Wonder What Was So Intriguing....

There was a MacLeans magazine sitting on the couch and as you can see both Finley + Penelope are intrigued by whatever article was open.  This surprises me for a number of reasons: MacLeans is not as good as it used to be (I mean you Barbara Amiel.  I am sure you "struggled" when Conrad was in jail) and because the magazine is upside down.

Friday Night

The first part of my Friday was spent at IKEA.  It was wonderful for many reasons - it was SO dead and we were there with Jimmy, Nancy, Madi + Tanner who were in town shopping for grad dresses with Nancy's niece.  We bought batteries and nobody else bought anything but it was fun none the less.  We then made a stop at the Gap Outlet store and bough a pair of pants each for Penelope + Finley.  Finley's pants matched a pair that Penelope got for Christmas.  I can't wait until  they wear them together.

We got home and turned on the PVR and got caught up on our favourite Thursday night comedies (Perfect Couples, The Office, Parks + Recreation and 30 Rock) with my lovely macbook on my lap.  At first I checked out my blog and friends' blogs and of course one of my favourites - Thrift Decor Chick (link is on the side).  She had featured "new" crafty, diy renovations bloggers which got me hooked!  In fact, I have spent the last 3 hours looking at blogs and have SO MANY ideas of things I would like to do in our house and the best part is that I have most of the supplies inside my house already!!  So stoked about that!

But first I must finish DECRAPIFYING my house.  I have fallen behind.  WAY BEHIND.  But I am on a mission to catch up and I think I should get it done considering the terrible weather that is Calgary bound...boo to that....Chinook please come back.....

Anyways, I gotta go to bed as I have lots to do tomorrow plus we have a Roughnecks game tomorrow night....

Hope your Friday was exciting as mine was!!

IT WASN'T ME!!! MY SISTER DID IT!!!!!!

Superhero

Last Wednesday at Gymnastics, it was Superheroes week.  Gymnastics Joe told us that we should encourage them to wear shirts with "super" on it or anything related to the Hulk or Diego + Dora.  I went home and we had NOTHING in Finley's closet that was remotely superhero-ish so she wore the next best thing:

Her roughrider shirt!

Everybody at Gymnastics thought it was quite clever!

Deceptively Doubly Delicious

To say that I am not one for cooking would be the understatement of the year.  I hate everything about cooking.  Everything.  It's the main reason that I didn't want Greg to apply for the Field Engineering Position in Fort Mac.  What would we eat?  Seriously, I am not kidding.

However, that being said, I have 2 cookbooks that I absolutely love and actually use on a regular basis:

Deceptively Delicious and Doubly Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld.  If you are a regular watcher of Oprah you have seen her on there and of course, we all know who her husband is.

I cook out of there all of the time.  On Sunday, I made banana loaf that had pureed cauliflower in it.  My french toast mix had carrot puree and you can use substitute that with pumpkin puree.

I make oatmeal regularly from there that contains peanut butter and pumpkin.  It's delicious.

The brownies are good, the chocolate chip cookies? Disgusting.  But that is the only thing I have made that was gross.  And by gross, I mean really gross.  I guess I don't like chickpeas, but to be fair both Greg + Jack do and even they wouldn't eat these cookies.

I love that it has all these hidden vegetable purees because ever since I got Pregnant with Finley, I hate raw vegetables and can barely tolerate cooked ones.

So I hereby give it 10 fingers up.  Ya it's that good.

I am on the waiting list for the Crabby Cook.  She was on the Today show last week and is geared towards cooks like me.  Once I get it from the library, I'll let you know how it is. Although, I am thinking it's gonna be a hit!

John Deere Pink

Santa purchased this stunning John Deere bib from a good friend of mine's company Sweet Baby K.  Y'all should check it out cuz it's pretty awesome!  If you have a baby girl on the way or know of anyone who has or is having a baby girl this is the place for you!  Here is the site:  http://sweetbabyk.ca

Happy Shopping!

Finley's Latest Art Project

 So Finley got a hold of the same pink sharpie that is proudly (by some) displayed on our 2 of our stairs and decided to do some artwork in our bonus room.

Our loveseat (above) and our couch below now have fine shades of pink to go with the beige microfiber.  I would like to point out that this new pink covers up the blue ink quite nicely.

She also thought the dish that I was using for my almonds was much too boring plain white so she dumped the almonds on the floor while she made some "improvements"

Improvements were also done to some paper, a blank dvd + a workout dvd case that belongs to the Calgary Public Library.  Can they fine you for that?  I shall soon find out....

She also added her signature scribble to one of the cushions in the bonus room.  Granted, I am so over them + was interested in getting new ones, however, I have yet to find any that I like!!

