to be something wrong. If I'm eating what the rest of the family is, why am I not seeing the benefits?!

  Back I went to Lori. For myself this time. Guess what? Turns out that I too have a dairy intolerance (which I figured, dairy never really sat right with me). But wait. I cut that out four months a go. That's what your thinking right? That's what I was thinking. I also have an egg allergy. Again, I haven't had those for four months. Then she uncovered it. I have a wheat intolerance. Not gluten. Just the wheat. That was pretty much the worst news ever. I LOVE whole wheat and multigrain everything! LOVE IT.

  However, as much as I may hate it, I do have a wheat intolerance.  Do you know all the ways that can mess up your body? Allow me to educate you a bit. It can cause: Swelling (remember the appearance if weight gain I had?!) joint pain, depression, "stomach problems" (to be polite), indigestion, lack of energy and many more. The symptoms I listed were most of what I have been struggling with. Everyday I have just felt unwell.

  So now that I know what's causing me to feel awful I need to eliminate it from my diet. Trust me when I say that is WAY easier said then done. Wheat is everywhere!! The only items without wheat are the gluten free products. They happen to be very expensive. Also it's worth mentioning that any gluten free product that is precooked or baked is loaded with eggs. So that cancels out me being also to cheat and purchase some baked goods to get me started. This is going to be a jump right in and figure it out thing.

  I have to admit. Since getting diagnosed a week a go I have had many different emotions. Uncertainty, anger, frustration, loss, relief, acceptance and hope. I wish I could say they were in that order and that I have paused on hope. However that is not the case. Sometimes I still feel a little cheated and overwhelmed.  I am however, looking toward the future. I am starting to feel better physically and that makes me feel hopeful that I CAN do this. I can figure out this new diet.

  I also have to mention that having to give up my beloved wheat has taught me how our kids must feel having to give up the dairy they were use to having and the candy and freezes they love! In some ways it has helped me better relate to their struggles and be a little more patient with them if they are struggling with a bad craving. I have a lot of admiration for how well they are coping with this big change in their lives.

  Since there seems to be a shortage of vegan blogs that have recipes excluding wheat you can count on me blogging about the recipes I'm going to have to create. I know, I know, how will I ever cope having to spend countless hours in the kitchen baking and experimenting? Don't worry about me I'll manage just fine ;) I promise that they will still be yummy, even for you non vegan, wheat loving readers.

  If any of you have tips, or advice please share! Also any recipes or blogs on the topic would be really appreciated! Until next time, which I promise will not be so long, night all!

Oatmeal breakfast cookies

 I had a little mishap in the kitchen this afternoon. What was suppose to be a healthy oatmeal cookie took a bit of a different turn.

 After baking a couple batches of sandwich buns and a double batch of granola bars, I decided to make some cookies. As I was getting ready to add the sugar I really looked at the recipe and simply couldn't bring myself to add the one full cup of sugar. I stopped what I was about to do and took a minute to think.

  I studied the recipe and decide to just try something different. After thinking about it for a couple minutes my mind began to race with all the possibilities. I'm pretty happy with what happened. The end result was yummy but not overly sweet. Probably not a great dessert cookie, but perfect for those morning when you need something quick as you run out the door.

  Did I mention that these yummy wholesome bites pack a pretty healthy punch? They have flax which fights cholesterol, Chia seeds which are full of fiber, Omega-3's and protein and oats, which are a great source of fiber among other things.

 So here it is, Oatmeal breakfast cookies!

Oatmeal Breakfast cookies:


1/2 cup canola oil
1 medium banana mashed
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup milk (or soy, almond, or coconut milk)
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup unbleached flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 cups quick oats
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup nutmeg
2 Tbsp flax seeds
2 Tbsp chia seeds
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

**If you like your oatmeal sweet, or are looking for a more traditional cookie sweetness, add 1/4 cup brown sugar to your wet ingredients**

 Gently stir together the wet ingredients. In another bowl mix the dry ingredients together. Slowly combine the two mixtures until mixed well.

  Roll one inch balls and flatten to half an inch between your palms. Place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

  Bake at 350 for 12-14 minutes.

  Cool on a wire rack.

 You can enjoy these fresh or freeze them (once they are cooled) and grab a couple on your way out the door.

 Enjoy :)

Bringing the campfire snacks inside!

Tonight's snack was S'mores cups. It's perfect weather for S'mores, but not quite campfire time. I found this little gem on pintrest and thought I'd give it a go. Kids loved it! They had a friend over to play and watch a movie and they all cleaned it :)

I altered this a bit to use just the basics.

S'mores cups:

Graham cracker crumbs
Chocolate (I just used Easter eggs chopped up)
Marshmallows

Layer graham cracker crumbs, chocolate and then marshmallows in a small glass jar. I used small mason jars. Place in preheated oven (preheated to 350) on a cookie sheet, and cook until marshmallows are toasty brown. Remove, allow to cool for a few minutes, wrap glass in tea towel to allow little hands to handle and serve!

Enjoy!

Toddler Tuesday: New stages and traits.

  The last few weeks I have been noticing a big change in Lucy. She is still my baby (they are all our babies though, aren't they?), but obviously getting older and more curious everyday. She is not the destructive and mischievous toddler she has always been. Suddenly all her positive and adorable traits have been amplified and many "little girl" traits are surfacing.

  As always, it's so much fun to watch the kids grow and discover new things. Lucy is following me around helping with house work. Usually singing some of the songs she is learning at sabbath school (or the Barney song) while we work. She is learning how to joke and be silly in more of a little girl way. She is becoming more aware of things going on around her and also the feelings of those around her. I suppose some of that has been taking place for awhile but the speed at which she is growing, mentally and emotionally is much faster recently.

