A smoothie for a sweetie

Charlotte likes to help me bake and cook. Whenever I'm in the kitchen she comes in, gets her stool and steps up to see what's going on. Santa gave little Miss Charlotte a Princess cookbook for Christmas. In it is a number of recipes from our her favourite Disney Princesses. While Charlotte is looking forward to making the cupcakes topped with worms (of the jelly variety), the first recipe she wanted to try was the smoothie. So, I promised her that I'd get her some raspberries to go along with the strawberries and bananas we had so she could do just that.

So, the other day we got a blending.

Snow White's Smoothie recipe

Santa also gave Charlotte her own spatula, which she likes to lick clean whenever it's used

The finished product

It was a hit!

We're going to get some worms soon and try out those cupcakes. Mmmmmmm, worms!

Shovelling the white stuff

The winter before Charlotte was born was a winter for the snow loving enthusiasts. It was a LONG one with A LOT of snow. We seemed to be forever having snow storms and even had 2 snow days in one week in March. I remember this because it was around St Patrick's Day and so we had three days off in two weeks. 


By the end of that winter we had had enough of shovelling. Andrew's back was bad, I was pregnant so I couldn't lift too much and well, enough was enough. We vowed that the next year we'd have a snowblower. The following fall, after Charlotte was born, we did just that. We got a snowblower (thanks Danny for the baby bonus). Before we did though, we were very lucky to have some great neighbours who would come over and help once they had their driveways cleared. Especially when they saw me out shovelling by myself. That's like a magnet around here, or, at least it was before we got the snowblower. Now, when they see me out there by myself, they don't normally come over. Well, our neighbour Ben does and we help him out too, so it's nice. But, the thing is, I don't actually want them to come over.


What the neighbours don't realize when they see me, a woman, out shovelling by myself, is that it's my choice. It's not that my husband is lazy and can't be bothered to come out. It's because I've insisted on going out by myself. Don't get me wrong. If we've had a lot of snow and the blower is required, he's out there. I refuse to learn how to use the blower because then I won't have that out when I need it. Not that having a 5 month old isn't an out. But, if we've had a lot of snow, we all go out to help shovel. Well, Charlotte plays and Harrison, if he's awake, sits in his car seat watching the fun, otherwise we're out there with the monitor in one of our pockets. I have to say though, I am the only female (that I can see) out shovelling. The rest of the drives are being shovelled, plowed or snowblowed by the men of the house. I am sure that's how they want it. Andrew does go out there by himself (yesterday as an example), but he'd rather me help, and if I can, I do. After all, although the snowblower clears the majority of it, the drive still needs to be shovelled and tidied (I like going all the way down to the pavement).


I enjoy shovelling (unless it's a long drawn out winter). It's a chance to get out in the fresh air and get some exercise. There's the sense of accomplishment you feel when you come in and look out and see the driveway cleared and looking nice and neat. But, then there's the plow, who almost always comes down right after you've gotten undressed and everything put away. Unless we have to go out, or it's going to turn hard, we always leave that snow until later, once the kids are in bed. And, when it's time to clear it, I jump at the chance to do it myself. Again, I imagine all the men wondering why I'm out there instead of Andrew. Again, what they don't know if that I've often sneaked out without him knowing so that I can do it myself. By myself. That's the key. I'm by myself. It's dark out, the night is usually calm after a snow storm and it's just so quiet and peaceful and I am left to my own thoughts. I sometimes have a little competition with myself seeing how much I can lift, how far I can throw it, how fast I can clear it. I think about the day's events, what the next couple of days have to bring, just whatever comes into my head. It's just me, myself and I.


I spoke to my Mom about it the other day. I remember growing up she was always out there with Dad shovelling and the majority of the time she did it all herself. In the nighttime. Turns out, it was for the same reasons. Some quiet time without the three of us kids.


This morning, we took the kids to their swimming classes and Andrew shovelled just enough for us to get out (it was 7:30 on a Sunday morning) and I told him I'd do the rest once we got home. After my run and breakfast, I went out for a little more exercise in the form of snow shovelling. It took no time to clear and so, I went next door and did theirs too. They're away (someone else cleared their drive yesterday) so I thought I'd return the favour as Ben often helps us with ours. Well, I was half way through when the guy who lives across the road came over to see if Ben was away. He has a plow on his truck you see. Well, I told him I thought so and he said, "don't worry about that, I'll get it with the plow". Well, you should have seen the look on his face when I said "that's OK, I'll do it. It's an excuse to stay outside".  "Ok" he said and off he went.  


