Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Photo of the Day September 28th


Well I'm now officially an uber-involved parent at my child's school. I've been the co-editor of the school newsletter for three years now, along with the "community representative" for School Council and a volunteer teacher at the Community School evening class program... as of this evening I'm also taking on the role of Co-Chair of the School Council. Clearly I believe strongly in the future of Tecumseh Public School and want to support its success, and I think it's wonderful that such a dedicated group of parent volunteers are working behind the scenes at the school. That support along with the Principal's leadership and the staff's dedication will ensure many years of learning, growing and success for this vibrant school at the heart of our community...
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Photo of the Day September 27th

Happy Birthday Chris!
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It's my wonderful husband's birthday today! To celebrate we started the day with "egg & bacon roses" for breakfast, went to the gym to work them off, and then Chris enjoyed some quiet time watching a movie while Sophie and I made pumpkin cream cheese tarts and another loaf of that amazing pumpkin chocolate chip bread. After enjoying our quiet afternoon we spent the evening with Chris's family at a new pizza restaurant called P.Za Pie, then wrapped up our evening curled up on the couch with tarts and the Amazing Race. It was a lovely, low key day... I think perhaps we've matured a bit since the days of drinking-your-face-off birthday celebrations!
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Saturday, September 26, 2009

Photo of the Day September 26th


Saturdays are always my busy day, and with the car problems that sprung up yesterday this one got a whole lot more complicated. We were lucky that Chris's sister Mary let us borrow her car while she was at work, so after having our car towed to a garage just a few blocks away we headed out to the Market, the gym, Sophie's dance class, and to pick up a few last-minute items for Chris's birthday tomorrow (one of which is shown above... any idea what it is?) While I was checking things off our "to do" list I got a phone call from the garage breaking the bad news that our fuel pump was broken and had to be replaced... while hyperventilating over the price I was at least grateful that they had the required parts in stock and were able to make the repairs immediately. By 3pm I had stopped by the garage and signed over my first born child (kidding... but not by much) so I could take possession of my car and its new air pump. So we're back on track for the weekend and Chris's special day tomorrow - do you suppose I could get away with putting a bow around our car's engine and calling it a birthday present???
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Friday, September 25, 2009

Photo of the Day September 25th


First let me say, this is not actually a food blog. I know, it looks that way sometimes... this is the third day in a row that our photo-of-the-day features a shot of something to eat! Its purpose is to share a simple snapshot of what was going on in our world each day - and while it often centres around our non-cooking-related activities, now that autumn has arrived I've gone into full gathering-of-nuts and lining-of-nest mode. Clearly my kitchen is my outlet, as whenever the leaves start to fall I feel compelled to bake and cook up a storm... so while this isn't a food blog, readers can expect lots of food entries in the weeks to come. After enjoying the smell of my apple spice muffins baking yesterday I felt the need to continue the baking trend today, and the little pie pumpkin I got at the farmers market two weeks ago was just begging to be turned into something yummy. After reading lots of recipes I settled on making a chocolate chip speckled pumpkin loaf, and since the natural side effect of working with fresh pumpkin is a whole bowl full of pumpkin seeds I seasoned and roasted those up too. The loaf turned out to be eye-rollingly good (you know, the kind of rich, decadent taste that leaves you moaning and turning your eyes skyward) with little rivulets of melted chocolate dripping across the top, and the seeds were such a hit with Chris and Sophie that they finished off the entire pumpkin's worth in just over an hour. Pretty successful use of an ingredient, I must say!

On a less comforting note, our car won't start. Chris went out this afternoon intending to drive to the grocery store for some of the ingredients I needed for another pumpkin recipe I plan to make (keep your eyes open, I'm sure it'll be photo-of-the-day soon), and the car wouldn't start. Turned over, but wouldn't catch... and unfortunately neither of us are "car people", so we're at a loss. That's usually an expensive place to be - we'll have to pay to have the car towed to a garage in the morning and just keep our fingers crossed that the mechanic we deal with 1) is honest and doesn't take us for a ride and 2) can find what's wrong and fix it at a reasonable price. I sure hope I'm not asking too much... it would be such a shame to have to spend Chris's birthday weekend without a car.
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Photo of the Day September 24th


