Day 59 {Fat lip}

Yesterday when Bill got home from work I went to the grocery store...not exactly something I do not enjoy doing on a Saturday since its always crazy busy but needed done.    I walked in the door hands full of grocery bags just as Dylan was headed upstairs. 

Bill had sent him to his room for something and he was throwing a fit while climbing the stairs.  As I walked in he turned to look at me and slipped.  He didn't fall but ended up putting his tooth into his lip.  The poor kid was screaming about being sent to his room and then suddenly he has blood pouring from his mouth!    

Here are the many faces of Dylan today after it had healed a bit.  

 

The fun just never stops around here.....

Day 58 {My little Olympian}

Xander has been fascinated by the Olympic games for the past 2 weeks.  Between watching it every chance he gets he also likes to pretend play with Dylan that he is an Olympic athlete.    The over heard conversation today was between Xander and Dylan

Xander:  Lets play superhero Dylan.  I will be the good guy and you can be the bad guy

Dylan :  Who do I get to be?

Xander:  You can be the USA and I will be Canada.  I'm the good guy because Canada has more gold medals than you do.

I think he may be watching TOO much TV!    After that he decided he was going to be a bobsleigher.  He pulled out a bunch of stuffed toys put any helmet he could find on them and lined them up on the couch.  He had a four man team and he used the arm of the couch to  'push start'  

Day 57 {Weather}

Not much happening today...I took one of the pictures for my photography class.  I had to use elements around to show what the weather was like.  How many ways are there to say COLD!

Day 56 {Hockey night in Canada}

Well not really.

Olympic Women's Hockey Gold Medal game though.

Here are my boys cuddled up to watch the game.  Xander finally settled after running around the house with his hockey PJ's and Olympic scarf yelling "GO CANADA GO" 

He had school the next morning so at the end of the second we told him the game was over......lucky for us the score never did change!

Day 55 {Cinnamon Rolls}

Oooey Gooey and made with my own two hands!  Yesterday I made Pioneer Women's Cinnamon Rolls.  I have never actually made anything with yeast before so this a first but  oh my was it worth it!    I ended up making them last night and tonight since the recipe makes SO much ( 8 pans worth)  but it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. 

I started out with a whole lot of dough....

Then rolled them in to this.....

Then baked them and covered them in ooey gooey maple icing.  The recipe called for coffee so of course I had to use the only good coffee around.....

 

and then they looked like this.....

In other news I think I may or may not have gained 5 pounds this week with all my cooking!  Dinner tonight was PW Marinated Flank Steak, Perfect potatoes Au Gratin, and Roasted Asparagus with Hollandaise sauce

The whole dinner was awesome but the potatoes took the cake!  Absolutely amazing....maybe it was because they have garlic in them.

Thanks for looking :)

Day 54 {Trains & toilets don't mix}

For almost a month now my toilet has not been flushing very well.  Bill has attempted to fix it a few times with a snake with no luck.  Today he took the toilet right off and tried again.    Here is what he found......

 

In case your wondering this a piece of train from the kids Geo Trax.

This does not fit down the toilet.  Apparently Ty thought it should. 

Good news is the toilet now flushes fine :)

Day 53 {Salsa baby!}

Today I made SALSA!!! 

No not the stuff from the jar but from actual tomatoes, garlic, jalapeno peppers and all the good stuff that goes in salsa.

I LOVE garlic...so much so that I took a picture of it :)

 

And when I was done it all turned into this....

 

Then Ty got into it....not too much left after all the boys were done.  MMMMM

Another great PW recipe....I will never again buy salsa in a jar.   You can find the recipe HERE

Thanks for looking :)

Day 52 {Shopping trip!}

Today we drove 3.5 hours just to go shopping.  Sometimes i wonder why I ever moved all the way up here when I have to drive that long just to get to a decent shopping mall.  We did have an excuse to go all that way...I was going to check out a new lens for my camera that a guy in Sturgeon Falls was selling.    I did buy it so I now own a decent zoom lens :)   I took a few test shots just to be sure it was what I wanted.  Here is a lovely shot I got from the parking lot of Tim Hortons.

And here is what Bill did while I went in to get a coffee......note he didn't even bother rolling down the window to try out the lens?  And of course he takes a picture of the only thing that catches his eye.

 

On a side note, I did get to go to a BIG bookstore while in Sudbury and picked up a copy of my favorite new bloggers cookbook!  You guessed it I got The Pioneer Women Cooks   by Ree Drummond. 

Oh the recipes in that book.....and pictures.....and stories!  I LOVE it!   My husband does spoil me :) 

Day 51 {dishes}

I give up


I hate doing dishes......

And when I do wash them I have a new problem to deal with.......

