mother days

When one of your children is born just a few days before Mother's Day, it's pretty hard to top that! But this year, my sweet girls (and their fabulous Daddy) gave me one that was just terrific.

Leading up to Sunday, the girls would give me little hints about the crafts and surprises they were making at school and daycare, struggling to keep the secrets for nearly a week! The newly minted 4-year-old, Lady A, kept telling me that "Mother Days" was coming on Sunday, and it was so cute that I tried not to correct her too often!

Sunday morning began with the girls telling me I had to stay in bed, and I could hear all of the effort that was being put into my breakfast just one floor below. Perhaps Lady M was down there helping (or directing) Cal, but Lady A spent much of the prep time up in my room telling me exactly what breakfast I could expect - chocolate chip pancakes, bacon, strawberries, bananas and tea. When she got tired of me being in bed, she asked if I could come play Mouse Trap with her, and so I did - and hustled back to bed when I heard the others coming up the stairs with my special delivery.

With kids who are 4 & 6 I truly think the best part of Mother's Day is the homemade crafts. Lady M proudly gave me a handmade potted plant, paper flower and a necklace with three handmade charms: a star, a heart and a flower. Lady A gave me a variety of paper crafts including a big flower pot with a picture of her in it, a paper purse that had all of 'my favourite things' in it, and a handmade card. I loved each thing they made for me, and I love even more how excited they are to give it. I was even serenaded with a song that Lady M learned in school - listen/watch here!

These homemade gifts really are special. To this day, my dad still has a giant tie that my older brother made for him one Father's Day hanging in his walk-in closet. If I remember correctly, it's an acrostic poem that Greg wrote using Dad's name, Richard. Goes to show that these sweet crafts really do mean a lot! My brother is 36 after all...

As a quick aside since we are on the subject: I would be remiss not to mention that my Dad doesn't seem to have any of MY Father's Day creations adorning his closet. Might have to have a conversation with him about that. Maybe mum has some of my things hidden in her drawers, little gems she's been keeping safe since the 80's...

In any case, back to this year's crafts! Here are a few of the adorable items I received:

Lady A's gift bag for me

The inside of Lady A's card

Handmade charms by Lady M

My flower from Lady M in my office window 

The sweet note from Lady M

We spent the rest of the day together as a family, and had our usual Sunday adventures to the pool (kids swimming lessons) and the baseball diamond (adults softball game). It was a perfectly lovely Mother's Day made absolutely wonderful by the two little ladies who made me a mum, and my sweet husband too.

my healthy quest...and 30 things update

My little Lady A hit the 6-month milestone two weeks ago. Hard to believe that six months have flown by in the blink of an eye, and that she's half way through her first year of life. It means we have a little more time between feedings and fewer naps, ergo, more awake time! With this somewhat 'found' time, I have a chance to focus a little more on me for the first time in a while.

With that said, I'm on a quest to get back to being healthy and fit...a place I haven't been in a few years, since having my munchkins. In between having Lady M & Lady A it was easy to set getting fit aside, knowing that I was planning to become pregnant again. But this time, my family is complete, so no easy excuses!!

My sister-in-law has recently graduated as a nutritionist, so with such great knowledge at my fingertips, I would be silly not to work with her, so I am! Thanks to her encouragement and ideas, I'm trying new recipes, making small changes to the items stocked in my kitchen, and drinking more water than I ever have before! The thing that's even better, is that these little lifestyle changes positively affect my entire family.

On the workout front, I continue on with my Zumba classes as often as possible. (To read about the moment I fell in love with this 'exercise in disguise', check out this old post). In fact, in just a few days I'm off to Instructor Training so I can not only attend these fantastic classes, I can teach them too!

I've also found a great Stroller Fitness class that I've been attending for a few weeks with Lady A; I'm working muscles I haven't worked in ages, and its awesome. I'm currently competing in a 'Biggest Loser' challenge with them, trying to win a big gift certificate so I can take even more classes over the winter and continue to challenge myself in new ways. And the best part? I can take my girls with me!

So between the nutrition, fitness classes and a little challenge on the side, I think they're all great steps. And its working to achieve one of the goals that I set out for myself earlier this year in my 30 things post.

Which brings me to a little update on that front. Its been 3 months since I first outlined my goals, so in an effort to stay on track, thought I'd provide a little update as to where things stand...

