Woohoo!! Yay!! Happy Dance!!!

I am so happy!!!  I have a desktop computer again!!!  I can blog while properly typing!!!  I can change my blog if I want to!!  I can update pictures of my babies!  I can update my budget!  I am THRILLED!!!  I have a little computer cart in the classroom area so that I can use it when I am homeschooling if I want to!  And there is a door beside me so that I can open it to get some fresh air!  This is a GOOD DAY!

On a sidenote, I have been using my new VERY sharp knives lately and yesterday I cut my finger pretty bad, so trying to type while wearing my bandage is a little difficult but it is still better than using my phone or my tablet!! 

As a result of this wonderful new development, my posts will get back to being a little longer and more fun.  It is just so much easier to post from my computer.  *happy dance!* and *joyful singing!*

Learning

I am trying to learn how to use Adobe photoshop to blur backgrounds.  It is hard to do when I am just teaching myself, but I like a challenge.  Here is my first shot at it.  I need to learn to soften the edges a bit, but it isn't too bad.

Getting Creative

I was inspired by a blue background yesterday to re-do my blog in a nice blue color.  I LIKED the results! The header contains pictures of my kids and I haven't had one like that for a while:

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Then this morning when I got up, I was surfing my Facebook feeds with my morning coffee and I decided to get creative with my update to my Facebook profile.  So created this as a cover page: 

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And for a change, I created this for my profile pic: 

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I LOVE how it all looks and it is so just so me!

What Happened

Today being News Years Eve, I have been thinking about the year that has gone by.  So I thought I would share some of my highlights of 2014.

1.  One of the biggest things we did this year was move to a new province.  I have always  liked Nova Scotia and while Newfoundland may always call to my soul, Nova Scotia has become our home.  I don't see us moving back to Newfoundland any time while the kids are young.

2.  My camera broke so all the pictures I took this year have been taken with my phone.  I think they turn out pretty well when you take that into consideration.

3.  Little Prince has actually narrowed his eating choices down.  He basically only eats peanut butter and Nutella sandwiches.  He hasn't really learned anything new yet. But he is on the waiting list for several therapists and doctors and I really believe that things will be getting on the go for him in the next year.  The fact that he is being referred directly to a preschool autism clinic is wonderful.  He has developed into such a sweet, funny, contented boy and I love him more than I can ever explain. 

4. Princess Snifflefritz started kindergarten in our homeschooling and she has shown so much more patience than I can ever explain.  She is such a loving, cuddly little girl.  She still has a speech impediment that makes her difficult to understand sometimes, but she sounds so cute when she talks I just want to hug her. 

5.  Princess Magpie has developed into a little mini-me.  She loves to organize and clean and cook.  She loves to help in any way she can.  She adores her baby brother and plays with him whenever she has the opportunity.  It is all I can do to keep her out of his room when he is napping.  My only issue with Princess Magpie is that she is so insecure, she doesn't realize how very special she is and it has been my goal to help her with that.

6.  Princess Belle has really liked our move.  She has two friends that live right around our door who share her interests.  She loves having her own room and loves the fact that one of her friends is next door and yells out his window to talk to her in her window. So all in all she has been really contented here.  She is a great big sister and I am pretty sure, Little Prince thinks she is another mommy to him.  He adores her!

7.  Little Prince fell out of his crib in February of this year and broke his collar bone.  My poor boy!  I felt so awful.  He did heal though and you would never know he had fallen.  I was thrilled when he got his little brace off, but he and I are both a little nervous over his klutzy tendency to fall though.  I would love to pad his whole world to keep him safe and I admit it, I am really over-protective of my boy.

8.  My girls spent a great deal of time this year dressing up.  They love it so much and I LOVE to watch their fun and their enjoyment. 

9.  At the end of the this year, I decided to stop away from the TOS review crew.  They have been good to me, but I felt pulled in too many directions and needed to let somethings go for a while.  As much as I enjoyed the TOS Crew, it was honestly a relief to have one less deadline on my plate. 

10.  In March, Princess Magpie got into the craft supplies and gave her little sister a haircut!  It took a LONG time for her to look halfway normal again.  Good thing she is cute so that she could pull off that horrible 'do. 

11.  I started doing a lot more cooking with my little girls this year.  They love it so much and always ready to jump right in and stand on a chair to 'help' me in the kitchen.

12.  And this year, I finally became the mommy of only one child in diapers!  It took a long time, but Princess Snifflefritz finally got the hang of being completely potty trained.

