Almost Famous?

Seems that naming Chancery after a Tube Station in London, was a rarity. We have since been mentioned in a Telegraph Article, on a Radio Programme on the BBC (start listening at 49 min), and we've been Twittered.

All for taking this name & bestowing it upon this sweet girl

The Music Video

I'm a big fan of the Office. I think the TV show is genius, but I've been following the characters on Twitter for awhile too, & the dialogs b/w Ryan & Kelly are usually hilarious. This season has seen the addition of Erin, as the new receptionist & it didn't take Kelly long to take Erin under her wing.

Apparently, Ryan slammed Kelly's finger in his car door & was unrepentant about it. Kelly decided to take action.

Here's the video:

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He Comes By It Honestly

As I mentioned in my "100 Things About Me" post, I eat candies (and quite a few other foods) in pairs. Apparently this trait can be passed down from generation to generation. Asher has been caught doing the same thing with his fruit snacks on multiple occasions.

He has been known to get upset that there is only one yellow, because it needs another one to go with it. I think it's kind of funny that he has picked up on this little habit of mine, since I don't think he has actually witnessed it. I very rarely eat candies in front of the kids, because they would want some & I like to give them healthier treats.

There is one problem with Asher & I having the same tendencies..... now when he ends up with an odd number, he gives the last one to me, but how am I supposed to eat just one fruit snack?

Julie & Julia -Review

When I first heard about the movie "Julie & Julia", it intrigued me. Granted, it wouldn't have been my first choice of a movie to go see, but I figured that if someone else was going & invited me along, I wouldn't object to seeing it.

Well, the opportunity never came for me to see the movie, but a friend of mine lent me the book. Over the last few weeks I've been slowly plugging away & finally finished it the other night.

After reading the book, I can say that I am glad I didn't shell out the cash to see the film. I'm not saying it was a bad film or a bad book, but it just wasn't up my alley.

I could connect a bit with the main character at the beginning as she decided to teach herself how to cook. I'm not that great a cook & it's not one of my favourite things to do, but as the book went on I just was finding myself turned off more & more by all the details about cooking! I almost felt like I was in the kitchen wasting hours of my time trying to get the oil to drop in the mayonnaise just right, when I personally couldn't care less!

She also started a blog about her cooking experiences. I could relate here too. It was a way for her to connect with the outside world. A way for her to share her triumphs & struggles with complete strangers, who for one reason or another have deemed her blog worth reading.

There were funny moments & there were times that the book just seemed to drag for me. I wouldn't say that it was a bad book, it just wasn't something I was very interested in. I would recommend it for people who are interested in cooking & like to read, but it just wasn't my cup o' tea.

Pat Update

A few months ago, I wrote about my friend Pat, who had broken his neck, and was now believing that God would heal him. Here's an update:

Sunday Pictures

Asher - 3 years
Chancery - 1 year
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I know you aren't thrilled about sitting here yet again, but why don't you tell everyone about your new things?

Chancery: "Have you seen my new slippers? I just LOVE them! I call them shoes, but it's the same thing!"

Asher: "And I got a new shirt! It has buttons, and when I get to church I'll tell my teacher that I'm hot, and then I can open all the buttons & take my shirt off all by myself!"

Smart Woman

I just had to share this commercial:







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How To Drive Me Crazy

I have a natural tendency to put things where they belong. Books should be put in the shelf in order, toys should be put away where with similar toys, etc.

It is interesting to see that the kids are picking up on that tendency & follow suit. Occasionally I will leave something out so I can use it again easily & quite often Asher or Chancery will find that it is not in the proper spot & move it back to where it should be.

Sometimes I wish PChad would jump on the bandwagon. The other day I asked him to get a drink for Chancery & not long after, discovered her walking around with an unmatched cup.

It seriously drove me crazy. I tried to ignore it, but I just couldn't. How could he not put the matching lid on the cup? They aren't even CLOSE to matching!

Etiquette Lessons

Saturday morning we took our traditional trip to McDonald's for breakfast. After the kids had finished eating, they went off to play on the playground, but it didn't take long for Asher to find someone to talk with.

There was a man at a nearby table with 2 boys who were a little older than Asher. Age makes no difference to Asher; he'll talk to anyone, but seems to prefer adults to children.

He started talking to the man, & we decided to listen in, just to make sure that if he became an annoyance, we could step in & remove him.

Asher: "Man, you need to get your elbows off the table. It's not good manners!"

The man looked a bit taken aback & looked around for this up-front child's parents.

PChad apologized to him from the safety of our table, & the gentleman shrugged it off. But Asher was determined to teach this man some manners, so he repeated his missive, "Man, take your elbows off the table!"

This time the man complied, & we told Asher to leave him alone. Sadly, the lesson didn't stick, for either the man, or Asher.

The man had just taken his elbows off the table, & Asher ran up to him & told him yet again, that he shouldn't have his elbows up on the table.

Some lessons are harder to learn than others.

It's Bananas!

Last night Asher awoke crying in the middle of the night. I waited a few minutes to see if he was still asleep, but he kept crying, so I went in to ask what was the matter.

He said, "I wanted the last bite of Chancery's banana, but you ate it first!"

Now, I am not a fan of bananas. I don't like their taste, I don't like their texture. I don't even like banana bread, so there was no possible way that Asher was talking about an actual event.

I told him, "I didn't eat any banana, you had a dream about bananas. Dreams are stories that happen in your head while you are sleeping."

Asher replied, "No I didn't! You ATE the banana, & I wanted it!"

I could see that there was not going to be any reasoning with him (& frankly, I didn't want to put in the time to try to do so), so I told him that if he still wanted a banana in the morning when he woke up, he could have one at breakfast.

