This past weekend our neighbourhood had a community garage sale that I couldn't decide if I wanted to participate in or not. I had finally decided no, but then Saturday morning Abby got bitten by garage sale fever and wanted to sell some of her toys. We actually keep on top of the toy clutter 'round here so there wasn't much she was willing to part with so I gave her some odds and ends I had laying around and told her if she helped look after it I would split the money with her.By the end of the day we'd gotten rid of the last bits of our baby stuff and had $33.75 in out pockets. And I still split it with Abby even though she disappeared in the house for a "toast break" and a "bathroom break" and a "cartoon break" and a "I'm bored break" and so on. In fact she even took off down the street with Mike and Maya to do some shopping.
See that thing around Maya's waist? Looks like a professional wrestling belt? Abby very kindly spent a dollar on that for her sister. It is a hiphop beat belt. And the most annoying toy on the planet right now. You see it plays different rhythms and by pressing the buttons Maya can mix them together. She has been wearing it ever since Abby bought it for her. Well I made her take it off for bed, not that she wanted to, but she wanted it right back on as soon as she woke up this morning. And she did somewhat willingly take it off for her playdate at The Mommy Project's. Only because I told her couldn't stay and play with it on. I'm pretty sure The MP was thrilled when I walked out the door with it.
Try as we might to be organized Mike and I usually end up putting the girls lunches together in the morning. It's a task that really should be done the night before, but somehow it never happens. I'm not quite sure what happened Friday morning, but somehow Mike got Maya's sandwich into Abby's lunch bag and vice versa. Maybe not too horrifying, but consider this -- Maya will only eat peanut butter sandwiches and Abby's school, as most schools are these days, is nut-free. So there I have my poor rule following almost seven year old with a contraband peanut butter sandwich for lunch. Luckily they let her eat it, but she had to wash up very carefully when she was done. Thanks to her teacher for being a rock star on that one.So that's pretty bad on it's own.But then there's Maya, one town over, sitting down to her lunch -- a deli meat sandwich. Maya does not eat any meat that doesn't come in hotdog or nugget form, but the babysitter assumes since we put it in her lunch we want her to eat it. I can only imagine the pre-schooler stand off that was going on around the lunch table that day. Luckily Abby had early dismissal and was there not long after lunch to explain the mix up. And because our sitter rocks she made Maya a peanut butter sandwich.
Maya was late to talk, but believe me she is making up for it now. So I thought for this week's Friday High Five (hosted by Angela's Adventures and Minor Mishaps) I'd list the five things we hear come out of her the most often.1. Abs -- which actually comes out more like Abth. Maya would love nothing more than to have Abby's 100% attention 100% of the time.2. Can I have a freezer? A purple one. A purple freezer -- freezer aka freezie and she wants them all the time.3. I'm being mad about you. -- When she doesn't get her own way, which is 85% of the time.4. Daddy (and less often Mommy) yelled at me for no reason. -- Goes hand in hand with number three.5. I just want to cry for a little second. -- This is a new one she started using when she's upset and crying about something and Mike or I are trying to console her.
Some of you who know us in real life, know that Mike operated a small business out of our home for the past few years. This was seasonal weekend work. So for parts of the year he would work 7 days a week. This year with the economy the way it is and based on last year's income from the business we've made the decision to close up shop. There was a lot of hand wringing that went along with this decision. Wondering if we were doing the right thing, but really, taking a look at our bottom line from last year the decision had been made for us. It's sad to be shutting it all down. At the same time it's nice to have our family time back. I say that, but Mike is up to his eyes in Fair commitments and he's recently realized a life long dream of working on a farm. Yep, our dairy farming friends have taken Mike on as help on an as needed basis. This past weekend he spent most of his waking hours in a tractor helping get the planting done before the forecasted rain came.I am glad and proud that Mike had the opportunity to run a successful small business for the better part of a decade. I am equally pleased and proud that the end of that chapter as led him into another fun adventure. How lucky are the girls and I to have him out there working so hard for our family?
Recently my Mom bought herself a new purse. After a little while she realized she didn't really like it all and she offered it to me. Now you know how us ladies can be about our purses. So I said I'd take a look at it, but I didn't like it much either.First off it was red. Or reddish. Or burgundy. It wasn't black and that just wasn't going to cut it for me. I have never carried anything but a black purse. Ever. Also it was way too big. I like to roll with a medium sized purse. The conversation went back and forth between my Mom and I. She was determined to talk me into this purse and I was determined not to let her. Abby watched the exchange, waiting for the perfect moment --
I'll take it! So now I have an almost seven year old hauling around her little pets, reusable water bottle, notebooks and a webkinz or two in a satin lined Guess purse.
