See What I'm Saying!

Where's my wedding mojo?

2015-04-14T12:11:00.001-02:30

So we decided that this was going to be the year to get married. You know, 2 kids, 2 moves across the country and 10 years later...obviously moving lightning fast in our relationship.

Planning has been coming along, but I'm not sure if we just gave ourselves too much time or what, but I don't seem to have a lot of wedding planning mojo. It's going to be a small relaxed casual wedding and I have most things arranged, but I have this nagging feeling that I should be doing more. Date...check, venue...check, reception...check, dress...check. I know there is still a lot to do but I keep on thinking that we still have time. It's April, weddings not till August, I guess there still is some time.

Am I too slow or are things on track? I guess we will see on August 8th!

No seeing the dress until the wedding!

A little update

2014-04-28T19:36:00.001-02:30

Yes I know it has been a while. Life has been busy for us since my last post. How you may ask, well let me count the ways:

New baby girl (which I had already mentioned in my last post) She is now 9 months old!
We have moved from Newfoundland to Alberta
Bought a new house (6 months after the move)

Recent pic of my scallywags

Well I guess three things isn't all that much, but they are three pretty big life changes.

All in all it has been a good move for us. I have really enjoyed reconnecting with old friends and making new friends along the way. This town has always been really good to us and it continues to provide for us.

Now as my mat leave is getting close to the end, I am thinking of my next move. Should I stay at home and take on a few more kids? Sounds good enough, but then I think that maybe I'm not a kid person. I mean, I love my own kids, but taking on more kids and dealing with nothing but kids all day is enough to make a person batty. Then I was thinking about looking into work from home jobs. Still need to do some more research on that front (if anyone knows of legit jobs that I can look into, please let me know!). And if all else fails, I guess I will go back into the work force. This is something that will happen eventually, but if I can delay it for a bit while the kids are still small, then that is what I'll do.

Choices. Choices.

But for now, I thought I would get back into my blog. I may change things up here a bit too. Love change.

Thanks for reading :)

Our baby girl!

2013-09-01T17:00:00.001-02:30

So I know it's been a while, I know, but it's been busy around here. And here is why:

My baby girl, Ella Lauren, was born on July 24th.

And like all parents, we think she is beautiful and perfect!

Here is her birth story:

Name: Ella Lauren

Date of birth: July 24

Due date: July 25

Weeks pregnant: 39w 6 d

Weight: 8 lbs 10 oz

Length: 20.4 inches

Woke up on Wednesday July 24th morning at around 1:30 am with some pangs in my belly. They were not too strong but were definitely coming and going. So around 2:00 I got out my iPad and started to time them with my contraction app. They were coming every 5 minutes and lasting for 45-60 seconds. So I got up and went out to the living room where Jamie was sleeping on the couch. I told him what was going on and we just monitored the contractions for an hour. By 3:00 they were coming ever 3 minutes and still lasting about 50 seconds, they were also picking up in intensity. I made the call for Jamie to call MIL to come up to our house so she could stay with Hunter. She arrived around 3:30 and we hit the road to the hospital at 3:50. It's about a 70 km drive into St. John's to the hospital. At this point, the contractions were really getting intense but I had it in my mind that it was still manageable and we still had lots of time. We made it to the hospital in record in time-30 minutes (speeding slightly ;)). Once we arrived -about 4:20, I kept saying how I needed to go pee. Jamie pulled up to the ER doors and went and grabbed a wheelchair. He wheels me in to the closest washroom and runs back to the truck to park it. In the bathroom, I'm moaning and screaming out in pain and my water breaks and I have my bloody show and I can feel my body start to push already. I'm thinking (and yelling) no no no, not here in the bathroom! I guess I was a little loud cuz when I open the door, there are 2 paramedics and Jamie standing there waiting for me. They rush me up to the case room who said to go straight to a delivery room. They put me up on the delivery bed and check me- I'm ready to go! They grab my legs and with the next contraction I push. All the while I was screaming where's the drugs and I don't want to do it like this! Two pushes later her head was out and with the next one her body was out at 4:48!

If we would have waited another 10 minutes to leave, or got caught up in traffic or caught just one red light- she would have been born in the truck or the lobby! We made it just in time!

Preeclampsia, work, and summer rest

2013-05-06T09:16:00.001-02:30

This is all happening so fast! I wasn't expecting to be taken off work so early and now it all just feels like a whirlwind of things to do.

I had another one of my atypical migraines last week on Wednesday, not so scary now that I know what they are, but still a little unnerving. I had a doctors appointment anyways for Friday, but I thought I better move it up to Thursday just to get it checked out sooner than later. Good thing I did.

Doc says I got high blood pressure coupled with proteins in my urine (I know you love reading about my pee). These two things together are the recipe for preeclampsia a condition that affects 6-8% of all pregnant women, which left untreated can lead to eclampsia- life threatening seizures. Not good. I was at risk of developing it with my son, so it not a big surprise, but its still not something that you want to get. I am also part of a clinical trial that tests to see if extra folic acid in your diet has any effect on the development of preeclampsia (which reminds me, I have to take my pills this morning) so I was kinda hoping to avoid this whole situations, but alas, it found me. My sister also had HELLP with one of her pregnancies, which is a more severe complications with eclampsia so maybe it just runs in the family.

BTW: May is National Preeclampsia Awareness month. For more information go to the Preeclampsia Foundation website. And here are the signs if you think you might be at risk:

Source

Anywho, so my doctor told me I need to calm down and relax. I didn't think that I was too stressed out, but maybe I am. He said that I should probably go off work now as the only thing I can do to treat it is to relax both physically and mentally.

So I went back to work with my doctors note in my hand and told work that I needed to be off and that Friday would be my last day in the office. I felt that it was too quick to be done and that I was just leaving too soon, so I asked to work from home for one week to get a few of my projects wrapped up. Plus, I thought it might help transition me from the working life to the home life. People at work are pretty good to me and agreed to let me work from home this week, as long as I have enough work to keep me busy. I might knock off a few days and call her quits by Thursday, depending on how everything goes.

