If You Only Knew

The other day, while I was busy bustling around the house, my daughter said to me, "Mama, will you come and watch this movie with me?" I playfully responded "Ohhhh, that movie looks waayyyyyyy to scary for me!!!". In reality, I was trying to buy a few extra minutes of tidying up rather than sitting down to watch a movie I, quite frankly, had no interest in watching. However, my daughters responses stopped me in my tracks: "Oh Mama. You're not scared of ANYTHING!" she responded innocently. Oh my darling. If you only knew. 

If you only knew that the day I found out I was growing you in my tummy, I cried at the top of the stairs for hours, terrified at the thought of having a tiny, helpless person to take care of.

If you only knew that every single Doctors appointment and ultra sound that I had, I worried endlessly about finding out something wasn't perfect with the new love of my life.

If you only knew the fear I felt the second I heard your very first cry and wondered how I would care for such a delicate human being.

If you only knew the nights I spent tip toeing in your room to make sure you were still breathing. I still do this, you know, nearly five years after the day they handed you to me.

If you only knew the fear I had the day I left your Daddy, knowing you would grow up without both of us in the same home.

If you only knew the fear I had the day that I first sent you to day care, and then to school, knowing that I had to put my trust in people I knew only from meeting for a matter of minutes.

If you only knew the worry I had for you growing up in a world that can be so very cruel.

If you only knew the nights I spent awake fearful that your sickness would steal you from me.

If you only knew the terrifying moments watching you learn to ride a bike, learn to skate, and play recklessly with your three older boy cousins.

If you only knew the way my heart broke when you told me your very first boyfriend ever, Ian, had broken up with you. You were 4.

If you only knew that I am fearful every single day that I set you free in this big world, that I will not get you back as wholesome, as innocent, as absolutely perfect as you were the moment that you woke that morning.

If you only knew, my sweet darling, that my fear remains strong every day, but that it is overshadowed by my love, by my trust, and by my faith that you will be a phenomenal human being. It is quieted by the amount of love that I have for every piece of your soul.  It is silenced every single time you call me Mama. If you only knew, my sweet love, that my only fear in this world is that one day my heart will burst, from loving you just way too much.

 

Freezer Meals

As with every other family, we are incredibly busy. Gymnastics, yoga, teacher training, working, house renovations, baseball, swimming, and every other weekend where our kiddo is gone. A few times this winter I spent a few hours on a kid-less weekend making crock pot meals that I was able to freeze ahead of time, take out the night before to thaw and throw in the slow cooker the morning of. It was an incredible time saver and, ultimately, allowed us more time as a family together. With just a little bit of prep, price matching to keep it relatively inexpensive and a meal plan for the week, we were able to really benefit from doing this! Which is why I recruited my best friend, Katie, to help out one day. I know that there are a ton of blogs about this and I visited quite a few either for tips or for recipes, which I've added below.

Katie and I started the day by gathering recipes. Neither of our families eat much beef or pork and her hubby has recently given up most pastas, so we stuck with mainly chicken recipes (although ended up adding one pasta dish to satisfy Katies carb cravings. She is, after all, expecting a little in just a few months!!!). We then created a shopping list and got out our flyers to price match. I prefer to use the "old fashioned" way by using the hard copy flyers. (I plan to blog about this soon, so stay tuned!!). Katie, on the other hand, prefers to use an app called Flipp. She swear by it.

Just as a little teaser to prove how much of a difference price matching can make, check this out:

RIGHT?! Just make sure to check back for some serious money saving tips :)

So after grocer shopping, we got to work. We did one recipe at a time, prep and all. I know some people will prep all of the recipes at the same time, however we didn't have a lot of overlap in the things that actually needed prepping, so it seemed easier to do one at a time. This is what all of the ingredients looked like together:

Katie and her hubby ended up having a ton of the ingredients in their cupboards already, which made this process just THAT much easier! Overall though, we spent roughly $60 each.

The first recipe that we did was Sweet & Sour chicken. We found the recipe at joelandkitty.com. There's literally 4 ingredients: chicken, cranberry, Catalina dressing and onion soup mix). How much easier can it get!?!?

