Paranoid

I might have made a parenting mistake.

It went down like this...

It was Halloween night.

The kids were all back from trick or treating.

The treats were dumped all over the floor.

The sorting was complete.

It was time for a treat and they were told they could pick one.

Seconds later Darcy's already popping something in her mouth.

When I said, Hey  I didn't check that, sure hope you're not poisoned!

Every year we check their treats to make sure nothing is already open or tampered with.

How could she forget that?!?

It was a tiny box of Nerds candy and I watched her break it open.

Well the look on her face - she looked like she'd swallowed a goldfish.

She tried to shrug it off.

But next thing you know she's telling me that she doesn't like the taste of this particular treat.

At first I didn't clue in.

I told her she could throw them out and pick something else but to make sure it was something she liked.

She did.

But she brought it to me first to make sure it was safe.


Fast forward a while...

Darcy is in tears and hysterical thinking that she's been poisoned.

Not because of the candy she ate at home

But because of the treats she had while trick or treating.

She complained of a belly ache.

It was a long night of reassurances and snuggles.

I might have told her (hours later) that if she had been poisoned she'd be dead and the fact she was still moaning about it all was a sign that she was in fact fine and could go to sleep.


It's been over a week now since Halloween...

Darcy is like the treat police around here.

To the extreme.

If you open a treat she wants to make sure that you've checked it.

If she catches you already eating one she's asking to make sure you checked it.

If she forgets to check one, it's trash.

She seems to forget that we checked them all as we put them away that night.


The other night, after finding out that Daddy ate a treat without checking it, she told him:

Well, if you die, I'm gonna tell you I told you so!

Daddy almost choked on that treat.

Winter Bucket List

Well it's not that our Summer Bucket List was a grand success or anything, but it was nice to have something to refer to when we were looking for something to do.

We aren't good winter people.  We tend to hibernate.  I'm told that it's better to get out and find things you enjoy doing in the winter or you'll spend you winter wishing away the days and being miserable. Unfortunately, I like with a couple of winter haters.  I'm not sure this is the year that I'll be able to change their minds either.

I had hoped to get the girls into cross country skiing, but being pregnant this winter I'm not sure it's something I want to try and pick back up myself! 

Nor will I be brave enough to be skating on the canal this winter since I'm not that confident in my skating abilities when my center of gravity is normal to me let alone when I'm all off kilter!

I just hope that we can get to some of these winter activities listed below and as usual I will keep you posted on our adventures.

1. Go ice fishing.  Fishing in a boat with Caelan and his trache is just a bit too scary for me, in fact it's pretty much out of the question.  A good friend keeps reminding me of this alternative so hopefully this winter we'll make it out to their hut. 
2. Enjoy a beavertail and hot chocolate in the outdoors.  If you live in or near Ottawa this is a must.  Usually, enjoyed on the canal or during Winterlude.
3. Winterlude - do something, anything!  It's a huge attraction for this area and we should participate
4. Encourage Damian and the girls to go toboganning on a real hill... Maybe even Caelan too if the weather cooperates.
5. Have fun with some Christmas baking and make sure the kids get involved.
6. Enjoy a spa treatment with my sisterfriends.  Our date is already tentatively booked!
7. Build a snowman
8. Make snowangels 
9. Take a walk while it's snowing
10. Curl up together as a family and watch The Grinch who Stole Christmas and Polar Express
11. Do ONE of the holiday things I've pinned on pinterest...
12. Watch a Santa Clause Parade.  In recent years we've always tried to get to the Orleans Parade of Lights.
13. See the Christmas lights on Taffy Lane or downtown Ottawa
14. Upper Canada Village's Alight at Night Every year I think this is something I'd like to do and we have yet to do it!
15. Roast marshmallows over a campfire in the snow
16. Go to the sugarbush and get some fresh maple syrup... although this might technically happen in the spring there is still snow on the ground so that makes it a winter activity!

Okay.  I think that's it.

Most importantly thought... I'd like to spend some good quality time with friends and family.


Inspired by Mama Kat's writer's workshop....

Wordless Wednesday: You write the caption...

My Little Chef

Caelan's been cooking up a storm in the kitchen/restaurant that Darcy put together for him.  They can play so well in there, but eventually play food ends up everywhere and it doesn't look much like any restaurant I'd want to visit!!

Caelan has also continued to help me bake cookies every Sunday morning while the girls are at curling.  It's kind of become our thing.  He continues to amaze me with his interest in all things food and kitchen related and yet it's still such a challenge to get him to put anything to his lips!  It's definitely a change to bake cookies with someone who isn't interested in taste testing the cookie dough all the way through and scamming extra chocolate chips!  Although, he must be listening to his sisters because he's always eager to add more of them!

On another cooking note, I've posted our November Meal Plan.  This month we're trying a few new recipes and using up some of those freezer meals that we prepared in October.  I had a couple cooking weekends and stocked the freezer to the point that it's almost too full!!  We had been talking of getting an order of beef but right now I'm not sure where it would go!  Oh well, the one thing I know for sure is that food disappears quickly.  It seems you're always in need of something. So, I'm sure that it won't take long before we have more than enough room once again.

Confessions of the chicken sort

Remember what happened to our chickens on Thanksgiving weekend?

Well... I might have stretched the truth a bit, keeping in mind that our girls sometimes read the blog.

You see, one of the original four chickens was still alive that night.  However, we weren't sure for how long.  There was a lot of blood and she was most distraught.  Completely understandable.  We were unable to determine the extent of injuries and Damian was able to relocate her into the safety of the garage.  She remained hidden in a corner there for an entire week before we thought that she was well enough that we could tell the girls she'd survived.  She's still pretty traumatized and not laying any eggs but she made it through.

Since that horrible night, Damian has been hard at work building a more secure coup and pen.  No more free range in the yard.  Anyway, last week Damian and Caelan went and got three more chickens so we're back up to four. 

We told the girls that we wouldn't be naming these ones... Although, by dinner that night they both had named them in their heads!  I don't want to hear their names.  They're just my egg chickens.

Speaking of chickens... On Friday on my way to work, I actually had to stop and let the neighbour's chickens cross the road!  We're not the only ones out here with chickens!!