Month: November 2014

Being Grateful~Happy Birthday to My Sister

/ Lee Reynolds

After a really tough week, yes another tough week, I’m so very grateful.

If you have been following along with what’s going on in my life, things have been falling apart around here; zippers, dryers, furnaces, and then on the weekend I broke a tooth while eating popcorn watching a movie. Yes, I’m doing the shift and let go dance every day, while remembering on my most difficult days that I often grow the most as a soul. I’m learning A LOT lately.

Tomorrow, is my sister C’s birthday. As I was making up an email note for her this evening, I came across the most beautiful Grateful song I really wanted to share with my blog readers. Also, with many of my friends from the States celebrating their Thanksgiving tomorrow I thought it was very appropriate. While they are eating turkey and pumpkin pie this weekend, I will be counting my blessings and remembering how fortunate I am to have sisters, and blog sisters as well all over the world. What are you thankful for? The practice of writing down 5 things that you are grateful for really does generate more happiness into our lives. What are your top 5 things you are grateful for?

Today for me, I’m grateful for:

1. A wise and wonderful sister who inspires me to live my best life. (and two others who love me, too)

2. A son with a working zipper on his coat and a GREAT HAT.

3. A dryer that is working.

4. Two gas fireplaces that are working until the heating guy can repair our furnace

5. A wonderful dentist who can get me in next week to repair my tooth

…..and the list goes on and on, health, home, food, family, friends and as my beautiful son Harrison often says when I ask, “how are things?”  he says, “LG mom,” translated to….life’s GOOD!

So HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my dear sister, C….and

Happy Thanksgiving to my U.S. sisters.

Check out this Youtube video, Gratitude, a love song to the world...I hope it inspires you and brings you joy. (click on the hyper link if you can’t see it below)

Until I see you again, may you be well, HAPPY and peaceful.

Blessings from Hope

Tomorrow is my sister C’s birthday and as I sent her an email greeting because my birthday card is not going to get to her in time, I

Gingersnaps~Living With Will

/ Lee Reynolds

Oh the blessing of free will. Some may call it a curse. Some may call it a gift. Last week, I made a number of excellent choices and then some that, in hindsight, I wished I had not made. But then even as I write these words I know, even our worst choices bring insights and so it’s all good.

As you probably recall from reading my last blog post called, “When Things Fall Apart,” a number of things were breaking down in our household. Things did not improve as the week unfolded, despite my new mantra expecting only Marvelous things to occur.

On Thursday morning, again the house was very chilly when we awoke and when I went to turn on our gas powered furnace,  I didn’t hear that warm hum. I cycled power and it worked for a bit and then stopped. Big problem. Direction? To call our furnace repair guy. Result. He’s coming later in the afternoon.

Of course, he came exactly when I was due to pick up our University son from the bus and right after that I was due to take Grace to her piano lesson. Thankfully, D had agreed to come home, (his office is about a 5 minute drive away) which is a good thing since I don’t understand the language of the skilled trades person. After they come to look at whatever it is that is not working, they try to explain what is wrong and how they plan to fix it and frankly, I’m always surprised that they don’t notice my perplexed facial expression because they continue to talk, as if we are on the same page. Thank you D for coming to my rescue.

In the meantime, I was ready to bundle up the little girls into the van to go and collect Clark, but when I looked out at our drive-way, I see the repair man’s truck is squarely in the path of my van. I decided to wait until D arrived home so I could leave the little ones with him and steal his little economical red Honda Fit. His treasured car I might add, which is really funny when I think of how times have changed. When I met him he had just sold his red Corvette and bought a Camaro. Again, it’s interesting the roads we choose to travel as well as how we choose to travel them.

 

Anyway, I zoomed up the hill, picked up Clark, who had been waiting for awhile, and arrived home just as the school bus was dropping Grace and Will off. Since it was a cold day, the first thing I noticed when I saw Will come into our yard was, that his head was bare. As he was coming into the house I asked, “Where is your new hat Will?” He sloughed off his new coat, {remember the one in which I had to replace the zipper recently? And, further to that, the one that I’d bought because I had fallen in LOVE with the HAT which happened to go beautifully with the jacket) and said, “M, took it off.” “What?” I said. He replied, “M took it while I was on the bus.”

Although I knew I had to be out the door shortly to take Grace to piano, I tried to clarify where his hat was since I KNOW from experience, the longer something goes missing, the chance of getting it back are slim. Amber Alert starts to flash in my mind. As it turned out, based on both Grace and Will’s statements, Will had his new hat when he got on the bus and while he was looking out the window, ” M”, who was sitting beside him, took it off. Will asked for his hat back but she was looking away, when he asked again, she didn’t respond. She got off the bus before him and he didn’t get his hat back.

Well, even though I was conscious, EXTREMELY, consciously aware of my feelings, anger, starting to bubble up from an unknown source, anger and frustration that another child should remove our son’s hat, I still made the “choice” to continue down this path. In fact, I became even more livid as I tried to find M’s phone number but there are like 50 people with her last name in our phone book. And remember, this is a small town! I tried calling a few who live in our area but each time it was the wrong number. Glancing at my watch, it was time to take Grace to her piano lesson. I grabbed an apple, an orange, some crackers and cheese and threw them on a plate for the children’s after school snack, Grace snatched a bit of everything and we were out the door.

Thank heavens, our older son was home to keep an eye on the little ones. On the way out of our sub-division we stopped off at the cul-de-sac, where Grace thought the M girl lived on. She had seen her get off the bus with her younger sister and she was pretty sure she knew which house they lived in. M is Grace’s age. Actually, in the same grade but in a different class and so she is familiar with her. We stopped at the house where she thought she lived and I rang the bell. No answer. We continued to piano.

Although I like to stay for her 3/4 hour lesson, that day I had to run and pick up Harrison after his jazz band practice.  On my way back to our area, I decided to stop once again at M’s house. This time a teenage boy answers and said, “No, she didn’t live there, but there are two girls next door.” Quickly, keeping an eye on the time, I ran next door and rang the bell. A young, Filipino woman came to the door. I explained nicely to her that our kindergarten son was sitting beside M on the bus earlier and he said, she had taken his hat. I wanted to know if she knew anything about it.

The woman looked shocked and while she was apologetically saying, “oh my, I’m sorry, what does it look like?” as she was rummaging around a backpack at the door, I told her that it was black with a red stripe and cool brim. She shook her head no and said it wasn’t in M’s back pack. She further said, M was at her dance class but she would talk to her when she picked her up. I assumed she was the nanny, as she referenced her employer a few times. Before I left, I mentioned that I was surprised M was sitting with Will at all, since I understood the older children were suppose to sit at the back of the bus. My older daughter doesn’t even sit with him. She just looked at me blankly, like she didn’t know what the rules were, so I gave her my phone number and said, “thanks.”

I was still pretty annoyed at this point. I was thinking back to a time when my oldest son got off the bus without his rather expensive ski gloves we had purchased for him. He always had cold hands so we made sure to get a really warm pair this particular winter. He said one of the kids grabbed them and threw them to the back of the bus and for awhile all the kids were throwing them around. This was a Friday and our family was going skiing that weekend. We never got those gloves back.

Ever since our children were small, we have taught them to take care of their things, to appreciate what they have and to understand it takes effort to provide nice things for them. While some may feel that this is putting too much emphasize on stuff, I believe it teaches them to respect belongings. Theirs and other people’s. While I understand we all choose different parenting philosophies, at the very least, respecting other people’s space and their, “things.” is in my opinion, a really important lesson in life.

I got to the high school and Harrison didn’t come out. I shut off the car engine, text him but he didn’t respond. I raced into the school, knowing Grace’s piano lesson was going to end soon, and stopped outside of the band room. Teens were flying out and thankfully, one asked who I was looking for and I told him. He replied that Harrison wasn’t there that day. The band teacher, Mr. M. must have seen me at the door, as he came over and said Harrison hadn’t shown up after school. Was there a Dr.’s appointment or something? I just shook my head, smiled and decided to check out the gym. I continued down the hall and who do I see shooting hoops with a few other boys? Harrison.

When he saw me, he quickly collected his belongings and came out rather sheepishly. I asked him why he wasn’t at his jazz band practice and he mumbled something about, not wanting to go.. He perked up and said, “oh Mom, I’m number one on the list posted for the basketball team.” I nodded my acknowledgement, but I didn’t let the first part slide. As we walked down the hall, I asked him why he didn’t go to band and he said he wanted to play basketball instead after school. By this time we were outside the band room, so I told him that he better go and apologize to his band teacher.

As it turned out Harrison was not in Mr. M’s good books anyway. At the band concert, the night before, he had apparently been talking and laughed briefly, during  the 5 minute Bach flute solo. Mr. M had had words with him and the other boy involved after the concert. In addition, he was annoyed when he told the jazz band to make some “noise,” while warming up and Harrison had done just that, TOO much, in Mr. M’s estimation. Harrison later told me it was a GREAT fill! (Harrison plays the drums by the way)  D and I were at the back of the concert room so we never heard anything but we were not looking for poor behavior. He played really well as far as we were concerned (you can always hear your child when they play drums) but he had clearly made some bad choices during the concert for sure.

Harrison right before his band concert last Wednesday night

He apologized to Mr. M over his prior night’s behavior and not attending his band practice and we were back in the van to pick up Grace, with me talking, Harrison would say, lecturing, about the choices we make in life and the results we desire. Ownership and being respectful, being the theme. We arrived 5 minutes late to pick up Grace, who was getting cold as it was getting dark by this point. The rest of the night went off without a hitch, dinner, clean up, bath, stories, bed. It was when I was making children’s lunches for the next day that I received a phone call.

It was M’s mom calling about my query over Will’s hat. She was absolutely spitting mad and told me that under no circumstances should I have come to her door, upsetting her nanny, and accusing her daughter of taking Will’s hat. She further went on to say that her child was kind hearted and would NEVER take someone’s hat. I tried to explain that this was blown WAY out of proportion but she had made up her mind as to my intentions. I told her that I was simply wanting to get his hat back and I started on the trail of the missing hat based on where Will thought it was. She basically said, I shouldn’t listen to something a kindergarten aged child said and I should look around our house for the lost hat which will most likely turn up.

