Dinner is Served

...I found myself stepping over the blue plastic cup on the floor for the 198273th time. After I set the cutlery on the table I turn and my leg automatically lifts, strategically missing the cup full of water once more. I pause in the middle of the kitchen and smile, almost letting out a triumphant laugh. A picture of my favorite blonde toddler playing on the floor with her cup of water just hours earlier flashes through my mind. Then Mr. Stannix calls me into the office and shows me a sweet deal on tickets to The Nutcracker put on by the Alberta Ballet. I then start thinking of possible babysitters for that night and mentally going through my wardrobe, envisioning us all spiffed up for the ballet while Mr. Stannix buys us balcony seats.

While I finish getting dinner ready, Camilla occupies herself with sticky tack and the pictures she colored that day. After unsuccessfully trying to stick a wash cloth to the wall with a sticker, she dug through Daddy's desk and found the blue sticky tack. She sat in the entry way to the kitchen sticking up pictures and playing with the "sticky stack". I think to myself, Sure, why can't you play with sticky tack. I was just glad it was keeping her busy. A few moments later, I hear Hyrum coughing. I quickly run out of the kitchen (avoiding the cup of water) to check on him and find Camilla with two fingers shoved in his mouth. I pull her hand out and find a gob of sticky tack between her pointer finger and thumb. I say a silent prayer, thankful that she hadn't let go and he hadn't choked on it.

The time out chair stayed nice and warm until dinner was ready. Camilla screeched and screamed, trying to get attention, in her chair. Soon Hyrum began mimicking her as he sat on the floor in the hallway. I put a hot pad on the table, grab my oven mitts and pull the Lasagne out of the oven. Just as I take a step to place the Lasagne on the table, I kick over the glass of water that I had been strategically side stepping all afternoon.

 I had to laugh about it, and photograph the moment. And with that, dinner was served!

Busy as a Bee

This morning Camilla requested pancakes for breakfast. I used my Mum's recipe which calls for whole wheat flour. They almost taste like my Mum's, almost.

After Hyrum finished his bowl of food, I spent the rest of my morning making baby food. I filled three ice cube trays to freeze (sweet potato and nutmeg, acorn squash, and asparagus). 

When Hyrum went down for his nap I whipped up two rounds of dishes and made some syrup because we were running low. 

While the children finished up their lunch I put a chicken on for dinner. Tonight I'll fill the last tray with mashed potatoes/carrots/broccoli and freeze it with the rest. This little man will be eating like a king for the next couple of weeks. Just before Camilla went for a nap I made up puffed wheat squares for dessert tonight.

Hryum has been a pooping/puking machine all day, so I figured it was time for an afternoon bath. His sleepers were soaked with puke and he had just dirtied his diaper while he was in the highchair. Little boys are so messy..
He had so much fun splashing and playing. When he was done, I wiped up my counter tops, cupboards and floor with a towel. It's a good way to get your floor clean with minimal effort.

The fourth picture of him is my favorite. Who do you think he looks like? Mr. Stannix guessed it after a few minutes. The bubble mustache and mouth give it away. I laughed pretty hard when I saw it!

(You might have to enlarge it)

 Hyrum played in the living room while I finished cleaning up the kitchen. I love when babies discover their toes, and right now, his toes are his very favorite. After he was squeaky clean and all dressed, we had a cuddle session and then he went down for his afternoon nap.
I spent my afternoon finishing up Camilla's Christmas leggings and enjoying the smell of chicken cooking in the oven. I didn't feel like making buns, so I made up some Yorkshire puddings for dinner instead. Daddy and Camilla are wrestling around in the living room and with all the thumping I'm guessing my Yorkshires are going to be flat when I take them out. I love the giggles and screeches I hear in the living room though! The wrestling match has officially ended with Mr. Stannix laying on the floor saying, "I think I broke my toe..."

I think it's time for dinner.

Monday Morning Smiles

 This morning after Hyrum went for a nap my girl and I colored some pictures and ate left over popcorn that Daddy made up last night. Hyrum woke up after only a few minutes and I had to go upstairs to check on him. He is my lullaby boy. I tucked him back under his covers, kissed him goodnight, and sang to him until he fell asleep. When I went back downstairs to color with Camilla I was greeted with a page full of recognizable smiley faces! She was so thrilled that she could draw circles and eyes. A moment I want to always remember. 

