Oatmeal Raspberries & The News.

The food war continues with Grant. I think he is under the impression that food is merely a way to entertain himself. This because he doesn't seem to ever enjoy it (even mashed bananas for crying out loud!), and makes every attempt a game of "how far can a blow this food?".

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

In other news, Blake had his very first soccer game on Saturday. No, I don't have pictures. This would be because it was 40 degrees and in the middle of a monsoon. Seriously. You think they would call a game of five and six year olds when they are soaked within minutes of being on the fields - but no. I watched the first five minutes of his game (we had already been standing out there waiting for him to get started for a half an hour) and then had to run to the van with the baby and Sydney who was a human popsicle.

He and Dave came running to the car, drenched and freezing, Blake crying his eyes out and snot overtaking his face, about a HALF AN HOUR AFTER THAT. I wasn't too impressed.

Of course, after warming up a little five minutes later, Blake was asking when the next game was a whining that it wasn't the next day (Sunday). Whaaaaa? If I was that age, and had just had a first soccer experience like that, I would have been BEGGING not to have to do it again.

He did really well while I was watching. He is a fast little guy so he stayed right with the ball most of the time. And he has crazy endurance. We just need to work with him on running with the ball and the rules of the game, etc. It will be SO much fun when the weather is warmer. Cheering him on as a family from the sidelines!

We took the kids out for shakes (of COURSE they still wanted ice cream after freezing their little tuchas off), to celebrate afterwards.

Next time I WILL get some pictures!

Grant is cutting his first tooth. He has been a little crabbier than usual and waking up a little more at night, but he still has plenty of smiles to spare. We found out he is now in the 60th percentile for height and weight so he has really slowed down in the growth department. His little thighs seem to have a gotten chubbier though - much to my delight!

Syd is Syd. A little sassier. Still as girlie as ever and a flatterer if you ever saw one. She is starting to want to play with friends more and more which is kind of hard since there aren't a lot of girls that are her age in this area. I wish she was starting kindergarten in the fall. Not because I want her to be gone in the mornings but because I think she is SO ready for it socially, and educationally (is that a real word?). She is my little buddy.

Dave is still looking. He has had a few "final interviews" but it seems the companies hit a hiring freeze before they ever move past that point. We are trying to keep our spirits up and keep the most important things in view.

We are going to put our house on the market this week :( . I know it will be a huge stretch to actually sell it in this market. But who knows... miracles still happen! As soon as I get the house in order, I will post some photos.

At this point, I am just trying to deal with it in the best way possible. It is what it is. Let's get on with it and move on from there. Of course, some days I want to curl up in a ball and cry all day in bed, but really, what good would that do? I allow myself the occasional "moody" day, and eat lots of chocolate chip cookies.

Dave is struggling with it all. He has tried hard and I know if the situation were different, he would have been hired for 2o different jobs right now. It just isn't. And house or no house, he is still the man of my dreams.

Perfect Afternoon.

Picnic at the park, under a cherry blossom tree.
Sandwiches and homemade chocolate chip cookies.
Kicking our shoes off.
Stress floating away.
Family time.
Time cherished.
Sunshine spotted.
Chubby baby being nibbled and floating in the air.
Boy in a tree.
Girl dancing among soft falling petals.
And two lovers.
Wishing it would never end.
Springtime bliss.

Who in the world?

Alright... so the curiosity is killing me. Who are you? Mystery person from Doha, Ad Dawhah who is reading my blog? REVEAL YOURSELF!.... please? :)

Food, HORRIBLE, Food!

I always looked forward to feeding Blake and Sydney when they started on baby food for the first little while. With Grant, this is definitely not the case. So far, here is the score:

Peas: Utter Horror
Squash: No Way
Carrots: Perhaps, if you can get them in my mouth!
Sweet Potatoes: Yeah, ok, I can handle these.
Green Beans: Detest.

So, what do I do here, feed this kid carrots for the first year of his life? He would have some kind of night vision goggle eyes, let me tell you.

