The Bman Family of 6

2011-08-31T12:48:00.000-04:00

Oh wow, I hardly know where to start, my head is so full I just need to let it all out, so, If I don't make any sense well I guess at least I feel better.
Reflections
I have really been reflecting on how fast my life as I now know it, is changing, this summer has been so busy I can't believe it is almost time for school to begin again. Typically we will do one week long vacation each year at a cottage, and that is it. However, this year, we were invited to a wedding in Alberta, so my hubby and I flew out for 6 days and enjoyed a mini Vacation, it was the longest stretch of time we have been away from our children as well as our first getaway since our Honeymoon 9 years ago. We arrived home on a Monday and 4 days later we, with our kids, drove to Pennsylvania for the weekend, for a Church reunion. It was a lot of fun and the children really enjoyed it, that was the longest drive we have ever taken them on, beside in the truck. We were home for 10 days after which we again packed up to go to the cottage for a week. PHEW! and now thankfully we will be home just under 2 months before my hubby and I head out to Iowa for another wedding, of a friend who was in our bridal party.
I love to travel and so to me this was exciting and fun, but on the other hand, I have just felt overwhelmed at all that has been going on, I have not had time to enjoy the summer at home.
Family
Some of the reminders that my family is growing up are this, my baby will be turning 3 in November, and is now potty trained so after almost 8 years I am no longer buying diapers!!
My oldest turned 8 and she is going into 3rd Grade, and for her birthday she wanted to open a bank account, she is learning the value of money and hopefully we can teach her good stewardship.
D1 the oldest son is gong into 1st grade so we now will have 2 in school full time, that too is another big step. I am hoping he will be able to adjust, school is not his first love and I am really hoping it will go well for him. He is 6 and probably the one who tries my patience the most,
D2 is starting JK this fall and really looking forward to it, His birthday is in January so he is on the older side of the class. He talks a lot. . . and doesn't pronounce all his letters correctly, so I'm hoping that won't be too much of a difficulty in school.
That leaves me with my baby D3 at home alone every other day. I really hope he doesn't get too bored. I am hoping to go to the gym regularly again so he will have interaction with other kids.
Goals & Dreams
SO where does this leave me?? I will have more freedom than I have had in a very long time(every other day that is), everyone asks me what I will do with all my spare time, well a mothers work is never done is it?? I have high hopes of catching up on things that have been neglected far too long.
* House cleaning
* Organizing closets and my office
* Book work
* Online courses (I would like to update my book keeping skills for 2 reasons, we are the Treasurers for our church and also my husband runs a business with his brothers and Father)
* Loose weight 50 lbs is my dream, go to the gym regularly
* Touch up painting all the scuffs in our "new" walls
* Sewing extra stock of veils, and try to make a skirt out of a pair of pants
* Scrap book, I barely touched it last winter.
I am also in charge of getting our Ladies Bible study up and running and we are also talking about doing a monthly Moms Coffee hour, which I was asked about helping get started. Hmm how in the world am I going to have free time??
I Love to be organized and scheduled and sometimes I take so much time getting my lists and stuff done I loose out on time doing the actual work, but there is nothing like a nicely typed out list :)
Learning
This morning I read Proverbs 31 in my devotions . . . I have a long way to go, but I hope I can continue to grow in Wisdom, and not get so easily over whelmed, I hope to get more energy, by loosing these extra 50 lbs and really work on being a better Mom. I have been watching the series " Shepherding a Child's Heart" while I fold Laundry, in hopes of gaining new insights in parenting, discipline and leading these precious children I have been blessed with, to the Lord.
For our ladies Bible study we are planning to study the book " Love & Respect"
So I am also looking forward to learning many new things through that study as well.

In conclusion
As I go through these last couple of days before school and work on getting a schedule for the school year set up I hope and pray I can get myself motivated to begin good habits and when I reflect at the end of the school year I can see growth in myself as well as my children. I know I will struggle and bump along, life wouldn't be normal with out those bumps but my desire is growth!!
Now off to feed the kids some lunch, make my weekly menu plan and To Do List and we'll see what else . . . oh yeah there is a milk mess in the fridge that needs some attention.

Till next time, whenever that may be :0)

A Day in the Park

2010-05-04T10:35:00.000-04:00

On Sunday we took the kids over to the Park to play, they had so much fun!!!

