My stolen wallet

I've never had anything stolen before, but it finally happened... at my grandmother's funeral. My wallet was unattended although in the same room as my family sat down to eat the meal the church's hospitality committee put together. It was in the stroller basket, under the diaper bag. Seriously. Luckily my social insurance card, birth certificate and health card with at home. But I had to cancel credit/debit cards, license, video store card, airmiles, rewards etc. What a pain! You should see my license. I thought I could just get it reissued but because there are new rules (you can't smile anymore... like a passport photo) I had to get a new pic taken. I had arrived at the DMV without a hair and makeup crew. I was in pigtails. Real classy!

I'm still hoping someone will mail it to me! I loved the wallet. It had Emily Strange on it (given as a gift for my birthday) and the saying "Strange is not a crime" which is perfectly suited for me!

What's Cooking Wednesday - Issue 17

Beef Stroganoff...

I found this recipe on through food.com (the original recipe is hosted on Recipezaar #247292) although I modified it a bit to work with what I had in the house. The boys are going through a no sauce phase but I was hoping this would change their minds... It didn't, of course, but I found it quite yummy. As always, visit the home of WCW over at Shan's Blog.

Ingredients:
8 oz uncooked noodles
1 beef bouillon cube
1 garlic clove, minced
1/3 cup chopped onion
1 1/2 cups fresh, sliced mushrooms (I used cremini)
2 tbsp oil
1 lb stewing beef cut into cubes
2 tbsp flour
salt to taste
1/2 tsp paprika
1 can cream of mushroom soup, diluted with 1/2 cup water
1 cup sour cream

Directions:
Start cooking noodles but add a bouillon cube to the boiling water before adding noodles.
Brown garlic, onion, beef and mushrooms in the oil. Add the flour, salt and paprika, stir and let simmer 5 mins. Add soup and water and cook on low for 10 mins. Stir in sour cream and heat through.

To serve, make a pile of noodles and top with the beef sauce. Enjoy!

Let's try this again

I've had to redo the layout again as I couldn't get my music player to work otherwise. It's times like these I really want to learn html, css etc so I could just make a blog myself!

We get along...

It's not often that I see the boys playing with their sister. Oh, Addison tries to play with them, but they are usually absorbed in some sort of imaginative, role-playing game, and although they assign Addison a specific superhero name/task, it's not often that she can perform what they require. I'm sure that will change as she grows but for now, I'm happy when I catch the odd time when they boys are enjoying spending some time with her. Enter the sandbox. Tyler is not overly fond of the sandbox anymore but Quinten and Addison could spend hours in there. We are fortunate to has some very generous friends to give us this box which has a slatted cover to protect it from rain and snow and also makes good ramps for their vehicles.



Doesn't it look like Addison is dumping a shovel-full on her brother? I wouldn't put it past her!

Tyler's School Project

Tyler's Grade One class has been reading Flat Stanley (a story of a boy who got flattened by a bulletin board... he's fine, just flat). The class has been given a project to create their own Flat Stanley and send him on a trip to someone outside our area (part of their letter writing series where they learn proper formatting of letters, addressing and Tyler's favourite part, the stamp). One of Ty's friends is sending his Stanley to his Uncle in Hong Kong so Tyler wanted to send his Flat Stanley a fair distance away. I have a cousin in Washington State with 2 little boys (the same age as my guys roughly) so I contacted her to see if Stanley would be welcome to visit. We looked at how far Washington State is from our area and it's further than Cuba (which is the only distance Tyler can relate to... he remembers having to take a plane to Cuba so it Washington is further than Cuba it must be SO far away!!). My cousin KellyAnn is so much fun. Her response was, "We would love for Stanley to come for a visit!!!! :D Let me know when his bags are packed and he's on his way!!!" I only wish we lived closer. Although we only talk a couple of times a year, she's one of those people you can just pick up where you left off. And when I see her, I'm constantly reminded of how much see looks like my Dad's side of the family. Of all the cousins, she looks most like my Grandma.

Anyway, KellyAnn is a labour and delivery nurse and I think you can see the mountains from their place so I think Stanley will have a exciting, fantastic vacation. Tyler is so excited. He wants to cut out paper luggage to send along. Thank you KellyAnn, Derek, Mark and Evan for hosting! Can't wait to see what adventures Stanley will have!

Curious Habits...

From dumping her plate of food on her tray and then using the plate as a hat...



To finding almost empty chip bags and licking the inside out...



To stealing the spice containers as I'm making dinner... Addison has very curious habits.

Addison also has a very curious hairline for a girl... very much a mullet (short in front, long in back). It really doesn't grow too much at the sides. I've started wearing pigtails to keep my hair out of my face and Addison pulls out the elastics and asks to wear them. Here she is hamming it up for the camera (holding the aforementioned spice container)...

