Today I did some baking. First on the list was these Chocolate Chip Cookies . They turned out really good and highly recommend them. I cooked the second batch a bit too long but the first batch was very good. I will definitely make again.
I had some ripe banana's so i thought i would make a loaf. i went to pinterest and was going to bake a peanut butter banana bread that I had pinned but it called for yogurt and flax neither of which I had. So I found a similar recipe here. I made both muffins and a loaf. It turned out ok. It was really dense. The kids enjoyed it.
Happy Baking.
19 January 2012
Odds + Ends
**Today marks day 4 of preschool for Finley. She seems to be adapting to school quite well. She loves school and looks forward to it everyday. She loves her backpack and getting her water and snack ready. She is eager to learn and get started and barely gives me a wave goodbye. As soon as she see's me when I pick her up, I get a huge hug which is always nice. However, since preschool started she has been having some accidents. Like 2 or 3 a day. It started on Sunday the day before preschool started and has continued. I am not sure if this is all a big coincidence or not but it's frustrating. I hope it ends soon or she will start losing privileges + toys.
I, on the otherhand, am hating preschool. While I am glad she got into a program that is going to help her, I hate that it eats up so much of time. I am in my car for just over 2 hours every day and that's just the commute - not running errands or going on play dates. I leave my house at 12:17 and get back around 125 or so. I leave again at 3 and get home anywhere between 415+430. I have no flow to my day, my routine has been shot, Penelope rarely naps in the time slot that we are home and I feel like I get nothing done. The only good is that I pick Greg up on my way home from picking Finley up so he can watch the kids while I continue doing the 4 billion other things I have to do. We take turns making supper. I am really struggling with this. I hope it gets better.
Mother Nature sure is a cruel woman. After a beautiful December and start of January she hits us with this disgustingly cold weather. It's insanely cold. I hate cold weather and everytime it gets like this I think that it's a good idea to put in a transfer to their California office. I could really get used to living in sunshine although which is worse freezing weather like we're having or wild fires + earthquakes? The answer I think depends on the day. Thankfully the end appears to be in site!!
I started making greeting cards as a hobby last year. I was doing really well and now not so much. I still have to make 3 cards from December and 2 for this month plus Valentine's. I am not sure how I fell so far behind. I am hoping to sit down this afternoon while Finley is at school and Penelope's napping (fingers crossed) and get the brunt of them done. My deepest apologies to those that haven't gotten birthday cards yet but I am working on it. Better late than never right??? Plus I have to use all the cool things that my MIL got me for Christmas!!! Wish me luck friends!
Does anybody watch Revenge? It is on ABC on Wednesday's. I love this show. When it first started in the fall, I couldn't wait for the next episode - the anticipation was so great. It waned a little bit in Dec but it appears to be back this month. The show infuriates me to no end sometimes and last night was so different. Seriously I wanted to go through the TV and strangle Daniel with my barehands. He is so stupid I have no idea how he would even get into business school.....anyways you should check it out because it is really good. Greg laughs at me all the time because of how I get!
I decided that we have WAY too much stuff in our house. Stuff I haven't used in years but still can't throw out. So I posted it on a bunch of South Calgary buy n sell groups on facebook and have sold a ton of stuff. i sold all of my old dress clothes. I see no point in keeping them as i don't ever wear them + when i go back to work once Penelope is in school these clothes will be so outdated so I might as well get rid of them while I can. I have sold our crib, change table, tons of clothes + toys. I am even going through boxes of decor that i want to get rid of. One of my new years resolutions is to simplify and so far I am on to a good start.
Another one of my resolutions was to start running again. I ran twice last week and I did really well considering I haven't ran in a year. No joke. I went to enter my data in the running log that Greg for me and it was exactly a year from the last time. I haven't ran at all this week for no reason other than laziness. Although I am still trying to adapt to my new routine and have been busy trying to get my house back in order and getting stuff ready to sell. Hopefully I can get in a run tonight and tmw morning before I head off for the weekend. Does anybody have any good running music that works for them? I love music that I can sing to - any genre. I will share my favourites in another post.
