January 2014 Update & Chicken & Brocolli Casserol

Well here we are at the end of January and this is my second post this year. Boy was I wrong when I thought things would slow down this month. Its been the exact opposite and It's made me realize that I don't know how much blogging time I will have over the next couple months. I am aiming to have a post every other week but we will see how that goes.

Not sure what the winter weather has been like where you live, in our small town this January has had some really frosty winter cold days.

We have not had a winter like this for a couple years now. The first week back from the Christmas Holidays schools were closed one day because it was so cold. I think that was the second time this has happened in the last 8 years.

We have also received a fair amount of snow.

 

 

The snow was almost higher than the cars but luckily we had a bit of a January thaw and the snow banks went down a bit. But it has been really cold again for the past two weeks. The wind just keeps howling and blowing the snow all around as I sit here typing this post. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the Groundhog predicts a short winter this year... we shall see.

We have been staying warm drinking lots of these and will continue to do so until it warms up ...

Different Teas (Apple Pie Tea)

 

Hot Chocolate (this was a special one Hubby made with 

Real Whip Cream we had in the fridge)

There has been some big changes going on at our place over the past couple weeks. Over the Christmas holidays we changed the Lil Man over to his new big boy day bed. It hasn't been the greatest transition as he can now get in and out of bed as he pleases and that is just what he does. He has decided his new bed time is a lot later (some nights 10 p.m.) and he is waking up early. This has resulted in less time for mom to work on things such as blog posts (as I use to do this when he went to bed or before he woke up).

The Lil Man has started preschool a couple days a week and lets just say ...

... it has been a difficult time and a really big adjustment for all of us.

 

It's been a while since I have shared a recipe on here and I thought it was time. Before I share the recipe I just wanted to share a little background on why I tried this particular recipe.

 

One of the most  frustrating  things currently as a parent for myself is dinner time. Our Lil Man has become so picky with meal time. One day he just loves spaghetti and can not seem to get enough of it and then when I make it the following week, he refuses to eat it or even try it. Some days I just feel like pulling my hair out. The other week I thought I would try a new recipe that I thought the Lil Man would like since it had pasta and broccoli two things he seemed to like.

It was a Chicken Broccoli Bacon casserole. I must admit hubby and myself ARE NOT casserole fans but we figured if the Lil Man eats it we can deal with it. Well ... the Lil Man would not even try it {inset an extremely disappointed face}. To be quite honest I have lost all motivation to try any new recipes lately. Heck I am even starting to dread making dinner.

Here's the casserole recipe if you feel like giving it a try - Chicken Broccoli casserole. I added some bacon bits and made it with pasta instead of serving it on a bed of rice. It wasn't bad ... not one of our favourite dishes but we are not casserole dish fans.

That's it for today. Hope everyone had a good January. Happy Friday!

 

 

Sending everyone some happy smiles for the weekend!

 



 

{April . 12 . 2013} Storm

It's hard to believe that a week ago today we were blanketed with  a sheet of ice outside. While this past Monday the temperature  reached a high of 14^oC  (the first day this year I was able to put clothes out on the line). The ice buildup on Friday was so bad that I could not get into my vehicle through the driver's side. I had to drive around Friday morning entering the vehicle through the passenger's side (I'm sure a couple people had a good laugh). The right side of our property was hit really bad. The laundry room and spare bedroom windows were even covered with a thick frosted layer of ice ... it looked really neat.

After a good 30 minutes trying to get the ice off the windshield of the car and getting completely drenched because it had started to rain, I was finally on my way to my appointment with a minute to spare {not very happy at that moment}.

I tried to get a photo of the thickness of the ice on the driver's side door handle but it is hard to see ...

All the parking lots were icy

Once I was done my running around and Hugo went down for a nap I went outside and snapped some photos {the one nice thing about the storm -- I was able to snap some cool looking pictures}.

 

 

By this point a lot of the ice had melted off the clothes line.

 

 

 

 

Another thing that also sucked was the power went out for about 2 hours, just before I was about to warm up my lunch. I had to come up with a way to warm up my soup...