A ride on Daddy's Shoulders

Princess S

Little Monkey D3

We had a lot of fun, and hopefully we can do it more often this summer, I thought It would be a fun Sunday afternoon thing, after everyone naps =)

And now it is off to packing, only 3 more days!! and lots to do

Cindy

WINK

2010-04-29T10:38:00.000-04:00

It's our secret Passcode:

ME: And who taught you how to wink?

D2: My friend Betty ( His Imaginary friend and He's a boy Betty not a girl Betty)

Having fun with my 3 year old this morning!!

Now I should get back to packing!! Hopefully moving in One Week!!

Cindy

Happy Easter

2010-04-04T21:09:00.000-04:00

Christ the Lord is Risen!! Hallelujah!!!
I hope you all had an awesome day, and weekend for that matter.
On Friday we had a meaningful Communion service at Church, after our Small group went out for Lunch to Cora's a tasty breakfast spot!! My Crepe-omlette was VERY tasty!! And since I am not very good at this blogging thing, I forgot my camera, but the presentation of our food was spectacular!! It's worth going back just for the pictures =)
Saturday I went to the gym, and than met my husband and went to buy lighting for our new house!! We got everything!! Yeah what an accomplishment!!
And today Easter Sunday we had a great service this morning, in Sunday school we just finished the Video series by Chip Ingram, The miracle of Life Change What a fantastic study!! I now want to go back over my work book and reread everything to try and absorb it all!! If you ever get a chance to read the study or be a part of the series DO IT!!!
After Church we came home for lunch of BBQed Steak, baked potatoes, and beans and carrots, my aren't we traditional??HA. It was very tasty!! We had some running around to do, so FINALLY at 5pm we had time for our Easter Egg Hunt, The first rule was they have to get their picture taken!!

Princess S

Well, D3 Didn't co-operate so We took one of him after . . .

and Mr.B He enjoyed th candy as much as the kids

D2 Showing us his character again!!

Oh yes, the sugar high, joys of Easter!!

Well hoping you and yours had an awesome Easter, and now it's off to put the kids to bed!! and possibly I'll go to bed early too!! I'm feeling a little sleepy myself!! Oh wait I need to Study for our Ladies Bible study, It's my turn to lead out, AAch That's on Tuesday morning and the children don't have school tomorrow, and I want to start on Clean Mama's Cleaning Schedule See If I can get my house whipped into shape this week!!!

Till next time ,

Cindy

Show us your Life - Cleaning Tips

2010-03-27T00:19:00.002-04:00

Well my cleaning has changed in the past couple of months, I am pretty much going chemical free, the toilets are the only place I use any Chemicals, and that is because I have 4 young children I am working on getting them to make sure they wipe their drips, but, sometimes they forget!!

I use a microfiber cloth and water for all else, I am not stuck on any one certain brand, I use Norwex Enviro cloths which are great!! IF you use only water you are not leaving a residue behind, which in turn actually attracts the dust to it(the residue from cleaning products), so that is one of the major selling factors for Norwex, I am not a consultant but maybe I should be, HA, I do love to give a mock demo to anyone who will listen. I can hook you up to a couple of different demonstrators if you want the whole shpeel.

The other company I use products from is liveEuroclean, I have 2 of there microfiber clothes and the microfiber mop The handle is extendable and it is so easy to use, I bought the deluxe mop set and have had it for several years and have yet to get anything replaced, it came with 2 mop pads and 2 cloths, and I use them all the time, I have use different ones for different tasks e.g. dusting, counters, etc I don't use mine on my toilet although they(Norwex) would claim you can because it will eat up the bacteria in them.
Those are just two of the brands I use which I really love both, one side note though if you start using just water and a micro fiber cloth on you windows and mirrors it may take a couple of washes to get a streak free shine. . . until you get all the residue buildup off from your cleaning products. . . after that is all of you should never have problem with streakiness and you can sometimes just buff the dirt off with a dry cloth for a quick touchup.
When you have your house cleaned several times with just the water and get rid of most of the residue, cleanup is a breeze!! The reason I love the mop is it isno more than an inch thick and has a slanted edge so you can reach under the stove and fridge edges and into corners better, which didn't work with my Bee mop I used, also, my floor is dry in 5 minutes, I can immediately walk on it after, because you don't slop a lot of water around, you really need to check out the website the have lots of video clips to watch if I haven't convinced you. Also since the mop is so light weight you can do quick touch ups very easily, and I use the mop dry, to dust down my walls or do hardwood or laminate floors.
After you are finished all you need to do is rinse out the cloths and mop pads and let them dry and they are ready to go when the next disaster strikes, or you are ready to clean again. Whenever I think they need a good washing I make a load of laundry of my microfiber cloths, etc, (they only thing is DON'T use fabric softener on them or put a dryer sheet in with them)
SO that is a quick run down of what I use for fast and easy, and chemical free cleaning!! Hmm I really should be getting commission on this =)
I like to do my laundry, Mondays, and Fridays, Mondays are smaller loads but a lot of our better clothes and Fridays, well I like to go into a weekend with clean clothes.
I often do my cleaning all on fridays, but after reading several other Blogs I am thinking about going into making my self a schedule, I am very much a list maker and so I love to srtoke stuff off and have a guidline to follow, typed out of course.
For some reason since D3 was born I had been feeling overwhelmed with all my housework, but since he has turned one I still feel busy just not as stressed out about it, and so hopefully it goes up from here once I have my schedule typed out !!!
Till next time ,

