A Mending Miracle!

I am definitely an "out of sight out of mind" type person. If something is not in my visual range, I won't think about it or deal with it. Right now we have the curtains over the back door shut, so I don't see the leaves that are piling up over our yard. I guess there is no raking for me! ;)

So this brings me to mending. If I have something that needs to be mended I put it in my bottom drawer of my desk with the thoughts that I will get to it, eventually. Well it is embarrassing to say that a lot of the items in my mending drawer have been in there for over a year! I just don't sit at my desk as much as we are in the middle of changing things around so the office is a glorified dump zone right now. If I do sit at my desk it is usually because I am performing a different task with the mending in the bottom drawer not even a blip on my radar.

Well, just over a week ago, I finally decided that I was going to mend. And mend I did. I cleared out my whole drawer and mended everything except a dress that I was supposed to put a pompom on. I'm not sure where the pompom got to. I will have to go on the hunt.

It felt so good to have that task, that had been hanging over my head forever, to be done. My kids now have usable clothes again and all it took was like 45 minutes, not even, of my time to get it done. By mending it saved me money and garbage space as I didn't have to discard the items and go shopping for more clothes.

While there are times when something is not worth fixing or it has been so destroyed it just won't work, most of the time it is worth patching that little hole, or reenforcing that seam. As it was reinterated to me while I was doing it sewing and mending is really a worthwhile skill to learn. It may take some practice and your first attempts might not be perfect, but in the end it is worth it for your own sense of accomplishment and for your desire to by thrifty. You don't need a fancy sewing machine, just a needle and thread and bam! You can be a lean mean mending machine.

Hopefully, from now on, as the mending comes in, I will be more on top of it and not let it pile up again. But even if that does happen, I know I will have a mending miracle day!

My Chicken is Loving the Crockpot

 I love the crockpot. Seriously, is there anything these bad boys can't do? I think I even saw something on my facebook newsfeed saying you can even bake bread in it. That is something I think I might have to investigate further.

Lately I have been using my crockpot to cook chicken. I have been making a lot of recipes that call for shredded chicken and makes using the crockpot perfect as the chicken is so moist it just falls apart and hardly needs any manual shredding.

This saves time and effort. Through in the chicken, through in a bit of water and sit back and let the crockpot do the rest. Amazing.

One of my favourite recipes right now has been chili-lime chicken, served over cilantro-lime rice, and spicy black beans. I got this recipe from a church function, not sure what the original source was, all I know is that it is amazingly yummy.

Chili-Lime Chicken

2-3 chicken breasts
3 limes, juiced
2 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tbsp garlic powder

In a large ziploc bag, or a different container, mix all ingredients together and marinate overnight. Put in your crock pot and cook on low for about 6 to 8 hours. (Play with the time and see what works best for you. Sometimes I forget to put it on so I put it on high for two hours and then on low for about two hours.)

see how nicely the chicken shreads

Cilantro-lime Rice
1 cup of rice
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
1 1/2 limes, juiced
1 tbsp butter.

Cook rice as you normally would. When cooked add the cilantro, lime juice and butter. Stir until mixed and enjoy. So yummy.

Spicy Black Beans (forgot to take a picture of this)
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 onion chopped
1 can black beans (drained and rinsed)
1 tbsp chili powder
1 cup chicken broth, water is fine too

combine all ingredients and leave to simmer until the consistency looks good to you.

How we usually eat this is sort of like a taco salad. So we put the rice on the bottom then add the chicken and beans. You can also add other toppings. Some of our favourites are corn, tomatoes and avocado. But you could do cheese, salsa, sour cream and more. Whatever you think will be good probably will be.

What are you cooking in your crock pot lately?

Recharging the Batteries

This past week was stressful. Mostly because the potty training was not going well at all. And then put on top of that lost shirts and lunch meal planning and feeling like I was getting nothing done... let's just say I was not my best self. 