I have some mixed feeling about being off so early. On one hand, was pacing myself at work and preparing for the next 2 months to go by like normal everyday life, just working away. Work was going to occupy me so I wasn't sitting at home waiting for baby to come.

But on the other hand, I am super excited to be home with my little man spending some real quality time with him before the baby comes. It will be the last time that it's just the three of us and this time before baby is going to be really special and I want him to know that he is very special too. I would also like to get him potty trained before the baby comes, one kid in diapers is enough! Plus there is always something to do around here. For example, actually get the baby's room started! Ya, that needs to happen soon. (Is that what my doctor meant by rest and relaxation??)

Anywho, I am looking forwards to the summer and now that I have the time off, I can really savor the summer. Bring it on!

Thanks for reading :)

Pregnant people not welcomed at St. Clare's

2013-04-19T14:05:00.002-02:30

Here is my email correspondence between myself and the complaint department with Eastern Health regarding a recent visit that I had at St.Clare's Mercy Hospital.

St. Clare's Mercy Hospital

Proximity

My Initial Letter

Good morning

I am writing to you as my official complaint about my experience at the St. Clare’s Mercy Hospital on Wednesday April 17^th.

I am currently 26 weeks pregnant and on Wednesday afternoon, I began to see spots in my eyes and have troubles understanding what I was reading and my speech was jumbled and confused. This set of alarm for me so my first reaction was to go to the nearest hospital to get myself and my baby checked out. I had a friend/co-worker take me to the ER department at St. Clare’s around 1:30.

Once there, I was admitted by a very nice receptionist and the triage nurses were very kind to me and listen to what I had to say; kudos to those women for their professionalism. Then I waited to see the Emergency Room Physician. During my wait, I was starting to feel better and was coming around again.

Dr. Chis Goodall was the Dr that attended to me and I was not pleased with his treatment of me and my situation. Dr. Goodall did not seem interested in me or my baby. He asked a few questions while doodling on the bed-paper and cut me off several time while I was trying to explain to him why I was there. He asked me to do a few motor skills tests before diagnosing me with migraines and prescribing some Tylenol.

Not once did he infer about the baby, nor check to see if the baby was in any kind of distress. I would assume that this would be standard practice for a pregnant women coming into the emergency room. I understand that he obviously did not suspect any danger to my baby through his assessment, but I did not feel assured at the time. The baby was/is fine and I am not a doctor so I won’t criticize his methods too much for what I felt was an oversight at the time, but it did not make me feel at peace.

The one thing that really got to me, the one thing that I would like to underline as my top compliant to the St. Clare’s Hospital is his remarks as he was leaving the room. He said: “And next time, don’t come here [St. Clare’s]. We aren’t a baby hospital and we don’t have head doctors”.

I was, and still am, appalled by this remark. St. Clare’s is a hospital. I was in need of medical attention. To say that I was not welcomed there to have my need addresses is a gross misconduct of health care system. I work at 100 LeMarchant Road, and St. Clare’s hospital is literally 1 block from my office and I thought it prudent to go to the closest hospital to seek the quickest attention.

So I am asking you:

What services do you provide if not to take in people in distress? What if something would have been seriously wrong and time was of the essence? Would I not be treated at St. Clare’s? Would it not make sense to go to the closest hospital to at least catch an ambulance to the Health Science while receiving medical attention?

I realize that this complaint will not accomplish any big changes in the Eastern Health system. I am only writing to you to bring this issue to your attention in hopes that these kinds of remarks will not be made in the future. I do, however, expect a response to this letter that lets me know my complaint has been heard.

Thank you

The Response:

Thank you for contacting Client Relations. I wanted to acknowledge the receipt of your email and to assure you that Eastern Health takes all complaints/concerns seriously. I am sorry to hear about the experience that you had with the Emergency room Physician on your visits of April 17, 2013. Your concerns will be forwarded to the Clinical Chief and the Program Director of the Emergency Program. The Clinical Chief will review your chart and speak with the physician that attended to you. You can be assured that your complaint will be discussed with him.

I want to thank you for providing us with this information so that we can follow-up on your behalf. If you require any further information please contact me again

My Response to the Response:

Thank you,

I am normally not one to complain, especially about the hard work that health care providers do. I just feel that this remark was uncalled for and appalling.

Thank you for taking this seriously.

Her Response Back:

I have received information from the ER Clinical Chief: He has discussed this complaint with the physician. The physician felt that he was professional. He indicated that he did not mean to make you feel you were unwelcomed at the SCMH site, just that obstetric al care is best served at the HSC. He expresses apology for any unintentional upset.

Again, thank you for contacting us and if you have any experiences in the future that are not as you expected please contact us again.

My Final response:

Thank you for your response.

I don't deny that he probably is a very good doctor. He was able to diagnose my condition with accuracy. His bedside manners do leave something to be desired, but I'm looking for a doctor, not a friend, in an emergency situation.

I was just off-put by his remarks "not to come back". I understand that the Health Science is a better facility for my condition, but admits an emergency situation my thoughts were to get to the closest hospital to seek medical attention. Perhaps his wording could have been a little different, perhaps I mistook his intentions, but in any case it was deeply upsetting to me to think that a doctor at St. Clare's did not want to take on my issues-that may or may not have been pregnancy related.

Thank you very much for acting on this regard. I do feel as though my concerns were heard and the appropriate action was taken.

I will not be taking any more of my prenatal concerns to St. Clare's in the future.

Thanks again

Thoughts?

Naming Problems and Solutions

2013-04-16T13:02:00.006-02:30

Naming your child is hard work. I mean, you are picking something that will stick with that person for the rest of their lives. Granted, girls will probably change their last names when/if they get married, but their first name will always be with them. This is why picking the “perfect” name is so hard and stressful on parents.

Since finding out we are having a baby girl this summer, the hunt for the perfect name has started. We already have a son so at first I thought it was going to be easy. I have so many names that I like and was excited that I can finally pull some good ones from my big bag of reserved names and poof…there’s the name! Wrong!