This morning he had no interest in having a banana, but he sure enjoyed explaining his dream to Daddy!

Sunday Pictures

Asher - 3 years
Chancery - 1 year
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He's Been Listening!

The kids & I were at a charity shop yesterday & Asher got settled right in playing with the toys. I decided to look at the kids' clothes, but since they are across the store I thought I should let Asher know where I was, just in case he looked up & I wasn't right there.

Me: "Asher, I'm going to go look at the clothes a minute."

Asher: "Ok, you better go and do that then." (sounding a bit like what we tell him when he tells us he has to go to the washroom)

Asher: "When your body tells you that you need to do that, you need to listen to it."

I'm not quite sure that he was paying attention to where I said I was going. I think if he had decided to look for me, he would've been looking in the washroom rather than amongst the clothing racks.



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Who Can It Be Now?

There's a penguin in the house.....





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An Improvement

Remember this post from a few years ago? Well, I finally got around to doing something about those bushy eyebrows. I asked a friend to help me out & she was almost TOO happy to offer her assistance.

Now, I've never really done much with my eyebrows, but I figured it was high time I did. On the way home from church last week, Asher started asking me about my eyebrows & I figured that if my 3 year old son was noticing these kinds of things, I must look a sight.

Before

So, last night I went over to my friend's house & she quite cheerfully waxed & shaped & trimmed those puppies into submission. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it didn't really hurt very much, maybe I'll even have it done again sometime in the next 30 years!

After

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Beautiful Trees

We have these great trees on one side of our yard that mark the boundary b/w our yard & the neighbour's. I'm starting to get a bit worried about them though b/c we noticed the other day they have something resembling mushrooms on them.


We have no idea how they got there, what they are, or what to do about them. If you have any ideas, please could you inform us? If they kill my trees, I'll be gutted.




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Creativity Fostered

I'm hoping to get my kids to think outside the box & be creative. I want them to be able to use their imaginations & spark new ideas. I dream of the day that they can entertain themselves for hours on end with a cardboard tube.....






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Sunday Pictures

Asher - 3 years
Chancery - 1 year
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Asher: "My very own cow slippers are going to say 'cheese' too."

Chancery: "He is so funny, Mum!"

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The Funny Tree

Often I hear from the backseat, "Mummy, you know that funny tree? The one that goes ALL over the place? I LIKE that tree!"


This is the tree in question. We found it a few weeks ago when we were randomly driving around to see if we could find a fun place to explore. It's at the end of a road not far from our house. We stopped one day to walk in the forest & as we got to the end of the path, there was this tree.



It's not very difficult to climb, and you can't go very high, but it's just the perfect tree for a 3 year-old to spend half an hour going up & down, up & down, expending all that pent-up energy, while his sister goes running off down the path in the opposite direction!


It's just too bad that the rainy season has come & the days we can be outside are fewer & fewer.





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Does He Get It From Books?

Sunday Asher was having a little trouble with his belt. He doesn't wear one often, but he gets really excited about wearing them when his trousers are a bit too big for him. He tried for quite awhile by himself in his room, to get it just right, but it was proving too difficult for him. Finally he came to find PChad & I overheard him say, "I tried & tried to get my belt on, alas, I could not."

Honestly, what 3 year-old uses "alas" properly in a sentence?




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Self-Filled Cupcakes

I decided the other day, that since cream cheese was on sale, it was time to make some of these cupcakes, since they are DIVINE! So I pulled out the cake mix, the sugar, counted the eggs, got the cream cheese, & the chocolate chips. I had even made a special trip to find cupcake papers after I realized that I had forgotten to pick them up at the grocery store.

Next I began looking for the muffin tins. I couldn't find them anywhere, but since I had the cupcake papers, I figured I could just put them in a 9x13. Trial & error, my friends, and this was an error. I had to work really fast in order for the cake part not to ooze out of the papers, but in the end it worked alright. Next time I'll most definitely get some of the proper pans first.

Like most of the foods I make, they don't look great, but they taste marvelous! Here's the recipe in case you're interested:

1 pkg Choc Cake Mix
* * *
8 oz Cream Cheese -softened
1/3 C Sugar
1 Egg
Dash Salt
1 C Semi-sweet Choc Chips

Mix cake mix according to directions. Fill paper cups in muffin pans 2/3 full. Cream the cheese w/ sugar; beat in egg & salt. Stir in choc chips. Drop 1 rounded teaspoon into each cupcake. Bake as package directs. Makes about 30.

I had some extra of the filling, so I just put that into cupcake cups as well & baked it w/ all the rest. Delicious!






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New Nephew!

Congratulations to my brother Brian & his lovely wife, Brenda on the arrival of their first baby! Noah was born in the wee hours of the morning, & both mum & baby are doing fine. He's beautiful & we can't wait to meet him!









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Sunday Pictures

Asher - 3 years
Chancery - 1 year
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Asher, you need to sit down properly, so I can see your face

Asher: "How's this? CHEEZIES!"

Chancery: "He has a toy & I want it!"

Asher: "Are you going to make me share?"

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Poppin' Bubbles!

After watching Asher do this for awhile, Chancery thought she'd better have a go as well.

Bacon Ranch Chicken

Bailey's Leaf is hosting a Crock-Pot fest today, so here's a new favourite recipe of ours. Click on the link for more recipes!





Bacon Ranch Chicken

3 T Bacon Bits
1 t Chopped Garlic
1 pkg Ranch Dressing Mix
1 can Cream of Chicken Soup
1/2 C Milk
1 C Sour Cream
4 Chicken Breasts

Place the chicken in crock-pot.
Mix ingredients in bowl & pour over chicken.
Cook on low 3-4 hours.
Serve over Egg Noodles.

It's super easy & quick to make, so it's my kind of recipe!