  It's always neat to observe kids (especially your own) and pick out character traits that you hope will stick. it's also neat to see just how young some traits and lessons can be learned. Lucy is very nurturing. She is always trying to take care of her brother and sister. Always making sure they are ok. If you pass her a drink, a snack or anything else she asks for one for her brother. If Avary is getting into something she shouldn't and we are distracted, she is sure to tell us.

  She also wants to please us. She wants to be a good girl and make us happy. That trait is a new one ;) She wants those around her to be happy. She herself is a very happy person. Always smiling and giggling.  She loves to be silly and just have fun and enjoy things. it doesn't matter what, she finds a way to being joy to any task or occasion.

  She is compassionate, kind, loves to share and help, happy, thankful, loving and affectionate. I hope that those are traits she keeps. Those are very important traits to have in life. Trev and I have tried to instill those things in our children. Even though all our children have some great traits, they are all different.

  Jake has always been an old soul. Right from the time he was a toddler. He is very thoughtful- always thinking things through. Something I hope he continues to do always. He has a very dry sarcastic sense of humor, but is funny all the same. He loves the Lord. He is also very insightful when we talk about God and biblical subjects.

He has also been developing some great compassion and care for his sisters. It's cute to watch him get down to their level and do a very enthusiastic up beat voice when talking to them. He has learned how to defuse potentially bad situations and avoid conflict. I think  are kind of older sibling traits. He is also smart, both book and life smart, which I think are equally important. Lastly, he is independent.  He doesn't mind being on his own and doing his own thing. something I hope he holds too. It could come in handy during the teen years!

  Avary is going to be the little ray of sunshine. She is silly and funny. Outrageously so. She wants to laugh and tries to get those around her to laugh and be silly too. She is also very loving and affectionate. She loves to snuggle and when she hugs you, it's the best. She grabs you very tightly. So tight that I've come to believe I could let go of her if I was standing and she wouldn't even budge.  She is also very determined. She wants to do what she wants to do, when she wants to do it. Age and size have not been limits to her so far. She just does whatever she sets her mind too. That is a trait I hope she keeps (as long as she uses those powers for good and not for evil ;)).

  It's also very cool to see how the children change one another. When Jake was an only child there were many of his traits and characteristics which we didn't see. Being an older brother brought those out in him. Lucy has grown and developed many new characteristics since becoming a big sister herself. She also looks to her brother with almost a hero worship. Avary looks to her big siblings and learns from them. These are precious and vital years. These are the years that lay the foundation for the rest of the kids lives. They are developing into who they will be as adults.

  It's a pleasure and an honor to watch them grow. It's fun to see them becoming more in depth beings. Neat so see them learning and exploring things for the first time. And of course, it's also a big responsibility. Nurturing, guiding, sheltering, molding, holding back, letting go.... Being a parent is hard work. knowing how to raise these little people and stimulate the positive traits while hammering out the less appealing ones. It's tough. It's the most important thing we will ever do.

  I'm sure as our children grown they will do things I will not life. Characteristics and traits will develop in them that I won't like. I don't expect them to be perfect, they are human after all. They live in an imperfect world just like the rest of us. Unfortunately they will most likely even inherit and pick up some bad traits from their father and I. However, I do hope that in 30 years when I look at my children I still see many of the positive, beautiful traits that I see in them today. No matter what stage we are in life, our character defines us. I hope my children continue to  grow to have a Godly, positive, upright character.

Kids make everything cuter

  You know that super annoying Barney song from like 20 years a go? Lucy just made that into the sweetest song ever :) She spent the whole morning singing it to me over and over. At every "with a great big hug and a kiss..." she came over, wrapped her arms around my leg and gave me a hug then tugged me down for a big kiss.

  Kids have this amazing way of taking something so small and ordinary, or even kind of lame, boring or annoying and making it into something fun, cute and adorable. They can put a huge smile on your face at the most unexpected moments.

  I love being a mommy <3

   

Confession time.

 Yup, This is going to be one of those posts where I lay it all out on the line. I'm going to share somethings that I'm not so proud of. I'm going to take off the mask and show you all the not-so-lovely things I try to hide. Brace yourselves, it's not going to be pretty!

  We recently got a new pastor. He is a very Godly man who clearly loves the Lord. He leads a very Godly life from what I can see and what I hear. However, upon meeting him I decided he was a little too much for me. I know. That's awful. It's judgmental. Not christian like at all. I'm not  proud of it.

  For several weeks I sighed and got myself into a bad mood when I knew he would be giving the message (we share a pastor with another church and only see him every second week). I would have myself in such a bad mood I wouldn't even want to go to church. It didn't matter what his message was, I wasn't going to like it. I wasn't going to be able to learn anything from it. End of story. No point in even listening.

  After a few weeks of this I began to feel convicted that I needed a serious attitude adjustment. For the next couple of weeks I tried to go to church with an open mind. Honest, I did. Somehow by the end of the service I was feeling angry and bitter again. This was just not working. I clearly wasn't going to stop going to church, but I couldn't keep going to church the way I was. So I prayed about it. I REALLY prayed about it.

  During the next couple weeks something came to my attention. Through a series of random conversations, none of which were about this situation, these facts were revealed to me. Fact number 1- The things we often dislike in others are often the things we dislike most about ourselves. Fact number 2- If the first ins't true, then perhaps we dislike someone because they reveal to us things about ourselves that we dislike. Often number two is the worst situation, because even though we know it's not a good trait, or habit, we may be comfortable in it and not want to change.

 For me the second was true. Our new pastor has been preaching a lot about becoming more Christ like and living a God centered life. Of course that is always a topic that can step on a few toes. When I really thought about it, if I wanted to admit it or not, my toes were being stomped on. Not by the pastor, but because of the Holy Spirit trying to convict me of some things I needed to work on. Change is never easy, but it's impossible if we resist it.