I've always wanted to make stuffed mushrooms, but I never got around to actually doing it. Then I stumbled upon this recipe at -- where else -- allrecipes.com. As luck would have it I happened to have whole 'shrooms in the crisper. I usually buy sliced. So it seemed like destiny.
Bacon & Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms3 slices bacon8 crimini mushrooms1 tbsp butter1 tbsp chopped onion3/4 cup shredded cheesePreheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place bacon in a large skillet and cook over medium heat until evenly browned. Remove mushroom stems, set aside caps and chop stems. In a saucepan over medium heat, melt th ebutter. Slowly cook and stir the chopped stems & onion until soft. Remove from heat.In a medium sized bowl, stir together stem mixture, bacon and 1/2 cup of cheese. Stuff mixture into the mushroom caps. Baked for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with remaining cheese.Recipe Notes: These were really great and relatively quick and easy to make. I threw these on the barbecue (on a cookie sheet) and cooked them via indirect heat while I was grilling the burgers we had that night. These will definitely make it into rotation this summer. Oh and by the by -- I only had button mushrooms and they seemed to work out just fine.Lately I've been playing around with indirect heat on the barbecue. If you don't know, to cook with indirect heat, light one side of your barbecue and place the food you are cooking on the unlit side. Keep the lid closed and voila. This past weekend I baked our cornbread out there while the chicken was roasting. And tonight I baked the homemade mac n cheese I made. You could notice a subtle barbecue smokiness to the mac n cheese which was really nice. Can't wait to do more "baking" outside.
What is What's Cooking Wednesday and how can I play?
What's cooking Wednesday was born out of a desire to get out of that what's for dinner rut. Playing is easy, on Wednesday post a recipe that has been tried and tested by you and then pop over here and add your name to the Mr. Linky. When entering your name also add the name of the recipe in brackets and make sure you link to your What's Cooking Wednesday post and not just your blog's front page. And don't forget to link back here, the home of What's Cooking Wednesday.
So for example I would write Shan (Speedy Chicken Stir Fry) in the name section. For the URL section I would post this: http://shanrev.blogspot.com/2007/10/whats-cooking-wednesday-speedy-chicken.html
I'll let you in on a little secret, my WCW recipes are almost never made on a Wednesday. So feel free to cook and photograph whenever you have time and join us posting on Wednesday
Yesterday Maya and I were in the bathroom. While I was doing her hair she was digging through the bathroom "catchall drawer". From somewhere in it's depths she pulled out a bulb syringe.Maya: Mommy, what's dat?Me: It's to clean out the baby's nose.Maya : can I clean out my nose?Me: No, it's for babies and you're a big girl.Maya: No, I a big baby.
On the outset it looked like potty training Maya was going be easy. Let me pause here for a very loud HA! I mean say that even though she'd steadfastly refused to even consider the idea of potty training. Even while she was using the bathroom at the sitter's. I say that even though the whole taking her to the bathroom every 30 minutes resulted in 0% toilet usage and 100% going in her pullups. I say that even though promises of suckers resulted in 0% toilet usage. I even went one step further and started giving Abby suckers for going to the bathroom, which ticked her right off, but not enough to actually -- you know -- use the bathroom. It appeared she wanted to play hard ball. It's been a few weeks now since I decided I'd play hardball with her and this is what I've learned about potty training. This of course is specific to Maya, Abby was a totally different experience. One I don't remember being such a pain in the ass, but it likely was.Maya wasn't ever going to toilet train while she was wearing the pullup. Why would she pause what she was doing -- her very important work -- to use the bathroom when she could go where she stood and keep digging in the sand box? I think the pullups are a good transistion from diapers to prepare for toilet training, but Maya just wasn't going to take that leap unless she had to. So Mike and I picked a day and the two of us (yes it took two of us) wrestled her into a pair of underwear. To say she was not happy is an understatement of epic proportions, but we insisted she keep them on and then we spent the day changing her out of wet pants and panties.Which brings me to ths -- plan out when you want to start the training. A weekend is good if you happen to work outside of the house. Give yourself a few days of hanging around the house so you both can focus your attention on it. We started first thing on a Saturday morning. The first two days we had our fair share of accidents, but all in all she caught on pretty quick. Once we made her she did master the art of going number one very quickly. Number two continues to be problematic.She makes no attempt at mastering number two. What's worse is she's begun to think it's a bit of a chuckle when she does it. I have loads of patience, but this little issue can got through it super quick. I have resorted to "punishing" her only because she thinks it's funny and I want her to understand that's not appropriate. For the first offence I take her to her room for a chat explain to her that it's important she uses the bathroom. She hates going to her room. Second offence she can't go out to play or visit with our neighbour who is her favouritest person ever. Today we even had a third offence, which made today a "no screen" day for her (no tv, movies or computer). Just to jump off topic for a moment, no screen day was awesome! I may do it again for no reason at all. Even Abby commented it was a nice day. I realize that she will master this eventually. It would be nice if it was sooner than later. I'm just not sure what to do beyond what I'm doing now.This post was written for The Parent's Network blogger blast. Follow six families on their road to potty training success at The Potty Project.
