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| And of course everyone wants to share, even Brutis. |
Monday, June 18, 2012
Breakfast in Bed
What would Father's Day be without breakfast in bed?
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Happy Father's Day
He is the most amazing father ever.
He is involved.
He engages.
He knows not just how to take the kids out of the house by himself to a park or play place, but he also knows when to do it so I get some space and time alone.
Really, truly, the best!
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| Little Girl and Daddy |
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| Little Boy and Daddy |
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I interviewed the kids about their Daddy, it is pretty funny, enjoy.
Little Girl: I don’t know?
Me: Do you want to guess?
Little Girl: No.
Me: How many numbers do you think Daddy is?
Little Girl: 4
Me: Do you think Daddy is older than you?
Little Girl: No, oh, I know he is 16.
Little Boy: I don’t know?
Me: How many numbers do you think Daddy is?
Little Boy: 3
How tall is Daddy?
Little Girl: Bigger than you.
Little Boy: I don’t know, taller than Mommy (whispered from little girl).
Where does Daddy work?
Little Girl: At his office.
Little Boy: At his work.
What does Daddy do all day at work?
Little Girl: He works.
Me: What kind of work?
Little Girl: Stuff on his computer.
Little Boy: He eats mint chocolate and pushes buttons on his computer.
What does Daddy do when he comes home from work?
Little Girl: He puts his stuff down, takes his jacket off, talks to you, eats lunch, gets dressed (changes is clothes); after he gets dressed then he comes downstairs and sometimes when you go to book club we all go in the basement and play.
Little Boy: He right away goes to bed.
What is Daddy’s favourite food?
Little Girl: Jelly beans, the black ones.
Little Boy: My favourite crackers (Bacon Dippers).
What is Daddy’s favourite colour?
Little Girl: Blue and white.
Little Boy: Blue.
Who is Daddy’s favourite person?
Little Girl: You.
Little Boy: I don’t know? His boss!
What does Daddy like better dgs or cats?
Little Girl: Dogs, no wait he likes cats.
Little Boy: Doggies.
What sports does Daddy play / do?
Little Girl: He plays, ummmm, golf ball.
Little Boy: He plays a game to put some balls in the hole.
What is Daddy’s favourite movie?
Little Girl: Hockey.
Little Boy: Dragon movie - that is my favourite too (How to Train Your Dragon).
Who does Daddy love?
Little Girl: Me and (Little boy) and you, everybody in the family.
Little Boy: Brutis.
Anything you want to tell me about Daddy?
Little Boy: For 3 days when he went to his hotel we had fun with you.
Little Boy: He plays games on his computer.
Friday, June 15, 2012
The Terrible Two’s Were Nothing!
We all know about the Terrible Two’s, and some people
know about the Trying Three’s but what about the Frustrating Four’s?
Personally I thought the Terrible Two’s were a walk in the park, compared to the Trying Three’s –and the Four’s were difficult at times, but wow these fives; so far not fun.
But right now, we have been going through temper tantrum hell.
I thought I would share with you all an example of what I mean when I say F&*#!NG FIVE’s.
2. I told her to get off him.
3. She does not move.
4. I tell her again to get off him – and mention that if she doesn’t – she will get a time-out.
5. She doesn’t move.
6. I tell her to go to her room for a 5 minute time-out.
7. She doesn’t move.
8. I tell her again to go to her room for a time-out and add that I will be putting an ‘X’ on her time-out chart.
9. She screams – NO!!! and runs to the fridge – pulls the time-out chart off the fridge and crumples it up. (see above picture for evidence of said crumpling)
10. I grab it out of her hand – smooth it out – put the X on and put it now much higher out of her reach.
11. I tell her now, Blankie will have a time-out too, unless she goes to her room right away (which means – Blankie goes on top of the fridge for a time out at least double the length of hers).
12. She runs away from me – in the direction of Blankie.
13. I pick her and up and carry her to her room.
14. I retrieve Blankie from her – prying her fingers off.
15. I tell her to stay in her room – and start to walk away.
16. She follows me – hitting me with her fists – yelling at me and telling:
18. Eventually – she is in her room and we actually start the time-out.
See how much fun this is?
I was telling someone at work about this and they said there were more rules and play going on he would need a rule book bigger than the NHL’s.
You see we have been there through all of those, and yet
right now all of those hold nothing, and I mean nothing to the F&*#!NG FIVE’s.
