Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Adjusting




It's been 7 weeks since our family went from 4 to 5 and I can honestly say it's been an adjustment.
Having the boys 17 months apart, while sounding daunting, was a relatively easy transition. Diaper changes just went from 1 bum to 2. Nursing schedules could be adjusted to match snack and nap times already happening. Napping schedules could be adjusted so two babies slept at the same time. While it seemed difficult in theory we really didn't have a hard time in actuality.
Introducing another baby 3 years later has proven to be a bit harder of an adjustment. Zac has taken well but Eli has had troubles understanding the new demands having a baby around causes and sharing my time.
I tend to be hard on myself and expect perfection a lot. So struggling to find our stride has been a challenge for me as I really thought it would come quickly and naturally as it did with Eli.
Charlotte is a good baby. She doesn't cry very often, unless she needs something (or between 6pm-12am... she's become a bit colicy this past week...), and she sleeps well through all the crazy noises her brothers make. She smiles lots, isn't much of a talker but cuddles better then any stuffy I've ever held.
I'm hoping that we figure things out soon and can get a bit of a rhythm to our lives back but I am not wishing this chaotic time away. I know in 20 years when all my babies are off living theirs lives I'll wish for this time back.
In other news, we have taken the house off the market and the transfer we were looking forward to has been cancelled. The cancelation didn't come as much of a surprise to be honest so while disappointing it was not shocking. For now we get to focus on our 3 kiddies and loving on them while renovating the house so, fingers crossed, we can have a quick sell next spring/summer.

Monday, October 29, 2012

Musical Monday: Ok Sweetheart - All We Have

I love Ok Sweetheart. 
I'm patiently waiting for them to come out with a CD... none of this downloadable MP3 files from amazon... I'm not modern enough to figure that stuff out. A CD I can hold in my hands would be just perfect thank you.
Until then, I have YouTube...


Happy Monday!

Friday, October 26, 2012

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Loaf

I can't believe Pumpkinfest is finishing up and I still have a list of recipes I want to share! Perhaps I'll save those gems for later and end the week with a Pumpkin Loaf we could not get enough of! This recipe makes two loaves and I'm sure you could pop one in the freezer for another day... or you could be like us and wolf down the two in as many days!

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Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Loaf

3 cups all purpose flour
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp nutmeg
3/4 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp all spice
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup oil (canola)
1 stick butter, melted and cooled
1 tbsp vanilla
2 cups pumpkin puree
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Sift flour, baking powder and spices together and set aside.
Beat eggs and egg yolks together. Add the sugars and beat together until combined. Add the oil, butter, vanilla and pumpkin puree. Add the flour and mix until just combined and lastly add the chocolate chips and mix until distributed in the batter.
Bake at 350 in 2 loaf pans for 1 hour 20 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.

Pour a cup of coffee or tea and then let all your cares melt away!

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Pumpkin Pie Milkshake

I love milkshakes! But they are something I never think to have; so when I do have one they seem like such a treat. Combine my freaky love of pumpkin with the specialness of a milkshake and you have cold perfection!

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Pumpkin Pie Milkshake

2 (big) scoops vanilla ice cream
1/2-1 cup milk
1/4 cup pumpkin puree
pinch cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves

Put all ingredients into a blender and blend until the consistency you love.
* can also be made using left over pumpkin pie, just scoop the pumpkin filling out of the crust and whiz it up in place of the puree and spices.

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Pumpkin Cake

Pumpkin! Pumpkin! YES YES YES!
I love pumpkin, it's the best!

This cake is DEE-licious and oh so easy to make!

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Pumpkin Cake

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 cup pumpkin puree
1 1/4 cups sugar
3/4 cup canola oil
3 eggs

In a bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda and salt, set aside.
Beat the pumpkin, sugar, oil and eggs together in another bowl until smooth and then add the dry ingredients. Mix thoroughly.
Pour batter into a 9x13" pan and bake at 350 for approximately 30-35 minutes.
Allow to cool and then frost with vanilla icing.

