Banana Muffins!

Been on the hunt for a great Banana Muffin recipe for a while now. Most attempts have resulted in me wasting time and ingredients as my kids haven't liked them. Recently I was at a friends house and my kids actually ate her Banana Muffins! So I asked for her recipe, tweaked it slightly to be dairy free for Bear and voila! A Muffin my kids will actually eat! Yeah!!

So Thank you to Christina for sharing her recipe with me!

Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins!

½ cup hard margarine (or butter), softened (I substituted 1/4 cup of Apple Sauce)

1 ¼ cups granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 ½ tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. baking soda

¼ tsp. salt

1 ½ cups mashed banana (about 3 medium)

(Dairy Free) Chocolate Chips

1. Cream margarine, sugar, eggs and vanilla together in a large bowl until light and fluffy.

2. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in medium bowl.

3. Add flour mixture to margarine mixture in 3 additions, alternating with banana in 2 additions, beginning and ending with flour mixture,  Beat on low until batter is smooth. 

4. Fill muffin ¾ full/ Bake in 350 oven for 15-17 minutes until wooden pick inserted in center of muffin comes out clean.  Cook in pan for 5 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool.  Makes 2 dozen muffins.

Enjoy!

Something New for our household!

We've had a lot of trouble with our middle son and his sleeping and behaviour problems. Our doctor had put him on Melatonin 2 years ago to get him to sleep and for 2 years I’ve been trying to get more answers because weaning him off it wasn't helping him sleep and I didn’t want this to be a long term solution for my son. My new family doctor didn’t have any answers for me but after discussing his melatonin use with a pharmacist she decided she wasn’t comfortable with him continuing using it and advised me to try visiting the Naturopathic Doctor.

Almost two weeks ago we finally we're able to go. He sat with me for a good 45 minutes asking questions and discussing my son and his history. Then he told me he suspects that he has a Dairy Intolerance. We discussed things some more and came up with a plan for Bear.

So now I am embarking on a whole new life. I have counted myself lucky for having three healthy, happy children. When I listed to other parents talk about their childrens allergies and the things they needed to do I counted my blessings! Now here I am trying to adjust our eating habits! Bear is a big cheese eater! This is going to be hard!

I’ve been scouring the internet now for recipes and more information. In the meantime, we’ve been about 12 days relatively dairy free (he did have some at a party, which majorly blew up in my face! Bad idea!). His behaviour has been remarkably better! The Sleep is finally getting there! Last night I was able to get him to bed by 7:30pm!!! If you knew him, you’d know what a miracle that is!!! 7:30pm!! A sweet joy!

Now here we are on our new journey! A dairy free journey for Bear!

Cricut & Front Entrance!

Mama got a new toy! I've been saving up my money and finally got enough over Christmas to get myself something special ;) Spoiled myself with a Cricut Expressions 2!! 

Tonight I got it out and did a project for my front entrance with some vinyl I purchased! I opened the craft room and created the design I wanted to use.

Lined everything up and got cutting

 Object cut!

I applied the transfer tape and took it over to the area I wanted it and applied it where I wanted it!

I also made this up for the front door! lol We've been getting a lot of religious knocks on the door lately so Im hoping this will politely tell them not to knock ;) Jaime wants to me to add "Unless you're selling cookies" lol

And just for the update on the front entrance, I also worked on getting our calendar in order, as well as using my label maker to make my weekly list work better! Looks much cleaner and I like it more!

Much nicer & more functional! Its coming along!! (yes bottom still needs another coat of paint, I know!)

Front Entrance pt 2.

So a small update for the Front Entrance Way! I bought a Calendar and a white board/cork board to keep track of the kids week! I still need to do another coat of white paint and do some touch ups but its hugely improved and Im thrilled with how its working to keep the kids organized!

Say it every day...

This week has been a difficult one for many. Seeing the loss of so many young children, and their wonderful hero teachers, is difficult for anyone, but personally its been difficult as a mom. It became especially difficult when it was announced that many of these children were born in 2006.