So in a pleading phone call I asked my husband to take sometime off work so I could be by myself and recharge.

Now, since Wednesday, when I decided not to continue with the potty training, for now, the needing to recharge feeling wasn't as strong, but I still felt it was important to do something for me so I did.

I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. I don't often get the chance to sit and think about what I want to do just for me. (That's not me complaining or feeling "oh poor me" or a call for sympathy, it's just the reality of being a busy mom of three, and that is okay.) I knew I wanted to do something active. The weather was so beautiful. I knew I wanted to do something that I haven't done yet that I really wanted to. So, I decided to walk part of the Trans Canada Trail, from the St. Jacob's Market to the actual town of St. Jacobs.

I love the idea of the Trans Canada Trail. It is neat to think that the trail I'm walking on could eventually connect me to places all across Canada. And that's no small feat considering, to quote the band The Arrogant Worms, "Canada's really big".

The section of trail I was on today wasn't super busy. I saw a couple of cyclists and a family sitting on one of the benches. But that was it. Just me, the trail, and the sound of birds and cars. This section of trail runs beside a highway, so it was rather loud. Not the best for soul searching in nature, but I'll take it.

I love the little curves under the canopy of trees. This will look beautiful in a couple weeks with fall colours

It's a bit fuzzy but this is one of the views of a farm from the trail.

I am looking forward to trying out some of these trails soon.

The Conestoga river. There was a nicer view at a different spot but people were there and I didn't want to intrude.

It is so important that we take the time once in a while to charge our batteries, and if possible, to find out what that thing would be that recharges us. When you are busy and have other people to be concerned with it can be hard to find what helps to refuel you as you are busy helping to refuel others.

While I was on my walk, I realized how much I missed these strolls in nature. When I was growing up we lived on 80 acres of wilderness. We had made our own trails throughout the property and every Sunday and sometimes more we were off on a walk to the see the beautiful spots we had discovered. We had a waterfall, an old mine, and a great loop through what we called the 12 acre wood. It was great to walk, to challenge yourself with the hills, to see the beauty of nature and the change of seasons. It was nice and peaceful and when I think about those walks I think of bliss and love. I definitely was living the good life. 

Now the thought of going for a walk with family does not incite feelings of joy. We have kids who complain about walking, or who walk too slow or walk too fast, or don't want to wear proper foot wear, or need water, or want to bring dolls or want in the stroller or out of the stroller, or are hungry, or are needing a bathroom even though they just went, and on and on. Not very relaxing is is. This walk taught me that I don't always have to drag my family along. It is okay for them to drop me off somewhere and me to just go by myself and reconnect with me. And by doing that they are probably going to get a better me in the process. Eventually I will invite them along, but for now I need to do these things for me.

There are so many other things that people can do to recharge. What do you like to do?

The Playhouse is Complete!

School has started and so hopefully I will be able to get more into the groove of blogging again. Man, distractions come in many shapes and sizes. And while most of the distractions have been my family, which is a good thing to be distracted by, it sure makes it hard to carve out time for me and my thoughts. Hopefully that time will begin again soon. Although, we just started potty training Miss P and that definitely has the foreground in my thoughts at the moment!

Well we did it. We completed a project!!! We are really good project starters. When it comes to completing the project on the time schedule that I want... not so good at. But we did it. This awesome playhouse was finished before the end of summer and that is a big win in my books.

So to recap the whole idea for this particular playhouse came from the blog vintage revivals. She has really great blueprints and instructions for the frame. (note previous post) But we did have to tweak the finishes. While she used a painters canvas for the roof and walls to give it a cool tenty feel I knew that that would not work in our climate. That canvas would get weathered and mouldy and not hold up well after a winter. So my husband and I went back and forth trying to figure out what the best solution would be. We thought of detachable roofs or just using a tarp and then a light bulb moment. We decided just to use the wavy plastic panels that are used on garden sheds and other structures. Seriously when we came up with it angels were singing up above. For our house we bought four panels and cut them in half. They were the perfect length and width. Seriously, they could not have fit any better. We also re-jigged the ridgepole to be two at angles to accommodate the angle of the roof better. We also put 2x4s at the bottom of the angles so we could attach the roof at the bottom as well.