The last improvement that was done was to one of her diapers.  Apparently, the fact that they had no pink in them was not to her liking.  I am just grateful that she didn't hit up Penelope's cloth diapers.  That would have been too tragic.....

When Finley came downstairs with pink marker across her cheek, my heart literally stopped.  I immediately checked her shirt that she was wearing and was so happy that there were no markers on that.  It was brand new from Mexx and really quite liked it.  I then began the dreaded walk upstairs to see where the damage was and prayed to the good lord above that she did not touch our TV screen, my macbook, the cloth diapers and some other clothes that were in the dirty laundry pile + most importantly, her sister.

This happened in a very short window, like less than 5 minutes.  I was downstairs warming a bottle for Penelope and putting laundry into the dryer.  Greg was not very impressed when he saw what she did especially when he realized I was the one who left the marker unattended.  Oh well, hopefully it will wear off because I am not replacing any furniture or carpet until Penelope is 5.  So it will be a long time that we will have a beige + pink couch!

Penelops is 5 Months Old!

Wearing Finley's old Burberry shirt.  I love this shirt.  I can't believe it fits already!

 Today marks five months from the day Penelope was born. Sometimes it seems like it was yesterday, and others feel like its been a lot longer than 5 months!

The last month has been a pretty big one!  We traveled back to Saskatchewan for Christmas where we had 5 different family celebrations and she got to meet the majority of all her family which was pretty awesome.  headed to Red Deer to bring in the New Year with Jimmy, Nancy, Madi + Tanner and of course us, Finley + her Aunty Kristy who was visiting from Saskatoon.  We all had a great time!

Penelope attended her first Calgary Roughnecks game and had a blast!  She was so well behaved, and was mesmerized by all the noise and people and the game itself!  With the absolute frigid weather, we haven't been able to get out much at all.  -15 doesn't seem cold but it is for 2 kids and a mom trying to get from car to building by herself!

Penelope can roll from her back to her stomach but not vice versa although Greg said he saw her do it once.  She is quite happy on her stomach but when she is done being on her tummy she definitely will let you know!  Yesterday, when she was napping she flipped herself over to her stomach and went insane.  She likes being on her stomach for awhile but doesn't like waking up that way!  She likes tummy time much more if there are toys to play with!

She is still getting about 8oz of formula every 3 hours or so.  I thought part of her waking up in the night was that she was hungry so I tried increasing her formula but she was not interested in it.  I am starting to think she may want/need rice cereal in the morning or perhaps before bed so we may start on that as soon as I get to the grocery store to buy some!  Finley started on solids at about 5.5 months but Penelope is a bit more pudgier then Finley so she may need it sooner!

Penelope goes to bed around 8pm + sleeps until around 745am although she has been waking herself and crying for about 5 - 10 minutes but then quickly falls back asleep without any assistance from Greg or I.  Unfortunately, I cannot fall back asleep as quickly as she + Greg and therefore have not been getting very much sleep. She usually has a short nap or two in the morning and a long nap from 2 until about 430 - 5pm.  If we're out and about, she will sleep in the car but is wide awake the whole time when we're in a store.  She loves to see the world before her!

One of my friends from Red Deer was in town with her little boy so they came over for part of the day.  We had gone to high school together and have managed to keep in touch via Facebook + blogging but haven't had many opportunities to see each other.  It was really wonderful to chat with her and see Finley + Leigham interact with one another.  It was nice to have Penelope meet some of my old friends!

Penelope is definitely teething but no teeth are yet popping through.  She loves to chew on her fingers, your fingers, face cloths, her shirts and the occasional teething toy.  She is starting to be able to grasp the toys but still hasn't figured out to hold the toy + keep it in her mouth at the same time!  Hopefully this will come soon!  She doesn't like teething and voices her displeasure quite loudly.  Gripe water has become a good friend lately.  I hope that once teeth poke through, she will go back to her typically happy self!

Penelope still adores her big sister and the feeling is definitely mutual.  Penelope is always watching Finley and always has a big smile for her favorite sister.  Finley loves to make sure Penelope has ample toys, blankets, a cloth to wipe her face from all her spit up, brings her diapers + clothes to wear.  She loves to help make the formula for Penelope's bottles and to help out in the feeding process as well.  I can only imagine that once Penelope moves to solids, it will become more interesting to say the least!

Penelope's flat spot for the most part is gone so we shouldn't need to wear the helmet.  She goes for another appointment on February 8th + I am optimistic that she will be fine.  She loves to play under the Baby Einstein mat just like Finley did.  She loves to play with the toys attached to it + to the ones that we give to her.  She can roll over + grasp the toys around her.  She loves to voice how excited she is with everything around her.  Her squawking is quite funny at times.  You gotta double check to see if she is actually happy or dying a miserable death.  I am not even remotely kidding.