13.  Princess Belle experimented with dying her hair blond and she loved it which was what I wanted for  her anyway.

14.  One of the things we liked about moving to Nova Scotia was all of the events and festivals we have been able to enjoy.

15.  It was our first year doing homeschool with three kids full-time.  I have struggled to get a routine but we are getting through it.  The kids are loving it and that is the important thing.

16.  Our friend Chris was missing this year and we spent a lot of time worrying about him, but we were thrilled when he was found safe and sound.

17.  Little Prince moved to a big boy bed and he made the transition remarkably well!  I am so proud of him.

HELP!!

I am in desperate need of a video intervention. I can't turn them! They all come off my phone sideways and I can turn them on facebook but I can't turn them anywhere else!!! So now I have to show people my videos on their side! Sorry, but here is an adorable video of Princess Magpie doing a song from the movie, "Frozen" shown on its side.

Changing it up

It feels so good to have a computer again that I decided to change up my template a bit.  I finally had a chance to get rid of the snowflakes in the background and put up some lovely hearts instead.  I like it a lot.  I also changed up the format a bit for a little fun.  I love playing with my template, it is fun for me and I find it fun to find new and interesting things to do with the background and layout.

Now if only I could get my Adobe Photoshop back so I could do a new header too!

Glad to be back!

My computer is busted and it has been frustrating not having internet access.  I am back with limited internet access at least.  Glad to be here and to be able to update you.  I will be posting some more updates, but first I have some reviews that I am late with.  Thanks for being patient

Blog Changes

I felt the need to change my backgrounds and such on my blog.  Since I feel like this move is a new and exciting beginning, it felt like my blog should reflect that.  So the pics I chose to use when I did it were taken after our move.  And since it is summer, I wanted a nice summer feel to the blog!

What do you think?

PIKELETS

I found this recipe over at my new favorite blog these days, Down to Earth!  They sound yummy and easy!  Given that my family is omnivore, they would love these.  I can't wait to make this yummy treat for them for breakfast.

(update:  I made them this morning for breakfast and they were a HUGE hit!)

PIKELETS

• 1 cup SR flour or plain four with 1 teaspoon baking powder added
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• Pinch of salt
• ¾ - 1 cup  milk
• 1 egg
• 20 grams butter, melted

These will be cooked on the stove top in a frying pan.

1. Sift flour, sugar and salt together into a bowl.
2. Mix the milk, egg and melted butter together, then add to dry ingredients, whisking until smooth.
3. Heat a non-stick frypan over medium heat and brush with a little melted butter. 
4. Drop level tablespoonfuls of the mixture into the pan and cook for half a minute or until bubbles appear on the surface.
5. Turn over and cook the other side for one minute or until golden.

Serve warm with butter, or cold with jam and cream. You can add grated apple and cinnamon to the batter to make a delicious variation.

You can keep the batter in the fridge till the next day if you only want to make half a batch each day.

Photo Contest

I entered a photo contest! The theme of the contest was PEACE! Click the Picture below and vote by clicking 'like'!

My Project

I have been having a bit of a rough time and it looks like I will be leaving a group I have been a part of for about 10 years.  It makes me sad, so to get my mind off of things, I gave myself a project.

My regular readers may remember that in January of 2012, I left this blog for a new one.  I was there for about six months and then I came back.  Well, the thing is, all my posts from those days are still over on that blog.  That means that a move and the birth of Little Prince are over there and NOT here!  That will not do.  I have been blogging for 8 years as of Monday next week.  This blog contains all the births, moves, big events and little events that happened in those years.  The birth of my last baby has to be here too!  So I decided to move all those posts over here.

I did try to import them, but blogger disagreed, so I am moving 6 months worth of posts 1 post at a time!

I have also been playing around with my template and my winter theme.  What do you think?  Is it easy to read?  

It has arrived, here at least!

Christmas is coming and I feel like a child anxiously waiting getting excited as it approaches.  I LOVE Christmas.  I LOVE the holiday movies, I love the pretty decorations, the tree and the lights everywhere.  I LOVE watching my kids getting excited over their toys and enjoying the Christmas Dinner.  Every year, I negotiate with Prince Charming about how early he can tolerate the decorations being put up.  And I usually win at least a little and put them up in the beginning of December.  But, on my blog, I can decorate whenever I want, so here in Ever After . . . My Way, the Christmas season has arrived.  Happy Holidays everyone!

