Broccoli Cheese Soup

This morning I made this recipe for broccoli cheese soup, substituting frozen broccoli for the fresh and adding a little minced garlic in with the onion after it had softened a bit. So I packed that for Stephen's lunch along with some oyster crackers (he later said it was very good), fruit and garlic bread (I'll share my recipe for that in another post). And some taffy candy tucked in with the fork and spoon. Willow also had the broccoli soup for lunch and ate it all up. So I think I'll keep hold of this recipe.

I have decided what my new craft is going to be. Nice and simple, I am going to try making my own Christmas cards to send to family and friends this year. We never send out many so I won't be doing tons, just family and close friends. I'm looking forward to browsing for the materials at the craft store hehe.

BLT wraps

Clockwise from top container: Apples sprinkled with cinnamon sugar with caramel dip in the little blue container, bacon and tomatoes, homemade trail mix, BLT wraps. I couldn't fit all the bacon I'd made in the wraps and still have them close so that's why i put a little extra in one of the containers. Oh and, an Oreo cookie stick on the side.

I took Stephen his lunch today and then finally returned my jacket (still haven't got one to replace it), then I took Willow grocery shopping. I mostly wanted to get shopping done today in order to get spaghetti sauce ingredients because Stephen is at school tonight and it's the perfect night to make it. That way it will be good for tomorrow. I'll make the meatballs when it's ready.

While I was at the store I got chatting to the women behind the counter making birthday cakes and stuff. They were giving me all sorts of tips and tricks for making Stephen's Mom's birthday cake in November. They even said if I come back next week they will give me a supply of spatulas and stuff because they have wooden handles and they've recently made the switch to plastic. She said she'd rather give them away than throw them away. So I will be going back for those. I was very thankful for Willow sitting there patiently as I watched one of the ladies decorate an entire cake. Probably because she loves frosting so much and didn't mind!

The house is a bit of a mess right now so I'm going to try and get some stuff done and then put Willow down for her nap. She's been so good about sleeping in her 'big girl bed', we really haven't had any trouble there. I thought we would have endless sleepless nights with her running into our room or crying in her own room but she sleeps just like she did in her crib. She doesn't even come out of her room in the morning, despite being free to now. She just cries in the morning or plays with her toys in her bed. My little angel.

I'm really enjoying the fall season right now and looking forward to thanksgiving. Willow is now getting to the age where she can understand what holidays mean. I am trying to teach her the meaning of Christmas, cause that's my fave and the most important holiday I think. When you ask her what Christmas is, she either says 'presents' or 'Jesus' birthday'. The latter, of course, is what I'm trying to have her focus on! Just when you think she understands somewhat, she'll say, 'Christmas coming to Willow's house soon, Mommy' and I'll realize she thinks that 'Christmas' is a little girl coming to play hah. I wonder if there are any little girls out there called Christmas. That would be cool!

This thursday coming, after the ladies prayer meeting at church, Wyatt is going to be coming over to play with Willow so his Mommy can go get her hair done. It's good for her to have other kids in her house to play with, doesn't happen much. She gets along great with Wyatt at church, the two of them have the same crazy high energy and chase eachother round tables etc.

So ... off to pick up apple pieces off the floor, wipe off the deodarant smeared all over the TV, and fold the never ending laundry!

Leftover Roast Beef

Stephen's lunch was mashed potatoes with carrots, corn, rice cakes, and roast beef. And an Oreo stick thing in the side there. I took it to him at work when I dropped Willlow off so I could go to my monthly doctor's appointment. When I came back she was sitting next to him in his office coloring with highlighters, so cute. He said he had taken her to the mall and didn't want his lunch (no doubt because he'd eaten at the mall), so I took the lunch back home and Willow ate it instead.

I'm looking forward to this evening. After Willow's nap, I am meeting back up with Stephen at Chuck E Cheeses restaurant. Jessica (Stephen's cousin) and Neveah (her daughter - who Willow adores) are meeting us there too. Possibly also Marie. Should be fun. They have all things cheese and lots of rides and stuff for the kiddies. I might be able to get a few pics.

After that I'm on my own, Stephen is out for the evening. So I should go return my jacket to the store and buy a new one, been meaning to do that. And that will be one thing off the to-do list.

PB&J

Clockwise: vanilla yogurt with honey and frozen blackberries/raspberries, peanut butter crackers, fruit, peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Could only squeeze 3 in but Stephen ate the last half on his way to work.

I am currently five months pregnant (+1 week) and we recently found out at my last ultrasound that we are having a boy. I am over the moon! Yesterday I went and bought some blanket sleepers to keep him warm in the winter (he is due in Feb) and one or two cute little outfits. It's so cool getting to shop on the other side of the children's department. But right now I can't really justify buying too much because it's only once they get to one year or so that clothes really become worth buying. Until then they get worn for a few months or so, or ruined from spit up etc. Not to mention, I have lots of unisex clothes for the early days leftover from Willow.