  This is where another ugly reveal ties in. I've been being a lazy slob. There is pretty much no nice way of saying it. So, I won't beat around the bush. I said it. I've been being a lazy slob. I've had an "I can't" attitude. I had decided that everything was too hard. Balancing the kids and keeping the house tidy (notice I said tidy and not clean, there is a difference, I might have been a slob but I wasn't being dirty ie no dirty floors etc), running errands with the kids, cooking supper etc. Everything just seemed like so much work. Too much work.

  If I could keep the floors swept, basic cleaning done, simple meals cooked and enough laundry run though I was good. Enter my third shameful secret. I could sit on the computer WAY too much. You see, computers are wonderful. You can watch tv shows and movies, chat with your friends, read up on the topic of your choice, shop, bank, facebook and pintrest. That's just the tip of the ice burg. Computers are wonderful inventions. Even better, there are these new smart phones that keep you plugged into all the previously mentioned activities no matter where you are! You NEVER have to be separated from the virtual world that so many of us live in. Ever.

  Starting to sound like an addiction to you? Because it sure started to seem that way to me. I began to realize that if I wasn't on the computer I had my iphone on my person. At all times. I couldn't go more then a few moments without unlocking the screen and doing something, anything. Checking facebook, or browsing pintrest. Googling something,  even just checking the weather. I started to realize when my husband and I were spending time together the computer or my phone were always there, calling to me. Distracting me.

  This addiction to technology was seriously taking over my life. Heck it had become my life. I couldn't spend time with the people in my real life because I was too busy with my virtual one. Having my iphone made it easy to function just enough, while still feeding my addiction. It was taking away from time with my family and pretty much making it impossible for me to spend time with God. I thought about reading my bible, but I was too exhausted when I finally shut down my computer and phone for the night. This is what I was convicted of.

  I love God's sense of humor. I went to church that week with an open heart and mind, for the first time in awhile. The pastor was giving the message that week and for the first time I really listened. No prejudgments. I just listened. The sermon was about identifying and giving up idols in our daily life. Realizing what things have too much power, especially negative power in our life and taking control. I squirmed a little in my seat, but mostly I just felt humbled and ready to give it to God. I was done fighting.

  I wish I could tell you that I was a big enough person to quit cold turkey. To give it all up and walk away. I am not that person. All my friends are online. Since getting married and having children young, I have found it next to impossible to make and keep friends, "real life" ones anyway. I do however have a fantastic number of friends who live all over Canada, the US and beyond. For this reason I needed to learn how to find balance and not let technology run my life.

  I started to pray. I also realized that nothing was going to change if I didn't decide I COULD change. I was setting myself up for failure with my lazy demeanor and negative attitude. I needed to trade that in for a can do attitude. So I did. I started to wake up in the morning and think, "I CAN get this place de-cluttered. I did it once, when it was much worse, and I can do it again". I decided not to get overwhelmed or discouraged. I would just do my best, bit by bit, and get the job done.

  I made myself a to-do list, which, in addition to daily cleaning, includes some time to relax and spend online (but only after my work is done, and much, much less), some time spent with God, and some healthy goals. I like being able to cross things off the list when I'm done. It gives me a lot of satisfaction. I also like looking at the list and seeing devotion time, drink your water, exercise, eat healthy and remember to have fun! It makes those things a priority too. I can very easily go from one extreme to the other. If I don't remember to have fun and relax then I can't be a good mommy to our kids. They need to have some fun time with me each day as well.

 Through prayer and with the help of someone much greater then myself, I'm kicking this addiction one day at a time. My house now looks fantastic, all the cluttered corners are gone. This of course means I'm better able to clean it too! My kids are seeing a positive example and good work ethic. My husband is able to come home after a long work day and relax in a tidy and inviting environment after enjoying a healthy, hearty meal. I feel ten times more sane (a cluttered home is a big depression trigger for me), and I feel a lot healthier too. Being active and not sitting staring at a screen for most of the day has eliminated headaches and given me energy.

  I share all of these things with you because we all struggle, everyday, with our own addictions, character flaws and bad habits. Society as a whole is much more stressed, depressed and burdened then ever before. When your struggling it's so easy to get stuck in a bad rut. To dwell on the negative and become comfortable in how you are or what your doing. Even if your feeling convicted to change it's often much easier to ignore that little voice and keep on living the way you are.

  Easier but not better. I challenge you all to address one issue, be it a habit, trait or addiction in your life. Something you know you should change and maybe even have been meaning to change. With some prayer, the right mindset and some hard work you can make that change. I promise you won't regret it. You've got absolutely nothing to lose by making a positive change. Nothing to lose but much to gain.


 

Toddler Tuesday: Not the usual.

  In recent weeks you have all probably all noticed the absence of a Toddler Tuesday post. To be honest Lu has been giving me a serious break. Either that or she is just out growing the curious-in-a-bad-way stage. I'm afraid to wish or hope for the latter. I do know that she seems to have grown up a crazy amount. She has been much more little girl then toddler recently. I have to say, I'm really enjoying, and very proud of the little girl she is becoming.

  Today was sort of the icing on the cake and I had to share. Lucy and I have had a very fun, very productive day so far. She woke up a little grumpy, but quickly came around to be her usual sunny, cheerful self. We had our morning snuggle on the couch, now Avary wants in on it too and she's not always impressed with that. Today she wasn't happy about Avary snuggling too, but she came around. After snuggles we had some breakfast. The girls played a bit. Then it was nap time for Avary and the real fun began!