1. Become a creative entrepreneur as an exciting side project
• Haven't made it too far on this one, but I will get there! 
2. Complete Zumba Fitness instructor training
• All set to go this Saturday, and I couldn't be more excited!! 
3. Donate blood (hopefully on a regular occasion, but let's go for once to start)
• Hmm, I'll take this one as a reminder...I need to go do this. One of my friends said she'd like to join me, so I think we should make a date! 
4. Have an impeccably organized home
• Slowly, but surely...this is an ongoing process
5. Learn Adobe Illustrator
• This one is in the works! I think I may take a class in the New Year if I can find some time.
6. Reach my post-pregnancy goal weight
• As mentioned, the nutrition plans, and fitness goals are all leading toward this one... 
7. Read a minimum of four books for pleasure this year (yes, that's a lofty goal with two munchkins in the house and lots of school reading at any given time!!)
• I have finished one so far, and am working on book number two. The first was Mini Shopaholic (yup, that's right, total chick lit!), and now I'm reading Smart Couples Finish Rich. Might as well work on my financial future while I'm at it, right?! 
8. Share more stories on my blog so my girls will have a great memoir of their childhood
• Trying to write more whenever I can. I think I need to figure out some form of measurement on this one though...I guess as long as I'm writing more than I did last year overall, then I'm achieving this goal. 
9. Start teaching a regular Zumba class
• I can do this once I'm a full-fledged instructor! 

So there we have it...that's where I am with my annual goals; definitely some things to work on, but I'm making a few of the goals a reality already, so I feel like I'm on the right track. Feel free to hold me accountable to anything you read here!! 

fantastic snacks

One of my favourite websites to peek at from time to time is Canadian Family. They link to great stories and ideas, and I usually find myself drawn into something on the site. So when I looked at it this morning, I fell in love with a new site: Little Nummies.Well, its new to me...looks like its been around for quite a while judging by the huge variety of ideas on the site.

I'm a big fan of putting together fun little snack plates for Lady M - food is just more exciting when its arranged in a fun way. I have mastered the cheese and berry sunshine plate, but am always looking to try something different. And who am I kidding, its a little creative outlet for me, so it makes me happy!

In any case, when I popped onto Canadian Family today, this is the picture I saw:

 

Is that adorable, or what? So then, upon further exploration, I discovered there is this whole fabulous site of creative and clever ideas that, even if you never put one together, are still just fun to look at.

Here are a couple more that are just too cute for words:

 

I feel totally inspired to make some cute snacks for Lady M. And what better way to get her to eat a great variety of foods at snack time, all while having fun! 

my sous chef, betty crocker and i

This morning I woke up feeling great - I'm on vacation! I've been fortunate to have a lot of vacation this summer, but today marks the first day of my last week off...September is going to hit hard! But, I will certainly enjoy it while I can.

A good friend of mine was coming over for tea this morning, so little lady M and I decided to make some scones. I turned to my favourite Betty Crocker cookbook, found a recipe for chocolate chip scones I hadn't tried before, and we were off! They turned out to be really delicious, so I thought I would share the recipe we used....

Ingredients: 

1 3/4 cups flour (I used a combo of white and whole wheat)
3 tablespoons sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salf
1/3 cup firm butter or margarine
1 large egg, beaten
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
6 tablespoons whipping cream
1/2 cup chocolate chips
Additional whipping cream
White coarse sugar/decorating sugar

Directions:

• Heat oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit.
• In large bowl, mix flour, 3 tablespoons sugar, baking powder & salt. Cut in butter, (using pastry blender, or two knives) until mixture looks like fine crumbs. Stir in egg, vanilla, whipping cream and chocolate chips. Mix until dough leaves side of bowl. 

• Place dough on lightly floured surface; gently roll in flour to coat. Knead lightly 10 times. On ungreased cookie sheet, roll or pat dough into an 8-inch circle. Cut into 8 wedges with a sharp knife that has been dipped in flour, but do not separate wedges. Brush with additional whipping cream and sprinkle with sugar crystals. 

• Bake 14 - 16 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Immediately move from cookie sheet, separate wedges and serve warm. 

They took only about 15 minutes to make, and were delicious. Good ol' Betty - she never disappoints. More importantly, lady M and I had a great time baking together.