And, I went back to merrily shovelling the driveway. It wasn't long before I was finished and went back to reality. A wonderful reality, but the break was nice too.


I highly recommend it.

Harrison and I shovelling during our first snowstorm of the season in November

Crafty Wednesday

As I'm trying to get my craft on in 2012, I thought I would try another Valentines Day idea. I've seen a number of Valentines garlands while roaming the internet, but used this one from Oopsey Daisy as my inspiration. As I'm trying to keep the costs down, I decided to use what felt I had around the house. I had purchased some for a Christmas project I decided not to do so this was the perfect time to use it. I had white wool, so away we went. As Charlotte was home with me I thought I would get her to help me but with all the cutting and sewing, she got bored very quickly. But, we persevered and here it is.

I made my hearts by folding the felt and cutting a heart. Just like in school!

Thread the wool and connect the hearts

A collection of hearts

The hearts garland on the mantle

Once we had this done, we continued with crafty Wednesday and made a Valentine's mobile for Charlotte's room. We cut out the hearts from coloured paper in the same way as above. We attached the hearts using coloured wool to a wire hanger. Charlotte was able to help punch the holes in the hearts and was excited once it was done.

The finished project

I do my best

This morning, at 1:30, 2:00, 2:30 and 3am, Charlotte came to our room. This is something that she's started doing once in awhile over the past couple of months. It's usually because her blankets have come off her bed. Unfortunately, once she's awake, it takes her some time to get back to sleep and as a result she sometimes gets up more than once. Most times she just goes back to sleep. Add that to Harrison waking around 2:30 as well, it was a long night.


When I hear her coming I usually intercept her before she gets too far, but either way, she's awake. Last night, it turned into a long night. I put her in the bed, and told her to go to sleep. The second time I heard her, I went to intercept only to find that all she'd done was open her door and put her horsey by it to keep it open. She was hearing noises. I explained to her that it was just the wind outside and that everything was OK. I told her we were there for her and everything would be OK. I closed the door and went back to bed.


Not long after, just as I was drifting back to sleep, I heard her coming again. I got out of bed, angry by this time and flung the bedroom door open only to see her there, crying because she was hearing noises. I instantly felt so bad. I carried her back to her room and explained the noise she heard. It was just the wind at the windows. The windows in Charlotte's room are older and so we have put the insulating wrap on them to get us through this winter. It had come adrift at the bottom and it was making noise. I sat with her for awhile, just talking to her and explaining that there was nothing to worry about and that when she does wake in the night, she should just turn over and go to sleep rather than come to get me. It's getting out of her bed that wakes her. By this time, Harrison was awake, and so, I told her to go to sleep and went off to feed him. When I had put him back down, Charlotte was still awake and so I went in, tape in hand and taped the windows. While it didn't do much, it was obviously enough to make her feel safe enough to go to sleep as I didn't hear from her again that night. 


When I got back in bed, I was, of course, fully awake. I started to think about raising kids, doing your best, feeling guilt if you don't feel you're doing what's right and just trying to learn from your mistakes and giving your kids the best that you can. I of course felt bad for being angry when I first opened the bedroom door (it's always open a little) to see Charlotte standing there upset. I felt bad for just wanting to sleep rather than worrying why she was awake. It reminded me of a conversation that my Mom and I had had that same day about when I was young and I used to call out to her every night and how she got me out of doing so. I won't go into details as my Mom feels bad about it, but it worked and at the end of the day all you can do is your best. I turned out pretty good so I think she did a great job! My Mom used to tell the story about my Nan. She had 11 children. I just can't imagine it. My Mom says that when they were born, they were put in a playpen and didn't come out until they could climb out themselves. Now, I know she was joking (well, sort of) but again, Nan did her best. Which, is what she used to say to my Mom. "I did my best my child". 


I think that's all anyone can do. I sometimes often have to remind myself of this when I find myself in a situation that I find, shall we say, challenging. I sometimes handle it well, other times, not so well and it's those times that I obviously feel guilty about and that I have to work through. But I'm learning. I try to remember that Charlotte and Harrison are doing they're best as well and we're all learning. I just look at them and enjoy them and nothing else matters.


So, tonight, when I said goodnight to Charlotte, I asked her what she was going to do if she woke. She said she was going to turn over and go back to sleep. Well, hopefully she won't wake up. If she does, hopefully she'll turn over and go back to sleep. If she doesn't, I'll carry her back, kiss her goodnight and hope she'll go back to sleep right away. If she doesn't, I'll deal with it the best way I can.

