Day 323 - 19 and stormy?

So this morning I wasn't feeling particularly healthy or motivated - woke up exhausted with a sore throat and headache. But I thought in the name of being a fun mom I better ask the kiddo if she wants to go shopping. I asked and she dove off the bed backwards at an alarming speed yelling "GO shopping - GO SHOPPING" and ran to the top of the stairs and back to me to figure out why the heck I wasn't right there with her! So yes - the decision had been made!

We soon had shoes on and set of for the Michaels Arts and Crafts store where we grabbed some foam Christmas puppet goodies to build together. The little Diva had fun finding things to look at in the store. We found ducks and a squishy Christmas tree - she was also thrilled with the Christmas Trees and giant garden - light up - snow man!

Once we were done there we popped in at the pet store to grab refills for our kitty's litter locker. The little Diva and I saw rats, guinea pigs, lots and lots of fishes, frogs, a crab, lizards, birds and kitties! The crab I think was the highlight of the trip - she assured me he was sleeping (although I'm pretty sure he was eating) and she also told me that the fish wanted cookies! So there you have it! Also on the drive there she told me that she liked aeroplanes and that they like juice and cookies :) I'm just wondering if someone else just wanted juice and cookies!!

Anywho the Diva is up and I have some entertaining to do, Until tomorrow - Happy Tuesday folks :)

Day 322 - Frog Legs!

I freaking tasted a frog leg today. No, no I didn't grab one from the swamp and take a chomp out of it's hindquarters - My dad tested out his birthday present from us and my mommers today! We got him a Bradley smoker and he whipped up some chicken, ribs and frogs legs. I didn't try the ribs but the chicken was moist and tasty and oh so freaking good!! The frogs legs were surprisingly not repulsive they were an odd mix of chicken and fish. Oh and smokey flavour - yumm!

Anywho it's getting late here and I'm sleepy so I'm going to head to bed to relax - night night all and I hope you have a FAN-FRICKEN-TASTIC week ahead!!

Day 321 - Bedtime con-artist!

To my Darling daughter - the bedtime con-artist,

Mommy knew full well when you asked for the milk 30minutes after you'd supposedly "gone to sleep" that you didn't really want or need milk. Nope - you were just stalling. You wanted a little more company before you finally decide to go to sleep. So I brought you your milk and as you pretended to drink it I got in another cuddle.

Your sleepy, happy little grin clearly said that you thought you'd won but I think I did.
 
You were snugly and smelt like bath-time, love and more cuddles. You pointed to your bedtime entourage one by one and got me to rearrange a few of them. It took some explaining on your part to make sure I had Binoo exactly where you wanted him - but we got it sorted out.

I finally convinced you that it was time to put the milk away so that mommy could tuck you in for bed. You complied and I got to tuck you in once again - snugly and warm in your blanket. I wasn't surprised to find that you'd hardly drank any of the milk in your sippy cup despite having nursed it the entire time I was in your room with you.

I think you're sleeping now - I will wait a few more minutes and then go in and check on you. I'll quietly remove most of your entourage so that you're not rolling over hard plastic toys in the middle of the night and waking up unhappy. I'll lean down for a quick kiss and I'll be happy that I'm the lucky one who gets to be your mommy.

Sweet dreams my little pumpkin, mommy loves you more than you could ever know and she wants to make the most of these snuggles while you'll still let her.

Love Mommy

Day 319 & 320 Technical difficilties

So yesterday..... right.... I didn't type because A: I was super tired and B: The router was being a douche and my laptop had no Internet connection. I'm seriously wondering if there is an iPhone blogger app? Actually wait, scrap that - I like my nights off thanks to the router! hehe I guess I shouldn't actually admit that right? But yes every so often it is amazing to have an excuse to go to sleep early.

Anywho yesterday morning was spent playing at the center with the Little Diva's friends and it was super fun. For whatever reason though she seems to have decided that nap and bedtime are negotiable again, and so we are weathering the storm that comes with that. It hasn't been too bad though and really as long as we tire her out before - the struggle is lessened!

Today was spent with Granny! We all had a blast. I planned to get a chunk of the Christmas shopping done and I got a few things so I was happy about that. The Little Diva loved shopping and loved lunch from A&W! We went to Toys R Us and Walmart and then spent the day with Granny and Misty.

There were attempts at potty training which were entertaining. This kid has staying power the likes of which you have never seen. I'm hoping we get her trained soon but here's hoping she just decides its time soon!!

Sweet dreams to all - happy Weekend!!

Day 318 - Too tired to type!

“It's in the morning, for most of us. It's that time, those few seconds when we're coming out of sleep but we're not really awake yet. For those few seconds we're something more primitive than what we are about to become. We have just slept the sleep of our most distant ancestors, and something of them and their world still clings to us. For those few moments we are unformed, uncivilized. We are not the people we know as ourselves, but creatures more in tune with a tree than a keyboard. We are untitled, unnamed, natural, suspended between was and will be, the tadpole before the frog, the worm before the butterfly. We are for a few brief moments, anything and everything we could be. And then...and then -- ah -- we open our eyes and the day is before us and ... we become ourselves.”

- Jerry Spinelli, Stargirl

Day 317 - gotta LOVE parcels in the mail!

So I got an awesome parcel in the mail today! My sister is the bestest sister ever! It was a really lovely early birthday present. I missed the postman delivering it yesterday so I had to go pick it up at the post office today. The little Diva threw a humongous tantrum in the line up at the post office so I left my place in line to find a quite isle to reason with her in. She finally calmed down and accepted my iPhone to watch Thomas. So we went back to the line and now had to wait for 5 other people to do their transactions before we got to the front. The wait was well worth it though - The box was humongous and full of lovely goodies - mostly candy from South Africa that I have been missing - YUMM YUMM YUMMY!!!

I'm going to try not to eat it all at once - I don't want to look like a house! Plus it's nice to know there's a little something yummy tucked away for when the craving strikes :)

Happy Wednesday folks! Until tomorrow cheerio :)

Day 316 - Zombies

So our PVR acted up last night and didn't record The Walking Dead. It came on again later but by that time I had fallen asleep. You would think that the lack of zombie viewing would pave the way for relaxed sleep, but alas no. I freaking dreamed our cat was a zombie and he could turn you by just licking you! For whatever freaking reason we were not able to open the front door to kick him out and instead of ending his wretched existence we just played a horrible game of "keep away" and THEN to make matters worse the damn thing had kitten, which on account of him having had balls at one point and never having had a uterus was IMPOSSIBLE. These kittens were adorable and just as terrifying. Ugh trying to keep your toddler away from zombie kittens in your dreams while simultaneously trying to avoid being licked yourself was freaking stressful. No wonder I was wide awake when I woke up.

So on that delightful note - happy dreaming folks! Happy Tuesday too :)

Day 315 - Why no nap!

Oh my goodness have we just had the nap battle of the century or what! The little Diva has been a superstar with nap time for the last couple of weeks. She watches a few minutes of her show and then she happily skips off to her room when I ask her if she's ready to be tucked in.

Today she was having NONE of that. I adjusted the time for the time change so the sleep attempt happened at the same time but all she kept saying was NO TUCK, NO SLEEP!! I even read her two books but then the little punk went flying out of her room back into ours and tried to get away with watching more tv.... All I had to say to that was HECK NO! It took some serious convincing but she FINALLY slept.

It is now 8:54pm and this kid is STILL awake in her room. I don't know what has her super charged but I think I will be chasing her around a park tomorrow to make sure she's TIRED!! It's EXHAUSTING trying to convince a kid to sleep.. lol Entertaining too though because she has a number of new tactics to delay bedtime. The latest one goes like this: You hear her knocking on her door saying "Hug a mommy, hug a daddy" and when you go in there you discover she's misplaced her pajama pants and you now have to retrieve them where they are stuck under the door and put them back on. This has happened enough times that when you enter her room she now says, "Why you take a off?!... why you take a off?!!" Sigh. If I could teach her to say "I seem to have misplaced my pants" we would all be in hysterics and no one would ever get to bed!

ANYWAY it sounds like maybe she's winding down now... I'm hoping so because I think it's time for some popcorn, "Once Upon a Time" and "The Walking Dead" - quite the contrast I know :)

Sweet dreams all and I hope your Monday flows smoothly, quickly and painlessly! Here's to a stellar week!

Day 313 & 314!

Yesterday passed in a blur. I had an appointment so Dadoos came to watch the little Diva for me. She, the little Diva, ate 8 of the 10 timbits Dadoos brought for her!! It probably would have been 10 but I snuck two while she wasn't looking. I did ask if I could have one but she grabbed the box and yelled "No Mommy eat it a timbit!!!" She's not a fan of sharing her timbits... She and Dadoos had a blast - there was lots of playing with play dough and it sounds like Dadoos got really good at making orange, blue and purple dough cats! I have to mention that later in the day she asked me for MORE timbits... lol I figured 8 was a pretty good daily quota for a little Diva.

Once I got home we had some tea and then Dadoos set off for home. I got the little Munchkin down for her nap and after wrapping Grandpa's present I took a little break myself and finally finished reading Game of Thrones (the first book).

The little Diva woke up from her nap and while she was enjoying her lunch/playing/watching tv I quickly whipped up a batch of Hertzog cookies for Grandpa's party. We set off for Granny and Grandpa's as soon as the hubby got home and spent a wonderful evening with family and friends celebrating Grandpa/Dad's 50th birthday! My dad is awesome - when I was a kid I always likened him to Bruce Willis' character in the Die Hard movies. If I'm honest I still do - my dad is my kickass hero and he could totally kill a helicopter with a car! :) The family wouldn't be what it is without him and without his determination and strength we wouldn't all have ended up in Canada. We owe you big dad!!

That brings us to today - We had a pretty late start to the morning. We got a lot done today though. The hubby has become quite the "laundry ninja" and I think he has almost all of it done. We got it folded too and now it's time to relax a little before bed. The little Diva is fast asleep and I'm ready to unwind a little.

I hope that those of you who have to change clocks tonight remember to do so! Sweet dreams everyone and Happy Sunday!!

Day 312 - Change of Plans!