I took Willow to her first baby gym class in the morning yesterday. It was a bit of a ways a way but she had a great time I signed up for one class a week. I arrived too early for it so we went to a petting zoo nearby first and she got to run around with the goats and other animals. She kept giving them hugs or chasing them. It was a nice mommy and daughter morning.

Right now I'm off to church to go play with the babies in nursery. It's a coooold day!

Pasta Primavera

We have a new couch! Yay! We found a really nice one, comfy and just what we (I) wanted which was actually on clearance. So yesterday was the day to go looking!


I did have a bunch of things to do today but, being so tired from not enough sleep lately, i just couldn't go out. Except to take Stephen his lunch because we won't see him later, he has school. I made some penne pasta primavera type thing with leftover chicken, white beans, roasted cherry tomatoes and red onions in a garlicky sauce. But I think the seasoning I used to substitute what I meant to use may have actually made it taste terrible. We'll see if it comes back! Also, I put in some leftover pizza (heart-shaped of course!), salad and some frozen fruities.

Busy days

Things have been busier than usual for me lately. Been spending some nice time with the hubs on his random time off or taking my girl out and about getting errands run. We had a nice family day at Holmberg Orchards on Saturday. Apple picking and pumpkin...looking. I wanted a baking pumpkin and since we never saw any, we just ended up letting Willow run around and play with the big carving ones. Stephen's Mom came too so it was really nice for Willow. She took Willow home with her right afterward and Stephen and I went home, cleaned out our cars and then went to Clyde's Cyder Mill and bought some fresh baked donuts, fresh cider and some of the best fudge (if not the) that I have ever had.

After that, we drove to Boston to visit with a friend (Cathy) and meet up with Stephen's brother Mike. Then we, along with Mike, Cathy and her husband Chris went to a nice restaurant near their house. It was good to see them and also good to spend time with Stephen without Willow. I feel guilty for saying that :/

Just a great day.

I haven't made a whole lot of lunches for Stephen lately. Here's a pic of the last one. It's a chicken salad pita pocket with fruit, a mini twix and some nuts. He didn't eat it but I don't blame him looking at it! Those pitas are hard to assemble, tearing all over the place. He's also not a big chicken salad fan but I had some leftover roast chicken to use up.


I didn't make a lunch today because Stephen is coming home at lunch time. He's working a half day due to going in in the evening on Sunday to do server stuff. So we are going to go look for a new couch. I want to make the switch to leather both for comfort and easy clean-up etc. Plus, I just don't like the couch we have. It's uncomfortable and getting stained from spills. So right now I'm just getting things tidy around the house, or at least I will be once I finish muh bloggin' ;) I have a new recipe cooking away in my crockpot from a friend. It's a chicken casserole and dumpling meal. If it's anything like hers was when we went to her house for dinner, it's going to be delicious!

Laptop Lunch

Mr Bento has been giving giving me lots of trouble lately. One of the container's lid has got stuck on it and refuses to budge so it's sitting in the sink until it decides to behave. Which means today Stephen's lunch is in the laptop lunchbox I brought recently. I was looking forward to using it anyway ... sad I know.

Mac and cheese in the first container (with lots of pepper), some ham and cheese sandwiches in the bottom and for snacks: some carrots with ranch dip and a mix of dried apricots, peanuts and dried banana chips.

Italian English Muffins

Stephen asked for Italian sandwiches today on English muffins so I made two of those with leftover pasta fagioli, or however you spell that and some orange jello with mandarins. And is it just me or does the English muffin on the right have a face on it? Me and Willow had English muffins too with just butter and honey. Quite nice.

I'm trying to get the house sorted right now. Just can't seem to get on top of it, the disorder is driving me crazy. Stephen is trying to clear the porch of all it's accumulated junk in order to make space to move the washer and dryer in there for me so's I don't have to go up and down the steep basement stairs anymore to do the laundry. So I can't really complain when he's moving all the porch boxes and junk to the living room but it is making me feel cluttered and like I can't get the house tidy enough. Mostly because of how long I know it will all sit there. Just gotta do the best with what I can move around I guess.

Nice sunny day outside mmph.

From top left: salad - two types lettuce, cherry tomatoes quartered, a little shredded carrot, onion, dried cranberries, corn. Heart shaped (cause I love my hubby) ham and cheese sandwich with mayo/mustard, some croutons for the salad, orange yogurt with a frozen strawberry.