Near the end of our conversation, she threw this out, “It is JUST a HAT.” As if I were being ridiculous and out of line. I explained that we do have 8 children to cloth and it isn’t just a hat to us but the principal of teaching our children to be responsible with their things. She then, quite condescendingly said, “we probably can find a few hats lying around here if you really need one.” At that point, I knew we weren’t getting anywhere. I apologized if her nanny was upset by my appearance and before we said goodbye, I mentioned that I had called the school, left a message with the principal as I wanted to discuss bus seating policy and the incident.

I didn’t sleep that night. I kept thinking about the choices I had made with regards to the actions of the missing hat. Was it just a hat or was it the principal of other people being disrespectful towards our belongings? Also, on my mind was my beautiful teenage son, who was making his own choices. Sometimes not the best ones. I went to sleep finally, thinking about hats, drum sticks, and conversations  all playing out in my mind.

Things always look better in the morning. The house was warm as the furnace had been repaired. The little girls had a lovely morning at preschool and when we arrived home at lunch time, I received a phone call from D. He said that the principal, Mr. S. had apparently tried to contact me but I was having tea with an old friend  and I hadn’t been checking my messages. D said that Mr. S had taken the steps of having all the people involved in the hat fiasco, into his office. As it turns out, a girl by the name of, get this, HOPE, had taken Will’s hat off his head. She had been sitting behind him on the bus and when she got up to get off at her stop, she had dropped it behind his back. She thought he would have noticed but he didn’t. Apparently, this time Hope was the culprit but she told Mr. S that other children had been doing it as well, namely, M and her younger sister, D.  M admitted that yes, she had done it before. It was unclear whether M was aware this time that Hope had taken Will’s hat although she had been the one to say Hope should also be included in the meeting. The Principal told them both that he had zero tolerance for hat removal, or any touching of other people’s belongings whatsoever. They were being warned that if he hears about this again, they will be off the bus.

Was I feeling vindicated? Well, sort of. But then, crazy me, I try to think about it from the other person’s perspective and I see that I could have handled it differently. First I could have stayed in my Zen place. I could have let the incident go totally and just bought Will a new hat. Although, saying that, I have to qualify that by saying, this hat was PERFECT. Also, as you know, I’m careful with our money and gee, did I really have to buy a new hat when we had a perfectly good hat “somewhere.” So yeah, I was unresolved even after all of this was hashed out. The right choice is not always clear and we never know what the outcome will be when we go down  a certain path.

Mr. S, the Principal, did track down Will’s hat. It was left on the bus and he has given instructions for the bus people to return it to Will today. The bus should be dropping the kids off shortly and it will all be resolved. Until the next time that is.

I know this is just one incident in my life, one week of choices, but the real point here is, when we have the will power to choose which direction we are going to take, in every aspect of our life, the choices we make always impact more than ourselves and no matter which way we go, if we are open to it, we learn our biggest lessons in life and we teach as well. Yes, I could have taken the higher road and let the hat go. We would have ALL lived in peace and harmony, EXCEPT, until the next time one of the kids on the bus (or in life) thinks nothing of messing around with other people’s things. Isn’t it part of our job as a community to teach identify moral lessons? It’s part of living in a peaceful society.

Also, another big lesson I want my children to learn is that stuff isn’t important. I know, I know, this is a contradiction of what I have been talking about but the a particular piece in the scripture has always stayed with me from my childhood Sunday school lessons and that is, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6) This bible verse has always resonated with me and I’d like to believe I’m not materialistic.

Everything we have been given of material goods, is to bring us joy on the earth, make life easier and being grateful for those things is an important lesson too. I hope our children learn a few lessons from this whole experience, all of our children, Will, Grace, Harrison, etc…that respect is an important part of living on this earth, and choosing to be kind. Always kind. When we take that path, we are never wrong.

Well, I must close but before I do, I want to give you the recipe for my ginger snap cookies which I think are the perfect choice to go with late fall/early winter weather. I have a full cookie jar with these cookies right now thanks to my dear, DEAREST, son Harrison. While D and I were out doing our Christmas shopping for his oldest sister Alyssa yesterday, (who will NOT be home this Christmas and we want to send her a package soon) he had made a huge batch of these for the family. (Alyssa would love these too…they are her fav) I came home to a hot cup of tea and a plate of cookies. I showed him how to sprinkle an icing sugar star on top. They were so delicious that I thought I would add them to this blog post today. Thank you Harrison. I respect your excellent baking skills.

I hope you enjoy them too, if you want to make them more festive, simply make a stencil of a star or whatever…maybe I should have put a hat on our cookies. Whatever choices you make on this earth, I hope the lessons that result are gentle,

and your cookie jar is ALWAYS full!

Harrison’s Ginger Snaps

1 cup sugar
3/4 cup of margarine or butter, softened
1/4 cup molasses
1 egg
21/4 cups all purpose flour (Harrison used whole wheat yesterday and it was great)
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 cup sugar

In a large bowl, beat 1 cup sugar, margarine, molasses and egg until light and fluffy. Stir in remaining ingredients except 1/4 cup sugar, mix well. Cover with plastic wrap; refrigerate 1 hour for easier handling. (You don’t have to do this last step…Harrison didn’t yesterday and they were great)

Heat oven to 350 degree F. Shape dough into 1 inch balls; roll in 1/4 cup sugar. Space 2 inches apart on un-greased cookie sheets. Bake at 350 degree F. For 8 to 12 minutes or until set. (Cookies will puff up and then flatten during baking.) Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets. Cool completely.

Yields 3-4 dozen

We double the recipe for our large family so they last the week.

 

Will just came home and look what is on his head!

Looking at the above picture, it reminds me me of a story Dr. Wayne Dyer tells, of a woman who was walking on the beach with her small son. Suddenly, a huge wave washes upon the shore and pulls her son into the ocean. She gets down on her hands and knees and cries, “Oh God, please, please, bring my son back to me!” On the next wave her son reappears, none the worse for wear. She looks him over from top to bottom and says, “but he was wearing a HAT” 
 

                                               

Until we meet again, may you be well, happy and peaceful.

Blessings from Hope

Light and Fluffy Waffles and Snow

/ Lee Reynolds
This was a shot from our deck at 7:30 this morning…our first snowfall of 2014

To put you in the mood as you read this blog post, play the following YouTube video clip. It’s from one of my favourite Christmas movie’s called, “White Christmas.” It’s called, “Snow.” (click on the hyper-link if you can’t view below)

Snow, white and fluffy, reminding me of the ivory snow flakes I put into my homemade laundry soap, softly drifted down from the heavens last night. I felt the possibilities of such in my bones, as I went to pick up the children from school yesterday. At the time, only heavy wet rain drops were plopping on my windshield but later, when I had to take Grace to her Christmas choir rehearsal, it had changed to the white stuff. Oh the first snowfall of the year is glorious.

I LOVE snow. A peaceful feeling and memories of childhood envelope me, as I’m in awe over our first snowfall. One of my favourite memories from childhood, was being bundled into my red one piece snow suit and going outside with my family to play in the snow. This was when we lived in Hope, B.C., back when my Dad was still alive. We made a massive snowman, taller than my dad and he even had a lap for me to sit on. Pictures of me with my three older sisters and Dad, and of course our snowman, are treasured photos now.

The smell of crisp, cold winter days also fill me with joy, as I remember the times when my step Dad, Bud and I would go and feed our horses. As our green Ford truck would come into view, our horses would lift up their heads and snorts of mist would puff from their noses, as they sauntered over to meet us at the gate. My horse, Blondie’s velvet nose would push me in the tummy, and she would nuzzle me until I gave her the carrot or apple in my pocket. Knowing she was as happy to see me, as I was to see her, made those cold, snowy days, magical moments. She of course is long gone, along with my father, and my step father but as snow falls, my thoughts of them bring them alive once more.

Last night, the little ones had a hot tub before going to bed. As we lifted the hot tub cover, steam rolled up into the night sky. Safely, under the cover of our upper deck, the children floated around and their excited voices echoed into the blanketed white. “Can we go and play in it”? They asked? “Sure,” I said, so they climbed out wearing nothing but their birthday suits. They ran to the edge of our deck, gingerly touching their naked toes on the white ground, and then they ran back to the hot tub, giggling, filled with glee. My step Dad, Bud would have looked at me and said, “making memories.”

At bedtime, all warm in their fleece jammies, we read a story called, “Big Snow” by Jonathan Bean. It was about a little boy who while “helping” his mother do some holiday cleaning, was antsy as he kept a watchful eye on the progress of the winter snowfall. He was hoping for a big snow. Inside, he is underfoot, turning  white sheet changing and tub scrubbing into imaginary whiteouts. I love when his father comes home early from work and the whole family goes out for a walk in the deep snow.

It was the perfect book to read to our children on our first night of snow. I hope they have magical memories of this special time of year.

This Saturday morning, I had to get up early and take D to the hospital where he was undergoing a colonoscopy. Groan! Yes, I know, not the most fun procedure in the world and certainly not delightful to prepare for. I felt truly bad for him as he was up most of the night. I’ve just returned from dropping him off at our local hospital and also taking our oldest son, Clark to his job at the Science Centre. There was a sleepover there last night and Clark is on the first shift this morning, getting the kids their breakfast, making flubber, etc. I’m sure they will be talking about snow and perhaps looking at snowflakes through a microscope, exploring the marvelous world of science. Serious fun!

I’m going to make a quick batch of my light and fluffy waffles for the kids. Harrison was at a birthday party last night. Do you call it that when teens are turning 16? It was suppose to be a sleepover but at 10:30 he appeared home and as he poured himself a bowl of cereal, he said they had done everything he had wanted to and he knew his Dad was going to the hospital in the morning and I may need him. Yes, there were moments this week when I had to shake my head at some of his teenage judgement calls, but then he rises to the occasion, like last night and I think, “okay, maybe he will be ready to learn to drive soon.” He turns 16 next month. I have a month to ponder that.