My beautiful little girl

My handsome boy

A Valentine's Wreath

I'm trying to get my creative juices flowing again. Before Charlotte, I did a lot of different type of crafts. I made all my cards and even dabbled in a little wood working (with the help of my Dad). Well, I decided that I'd start exploring my creative side in 2012. I thought it would be a great way for me to express myself and be a bit of fun for me, myself and I. I've been looking at a number of sites, looking for ideas and inspiration. 


I found my inspiration for my Valentine's Wreath through Pinterest. I actually pinned something else Kierste from Brown Paper Packages made, but upon exploring her site, I decided to follow her and a couple of weeks later she posted this wreath.

My inspiration a canvas drop cloth wreath

 I thought this was a cute wreath and it got me thinking about a Christmas wreath I made a LONG, LONG, LONG time ago. I was actually living at home when I made it. The wreath was made out of strips of green garbage bags and a wire coat hanger. May sound unusual, but it was quite nice when it was done.


One of my other goals on my path to creativity is to do things as inexpensively as possible. So, I decided to make a wreath based on that Christmas wreath I made years ago. It turned out pretty good. The only downside is that it's very light and well, we live on a hill, so I think it'll be an inside wreath. I may try Kierste's version as well. I'll keep you posted.


Here's what I did.


Rather than purchasing a floral wire wreath, I used a wire hanger. My original plan was to use two and wedge material between them to get the space like a wire wreath. Half way through however, it was evident this wasn't working so I adjusted and used just one hanger. 

Plans changed half way through, but these are the materials I started with.

Cut white garbage bags into 6" strips and tie them around the hanger. Continue until the entire circle is tightly covered. 

Half way through. A little trimming may be necessary once the wreath is done.

Then, add your bow and any other embellishments you'd like.

The finished product on the front door. It won't be staying there though. It's now inside. It was really windy out today.

So, there you have it. My first DIY/Craft project for 2012. I'm pretty pleased with it. The bow can be changed out to reflect the different seasons and holidays. Even a set of red or clear LED lights would be nice. That would also add some weight for those windy days. Hmmmm, there's a thought.

Snowman painting

"What are we going to do now Mommy"? I hear that a lot these days. Especially on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. As one of my promises for 2012 was to spend more quality time with the kids, I've been trying to think of different projects to do with Charlotte. Sure, she can paint, colour, play with playdough, play with her toys, read, go to the park and much more, but I wanted to find some different things to do with her that she wouldn't do every day. I've been searching the website for some different ideas for us to do each week and have found a number of them including some Valentines Day ones we'll be doing in a couple of weeks. 


One of Charlotte's favourite things to do is colour and paint. We've done a couple of painting projects over the past week or so for some recent birthdays that I'll soon share, but today I thought we'd try a craft I found on the Michaels website yesterday. It is a painting project that I knew she'd love to do. I told her last night we'd be doing a snowman craft today and it was the first thing she mentioned this morning. Needless to say, we got at this one right after breakfast.


The interesting thing about this snowman painting is the technique of how the snowman is painted. With feet. When I saw this I thought... how could a three-year old not enjoy this?


Here's how we got our pictures. As it was just the three of us, I couldn't get pictures of the actual feet on the paper, but we'll try that another time. 

Getting ready to paint!

First, you paint the blue sky and let it dry. I helped Harrison with his.

Next, you paint the feet and step onto the paper.

Harrison wanted to get in on the fun too!

Then you paint the snow, hat, eyes, nose, mouth, scarf and buttons. 

The finished pictures. The one on the right has one of each of Harrison's and Charlotte's feet. I meant to have Harrison's toes equal
with Charlotte's but totally forgot when it came time to put the squirming foot on the page! Hence the mountain of snow :)

Just Do It

So, we're three weeks into the New Year and three weeks into my promises. If I'm honest (and it's only hurting me if I'm not) I have wavered a little in my exercise/eating well regime. But, considering what I was eating three weeks ago, I have done pretty darn good. As I mentioned yesterday, my treadmill now has a permanent home in the basement and I have a brand new pair of running shoes. There are no excuses now. None that I can justify anyway. Not really. Sure, I can find excuses, but it's pushing through those excuses, much like you push through the pain to finish your run. I find this difficult to do sometimes, but I'm really going to try. One excuse I have to fight is the kids excuse. Sure, there are times, many times, that it's difficult to find time to run when you have two kids. Especially during the week. But, it's a matter of making sure when the time does present itself, that I grab it and run rather than do something else. Most things can be done when the babe is awake. Running is not one of them.