The first problem is that me and Jamie are kinda on different pages when it comes to name, it could even be said that we are reading from completely different books! I am more “old lady” and he is more “80s”. And while the debate still continues at home, I got to thinking about naming delemas and potential solutions.

So here is my list of Baby Naming faux pas and how to deal with them:

Problem: You and Partner are on different naming planets.

Solution: Keep talking and listen to what they are saying. Try and not get too frustrated when your partner throws out Heather as a potential name when you are thinking more along the lines of Ruby. It can be easy to throw up your hands in defeat as another one of your 100^th suggestions gets shot down and proclaim: “Fine! You name her whatever you want then!”. Stay calm, there is still time to find a name. Ask your partner to list 10 or 20 names that the like and see if you can pick up on their theme or naming taste. For example, if he really likes boyish names for girls, perhaps you can think of girl names that can be shortened to a boyish nickname, for example, Veronica into Ronnie.

Problem: First childs name is a strong family name, but there are no more family names that you want to use anymore.

Solution: Break the tradition! It’s ok that your second or third child does not follow the same naming formula as your first. Treat each child as a separate naming experience. Perhaps this one won’t get a family name or the 2 middle names like the first one did…and that’s ok! This also applies to the repeating letter syndrome brought into the light by the Duggar family with their 19 J named kids. I’m sure by the time they had to come up with the 10^th J name, they were starting to run out of suggestions, but by then, it was too late, the trend had started.

Problem: Your mother in law hates the name you have picked out.

Solution: Too bad for her. While it can be fun to talk about names with your family and get suggestions, it can also be stressful when you have a name picked out and someone in your family decides to scrunch up their face into a sour pout when you tell them that name. I say, to each their own. I really did not like my sister’s kids name…at first, but now I love love love it! Sometimes it just takes a little getting used to and hearing it a few times before you can put your prejudices away and accept the name. Your mother in law already had her chance to name a child now this is your time to choose a name, and if someone else wants you to use the name Danica they can get pregnant and name their child that.

Problem: Someone used the name you were going to use! Whaaaa!

Solution: Get over it and use the name if you really like it. This is one of my biggest pet peeves! NO ONE OWNS A NAME!! You can’t call dibs on a name and hold it in some vault for no one else to use. PA-lease! Sure, out of respect you can cross a name off your list because it is too similar to someone elses' name, but I say if you really really like a name, go for it. For example, we recently had an Olivia join our family, I really liked Oliver for a boy…I would have used that name if we were having a boy with no second thoughts. I know it’s not exactly the same name, but its close enough that some people would have nixed it. Bottom line, use the name you like regardless if it’s also your neighbour’s kids name.

Do you have any naming problems you would like to add?

The Witching Hour

2013-04-15T12:40:00.002-02:30

There is a well documented phenomenon in the paranormal research that says spirits and ghosts are most active at 3:00 am. Believe it, don’t believe it, whatever. All I can say is that something strange happened last night at 3:00 on the dot which got me thinking about this phenomenon.

The house was quiet, everyone was sleeping in their usual spots, which these days is Jamie on the couch (cuz he tosses and turns most nights), Hunter in his bed, and me in our bed. All of a sudden, a loud crash boom bang from Hunter’s room! I wake from my slumber and glance at the clock…3:00. In my daze, I jump out of bed and go into his room to check out what has happened. Now, bumps in the night are not strange coming from his room at any hour in the night, so I was expecting to see him up and about and perhaps he had just pulled something from his shelf.

In the darkness I peered into his room, about ready to coax my son back into bed, but he was in bed. I flipped on the light and looked around the room. A shelf that was otherwise secured to the wall was now half hanging off the wall with its contents scattered on the floor. The contents, a few figurines and pictures, had knocked over his lamp and a picture off his dresser. The things on that shelf were by no means super heavy, enough to overload the shelf.

I looked at my son sleeping in his bed and thought, that’s strange. I picked up a few things off the floor and tried to re-secure the shelf on the wall. It took some effort to do, and I tried to pull it off the wall to see how “secure” this shelf really was. I couldn’t get it to budge. So I turned off the light and went back to bed.

All of this took place in a span of about 3 minutes. While laying in bed, I started to think about it. How did that happen? What could cause a perfectly secure shelf to suddenly unsecure itself from the wall? Then I thought about the time…3:00 am. Isn’t there some myth about that being the witching hour? I started to get a little worried about that last thought. I almost went back into Hunter’s room to pick him up and bring him back to my bed where I knew he would be safe. But then again, him sleeping in his own bed all night is such a rare thing that I thought I better not.

I said a quick prayer asking my Uncle George and grandparents to watch over him and fell back to sleep.

Any thoughts on this? Do you believe in the witching hour? Share your stories with me.

Thanks for reading

Greenhouse

2013-04-09T16:34:00.002-02:30

Last year we built ourselves a greenhouse. Just a little one, but we are still only newbies to the whole gardening thing so we didn't want to overwhelm ourselves with a big project.

Our greenhouse was about 10x10 and was mostly made from reclaimed lumber, although we did have to buy some wood, so I think the whole thing cost us about $100.

Hunter helping our neighbour Gerard frame up the walls and build the base.

Putting up the first 2 walls

Make sure they are good and level

Got 3 walls up!

All 4 walls up

Now for the roof and the planter boxes

We used larger stone on the bottom to make it sturdy

Filled up the planter boxes with soil from our compost and used gravel for the center part.

Wrap that sucka up with some plastic (not greenhouse grade, but it will do for now) and plant!

We did tomatoes and cucumbers.

Hunter helped water the plants; our prized cucumber!

Spring Time!

2013-03-27T10:11:00.001-02:30

Easter is coming up this weekend and I always get a bit excited for this time of year because it means that we are finally seeing the end of a long winter and that spring is here! Although spring in many parts of Canada still included snow and can be quite dirty still. Its never this idealistic green fields of tulips and daffodils.

This is what most people think of spring. (Source)

But rather a dirty, mug and grimy time when snow is melting to reveal all the garbage that was swept up with the snowplow and is now being uncovered like an archaeological site of the long winter months.