I gave up pop in November and so far it is going well. I was ADDICTED to coca cola. No lie. I was. I wanted it all the time. It wasn't the caffeine but the sweet syrupy flavour that i wanted. So I quit it. It was tough the first few weeks but I persevered. I no longer crave pop and can have a glass here and there. i mostly drink 7-up and the odd coke but now i can drink it and not need to drink another right after. I find I drink alot more tea now that I don't drink pop. I have had a hard time finding one I really like though. Does anybody have any recommendations? I love green tea but all the ones I buy don't taste very good. I need more variety that's for sure!
The flooring is finally done!! Greg finished it on Sunday. All we have left is Baseboards which is beyond exciting. We started these renos the middle of October so it's been a long time coming! I will blog about it soon! We also refigured our living room and bought a new piece to go in it. It makes it more intimate, more closer. It will be even better once the kids toys are gone but the girls LOVE their diner set. Lowes was here to put in the new carpet on our stairs but they screwed up on the top piece. They came out to look at it last week and we haven't heard from them since. I am not very happy with them at the moment. but other than that the carpet does look great. We plan on tiling the bathroom and laundry on the main floor but that won't be for a while yet. I also plan on painting the bathroom on the main floor and the bottom part of Finley's room but that's not immediate.
I, on the otherhand, am hating preschool. While I am glad she got into a program that is going to help her, I hate that it eats up so much of time. I am in my car for just over 2 hours every day and that's just the commute - not running errands or going on play dates. I leave my house at 12:17 and get back around 125 or so. I leave again at 3 and get home anywhere between 415+430. I have no flow to my day, my routine has been shot, Penelope rarely naps in the time slot that we are home and I feel like I get nothing done. The only good is that I pick Greg up on my way home from picking Finley up so he can watch the kids while I continue doing the 4 billion other things I have to do. We take turns making supper. I am really struggling with this. I hope it gets better.
Mother Nature sure is a cruel woman. After a beautiful December and start of January she hits us with this disgustingly cold weather. It's insanely cold. I hate cold weather and everytime it gets like this I think that it's a good idea to put in a transfer to their California office. I could really get used to living in sunshine although which is worse freezing weather like we're having or wild fires + earthquakes? The answer I think depends on the day. Thankfully the end appears to be in site!!
I started making greeting cards as a hobby last year. I was doing really well and now not so much. I still have to make 3 cards from December and 2 for this month plus Valentine's. I am not sure how I fell so far behind. I am hoping to sit down this afternoon while Finley is at school and Penelope's napping (fingers crossed) and get the brunt of them done. My deepest apologies to those that haven't gotten birthday cards yet but I am working on it. Better late than never right??? Plus I have to use all the cool things that my MIL got me for Christmas!!! Wish me luck friends!
Does anybody watch Revenge? It is on ABC on Wednesday's. I love this show. When it first started in the fall, I couldn't wait for the next episode - the anticipation was so great. It waned a little bit in Dec but it appears to be back this month. The show infuriates me to no end sometimes and last night was so different. Seriously I wanted to go through the TV and strangle Daniel with my barehands. He is so stupid I have no idea how he would even get into business school.....anyways you should check it out because it is really good. Greg laughs at me all the time because of how I get!
I decided that we have WAY too much stuff in our house. Stuff I haven't used in years but still can't throw out. So I posted it on a bunch of South Calgary buy n sell groups on facebook and have sold a ton of stuff. i sold all of my old dress clothes. I see no point in keeping them as i don't ever wear them + when i go back to work once Penelope is in school these clothes will be so outdated so I might as well get rid of them while I can. I have sold our crib, change table, tons of clothes + toys. I am even going through boxes of decor that i want to get rid of. One of my new years resolutions is to simplify and so far I am on to a good start.
Another one of my resolutions was to start running again. I ran twice last week and I did really well considering I haven't ran in a year. No joke. I went to enter my data in the running log that Greg for me and it was exactly a year from the last time. I haven't ran at all this week for no reason other than laziness. Although I am still trying to adapt to my new routine and have been busy trying to get my house back in order and getting stuff ready to sell. Hopefully I can get in a run tonight and tmw morning before I head off for the weekend. Does anybody have any good running music that works for them? I love music that I can sing to - any genre. I will share my favourites in another post.