So I’m making waffles this morning and realized I haven’t put a breakfast recipe on my blog yet. Do you want a great waffle recipe? This one has a few extra steps than the basic waffle recipe but it results in light and fluffy waffles. Waffles your family will remember as being the best they have ever eaten! So make up a batch for your family, serve them near a window, so they can eat and enjoy the magic going on outside, no matter where you live in the world. Making Memories!

Hope’s Light and Fluffy Waffles

  • 1¾ cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 Tbsp granulated sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 1¾ cups whole milk
  • ¼ cup vegetable oil
  • 2 oz (½ stick) whole butter
  • ½ tsp pure vanilla extract (optional)

Directions

    1. Pre-heat your waffle iron to its hottest setting.

 

    1. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt.

 

    1. Separate the eggs. Put the whites in a glass bowl and the yolks in another.

 

    1. Melt the butter over a low heat, then remove it and let it cool

 

    1. Beat the yolks thoroughly. Whisk in the milk, oil and melted butter.

 

    1. Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat the egg whites until stiff. Then add the sugar and continue mixing until you get nice stiff peaks. (This makes the waffles fluffy)

 

    1. Add liquid ingredients to dry ingredients and mix gently until combined.

 

    1. Carefully fold in the beaten egg whites to the batter, don’t over mix.

 

    1. Spray both surfaces of your waffle iron with cooking spray.

 

    1. Pour ½ to ¾ cup (depending on your waffle iron) batter onto the iron and close it.

 

    1. Cook until the waffle iron’s indicator light shows that cooking is complete, or until no more steam comes out. The finished waffle should be golden brown and crispy.

 

  1. Lift the waffle out of the iron with a pair of tongs and either serve right away or transfer it to the oven to keep warm.
I add some fruit, some syrup and sprinkle it with icing sugar and serve it to the girls.

 

The little girls have been wearing their bear hats all week…Bears love waffles!
Me yelling, “Harrison” come and get it….I really have to start using a bell at mealtime

 

 

My older kids love weekends when we make waffles etc and take time for breakfast
Grace is always up for a smoothie

Add a fruit smoothie to the breakfast and you’ve given your family a healthy start to the day along with memories of icing sugar sprinkled waffles on snow covered mornings.

Fruit Smoothie

This is the one I make most often as all my children love it.

Add some crushed ice to the bottom of your blender…I use about 1- 2 cups.

Then I fill 1/2 of my blender, about 4-6 cups with whatever milk we have on hand….almond, rice, or cow’s milk…let your taste be your guide

I then add 1 – 1 1/2 cups of yogurt…strawberry or blueberry is our choice

Add a banana and then frozen fruit…we like blueberries and strawberries. The more you add the fruitier the smoothie…also my girls like more strawberries for a pink colour smoothie ….but lots of blueberries looks great too…not to mention loaded with antioxidents.

Blend it until everything is well combined and serve.

(Note…I like to add some ground flax seeds for extra fibre for my smoothie but some kids don’t like it) 

Well, blog readers, I hate to leave you mid blog but the hospital just called and it’s time to pick up D and bring him home. I’m going to add some scrambled eggs to his breakfast when he gets home. He must so hungry since he hasn’t eaten since Thursday night!

While I’m off, I’m going to leave the little ones home with Harrison and Grace. I’ve promised them a special video to watch while I’m gone. Have you ever watched the “Snowman” movie? I’m adding a link below and maybe you can watch it with your family on the next wintery day. (unless you live in Florida like my good friend, K)

The music is hauntingly beautiful and reminds me of when my older children were playing their violins and cello, with our local Carriage House String Orchestra.  Alyssa also, played it on the piano and I wonder if Grace, who is now taking voice lessons, will sing it in the future. Tingles cover my arms as I listen, knowing angels are listening to it with me. Wrap yourself up with warm memories and know, each moment you are making more magic in the world.

Okay, I’ve got to run but I hope you enjoy this movie and the music as well. Here’s the YouTube video of “The Snowman.”...for young and old. (click on the hyper link if you can’t view below)

 

Until we meet again, may you be well, happy and peaceful.

Blessings from Hope

 

When Things Fall Apart

/ Lee Reynolds

My dryer is broken.

My Ruby red LG dryer–broken dryer

You may remember reading last week about my belief in Murphy’s law, coinciding with D’s business trips. Something ALWAYS happens when he goes out of town. Of course, if I truly believe in the law of attraction, which I do, I will start reciting this mantra, “something marvelous always occurs when D is working out of town.”

But last week, I had no such insight.

D has since returned, delved into the dryer’s malfunction (did I mention he is handy?) and has ordered a new circuit board. Of course, just finding a place that would provide, said part was an ordeal. I get SO frustrated when we find a part in our cousin country, (the U.S.) but for WHATEVER reason, things can’t always be shipped to Canada. (Free trade stinks at times) Anyway, don’t get me started, we did finally find the part but of course, it is NOW on order.

Until then, I’ve threatened the children within an inch of their life, to NOT put anything but socks and underwear in the wash. To hang up their towels after use and under no circumstances are they to put their sheets in the laundry basket. Even the little kids know the drill and they carefully strip down, laying the approved items for the wash aside and putting their other clothes back in their drawers/closet.

Even under these strict rules, with 8 people living in our home, there is still wash to do each day and each day I pray for good weather so I can set it out on our deck to dry.

First thing I do every morning is assess the drying weather

Now for some strange reason, when it is MY choice to dry our clothes on the deck it’s okay. I feel really empowered by the whole concept of saving energy and using wind and solar power to dry our clothes but when I have no choice, I feel like a victim to the appliance manufacturers, who can’t seem to construct machines that will last more than 5 years.

Our clothes drying outside…underwear and socks are inside

For the first 15 years of our marriage we had the same washing machine pair and since then we have had to replace them every 5 years like clockwork, which is ridiculous in my books. Yes, sure, we have a larger than average family and for the last 5 years our family is very large but still, this new LG was purchased after Will was born 5 years ago. You would think it could make it until he was in grade 1 before breaking down.

Okay, enough venting about my dryer, except to say, I actually would dry everything outside,(and sneer at the dryer manufactures) if there was a way of drying clothes outside without everything, like towels, feeling scratchy boards. Send me a comment if you have a solution In the spring, I may even ask D to construct a clothesline, although our neighbours may protest over us airing our “clean” laundry to dry. Sigh.

I actually thought I was doing really well with D out of town last week, dealing with the day to day drama until Will came home from school on Thursday with a broken zipper on his new coat. His NEW coat. He had only worn it for a week and the little metal thingy on the bottom of the zipper broke off so the zipper slide wouldn’t stay attached.

The metal piece on the right..broke off

I was livid! BUT again, Murphy’s law prevailed (D was still away at this point) and wouldn’t you know I had just thrown out the store receipt, along with the price tags, etc in the garbage on Tuesday. I wasn’t exactly sure it went in the Tuesday garbage, but just to be sure, I went through the garbage we had accumulated since Tuesday, reviewing each item carefully. It was Friday morning at this point and surprisingly we had a lot of garbage. Yuck!

Have you ever done a garbage inspection? It was amazing what I found. PERFECTLY GOOD STUFF! A bag full of nuts, dried fruit and yogurt covered bits, (expensive nuts, I might add), an apple, a perfectly good pencil, an unopened juice box with straw still attached, cat food cans that still had food in them, (the children feed the cats) and then what really surprised me were things that could be recycled, for instance toilet paper rolls, and quite a bit of potential compost material…like apple cores, banana peels, etc. Very insightful.

Suffice it to say, garbage inspections will continue, (as gross and stinky as they are) regularly since the goal of being less wasteful is high on my priority list. And perhaps I will have to get the children to do some research on garbage waste in our country and we can enjoy a field trip to the dump, which really should have a new name, something like “precious land.” Okay, again I got sidetracked…where was I?

Oh YES, since I must have thrown out the store receipt (which yes, when I think of it, should have been recycled too…in which case we would still have them in our recycling bin) I had to come up with a solution to Will’s broken zipper. What to do? Well, after the garbage inspection, I pulled out our yellow pages and called every single tailor and seamstress listed. Three. There are probably more but I don’t have any connections in the sewing industry which I think is a lost art by the way. And again, Murphy’s law, every one of them said they could do it but not for 3 weeks. That was the magic time frame for all of them. I told them my son would freeze by then but thanked them for their time.

Then I decided to google how to repair a zipper but sadly this didn’t appear to be easily manuvered, so I decided as ridiculous as it is to repair a brand new coat, I had to walk my talk and not only be frugal but sustainable. I would have to do it myself. On Sunday, I warned all the kids that the big repair job was being conducted and they were to keep themselves busy so I could focus on ripping out the broken zipper and reattach the new one we had purchased at Fabricland on Saturday.

Well, at first I couldn’t see how to even begin and I was so worried I was going to put a hole in the nylon material but after about 1/2 hour I finally made a tiny opening and things progressed from there. Once the zipper was removed, I carefully pinned the new one to the coat, being conscious to place the zipper bottom, at the bottom of the jacket. Believe me, I have done some funny things over the years when I sew. Harrison, our 15 year old, must have inherited my lack of sewing perception, as his Home Ec teacher told him not to become a bridge builder when he grows up, as he had sewed the legs shut to the boxer shorts he was making last year.

Sewing the zipper was really easy and quick or so I thought. When I went to zip up the jacket, the zipper got stuck on the material since I had sewed the zipper too close to the edges of the jacket. So, with teeth clenched and screams to the children, “do not BUG me,” I ripped out the zipper again and re-sewed it. This time, being careful to ensure the material had some clearance to allow the zipper to flow along the teeth without any blockages. Voila! Not the prettiest job but it got the job done and Will would not freeze this winter.

Will checking out the new zipper

 

Also, I learned a few valuable lessons. In the future, when we purchase anything that costs over say $50.00 dollars (and this coat was much higher than that) I will retain the receipts and tags in an envelope for safe keeping. We do this with appliances…however isn’t it interesting that the unit always breaks down exactly one day after any warranty expires?