This morning, I told Charlotte that once Harrison was down for a nap, I'd be going down for a run. Once my run was over, we'd do whatever she wanted to do. She was cool with that, as long as she could come down too. That was a good compromise. I had to watch Micky Mouse Clubhouse, but it was an episode I hadn't seen, so the time went by fast. Well, I'm glad I got my run in when I did. Harrison was awake when I went back upstairs and didn't really settle for the rest of the day because of his teething. I wouldn't have gotten it in if I hadn't gone when I did. 


One thing I'm doing to help in my quest to run is following a running schedule. I found the schedule I followed when I started running years ago to prepare for the marathon. You start off slow (something I need to do to ease my knees into it) and it gives you rest days. On the 1st day of each week you run the longest run of your schedule. I've decided to make that day Sunday as Andrew is home and I can then run worry free. It'll also give me a chance to run outside if the weather and road conditions permit. In making Day 1 Sunday, it also means Mondays and Wednesdays turn out to have the most rest days. This also helps as Charlotte is home with me on those days. I can do a different type of exercise instead, even involving her if I can. 


So, today was the start of a new week and an effort to continue my exercise promise. I felt really good after my run this morning and that's the feeling I need to remember when I'm fighting the urge to make an excuse. I just have to remember how I felt and just do it.

A weekend review

I love the weekend. Well, who doesn't? It's a time for fun, catch up, rest, relaxation, running around, and everything in between. This weekend was one of all of this and more. It started Friday with a trip to Topsail to see Mom and Dad. It was Dad's birthday and so the three of us went out for a visit. What was supposed to be for just a couple of hours and lunch turned into an all day visit of chatting, a wonderful lunch and chilling by the fire. It was a great day. Saturday was a bit of everything including checking off a couple of things on the Honey-do list. We changed the basement around so that I could have a designated workout area. Now there really is no excuse. Sunday was a relaxing day with a trip to Bowring Park in the AM to feed the ducks and then a chill-out in the afternoon. Very nice indeed.

Happy Birthday Poppy! As we're all trying to eat healthy, we had yummy banana muffins instead of cake 

New exercise area. Just have to get some motivational pictures up, including the one of me finishing the
London Marathon in 2003. Maybe I'll do another one again sometime. Maybe.

The weekend also included a trip to the running room for new running shoes. 

Hello Blue Eyes!

Getting a lift from Daddy

Splashing in the puddles

Here you go ducks! 

Loving the river and waterfalls

A beautiful Winter's day

Harrison is Five Months Old Today!

To say the time is going by fast is an understatement. I still have more months of my maternity left than I have gone but holy cow, not many.

Harrison continues to grow like a weed. Coming in at just over 14lbs, he's smaller than a lot of his little friends were at this age but so was Charlotte. If he grows up to be like Charlotte, we're all good!

His favourite thing continues to be getting naked. I guess he is like his sister because she's ALWAYS naked (except for panties - a house rule).  He has discovered his toes now (he grabs them all the time) and while they haven't made their way to his mouth, Mommy has shown him he's flexible enough to do so, so we shall see. Maybe they'll help with his teething as the two fingers he constantly has in his mouth just don't seem to be cutting it now (pun intended).

Harrison is starting to reach out to me when I go to pick him up. I say "Coming to Mommy?" and the hands reach out towards me right away. Tummy time continues, but still no interest in rolling onto his tummy. He'd rather stand and has rather large leg muscles. I guess he's getting ready for passing the rugby ball. As a result, he loves spending time in his jolly jumper and I've now introduced a fixed walker that he sits upright in and is entertained with music and other sensory toys.

Speaking of sitting upright, he's starting to do that too. He'll sit upright for a minute or so and then he's like the leaning tower of Pisa. We're getting there.

Above all, Harrison makes us laugh. He has a great laugh that you hear sometimes, but for the most of the time it's his silent laugh & smile that melts our hearts. He seems to have a fascination with men. I guess as he's a little version it makes sense. As soon as Daddy comes into the room, he's all about Dad and looking at him to get his attention. If he doesn't get it right away, he calls out until he gets the result he's looking for. Very cute.

Cute. Adorable. Handsome. Precious. Our world. One of the Loves of our life. Our little Boy. Harrison, we love you so very much. Happy Day Babes!