 Another thing that makes me smile is the things she comes up with. She likes to use her old TV remote as a cell phone. A few days ago she came up to me and was talking on her "cell phone" to Grampa. When she finished, she went to push the button, and it didn't light up. So she put her hand on my knee and spun on her heels like a little girl does and said,  "This cell phone is broken, may-me (maybe) Santa will bring me a new one!". Where does she come up with this stuff?

Bribery and Other Fun

We made it through church today with the help of left over Rockets from Halloween (bribery). It seemed to be working well until we figured out it was having the opposite effect. She started being bad so that we would bribe her to be good, and then she'd get more candy. She's too smart for us!! And when we wouldn't pay attention to her, she would march over to Hyrum innocently sitting on the bench and club him in the head with her empty treat container, causing everyone around us to break out into giggles. Luckily the kid has a hard noggin' and didn't even cry. Mr. Stannix saved the dried mangoes (her favorite) until I had to go play the closing hymn. He called it his 'secret weapon'.

Then there was nursery. The whole routine got switched up with an awesome new nursery leader. The other kids adjusted last week, but we were away visiting family. Camilla sat at the table confused while the other kids played with their toys. When I looked in she was 'talking loudly' to a kind nursery leader who was trying to convince her to go play, letting them know that it was "puzzle time not play time".

Then in Sunday School I saw the smallest baby EVER. Mike looked over at me, and I gave him my pouty "I want one" look. He burst out laughing, he already knew what I was thinking  as soon as my eyes caught a glimpse of the tiny newborn body. We laughed pretty hard about that. I'm glad he knows me so well!

When we got home we ate left over chili. Camilla had about a billion time-outs before dinner was even served, and it doesn't take that long to nuke a couple bowls of chili. After dinner she helped her Daddy with dishes, rewashing all the ones he just washed. It was a long process, I admire his patience.

We talked to Gramma and Grampa on the phone and when they asked Camilla what she learned in church today she replied, "I sit on the bench and get Rockets". I laughed out loud. Last time we try bribery.We finished off the evening with milkshakes, jammies, and prayers. Then she was lucky enough to get two stories read to her by Daddy. I'm sure she zonked as soon as the lights were turned out. After the children were both asleep, I finished up the hat I started this weekend. I found a few more fun patterns (here and here) while searching the web for a flower pattern. I'm super excited!

Happy Sunday!

Be of Good Cheer

Yesterday I whipped up dinner while the children napped. Manicotti stuffed with ricotta cheese and spices, smothered in pasta sauce, parmesan and mozza cheese. Then I made up some italian herb and cheese bread to go with it. It's kind of a favorite around here. Mr. Stannix walked by the kitchen and peeked in while I was making it and told me it looked good. On his way out to shovel the walks he told me he would, "be back soon with an appetite". 

While everything was cooking in the oven, I tackled the dishes. Hyrum sat at my feet in the kitchen playing with his rattle. As I scrubbed and rinsed, I tickled his sides with my toes to keep him entertained. He would giggle and pull at the bottom of my pant leg as he looked up at me. Camilla played in the living room with her make-shift tent (piano bench and blanket) and her teddies. While I washed she played. Then she started bouncing her teddy on top of her tent while she sang, "Jumpin' on my bed, jumpin' on my bed" to a tune that sounded very much like "Mr. Golden Sun". When I finished the dishes, I picked Hyrum up and noticed he had white sugar all over his bottom. Camilla had gotten into it earlier while I was putting him down for his nap and he sat in the mess under the cupboard.

Soon my rosy cheeked Mr. Stannix arrived back inside and we all sat down for dinner. It was wonderful to eat as a family, to look around the table and see smiling faces, to share laughter and food together. It is in these moments that I find joy in being a homemaker. I love cooking meals for my little family and watching them gobble it all up. I love serving them and seeing their smiles. And I extra love hearing my children giggle as they relish in life's simple pleasures. Life is good.

Dear Daddy

A Mother's Kiss

Hyrum is over six months old now, and we are trying to teach him how to fall asleep on his own. 

Yesterday I put him down for his nap, wrapped him in a blanket, gave him his frog teddy, and left the room. A few minutes later I could still hear him crying, and went up to check on him. 

I could tell he was almost asleep, but he was so so sad. 

I wiped his tears and rubbed his head and then kissed him on the forehead, between his eyes. 

As I kissed him he smiled that sweet smile of his and let out a tired giggle. 

I kissed him again, between the eyes. More smiles came as his sleepy eyes began to close. 

