February 2011
  

Snow Cream!!

A week or 2 ago, we had around 15cm of fresh snow. It was the perfect opportunity to try Snow Cream!


Here's what we did:

1. Gather a lot of fresh fluffy snow (CLEAN snow of course)
2. Add evaporated milk, a couple of tsp. of vanilla, and sugar
(just watch the consistency & taste, to decide how much sugar & milk to add)
3. Add more snow if it's too runny
4. Add food colouring & sprinkles!
(You can put it back in the freezer & scoop it later if you have the patience ;)

It was delicious & fun! :)

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Maple Syrup Candy Pops

Next time you've got fresh snow, you've got to try making Maple Syrup Pops!



I found that when I boiled it almost long enough, the syrup stayed more soft & chewy & roll-able (like in the top, left picture), then I cooked it longer and it got really hard as soon as it hit the snow (it was like hard candy & it hardened too fast to roll- like in the bottom picture). So, temperature really does matter for this one! :)

Either way, it's fun though. You can find great step by step instructions at the link above (it sends you to the Canadian Living website).

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Behind The Blog

This post will show up on my blog in the wee hours of a day far from when I wrote it (cuz that's how I roll).

...but as I write this, it's 9 minutes to midnight and I'm tired and I should have gone to sleep long ago. (I always do this when Ken's gone overnight)

He called around the time I was pondering today's dinner plan and said he'd be late (so naturally, I took my 5 year-old's advice and made Kraft Dinner for dinner), and then called again after I had the girls in bed and said he thought he better stay over in Toronto at the hospital since he was going to be so late and had to be back again so early tomorrow.

So, here I am, having eaten about a quarter of my bowl of KD (it tasted kinda burnt because I got distracted and burnt some of the noodles... I didn't serve the burnt noodles, but the ones that looked good still tasted weird)... I let Katrina eat my leftovers because she wanted them (Talia wasn't fooled- she pointed out that the KD tasted "bland"). Anyway, I basically had a bottle of Dad's Rootbeer and 3/4 of a bag of Crispers for dinner while sitting in bed with my laptop.

Do you ever do this?
I can't be the only one.

Anyway, I found out about this article tonight while killing time and surfing the web. Then I found this vlog, which I loved. Because it was proof that I'm not the only one with cereal and random chunks of string cheese on my floor... sporting a "2nd day ponytail" and yesterday's mascara... or a kid who likes to take their own diaper off... or messy bedrooms & toothpaste on the mirror... but best of all, I grinned when I saw her face when her little munchkin came running in the room. And I know that love. And it's the best part of this crazy, messy Mommy life.

I often miss the ability to put something somewhere and trust that it will be there still when I next look for it. I get kinda depressed about what a disaster my house is and how I'll never catch up. I get frantic when I know someone's coming over & do everything I can to hide all of the mess. I forbade my mother in law from using my upstairs bathroom when she was over yesterday (and felt pretty sheepish about it afterward). And I apologized to my sister in law more than once about my messy kitchen sink, my messy bathroom, and probably other things.

Why? Am I trying to keep a secret from my mother in law? (as if my secret wasn't obvious when I sent her away so she could use the clean bathroom)
Do I want my sister in law to believe that my kitchen sink is usually pristine? (what- so she can question her own housekeeping abilities if hers isn't?)
After all, my mother in law reminds me that she once had 5 young kids at home and my sister in law reassures me that "that's what happens with sinks".

The "Why I can't stop reading Mormon Mommmy Blogs" article that I linked to earlier emphasizes something that's bothered me about blogging for a long time. Many of us blog about the good things. When the bad things don't make it onto a blog it doesn't mean they don't happen! It's so easy for us to compare ourselves to others based on what we see through their blog. I once had a friend tell me she had to stop reading my blog because it made her feel bad about herself- I was shocked! My blog represents such a very small part of my life. I post about the good things I have found because I want to share good ideas with you. There are PLENTY less-than-stellar moments in my life as a mom- plen.ty. Because I am far from perfect and I fall short a lot. Sometimes that kinda depresses me. Sometimes I'm totally okay with it (when I've got things in perspective).

So, now it's 12:20 and I've written a lot. And I'm even tireder. And I'm making words up. What's my point at the end of this?

I mostly blog about the cool things we do. I don't usually blog about the cereal on the floor or the burnt kraft dinner I served for dinner, or how long it's been since I last mopped the kitchen floor. Doesn't change the reality. And the reality doesn't change how awesome it is when my daughter asks me to snuggle her or tells me she loves me... and it doesn't change how much I love being a mom. (And I'm pretty sure you relate to this if you're a mom- Mormon or not)

I'll have to look back on this post next time I'm feeling like a failure.
I really think we're all just trying to do the best we can. We all want to be awesome. We're working on it. We've got to cut ourselves some slack and recognize the good- and that it's okay that it's mixed in with the not-so-great.

How to Restore Vintage Strawberry Shortcake Dolls

Last month I wrote about how I planned to restore some of my vintage strawberry shortcake dolls and give them to Talia for her birthday. I promised I'd post about the process, so here I am, back with photos.