I'm just going to lay it out there -- the internet is one big time suck. For every 30 seconds I spend doing actual "work", like banking online, I spend another 75 hours or so facebooking, emailing, twittering, farmtowning, blogging, uploading and downloading various types of digital information, not exactly in that order. For this Friday's High Five (hosted by Angela's Adventures and Minor Mishaps) and for all of you that share my love of internet time-wasting I'd like to share with you the five places I go when I need a chuckle.Aww who am I kidding, y'all know I check in with these sites everyday.1) FailBlog - This was my brother's birthday present to me and by that I mean he called me, said happy birthday, asked me if I had ever heard of failblog, I said no. He said go there now, I'll wait -- oh and happy birthday, that's your gift. I have to say it's much better than what he got me for my 30th. Which was to call me, ask if I had his copy of Get Shorty, on VHS mind you, and then hang up when I told him I didn't. That is a birthday fail, right there. Failblog is a collection of pictures and video of things that are fails. Like the signs that nobody bothered to spellcheck. Funny funny stuff.2) CakeWrecks - I don't think you need to have an interest in baking or cake decorating at all to appreciate this site. This is the place for professional cakes that have gone horribly wrong. Further proof why you're better off with a box of cake mix and a can of frosting at home than spending your hard earned cash on a grocery store cake. This is the one blog Mike checks on regularly. Actually this is the only blog Mike checks regularly and that includes mine.3) TextsFromLastNight - I'm not quite sure how I found this one. During a night of mindless internet surfing I'm sure. This doesn't really apply to me since I'm old and past the drunken texting stage. Actually, there was no such thing as texting when I would have been going through my "partying it up" stage of development. But those kids today are sending some very funny drunken texts. This is not a site you should be checking out while in the presence of young folks who can read. 4) Awkward Family Photos - I think the title says it all. There are some very unfortunate family photos out there my friends. Lucky for us, someone was nice enough gather them all into one spot for our viewing pleasure and for that I thank them. 5) FunnyorDie - Another one my brother told me about ages ago, but I never bothered checking it out because I had dial up. This site is put together by Will Ferrell and his equally funny friends. I think just about everything Will Ferrell and his frat pack band of friends do is absolutely hysterical, but if you don't go in for that brand of humour (and if you don't I'm seriously wondering if we can still be friends) I'd skip this site entirely. But if you do go, promise me you will watch the Landlord sketch. I laughed so hard I fell out of my chair. Also where do I sign up for the Kevin Bacon Movie Club?
Mike: Abby's going to be one of those kids who dresses all funky, isn't she?Me: Are you new?
Well I have to ask, is the American Idol Finale always that good? I mean I've never watched before, but I thought this one was really entertaining. So much so that I didn't even mind that I had to wait two hours to find out who won. But enough about the American Idol winner -- although I have to say -- thanks America. This makes up -- in a very small way, mind you -- for that whole Danny Gokey debacle. Not that you're entirely forgiven. Let's not go crazy here.I thought you might like to learn 5 new facts about me that you didn't know in relation to the American Idol finale.1. I triple love Keith Urban, although this is a recent development. I have always really enjoyed his music, but didn't think he was that big of a deal. All that changed when I saw the video for You Look Good in My Shirt. Suddenly I thought he was uber hawt. I'm not sure why.2. I am a huge Rod Stewart fan, by genetics I think. My Mom has been his number one fan for as long as I can remember. The Album Blondes Have More Fun (I think -- I remember a leopard print outfit on the album cover) is one of the distinct memories of my childhood. We played that album a lot, dancing around the living room singing Hot Legs and Maggie May as loud as we could.3. This is the first season of Idol I have watched from start to finish. I watched because I was emotionally invested in Danny Gokey as soon as I heard his story. I didn't figure I'd watch an entire season again, but I have a funny feeling I'm hooked.4. I have always found Steve Martin to be hilarious. Someone else my parents were big fans of. I had no idea he could play the banjo too. 5. Beth is my favourite Kiss song. Followed closely by Hard Luck Woman.
