We started off with a Curious George party, then did the Cowboy thing and finally the lego party. I was starting to run out of fun ideas for my boys parties.

One thing Landon loves to do is draw and color, seemed only obvious to throw him an art inspired party.  Now that he and most of his guests are 5 they are able to keep the mess to a minimum so I forged ahead in making this happen.

I bought dollarstore white placemats and cut them into the shape of a painter’s palette.  I then adhered plastic die cut circles to mimic paint which are easily washable.  Yet another trip to our dollarstore yielded plain canvases on which the kids could paint their masterpiece just like the professionals.  I am convinced the one to the far left will be worth money some day.

I knew this cake would be perfect for our art party.  No wimpy food coloring for this one, the real dark vibrant food paste was brought in to pull this off.  Beware!  If you get this on your counter be prepared to love the tie die look because it does not wash off easily.  Better yet pawn the job off on your poor unsuspecting parents.  It’s amazing what you can get away with in the name of grand kids.

For favors I simply picked up some small tubs of Play Doh, a plastic painters palette, some paint brushes and a few tubs of washable paint.  Ironically last minute I forgot to pick up favor bags and tossed the stuff in small green recylcing garbage bags.  I figured everyone at some point can use those and will more than likely come in handy when letting your toddlers paint or use play doh…or as in my case both at once.

With three kids I am sure to be repeating one of these parties, or better yet I may even take them bowling.  Problem solved.

The dust is starting to settle so I thought I would begin to dabble in the world of blogging once again. I miss learning new tricks from other frugal moms, venting my frustrations but most of all the friendships that emerged.

Since I last reported, our family went from this

To this

Yes you counted right. We now have three little ones.

As one can well imagine, life is crazy. Heck, why sugar coat it, it’s downright insane! I don’t have the luxury of closing my office door for a much needed break (although the bathroom has proved to be a decent substitute) but I wouldn’t change it for the world.

This past year has had it’s share of challenges, mainly due to my little girls health scare at birth. Life gets put into perspective in the blink of an eye and so did my focus. Now that I have settled into a chaotic routine I hope to share some new and improved ways to save money, time and hopefully your sanity (although I may ask for help on that issue from time to time)

For nearly 12 years my family’s farm has run a disabled horseback riding program.  Throughout the summer we have the privilege of working with and witnessing first hand children with special needs blossom.  For once in their lives they are equal to others and can maneuvre a 1200 lb horse as easily as an able bodied person can.

We never knew how much that program meant to us until it personally affected us.

Our beautiful little girl, Mclaren Faith was born over a week ago.  Unfortunately she suffered asphyxiation and suffered damage to a portion of her brain. Miraculously she survived and after several heart wrenching days watching her cling to life she pulled through… but not without damage.   In what way? only time will tell but in an instant our life as we envisioned it will never be the same.  Needless to say our family is in shock and numb and need to make this little miracle our primary focus.

I cherish all of those whom I met through blogging, many of you have become a great source of support.  No doubt I will continue reading some of my favourites, continuing to be inspired by all of the great mom’s that are out there.  Please take care, all of you.

God Bless

Niki

I am still alive…barely.  It has been a crazy month with no end in sight.  I am sorry for not updating this blog, I have no creative excuses.  Truth be told I am too darn tired to come up with any at the moment.

We did survive the big move and are anxiously awaiting the baby, which is now 10 days overdue.  Typical for a little lady to be fashionably late.  I would love to post pictures but for the life of me I cannot find our battery charger which reminds me should be located before the little one makes her appearance.

I promise I will have some pictures of the new arrival as well as her newly decorated nursery.  After two boys I am lovin’ pink…and lots of it.

This is the end result of the first night putting the boys in the same room.  Two hours were spent listening to Dane scream.  Landon, bless his heart, tried his best to console him.  I overheard him telling his little brother “It’s alright Dane, there is nothing to be scared of, I am here to protect you”.  Evidently that was not enough and Landon finally climbed in to be closer to him.  Guess that worked because this is the scene we found when we checked on them before hitting the hay ourselves.

