Optimism is for someone else!

Typically, I'm a happy, glass always full kind of person. Certainly, I get "down" and have off days but for the most part, I'm sunshine and rainbows...

Mostly, today, I'm not. I'm all angry eyes, death ray stares, F bomb dropping, punching Tickle Me Elmo in the face, flipping off little old ladies and drive through the puddle to splash the kid on crutches kind of not happy.

Is it stress? Is it hormones? Is it pain? I don't know but I'm not a very happy camper which means no one with in 20 feet of me is happy either.

This too shall pass... I hope... I miss my unicorn.

Currently - December 6, 2012

Brennan is currently...

Making... Christmas decorations (helping me with bows), paper snowflakes and milk carton houses (check back  on Monday to see those).
Thinking... About trying to be "good"; he's had some being good issues lately and he's very aware that his behaviour has put a visit from Santa at risk.
Loving... Christmas lights. It's like a contest when we drive up the road to see who see houses lit with lights first.
Cooking... Cookies! His recent fixation has been on chocolate chip cookies made with M&M's... Next, we'll be onto Christmas cookies!
Dreaming... About a remote control monster truck.

Brennan's Mom is currently...
Making... Christmas decorations (like bows, milk carton houses and Christmas tree toppers).
Thinking... About how I continually over do it.
Loving... Christmas lights!
Cooking... Cookies, of course!
Dreaming... About surgery and feeling my thumb again!

What are you up to? Share it here...

Christmas Countdown - Day 2 - Bird Snacks!

Stir it up!

It snowed early here this year and our usual bumper crop of sunflowers wasn't so bumper! What does this mean? Hungry birds and an easy peasy craft for us to do! Cruising FOLK! magazine's blog, folklifestyle.com, I saw a crafty little idea for a bird seed ornament. We have a feeder in our tree (my mother in law gave it to Brennan) however the birds haven't exactly flocked to it. But with a few dozen hungry chickadees roaming around our yard, we headed off to get birdseed! He is a very helpful helper. He only splashed flower out once. We pressed them into a wax paper lined cookie sheet - finding the backside of a spoon was much less messy! Add some cookie cutter (press them REALLY hard into the mix - getting them out and flipped later was challenging and we found they didn't seem to cut through much).

STICKY!

Just a little higher! 

Brennan is very independent and must always, always have a hand in anything - especially if it is very awkward and requires some form of parental acrobatics!  The end resulted netted us a large ziploc bag full of ornaments (mostly "blobs", our shapes didn't withstand the taking out phase). We've hung four in our tree and are now awaiting some fine feathered friends!

Nothing says bird food like a bear!

Unfortunately, our neighbourhood has a load of cats that have the local bird population hesitant to land anywhere) but we remain hopeful, especially since we're only a few months into winter! 

Menu Plan Monday - December 3, 2012

Another Monday and I'm in a slump. Unable to perform my usual culinary genius (haha) in the kitchen, I'm tapped for ideas and tired of chicken, pasta and blah meals. Thankfully, I know about this amazing resource of people who share their awesome menus!

Monday Assorted submarine sandwiches

Tuesday KD and fish sticks

Wednesday Honey Garlic Pork Chops with mashed potatoes

Thursday Cheesy Chicken Tater Tot Casserole

Friday ??
Saturday Sweet and sour pork ribs, fried rice, veggie stir fry

Sunday Sloppy Joes on buns

Thanks to all the blogs I was inspired by and to Laura from The Organizing Junkie (who contributed menu items on Wednesday and Thursday)! Happy cooking!

Christmas Countdown - Day 1 - Chalkboard Sled!

For the past few years, I've struggled to do an "Advent Calendar" for TroubleMaker. By struggle, I mean I see so many ideas that I want to employ, I wait until the last second to pick an idea and then play catch up all month trying to stuff, fill, colour, cut and figure out what to do.

But no more. This year, although I had several different ideas in mind and been inspired out the wazoo by Pinterest, I decided on a treatless, presentless countdown device. He doesn't need all the extra candy and because we made a resolution to not spoil him too much (my husband and I made this pact before we got pregnant), I didn't want to get him 25 little things!

I was inspired by a cheap snowman chalkboard in the Dollar store and when I couldn't find a snowman wood cutout at the craft store, I fell in love with a large wooden sled and decided that this would work even better! Using this picture as my inspiration, I started to work.

