Congratulations P&D!!!

Today, is a very big day. P&D are getting hitched! Which, in itself is a great event, what makes today even more spectacular is that R and I are attending the evening wedding, wait for it......ALONE!!! That's right after two and a half years having only been away from Big N for the one night we were in the hospital giving birth to Little N, we will be spending the night in a HOTEL in one big bed, just to us. This is a big day for us. We'd like to thank P&D for getting married in order to give us this opportunity. We'd also like to thank my wonderful parents, Granny and Grandpa, who may not quite realize what they have gotten themselves into, with children who aren't necessarily the greatest sleepers. But, LET'S PARTY!!!

Book Review - 75 Ways to Save Gas

I downloaded this book by Jim Davidson from the library thinking it would have some great insights as to how to save gas. After skimming through the initial chapters about how I should use a bike, take transportation, etc. (things that really aren't applicable to our family situation where we only own one car and one of us is always taking transportation and we travel over 100km per day to get to and from work), there were some good tips. Most of the time, I read the tip but if I didn't find it applicable, I didn't bother to read the description. We're most guilty of leaving our car idling, especially if one of the adults and the kids are still inside. As you got deeper into the book there were some good suggestions, but if I gave them all away you wouldn't read the book, so feel free to check it out for yourself (at the library).

Apple Art

I needed an activity to keep the kids entertained for a few more minutes one evening while we were waiting for R to get home from work since he was stuck in traffic. So, we cut out apples from construction paper and glued them in our construction paper baskets. We pretended they were falling from our tree.

It was a quick activity, but at least something to get the kids from loosing their schmidt before dinner.

Nectarine Oatmeal

This was another delicious oatmeal made during my not getting groceries quest. The caramelized nectarines on the top were definitely what made this recipe fantabulous! The original recipe can be found here.

I did make a few substitutions based on what was in the house, so here's what our recipe looked like.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup rolled oats
3/4 cup milk
1 nectarine
1 tsp. brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon

Caramelized Nectarines

Five slices of nectarine
1 tsp. butter
1/8 tsp. brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon

Directions:

Mix all oatmeal ingredients in a small pan on medium-high heat, stir frequently until you get a thicker consistency or whatever your personal preference is. Place oatmeal in bowl and rinse out the small pan and reuse for caramelizing. Put butter in pan and spread around the entire flat surface, place slices down and sprinkle with cinnamon and brown sugar. Flip over after 1-2 minutes and sprinkle some more cinnamon on them, cook until tender then place on oatmeal.

Painted Paper Bag Pumpkins

We did it! We officially started decorating for Halloween. Up to now I've never really been a big Halloween fan, but having two little kids, one of whom was born three days prior to the big day, it gets me a little more excited for the event.

We filled paper bags with crumbled paper, got out the orange paint and went to town. If I were doing this craft without a toddler, I probably wouldn't have stuffed prior to painting, but I needed Big N to be interested, so the stuffing part got her away from the computer (side note, my 2.5 year old knows how to run Netflix on the iPhone, the PS3, and the computer now, all in all we're doomed for getting her to stay away from the television). After the paint was dry, we cut out faces with construction paper and glued them on. Big N was super excited to see her pumpkin all finished, I don't think she quite understood what we were doing until the face went on. Little N thought they were pretty cute too, and was very excited to get his hands in the paint (I'm not sure the carpet appreciated our adventure, but oh well).

Monday Meal - Ground Turkey Zucchini Boats

We first starting using this recipe after a visit with my parents and watching Steven and Chris. We've made numerous changes since seeing the original thought on the show and the meal has now been added to the monthly rotation.

Ingredients:
2 large zucchini
1 carrot, grated
1 pepper (any colour)
1 clove of garlic
1 onion
1 lb ground turkey
spinach
cheese

Directions:
In a frying pan cook ground turkey with garlic and onion. Cut zucchini in half lengthwise and scoop a good portion of the center out. Add remaining vegetables including some of the scooped zucchini (or any others you have on hand) and cook until just tender. Add the mixture to the scooped out zucchini, top with cheese and bake for about 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

We do so many variations on this meal based on what is in the fridge and we've never had a bad experience. So, get using those zucchini, it's delicious!

Leaf Tree

While we were deciding what route to go with our September wall this month (I might have been getting a little over zealous and thinking pumpkins), we decided to make a tree. I cut branches out of construction paper and then the kids and I went to the backyard to find leaves. We found all sorts of types of leaves, and I being the great mother I am, could only identify the maple leaves, so I made up names for the rest, hoping that my two year old will not remember the names I created and tell all her friends.

The plan was to trace the leaves and then place them on our tree, but it seems that all the leaves we gathered were much too big for our tree, so we created our own leaves. I'm constantly amazed at how fast Big N is growing, she's now able to glue all the leaves on wherever she wants them to grow.

I think our tree looks pretty cute, and Big N had a great time putting it all together. Little N had a great time trying to eat construction paper. All in all a good craft for everyone.