Well my dryer still isn’t fixed but D assures me that the part will be here soon, fingers crossed that this is the magic part. Will went to school on Monday with a working zipper and all was going okay until I woke up yesterday to a freezing house. D had already left for work very early, at 6:45 to take Harrison to jazz band and Clark to the University bus. He didn’t notice how chilly the house was but one hour later when the kids were going out the door the house still wasn’t heating up.

D came home at lunch, per my frozen request and cycled the power (I think that was the correct term he used) and geesh, I could have done that. It seemed to get our furnace working but again this morning, it didn’t kick in. So now we have another ISSUE to deal with.

Our gas fireplace kept us warm

Add some concerns we have over our daughter in the U.K. and her teaching profession and our out of town University son, finding a comfort zone to marinade in while away from home and things in my life, to a degree seem to be falling apart. Do you ever wonder why things seem to go wrong. And in threes too? There is that old wives tale anyway.

I don’t think they really go wrong in threes, they go wrong in a series of threes, a life time of threes. Life is just full of things falling apart. And that is the essence of life. Unless, UNLESS, you shift your perspective AND learn the fine art of surrender.

I often say that “letting go” is my major life lesson. It seems to be in the theme of EVERYTHING I experience in life. Something falls apart, I notice it, I react….sometimes I OVER REACT, and thankfully as I’m growing wiser, I then shift and let go and then I’m back into the well being stage. UNTIL the next thing. Which at times can be moments later. It feels like a delicate dance I do on this earth school.

Then last night, as I was at my meditation meeting, things became clearer. Things fall apart in order to teach me the lessons I need to learn. To enforce the understanding that we are impermanent and things are ALWAYS changing. Then I laughed and wondered if once I became proficient at this life dance, if in the future I wouldn’t even be aware when things go awry because I will smoothly waltz past any obstacles. My awareness will be that everything is perfect and things are not broken at all.

In this light, and maybe as a result of my attraction expectation, instead of things falling apart, things will be coming together. Like a beautiful dance, where at first you are just learning the steps and finally after a lot of practice, it artfully flows together with the music.

For instance on Sunday when I was sewing Will’s zipper in place. Grace took the time to host a tea party for the three little ones. She made some “Mother’s Helper Tea” that my sister B had given me and filled a plate full of cookies we picked up from her school’s Christmas Fair Market. She made the afternoon fun for the little ones as I tried to repair the jacket. She reminded me that things do come together with the smallest effort. My children have been the best teachers in my life. They are CONSTANTLY changing and growing and with such ease and grace. They live in the moment and enjoy each experience.

Grace brought up her Beatrix Potter tea set and her fairies to join the party
Invite some friends to the party
Kate, Grace, Will and Victoria enjoy their Mother’s Helper Tea and Cookies
Would you care for another biscuit, Kathryn? Yes, thank you.

Check out this YouTube video, it’s one of my fav artists from when I was young, Cat Stevens singing, Oh Very Young....reminds me of how quickly life unfolds and reminds me also, not to stress when things fall apart…we are impermanent and life is short. Our children are truly are best teachers. Even though they are changing and growing every day, they live happily in the moment.

 The lyrics to Oh Very Young

Oh very young
What will you leave us this time
You’re only dancing on this earth for a short while
And though your dreams may toss and turn you now
They will vanish away like your daddy’s best jeans
Denim Blue fading up to the sky
And though you want him to last forever
You know he never will
(You know he never will)
And the patches make the goodbye harder still

Oh very young
What will you leave us this time
There’ll never be a better chance to change your mind
And if you want this world to see a better day
Will you carry the words of love with you
Will you ride the great white bird into heaven
And though you want to last forever
You know you never will
(You know you never will)
And the goodbye makes the journey harder still

Oh very young
What will you leave us this time
You’re only dancing on this earth for a short while
Oh very young
What will you leave us this time

Hmmmm….good lessons to learn when things fall apart.

What do you do when things fall apart? Watch your reaction the next time and notice how you dance to the music.

Until we meet again, may you be well, happy and peaceful.

Blessings from Hope

Sweet Dreams

/ Lee Reynolds

 

 

Today was pajama day at the twins preschool. They have been talking about it since last week when their teachers gave them a sneak preview of the upcoming event. I kind of wish they hadn’t done that, since every night since then, before they went to bed, they asked with hopeful smiles, “is it pajama day tomorrow?” Each night, I would have to say, “not quite yet” and then after depressing groans, we would count down the days until the big P day.

We discussed which stuffed animal they would bring and every day their selections changed. After their preschool class on Wednesday, when they made little bear hats for the BIG day, I decided to set out their new pajamas and we made one final choice of teddy and set them on their dresser.

D went out of town on Wednesday morning and was going to be away for the rest of the work week, so I knew anything I could organize for all the children’s various activities would be helpful in running a smooth ship. Of course, every time D goes away, something ALWAYS happens. It’s Murphy’s law. This trip, my LG dryer stopped working around the time he was packing for his trip which I thought was really interesting. Then today it started to snow…but thankfully only a few flakes drifted down. I do NOT have snow tires on yet. As I said, it’s always something.

Any planning and organizing I can do ahead of time is a lifesaver. As tired as I may be at times, getting things ready the night before, always makes things flow better in the morning. When I tucked the little girls into bed last night, (Thursday night) they knew the next morning was pajama day and they were so “becited” as Victoria likes to say.

Good night little girls….

Sweet Dreams!

The final teddies have been selected…notice the Beatrix Potter books…they love these…and to the right, the angels holding three babies up in the air…the inscription under their feet is, “I knew you before you were born”

 

 

“I’m so BECITED!” said Victoria

When you wake up in the morning it will be the big P day.

Kate kicking back but looking forward to waking up on Friday

I didn’t sleep really well last night. I kept waking up and looking at the clock. 2 am, 3 am, 4 am. I was so worried that the alarm I set, was not going to go off. Then finally I got 2 hours of solid sleep because the next time I squinted at the digital clock beside our bed, it was 6 am.  I just laid, feeling exhausted. Wondering how I was going to get through our busy day.

I had to get up soon in order to drive Harrison to his High School Jazz band meeting and then get Will and Grace up and off to school. Then get the little girls out of their jammies, bathed and dressed into  their “new snowflake” pajamas for their special party day.

Thank heavens, our University son was staying home to work on a large project due next week. That was one kid I didn’t have to drive around. If I could just get through the morning, all I had to do later in the day was pick up Harrison from school at 4 pm (he likes to go into the weight room after school) and then take Grace to a swimming assessment, as she has been wanting to join our local swim club. After dinner I knew D would return home and I could exhale. Also, remember, my dryer has been broken most of the week and for someone who does at least 2 loads of wash a day (minimum) it has been another challenge to deal with…washing the least bit of clothes and hanging them to dry.

I thought I was doing really well. I even had time to take a few pictures of the girls after they were ready in their new pajamas with their teddies in their arms.

For some reason this picture didn’t turn out well….were they moving or was their too much light?..but you get to see them in their new pajamas….which for some reason was really thrilling for them. Oh no, fashion divas!

I finally got them all bundled up in their warm coats, hats and gloves because it was really COLD here this morning and hoisted them up into their car seats. Both were complaining that it was tight. Note to self, get D to adjust the car seat straps because I can’t figure out how to adjust them….do they need booster seats ALREADY?…seems like just yesterday we bought these Britax seats.

Here’s a snap I took of the girls the other day all bundled up…but of course Victoria likes to take off her gloves…I need to put a string on those gloves as sure as shooting we are going to lose them

Seems like just yesterday they came home from the hospital in their infant car seats.

We jammed to Van Morrison all the way to preschool. As I looked into the rear view mirror and saw them rocking side to side in time to the beat, with big smiles on their faces, I experienced a flash of  deja vu. Before they were born and I mean BEFORE, they were even conceived. While we were just trying to conceive, I used to look into the rear view mirror of my van and dream about little ones in the back seat. I never dreamed I would have TWIN daughters, well okay, maybe for a second, but I don’t think I could imagine a dream that big, coming true.

As we drove into the preschool parking lot, it wasn’t just the little girls getting excited for their pajama day,  I was starting to feel rather bubbly over the affair. As I parked, other little ones clutching teddies and holding their parents hands were going down the steps to the preschool. WAIT!

BACK UP! The other ones were clutching, TEDDIES! AHHHHH! I knew before I even looked in the back seat that we were teddyless. No teddies. In a car that normally has a few story books, a sleeve of crackers, an apple, someone’s hoodie, a whole bag of things on route to the Goodwill, but this time of course, NO teddies in sight. Again, Murphy’s law at work. When the van is always loaded with all sorts of stuff…except on the day that you need a few lovies…well that is par for the course when D is out of town. Blame it on me being too clean and organized this week.

I didn’t say a thing to the girls. We grabbed their lady bug back packs and headed for the door and it didn’t take them more than a second to realize that something was wrong with this picture. As we walked into the welcoming room and they saw all their friends holding their stuffies, that was it. Victoria’s lip started to tremble and Kate’s brow furrowed even more than usual and she gave me a look that said, “Mom, this just won’t do!”

I acknowledged their disappointment and apologized several times for forgetting their teddies. Victoria asked me several times if I could PLEEESE just drive home and get them. Kate let her do all the talking but was very invested in what her sister was saying. I started to tell them it’s really unfortunate that we forgot their teddies but to drive home would be a waste of gas (totally against my being green and frugal) and perhaps their teddies were happier at home anyway.

Victoria’s eyes grew round and surprised. I don’t think she has ever heard me say no to anything, of any consequence anyway. When I saw that look of deep, DEEP, disappointment in her eyes, I KNEW, I was going to cave. As tired as I was, I knew I was was going to drive all the way home, pick up teddies and then drive all the way back to the preschool. (you know we don’t live right in town right?) I was prepared to do that for my daughters and they recognized me relenting and had hope in their eyes….and then their teacher, Miss C, had overheard our conversation and she came to the rescue.

“Kate and Victoria, how would you like to bring one of the preschool stuffies to the pajama party?” she offered. They looked at each other and almost in unison said, “Okay.” And off they went in search of a furry friend. I whispered, “thank you” to Miss C, and followed the girls into the next room where said stuffed animals lived when they weren’t in the arms of a child.