I gave up pop in November and so far it is going well. I was ADDICTED to coca cola. No lie. I was. I wanted it all the time. It wasn't the caffeine but the sweet syrupy flavour that i wanted. So I quit it. It was tough the first few weeks but I persevered. I no longer crave pop and can have a glass here and there. i mostly drink 7-up and the odd coke but now i can drink it and not need to drink another right after. I find I drink alot more tea now that I don't drink pop. I have had a hard time finding one I really like though. Does anybody have any recommendations? I love green tea but all the ones I buy don't taste very good. I need more variety that's for sure!
The flooring is finally done!! Greg finished it on Sunday. All we have left is Baseboards which is beyond exciting. We started these renos the middle of October so it's been a long time coming! I will blog about it soon! We also refigured our living room and bought a new piece to go in it. It makes it more intimate, more closer. It will be even better once the kids toys are gone but the girls LOVE their diner set. Lowes was here to put in the new carpet on our stairs but they screwed up on the top piece. They came out to look at it last week and we haven't heard from them since. I am not very happy with them at the moment. but other than that the carpet does look great. We plan on tiling the bathroom and laundry on the main floor but that won't be for a while yet. I also plan on painting the bathroom on the main floor and the bottom part of Finley's room but that's not immediate.
17 January 2012
Finley's First Day of Preschool Take 2
Monday marked Finley's first day at her new preschool and of course it just happened to be the first day of an arctic cold spell that hit the city. It is insanely cold out!! Regardless, Finley got already to go and was so excited. Greg took the day off so he could come check it out.
 |
| Finley with the new backpack she picked out on thursday. She loved the princess bag! She was also happy with her hair tie. I bought it on boxing day at TCP but lost it until Sunday so she thought it was new for today. |
She picked out the shirt too. We bought it the same time we bought her new bag. I knew it was Minnie Mouse but had no idea that it was school related until she was getting dressed yesterday. She was quite enthralled by it.
We went into the school and took off her winter clothes and put on her indoor shoes and she was off and running and never looked back. I got there a little early to pick her up and was able to watch her in the gym through the special observation glass and she was playing What Time Was It Mr Wolf and then Follow The Leader. She looked like she was having a lot of fun.
The teachers and Aides said that she did fantastic for her first day and was really co-operative and eager to learn. They were impressed that she had no issues being away from us and told me that this was fantastic becuase it meant that she was a very confident young girl. That made me very happy.
She looked pretty tired when I picked her up and she slept all the way home and was not happy when we woke her up after we got home. We asked her if she liked school and she said she did.
Monday, Wednesday + Friday's are regular school days so it will be her and 8 other kids (approx) and will have regular days. On Tuesdays, it is just Finley and an aide. Thursdays it will be her and another girl with a different aide. I think these 2 days could be very beneficial to her - especially Tuesday.
I found that if I leave immediately at 3:50 after picking her up I beat rush hour traffic coming home. On my way home I will be picking up Greg since it is almost on the way. It works out quite well for him.
Will keep you all updated
12 January 2012
Preschool Update
So yesterday afternoon we headed down to Finley's soon to be new preschool. It was a 32 minute drive from our house and is 110 blocks from our house - approximately. So starting on Monday I will spend 2 hours each day commuting. I think all the money I am saving in preschool, I will be spending in gas.
We were immediately greeted by some great staff and a very brightly coloured, inviting area. The walls were full of colour, life and so vibrant.
In the afternoon they have 2 classes running. One is for 2-3 year olds and the other is for 4-5 year olds. They put Finley in the 2-3 year old class first and she went in and participated in circle time. The whole time I was thinking that this is not what she needs and I am going to find her a private school and speech therapist. The kids were far more in need of help then she was. And more help than just with speech development. So I left her in there and Penelope and I went to fill out a gazillion (no exaggeration) forms. Most of them ended up blank because all she has is a speech delay and no other medical or physical ailments.
When we finished filling out the forms, one of the teachers came and found me and told me that they wanted to test Finley with the older kids which made me much happier. There is another 3 year old in the class who happens to be a girl so that is good. And she (or her parents) seemed to have great fashion sense too! They have an observation room where you can watch your child without them knowing. They also have a headset that you can put on and listen in. It was really good. She really enjoyed herself while we were there and was sad when it was time to leave.
