This Moment: Big Sis and her pretend restaurant for the littles

A beautiful and fun Friday ritual. Inspired by SouleMama.

{this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. – Amanda Soule

Good day for me!

I am so happy, our Santas Choice Hamper came today and between that and all the groceries I have gotten using coupons, the meat market and the veggie market, I have a freezer packed full, the pantry packed full and the fridge full.  I don't have to get hardly any groceries for all the month of December.  I LOVE being stocked up.  I get such a feeling of security knowing that I have more food, more diapers, more cleaning supplies, more laundry soap, more of everything than I could possibly run out of. 

Weightloss Wednesday!!!

I am so excited!!!  I lost another 5.8 lbs this week!  That means I have lost 40 lbs since August.  I also went to the doctor today and I am being weaned off my blood pressure medication!!!!  Woohoo!!!  I pulled out my skinny clothes and they were too big!!!  My wedding rings went from too small to too big!  This is wonderful!

Wordless Wednesday: 2 Girl's Morning

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For more Wordless Wednesday go check out 5 minutes for mom and 7 Clown Circus!

Pinterest finds

As Christmas approaches I am looking at Pinterest to see what fun things I can find to try.  Here are some things I thought might be of interest to you guys!

 

• Mini Gingerbread House
• Snowflake decoration
• The Perfect Buttercream Icing Recipe and Cupcake Tip 
• Christmas Printablesfor Children
• Easy and fun Jingle Bell Shakers 
• 101 DIY Gifts for Kids 
• Perforated Tabletop Christmas Trees  
• 40 Easy Christmas Recipes 

Changes

I have to admit, I am more than a little stressed out by these new proposed changes that the Auditor General has proposed to the homeschooling in Nova Scotia.  I want to do homeschool in an area that doesn't have a lot of Government interference.  I want to be able to guide my children in the best way that suits them.  I want to know that I am doing everything I can to ensure their future without having government regulations force me into using things that don't work for my kids.  The articles I have read say that Nova Scotia would be the worst province to homeschool if these proposed regulations go through.  I DON'T want that.  I can honestly say that if I had the finances, I would be willing to move to Ontario where the regulations are simple and where I spent most of my childhood. I know there are two years before all of this comes into effect, but at the same time by that time, I will be homeschooling three children full-time with a toddler running around and I would like to be settled into a routine by then.  Maybe it is time to try to save for a move. 

All I can say is YUCK!!!

More fun.

I have been having more Christmas fun.  I went out last night and bought the rest of the kids presents.  It is just too much fun to buy for them.  I love thinking about them, picturing what they would like and buying for them.  I honestly just get so much joy from knowing how happy I am going to make them. 

I also made a Christmas header for the blog.  What do you think? Too big??  I like it.  I love that there are four teddy bears, 3 girls and a boy like my kids.  I also love that there are six stockings, two bigs ones for me and Prince Charming and four little ones for the kids. 

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!

Saturday Photohunt: Fall and Color and just a little Quietly

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The themes this week are color and fall (there was some confusion and quietly was also a theme).  So I picked two pics.  In the first pic (that I took last month) the girls are all sitting QUIETLY while they COLOR and a paper is just starting to FALL off the table.  In the second pic, Little Prince is QUIETLY looking at me while laying in the FALL leaves which have lots of beautiful COLOR (and I love the touch of COLOR in the red in his outfit)!

This Moment: Princess Magpie dress-up

A beautiful and fun Friday ritual. Inspired by SouleMama.

{this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. – Amanda Soule

Auditor General Report on Homeschooling in NS!

I am stressed out about this report!  I don't like where it seems to be leading us in regards to future regulations.  I know that Dr. Lowe has indicated that he supports homeschooling and he appears to be on our side, but truth be told, I felt like he was soothing ruffled feathers and that at the end of the day, we will probably be facing regulations that I don't like!!!!


