Finally

Abby keeps on telling me that I have to blog things. And she is right. I have not really done any since being back at work. Blogging is one of the many things that have fallen by the wayside. There are not enough hours in the day, or days in the week, anymore. While I tend to tooth aches, fillings, and crowns, things are being left undone. Like washing the floor. Bringing the cans and milk jugs in for recycling. Visits with friends. Blogging.  I just had to stop doing things.

So, here is the update. We are all good here. Abby is becoming a very accomplished piano player. She is so happy that the new season of Dr. Who has started. We really enjoy watching this together as a family. Mina has a wonderful teacher, who has captured her imagination with something OTHER THAN My Little Pony. It takes an amazing teacher to do this, the pull of the Pony is very strong. But now, Mina is also creating stories, art and pictures about bats. Thank you Mrs. Fotty. We finally took a family picture that I like!  We had many failed attempts over tha past 18 months, which was causing me great distress. Hopefully I will be on the ball enough to get some into the mail with Christmas cards. Leia is doing well too. She is busy busy and on the go all of the time. She loves Christmas lights! So much fun to drive with her squealing from her carseat each time we pass a house with Christmas lights on.

I know this is rather a lame post. But I have no fun pictures accessible right now, I will try to add some soon. Also, I am really missing my sisters, and am rather sad for this. Thinking about them being so far away makes me resent their American husbands, and I know that this is irrational and wrong.  I need to stop feeling this way and assigning blame.  (I know that you all have very loving and wonderful husbands, please don't think otherwise. I just miss you all.)  So it's hard to be up beat and chatty and bloggie. Boo hoo, pity party for me. Are we going to do a sister trip this year? We should. I have airmiles!

Oh for goodness sake. Leia just unzipped the bean bag chair.

Pink Fluffy Unicorns...

There is, once in a while, a meal that I cook, which my whole entire family will eat, and proclaim delicious. This is a very very rare occurrence. It is like spotting a pink fluffy unicorn dancing on a rainbow. Here is one such unicorn meal.

Ricotta Stuffed Manicotti

Cook manicotti shells. Drain and cool.

In a bowl, mix together a big tub of ricotta, 1cup grated mozzarella, 1/2 cup Parmesan, tsp of Italian seasoning, and a beaten egg.  If you have a family that prefers more adventure, you can add sautéed veggies, like onion, peppers and spinach. I might do that to half of the mix next time.

Spread some tomato sauce on the bottom of a baking dish.

Load this into a zip lock bag, cut off a corner of it, and squeeze the filling into the manicotti shells. Put these on top of the tomato sauce, pour more sauce over top. Cover with foil.

Bake for 45 minutes at 350.

Everyone including Leia, loves this. This is immensely satisfying for me. So often I plan and make dinner, and the kids hate it, and I end up feeling so useless and like I am never cooking dinner again. But not tonight!

I'm new at doing this from my I pad, hopefully I will be able to figure out adding a picture to this post soon.

Summertime Photo Bomb!

 Cousin time, in the Badlands.  Probably the best thing ever.

 Birthday time!  Is there anything cuter than a toddler with her birthday balloon? She has been walking around, eating, and playing with this balloon all week. She looks for it first thing when she wakes up. Happy first birthday Leia!

 First camping trip. Went much better than I expected.

 More cousins, looking for fossils.

We have been having a fun fun summer!  I dont really have much to say today, but wanted to share some of our pictures with my far aways.

Does Anyone Even Read Blogs Anymore?

I do. I have not twittered or instagrammed. I just blog. And Facebook. Anyhoo, a lot has happened in a month, and everything really deserves its own post, but, time is short. It will have to be one post for everything. So, most important of all, drumroll here,

I have a 10 year old!  She is a beautiful, talented, smart, funny, kind and all around wonderful girl. She surprises and impresses me every day.  I am so proud of her, and I love her very much. I have been a mother for 10 years. You would think I knew what I was doing by now. Happy Brithday Abigael.

 We have been having a lot of summer fun, starting with the day Keith brought home a hammock. We have also done some science experiments, which ended with Mina spending the afternoon on the hammock drinking about 1 litre of minty diet coke.... eww.  

And, we just came home from a fantastic family hoilday in Jasper!  We had so much fun!  Highlights include: staying in a really nice cabin right by the river, horse back riding, rafting, and learning that I am afraid of heights.  Didn't see that one coming! 

So. I hope you still read blogs. Maybe if bloggers (I) posted more often, people wouldn't get tired of the blogosphere and resort to instagramming and so on. There is more summer fun to come, and we are going to make the most of it.

Childproofing!

 BEFORE: A very hard and unforgiving hearth.

AFTER:  A soft and cushy place to play!  Keith and I made this removeable, padded bench. We can easily take it off for when we have a fire going. I like how it looks too!  Usually childproofing measures look so ugly and plasticy. But I think this one is a keeper, even after Leia is bigger. One less hazard to deal with. I still need to find some plexiglass to block off the fireplace window.

