A Days Reflection

My first pregnancy- 9 months

Motherhood has been the toughest thing I have ever done. From my pregnancy to childrearing it is never ending work, stress and loveliness!

Second prenancy- 8 months

I love my children and they are my life's work, but anyone who may think children will fix their life or make people stay are delusional (sorry if that is harsh!) There is no faster way to ruin or change a relationship or make people run away faster.

My daughters at on Christmas Eve. Isabelle 2, Roslyn 2 weeks

I am very lucky to have a secure relationship and an amazing, loving family to surround me and help me when the days get tough.

Members of my amazing family, members missing!
Families are very important, no matter how big or small or who you consider your family to be they are the most important people in your life and you need to foster and cherish those people you call your family. No matter the arguments, disagreements, or different views, these people should be there for you and love you unconditionally.

I wake up some days, with one child wanting to be held, one child wanting to be fed non stop, my house in disarray, laundry unfolded and dirty, coffee not drunk and I wonder how I got here and I how I am going to make it another day. I am sure the nut-house is coming to get me, but then I see this little girl

and this one

and I know it will get better, I just have to push through the moments I want to run from the house screaming and I will get to the moments that make it all worth while. 

Are you a mom? How do you make it through? Do you share my sentiment?

Its a Fiesta!!!

Source: photo.net

Who doesn't love the bright colours of Fiesta Dinnerware?

It is my new love and I wish my kitchen could be filled with its rainbow goodness.

Look at all the beautiful colours they come in:

Source: lesjones.com/posts/002895.shtml

I actually can't make up my mind which colour I like best. I love the shamrock, the peacock, the cobalt blue, the turquoise, the sea mist, the plum, really don't make me choose.

Source: hlchina

I really love this stuff!

I have a couple of pieces that I have found at second hand stores but now that it is back in stores I think I want to stock my kitchen with it. My mom restarted my love when she made a purchase state side and now I can't help but obsess over the stuff.

Really the only think I need in my kitchen right now is a cream and sugar set.

Source:longmountaingeneralstore

Wouldn't this look fabulous in my kitchen! Love the colour!

Or how about my favourite colour, green !

Source: fondooo

If anyone is thinking of the perfect gift for me, think Fiesta!

I love the bold colours and the smooth lines.

Do you have a fiesta at your home?

 

How To: Chicken Pot Pie

One of my favourite things about the changing of the season is the beginning of that season's dish.

 As fall arrives and we move into winter I start my comfort food cooking. Usually when I cook I have a problem with making too much food so I have begun to freeze half of what I make, so my proportions are way off for a normal family of 4. 

That is part of the deal I find when cooking without a recipe, you end up usually making too much, but I think that might be a personal problem too. 

I kind of have issues with thinking their won't be enough, always preparing for a depression I guess! 

As I have mentioned before I usually cook without a recipe and this chicken pot pie recipe is no different. The only place I use a recipe is when it comes to baking, you can't really mess with baking unless you know the science behind it.

So first I start with my ingredients:

I have garlic, onion, celery, mushrooms, carrots, cooked chicken, chicken stock, flour, salt and pepper, butter and extra virgin olive oil. The day before I made chicken stock but store bought is fine.

First I put a couple of glug's of oil in the bottom of my pan with a slab of butter.

I throw in the minced garlic and the onions and mix them around.

I then throw all the other vegetables in and season with salt and pepper.

Another slab of butter goes in and I and let that melt within the vegetables.

Next I mix in flour to make a kind of roux amongst the vegetables.

Once the flour is incorporated I add the stock until the vegetables are basically covered and I begin to stir. I leave this on the stove to thicken. At this point I taste it all and adjust the flavour with salt and pepper.

At this point I get on with the pastry. Preheat the oven to 400F.

I cube 1/2 cup of cold butter and add it to 2 cups of flour, move the butter around the flour until it is coated and then stick it in the freezer for 10 minutes to make sure the butter mixture is extra cold.

Once it is done in the freezer tip it into a food processor and pulse until it looks like cornmeal.

Then I add 1 beaten egg with ice water down the shoot until the dough sticks to the blade. If there is not enough water egg mixture then add some more cold water to make it stick to the blade.

Turn the dough out onto floured surface and form into a round disk. Cover in plastic wrap and let rest in the fridge.

By this point the chicken mixture should be thickened and pour half the mixture into a baking dish and I put the other half in containers to be frozen  for another meal. If you are feeding more people use all the mixture.

Roll out the dough and cover you baking dish full of the chicken mixture, crimp and trim edges to seal dough to dish.