Cindy

Life is a Journey . . . as if you didn't know that!

2010-03-25T22:38:00.009-04:00

Well. . . I hope you will bear with me as I struggle along in this post, I haven't taken the time to write a personal post in a long time, and for some reason I was really drawn to writing I don't know why if it is for someone else since I don't have much readership . . . is that a word??? or maybe for my own sake I needed to write and haven't realized it yet. So anyway here we go, It all started as I think about Easter coming up!! A year ago, we were seeking God's will about what we should do about buying a house we knew that our days are getting numbered in the house we are at . . . My Father in law owns a business, and the house is also a part of the property . . . Anyway, my Brother in law Kerwyn has been dating for almost a year and we knew that they were heading in the direction of Marriage sometime so we wanted to be prepared and not have to rush into something that we would regret later. I can't remember the exact dates, but sometime around Easter we came across a house in the town very near to where we live and of course checked it out online looked at pictures, and finally called the Real Estate to book a viewing.
Enter Josh Friend, as we went through the house with Josh and talked we soon found out he was also a Christian, which definately helped us feel like we could trust him, he also told us his other job, is his ministry and it always comes first, hmm how interesting so what was it, well, he is a Bass singer for the Torchmen a country Gospel Singing group!! I actually grew up listening to their music, before Josh was a member. God showed us that he was taking care of us in all of this with someone who we felt we could trust, It took that intimidation of not knowing if we were being ripped off or if the agent was straight talking to us!!.
I think Josh took us through 4 houses over the next couple of months, and each one was nice in it's own way, but just didn't feel right, finally we inquired about a lot that was for sale, and after talking to Josh, he was probably more excited than we were, he told us" I really think this is the best option for you guys, nothing felt right until now, I really think this is what you should do!!" WOW, are we really ready to undertake such a project??
After much prayer and a lot of thinking and number crunching we decided to go for it!!
September 16, 2009 we signed the papers!! Here are a couple pictures of the property.

The property is 100 x 220 feet, with mature trees, an almost impossible find in this area, yes it did look a little like a junk yard, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder and those who saw the potial and still do for that matter were thrilled with us.

They ended up taking the one scraggly tree down because of it's proximity to the fence, and the way it was leaning; that in it self leads me to another story . . . so we talked to the contracter and told him we would like that tree torn down, he in turn talked to the neighbour, who decided that he would take it down himself so that we wouldn't fell it on his house roof, well it fell over the fence into his yard, so we now have a small section of new fence and we didn't have to pay for it =) Too bad it wasn't the back section. My husband will be bothered by the look of the mismatched plywood fence that is there, so we'll see what he comes up with to improve that eye sore.

A well was drilled by Oct 13,

The septic system was put in by Oct 22, 2009

I am going to stop here for now with the house building project, I can hardly keep my eyes open any more, I have to say that this past year I have also had an emotional journey, I have faced struggles that I never dreamt as a Christian, a wife, and a mother I would ever have to struggle with, Issues so deep and still fresh I can't even share yet, and I am thankful God is a loving and forgiving God and wonder where He is taking me next, Thankfully my journey is not over and maybe this house building project is how He is showing me, he builds my "house" for Himself first I sold my heart to Him, well I actually 'gave' it to Him and than trade by trade he dug out, poured His foundation and started building me 'custom' . . . how he wants my to be!! And that my friends is exciting and scary all at the same time, somedays, I want to stay in the foundation stage no framing or anything on top but, how can I become a house if I am only a foundation?? I need to continue to let Him grow me. and so, I allow Him to start building, sigh, It hurts but thankfully I am begining to take shape.

