A Fresh Start!

Well, I'm obviously not a very good blogger. It all started when I got an I Pad. I couldn't figure out how to use it to blog, and when I finally got the blogging app for it, I found it difficult to use. So I did not do it. And coming all the way downstairs and sitting in front of the computer just seemed so archaic and cumbersome....  And then my Crohns started kicking my butt and all of the extra things in life, like blogging, among other things, were crossed off of my to do list. When the Chronies come knocking, I go into surrvival mode, and just do the necessities. and not even that, sometimes. But, I am working on getting back into life, and trying to start doing the things I like to do again, even though the Chronies are still finding new and creative ways to attack me. I am going to try and get my life back. So there, Chrones. We are having an awful tug of war it seems.

Anyway. I think in order to successfully blog, I need to approach things differently. I need to be myself, and not compare my blog to others, and feel less than, less creative, less funny, less beautiful photographs and so on. I think I am going to try to do weekly posts, which will probably involve a lot of bullet lists about random things. There may be some pretty pictures, there may be some witty humour, and there may also be some swearing. Because sometimes I do that. Lets see if I can keep it up.

So here is little insight into how this week has been.

• Work has been really busy. But I am really good at my job, even though I am a little bored by it. Sometimes I wish I could switch careers but not have to start at the bottom of the payscale. 
• Summer holidays have been booked!  We are visiting Calgary for a couple of days to spend time with family and then on to Canmore to explore the mountains. I am getting very excited for this! 
• Leia has discovered Cabbage Patch dolls.Well, one in particular. Her name is Dolly, and Leia looooves her. She dresses, diapers, nurses and takes Dolly for walks. It is really very cute. I remember getting one for Christmas in the 1980's. She came with a horrible name, so I changed it to Karen Lucy, the most beautiful name I could think of. I was also very jelous that Betinas doll had a better hairstyle than mine did. 
• I had a run in with a stranger at VV today. I was looking around at the kids clothes, and this toddler was there, taking Dolly away from Leia, and being a baby bully. Mom was nowhere to be seen. After 3 or 4 times of me giving Leia back her Dolly, the boy starts shrieking. Mom comes out of the changing rooms, finds us and gave ME heck for making her kid cry!!!!  Really??? Supervise your kid lady. Don't abandom him in this store while you are trying on clothes and then give ME heck because he is a little shit and taking my kids toy away over and over. geez.  
• I know I said I was not going to plant anything in the garden, but I did afterall. I planted some tomatos and peppers, in hopes of using them for my salsa this fall. But the leaves on the pepper plants are turning kind of yellow. Why??? Any insight? Maybe the soil is too wet or too dry or not draining properly? Too much sun? Not enough? This is why I wasn't going to plant anything. It always goes wrong on me. We will see with the tomatoes though. The last time I planted them, I got pounds and pounds of tomatoes, with rotten black bottoms. What a waste. I will try to hope for the best. 
• My CSA baskets start this weekend! I am so excited to pick it up! Maybe I will ask the farmer what to do about my pepper plants. 
• Keith is taking Abby out back woods camping/hiking this weekend. They have spent all week packing and re packing their back packs and sampling dehydrated meals. His mom, bless her heart, is concerned about bears, and "crazy people on quads". I am more worried about mosquitos, sunburn, and Abby's seasonal allergies. Note to self: pick up some Claritin for her. 

And there you have it. Happy Friday! 

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.

Holly Jolly

There were a lot of things I did not do this Chistmas.  They included, but were not limited to:

• send out a christmas card with family picture.  
• large amounts of baking.  There were no nanaimo bars this year, and I think we all missed them.
• thoughtful homemade gifts for my nearest (who are actually quite far) and dearest.  They are still on my sewing table.  I suppose I have a head start for next Christmas.
• take any Christmas day pictures.  Any at all.  
• Secret Santa-ed someone.  I am sad that we missed this one.  

But, there are some things I did do.

• Made gingerbread houses with the girls and some friends.
• Turkey dinner with my brother.  Note to self: invite more people for dinner next year!  Also, less sidedishes, more cheese tray!
• Played all day with my family.  
• Snuggled this fat fat baby.
• Talked to most of my family.  Sadly, not in person.  

So, it was a good Christmas.  Albeit with a few small coulda shoulda's.

Merry Christmas all!

Remembering Fisch

Fisch, you were a good cat.  When you were young you would play fetch, just like a dog.  You were the neighbourhood bully.  You were a very good mouser, and loved to play with grasshoppers.  You would chase the reflections of headlights on the wall.  You would ambush the mailman, and chase your tail. Once you dissappeared for 2 days and came home smelling like rancid butter.  You carried your kittens around upside down. You liked to listen to U2. You liked best of all to sleep with the girls, on their pillows.  You would play with my knitting needles, and sit on the fabric I was trying to cut out.  You would curl up on my pregnant belly, and jump when the baby kicked you.  You loved to cuddle up with the kids for bedtime stories. You loved KD as much as Mina does. We miss you Fisch. 