Well the "fair book" has been out for a little while now and I have been pouring over it trying to decide which categories I'd like to enter. I'll give you a hint -- all of them. That, of course, is a total pipe dream so I'm trying to limit myself to one or two items, especially in the baking categories. Too many entries equals a lot of work for myself the week of the fair. One baking category I am, for sure, set on is carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. I have a killer carrot cake recipe and an pretty good cream cheese frosting recipe, but I wanted a WOW cream cheese frosting recipe. So i nosed around the internet until I found this at allrecipes.
Cream Cheese Frosting2 (8oz) pkgs cream cheese, softened1/2 cup butter, softened2 cups sifted icing sugar1 tsp vanilla extractIn a medium bowl cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Mix in the vanilla and then gradually stir in the icing sugar. Store in the refrigerator after use.Recipe Notes: Here's the thing with cream cheese frosting, in most cases they lose a lot of that cream cheese tanginess. I'd like it to be a lot more reminiscent of cheese cake and this definitely fits the bill. Rumor has it this is also delicious eaten right out of the bowl with a spoon. And no, I'm not saying how I know that. I am hopeful this will be the winning combination and I'll take home that red ribbon this year.What is What's Cooking Wednesday and how can I play?
What's cooking Wednesday was born out of a desire to get out of that what's for dinner rut. Playing is easy, on Wednesday post a recipe that has been tried and tested by you and then pop over here and add your name to the Mr. Linky. When entering your name also add the name of the recipe in brackets and make sure you link to your What's Cooking Wednesday post and not just your blog's front page. And don't forget to link back here, the home of What's Cooking Wednesday.
So for example I would write Shan (Speedy Chicken Stir Fry) in the name section. For the URL section I would post this: http://shanrev.blogspot.com/2007/10/whats-cooking-wednesday-speedy-chicken.html
I'll let you in on a little secret, my WCW recipes are almost never made on a Wednesday. So feel free to cook and photograph whenever you have time and join us posting on Wednesday
Why does a long weekend never really seem to be long enough?We decided to have dinner out with the kids tonight. Why? Because we're crazy, but also we had a gift card (thanks Kaffy) *and* kids eat free on Mondays. Double score. The potential for disaster was of epic proportions. But I am happy to tell you it went off without a hitch. Kudos to our uber cute and very smart waitress who put the girls pizza order in right away. They were starting dinner while we ate our salad. I am embarassed to admit that's a strategy we've never tried before, but one we will be adopting from now on.Granny came for her monthly sleepover this weekend too. I was woefully unprepared for it. Sorry Mom, I promise to be better next time. Although I did make her some choclate cake with a killer cream cheese frosting and that should make up for some of it.Abby has asked for a guitar for her birthday. And lessons. From her Daddy. She figures since he can rock out to guitar hero on medium that qualifies him as a teacher. It does not.Which reminds me, Abby's birthday is fast approaching. I need to get planning a party, or two, already. And designing a cake or three to go along.Overall the toilet training is going well. We've got number one locked down. She owns number one. Number two continues to be difficult. Number two continues to try my patience while Maya laughs her little face off. It is becoming extremely difficult to maintain my cool during the resulting clean up sessions. I have faith that we will get there soon. Only sixteen months until she starts school, we need to have it locked down by then. I'm cautiously optomistic.Thing that is making Michael chuckle lately -- the commercial with the guy chopping wood and he says, "hey, throw me the axe." and then "Bad Decision" flashes across the screen. He can't even talk about it without laughing his head off.How was your weekend?
Hey guys, remember how I kept whining about how much I would like to have another baby. And how disappointed I was that we weren't going to be able to?I take it all back.'Cause Dudes I never want to toilet train another kid as long as I live.So not fun.
Me: Hey Abs, you forgot to close the garage last night when you put your bike away. Abby: I did?Me: Yep, you did. I hope nobody stole it.Abby: Who could steal my bike? It was night, everyone was asleep.
Last week Abby's school held a Mother's Day cake auction. These are the cakes I made and donated. 