The second recipe we tried was for a pasta dish that I found on Pinterest. There is no site attached to the link, but if you know where the original is form, please let me know and I will be happy to link to it! It had 1 small bag of spinach, 2 cans of diced tomatoes, 1 bag of tortellini, 4 cups of vegetable broth and a package of cream cheese. Umm easssssy!! You literally throw it in the crockpot on low for 5 hours, serve and enjoy!

The third recipe was from the Fun With Sharpes blog. Super adorable couple with a fantastical blog! We made their  Italian Chicken. Again, there is a theme here: SUPER EASY! Chicken, water Italian dressing, garlic, chili powder and a packet of ranch seasoning. She has also added a ton of other recipes from her experience in bulk cooking!!

The last one that we made was a mushroom and peanut butter rice topping. I know what your thinking. I am too, to be honest. And I don't even really understand whether it's a soup or a rice topping or what. I'll update as soon as I've tried it. Its really just chicken cubed, two cans of cream of mushroom soup and a cup of peanut butter. We'll see!

Overall, I am so happy that we made the dinners. Not only was it a nice time spent together, but we have four meals that are already made for weeks that get really, really busy. We're planning on doing it again shortly before the baby it due, so keep your eyes peeled :)

DIY Beer Caddy

As promised, another DIY project that the other half worked on. He actually made two -- one for my Dad for Christmas and one for a friend of his who had seen the first one and loved it. He had been looking for an opener to attach to the side of the first one (top picture), but we couldn't track one down on short notice. (As it turns out, they can be found on the American Target website). Apparently didn't matter too much to my Dad -- he loved it!!! (Obviously!). Check them out :)

This is the second one. He ended up making his own bottle opener rather than ordering one online! What a handy guy!!!

 

 

Wondering how these were made? Here you go: (disclaimer... both of these he was just winging it, no plans just as it came to him. What I can tell you from what he remembers is below.)

 

1: 96"x 1"x 8" pine board

2: Cut 2 end pieces 10" long bottom piece long enough to make 6 spaces 3" square which is large enough to fit beer bottles and cans.

3: 1st caddie, used part of the 1" x 8" board as spacers

4: 2nd caddie used off cuts from other projects to make spacers, it was very intricate and lots of pieces. The sides were 3/4" x 2" poplar.

5: 1st caddie counter sunk the screws and used round plugs, 2nd used black hole filler.

6: 1st caddie stained with chocolate coloured stain then clear coat, 2nd used a torch to burn the wood then 2 coats of clear coat.

7: Drilled 3/8" hole in either end piece for the rope handle

 

 

If you are making your own opener, here's the instructions:

 

He bought a bottle opener from the dollar store and removed the plastic handle. Next, replace it with 2 pieces of wood on either side, used same black filler, burn it and use 2 coats of clear coat to match the caddy.

 

If you have further questions, please comment below and I will pick his brain to see if he can remember.

Have fun!!!



DIY Pallet Headboard

One of my other posts featured pictures of the pallet headboard that my other half made for our daughters room. I had a lot of traffic to the blog after pinning photo's of the headboard, so I wanted to make sure that I posted instructions on how to make it because it really is super beautiful!

My other half works at a factory where they often have spare pallets that we score. I have a "to make" board  on Pinterest (love love LOVE) which is basically his "Honey Do List".  (Just for the record, he also pins things on it!).

I digress, the headboard:

 

Beautiful, right?!

 

As promised, here ya go:

 

1: collect pallets

2: build 2x4 frame (2 vertical legs with 2 cross pieces)

3: attach wood to frame, used masonry nails with preexisting nail holes in wood to attach to frame

4: drill two holes on legs of frame to attach to metal bed frame

5: sand-heavy or light sanding (depending on look you want)

6: 2 coats of clear varnish

7: attach head board to metal bed frame using bolts

 

He also made a matching bedside table:

I love this for a few reasons :
#1. It's the perfect size. A likes to bring all of her little "collections" (I.e. bracelets, lip smackers, whatever she loves that day), and put them right beside her bed. There's enough room for the lamp and her stuff.
#2. The base keeps all of her books together rather than them falling all over the floor.
#3. It's beautiful!