I kissed the tip of his nose, his tiny lips, his chubby fingers, and his forehead once more.

 Soon, his eyes became to heavy to stay awake and they closed as he turned his head to the side. 

He started breathing heavily, and I knew he was asleep.

I watched my sleeping boy for a few minutes and then tip-toed across the creaky floor.

I love the magic of a mother's kiss. 

I love watching him drift off to sleep after I touch my lips to his little forehead. 

That will always be special to me with all of our little babes.

No Secrets

A few days ago I did some early birthday shopping for Mr. Stannix. He's been hinting about completing his Harry Potter collection for a while now, and since the last one came out on DVD I thought I would get a copy while I was at Wal-Mart getting groceries. Perfect. Done. I made sure to hide it before Mr. Stannix got home from school. Just as we were finishing up dinner, Camilla somehow remembered we picked it up. She looked across the table and said, "Watch Hotta Potta Daddy?". He tilted his chin down, and raised one eyebrow like he does when he's asking her a really important question and replied with, "Did Mommy buy Harry Potter today?" to which she replied, "Yeah". I'm a crappy liar, my face went red as I tried to cover. We had a good laugh. Poor Mr. Stannix now knows what he's getting for his birthday at the end of the month but he wasn't the least bit disappointed about it.

Mr. Stannix and I got sweet passes to the leisure centers. He dubbed Tuesday nights mine to do whatever I wanted. Last night I went to drop in aquafit and had a blast. It felt good to feel my legs and arms burn again and my cheeks go all rosy. On my way home I picked us up some Hot Chocolate from Starbucks. I came home to sleeping kids and Mr. Stannix sitting on the couch watching Toy Story. We turned on Fringe as soon as I got in and cozied up together on the couch for the rest of the evening. We watched one too many episodes, and today I feel tired. The combination of exercise that I'm not used to and lack of sleep isn't a fun one. Crossing my fingers for an afternoon nap!

Winter is Here

We had our first snow of the season yesterday. Camilla couldn't wait to get outside once she noticed it coming down. It brought back memories of the first snowfall from my childhood. So much fun! She was thrilled to put on her snow pants and get out the door. It didn't matter to her that it was almost 5:00pm and very chilly out.

 Originally I was just going to send her out on the back deck to play for a few minutes, but then I figured what the heck let's all go out! I bundled up our little-big boy and we all went out to enjoy the falling snow.

That look in Camilla's eyes was promptly followed with pushing her brother back into the snow. Despite the cold and wind, he had a blast! I just love his one-toothed grin and funny faces. I'm excited for him to experience winter this year!

 Camilla enjoyed running around and sliding in the snow (like baseball players would slide to first base). I'm sure we'll have plenty more outside days to come!

Hyrum's Favorite Toy

We're home! After a wonderful weekend away from the city visiting family, we are home. 

We pulled in around 7:30 last night. 

While I bathed the children, Mr. Stannix unloaded the car and cleaned up the house! 

Did I mention how much I love that man? Because I do.

Highlights from this weekend included a surprise 50th birthday party for my dear ol' Daddykins

(a nick name he acquired on one of my 7th grade outdoor ed trips).

We had the whole family home, which hasn't happened for a while.

We snapped some family pictures out in the fresh snowfall to send to my little brother in Chile.

Hyrum's favorite toy at Gramma and Grampa's is "The Backscratcher". 

It's quite hilarious really, he will play with that thing for hours!

A few of my favorite things from yesterday included Camilla sitting all by herself on the 

"big potty" singing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". 

I really wanted to change the lyrics to 'tinkle tinkle'.

I feel like my life has turned into a musical as Camilla will make up songs everywhere she goes.

"Sitting on my potttttty, sitting on my pottty" was one from yesterday.

I also enjoyed watching Hyrum play with his toes as he snuggled with Grampa before we left.
He is the most content little boy I've ever met. I love how goofy his personality is.
He was up a lot last night, I'm thinking tooth #2 will soon be making an appearance.

We all slept until 9:00 am, and I have had a rather lazy day.
We ran out to Wal-Mart this morning for milk and other necessities, and then home again. 

Camilla fell asleep on the couch watching "101 Dalmations"
cozied under a blanket while the snow began gently falling outside.

Hyrum just woke up, and is enjoying a bottle in his saucer.

He is looking out the window at the big snow flakes that have just arrived.

 

The falling snow always makes me extra excited for Christmas! 

Evergreen trees, baking, hot chocolate, the smells, lights...

I can't wait!