Homemade Pumpkin Spice

Today my good new friend Michelle came over for lunch, and what did not turn in to a walk. Michelle is my brother-in-law's new(ish) girlfriend, and I have to say Logan, I am fond of her. I hope you are too. (No pressure. Except, maybe a little pressure.) We had a great afternoon talking and laughing and drinking homemade pumpkin spice steamers. We were supposed to venture out on a walk to Starbucks, but when I found a recipe online and I had a really sad baby who wanted to sleep all afternoon, we decided to stay in and enjoy a cheaper and more adventurous version.
It actually turned out really good, I am surprised. I now have a convenient jar of pumpkin spice syrup in my fridge to enjoy at any time I please throughout this lovely fall season.
Update: it is delicious on french toast, pancakes and ice cream. I like this stuff a lot!
Recipe copied from Domesticated Academic

• 1/3 cup pumpkin puree (fresh or canned)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/4 cups water
• 2 1/2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice - yes that's a thing! The recipe called originally for a couple of different spices, but I didn't want to buy all of them and keep big bags of them in my cupboard. Then I came across pumpkin pie spice, and it is a little red tin of glory. It contained all of the listed ingredients and it was compact and only a couple dollars. Love!

1. Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally to keep syrup from burning.
2. Let mixture cook together until it becomes syrup-y and begins to coat the spoon (for about 10-15 minutes), then remove from heat.
3. Refrigerate in a heat-proof container. The syrup will thicken a bit in the refrigerator, but will become syrup-y again when heated.
4. To make into a coffee drink, you can add equal parts of this syrup to dairy of your choice in the bottom of a mug and then add hot/cold coffee for enjoyment.  It will taste like starbucks for a fraction of the price.  I freeze my leftover pumpkin puree in an ice cube tray to make more of this later on.

Feeding Your Baby

Cecelia is almost 5 months and I can hardly beleive it. At her 4 month shots the nurse mentioned some things about starting solid foods. She mentioned a free two hour class I could take to help get me started. When I went to register for it, I found one that had two more spots left open. I registered and then thought "who could I get with a baby near the same age as mine to register too?". Sarah Merril! I love Sarah and I love Enzo. It's a pathetic excuse I know, but with the distance we live from them I don't feel like we get to see them as much as I'd like. Our babies are two weeks apart and they are so cute when they get together. They love to interact with each other and play together in their own tiny ways. Their temperaments are very similar and I think Sarah and I have had some very similar feelings and struggles as pregnant women, and as first time moms.
Cecelia was very fussy in class today for some reason - which in very unlike her. To be honest I didn't get too much out of it, but the things I did catch were new information and very helpful to me.
Here are the notes I scribbled down:
Start each new food for 2-3 days and watch for any reactions. Start with Iron rich foods - introduce about 5 sources of iron first. Then move to vitamin C rich foods to help absorb the iron - introduce 2-3 different vitamin C sources, and then move on to other foods. The first texture babies need is as close to liquids as you can get - purees and such. Use meat as a source of iron - boil it and blend it up with some water to a puree form. You can also use eggs. Yogurts and cheeses are okay right away after the iron and vitamin C rich foods. Use plain yogurt (something with no sugars) and with at least 2.5% milk fats. Milk is okay to start around 9-12 months in portions less than 3 cups per day. Use 3.5% milk until at least 2 years. Do not use soy or other plant based milks until 2 years because they are lacking in nutrients that young growing kids need. It is recommended to use a cup from the beginning to help with the transition from breast. Do not put juice, milk or water in a bottle or even a sippie cup. Be okay with the mess and let them learn - let them feed themselves and let them use a cup.

Apples and Chocolate

I always remember my dad melting chocolate when he had some, and dipping a banana in it. For some reason {I don't even know how often he actually did that} that is one thing I remember him doing a lot. I've adopted it as a good idea, and recently have had it a lot, except with apples. Apples are just in the house more often. We have tons of chocolate bunnies from last Easter, and so I've introduced the snack to just about everyone in the house.
Well today I introduced it to the little ones, and this is what came of it.