The true "beauty" of spring (Source)

Ah yes, Spring!

Here in Newfoundland, we are pretty much done for the snow around here, although we still have a scatter call for flurries that normally sticks around for a few hours then is gone again. Every time I think that we are done with snow, another bit falls just to crush my hopes of the end of winter.

I was hoping that this Easter we might be able to do the Easter egg hunt outside and the "Easter Bunny" could hide a few eggs out in the yard, but that probably won't happen.

Also, when did Easter become this big BUY BUY BUY holiday? When I was growing up it was a few chocolate eggs and a new Easter outfit. Now it's like a second Christmas! Kids these days would be better off if their parents spent half as much money and twice as much time with their kids. I plan on decorating a few Easter eggs with Hunter this weekend and doing a little egg hunt, but other than that, what else does he need?

Ok, so how is Spring treating you in your neck of the woods? Any plans for the Easter holidays? I would love to hear about it!

Spinach Stuffed chicken

2013-03-22T10:21:00.003-02:30

I saw this "recipe" on Pinterest the other day and thought it looked delicious that I just had to try it. Only problem was, there was no real recipe to follow, just the images. It didn't really look hard, plus I already had an idea on how I would do it, so I just went for it. Here is my version of:

Spinach Stuffed Chicken

Ingredients:

4 Chicken breasts
Ricotta cheese
fresh mozzarella cheese
Tomato pasta sauce
Spinach
Shake and bake (no-name brand)
Oregano
Rosemary
Pepper

Prep time: 20 min

Cook time 1 hr.

Step 1

First I smashed the chicken breast with a rolling pin to make them a bit thinner and easier to roll up.I like to put plastic wrap over them so my rolling pin doesn't get all chickeny and save a bit of clean up.

Step 2

Then I made the filling to stuff the chicken with. I cut up the spinach and I wilted it down in a pan with a bit of oil. Then I took the wilted spinach and mixed it with about half a container of ricotta cheese. I also added in my spices of oregano and rosemary and pepper to the mixture. Give it a good stir and mix it all up.

Step 3
Next I assembled it all together.

I spread the spinach mix on the smashed chicken breast then rolled it up and secured it with a few tooth picks.

Then I rolled it in the shake and bake mix.

Place in Pan. (this is not the best pan for this. It was more like a bowl and while it worked, I flat bottom square pan probably would have worked better. It got a little soupy while cooking).

Step 4
I placed the open topped dish in the oven at 300c for 45 minutes. After the chicken was cooked, I took it out and spread the tomato sauce over the chicken and cut up the fresh mozzarella and placed on top. I threw it back in the oven for an additional 15 min to warm up the sauce and melt the cheese a bit.

Step 5
EAT! YUMM!

(This picture below was me and Jamie trying to be food photographers and staging the plate. Note the three pieces of lettice)

Overall, I would give this meal a 4 star rating (out of 5). The tomato sauce we had wasn't really right (it had sausages in it) and I could have beat the chicken a bit thinner to make for a more even roll.. I would definitely make it again though.

(Sorry that some of the pictures are on their sides, I can't figure out how to rotate my pictures on Blogger...any ideas?)

Lotto Dreams

2013-03-21T09:48:00.000-02:30

What would you do if you won the lottery?

C’mon, I know you have thought about it, dreamed about it even. Do you have plans to invest and grow your winnings? Maybe it’s a lifelong dream to travel the world? Perhaps share the wealth with your family and friends?

I know I have thought about it.

Of course, I would go traveling for a bit, see some of the places that I have always dreamed about, France, Rome, New Zealand. Perhaps help out a few family members and friends pay off their houses or whatever. But after that, I would need something more to fulfill my days. Plus, I don't just want to blow all my money and have nothing to show for it either. My plan always includes starting my own dream business that would be the best of work and play. Some of you may think it’s crazy to think that working is what you would do with your lotto money, but I want a legacy project that will live on long after I am gone; one that can be passed on to my children and to their children. So when people say my name, they said “ isn't she the one who built that amazing…”

Yes, a legend.

I have a few ideas kicking about in my head about what kind of business it would be. Obviously it would be something fun that doesn't really feel like work but rather something that makes me feel like I am on permanent vacation. Like owning a cruise boat or having some chalet retreat. The latter is the one I most think about.

I would buy a big parcel of land near some kind of water body, like a lake or river or the ocean. I would build one big main chalet that would serve as the check in area, restaurant, and meeting hall. I would build several cabin type accommodations along the water’s edge and connect them all by forest trails that you can walk or ride bikes on. We would also live on the property in the masters Chalet that would overlook it all. We would have canoes and boats for our guest and people could go fishing and bring back their catch to the kitchen and have our chief cook it up for you…

Ahhh...the dream.

Source

I know this is not a novel ideal. People have done these kinds of things before, so maybe I wouldn't be a “legend” per se, but maybe more like a local champion. Is that too much to ask?

What’s your lotto dream?

Ok..Back at 'er

2013-03-19T10:41:00.001-02:30

So I know its been a while since my last post. I am notoriously bad at starting something and never finishing it. Like books. I can read a whole book right up to the last chapter or even 2-3 pages, then I'll put it down and never finish it. Maybe I have some kind of anti-finishing conditions. Look that up for me, will ya?

So what's new? Well as you saw in my last post way back in December, we are expecting baby number 2! We found out last month that the little bean inside is most likely a girl. The techs couldn't find a penis so I guess its a girl by default. We have a 3D ultrasound coming up in April to confirm the gender, but I'm pretty sure that its a girl. This pregnancy has been way different than my son's pregnancy. All in all, both good pregnancies, but so far with this one I'm not swelled up like a balloon like before. At the half way point in my last pregnancy, I had probably gained 20-25 lbs. With this one, up 8 lbs! Yahoo! Still got another 18 weeks left to go and that's when I will really grow, but I feel good about the way things are going so far.