  I went to do some laundry and Lulu wanted to help. I always try to let her help if she wants. We really believe in  fostering that urge to help and exercising the kids work ethic while they are young. We folded laundry together. Well, she did something, then passed it to me and I folded ;) but I praised her and she was proud and happy to be helping. Although I do have to mention, she did manage to fold one face cloth darn near perfectly. Next I unloaded the dishwasher. She wanted to help again. She got a little bored when I began reloading the dishwasher with the breakfast dishes. She decided to finish off her blackberries and chattered away.

  I finished tidying up the kitchen and then we did some crafts together. She is really catching on to manners. She uses them all the time now. I'm very proud to have such a polite little girl. She says please and thank you. She will even ask if she can use something before touching it, if it's not hers. Today was no exception. It makes for a much more pleasant experience when kids learn not to just grab. We were able to share the craft supplies and both had fun.

  About this time Avary woke up from her nap. We had lunch together. Lucy is a girl after my own heart, she loves pasta and garlic bread, so we had that today. I burst out laughing when I looked over to find her putting her pasta noodles on her garlic toast and eating it. I don't think she has ever really seen me doing that, but I love eating left over pasta that way. It's so cute to see little things like that which must be genetic. This was the first meal she has really eaten in a few days (oh yea, I forgot to mention she has entered the eating-like-a-bird stage) and she had thirds! I couldn't believe it! After getting all cleaned up from lunch, and getting her cleaned up we had a snuggle and read a book. Then she had her nap.

  Both girls even had their afternoon nap together today. I was able to get all my housework done by early afternoon. I couldn't believe my luck! They are really spoiling me! They rarely have their whole nap at the same time anymore. The best I get is an overlap. Avary did wake up a little before Lu, but she played happily in her crib while I finished mopping and had a quick shower. I'm sure this all sounds pretty mundane. Maybe even boring. To me it was a perfect morning and early afternoon spent with my beautiful little girls, especially Lucy. I'm thoroughly enjoying the "mundane" and "boring" while it lasts. Before you know it I'll be back in the the toddler stage with Avary.

Mommy Monday: Mommy reflections

 Goooood Afternoon! I hope that this Monday finds you with some bright blue skies and sunshine like it does me! It's just impossible to be in a bad mood when it's bright and sunny out. I've got the windows open and I'm enjoying this fresh air after a stuffy winter!

 You would think with all this fresh air I'm breathing I would be able to think clear enough to come up with a topic for today's post. Nope, no such luck. All I can think about is what a terrific week I had with my kids! Last week was March break here, so I had all three of them, all day. I must admit, I was a bit worried. I've gotten use to the quiet time while Jake is at school.

  On days when Jake is at school the girls generally play happily together while I go about my business of cleaning and cooking. They nap without being woke up and wake up happy and ready to play again. We have lunch together and then some playtime together then Avary is generally ready for another nap. Having a very active and hyper five year old here really changes things.

  He usually ends up waking the girls up before they are ready, just by running down the hall, being too loud, or throwing a fit. He doesn't want them to touch his things when they are playing which almost always leads to a fight. It can get a little stressful. I love having him home, but I also love having the quiet, peaceful mornings to get most of my work done!

  This last week was a very pleasant surprise. Jake was the super awesome big brother, just like the ones in books or movies. He played so well with his sisters. He actually (without realizing it) kept them busy and I got some sorting and extra cleaning done that I've been wanting and needing too do. Lucy loved having her big brother home. She was his little mini me all week. She was very content to boycott mommy and follow her brother around instead. Even Avary got special attention from her big brother, who she totally adores!

  As if that all wasn't awesome enough, on top of getting to sort and do some spring cleaning, having the kids get along and entertain themselves and watching the kids just love and appreciate each other, Lucy finally got the hang of using the potty! It's been a big struggle here. She simply WANTED to wear diapers. I'm not sure if she was feeling a little jealous and didn't want to "grow up" or what. However, since mid last week there have only been a handful of accidents!! We have even ventured out to a restaurant, a play date and to church with her in panties. I'm so proud. It also kind of amazes me just how fast they change.

  A month a go Lucy was sleeping in a crib, wearing a diaper, having a sippy with milk before bed and naps and in love with her sookie. Now she is sleeping in a big girl bed, basically potty trained, and no longer getting a sippy before bed or naps. Now just to kick the sookie habit. I feel a little mama guilt because so much has changed for her in just a month. Then I look at her and see how she is flourishing and how proud she is of her new big girl status, and that makes me feel good. I know she's more then ok.

   Speaking of rapid change...Miss Avary is less then a month away from being ONE!! I cannot believe how fast this last year has gone by. I mean, I've said that after every child, but I do believe that it's gotten fast and faster after each one. Her first year has gone way faster then Jake's. Probably because we have three little munchkins to chase around and not just one ;)

  Recently Avary has gotten so sweet. I mean, she has always loved to laugh and make others laugh, and she has always been a good baby. Recently she has just gotten so cuddly. She loves to get up in our arms and snuggle in close. She lays her little head on my shoulder and hums her own little tune. I can't believe that soon my "baby" won't be a baby anymore. She is just so funny and sweet and has the biggest personality. This year might have gone by fast, but I sure am trying to savor and enjoy it. There has been a lot of fantastic to savor. So much love, joy and laughter.

   It's amazing how some people come into your life and just "fit", even if you think your life is full. I love my my children, but I can honestly say our life would not be complete if we had not of had Miss Avary. We had a fantastic life with Jake and Lu, but it just wasn't all the way full. Avary came along and her big personality, sunny smiles and contagious giggles just filled all those little holes we didn't even know existed.

  It's pretty amazing how Children can do that. Trevor and I sit around sometimes reflecting on our life before kids. What made us laugh? What filled our hearts so full of love we thought they might burst? What filled our days and gave us meaning and purpose? What important role did we have in life? We can never come up with any good answers. We both agree that having and raising these three amazing little people are the best and most important thing we have ever done, and ever will do.