I loved the Mr. Men and Little Miss series of books when I was Abby's age. So I thought, in honour of Education Week, I'd attempt to recreate the cover of the books. I was happier with the Little Miss Giggles than I was with Mr. Nosey, but those were the best stencils I had when I was throwing this together at midnight, cause I'm stupid like that that's how I roll. Abby thought they were fantastic and was disappointed she didn't manage to win one of them. That makes the midnight cake decorating all worthwhile.
It's thursday -- why not be thankful? I heard it can increase your happiness by 25% if you write down the things you are thankful for.I am thankful...1) That my chain for my family pendant broke at home and the pendant lodged itself firmly in my bra. I would have been devastated to lose that.2) That the nice weather has us outside and hanging with the neighbours regularly. Although I am afraid of my pal Jen getting sick of having her biggest fan Maya shadowing her every move.3) That Granny is coming for a sleepover tomorrow night. That's the equivalent of Christmas morning for the girls.4) That the Office and Grey's Anatomy were kick ass finales. Makes up for that whole American Idol debacle -- well not really.5)That this weekend is a long weekend. Thank goodness.
Okay you have been given fair warning. On the off chance your whole life does not revolve around American Idol and you recorded the show to watch at some later date instead of watching it live -- there be spoilers ahead.Okay.Spoilers.Ahead.So American voted and the results are in --your final two --Kris and AdamWhat?!!?Are you freakin' kidding me? I finally give in and watch an entire season of Idol and this is the thanks I get? Sending my boy Danny home right before the finale. Now having never watched Idol before I need to know -- is it normal to get this PO'ed when your pick doesn't make the finals? Because I am uber annoyed. I may have gone so far as to tell Mike -- I hate this effing show. I may have sworn never to watch it again. I may have called Ryan Seacrest a douche bag. And I may have flipped Simon my pinky finger (because that is a "swear in China" - according to Abby who heard it from an older boy on the playground) Yeah, true story. And not that I care now, but who are you picking to win? Adam or Kris?
I actually made this for Mike on his birthday, but forgot to post it. This is the type of pizza we've seen before on Diners, Drive Ins and Dives that makes Mike thinks it would be a good idea to drive a couple of thousand kms to get. So I found this highly rated recipe on allrecipes.com and whipped it up for his birthday.
Stuffed Pizza- 1 (8 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon packed brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
-
- 3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
- 1/2 pound bulk Italian sausage
- 1 (4 ounce) package sliced pepperoni
- 1 (8 ounce) package sliced fresh mushrooms
- 1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
- 1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
- Combine the crushed tomatoes, brown sugar, garlic powder, 1 teaspoon olive oil, and salt in small saucepan. Cover pan, and cook over low heat until tomatoes start to break down, about 30 minutes.
- Preheat an oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Deflate the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Cut the dough into 2 equal pieces. Roll one piece into a 12 inch thin circle. Roll the other half into a thicker, 9 inch circle.
- Place the 12 inch dough round into an ungreased 9 inch springform pan. Sprinkle dough with 1 cup of cheese. Shape sausage into a 9 inch patty and place in pan on top of the cheese. Layer pepperoni, mushrooms, green pepper, red pepper, and remaining cheese on top of sausage patty. Top with the 9 inch dough round and pinch edges to seal. Cut several 1/2 inch vent holes in the top crust. Spread sauce evenly on the top crust, leaving a 1/2 inch border at the edges.
- Bake pizza in the preheated oven until the crust is set, the cheese is melted, and the sausage is cooked through, 40 to 45 minutes. Let hot pizza rest for 15 minutes before cutting into wedges and serving.
Recipe Notes: The actual recipe had instructions for making your own crust. I have a recipe I use myself, but if you don't make homemade you can always buy it at the grocery store. This was good. Although I didn't have any tinfoil on hand, so the top got a little too brown, but it was fine. I don't think I'd make it all the time, it is a bit much, but nice for a special treat. I would like to try it without the sausage, since I am not a huge sausage fan, but Mike likes it on his pizza. What is What's Cooking Wednesday and how can I play?
What's cooking Wednesday was born out of a desire to get out of that what's for dinner rut. Playing is easy, on Wednesday post a recipe that has been tried and tested by you and then pop over here and add your name to the Mr. Linky. When entering your name also add the name of the recipe in brackets and make sure you link to your What's Cooking Wednesday post and not just your blog's front page. And don't forget to link back here, the home of What's Cooking Wednesday.