The other half is in the midst of making a few more treasures from the pallet wood. Stay tuned for more goodies!!

 

 

 

House reno's

Not only am I lucky to have my other half be an outstanding father and partner, but he is also a fantastic handyman and a fellow DIYer. We really are a great team!

He bought a home in April and quickly got to work on it. It had had only one owner and had been decorated about the time the home was built -- around 60 years ago. This was the upstairs washroom before he got started on it:

Dated floors, wallpaper and wood panelling walls. We spent an entire weekend, with the help of his parents, stripping wallpaper, tearing up the floors, painting, painting and more painting. We also wallpapered a bit, but with a more classic design that will hopefully stand the test of time.

 

This is the wallpaper that we ended up using. The original plan had been to paint, but once we stripped the other paper off, we quickly realized that there would be no way to get the glue completely off from the old stuff, so we opted to cover it instead. This paper was easy to hang and is actually textured. Isn't it gorgeous?!

 

 

 

We love the new bathroom. It was fairly easy and relatively inexpensive to redo.

 

The next room that he did was our daughters room. The before was plain, dated and not fit for a little girl.

 

 

 

We also had a condo on the other side of town, and A's room is pink there, so we choose bright green for this room. Other than a coat of paint and the carpet coming up, this room took next to no time.  The wall at the end of the bed is a bright green that matches the blinds and the inexpensive canvess art that adorns the walls. (Dollar store canvas painted green with decals that are also on the walls -- so simple and totally his idea!).

 

 

Note the ammmmmmazing headboard made from pallets! It's absolutely beautiful and our kiddo loves it. Very shabby chic....especially now that she has a matching bedside table too!

 

 

(See how to instructions in separate blog "DIY Pallet Furniture")



We had decided to host Christmas this year and with reno's in full swing and family from out of town coming, I was really pushing getting the living room done. The kitchen is still in progress and the basement hasn't been touched, so I wanted a place where we could enjoy each other company and relax. Before we started the reno's, it stayed true to the rest of the house: aged orange carpet, terrible wallpaper and old tiles at the front door.

The door in the left hand side of the picture is the front hall closet, adjacent to the front door. There is a wall that separated (note the PAST TENSE!) the living room from the dining room, as well as one that separates the dining room from the kitchen, so the main floor was really choppy and had no flow. We spent one evening taking down the wallpaper (until 2:30 a.m. - we were SO sore the next day!!!) and took the carpet up. His brother came over and retiled the front foyer and the closet will soon be turned into a mudroom closet. (Pics to come!!). We picked a beautiful neutral colour that is dark and creates a cozy, comfy atmosphere and brings out the natural wood colours from the mantel and the window frames.

I can't even begin to describe how much I love the living room now. We enjoyed our family over the holidays in our new space. We were all so cozy, with our tree lit beside the fireplace, my other half's brother playing his guitar and our daughter in her brand new jammies enjoying time with the people that love her.

These reno's have, at times, been a test of patience, a test of our relationship and a test of our very different tastes, but overall we have a great start to making this house our home.

Websites for kids

When I was a single Mom and couldn't afford cable or internet, my kiddo and I played a lot of games, did plenty of crafts and just hung out together a lot. Now that I am a bit more established and have some extra cash each month (but certainly not a ton!!!!) I can finally afford internet. YAY!!

I am fairly strict with what sites A plays on (she is only 4, after all), as well as the amount of time she spends on the computer. Some days I feel like she is trying to make up for the 4 years of her life that we didn't have internet with the amount of computer time she wants. I try and find a healthy balance of educational games and just straight up playing-to-have-fun games, although I especially like the ones that are comprised of both learning AND fun activities.