iheartfaces Challenge - Bundled Up

2010-03-15T15:18:00.000-04:00

If you are looking for some great photgraphy click onto the link above ^^^ So I decide today to join in the "Bundled Up"Challenge, We haven't had a lot of snow all winter, but in February we had one big snowfall, and it was actually a nice day. . . not too cold or windy, and my son D2 had so much fun shovelling the snow, He came to the door the one time and said" Mom, i was just looking out the window and saw all the snow and thought I rally should shovel it" and so here he is, Shovelling the snow.

Hope you like it!!

Meal Plan Monday

2010-03-15T12:50:00.000-04:00

I'm finally back again!! Wow, these last couple of weeks have been a whirlwind!! I've had to pick out all the paint colours formy house, doornobs trim, interior doors and door frames, and all the flooring!! SO I think I have finally nailed down all of the big decisions, not that they are over yet, faucets, sinks and lighting are still to come, but they say our house is 66% complete, so that's exciting, although I really need to get some packing started!!
All right so about the meal planning!! Here goes,
Monday: Leftover Scalloped Potatoes and ham

Tuesday: Chicken Roast (Whole), potatoes and , spaghetti squash

Wednesday: BBQ hamburgers ( if the weather is nice, my hubby will be gone on a business trip so we'll see if I feel like firing up the BBQ for me and the kids)

Thursday: I'm going to a friends house all day

Friday: Steak, Baked Potatoes

Saturday: Leftovers

Sunday: Fellowship meal at Church--Enchiladas, Salad, and Homemade Caramel Pudding (yummy)

So that's it

Menu Plan Monday

2010-02-16T14:09:00.003-05:00

Well, I know I'm a little late this week, But better late then never, Right? I have been busy these last couple weeks, and didn't take the time to actually sit down and blog my menu's but they have been planned!! We are building a house right now and so that has been what is taking up a lot of my time, it is another whole post!!
So here is my menu,

Monday - Scalloped potatoes with chopped Ham, I tried a new recipe for the potatoes and it definately was the best I've ever tasted, and simple too, so I will post the recipe, some time.

Tuesday - Baked potatoes and Meat sauce

Wednesday - Marinated Flank Steak and Rice, I'll have Wild rice and the rest can have Regular rice.

Thursday - Leftovers

Friday - Bacon & Cheese topped Chicken I haven't decided what is going with it, I need to look through all your ideas=)

Saturday - We have a wedding

Sunday - We have a fellowship meal at Church and I am still trying to decide what to make for that, something pretty quick since I will be busy Saturday afternoon & Evening!!

So there you have the basics of my menu this week!! I am tempted to make the Bacon Wrapped Green beans again, they are definately a family favorite!! Honestly my kids GOBBLE them down!!

Menu Planning

2010-01-28T10:55:00.002-05:00

This week I didn't get a menu planned, and now I remember why I do, our meals have been terrible!! I feel so disorganized this week it's driving me crazy!! I should run out and grab some groceries, today sometime yet!! Not sure when that's gonna happen, the weather isn't very nice, It doesn't look to bad now, but I'm afraid when I get out there, it will pick up again!! So we will see what happens.

Menu Plan Monday

2010-01-18T09:40:00.008-05:00

SO I decided to join in on Menu plan Monday, I often do my planning on Wednesday and get my groceries Thursday, but I decided to plan them today and join in the pantry/freezer challenge, because that is what I want to do empty out my freezer so we have less to move. So here goes

Monday : Baked potatoes with topping (I had to make it for a family thing on Saturday and have leftovers)
Green Bean Bundles
Slow Cooker Stewing beef with Onion Soup

Tuesday: Ham - I'll probably do it in the slow cooker with pinapple tidbits
Shredded Potato Casserole

Wednesday: Beef Enchiladas / Salad

Thursday: Leftovers

Friday:Creamed Chicken over biscuits (Taste of Home)
Fluffy Biscuits (TOH)

Saturday: Don't plan food for then

Sunday: I hope to plan a birthday party for D2 in the afternoon, so i May need some groceries for that possibly do Stromboli and Veggies and Birthday cake still need to decide about that!!