Our eating scenario usually goes something like this. Put first spoonful of food into baby's mouth, baby keeps mouth wide open, rolling his tongue around like there is dirt on it and he doesn't dare close his mouth. Baby coughs. Baby gags. Baby spits out food onto bib. Baby eats bib. Baby gets frustrated because he can't get enough of his yummy bib into his mouth.

So, as you can see from the shots below, I have just been gobbing spoonfuls of baby food onto his bib because I figure more of it gets in his mouth when he eats his bib than when I actually place the food into his mouth.



No, not really. But I am tempted. It all ends up there anyway.

Oh, and not to mention Grant loves to blow raspberries of baby food all over his highchair, me, the camera, the floor, etc.

Who Me? (Feigning total innocence. The proof is written all over his face folks, and bib for that matter).



Caught in the act!



"NA, NA NANA NAAAAA!"



Alright, he is found out. "Now bib, GET IN MY MOUTH!"



"NO, ALLLLLL OFFFF ITTTTT! Faster, faster!"



"WHAAAAH! First you have the AUDACITY to snatch my bib and then you wipe my face? What is the meaning of this?"




Seriously, she must have brought me into this world to torture me. I'm outta here.



And so goes the cycle. Lunch and dinner every day.

Recent Snaps

I wanted to take pics outside, but of course, as soon as I got the kids all dressed, the clouds moved away and it was no longer overcast, and the wind picked up so much that I am thinking Grant wouldn't have been able to breathe. We turned around and did our impromptu shoot in the living room. And they turned out pretty well! Although Blake wouldn't cooperate for some solo shots.

Get it out!

So I attempted feeding Grant his first vegetable baby food yesterday. He has been eating rice cereal for about two weeks and it seemed to take him a lot longer to catch on to the eating thing than my other two, but, I thought it was time to throw in some veggies.

He seems to HATE peas. No, seriously, every time I put them in his mouth, he won't close his mouth, coughs, gags, spits it out. You would think I just fed him a spoonful of sand. See for yourself. And really, he isn't choking so don't be alarmed. He does it nearly EVERY time I give him the peas. Apparently, they are the most revolting thing one can ever put into their mouth.

He faired a little better with the squash at first and then did the gagging thing again. I am wondering if perhaps he isn't quite ready yet. I think I had both Blake and Syd on veggies and fruit by this point... Grant is a little more... sensitive.

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Easter Pics

We had a wonderful Easter together. Jenny and Larry came over on Saturday night to dye Easter eggs with us.





Jenny and I also did some real "TIE-dyed eggs", using old silk ties that were wrapped around the eggs and boiled. They didn't turn out as dark as we hoped but they were pretty nonetheless.

This was my favorite.


True to form, Blake woke up wayyyy to early (like 4 am?) and was trying to sneak out. Finally around 5:30 am we put him to sleep in our room to monitor him until morning.

We read the kids a story about the Crucifixion/Resurrection before they could look through their Easter baskets. A tradition we started last year. The book is called "In the Garden" and it has beautiful illustrations and words. It helps us remember the real reason we celebrate this holiday. The kids also received a painting of the Savior with children that they could hang in each of their rooms.

Easter baskets this year were made up of a DVD for each, a pair of butterfly dress-up wings for Syd and some Hotwheels for Blake, bubbles and candies.

They they looked for the eggs that the Easter bunny had hid all around the house.













After church, it was off to Grandma's for an outside Easter egg hunt which was full of tamtrums for Syd who was pretty tired from all the excitement at that point. And then a great dinner.

They each got an outfit from Grandma and Grandpa. Of course, as soon as Blake realized it was clothing he wouldn't continue opening the box. But he did get excited when we pointed out there were MOTORCYCLES on the t-shirt! Sydney saw hers was a dress and got pouty and mad and said that she "fought (thought) it was a toy!". It is the cutest dress though... Mommy is happy :) And she did want to call Grandma when she got home to thank her after all. Grant got a cute little summer sunsuit.

I managed to snap a couple of portraits of Blake and Syd in the backyard to replace the older ones in our living room.

