My crazy, zany, energetic and beautiful 18yo with my 3yo

Awwww! :)

Catriona was having sissa time up in her room, what were they up to anyway??? lol

Nicole loves her little sis to bits! And Catriona really loves her sissa! They are both leo's and I can see so much of Nicole in Catriona when she was that age...it's scary, but wonderful!

Blocks, the many possibilites :)

This was a race track, but more importantly was her focus while making it! I loved watching her do this and helping a bit...


These were a cool set of stairs, until she knocked it down, but isn't that the best part! :)
This started out as a round fence with animals in it, then it turned into a pond with fish, that was fun...then we started sorting the different sized blocks and pretending certain ones were all of us :)

Who needs a $99.00 balance beam when you can use blocks! Actually, hubby is making her one soon, for free! :)

And lastly, a block chair for her wabbit... It's actually named Angelina, but she likes calling it wabbit :) Her Aunt got her this when she was born, it's special...

Yule gnomes...

Just look at these 4 wee gnomes I whipped up for our nature table! They are adorable! They're made from acrylic felt and 100% cotton balls, instead of all the nice wool, but they're gnomes and they're cute and Catriona loves them! :) Just look at her smiling face...

We're getting our x-mas tree this saturday and I know when I pull out all our ornaments and such, I'll have more to add to our nature table, but for now it is what it is...I did have out our nesting Santa already...I love him...so do the kids... I thought he made a nice addition to the table...anyway, apparently they're meant to be a work in progress. The wee basket has some acorns, chestnuts, mini (fake) guords and pinecones and also some pumpkin seeds in it...

Yesterday in the snow...brrr!

"Nooo, daddy, don't go to work! Stay home and play horsey with me!"

"Oh well, guess I'll do some of his work while he's gone"...Findlay wasn't too sure about all this snow! hehe
"Yaay, let's go sledding mommy!"

"Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

"That was fun, can we do it again mommy?"
I kept asking Catriona if she wanted to swing, afterall she does love it!... :)

....but she wanted to make her first snow angel instead! What a great job she did!

Beauuutiful :)

Oh my wuffy, wittle, cwutty pie, baby booooy!!!

Just look at that big buetiful smile, woofy woofy woo! Ahem, ok, I'm ok...love my dog is all! hehe

It was cold, but fun!

Cat and Willow, Willow and Cat, Cat and Willow, Willow and Cat :)

This is Willow and Catriona making mitten wreaths...ok yes, I helped them cut the mittens out, but they were getting frustrated because there were so many... I agree that art is the process not the product... But I have to admit, I love the product, no matter what, as well!

Their fully concentrated faces means they were learning and discovering and completely loving what they were doing...And the outcome....happy children :)

My program (also my kitchen and living room)

Our first Advent wreath :)

Catriona and Kurtis helped me make our first Advent wreath...I really enjoyed doing this with them, and last night we lit the first candle during dinner, then we had a family meeting. We need these to keep us all connected as Nicole and Kurtis get older... Teens are very hard to raise and you have to keep the communication open, even when they're rolling their eyes and huffing and puffing over your expectations of them...as minor as that may be. By the end of the meeting everyone was smiling and we always end with each of us saying something nice about the other. We read some poems and verses from our Little Acorn Learning curriculum. It truly warmed my heart.

My totem came to visit me...

This picture was taken today right out my computer room window...which as you can see faces our back yard. I could not believe my eyes and I could barely speak the words to get Richard in here to see it too! What a beauty this Barred Owl is! As big as a Great Horned Northern but without the horns! It was a wonderful blessings to recieve this gift of beauty today... Anyone that really knows me, knows how much I love owls...it's funny though because my mother had a real love for them too, she collected everything owl! From lamps to salt shakers! :) I wear an owl tattoo on my right calf as well...