For the walls we used lattice on all three sides. If we had thought it through we may have put up something in the middle of the long walls to give it support. If the kids push too hard on the walls they could break. But they are fine for now and the girls are really good about being careful with them. We liked using the lattice because it lets in a lot of light. Some play house are so closed off they can be pretty dark. This one is great because the kids can always see, yet it still gives a sense of privacy.

not sure what the fir branch is doing on the side. must be some sort of decoration :)

So it might not be the prettiest or cutesiest playhouse on the block but we love it. It is big enough and tall enough that it should be a nice hangout for years to come. And it was way cheaper than buying those prefabricated ones from the store. I see many tea parties and games being played in this house in the near future. Yay summer projects!

Oh the Projects on the Go!

Sorry about the hiatus. We were on a two week road trip vacation.

When we bought our house we knew that we would have a lot of projects to keep us going for a while. And while time is on our side to be able to do things slowly and at a pace we can afford it is hard to be patient. I have so many ideas of how I want different rooms to be that I just want it done now. But that isn't how it is going.

This summer there are two projects that we are tackling. One will be done shortly. The other will be well into the fall and winter.

The first is a little playhouse for the girls. Miss V and Miss G have been bugging me all winter about needing a playhouse or a clubhouse or a hangout or whatever you want to call it. Well thanks to pinterest and putting our own touches on it we found one that would fit our budget, did not involve trying to find pallets (they can be harder to find than you think) and will be big enough to fit them for years to come.

We took the blueprints for the main structure from this really cool blog. We had to tweak it slightly because she lives in a dry warm climate where I live in one that is rather wet and has snow to contend with. If you decide to build this kind of framed house yourself just watch the measurements for the roof peaks. We found that the length measurement was a little too short. It was fine enough, but then, we aren't picky. Just something to keep in mind.

This is where we are in it. All we have left to do now is put on the roof and the walls.

Our other project is turning our former, not being used for anything but storing junk, kitchenette into our office/craft area. This means a lot of getting rid of wallpaper and cabinets, fixing walls, figuring out lighting, pulling up flooring, putting down new flooring, deciding on appropriate storage etc. etc. This change came about because Miss V and Miss G decided that they did not want to share a bedroom anymore and that mean that they wanted to sleep in the spare room downstairs that currently holds our office. While their sleeping arrangement needs aren't dictated by them it did give me the kick in the butt I needed to get going on the kitchenette, which really was just a waste of space.

This is our kitchenette before we did anything to it.

the cow print wall paper is actually drawer liner

We have since taken out the cabinetry and sold it . We have also started to remove all of the wall paper which we have been slow at doing. We have also started taking up some of the flooring.

I am excited about having a blank canvas to work with and mould into my vision. Pinterest has given me quite a few ideas and I am excited to take those and make it into something new and mine. I will put up more pictures as the reno continues.

What building/reno projects do you have on the go?

Finding Joy at the Park

Last Tuesday the girls and I met up with some friends at Victoria Park in Kitchener. They have installed a new playground which is a lot of fun.

One of the new features of the playground is a structure that looks like a boat. The kids sit on it and then an adult can rock it back and forth. Now most parents usually just move it unenthusiastically just to rock it while waiting for their child to get off and then passing the rocking onto the next suckered adult. I know it is not a very positive way to look at it, but you as parents, you know what I'm talking about.