So I sat down to start my new NaNoWriMo novel this afternoon while the little Diva was napping and I couldn't do it. I wrote three or four lines - thought about what I wanted to say further and realized that I had some serious reservations. In part I don't know if it is jut that I'm just not ready to write that particular book, or something else but there was definite resistance. I also questioned whether or not I wanted people to read what I had to write. I planned to write about the Little Diva's early entry into the world, but for now I think I'll wait a little while longer.

I Also have my unfinished book from last year quietly yelling at me so I have decided that I'm going to finish that one first. I started reading through my 37000-ish words this afternoon and though it starts off rough - it definitely has something going for it. I am confident that this is a book I can get published. My characters are begging me to end off this first installment of their journey and I think it is about time I do that for them.

So for me at least, NaNoWriMo is going to be about writing the end of last years book and then going back and fixing the start. Then I guess it needs to sit for a while until I do the serious editing.

So I do apologize for quitting before I even started - but this seems to be the better plan for now.

Sweet dreams all and Happy Friday!!!

Day 311 - Halloween!

When witches go riding,
and black cats are seen,
the moon laughs and whispers,
‘tis near Halloween.
~Author Unknown

We had a wonderful Halloween evening. The little Diva collected candy in her bucket and was super happy with it! I don't think she even realizes that everything is edible - but she knows there are smarties in there, and she knows that those are yummy! She grabbed them herself from our candy bowl before heading out :)

I'm exhausted though and way too full so I'll wish you sweet dreams and hope that your Halloween was equally fun! 

Day 310 - We didn't blow away!!

So I was all set last night for the "Frankenstorm" that the news anchors were telling us about! There was a lot of wind - but for some reason I was envisioning being woken up by loud cracks of thunder and lightening - that didn't happen. I was up at 4am though and it was incredibly windy - our door must have some kind of wind leak happening cause it HOWLS like it's no one business. Very fitting for Halloween week though!

That being said - I am glad we didn't blow away or lose power and I hope that those in worst hit areas get the help they need.

I do need to go watch Sons of Anarchy so I bid you an awesome night - Happy Wednesday everyone!!!

Day 309 - Windy and MORE windy!

Whew - it sounds like our house is going to blow away! Apparently we have hurricane Sandy to thank for this crazy wind. I'm wondering if the little Diva will sleep through the worst of it which is supposed to hit between midnight and 4am. There was a storm probably more than a year ago and the little Diva came to sleep in our bed when the thunder got too loud. I am hoping though that it doesn't get too crazy. I'm also keeping my fingers tightly crossed that we don't end up with a power outage - sounds like MANY of the surrounding areas are already without power.

On that note though I think I want to go fill up a water bottle and make some tea while we still have power.

Keep warm and safe everyone - Happy Tuesday!

Day 308 - My little Ponies

The little Diva loves to watch videos on the iPad. The only complaint I have is that she loves to restart videos and by "restart"- I mean she doesn't let it run all the way to the end. She gets to a point where she figures, "hey why don't we see the beginning again?" There is this one particular episode of My Little Ponies that is haunting me - I have seen the start of this thing a billion times and actually think I HAVE to grab the iPad and WATCH it when the Little Diva is napping! It's driving me nuts that I don't know how it ends!!

On that note I trust that everyone had an AMAZING weekend. If you haven't already bought your Halloween candy - you are running out of day to go grab some and rumour has it things are going to be wet and rainy!!

Sweet dreams to all! Happy Monday :)

Day 306 & 307 - Sleep...

is very definitely NOT overrated! There was a time not too too long ago where I was convinced that sleep was overrated and that it wasn't really something I needed to be too concerned about. I may have been a student and I may too have been ingesting COPIOUS amounts of coffee.. so perhaps therein lies my problem.... apparently my coffee meter is running on empty? Oh well - too much makes me jittery and anxious anyway :P

So I was all set to blog last night - I fired up the laptop and the poor thing was unable to connect to our wifi network. I could have marched downstairs and reset the router but instead I decided to take it as a sign that I was being given permission to sleep and that is just what I did. So I do apologize!

We had family over today for a little Halloween gathering. I made a slow cooker stew and bat cupcakes! They weren't perfect but I had fun making them and really that was the point! My mom bought delicious garlic bread and my sis-in-law bought the yummiest ketchup chips I have ever eaten - there was a second flavour but I will ignore it because these were just so awesome!

On that note I think I need to scoot here too - the hubby needs help folding the mountain of laundry that is gracing our bed.

Sweet dreams all, happy Sunday!!

Day 305 - So tired!

There seems to be some weird weather/night time issue happening in my neck of the woods. No one seems to be getting a good night of sleep. Perhaps out subconscious-es have figured out that winter and darker days are coming and they are trying to make us enjoy the last few warms days while we still can by keeping us up?

Yeah I doubt that is it either. Whatever is is thought it's making for whiny toddlers, grouchy parents and zombie-fied people in general. That being said though - I do hope that tonight finds us all enjoying a lovely night of sleep so that we can wake refreshed and ready to kick Friday's ass!

Oh and just before I go - we had a wonderful Thursday, the Little Diva and I went to her play group. The activity today was a nature walk! The kiddies were armed with a brown paper bag to collect fall leaves. The little Diva had a blast - she held my hand for practically the entire walk and commented on all the things she saw along the way. She is such a fun little person to chat with. It was priceless. She stopped every now and then to pick up a leaf amidst telling me repeatedly that the walk was "So FUN!! So FUN!!".

Sweet dreams to all and Happy FRIDAY!!

Day 304 - Reading!

I received the first four "Game of Thrones" books as a Birthday gift last year and it ABSOLUTELY pains me that I have yet to make it through the first book. I am close though. It's not that I'm not enjoying the book - heck I am loving it. I just cant find/make the time to read and that is scary! I used to devour books in a day. I guess when you get all older and mature and responsible and stuff - things have to fall by the wayside. Here's to squeezing in time to relax.

I had a lovely morning; my sis-in-law and one of her kiddies, B, came to visit. We had a great time chatting and the kids played really well together. It was so nice to see the little Diva sharing her toys. It seems that the bigger the group is, the more likely we are to have little squabbles etc.

I am looking forward to having the family over again on Saturday for Halloween - I'm planning to make Bat cupcakes so stay tuned for photo's of those if they turn out well :)

Until tomorrow - night night all. Happy Thursday!

Day 303 - Exhausted!

YAWNERS and YAWNERS again. I am WIPED! It seems the little Diva didn't sleep at all last night. Ok, she must have done some sleeping, but from about 4am I was pretty darn wide awake. She kept whimpering in her sleep and either the hubby or I would get up to tuck her back in. I don't think that she was cold, she was wearing socks and her room wasn't chilly. I even went so far as to feed her a drinkable yogurt at around 5:30 in hopes that she was just hungry and it would settle her. I think it might have helped a weee little bit but the hubby still got up 2 or 3 more times before the little snuggle monster came running into our room to hop in bed with us and give mommy a snuggle at around 7:45am.

As can be imagined, hubby and I were not exactly bouncing out of bed with grins on our faces after the sleepless morning and the little goober was SUPER whiny! It made for a pretty bleary, eyed, bleak looking, grumpy, whiny collection of family members at breakfast time. The little Diva has dark circles under her eyes and I'm hoping they're better by tomorrow - after she has a fitful night of sleep of course!

I did take her to play at the center today and she had a blast. The sandbox was filled with a bale of hay, spiders, bats and orange coloured gems for Halloween and the Little Diva and her friend E had a BLAST! At one point the little Diva discovered a basket and collected 4 little pumpkins. One of the other bigger boys bought her a fifth one. She took it with a huge grin and said "Thank you, thank you thank you MUCH!! It was priceless to see this boys WHOLE face light up with his smile. He was so happy that he'd made the little goober happy!

The kids also played in the gym and had fun running around, climbing through a tunnel, rolling, kicking and dunking balls. It was great to watch the kids being kids! It really does make my heart burst with love and happiness to see my little girl happy and having fun.

Then it was time to head back home. Uncle M visited and bought my cookies from my mommy which made me super happy too they are SUPER yummy, and yes I managed not to eat them all in one sitting!! Thank you for not eating them boet!!

I am going to scoot here though so I can go watch a couple of my shows - Tuesday is a busy PVR night; Sons of Anarchy, Raising Hope and New Girl!

Day 302 - Christmas is in the air?

Am I the only one who gets a little traumatized when witnessing Christmas decorations EVERYWHERE before Halloween has even come and gone? I could be, I mean I'm pretty easy to traumatize... well ok not really but silly things can and do irk me to proportions quite easily approaching traumatize-ation!

It just seems that as soon as September hits there's this mad dash to wind up the rest of the year.. Let's cram in Thanksgiving, Halloween, Christmas, and round it all off with New Years Eve. Whew - I'm exhausted just thinking about the next couple of months. I know it will be a blast, it always is - I just sometimes wish it didn't have to feel so crazy. I guess that is what happens when you trade in your "child-like wonder" for "adult responsibilities" - for some reason the world hits fast-forward and you better hang on for dear life. My birthday fits in there amongst the insanity of the year end, as does my dad's and I would like to slow down and enjoy both of those too!!

My goal (wish me luck) for the next couple of months is to take things a little easier - you know - not sweating the small stuff, or the big stuff. Life is going to unwind as it will and what's the point in worrying about things before they happen or just overreacting in general. It seems that people who are less highly strung have an easier time of it but here's to working and improving on an area I know I don't exactly earn gold in. Wish me luck and relaxation!

Happy relaxing people and happy Tuesday!!

Day 301 - Fall :)

“But then fall comes, kicking summer out on its treacherous ass as it always does one day sometime after the midpoint of September, it stays awhile like an old friend that you have missed. It settles in the way an old friend will settle into your favorite chair and take out his pipe and light it and then fill the afternoon with stories of places he has been and things he has done since last he saw you.”
 - Stephen King, Salem's Lot 

Fall is definitely my favourite time of year. The leaves are gorgeous, the days are still pretty decent, not too hot but not too cold either. I haven't baked an apple pie or a pumpkin pie yet and I think I REALLY need to before the pre-Christmas celebrations take off in earnest.

I hope that everyone has a super duper week! Happy Monday folks :)

Day 300 - Weekends are the best!

