Mondays are so

MondayISH

aren't they?

Today it poured rain, and I was thrilled. We've had so many nice days, that lately we've spent more time inside and out and although normally I would simply love that....we are still unpacking.

So today started with a lovely sister inviting herself for tea (which I love, but no one really does that anymore) and then the girls and I emptied all....and I do mean ALL of the kitchen drawers and re organized them. Each drawer still has the same main purpose, but all those "extra" items that had snuck in are now in their own little homes.

The master bedroom is finally box free.

The linen closet is finally box free.

AND we had a hot chocolate party. I love being a Mommy to wee ones, hot choco parties are such fun, and the giggles are even better then cookies....well we had those too!

oh, and for those of you who don't mind the mundane. We have had an addition (or maybe 2) to our home...






















MICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's time to celebrate that answered prayers of a wonderful couple and shower them and their adorable child with blessings!

I LOVE hosting events....don't you? I think it is in my DNA thanks to my Grandma! so tomorrow from 2-4 we will have a house full of lovely ladies.

Menu

Flower Sugar Cookies

Fancy Sandwiches Mini Lemon Cheesecakes

Truffles

Veggie Sticks with Onion (to die for) dip

Scones with Jam & Cream

Coffee

Tea

Lemon Water

Have you noticed how expensive party decorations are....such a rip off! Usually we decorate with cheap flowers, but with the season being WINTER we are going for the easy and simple white & pink bunches of balloons, pink Toile on the table, Grandmother's china & crystal plates, tea service, etc. I had really wanted to do a favour of some sort, but even the smallest added up to a lot when there are 20 guests.

On that note, I'd better run, the fridge needs to be filled with goodies and the flours need a good scrubbing....and the children need to be played with.

God Bless

MENU

Wed: Veggie Stew with frech whole wheat bread
Thurs: Dinner at friends....Yeehaw!
Fri: Beef (leftovers) & Veggie stirfry with Basmati rice
Sat: Roast beef (re-heated in crockpot from the massive one done last week) with potatoes, carrots, peas & corn (gravy & bread)
Sun: Veggie Stew with cheese & ham scones
Mon: Roast Chicken
Tues: Orange chicken (leftovers) & veggie stir fry with Basmati rice

Have you ever had one of those "Bad, no good, terrible" days?

One of those days where you seriously consider jumping into bed and hiding from reality under your covers?

Yesterday was one of those days. Little things seemed to add up, piling untop of each other, pushing other concerns out of the way and fight for my attention. Why is it that as women, emotional concerns effect us so much?

I'm positive that this is one of the many reasons that God, in His mercy, brought Hubby and I together. D has this amazing talent, that when I fall and collapse into little tiny fragile pieces. He can pick them up, and like putting a jigsaw puzzle back together, gently sort through the mess and push the fractured pieces back together again. Gluing and taping them with kind words, Biblical advice, nurturing hugs and volia! I am whole again.

Kids are great for that too.

So are Sisters.

But no one can help to quite the extent or in the same manner that a husband can.

A phone call to him, a dinner made for a Sister with a sick infant, an hour and a half spent at our favourite little library in our old town....and soup (always soup) with cheese scones for dinner and I felt better.

oh, and husband booked a weekend away for our upcoming tenth anniversary. Maybe that had a little bit to do with my coping....maybe a large bit!

So "today is a new day with no mistakes in it" (Anne of Green Gables). We slept in (the hydro went out yesterday, and the clocks were reset to the wrong pm - am time) whops! but everyone worked together and Magoo got to school on time and Husband to work on time (we ate banana bread in the car for breakfast...yum!). The girls and I set off for grocery shopping and to pick up fleece for one of the craft sessions at OWBS this year.

Grocery shopping was extra fun (we love that task anyways) because we are hosting a shower for a extremely special and dear to our hearts Sister & Babe. We are doing a honey theme (if you know the baby you know why....think about it) and found everything needed except for the honey comb, which I can pick up still from a local farm.

I had wanted to do an elaborate bee hive cake that I saw in a magazine....but I think cookies will do perfectly fine!

The girls are working on letters and sounds in the dining room, and I have ever so many more tasks to complete before we can sit down for story time....so off I run.

Hugs to all you Mothers & Sisters out there.

I have this pet annoyance.

If someone says they are going to do something and don't show up. It bugs me, doesn't that bug you?

The painter never finished the house, so he's come back twice. Both times he said he'd be here at 9:30AM and both time he didn't show up until 2PM!


So today, he was supposed to be here, at yup, you guessed it...9:30AM and he never even bothered to show up!

After calling Hubby and getting my priorities all back on track, we had a good day. The problem today was really that I haven't had a chance to head to the library in almost 3 weeks! which for us is amazing because we usually go twice a week (Tuesdays & Fridays) and for those who know me in "real life" I am a book-a-holic! and love to read.

So instead we unpacked...yup still doing that! and organized our new craft cupboard. It is the corner cupboard in the kitchen with 2 lazy Susan's and is now full of unpacked craft & activities. The girls had tea, and the whites got washed and hung out to dry.

Tonight is a Bible School meeting at our house, so we must clean, and sister's class is here tomorrow morning...so we must clean the basement up for the children's class.

I'm trying what my Mom used to do. There was a huge roast on sale the other week, and instead of cutting it up (it's been frozen) I am roasting it all (covered in salt, pepper and garlic) and after having roast beef dinner tonight with mashed spuds and corn & peas (bizarre for midweek) I am going to cut it up into slices and chunks and store the precooked stuff for latter over the next week.

