Costume Carnival

This evening our family went to church. However, the church looked...a little different. Bouncy houses and mini golf stations filled the sanctuary. Video game consoles dominated the foyer. Miniature jeeps and rocking horses roamed the Sunday school hallways. A heady mixture of popcorn and cotton candy perfumed the air.

The building was overrun with tiny, rambunctious, costumed people. Lions and tigers, dinosaurs, pirates, doctors and super heroes. I think every little girl was dressed as a princess. I even saw Dorothy and her three companions from Oz.

Our family chose to dress as Star Wars characters. (Shocking, I know.) Our preschooler was a Jedi. He wore a fashionable green bathrobe and wielded a toy light sabre. Our toddler dressed as an Ewok (or reasonable facsimile). He wore a fuzzy panda bear costume, my brown fleece vest, and had a belt cinched around his waist. He also carried a light sabre. (I don't think Ewoks use light sabres, but no matter.) My husband looked stylin' in his gray bathrobe and a beige fleece vest. I used brown yarn to make a "Jedi braid" for his hair.

Baby Girl was the cutest Jedi of all. She dressed as none other than...Master Yoda. This afternoon my friend, Lacey, brought over a Yoda costume. Lacey did not realize we were planning to dress as Star Wars characters for our party, but her gift was perfect! Baby Girl looked adorable sporting pointy, green ears.

Our family chooses not to celebrate Halloween, so we are thankful our church provides a fun alternative to trick-or-treating. The kids had a blast at the party. They were candy-powered for most of the night.

(You know the irony? We all have dentist appointments first thing tomorrow morning!)

"Get It Right, Dad!"

We were in a rush --- late for supper with the grandparents. Baby Girl cried inconsolably, the boys ran around the house like maniacs, Ben tried to brush his teeth and change clothes, and I vainly attempted to rein in the chaos.

In the midst of it all, the phone rang.

The caller was one of my husband's long-time business clients, a chatty and personable woman. Ben cradled the phone to his ear while he fended off snuggle attacks from the boys. Our eldest son hung off his daddy's back like a crazed monkey.

"Yes, you caught us at a busy moment," I heard my husband say, "Mmm-hmm. We have a house full of kids these days."

He paused in the conversation. "No, actually, there are three of them," Ben explained, "Two little boys and a baby girl."

At this point, our three-year-old could not contain himself. A little boy? Certainly not! He felt compelled to interject, "Daddy!! One BIG boy, one little boy and one baby girl!"

You can be sure Daddy won't be making that mistake again any time soon!

A New Look

Welcome to my new site! I've made the switch to Blogger's beta version and I chose a new template. (Thank you, Benjie, for cleaning up my code. My HTML skills are more than a little shaky...)

New features of Blogger Beta include instant publishing, simple template changes, and categorical post labels. My task for the coming week will be to assign labels to my archived posts. I love sorting and organizing, so in a geeky way I am looking forward to this chore.

I also joined the Christian Women Online webring. (See sidebar.) I'm looking forward to connecting with other Christian women who love to blog!

Honey Mustard Chicken

You know, I love the recipes on the back of Campbell's soup cans. They are often simple and tasty. I found this recipe on a can of cream of chicken soup. Our family enjoyed it for supper tonight and it was delicious! I served the chicken with brown rice, green peas and steamed cauliflower.

Honey Mustard Chicken

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 can 1/2 fat cream of chicken soup
1/2 C. water
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
2 tbsp. honey
2 tbsp. dijon mustard

Heat oil in a large skillet. Brown chicken breasts at medium heat, about 8 minutes per side. Remove chicken to a clean plate. Cook onion in skillet until softened, about 3 minutes. Return chicken to the pan. Combine soup, water, garlic powder, honey and mustard, and pour over chicken breasts. Simmer until the chicken is cooked through, about 10 minutes. Serves 4.

It Doesn't Have to Make Sense ...

My preschool-aged son was, shall we say, a wee bit emotional today. I don't know what it was, but he cried and whined through most of the afternoon.

I was out of the house for a good chunk of the day. Ben stayed home with the children, and by four in the afternoon my dear husband had reached his limit. I offered to take the boys out for a drive to give Ben a break.

I wrestled my preschooler into the van and tried to buckle his seat belt. He looked at me with sorrowful eyes and moaned, "I don't liiiike the word zip!"

I wasn't comprehending the problem. "What's wrong with zip?" I asked.

"It's a baaaaaaad word!" he wailed.

"Okay," I shrugged, and shut the van door.

I hope I successfully muffled my laughter. Who ever said three-year-old logic had to make sense?

Pride and Prejudice

I went out to "girl's night" at my friend's house this evening. (Got to take advantage of the extra hour of sleep tonight!) We watched the ever-wonderful Pride and Prejudice. (It was the new version starring Kiera Knightley). This is another DVD I would like to add to my Christmas wish list ...

