Ah Mondays..

Smells Like Home Continued...

Yesterday I mentioned I was making maple baked beans well 3 meals later they are all gone. They were not my best beans yet or my worst. It's been 3 years now that I have been trying to find the perfect baked bean recipe. Do you have a favorite? If so please share...

Toronto Botanical Garden

Thanks to my awesome friend Debra and her pint size companion F Monster; the C Monster and me got to hang out in The Children Center at the Toronto Botanical Garden and drop in on a Sprout Club day.


Every Monday (except next week due to March Brake) the Toronto Botanical Garden has a free drop in Story Time in their library at 11am. Their story teller John is so amazing with the kids definitely worth to check out. C Monster quite enjoyed it today; however as always his short attention span for anything that demands him to sit down caused him to wander off after 2 stories.

They also have a Sprout Club for kids 0-3 on Monday mornings at 10am; cost is 55$ and registration is required due to limited spaces. We arrived half way threw their class but from what I saw C Monster would definitely like this. The Children Center were the Sprout Club is an Attachment Parenting dream; lots of nature themed activities; crafts; nature items to play with; dirt play; sand play; and on and on... I think I might sign him up for the May session.

After the story time in the Library John (on of Debra's friends) opened up the Children Center for the F and C Monster to play; they had so much fun.

Thank you Debra and John for a great time.

One of the many reason I love of husband....

We compliment each other in many ways...one of these is that we both think it's important to keep things simple when it comes to home life. We do a lot of baking as we try to limit the package goods that we purchase - I make muffins, scones, biscuits, deserts and so on; however the only bread I have patience to make is in the bread machine. Geoff on the other hand loves making both bread and crackers the old fashion way. Geoff for every time I have complained that the kitchen exploded after a baking adventure by you - remember I love you and the fact you make bread the way it was always meant to be.

Sprig Toys

Most of you know that I love Sprig Toys, toys manufactured in Canada made from a combination of reclaimed wood and recycled plastic. This great company recently got bought out by Wham-O and the rumor mill has it that they will be closing their Canadian plant and moving the operations to Mexico - reason to cut down on cost. Just another company that fell casualty to the big corporations - once the toys are label made in Mexico I will no longer purchasing them for the C Monster. We have nothing against purchasing toys made outside of Canada; however we do not purchase any toys made in countries that do not treat their workers ethically.

Everyday Something New

I just realized today that C Monster can fully complete this puzzle all by himself. He has had this puzzle since his first birthday and used to put the pieces in all mixed up; then he started matching a few of the obvious ones. Today he got them all - when he got to the cat he looked at it brought beside the fish and said "Ummm No" then put it beside the cat. How I love you C Monster.

Breakfast /No Nap / Exercise / Smells Like...

Breakfast

Geoff had been asking for scones the last few weeks - "so you know the good little wife I am " - I made scones this morning. It was the first time I tried this recipe and man was it a score; definitely a keeper; C Monster even ate a little bit of a scone - and he eats noting. I found the recipe on Epicurious - Cranberry-Orange Scones; as always I modified the ingredients as follow:

1 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 1/2 whole wheat pastry flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 tablespoon grated blood orange peel
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
3/4 cup dried cranberries
1 blood orange peeled, seeded, sectioned and diced
1 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

No Nap For You

The last past few weeks have been trying on us and C Monster at bedtime; he has been going down at around 9:30 - 10pm. Because he is going down so late he is also waking up extra late around 8 - 9 am just encouraging the vicious cycle. So we decided to take advantage of the great weather to drag him outside just after lunch and keep him fully distracted and awake. That does mean it has to be with Geoff and not me because if I am around he will want to nurse and well as any nursing mother knows it will knock him out. So far so good as I write this it's almost 4pm and C Monster and Geoff have been out all afternoon in the plus 10 degree pre-spring day. All I have to say is wish us luck for tonight; because man does mama ever need her evenings with papa back.

Exercise

Well the time has come; breastfeeding alone is no longer a suitable exercise regime. Breastfeeding will burn anywhere between 200 to 600 calories a day depending on how often your child nurses. I think C Monster is starting to cut back on his milk consumption and well my waist band is noticing it. To counteract this; today while the boys were out I dug out the basement and found; cleaned and set up our exercise machine. We are pretty fortunate almost 5 years ago now my father in law got us a "gym quality" elliptical trainer; however it has been sitting in the basement gathering dust for over 3 years. Well I did 5 minutes on it today and burned 60 calories. I want to start off easy 5 minutes a day for a week then slowly bring it up to 20 minutes a day. Here is hoping for my pants sake that I stick with it.

Smells Like Home

As I am writting this the aroma in my home is magnificent - all day their have been maple baked beans simmering in the oven...

All in a Saturday

Crazy Nice Weather

Today was a "balmy" 8 outside and it's calling for 9 tomorrow and them 6,5,2,3,2 for the rest of the week. Definitely starting to feel like spring - not quite here yet but coming. Last week I ordered all my seeds except for the Edamame seeds - Richters did not have any.

Bike Helmet - or Food Helmet - or Bed Helmet

Today after gym at SH Armstrong we strolled by our neighborhood bike accessory store Velotique. I say bike accessory because that is all you find there - no bikes. I think it's great that means you have a fantastic selection of everything you need to be a well equipped. Our goal was to get a helmet for C Monster. The sales clerk was great she took out the 4 "boy" helmets out and lined them up so C Monster could select one. His choice black with red flames - he takes after his mom :-)

The kids helmet they had were from Giro; we find it easy to get it on him and once on him it holds it place. It has these little lights on the back; the on and off button for one of them is slightly damage but still works - all this only after one day. In the helmets defense C Monster abused it all day. The most important thing is that C Monster is willing to wear it and is very happy with his shiny new helmet.

Tidbit of Info for Breastfeeding Moms

I have been working my way through "The Breastfeeding Answer Book"; I am currently reading the section on drugs and found this interesting tidbit of information that serves as a great reminder for the breastfeeding moms out there:

"In general, the best time to take a drug is right after breastfeeding, so that the drug can begin clearing from the mother's system before she breastfeeds again. If the mother is taking a once-a-day medication, suggest she takes it right before her baby's longest sleep period, if her doctor agrees." - La Leche League International The Breastfeeding Answer Book p593

That being said I want to remind everyone that if you are taking any kind of medicine and are breastfeeding or pregnant you should talk to you doctor first.