Here is what HSLDA said about it on their website:

Nova Scotia: Anti-Home Education Report

The Auditor General in Nova Scotia has released a strongly anti-home education report.  The report makes 12 recommendations for change.  Among those recommendations are the following:

• The Department of Education should require periodic, independent assessment of home schooled children against learning objectives and outcomes.
• The Department of Education should assess the programs proposed by parents to determine if they are designed to achieve appropriate learning objectives and outcomes for home schooled children.
• The Department of Education should obtain information on learning outcomes of home schooled children to determine if they are making reasonable educational progress.
• The Department of Education should track home school registration using its computerized database to determine which children are not registered for the current year and whether follow up is needed.
• The Department of Education should track children leaving public school for home schooling to ensure they are properly registered for home schooling.
• The Department of Education should explore the possibility of establishing an information sharing protocol with the Department of Health and Wellness to enable tracking of all school-aged children in the province to determine whether they are registered for school.

Here is a link to the full report and one to a summary (our stuff is on page 2)!

Wordless Wednesday: Fun with Princess Magpie

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For more Wordless Wednesday go check out 5 minutes for mom and 7 Clown Circus!

Poor Princess Belle

I hate when poor Princess Belle goes outside to play here. I hover in the kitchen window watching, willing myself to relax and not to worry. But I do worry. And in a few minutes, Princess Belle comes in, the hoodlums in this neighborhood have done it again. They have thrown things at her, they have made fun of her, they have been mean and made her cry AGAIN! I HATE it!

When she was little and first learning to walk, I wanted to pad the world, to walk around with a pillow in my hand ready to soften her falls. And now, she is older and her falls hurt so much worse and I want to walk ahead of her with my arms crossed over my chest, looking like a mean, momma bear/body guard. I want to go ahead of her and tell the other kids, "BE NICE, or I WILL make you sorry!"

My poor, sweet, gentle girl. I think the reason she enjoys spending so much time with her sisters and other younger children is that they accept her and she is.  I wish more kids would do that for her.

Oh no!

I just found out that the Government here in NS is having a meeting to add more Government oversight and policy to homeschooling. This stresses me out so much! One of the reasons we moved here is because the regulations regarding homeschooling were so much less stressful. I CAN‘T live with having to beg to be able to homeschool my children. I can‘t live with the threat of some government official sendind me a letter that says he is going to decide the future for my kids or worse yet, turning up at my door! Honestly? I would move first! (okay, so maybe I won't just up and leave this province right away. but this scares the pants off me! I don't want to have to fight for this, but I will if I have to)

Sunday Stuff

Yesterday Little Prince got me up at 4:30.  At 6:30 I decided to take advantage of being up and got some things done.  By 8:30 I had laundry going, apple cinnamon biscuits made, the counters cleared of  and scrubbed, the bathroom cleaned, the microwave cleaned and the coffee station cleaned.  All day every where I went, I was organizing little things I came across like the pantry, under the bathroom sink, and the medicine cabinet.  It was exhausting but it felt better to finally feel like my house is somewhat presentable.  It is just so hard to keep up on things between 4 kids, not enough sleep, homeschooling and housework.  It is just a lot of balls to juggle.  But yesterday it felt like I managed to do okay.

Princess Belle has taken reading scary books aimed at kids.  They aren't too scary, just a little bit.  The sort of kids books at come out at Halloween.  She was watching a show about one of the books on television and it freaked her out.  Now she is scared of the shower in the bathroom.  The poor girl looks into it every single time she enters the bathroom.  You know, just to be sure no bad guys are lingering there. 

Saturday Photohunt: Mural and New

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The themes this week are Mural and New.  And if you think about it there is nothing sweeter than a sleeping NEW baby. So I made a MURAL of my own filled with pics of the NEWest addition to our family.  You can click on it to enlarge and see all the pics up close.  The four middle pics, he isn't sleeping but he is VERY NEW.

Handy Tips to Have

I LOVE web-surfing and finding useful tips.  Little things that make our lives easier, more natural, cleaner, more organized, yummier, or whatever other use we can think of that makes us happy.  Here are some random ones I found today.


The Secret to Lighter, Fluffier Pancakes

Simply substitute club soda for milk in any pancake recipe to make them lighter and fluffier. Your pancakes will look and taste amazing!