We'll see if that saves me any time in the long run.

Well that washing needs bringing in, a diaper needs changing and spelling list's need to be reviewed....oh and a 2 year old needs to be taught to obey. Oy

God Bless

Do you get the Kraft magazine? It comes out quarterly and usually I look at it and fall in love with all of the recipe ideas, and that's it. Nothing gets baked, stirred or cooked....

But I've fallen into a dinner cooking rut and so this week we've tried 2 so far, and loved both of them! Actually 3 because 1 was a dessert....that was so good.

Tonight we had Slow Cooker Orange Chicken

Toss 8 (boneless skinless) chicken thighs in 3 Tbs of flour in your crock pot

Add 1/3C orange marmalade, 1/3C BBQ sauce, 2 Tbs soy sauce and 1 Tbs fresh grated ginger (the only fiddly part of it)

and you leave it for 3-4 hrs on HIGH, 6-8 hrs on LOW

We had it with stir fried veggies (onion, broccoli, grn pepper & mushrooms) and rice and it was delicious! Now it says it serves 4 but it easily served us 5 (and our kids eat a lot) with leftovers...so I'd say it serves 6.

Thursday we tried the "Creamy beef & noodle bake" from the current issue and it was good too. Again it said it served 4 but obviously these are American portion sizes. We had salad with the dinner and I doubled it because there were 9 of us...and we had 3 servings of leftovers. It was good, but not company-ish enough for me, but it was yummy and creamy. We served the "Chocolate-peppermint stripped delight" for dessert and it was amazing....and yes you should put the extra crushed candy cane pieces on top. We left it out because frankly I forgot...and it could have used the extra mint flavour. You can find these recipes on the Kraft Foods website (google it).

After crushing what was needed in Ziploc bags (and having them brake through and go everywhere....sticky flours are us!) I noticed in a flyer last night that the bulk barn sells CRUSHED candy canes....so this week I am going to buy 3-4 Cups worth and store them in a caning jar for the season. After all I have a bulk barn coupon, so what better use could it be put to!

I see many uses for this new baking staple...think "candy cane hot choco!"

On the house front (yes it is a war zone) the mudroom is clean....and BEHOLD we had a tile flour, I frankly couldn't remember what we put in since it was covered in everything that was dropped there. See it is our main entrance to the house (from the garage), for us anyways, and the coat hooks are in there...and since the shoe bench is in the garage the kids can't reach to hang up their coat....argh. AND it doubles as the laundry room (L-shaped) so I had to organize it, and unpack the 6-7 boxes that we'd stashed in the closet in there during move in. So now we have a system, and I've decided I'm just going to hang up their coats for them.

This weekend was also the great "winter gear" wash and sort time....and surprise surprise Micah's out grown his, why I never thought of this before boggles the mind but I digress. So remember those baskets I got to organize the linen closet for "staging" the last house...they now hold hats (stuffed with a pair of mittens each). 1 for Magoo, 1 for the girls to share, and 1 large one with all the scarves (if I EVER mention knitting more, someone please break my knitting needles!!!!) and hubby's and my stuff.

Other then snow pants (which I cannot find anywhere in his size) Monkey also needed boots...so we sat in the store and tried on boots (our trusty second hand store) for HALF AN HOUR only to come home and discover.....I bought size 7s and we already had that. We needed size 8-9 and they had none so we are keeping the new boats ($5) since they are wider then the ones we had and giving the smaller ones away.

Oh the things we put ourselves through as mothers!

I always get into the organizing mode before winter...do you? Thursday Monkey "helped" me sort all the girls hand me downs and all their toys and we filled 1 bag of garbage and 1 bag to donate....so now we can manage with their broken dresser. 2 girls, 3 full size drawers and 2 mini drawers = must be organized!

Well, I have a Bible school kids program to organize and classes to write so I'd better be off.

God Bless

Remember back "in the day" when we posted our weekly menu, well we're trying to get back into the scheme of things, and since Thursday's are now grocery shopping days, here goes!

Thursday: Creamy Beef & Noodle Bake
Chocolate-Peppermint Stripped Delight (can you tell we're having company!)

Friday: Veggie Stew, Whole Wheat bread, butter

Saturday: Slow-Cooker Orange Chicken

Sunday: Slow-Cooker Soup & Grilled Cheese

Monday: Baked Potatoes & BBQ Sausage

Tuesday: Veggie Stir Fry & Rice

Wednsday: Veggie Stew with Cheese Scones

The other night I was so annoyed, just completely frustrated....and so I went out with a cuppa to watch the sunset over the next door farm field of harvested soy beans. Even though my frustration was from the 3 Monkeys I had to share the beautiful colours of God's sunset with them...

So we bundled them up in 2 quilts that were made by my great-grandma (the girls shared of course!) and watched the sky turn mauve, bright pink and floresant orange.

And this mother went back inside the house feeling completely peaceful.

Outside my Window:
3 C slush falling from the sky

I am Thinking:
Thankfulness for unnumerable blessings

I am Thankful For:
Precious time spent a wonderful niece over from the UK

From the Kitchen:
Mushroom quiche & veggie stew

I am Wearing:
The warmest sweater in my closet!

I am Creating:
Nothing, absolutly nothing...the sewing machine is broken!!

I am Going:
To the Prophecy Day

I am Reading:
The Acts of the Apostles

I am Hoping:
This cold leaves our family soon and we all get better!

I am Hearing:
"Mummy my nose ouchy"

Around the House:
"Return of the Exiles" CD

One of My Fav Things:
Sipping pipping hot tea with the kids