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Pumpkin Latte

I am so excited! As you are reading this I am frolicking through a pumpkin patch, visiting a petting zoo and elbow deep in bakery goodies.
I have been loving on pumpkin like crazy these last few weeks and decided to bombard you all week with some of my favourite recipes. My own little bloggy pumpkinfest if you will!
And is there a more perfect way to kick off this pumpkinfest then with a pumpkin latte? No... no there is not.

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Pumpkin Latte

1 cup milk
2 tbsp canned pumpkin puree
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg and cloves

Heat all ingredients in a pot on the stove until the milk is warm, but not boiling. While the milk/pumpkin mixture is heating make a shot of espresso and place in a full sized coffee cup. Once the milk is heated top the coffee cup up with milk mixture.

*As there is pumpkin puree in this you may find the coffee gets thicker near the bottom, if this will bother you might I suggest straining the milk mixture before you pour it into the espresso.

Any pumpkin milk left over can be tossed in the fridge and saved for another day's pick me up!

Monday, October 22, 2012

Musical Monday: Todd Hunter Band - Life Is Good

I can not believe another week has started. Life really seems to be moving remarkably fast these days... That said it's all good and we're enjoying the ride!

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Leaning on Him





























"For I know the plans I have for you" says the Lord. "They are plans for good and not for disaster to give you a future and a hope."
Jeremiah 29:11

I am a planner. I plan to a fault and when things start to fall through or not go according to plan my world tends to get a little shaken and I am often overwhelmed. Leaning on the verse above as I watch plans fall through and try to just "go with the flow". God has plans for us, and they are good, I just need to be patient and wait for Him to show us what those are... now... to work on being patient...

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Peanut Butter Cookies 3 ways

Fall baking flavors are pretty obvious, pumpkin, cinnamon, oatmeal, cloves... but for me peanut butter is always included. This year I decided to play around with my peanut butter cookie recipe and see what else I could do with it which resulted in...
Dum da da duuum!!

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Peanut Butter Cookies 3 Ways!!
That is peanut butter cookies prepared in an additional 3 ways... That's right my dear friend, 4 recipes out of one standard recipe... I'm pretty excited about this discovery.
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First thing's first though, you need my Classic Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe...


Peanut Butter Cookies

1 (1/2 cup) stick room temperature butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 cup smooth peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda

Beat butter and sugars together until light and fluffy, add the egg, peanut butter and vanilla until combined. Add flour, salt and baking soda and mix completely.
Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes.

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I think the easiest and most obvious addition to anything peanut butter is chocolate...
variation #1: Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Add 2 cups chocolate chips once the classic dough is finished and complete the baking process as indicated in the classic recipe.
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Oatmeal, oh how I love thee...
variation #2: Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookies
Reduce the flour in the classic recipe to 3/4 cup and add 3/4 cup oatmeal. Bake at 375 for 13-17 minutes.
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Peanut Butter and Banana, one of my most favorite flavor combinations on the planet.
variation #3: Peanut Butter Banana Cookies
Add 2 mashed bananas and increase the flour to 2 1/4 cups to the classic recipe (top with a dried banana if you're feeling fancy). Bake at 375 for 12-15 minutes.

In other news I think we've almost seen the last of the nasty bug we have all been fighting. Energy levels are slowly returning to normal, throats are feeling less scratchy and noses are finally starting to clear out. Such happy news!! Cheers! ... have a cookie.

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Coffee or Tea

What's in your cup, coffee or tea?

People always ask if you are a tea drinker or a coffee drinker. I've decided that without a doubt I am both. Is that allowed?
I drink coffee in the morning, because I need the extra help most mornings, and tea most of the afternoon/evening... so I suppose I could say I drink both, but mostly tea...
I am so excited to start a new adventure with loose leaf tea. I've discovered David's Tea and can not wait to try every flavor they have to offer. I mean seriously, Pumpkin Chai, Banana Nut, Root Beer Float, Amaretto, Pink Flamingo, Strawberry Rhubarb Parfait, Birthday Cake not to mention Mother's Little Helper!
Mmmm...
So what do you drink? Coffee or Tea?