 

Mommy Monday: Character flaws.

  Hi all, first of all I just want to say I'm sorry for missing last weeks post. It was a crazy crazy week around here. Trevor hurt himself at work. So between the ER, shuffling kids around, going back to the hospital for surgery and then caring for a hurt hubby and the kids all week, I was a busy mama. Thus the no blog post.

  That sort of gets us to what I want to talk about today. Character. How, with Gods help, we can constantly be improving and growing our character.

  Now I should start off by saying I do not have the best character. I mean I like me ok and all, but I have some serious flaws. I'm sure we all do, but when they are your own they tend to bother you a bit more don't they? So back to my flaws. I'm a red head. Ok, so maybe that's not a flaw, but the temper that I have sure is. Some people say a bad temper goes along with my vibrant red hair. I'm not sure if that's the case, but I do have a bad temper. Quick too. My temper can come on very quickly.

  I also get stressed very easily. By many different things. Chaos, noise, a messy house, being overwhelmed by too many tasks and the list goes on. Your probably all thinking serious? Doesn't she have like three kids? How the heck does she manage when chaos, noise, a messy house and being very busy all stress her out? Que my AMAZING husband. My loving, caring, helpful, kind, compassionate, helpful, understanding, handsome, helpful, patient, rational, helpful life partner. Did I mention he was helpful?!

  Friends and family joke that he spoils me. I think he is just exactly what a good husband and father are suppose to be! I referred to him as my partner in the previous paragraph because that is what he is. My partner. He and I work very hard to treat each other like partners. To tackle all our problems and struggles together. Even day to day things we do together. When he comes home from work he plays with the kids while I finish dinner. He and I take turns doing Jake's homework while the other person entertains the girls. We take turns with bath time and we do bedtime routines together.

  He is my (better) half. With him I can be all the things I am not. I can be calm, and patient and level minded even when I feel like snapping. I can cope with all the work, noise, chaos and mess that having three kids causes. So what happens when my partner is down? What would happen when I had to cover all this myself? I'll be honest, I was very worried. I really wanted to handle the situation with Grace. I wanted to be efficient and loving and calm. I wanted to be the wife and mother that my husband and kids deserved in this situation. So I said a prayer.

  I prayed that Trev wouldn't have any broken bones so that he would be better fast. That prayer wasn't answered. I prayed that he wouldn't need surgery. That prayer wasn't answered. I prayed that he would be ok. That prayer was answered. God also protected him and made sure he didn't lose an eye with the inital injury when it would have easily have happened given the location on his injury. I then prayed that I could calmly and joyfully meet the challenges that the next little while would present. He answered that prayer too (thankfully)!

  I should mention that Trevor is so awesome that despite being on heavy pain killers and having just had surgery, he still tried to help me. He is so thoughtful and selfless. I sent him back to bed. Where he stayed for most of the next week. He doesn't handle medication of any kind well. It just sends him right to sleep. So he slept. That left me to run the errands, care for the kids, cook, clean and take care of him. I managed to do it all, and do it with joy and grace. I'm not saying this trying to brag. I'm saying this in amazement and to point out that with God, all things are possible.

  He cares about all things, big and little. Even the struggles of a lowly housewife. With his help I was able to overcome some major character flaws and be there for my husband. I was able to keep it all together without being a martyr. Everything got done, no one got their head bite off, I didn't have a stroke from high blood pressure, and my hubby didn't have to stress about watching helplessly while I was on the brink of an emotional break down.

  I'd call that a successful week and chalk a big win up to God! If he can take my stubborn, whiny, stressed out, disorganized self and make me calm, easy going and efficient, I believe he can do anything! What character flaws are you struggling with? Don't try and correct them yourself, ask the big guy upstairs for some help. Trust me, it's much easier when you give it to him.

Saturday night snack: avocado and corn salsa

Confession time. I hated cilantro. I disliked everything about it. The smell, the taste and the look. Ok in all fairness probably not the look. But defiantly the smell and taste. Then one day while visiting my parents my dad came toward me with a corn chip covered in something involving corn and avocados and told me to try it. Cilantro and I have been friends ever since.

I'm not quite sure where my dad came across this recipe but it's yummy :) Its also pretty! Ok, not so much my photos because I didn't have red onion and had to use white instead. But still so good! Easy too, I should mention this only takes about five minutes to make. Oh and the best part? It's healthy!

So let's review. This snack is yummy, pretty, easy and healthy. Why wouldn't you want to try it?!

Avocado and corn salsa:

1 avocado chopped
1 small red onion chopped
1 cup of frozen corn
The juice of one lime
1 small bunch of cilantro chopped
Sea salt to taste
Cumin to taste (about 1 tsp)
1 dash hot sauce

Mix everything in a bowl and let sit about 5-10 minutes while corn thaws and favors mix.

Serve with corn chips and enjoy :)

Toddler Tuesday: Painting...

  I can only imagine what kind of images are going through your minds after reading that title. Was Lucy painting? Were we? Does it even matter who was SUPPOSE to have the paint?! Well to answer your questions, we were painting, she wanted too, and even though we won that battle she still managed to do some damage. She got paint on her PJ's, transferred her bum print on to the closet door from her PJ's, and just straight out touched the wet walls with her hands a few times. Painting with a toddler is on my list of things not to ever do again, although we did maintain some good humor about the whole thing. She kept standing outside the closed door saying (in her cute little voice) "let me out pleeease!" Of course she meant let her in, and she somehow kept managing to sneak in, or charm her way in, much to Trev's despair. Listening to his comical antic's was almost as funny and listening to her try to get in the room ;)

  In other news, Avary took her first steps last night. I suppose that sort of makes her a toddler herself now! She wasted no time getting in on the fun. This morning she discovered the buttons on the tv. She has changed the channels, turned the television on and off about a million times and attempted to make countless changes to the settings. Lucy was not impressed by this in the least since it took place during her morning episode of Barney.