15 Days

My Grandma passed away this afternoon. She was surrounded by 8 of her 11 children and she died peacefully. Dad said she just took a breath and then she was gone. He said it was hard to see her go, but good to see her go.

She lived an amazing 91 years and taught me a lot about life. She was a remarkable woman.

Day 15...

Grandma is still kicking. If fact, she's sleeping comfortably and showing no signs of discomfort when she's turned over or when her vital signs are taken. It's like she's in a trance. It's been 15 days since her last stroke (which took away her ability to swallow, so we can't give her anything or she'll choke) and the last time she had anything to eat/drink (her mouth is being swabbed but that's it from what I'm told). She's not on an I.V. She's just sleeping.

Every time the phone rings, or the email dings I think "well, this is it" and "it" still hasn't happened. My aunt has been there overnight for the past 15 days and one of the uncles from out west has already flown it... I wonder how long she can last without anything... I googled it and the general concensus is up to eight weeks with water, 3 to 5 without. I'm just not sure that swabbing the mouth would be considered water in-take... So we wait.

What's Cooking Wednesday - Issue 16

Like Shan (home of What's Cooking Wednesday, check it out!) I was in a muffin mood. Also a chocolate mood. I didn't have any butter, but I did have some yogurt I needed to use. I've found Food.com pretty handy lately. It's an online database for recipes. Basically, they've searched and tagged recipes so if you go there, you can search for ingredients, recipes etc and you will get results from various sites. You can then add them to your recipe box (the recipes link to their original sites but if you install the food.com toolbar, you can still add recipes from other sites to your recipe box). It's pretty handy and I like that it's all in one place; I don't have to search multiple sites any more!

Anyway, I searched for "oil, yogurt, cocoa" and it came back with 16 or so recipes. This one sounded over-the-top rich so I've tried it....


Easy Devils Food Chocolate Muffins (from recipezaar #345143)

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1/3 cup plain yogurt
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 350-F.

Line a standard muffin tin with a dozen, 2-1/2 inch, cup-cake paper baking cups. (I use a stoneware muffin pan so I don't need liners)

In a mixing bowl, add the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder and salt. Mix dry ingredients well with whisk or wooden spoon.

In another mixing bowl add the milk, yogurt, vegetable oil, eggs and vanilla extract. Mix well with whisk or wooden spoon until blended.

Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients along with 1/2 of the chocolate chips.

Stir until dry ingredients are just moistened. Careful not to over mix.

Pour batter into 12 muffin cups. Fill each almost to the top.

Sprinkle the other half of the chocolate chips evenly into the filled muffin cups.

Bake at 350-F for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into center of muffin.

Cool before serving.

Makes 12 (2-1/2inch) muffins.

Addison patiently waited for the muffins to be done... They are cooling now and I can't imagine what kind of mess she'll make eating them!

My Grandmother is dying...

As the day gets closer, I'm starting to reflect more on my Grandma's life. She now hasn't had anything to eat or drink since March 28th. She's in her 91st year but the last 5 or so haven't been the greatest and I would like her to have peace.

My aunts had asked if any of us had any memories or stories of Grandma. At first I didn't think I would offer any but the more I thought about it, I felt a desire to at least write something, even if it wasn't shared at the service. I have chosen not to visit her in her last days as I selfishly want to remember her as the Grandma I know, not as the stranger sleeping in her bed. I haven't been to visit her in over 3 years... Last time I went Quin was probably 1 1/2. I think she enjoyed seeing the kids but I'm not convinced she knew who we all were (or maybe she just couldn't communicate that...).

Anyway, here are my rambling thoughts:

I have a great admiration for Grandma. She had many qualities which I would like... She was a fantastic cook. I have fond memories of her hand whipping potatoes (she never had any lumps... Dad still cannot master that!) and the crazy way she sharpened her knives! She was so fast it was a miracle she still has all her fingers! I have begun to appreciate parsley which Grandma liberally used in her soup or on her potatoes. I also remember her lovely honey pot which we used to pour the sweetest honey on our cereal...

She had such a green thumb... Her violets were amazing and her garden was always so neat and weed free. I have an amazing talent of killing all my houseplants and my garden is no where near a large as Grandma's was and yet I still manage to grow a fair size crop of weeds.

I don't remember hearing her raise her voice and yet everything and everyone around her was in control. I have a hard enough time with my 3 kids, I can't imagine 11! And yet all her kids model their parents morality and strong work ethic, and show love, compassion and willingness to help others in a understated but noticeable way. I can only hope that my kids will turn out as well.

I also admire Grandma's faith. Where I still feel like I haven't quite managed to figure out my path, I look at Grandma who had such a strong, unwavering conviction.

I choose to remember my Grandmother this way: the sparkle in her eyes, her infectious laughter, her wisdom and her love for life. I see these things when I look at my Dad, and my aunts and uncles. Thank you Grandma for showing me how powerful love, acceptance and forgiveness can be.