UPDATE:
the links are now working!! and I have to commentand say we LOVED the green bean bundles I will definately be making them again!! I used 2 cans of the french cut beans and I will use at least 3 next time, I also only use 2/3 cup brown sugar and some worchestershire sauce with the butter!! My kids loved them too I had to save some to put in their Thermos for lunch today =)

Cindy

Show us your Life

2010-01-15T11:04:00.003-05:00

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Well, I'm not a professional at this weight loss thing... I am struggling right along with every one else, after having four children, and gaining extra weight with each one I am now at the point in my life where it is time to drop it again!! Especially with a family wedding coming up !!
Between my third and fourth child I had lost almost 40 pounds and was feeling good, so I hope I can do that again!! I was on Herbal Magic that time and had to quit when I got pregnant, we are now building a house and so because of the cost of it I cannot go back on it.
But from what I have learned, the most effective way of burning your fat is by exercising, the more muscle you build the more it burns the fat for you!! Awesome as long as you can stay motivated to get started!!
One of my favorite workouts is ZUMBA !! honestly you have to try it!! I take a class at the gym and I also have the DVD go to http://www.zumbafitness.com/ and check it out!! the motto is Ditch the Work out and join the party!! and that's exactly what you do!!
Eating healthy is also very important, and that is where i have the problem I am a huge sucker for chocolate!! and adding butter to my veggies for extra flavour etc. Less salt is also a good thing, yeah these are the hard parts for me - - - Zumba is fun, eating healthy um not so much!! Oh well hopefully by July I will have a success story post!!

Sharing

2010-01-06T15:16:00.002-05:00

This just warms my heart!! You gotta love the little tongue!!

Mama B

I am no longer MIA

2010-01-04T21:53:00.007-05:00

Man I never thought I'd go this long without posting, I was going to try and post every day, every other at the least, how terrible is that anyway?? OK well, I'm back and still no Christmas photo's I need to edit them-- mainly red eyes, my children are so bad for that!! I even have red eye reduction on!! SO yeah they are still coming. I do have these from the Christmas party at the Gym - Kidz Klub

The whole group - D3 is on the right hand side he's wearing a yellow shirt (being held) He wouldn't pose for a picture with Santa

D2 he wanted to have a picture taken he just wouldn't smile or talk to him LOL

D1- sat on his lap and wanted his picture taken but only had a fake smile for the photographer

Princess S - a half smile- not too bad

So what did I do today?? WELL, I started the long torturous task of house cleaning/purging/packing!! I am excited and scared all at the same time. The first room on the agenda was the boys room, last night Mr. B came up with this great idea, that we could move S's bed into the boys room, and her room/ my sewing, scrap booking room could turn into the packed box room, Fabulous Idea I think, we have a sun porch but it is not tight so the boxes that were in there were getting snowed on if the winds blew in the right direction!!

The other reason it's a fabulous idea, well the room was getting cluttered and very disorganized and starting to drive me crazy!! SO, we got the room cleaned, and the bed moved up and now I can tackle my sewing room, and start packing boxes and moving them into there!! Hopefully by the last weekend in May or June 1 we will move into our new house, I am starting to get excited about that!! and some day I will post pictures of the process too!!

Till next time,

Mama B

Merry Christmas a little late!!

2009-12-27T19:09:00.002-05:00

Wishing you and yours a veryy Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

You Go D2

2009-12-18T11:20:00.005-05:00

For some reason on Wednesday, I decided I am going to work on D2's Potty Training, he had been wearing undies, now and then but always had accidents, and didn't seem seroius about it, well he did pretty good yesterday and actually got a sticker after I took the picture, he stayed dry all day, even his pull up after his nap was dry !! YEAH!!!

Here his is my big boy!! The one who has so much to say and provides lots of entertainment to me!! Some day I will need to do a whole post on all the funny things he says!!

Now, I need to get more cleaning( well at least vacum their rooms) done before the boys go in for their naps, and I think it's time to remind D2 about going potty,

Ta Ta for now, see what today brings!!

Cindy

Just an Ordinary Day at our house . . .

2009-12-17T19:53:00.007-05:00

I used to always pride myself as being an SUPER organized person, and I like my house neat and tidy and keep it that way, Monday and Friday are laundry day, and Thursday or Friday cleaning day, every week. I like to get Groceries Thursday mornings, so I would plan my menu a week in advance, ( i know some people do it longer, but I like to keep it Fresh) ok weird I know, and then I have all the ingredients for what I want and don't have to run for one or two ingredients at 5 when I decide what's for supper at 6:30. It makes our meals healthier too. Maybe it's because last Thursday I was out Christmas shopping with a friend, and didn't get my groceries until Tuesday of this week, that I let every thing go to the dogs this week.