Don't these dolls look great? They didn't start out that way!
How to Restore Vintage Strawberry Shortcake Dolls

I started with some rough looking old dolls that had been in a box in my mom's basement for probably close to 2 decades! (That makes me sound so old... I'm still in my 20s though.. for one more year! ;)

How to Restore Vintage Strawberry Shortcake Dolls:


1. Katrina & I filled a bowl with water and washed the dolls and accessories (be careful not to immerse the dolls in water- I suspect that it wouldn't be good news if water got inside of their heads).
I didn't use soap because I didn't want to mess with the berry smells that these dolls still had.

Make Vintage Dolls Look New

2. I used a Mr. Clean magic eraser on their bodies & faces & it worked wonders!!

Clean and Restore Old Vintage Strawberry Shortcake Dolls Face and Hair

3. For their hair, all I used was water and a comb! I found that for straight bangs, I just needed to wet them and plaster them against the doll's head and let them dry. For curly hair, I just got it wet, combed it, shaped it with my fingers a bit, and let it dry. If they didn't dry well, I just re-wet the hair and fixed the part I didn't like & let it dry again.

How to Clean Old Toys so they Look New

4. Next I washed all of their clothes. Here's a tip: DO NOT wash Strawberry Shortcake sleeping bags in the washing machine! (All the fuzzy stuff comes off & gets EVERYWHERE).
I ended up not having enough outfits for all of the dolls, so my mom came up with a little dress for one of them (shown below).

Restoring Vintage Strawberry Shortcake Toys

5. I set up all of the dolls with all of their freshly washed accessories and covered them in tissue paper for Talia to uncover (rather than wrap them up). She loved them! And it cost nothing except time and a little TLC :)

If you want more information about cleaning your vintage strawberry shortcake dolls, you can visit this link that I found after I had already finished working with mine.

Calling All Angels

I heard about this yesterday & wanted to share it with you.
I'm hoping to get a blanket out before it's too late- maybe you'd be interested too.



You can visit Neal & Angie's blog to find more information & FAQ about this service opportunity.

Valentine Breakfast - Heart Shaped Pancakes!

Here's what Ken & the girls made for breakfast on Valentine's Day :)


Pink, heart-shaped pancakes!

We didn't have a fancy pancake shaper, so they just made regular pancakes & cut them with cookie cutters- good enough for us! :)

LDS Journal Review

At the beginning of 2010, I decided to start journaling using a service called LDS Journal on a website called www.ldsjournal.com  It has since changed names and is now called JRNL.com 

To get started, you just sign up for a free account and log in whenever you want to add another entry. I kept my journal there for the whole year & then I ordered a printed book of my journal of 2010.

 

I received it a few weeks ago and I'm really happy with it! I like to research things online before I order online, so I tried to find photos of the printed books before I ordered and it was tough, so I decided I'd post a review of LDS Journal's printed books here for anyone else who might be trying to find out what they are like!

 
LDS Journal
LDS Journal


The book comes with a dust jacket that you can see pictured in the 2 top, left photos. I realize the photos aren't totally clear- it says "The Journal Of (your name)" and then it has the start & end dates that are contained in that book. You can also write something on the back of the dust jacket (I didn't show a photo since I didn't use that option). The spine of the book itself comes engraved with your name (shown in the top, right photo). I like the way the inside of the book looks, with a line to separate entries, the date, and then the option of a title for entries (I used this only sometimes, & I like having them there, for browsing- it's interesting how a little title can take me right back to a memory). You can even add a smiley beside the title, to show your mood. You also have the option of adding photos to your journal (which can be added at the end of the book or throughout the book, and can be printed in colour or black & white). I decided not to include photos since I tend to keep them all in a Photo Yearbook, and because I didn't know what the quality of the printing would be. If anyone has printed one of these books with photos, I'd love to hear what you thought of the quality! Overall, I'm very happy with the way this book turned out & I'm continuing on with this service for 2011 (just hoping that I'll remember to update more often than I did last year ;)

Valentines

I've seen this idea several places on the web, and although I thought it was unique, it turns out that my sister in law in the U.S. used the same idea for one of her kids this year!
So, if you've been searching the web for Valentine ideas, you may have already seen this idea, but if not, check it out!


I've also seen this done with the hand outstretched with the palm showing & a Hershey's kiss stuck on it :)

[A little tip: I used a hole punch, but my SIL just made little slits at the top & bottom of her son's fist, and I like that look better, since it doesn't chop a hole out of the picture ;]


Happy Valentine's Day!

I love this song. And I love the visuals that they have put with it. No speaking- just singing & loving :)

Hope you're loving on the people who mean the most to you today :)



p.s. Congratulations, Christy Sanchez, you won the CSN Gift Code Giveaway! :)

Valentine Sharing Time 2011

I think having one linky for the month that is re-posted each week looks like it's going to work well. We've had around 100 entries so far, for January and I think that's a great start!

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The Raising Memories Sharing Time for Valentine's Day has started. It will remain available until the end of February. Please add a link to your greatest blog posts about activities to do with your children or fun projects that you have done that are related to Valentines Day!
(They don't have to be from this year- just link to any great posts of yours with Valentine Ideas)

[Note: any entries that are not related to Valentines Day will be deleted- please add them to the regular Sharing Time Linky!]

If you're participating in Sharing Time,
please copy the code below & paste it
into where you can edit the html of
the post you've shared.




P.S. If you haven't already, don't forget to enter the CSN Stores giveaway that's going on at the blog right now!








Hey everyone, the Valentine Linky is still open until the end of the month!



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