Fisch Nixon  1996 - 2012

There is Beauty All Around

Sometimes, I get really sad that I live in a big stinky ugly city.  I do not miss "small town" living, but I do miss living in the beautiful nature of Northern Alberta.  I also miss the beauty of living in a city with the Rocky Mountains close by.   So, I am trying to find beauty around me to make me feel better.  Well, today it was easy. I needed to remember to look up.   As I took this picture, the sun was starting to melt the hoar frost, and it was falling around me.  Just like that scene at the end of Edward Scissorhands.  And I could breathe.

Christmas Shopping

Another mall anxiety post, I know, it is clear I have a problem.  

When I was a teenager, living in a small and retail-y isolated  town, the highlight of the month was when the family piled into the big red van, drove 2.5 hours to the City and went shopping at WEM. (and Costco) (although I think my dad loved and still loves shopping more than all of us siblings put together!)   We often would go to the waterpark, and wander about the mall, see a dollar movie, spend my KFC paycheque on clothes.  Very fun times! 

Fast forward to 2012. 

My how things have changed.  I rarely if ever go the the monstropolis that is WEM.  Hard to find parking, so crowded, no money to spend on random things, one daughter who loves shopping as much as my dad and her Auntie Nunu do, and another who is a total spaz and often not fit for public outings.  Not to mention a baby whom I have only just started taking to the grocery store with me, let alone the the biggest mall in Canada.  Well today I had to go there, to pick up a very specific requested item.  Luckily the 2 big girls were in school, so I did not have to stress about that.  Here is what I did stress about: (oooh, an opportunity for a bullet list, my favourite!)

• Which baby carrier to use - must be hands free, easy/fast to put on, and be able to nurse in if necessary.  (the Boba fit the bill here)
• Which diaper bag - small.  How to pack the necessities, without overpacking.  Not as easy as you might think, as I use cloth diapers.  
• Where are all of the restrooms, in case my chronies strike and I need to go NOW...
• Working  it into the baby's eat/sleep schedule, which is not really set yet...
• The general anxiety of going to this mall in the first place, which normally gives me heart palpitations....

Well, things went great.   I found what I needed quickly, then I even found a mothers room to change Leia in. Bonus!  It was clean and private, and had a comfy chair to nurse in.  Not that I mind nursing in public, but it is so much nicer in a cushy chair and a quiet place, and it had a door, so that moms with toddlers as well would not have to worry about them running off while taking care of the baby... I did not go so far as to wander the mall window shopping, or eat at the foodcourt, but this small success today made me think that maybe I can do this mall thing afterall.  

Then Birds and the Bees, Sunday Edition

Today, on the drive to church, while negotiating slippery ice and snow covered roads...

Mina: mom, that stuff in a penis, that makes babies, what is it again?

Me: uh, you mean sperm?

Mina:  Yep. Sperm.  So how exactly does it get to the mom's eggs?

Me:  Nearly driving into the median..... then explaining the specifics...

a minute passes...  while I anticipate the next big questions....

Mina:  China rhymes with vagina!  china vagina china vagina....

Me:  (praying to myself)  please Lord let this conversation be over before we go into the chapel...

Just another Sunday morning in the mini van.  I have a feeling that many important conversations are going to happen while driving in this minivan.  

The week in review

 Abby had a piece of artwork choosen to display at the Centre for Education this year!  Art teachers all around the city submitted about 1500 works of art.  150 were choosen and Abby was among them!  We are so proud of her!  Abby''s is the art on top in the frame behind her.

 

reason #174 why the girls like Daddy best: he adds a scoop of ice cream to the smoothies.

 This baby has been all smiles! I really need to do side-by-side pics if all my girls, it's as though I keep having the same baby over and over again! Mom says we must have found a recipe that works, and I think she is right.

 The Tooth Fairy has visited our house twice in one week! So very exciting!

Yarr!

Yarr!  A band of scurvy Pirates has kidnapped the young Princess!

Luckily, we had plenty of Pirate Booty to pay her ransom.

And the wee princess is safe, and can grow up to save the Empire

(even though she does not look too happy about it.)
Happy Halloween!

My parenting style. A bit crunchy granola....

A Poem, and a few things about how I like to mother my children..

 

 

 

 

Mother, O' Mother, come shake out your cloth,

Empty the dustpan, poison the moth.

Hang out the washing, make up the bed,

Sew on a button and butter the bread.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?

She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I've grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue,

Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo.

Dishes are waiting and bills are past due,

Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek - peekaboo.