We had a good day today. The hubby got a tonne of cleaning done while the little Diva and I snuggled and watched TV. The main floor looks AWESOME! We got tonnes of laundry folded and our house is looking all kinds of tidy - well the main level at least! Upstairs is still pretty messy but I guess that is tomorrow's quest.

NaNoWriMo starts on November first and I am seriously contemplating a re-write and completion of the novel I started last November. I've said it before and I will say it again - I have a book inside me - harassing me to get written. It will GET DONE. I just need to make the time. So the plan is to finish the other things I need to get done before November starts. I have a couple of days so here's hoping!

Anywho back to enjoying the weekend - Happy Sunday people!

Day 299 - unwind and relax!

Weekends don't count unless you spend them doing something completely pointless.
- Bill Watterson.



And there is your challenge for this weekend! Kick up your heels, relax, and spend some quality time wasting time.... or you know, relaxing - that will work too!


I'm using my Friday to unwind so until tomorrow - Happy Saturday!

Day 298 - Baby-Marrow (AKA Zucchini) Stew!

My mom mentioned to me that they made baby-marrow stew over the weekend and I have been CRAVING it since then. I remember as a kid being SUPER excited when Mom bought baby-marrows (zucchinis) and sandwich ham home. Excited, because it generally meant dad would cook up a big pot of the stew. We would literally finish it between our 5 family members and I do remember there were always complaints that there weren't leftovers so that we could have seconds! The stew was/is THAT good!

So yes I cooked up a pot. I used chicken sandwich meat though as our home is a no-pig zone. The recipe I have is handwritten and a result of my taking notes as my dad cooked. The instructions include such fun measurements as a "lekker handful" of cheese. I am no longer quite so clear on just how much cheese that entails so I will need to hang out with dad for a refresher course.

The stew still turned out yummy but it wasn't quite as awesome as dads! It is chock full of zucchini, chicken and cheese with some milk, corn starch, salt, pepper and mustard powder. It is AMAZINGLY delicious. Even the little Diva seemed to enjoy it!

Until tomorrow - Happy FRIDAY FOLKS!!!

Day 297 - tired of my whining yet?

yep I'm feeling more human today. I'm thinking that when my doctor tries to coerce me into getting the flu shot I'll just tell her, "no thanks had it already" - you know, as in the flu. In all seriousness thought this is probably just a head cold but it has knocked me on my ass. Stay tuned for my miraculous recovery!

Yesterday the little Diva went shopping with Daddy and came home with a big bag of marshmallows that she had picked out herself. She walked around the grocery store with an empty basket in one hand and her "Mashamash" in the other. She forgot all about her purchase until she'd already gone to bed.

We heard a forlorn little voice over the monitor asking for them. When daddy had to go tell her that bags of marshmallows weren't for snuggling she did sob. The poor little goober though soon realized she would have to stick with her regular snuggle toy and was fast asleep soon after.

This morning though she remembered about them right away and it took some convincing to have her eat breakfast first. As soon as she was done she asked for them again and while I enjoyed my morning coffee she watched cartoons and stuffed her cheeks with candy. It was super cute :)

Night night all - happy Thursday all!

Day 296 - Snot/coughing/not feeling great

So I had another day of feeling not so great. I'm feeling a little better and I'm hoping that a good night of sleep will see me feeling more normal in the morning. The little Diva was thankfully very patient with her mommy. We spent lots of time watching tv, reading books and building lego towers. Hopefully tomorrow will be more inspiring!

Until then - good night everyone. Happy Wednesday!

Day 295 - Lazy Day!

I had a lovely lazy day today. Dadoos came over and entertained the Little Diva. It was so much fun to watch them sitting on the couch playing on the iPad. Dadoos taught the little Diva how to play "Angry Birds" and "Paper Toss". It was hysterical because the Little Diva kept shooting the angry birds the wrong way and then laughing hysterically. I was giggling just watching the two of them giggling.

"Paper Toss" was just as entertaining. The Little Diva kept telling Dadoos, "Throw a tissue in garbage!!" and when it went it there was applause and cheers of "Good Girl!!!" It was way too cute. In the beginning Dadoos wasn't allowed to play - she just had to watch. When she started chatting to me instead the Little Diva was NOT happy with the drop in her attention and suddenly Dadoos was being given turns again. When she got one of the paper balls in the garbage she also got clapping and cheering from the Diva. It was adorable!

I'm off to sleep - feeling better today but still a tad snotty!

Take care all - happy Tuesday!

Day 294 - colds SUCK!

I have the sniffles, throat owies and all out sinus stuffiness. I am not a happy camper in the snot-free-sinus department. I'm going to pour myself some more pineapple juice and slink off to bed. I apologize for the lack of typing lately but here's hoping things pick up sooner than later!

Sweet dreams all and Happy Monday!

Day 293 - WAY too late to type!

Yawners, so we had a long day and it's super late. I'm trying to put more effort into my book - this thing is seriously HAUNTING me.... so here's a little writing quote I thought was amusing and I hope to get more time to blog tomorrow :)

“If you have any young friends who aspire to become writers, the second greatest favor you can do them is to present them with copies of The Elements of Style. The first greatest, of course, is to shoot them now, while they’re happy.”
- Dorothy Parker

Day 292 - Inspiring quote

“People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.
If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway.
If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway.
The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway.
For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.”

― Mother Theresa

Day 291 - Brrrrr!

It is chilly out there. I just took about 5 minutes to locate the weather app on my phone (yes it confirmed my diagnosis of chilliness!). The little Diva placed the app in a folder called "Weather" along with the Google app. Apparently those two have something in common? I seriously wish there was a way to lock my phone so that she can't actually make any changes. I have it locked up so that she can't delete apps, but she's quite capable of moving them around and she often changes settings too. She is getting WAY too smart :D Makes this momma proud even if it means I really need to use the search option to find my apps.

Anyway, yes it is chilly. The little Diva is napping and I honestly have no idea what we will do for the rest of the day. I'm thinking lunch and then hiding in here where it is warm.... or maybe we can got for a walk at the mall, but lets just wait and see what the afternoon brings. She's still a wee bit snotty but I think the humidifier in her room is making sure that it doesn't develop into anything worse!

I should probably get some laundry on before she wakes up though and maybe get the dishwasher unpacked, totally not in the mood but at least if I do it now I won't have to worry about it later :) I hope everyone is having a smashing good Thursday and that Friday brings only good things your way!

Until tomorrow - stay happy folks :)

Day 290 - Super sleepy

No one slept well last night. Well, perhaps the cat did - he hasn't complained yet. The little Diva was up a lot last night and daddy was up with her. I didn't sleep well. We all seem to have runny noses this morning. I guess it is that time of year when doctors start trying to convince you to get the flu shot. We all look a little like zombies today, well not the little Diva. Aside from the boogers and slightly crankier personality she is bouncing off the walls as per usual :)

Ugh... anyway the little Diva and I stayed home for the most part today. She had boogers dripping out of her nose and I didn't want to get dirty looks from the other mom's at the play group for bringing a sick kid. We did make a quick trip to the grocery store though because I needed a calling card, and also the little Diva had been asking me for cookies for days. We got several varieties of cookies so our pantry is well stocked again.

We then came home and had a blast eating cookies and also playing in the little Diva's kitchen. It is really WAY too much fun to just sit and watch her :) Little kids have the best imaginations!

Until tomorrow, I need to drag my bum to bed, sweet dreams! Happy Thursday everyone :)

Day 289 - Curb - 1, me - 0

So we had a pretty fun day today... and by fun I mean somewhat frustrating. I clipped a curb in the parking lot where I take the little Diva to her play group. The freaking tire popped. It wasn't as if I drove over a sharp pointy curb - I just clipped a rounded one and apparently that was enough to completely annihilate the tire.

My friend C was really helpful watching the little Diva while I dealt with roadside assistance and we were soon relaxing and having fun with the play group. We made a sticky mess with glue and glitter and the little Diva painted a picture. We were there until they closed. The roadside assistance guy got their within the 1 and a half time frame they gave me and we were soon on our way home. The afternoon was filled with a visit to the car dealership for a new tire. Thankfully the rim wasn't too badly damaged so that didn't need to be replaced.

Anyway it's been a long day and I'm off to unwind! Night, night all - Happy Wednesday ya'all!

Day 288 - Thankful for burnt beans.

I'm thankful for burnt beans because they give me the excuse to try the recipe again and this time use the SLOW COOKER overnight! Yup I can't believe I actually burnt the freaking things but there were still a few not entire soft beans in the mix so I added more water and set the pot to boil again. I was standing there listening to it start to warm up, waiting to stir it when I smelt burning. There was a tad too many black flake of burnt beans rolling around in the pot when I stirred it to think that it could possibly be saved.

Oh well, we had a wonderful Thanksgiving at Granny and Grandpa's today. We had tonnes of yummy food. Garlic bread, soup, chicken, beef roast, rice, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, rice and dessert with custard. Mmmm Great food, wonderful company and a reminder to be thankful every single day! The little Diva was obviously impressed with the spread because she started looking for a birthday cake!! hehe it was super cute.

Anywho I hope that you all got to spend time with loved ones this weekend and took the time to think of those things you're grateful for. Try to remember this feeling of gratitude each and every day!

Until tomorrow, Happy Tuesday folks!

Day 287 - Too tired to post!

But I'll make it quick none-the-less!

Today FLEW by. I put on a pot of baked beans - which to my horror are still not soft (and yes I did soak the beans overnight)... they are slowly simmering away and will be turned off when I go to bed. They will still be warm in the am and if not 100% soft the pot will go on again. I really should just have made them in the slow cooker. Ah well I know for next time.

I also made some babotie (delicious South African meat dish - I will share the recipe at some point) as well as an upside-down fruit cake of sorts (also a South African recipe). The dessert is for thanksgiving tomorrow with my side of the family.

We had a lovely dinner this evening with Dadoos, Mandada, one of my hubby's uncles and his grandfather. We had a blast. Delicious food and fabulous company.

This is turning into quite the awesome Thanksgiving weekend!

Stay tuned for Thankfulness tomorrow (well technically today, just a few hours later). Sweet dreams all, Happy Thanksgiving Monday!!!

Day 286 - All hail the KALE!