So anyway, As a mom of 4 I am really having a hard time keeping up on the cleaning end of things, well, D3 is scared of the vacum for one thing, how fun is it to vacum when he's screaming at the top of his lungs for the entire time?? Well these last couple of weeks have been kind of busy and when I do have time to clean I just want to sit and relax for a bit, besides if the boys are all sleeping I can't vacum anyway.

It had gotten really bad, like almost to the point of going crazy, and I have picture to prove it, because my sister in law made fun of me, she seriously doesn't believe me it was this bad. My children are really -draggy- right now, (is that a word??) they take stuff and carry it around here there and everywhere, it drives me crazy, honestly, argh, so I'm not sure what they where doing here in the nursery, but the had a couple piles of dirty laundry and whatnot, they were pretending to paint the house, I have been finding paint brushes and rollers in numerous rooms, they must have found them in the laundry room.

So what I did today?? well, here is the before pictures:

2.3.

And here is the after pictures: Yes the Drawers on the rubbermaid cart thingy were labelled, until the children peeled them off, I know -OVER organized- I didn't get the blankets folded, honestly I didn't notice them until I looked at the pictures! HA I still need to vacum but that can happen tomorrow at least the toys, cloths and whatever else are put were they belong,

Ahh. . . I'm feeling better already!!
Well, that's not all, The dining room was also a major eyesore, besides the paint, I mean, HA we honestly didn't do any decorating in most of the rooms because we were only planning on living here temporarily before we bought a house, Well. . . it will be 8 years and 1-2 months by the time we move into our new house,

Anyway, about the dining room, yes that is laundry from Monday sitting on the table and in baskets unfolded, crafts and stuff on the table chairs in the middle of no where, honestly you would think if I have to keep looking at it I would get it folded and cleaned up in a jiff, but no not this week!!

And the after shot, definately better then before, my old diaper bag is still sitting on the couch, still trying to decide what to do with it, wash it and take it to a consignment shop OR throw it out, it's still in perfect condition, just was ready for a smaller bag that I could keep closed better. So what do you say?? notice a difference? I can feel the difference and it makes me happy.

I hope it makes you feel better too, knowing that someone else has a messy house somedays,( You do don't you?)

I did get the Master bedroom started, and picked up the dirty laundry in the boys room but I don't have picture proof that they are actually clean again, because they aren't!!

Here are the before pictures:

The boys bedroom - and again please don't look at the decor - I know it's bad!! We did change the rug in here, it was a gold shag rug before and that was too ugly for Mr.B

The Master Bedroom, they even have toys in here they are not supposed to play in here, my bed is not made and under the bed I found quite a stash of toys, awful makes me cranky just thinking about it!!

So yeah there you have it the truth about how my house can get some weeks!!

And now I shall head off to my wark cozy bed, You did notice my warm fuzzy blankets, didn't you??

Till Next Time,

Cindy

Who Am I Kidding Anyway??

2009-12-15T19:02:00.004-05:00

Wow, What a day. . . what is wrong with my kids??

honestly you would think with Christmas coming up and all they would be on the best of spirits and behavior, well, around here not so much. This morning S and D1 didn't want to go to school, S got over it but D1 was crying and fussing till he was out the door, he said he was fine on the bus, but S cried on the bus.

Tonight she had skating and she started crying because her throat hurt, well not really, she was nervous, that people would laugh at her, It's beginning to drive me nuts!! She used to not be like this and now all of a sudden everything is a big deal, I try to be patient with her, I try the stern, iron hand mode, but, nothing seems to ease it.

We didn't go to skating, the boys were cranky and she didn't want to go, so I said if she wants to stay home, she can get in her pajama's and go to her room till bedtime, NO TV, and that's what she chose, so early to bed for her, and hopefully a better day tomorrow!!

Thankfully I was able to get my running around done with only the 2 youngest boys, I had 5 stops to It was enough in and out of car seats for them.

Since supper they have been at each others necks all the time, there is usually at least one crying I am ready to quit!! Right now It would feel good to walk away, before I loose my mind completely. Mr B has been working long hours, so it feels like I am a single parent right now, If I would have known it would be like this I may not have signed up!!