  You would think that would be the end of Avarys toddler like antics and that she would start slow. Nope, Big Stuff just doesn't do things half way. Go big or go home, that seems to be her motto. Thus her nickname: Big stuff. She crept into the bathroom while I was changing around laundry this morning and stuck her hand square in the bit of leftover blue paint in the paint tray. Thankfully I caught her before she managed to paint too much. Her hand and Lucy's stool were the only causalities.

 It also appears she is going to be very helpful in teaching me important lessons just like her big sister. Last night I was being lazy and put a cream of mushroom soup can in the recycling without rinsing it fully. I know, I know, bad Mallory! Don't worry, Avary managed to get a hold of it from the bag of recyclables waiting to go out to the bin and got the left over bits of soup all over her hands and the floor. Twice. Goes to show you that even if something looks ALMOST clean  it can still be pretty dirty! Lesson learned. I will not skimp on rinsing the recyclables ever again.

 Your all probably thinking Lucy must stayed out of trouble this week. Nope, I was just messing with you! While we were painting Jake's room, which is going to be Jake and Lucy's room for awhile, the two of them spent a couple nights in our room. We blew up the big air mattress we have for camping and they had a blast getting to sleep in mommy and daddy's room. Of course Miss Lucy couldn't resist the temptation that a room full of new things provided. During nap time yesterday she covered herself in Joy essential oil blend. Of course the upside to that is that she was really happy the rest of the day ;)

  She has discovered the word happy. I'm pretty sure she has also discovered just how cute she can be. Her new defense against nap time and bedtime is "no, cuz I'm happy". I mean, common, how can you argue with that logic?! Of course, being the mean mommy I am, I do ruin her happy and put her to bed lol. If she gets caught doing something she shouldn't she has a lighting fast reflex of saying "I sorry mommy". Now it's more like "I sorry mommy, I happy". I guess she thinks if she's happy she can avoid getting punished?! If that's so I could have used that knowledge back when I was a kid! Why am I always the last to learn these things?! lol.

  I hope you have have a fantastic week full of humor, love and fun!

Mommy Monday: Are we too quick to dismiss?

 This weekend we went to the Fredericton SDA church, to visit with our former pastor who was there giving the sermon. After the service there was a potluck dinner. After eating we were all sitting around talking and visiting. While talking to the Pastor he asked me what was new in my life. Without thinking I gave him my usual "nothing exciting, just the usual."  response.

  Upon pausing for a moment my mind quickly raced to process what I had just said. Why do I always respond as though my life is boring and, well, lacking? I mean, My life is far from glamorous. My days are not overly exciting, by non mommy standards, and I'm not doing anything that's going to change the world. However, My life is full of beautiful, extraordinary moments. Moments made that way by my children.

  I decided to add to my response, "I don't mean I life isn't great, it's full of extraordinary little moments. Cute, and funny and special ones created by my children." I think as parents, especially mothers, we often feel like people really don't want to hear about our children. About their funny, cute, adorable moments. About their latest achievements, or how awesome they are.

  You know what I say? Who cares! We have to listen to those who are married to their jobs drone on and on about their work. Those who have very active social lives love to share all their tales of fun and adventure. The chronic complainers have no trouble bringing us down with their never ending problems. The gossips live to blab others secrets and life stories to the world. If we are expected to listen to all that, to listen to those people, then I think it's only fair we get to brag about our lives as mothers.

  I vote that we get to talk about the super cute thing our toddler did the other day, or the fact our baby finally slept through the night. We should get to share how proud we are of how well our child is doing in school and how smart they are. Those are, after all, the exciting and new things in our lives. If people want to know whats "new and exciting" with us, they are in fact asking to hear about those things. We really should not feel like they are not special or exciting enough to share.

  In this instance I was very pleasantly surprised. The Pastor replied that was just want he wanted to hear about. We talked for several moments about the antics of the younger ones, how Jake is doing in school and the newest achievements of them all. I suppose the fact they have grandchildren they don't get to often see makes them a bit more inclined to want to listen then the average person, but still, it was nice to be able to share my life. To have someone really care, and listen and appreciate what I had to say.

  It was such a positive experience, and felt so good I have decided to speak up and share in the future as well. From now on I will proudly share the extraordinary little moments that make my life beautiful, exciting and special. I will be thankful for the things my children bring into my life, and not worry that they are not big or important enough to entertain and grip the attention of the masses. I will be thankful for my beautiful, mundane ordinary life, that is spattered with extraordinary moments. I will be thankful for, and proud of, my life as a Mom.

Whole wheat rosemary bread

   A couple weeks a go I went on a baking binge. I made 6 loaves of bread and 2 batches of rolls. One of the things I tried was rosemary bread. All the recipes I found with good reviews used white flour. So I tweaked them a bit and came up with this version. It turned out very good. It's light and soft, but not fall apart fluffy. We have enjoyed it with soup, as garlic bread, as a snack by itself and as a sandwich. I also think it would be awesome for grilled cheese.

Whole wheat rosemary bread:

1 cup water

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 1/2 teaspoons white sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/4 tsp fresh black ground pepper

1/8 tsp dried thyme

1/8 tsp dried oregano

1 rounded tsp dried rosemary

1/2 cup all purpose flour

2 cups whole wheat flour

2 tsp active dry yeast

 Place warn water in bowl. Add sugar and yeast and allow to sit until yeast is good and foamy, about 5-10 minutes.

  Add flour, salt, rosemary, oregano, thyme, ground pepper and olive oil. Mix for about 5 minutes, until smooth and combined well.