Right so you may be wondering about my slightly ridiculous title today. Well, I am proud to say that I have FINALLY cooked with kale! Yup, it's taken a while but I spotted a recipe in Today's Parent magazine and figured, "Hmmm that sounds yummy and also isn't kale some kind of super-food or something?" and so I cooked it! Yay vitamins and fibre and all that jazz.

The recipe was for a lentil and kale soup. We didn't have too much going on today so after we did a wee bit of cleaning we took a family trip to the grocery store. I had fun hanging out with my hubby and kiddo. We also finally replaced the shower caddy thing that has been sitting in our shower quietly rusting away. Ugh, gross... so yes the replacement is supposedly stainless steel and rustproof - so it better live up to it's promises!

Anywho so yes - the recipe worked out well and I'm happy to report that I will cook with it again! I was surprised that it didn't get all soft and squishy like spinach - it stayed a little chewy and was actually pretty yummy. 

I have plans to make babotie and baked beans from scratch tomorrow - so wish me luck. AND that reminds me I need to go add water to the navy beans so that they can soak over night.

Until tomorrow - Happy Sunday folks!

Day 285 - Turkey Weekend has BEGUN!

Whoooeee, so today went by in a blur. We didn't do too much but there was a stint at the mall where I got a super yummy green tea latte and the little Diva got a cookie so we were all happy! Daddy and the little Diva also did some shopping at Toys R Us and came home armed with a couple of trains and a new track. They played with it for HOURS. The Diva had a blast although she was not a fan of the musical coach daddy picked out. At one point it sounded and she proceeded to try remedy the situation by beating it with one of the wooden tracks while yelling "STOP!!" It was about the funniest thing I've ever seen.

Mr. Kitty most certainly has a cold of some sort and is sneezing all over the place. He spent most of the day hiding/sleeping in the basement so I'm pretty certain he's not feeling his best either. I booked an appointment at the vet for him tomorrow so hopefully we will fix the snotty cat sooner than later. Cat boogers are pretty gross.

Anywho I need to get me to bed. Until tomorrow, Happy Saturday folks!

Day 284 - Slowly cleaning...

Our house looks like a disaster zone; and not after relief workers have come in and secured the area. Nope, it is raw and messy. I have our bags on the floor near the front door. I am confident that all of the clothes are out of them and either already washed and put away or lined up to jump in the washer. There are a few things left in them to sort out - shoes and such things. I spent a chunk of time today doing laundry and getting some order back to the kitchen/living room area.

It is slowly starting to look less scary. I'm hoping that by the end of tomorrow our house will be almost back to "accepting visitors without lengthy apologies and begging for understanding" status.

We picked up our cat, Mr. Kitty, today and after waltzing around the place sounding like a foghorn he seems to have settled back down. For some odd reason he has grown a couple more freckles on his nose. It makes him look cuter and Google suggests that it is a common occurrence amongst Tabby cats. Me thinks perhaps he had his nose glued to the window in his suit!

Here's to a relaxing but productive Friday and an AWESOME start to the Thanksgiving weekend! Happy Turkey Days folks :)

Day 283 - Caught up - sort of...

Whew, I am caught up with my blog and I apologize for taking so long. I decided to cut myself some slack while on holiday. It was just too difficult to try keep up while not at home. I figured my family deserved all of my time while I was there! It was great. We had fun in both Dallas and Calgary but are definitely happy to be home. We have the next couple of days to try get things back to normal before the hubby has to go back to work.

It can be done! Wish me luck and stick around - the posts should get more regular soon.

Health and happiness to everyone - Happy Thursday!

Day 282 - So, So tired.

We were up at 4:30am this morning and out of the house by 5am. It was WAY too early. We got to the airport with Granny and Grandpa and met up with my brother and his family there. I think it is a fair statement to say that NO ONE looked ready to be up yet.

We grabbed breakfast at Tim Horton's and then bid farewell to My brother and family and the grandparentals. 15 minutes later we were on our way to board as well. People on the 7am flight are not so great smelling - just saying...

The little Diva slept for several hours on the flight and I wouldn't have minded doing the same.

Today was pretty much a write-off. We are all super happy to be home though. SUPER happy but SUPER tired. The Diva was asleep by 7pm tonight.

Day 281 - L's BIRTHDAY!

Today went by in a blur. We started the day by taking L a cake in her bed and singing "Happy Birthday". Unfortunately she had been up for some time and the only reason she was still in bed was because I told her she was not allowed to get up! hehe It's hard to get everyone in the same place at the same time when you have a big family!! :D So much fun though.

We were going to go for a walk in Fish Creek but the clouds started looked a tad ominious and so we decided that an ice-cream outing made way more sense. Granny, Grandpa, cousin L, my hubby and the Little Diva all set of for Marble Slab to destroy our diets in one foul "scoop". The ice-cream was AMAZING and I think half the fun was decided what to put into it.

The hubby was super entertained when L and I started pulling the chocolate chips out of our ice-creams. They were really good but they just took away from the chocolate ice-cream at some point.

The little Diva was not impressed with Daddy's ice-cream and situated herself on Granny's lap and proceeded to help herself! Luckily Granny didn't mind sharing.

Granny and Grandpa took ice cream and cones back to the house so that the little Diva's cousins E and B could have some too. Of course the Diva needed some more and I got the cutest photo's of them making Aunty S's house nice and sticky. At one point the little Diva had two cones, I guess B had had enough and she figured she hadn't...hehe

Supper was in honour of L's birthday and was the yummiest spaghetti bolognese and gem squash followed by creme brullee. It was so, so good. The little Diva ate a HUGE plate of bolognese mixed with squash and decided to have ginger cookies in place of the brulle! Funny Kid :P

Day 280 - Recovery and More great food and company!

The house still woke up early today - I don't know how everyone did it! By 6am I was hearing footsteps upstairs and the very definite grinding of coffee beans. Our little family was pooped after Saturday and we didn't even stay out as late as some others did. We, the little Diva and I, wandered upstairs and hung out with an equally sleepy Granny and Grandpa. The little Diva was definitely the one with the most energy.

We had a yummy big breakfast and I was super distraught that I missed out on the tomato sauce today (A big pot of cooked up tomatoes, salt and pepper that is AWESOME with eggs and toast). The tomatoes all came from my Granny's garden and the flavour was AMAZING!

We had a tea party for my cousin L's 20th birthday this afternoon. Her real birthday is on Monday but several family members had to leave today because they had work tomorrow.

This evening we set out to go see my friend R and her hubby B! R and I were roommates while we were students and have some pretty entertaining stories to tell. They are expecting their first little one in December and so really enjoyed having a "test-toddler" hanging out. It was pretty entertaining. Of course the little Diva would chose this evening to run into the corner of their dinner table. She cried and our poor friends started not liking their table so much. A few well placed corner protectors with rectify the situation!

B cooked an amazing meal and if I wasn't scared of becoming a sumo-wrestler I probably could have helped R eat the entire giant Costco pumpkin pie they got for dessert!!

DAy 279 - Wedding!

My cousin got married today! He and his wife both looked gorgeous. I managed to do my reading on time without falling up or down the stairs. We then went to Wendy's for a snack while we waited for the reception. The venue was amazing, the decor gorgeous, and the little Diva stayed up late enough to party! She did have an hour long nap while we ate dinner though so she missed out on her giant plate of fries and chicken fingers!! Then it got later and it was time to head back to our temporary home at my aunts to get some well needed rest after starting the day around 4:30am this morning!

Day 278 (Friday) - Library time and Dinner with Friends!

We had a pretty early start to the day. The Little diva and I wandered upstairs to find Granny while daddy got ready - The little Diva was SUPER thrilled to find Granny and Grandpa upstairs! She was still not ready to be friends with her Great Grandpa and Grandma though! WE had breakfast, spent some time with family and then the three of us set off for the library where I used to work.

It was GREAT to see my old campus again and even more amazing to see my coworkers! It's a weird sense to feel as if time stopped in an area while you moved on. Yes the building was more filled with books and yes there were some unfamiliar faces, but on a whole it was as if time had stopped a little in my absence.

We had lunch at Tim Horton's, stopped at Aldo where I found an awesome pair of boots and then we went back to my aunts house for a few hours. Before we knew it we were getting ready to go to the Wedding Rehearsal. It went well and I was pretty confident I knew when to stand up for my reading.

After this we set of for my friends N and B for dinner. N was a coworker of mine at the library and another friends and coworker C joined us as well. It was a lovely evening: great food, great company and a lovely quieter setting! Not that we weren't enjoying all of the family chaos at my aunty, it was just a nice break - I think we were also still de-compressing from the Dallas vacation as well!

Day 277 - Thursday

What a day. Traveling takes a lot out of you. We were up nice and early to pack up our last minute things. The little Diva was still asleep so we let her sleep while we ran around the house like crazy people. I ate breakfast and then when we were basically ready to leave it was time to get her up. I played the little Diva's music and opened her curtains. She got up on her knees, frowned at me, lifted her blanket in the air and lay down and pulled it back up around her shoulders and promptly went back to sleep.

It doesn't get more clear than that eh. "Mom I'm not getting up!"

I figured I'd try a different approach and put on the TV in our room while I went to clean my teeth. Two minutes later the little gumdrop wobbled into our room with her blanket and snuggle buddy. We quickly fed her breakfast, got her dressed and packed all three of us into the car and set off for the airport.

We had a good flight. The little Diva got stinky half way to Calgary so we had some airplane diaper change shenanigans on the way. We discovered that she is a fan of Crispers! Gotta love the fact that Westjet still gives you "free" snacks :D

We got to Calgary happy but sleepy. It was quite strange to be back there - things looked familiar but also not. It's hard to explain but I found a lot of things were the same but different (paint colour changed etc) and some places were completely changed.

It was amazing to get to see a whole bunch of my cousins and aunts and uncles. My grandparents arrived late this evening and it was so good to see them again. It had been WAY too long!

Day 276 - Crazy day

It's been a hectic day. I am exhausted and we have an early start tomorrow. I need my bed - now.

Stay tuned for updates from our adventure in Calgary.

Happy Thursday Folks!

Day 275 - Laundry

Whew I feel like CRAP today. Traveling and colds really take a lot out of you. We spent the morning taking things slow. We ran a few errands and after lunch I finally started on the laundry. I"m nowhere near done but at least it's started. We are having a quiet evening watching Sons of Anarchy and New Girl. Then tomorrow it's crazy packing central so we are ready for our flight on Thursday morning.