So for example I would write Shan (Speedy Chicken Stir Fry) in the name section. For the URL section I would post this: http://shanrev.blogspot.com/2007/10/whats-cooking-wednesday-speedy-chicken.html
I'll let you in on a little secret, my WCW recipes are almost never made on a Wednesday. So feel free to cook and photograph whenever you have time and join us posting on Wednesday
I'm going to whisper this so come in close.No, closer.Just a little bit closer.I think Abby may be on the mend.Now shhh, keep that under your hat because I have made this claim more than once this weekend only to find her not long after in the fetal position on the floor clutching her stomach.Is there anything worse than having your child be in such pain and not being able to soothe it for them. Add that to the broken sleep (for the past almost 72 hours) plus a husband who's had obligations elsewhere and you have the makings of a very demoralizing weekend for Mom.I'm not sure why Abby seems to pick up these stomach bugs so easily. Or why they seem to linger with her for so long. Maybe it has something to do with the weakened state she was in for the first six plus months of her life. Or maybe that's just the luck she has. Who knows? I think these episodes take as much out of me as they do out of her.For now she seems to be doing better. It's been hours now since she last threw up. Her cheeks are no longer flushed and she's got her Abby personality back. I think it's helped that she finally managed to get some food into her and keep it there. And for that I am unspeakably thankful.
Between Mike and I we have three moms. All awesome. And I was planning on writing a post about how awesome they all are, but then Little Miss Abby asked if she could have the floor instead. How could I say no to that? I mad mom a krawn for math dayAnd there you have it, short, but sweet. The poor little lamb has been sick all weekend. She started Friday evening with some wicked stomach cramps and has been sick to her stomach on and off ever since. We'll get a few hours where she seems to be on the mend and then she'll be on the floor complaining her stomach hurts again. This morning she did manage to muster up enough energy to retrieve my Mother's Day present from it's hiding spot. She had made me a crown at school and I am to be Queen for the day. I'd like to think that a Queen doesn't usually spend the day rubbing backs, washing blankets and cleaning up barf, but what do I know. I guess, all in all, it wasn't a bad Mother's Day spent cuddling my kids on the couch.
I have to say, though, the thing that put the biggest smile on my face this Mother's day was this link from my pal Jenni. Finally the recognition I deserve. wink
I have one healthy kid, one sick kid -- both are asleep. I have one husband -- he is out socializing with friends. I am on my own, enjoying the quiet after 24 hours spent with an upchucking child.Things I wish I had right now.....A very cold, very big strawberry daiquiri.A very deep soaker tub filled with very hot water and a stack of magazines on the side. Preferably People, Us Weekly, OK, Cosmo and a cooking mag or three thrown in for good measure.Freshly washed and line dried sheets on a very expensive king sized pillow top mattress.A Diners, Drive Ins and Dives marathon on the Food Network. A laptop so I could surf the web from my expensive king sized pillow top mattress while watching Triple D.What I do have.....A bottle of Advil liquid gels.Freshly washed and dryer dried sheets and comforter.A book about a bomb squad detective I'm almost finished.A queen sized bed I won't have to share for a few more hours at least. Well except for the cat.And I think that will do....... night all.
Stay tuned for some contest info at the end of this post.A little while ago I received some Mr. Clean and Febreeze products to try out in return for some honest feedback. So we've had them in the house and I've been testing them out and here's what I think.While I would prefer these to be green products I did understand when I agreed to take on this project that they were not (although they are phosphate free). I have tried a good many green products, but sometimes I just need a heavy duty cleaner. Case in point, I have yet to find a green toilet bowl cleaner that can measure up to my regular non-green bowl cleaner. On the other hand I have finally found a biodegradable fabric softener that I love. All this to say -- in the words of everybody's favourite little frog -- it ain't easy being green.Tonight Abby got sick and without going into too much detail she didn't quite make it to the bathroom. She made it within 6 inches of the toilet, but that really wasn't close enough. So now I had a sick little girl on the couch and a mess I could really do without to clean up in the bathroom. The Mr. Clean Extra Power Wipes were a huge help with that project. In no time I had the bathroom cleaned and disinfected and my attention back to the little girl who needed it. I don't use these wipes often, but I find them extremely helpful for situations just like these. And from the Febreeze camp a little spray of The Air Effects Hawaiian Aloha (there is also a scent inspired by Morocco & Brazil) took care of that lingering odour in the bathroom. The sprays aren't something I use a lot of either, but lets be honest