The Memory Lane

A couple nights ago I was driving home, listening to the radio. I heard a song that was a total blast from the past and sent me down memory lane. The song: I couldn't remember! I could only think of one part, just the music, and not even the words! It was a song that Mark used to listen to when he'd drive his Pontiac around. It was bothering me so much that I went through all of Mark's CDs and listened to the songs to try and remember what it was!

As I was going through all of the songs, memories flooded my mind and I experienced the car, the smells, and the feelings all over again! This was the sweet time of my teenage years and adventures as a youth. Mark and I went through 5 CDs and sang along to the "Pontiac" songs, the words totally coming back - it was amazing that after years and years, we could still remember the words! (He even started to BUST A MOVE! Anyone remember how he used to dance?) The song was "Ahead by a Century" - finally, I figured it out, but we also fondly listened to "Symphonic", "Opera Singer" & "I Miss You" just to name a few. Does anyone else remember any iconic music of Mark?

The Ugly Truth

In just a few short months we will be experiencing THIS:

This video has always cracked me up! I just look forward to actually USING my garage! So I don't have to scrape windows as much! Oh Canada...how I love thee?

The Shenanigans

Ever since Isaac turned 9 months, he's looked like such a LITTLE BOY! I think it might be his head and neck or something, but ah, he melts my heart! He's never satisfied with sitting in one place! He's moving constantly - well, unless he's cuddling, which he's happy to do sometimes with his momma! Here are a couple of his shenanigans:

This is Isaac's 9 month picture. Thanks to Aunt Laura who made the monster!

Like Father, like son.

Momma made the mistake of feeding Isaac raspberries. Into the tub!

What a sneak!

He'll be an electrician one day!

This is how Isaac spends 50% of his day. I put him by his toys, he crawls

back to me in the kitchen and climbs up my legs. I put him by his toys,

he crawls...you get the idea.

When all is quiet, then something is wrong. Needless to say, we've moved

the plants to a higher location!

The favorite! "Helping" momma with loading the dishes. Riiight!

After a long day of shenanigans, the little boy is tired!

The Green Goblin

So I've been hearing a lot about Green Smoothies, and knew what they were all about, but was a little hesitant to actually try it. I like my fruit smoothies, ok? This week I had some lettuce greens that I needed to use up and thought I'd give green smoothies a try, so I called my sister, the Master of Green Smoothies. She told me what to put in them, and so I tried it out! Mark had some vanilla protein powder that I added to it, and I think that was what made it taste...not so good. Mark wouldn't even try a little bit!! So the next morning I added vanilla yogurt & protein powder and it tasted MUCH better! I made it the next morning, but Mark had eaten all of the vanilla yogurt, so I used peach...and it tasted just as good! (I hear Isaac is in his crib, playing with his mobile and NOT sleeping.) I feel so healthy drinking this concoction! It's nothing but VEGETABLES, yogurt & protein

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Green Smoothies

(This recipe makes about 1.5 glasses)

1/2 c H2O
1 celery stalk
1/2 cucumber
handful of spinach
1/4 avocado
1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder
3 spoonfuls of yogurt
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So this was exactly what I put in mine, but you can change it depending on what you have on hand. I cut up the celery & cucumber before I added it so it would be easy to blend. The protein powder is not necessary. Well, neither is the yogurt, but it just makes it taste BETTER!
I'm sure you veteran green smoothie eaters are like "Pfff, stupid newbie" but whatever! I'll probably not try cale or other exotic greens I probably wouldn't recognise in the produce section. I'm comfortable with spinach (which I got a huge bag of for 50% off because it was close to it's BB date and am frantically trying to use it up). Enjoy!

The Better Baking

So I thought a lot about yesterday's post, and I felt kind of guilty about being in such a bad mood. I did the dishes and cleaned the kitchen and remembered that I made Eggplant Ratatouille on Wednesday and it turned out awesome! It was beautifully colored with eggplant, zucchini, peppers and tomatoes and smelled tantalizing! I felt so cool making the same food as on the movie Ratatouille! I think I need to get new spices though, because I put a lot in, but it didn't taste as strong as it smelled. Now that I think of it, I've had the same spices for over 2 years.... yeah, I should get some new ones. I also made Peach Cobbler yesterday night too, and it was SOOO GOOD. It was 9:30pm when I put it in, then we watched a movie! The recipe I had was so easy and you just mix everything right in the pan, put the peaches on top, cook it, and you're done! Ok, fine...here it is!