This afternoon I made another dent in our giant pile of apples by making apple spice muffins with Sophie and our friend Rowan. Baking with kids is so much fun... they relish their turns adding ingredients and can't wait to be the one picked to turn the Kitchenaid big mixer or food processor on. And don't even get me started on the sampling! I'll never need to fear that any of my ingredients is less than delicious because I always have a taste-tester around to pre-sample the ingredients as I'm mixing them in, and of course the finished product is thoroughly tasted for quality too. Since they're so rich and dense I made only a small batch of these muffins with my little helpers - just enough for our two families to share - and it was so much fun that I'm already thinking about what to bake tomorrow.
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Photo of the Day September 23rd

Happy Birthday "Unca" Wayne!
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For dinner this evening I put together a home-made macaroni and cheese, or two of them to be precise: a large one for here at the house and a separate, smaller casserole for Chris to bring to work since the poor guy is working over dinner time tonight. I've never been one to make Macaroni and Cheese, having been raised on the all-Canadian-favourite of Kraft Dinner... but as I get more into home cooking (and further away from ingredients I can't pronounce, and that I suspect are also components of several major plastics) I decided to give it a shot. I based my recipe on one from Martha Stewart, with a few taste and texture changes to suit my personal whims. It turned out absolutely wonderfully, and Chris was perfectly happy to take a second serving to work for his dinner the following day as well... in fact, I was hard-pressed to keep him from snacking on it in between as well! Not bad for a first try, I must say - for the recipe feel free to click here.
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Photo of the Day September 22nd


As expected, we kept Sophie home from school again and spent most of the day in relaxation mode. It was a bit different than yesterday though since her energy and appetite have both clearly bounced back - it's a good sign for things to come. This evening Tecumseh P.S. held it's annual Meet-the-Teacher Barbecue and with Sophie clearly on the rebound we went down to the school to enjoy it. I spent much of my time at a booth trying to drum up volunteers for the school newsletter and selling reusable water bottles, but we also managed to fit chatting with other parents and touring Sophie's classroom into the evening. Sophie's teacher is the wonderful Ms. Orr, shown here during our classroom visit... she's everything you would wish for in your child's first teacher: kind, dedicated, approachable, and a strong leader for her room full of young minds. We couldn't be more thrilled with the way Sophie's school career has begun!
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Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Photo of the Day September 21st


This photo pretty much sums up our entire day. Between exhaustion from our very busy weekend and the cold that seemed to spring on Sophie out of nowhere, today was a day to do nothing at all. Sophie stayed home from school and convalesced on the couch, Chris and I whipped up a couple of home-made soups (corn chowder and vegetable noodle), and we basically looked after ourselves. By the evening things were on an up-turn, with Sophie feeling well enough to attend her Messy Madness craft class while I went to my NIA class. I think I'll keep Sophie home from school one more day to make sure she's really beat the bug, and we might just see day-of-rest part two tomorrow.
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Monday, September 21, 2009

Photo of the Day September 20th

Little family, big parliament!
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Sophie with one of the "Famous Five", who were responsible for the 1929 court ruling that legally declared women as "persons". Definately someone to look up to...
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Runners, many in silver blankets, having just completed the Canadian Army Run half-marathon
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Sophie and Grandpa make their own totem pole in honour of an original
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The last day of our Ottawa trip has arrived, and we're packing it full as usual. After a very decadent breakfast of Montreal-style bagels, cream cheese and smoked salmon with Dorothy and Willie this morning, we met up with my Dad and Patti at the Canadian Army Run and spent about an hour cheering on the half-marathon runners as they crossed the finish line. The proceeds raised by the run benefit both Soldier On (an organization that helps injured and disabled soldiers keep active and participate in physical activities) and the Military Families Fund (which provides both emergency and non-emergency support for the families of military personnel), and several of Chris's colleagues were running today. After lots of cheering we started a walking tour of the area with Dad and Patti, taking in the Rideau Canal, the Rideau Centre, the Byward Market, and Parliament. We were all pretty beat by the time 3pm (our predetermined departure time) arrived, so after hugs and goodbyes to Dad we headed to our car to begin the long journey back home. It's a wonder any of us had the strength to talk after all that walking, but the journey home was actually full of great conversation - the only downsides were that Sophie started to show signs of getting a cold part way through the journey, and that we narrowly avoided being part of an accident on the 401 (thank you Chris, for driving carefully and keeping us safe.) All in all a great weekend, although its one I think we'll need a day or two to recover from!
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Photo of the Day September 19th


