Banana Art

At lunch yesterday the kids were eating some banana.  I gave Chancery a chunk & she quickly gnawed away at it until it was only about 1/2 and inch tall.  She set it down on her plate & said, “Potty!”

 

I didn’t really know what she was talking about, so I didn’t really acknowledge her.  Apparently my response was less than satisfactory.  Chancery then announced, “Mummy, Mummy, Mummy!  Chancery made a potty!”

 

Indeed, it did look much like a child’s potty chair.  However, I was just trying to get the kids to eat their fruit.  After that she refused to eat anymore.  Maybe she felt she just couldn’t top a masterpiece like that.

Sunday Pictures

Asher - 3.5 years

Chancery - 1.5 years

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Chancery: “Asher, today I’m going to teach you how to be a ballerina… or is it ‘ballerino’ if you’re a boy?”

 

Chancery: “I guess it doesn’t matter too much.  Anyway, stand like so, with your heels together.”

 

Chancery: “I guess that’s close enough, then we’re going to kick up one leg.”

 

Asher: “Like this, Chancery?”

 

Chancery: “Sure, and when you get good like me, you can kick it WAY up, like this!”

Meetings

With PChad having his office in the house, the main reason he leaves is to go to meetings.  The kids have caught on to this trend & Chancery decided to turn it into a sort of game.

She put her hoodie up & declared that she was off to a meeting.  After she walked around the halls for awhile she came back to tell me, “All done meeting!”

 

Eggplant Parmesan

Fake Eggplant Parmesan

I never know how to cook Eggplant, so I never buy it, but when McMommy posted this recipe awhile ago, I figured I’d give it a shot… AND IT WAS SOOOO GOOD!  But, just so you know, it doesn’t reheat well, so I’d advise just making enough for your meal & not necessarily doing the whole eggplant.

 
1 eggplant, peeled and sliced into rounds (not too thin but not too thick)
2 eggs, beaten
Italian seasoned bread crumbs
Spaghetti sauce
Shredded mozzarella cheese
Grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. 
Drizzle of olive oil all over a baking tray.  Dip the eggplant slices in the egg, then the bread crumbs.  Give it a good breading on both sides. Then lay them on the baking tray. Repeat for all remaining slices (do not overlap...make sure they are all a single layer) and then put in oven at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Flip slices, add another drizzle of olive oil if needed, and then bake for another 10 minutes. (They will come out nice and crispy this way!)
After they are done, drizzle some spaghetti sauce over and around them.  Then sprinkle some mozzarella and parmesan cheese on top. Also give it a nice sprinkling of dried basil. Bake for another 20 minutes or so, until cheese is nice and melted and golden brown.  Enjoy!

The Moment Between –Review

It took me awhile to get into this book, and by awhile, I mean six chapters.  If I was the type of person who could stop reading books once I started them, I’m pretty sure I never would have finished the book, but by chapter nine I had come around & decided it was a pretty good read.

It’s the story of Abigail, a woman who grew up having to act as a mother to her bi-polar sister.  Her father clearly favoured her sister to her, and that has influenced much of the way she lives.  When tragedy strikes, Abigail flees to Canada and finds hope in an unlikely source.

If you have the tenacity to stick through the first few chapters, I’d recommend this book, but if you don’t have a whole lot of time to devote to reading, then I’d say you could pass this one by.

Affirmative

Chancery has decided to answer questions with “Yeah” rather than “Yes” lately, and PChad & I have been trying really hard to correct that habit of hers.  Of course, that makes us more conscious of all the times WE say “Yeah” as well.

 

So, we ask her a question, she answers, “Yeah!” we ask her to say “yes” instead, & on it goes.

 

Of late, she has decided this can become a fun game.  When we ask her to say “yes,” she instead started answering, “Yes, SIR!”  I tried telling her that I’m not a sir, but she just got more determined that this was a funny answer.

 

Better yet, a few days ago instead of saying, “Yes, Sir,” she began to answer with, “Yes, in the army!”  We were a bit puzzled until we heard Asher singing, “I’m in the Lord’s Army…” later that night.

 

Watching a child’s sense of humour develop is a wonderful thing.

Sunday Pictures

Asher – 3.5 years

Chancery – 1.5 years

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The Hokey-Pokey, an instruction manual in pictures…

Asher: “You put your left foot in…”

Asher: “No, that’s the wrong leg, Chancery.”