Expanding My Little Universe

I am learning that I have a lot to learn about blogging. This evening I have been surfing the web, trying to figure out how to get my blog onto a Christian blog ring. I've found a few promising places, including Christian Women Online. We'll see what I can figure out...

I did discover a cute little tool for my blog --- Scripture Tags!

Book Review:

I Love You More
Drs. Les and Leslie Parrott

This evening I stopped to pick up a few groceries on my way to the Y. When I returned home, Ben helped me carry my shopping bags from the van to the house. He snooped through my purchases and groaned when he saw flavoured rice cakes instead of potato chips.

"Why can't you ever buy junk food?" he complained.

"Because I love you, honey," I replied.

This afternoon I finished reading I Love You More, and I learned that married people tend to live longer and are generally healthier than their unmarried counterparts. This is true partly because spouses encourage one another to adopt healthy habits. When I nag Ben about eating too many greasy hamburgers, I am actually fulfilling my duty as his wife!

I Love You More is an interesting and enlightening read. Ben is halfway through the book himself. I did not buy this book expecting him to read it too, but our reading has already sparked some interesting conversations. Ben and I feel we have a great relationship on many levels. However, we've already begun identifying areas of our marriage that could use some work. We think it's healthy to evaluate and talk about our relationship. I'm pretty blessed to have a husband who actually enjoys talking about marriage!

Because of my reading, I have also been pondering how my views of marriage have been affected by my upbringing. I'm learning that every person (often unknowingly) brings biases to the marriage relationship. My family of origin is very different from my husband's. Where his parents are high-energy and gregarious, my parents are quiet and like to hang out at home. Wouldn't you know, Ben and I are reflections of our parents. Ben tends to be more outgoing, and I am quite a home-body.

When we got married and I moved out of my parent's home, I learned that some people do things differently than my family did. (Shocking, I know. It was a revelation to me, anyway.) Here's a small sampling of the things I discovered as a young bride:

- Canned soup comes in more varieties than mushroom and tomato.
- The dishes will not self-destruct if they aren't washed immediately after supper.
- Most people are allowed to eat their dessert without having a piece of fruit first.
- Some families do more than just eat at the dinner table --- they have loooong conversations too.

All in all, Ben and I are very much enjoying I Love You More. At the book's suggestion, we've made one new goal for our marriage. We would like to start a new hobby together. In the early years of our relationship, Ben and I played music together on the church worship team. We stopped playing music when we had children. (Funny how that happens). Ben and I would like to start a shared activity again. It might not be musical, but it will be something we can do as a couple without our kids. We'll see what happens!

Family Photos

"Daddy! Daddy! Daddy! IT'S LEGO STARS WARS TWO THE ORIGINAL TRILOGY!!!!!"

Magnificent Hair Food for the follicly challenged...

Totally cool biker dude.

Baby Girl with Great-Grandpa George.

I'm Too Lazy

They say confession is good for the soul. That being the case, I have something I would like to confess.

I have fallen off the bandwagon. I've lost my discipline. I have become l-a-z-y.

I haven't worked out at the gym for three whole weeks, and I can't say I have a good excuse for it.

I could give lots of reasons for my absence --- we went out of town, Ben was sick, I've had several meetings, I've been doing my music homework, we've had lots of company, I fell down some stairs and have a sore back ... blah, blah, blah. The ugly truth is, I've just gotten out of the routine.

I used to go to the gym every Monday and Thursday night after the kids went to sleep. I also take a pilates class on Saturday morning, so I figured my fitness routine was decent enough for a tired mother-of-three.

Unfortunately, I started to miss a night here, skip a workout there ... and suddenly I'm not going anymore. I need to hop back on the treadmill! Step out on the track! Pump some iron!

I like going to the gym. A good workout always feels great. These days I just like to sit on the couch more, I suppose.

So by virtue of my public confession, I am now accountable. I will make an effort to go to the gym two times this week. Hey, even one workout is better than none at all.

There is a great irony to this post, however. I've stayed home from the gym tonight to sit on the couch and ... you guessed it ... work on my blog.

A Special Day

Our precious baby girl is already four months old. Where has the time gone? Before we know it she will be going off to kindergarten, dating boys, getting married, and having babies of her own. (Though not all at the same time, I hope.)

In church this morning we dedicated our sweet little girl to the Lord. Our family and many friends gathered around us. Ben and I are blessed to have all our immediate family living close to us. God has also given us numerous trustworthy, Christian friends. We were so pleased to have the support of our family and friends in this morning's church service.

