Changes...

This week was another busy week! I haven't been feeling well lately either, so it's been pretty hectic I found out Monday afternoon that I'm losing yet another full-time kiddo. =( Disappointing, but what can ya do!?

We were kindly given a 'new to us' eliptical trainer & desk (thank-you, thank-you, thank-you!!!) and rearranged house. We moved the desk and eliptical into the dining room (that we've always used as a second living room) and moved the computer from the kitchen to the desk. Now we have a TON more counter space in the kitchen, and we have an office/workout room. We have plans to put up shelves and make the office space more functional (read: kid friendly) in the near future! Oh, and I manage a whole 15 minutes on the eliptical this afternoon! go me!

Anyways, here's a few pics of what it looks like now & of course some pics of the kiddos! I'm still not feeling my best, so it's off to the couch for some TV relaxation time. =)

Trying so hard to do a puzzle!

This is a rare sight -both of them played *quietly* for quite some time in the playroom.

Spring is in the Air!

So last week I mentioned working on a project with my bonus boogers. We had help from one Grandma last week, and with help from another Grandma on Sunday, we got it all finished!

Here's our decorated Spring wall:

How cute!! We made butterflies, grass, flowers, ladybugs, a bee and a sun, all out of regular construction paper.

Now our playroom is and ready for Spring! Too bad Mother Nature has different ideas! ...it's snowing as I type this! *sigh*

Sunday Afternoon Ride

santa brought the kids' bikes for christmas, and silly santa brought them to grandma & grandpa's condo christmas morning! all winter they practiced at grandma & grandpa's condo. the sidewalks are finally clear, so daddy brought the bikes home with them today, and we all went for a nice sunday afternoon walk! this was mine and daddy's first time seeing them riding their bikes! we stopped at mcdonald's for a quick lunch, and kept on trucking!

and naturally, i took about a hundred too many pics! enjoy!

look at that concentration!

the tongue never fails.

my favourite shot. ♥

 now this last pic is after we'd been home awhile. the mister decided to pull his trike (atv) into the garage and get it in running condition. ha. running, being the operative word. my darling daughter kept taking ice chunks (thin, but still, chunks) and smashing them into her forehead. ...i have no idea why. i guess it was funny? lol...but here's wicked shot just after she broke one on her forehead! LOL

my second favourite shot of the day

Peace, Quiet & Mini Maple Pancake Muffins

this morning the hubbs took the kids to visit great-grandma & great grandpa, and then grandma & grandpa for their usual weekend morning coffee. i get the chance to be alone, in quiet. peace, and quiet. ahhhh......... 

i decided to try another recipe i found on bakerella. mini maple pancakes muffins, puffins if you will! they turned out absolutly amazing, and the different recipe variations are endless! pretty sure i would have eaten them all, if i had the chance! i made some with choco chips, and plain! both are equally delicious! then i got creative, and added a slice of banana on one. ooo eee, breakfasty goodness!

here's the recipe! my notes are in pink! =)

Mini Maple Chocolate Chip Pancake Muffins. 

1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
2/3 cup buttermilk {i actually used regular 2% milk}
1 egg
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
2 tablespoons melted butter
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar in a medium bowl. Sift together with a wire whisk.
• In another bowl, stir buttermilk, egg, maple syrup and melted butter until just combined.
• Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir with a spoon until combined.
• Stir in chocolate chips. Reserve a few chips to sprinkle on the tops. {didn't save any chips to put on later!}
• Bake for 8-9 minutes. {spot on! baked for 8mins and they came out perfect!}

Makes 24 mini pancake muffins. {i only got 20...not that it's that big of a deal!}

Let cool slightly and remove from the pan. You may need to use a toothpick around the edges to separate the pancake muffins from the pan.
Serve immediately with warmed butter if you like or even just with maple syrup.

Late Night Chocolate Chip Cookies!

my daughter has been bugging me to bake cookies for a few days. yesterday we found time to bake some cookies! i used THIS RECIPE from bakerella. ♥ that site! we didn't start these until like 9pm, and it was then i discovered oh sh*t! no chocolate chips. we made a quick trip to the nearby shopper's drug mart, and whipped back home.

my pint-sized baker helped lick off rinse the dishes

i may have had a hand in licking off the spoons too...maybe.

the finished product!

the recipe made 42 deeeeeelish cookies, and i'm sure more if we didn't sample the dough so often!

Here's the recipe, my notes are in pink! =)

Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups chocolate chips

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking soda and salt with a wire whisk and set aside.
• With a mixer, beat butter and both sugars until well blended.
• Beat in eggs and vanilla.
• Add flour mixture in two additions until combined.
• Stir in 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips.
• Use a mini ice cream scoop {i used a tablespoon} to drop cookie dough on a parchment covered cookie sheet about 2 inches apart.
• Bake for 8-10 minutes.
• Tip: About half way through baking, sprinkle reserved chips on top of cookies. This is just to make them prettier so, some of the chips are seen on top. {i forgot this step!}
• Makes about 4 dozen cookies

♥ Jennifer, x0x0x

OUCH!!

well, yesterday was complete and utter chaos. as much as i complain about it, i ♥ it. 

after my "workday" was done, i made a trip to the bank and to pickup some much needed groceries. i wanted pickles, and stumbled across these: PICKLED beets! i haven't had these since i was a kid! yummo! hahahaha

PICKLED beets! i haven't had these since i was a kid! yummo! hahahaha i know we used to grow beets in  our garden when i was little, but i could be wrong when i say my mom also pickled beets herself as well. much to my dismay (read: excitement) my family wasn't quite as enthusiastic with my purchase. woo! more for me! 

anyways - as i was coming home from groceries - i don't know what the h*ll i did, but as i was rushing in the door i tripped (on nothing) and fell INTO the door, and into the part that the screen door is SUPPOSED to be attached to. basically fell into a piece of metal protruding from the door frame.

OUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! >insert random expletives here< i'll fully admit it, i cried like a baby. it hurt, and still hurts. 

anyways, i regained my composure and brought in the rest of my groceries! i think my best deal was 5 minute rice. i bought the giant box, for $1 more than the medium sized box, and it's twice as much quantity! goo me!

anyways, after i ate dinner (farmer sausage, noodles and pickled beets!) i was dead to the world. got little man to bed, and watched tv until it was time to get miss coco to bed as well. 

 this morning i have 2 bonus boogers, so it's an easy day. it's nap/quiet time, which means it's time for me to get this disaster zone of a house cleaned up! speaking of, i managed to snap some after pics of the craft room! 

desk area - my inspiration binder needs to be organized still!

walking into the craft space

view from desk area, beyond the screen is our bedroom!

this cabinet houses keepsakes of mine and my hubby's. the black box is full of all sorts of small treasures!

i had to include the above photo. the evening i was sewing up my daughter's cape, she came up and pulled out all the cutesy pink fabric, rolled it up nicely and put it back. cute! and that's my crafting space! i still have a long ways to go in decorating it, but it's at least usable space now! =)

♥ Jennifer x0x0x

it's nearly been a week! eek!

wow! well, i don't know what happened! we had a relaxing weekend ~ we had a few friends over one night, then the kids visited grandma and grandpa the next. i was excited to tackle my craft room. it needed it, desperately! see?

i did get it all finished, i swear! but - DOH! - didn't take after pics! oopsie! look for after pics tomorrow, the mister's already gone to bed!

what else have we done this week? let's see. i've had all my bonus boogers all week - six of them tomorrow! yikes! today grandma came to visit. we started a spring project for the daycare/playroom that hopefully turns out super cute! it involves butterflies and flowers, so i'm sure we can't go wrong! 

little man decided he needed some lipstick a la marker

tonight, i got ambitious and began sewing a cape for chloe. i managed to cut pieces wrong (and that's the same piece, cut wrong twice), break a bobbin (how does one even do that!?!?!), stab myself an uncountable amount with pins and lastly, sewed the collar on backwards. however it was all worth it when 2 hours later i had one ecstatic little girl that insisted "mommy, you're a GENIOUS!" *sigh* 

we still need to sew on a symbol and some velcro, but here's superhero chloe, to the rescue! well, on that note, i must get off the 'puter and tackle the mess that is my house - and find some time to sleep! check back tomorrow for after pics of the craft room and maybe, just maybe i'll find the energy to make little man a superhero cape too! speaking of, here are some pics of him playing before bed earlier!

well, on that note, i must get off the 'puter and tackle the mess that is my house - and find some time to sleep! check back tomorrow for after pics of the craft room and maybe, just maybe i'll find the energy to make little man a superhero cape too! speaking of, here are some pics of him playing before bed earlier!

wants to slide down...

but chickens out and flips over and slides this way instead! LOL

 good night folks!

♥ Jennifer x0x0x

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Well, I didn't get the chance to blog yesterday - so this post is a whole day short. My apologies! 

Yesterday's craft was an uber adorable, mini pot of gold. Cuuute! We also painted with a 3 leaf clover potato stamp! In pink of course! (& green). After the Mister arrived home from work - we made our way outside, while he and Miss CoCo began building a birdhouse, something she's been asking to do allllllllll winter.

 Today, I actually had no activities planned, as I had all my daycare kids (aka bonus boogers) scheduled - turns out all but one called to say they won't be in! So, we did some St. Patrick's Day themed colouring pages and had a relaxing day.

 

While the Mister made a deeeelish supper (hot chicken sammiches!) The kids and I play superheros, and I was the bad guy "shooting" them with hair elastics. This is actually what prompted me to hop on the ole computer. This mama NEEDS to make these kids some superhero capes, so I'm surfing the webz for inspiration, while blogging.

And speaking of webz and blogging...this morning I came across a SUPER amazing, SUPER inspiring blog...tons of super easy and super fun activities to do with the kiddies! ...SUPER right? (wonder how many times I can say super in this post? ha!) Anyways, visit Made By Joel to see why I'm so excited! Then, go HERE to find the free printable for the lil twirl-about-thingy we made this evening! =) 

And, in your blog travels, if you happen upon a SUPER (hehe) superhero cape, please let me know!

♥ Jennifer x0x0x

Sneak Peak,

Ahh, it is just gorgeous outside! We swung, we dug, we painted, we built, we ate, we fell...

 

We came inside for a snack...and discovered the cutest little cookie monster ever...

And that wraps up our day...my evening will consist of folding laundry...wanna see my pile? Brace yourself.

Ha. Yup, and there is a load in the dryer AND washer as I'm typing this. And please, ignore my Valentine's Decorations, and the only St.Patty's Day decor we have...which has also been rearranged by a very creative little 4 year old. 

Oh! Before I go, here's a sneak peak at tomorrow's craft! Miss CoCo and I got a head start on them earlier this afternoon!