I love that in pictures 3, 4 and 5, the kids each have their own way of looking like they've been caught chocolate handed. Things get so out of control by pictures 7, 8 and 9, that Max is actually using the legs of a Polly Pocket doll to scrape the bottom of the bowl to get all the chocolate. {When that started to happen, I actually could not stop myself from laughing out loud.} Then you see that by the end of things, more chocolate is on the table than anywhere else, and that half the plate of apples are still there, and the chocolate bowls are empty.
It was pure craziness. I could not believe my eyes by the end of it.

With the Kids

My in-laws are away for a week on vacation. My mother-in-law usually takes care of my niece and nephew during the days, so it was on me to take over for a few days while she's away.
Day One was on Friday last week, and it was exhausting. I started the day at their house helping out there, and found it tough to try to work with the kids under Breanne's feet. The kids were very attached to their mom at home, so I brought them back here to my place for the afternoon to leave Breanne to rest. They were very tired and cranky. Max was everywhere, and Verona was full of attitude I recognize from when I was young. When they left in the evening, I was exhausted. I just started crying all over the place telling Eric about it.
Day Two was so much better. A total turn around. I got more rest the night before, and that helped a ton I'm sure. I was able to be so much more patient with them, even when the attitude came back for a long visit in the afternoon. Max took a nap that day and so that gave Verona and I some time to spend together and to understand each other a little more and enjoy each other's company. It turned out to be a really good day with them, and I had a lot of fun.
Day Three we spent the day with Eric's aunt's family (from Saturday's waterpark adventures). She has four kids, and Verona and Max love spending time with her youngest two. They played all afternoon and I got to spend the time with Jordena, which was really nice. I really enjoyed chatting with her and getting to know her and her family a little more. The day went by so fast, and the kids were super cooperative when it was time to eat and time to leave. It made my life really easy and fun yesterday, so I'm super grateful for Jordena for opening her house to us.
These are the pictures I manages to snap in the process of running around with these wild little ones.

 Pinterest Project #1: Homemade Play Dough

 Pinterest Project #2: Fun Hot Dog Noodles

#5 Learn How to Make Jam

The day we left Wolfville last week, my mom came with the youngest girls and we all picked some raspberries. I always thought that raspberries are my favourites, but I don't really know anymore. I'm all confused. I think I like strawberries better maybe, or maybe I like them the same, or maybe I don't really care for berries on their own at all. One thing I do know for sure though, is that I love raspberry jam. Definitely more than any other kind of jam, and definitely homemade more than any other kind.
So we picked some raspberries last week, and today we are making the jam. The process seems to be a lot quicker and easier than strawberry as well. There are no green things to cut off, and they blend up way quicker and easier in the food processer.

Maybe I've mentioned this before, but I absolutely love learning new things. Things that are useful and applicable to everyday life are the best things to learn. When my mom taught me to make strawberry jam a couple of weeks ago, I made an official, on paper list of all the things I want to learn from here while I'm here. I've actually picked up a few really helpful and fun tricks from her, doing market stuff. But unfortunately I won't get to use many of them all the time. I now have a list of 7 Must Learn from Mom things to accomplish before I go home to Calgary on August 4th. Making jam is number 5 on the list, and now I know how to make both the important kinds.

These must make it into our suitcases. That's why they're so small. One strawberry for Eric, and one raspberry for Katherine.

Thanks Mom. Now I know how to make jam!

Happy Birthday Zach

Zach is my parents' good friends' son. He had a birthday today, and I think it was a happy one. He seemed like it was a happy one!

 Love the Angry Birds cake!

 Love their bunny too. So cute!

Cold Stone Creamery

Here's a quick fun tip: On the Cold Stone website you can sign up to be a part of their club and they send you coupons. Mostly just a buy one get one free coupon when you sign up and on your birthdays. I signed up last week and they send me a coupon. Eric and I went on a date.
We got delicious snacks for buy one get one FREE.

I like ice cream and I like peanut butter; I even like peanut butter ice cream, but my ice cream that was supposed to have peanut butter mixed in had just a huge clump of peanut butter in the middle and was not very mixed in. Katherine made a way better choice.
I didn't notice the ice cream in my mustache till later when it was all dry and stuck to my face.

I got a birthday cake batter and cookie dough combination. It was delicious and both of us liked it best.

 We were also going to go to the temple to check on it's progress, but  it's about a 40 minute drive so we didn't make it. It's our plan to get up there soon though.