Make an egg wash with beaten egg and water and use a pastry brush to spread egg wash over pastry. I had extra pastry so I made cut outs for fun to place on top.

I bake it in the over for about 30 minutes or so, until the pastry is golden brown and the inside is bubbling.

There you have it! Chicken pot pie, it can also be adapted to make lovely Turkey pot pie.

I hope you enjoy!

Another year

Source: katespadeny.tumblr.com via pinterest

My birthday is less than a week away, it falls on a weekday so the day will be filled with the same motherly duties I do every other weekday. Isabelle is obsessed with birthdays and she thinks a big party is coming, where all of friends will be at and I will be getting lots of toys. Its hard to break it to her that nothing like that will be happening. I will probably try too make the day special for her, even if it is MY Day

Source: kdoss viapinterest

I don't think that I have had a birthday party since I was a kid and there is no party on the books for this year( though it would be fun to have a themed party like above!) I sometimes think that it is strange that I haven't had a party in ages and that no body has tried to plan me one, but then I think about it and I don't really like to be the centre of attention and I am not that comfortable in parties, so it kind of makes sense.

If I were to have a party I would like to wear something like this:

Source: mona_hendrix via pinterest

I love that it is inspired after a painting.

It's not like I am not doing anything, my husband will take me out for dinner, my mom might make me dinner one night and I am hoping to go out with some girlfriends when we can make our schedules match.

What do you do for your birthday? How do you make it special? Does someone make it special for you?
Opps! I have been corrected, my birthday is on Sunday not Monday! I am slowly losing my mind, don't mind me!

Experiencing Technical Difficulties

I have thought of many exciting things to post about while I have been running a one woman nursing marathon.

I had a post that I was hoping to put up today but I haven't had a chance to do the finishing touches and I do not have the time to finish, so I will keep you on your toes waiting for a how to!

Its raining here, my 3 year old is behaving and my baby is miserable, everything is topsy turvy. There is smashed banana on my floor and I am covered in so much snot I may as well forgo the use of tissue at this point.

I have had very little sleep and not enough caffeine to make up for the lack of sleep.

How do you deal with these kinds of day's?

One Day at a Time

I believe that we are all connected by an energy, an energy that flows through us and connects us to every thing.

Source: fdly via pinterest

 I think we should be responsible for the energy we put out into the universe and understand that what we put out will come back to us.

Source: thephotoargus via pinterest

I try to live my life keeping this at the forefront of my mind and understand that when I am rude, mean or intolerant, this will return to me and vice versa.

Source: pinterest

When something bad or negative happens in my life I always try to see the positive, the silver lining. This can become hard to do when tragedy strikes and no positive is obvious, but upon reflection and distance from an event a positive can be found.

I think there is far too much negativity in this world and an abundance of hatred that must be overcome.

I try to remember this when I find myself in a funk or when I am so agitated I can't function.

My dad told me once "There is no point in being angry at someone, it doesn't affect them , it only hurts you."

Friday Fill-ins

This week I have decided to participate in :

1. When I walk around my neighborhood I see lots of new development.

2. Pasta is my favorite thing to cook.

3. Life is a roller-coaster filled with new lessons around every corner.

4. My children make me feel all warm and fuzzy 

5. Potatoes is my favorite Autumn vegetable, but I love them all year!

6. Love is better when it is shared.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to spending time with my husband, tomorrow my plans include watching the kids while my husband works another Saturday and Sunday, I want to enjoy having my husband home with my kids!

Inspirations

I didn't start reading blogs until after the birth of my first child. 

At home, in a whole new world, I started to stumble upon some amazing sites. I was mostly drawn to sites by other women and more importantly other mom's. Seeing what other mom's were getting up to and how they were expressing themselves in the blogosphere. Not every blog I came across was a perfect match, I must say I did not fall in love with them all and some I didn't get past their first entry. Then I stumbled across luvinthemommyhood. 

Source:luvinthemommyhood

She is an amazing crafter, mom, blogger, who inspires me to be more crafty and creative.I loved her images, web design and all the things she created. She also lives in the same town as me so I felt like she knew where I was coming from.

Source: http://www.luvinthemommyhood.com/

She has taken away my excuse that I am too busy to sew and knit becuase I have kids. This lady does it all and blogs about it too. Even if you are not a crafter you should check the mommyhood out it is a beautiful site, that might just inspire the crafty person in you.

From Shannon's website I found a couple more and I must say I check out these blogs day after day to see what creative ideas they have come up with today and how they have beautifuly displayed it. 

First there is made. Another crafty momma who happens to like to second hand shop and posts her amazing finds.