After pulling ourselves away from a wonderful visit with Meaghan, Paul, Madeleine and Isabelle (one night is NOT long enough!!!) we made the trip into Ottawa this afternoon for a visit with Chris's Aunt Dorothy. The scenery of the Ottawa River Valley is spectacular (we pulled over a couple of times so I could snap photos), but we got a bit of a surprise in the scenery as well... just as we were pulling away from Petawawa we had to slow the car down to avoid the Black Bear that was standing partially in our lane (!!!!). He meandered off down a hill while Chris and I said "I can't believe we just saw a black bear!!!" about a half-dozen times. That's certainly something we don't have to watch for in London! You know, it's a shame that driving to Ottawa is such a time commitment, because we would love the opportunity to visit more often. We certainly made the most of our time with Dorothy though, enjoying a visit at her lovely home, a nice walk through nearby Little Italy (complete with even more construction. Who would have guessed?), and a wonderful dinner at a Thai restaurant called the Green Papaya. I have to commend Sophie on being just about the best four-year-old on the planet - knowing that I can take her to fancier restaurants without any trepidation is quite a gift. After we enjoyed dinner and got Sophie off to bed we sat around the kitchen table sipping tea and enjoying Dorothy's home made peach cake for dessert - a lovely way to cap of another great day. Tomorrow we'll share breakfast and a bit more visiting time with Dorothy and Willie before heading off to cheer on participants in this weekend's Army Run... the "hit & run" weekend continues!
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Photo of the Day September 18th


After a very long (10 hour!) drive that included far too much construction for my tastes, we arrived safely in Petawawa early this evening for a visit with our friends Meaghan and Paul and their two beautiful girls. Poor Madeleine had been waiting patiently, checking the front window for us to arrive since coming home from school at 3pm, so when we finally showed up her excitement was heard throughout the neighbourhood... there were screams of "They're here!!! They're here!!!" and laughter ringing across the lawn before we even made it out of the car. The girls had a blast playing and running around the house, we all shared an excellent dinner, and the adults enjoyed some long-overdue catching up before collapsing into bed. Tomorrow morning we'll enjoy some more time together before taking off for Ottawa shortly after lunch... as I said to Meaghan before we arrived, this weekend is like some kind of "friendship hit & run" - we're here and gone before you really know what happened!
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Photo of the Day September 17th


With our weekend away in the Ottawa area just around the corner, today was filled with packing, house-cleaning, last minute errands, and horseradish making. I've never made horseradish before (I rarely ever eat it) but when I got my hands on a couple of horseradish roots that were bound for a compostor without my intervention, I couldn't resist. Everything I read warned that we needed to exercise utmost caution when making horseradish, since the oils and fumes can bring a grown man to tears if they get in your eyes... so we decided to bring everything out on the back porch and break out the rubber gloves. Chris did the lion's share of the work and we're pretty pleased with the results considering it's a first-time attempt, but are wondering why it's more tan in colour than most of the horseradishes we've seen. Any comments or ideas would be welcome!
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Having read about ten online recipes for homemade horseradish, I settled on this one from "The Garden of Eating" because of it's clear writing and excellent photos - thanks to blogger Eve Fox for the post!
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Photo of the Day September 16th


One of the many items on today's agenda was for me to stop by Canadian Blood Services for a donor appointment. I've been a fairly regular donor for many years and have recently made the switch from doing whole blood donations to plasma donations instead. Part of what encouraged me to make that change was finding out that most of the whole blood people donate is actually separated down for plasma anyway - the disadvantage being that each whole blood donation results in only a half a unit of plasma. By donating plasma directly (a process whereby the whole blood is removed, the plasma separated from the red blood cells and the red cells are then reintroduced to your body) an entire unit of plasma can be donated. An added bonus is that your body regenerates plasma quickly, so instead of waiting the requisite 56 days between whole blood donations you can arrange another plasma donation in as quickly as two weeks. At the end of my appointment I was surprised to learn I've hit the "25 donations" mark, and was given this pretty little pin... while knowing my donations can help accident victims, burn patients and those fighting cancer is enough for me, the pin was a great place to launch a conversation with my young daughter, who I imagine will be a blood donor herself one day.
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Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Photo of the Day September 15th