Monday, October 15, 2012

Musical Monday: Jill Barber - Tell Me

Jill Barber + James Bond Goodness = a happy Lisa!



I have high hopes for this week, happy Monday!

Friday, October 12, 2012

Bits 'n' Pieces





1. Excitement for a hay ride.
2. Sleeping smiles, my favourite!
3. Big brother love.
4. Tiny Feet.
5. Renovations have started!
6. I love pumpkins!!!

This week has felt relatively uneventful, but it was a good one. We took the kids (last weekend) to the pumpkin patch and they had so much fun! Eli searched through the entire patch looking for the perfectly sized pumpkin for someone his size, "not to big but not to small".
We have started some renovation jobs on our house in the hopes to spruce it up for next years selling season. I'm so excited (and so is my mister) to see how we can change up this place and make it look a little more "modern".
Have a good weekend!


Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Silence with a Flashback

The past few days have been remarkably silent on here due to a horrible bout of sickness through the house. The mister and Zac were hammered with it first and just when I thought the rest of us would sneak through without getting it I was slammed and now Eli and the little Miss C are both suffering from runny noses.
I am praying like crazy it blows through the house quite quickly at this point because we are all pretty over it. Homemade chicken soup and tea with honey will be on the menu for the next few days chased by copious amounts of vitamin C tablets and echinacea.
In other news I was scrolling through my pictures the other day and found this little gem. Look how little they were only a year ago!





































Oh! It just makes my heart hurt. Time goes by too quickly!

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Life Right Now

I am:

Reading Charlotte's Web to my kiddies
Waiting for our house to sell... still
Trying to find a new balance in our lives
Unsure of our decision to send Zac to public school... still
Amazed at how fast babies grow and change (in only 3 weeks)
Loving pumpkin... pumpkin lattes, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin bread, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin, pumpkin, pumpkin!
Crafting despite all our life changes (and so proud of myself for finding the time!)
Deliberately finding time to cuddle with each of my boys everyday - they need it, I need it
Thankful that after 3 tries we finally got a baby that sleeps!! Fingers crossed it sticks...
Planning for Christmas and not apologizing
Drinking lots of coffee and green tea

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Welcome October

October is here!!

It's no secret in my world that I love love love October. The colors, the smells, the flavours, the weather!! I have a pumpkin patch visit planned for this weekend, another for later in the month, lists of baking to accomplish, our wedding anniversary, my mister's birthday, halloween costumes, knitting/crochet and warm drinks all planned for the next 31 days (well 30 now I suppose...). October always brings on a surge of creativity and energy for me and I am so excited to embrace that as much as possible.
I also start to think Christmas around now. Seems strange but to me fall goes hand in hand with holiday planning. Christmas lists will be made and sent out to family (this one is a bit of a necessity given our distance from most family), and I will start thinking of giving ideas/plans for us to send on to family. I think I've decided that I want this year to be a bit more hand made for our extended families which could be a challenge given our new addition, but it's still something I would like to challenge myself to do.
Bring on the season!!

Monday, October 1, 2012

Musical Monday: Mumford and Sons - I Will Wait

It's Monday... again... already...
Our weekend was interesting. I'm not sure I would say it was good, but then it wasn't all bad either... We let the boys watch The Avengers after a lot of begging and it made their lives. They really really enjoyed it despite my concerns that they would find parts too scary.










Eli has taken temper tantrums to a whole new level and Zac has become increasingly needy. We expected a few set backs or changes once Charlotte was introduced and I'm thinking that's what these new attitudes represent. My mister had a work related fancy dinner on Saturday night that left me home alone with the three of them over bed time and I succeeded (!) and then had some glorious time to myself. We also came to terms with a few potential disappointments coming up in life.
We've had better weekends and yet we've had worse, so who am I to complain...

Now... on to the music...
I feel like I have spent the last few years hearing about Mumford and Sons everytime I turn around... and yet, I had never actually heard them. This weekend I decided to hit up You Tube to try and see what the big deal was.
You'll have to travel to hear this one by clicking here, but I think it's safe to say I can't believe I waited so long to hear these wonders!