Anywho let me scoot here I need a cup of tea before New Girl starts. Stay happy and healthy folks. Happy Wednesday!

Day 274 - Home Time!

Today we packed up everything and had a quick last minute visit with family before heading to the airport to go home. We had cheese burgers for breakfast. I know, I know, not entirely healthy - Buuut the hotel had stopped serving breakfast by the time we were packed and ready to head out. The Little Diva started the flight with a tantrum after falling asleep on the way to the airport. She finally stopped and settled down for a pretty decent flight. She spent time on both mommy and daddy's laps. She seems to have decided that pooping on flights is the thing to do so we had another adventure with the washroom shelf and bum changing. This time though the hubby closed the toilet lid so it didn't seem quite so precarious.

The little goober fell asleep about 40minutes before we landed and was miserable when we moved her to get off the plane. We ended up sitting there with a bawling kid until the plane was mostly empty before we got home. We were super happy to get home - it had been a super busy and super fun couple of days. Now we get ready for the next trip!

Day 272 (Saturday) - Day 273 (Sunday)

Day 272 - Saturday

Saturday - What can I say about Saturday. Right we woke up pretty late and wandered over to the parentals room to see if they wanted to join us at IHOP for breakfast. We were starving. The little Diva woke up super snotty after a snotty and coughing night. Her nose was draining something pretty fierce and she just looked sick. Luckily though it seemed to be just a head cold cause she was still mostly her chipper self. After a yummy family breakfast with really depressing tea (they can't seen to make hot tea in this county!) we quickly went back to pack up and check out of the motel. We had decided that the lack of wifi was simply too much to deal with! So we switched to a Holiday Inn. We dropped off our stuff at the new hotel and set off for some shopping. I was really excited to go check out the jewelery at "Sam & Moon" - I found a few pieces and by this time sleep and snottiness had caught up with us. We went back to the hotel to rest briefly and then get ready for the Shadi.

It was another gorgeous evening of fun! The venue was stunning, the food amazing and the company too. The little Diva was a tad crabby and didn't really want anyone looking at her or trying to give her attention but that could be explained by her cold and lack of sleep and crabiness!

Day 273 - Sunday

At 2am my dear hubby took a trip to Walmart to buy a humidifier for the little Diva and some cold and flu meds for himself. He had started feeling awful and the little Diva was waking up with coughing fits every so often. We got better sleep after we set the humidifier up but as can be imagined we were plenty zombified when we woke up. The good news though was that the little Diva was feeling much better.

Dadoos, Mandada, Uncle I, Aunty N and cousin R all joined up for breakfast at IHop this morning. The little Diva threw quite the tantrum because she wanted to drink her milk out of a cup but we had to take it away because she was making a giant mess. I took a quick walk with a screaming kid through the restaurant and took her to wash her hands and then look out the front window for a bit before heading back to the table. I was struck once again by how nice people in Texas are. I had at least 3 people stop to ask what the matter was and if we needed anything. By the time we got back to the table she was more herself and ready to play with the extra crayons and colouring page a kind employee had offered to help cheer her up.

This afternoon we went shopping with Dadoos a little before heading back to relax before the Valima. It was GORGEOUS. The little Diva started the evening with some pretty spectacular tantrums which had more than one couple with kids walk by, smile kindly and say, "Oh we've been there" or, "Oh we know this one all too well". She eventually did cheer up though and we ended up staying till the very end. It was great spending time with family.

Day 270 & 271

Ok so we FINALLY have wifi working at this motel - YAY! I am sitting on the bed typing in the semi-darkness next to my poor congested little Diva. She started sounding all snotty last night and we are REALLY, REALLY hoping that she is better by tomorrow. I know that you probably don't need to know this but right now she has a lot of snot draining - as far as I'm concerned it's better out that in clogging up her poor nasal passages. Here's hoping and praying the little goober feels better in the morning.

Sooo lets discuss the flight. The little Diva was AMAZING! She fell asleep as the plane was moving into place to take off. By the time the wheels lifted off the tarmac she was FAST asleep! She slept for an hour and was super good the rest of the time. She spent a good chunk of it playing with her two little rubber duckies and some more playing with the iPad. I had been SUPER excited that morning when the little Diva pooped at home because I assumed it meant she wouldn't poop on the flight...

right... assumptions... one should NEVER, EVER make those.

So the little Diva was walking around a little playing with her toys when the hubby and I noticed a foul odor. There was NO pretending it wasn't coming from our gorgeous daughter's diaper. There was nothing else to do but change her on the plane. So the three of us, armed with a change pad, diaper and wipes set off to the back of the plane. There we found another guy waiting for the washroom. We waited and waited. The little Diva proclaimed loudly at one point, "eww gross stinky bum!!"... I'm sure the people who were near us were in full agreement with her assessment.

We must have been there at least 5 or 10 minutes when I asked my hubby if the guy in front of us was sure there was someone in the washroom. The guy said he thought so because he couldn't get the door open and told hubby he could try too.

What do you know the door opened easily...

The guy felt so bad for making us wait there like idiots that he let us go ahead of him. The change table on this flight was a tiny fold down shelf above the gaping toilet hole. I was in hysterics as I changed the Diva's stinky bum. She had this look of utter disbelief and horror on her face and she hung onto my shirt tightly gripped in her hand the entire time I was changing her bum. Heck if I was lying on a little plank above a toiled I'd probably also be hanging onto something for dear life.

The rest of the flight was pretty uneventful and we landed safely in Texas.

I will report back tomorrow with more from our trip. Let me just say that we started our day with breakfast from IHop this morning and we were plenty impressed!

Sweet dreams all - Happy Saturday!!

Day 269 - Almost time for our family adventure!

YAWNERS - it is 12:23am - I am EXHAUSTED but I think we are mostly packed and ready to go. We had a delicious dinner with the parentals and brother and family. I was OH so tempted to claim some leftovers but I should probably eat a VERY light breakfast as I foresee some not so healthy eating in the next two weeks. Of course we will try eat healthy buut I know it's hard to do when you're relying on take out places and banquet halls!

I have a small list of last minute things to do so here's hoping I get them all done with time to spare tomorrow morning. The big thing that has to get done is switching the clothes from the washer to the dryer tomorrow. If this step is forgotten then dear hubby will be having some issues regarding public nudity on our trip...

soooo that being said I REALLY do need to sleep so that I'm up in time to ensure no acts of public indecency occur on our trip, oh and to make sure we pack our tooth brushes etc...

Good night to all and a very HAPPY Thursday!

Day 268 - Hmm What to do!

Hmmm... So I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to do about blogging while we are off on our great adventure.... AKA "traveling for two weddings". I'd like to think I'll find time to write a line or two daily but realistically I'm aware I might be swamped and not get to it. I'm going to see if I can jot down a line or two and catch up when we get back if I fail at actually getting online!

I actually managed to get some stuff into suitcases today - YAY! I went to pick up the dry cleaning and my outfits weren't back yet but I was happy to pick up the hubby's suit. Apparently they have managed to get the stain out of one of my outfits but the other is proving difficult. They have until tomorrow at 6 - here's hoping for their sake that they SORT IT OUT!

Anywho I'm going to scoot here so I can watch the episode of Sons of Anarchy on the pvr!

Night all and Happy Wednesday to ya!

DAy 267 - Laundromat!

I feel like a laundromat has taken over my house! I have laundry all over the freaking place. Some is in various stages of being folded on our bed upstairs and others are in piles in the basement waiting to be washed. There are cloths in the dryer, in the washer and in a laundry baskets waiting to come upstairs! Oi! It will all get done and I will aim to keep my sanity in check! As the hubby says - it's not like we're going to some crazy "middle-of-nowhere" place where we cant just replace forgotten items so all will be well. The laundry will get done, the bags will get packed and if I manage to forget something we wont be completely lost. As long as we make our flights everything will work out.

When I called the laundromat today to make sure my items would be ready for pickup by my deadline the guy had the nerve to say, "I don't know if we will be able to get the stains out". There was an awkward pause while I tried to work out how to punch someone through the phone and then I responded with, "WELL WHEN I DROPPED THEM OFF WITH YOU GUYS THEY HAD NO MARKS ON THEM SO THEY BETTER COME OUT". He them spoke a mile a minute and assured me they would be back by Tuesday. I really, really hope for his sake that they get the stains out cause I cannot guarantee that I will be able to resist the urge to slap him if they don't. Sigh.. Fingers and toes crossed!

Forgive me as I scoot here - but I have things that need doing. I hope that everyone is having a SMASHING GOOD Monday and that the week ahead is filled with sunshine, fun and all manner of happiness.

DAy 266 - Crunch time!

I spent a chunk of time today thinking I could actually start my packing. I really should have STARTED trying to do it earlier...So this afternoon I grabbed my dry cleaning and started taking it out of the bags ready to get it into my luggage. I then discovered that two of my outfits had marks on the front. SERIOUSLY?! Sigh I was so frustrated, if I'd known they would come back dirtier than I dropped them off I wouldn't have bothered with the cleaning!! Anyway I took them back today and am all kinds of hopeful that they will be ready by the time the hubby's suit is done on Tuesday night.

I got all of the little Diva's outfits hand-washed today though so that's a step in the right direction :D Here's hoping she naps after our play date in the morning and then I can attempt to really get stuck into my packing!

Happy Monday folks!

Day 265 - Bath time!

The little Diva had a blast this evening. We went over to my brother and his family for dinner with Granny and Grandpa. Gotta love a delicious BBQ with family! The little Diva is turning into quite the carnivor - She ate SO much sausage it was hard to keep track of just how much. It was super cute to keep hearing her keep demanding "Mooower SAUSAGHHH"

While we were there it was bath time for the cousins and the little Diva decided she wasn't going to miss out on the fun. Luckily she waited till her cousins were out of the tub before she started up with her usual antics and wet way too much of the bathroom! Hope Aunty M didn't have to call "flood control" after we left!

Anywho it is getting late here and I need to get sleep because I have big plans for tomorrow. Happy Sunday folks :)

Day 264 - Popcorn!