As for the naming process...it's really hard to find a name that we like this time around. Me and Jamie are miles apart on our naming thought process and he wants to have the final say on the name which I am finding hard to let go of that control. He says that because I named our son (mostly true) that he gets to name this one. Yes, I had our sons name picked out for a long time, even before I met Jamie, but he also had a say in the name. If he really hated the name, he could have said something and we would have picked out another name. I'm a fair person, I can compromise. But with this baby, he wants the sole naming rights and says that I don't even get a say on the name. He even went as far as to suggest handing me a piece of paper when we are at the hospital with the name on it and that will be it, that's the name. YA RIGHT! My suggestion was for him to make up a list of his top 5 or 10 names, heck even 20 names and WE pick from that list. Sounds reasonable? Right?

Oh and the other thing, he says no middle name. Jamie doesn't have a middle name so he figures that this baby doesn't need a middle name either. I think he is just trying to make himself feel better as he was left out of the cool middle name circle and now he wants someone else to suffer like he did. It's kinda like a revenge thing I think. Again, I'm willing to compromise...let me pick the first name and I will consider no middle name (but really, this child will have a middle name!)

We still have about 4 month left before this baby makes her way into the world so we still have time to find a name, but he doesn't even want to discuss names at this point. Oh well, it will get worked out.

Wow, this kinda turned into a rant more than an update. Sorry. Actually, no I'm not sorry, my blog, my space to say what I want (nanabooboo).

Feel free to post your name suggestions too!

Fowler Family Christmas!

2012-12-17T11:22:00.001-03:30

We Wish you a Merry Christmas!

From our Growing Family to Yours!

Christmas Party Mix

2012-12-17T08:08:00.001-03:30

Looking for a gift for those people on your list that you know you should get something for, but you don't want to spend too much on? Like your postman, neighbor, or maybe just a friend that you don't see very often?

Well look no further than my Christmas Party Mix!

Its a thoughtful homemade gift that you can eat! And who doesn't like stuff to eat around the holidays? It's a pretty simple little recipe that doesn't take too long to prepare. And you can switch it up and add your favorite snacks and try different combinations too.

For mine, I had:

No-name Cheerios (Oatie-O's)
Shreddies
Goldfish
Pretzels
Hickory Sticks
Peanuts

I wasn't sure about the last 2 ingredients as some people are allergic to nuts and I just thought the hickory sticks might have been too much, so I left them out of the first batch but after some reconsideration, I added them to my second batch.

For the sauce, it was:

2/3 to 1 cup Butter (melted)
4 tbs Soy Sauce
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
2 tbs Garlic Salt
1 tbs Salt

I'm not very good at measuring so I just winged it for the sauce. So the measurements above are just approximate. You can make it sweeter by adding more sugar, or more savory by adding more salt. But I would caution that most of the snacks are already pretty salty, so be careful not to add too much salt.

Step 1: Mix the dry ingredients together.

Pretty easy. Open the bags and dump them into a bowl. I didn't have a big enough bowl, so I did 2 trays.

Mix well.

Step 2: Mix Sauce

Melt the butter and add all the other ingredients to it. Stir until the sugar is dissolved.

At this point you should probably turn on your oven to about 200* F to preheat it.

Step 3: Pour Sauce over Mix

Pour the Sauce over the dry mix and stir well. There should be an even coating of the butter sauce over everything.
If your mix isn't already in a roaster, transfer it into one now.

Step 4: Bake
Put the roaster in the oven without the cover on.
Bake for about 1 hour 15 minutes or until toasty.
Check on the mix every 15 minutes and give it a good stir each time to make sure the mix is evenly baked.

It will still be a bit sticky even after they are done baking, but will harden up to a nice crunchy snack in a few minutes after being out of the oven

Step 5: Place in Containers

As I mentioned above, the mix will still be a bit sticky after you pull it out of the oven. It won't take long before they start to set and get hard and crunchy. I found it easier to scoop it into the tins while they were still in their warm sticky stage, so I would pop it back into the oven between filling each tin. If not, the mix becomes brittle and hard to scoop without breaking the snacks.

I found these Christmas tins down to the dollar store for $1.50 each so I got 9 of them.

I also lined the tins with some wax paper.

Tada!! A little munchy crunchy tasty gift!

I was able to get 6 full tins out of my 2 batches...plus a little left over for our table.

Thanks for reading!

Pekrul Family Pintrest Pinwheels

2012-12-10T15:01:00.002-03:30

You know what I love? Collaborating with friends!

Our good friends Kim and Trevor contacted me last night to ask if I would share their Pintrest Pinwheel experience on my blog. My response...of course! It can be hard to come up with fresh new content all the time so I welcome the input and the interest in my blog.

So without further ado, here is the Pekrul Family Pintrest Pinwheels:
(as written by Kim Pekrul)

So, Trevor and I had an awesome day of baking these pinwheel cookies today. We have never made these before, so it was a learning experience for both of us. We both love baking and cooking in the kitchen together. So we work well together. The cookies are for our families second annual Christmas cookie exchange. I needed to make 13 dozen cookies.

I found the cute recipe for the cookies on Pinterest.

It turned out we had ALL of the ingredients in our house to make them. We just needed to buy blocks of margarine.

I did the creaming of the butter and sugar. Trevor measured the dry ingredients. If you read the process it takes to make these pinwheels it was pretty tedious…but there was just a slight learning curve, and after making 2 batches of cookies we felt like we were experts.

Instead of adding chocolate we added food coloring to half the batch. (and peppermint/vanilla to the butter/sugar/egg mixture) They turned out to be very pretty. We rolled the two colors together, then rolled the logs in different colors of sprinkles. Pink/yellow/purple/blue.

Taylor had 2 of his friends over today. So they helped a bit. (Sapphire and Arianna) So fun baking with my son and his two (girl) friends!

The recipe says to roll the two layers together, put them in cling wrap and put them in the fridge for 3 hours or over night. We cut that in half by placing our logs outside for an hour (hey we live in the north LOL)

Then we sliced the logs into perfect little cookie shapes and baked them for 8-10 min. So fun.

The end.

Thanks Kim,Trevor, and family! Wish I could have a taste of your treats, they look awesome!

And if anyone is interested in being a guest blogger, just let me know, I would love to collaborate with you too! b

On the first day of Christmas...