How to stop the  2 year old from climbing into my sink and trying to help.......



I give up

Day 50 {OOPS}

I did it again........No picture for the day.  Today I spent the day recovering from all my cooking.  I did nothing all day......well not totally true but seriously unless I post EVERYDAY I can't remember what I did without a picture.   I did however figure out how to make a blog it board.  Here is the result!

Thanks for looking.......although not much to look at :(

Day 49 { more cooking}

I admit to being completely obsessed with The Pioneer Woman  I have been making her recipes for a week now.  My children seem to be enjoying the change in food and I really do like trying out new recipes.  Last night I made her Chicken Spaghetti it turned out pretty good although I'm not a big fan of casseroles.

  The kids liked it and I mainly made it for Bill who actually enjoys food like this.  The only problem is he is on night shift right now and when he came home this morning to have his dinner he opened a bag of tortilla chips and con queso instead of having it.  He apparently forgot I had dinner in there for him.  I think he just preferred to have chips. 

So tonight I was determined to make something he could take in his lunch instead of him stopping at Subway on his way to work.   After some searching on PW's site I found a good compromise for all of us.   Ranch style Chicken  It works for the kids and me as well as Bill since I took it and put it on a panini roll so he could take it in his lunch! 

 

It had to marinate for a few hours but was worth it in the end!

I also made Roasted Garlic and new Potatoes to go with it.  I LOVE roasted garlic so what could be better tan mixing it with some oven roasted taters? 

MMMM  Garlic!














So since I was marinating chicken and in the kitchen anyway I decided to make dessert!  What better to go with all this yummy food than Apple Cake in an Iron Skillet  YUMMY!  And this one was fun to make.

I started out with the apples and butter in the skillet looking oh so pretty.....

 
Then you add some heat and it caramelizes.  Seriously what can beat that?

 

Then on goes the cake batter and into the oven the whole skillet goes!  Comes out looking not bad...

 

But then you flip it over and it look so good!!

 

Add a little vanilla ice cream and voila!  Dinner is served :)  And it was good!

Thanks for looking :)

Day 48 {Cat litter}

I really do love my cat but 10 years later I still HATE changing the cat litter,  I leave it as long as possible before I change it because I can't stand going near it.  it is upstairs hidden away in a little cubby and the only thing that can fit back there is the cat.  Which is good since that means the dog (and Tyler) can't get to it, unfortunately it also means its hard for me to get to it.

So last night I decided it had to be changed because I could smell it and it was GROSS!  So 10:30 at night I get the brilliant idea that I will empty it.  

I really need to check to see if I actually have more litter before I go dumping it all out :(  Sure enough I was completely out and I had already disposed of the old stuff.  So I dumped in some of the rabbits wood chips, lit a scented candle and left it for the night. ( not the candle)

I bought kitty litter today but my hubby being the man that he is ignored me when I asked him to carry the 18 kg box up the stairs for me.  Grrrrr

  So I had to carry that darn thing all the way upstairs, and try to fit into the little corner where the litter is and fill it up.    All 18 kg of it!   I do love my cat but I really wish  he was an outdoor cat some days.

Day 46 & 47 { Some angles just DON'T work}

Day 46: This week for my photography class one of my assignment was to take several pictures of one person from different angles.  This picture just goes to show that shooting up towards a persons nose is not very flattering.....

 

of course I still think he's pretty cute but this was definitely one of the better ones I took!  And I got this "serious" pose.  I think it was more of the "mom I'm trying to watch the Olympics so leave me alone" look.

  Day 47: One of my other assignments was to use reflection. I got half way through trying to get these pictures and the battery died in my camera.  Note to self: Charge the battery once in awhile and don't leave the assignment till three hours before class starts!

Thanks for looking :)

Day 45 {Chocolate & Roses}

Happy Valentines Day!  I woke to a wonderful surprise this morning.....my sweet husband had brought me a dozen roses home and left them out for me.  What a nice thing to wake up to, much better than the mess my kids usually make for me.  I took advantage and used them for one of my photography assignments for class this week.  The assignment was to take a picture of an inanimate object from at least 9 different angles or perspectives.  Here are a few ...I won't bore you with all of them.

 

I made Pioneer Womans Baked Fudge  tonight!  Ohhh what a delicious chocolatey gooey dessert.  Hard and crunchy like a brownie on top but then you dig in and OMG!!  Its like you have died and gone to chocolate heaven.  It was out of this world.  I highly recommend this recipe for anybody who likes chocolate!  

 

Even Ty got in on the Chocolatey Yumminess! 