The little Diva has discovered popcorn! She LOVES it and thanks to her new found love, Granny and I picked some up while we were at the mall today. Anywho where was I going with this, Oh riiiight. Yes so we are home safe and sound after a busy day with Granny and later Grandpa. The Little Diva is fast asleep and I am armed with a bowl of popcorn watching one of the Pirates of the Caribbean Movies (have they stopped making those yet?!).

We had a really busy day with Granny. There was lots of fun to be had and a million mini panic attacks. The little Diva seems to think it's funny to hide behind clothing racks etc. I am however less amused. I've said it before and I will say it again, "I WORRY ABOUT EVERYTHING". Sometimes I contemplate the enormity of my responsibility for this little person and it is overwhelming. It is 100% true what they say:

 "Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body. - Elizabeth Stone

So having said that I also need to figure out how to take the metaphorical "Chill pill" without needing a real pill of the chilling variety. Hehe

Ok I'm going to end of here I am way too tired and if I stick around later I can't excuse the stuff and nonsense I may type!

Happy Weekend folks :D

Day 263 - what kid doesn't like pasta?

My kid, that's who. The little Diva does not like mac and cheese. Now before you tell me it's because I make it "home made" and which kid like "home made" mac and cheese.... just you wait! THIS kid liked home made. I LOVED and still do LOVE my mom's mac and cheese and yes I've had the occasional craving for Kraft Dinner which I have indulged but that's beside the point really. The little Diva has tried KD and the home made stuff. She SPITS out the noodles for both of them and announced to whomever will listen that "I no YIKE IT!"

Yup she's a wee bit lots fussy...

Now don't get me wrong, Gluten is not exactly my favourite ingredient so I'm not entirely sad that she doesn't like wheat noodles, it just makes it harder to cook fast easy meals. Also I have a sneaky suspicion that she would also "no yike it" the rice noodles. I guess I can whip up a recipe with those and see how it goes.

We have a busy day planned with Granny tomorrow so I'm heading to bed. Happy Friday folks!

Day 262 - Where is the month going?

Whew - I had a good day actually, yup, most of it was pretty darn awesome.

I had planned to take the little Diva to the play group this morning but we woke up late and had to go pick up her game that got left in a store two days ago. Once we'd picked it up I asked her if she wanted to go play with her friends and she told me she wanted a cookie at the mall. I though, well ok then, it's getting kind of late and how do I say no to the cute little pumpkin wanting to hang out with her mommy at the mall even if it was cause she wanted a cookie! I had a look around while she ate her cookie and I drank tea but I still haven't found a purple party dress for her yet. Wish me luck!

We came home and I put the little monkey down for her nap. An hour later she was still goofing around in her room doing everything but sleeping and I decided to give up on a nap today. Hopefully she will have one tomorrow and I can catch up on the laundry!

The Little Diva and I spent close to an hour playing in the park this afternoon. I am absolutely in love with this little girl and how happy she makes me. I followed her around over and over as she climbed the steps saying "coming a mommy!" and then I walked around to catch her as she slid down saying, "Weeeee a FAAAT" (she was saying faSt). It was a blast. She played in the sand, hid behind a tree and smelled the flowers when we got back to our front door. We HAD to have a bath at this point to remove the sand and stickiness from her and then we waited for daddy to come home so we could go visit Dadoos and Mandada for dinner.

It was a wonderful day, afternoon and evening! Happy Thursday folks :)

Day 261 - Corn!

Several years ago my mom in law gave me a nifty little metal thing that you pop over your stove plate to cook corn. I LOVE this thing - there is something awesome about warm, butter drenched sweet corn. Mmmmm The Little Diva even nibbled a few kernels and decided they were yummy and delicious "pop a corn".... I'm thinking she really prefers pop corn though but we will serve it again and see what she thinks on the second try.

Wish me luck in my continued quest to feed this kid more veggies!! :)

Until tomorrow - Happy Wednesday people!!

Day 260 - Earrings!

Earrings, earrings and more gorgeous earrings. I spent the evening shopping with my mom and sister in law. We were on a mission to find earrings to go with my outfits for the wedding later this month. I saw so many gorgeous earrings it was hard to chose. I have 3 outfits down and now I just need one more set. I will be going out tomorrow with my mom-in-law and hopefully all of the shopping will be done. I'm so happy I have awesome family members who are happy to help me with my shopping!

I plan to take the little Diva to a play group tomorrow to help her work off some energy - she didn't nap today so I'm hoping tiring her out will convince her to nap... hehe I really think I probably just need to get used to the idea that the nap will probably soon be a thing of the past..

It's pretty late so I need to scoot here and get ready for bed. Happy Tuesday everyone!
Goodnight all :)

Day 259 - So sleepy

Seriously do I ever do anything but moan and whine about being sleepy? No? Hmm well lets aim to work of this - just not today!

We spent a lovely Saturday evening with Granny and Grandpa and then tonight after the hubby put together our new table and chairs we stopped by to visit Dadoos and Mandada. Dadoos very kindly altered a bunch of my Indian outfits for the wedding. They all look awesome! The little diva and I will have a few errands to run tomorrow - one of them being a trip to drop off our dry cleaning for the weddings. I'm a little scared to find out what they will charge to clean these gorgeous beaded outfit - but it has to be done :D Then tomorrow night I have a trip with Dadoos and My sis-in-law "N" to go find some jewelery to wear with said outfits - I am looking forward to finding some shiny goodies!

Anywho as has come to be customary for the weekends I will make this short and sweet and end off here. I hope you all had weekends worth remembering. Happy Monday folks!

Day 258 - Yawners

Whew - we had a long and fun day and I an a wee bit too tired to type. I know, I know, how pitiful is this blog post :( I do apologize but once again it is weekend, and late, and I do need my sleep. Let me see if I can dig up an inspirational quote so you can be more forgiving of my pitiful typing.

Happy Sunday folks!

“Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.” 

Dr. Seuss

Day 257 - Haircut!

I haven't had a haircut since January. Yerp I'm not proud of the fact - more I'm mentioning it as somewhat of an excuse for all of the boring ponytails and messy "head-nest-scrunch" things you've had to endure in the last couple of months. I FINALLY went for a cut this evening and am super happy. My stylist also straightened my hair for me - SO Much easier when someone else does it for you!

There's nothing quite like freshly chopped hair to make you put in some effort and actually style your hair. Here's hoping this new trend last a while so that I look more like a yummy mummy and less like... well... a tired mummy who needs a haircut... :D

Anywho we had a lovely day visiting with Granny today - we went to a burger place to pick up lunch and the little Diva promptly fell asleep on the drive home. When she woke up an hour or so later she was a tad grumpy and was mumbling/whining something at me. It took WAY too long for me to figure out she was saying "chips". Granny calls "fries" chips and I guess the little Diva woke up realizing that she hadn't in fact got any of the fries/chips that had been promised to her.

We got downstairs and I put the plate of fries in front of her only to have her ask where her chicken was... too cute! Apparently she's had one too many happy meals lately!! *hangs parenting head in shame* Ok before you panic it hasn't been THAT many - we're definitely not even closing in on once a week yet so yes... lets keep it lower than that! I did make her some nuggets though and she had those with her baked beans a little later on. Now if I could only somehow convince this kid to eat everything I put in front of her. I'm thinking that the eating battle will need it's own blog :D

Day 256 - Time to Sleep!

 Some people can't sleep because they have insomnia. I can't sleep because I have Internet connection.
- Unknown

Now tell me you didn't think that was funny? Ok - yes you in the back there you didn't? Not even a little? Well ok then. You don't HAVE to laugh. I did though, so yeah.... anyway moving on -

We had a good day today - My brother and a coworker came over to move our couches to the curb. We were super appreciative of the help! Our living room looks oh so bare - our new couches arrive tomorrow and I'm super excited to see how they look. I am all kinds of optimistic that the room will look bigger, more open and more pulled together. Here's hoping!

We had a lovely evening with Dadoos and Mandada. Dadoos is fixing 3 pairs of pants for me and a top for my Indian outfits so our visit included a fashion show. Then I need to take everything to the dry cleaners and I'm all set to party!

I do need to get to sleep here though so HAPPY FRIDAY folks. It's going to be a GREAT weekend!

Day 255 - Massage Day!

So I'm super stoked for my massages this evening. (Yes, Yes I have been mentioning it WAY too much in the last couple of days and I do apologize, but I am excited!) I am making some Mung Bean Curry for dinner so everything will be ready when the hubby gets home from work. We will eat, bath the Diva and then mommy can scoot for some torture/pain relief.

The Mung Bean Curry is actually freaking yummy and potentially Gluten Free if you make sure all of the components are GF. I am doubling the recipe so that I will have some extra to freeze for those "just don't feel like cooking days". Also it's great to have a meat free meal every now and then. Yay vegetables and all that. I do tend to add extra veggies to this recipe but in it's simple form this is all you need:

1 1/2 Cup Mung Beans
1 chopped onion
1 chopped tomato
1 tsp crushed garlic
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
1tsp cayenne pepper
pinch of saffron for colouring
salt to taste
1/4 cup cream
2tsp curry powder

You need to wash and soak the mung beans. I tend to soak them in boiling water from the kettle. I boil the kettle soak the beans and once the water has cooled I boil a second kettle full and repeat. If you don't do this or let them soak over night it takes FOREVER for the beans to cook :) The recipe says to cook the beans till soft, then saute the other stuff alone until tender and then add it to the beans with the cream. I tend to just saute the onions and then add everything except the cream and cook until done before adding the cream. The beans do take a while to cook so just let them simmer quietly until done :) The recipe also says to garnish with fresh danya. I have no idea what that is so I have never done that. Just give me a second while I hit the Google.

Apparently Google is just as confused as I am. It mostly things danya is a person - I still have no idea what it is, but you really don't need it, the curry is yummy without it.

Happy Thursday folks!

Day 254 - slowly turning into House...

No, not the kind of house you dwell in but the medical doctor, TV show kind. My leg is driving me batty and I'm scared I'll end up grumpy with a cane - which is why I finally booked a massage! Yay - go team me!! Lets hope that the masseuse tomorrow can work some magic. Also I'm really hoping it's muscular and not shin splints because then I guess I will need a new plan.