2012-12-03T09:56:00.001-03:30

...My mommy made with me, a batch of chocolate chip cookies!

Well it's finally December and time to bring on the family Christmas Traditions!

As you may recall, I have already made a Sock Advent Calender for Hunter to start the count-down to Christmas, but I thought it would also be nice to try and do an activity related to Christmas as well.

Now, I'm no super Mom and while I am aiming for 24 activities and some can be done together, there is no guarantee that all will get done. I figured it best to make a list of all the thing that I want to accomplish and try and knock them off my list as the days go by and we get closer to Christmas.

Here's my list so far:

Christmas Activities:

Bake some cookies and treats
Go to local craft fairs
Bake perogies
Attend Santa Clause Parade and Tree Lighting
Watch "How the Grinch Stole Christmas"
Send Christmas Cards
Watch or read "A Christmas Carol"
Make a gift
Make paper snow flakes
Take a family Christmas Photo
Go Christmas Shopping
Wrap Gifts
Invite friends over for a Christmas Cheer
Make Party Mix as a gift
Get a tree
Decorate the tree
Sing Carols
Donate toys
Have a family game night
Decorate a Ginger Bread House
Make a Christmas Craft (for the tree or for the house)
Visit friends and family
Read "The Night Before Christmas"
Go to Church on Christmas Eve

So this weekend I started with the first thing on my list...Baking cookies!

This was pretty easy as my Mother-in-law had slipped a tub of pre-made cookie dough into Hunter's bag one day last week. The dough can be frozen, but once it is thawed out, it will only last for about 5 days in the fridge. Since by the time I took it out of his bag it was already thawed, and was already in my fridge for 4 days, they needed to be baked this weekend!

So after all my hard work of prepping the dough (i.e. taking it out of the fridge), we were ready to start cutting the shapes and baking the cookies!

I had my little "helper" Hunter help me roll out the dough and cut out the cookies. He was pretty into it too! Correction, he was into playing with the dough and throwing it all over the kitchen. Oh well, we had some fun doing it.

Next it was into the oven for about 10 minutes a batch then on the rack to cool. In about an hour, we had a mountain of cookies to eat...and eat them we did! I thought "wow, how are we ever going to eat that many cookies?" But this morning when I woke up, there were only about 8 left (must have some mice in the house lol)

Thanks for reading and stay tuned as we work our way through our list.

Do you have any Christmas Traditions that our family does every year? Share them with me!

My Local Christmas

2012-11-27T16:55:00.002-03:30

I'm literally discussed with this Black Friday phenomenon. I have been watching YouTube videos and reading stories about people turning evil over a hyped up sale. The price probably inflated before they drop the price to 70% off so its no more of a sale than you would find on any other weekend.

Disgusting.

So I have vowed this Christmas to shop local. You should too!

Well as much as I can any ways. Something may be a little harder to find, but overall I'm confident that I can pull it off.

In my family, we do a Christmas Draw. Everyone gets one person to ~~buy~~ make for and that's it. Last year we decided that instead of just buying a gift, we would have to make it. It's always so much fun and cuz you know that most of our family is slightly craft challenged, the gift usually come out a little wonky and "special", which makes them all the more better.

This year we are doing the draw again and still having the "home made" clause, but we also threw in an extra twist...a letter. For example, I got my brother-in-law Keith and the letter "C" so now I have to make something that starts with the letter C. It was a little tough at the start to think of something, but now, I got too many ideas and I need to just pick one and do it (and get it in the mail). It will most likely be posted here on my blog as a "nailed it/failed it" feature.

To me, Christmas is not about the gift any ways, it's about friends and family and special family traditions. It's about getting together with the ones you love and making memories.

Can't get much more local than that. :)

Sock Advent Calendar

2012-11-24T18:17:00.001-03:30

One month until Christmas!!

While I'm not a big fan of getting all Christmasfied in November, I think that the one month count down is justified. (I hate that "Christmas" starts right after Halloween...One holiday at a time people!)

So in the spirit of the count down to Ol'St. Nick, I thought I would make my own Advent Calendar for Hunter.

I got my inspiration from here with Martha's Sock Advent Calendar. I thought it was a cute, quick, re-usable and inexpensive way to count down the days to Christmas. So today I went down to the dollar store and picked up a few supplies and completed my first Christmas craft. All in all, it only cost me about $20 and that's pretty good in my books.

Here is how I did it:

Step One:

Before I went down to the dollar store, I went through Hunter's socks for any that were too small or missing it's partner and fit with the holiday theme. I found that I didn't really have too many green socks so I stuck with a red, white and grey colour scheme. I had about 14 socks that fit within the theme.

After I counted the socks that I had already, I went to the dollar store and get all the supplies that I needed for the rest of the craft.

I got some extra socks, little ornaments, and a few chocolates and candy canes. I did get some ribbon, but I didn't end up using it in the end.

I totally scored and found some little red mitten that had the numbers and little clothes pins on them so that helped a lot.

Step Two:

Assemble socks on the line and place treats inside.

Step Three:

Hang and Enjoy.

Thanks for reading :)

Festive Spirits Mixology

2012-11-21T09:56:00.001-03:30

Well it's getting to be that time of year again...the annual staff Christmas Party time!

This is one of my favourite traditions around the holiday season. Especially with the company that I work for. They really do know how to throw a good shing-dig.

Every year since I started with Tract, our bosses holds a staff Christmas party at their house. They have a beautiful home and it's a great venue to host a party for about 40-50 people. They get a caterer with a buffet of gourmet finger foods and appys. They provide rides for all staff to the party and back so everyone just lets loose and has a good time. They really out do themselves every year, and this year will be no exception.

They also have an open bar with a bartender, although in years past the bar mostly consisted of beer, wine and the regular high-ball drinks like rum and whiskey. That's where I come in.

This year I have asked if I can create a speciality drink all our own. So I have been doing some research about different drinks and I think I have come up with a few contenders for this years party. I wanted to make on for our company, Tract, and one for our sister company, Virdis. The Tract drink I wanted to a cocktail and the Virdis drink as a shooter.