For more wordless Wednesday’s visit 5 Minutes for Mom.

I have seen some of my favourite blogging friends participate in this meme and thought it would be fun to jump in.  I wrote this up early Sunday morning before the chaos of the day ensued.

Outside my window…

The sun is almost up and the snow is nearly gone. Soon the grass will turn green and the smell of warm earth will enter my open patio screen door.   Not long after it will need constant mowing.

I am thinking… about hiring a carpenter to give us a quote on a custom office unit.  Three kids and power cords is not a good combination

I am thankful for… my wonderful family.  Tonight I have my two older step children (19,21) sitting at the same supper table as the two babies.  Wow! what an age difference

From the kitchen…a hot pot of soaked steel cut oats awaits me when I get out of the shower. Normally I soak them overnight and boil it gently in the AM.  This has cut down even more time and allows me to simply serve instead of constantly stirring to prevent the pot from scorching.

I am wearing…my sweaty gym clothes, good thing I have a cold and lost all sense of smell..too bad for those that have not

I am creating…my children’s individual binders to store info, medical records and accomplishments in.  They were kept in my main home manual but with two children and one on  the way I needed to give them each their own space.

I am going…to spend an hour of school time with Landon while Dane colours.

I am reading…Ha, can’t remember the last time I read a book with more than ten words on a page.  I have made that a resolution but so far it is April and it’s not looking good.

I am hoping…for a smooth and uneventful birth for my step daughter and the strength for her to handle labour in the event her mother does not arrive on time.  Nobody should do that alone.

I am hearing…Dane chatting away to whoever will listen and calling for Daddy, who just turned off the shower.  Soon they will come pounding down the stairs squealing in excitement.

Around the house…Boxes are starting to pile up in preparation for our upcoming move.  I am wondering why I have 20 boxes packed and have not needed anything in them in over two weeks? Do I have to much stuff?

One of my favourite things… my caramel flavoured coffee with lots of whitener.  I know that stuff will kill me but it’s my one bad vice and I cannot give it up.

A few plans for the rest of the week: Saturday we are heading to our local National park for our annual Easter breakfast cook out.  We prepare a large feast of egg mcmuffins, maple glazed ham and all the fixings.  We then go on a long walk and admire the emerging signs of spring.  This has been a yearly tradition since Landon’s birth and anticipate many more years.

Some pics from last year’s Easter egg hunt

To check out what other’s are pondering check out The simple woman’s daybook

Normally I take Sunday afternoon to post my meal plan for the upcoming week.  Not so this week.

You see, this weekend was a write off, from start to finish.  Some days, it seems, I am failing miserably at motherhood.  Some days far worst than others.  Sunday evenings are usually reserved for a nice sit down dinner (as nice as a dinner with two rambunctious toddlers can be) but this Sunday was cancelled due to mommy having a mini breakdown.  I did manage to literally throw in a frozen lasagna made several weeks back, thank goodness for that or it would have been bowls of Rice Krispies all around.

I am not immune to the pressures of trying to be a supermom, it seems I can never do enough, cook enough, clean enough, enjoy my children enough or be the perfect wife enough.  With the upcoming move and pending adoption I am tired…really tired and meal planning and scratch cooking has been taking a backseat.

Since I won’t be giving you any ideas for meals based on my families suppers, I thought I would show you what our kitchen looked like over a year ago.  I often go back to some old posts of mine to give myself new inspiration or ideas.  Over time my meals have evolved and in some ways have become for complicated.  Why can’t I just use a bottle of Kraft *gasp* BBQ sauce for my meatballs instead of succumbing to the pressures of making my own sauce?

I need to stop.  I may even resort to take out pizza or better yet a bucket of fried chicken.  I can see my husband jumping for joy now.

Since you were probably looking for some meal ideas and not the ramblings of an overworked stressed out mom.  Here are some ideas you can hopefully work with.

Post originally written in January 2008

Well here we are again…Monday ughhhh. The good news is the sales are out and I have a few ideas for recipes that will keep some of your hard earned dollars in your pocket.