The school has a full time speech therapist, occupational therapist and physiotherapist, several aides and teachers. The staff is fantastic and I really enjoyed meeting them. The principal was super friendly too and all of them are involved in the learning and development of the kids. Since Finley doesn't need to see a physiotherapist she gets gym time. And I have no idea if the occupational therapist will help Finley or not but if not, then she just has one on one time with one of the teachers. Some kids have aides with them all of the time but Finley isn't one of them.
They have field trips once a month and this months is at the Southland Leisure Center on a Friday that Greg has off so that will make Greg very happy! And she has show and tell on Jan 25th.
The school operates 5 days a week. Some kids get 3 days at school and 2 days at home while others get 5 days at the school. Finley will be coming to the school 5 days a week, every afternoon from 1-350pm. On MWF, she will be with her regular class and on Tues and Thurs, it is just her and the other 3 year old girl and one other 4 year old girl that will be there so it will be really good for her. Because she only has speech delays, she doesn't qualify for the home visits which is good because that isn't something I was interested in.
I asked about registering her for regular preschools in the fall because they don't do their testing until May/June for the following year. She told me that I don't need to worry about it because they usually fund kids for all three years and only once does she know where the child advanced so much in a year that he didn't need to stay. I think I still may be register at Apple Tree anyways because I am just too paranoid. I have to have some kind of back up plan. I am also going to see if I can get on the wait list for a specialized pre school that is right beside Greg's office - which would be fantastic!
We went shopping this morning and she picked out a new backpack (princess of course) and a new shirt (Minnie Mouse) so she is already for school on Monday and is very excited about it. Hopefully we see some improvement sooner than later.
I think that's all the info I have. If I remember anything else I will let you know but before I go I have to thank each and every one of my blog readers, friends, and family. It was tough last week hearing how severe Finley's delay was and I was able to get through it because of you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. You provided me with encouragement, kind words and love. Thanks again!
We were immediately greeted by some great staff and a very brightly coloured, inviting area. The walls were full of colour, life and so vibrant.
In the afternoon they have 2 classes running. One is for 2-3 year olds and the other is for 4-5 year olds. They put Finley in the 2-3 year old class first and she went in and participated in circle time. The whole time I was thinking that this is not what she needs and I am going to find her a private school and speech therapist. The kids were far more in need of help then she was. And more help than just with speech development. So I left her in there and Penelope and I went to fill out a gazillion (no exaggeration) forms. Most of them ended up blank because all she has is a speech delay and no other medical or physical ailments.
When we finished filling out the forms, one of the teachers came and found me and told me that they wanted to test Finley with the older kids which made me much happier. There is another 3 year old in the class who happens to be a girl so that is good. And she (or her parents) seemed to have great fashion sense too! They have an observation room where you can watch your child without them knowing. They also have a headset that you can put on and listen in. It was really good. She really enjoyed herself while we were there and was sad when it was time to leave.
The school has a full time speech therapist, occupational therapist and physiotherapist, several aides and teachers. The staff is fantastic and I really enjoyed meeting them. The principal was super friendly too and all of them are involved in the learning and development of the kids. Since Finley doesn't need to see a physiotherapist she gets gym time. And I have no idea if the occupational therapist will help Finley or not but if not, then she just has one on one time with one of the teachers. Some kids have aides with them all of the time but Finley isn't one of them.
They have field trips once a month and this months is at the Southland Leisure Center on a Friday that Greg has off so that will make Greg very happy! And she has show and tell on Jan 25th.
The school operates 5 days a week. Some kids get 3 days at school and 2 days at home while others get 5 days at the school. Finley will be coming to the school 5 days a week, every afternoon from 1-350pm. On MWF, she will be with her regular class and on Tues and Thurs, it is just her and the other 3 year old girl and one other 4 year old girl that will be there so it will be really good for her. Because she only has speech delays, she doesn't qualify for the home visits which is good because that isn't something I was interested in.
I asked about registering her for regular preschools in the fall because they don't do their testing until May/June for the following year. She told me that I don't need to worry about it because they usually fund kids for all three years and only once does she know where the child advanced so much in a year that he didn't need to stay. I think I still may be register at Apple Tree anyways because I am just too paranoid. I have to have some kind of back up plan. I am also going to see if I can get on the wait list for a specialized pre school that is right beside Greg's office - which would be fantastic!