As I kissed two, HAPPY, little girls goodbye, each holding a new friend, I thought how very blessed I was to experience this moment. Although over the years of trying to conceive these last babies to complete our family, I experienced a lot of disappointment, it was only when I was able to shift my focus and let go, when they arrived at long last. My sweet dream came true. Doubly blessed with them and thrice blessed with William, Kathryn and Victoria.

Isn’t that true for anything we desire in life though?. Sometimes, no amount of laser focus on our intention, brings what we want into our life. Sometimes, we have to shift, take a deep breath and let go and then and only then is disappointment replaced with joy and peace. A sense of well being floats over us and then, sometimes, something even better than we ever DREAM comes to us.

As I walked into our house, look who greeted me….

The little girls teddies, Audrey and Lavender, waiting patiently and contentedly, side by side on our stair railing. Perhaps how my little girls waited for us, wherever they were before coming to earth.

This was a good lesson for me today. After a really busy week, things turned out really well. I just need to follow the little girls lead and be open to bringing another furry friend to the party.

When I went back to pick up the girls from preschool, they were happy and excited and as we headed  to the van, with me wearing Victoria’s bear hat on my head, they took turns sharing stories of all the fun activities they had experienced that morning. I told them that I was REALLY proud of how they accepted the bear disaster with such grace and how I would like to do something fun with them when we got home. Soooooooo…

As soon our coats were put away, with bears in their arms, we all went down to our Hobbit’s Hollow (our crawl space media room….I have to write a blog post about this space) and we made two big bowls of popcorn. We brought it upstairs, I made a healthy smoothie and  hooked up my computer to our big screen T.V. in the family room and we proceeded to have a Beatrix Potter film festival. The movie we watched is called, (click on the hyperlink if you can’t see the YouTube link below)
The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends, episode 1

It’s a delightful show and the music is beautiful.

I often think of Will, Kathryn and Victoria as my little bunnies and some of our favourite books to read together are the little books we have by Beatrix Potter. Alyssa loved them when she was a young child and I think it inspired her fondness for Victorian literature.

When Grace was a baby, I bought this sweet wooden wall hanging, (very cottagy) with three little bunnies hopping on a blue wooden ribbon. I didn’t know then that we would be welcoming three more little ones into our family. (Watch how you decorate your house is all I can say) Below, is a picture of the little nursery we made for Will when he was a baby. See the three bunnies on the end wall. Talk about using space wisely. We turned our former walk in closet into a delightful nursery. Here are a few pictures from when he was a baby.

I love the colour of the nursery’s walls. It’s called “soft earth” by Ralph Lauren. Lovely and peaceful. In this picture you can see the three bunnies over the crib

 

The room is so small that we did the entire end wall in mirror
His bedding was sage green and cream and had little lady bugs and dragon flies on it….little did we know but his baby sisters would be born in May and were called our little “lady bugs” when I was pregnant with them
The blue chair in his room was bought almost 20 years ago for our first baby’s nursery…..I’ve nursed every one of our little ones in this chair….the pillow is one I made and embroidered for Will…”Allow Miracles to Happen” The crib is also old…we bought it for our first baby 20 years earlier…originally it was white but we put a tea stain on it for Will…and D reinforced it to make sure it was still safe for him.

 

Will was only 23 months old when the twins came to earth, so we left him in the nursery and the babies crib was in our room for the first year of their life. They slept comfortably and happily together in that crib until they were one. Often I would find them curled up together in the middle of the night. Notice the the pair of cottage craft bunnies over their bed…the Bunny theme continues.

 

I I thought I would share the above pictures because so many people I know wonder where we find room for all of our children. I like our babies and young children close so this has worked out really    well for us. There was a time when we thought we had to have everything for our children. When     we had our first baby, we had a fancy nursery for her and I think she would have been much happier in her crib right next to our bed. We all have to find what works for us, but my advice to new parents is, don’t spend a lot on baby things, decorations, baby clothes, because babies just want to be in  your arms. They want to be held and feel safe.
Isn’t that truly what we all want?
Well, D arrived home safely as I was typing this blog post. I took about 1/2 hour to bring him up todate on all the happenings and then he said, “I’ll just read it in your blog.” So, dear readers, I think I had better go and follow him to bed. Each of us has to find ways to shift when disappointment arises in our lives but I hope the next time you are saying, “oh crap,” you will put on your pajamas, find a furry friend to hug, make some popcorn and watch a good movie…or better yet, find a great blog to read.
 
                                                          
For those of you with little ones, I hope you sit and watch the above YouTube together. It’s really quite magical. And of course, may all your sweet dreams come true.
 
Until we meet again, may you be well, happy and peaceful.
Blessings from Hope

Lest We Forget and Lentil Soup

/ Lee Reynolds

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

~An excerpt from Laurence Binyon’s poem, “They Shall Grow Not Old”~

What does Remembrance day and lentil soup have in common? Well from as far back as I can remember, November 11th was normally cold, dreary and wet, so soup just seems to be the appropriate thing to eat. Warmed the bones and the heart. Also, it’s something that you can make easily that doesn’t take tremendous effort and yet it’s satisfying at the end of the day.

But today the weather is glorious. I woke up to blue skies and although I knew it was cold outside as there was frost, FINALLY, on the ground. Even though the weather was nice, albeit cold, I still felt like soup. On a day when I think of my step father Bud and all the war stories he told of his years in the navy, I want to wrap myself in a blanket, eat soup and be thankful for those who gave up their lives so I could live in freedom.

Before starting my soup though, I decided to go out to the garden, one last time to salvage any remaining vegetables so I could make one last fresh juice from our garden. So with clippers in hand, out I went picking an assortment of things.

I picked kale, swiss chard, parsley, and even some lavender and also gathered some leek seeds
In the war days people were encouraged to grow Victory Gardens and these last vegetables of the season would have been precious.

 

So with the last vegetables form our garden, I juiced a a delicious vegetable drink with a bit of ginger

 

This is the stuff that helps me keep up with these little ones

 

D, who had been out in the garage attic, looking for skates, skis and winter boots, came in for a drink….Cheers D!

 

Bottoms up, Victoria and Kate

 

Will, who was outside helping D find skates…came in when he heard the juicer…he LOVES his green drink!

So with delicious juice in our tummies, the boys went back to the garage attic, and the little girls continued colouring, (check out the Activity Village site for great free colouring pages you can print off…there is something for every age) and I got started on my lentil soup for dinner. I wanted to get the soup made and simmering, and then head back out to the garden. The weather was really nice and since our compost bin was full, I needed to dig a hole to put our kitchen compost scraps somewhere.

I love soup. It’s my ultimate comfort food and as a mom, I like how I can make it early in the day and it just gets better as it simmers on the back burner. I know we are going to eat a healthy dinner without any mad scramble at the end of the day and I can spend a good bulk of my day, doing what I  love or dig into a bigger project. Literally, today I would be digging holes to put debris I couldn’t cram in the compost any longer.

If you like making soup too, join me as I chop and talk. I don’t need a recipe for soup, I just start with my stock pot, some extra virgin olive oil, onions, garlic and seasoning and then add what I have on hand. Here’s how I’m making my soup today.

And before we get going, let’s put on a song called, “We’ll Meet Again.” by Vera Lynn…this takes me back to when I was small and even though I was born at the tail end of the baby boom generation,…I remember hearing these songs from my childhood and they left a lasting impression

Hope’s Remembrance Day Lentil Soup

Ingredients

2 cups of dried green lentils
1 cup chopped onions (2 large onions)
1 cup chopped leeks, white part only (depending on the size, maybe 2 leeks)…from my garden, yes!
1 tablespoon minced garlic (3 cloves)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme leaves or 1 teaspoon dried
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 cup medium-diced celery (3 stalks)
2 cups diced carrots (3 to 5 carrots)
8 cups of vegetable stock
2 fresh tomatoes
1/2 cup of tomato sauce,,,,I had some left over spaghetti sauce in the fridge
2 tablespoons red wine or red wine vinegar
Sour Cream, fresh parsley for topping….opt freshly grated parmesan cheese

Directions
Saute onions, leeks, garlic with olive oil. Add seasonings, cook for 20 minutes until the vegetables are translucent.

 

 Add the seasonings and continue to cook. Ahhh… layering the flavours
In a large pot, cover the lentils with boiling water and allow to sit for 15 minutes. Drain.

Add the celery and carrots and cook for 10 more minutes.
 Add the tomatoes, cook for another 5 minutes
Add drained lentils and vegetable stock

 





Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 1 hour, until the lentils are soft. Taste the soup and add any last seasoning to taste. Add the red wine and serve hot, topped with sour cream, parsley, grated parmesan cheese.

 While the soup is simmering, let’s make my easy and quick, dinner buns.

I love the smell of bread baking in the kitchen don’t you? Pure comfort!

Hope’s Quick and Easy Dinner buns

    • 4 1/2 cups flour

 

    • 4 1/2 teaspoons dry yeast

 

    • 1 cup milk

 

    • 3/4 cup water

 

    • 1/2 cup margarine or butter

 

    • 1/3-1/2 cup white sugar

 

  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

 Directions

1. Mix 2 cups of flour and yeast in a large bowl

2. In a separate bowl, heat milk, water, butter, sugar and salt to a lukewarm in the microwave or on the top of the stove

3. Add all at once to flour mixture and mix until smooth. I use my kitchenaid stand mixer

4. Mix in enough flour to make a soft dough..2 -21/2 cups

5. Mix well until dough is soft and slightly sticky, then turn out onto a floured surface and let it rest under a greased bowl for 15 minutes.

6. Shape dough into balls and place on a greased baking pan…I like to top the buns with a mixture of oatmeal, ground flax seed and sunflower seeds but you can top it with anything you have on hand…or nothing.

7. Cover with a tea towel for 45 minutes to let it rise

8. Bake in preheated oven at 400 F for 12 to 15 minutes

  So with the soup on the back burner, and the buns rising, I decided to make some healthy cookies as well since our cookie jar was empty and tomorrow the kids are going back to school.