Well on this Tuesday the kids were in for a treat. There was a young man there, probably in his late teens who I'm assuming had some sort of mental special need, who was able to transport the kids into a world of fun on the high seas. He would stand near the entrance of the ship and yell "All aboard". The kids would rush on and take their positions. Then he would walk around this ship doing the safety check, mostly to make sure that no one was underneath. He would then get into position, ask someone to "ring the bell" and off he would go rocking the boat. The kids would then laugh and have fun as the boat moved up and down causing them to sway, loose balance and just have fun. After a few minutes the young man would stop. The kids who wanted to get off would and new kids who wanted to join would get on. He would then start again with "All aboard" shouted in this incredible booming voice.

While this boat thing is usually popular, I must admit I had never seen so many kids on it at once as when this young man was doing his thing. The kids just loved it. I think he loved it too. They were all just having fun and experiencing pure joy.

It got me thinking about how we as hardened adults of the world don't, as often as we should, take the time to let ourselves go enough to experience these pure joy moments. We are hustling and bustling trying to do things as fast as we can to move onto the next things. At the park I am usually on high alert at all times because Miss P likes to run, and she can run fast and silently. Seriously she must be part ninja or secret agent. Her agility, stealth and speed is quite astonishing. Anyways, because of Miss P's super set of skills it is hard to relax and really enjoy the moments at the park because I feel so preoccupied with Miss P's location. We miss out on a lot of moments of joy when we are distracted or moving too fast.

After this experience I am trying to make a conscious effort to slow down and look at the world through my kids eyes. Take in their joys. This past Friday Miss G and I had to go to the mall to find a bathing suit. Trying to find a kids bathing suit in July is an impossible task, which is kind of dumb because it is still summer and they should still have bathing suits a plenty, in my opinion anyways. So we had to go to store to store. I was feeling like I just wanted to rush it because I just wanted to get out of the mall, it is not my happy place. But Miss G showed me that even in the Mall small and simple pleasures can be found. We stood and watched the fountains for a bit. She then saw some tiles in a cool pattern that she had to investigate. Seeing the mall through her eyes helped me slow down and enjoy the experience a bit more.

I don't know why we feel we need to be running ourselves ragged, trying to get things done lickity split. While there are times when that is necessary, most of the time it is not. No wonder there are so many people stressed, strained, feeling overworked and depressed. Sometimes you really need to slow down and appreciate what's around you and find the small and simple joys that life is freely and constantly offering you if you just slow down enough to recognize it.

So thank you young man, whoever you are. You made a lasting impact on me and all the children you helped that day. Never loose your happy spirit. You are special beyond measure and you made everyone around you feel special too.

A Busy Start to the Summer

The past two weeks have been a bit of a roller coaster, hence no posts


Schools done which is awesome! For being on summer vacation for just two weeks we have done quite a lot. We have gone on a mini-road trip up to my mom's. I love going up to Bancroft, ON. It means I am super close to one of my happy places. It is a store called "The Shed" and it has the awesomest stuff. It has cool handcrafted furniture. It has awesome art work and the coolest wooden flowers. Each time I go up I buy some more flowers to grow my year round garden.

here are my latest purchases

On Canada Day we went to the movies (which is a rare occurrence for us), we got to splash around in a friends pool and then the older girls and my husband went to watch fire works. I stayed home with Miss P. and went to bed at a reasonable time.

Then on the weekend my church had a BBQ and then we went to some other friends new property and swam in their pool. (I don't think we will have to worry about not having a place to swim this summer!)

Then on Monday we went to Kiwanis Park to swim. Tuesday we went mini-golfing. Wednesday we went for a bike ride. Thursday we went to Music and Movies in Waterloo park. One of our favourite local entertainers, Erick Traplin, was the musical presenter. We always enjoy his sets. And the the movie we watched was Sponge Bob... definitely not my first choice, but the kids liked it.

Miss V waiting for the movie to start

There have also been trips to the library, the optometrist, other errands and hanging out. What a busy time!

the supersquad

Now we are trying to turn our focus to building the girls a little play house in the backyard and refinishing a part of the basement to make it our office/craft room. I will definitely have more posts on that coming up.

What fun things have you been doing this summer.