Below are descriptions and links to the websites that A is most fond of. Some she prefers over others, but if she gets screen time during the week, she'll typically navigate her way (by herself!!!) to any of the following:

Starfall is actually a site that they use in A's school on the smart board, which is one of the reasons I don't mind her spending a bit longer on it.  It's an education based site originally developed for teachers to help their students learn phonics.  There is an entire section written for parents about how to use the site (i.e. which section to start with...) and it's very user friendly. A especially likes ABC Lets get Ready to Read section.

ABCya.com is another site that A enjoys. It's actually for children grades K-5, so it's a website that if you have more than one youngster at home they may actually be able to agree on! There are sections for letters, numbers, computer knowledge, drawing, baking games....plenty of everything. A is super into baking, so obviously she loves this site. And Mama doesn't mind it either ;)

PBS Kids is another site that we frequent in our home. A likes it for the games and for the familiar characters (none of the above mentioned sites have recognizable characters. i.e. Cat in the Hat, Thomas, Curious George). There are videos and games, and you can choose your activity by character or by level of skill involved). Superwhy is, by far, A's favorite game on this site.

Disney is the last site that we normally hit up for entertainment. I find that the games are typically a bit too tough for a 4 year old, but I'm sure older kids would enjoy it. A does like the Princess adventure games, although usually I end up actually playing it while she watches. No educational component involved, but fun nonetheless.

I would love to hear some of your kids favorite sites or even apps on your phone. As I'm sure all parents can attest, playing the same games over and over is almost as much fun as watching the same Thomas or Dora show over and over! Ahhhhhhh, the joys of being a parent ;)

These are a few of my favorite....websites.

With Christmas holidays coming up, I'm planning on as much R & R as I possible can fit into the 16 days I have off. (16...I know, right?! Can't wait!!!!). I have a few things that need to be done over the holidays (filing paperwork, organizing our craft supplies and baking goods, cleaning our floors) but I have a few other things I would like to do as well. Many of these come from various websites that I check out every day. There's a few obvious ones - Facebook,  Hotmail and   Pinterest, but I also subscribe to a few others that I read daily and that include a few articles that I want to catch up on. Check the following sites out if you have an extra few {HOURS} on your hands. Warning: you will NOT be able to just log on, check them out and log back off. Give yourself some time to explore them :)

Elephant Journal is independent media dedicated to mindful living. It is composed of articles on a variety of topics -- my favorite being yoga, family and wellness. There are 16 featured authors, along with contributing authors also. Because it is independent media, there is an opportunity to submit writing and have it published (umm bucket list!!!), and the instructions on how to do that are on the website. If you do only have a few minutes, here are my fav articles from the site:
Sucker Punched, The Thought I Already Hate This Class I Have 55 Minutes Left, and my all time favorite (not yoga related at all):8 Photos of New Yorkers Most People Dont See

One of my other favorite sites is Mind.Body.Green.. It's dedicated to...guess? Mind. Body. Green. You got it. Just today I read "What I Learned When my life Unraveled" . Also check out "25 Things We Should Say More Often" (this is actually a link to a Kid President video and is AMAZING!!!) and "How I Overcame Anxiety Attacks ". So fantastic.

Something else that I absolutely love checking out are Ted Talks. I'm sure you've heard of them -- there's one for absolutely everything. The idea behind Ted Talks? 'Ideas Worth Spreading' by a variety of speakers. My favorite? It's a tie between  Ash Beckham  and  Shane Koyczan They are both absolutely beautiful.

Another amazing source of positive stories and news is  Upworthy It's where I find a lot of videos that I show to my kids at work, as well as a place I know I can look to if I need a pick me up. It combines videos from tons of different places, but all are touching, moving, uplifting etc. in some way. A GREAT place if you're having a not-so-great day.

Lastly, for all the other yogi's out there, Yoganonymous is a fantastic source for great yoga interviews, music, posters and yoga info. There are sections for lifestyle, practice, wellness and music. Yesterday I checked out 23 Problems Only Yoga People Will Understand


I hope you get a chance to check out some of the links I've attached above. They are fantastic sites that all focus on the beautiful side of life. Something we all need a little bit more of.

Much Love xoxo

How I Overcame Anxiety Attacks