Hannah Grace

My baby sister had a baby today.  I'll say it again.  My baby sister had a baby today.  How is that possible? I mean, it's weird enough when you start having babies yourself, but when it's your baby sister?  It's hard wrap my brain around.

Hannah Grace arrived just after midnight after many, many hours of labour.  She's a big baby (compared to mine, I guess) and my sister pushed her out!  I'm so proud of her.  I'm SO proud of her.

I wish my dad was here to meet her ...

Family getaway

The Christmas season was as hectic as usual (Curtis with extra services, tons of company and just general Christmas craziness) and it left us longing for some time together as a family and just away from every day life.  We found a terrific deal on a condo in Banff and decided last Sunday to run away on Monday for a few days!  We returned this afternoon feeling rested (at least in our spirits if not our bodies) and put back together again.  Here's what we did:

The holiday started with lunch at Tim Hortons (a treat for those of us who live in the ditch).  Kara enjoyed a double chocolate donut and some hot chocolate.

The kids had fun playing in the tub together.

We learned how to paint using a paintbrush.

We played outside.

Kara and I went on an adventure into the town of Banff.  We got to ride the bus!

We went to Cows and ate yummy ice cream and bought horrendously overpriced t-shirts.

(Lightning MooQueen & Buzz Lightsteer)

We played for hours in the huge playzone at the condo resort.

When it got too dark or too cold to be outside, we stayed inside and hung out in our jammies.

Jonas slept well from all the excitement.

And when the kids went to sleep we sat for hours staring at the fire enjoying the quiet!

If you haven't had a family getaway for awhile, we highly recommend it!

Sick girl

Kara is sick.  Probably the most sick she has ever been.  Fever, vomiting, lethargy.  Can't sleep, can't eat.  It's terrible.  And it makes me so sad.  I have thought many times over the last few days that I would take it from her if I could.  That I would happily have the flu if it would save her the suffering (not like the flu is real suffering, but it certainly isn't pleasant).
Also, in just the last few days, I read about a 2 month old baby who was diagnosed with leukemia, a friend of a friend lost her 3 month old to an infection, a father of 4 died in a tragic car crash, a friend was rushed to hospital with heart pain.  Man, I am just getting sadder by the minute and found myself in tears several times today just thinking about it all.
I haven't finished processing all the thoughts that are mulling through my brain (and I recognize that much of how I am feeling is induced by two sleepless nights!), but what comes out clearly is this:  my life is not my own, my children are not my own - they are on loan from my heavenly father, our days are short and opportunities are fleeting, so LOVE.  Love my sick girl and care for her the best that I can.  Love my husband.  Love my baby boy.   My days are not wasted if I love with all of me.
Thank you Jesus for each of these that you have blessed me with for now.  Teach me to love them how You love them.  Bring peace to the hearts of these families who are suffering loss ... Lord in your mercy, hear my prayer.

Recipe to share

So I'm thinking that part of my blogging experience will be to share some recipes too.  I'm always looking for new, healthy, easy recipes for my family.  This one isn't a new one for us, but I'm making it for supper tonight and it smells so yummy that I wanted to share.  We serve it over rice and have naan bread on the side for soaking up the sauce.

Slow Cooker Squash and Chickpea Curry

Ingredients

2 cups (500 mL) cubed peeled butternut squash
2 cups (500 mL) diced peeled potatoes
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 tbsp (15 mL) vegetable oil
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp (15 mL) minced gingerroot
3 tbsp (45 mL) mild curry paste
1 can light coconut milk
1 cup (250 mL) vegetable stock
1/4 cup (50 mL) natural cashew butter or peanut butter
1/4 tsp (1 mL) salt
2 cups (500 mL) packed shredded Swiss chard
1 cup (250 mL) frozen green peas
2 tbsp (25 mL) chopped fresh coriander

Preparation:

In slow cooker, combine squash, potato and chickpeas. 

In large skillet, heat oil over medium heat; fry onion, garlic and ginger, stirring occasionally, until onion is light golden, about 7 minutes. Add curry paste; cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add to slow cooker. 

Add coconut milk and stock to slow cooker; stir in cashew butter and salt. Cover and cook on low for about 4 hours or until vegetables are tender. 

Stir in Swiss chard and peas. Cover and cook on high for about 15 minutes or until Swiss chard wilts. Sprinkle with coriander.

Snapshots of Christmas

Well, I spent a few hours last night and a few more hours today making a beautiful slideshow of our Christmas pictures with music and video.  It was a true masterpiece.  But now I can't get blogger to upload it for me - aaargh!  So I will share a few pictures anyways but please sing lovely Christmas carols in your head as you look at them :)

All dolled up on Christmas Eve

Kids in jammies are so sweet - especially when you know they'll be sleeping soon!

  

Has absolutely no idea what is going on!

The new quilt came in handy on our walk.

Trying out the new wagon.  Works great!

Merry Christmas!

Labour of Love

When Kara was born, I decided that I really wanted to make her a quilt.  Something that she could keep forever; something that she could cuddle with; something special that her mom made her when she was brand new.  Anyways, I'm not much of a seamstress (I've always taken my pants to Stitch It to get a simple hem!), but I tackled a rag quilt and was very happy with how it turned out.  Rag quilts are very forgiving so it was a great way to start.  But now, with another baby, I realized that I would have to keep up the tradition so I started one for Jonas.  I planned on doing another rag quilt, but when I went to the quilt store, I got excited by a few different fabrics (who knew I would ever be excited by fabric) and ended up attacking a real quilt with a back and batting and the whole nine yards!  There were moments when I thought I should give up or else pay someone to finish it for me.  But I stuck it out and just finished it last night.  And so here is my labour of love for my little boy.  It is his Christmas gift but I'm sure he didn't mind getting a sneak peek!

ps:  if anyone was interested in the kind of fabric I used, I think it is called "minky" and it's that super-soft-almost-like-fleece-cuddle fabric.  Everytime Kara touches it she says "mmmm, cozy"

New Beginnings

I've been thinking about starting a blog for quite awhile, but every time I talk myself out of it thinking that nobody would really be interested in following it.  But then the other day, my friend Claire suggested that I start one and it got me thinking (again!) that I really should.  Our friends and family are spread all across the country and this is a great way to stay in touch with the small, everyday details of life in the ditch.

Disclaimer:  I don't know if I'm going to be any good at this.  But I promise to tell it like it is (I guess I wouldn't really be Andrea if I didn't) and I invite you to laugh and cry along with me as I share some of our life with you.




First post:  My mom is here visiting for Christmas and is helping a lot with the kids.  I asked her to get Jonas up from his nap this morning and after a few minutes, I heard shrieks of laughter coming from his room.  When I went to see what was happening, this is what I found:

I love laughing kids.  And I love my mom.