May Musings

Abby has reminded me that it has been FOREVER since I added anything to this blog of mine.  I reminded her that this is called "Meagre" offerings, not "A Novel Every Day" offerings.  But she is right!  I have had so many blog ideas, and not made the time to turn them into actual posts.


Idea #1
School Dance
The girls attended a school dance, and the theme was "Hats!"  I'm not sure if they had to be crazy or silly, or just wear a hat. Mina added a cape to her ensemble, as it went so well with her beret. So they went to the dance, escorted by Daddy.  There was popcorn and glowsticks, the Chicken Dance and YMCA. Michael Jackson and Lady GaGa, much to Mina's delight. They danced with eachother, with daddy, and with their friends. They were home by 8:00, tired and happy. Sigh. I could not help but wonder with a school dance picture will look like 7 years from now.  What will they be wearing and who will be bringing them to the dance? I started thinking these thoughts and had to stop myself. Enjoy the present. Don't rush them into growing up. Don't worry about high school dances, boy crushes, slow dancing and tender broken hearts.   It is not the season for that!  (Besides, they dont have boys in a convent! ha ha)

Idea #2
Mothers Day
Mothers day.  I tried to blog about this from my IPad, but could not get it to publish. It was a whole long drawn out list of pros and cons about having another baby.  I am kind of glad it did not publish though, because is was just a bunch of drivel about how I can't make up my mind.  When I re read it, I decided I do not have to make up my mind.  I am very happy with my family as it is, and what will be will be. I don't need to worry myself about these things, especially because I have this lovely fat baby in my arms, who gives enthusiastic, wet, open mouthed kisses, and fits just right in the kitchen sink for her bath.

Idea #3
My girls, sharing their special talents with the Leia. Abby loves to play the piano, and every time she does, Leia crawls right up to the bench, and "sings". It is incredibly sweet. Mina, aside from being very flexible, also loves to play computer games.  Not so much a talent, as a past time, I think. Well Leia is all over that too, and Mina is very patient and cute teaching her how to play. Leia wants to play with the big girls all the time and it makes me so happy!  So much sister love. 

So there you have it. Noe one, but THREE blog posts!

good Mom, Bad Mom, random complaints and observations

Yesterday, I spent 2 hours, yes, 2 hours - the entire amount of precious baby-is-miraculously-napping time avaliable to me that day, cleaning the playroom. After several requests for the kids to do it had failed, I took matters into my own hands. It was beautiful when I was done. You could see the carpet. I dusted. The playhouse looked like real toys actually lived there, and not like a trailer park after a tornado. Good Mom!

Then my girls came home. And, it turns out I accidentally garbaged a special item. Bad Mom! I thought is was broken, so I tossed it. But, alas, it was not broken. Many tears were shed.
Mom brings in the trash, and goes through the stinky garbage bag, searching among the combined kitchen/toy room garbage for said item. Gets covered in garbage water. Good Mom!

While searching, children see other broken and mismatched items that they simply cannot live without. Mom says no. Biggest girl fight ever ensues. Husband comes home at the height of biggest girl fight ever.  Not a proud moment. Bad Mom.

So exhausting...  also, Today Leia was having a very hard won nap. I decided to tape a "baby is sleeping" sign over the door bell. Good Mom! I needed to make sure the tape stuck to the frozen doorframe. So I pushed really hard, and the doorbell rings continuously, waking up said sleeping baby. Bad Mom...

Sometimes it is hard to win.

Complaint/Observation:
When searchng the internets for girls dress tutorials and patterns, why is it so darn hard to find one with sleeves? I don't live in a warm place! My kids hate to have to wear T shirts under dresses, or sweaters over.  Sleeves are attractive!   They are not had to sew!  Come on blog world!!

Half of a Year!

one month, still dazed and confused

two months, a little grin...

Three months, smiles! Bubbles of drool!

four months, why is this yellow??

Five months, super fat!

Six months!  Red teething cheeks! Would have much more visual impact if I could figure out how to turn it. geez.

  

Happy half birthday baby girl!  It is true, I have become one of those moms who blogs only about her baby, and nothing else. I used to get so irritated by that!  Because have they forgotten who they are? Have all of thing things that used to interest them disappeared? What's up with those single minded people? Don't they read books anymore?  

Well, now I get it. This baby is what I do, all day, every day. I pour my heart and soul into her. She is my masterpeice.

(So are my big girls, but they have abandon me for the pursuit of higher education, so far less photo ops and bolg opportunities, it seems.)

But here are a couple. And yes, the icing turned gray. Not very Valentiney, I know. But Trending, perhaps?

Not much to say...

...But thought a couple of pictures might be nice. Sometimes it looks like Leia has a mohawk! so cute. And her big sisters are beauty queens.  I am blessed.