I always think of my mother in law, Doreen when I make cookies. My husband says that his mom never made cookies for him and 3 siblings. She used to say, “I would make cookies, but they will just get eaten.” Which I always thought was so funny. Another thing D would say if we hadn’t heard from her in a while (since they didn’t live in our town and to connect meant we had to call long distance) she would say, “I would have phoned, but I didn’t know if you would be home.”

Now don’t get me wrong at all, D’s mom Doreen was a LOVELY lady but she was quirky sometimes. I certainly had my moments with her when she was alive and some things really set me off, but when I hear other women complaining about their mother in laws, I wish I could give them some advice and tell them to treasure the days. If stuff is coming up, then it’s a good thing and an opportunity to look at yourself in the mirror.  I wish I had been a more tolerant and loving daughter in law. I see it now but it’s all in hindsight, although on this Remembrance day, I’m not just thinking of the veterans, I’m thinking of lost moments with people like Doreen. She was a special person and I don’t know if I ever told her that when she was alive. 

In memory of Doreen and things that I’m learning, my kitchen motto is, “you can never have too many cookies and the faster they get eaten the better.” ~by Lee Reynolds~

So with that, here is the Cookie Recipe I’m making today.

I have a general basic cookie recipe that I use and I just change the add ons based on what I have in my pantry and often the time of year as well. Today, it feels like we need a cinnamon type cookie…something soft, chewy and a bit spicy.  Something that feels like a comfort cookie. Wish you were here Alyssa….you too Doreen!

 Hope’s Oatmeal Cookie Recipe

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups of margarine

1 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar

3 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

1 cup white flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 cups oatmeal

1/4 cup ground flax seed

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

Now this is where you get creative…today

1 cup of walnuts

1 cup of dried cherries…which I love but my husband said he wished I had put in raisins

My older kids said they wished we had white chocolates and pecans….but I didn’t….and anyway that isn’t as healthy but you see what I mean…this is where you can create your own cookie combo….today for us..it was walnuts and cherries…oh almonds and coconut…maybe with a few chocolate chips would be good too. Okay, you see, the cookie baker in me gets carried away. These turned out really chewy, a nice soft texture and not too sweet…the cherries were a nice touch 

Directions.

Cream the butter in a large bowl…I use my kitchenaid mixer

 Add the white and brown sugar

 Add the 3 eggs, mixing well after each addition

 Mix all the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl, the flour, oatmeal, etc and then add them to the butter, sugar and egg mixture. See the consistency below.

 Now the part I often ask my kids to help me with so I can get outside…whoever is in the house and there is usually one older child lingering around the kitchen…usually our 15 year old Harrison although today it’s Clark……I get him to bake the cookies in a preheated oven…350 degrees F…for 10 minutes or until golden brown…if you over bake the cookies they will be crunchy…we like them soft so we find around 10 minutes is perfect.

As you can see from this picture, the sun is shining into my kitchen…time to get outside

 The cookie jar is full, AND there is a tupperware container of cookies in the freezer as well. This makes 3 dozen, nice size cookies

 But first, since D has been trying on skates, I thought it would be nice to offer a cookie…..

 

And also offer one to Harrison who was out raking a few leaves for my compost pile.

One of my compost bins…absolutely full. So I decided to do some trench composting. (Makes me think of the men in the trenches during war.) Have you heard of it? It’s where you dig a hole in your garden and deposit your kitchen scraps and leaves or any debris from your garden and at this time of year…there is LOTS. Everything decomposes exactly where you need it.

So whenever we have a full bucket with kitchen scraps, which is daily in our house, we dig a big hole, put the scraps in and top them with leaves…nothing like composting in the spot you want to enrich your soil. The little girls have really gotten into helping mom as you can see.

 

The top two pictures were taken last week, when my tomatoes etc were still in the garden

 

 

 

These pictures were taken this weekend…it’s really taken a turn towards winter but we can still dig in the garden

So after being out in the garden in the afternoon, it was nice to come in and have a cup of hot cocoa and a cookie and chat about what Remembrance Day means to my children

They do understand the sacrifice others have made for them and appreciate the peace we are living in right now.  Lest we forget.

 And now it’s time to dish up dinner, open up the Pumpkineater ale my brother in law B gave us. It’s from Howe Sound Brewing on the Sunshine coast…brewed with barley, fresh roasted pumpkin, hops, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, star anise, water and yeast. Apparently produced in very limited quantities. Thanks B…wish you were here.

Now, I’m not normally much of a beer drinking but I do recall my mom and her friends all going to the legion after the Remembrance day ceremonies so I’m giving it a go….plus doesn’t it sound like it would compliment lentil soup? (It was good…but strong)

Clark is showing me how to pour the ale

 

Our 21 year old drinking his protein shake AND the ale at dinner…thanks for baking the cookies Clark

 

 

D, loves when I’m taking pictures for my blog…as he doesn’t have to dish up himself!

Before we eat, let’s give thanks for the abundance in our lives and today, for those who fought bravely so that we could live freely and in peace. Amen

 

If you are unable to see the YouTube video of the Remembrance Day…last post click on the hyperlink

This blog post is dedicated to my step father, J. R. Finch, my uncle Stan Herrling, my uncle Gordon Clark, and also to my mother in law, Doreen. May you all rest in peace and know how much you were loved

Until we meet again, may you be well, happy and peaceful.

Blessings from Hope

(p.s. this post was written on November 11, 2014…but didn’t get published until the 12th)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vegetarian Chili~Growing Older and Wiser?

/ Lee Reynolds

Dearest blog readers, I’m sorry I haven’t written many posts this week but it’s been a birthday week for me. First, to celebrate my best friend T’s birthday on the 5th, and then mine yesterday. I’ve spent the whole week being introspective and reflecting on my wishes the last time I blew out a blaze of candles. I have grown a year older, but I wonder, am I any wiser?

At the beginning of the week I was feeling rather blue. I know it had a lot to do with the consumption of sugar from Halloween, which I tried to curtail but in the moment it’s fun to try a little of everything from the treat bowl. It takes me right back to my childhood but now I understand how damaging processed sugar is towards our health. It’s evil wrapped in brightly coloured packages.

As we ate a few treats with our children, D and I were remembering the little boxes of raisins, the handfuls of peanuts and the apples we would receive during our childhood trick or treat forays. Whatever happened to those? Our kids looked horrified and said, if they received anything like THAT, it would be suspect and they would probably have to throw it out. I was thinking, NOT if we knew our neighbours better. Anyway, this isn’t a blog about Halloween treats, but the sugar dump from that occasion prompted my depressed feelings.

Sadly, I kept them growing, (have you ever done this?) by allowing myself to think about both of my parents who are no longer on this earth school. You’d think I’d get used to that loss, after all I have spent most of my life without my Dad physically present and it’s been 2 1/2 years since my mom passed away. On special occasions, like Halloween and my birthday week, it doesn’t get any easier. Do you know what I mean?

Thankfully, I snapped myself out of my glum at least a bit, by banning the sugar. I took all the kid’s Halloween loot and our remaining candy bags that we didn’t give out and  put it all in the garage.  Now you may be thinking, “why did you take the kids candy too?” My response is, because just like clockwork, a few days after the candy gorge, all my little ones, and big ones started to feel yucky. Hmmmm, no wonder. Am I getting any wiser? At the twin’s preschool class, after their morning circle time, I heard their teacher asking whether they had any candy left from trick or treating, and one child said they traded in their candy for a toy. What do you think of that?

Anyway, my plan was, we would forget all about the said candy and when we did find the hardened candy bars and stale chip bags the next time my husband did a wood working project, my children (and me) would not find it appealing any longer. Can you compost that stuff? PROBABLY NOT! I transgress.

On Monday, I started my meditation with Dr. Deepak Chopra and Oprah, (are you joining me?) and my first session stirred up some emotions I thought I had let go. The meditation series is called, “The Energy of Attraction.”    and day one was about the Nature of Desire. The centering thought was, “my life moves forward through desire,” and the quote for the day was;


“You are what your deep, driving desire is. As your desire is, so is your will. As your will is, so is your deed.” ― Brihadaranyaka Upanishad
As I explored my feelings, I realized I was still grieving over the loss of our Christmas tree farm and  if my deepest desire wasn’t coming true, what did that make me? I had so wanted to be living in the country by this birthday.
So Tuesday started with me being rather glum again, until I found my sister C at my doorstep with hugs, kind words and a lovely lavender coloured bag heavy with birthday surprises. She also brought a few keepsakes that belonged to my father and mother. She had kept them all this time and wanted me to have them. Although she was with me only a short time on Tuesday, the connection was sweet, loving and meaningful. (thank you C)
My sister C said that since I was writing, (and our daughter Alyssa too…check out her Introvert in the Corner blog) perhaps I would like our Dad’s typewriter (he was a writer as well) and a few of our mother’s beloved books. Perfect for reading by the fire throughout the winter. After C left, I place them on mom’s Hope chest in our Den, under our family portraits with a little angel between them.
I felt so buoyed by her impromptu visit, that I decided to step outside of my comfort zone and join a meditation support group that was held at our local library Tuesday night. I felt safe very quickly and the evening was wonderful and restorative, but  L O N G. We sat in a circle and during our second meditation session, I sensed rainbow filled light energy slowly circling around us and above us, creating a tunnel with vibrating, coloured light and at the top was brilliant white light.

Before the session was over, the newcomers continued to meditate, while the regulars in the group, laid hands on our heads with silent blessings. Before the first hands were felt on my head, there was a soft rush of warm air and the feeling of peace.

It was an amazing experience, until I went to get up. After sitting cross legged for almost 2 hours of meditating, chanting and discussing experiences that brought us joy, my right foot had gone totally numb. When I went to stand, my foot didn’t move and as I looked down at my non functioning appendage, it appeared to resemble a rubber fake foot, totally disengaged from my leg. Ahhhhh! Looking back it was so funny, but in the moment I thought I would never walk again.