Personally I thought the Terrible Two’s were a walk in the park, compared to the Trying Three’s –and the Four’s were difficult at times, but wow these fives; so far not fun.
Back in September when Little Girl started preschool (age
4) we went through some trying times with her, I attributed it to the change
of starting preschool and looking back I think I was right, about a month later
things settled down and she was back to normal.
But right now, we have been going through temper tantrum hell.
If you have a child 5 years or older, then you know that a
4 or 5 year old temper tantrum is nothing like a two year old’s.
About a week ago, we were dealing with time-out after
time-out, so many in fact that I brought in a Naughty Chart.
Little Girl is allowed 3 time-outs in one day – once she gets that 3rd time-out – she gets a bigger punishment or penalty so to speak – right now – if she gets those 3 boxes filled in one day – she loses the privilege to wear a dress / skirt the next day. This is a big punishment for her – all she wears right now is dresses and skirts.
Little Girl is allowed 3 time-outs in one day – once she gets that 3rd time-out – she gets a bigger punishment or penalty so to speak – right now – if she gets those 3 boxes filled in one day – she loses the privilege to wear a dress / skirt the next day. This is a big punishment for her – all she wears right now is dresses and skirts.
I thought I would share with you all an example of what I mean when I say F&*#!NG FIVE’s.
This happened the other night in our house:
1. She
was bugging her brother – sitting on him or something.2. I told her to get off him.
3. She does not move.
4. I tell her again to get off him – and mention that if she doesn’t – she will get a time-out.
5. She doesn’t move.
6. I tell her to go to her room for a 5 minute time-out.
7. She doesn’t move.
8. I tell her again to go to her room for a time-out and add that I will be putting an ‘X’ on her time-out chart.
9. She screams – NO!!! and runs to the fridge – pulls the time-out chart off the fridge and crumples it up. (see above picture for evidence of said crumpling)
10. I grab it out of her hand – smooth it out – put the X on and put it now much higher out of her reach.
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| Naughty chart - now lives way out of reach. |
11. I tell her now, Blankie will have a time-out too, unless she goes to her room right away (which means – Blankie goes on top of the fridge for a time out at least double the length of hers).
12. She runs away from me – in the direction of Blankie.
13. I pick her and up and carry her to her room.
14. I retrieve Blankie from her – prying her fingers off.
15. I tell her to stay in her room – and start to walk away.
16. She follows me – hitting me with her fists – yelling at me and telling:
- MEAN
MOMMY!
- YOU
GO TO YOUR ROOM FOR A TIME-OUT!
- I AM GOING TO TAKE YOUR BLANKIE AWAY!
18. Eventually – she is in her room and we actually start the time-out.
19. Once
the times goes, I tell her to come downstairs and we talk about what she did
wrong and why she got the punishment she did.
20. She
apologises and gets Blankie back from her time-out spot on top of the fridge.
See how much fun this is?
I was telling someone at work about this and they said there were more rules and play going on he would need a rule book bigger than the NHL’s.
I know every child is different, every stage is different
for each child – but I am so ready to be over this one. Please tell me it gets better. Please let this be a phase.
I do want to add that I have been working on me being
calm throughout the whole thing – and it has been working – it is kind of hard
to tell your child not to yell at you or their brother when you have just screamed
at them, right?
Anyone have any tips, tricks, advice?
One thing I have filed in my brain and often think of as
we are battling it out:
Little kids; little problems
Big kids; big problems
So I will enjoy this time when a 10 minute time out and
the loss of privilege to wear a dress the next day is all I have to think
about.
One day I will have to take away car privileges. I don’t even want to think about the reason
why that might happen. Oye!
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Barley Risotto
This recipe came from my sister, I have no idea where she got it from and what modifications she did, but it is fantastic.
The only thing I think I would change next time would be to reduce the amount of oil, maybe 2 tablespoons instead of 1/4 cup? Thoughts? This was my first time ever making any version of risotto, do I really need that much oil?
Barley Risotto
4 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 1/2 - 2 cups white wine
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup pearl barley
1 small onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Salt & pepper to taste
Fresh parsley
Combine chicken broth and wine in a pot, bring to a boil, reduce heat to keep simmering.
Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pot, saute the barley until lightly toasted. Add the onion and garlic and continue sauteing until the onion is transparent.