D1 is pround of his gingerbread house he made at school

Anyway enough Hum Drum just 10 more days till Christmas, Where is the enthusiasm?? I hope to be feeling it soon!!

Show us Your Life - Christmas Cookies!!

2009-12-11T11:54:00.005-05:00

Over at Kelly's Corner she has the Christmas Cookie Edition of 'Show us your life' and I just couldn't resist adding my favorites!!

Being the 'good mennonite' that I am HA; You need to have some sort of Christmas cookies on your menu this season!!

My Mom , sisters and myself try to get together every year to bake cookies, we each make two kinds and that takes the work load off of each of us, but also gives a good variety.

My all time favorite kind is Mocha Truffles: they are the black ones second from the top, they are met in your mouth goodness for any chocolate lover, honestly yum, my mouth is watering just thinking of their taste, so here is how You can enjoy them;

Chocolate Truffles

2/3 cup butter

1 egg yoke

1 1/2 cup icing sugar

6 oz. chocolate, melted & cooled

1 tsp instant coffee

1 tsp vanilla

Cream butter, eggs & icing sugar. Add the rest of the ingredients & mix well. Chill 3 - 4 hours. drop by teaspoon full into 1 cup Chocolate wafer crumbs and roll into balls.

Drizzle with additional chocolate.

Want more recipes?? Well, Message me and I may edit this post by adding,

Cream Wafers - 3rd row
Chesnuts ( Peanut butter ) - 4th row

Coffee Wafers - 5 th Row

Fudge Puddles - bottom row!!

Hope to hear from you!!

Till next time,

Cindy

The babe is walking and my supper sucked . . .

2009-12-09T21:39:00.008-05:00

Anything else you want to know ? HA

Ok so this is the second time I am typing out this post, that's just how my day has been.

First of all I think I can officially say that D3 is walking!! He use to walk till he fell and then crawl from there, but , today when he fell, he got up and tried waking again!! So yeah I am very excited about that. I got a little clip of him on the camera, but it was hard because as soon as he saw me with the camera he comes and says 'cheese, cheese'

Here he is "cheesing" at me; LOL

So anyway about supper. . .

I like to plan my meals 1 week in advance so that when I get groceries I have all the ingredients I need for the week, efficient right?? Well, this week I decided to make Enchiladas, now I got the recipe from a friend a couple weeks ago, she made me these awesome beef enchiladas, and so I decided I would try my hand at them. I have been looking forward to them all week!! well actually a couple of weeks, I was even going to post a pictorial tour to show you how it's done. You will get the tutorial and I will insert my comments of the mistakes I made.

Since I've had beef a couple times this week I thought I would try to make them with Chicken instead , ---first mistake--- I think the sauce tasted so much better with beef.

Anyway here are the ingredients, Cheese, tortilla, Enchilada sauce -original-, and oil to fry the tortillas. Easy, peasy so far!!

I decided to grill my chicken with my George Foreman grill - you know healthy-

Looks good so far

Then I shredded it up

Get your daughter to Shred the cheese, and if you don't have a daughter who can do it , well, do it yourself!!

Fry the tortillas in oil, I use olive oil, once again trying to be a bit healthy ;)

Then you dip the tortilla in the enchilada sauce, place chicken and cheese down the centre fold in both sides and place in a 9 x 13 pan. ( Sorry no pics of that my fingers were too messy)

Cover with remaining sauce --second mistake--- I had way too much sauce, should have only used half of the tin, my friend used one tin for two smaller pans. Sprinkle with cheese and bake at 350 till heated through and cheese is melted .

So yeah, maybe better luck next time, S so kindly told me, I don't think I will want leftovers in my lunch tomorrow Mom =) Yeah I know, she choked down more than the boys, oh and Mr.B, Well, he was working just got(well,blew in is more like it) in around 10:00 pm; so if he eats anything it will be cereal not what I made anymore tonight. Anyway enough about my flop the bottom line is I hope your supper was better than mine.

Today we got our first snow storm of the season, the roads were a mess this morning, by afternoon things cleared up and it was looking nice out there, well tonight the wind has picked up, and the temperature has dropped, it sounds wild out there, if it starts snowing like predicted It will be a blizzard out there. Mr.B said they have a busy day tomorrow some will be starting at 2 am, thankfully I will be tucked in my bed, however, I was planning on going Christmas shopping with my friend!! See what tomorrow brings, until then, Ta Ta for now!!