Still a work in progress and thus far these are all still concepts, I have yet to try them. (Might be a good weekend project. haha) I think I am getting a bit tipsy just thinking about it.

The "Drink until they are atTRACTive" Drink
2 oz Absolute Pear Vodka
2 oz Ginger Ale
1 oz Lime Juice
Cranberry Garnish

The "Virdis Vertigo" Shot
1/2 oz Sour Puss Apple
1/2 oz Caramel (or Butterscotch) Schnapps

What do you think?

Braided something or other...Nailed it!

2012-11-19T19:53:00.004-03:30

Again, have you ever seen something on the internet and thought "I can do that."

Here we go with another of my failed Pintrest attempts.

This is what I was going for...

Source

This is what I made....

Yup...Nailed it.

Castle people

2012-11-18T21:43:00.001-03:30

Just getting back from a busy trip for work down to Conne River. It was a very productive trip down, work-wise, but the best part of the trip was that I got to stay with the Castle People...aka Kerra and Phil Winsor. (Get it?... Winsor...Castle)

I met Kerra a few years ago when I was going to school. It was my very first day of going to school at MUN and we were on a field-school trip. I didn't know anyone, I had just transferred from UBC and the field-school was my first introduction to my new classmates and professors. I remember I was sitting on the big yellow wagon (bus) and I was chatting with the girl next to me (who turn out to be one of my best friends throughout the rest of my MUN days...and beyond). Jody-Beth was asking me all the usual first date questions like where I was from such. I told her that I had just moved to Newfoundland from Northern Alberta from a little tiny town called High Level. That's when I saw a little blond head whip around and say "from where?!"

Now I know there is a strong Newfoundland- Alberta connection, so it's not that unusual for people from here to know about towns in Alberta, but not many know about High Level.

"High Level" I confirmed.

I thought she was about to jump over the seat!

Not only did she know where High Level was, but she had lived there! And about the same time that we lived there too. So like anyone who knows someone from the same place, we started to play the "do you know?..." game. We went through a list of people and for the most part it was hit and miss. Then she asked if I knew a Dianne with the Town. I said, "kinda, she's my mom!" Kerra then told me that while in High Level she had worked for the Town and that my mom was her boss. Talk about small world!

This initial spark lead into a fun-filled friendship that fill my last 2 years of university.

Then came graduation, and like most people, you get out of school, you find a job, you move on with life. I still stayed in contact with a few people, but some people drifted away on their own paths. This is pretty much what had happened with me and Kerra, but I always wondered about where and what she was doing.

Flash forward to Summer of 2012. I had some work to do down in Conne River, on Newfoundland's south coast. Conne River is not very big and didn't have a hotel for me to stay in, so I had to stay in the next town over in Milltown...a town equally as small and not very much to do there.

After I had completed my work in Conne River, I was on my way back home. I had just pulled out of Milltown and was heading down the bumpy Bay d'Espoir highway when I get a text from an unknown number. "Is this Bailey?"

"Yes, who is this?"

"Kerra!"

Totally unexpected and out of the blue. So after a few messages back and forth and an address given for her wedding invitation, I asked her "where are you these days?" Her response: "Milltown!"

I was flabbergasted. I was just leaving Milltown! I told her that the next time I was in the area for work that we would get together. And we did just that.

On my second trip to Conne River, I went over to Kerra and Phil's house for a visit. It was an excellent visit complete with a couple bottles of wine and many laughs.

She said the next time I was back that I should stay with her. So as we were planning our third trip down to the area, I made a plan to stay with Kerra and Phil. This visit was equally as fun and wine-filled. Kerra made some excellent chicken pesto panini's one night and chinese food the next.

The best part was reconnecting with an old friend (and her new husband). The real test of a true friendship is when you can go weeks, months, even years without seeing each other, but when you do, the friendship picks up right where it left off without skipping a beat. There was no uncomfortable formalities, no awkward lulls in our conversations, just good ol' friends chatting and catching up.

Thanks Kerra and Phil for all your warm hospitality. I enjoyed my visit very much! Thanks again :)

The Sleep Tug-a-War

2012-11-13T09:51:00.000-03:30

We are the parents and he is the child.

We are the parents and he is the child.

This is the mantra I keep repeating to myself at 3:00 in the morning as our darling 2 year old son wakes...again.

I know this is all part of it, the sleeplessness, the boundary testing, the constant pushing of mommy and daddy's sleep buttons, but when will it all end?!! We are getting to the end of our ropes and I'm not sure what to do!

Ever since he was 2 months old, we have had the same bedtime routine: bath, bottle, book, and bed. Nothing new, nothing strange, although the time he actually goes to bed varies anywhere from 8:00 to 9:30 depending on the days events. Getting him to go to sleep in his own bed on his own is not the problem...getting him to STAY asleep in his own bed is the problem.

Like clockwork, almost every night, at around 3:00 am, he stirs. In an effort to just get some sleep, we would take him into our bed and he would normally fall back asleep. Sometimes we would put him back in his own bed, sometimes he would sleep the remainder of the night in our bed. That worked for a while.

I feel like, he's two, he's capable of sleeping in his own bed throughout the whole night. This is the goal we are trying to achieve.

Now, not only is he now waking at 3:00 am, he won't fall back asleep until 5:30 or 6:00!

When he wakes up now, I go to his bedroom and try and calm him down by either rubbing his back, or playing with his hair, or singing a little lullaby. This normally last for about 5 minutes then I leave again. I don't really want him getting to used to me 'petting' him to calm him down. After I leave, the fun begins. He roots, he cries, he sniffles, he laughs...everything but sleep!

Our bedroom is right next to his so we hear everything! As a result, neither Jamie nor I can get any sleep (Jamie is more-so bothered by the noise than me), but none the less, no one in the house is sleeping.

What are we doing wrong? What else can we do? Is there any end to this sleep torture?!

I'm sorry if I sound like I am at my wits end about this, but I am. And I'm also very tired...all the time!.

Any advice?

Melting crayons. Nailed it!