The runners were broad brushed on with a blend of gold and brown.

I blended four colours for the base coat wash (red, poppy red, gold, black and a colour extender) applied with a dampened sponge applicator.

Once it was dry, I applied a second coat with a dry sponge. I then dry brushed black all over the edges. Next, I lightly sanded the entire surface and wiped it clean with a dry towel. I blended a white acrylic paint with a silver acrylic paint to paint the snowman. I gave him three generous coats (as the red beneath showed through). His nose was orange and his buttons had a base of orange and I painted over it with the scarf colour (a blend of red, black and gold). The hat is pure black and the cloud was acrylic chalk board paint (3 coats). The snowflakes were applied using white acrylic paint on a rubber stamp and I had painted his name on the top.

I had planned on putting an acrylic sealer all over the piece (save for the chalkboard part) but I finished the sled at 9pm last night after a very long day... This morning, I added the string - which consisted of three pieces of jute twine with three bright red jingle bells.

He was so excited to see it this morning, he didn't even ask for a cheap chocolate advent calendar at the grocery store today! I, myself, am enormously proud of how well it turned out. It's been a many, many years since I've done any folk painting (I actually gave my sister all my paints a year or so ago as I hadn't used them in at least 3 years) so I think for being pretty rusty, the Christmas Countdown Sled turned out very well!

Thanks for stopping by! I'll be sharing a number of Christmas and holiday ideas between now and December 24th so I hope you'll stop back again soon.


Sharing the season with...

Why people with memory problems (shouldn't be allowed to shop by themselves)!

As I may or may not have mentioned, one of the medications I'm on for managing the pain from the compressed discs in my neck causes "reduced mental acuity . More or less, I forget stuff easily, I know I know something but can't remember it, I get pretty muddled sometimes and I get confused pretty easily.

This could also easily be confused with "Pregnant brain" or "Mommy brain" or "old age" but let me blame the medication, it's easier for me to cope (and subsequently forget about).

Some of you, who are closer to me, know that I've recently discovered I've purchased duplicates and triplicates of some things (rice, croutons, kid's snack foods, pasta) but I truly outdid myself this time.

With Christmas approaching, I've been unearthing all my Christmas stuff... Which I dutifully cataloged when I packed it up last year. I knew exactly what I had (and where, which is even a bigger miracle). Pinterest has led me to a plethora of new (and cooler) projects to tackle this year so back in early November, I took advantage of a 30% off coupon and shopped Michael's early on a Sunday morning.

Having raffled off all the Perfect Bows I've made in a fund raiser for TroublerMaker's old preschool, I knew I needed to make new bows for my banister  So... I picked a nice plaid, wired ribbon, identical to the previous bows (as I really liked it).

So today, as I finally unpacked all the stuff I bought nearly a month ago, I discovered the ribbon. And found the ribbon I packed last year... Then I found the other new spool I bought at Costco during our annual Christmas Shop in November to Avoid the Insanity of December.

How much plaid ribbon do I have? 100 yards. Which is 300 feet (91.4 metres).

That's a lot of ribbon. Plus I bought the gold and the pine cone for bows too.

So I've figured out my new business venture... Handmade Christmas bows in plaid or pine cone... ;)

This is why people with memory problems shouldn't be allowed to shop alone! This is also why I baked my husband cookies and made him promise to love me forever.

Menu Plan Monday - November 25, 2012

Hi! Back at trying to be a productive member of the (blogging) society and what a better way to start than to share my weekly menu plan... That I and I know my other mother is perving checking out my blog and I know she's asking herself  "What are they eating up there in the frigid north while I'm basking in the sun and drinking margarita's?"... Hi Nancy!!!!! :) <3 p="p">
Sunday Beef dip (in a crock pot)
Monday Gramma's Homemade Mac and Cheese with steam green beans
Tuesday Baked Pototo & Leek soup with cheddar and bacon
Wednesday Pork Stir Fry with Fried Rice
Thursday Sante Fe Sheperd's Pie
Friday Chicken Salad Sandwiches

I`m back on full cooking duty and have my first (partial) day at work tomorrow! Thanks for stopping by and please come back soon - I`m getting off my sit and wallow kick and will be heating up the kitchen and my home with lots of holiday goodies!

For more yummy menu plans and inspiration, check out the Org Junkie`s Menu Plan Monday!