After that Tuesday night meditation session, my week got even better. On Wednesday, I remembered how blessed I was to have a best friend in T as I sent her a birthday card and wrote a blog post about our friendship . How can we ever stay in a place of sadness when we start to count our blessings. Thanks mom for that lesson and to you, T for being my dearest friend.

Then on Thursday morning, D came home to watch the little girls, while I attended the PAL’s kindergarten program, where parents are inspired to assist their young learners towards literacy, numeracy etc. I came home excited to rearrange our family room, so our children could access the various play things we had in our home. They just needed to be organized to a degree where they were readily accessible. As I worked away, before the older kids came home from school, I dropped into a funk again, as I recalled how functional the Christmas tree farm house would have been. It was the perfect lay out and flow for our family dynamic. While our current home is great, it wasn’t designed to house 6 children, not to mention 8, when everyone is home.

Later that night though, my spirits soared as I found out Harrison’s volleyball team did really well at their play-offs. His high school is known for, “Honour and Excellence” and isn’t the largest high school in our small town but they are known for their strong academics. Normally, the boys sports teams don’t do incredibly well at play offs but this year they made it to third place.  That is HUGE and so while others may wonder why we were so happy, the fact they didn’t come in last was a big deal for a rag tag team.

And if that weren’t enough, while at the volleyball play-offs, D received a call that Grace had been chosen to play the lead, “Holly Day,” in our elementary school’s Christmas concert. She will have the most speaking and singing parts of anyone. We were absolutely thrilled and Grace, who is 11, and is in grade 6, as well as grade 6 in piano with the Royal Conservatory, and a voice student at our local music school, was stunned when she heard. She thought she did well at the audition but she came home saying there were some girls with wonderful voices so she wasn’t holding out much hope for a big part. Did I mention she is humble? I however am very proud of her and it really was another highlight in our week.

So many great things happening in one week and yet, I still felt sad, like a black umbrella of dark emotions covered my head.

I don’t know about you, but I always find I’d rather skip my birthday totally, as so much STUFF comes up. On my actual birthday, yesterday, November 8th, I woke up wanting to sleep the day away rather than face what was to come. Since it was Saturday and nothing was planned, I thought sleeping in a bit would wash away the negative feelings, but it just made it worse. When you are a mom to 8 kids, 6 of whom are still living at home, you know you can’t take even a day off, let alone a morning from ANYTHING. So when I finally did get up, the kids were hungry, the laundry pile was huge, the dishwasher needed to be emptied and filled again, the cats were meowing. Well you get the idea. You don’t really have a day off…even on your birthday.

Now I’m not normally a person who believes her glass is half empty, as you have probably figured out from reading any of my blog posts but I kept looking at what I didn’t have in my life. I wouldn’t be selling Christmas trees this holiday season or baking cookies in my new farm kitchen. I wouldn’t be organizing a large children’s play room or getting chicken eggs from our coop. Oh crap! What a roller coaster of emotions…UNTIL.

My sister J came to our door, totally unexpected but boy was I happy to see her shining face and feel her warm hug. Amongst the mess of our house and chaos of noisy children, we somehow shared a pot of “David’s Mother’s Helper tea, my oldest sister B had given me during her last visit in October. (see the Get Grounded Earthlings post…thank you B) It was lovely to sink into a chair and talk to J about the week and also share some of my feelings. Do we ever really know how deeply we touch each other? And also, why  certain people are put onto our path and in our lives.

I don’t think my sister J knew the extent of my blues. I like to believe I’m quite an upbeat positive person and as a result good things keep showing up for me but for some reason when my birthday comes around, I feel sad. Is it about getting a year older? Maybe. Although one of my mantras is, “I’m ageless!” Seeing my cake glowing brighter with more candles every year though reminds me in one sense, how many years I have experienced on earth and then it also reminds me that I AM growing wiser as well. I am more enlightened. Feeling melancholy is okay, and actually part of the process. We need to feel the depths of sadness in order to recognize great joy when it arrives. It’s part of growing as a soul.

After J left, I picked up my socks, literally and figuratively, since my laundry pile was knee high (and full of socks to be partnered) and she had lifted my spirits. As I cleaned and organized, our 15 year old son Harrison, made me a decadent chocolate cake, complete with bits of left over Halloween chocolates on top. (I gave him some of the stash) D and I made dinner and the evening turned out really better than I had ever expected after such a emotional week.

I blew out the flurry of candles, to cheers from the children, and then marvelled over the thoughtful gifts everyone had chosen for me. I felt more and more blessed. Today, as I look again at all my new treasures, I see there is a theme, as if everyone got together and chose something unique and special that belonged with the next gift. Although, I don’t have my farm, YET, everyone gave me a little piece of HOPE to keep my dreams alive.

The collection of thoughtful gifts given by my sisters, friends and even our oldest son took time to find something for his me

 

So Happy Birthday to me!….I’m getting older…and yes a bit wiser.

And since I’m a fall baby, perhaps you want to share in cooking one of my favourite fall dinners, Vegetarian Chili…recipe is below. Can you believe that as of today, we still haven’t had any frost in our area and I still had tomatoes, green peppers, hot red peppers and carrots etc. growing in our garden. When you find abundant blessings this late in fall what do you do? Make vegetarian chili.

Can you believe we are still eating from our garden…and it’s November!

The little kids helped out in the garden today…it’s starting to get cold now but…

 

I’ve never picked anything in our garden this late in the fall…tomatoes, peppers, carrots, kale, swiss chard, parsley..all still going,,,,but tomorrow is bringing cold weather at last

 

While I was at it, I put some of my hot red chili peppers in the dehydrator for my next chili

If you are wanting something to lift your spirits, make this chili and think of me.

Hope’s Vegetarian Chili

It helps to get everything chopped ahead of time
Ingredients
  • 2 large 28oz cans of whole tomatoes and their juice or if you canned any of your own….a large jar of stewed tomatoes..also if you have some fresh tomatoes, chop and use as well
  • 2 can of beans, drained and rinsed (I used kidney..but you can use anything)
  • 2 cup of frozen corn
  • 2 stalks of celery, diced
  • 2 small peppers or one large pepper, diced (I used a green but you can use any colour)
  • 2 carrots, diced
  • 1 large onion, diced…I used two smaller ones
  • 4 cloves of garlic, finely minced
  • 2 tablespoons of cumin
  • 1 teaspoon oregano
  • 1-3 tablespoons chili powder (more will be spicier)
  • ¼-2 teaspoons of chili flakes (I used fresh red hot chili peppers from our garden)
  • 2 tablespoons oil
  • Salt to taste
  • Optional toppings: sour cream, cheddar cheese, cilantro,  parsley, diced avocados or green onion.

 

Instructions
1. Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onions and saute for about 3 minutes. Add garlic and saute another 1 minute. .Add celery and saute until tender. Add spices and cook stirring for about 30 seconds.
2. Add carrots, peppers and cut up fresh tomatoes and bring to a simmer. Once the chili begins to simmer, reduce the heat to a medium low.  
3. Add beans
4. Add corn
5. Add stewed tomatoes

6. Bring to a boil and then reduce to medium low. Continuing cooking chili for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Ready to serve anytime you are ready to eat. 

We served our chili on a bed of rice, along with a corn meal muffin and kale salad. We also like sour cream and grated cheese on top but tonight we put a sprig of parsley…still growing in our garden. 

What a great, healthy fall dinner…..perfect for celebrating fall birthdays.

And to top a fall birthday dinner….chocolate cake of course…made specially by our son Harrison
This is the recipe from my blog post, “The Places that Scare You”

Thanks Harrison. I know I said taking Foods at school was a waste of time since we also teach these life skills at home, But you are turning into a really good cook and gee, since we have to eat everyday for our whole life this is a good skill to hone. I’m now a big proponent of these life skill courses in the later grades in school. Yummy!

Even May Ling is interested in cake

I listen to a wide variety of music but this week, whenever I got into my van…ha…Van Morrison sang to me. This particular song spoke to me this week, “When God Shines His Light.” (click on this hyper link if you are not able to see the YouTube below)…..I don’t know why but it lifted me up…I hope you enjoy it and know one of the blessings I count each day, is having you reading my blog. THANK YOU!

Until we meet again, may you be well, happy and peaceful.

Blessings from Hope

You’ve Got A Friend

/ Lee Reynolds / 1 Comment

 

“Many people will walk in and out of your life, but only true friends will leave footprints in your heart” – Eleanor Roosevelt

Eleanor was right on. She must have had a really good friend to inspire her to write the above quote. Does that friend still send ripples of love out into the world now? What would we be without our friends?

I have had my share of friends over my lifetime, but only a handful have remained close, and only one has been with me through thick and thin in my adult years.

I met my best friend Tamara, 17 years ago this fall. Her oldest daughter, A was in a Piano Pathways class at our local music school, with our oldest son Clark. Some of the nicest people I have met, have been at our music school. There is something really magical that occurs everyday in this harmony filled heritage house.
Smith House; City of Vernon, 2010
The former Smith house in Vernon is now our community music school….magic happens here.

Although we were both busy with young families, I looked forward to our weekly connection in the waiting room. We discovered that Clark and A were in kindergarten at the same school and she was a neighbour as well. As the music year unfolded, I admired her nurturing manner as she cared for her younger children. She always spoke to them softly and treated them with utmost respect, as if they were precious jewels. Later, I witness this again and again and realized this was her nature with everyone. She is a precious gem.

As our friendship grew, we shared many of the same memories as we snapped pictures of our children at the music parties and all the various school functions. In addition, we shared a mutual interest in reading and for almost 5 years, we met monthly with our Thursday night book club. I’ll never forget getting to know her at a deeper level after discussing the book, “Vinegar Hill,” by Manette Ansay. 

There was something about the characters in that story which prompted T to open up and share a  glimpse into her life. It was then, I realized I had found a kindred spirit  and I started becoming more intimate with my life story as a result.

Isn’t it true, when we open up our heart, we connect with other people at a deeply satisfying level?
Slowly,  slowly I uncovered more of myself for her to see and was happy to find her embracing even my darkest fears.

As I had this outlet in real life, to allow my authentic self to be exposed, I found my dear friend appreciated me even more. She gave me the confidence to shine in other areas of my life and with other friends.  “A true friend accepts who you are, but also helps you become who you were meant to be.”