The one item that I took note of was the extra lean ground beef on for $2lb at Sobeys. (believe it or not that is a good price here in Canada if you are reading from the US). I just got back from buying 10 lbs for several recipes I have lined up.

The first thing I do is make up a large batch of meatballs. They are easy to whip out of the freezer for a quick meal and can be used in many ways. To make up the basic meatballs I add the following

4lbs of beef

4 env. of onion soup mix

4 eggs

bread crumbs to desired consistency

salt and pepper

I mix this all together and roll into balls and bake in an oven at 350 for 30 min. From there I can assemble the following recipes

The first one I rely on is meatball subs. In a ziplock container I add enough of the meatballs I feel will feed my family, add a jar of spaghetti sauce (Healthy choice is on sale at co-op bogo) and they are ready for the freezer. To prepare I simply thaw in the microwave and pile on top of toasted buns with cheese grilled in the oven until hot and bubbly. It takes all of 5 minutes to whip up this yummy hot meal. If you need a change from subs you could simply add this to pasta or spaghetti for a simple traditional meal.

I then take another portion of plain meatballs and simply add the following:

1 can mushrooms

1 can cream of mushroom soup

2 tablespoons of Worcester sauce

salt and pepper

Freeze in tinfoil container

To prepare simply cook from frozen in 350 oven until hot and bubbly. This meal would be perfect with any side and a veggie.

And if you STILL have meatballs left (I normally do) place them in a dish, add a jar of sweet and sour sauce, can of pineapple chunks and a sliced green pepper. From frozen they can be prepared the same way as the above recipe.

As you can see for $20 in beef I have created quite a few meals.

Warning ahead: Rolling these meatballs are a little time consuming and a touch annoying but stay the course and I guarantee you will be rewarded with a hot, quick and you bet frugal meal.

Now get rolling…..

For more ideas and menu planning visit I’m an Organizing Junkie

Thanks to my good friend and super talented photographer and  scrapbooker Kathy Thompson Laffoley, the memory of my first moments with Dane have been preserved forever.  No video could conjure up the memories that this shot does.  Sometimes the perfect photo tells it all.

For those that have struggled with infertility as I have, will no doubt relate to this beautiful poem written by an individual on a support group I am a member of.  This poem kept me going when I felt all hope was lost, the road was long but I held on to hope….and finally held on to my little guys.

I just had to put the two together.

It reads as follows:

Although not completely wordless…so hard for me to do.

Check out more cute captures and pictures at 5

minutes for mom

Here is Dad hard at work babysitting Dane while he was sleeping.  Guess he won the right to keep the teddy for his nap.

For more Wordless Wednesday’s visit 5 minutes for mom

Well we went ahead and bought a house.

Technically we weren’t actively looking but came across this house and immediately knew it was home.

We started thinking about getting a place of our own when Dane arrived but now that he is a toddler it’s becoming more of an issue.  The big problem is the noise and I doubt they are going to get quieter as the years go by.  My poor parents are woken up either in the middle of the night by a 4 year old crawling in bed with them or to the stomping of footsteps beating the drum of Bo on the go at 6:30 in the morning.  Now that they are retired they would like nothing more to be able to sleep in to at least 8:00, is that too much to ask?  evidently it is if you ask the boys.

We are also craving a finished basement.  They are now at the age where I could leave them downstairs to play with their toys and watch cartoons.  What it would be like to not have to trip over spilt Lincoln logs or darn near break my neck from forgotten Mr. Potato heads left on the stairs.  They could have a spot all of their own and leave my living quarters tidy and clutter free….oh I get goose bumps just writing that..  The other perk is a fenced in backyard with access from the garage.  Not that 50 acres is not ideal on the farm, it is, but at times they wander what seems like 49 acres away and it’s getting hard to keep a constant eye on them.

Although I am going to miss my my parents, their endless support and life on the farm 24/7, we knew it was time.  The good news is I am only a 5 minute drive away….Mom and Dad, you don’t get rid of us that easy.