there are times when you need your bathroom to smell -- not like a bathroom. Now the multi surface spray I like, but it's not exactly setting the world on fire. I mean it's an all purpose spray cleaner. It does what it promises to do. I do find the scent (lavender vanilla) to be overpowering for me. I much prefer the scent (meadows & rain) of the all purpose cleaner in the bottle. I've used it for mopping my floors and was happy with the results, but my green cleaner performs the same, so I'll likely stick with it.I also tried out the magic eraser. Again not something I use often, but it's great for tackling Maya's artwork on the walls. Which thankfully seems be an urge she's outgrowing. It was also helpful in cleaning up the outdoor toys for spring. Why do they make outside toys out of that heavily textured plastic? A magic eraser definitely makes the job a lot easier.And now some fun stuff...Have you heard of a staycation? With the economy being what it is people are opting to spend their vacations *staying* close to home. Febreeze is holding a Staycation to Vacation Sweepstakes. The grand prize being a trip for 4 to one of the Destination Collection inspired locations (Hawaii, Brazil or Morocco) plus $1,000 USD in spending money. There is also 10 prizes of $1,000 USD towards home decor makeover inspired by one of the Destination Collection locations. And 70 weekly prizes of a Destination Collection product. This contest is open to residents of Canada and the US. You can enter here.This one is for us Canucks -- well our community centres actually. P&G would like to send a team of professional cleaners and a 3 month supply of cleaning products to help get our community centres ready for the busy spring/summer season. The contest is running until May 30 and residents are being called on to vote for the community centre of their choice. In addition P&G will donate $100 worth of cleaning products to all centres participating. Check out Simply Clean Communities Challenge for more info.And on a totally unrelated topic -- Wednesday May 13th will find butcher attired President's Choice Street teams handing out free exchange coupons (max. value $10) from 4pm - 6 pm at the busiest commuter transit hubs in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Halifax and Calgary.and now you know
Fresh out of the tub and she needed her hooded towel, a blanket and her babies. Oh and the babies needed their suckies and their blankies too. 
I love when the weather gets warmer because that means it's time to barbecue. We use our barbecue a lot, weather permitting, and I am always on the lookout for new recipes to try.
1/2 cup barbecue sauce2 tbsp grainy mustard2 tbsp maple syrup1 tbsp cider vinegar1 1/2 lbs whole peameal bacon roastPreheat barbecue to medium high heat. Combine the barbecue sauce, mustard, maple syrup and cider vinegar in a bowl. Brush a third of the sauce over the roast . Grill, turning and basting often, for 10 minutes. Turn the burner directly under the meat off and set the remaining burner(s) to medium-low. Close the lid and roast over indirect heat, turning and basting occasionally for 30 minutes or until cooked through.Recipe Notes: This was really great. The glaze was the perfect tangy/sticky mix. I used a maple flavoured barbecue sauce and dijon honey mustard. It is definitely going into our summer rotation.What is What's Cooking Wednesday and how can I play?
What's cooking Wednesday was born out of a desire to get out of that what's for dinner rut. Playing is easy, on Wednesday post a recipe that has been tried and tested by you and then pop over here and add your name to the Mr. Linky. When entering your name also add the name of the recipe in brackets and make sure you link to your What's Cooking Wednesday post and not just your blog's front page. And don't forget to link back here, the home of What's Cooking Wednesday.
So for example I would write Shan (Speedy Chicken Stir Fry) in the name section. For the URL section I would post this: http://shanrev.blogspot.com/2007/10/whats-cooking-wednesday-speedy-chicken.html
I'll let you in on a little secret, my WCW recipes are almost never made on a Wednesday. So feel free to cook and photograph whenever you have time and join us posting on Wednesday
Tonight on the way home....Abby: Today I wrote in my journal about my birthday because it will be my birthday soon.Me: You're right. I guess we should make a decision about that.Abby: Are you going to chase me?Me: Hmmm?Abby: Are you going to chase me?Me: What are you talking about?Abby: You said you wanted me to stay six. Are you going to chase me on my birthday and when you catch me squash me down so I can't turn seven?Me: I might.Abby: I'm going to lock myself in my room. there's a pause in the conversation because I am quietly killing myself laughingAbby: You should give me one of those things Maya has in her room.She is talking about the child safety door knob cover that Maya has on her door knob to keep her from escaping in the middle of the night while the rest of us sleep.Abby: But put it on the other side.Mike: She means on the outside of the door so you can't get in and squash her back down to six.Me: I understand.Abby: Why don't I have a lock on my door? For my privacy. What about my privacy?Could I squash her back down to six? Do you think?