In October 2006 I welcomed my first child. My life changed forever that day. I went from being a young woman who's only concern was what fun my husband and I could have to being responsible for a little life. I remember the moment he was born as literally the most overwhelming and joyous moment of my life. As he was placed on my chest I felt the most over powering feeling of love! I have never felt like that before! How you could instantly love something that much, its indescribable. If you haven't experienced it yourself, its just not something you can explain.

This tragedy really puts things into perspective. These babies are the same age as my baby. They were all so young and full of life, so much left to give this world and their families. And now they are senselessly gone. We'll never know what they could have done in this world. They've certainly left impressions on the world and their deaths will not be in vain I'm sure.

This tragedy as helped me appreciate what I have more. I have three beautiful, healthy children. Three wonderful souls who are going to make a mark on the world. I have a bright 6 year old who enjoys school, computers and has such a kind heart. I have a funny 4.5 year old who can always make me laugh when times are difficult. And I have a beautiful 1 year old daughter, who I hope I can have a close friendship with as she grows, she lights up my day and makes me smile with her goofiness!

I have a few hopes and dreams for my children. Its not that they are doctors or make tons of money. Its that they grow to be kind, generous and successful people. That they always know how loved they are. That they follow their hearts and do what makes them happy in life. That they feel comfortable to be who they are, no matter who that is! They are find love with who ever makes them happy and deserves them. That they see their lives are worth living, cause they matter to me. That people look at them and think happy thoughts, that no one ever fears them and only sees the light and love within them. I hope they are kind to others and others feel like they can lean on them when they are in need. I hope they are kind and polite to others. I hope they are generous and share with others. I hope they volunteer their time and give to those in need when they can. I hope that they laugh a lot and surround themselves with great friends and family. People who bring out the best in them.

I hope most of all that I can be the kind of mother who creates these people for the world. I see so much wonderful potential in them and I hope I am able to bring out the best of them and help to form great members to contribute to our society and make it a better place. I hope they hear my lesson that you don't have to be friends with everyone, but you have to respect them and be kind to them.  I hope that they can find a friend in someone who is in need of one.

So my lesson from this tragedy is to tell them something positive everyday so they grow into these individuals. To tell them they're smart, to tell them they are capable of anything, to tell them they're kind. To be sure they understand how much they are loved, how smart they are, how beautiful they are, that just who they are is enough and it matters to the world. That they're making a difference and that I appreciate everything in them. That I love them, more than anything else in this world.

Front Entrance Revamp! pt1

I recently just got sick of my Front Entrance. Its a small space and between four kids, 4 cats and two adults, its constantly a mess. Last year I tried to encourage the kids to hang up their bookbags andcoat by attaching 3m Command hooks. It worked well enough for a while, and then Lemon the destructor came along and ripped them off the wall.

Thanks to Pinterest I have had a few ideas pinned on how to solve this issue. Recently I started with measurements to figure out what I had to work with and where to go. I came up with a plan and headed to Home Depot! I found all the materials I needed and even got the guys there to cut the wood to the exact measurements I needed! Came home and put it all together!

Here is the before of the area... (older pic as you can see a baby seat shes been long out of :S)

I need to get a little more white paint and would like to hang a message board of some sort on top, so Im calling this Front Entrance Revamp pt 1! But here is my finished project! Total cost was $36 so far!

Welcome Visitors!

Hello everyone coming over from Tales of a Domestic Diva!

Today I was a guest blogger over at Tales of a Domestic Diva! I shared my simple pom-pom creations. Theyre cheap and easy to make and great for quick and easy decor ideas! I wanted to share a couple of my finished products over here so you all visiting and regulars can see what you can create! To see instructions be sure to see my post on her blog today here!

First up is the colourful pom-poms I made for my daughters nursery! They add a pop of colour to her room and bonus, only cost $3 to make!

For her birthday this year, as mentioned in the blog, I decorated with a couple pom-poms around the house, as well I made the owl pom-poms as shown in the blog! They made great cheap decor to go with the owl theme and everyone loved them!

So go check out the instructions and see how easy and cheap it is to make yourself! And thanks for all the guests for stopping by! Make sure to follow to see more project ideas!