Birthday parties are the bane of my existence!

This week Pookie got invited to a birthday party of a girl from her former school. A girl that alternately was Pookie's good friend or tormentor. I debated all week about whether Pookie should go or not. Ultimately I left it up to Pookie and she wanted to go. After fighting about what kind of present to get this girl, I brought her to the party. The theme was a Make-up Party and the music blasting was Lady Gaga...not so age appropriate I thought. But, I left her there, praying that she would have fun.

Here is what I returned too:






Suffice it to say, she had a great time and I was horrified!

The Apple Barn

The Apple Barn


This weekend I decided to take the girls plus a couple of friends to an U-pick apple orchard. Hubby got the day off randomly, so he came along at the last minute which was a bonus! The farm had a petting barn, bee hives, a jumping pillow/trampoline, pumpkin patch, a store with lots of goodies and acres and acres of apple trees. We had a great time playing and the kids each filled a 5 lb bag full of apples. There is just something good about picking your own food! Tonight I made apple pie with some of those fresh apples and tomorrow starts the canning of applesauce.

The kids posing on 'Tow-mater'


This is how Pookie poses every. single. time. a camera is on her!


The Bear



The Hay Ride

Biggest Loser

Today marks the first day of competition of my homegrown Biggest Loser competition. A group of ladies are competing for 16 weeks to lose weight, and develop good exercise habits. We have a private blog where we document our journey including before pictures... I'm looking forward to it, but kinda nervous too. I'll keep you posted!

1st full day of school

Both my babies were at school today. Pookie for the whole day and Bear for the morning. It was pouring rain and kinda suited my mood. Although I've joked about longing for freedom for myself, the reality is that it is heartbreaking to send your babies to school! Here are a couple of shots from today. Please excuse the first one since I forgot that the camera was on manual and they were both embarrassed that I was taking a picture IN FRONT OF EVERYONE!



Pookie at her desk at the front of the class...



Bear at the sand table at preschool...



The other side effect of having kids at school was the overwhelming urge to pray for them constantly..especially for Pookie as she navigates this new world of all day school. I am not a prayerful person by nature, but this may very well turn me into a woman of prayer! Ahh, school...such a mixed bag of blessings!

Back to school haircuts

Before...




After...


I asked for a simple bob hair cut for both of them. Pookie ended up having a sophiscated bob and Bear got the simple 2 inch trim. Not sure how this happened, but they both look super cute! Pookie just looks...grown up.

I'm not ready to send her to all day school...

Adventures in tomato sauce making

Since my garden is exploding with tomatoes, I thought I'd try my hand at making & freezing tomato sauce. Again, another attempt at food blogging...

The bounty from the garden


Boiling and blanching to get rid of the skins




Endless chopping and seeding


Adding garlic and basil from the garden


Cooking and reducing


The end result


One little container of sauce! So, lessons learned from my adventure in tomato sauce making:
1. Use Roma or another kind of tomato that has no seeds and lots of flesh. The bright red juicy goodness kind of tomatoes I grew are useless for sauce.
2. Do it with a friend. It is labour intensive, much better with chatting and laughter
3. Remember to savour this one little lovely container in the dead of winter when we are all eating Californian tasteless tomatoes!

The end.

PS. At least my house smelt lovely all afternoon!

More pictures!