Asher: “Where are you going, Chancery?”

Chancery: “I’m just putting my whole self in!”

Asher: “You put your whole self out…”

Asher: “You do the Hokey-Pokey…”

Asher: “And THAT is what it’s all about!”

Asher: “Woo!!!”

Drowning Man

Drowning really is no laughing matter, but now everytime I see someone write “lol” I see this little man struggling to stay afloat.

Big Foot

We have started using the deck now that the weather has turned nice, which means that our shoes get left by the back door from time to time.  Chancery has found this to be dreadfully entertaining!

She calls out, “Mummy’s shoes, Mummy’s shoes!” whenever she finds them, & gets very upset if we put them away in the back entrance!

He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not

We’ve had a few nice days & decided it was time to take the bicycles out of storage.  Asher overheard us & asked, “Whose bike do I get to ride on?”

I told him, “I think your seat is on my bike.”

Asher: “I want to ride on Daddy’s bike because I love him!”

Me: “Well, what about me?”

Asher: “Yes, I love you too, but you’re not my most best favourite.”

At least he does love me.

Saturday Easter Fun

Saturday we had some friends over for an Easter egg hunt.  PChad & one of the other dads hid all the eggs, & of course left a few in quite obvious places.

 

The five children eagerly raced out to find the eggs, but the older 4 seemed oblivious to the ones placed in the middle of the lawn.  Chancery had quite a fun time stumbling upon those that the others had left behind.

 

After the hunt was over, we lined the kids up for a group photo.

Asher must have had something really good in his egg to have gotten everyone’s attention!

The Easter bunny was quite generous this year!

 

Asher & Chancery had so much fun that they asked to have another egg hunt on Monday…

so we did, sans candy…

 

Sunday Pictures

Asher – 3.5 years

Chancery – 1.5 years

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Trying to capture the kids in the “…eeese!” part of “Cheese!” can be somewhat trying sometimes…

Asher: “Ch…”

Chancery : “…eese!”

Asher: “…eese!”

but Chancery has her eyes closed…

Chancery: “Oh sorry, I wasn’t paying attention.”

Asher: “…”

Chancery: “…eese!”

VICTORY!!

Good Friday Pictures

Asher – 3.5 years

Chancery – 1.5 years

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Chancery: “Mum, I have to admit, I’m not entirely comfortable with this today.”

Asher: “I would really like to have that red car of hers.”

   Chancery: “You see?  He’s always eyeing my stuff.  I think I’ll put some space between us.”

CSN Giveaway Winners!

Thanks to all who entered for the giveaway!  I used Random.org to choose the winners & the winner of the Leap Frog Fridge Phonics is Erica V!

The winner of the Melissa & Doug Lacing cards is KristiAnn Stecker!  Congrats to the winners!

Happy Friday!

Improvising

I have never enjoyed cooking.  When we first got married I was thrown into the role of “home chef” since PChad was going to school full time & working on the farm, & immigration laws kept me from doing anything.

So, I attempted to learn to cook, but no matter how hard I tried, it seemed that my meat dishes were always over cooked.  My MIL stepped in in an attempt to not see her son wither away to nothing, and under her tutelage I learned that cooking was going to take a lot of work.

See, I grew up baking, and I had learned that measurements had to be precise, recipes had to be followed.  I knew my baking spices, but had never learned much about cooking.  I had no idea what half the spices on my spice rack tasted like, or how to pair them.

My MIL is an AWESOME cook.  She can look through her cupboard, see what’s there & whip something up.  I, on the other hand, have to look at a recipe, see that I have all the ingredients on hand & follow the directions to a T.  And I still have trouble cooking meat.

So, she tried to teach me, her methods being more of a “add spices ‘til it tastes good,” & “cook it until it’s done.”  One time we needed to make a few stews, so we assembled them together & I took mine home to cook it.  Hers was great, mine not so much.  I think I have a gift.

A few weeks ago I was making lasagne & realized that I didn’t have enough mozzarella for the top layer, so I decided it was time to improvise & use the cheese that I did have… string cheese.


And at dinner that night I discovered something about myself… I still don’t have a clue.  It was the most rubbery lasagne I’ve ever had, and I don’t mean that in a good way.  We had to scrape the top layer off because it was that bad.  I think I’ll just stick with the recipes’ instructions from now on.