Optimal Refrigerator and Freezer Temperature

To keep food your food lasting as long as possible and to ensure that no bacteria grows and your food does not spoil, maintain a temperature of 40ºF or below in the fridge and between 0 and -10º
F in the freezer. Purchase an inexpensive thermometer to keep tabs on the temperatures.


Clean Your Shower Head Without Removal

To clean your clogged or filthy shower head without removal, you simply pour approx. 1 cup or so of pure white vinegar into a plastic freezer bag and secure it over your shower head with a rubber band
or similar tie. The vinegar should immerse the shower head, if it does not either the bag is too large or there is not enough vinegar in the bag. Leave it there for at least a few hours. Leaving it overnight is even better. By morning it will be clean and your water pressure restored!

 
Sage as a Mosquito Repellant

Throw a stick of sage or powdered sage into your fire. The sage scented smoke that the fire will emit keeps mosquitoes and other annoying bugs at bay for the entire area.


How To Remove Urine Smell From Carpet Naturally

A good way to remove the smell of urine from carpet naturally -
What you'll need:
1 tbsp liquid dishwashing detergent
1 tbsp white vinegar
2 cups warm water
mixing bowl/bucket
baking soda

Directions:
Mix the dishwashing liquid, vinegar and water in a bowl or bucket. Dip a sponge into the mixture and press about the area that needs cleaning to saturate the mixture into it. Use a dry towel to press the area afterward to soak up excess moisture. Now sprinkle baking soda thoroughly into and over the area of the carpet you just saturated. Leave it to soak in and sit overnight. Vacuum the spot the next morning and use a damp cloth or sponge to remove any residue you see. For severe or deep buildup you may need to do this more than once.

This Moment: Big Sister getting creative with her baby brother & a Halloween Bucket

A beautiful and fun Friday ritual. Inspired by SouleMama.

{this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. – Amanda Soule

Breakfast Recipe, Living Room Troubles, and Other Thursday Thoughts.

There are several reasons having Little Prince sleep in the living room is a pain in my too large but very loving behind.

• I can't talk when he is sleeping.  This includes my evenings with Prince Charming when we watch tv together.
• I can't wash the dishes when he is sleeping (it wakes him up, honest!)
• I can't wash or sweep or walk on the floor when he is sleeping which is usually right after the girls go to bed for the night or for a nap and they have messed it up.  
• He is easily distracted and hard to put to sleep.

There is one benefit to him sleeping there.  I get to see him sleeping lots of times and he looks so cute!

For breakfast for the kids this morning, I made something kind  of new.  It involved a lot of substitutions but it was a HUGE hit!  So I will probably make some version of it again.  The recipe is at the end of this post.

I have been feeling really guilty because I can't get the girls potty trained.  I took a step back for a short while when it was going so badly, but I am going to get back at it today and really really try to get at least one of them potty trained.  I should be able to get this done.  Even if they are special needs.

I LOVE the fall.  The older I get, the more I love the colors, the cool crisp air, the seasonal foods and promise of good things to come in the air.  It is good.

My girls have destroyed the blinds in the living room.  I am debating whether or not to replace them as we know we are moving in 8 or 9 months and they were ours not the landlords anyway.  We will see.

I am hoping to have most of our Christmas shopping done by the end of the month.  I would like to get some baking done too.  What are your favorite things to make a Christmas?

I sometimes worry about this new relaxed approach we are taking this year with Princess Belle's homeschooling.  But everyone once in a while, she surprises me by showing me how much she has learned.  We had learned about the Great Barrier Reef in our studies about Australia and the next thing I know Princess Magpie was talking about a "reef" because Princess Belle had been teaching her about it.  I love that it not only made an impression, it made enough of an impression that she passed it along to her sisters.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Breakfast Snacks

Ingredients:

1/4 cup margarine

1/2 cup Peanut butter or nut butter of choice

1 1/2 cup brown sugar, raw sugar or sweetener or choice

1/2 cup almond milk or milk of choice

1 cup flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 Tbsp cinnamon (for these I added a little ginger and a cloves)

3 cups rolled or quick cooking oatmeal

Steps:

1. Mix all ingredients together and drop in balls onto cookie sheet. Bake 10 minutes, or until done. Mine came out still in balls and the girls thought they were great.  These would be good with raisins sunflower seeds or nuts in them and formed into cookies as well.  I also think they would be great with pumpkin instead of peanut butter!  I am going to try it that way next time.  VERY TASTY!