Source: made

She shares crafting, sewing, cooking and amazing photographs. She makes me feel like I too can get my sewing machine out and create just as she has. It just seems so easy and perfect.

Source:made

Then there is Katy from no big dill, now I love luv in the mommyhood and I love MADE but No Big Dill is my ultimate blog (sorry bloggers!)

Source: nobigdill

I am not sure what it is, just like the blogs I mentioned before she is creative and crafty but there is something else about this blog that I love. Maybe its because I have the utmost respect for her as a mother of now 6 children ( Yes 6!!!)

Source: nobigdill

The clothes she creates for her children are amazing and I love the images she shares every time she posts. I also love her kitchen, green is my favourite colour and her kitchen is highlighted by some very amazing green.

All of these ladies are amazingly talented and are so creative it makes me want to scream. I think I hope by reading their blogs some of their creative juices will rub off on me!

Last but not least I must share one more inspiration, the very stylish iheartthisblog

Source:iheartthisblog

This is the lovely, stylish and talented Natalie (I love this shirt!) Disclaimer: I know Natalie personally, which may add to why I love her blog!
She is also a momma and posts about fashion, baking and mommyhood.

Source:iheartthisblog.com

I must say Natalie has reminded me that becoming a momma doesn't mean you have to live in yoga pants and cotton t-shirts for the rest of your life. You can wear real clothes again and you can be fashionable. She does it so I should at least give it a try.

These are my inspirations, there really are many more, but this post can only be so long 

These ladies share their passion on line and I am trying to do the same, they are my biggest inspirations and I hope that they can inspire you!

FIND!

Source:memamavia pinterest

In my new adventure in blogging I have been searching high and low for beautiful images to post and to share with others.

Sometimes it is what I love the most about blogs, the images people produce and find are just gorgeous. I don't have a fancy camera, just a point and shoot, so I had to find some stunning images and I came across an amazing website pinterest.

 It is amazing! 

If you have time check it out, it really is amazing and filled with so many amazing images.

Source:www.theglow.com via pinterest

Cooking

Do you cook?

I cook everyday and I enjoy it (other then deciding what to make every day.) Cooking is like therapy for me. I can lose myself in the process and forget about the day. I could cook and bake all day if I didn't have other responsibilities and someone else could clean up for me. 

I have a bit of an obsession with kitchens, kitchen utensils and dishes. Every time I move someone comments on the amount of boxes that are labelled kitchen and I feel still like I am missing things.

Source: pinmarklet via pinterest

I was lucky enough to grow up in a food family. Most of my memories of my childhood have to do with cooking. Whether it be my dad blasting music at 9am on Saturday while he cooked in the kitchen or the creations my mom would come up with when she would cook. 

I was also lucky because my mom owned an Italian deli/cafe that I started hanging out at when I was a little girl. I learned to cook there, well I learned by watching my parents cook but the business reinforced what I learned at home.

I didn't learn to cook from a recipe either, I learned by feel, taste and memory. 

To this day I still don't really use recipes. I look at two or three versions of the same recipe and then create my own dish. I don't really measure and usually it is hard for me to repeat a recipe since I never know what I put in it.

Nothing makes me happier then to have a variety of fresh seasonal vegetable that I can create into a nutritious, satisfying, feast for my family.

Do you cook? Do you use recipes? 

Coming soon, my first how to!

A Good Nights Sleep

What I wouldn't give for a good nights sleep. It has probably been four years since I have slept through the night. I have no idea what it would feel like to sleep for a whole night and wake up in the morning feeling well rested and refreshed. The saddest thing is that I don't think I could even sleep through night even if I wanted to. I would have to sleep train myself! 

Everyone talks about the lack of sleep when you become a parent but it is another thing to live it. It is also hard to conceptualize what it is like or what it does to your brain. 
I might not be a card carrying Mensa member, I am not usually that stupid, but after the birth of both my children I have to wonder about my intelligence sometimes. It has to be a direct reflection of the amount of sleep I get.  There is no way a regular human being should be able to perform the tasks I perform daily with the amount of sleep I get.

Source: etsy via janew via pinterest

I have begun to move my family in the direction of sleeping through the night, some might say I  am a bit obsessed. It is my main priority right now and I am beginning to see some success. Soothers have been taken away and children are sleeping on their own. Last night was actually the most successful sleep I have had in ages and now I am exhausted. Nothing like a good nights sleep to tire you out.

Patience

They say that patience is a virtue.

 I must not be very virtuous. 

I was known to say 'I hate wait' when I was a child, it is a very clear memory. I am a lot better then I used to be, children have a way of forcing you to be patient. 