Umm hello May, where did you come from and where the heck did April go? Time again for the monthly interview project I started. I hope you'll play along on your blog or in the comments here. If you do play, make sure you come back and sign the Mr. Linky1. Do you and your significant other go to bed at the same time?Short answer -- almost never. Long answer -- I'm usually up much later than Michael doing things I don't really have time for like decorating cookies and blogging and playing FarmTown on facebook. That's through the week, on the weekends I'm usually in bed ridiculously early (these days). Like as soon as I get the kids into bed. Totally backwards I know. So weekdays I'm in bed after him, weekends I'm in bed before him.2. Do you have any siblings?I have one brother, known here as Uncle Dave. He is younger than me by two years. He's doing graphic designer type things in that cute little city he lives in up north with his lovely wife, Auntie Mel and Adelaide the girl dog.3. You're spending an evening with friends -- would you rather cook for them in your home or go out to a restaurant?Now I love going out, but really I love to entertain at home more. There you can linger over a meal for ages, talking and laughing. For dessert you can move into the living room for mindless TV or guitar hero while you talk and laugh some more. Home makes for a longer more comfortable evening.4. What's your can't miss TV show?Hands down - The Office. It's even better if I watch it with Mike. If he's laughing, that just makes me laugh harder. That show is just total comedic genius. It's perfectly cast. Triple love it.5. Are you doing any spring cleaning?I wasn't really planning on it because I think I was trying to convince myself that it didn't need to be done, but the truth of the matter is if you have kids it's a very good idea. It's a good time to purge the stuff they don't need or fit anymore. Today I emptied our back closet, which is quite large and got rid of all the shoes and coats that the girls have outgrown. Packed up all the winter hats, scarves and mitts and got out the ball caps, sunhats and sunglasses. I moved the winter coats down to the end of the closet we don't use and brought up the rain coats, sweaters and spring jackets. The shoes are all paired up and in neat rows. I figured I'll tackle small manageable projects over the coming weeks so it doesn't seem like so much work. Next on the list, the storage cupboard by my desk.So now the rules, they're pretty simple. Post your answers to these questions on your own blog in the next few days. Remember to link back here in your post and sign the Mr. Linky too, so we can all see what you have to say. Please make sure you link to your actual KMKY post and not your blog's front page. Any front page links will be deleted. And most importantly, have fun! Have suggestions for next months questions? Leave me a comment or send me an email and let me know.
We arrived at the sitter's to pick up Maya and this is what we found.
She was very excited about these knee pads she found there. She wore them right until bed time and tried to wear them to bed. Then she put them back on first thing in the morning. Even funnier she insisted they were her roller skates.
There was a million reasons to say no on Sunday night when my pal ML called and asked if instead of our regular walk around the neighbourhood, would we rather take our kids and our husbands and walk around the Royal Botanical Gardens. It was free to get in after six on Sundays --butI had laundry piled up everywhere in various stages of doneness. Going out at six on a school night was pushing it a bit with the girl's bedtimes. The house looked like we'd been letting goats live in here all weekend. And I hadn't even looked in Abby's school bag yet. She could have had a diorama of the CN Tower due on Monday for all I knew. Yep, a million reasons to say no, but when Mike asked me -- what do you think? I said, I think we don't do stuff like this -- ever. We should go.So we went.And the kids ran around like crazy. And we had ice cream. And fed a swan. And laughed. A lot. And that led to another photo Friday High Five (hosted by Angela's Adventures and Minor Mishaps). Here are my five favourite pictures from the eleventy million I took.
Here a Mommy goose sits on her nest. The Daddy goose was not happy we stopped to snap a picture. Abby thought this was the coolest thing. Next to seeing the swan land on the lake.
I'm not really one for taking "artsy" shots (a term I am using loosely here), but I thought there was a category for flower pictures in the photo section of the fair this year. I was mistaken, which is too bad because I really like this picture. It was dusk and I like how the rest of the picture is muted, but you can see these islands of bright spring flowers. It looks like I played with it in photoshop, but I didn't.
Mike and I weren't sure how Maya would do on our excursion. She's been known to lie down on the ground and refuse to move when we've attempted outings in the past. That night, she was awesome. Look at her -- so pink and happy and having fun!
My little tourists, posing in front of the natural amphitheater. Gotta love those boots.
I am so thankful to ML for snapping this picture. I love the muted colours of early spring. It really brings your focus to all the colour in our little family unit. I will certainly be printing one of these to frame for my desk. Love it.