  Place in a greased bowl and rotate so the top of bread is oiled. Cover and let raise an hour, or until doubled. Punch down.

  Divide dough in half. Shape into two round balls and place on baking sheet (I LOVE my pizza stone and that is what I used), ensuring "seams" are on the bottom.

Allow to raise until doubled in size, around 45 minutes to 1 hour Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes.

Remove from oven to cooling rack and cover with a damp tea towel.

Enjoy :)

Toddler Tuesday: Toddler love

  In honor of valentines day, I thought I would do something a little different today. Instead of retelling all Lucy's inventive misadventures for the last week, I want to share some cute moments. Some melt your heart cuteness and some pure acts of toddler love and affection.

  After dropping Jake off at school one morning, Lucy and I were walking back to the van. She was having a blast jumping and "bouncing" around. I told her she was bouncy like Tigger and asked her if she had springs in her feet. I noticed after a couple seconds she had stopped walking. I looked back and there she was bent over, holding her foot, and looking for springs in the bottom! She looked up and me and said nope mommy! :D

  Late last week the flu hit my hard and fast. I was camped out on the couch feeling miserable. Lucy came up and said "mommy sick?!" I told her yes, I was sick. she replied "I kiss oou better". Then she gave me a big hug and kiss, smiled and said "All better?!" I couldn't reply being I was too busy chuckling so I just had to shake my head yes. I couldn't bring myself to break her heart and tell her otherwise. A couple days later we were driving in the car and she herd me say something about being sick. She pipped up and said "No mommy, oou not sick, I kiss you better!!". Oh yea...I forgot about that lol...

  We have been trying (Without much success) to potty train Lucy. Of course we give a ton of praise and get very excited if she goes in the potty. She is starting to use our tricks right back on us. If she manages to sneak in with me when I go to the bathroom she goes "shush...listen mommy." and whenever Trev goes to the bathroom she is waiting to tell him "Good job daddy!!". When was the last time YOU were recognized for your great work in the bathroom?! Lol.

  Avary is at the point where she is almost ready to walk. We have been trying to get her to walk to us while just lightly holding on our finger. Miss Lucy is a jealous little monkey by times and likes to think she is still the baby. Last night Avary didn't get much practice because Lu was too busy going "I walk to oou mommy!, I walk to oou daddy! and doing her best imitation on a baby walk while going back and forth between us. She also has started coming over to be snuggled and saying "say ohhh my baby girl, I love you baby girl". I think someone doesn't want to grow up ;)

  Lulu has discovered all things beautiful and "pretty" A friend send us some of her daughters too small clothes, and when I opened the box Lucy went crazy! All I herd for the next 15 minutes was "oohhh I oove it mommy! I oove it!" and "pretty mommy!". She got her first pair of high heels in that box and has been wearing them all around ever since because they are "pretty".  We have also been doing mani's and pedi's together because every time mommy does her nails, Lucy needs hers done. She even had her own mini bottles of all natural nail polish. It's so much fun having a girly girl!

  Lucy had developed this too cute habit of running at me exclaiming "Mommy!! Mommy!!" whenever I walk in the door from being gone somewhere. Even if I am only gone a few minutes. It gives me such a warm happy feeling to know I've loved and missed that much :). She has also started giving massive bear hugs and big smacking kisses. One of favorite new thing she does though is Eskimo kisses. She will lay there snuggling me in the morning and give me Eskimo kisses for several minutes straight, chuckling and giggling and being all silly and ticklish the whole time. It's super cute, even if my glasses do get really smuggled :).

  My MOST favorite thing Lucy does?! The fact that she now says I love you, without being prompted. She understands what it means, and wants to say it to those she loves. Being told that your child loves you, especially when it sounds like "I oove oou mommy!" is the sweetest, best, most melt-your-heart-and-turn-you-to-a-big-pile-of-mush thing ever!

  Happy Valentines day all <3 I hope you have a sweet little boy or girl in your life to wrap their arms tight around your neck, look at you with big twinkling eyes and tell you how much they oove oou, because there really is nothing else that can match the smile that will leave on your face and in your heart <3.

 

Mommy Monday : Reoccurring struggle!

  First of all a quick apology! I just realized I forgot to publish this yesterday! Hope you all enojy it and sorry it's late getting up!

  As parents, we all struggle. There are highs and lows. Sometimes we soar high and are (or at least feel we are) the worlds greatest parents. Other times we fail. We sink so low that we are sure there must not be any parent as awful as us. Last weeks post was about a small victory in my house. This week I'm sharing a struggle.

  We have three children. Three beautiful, healthy, happy, intelligent, amazing children! Three children who are all VERY different. I never want to make any of my children feel like they are the favorite, and I never EVER want any of them to feel that they are the least liked by their mama. Sometimes this is very hard. Not because I favor, or like any of my children more, but because I have different things in common with them. Also their behavior can make it hard.

  That last comment might have confused some of you. Your probably thinking, What?! She doesn't like her kids as much if they misbehave?! That's awful!! Except, that's not what I meant at all. What I meant was, if I'm constantly having to speak to one child over and over about behaviour issues I start to feel really bad. I try to imagine how they must be feeling. They probably see me having fun and laughing and having lots of positive interaction with their siblings and all they are getting from me are stern talks and punishment.

  This is how I have been feeling with Jake this last week. This is actually something I have worried about with Jake a lot since having the girls. Jake is very tenderhearted and sensitive. He was also pretty use to being the only child by the time Lucy came along. When he is getting in trouble a lot, he takes it really hard. There are lots of times I hear "you don't love me, you just like my sisters better!" Of course this breaks my heart because a) I NEVER want him to feel like that, and b) I love him SO much, JUST as much as his sisters.