Book idea

I have been thinking about how much I treasure the memories that I have recorded here on my blog.  In the last 7 or 8 years I have shared a lot and it is fun to look back and remember.  In that light, I have been looking at sites that offer to bind your blog into a book.  Now given that I write approximately 400 posts a year, it will take several editions to get it all bound.  But I love the idea of being able to have this, to be able to share it with my children, even if something should happen to my blog itself. 

Looking Back, First Words and other points of note

I have been looking back at old posts on my blog, old pics of my girls and stories from the past.  I have to day, my favorite part of the last 8 1/2 years of blogging is having that record.  I can look back at just what was going through my mind when things happened, I can remember what adorable things I may have forgotten the kids were doing.  I can look for those details that I have forgotten.  I record things for myself, to share with others, and to remember. 

So today, I am going to record my of favorite things from recent days:

1. Little Prince has definitely started saying his first words and it is calling out to me!  He looks for me and calls out, "Um?  Ma?  Mum? Mum? Mum?"  It is the sweetest sound in the world. 
2. Princess Belle has been so great with her sisters lately.  She is a never-ending source of entertainment for them.  In the last week, she has invented a puppet show, a box plane, a doll house, a parade and a dress-up box for the girls. She is a constant source of fun and games for them.  And she has a blast doing it.  

Princess Magpie dressing up with glasses for fun

3. And I have found a cure for when Little Prince crying because he has been kept up too long by noisy sisters in the living room by his crib while he tries to sleep.  I put the television on Galaxie Country Classics just loud enough for him to hear over his crying.  He stops crying instantly and settles right down to go sleep!!!! (now just to get him into something other just OLD country!)
4. It is funny to listen to the two little girls as they go to bed. They love counting the steps as they go. It is very sweet as they hold hands and walk down the stairs, "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 11, 12, 13, eleventeen, ONE HUNDRED!!! It cracks me up! it is so cute and so wrong.  Princess Belle gets driven crazy and tries to catch them at 11 and correct them to say 7 because then they get the rest right.  But I just smile.  I don't even say anything as they reach the bottom and race back up to the top to count one more time!
5. It is of interest to note that I now weigh less than I did when Prince Charming and I met and significantly less than any pre-pregnancy weight. Unfortunately, four kids have caused the contents to settle during shipping and I don't look as good as I did then. More work to do. LOL
6. Little Prince has his pic in the First Cheerios Mosaic.  I know you would need a microscope to pic him out, but it is super-cute to know he is there anyway. (http://www.facebook.com/LifeMadeDelicious/app_129304810549262?app_data=M4131024)
7. I love those moments when all at one time I have one girl showing me a silly dance, one girl showing me a funny face, one girl telling me about a show she watched and a baby boy sitting back enjoying all the action.  It is like a whole room full of people anxious for me to know them and to love them.  I am so lucky to have so many people to love!
8. I have to laugh at Princess Snifflefritz because when she is coloring, she systematically snaps EVERY. SINGLE. CRAYON. in half and rips the paper off.  OCD mommy starts to twitch, but I let it go.  The point is for them to be creative and have fun not to do things the way would.  





9. Princess Snifflefritz has started calling Princess Magpie by the correct name.  It is cute to hear, but I am a little sad that she won't be calling her sister by her own name any more.  It made me giggle every time I heard it.
10. Princess Magpie has a basic understanding that things come from the store and batteries make things work.  So when she sees something new in the house she asks if I have been to the store.  If she asks for something we don't have, she asks if I can go to the store another day and get it.  So she is developing patience.  And as for electricity??  We made to work on that a little because the other day when the lights were out, she turned to me and said, “Mommy! The lights are not working! I think the house is out of batteries!“

Measuring Up

I just read a post that brought me to tears.  I have been feeling stressed lately, feeling like I am not measuring up, like I am failing in so many little ways.  And reading this post was honestly like sitting down at a table with a dear friend, sharing a cup of coffee and having her pat me on the back and encourage me, reassuring me that it is all going to be okay, it will all work out.  I even read it out to Prince Charming and sobbed as I read it.  I needed that today. 

Today, my girls ate fruit for breakfast and were thrilled.  Today they did pumpkin preschool and loved it.  Today they shared chicken stew for lunch and were excited by it.  Today we watched Sesame Street and learned about numbers and letters and cuddled and had fun.  Today, my four-year-old girl finally asked me if she chould use the potty and succeeded. (one of my feelings of failure was this struggle.)  Today my kids had a good day.  That is all I should need to feel like I measure up.

Eeww Eeww Eeww!!