This one of Syd is a literal miracle. That girl is impossible to photograph I am telling you!



And I am debating between these two for Blake. Opinions?





Yesterday the kids got a package from Canadian Grandma and Grandpa (THANK YOU!) with a lot of fun treats and activities. It is spring break this week and of course it started being windy/cold/rainy today and is supposed to be miserable for most of the week.

Aunt Krissy is going to take the kids to the movies (Monsters vs. Aliens) tonight. That means every 20 minutes they are asking me when they are going to the movies, or, "what time is 5 o'clock?". Fun.

And the movie that Blake got? Little Rascals? He loves it. And it also inspired him to call 911 this morning. I wish I could know what he actually said to them initially. Luckily, they suspected it was a experimenting kid and called back before they sent out the brigades. It was bound to happen sooner or later right? We had a nice discussion about 911 shortly after.

And of course, my Easter present to myself? A COLD. *sniffle, sneeze, cough*.

Happy Easter

No More Katie-did.

Well, my lack of posts should tell you I had a lot of fun with my sister being here. We had a couple good meals together, looked at cute baby stuff (but didn't buy much since the baby has yet let us in on the gender secret), agreed to disagree ;), and spent a lot of time together at home hanging out with the kids.

She is darling all preggo. How I wish I could be there to share more of her pregnancy!

I threw her a shower while she was here, which was one of the highlights of our week. She didn't want me to throw one, since she felt bad because most of the people we invited, she hasn't seen in a very long time. But, I knew she would most likely not know anyone well enough in Edmonton yet to have a shower there and EVERY new mom needs one baby shower! Thanks to all of our/her friends for sharing such a fun night!

I think I did a pretty good job for my first shower...

Staci, Katie and Jenny-poo helping me set up.



Baby booty cake. I was so nervous about this. My very first theme cake!



The Menu:

Bacon and tomato cups
deviled eggs
strawberry salsa with cinnamon sugar tortilla chips
peanut butter cup cookies
fruit salad

and cinnamon buns that we sent everyone home with as a favor. I attached a tag that say "Thank you. From Katie's bun-in-the-oven". Like the baby buggy watermelon fruit bowl?



I made a diaper cake.



Gift table. Check out Grant hanging out in the corner.



The colors were white, orange and lime green. Good for boys and girls and reminded me of SPRING!



We played only one game since I am not a fan and I knew Katie wanted to do more visiting since she hadn't seen her friends for so long. We passed around a bowl with candy bars and each person had to match their phrase with the appropriate candy bar - Contraction = whoppers, epidural = lifesaver, engorgement = mounds (heh heh), bill = 100 Grand, etc.

Katie was spoiled, especially by MY in-laws who got her a swing, diapers and clothes for baby.

My Mum joined us via Skype.

It was a really good night.

We packed Katie up yesterday with all of our extra baby things. She had a full car that included a crib and car seat. I am just glad we could fit it all.

She headed out around 8 am this morning. With a 17 hour drive ahead of her. We all waved out the front window as she pulled away, Grant included. I saw her go into the "ugly cry" as she drove out of site.

I was able to hold it together until about 10 minutes later.

So today is a sad day. We are only 13 months apart, Katie and I. We were best friends as children, feuding teenagers, and best friends again as young adults. We are still very close despite the distance and I feel blessed to have her as my little sis.

Triste.

Katie just left. Now I am sad. Check back in for shower pics. Once I get myself together.

P-UUUUUUUU! What's That Smell?

So yesterday, I was cleaning kids rooms and Dave yells to me "Does the dishwasher always smell this bad?".

I yell back, "Well, it never smells that great when it is drying... and I used vinegar in it the other day so it might smell worse...".

Then I hear him say, "Man, this is horrible, seriously.", or something to that effect.

I dismiss it, thinking he is just in a dramatic mood or something. I mean, it typically doesn't smell great in the drying cycle. Kind of like steamy rust. (Tell me yours smells the same way right?), but it isn't bad enough to really comment on...

And besides, if something were OUT OF THE ORDINARY, he would open it and check it right?