Is he a cutie or what?

Motivation - the key to exercise

They say misery loves company. Well, so do I. Company that is, especially when it's exercising. I try to exercise everyday. I recently purchased a treadmill in an attempt to make that easier. With two kids (one 5 months old) it's a little difficult to get out everyday and get a good workout. Especially in the winter. So, I do my best to motivate myself to find the time everyday to get a run in on the treadmill. I have to admit. Once I've finished my workout, experienced the pain, I feel great. It's just getting in the mood to do it.


There's nothing better than having someone else experiencing the same pain that you're experiencing at that exact moment. I know it's selfish, but it's also motivation. When you have someone else depending on you to exercise with, you have that motivation. You are that motivation. You have the motivation to get your butt off the couch and out into the cold winter's night to work that very butt off like nothing else. 


Tonight, I had that motivation, My friend Mel and I went to our first (of many) deep water fitness class together. Sure, it would have been very easy to say nah, not tonight. It did cross my mind, but I'm glad I didn't. Yes, I got a workout tonight. I huffed and puffed, spluttered and splashed, but boy, do I feel good now. Well, I do ache, and I'm gonna feel it tomorrow even more, but it was worth it. 


I'm also looking forward to next week. We're going to try and go every week and once we're into the swing, we may even up it to two classes a week. For now though, we'll take it nice and slow. Except for when we're in the water and then it's GO, GO, GO!!!


So, thank you Mel for motivating me to get my butt off the couch. Just think how hot we'll look this summer!

Mel and I looking pretty darn good in December. Wait until our summer pic!

Quality time

Well, we're almost a week into the new year and the same for my promises. It's been a busy week of taking down decorations, putting away, purging, tidying, cleaning and above all, spending quality time with the kids. What would normally have probably taken two days to do three years ago, has taken me all week. But, that's OK because it means I've taken the time to spend time with the kids as well. Yes, I did things each day, but in increments throughout the day interspersed with playing and having fun. 


We've coloured, put together puzzles, read, played board games, played hide and seek, tag, made shadow puppets with a flashlight, danced, sang, snuggled and much more. It's been wonderful. Today, the sun had his hat on (Hip Hip Hip Horray) and we went over to the park for some much needed vitamin D. It was a little cool, but still nice to get the cobwebs out of our heads. Mine anyway. 

We came back and had hot soup for lunch. Pretty insignificant except for the interaction between Charlotte and Harrison. He's teething at the moment (although nothing seems to be coming down) and they are quite bothersome at times. He was starting to get fussy during lunch and Charlotte took it upon herself to entertain him. Well, as soon as she stood up, out came the smiles. It's so nice to see them interact with each other. He finds her quite funny. As do we all.

'Harrrriiison"!

"You're funny"

 I hope you all took some time this week to have quality time. Whether it was with a child, a partner or even a friend. Quality time rocks!

The world through my little girl's eyes

I often wonder what Charlotte is thinking. She has a wonderful imagination. She often tells me, especially if she's annoyed with me because things aren't going her way. That's fine though because we encourage her to speak her mind and tell us what she's feeling at any given moment.  


Charlotte loves to look at photos and she was given a fisher price camera for her birthday in August. She'll often go around the house taking pictures. She hasn't quite gotten the hang of it yet, but it keeps her happy. She got it out again yesterday afternoon and last night she wanted to take a picture of us all on the sofa. She'd quickly press the button (there's no timer but a little delay) and run to the sofa before the picture was taken. Needless to say none of them turned out, but it did remind me to download her pictures so she could see them. So, that's what I did last night. I downloaded all 500 of them. Some are blurry, alot are dark (there's no flash) but there are a couple that are half decent and are an indication of what she does and what she's thinking.


Here are a couple of shots. As she looked at them this evening, Charlotte went through, commenting on most with a "that's a nice one".

Harrison at three weeks old

Daddy in the car

Taking a picture of herself. There were a lot of these

Her Birthday banner

Daddy relaxing

Mommy's rubber boots

Summer's evening sky from the deck. She loves seeing the moon.

Nana (in England) on the webcam

Poppy's fish pond

A piece of styrofoam

Say Cheese!

Princess computer

Butterfly nightlight

Christmas tree in her bedroom

Maybe Charlotte will be a photographer when she grows up. Who knows. What I do know is that we'll continue to encourage her in everything she does and I'll treasure these photos as a picture of Charlotte's life as seen through her eyes at three years old.