My deepest wish also was released. Although I was 40 years old and way beyond when most women close their womb service, I dearly wanted another child. T embraced this dream and encouraged me to listen to my heart. Other friends at the time, said I was crazy for trying to conceive at my age, so instead of bringing them closer I shut down. Oh yes, we remained friends but sadly it was with me covering up my heart’s desire with a mask.

When we are trying to manifest our greatest wishes, we need to surround ourselves with positive and supportive people. I was starting to grow as a person and while all my friends helped to create who I am today, it was T who loved me for who I was and inspired me to be even better. I felt like I was taking a deep breath when I was around other people and holding it until I was about to explode, but with T, I could exhale into her accepting arms.  She has been like a really good quilt that ages with you but never loses it’s warmth. And, I wonder today if all of T’s friends think she is their BEST FRIEND too. Hmmm.

T and I shared my tears and trials over trying to conceive. She listened as I cried in deep grief over a sad pregnancy loss right before Christmas 2001. That Christmas she brought me a beautiful Christmas ornament with an Angel that had a banner that read, “HOPE.” This word has held such powerful energy illuminating my path. Over the years and to this day, that ornament is the first one placed on the top of our holiday tree. It reminds me not to just have faith on this earth, but that our BEST friends have been sent to us, to keep us on our path. She has touched my soul and in many ways is my earth angel.


This is a picture of my Hope Angel given to me by T

Even though T, got pregnant with her fourth before I was able to conceive our amazing Grace, she never flaunted her pregnancy. She shared each month and her growing tummy gently with love and compassion and I was thrilled when her baby daughter V arrived. We had both dreamed of baby girls.

T’s daughter V….and Grace are good friends as well

She was the first one I told I was pregnant other than my husband D, and she rejoiced with me when Grace arrived safely the following December. It was a year almost to the the day since she gave me the HOPE Angel Christmas ornament. She generously showered Grace with delicate baby outfits and thoughtful gifts just for me. Then, over the next 10 years, although we were not living in the same town, she was beside me as we tried to complete our family. She was the ONLY one who knew the depth of my struggle but she never once suggested I give up my dream. She was there with a shoulder to cry on and also laughed when life was filled with happiness. Once again, she was the first of my friends to hear the news that Will was on his way, and then a bit over a year later, thrilled over the news of twin girls coming.

Until now, few knew what a tough journey it was to bring these Soulbabies to earth and none to the degree that T shared. I treasure the fact, she never left my side.

And so that brings me to now. Today, November 5,  a very special person was born on this earth. It was 40 something years ago but whose counting right T? We are ageless! I didn’t want the night to draw it’s curtain and for the stars to appear, without wishing my best friend,….

A very Happy Birthday T! May all your wishes and dreams come true! You deserve the best in life
Love you lots,
Always your friend,Lee/aka Hope

                                      
Although we no longer live in the same town, I always feel connected to her. She is forever more a part of me. Isn’t that what best friends do…they teach us to love really well and to open our hearts really wide. 

Thank you T, for being the BEST FRIEND I have needed on this earth. I wish you everything good you have bestowed upon me…..so watch out for a Universe full of Goodness coming right at you. 

And for my dear blog friends, may you be blessed with wonderful friends leaving footprints in your heart too. This is my deepest wish for us all. It’s hard enough walking this earth at times but knowing someone dear walks with you makes it bearable.

It’s because of my friend T’s unconditional love and support over the years, that my heart is open enough to send out this message, not just now but in every interaction I have on earth. Each of us can touch the world with this light filled energy. Each of us can be a BEST FRIEND!




 

                              Here is T with our new baby Will…remember he is the little guy who would cry when out of my arms for the first 6 months?………..Did I mention she is a baby whisperer?

To all BEST FRIENDS out there SHINE ON!…..and to T, thanks for helping me to shine!

Here’s a fav of mine, Carole King, singing, “You’ve got a Friend/” 

If you are using an apple product (and I know you have an Apple T) click on the hyperlink above to listen to Carole sing….about friends.

 Until we meet again, may you be well, happy and peaceful.

Blessings from Hope

 

Halloween Sugar Cookies and Fruit Pumpkins

/ Lee Reynolds
This year I made a scary Farmer out of paper mache and surrounded him with pumpkin friends

 

Over our front entrance is a large spider made out of a stuffed garbage bag

It’s over for another year! Spooky memories and fun dress up moments are behind us. My camera packed with oodles of pictures remembering another tradition marking our little one’s childhood years. Our big ones too.

Harrison ready for the dance

Our Halloween celebrations started when I went to my Sacred Circle book club last Wednesday to discuss the book, “The Places that Scare Us.” by Pema Chodron. While we were talking about our fears, my 15 year old was at his high school Halloween dance. He pulled an outfit together after school on Wednesday,  don’t ask me what he was wearing, a cross between a Mexican Amigo and a prisoner. Notice his striped pants which I thought were odd but he felt it went with the ensemble. Who am I to judge?

I really miss our older son Mitchell, who is away at his first year of University. He always used to come up with the most creative outfits with minutes to spare. It used to drive me crazy since I’m a huge planner and a bit controlling, okay, who am I kidding, a lot controlling, but he seemed to enjoy the whole process of selecting his Halloween outfits.

Mitchell dressed up at his Campo Cello summer camp…..I think this was the year they were playing songs by The Beatles

On Friday I dropped the little girls off at their preschool where they were having a Halloween party.

 

 

As soon as I dropped the girls off at preschool,

Fireman William

I raced over to help at Will’s kindergarten class
where his teacher had planned a Scavenger hunt, Halloween bingo, a craft centre making Witch’s hands (plastic gloves, with candy corn for fingernails, filled up with popcorn, then tied with an elastic and the finishing touch, a plastic spider ring on one of the fingers, and an imagination
table full of Halloween stickers and stamps.

They had a great time and the snacks were yummy too.

Here’s a few pictures of his kindergarten party.

 

 

 I love, LOVE the fruit pumpkins that a few moms brought to the party…check it out!
Also, tucked behind, is the basket of sugar cookies I brought…notice it’s almost empty!

 

  After Will’s party, I raced home to relieve D of the little girl’s care. After preschool he picked them up and brought them home as the kindergarten party was longer than their time at preschool. He returned to work where they were having a Halloween social luncheon and the girls and I put the finishing touches on the outside decorations, see above, and dragged our old mini stereo outside so we could play scary music for the trick or treaters later.
Grace invited a friend over for a Halloween sleepover, so after an early dinner, they headed off first into the night….dressed up as flower children from the 60’s.  Again, no input from me, like her brother, she pulled the whole outfit together from our tickle trunk. I was really proud how sustainable and creative we were this Halloween, using what we had without consuming.
Not the best picture but the girls were so anxious to get out the door….peace out!
Then it was time to get the little people dressed for the night. Did I mention that it rained most of the day? Thankfully, the showers stopped long enough while they were out trick or treating, however it was a lot of fun avoiding puddles wearing long princess gowns.
Happy Halloween 2014, Will is a Ninja, Kate is a Fairy Princess, Victoria is a Queen, of course!
 Notice how bundled the little ones are….there are layers and layers under their dresses and Ninja Costumes….but hey, when I was little, our mom would put our coats on over our costume so I think this is so much better from a dress up point of view. At least we don’t live farther up north!
Well that is a few snap shots into our Halloween in case you were interested. What I am really happy to share with you is a long time favourite recipe for Sugar Cookies, which I make for every occasion. At Christmas, they are our fav cookie and we decorate trees, angels, stars and candy canes all out of my sugar cookie recipe, but at Halloween time, OF COURSE they are Pumpkins.
If you don’t have a great Sugar Cookie recipe, you have to try this one. The secret is in the nutmeg, not rolling them too thin so they are chewy and of course not over baking them.
So tuck this recipe away until next year, or save for the next holiday where you need sugar cookies. I hope it becomes a tradition for your family too.
Enjoy!
Hope’s Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
4 cups all purpose Flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg (optional…but I never delete it)
11/2 cups of butter…I use half margarine and butter
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups white granulated sugar
4 eggs
 
Directions
 
Measure flour without sifting, add baking powder, salt and nutmeg. Stir well to blend.
 
Cream shortening in mixing bowl until fluffy. Add vanilla and gradually add sugar mixing until creamy.
 
Beat in eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Add dry ingredients. Combine thoroughly.
Chill dough in the fridge for at least 2 hours/ overnight is best
I break the dough into four packets…wrapping it in wax paper.
When you are ready to bake, roll out chilled dough on a lightly floured surface with floured rolling pin. 
Cut out cookies close together using floured cookie cutters….I use a Tupperware Pumpkin shaped cutter.
Place on lightly greased or sprayed cookie sheet 2 inches apart…for chewy cookies make sure they are thick…unless you like a crunchy sugar cookie then roll out thinner
Bake in a preheated oven 375 degree F. for 8 to 10 minutes…watch it closely. Put cookies onto a cooling rack until cool.
Frost with a butter icing and decorate with candies of your choice. I love the spearmint green chewy candies for the stems and then like candy corn for the nose although this year we couldn’t find them at the Super Store…all sold out…so I improvised. Chocolate chip pieces are great for eyes and mouths…although this year the little girls and I selected different candies for the eyes and nose…be creative!
And here is the basket of sugar cookies I took to the Kindergarten party.
my sugar cookies…they went fast!
Thanks so much for coming for a visit. Hey and before I go…don’t forget about Dr. Deepak Chopra’s meditation challenge...it starts tomorrow/ There is still time to register for this free guided meditation session. I’d LOVE if you joined with me….and I hope to write a few blog posts about meditating, and also creating the life we desire.
 I’d better get to bed as I’m going to get up early and connect with my soul. Here’s the link….or click on the hyper link words above if you are using an apple product.

 

 

Life is so good! I hope you join me in the meditation challenge called, “Energy of Attraction”…..let Deepak “mind the time” as you connect with the greater part of you. May all your dreams come true.

Until we meet again, may you be well, happy and peaceful.

Blessings from Hope