Decrapify '11

I apologize for my lack of actual blogging as of late.  Most of my blogs have been photo blogs with little to no substance.

Things have been hectic in our house.  Penelope is teething and extremely grouchy, Greg + Finley have been sick and I decided to decrapify my house.  I thought I could have it done in a day, maybe 2.  Turns out I was wrong.

I have managed to decrapify my linen closet which is now amazingly orderly, all towels folded and the door can shut without propping all my weight against it!  Our bedroom + Finley's bedroom has been decrapified as well as our pantry in the kitchen.  I have managed to sell some stuff on Kijiji which makes me happy but I think most will go to the goodwill.  

Tomorrow my plan is to finish my bathroom, Finley's bathroom, Penelope's bedroom and possibly my bench storage thingy which is full with a ridiculous amount of toques, mittens + scarves that I haven't wore in gosh knows how long.  It's a stretch to get all of that done plus the laundry, regular cleaning and other things that need to get done on a daily basis.  I also want to decrapify the bonus room and last but  not least the basement.  The basement is where most of the crap that I have been decrapifying has been going.  I have big plans for our basement, I just need to get Greg on board!  The fact that the weather has been too cold to take the kids out has helped in me getting a bunch of it done!

I went to purchase some baskets to store neatly in my bathroom and I am very excited to try them out.  I am hoping that will help me keep my bathroom cupboards cleaner for much longer.  

I also came across the diy website that has crafts and such on it.  I bought a white lack end table off of kijiji for $4 that I am going to make into a cool bedside table for Finley's room.  I just need to find the right scrapbook paper for the project.  I will post photos of that when I get it done.  Based on my to-do list, it could be awhile.

I also did a Standing Core session with Bikini Boot Camp on Sunday morning.  It was awesome and I realized how much I missed it.  I did it for about 4 months before I had Finley and was literally in the best shape of my life.  I hope to get back there soon!  I can't wait for the Standing Core Strength class!

Anyways not much else is going on but will let you know when I manage to finish Decrapify '11......

Happy Birthday Grandma Gail

This was supposed to be posted on the 13th, which was when her actual birthday was but when I went to schedule it to post, I must've hit a 2 instead of a 1 and I just noticed it now.  I must start paying better attention to the little details!  Anyways, here it is!

Happy Birthday Grandma Gail!

We hope you have a wonderful day!  

Love + Miss you lots

Finley + Penelope

xoxox

TeaParty

Finley loves her play kitchen and tea parties!  Her imagination is quite vivid and is a treat to watch her in action!  Here are some photos of her:

10 Ways To Think Positively No Matter What

1. Count Your Blessings Everyday - don't focus on the problems you've faced that day; rather, think of all the good things that happened + the happiness they gave you

2. Think Of Others Rather Than Yourself - when you do things, even the smallest favors, for other people who mean something to you, you feel good about yourself

3. Be Proactive Rather Than Reactive - instead of fretting over a problem + letting it stress you out, focus on how to resolve quickly + effectively.  When your mind is busy trying to find a solution, you stop feeling sorry for yourself + find a solution

4. Don't Allow Your Mind To Remain Idle - it may be cliched, but it's also true that an idle mind is the devil's workshop.  So stay busy + keep doing something or the other to prevent negative thoughts from creeping in

5. Get An Hour Of Exercise Everyday - even a brisk walk in the morning or evening will do your mental health a world of good

6. Allow Yourself Some "ME" Time - set aside some time everyday or every few days for yourself when you get to choose what you want to do; read a book, listen to music, catch up with friends, or just laze around.  When your soul is nourished, you find that positive energy flows.

7. Stop Negative Thoughts Before They Form Completely - If you find yourself becoming depressed because your mind is taking a negative bend, stop those thoughts in their tracks + consciously starting thinking of positive things

8. Spend Time With People You Love + Make You Feel Good About Yourself - quality relationships make life worth living

9. Anytime That You Feel The Weight Of Your Burden Is Hard To Bear, Talk To A Friend - even if they cannot do anything to help you out, just the fact that you have someone on your side is uplifting enough

10. Look Around Before You Start Feeling Sorry For Yourself - there are people in situations that are a hundred times worse than yours, yet they manage to get through each day

So tell yourself you  have a good life, count your blessings, and learn to stay positive no matter what!

Susan White

Finley The Gym Teacher

Maybe Finley is the next Kyle Schewfelt?  Later that same day as her first gym class, I turned around from cooking supper and saw the following:  Finley teaching her doll how to do the things she learned from gym class - on Penelope's jumperoo.  I'm just happy Penelope wasn't in it!

Bouncing on it like it was one of the trampolines at the gym

Getting her doll to hang like she did on the bars + rings

Her doll flipped over the bar like she wanted to do but I wouldn't let her!