The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew,

And out in the yard there's a hullabaloo.

But I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo.

Look! Aren't his eyes the most wonderful hue?

Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo.

The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow,

But children grow up, as I've learned to my sorrow.

So quiet down cobwebs; Dust go to sleep!

I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.

~ Ruth Hulbert Hamilton

 

I found this poem today on a natural parenting site.  I've heard the last stanza before but never the entire thing, so I thought I'd share.  (I think I might nick name Leia "Roo"!) Then, I surfed the site a bit too far, and found myself watching a circumcision video and nearly vomited.   The video was about 6 minutes long but I could only stomach the first minute.  I have never ever heard a newborn scream like that.  I had to change my shirt for all the milk that started to leak in sympathy or something.  I am still nauseous.  If you have a baby boy, you should watch the procedure, with non edited volume, before deciding what to do. And make sure it is a north american video, as in some countries, like australia, they will sometimes anaesthesize (which takes away the screaming, but not the horror.) where as here, anasethesia is not reccomended for little babies.  (and neither is circumcision).  Controversial posting, I know, but, there you have it. 

Mina was taking about babies, eggs, birds and so on, and we got to saying , wouldn't it be weird if humans laid eggs like birds to, and had to sit on the egg for 9 months before the baby could hatch.  I said how awful that would be to have to sit on it for 9 months.  Keith said that humans would have invented an incubator so that we wouldn't have to.  But then we laughed, because we both know that I would have insisted on sitting on that egg for the whole 9 months! No fake incubator in this house! 

Someone was looking for me at church the other day, but did not know who I was.  So his wife told him to look for the woman with a baby tied to her chest.  :)  Yep, that's me!  One Sunday I gave in and let someone in another meeting hold her, and the entire 40 minutes she was gone I felt so uneasy.  Eventually she started to fuss, and was returned to me BY A COMPLETE STRANGER WHO I HAVE NEVER MET IN MY ENTIRE LIFE!!! I am still horrified by this.  I think that will be the last time I let my infant out of my sight.  

 

Also , look - you can make boobs with your keyboard!  (.Y.)  how cool is that? Clearly I am spending way too much time on the internet.  

Now if only I could force myself to jump onto the whole wheat/no sugar/kale smoothie drinking bandwagon...  I just can't enjoy those things! Even though I know I should...

love

dear keith,
i love you in the morning,
and in the afternon.
i love you in the evening,
underneath the moon.
happy 13th anniversary
~~s


you may notice that there are no uppercase letters in my e mails, blog posts, facebook comments etc.  this is because i am usually holding this sweet bundle of baby.  please excuse. i think i love holding her even more than she loves to be held.  therre are many things i need to do,

• buy printer paper
• get rosin for a's cello
• garbage bags
• make the bed
• get dinner ready
• move the laundry
• clean up the yard before it snows
• return library books
• and so on...

but, i would rather just snuggle this girl.  

Happy Midwifery week!

It is the International Week of  the Midwife!  I could not let this week go by without a shout out!  My midwife for my last 2 babies is Noreen Walker.  She is so fantastic, and the care I have received from her has been incredible.  My little one is 8 weeks old (already!) and I miss Noreen every day.  It is kind of like breaking up with your highschool boyfriend - I have these weird thoughts about maybe going grocery shopping in the town that she lives just so that I might bump into her.. So weird, I know...

I have had 3 very different births.  The first was in a hospital, and I was very naieve. I thought it would be just like you see on TV.  Get the epidural, count to 10 and push out the baby, easy peasy.   It was a disaster.  I often feel so sad for Abby that she was born so traumatically.  My second was a water birth with Noreen at a birth center.  It was incredible.  The latest was a home birth that was so fast and easy that Noreen could not make it here on time.  Also incredible.  I thought that my second experience could not be improved uopn, but being at home made things even better.  My 2 midwife babies were born so peacefully.   Having a skilled, caring and generally awesome all around midwife, is essential!   Thank you Noreen.

 Here are some books I have loved reading:

• Get Me Out: a History of Childbirth from the Garden of Eden to the Sperm Bank by Randi Hutter Epstein - very interesting and written with a great sense of humour
• Birth Matters and Spiritual Midwifery by Ina Mae Gaskins  - well, everything by Ina Mae (I feel I can call her that because my midwife drank wine in a hot tub with Ina Mae once.)  Be prepared for a lot of hippy dippy birth stories, which are funny to read, and very beautiful and inspiring.
• The Business of Being Born (DVD) : This really opens your eyes about the medicalization of childbirth.  It is so sad that most North American women today will never know what normal childbirth is.  

Birth is powerful.  Birth is beautiful.  Birth is normal and healthy.  

Happy Midwifery week Noreen.