Peach Cobbler

1/4 c butter

1/2 c sugar

1 c flour

2tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 c milk

4 c (1 quart) peaches, drained (I used only 3)

Mix everything but milk & peaches like you do for biscuits, then add milk. Pour peaches on top and bake @ 350F for 45-50 min. The crust will surface to the top. I baked it for 40 min covered and then for the rest of the time uncovered to brown. I also used my canned peaches that I canned this summer. YUM! It did stick to the bottom of the pan, so I might suggest mixing it all in a different pan, then spraying the baking dish (I used a 1.5 qt one) and pouring the mixure in. Good luck. It's good and very simple.

PS Mark and I have a little joke about Peach Cobbler. On his mission he served with an Elder Cobble. They called him Elder Cobbler, and then asked him if his first name was Peach. Then they called him Elder Peach Cobbler, even though that was his name at all! I heard all this whole conversation on a tape that Mark sent me!

The Bad Egg

So today I thought I'd be adventurous and make something different for breakfast. I had found this recipe last year and made it once and it was fabulous, so I decided to make it again. You basically poached an egg in crushed tomatoes (with garlic/onions). I had some leftover canned diced tomatoes and thought I could use those, added garlic/onions, and then added the eggs. The pan, however, was not non-stick, so my eggs stuck to the bottom...unable to be poached. So I was like, "Ok, I guess I'll try to take it off and might be able to save them!". In doing so, my yolks broke (you cannot poach a egg with a broken yolk). So scrambled it was going to be. The whole pan was a gross chunky pink color and I really did not think it was going to taste good at all!! What a great start to my day! I totally thought it was going to end up in the garbage. Reluctantly I put the mess in a bowl, added some cheese in good faith, and started eating it with toast...and it was GOOD! I wouldn't make it again, purely because of the look of it, but I was pleasantly surprised! Oh ye of little faith!

Might I also add to this post my atrocious attempt at making granola bars this week that didn't stick together. Uh. No. Maybe I should not try to make anything interesting for a while! Hmm...what is something safe I can make for dinner?

The Fake Campers

So our first campout wasn't really a campout. It was one night. And it was in a group site with grass. I don't think campsites with grass count as camping. I WISH that all campsites had grass though, because that would mean that babies can play on the ground at their own pleasure, and parents need not fear muddy pants, pebbles, and other small "chokable" items.

The babies in the stroller, hammock & playpen. Not on the ground!

We did some SERIOUS camping last week. We were invited by the Allreds to join their family campout on the long weekend in Banff. We stayed at the Tunnel Mountain Village, just up the hill from the Banff town site. I did not know that years and years ago, my naive mother took her family of 5 children camping there. She did not have a car so she kept the cooler in the tent. In BEAR country. It was for this reason she went home with a family of 4 children. Just kidding.

Mark packed our car so well that there wasn't any space for one more thing (very sad when you visit IKEA on your way home and can't buy the dining room table or area rug in the "As Is" section for over 50% off!!). Mark has yet another argument for buying an X-Terra. We were definitely OVER prepared and had enough food for another week! Anyways, on our way to Banff, we stopped off at MEC to look for a baby carrier. We bought one, and it worked great, it was just MORE than I was hoping to spend. About $200 more. Now we're used to a really nice one and it's hard to find cheaper ones that satisfy our oppulent taste. GRREAT!

After unpacking all of our stuff, we had so much fun with the Allreds. Thank you to Tanner for being such a great Kindling Boy. If no one knew where he was, he was probably out collecting kindling. Isaac had a fun time playing with Gwen. He's learning how to SHARE, but now he pushes down on other kids to try to stand up. He loved the baby carrier and we got some great use out of it because we went on a hike every day! Thanks to Mark for being a great "navigator of the trails". We attended church at the Banff Branch and were welcomed by the 10% of the congregation who were actual members of the Branch! Like always, we also found people who were connected to the Ellingson family in some way. We went to the Banff Springs Hotel and then hiked to the Bow Falls. Isaac loved getting to know foreign people and climbing up their legs. On Monday we checked out the Cave & Basin where the hot springs originated, and which was also the origin of National Parks in Canada! We also saw a spring that flows YEAR-ROUND! I love our country!

On some of our many hikes, what breathtaking views!

Hanging around the campsite!

After the Allreds headed home, we had to downsize from an 8 man tent to a 3 man tent. We had fun though! Mark and I hiked down the hill to Banff and did the tourist thing, only half the stores were closed because it was 9pm. We arrived home in the pitch black and the German couple next to us thought that something horrible had happened to us because we had arrived home so late! No, it was just your typical "Davies" spontaneous, ill-planned adventure. "Hey it's 7pm, let's go on a 3 hour hike!" Those adventures are later termed, "Experiences". Our family also toured Chateau Lake Louise and hiked around the lake. I had been there before during the winter, and it's nowhere near as breathtaking as during the summer!! We laughed at the European tourists taking pictures of chipmunks and squirrels. After all of our hikes, our bodies were very sore and we soaked in the Upper Hot Springs. The staff thought Isaac was so cute, they let us borrow a little historical bathing suit for him to wear. Isaac was just tall enough to crawled around the little kiddy pool.