Bible Study

2009-12-08T22:07:00.006-05:00

This morning I went to our Ladies Bible Study, it is always such a blessing to me, we are Studying the book,"Lies Women Believe and the Truth that sets them Free" by Nancy Leigh DeMoss it's a fabulous book and I am thoroughly enjoying it!! The two Lies we studied today were- "I am not fully responsible for my actions and reactions" and " I cannot walk in consistent victory over sin" We talked about how it is so easy to blame others for our problems instead of taking fully responsibility for our own actions. After Nathan confronted King David after he sinned with Bathsheba he wrote these words " Have mercy on me O God, According to Your loving kindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions and my son is always before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight- . . Create in me a clean heart O God and renew a steadfast spirit within me Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me." Ps 51

David knew he had sinned, and when he fessed up to it, He didn't blame others he wanted God to purify his Heart, and so often when we sin we know that our relationship with God is no longer pure, and until we confess it to God there is something there that is keeping us from full communion with Him, it's guilt, it's not God's fault it's there it's our, we are the one who put it there.

I like the verse from 1 Cor 10:13 - No temptation has overtaken you except such as common to man; but God is faithful who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptaiton will also make the way of escape that you may be able to bear it.

Wow what an awesome promise to us, He has provided that way of escape for us!! PTL

After Bible Study I took a friend out shopping, I think I am almost finished my Christmas shopping, I just need a small colouring book or something like that for my neice, I will need to check my list again to make sure, but for now I will enjoy the fact that I am $ 5 away from finished!! Hurray!!

On a totally different note - - - D3 is pretty much walking!! I need to take a picture or video clip of him sometime, but he's sleeping right now so . . . I will bless you with pics of his Birthday the other week!!

Now isn't he such a sweety??

We love him to bits!!

Till next Time,

Cindy

First Post

2009-12-07T22:45:00.001-05:00

SO. . I decided to try this out. . . hope I can do better than Xanga. I am by no means a writer, but I'm hoping to post some of my thoughts on life, family and such and hopefully as I look back I can see growth in my life and remember somethings that I would other wise forget.
For one thing I would like to forget is this teething stage!! D3 is So cranky right now, I will be glad when it is over, I shouldn't be sitting here typing, but he's really not happy any where right now so I will plod on for a little more, It's time to get my kids ready for bed. It seems such a shame to put them to bed before they see their Daddy, but hopefully he will be in soon!!

Well, The kids are in bed hopefully sleeping soon!!

This is us!!

A little about our family, Mr.B and I have been married for 7 1/2 years. Mr.B runs a livestock trucking company with His father and brothers. Mr.B does most of the dispatching and such, so he is oncall 24 hrs a day 7 days a week. I've tried answering his phone with a "pre-recorded " message stating his new office hours 9-5 (LOL) but I get laughed at, no one believes me. Sigh.
I am currently a stay-at-home Mom, I do a bit of sewing on the side - veilings - and also do the Quarterly fuel taxes for the business. I enjoy scrapbooking and like to do that in my spare time, but, what is spare time anyway, we are in the midst of building a house so after Christmas I may start thinking about packing, and well I am a Mom what better describes what I do all day??
We have 4 children,

S is our only daughter, and the oldest she is 6 yrs old, and most definately a girly, girl!! We need the pink in our house to try to keep it in balance. She is in grade one.

D1 is next he is 4 yrs old, and he is our thinker, he likes to figure everything out, he is a bundle of energy and just watching wears me out somedays; however, he is in JK and really is learning to channel his energy into learning and that has been exciting for me to watch him mature.

D2 is our third born, he is 2 yrs old, well, almost 3, it is hard to "label" him, I call him my strange one, he is very territorial, if you know what I mean, everything has to be "just so" and has frequent meltdowns when things don't go his way, on the other hand he is our clown and can produce lots of laughs for the family, he talks all the time, and gives me the minute by minute play by play of what he is doing.

D3 is our baby, well not so much anymore, he turned one 2 weeks ago, and is really thinking about walking, he is BUSY, always crawling and getting into everything!! He rarely plays with toys, but gets into 'stuff ' constantly!! Let's see, the toilet, my cupboards, the dishwasher, as soon as the fridge is open he's right there seeing what he can find. I am really trying to get him to walk, it will slow him down for a little while, he's already a climber so that won't really make a difference. I could hire some one full time to follow him and replace what he's messed, and keep him out of trouble!!