Star Wars, Mario Kart & Hot Wheels

This Christmas was one of the first that we've really noticed Gavin's interest at a peak. He wanted everything and asked lots of questions this year about Santa. It was really fun to see how excited and interested he was in the whole production.

He was so easy to buy for.... he wanted it all! He was mostly interested in anything Star Wars, Transformers, or Hot Wheels. However, Santa surprised him and brought our whole family a Wii! He didn't really know what a Wii was until he saw Mario Kart! He'd seen this game on a friend's DS and was super thrilled when he realized he had it now too! Needless to say, he's been loving that game ever since. I'm letting him video game binge while it's still the holidays. I figure next week, it's back to school and Sue's. So for this week, he plays Star Wars on his Leapster, Mario on the Wii and takes breaks to race a few Hot Wheels cars. It's a good life for a four year old boy!

for

Today I nest...

That's right. I am puttering and cleaning and getting organized.

I have cleaned the kitchen cupboards and reorganized the drawers. I purged many unused and unwanted items (about a gazillion sippy cups)! I organized all the small appliances into one area. I decided not to continue with "good" silverware and I've merged the good with the everyday! What's the point of "good"? If it's that good let's use it everyday too!

I puttered in the scrapping room. I'm feeling quite inspired these days but the mess of the room has held me back. Hopefully this new organized space will bring me a few good layouts one day soon!

I sorted through Gavin's playroom and compiled a bag of garbage, a bag to "share" and a bag to store...just in case. Some of those baby/toddler toys are too damn cute to share just yet!

I washed the slipcover for the couch downstairs and started a holiday puzzle, while doing so! (I love a good puzzle!)

I've organized some recipes in the hopes that I will get moving and actually bake something...ha!

I have croissants rising in the kitchen... ready to be baked for Christmas morning- a tradition!

And now... how about another coffee, a gingerbread white chocolate biscotti and a little puzzling!

Oh what a day...

So here's a little update about the kind of day I'm having today"

• Gavin set the alarm off in Winners...not the beep beep beep one but the really loud like something bad is happening one!
• Gavin pounded on the baby powder bottle with a back scratcher(what?) until it was everywhere in the bedroom and all over him!
• The squirrel "proof" bird feeder has a squirrel sitting IN the feeder eating seed. Nice.

Ugh... it must be cocktail hour!

Prayer for Delaney

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=36801959535&ref=nf

This link will connect you to a Facebook group called Prayer For Delaney. Delaney has leukemia. Her mom is a wonderful friend. This news has devastated anyone who knows her. It has crushed me. It breaks my heart. Let the power of our collective prayers pull them through this.

"Girlfriends on the Go" to the rescue!

So, recently I read about this book. It's a great idea! Basically, girls get together and decide on a meal that they will each prepare in bulk for all the members of the group. Then we get together again, with drinks and snacks, to exchange our meals!

A couple of weeks ago, we got together and I came home with 2 chicken pot pies, broccoli & cheese soup, cheesy macaroni and chicken bake, ham & potato casserole, and brownies and cookies! It was fantastic! Best of all.... last night we had pot pie and tonight mac and cheese!

Lovin' it!

In honour of beautiful fall weather...

Just thinkin'...

It's been a beautiful fall! These last few days have been marvelous for my mood! I love a nice warm sun on my face!

I thought I would post some photos from our Cranberry tradition. Thanks Susanne! That was a great weekend! Lots of sun and fun. Not quite as warm, but wonderful.

But here's the real thing... I would take a wet, rainy and cold weekend with those girls than a warm sunny day without them! Missing you girls.

A prayer to the scrappin' gods...

Please allow me the time and inspiration to get creative.
Please allow me to finish the tasks that need be so that I may scrap without guilt or as a means of procrastination.
Let me use up the materials I have so that I may shop excessively for more paper! Oh how I'd love some new pretty papers!

He's the VIP!

Wednesday night Gavin and I prepared for what was the most exciting happening at school so far.... he was the next day's VIP! He had a special sharing bag in his backpack containing the special instructions. Bring something to share that begins with the letter i... seriously. Every other kid is bringing transformers and we had to find something that begins with i and something that is meaningful to Gavin.

After much consultation with colleagues at work, I decided to send the insect book and some plastic insects, as well as a book all about the letter i. This book is quite special. We keep it in the trailer so that any bugs found can be recorded, checked and marked with the place and time of finding. Gavin loves this book! It was special to him.

That night, Gavin couldn't get to sleep. He continually sang the VIP song. "He's the V-I-P. He's the V-I-P. He's a very important person. He's a very important person. That's me!" It was too cute.

To kick it off... he had to wear a costume for the school's Halloween parade that day as well. I knew it was too much... a recipe for disaster.

He came home. He was happy but reported that Mrs. R had actually forgotten about the VIP until just before the bus. Really. It broke our hearts but he seemed okay. We still made a huge deal of it all!

As a teacher, I knew those moments were special to kids but I had no idea how much. Being a parent gives a whole new perspecive to education. That day, being the VIP, was the most important thing to him. He couldn't tell me one other thing about that day. It may have been shorter lived than normal and a little more rushed but that sharing was the highlight of his little four year old life. It's a lesson learned. Take time. Slow down. Enjoy the little moments.

Roasted Seasoned Pumpkin Seeds

My favourite (& only) recipe for pumpkin seeds:

1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ginger
5 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons oil

First, take all those seeds and spread them out on a baking pan lined with parchment. Dry them in the oven at 250 degrees for about one hour. Add 2 tablespoons of the sugar and the oil to a fry pan and add seeds. Carmelize. Remove seeds and add to remaining ingredients. Coat seeds thoroughly. Enjoy! Mmmmm good.

Fall with the Fillmore's!

Well this one goes down in history for being the sunniest weekend at the Cranberry Festival ever! That's right... we just got home from here http://www.balacranberryfestival.on.ca/! We had a wonderful weekend with good friends (Antunes Family & Fillmore Family), good food (peameal bacon & cranberry chutney sandwiches), lots of yummy drinks (fireside tea, hot cranberry cocktail, wine & coffee)! We camped out at the Gravenhurst KOA and the kids had so much fun! Today they created a whole bunch of games for the grown-ups to play. We went for a nice hike on the trails and naturally, we went to the cranberry marsh for some of our favourite cranberry treats. This is such a great fall tradition, made even better by the wonderful people we get to spend our time with. Now, time to snuggle in and get warm with some sunday night tv!