Wordless Wednesday: Cell Phone Captures

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For more Wordless Wednesday go check out 5 minutes for mom and 7 Clown Circus!

Pinterest Finds and Christms ideas

I know for my American friends, Thanksgiving is still to come but for me, Christmas has been on my mind.  I have to plan these things in advance and I have been thinking of creative ways to do things for family friends that are under budget.  Here are some ideas I have:

• Personalized calendar with scrapbook layouts of the kids for each month.
• Personalized Christmas tree ornaments
• Coffee Bean Candles
• 10 Christmas Gifts in a Jar 
• themed basket gifts
• painted lace motif candle holder
• 12 days of Christmas ideas and printable gift tags
• an apron in a canning jar with a recipe 
• Meaningful Gift Ideas for Children & Large Families
•  Place photocopies of your treasured photos in glass jars and vases
• 50 different foods you can put in a jar-- great gift ideas!
• homemade Christmas Gift Ideas
• Candy Cane Hot Cocoa Mix Plus Free Printable Tags
• Blog with lots of handmade items to think about

Together

I love how much my little ones love each other. I like to listen to them play, excitedly sharing ideas playing together regardless of their ages. It is fun to hear Princess Magpie talking to Little Prince, certain that he understands her too and quick to share with me the things she imagines he says back.

Little Prince loves his big sisters. He is always happy when they are around. He watches them play, giggles at them and is thrilled when they pay attention to him. He is cranky when they go to bed and he can't play with them anymore. And watching that, I look forward to the years to come. I look forward to watching as Little Prince chases along behind the girls he adores so much. I look forward to Christmas's with all my kids playing together and all the other holidays to come.

Now, I know that the girls sometimes argue as siblings are known to do, but I watch them all together and there is comfort in knowing that they would be lost without each other.

And, while I know that Princess Magpie and Princess Snifflefritz are like a joint package, best friends, always together and that is sweet, but even Princess Belle loves to spend time with the little ones. The other night when it was time to go to bed it was Princess Belle who complained, “Aww, I wanted to play with them!“ And it is Princess Belle who sneaks into their room after bedtime because she wants to play games with them.

(btw, the pics are all of dress-up play that Princess Belle started with the little ones)

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. 

Now what happened to that coffee . . .

I am a walking talking science experiment on the effects of sleep deprivation. I am bumbling, forgetful, and I can't seem to put two words together in the right order. It took me four trips to the kitchen to remember the coffee I so desperately needed and was going out there to get in the first place, and three trips downstairs to remember to get the supper out of the freezer I was down their to get (I kept doing something else and coming back up), and lets not discuss how many times I used the delete button to make this post!  I finally get my coffee and I look around and it is gone.  I can't remember if I drank it and took my cup out or if gremlins came in and stole my coffee.  I mean I was valedictorian, I had an over 90 average in high school and college and now my brain seems to have melted into a puddle under my pillow . . . hmmm . . . my pillow . . . I miss my pillow.

Saturday Photohunt: Kite and Breakfast

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The themes this week are  Kite and Breakfast.  Kite is a tough theme for me.  I have NO pics of kites.  So I decided to stretch it just a little.  So, tilt your head and squint a little, and go with me on this.  I shared some pics of my girls swinging, sailing through the air and flying like a KITE does. 

For Breakfast, I didn't have as much trouble.  I have a pic of Princess Belle helping make waffles early last Sunday morning.  She is a bit of a mess, (her hair is a mess, her shirt is dirty but it was early in the morning and she was barely functioning)  but she was having fun.  I have a pic of our waffle creations and I have a pic of the sugar container that I have.  I have two of them, one for sugar and one for powdered creamer and since they are for coffee which is a vital part of EVERY breakfast for me, I thought I would include it here. LOL