Ben and I pray every day that our children will grow to love the Lord, and will want to serve Him. We pray that God will help us to be good parents to the little souls He has entrusted to our care. You know, I didn't pray as much as I should have before I became a mother. Now that I have children, I need to pray all the time. Our babies are too precious for me not to lift them up to God every day.

My sweet baby girl, Daddy and I love you very much. You are so special to us ...

I love all of you!
Your eyes, your cheeks,
Your sweet little nose,
Your knees, your feet,
Your stubby pink toes.

I love all of you!
Your dimples, your grin,
Your tummy, your chin,
Your ears, your hair,
Your lips, your skin.

Now, how did we get started?
How did we begin?
Oh, yes, I love all of you --
From beginning to end.

(Poem by Annie Dougherty)

Splash, Crash and All That Jazz

Boom! Boom! Fizz. Crackle crackle, pop. Ka-pow!

Hear that sound? It's the fireworks, don't you know. I'm having a bicentennial celebration in honour of my 200th blog post.

So crack open a bottle of sparkling cider and pull up a chair. If you're reading this post, you've already joined the party!

Dealing With Difficult Situations

This has been a crazy-busy day --- pilates, chores, grumpy kiddies, grocery shopping, a birthday bash, and preparing for an onslaught of guests tomorrow. In the middle of it all, I attended a volunteer training session at the YMCA this afternoon.

The session was called "Dealing With Difficult Situations". To tell the truth, I approached the training as an obligation I just had to get through. I wasn't expecting to learn much. In the midst of my hectic day, a volunteer training session was pretty much the last place I wanted to be.

Guess what? I actually did learn something in the meeting. We watched a great little video called The Difficult Guest. I also learned a handy pneumonic I can use when I deal with troublesome people:

L isten
A pologise
S olve
T hank

The goal of customer service is to make the relationship with a guest last. I should make people feel special and cared for. Isn't that the case in all relationships, though? I enjoyed my volunteer training session because I learned skills that I can apply every day. The concepts are transferable to my routine interactions.

In the end, I am glad I attended the meeting at the Y. I nearly skipped out when I learned how busy this weekend would be. Just goes to show, you never know when you'll learn something new.

Frustration

You know, I've been in a truly foul mood all evening. I've been picking on Ben, nagging my son, grumbling, stewing and playing the martyr. I just feel like ripping somebody's head off.

And I don't really have a good reason for it all.

Would you like to know the irony of the situation? Tonight I put the kids to bed and went grocery shopping. (Great way to spend a Friday night, eh?) I had a long list, and a million chores waiting for me at home, but I couldn't help but get sidetracked in the cheap books aisle.

Would you like to know what book I brought home with my groceries?

I Love You More by Les and Leslie Parrott. The Parrotts are Christian marriage counselors. Their book purports to help couples "turn (their) marriage's prickly issues into opportunities to love each other more..."

(Arrg! I think Ben is intentionally pushing my buttons now. He knows I'm trying to get my blog finished before bed time, so he's decided to watch annoying podcasts right beside me.)

I need to go to sleep. And read my Bible. At least the Apostle Paul understands my struggle. Oh yeah, and I suppose God does too.

"I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do -- this I keep on doing."
(Romans 7:18-19)

Meal Planning (4)
Breakfast, Lunch and Snacktime

Supper is definitely the most labour-intensive meal of the day. Breakfast, lunch and snacks are easy to plan and prepare.

In our home, I usually serve cold cereal and fruit for breakfast. My kids love Honey Nut Cheerios at the moment. The also enjoy Fibre 1 cereal, surprisingly enough. I try to avoid overly sugary cereals. Too much sugar for breakfast practically guarantees a meltdown before lunch!

My boys also like toast with jam or peanutbutter, scrambled eggs, "toads in the hole", pancakes, cream of wheat porridge, and Red River hot cereal. Most of the time I serve calcium-enriched orange juice to drink, along with fresh fruit such as bananas or grapes.

We often have sandwiches for lunch. My kids favourites include peanutbutter and honey, tuna fish, or ham with cheese and cucumber on brown bread. I like to make homemade bread in my bread machine, but I mostly cave in to buying whole wheat Wonderbread at the supermarket. We also frequently eat leftovers from the previous day's supper for lunch.

Snacktime hits at four o'clock every afternoon. If I don't get a snack into my kids they are usually grumpy and ill-mannered by five o'clock. I always try to feed my children some fruit at snacktime. We avoid sugary, empty foods. Here's a selection of my favourite snack choices:

Apple slices with peanutbutter
Orange wedges
Grapes
Canned peaches or pears
Melon chunks
Bananas
Homemade muffins
Homemade banana bread
Fruit strips
Dried cranberries or raisins
Arrowroot biscuits
Teddy graham cookies
Pretzels
Crackers and cheese

My mom recently gave me a very handy gadget from The Pampered Chef. It is an apple corer and slicer. This little tool cuts up an apple in two seconds flat. I love it! My boys and I have been eating plenty of apples this week.