Autumn has always signalled the start of apple-cooking season for me - I love making apple crisp, apple pies, and any other traditional warm-and-fuzzy apple recipes I can get my hands on. With that in mind I bought a 10lb bag of apples at the market last Saturday, and today Sophie and I made a dent in the bag by making two delicious treats. First we made an Apple Bundt Cake with a chunks of soft apples throughout and a nice crunchy topping (click here for a photo and my recipe). While the scent of the cake baking filled my kitchen we made these fun candy-apple inspired treats dipped in chocolate and rolled in crushed peanuts. The photo makes it difficult to get a handle on the size of them, but they are indeed tiny - the "apples" are actually made using a melon baller to scoop just a small amount of flesh from the side of a whole apple. Each one can be eaten in one or two bites (depending on the size of your mouth of course!), and the bamboo skewers I've used as sticks help keep the chocolate from melting on your hands as you enjoy. Oh, the inspiration of autumn!
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Photo of the Day September 14th


Trying to get kids to eat healthy is not always the easiest of tasks, but Sophie seems to gravitate towards both healthy and non-healthy snacks equally and lately has been asking which foods are healthy and which are not. I'm thrilled that she's identifying the difference instead of going with a more typical 4-year-old "I want what I want" attitude... she may not always make the best choices (heaven help you if you get between her and her smarties), but at least she has a rudimentary understanding of what those choices represent. Today's lunch definitely fell on the healthy end of the scale, and as Chris pointed out it was colourful and pretty too... definitely a selling point for someone of Sophie's age!
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Photo of the Day September 13th

Giving a horse some hay in the animal exhibition
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Getting the chance to ride a horse too... one a bit more her size though.
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One of the many, many shots I have of Sophie looking thrilled to bits on a ride. Best. Day. Ever.
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She's so excited for the train ride to start that she can barely contain herself!
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Today was a big day for Sophie as we took her to experience a fall tradition: the Western Fair. We spent all afternoon and well into the evening leapfrogging from one ride to the other - she was having so much fun that she wanted to go on many of them twice. We did manage to pull her away from the rides to check out the farm pavilion, see Little Ray's snake show, and watch Splash 'n Boots perform on stage, so it was a pretty well-rounded experience. We pushed it a bit late though, finally heading back to the car around 9pm - very late for a little girl whose usually asleep by 7:30pm! I'm sure if we asked, she would say it was worth it though...
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Saturday, September 12, 2009

Photo of the Day September 12th


We enjoyed a wonderful surprise this afternoon when my girlfriend Tiffany and her family popped over for an unexpected visit. I've known Tiffany since we were in Grade 1 together at River Heights Public School in Dorchester, and we've cheered each other on through childhood, adolescence, and adulthood; through marriage and children; through good times and bad. Although we live little over an hour apart our busy lives made it difficult to see each other often, and spontaneous get-togethers are rare... so today was an extra special treat. We were able to spend about an hour and a half chatting with Tiffany and her husband Scott and watching the girls play together before they had to head out. We even had time to plan another get-together - bonus! On a day when Sophie and I had been out so much, I was relieved that we were actually on our way home when they arrived... it would have been such a disappointment if we had missed the opportunity to see such wonderful friends.
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Photo of the Day September 11th


We've been trying to spend some quality time with family this week, which often means sharing a meal... the result is that I've been doing a lot of "from scratch" cooking over the past couple of days. On Wednesday Chris's mom Shirley and her friend Ross were over for dinner, so I made Curried Squash soup for us to share. To enhance the meal Chris and Sophie worked together to make Beer-Batter Cheese bread, and I finished it off with my Peaches and Cream tart. While Sophie was at school yesterday I started working on dinner for tonight, the many-stepped Boeuf Bourguignon. In a nod to the movie "Julie and Julia" which I saw with a friend last week, I used Julia Child's recipe... proof that the movie left me feeling extremely inspired, since being a vegetarian I can't actually enjoy the end result. Today I made a Salmon Pot Pie to accompany the beef dish, ensuring that I had a yummy dinner as well... I think I'm going to have to take a day off cooking to recover from all this!
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Photo of the Day September 10th