For my birthday last January, Richard brought me to a local wild animal rescuer's home...He specializes in owls! It was a complete suprise until I walked into this strangers home, I had no idea why I was there :) Then I saw the first owl a wee Saw-Whet, they are sooo cute and teeny, the man (who is a pharmacist at a local pharmacy) took him out of his big beautiful cage and held him in the palm of his hand! I got to pet his wee little head... I guess this poor thing had flown into the headlight of an oncoming car, the drivers called the Humane Society and they called this man...he is licensed to care for these injured and abandoned creatures. So after chatting for a bit, I thought this was it, no way! I was then told he had 3 more upstairs!!! This man had given them a room of their own upstairs in his home! It has no furniture or wall hangings of any kind, it's just empty besides the huge trunks and tall standing branches on two sides of the room...they can fly from one side of the room to the other if that suggests the size of the room. He even talked to them and got them to hoot to me! I was speachless when I saw the two Barred Owls and the one Great Northern Horned Owl, who was in a cage. The owls could not live on their own after being nursed back to health by this man, it's a pure selfless act what he has done for them! It was an amazing evening and one I will never forget! I love my husband very much for giving me such a wonderful gift...

Here's a picture I foudn of a Great Northern Horned

And here is a very serious looking Northern Barred, like the one that was in my tree today!

Catriona's Waldorf Kitchen that her daddy built her.

I am so lucky to have a husband that can build me things from scratch out of wood...it's an awesome plus! Look at this Waldorf style kitchen he built for our daughter, per my request, just from a picture I printed out from a website that sold them for $270.00!!! He built it for $45.00! I love it and he did a great job! These pictures just don't do it justice! Oh and it smells wonderful too :)

Low-fat Oatmeal Raison Cookies

Ok, I just have to share, these have got to be the yummiest oatmeal cookies ever! You all have to try them, Catriona will tell you how yummy they are ;)
Low-fat Oatmeal Raison Cookies
60 cal - 1 gram fat

1C flour
1t baking powder
1/2t baking soda
1/2t salt
1/2t cinnamon
2T shortening
1/4C applesauce
1/2C sugar
1/2C brown sugar
1 egg
1t vanilla
1 1/3C Oats
1/2C raisons

Preheat oven to 375*
Lightly spray cookie sheet with non-stick spray. In a large bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. In a separate bowl, whisk together shortening, applesauce, sugars, egg and vanilla until shortening breaks into pea sized pieces. Add applesauce mixture to flour mixture, mix well. Fold in oats and raisons. Drop rounded teaspoons onto cookie sheet 2" apart. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on a cookie sheet for a couple of minutes then move to a cooling rack. Enjoy!

Art in nature...

Is this cool or what? It's the Leaf Man! hehe, it reminds me of him from Lois Ehlert's book 'Leaf Man'. Me and Catriona were playing outside and she pulled it by the stem, from one of the wagons and it came out just like this...I had to run and get the camera, I even brought it inside with me to make sure she didn't drop it on the ground, hence the melted bit to the right...

Great finds!

Honestly, I can't believe what great finds I get at our local Goodwill and sometimes the Salvation Army... This sweet little homemade bench was only $2.99! It's lovely! Catriona is loving it for her wee dollies... That little Holly Hobby was mine when I was little, can't believe my 18yo dd played with it too and now my 3yo dd is getting to play with her...

Thanksgiving '07

This year for Thanksgiving I decided to try something new...going to someone else's house to celebrate! I haven't gone without cooking Thanksgiving dinner, for a very long time, well maybe about 12 years or so, except maybe 1 in between that time... I really missed the leftovers, but I'm cooking at Christmas, that will definitely make up for it, plus I had so much fun where I was! It was warm and inviting and everyone was so nice :) I would do it again in a heartbeat! Especially the not having to do any dishes, part! lol

This is the Hostess with the mostest! My sister-in-laws sister :) She is such a sweetheart, that's my niece she's holding...


This is her husband, wow, can he cook! I couldn't believe how much he was doing, I wouldn't have expected it, that wood burning stove has been in his family forever, the home and land was once a horse farm, it's really beautiful there... And I don't eat meat, but I had a bit of their turkey and it was just delicious!

I didn't get very many picture's, especially of the spread, I'm kicking myself now, but here is a one in a million of my brother leaning in to my husband! Too funny, my brother is an ox and my husband, well my brother likes to refer to him as the hobit...lol....whatever! Also sitting there is my lovely daughter's and my niece and my way too cool son :)
And here I am sitting umongst my lovey's...Don't I love 'em!!!