2012-11-12T12:02:00.001-03:30

So yeah.

Have you ever seen something, on Pintrest say, and you think "what a simple great idea!" Me too. Except things don't always work out the way that they do on the Internet.

For example, remelting crayons. I mean, how hard can it be? You just remelt the crayons, right?

Wrong!

Let me walk you through my awesome craft job.

Step one: Get broken crayons

Simple enough. Can't really screw up this step. I took all of Hunter's broken crayons and sorted them by like colours into a muffin tray. I put the muffin liners in so that I could remove them from the tray easier..or so I thought.

To be fair, most of the examples I looked up on the internet used those silicone trays, but I don't have one of those so I used what I had. Looking back now, I can see my plan was doomed from the start.

Step Two: Melt Crayons

Turn of the oven to 350 and let it warm up a little bit.I placed the tray in the middle of the oven and waited for the crayons to start to melt.

Of course, I was also doing other things around the house and I may have left them in for a bit longer than they needed. I wanted to still be able to see the different colours, but instead they all kinda melted together to make an ugly blob-o-colour. All in all, they were in the oven for about 10 minutes

Yup, this is going perfect so far.

Step Three: Cool and Remove.

So after I took them out of the oven, I thought it best to put the tray in the freezer for a few minutes to get them to set up. Good idea in theory, but it didn't really work out too well. Or maybe it would have worked, if I left them in a bit longer?

After about 8 minutes in the freezer, I pulled them out so I could get them out while they were still a bit malleable. I took a butter knife and ran it along the edge of the cups. This made the crayon cups crack up. I tried pulling one out and it did come out better than the ones I used the knife on.

After removing the paper from the crayons, they actually didn't look too bad. Not like I had wanted them to look, but not bad. The only thing that I'm not really crazy about is the edging from the cupcake paper. I can see those making a mess the first few times they are used. Might rub them down before I give them to Hunter to use.

I would give this craft a 6 out of 10. Wasn't too hard, but I would do things a bit differently if I was to do it again.

Thanks for reading :)

And it's done!

2012-11-07T10:18:00.001-03:30

I know I know...the election has been driving us all mad taking up valuable air space on TV and print media. I'm pretty sick of it and I'm not even American! Can't imagine what you poor souls had to endure during this campaign.

But alas, it's all over and done with for another 4 years. I guess it's true, once you go Barack, you never go back! So now it's over and we can all go back to our lives. Thank god.

I will say this though, I am very happy that our friendly neighbours to the south did decide to go with Obama again. I like him. He's very Canadian-like. I find it incredibly strange that some people don't want the so called Obamacare. Like what's wrong with public health coverage?

"No no, I'm ok, I would rather die than have a government funded healthcare system, *cough cough*".

Sad just sad.

And also, why can't Canadians get all riled up and passionate about our politics and voting? I guess Harper is not good looking enough to get excited about, nor is the boring manner in which our elections are played out. But on that note, I do like watching the debates. At least we get to see most (but not all) of the candidates/parties participate. I never even knew that there was more than 2 parties in the American election. There were more options than Democrats and Republican, but you would never know it based on the media coverage.

Other victories were handed out too last night...gays and marijuana!

Gay marriage is no different than traditional marriage. And all this BS about gays ruining marriage and what it means to be married is just nonsense. If people really really cared about marriage and wanted to uphold the values and sanctity of the vows, how about no divorce then! But more and more traditional marriages end in divorce and less and less people want to get married in the first place. It's a mess! Gays...welcome to the messy party!

As for marijuana legalization...FINALLY! Thank god the government gave people a opportunity to vote on this. I think the government always knew what the outcome would be, but they were just too afraid to let the public have a say. I just hope that this step will be followed by more steps in the right direction. I also hope that Canada will have a similar referendum on the topic. Not decriminalize, not medical marijuana...legal recreational use for adults! Tax the shit out it too, I don't care. Just don't make me a criminal for enjoying it.

Wow, who knew I was so political?!

Choo Choo Hunter is 2!

2012-11-05T12:18:00.002-03:30

Wow! Just wow! I cannot believe that our son is 2 already. Where did the time go?

We celebrated Hunto's big second birthday this weekend and it was a hit! We planned a small(ish) open house party for him at our house and it worked out great. At first I was a little worried about having all those people over in our small(ish) house, but it worked out fine. All that worry for nothing. We had friends and family come over and celebrate with us and because it was open house style, people were coming and going all day. Perfect.

I'm really glad that we had the party at our house too. We had rented the local daycare for his first birthday, which was fine, but I much preferred hosting the party at our own house this year. Much more personal and much more relaxed.

We had a Thomas the Train theme and one of my favourite things that we did for his birthday was the Train Cupcake Cake. I got the idea from here.

Silly me, I should have taken some more pictures of the assembly of the cake, but I was rushing to get it all done before the guest arrived.

Here are the steps to make the cake:

Ask mother-in-law to make cupcakes for the train cake.
Forget about asking her and buy more cupcakes the day before the party.
Have a bunch of extra cupcakes for the party
Buy Thomas the Train engine for the cake.
Take engine out of the box the night before and let Hunto play with it.
Search for Thomas the Train Engine in the toy box the next morning.
Buy 2 boxes of vanilla cookies, 2 boxes of chocolate cookies, and 1 box of lemon crackers (or something similar), and some frosting.
Put 2 stacks of 2 vanilla cookies together (for a total of 4 cookies) to make the base of the "cart"
Lay lemon cracker on top
Frost 4 chocolate "wheels" and stick to the side of the cart
Place cupcake on cart
Realize that you have too many cupcakes and not enough carts.
Lay cupcakes in between carts
Decorate the cupcakes with left over Halloween candy
TaaDaa!!! A Train Cupcake Train

It worked out great and everyone loved it! Although when it came time to blow out the candles, Hunto and I had to walk around the cake a few times to get all the candles.

Happy 2nd Birthday Hunter, Mommy and Daddy are so proud of you and we love you lots! Can't wait for all your coming birthdays and watching you grow into a little man!

Muah! xoxox