Man was I grateful I have a fondue set. It worked like a charm! Hugo was napping during this part and it was so weird not being able to hear him through the monitor. It's crazy how many things we count on that require power. It is not until times like these that you really notice them.

Have a great weekend!

Rainy Days

Hugo is ready to test the water levels ...

 

There is a problem, however ...

 

Screenshot from The Weather Network 

 

 

 We are in the middle of a winter storm warning today.

 

If April showers brings May flowers, what does April snow bring?

 



S N O W - PART 2

This past week Hugo was extremely fascinated with the snow Roxy brought in on her paws and Byron on his boots. As soon as he saw it on the mat at the back door he wanted to investigate it.

I asked Byron to bring in a clean piece from outside and this is how his investigation went down...

He touched it ...

 

... turned it over and examined the other side

He then picked it up with both hands.

 

Byron put it on his lap and he pocked it.

 

 

He watched it melt on his fingers

Then he decided to try it

 

 

 

His experience with snow this time was a lot better. He didn't seem to mind that it was cold, oddly enough.

 

S N O W

A couple weeks ago Hugo had his very first adventure in the snow. He has such sensitive skin and I always hesitate to take him out to play in it. When NEMO, the winter  storm of this year hit us and brought with it some snow, we thought it was a great opportunity to take Hugo out to play in the snow... or at least we tried ...
 
 

 

 

Byron plopped him in the snow ...

 

 

 

 

He didn’t really like it and started crying. [I later discovered that the snow started going into his boots when Byron did this. Thus, he was cold and Hugo NO LIKE being cold!]

 



 

 

 

We pulled him out, brought him in for a bit to warm up ...

 

 

 

Taking a break inside, trying to warm up a bit.



 

 

Not too sure about this whole thing.

 

 

 

"Do i have to go back out there?"

 

 

Roxy convinced him to give it another try ...
 
 
 

 

 

Not so bad this time ... this white stuff looks interesting.

 

 

 

Time to touch the white fluffy stuff ... neat ...

 

 

 Wow Roxy's playing in it, this isn't so bad ...

 

 

 

 

 

But wait ... 

 

 
 

Things were going well ... but then he fell face first into the snow and changed his mind ... "It's cold, get me out of here, I want to go back inside" {crying and screaming}... 

And that was Hugo's first experience in the snow.

 

 

Birthday Surprise

This past Tuesday I celebrated my birthday. Besides being another year older, it was a lovely day.

Temperatures outside were warm, like a spring day -- +12^oC. I can't remember ever celebrating a birthday with such warm weather. Usually there is either a winter storm happening, or freezing rain ... never this mild. You get the point ... I was shocked.  It was a pleasant surprise! Today on the other hand, we woke-up to reality ... old man winter dumped close to 40 cm of snow overnight and there is still a snow squall warning in effect, and the temperature outside is -19^oC with the windchill. The snow was almost as high as Roxy and she wasn't to sure she wanted to get off the deck ...

The day started with this clue from Byron ...

 

 

Hugo woke up just as I finished reading it and I wasn't able to start my search.

When Hugo went for his nap I made ...

 

Chocolate covered strawberries ... mmmm .... one of my favourites!

Then I saw some more hints ...

Then Byron came home with dinner ...

A family chicken deal from the superstore. It was so nice not having to cook. He also brought home a delicious cake!!I guess I didn't need to make the strawberries ... but I had a craving for them.

Then I received some more clues and I continued my search with my wonderful search dog -- Roxy. She is such a good helper. I had to get through this tiny space in the garage and Roxy looked at me ... "You expect me to get through there ..."

 

With some encouraging words, she got through and we found the door we were to look behind ...

... and then we found my gift {insert super excited & jumping for joy with a big smile on my face}!!!

Roxy had to sniff it to ensure it was safe for me to bring it into the house. I love it! Now I just need to learn how to use it!!!!

And then after all that hard work we had dessert and it was wonderful! Hugo had a little bit {big mistake}, it was 9:00 p.m. and he wanted nothing to do with going to bed!

We would definitely get this again.

I had a wonderful day with my awesome family!!!! Thanks to my amazing husband.