I hope everybody had a great valentines day with all those you love.   Thanks for looking :)

Day 44 { mmm Pasta}

I was checking out one of my favorite photography sites today and came across a new recipe I thought I would check out.  Ree Drummond the Pioneer Women is my hero....the lady can COOK and takes amazing pictures!   I made her Shrimp Pasta in a foil package to night for dinner and OMG was it ever good!  You can find the recipe HERE

It was so good that even the boys liked it, Ty had 2 plates of it for supper.  I thought it was a great recipe since I had an excuse to go buy a bottle of wine!

 

The pasta is cooked in a package of tinfoil ( in case you couldn't tell from the title of the recipe)  and really smells good while its cooking.  

  

And out of the tinfoil and on my plate......YUMMY!   

 

Next up for tomorrow: Baked Fudge   I didn't have time tonight and am missing a ramekin, which I need to find.  So saving it for tomorrow...my Valentines diner all by myself :(

Day 43 { Valentines party}

Today the boys both had valentines parties at school. They filled out their Bolt valentines they picked out, even Dylan did his by himself! I made little candy bags filled with yummy stuff and a pencil for all the kids in their classes. I had to go out the other day and buy new candy not realizing the chocolate hearts i had bought were made with tree nut oil. Ooops. Not good for a nut free school. So after buying some "nutfree' smarties the bags were all filled and ready to go. Only problem was I totally forgot that it was also red, pink and white day at school. So off to the dollar store I went again and had to get creative. I made little heart headbands and stuck felt heart stickers all over their shirts.

 Not bad for some dollar store creativity!

Day 42 {still sick}

Dylan stayed home from school today since he was still running a fever.  He spent most of the day enjoying the quiet since Xander was at school..  He also took the opportunity to steal his brothers Nintendo DS and hide upstairs with it.  The boy is addicted to the new Mario brothers game!  He must get that from his Aunt meg ;)    he was getting annoyed with the light from his window shining in his eyes so he buried himself under the covers to play.....I had to tell him to stay out of the covers since he was burning up!

Day 41 {White Balance}

Today I decided to try setting a custom white balance with my 18% gray card.  I bought the card at Christmas time and just hadn't tried to use it yet so I thought it was about time.  I set up my custom white balance and took 2 shots of the same thing.  One with my custom WB and with WB on auto.    All i can say is WOW!!!  What a difference it makes when shooting inside with no natural light!

Here is my picture of Hooch with it set on Auto

And here is the same settings of Hooch except I used my gray card to set the white balance.

I think I may be getting more use out of that gray card in the future :)  Dylan came home form school tonight kind of cranky then he was coughing.......I took his temp and sure enough he has a fever.  The poor little guy passed out on the couch at 5:30  I don't think he will be going to school tomorrow.  This is about 3 minutes before he fell asleep....I love his LONG eyelashes.  Wish mine were like that!

Day 40 {Bad mommy}

Tonight after dinner I looked down at Ty's hand and saw three blisters on his fingers.  I have NO idea how he got them.  They looked very recent and had obviously happened in the past hour or so but I really don't know how.  I did not see it happen, the boys couldn't tell me and Bill didn't see it happen either.  I will say we did not hear Tyler crying or screaming though,  I would be screaming if I had a burn like that!   I suspect he may have reached up to the stove while we were cooking dinner, can't think of what else would be hot.  I don't understand why he didn't cry though.......weird kid.   It was definitely something hot because when I go to look at it he says "hot".   I think it looks horrible but the child is not babying it or complaining about it at all.   I if knew how it happened i could try and stop it from happening again but really.....we were in the kitchen most of the time while cooking and he was not....strange. 

Day 39 {Batman}

Once again another one of my assignments for my class.  This time I had to use backlighting so I dressed Dylan up in his Batman costume (he was happy about that) and took a picture.  Not bad for about 5 minutes of trying to get a picture at 7:30 at night when he was ready for bed.  I really need to stop procrastinating with my home work and saving it until the last minute!

Thanks for looking :)

Day 38 {Dress}

A friend of mine is getting married and recently found out she was pregnant.  The dress she purchased over a year ago no longer fits so I offered her mine.  It has been hanging in my closet through quite a few moves and almost 6 years now.  I was saving it in case I had a girl (that didn't happen).  I know if I had had a girl it probably wouldn't have been used as a wedding dress but would have made a great Halloween costume!  LOL

So I pulled it out to try it on for one last time before I parted with it, it actually fit still!  And without having to use the nice tummy tuck get up I had to wear the first time.  I was very impressed about that.   So while I am sad to see it go I know that it will get some use now and not just be hanging in my closet.

Bill and I on our Wedding day.  July 31, 2004

And me in the same dress...don't' mind the picture....Bill took it for me.

 

I think it looked better the first time...or maybe its just a bad picture!   And here it is all ready to be delivered...