Meal Planning (3)

I tend to plan four or five supper menus each week. We usually have leftovers for a couple of nights, and will eat at our parents' or out at a restaurant.

I used to feel guilty if I did not cook a delicious meal "from scratch" every evening for supper. I've learned that it is okay to have convenience foods every now and then. I keep frozen pizza and chicken nuggets in the freezer for nights when it is difficult to cook. Convenience food are more expensive, but they still cost less than eating out. In fact, it is easier to pop a frozen pizza in the oven than to load up all the kids and go somewhere like Wendy's.

When I plan menus I also try to "reinvent" the leftovers from one meal as something else. For example, when we have roasted chicken I can use the bones and leftover meat to make yummy homemade soup for later in the week. If I'm really on the ball, I could cook two chickens and freeze the extra meat or use it in casseroles.

Here's a sample of my menus for the coming week:

1. Pot roast
Mashed potatoes
Gravy
Peas and carrots
Green beans

2. Shepherd's pie
Coleslaw
Steamed cauliflower

3. Cheesy tuna casserole
Coleslaw

4. Chili with beans
Cornmeal muffins
Mixed green salad

5. Pork chops in mushroom sauce
Brown rice
Mixed green salad
Peas

Meal Planning (2)

French bean casserole was an unexpected hit when I served it to my family last week. It is incredibly easy to prepare. I like this casserole because it reminds me of homey 1950s comfort food.

French Beans Amandine

2, 398mL cans french beans
1, 284mL can condensed cream of mushroom soup
2 tbsp. slivered almonds

Put drained beans in a 1.5L casserole dish. Spoon soup over top. Lift lightly with a fork to mix. Smooth top. Sprinkle almonds over top. Cover. Heat in 350F oven for 20 to 30 minutes until hot and bubbly. Use more almonds throughout if you like. Serves 6 to 8.

Meal Planning

I've been working on building up my repertoire of easy meals. My goal is to have several weeks worth of menus planned out. This makes my grocery shopping much easier. It also helps to know in advance what we are having for supper every evening. It makes the "crazy hour" of five o'clock more manageable!

Here is my menu for the last week. Most meals will stretch for two days in our family, or will make enough if we have unexpected guests for supper.

1. Roasted chicken
Mashed potatoes
French bean casserole
Corn

2. Chicken and rice soup
Homemade bread

3. Beef stew
Popovers
Cucumber and tomato salad

4. Chicken and Broccoli Divan
Brown rice
Mixed green salad

The Automatic Millionaire

Ben likes to read books about business and financial planning. I prefer to read about homemaking and family management. Our marriage is good because we each have different areas of expertise and responsibility, and we are learning to recognize our own strengths and weaknesses.

In terms of finances, this year Ben and I have made it a goal to build up our savings accounts. We would like to have a comfortable buffer of savings. Our financial planner suggests we save enough to cover three months of living expenses. Because Ben is self-employed, this makes a great deal of sense. His business has been doing very well lately, but if our savings account is healthy we do not have to worry when a slow month comes along. (And they always do.)

Ben and I have discovered a (well-known) secret for achieving our financial goals: we set up automatic withdrawals from our chequing account into savings. We opened a high-interest savings account and every week we transfer some funds. We pay ourselves, just like we would pay any other bill. It is amazing how quickly the savings can add up!

We like the automatic withdrawals because we don't have to think about them. The money comes out and we hardly miss it. If money is sitting in our chequing account we will spend it. The automatic withdrawals force us to be disciplined.

We also have started the habit of depositing any "extra" money into our savings account --- money we receive for gifts or unexpected tax credits. We figure those "extra" funds were never included in our budget anyway, so we won't miss them if they go into savings.

It's kind of fun to watch our small nest egg grow. A little bit here, a little bit there. Now that we have some momentum going, it is easier to envision our financial goals becoming a reality. Maybe some day our tiny nest egg hatch a giant dinosaur!

Chocolate

Last week we bought Larryboy and the Bad Apple for our children. The movie teaches kids about fleeing temptation. At one point, Larryboy overindulges in chocolate and suffers from a "sugar crash and a bellyache". His faithful butler, Alfred, offers Larryboy these sage words: "With great chocolate comes great responsibility."

Our kids must have watched Larryboy and the Bad Apple about eight times in the van on our trip to Saskatchewan last weekend.

On Wednesday night last week I served a special treat for dessert ... chocolate pudding. My preschooler dug into his bowl of pudding with great relish. He suddenly paused, his spoon poised in mid-air, and looked at me with solemn eyes.

"Mommy," he said, "This is a big bowl of responsibility."