The little Diva was a superstar today while we ran errands. She decided though to ditch the nap which resulted in a pretty spectacular meltdown when I finally tried to get her to bed. It's my own fault really, I probably should have pushed the issues at least an hour and a half earlier. I feel bad that my poor little girl had to cry hysterically before she could fall asleep. It broke my heart. I know she didn't really know what she wanted either and that she honestly just needed to sleep - but it was still hard to deal with.

We had such fun getting caught in the rain today. The little Diva's giggles and exclamation of "wet" were too cute. Then her grins as I leaned over in the car to dry her off with a blankie before heading home warmed my heart. She and I had an adventure or two today and it was fun. I just wish bedtime didn't have to leave her so sad.

She is finally fast asleep now though and tomorrow I will make more of an effort to tire her out so that she has a nap and an easy bedtime.

Love, Peace and Happiness :)

Day 253 - quick quote

“It's possible to forget how alive we really are. We can become dry and tired, just existing, instead of really living. We need to remind ourselves of the juice of life, and make that a habit. Find those places inside that jump for joy, and do things" - Unknown

Day 252 - Super fun shopping day!

I had a lovely day shopping with Dadoos, "N", the Hubby and the Little Diva. We found 2 gorgeous Indian outfits and along with the two I got on Thursday I am very excited to wear them. There is something magical about being decked out in gorgeous shiny clothes. The little Diva also got two new outfits and we are all ready to PARTY!!

The hubby and I are feeling a lot better today but we are still wiped so I'm thinking another early night will be in order.

Take care everyone and enjoy your holiday Monday!

Day 251 - Feeling pretty craptastic!

I woke up with a slight fever this morning and the sensation that my sinuses were FULL of something trying to escape and the pressure was causing a none too fun headache. The hubby was not feeling well either and hopped up on Tylenol he drove us to our Sis-in-laws Birthday party. We had a wonderful day with family despite feeling crap-tastic and we are now back at home. It sounds like the little Diva is constructing something serious in her room. I can hear her over the monitor and I wish the little pumpkin would decide to call it a night so that this mommy can do the same. The hubby is passed out next to me and I can only hope tomorrow brings with it a clean bill of health for us all. Also I hope that what we have is what the little Diva had because I really don't want her sick again!

Until tomorrow - Happy Sunday!

Day 250 - Oh that's where that went....

Several days ago I had JUST given the little diva a sippy cup when she asked me for it again. I looked EVERYWHERE... ok well not "everywhere" because if I had I would have found it as the damn thing didn't technically vanish into thin air. I searched in all of the "usual" places and some of the not so usual places and finally just gave her a new cup knowing full well that the old one would turn up sooner than later.

It did.

I almost wish it hadn't.

I found it this afternoon when I opened the cupboard to grab a big serving plate. There it was sitting peacefully on top of the plates just above the K-Cups. I somehow missed the Diva stashing it there. She needed her hands free to quickly help herself to some K-Cups when I opened the cupboard to grab a bowl several days ago. She likes to shake the K-Cups and then leave them in random places for me to discover and brew at my leisure.

The milk in this cup no longer looks like milk. It is, in fact, pretty damn terrifying-looking (yes we are going to pretend that "terrifying-looking" is a good and useful literary description). I haven't decided the fate of this cup yet but I think my inner "germ-a-phobe" is going to throw it out. Hell I'm scared the content will jump out and devour our cat if I open the bottle. Once it's ingested the cat it may turn on me - I'm not sure that is a risk I'm willing to take.

Hints, tips? Would you wash or chuck this monstrosity. My best guesstimates suggest that the cup has been in there for 2 or 3 days. I would post a picture but I'd hate to be responsible for you having to clean vomit out of your keyboards.

On that slimy, curdled and wholly unappetizing note I wish everyone a very happy long weekend.

YAY for Monday's spent lazily with family :D

Day 249 - Shopping success - well partly!

We had a lovely/crazy/busy/tantrum/giggle/smile filled day! Yep all of these things can and do happen on a daily basis. First off my brother stopped in for lunch this morning which was great - the little Diva loves hanging out with her uncle M! He was definitely not allowed to drink his coffee more than he gave her snuggles.

Then I TRIED and TRIED to convince the Diva to take a nap. She assured me that I was stark raving mad and got progressively more and more tantrummy as the afternoon progressed. When Dadoos arrived to go shopping with us she promptly fell asleep in the car as soon as we got going. It's just as well I have no sense of direction and took a lot longer to get there that any normal-directioned person would - she got a semi-short-but-decent nap in.

She was quite the little monster while we shopped. She wouldn't let anyone but mommy hold her so trying on things resulted in some screeching. I did manage to get two lovely outfits though and when we go look for the last one on Sunday she will stay home and hang out with daddy!

Happy Friday folks - Long weekend here we come!!

Day 248 - Happiness :)

It's late and I'm way too sleepy to be typing so here's a quote to mull over - onward and upward to a more positive attitude folks! No not what I just typed there.. the line below ->


Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.
- Mahatma Ganghi


Also  - Happy Thursday - I'm going shopping with my mom in law and my little Diva tomorrow - gonna be fun!! :D

Day 247 - Better day :)

So today went pretty well - the little Diva and I stayed home and took it easy. We really didn't do too much of anything - there was WAY too much TV watching and not enough "potty time!" The little Diva is still WAY more snugly than usual. She often want hugs; but when she's not feeling well she wants them even more and I don't blame her - when I feel crappy I want hugs too! We have plans to meet up at a park with three of her little friends tomorrow morning so I'm hoping we have another good night and a happy little Diva in the morning so that we can go ahead with those plans.

I don't have too much more to type - I'm pretty tired and hoping that tomorrow brings a GREAT day. Who knows I might bake something gluten free and yummy if the mood strikes.

Until tomorrow Happy Wednesday people - seriously though where has the week gone!?!

Day 246 - BARF

Our poor little Diva has thrown up twice tonight. She's asleep now and I'm hoping she has a good night and wakes up feeling better. I hate how helpless I feel when the Little Diva isn't feeling well. There's not much you can do except clean up the barf and offer a nice warm bath and a hug. We're just trying to make sure she keeps drinking fluids and hopefully tomorrow is a better day.

if you'll excuse me I need to go make some tea and study some Urdu before bed :)

Happy Tuesday folks!

Day 245 - Not in the mood to type!

There I said it. I'm not in the blogging mood today. I have a dishwasher waiting to be unpacked and then packed, laundry waiting to be thrown into the dryer and more waiting to be folded and lets not forget the messy kitchen.  *SIGH* so much for my plan to get the house tidy today. It's Sunday night and the house is probably messier than it was yesterday. Here's hoping I get some energy and just get it done tomorrow. Wish me luck or show up with a broom... :D

 I found this quote on Facebook while wasting the time I should have been using to clean. It applies to life in general and I need to take this advice:

You can't control everything. Sometimes you just need to relax and have faith that things will work out. Let go a little and just let life happen. - Kody Keplinger

Happy Monday :) May your week ahead bring sunshine and happiness!

DAy 244 - Bon Voyage JubJub

I can't believe it but our kitty is sitting at the Airport waiting to board his flight. He has one stop over where he will spend the night at a cat hotel before continuing on to South Africa. He will be dropped off at my sister's home on Monday. I hope and pray that the little furry bugger is happy there. He better be - my sister is awesome, and if anyone is going to love our little pooper as much, if not more than we do, it would be her!

....


Okay so I wrote that HOURS ago... after cleaning the toys downstairs I came up to blog and the little Diva decided nap time was over. Just as well - I needed a snuggle with my little goober. We had a good day - despite the fact that I felt sad that JubJub was actually leaving the country today. A small part of me kept wishing there was something we could have done - today just felt a little "final". I am glad though that he is on his way and we have done what we can to give him a better home.

I'm thinking tomorrow needs to be a low-key day. I need to clean and get the house re-set for the week ahead.

Happy Sunday everyone :)

Day 243 - Been a long week....

We've had a pretty long week over in our corner of the world. Long in the sense that we are feeling a little under the weather and tantrummy - stuffy sinuses will do this to ya! Mommy and Daddy aren't doing the tantrums; although judging by how happy the little Diva is AFTER her tantrums perhaps they are worth trying?

Yep so if you happen to be in a grocery store over the weekend and see a full grown woman throwing a fit - INCLUDING floor rolling and kicking you can bet that she is probably me. The fear of being arrested for causing a "public disturbance" will probably keep me from putting this experiment into practice though.

If you'll excuse me I'm going to scoot here - I need to make sure the towels are clean for JubJub's flight to South Africa tomorrow.

Day 242 - Tired

Whew - What a tantrum filled day. The Little Diva definitely woke up on the wrong side of the bed today. Don't get me wrong though she was her happy self for most of the day - it's just that when she was unhappy she was REALLY, REALLY unhappy!

We had a ridiculous sized tantrum in the mall today and then an even bigger one when we were home and getting ready to go Dadoos and Mandada this evening. For whatever reason the little Diva has decided that she hates her runners and wants to wear her sandals. The problem though is that the runners are specially modified to help with her toe walking and the sandals are not. Oi!

So after that day I'm pretty darn pooped and I'm heading to bed.

Happy Frikken Friday Folks!!

DAY 241 - Dieting and Baking?!

I am in the mood to bake. I am resisting though because I am also following my diet strictly again - I have two weddings to go to in September and I intend to fit into my outfits. I want to be a "yummy-mummy" not a ... ummm whatever the opposite of that is? A not-yummy-mummy, a yucky-mummy? Oh forget it - all I want to do is lay off the junkfood for a while and for that reason ALL I can think of is carbs, yummy carbs filled with gluten, fat, sugar and more carbs. BLEAGH.... ok I need to FOCUS. Perhaps a cup of carrot sticks will distract me for a little while.

Either way though I do need  to try bake more Gluten-free things in future. With the correct recipes they can be surprisingly good. Gluten-free though does not mean "healthy" or "low-fat". I'm currently sitting on a recipe for the most divine sounding gluten-free almond chocolate balls but I think I may have to stall for a while because if they are as yummy as they sound I will basically have to give them away as soon as I've eaten one or risk eating them all! LOL

My little Goober and I had a fun day at the farm and this mommy is now super-duper exhausted. The Diva woke up several times early this morning.  Daddy got up to put her back in bed (thank you so much!) but I still must have woken up because my eyes are burning and I feel like I'm going on four hours of sleep!