Sophie's first day of Junior Kindergarten!!!
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What an exciting (and slightly nerve-wracking) day - I'm so proud of my little girl. She was nervous to start Junior Kindergarten but was a real trouper, giving big smiles to her teacher Ms. Orr when we met her in the playground, and heading up the stairs into the school after getting kisses from mom and dad. We were all a bit on edge, unsure of what Sophie's reaction to "big kid school" would be... She's such an outgoing girl that I had been certain she would sail into JK as if it was no big deal, but as the day got closer I think the reality of what a big step starting grade school is really hit me. But I needn't have worried - after a couple nervous moments she took on Junior Kindergarten with her standard level of enthusiasm. I think I handled it well too... tears were definitely stinging my eyes but I managed to contain myself. I must say it felt so strange to walk away from the school without taking her with me... I hovered around for a bit after she went inside as if I didn't know what to do with myself! It's the start of an era, that's for sure.
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Photo of the Day September 9th


Sophie and Georgie have what I would call a "tenuous" relationship. For the most part Sophie loves George, and has said a few times that if we gave George away she would be sad (in response to Chris and I joking about sending George back to the farm when one of us get scratched or bitten). But if George invades Sophie's personal space, our little red-head shows her annoyance in a big way... this most often happens either at night when George climbs into bed with Sophie to listen at story time, or when Sophie's at the computer playing a game and George wants to climb up on her chair to get a better look at the screen. I'm pretty sure at least once a day I hear a very loud whine: "George... NO! Mom, George is bugging me!" I swear they act like siblings some times!

P.S. We're on pins and needles this evening... Sophie's first day of Junior Kindergarten is tomorrow!!!

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Photo of the Day September 8th


A couple of days ago I seeded three kinds of peppers and laid out the seeds to dry - checking them today proved they were dry enough to snap in half (which is apparently how you know they're ready). They're now safely packed in little labeled bags, ready to plant on a windowsill in the very early spring... and soon to join them will be the tomato seeds I wrote about here. The fermentation process was pretty easy and not as smelly as I anticipated, which mean I either have a higher tolerance for it than I thought, or I've done something wrong. The seeds are laid out to dry now, and I guess only spring will show whether this little project was successful. My final old-fashioned food project of the day was harvesting some horseradish root to make my own spicy horseradish. I'm not a huge fan of the stuff myself, but as many of you know my husband Chris is a fan of anything hot and spicy (hey, he married me, didn't he?) so I have a built-in market for it. I think I'll have a fair amount and it will be fresh and preservative-free, so if you would enjoy some and live close enough for me to drop it off in the next day or two I'm happy to share - please let me know!
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Monday, September 7, 2009

Photo(s) of the Day September 7th

Sophie poses with the Pilot of an OPP Helicopter that landed at Family Day part way through the festivities

A member of Wellington Counties Mounted Unit poses with her horse

Sophie showing us her driving skills on an ATV

The Golden Helmets' Motorcycles wait for their riders
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Today was Family Day at the OPP Communications Centre here in London, and since police services are sort of the "family business" Chris, Sophie, I, and our nephew Brandon spent the morning and part of the afternoon taking part in the festivities. It was quite the big event, with many departments within the organization doing demonstrations and showcasing their equipment. We watched the Tactics and Rescue Unit both climb up the outside of and repel down a six-storey building, met horses and riders from the Wellington County Mounted Unit, and shared some face time with a dog from the Canine Unit. The equipment displays from each department were fascinating, and included protective gear from the Explosives Disposal Unit along with their bomb-detonating robot, Hazmat suits and breathing apparatuses from the OPP's Drug Enforcement Section, and armoured vehicles from Bruce Nuclear Power's Reaction Force. The highlight of the day for most of us was the demonstration by the Golden Helmets, the OPP's precision motorcycle team. At both high and low speeds the intricate maneuvers this team performed were impressive, and were a great way to celebrate the hard work done by so many members of the OPP family - including my husband and sister-in-law. Thanks guys!
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Sunday, September 6, 2009

Photo of the Day September 6th


On our way to the gym this morning Sophie spotted one of London's popular cupcake shops and asked if we could stop there for an after-the-gym treat. Now, we often share a fruit smoothie when we're done but I think having a post-workout cupcake sort of defeats the purpose of going to the gym in the first place, so I said no. Instead I decided to use her request as inspiration for an activity we could share, and with Sophie manning the hand blender we made devils' food cake cupcakes this afternoon. While they were in the oven we sat down and drew a picture of our cupcakes, then got out the crayons and markers to decorate them with the colours Sophie wanted to make the icing for each little treat (all different, of course). Once the cupcakes were out of the oven and cooled we brought our picture to the kitchen and used it as a guide to mix the icing and food colouring. I think the end result is vibrant and lovely, and Sophie can barely contain herself... waiting until after dinner to try one is driving her crazy!
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Photo of the Day September 5th