  I'm really struggling with how to throw some positive into our relationship, while still addressing his negative behavior. Punishments still need to occur to let him know his bad choices and actions are not ok, but he also needs to feel some love and positivity from me. One of the things I think we often forget as parents is what it's like to be a child. Take a moment and remember back to your childhood. Even though you knew deep down in your bones how much your parents loved you, it was very easy to think they didn't love you if they were upset with you. Knowing and feeling are two very different things. Kids feel, and adults think.

  Children don't sit down and think it all through logically. They mostly go with feelings. If you are sharing lots of laughs with them, having fun positive interactions, they feel like a million bucks. They feel loved, and important. If your constantly yelling at them (I know none of US ever do such a things right?! ;) Punishing them and generally having to be the bad guy, they feel really bad, angry and unloved.

  So back to my dilemma. How do I laugh, have fun and share some great positive time with Jake when I'm having to be the bad guy? When I have to enforce punishments, ie: tell him he can't go to visit his Nanny, or play with the toy he lost because of his bad behavior etc? Sounds simple, but all you parents know it's not! It's not only the kids that get the negative feelings, it's us parents too. It's so easy to start to feel hopeless and discouraged about your relationship with your kids.

  I read a wonderful book a while a go all about the love languages of your kids. I realized that Jake feels love thought quality time. Every child's love language is different. If Jake is not getting some quality one on one time, he feels un important and not loved. Even small things like asking him to wait a minute for me to get him something while I do something for one of his sisters first, really makes him feel bad. He needs time. My time.

  I'm not suggesting that I should drop everything and cater to his every whim. On the contrary, he needs to learn that sometimes others needs are more pressing. He does however, still need his turn in coming in first. This goes a long way to helping our relationship. I'm going to try and do a better job of giving him his turn to be first, and of spending some quality time each day with him, doing something we both love. I've thought about it and come up with a few activities we both love. Baking, reading, watching movies and playing games.

  It is my mission over the next few weeks to incorporate some of these activities into our day. Also to have even 20 minutes of quality time, even if that's just reading bedtime stories and doing his bible lesson or chatting about his day. I'm also going to start to pray for our relationship, because since this has been a worry and struggle of mine for awhile, I think I need some Divine intervention. Seriously though, I do think that spending some extra time in prayer specifically for Jake and for our relationship will benefit us a lot.

  Being a mommy is tough! Loving our kids, but not indulging them. Punishing them, but not breaking them. Encouraging them and lifting them up, but not filling them with so much pride that they become self entitled and "ruined". It's a hard juggling act. But God made us Mothers for a reason. He know that only we could love and care for our children in this way and carry out the fine juggling act. With that in mind, I know I can do this!

 

Toddler Tuesday: The fun continues!

 This week was quite an eventful one. I swear Lucy somehow realized that she is the star of her very own weekly post. I also think Avary somehow got the memo and has decided she needs to start practicing so she can get in on this post too! Here are the toddler highlights from this week.

 Not 15 minutes after I finished writing the Toddler Tuesday post last week I found Lucy stripped naked and crouched in the (empty) bathtub slathering body wash all over herself.  Avary was standing there watching her and bouncing with excitement. I guess Lucy figured she needed a bath, and Avary thought it was a swell idea. Upside?! They were nice and clean after! Downside?! it would have been nice if I could have decided bath time!

 We had a repeat situation here this week. Remember how Lucy was trying to teach us not to leave things out? Guess mommy and daddy didn't learn their lesson. We lost another full bottle of popcorn seasoning to the floor. I'm proud to report I didn't even bother to get upset this time. Just sent her on her way to time out and cleaned it up. Man I'm getting nerves of steel!

 Lucy has decided she loves to help me bake. Wonderful. Termendous. Honest! I do love having her help me. It teaches me patience and she gets to learn to be helpful and follow direction, not to mention the obvious, how to bake. However. Sometimes she feels the need to take it upon herself to "start" a project without me. Often I don't even know she is starting one.

 I've found several squares of margarine sitting in my stand mixer, all at different times of course. Thankfully this was before she learned how to turn it on. Sunday while I was baking she dumped the flour container on the floor while trying to measure out some flour. While I was distracted of course. Thankfully it was almost empty, what a mess that would have been!

 This morning I had my three little ducklings in the tub. I went to grab their towels and came back to find Lucy washing Avary. The plus side?! Avary shouldn't have to be bathed for, oh, the next couple weeks. She's THAT clean. The downside?! We need to buy more baby wash. We had 3/4 of a bottle when bath time started.

 When I have to give Jacob disciplinary talks, or serious talks of any manner, I never have to worry about him not remembering what we talk about. There is this little echo that repeats every word I say. Very seriously. With the right tone and everything. Even hand actions, if I'm using them. This use to bother Jake, and I use to try and get rid of the echo. I just tune it out now and I think Jake has just decided to be grateful for the free recording. Either that or he has tuned it out!

 Just before finishing this post I once again notice that quiet. The one that can only mean trouble. The one we talked about last week. I said "Lucy?" to which she replied "oop's I sorry". She totally gave away her hand. I think she's slipping. I knew she was next to the nail polish. The RED nail polish. I braced myself. Maybe my nerves of steel couldn't survive this situation. Don't worry, it's not too bad. She just looks like her hands are bleeding. The furniture and floors are safe. I'll just chalk that one up as a win ;)


Top five Favorite toddler things from this week:
1-The way she says "Mommy!!!" when I walk in a room.
2-The way she gets really excited about things
3-The way she gives a hug. Super tight,  with both arms wrapped right around my neck and her face mushed next to mine
4-The way she says"I sorry" all sweet and innocent like when I catch her getting into trouble
5-Actually...the way she says everything! Isn't toddler voice the cutest?!