Our family adventures - complete with a moose hat,

bathing suit, green waters & stolen cookies

Throughout our trip we commented on "Real Campers". Real Campers don't wear cotton. They wear their special layered clothing from The North Face or MEC that wicks away sweat and dries fast. They leave early in the morning, long before "fake campers" wake up! They use special walking sticks on their hikes. When they return home from their day long hikes with their walking sticks and special clothing, Real Campers don't even bother to make a fire, they just use their headlamps and climb into their hammock style beds that hang from trees (we actually saw Real Campers with these!). It is one of my goals to become a Real Camper, but for now, I'm content with my fake camping ways, but all the while aware that Real Campers are laughing at me.

The Cream Puffs

Wow, have I totally indulged myself! In the past 24 hours I have probably eaten 9 Cream Puffs. I might actually feel sick. It all started with a friendly donation of 1/2 a carton of Whipping Cream that was due to expire in 2 days. What was I to make with Whipping Cream? Only one thing came to mind....cream puffs. I remember my mom making them once or twice when I was a child, and have always LOVED those frozen ones you can buy. I made them years ago when I was living in Edmonton and have since not had any homemade ones at all! So I referred to my all-knowing "JOY OF COOKING" book and found a recipe.

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Cream Puffs

(This recipe made 11 3 inch puffs)

Preheat oven to 400F

1/2 C water or milk or combination of both

1/4 C butter (margerine works too)

1/2 tbsp sugar

1/4 tsp salt

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1/2 C flour

Combine all but flour in small saucepan and bring to a boil on medium heat. Add flour all at once stirring vigorously with wooden spoon. Keep stirring until mixture no longer sticks to sides of pan or the spoon and forms a clump. Transfer to a bowl and cool for 5 min stirring a couple times.

Add ONE AT A TIME:

2 eggs

...making sure paste is smooth before adding the next egg. Stir together until the mixture becomes thick & harder to stir.

I used a tbsp to drop heaping spoonfuls of the mixture on to an ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 400F for 10 min, then reduce temp to 350F and bake for 25 min.

Once they were a little cool I used a turkey baster to inject the puffs with the CREAM! For a little pizzaz I put a little raspberry jam into the puff too.

Don't they look cute!

The recipe seems labour intensive, but is really surprizingly easy and quick.

We STILL had some whipping cream left, so we had waffles for dinner, trying to use as much whipping cream we could. I don't recommend doing the same. You won't feel too good.

The Buddy System

Isaac is blessed to live by so many grandparents, aunts, uncles and best of all, COUSINS! He has 6 cousins living within an hour of his home (oh, and one on the way too!). He will even have 6 cousins born within a year of his birthday! He is living such a different life than me! He's got so many buddies to play with....he just needs to learn a little more about self defense because the older girl cousins beat up on him and steal his soother!

Isaac and Gwen (10 days apart)

Isaac and Joshua (2 months apart)

Isaac and Evee (7.5 months apart)

It is incredible to see babies, who are born just a few months apart, be so developmentally different! I love celebrating all the milestones with Isaac's cousins and look forward to more playdates to come!

The Baseboards

We finally have baseboards! I can't believe how long you can go without baseboards and how finished your house looks when they're up! A couple weeks ago, while I canned peaches with my mom in Red Deer, Mark put up baseboards. (Note: Co-op has the BEST prices on baseboards/casing, at least 50 cents cheaper than anywhere else!!) Oh they look GOOD! This is what the front entry-way looks like:

Ok, so it doesn't look that much different in the picture...but it really does look amazing! The best part about the baseboards is that Mark actually made the ends look finished. The previous baseboards at the top of the stairs were just cut off ! This is what it looks like now (they're still not completely done):


I still haven't put up pictures, but I'm getting close to being ready. For the front entrance I'm putting up a red "E" that I made and a family picture over the hooks and our wedding cross-stitch above the stairs. I've painted some frames black to make a picture collage over the couch and I'm going to put the saying "Together is the best place to be!" over them. When I was young, my family of 8 lived in a town house. It was so tiny and only had 3 bedrooms and 1 bathroom. My mom refused to put up pictures because she refused to live there for very long and didn't want to feel at home! I want to feel at home in my house and am glad we have most of the house painted so we can finally put up pictures after a year & a half!

A month ago I set up a little play area for Isaac in the back room. I bought an IKEA bookcase/shelf and some bins to put in it for his toys to go in. The shelf fits perfectly under the windows!

So a couple more projects down and a little closer to a finished home! I'm so excited when we get some more steam to complete renovations!