Finley literally did this for an hour and she laughed + clapped the whole time.  I am happy that her gym class has had such positive effect on her + her imagination already!

Martha Stewart's Homemade Hot Chocolate

I discovered this while looking up breakfast recipes on Martha's website.  I love Martha and am so disappointed that her show is only on the Hallmark Channel which Shaw does not offer.  I am not sure who to boo - Martha or Shaw.  CBC used to carry it but they no longer do so as I believe it was too expensive.  Anyways, I digress.

Her homemade hot chocolate is amazing and perfect on those insanely cold days when you can't get to Starbucks (like pretty much everyday this week) and you need something to keep you warm or just a simple chocolate fix!

Here is the recipe:

It makes 5 3/4 cup dry mix or 92oz servings.  Since it was my first time, I just made a half a batch
**3 1/2 cups sugar
**2 1/4 cups cocoa
**1 tbsp table salt
**milk for serving

1.  In a large bowl, combine sugar, cocoa + salt and whisk to combine well.
2. Store the mixture in an airtight container
3.  For individual servings, pour 1 cup milk into microwave safe mug, and microwave on high just until hot.  Add 2 tbsp of cocoa mix and stir to dissolve.
4.  For a larger batch of cocoa, warm the milk in a saucepan set over medium-low heat, taking care not to let the milk boil; as it warms, stir in 2tbsp of mix for each cup of milk.

Enjoy!!

Migraines + Teething + Frigid Temps = Chaos!

The title defines the last few days.  Penelope had not slept a full night without crying in weeks.  In fact, I said to Greg last night that I have no idea when I slept through the night without being interrupted by Penelope. Even though she quickly falls back asleep after little cries, I don't.  And wouldn't you know it, she slept from 8pm last night until 8am this morning without a single peep.  I was so happy as I desperately needed the sleep for a number of reasons.

I hadn't slept well in weeks and I had a migraine from hell yesterday which sucks big time when you have a 2 year old who loves attention and almost 5 month old who is teething and grouchy.  Yesterday Finley slept until 951am and happily kept herself busy all day long.  In fact, I am positive she didn't sit still from the time she woke up until the time she crashed on Greg at 630pm.  She never does this - especially at night.  He transferred her to her bed at around 7pm and she's been sleeping ever since.  I hope it's because she was so busy yesterday and not because she is getting sick.  That I don't need.

Plus it doesn't help that it has been so cold out here in Calgary and it makes it almost impossible to do anything with 2 little kids. I haven't left the house since the Roughnecks game on Saturday and I am getting a little restless and man could I use some Starbucks.  After yesterday, I need it.  Mother nature certainly doesn't think of little kids when she puts us in a cold snap like this.  Please send us some chinooks please please please!

Due to my sickness yesterday I accomplished nothing.  I woke up early this morning before the kids + swept floors, folded diapers, started laundry, hung up jackets, cleaned the kitchen + living room, vacuumed the stairs, cleaned out the pantry and was just doing Finley's cupboard when Penelope woke up so I just finished feeding her as I started this blog.  I rarely ever accomplish this much in an entire week day let alone before 8am!!  Hopefully this motivation continues because my entire house is in desperate need of some TLC!

Anyways gotta run, trying to figure out some activities Finley can do today since we'll most likely be stuck inside again until we leave for gym class tomorrow.

Happy Tuesday y'all!

Finley Builds A Bear

We recently took Finley to Build A Bear to build her very own stuffed animal!  She loves stuffed animals and always longs to go into the store, so we thought we would give it a try.  I forgot my camera so used my blackberry so some photos are a little blurry!

It took awhile for her to decide on an animal but she eventually went for the Panda bear.  She wanted a monkey + cat as well but she has a tonne of each of them so we thought we'd go for something a bit different + with the Panda's coming to the Zoo it was the perfect choice

Giving the worker her name so she could become a member of the Build A Bear club.

Pumping the machine filler to get her Panda full of stuffing.  We chose the firmest we could get seeing as how Finley is so rough on her animals!  Maybe rough isn't the right word - perhaps she just loves them too much if that is possible?

Watching her panda come to life very intently!

Making a wish and kissing the heart that will now go into her panda.

Giving her panda a very big hug

Checking out all of the Build A Bear accessories.  We decided against buying clothes simply because Finley insists that all her dolls + stuffed animals be free of all clothes that they have come with.

So we got her a baby carrier to carry her Panda + other dolls around

Getting ready to leave Build A Bear with Posh Panda.  Greg wanted to name her Penelope but I thought that was quite weird.  Finley looks so funny in this photo!  She really loved this store and I can't wait to take both her + Penelope again to build another bear!