Today my 3 year old tested my patience and I did not have many to spare. She whined, she dug her heals in and like every day I won. I eventually got her to do what I wanted her to do and we continued on until the next battle begun.

Six days virtually unassisted by others is enough to test any ones patience when raising children. I love my children and they are wonderful, but some days I want to go away and drink wine and eat chocolate.

I think patience comes with age, we begin to understand why we must wait and therefore it becomes more tolerable. There are some days though, that you wake up and you just can not summon the energy to be patient and those are days you should be alone. 

As a parent I do not have that choice, I must wake up and do my best to be as patient and as loving as I can be to my children and hope for their bed time to come fast so that I may relax with my wine and chocolate and be a little bit selfish!

Do you consider yourself to be patient? How do you deal with trying times?

No Tony You have the Skillz at BP

A really good friend is an important thing for everyone to have. Someone to bounce things off of, someone to help you through the tough times and someone to celebrate the good with. 

Some friends come and go from your life. Your life takes a new turn and you go your separate ways, your lives take different paths.

Some friends are there through it all and I am lucky enough to have two of them. Two of the most wonderful, loving, brilliant, and beautiful friends. I have had these two friends for over 15 years. We have never fought and never argued. We have gone long periods without talking as our lives took different paths, we have lived in different provinces and different countries, but we always found our way back to each other. Our friendship remains the same, we are the same crazy girls we were in high school, with our private jokes and code words.

I have come to learn that these ladies are my rocks, they have been with me through some of the toughest times and I have been there for them, without judgement or shame.

As we have gotten older there is a lot of comfort in our friendship and we all appreciate what we have more then ever. I don't think anyone knows me the way these girls know me. 

Thanks Jen and Ali, you are my ladies and you are always ready at the back door!

My Dirty little secret

I was in my local drug store today when I realized I have a problem,

An addiction,

A dirty little secret.

 One that I don't think anyone knows about.

I have been keeping my little secret to myself, hiding the evidence and pretending there wasn't a problem.

I was going to write about something else today but I thought I should share this little tidbit, this little morsel about me.

It wasn't a problem before I had kids, I actually never really thought about it. But now after two pregnancies I can't stop thinking about it, I need my daily fix. I take the kids out on walks just to make sure I get it and have some in my house.

Of course I am talking about

 CHOCOLATE!

Before you tell me how healthy it is, I am not talking about that goody two shoes, dark chocolate with its 75% cocoa. I am talking about its evil brother milk chocolate and his cousins caramel, wafer and nougat. They are so good and yummy and they are all I want with my afternoon tea!

I am sure there are others out their with the same addiction, but maybe not to the same extent. Do you have a dirty little secret? An addiction. Believe me I have more, this is just the first.

Mmmmmm....

Cast of Characters

I believe I should introduce my nearest and dearest, those that I am sure will make regular appearances in my journey along the way

First there is my partner in life, my best friend, father of my children and the love of my life, my husband. Lets call him Mr D.



We have been together for 10 years and married for 4 of those years. I lucked out with this one, he is one of a kind. (Even if he drives me crazy sometimes!)

3 months after we were married we found out we were pregnant with our first child.

In July of the next year Isabelle was born she is full of energy and hasn't stopped since the day she was born. She has always been a bit of a handful.

This is her when she was a couple of months old, she is now 3 years old. She is a very funny little girl with all kinds of energy and imagination.

Two and half years later we welcomed our second child, Roslyn into this world

She is as sweet as her name and is filled with so much love and joy, it fills my heart.

I am blessed to have these people in my life. There are many more wonderful people in my family, but these three are the people I am hoping by bettering myself I can better. Thanks for meeting them!

First Day of the rest of my life...

First step in bettering myself is to be healthier. I have never been a sick person, but I have never been a fit person. I am curvy and carrying two children has done nothing for my figure. Three months after my youngest daughter Roslyn was born I joined an Outdoor Fitness Program that helped me lose my baby weight, but as fall approaches this is not an option anymore and I fear of falling into old habits. I am fine with being curvy and I fine with not being a stick but I want to feel healthy and when I am not moving I do not feel healthy. So tomorrow morning I am going to start this:

It has sat on my dvd shelf for maybe 2 years! Unused, haunting and taunting me from its dusty place on the shelf. I think about it weekly but I do not dare put it on. I always have a lovely excuse and some how I let the morning pass and my kids be an excuse for not putting it on.

Tomorrow though I will not ignore it anymore! I will start this "30 day Shred" and I will report my findings, anyone want to join me? This will be my commitment, help me stay committed and cheer me on!

Do you use exercise dvd's? How do you stay healthy? What's your best tip? Tell me please help me on my crusade!