I'm sure her waking up so much had to do with the fact that she didn't have a nap yesterday. She was up all day and got pretty cranky in the afternoon. She almost fells asleep when I carried her downstairs after playing in her room for a while and there was some serious eye blinking while eating supper. We wanted to avoid having her fall asleep too early so we went for a walk after supper. The poor kid was hysterical by the time we had her ready for bed. I guess she really isn't ready to drop the daily nap.

Here's hoping for a better night tonight!

Happy Thursday everyone :)

Day 240 - Holy Busy Batman!

Whew it is 3:17pm and I'm finally getting a chance to sit down in front of/technically under, my laptop. The Little Diva is sitting next to me on the bed eating Froot Loops and watching My Little Pony.

We had a super fun morning hanging out with her friend E and his mommy. We had a few minor meltdowns. They were mostly regarding the Little Diva's LeapPad. I TRIED to convince her to leave it in the car and really it is my fault that I wasn't more forceful in my convincing. Anyway once we were inside I had to convince her to leave the LeapPad in her bag which resulted in tears and rolling around on the floor with legs flailing. We did bring the LeapPad out later, or rather - she took it out of the bag later and then there was some crying because she didn't want her friend to look at the screen.... such a silly girl. In future we will rather just leave it in the car - one tantrum is better than two!

wqertyupasxz'
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That little piece of literary genius is the Little Diva's first attempt at blogging - I don't know about you but I AM super impressed.

So after the play date we ended up sitting at the veterinary office for an hour while we waited for  the vet to get in and then to correct some of JubJub's paper work for his flight to South Africa. We finally got home after 2 and the little Diva was still awake at 3pm. I now have a pretty sleepy and probably soon-to-be-cranky little girl. I'm going to try keep her up until bedtime to avoid having her bedtime move to midnight.

I better scoot here, I'm dying for some tea and my little bunny needs some entertaining. Happy Wednesday folks!

Day 239 - I need a massage!

I am in serious need of a massage. My shoulder area is so tense I feel like my ears and shoulders are touching. It is ridiculous that I haven't booked an appointment yet. Here's hoping I remember to call first thing tomorrow and here's hoping even more that they have an appointment open tomorrow evening!

So other than being in pain and wishing I was sleeping instead of typing what can I tell you? Hmmm The little Diva and I had a pretty quiet day today - I was exhausted from out late night last night... apparently watching True Blood after getting home so late wasn't such a good idea. It was almost 2am by the time I got to sleep. We ran a few little errands this morning and logged some more potty time. We only got one pee in the potty today and two puddles to clean up. Hopefully tomorrow is a GREAT day - potty-wise and other!

The hubby is going to put on The Expendables so I better scoot - I will make a point to write my blog when the Little Diva naps tomorrow so that it is something of substance.

Happy Tuesday all :)

Day 238 - EID MUBARAK!!!

Here's wishing all my Muslim friends and family a TRULY blessed and happy Eid!!

We were at a family gathering tonight to celebrate Eid and had a blast. We got home just before midnight - the little Diva fell asleep in the car. She was SO well behaved tonight and she looked SO freaking cute!

It's is almost 1am here though so I do need to sneak away from my pc and get some sleep.

Here's wishing everyone an amazing week!

Day 237 - Shopping with my two favourite people

We had a lovely day today. It started pretty late. The little Diva and I stayed home and tried to get more potty time logged while the Hubby took JubJub to the vet this morning in preparation for his flight to South Africa next Weekend. He will soon happily be living it up with my sister and her family.

We spent the afternoon shopping which was pretty fun. The little Diva was not impressed that we wouldn't let her hide in clothing racks and was even less impressed when we saved her from being squished by other harried shoppers who weren't looking where they were going! She was actually pretty darn well behaved and was super impressed by the butterfly cookie she got when mom and dad had a coffee. I did find a dress for my cousin's wedding which made for a pretty good shopping trip - so YAY!!

The little Diva is fast asleep and we are about to catch up on "Bones" so I'm going to scoot.

Happy Sunday everyone :) AND an Eid Mubarak to my Muslim friends and family.

Day 236 - Perhaps "House Marathons" are not a great idea...

We are finally on the last episode of House and I am "medical show-ed" OUT! ugh - someone who does not like germs really should space that show out more. It's NOTHING but worst-case scenarios and MORE worst case scenarios. *Shudder*

Anywho...

The little Diva and I had a blast at Granny and Grandpa's today and hopefully tomorrow I will start typing a little earlier and you will get to hear about it!

Sweet dreams folks :)

Day 235 - Catching up on House...

We had a lovely evening with Dadoos and Mandada this evening. The Little Diva had a blast and so did mommy and daddy. It's always great to catch up with the parentals. Also Dadoos made an AWESOME lamb curry. You don't seem to eat as much lamb here as you do in SA and I gotta say it is a rare treat when you do!

The hubby and I are finally getting around to catching up on the last season of House. I've come to the conclusion that they think every new case is sarcoidosis and then it turns out to be several other scary things.... yup SCARY things!

Anyway let me get back to the blood and guts of House, until tomorrow - sweet dreams ya'all!

Day 234 - Sneaky, Sneaky brownies!

When I was a kid I HATED spinach - there was absolutely no denying the fact that I was NOT fan. I didn't even care for it when it was drenched in my mom's amazing cheese sauce. There was just something totally and utterly off-putting about it's slimy green colour and slimy gag-inducing texture. I vividly remember plugging my nose and swallowing the stuff. No amount of mentioning "Popeye-esque" strenght could convince me that the effort to get the stuff down was worth it.

Fast-forward a whole bunch of years. I'm older and supposedly wiser and I've come to accept that spinach isn't all bad. I"ll chop it finely to add to soups or omelets and I'm not opposed to baby spinach in salads either. So when I came across a recipe for brownies that included it I knew I had to try it!

Here is the recipe I used - it is from the book SNEAKY CHEF which I now own and am looking forward to cooking and baking through. I imagine this recipe should be easy to convert to gluten free and even more low fat so I will try some tweaks on my next attempt. I'm thinking gluten free flour and almond flour instead of the oatmeal. Also I'm thinking dried cherries AND nuts would make it super duper decadent!

It took me forever to get the batter together as I was entertaining the little Diva who was sitting on her potty at the same time. We struck out on the potty training front today as she somehow managed to "hold it" for 3 and a half hours when I finally had to call it a truce and put a diaper on her so that we could go for our walk.

I finally got the batter in the oven and OH MY GOODNESS did it smell amazing once it started cooking. It was the most amazing warm chocolately scent. It made me think of all things good.

They took a while to cool down but the wait was definitely worth it. THEY ARE AMAZING! I mean you know that you're not going to eat these in place of a meal. They are not THAT healthy, but if you're going to eat brownies you may as well eat these ones! They were actually a lot tastier than many brownies I have tried. Definitely worth the effort.

Go on, try the recipe - YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO!

Until tomorrow, toodles :)

Day 233 - Dinner with Friends :)

The little Diva and I had a busy morning getting ready for our guests. We had to pick up some of her toys to make it possible to get to the sofa and dinner table (ok yes it wasn't quite THAT bad but it does get out of hand pretty quick. It has been said that having a 2 year old is like owning a blender without a lid... all I say to that is "nuff said")

Of course once our guests got here The Little Diva was incredible shy.... she hid under a blanket, behind the table and spent a chunk of time in my lap. It is too funny the lengths she will go to to hide and try peek at people who she's hiding from. Once she warmed up a little though she put on quite the show running around like the little hooligan she is!

I had a blast this evening connecting with an old friend and her hubby - it had been WAY too long!! It was great to catch up and hear how things are going out in Calgary. Reminiscing about my crazy student job was awesome and always good for a chuckle. I sometimes really wish that teleportation was a real thing. I love my life here but every now and then it would be nice to pop over and meet with my old friends back there too. 

I currently have the mental image of the little Diva licking the flavour off of tostitos after dinner and then handing the soggy chips to daddy who obviously needed them more than her. It's making me smile cause she really is just too darn cute for her own good!

On that note though I am going to end off here and wind down a little before bed. Until tomorrow, adios :)

Day 232 - Potty training success... well sorta

The little Diva used her potty TWICE today!! YAY!!! She also peed on the floor and the couch but we will chose to ignore those in favour of the potty breakthrough :)

The first time she used the potty she pretended not to notice... I clapped and exclaimed and yelled hooray like an idiot and she was all, "Geez mom it's just pee keep your hair on". So we waited and then we had a spill.... a few pants changes and daddy came home.

Supper was pretty decent again tonight and she actually ate spaghetti! YAY!! Yup today was a definite good food day. I hope that this good attitude towards eating continues because it is oh so satisfying to actually see the little goober eat a whole bunch of what we're having for dinner.

Anywho when daddy came home he took over potty command and waited out another pee after dinner time. We made a big old fuss and before you know it the little goober was also yelling "hooray and throwing her arms in the air".

She got an ice-cream - as promised by daddy and made a giant gleeful mess of her magnum. It was too freaking cute. An awesome happy end to a long pee-filled day :)

Happy Tuesday all!

Day 231 - Banana, pineapple, pecan, wholewheat muffins

We didn't do a whole bunch today other than sit around working on potty training with the little Diva. We had 4 pairs of soaked panties and pants and finally the last pair made her very upset when they got wet so here's hoping she gets the idea tomorrow. Perseverance and all that jazz right?

Supper time was a success tonight. I made some peas to serve alongside toast, baked beans and cucumber. The little Diva was thrilled with her "Green Circle" peas and her circle toast and I managed to basically clean her plate of peas and beans - yes I made airplane noises and flew her spoon around but she ATE HER VEGGIES so I still feel like the winner here :)

Mr. Kitty is fast asleep at the foot of out bed and every now and again he wakes up and tries to convince me that he needs petting and whatever I'm doing is insignificant in comparison! He has adjusted pretty well to being an only cat and the reports we get back say that JubJub has settled in well at the cat hotel as well.

I made some yummy muffins today by adding pineapple and pecans to a banana bread recipe. I also substituted whole wheat flour for regular flour and then came out pretty yummers.

Here's to an awesome week.