With the heat on medium, start adding your broth / wine 1/2 cup at a time. Stir continually and add more broth once the previous 1/2 cup had been absorbed.
This will take you at least 30 minutes, barley should be al dente. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed - keep in mind you are about to add Parmesan cheese (which is very salty).
Turn the heat off, add the Parmesan, stir and cover. Let sit for 5 minutes.
Add fresh parsley and serve.
Yield: makes about 4 servings.
Enjoy!
The only thing I think I would change next time would be to reduce the amount of oil, maybe 2 tablespoons instead of 1/4 cup? Thoughts? This was my first time ever making any version of risotto, do I really need that much oil?
Barley Risotto
4 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 1/2 - 2 cups white wine
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup pearl barley
1 small onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Salt & pepper to taste
Fresh parsley
Combine chicken broth and wine in a pot, bring to a boil, reduce heat to keep simmering.
Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pot, saute the barley until lightly toasted. Add the onion and garlic and continue sauteing until the onion is transparent.
With the heat on medium, start adding your broth / wine 1/2 cup at a time. Stir continually and add more broth once the previous 1/2 cup had been absorbed.
This will take you at least 30 minutes, barley should be al dente. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed - keep in mind you are about to add Parmesan cheese (which is very salty).
Turn the heat off, add the Parmesan, stir and cover. Let sit for 5 minutes.
Add fresh parsley and serve.
Yield: makes about 4 servings.
Enjoy!
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
On My Nightstand - Atonement
Atonement - by Ian McEwan
Source: borrowed book (372 pages)
On the back cover:
On the hottest day of the summer of 1935, thirteen-year-old
Briony Tallis sees her sister Cecilia strip off her clothes and plunge into the
fountain in the garden of their country house. Watching her is Robbie
Turner, their childhood friend.
By the end of the day Robbie and Cecilia will have crossed a
boundary they had not even imagined as its start, and Briony will have
witnessed mysteries and committed a crime that resonates through the war
and through the characters' entire lives.
My thoughts:
I had heard rave reviews of this book and so when it was chosen for book club, I was really looking forward to reading it. And then I started reading it and honestly, if it wasn't a book club pick, I probably would have stopped reading.
The first half of this book is so long and drawn out, I kept thinking, 'seriously, when is Briony going to commit this crime?' The first half of the book reminded me a lot of Cutting For Stone - just in that the story took so long to develop and bored me to death.
As boring as the first half of the book was, the second half more than made up for it and made me put this book down and declare it a fantastic book.
If you are reading this book and like me feeling like it will never end, push through, trust me it gets so much better.
My rating: 4 out of 5.
Monday, June 11, 2012
Rhubarb Crumble Cake
If you are from a small town in Canada, there is a good chance you grew up with a garden in your back yard.
There is also a good chance that this garden had a rhubarb plant or two.
And if you didn't, I'm sure you knew at least 5 people who did have sone in their back yard.
Last year when I planted my garden I also planted some rhubarb, and as well as it is doing this year, it needs at least another year to really get going and give me what I want.
What I want?
I want a whole lot of rhubarb.
I have no idea when I started to fall in love with rhubarb. I have never and will never pick a stalk and just eat it. No, for me rhubarb is all about being cooked, whether it is cooked into jam, pie or crisp, I have always liked it.
But I have a confession to make.
It is not so much about eating the food it makes, I am more in love with actually making it than anything else.
So this year, as I looked sadly on my small rhubarb plant and realized I will not get much more than 1 Crisp out of it, I found someone to help me with my burning desire to make Strawberry Rhubarb Jam and Rhubarb Crisp. Unknown to me, my sister had 3 mature rhubarb plants growing in her back yard - why she did not tell me this last year, I have no idea.
This past Saturday, I took Little Boy and headed up to do some harvesting.
Did I say there were 3 plants?
There were 3 overgrown Rhubarb plants!
Do you know how much rhubarb that will give a girl? Pretty much a black garbage bag full of rhubarb stalks.
I put out a tweet asking for some suggestions other than jam and pie, and a twitter friend of mine replied that she has her Great Grandmother's family favourite recipe for Rhubarb Crumble Cake - do I want the recipe?
Hell yeah I do!
So this is what I made.
I know why this is a family favourite. It is absolutely delicious.
It lets the rhubarb shine through and is not overly sweet which I find in some rhubarb recipes.
If you are a fan of rhubarb like me, trust me, you will love this one.