Today was our official "errand day", and by the time it was over both Sophie and I were completely beat. We were out for almost 8 hours in total, and really needed some quiet, no-need-to-accomplish-anything time when we were done, so we went for a little walk around the neighbourhood before bed. A young boy of about three was walking ahead of us with his grandmother, and we caught up to them when they stopped in front of one of the houses on our street and started laughing. It turned out the object of their giggles was a small squirrel, little more than a baby, who was checking them out. Quite a brave little thing, he had run up to them when they walked past the house and was now following them down the sidewalk. When he saw us he bounded to where we were standing (I have to admit I had a quick National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation flashback and was prepared to bolt) and wandered around us for a bit before heading up the front steps of the home and watching us head down the street. Its rather bold nature makes me think it must have been raised by the people in that home, or at least hand-fed from when it was a tiny thing... I hope it stays safe out and about, despite its rather domesticated nature.
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Friday, September 4, 2009

Photo of the Day September 4th


I took Sophie for a walk this evening before dinner, just as the sun was starting to lower in the sky. It's a beautiful time of day to be out; the temperature is just right and we enjoyed the sun casting a golden sheen over everything, not to mention the sounds of people coming home from work and greeting their loved ones. I was shocked however to notice several trees in our neighbourhood whose leaves have started to change already - some have even fallen. I think we'll look back on this year as "the summer that never was". We ended up at Tecumseh so Sophie could run, climb and slide in the playground for an hour before heading back home to make quesadillas for dinner. It was a great way to end out day and, as I suspected, play time at the park wore her right out - she was asleep within 5 minutes of "lights out".
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Thursday, September 3, 2009

Photo of the Day September 3rd


As a stay-at-home-mom I spend a lot of creative energy coming up with games and crafts to do with Sophie and our little friends Rhys and Rowan, but I'm still surprised sometimes by the ideas that pop up when I least expect it. When Rowan's daddy came by to pick him up today we were in the midst of some creative Play-Doh time, and Rowan pointed out that the colour of Play-Doh Sophie was working with (black) matched our cat George... hadn't really thought about that before, but it inspired me to make a little mini-George for Sophie to play with this evening. I made the cat itself and Sophie made a little bed, blanket and food bowl for it, which lead to about 45 minutes of non-stop story telling about this little cats day. It's funny to see where an off-the-cuff comment can lead!
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Photo of the Day September 2nd


I absolutely love having Sophie help out in the kitchen while we're making dinner... it gives her a greater appreciation for what goes in to making the food we serve, and I'm hoping that it will encourage her to have a broad focus when it comes to the foods she eats. Like most kids she has strong affection for Kraft Dinner, Disney character shaped soup from a can and peanut butter, but she's just as likely to ask for sunflower seeds, hummus or slices of red pepper for snacks so I think she's got a leg up on some four-year-olds. Today we're making Broccoli Cheese soup with some veggies and cheese we bought at the market on Saturday, and I've decided to teach her more of the ins and outs of food prep. She's an expert at washing veggies in the colander (which often looks like playing with veggies in the colander - but whatever) and now we're talking about which veggies you peel and which you don't, complete with a convenient excuse to peel carrots. Once she understood the method she got a kick out of showing me how fast she could help me peel them - it reminds me of the fun she has using the salad spinner to dry lettuce - the faster she goes the more she giggles!
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Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Photo of the Day September 1st

Sophie's new "snack bag", which matches her back-to-school backpack.
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So here we are in September... my first "back-to-school" September to be specific. Whenever this month rolled around in the past I would think of it as the unofficial start of fall, the month of Chris's birthday, the Western Fair, the grape harvest at local vineyards and the Wine Festival in Niagara. But September has taken on a whole new meaning this year, with Sophie entering JK in just under two weeks... aside from working out our new routine, there's been the purchase of a new backpack, stocking up on reusable snack containers (Tecumseh is an EcoSchool, so we'll be sending only "litterless" snacks), and shopping for shoes that don't have laces so she can do them up herself. Sophie's so excited, and I'm sure we'll all do well with the transition to her "school-age" years... despite my sense of shock over it having arrived already!
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