Well, I walk in and it smelled bad. No, more like baaaaaad. Or better yet, HORRIFICALLY BAAAAD. Like I-THINK-I-AM-GROWING-A-BRAIN-TUMOR-AS-WE-SPEAK-AND-PERHAPS-MY-BODY-IS-GOING-TO-MUTATE-INTO-CYCLOPS-FORM-BECAUSE-NOTHING-THAT-SMELLS THIS-BAD-COULD-ACTUALLY-DO-ANY-LESS-HARM-THAN-THAT-HORRIFICALLY-TERRIBLY-BAD.

And there was my sweet baby, sitting right next to the dishwasher in his highchair, breathing in the fumes. And there was my clueless (sorry honey, you know I love you) husband, at the sink breathing in the fumes (perhaps he was trying for round 2 with cancer). And SMOKE was coming out of the dishwasher at an alarming rate.
Totally normal right?

So I open the dishwasher, and am totally overcome by the smell and step back. Dave pulls out the bottom rack and there... lies the culprit of the smell that is more horrible than say, gorillas who were playing in raw sewage for a week and then decided to light their fur on fire.

A plastic spoon. Practically on fire, half melted and burning on the hot coils below.

"I asked you if it always smelled this bad" he said in a tone that implies he is released from any guilt in not having checked on it sooner because he asked me, the all-knowing wife, who was not even in the same room, and I conceeded that the dishwasher sometimes smelled not great.

"Well honey" I replied in a sweet but exasperated tone, "I thought if it smelled bad enough to make you think that our house could burn down or we could all die from inhaling the toxic fumes, you would have opened it for yourself to check if possibly there could be something wrong?!?!"

I guess not......... Men.

This has further convinced me that my husband can not possibly survive without me. And the house burning down while I am away is a very real possibility. Good thing the fire hydrant is in very close proximity.

Post note: Can anyone tell me how long it takes for it to stop smelling like that when you run the dishwasher?

French-Canadian cuisine, Sunsets and Babies (of course).

Dave has been asking me to make "Tourtiere" for awhile. It is a French-Canadian meat pie, passed on to me from my Mum, who got it from... well, I am not sure. Someone old. And Canadian.

It is Dave's favorite of the things that I make.



I always forget that it actually makes two pies. Luckily I had an extra pie crust in my freezer (you didn't think I made the crust from scratch on a weeknight did you? Nooo, I let Marie Callender do it for me. And her crust is gooood too.)

So I made a giant "hand" pie as well (like a calzone, only not). Which means we had a TON of food. I was wondering who to give the extra to since Dave and I certainly did not need all of that and would have leftovers as is, but it was kind of late to bring someone dinner.

I had book club last night, so I brought a couple pieces over to Angela, my neighbor and the book club hostess.

She requested the recipe. So this one is for you Angela!

Tourtiere

(Makes 2 pies - one to eat, one to give away!)

1 lb ground beef
1 lb ground pork
1 chopped onion
3 lrg potatoes - mashed w/ only butter
2 T. butter
1 t. ground cloves
1 t. cinnamon (I know, it seems weird, but trust me...)
salt & pepper to taste
1/2 c. beef stock

2 homemade or store-bought pie crusts (I love the Marie Callender one, tastes like homemade to me!) for the top and bottom of two pies (so you will have four individual crusts all together.

-Fry onions w/ butter; add meat and brown
-Salt & Pepper to taste (I do this last); add mashed potatoes
-Mix thoroughly; add spices to stock for gravy - mix and add to meat/potato mixture
-Fill pie crust (I like the meat filling just a bit below the edges of the pie crust for the right crust/filling ratio).
-Bake at 350 for appx. 1 hr.

SERVE WITH KETCHUP! THIS IS A MUST!!!

While waiting for a family to show up to a morning shoot a little while ago, I was able to catch some of the beautiful sunrise. I finally got around to editing these today. I love where I live. It takes my breath away sometimes, how picturesque it always is.





And a couple snapshots...



And I love this one... my bibis.