We went shopping this morning and she picked out a new backpack (princess of course) and a new shirt (Minnie Mouse) so she is already for school on Monday and is very excited about it. Hopefully we see some improvement sooner than later.
I think that's all the info I have. If I remember anything else I will let you know but before I go I have to thank each and every one of my blog readers, friends, and family. It was tough last week hearing how severe Finley's delay was and I was able to get through it because of you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. You provided me with encouragement, kind words and love. Thanks again!
11 January 2012
Penelope's New Bed
The day after we returned from SK at Christmas time, we moved Penelope into her own bed. As you will note, it is the same bed that Finley has. Oh and we and have this bed in brown-black in a queen. We apparently love our Malm's!
She had been hating her crib for some time and refused to wear a grobag and continuously got her leg stuck in the crib slats and went ballistic. I was at the point of rocking her to almost sleep when putting her to bed.
Having second thoughts about this whole bed thing
What...I can escape so much easier than i could in the crib :)
Ok, ok, I will go to bed.
I cannot believe how successful she was in the transition. She was a million times better than Finley. No sleeping in closets or dresser drawers, no emptying her book shelf or her drawers. Ok she did that once but that was because I put her down for a nap before she was ready because I was ready!
She has slept an extra hour each morning on average since we made the switch. There have been no fall outs, no traumas, no nothing. It was awesome!!
10 January 2012
The Doctor Is In...
The girls recently got a doctor's kit. The girls loved it - especially the Harry Potter Glasses. These have caused MANY fights!!
09 January 2012
Swimming Lessons
This fall Finley started her 4th swimming lesson and 1st unparented. I was worried about how she would do but she did really well. The toughest part of the class was trying to keep Penelope out of the water!! There were only 2 kids in Finley's class so it worked out really well. Southland Leisure Center is a good facility for kids to learn to swim.
She passed!!
08 January 2012
House Cleaning
A few months ago I bought the girls a house keeping set from Walmart and the loved it. Here are some photos:
07 January 2012
Christmas #7: Gramps + Annette
Our final Christmas was at Greg's Grandpa Emil's and Annette's place. Usually it is just our family of 4, Greg's 2 brothers and one of Greg's Uncles and his family but this year Greg's dad Don, stepmom Jen and Uncle Ken and Aunty Marleen came too. It's been a tough couple of years for Gramps - he had west nile about 2-3 years ago and it's been a tough recovery. He especially has had a tough December and seems to think that this could be his last Christmas. He was so happy to have all 3 of his sons under the same roof.
4 Generations of Florizones
See you next Christmas GRAMPS!!!!
06 January 2012
Christmas #6: The Florizone's
Later on Boxing Day, we headed down the driveway and around the corner (I am not even exaggerating. That is how close Greg's Grandparents and other Grandma live to one another. Here we celebrated Christmas #6 and did our annual Dutch Auction.
Playing with what Finley calls her "ipad". It's some kind of vtech learning tablet she got from her cousins Easton + Ashton. I like it because she wants to use my ipad that much less :). It was a good way to kill time before supper.
Aunty Marleen playing with the girls before supper. She lives in Chicago now so we take every opportunity to see her and Uncle Ken when they visit :)
Some Florizone's visiting amongst each other
Penelope giving up on the day.....Despite sleeping til 930 and having a 4 hour nap - Christmas was wearing her out!
Finley opening her Christmas present from Great Grandma Janet. It was a nice way to kill time before supper was served
Penelope loves her new duck!
Playing with Grandma Jen
Greg + Nicole's boyfriend Austin playing with Finley's tablet.
Getting ready to do our annual Dutch Auction. I am normally not a fan of it because I kid you now when I say the Florizones are crazy but because we were missing 11 people this year, it wasn't so intense. It was the first one I enjoyed since I attended my very first one at Ken + Marleen's years ago.
Jen opened the very first gift
Finley showing off her new accessories
Penelope trying to escape
The master Dutch Auctioner. Greg has learned a lot from Uncle Bruce
I actually ended up doing quite well at the Dutch Auction. I picked my gift that I had brought and let Penelope play with it so nobody would take it from us. It was a stuffed Gingerbread Chef that was a Christmas Decoration. I collect Gingerbread Christmas items so I was very happy that I got to bring it home with me. Last year Greg's Aunt stole my Gingerbread santa plate and I was disappointed!!
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