I took Willow to the mall today and enjoyed watching her play with the babies. One little girl was following her around everywhere trying to play with her doggy backpack and she kept saying, 'mine!'. She's going through that phase so I'm trying to put emphasis on teaching her to share.

Afterward I went to Gymboree to see what beautiful overpriced clothes they had in store today. I couldn't resist buying Willow a nice fall outfit and accessories. Be nice for her to wear when we go apple picking with Grandma soon.

Stephen is at school this evening and then going to his Mom's house afterwards to work on the photo booth so it'll just be me and Willow. I think I'll go buy some cod and make fish and chips for us. Don't normally get to eat fish because Stephen doesn't like it or want me to cook it when he's coming home because of the smell lol. I could really do with a nice baked potato with tuna/corn mayo but I'm not allowed to eat it when pregnant because of the mercury content in tuna. Groan.

I bought another bento box online yesterday. I got the laptop lunch set which is good for both adults and kids lunches and comes with a bento cook book. I tried to buy the most masculine colored one I could see heh. It will come in handy having another lunch box around because Stephen is having great difficulty remembering to bring his home from work!

Sandwich day

More bad pics. Lunch was an Italian sandwich (ham, salami, pepperoni, salad, provolone, olive oil and mayo), some leftover pasta alfredo, broccoli and fruit: kiwi and blueberries. May have been a little too much food??

Nice sunny day today. I took Stephen his lunch and a few other things he had asked for, then went grocery shopping at Walmart with Willow (I hate huge stores! Especially when pregnant!) and then took Willow to the opticians to get both her glasses fixed. She was so cute, she gave the optician a big hug afterward and said, 'thank you doctor for fixing glasses'. It's hard getting her to leave cause she likes playing with all the toys in there. But I managed and now I have a few minutes to tidy before her nap so I better get something done besides blogging!

Spaggy Bol.

I apologise for the bad pic. The lunch, and the picture was a little rushed this morning as I had to get out the door myself to go to church. I was looking after the kiddies in the nursery during the women's weekly prayer meeting and just wanted to get Stephen and Willow their lunch and breakfasts. It's leftover spaghetti bolognese from yesterday's dinner, some apple wedges with lemon juice (to stop the browning) and cinnamon sugar (to curb the sourness) plus a container of peanut butter/honey in the bag, and then just some trail mix from the batch I made up the other day. I threw in a little note too :) He emailed and said thanks and told me that the lunch stayed hot which I'm pleased about. Mr bento is doing his job.

I'm hoping Stephen has the day off tomorrow due to working the ENTIRE last weekend. If so, we're going to go to the fair. I can't wait because I know Willow is going to be thrilled to see the animals and go on the rides.

BLT lunch

Lunch was a BLT toasted bagel, some clementine segments, peanut butter Austin crackers and vegetables with ranch dip (had to pack seperately).

I'm so proud of my husband. He has been working crazy hard lately with starting his photo booth company, working extra hours at his job, fixing up the house, doing stuff for our church and still trying to make time for me and Willow. Taking care of his lunches for him is one of the few ways I get to show him I appreciate everything he does. I really am blessed to have him.

The weather isn't too great today but I'm fed up of keeping Willow home with me. Poor thing needs to get out, even if I have stuff to do around the house. So I'll probably take her out somewhere inside. Maybe go to the mall play area for a bit.

Stephen's lunch today was leftover chili, salad (i forgot his croutons), banana bread and yogurt with frozen blackberries to keep it cold.

This weekend has been really rough. Stephen worked from friday to Sunday doing a server upgrade and I stayed home with Willow - at her worst, with very little sleep to go on. I don't know what it is lately but she just refuses to go to sleep for both nap times and night time. She can scream, 'mommy mommy' for hours straight. You'd think at some point she'd fall asleep but it usually ends up with me going in twenty times to console her or get her up. Very frustrating. I just hope I can put a stop to it before the new baby arrives or I'm going to be a walking zombie for a while!

Today I have a doctors appointment. They said during the last one that they expect to be able to hear the heartbeat with just a doppler machine without using ultrasound by this time. But I'm hoping to get another ultrasound out of it. Maybe they'll be able to see the sex at this point. I'm dying to find out.

My First Bento Lunch

I made Stephen up his first Mr Bento lunch box last night and he was very pleased with it. In the top left bowl is some chicken I had fried up and then baked for a couple of hours in stock/cooking wine. It was lovely and tender when I took it out. Below that; glazed carrots, and in the other two is some plain boiled white rice and then a fresh fruit cocktail in orange/lemon juice. Me and Willow will be having the same for lunch.

Stephen has his first day of school today so I won't be seeing him after work. I also don't have a car because we left one of them at church on Sunday. So it's going to be a long day at home for me. I have plenty to tidy though so I have no excuse.