And if you don't have any growing in your back yard - let me know, I just might share with you.
There is also a good chance that this garden had a rhubarb plant or two.
And if you didn't, I'm sure you knew at least 5 people who did have sone in their back yard.
Last year when I planted my garden I also planted some rhubarb, and as well as it is doing this year, it needs at least another year to really get going and give me what I want.
What I want?
I want a whole lot of rhubarb.
I have no idea when I started to fall in love with rhubarb. I have never and will never pick a stalk and just eat it. No, for me rhubarb is all about being cooked, whether it is cooked into jam, pie or crisp, I have always liked it.
But I have a confession to make.
It is not so much about eating the food it makes, I am more in love with actually making it than anything else.
So this year, as I looked sadly on my small rhubarb plant and realized I will not get much more than 1 Crisp out of it, I found someone to help me with my burning desire to make Strawberry Rhubarb Jam and Rhubarb Crisp. Unknown to me, my sister had 3 mature rhubarb plants growing in her back yard - why she did not tell me this last year, I have no idea.
This past Saturday, I took Little Boy and headed up to do some harvesting.
Did I say there were 3 plants?
There were 3 overgrown Rhubarb plants!
Do you know how much rhubarb that will give a girl? Pretty much a black garbage bag full of rhubarb stalks.
I put out a tweet asking for some suggestions other than jam and pie, and a twitter friend of mine replied that she has her Great Grandmother's family favourite recipe for Rhubarb Crumble Cake - do I want the recipe?
Hell yeah I do!
So this is what I made.
I know why this is a family favourite. It is absolutely delicious.
It lets the rhubarb shine through and is not overly sweet which I find in some rhubarb recipes.
If you are a fan of rhubarb like me, trust me, you will love this one.
And if you don't have any growing in your back yard - let me know, I just might share with you.
Rhubarb Crumble Cake
Bottom:
2 cups flour
½ cup butter, at room temperature
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 egg, beaten
Top:
4 cups fresh rhubarb, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
1 ½ cups sugar
½ cup melted butter
½ cup flour
2 eggs, beaten
Bottom:
2 cups flour
½ cup butter, at room temperature
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 egg, beaten
Top:
4 cups fresh rhubarb, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
1 ½ cups sugar
½ cup melted butter
½ cup flour
2 eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons white sugar
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
Bottom:
Place all the ingredients into a stand mixer and mix using the paddle attachment. Scrap down once or twice to make sure the butter gets incorporated. Take out ¾ cup of this mixture and set aside for the topping.
Press the rest into a greased 8x11 pan.
Top:
Mix everything together in a large bowl, pour over bottom, cover with reserved crumble topping. Mix together cinnamon and sugar, and sprinkle on top, using more or less to your liking.
Bake at 350 F for 1 hour.
Enjoy.
Source: MamaMonkey on twitter.
Wednesday, June 06, 2012
A Public Service Annoucement for Bloggers
It seems like everyone and their dog has a blog, and if they don’t have a blog, they have started one.
Is this because everyone thinks they have something to
say but then realize no one is listening?
Or is it because people realize just how much time you have
to dedicate to a blog to make it a success?
Whatever the reason, I have seem quite a few friends recently
start blogs only to get a few posts up and before I know it, 6 months have
passed and no new posts.
Now, I am not saying I am any better, I have gone through
my periods of no posts, it is just an observation I have made recently.
But I did want to give a little tip to some bloggers I follow out there (and I think might follow me).
The biggest annoyance I have with blogs is word
verification.
Word verification pops up when someone tries to comment
on your site – on blogger if you don’t turn it off. Apparently this is to prove that I am a real
person commenting on your site and not a robot.
Please, please – TURN IT OFF!! Is your blog really that popular that you are
getting robo-comments all the time and you have no time to manage them?
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| I took a screen shot of a friends blog I was going to comment on today - see how much fun that word is to figure out - and honestly - that is an easy one. |
That’s right folks – you might enjoy trying to decipher those cryptic words, but I hate it. I often get them wrong and have to re-try – and so, when I see that pop up – I often cancel my comment.
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| Check out how many comments the Pioneer Woman got on this post - 48,023 - and no word verification! |
Oh, and don’t even get me started on blogs that need to
approve my comment before it will appear on the site – I will save that one for
another day.
Anyone else with me?
Or am I the only one who does not like word verification?
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