It is funny the things that people use to find my blog.  I was just looking through the search terms that people use to get here and while it is fun to see some, some are just CREEPY!!!  The creepy men who find me make me want to go get a shower!  EEEEWWWW.  That being said, I refuse to let the knowledge that creepy men come here looking for things that they don't find change how I blog in any way.  Sorry guys, this is just a mommy blog where an over-tired, vegetarian, homeschooling mom shares her life with her blog friends.  If you want something disgusting, you will have to move on to some other blog on your creepy little list. 

Thursday Thoughts

Prince Charming and I went out dinner and a movie last night to celebrate our 11th anniversary.  It was fun.  I let him pick some guys movie full of testosterone and gunfire, but it was kind of funny and it was fun to see him like a little boy having so much fun.  Dinner was good although I ate too much and I feel a little guilty about that.

We are going to take all the kids to the doctor's office today to get various things checked out.  I HATE going to the doctor so I let these things build up on me. 

I have been having fun playing with my template.  I thought I would go with a coffee theme because I am more than a little fond of coffee and I like the idea of me sitting down with a cup of coffee to relax and write out my thoughts and my readers sitting down with a cup of coffee to read them.  Sort of like you are all coming over to visit with me and share a cup of coffee together.  I guess that is a little rambling but it is kind of my thoughts on it anyway.  So what do you think??

Twisted Cinderalla is BACK!!

While this post may be more like a whisper than a roar, I am back!  I found changing my persona was like putting on a stiff pair of new shoes, while I gave it a full six months to break my new blog persona in, it always felt stiff and awkward.  So, here I am, back in my comfortable old blog, feeling all warm and happy to be back.

I am loving living in Nova Scotia and barring the fact that in moving so far away, I didn't know I was moving into a slum with VERY scary neighbours who bashed in our door robbed us while we were moving to a better neighbourhood, I am still happy to be here.  Summer has always been my favorite time of year to be in HRM.

I thought it might be nice, if I shared some pics of my new home.  It is small, but it is bright and clean, has a nice yard and has lovely neighbours.  It is perfect for us.  For now, Little Prince is sharing a room with us, Princess Magpie and Princess Snifflefritz are sharing a room, and Princess Belle has her own room.  This will work for a few years and I hope to find a new way to make it work so we don't have to move again to a bigger home in a few years.  I am just so happy here. I am settling in, putting up curtains and pictures, buying things for the yard, making it beautiful. 

Unfortunately the awful robbers stole our camera so it will be a few weeks before I can share new pics with you but luckily I have taken a lot in the last few months and I will be sharing my favorites of those in the coming days.  I am planning on posting on each of the kids so that you can see how they have grown and changed in the last few months.

So here is a virtual tour of our home with pics take while the workers were still fixing it up:

This the front door.  One of three doors into our place.  There is also one in the kitchen that goes off to a little bridge with a clothes line and one in the basement that goes out to the back yard. 

The little space there next to it perfectly fits a crib and serves perfect to be a place to put the baby when he isn't sleeping in our room.

 This is more of the living room.  I love the idea of having a fireplace at Christmas and we have our entertainment center next to the fireplace so the whole wall is a focal wall.

 This is our kitchen.  I love how big and bright and airy it is.

 This is the hallway from the kitchen.  From here you can see the linen closet, the bathroom door, the top of the stairs and the edge of the door to our bedroom.

 This is our bedroom.  It is fairly large.  It is big enough to have a sleeping area for us, one for Little Prince, some dressers, and an office area as well.

 This is the view of our yard from our bedroom window.

 This is our bathroom.  It is actually lovely with all new fixtures except the PINK BATHTUB!!!!  Who has a pink bathtub????  Oh well, it is still nice.

 This is the way downstairs.  I have a hamper there at the bottom of the stairs and it sits right next to the laundry/furnace room.

 This is the laundry/furnace room.  It is quite big as well and has been freshly painted, even the floors.

 These are some shelves that are in the laundry/furnace room.  Very handy for storage and my deep freeze fits perfectly in front of them.

 This is Princess Belle's room.  She is thrilled to have her own room.  She gets a bunk bed that has a futon on bottom and a desk and a television.  She is so excited!

 This is the room where Princess Magpie and Princess Snifflefritz sleep.  They love it and prefer it to any other area of the house.  I can't wait to fix it up for them. 

There is also a storage area under the stairs that I didn't take a pic of.  This is so much better and brighter than our last two homes.  It isn't perfect but it is homey and comfortable and it is nostalgic because we lived in this house EIGHT YEARS AGO!

So that is all for now.  My first post here in six months and I feel like I am talking to old friends, I have so much to share I can't wait to come back and share some more!