Books, Books and More Books

Recently I have become addicted to a book trading website - BookMooch!. This website allows users to trade books they no longer want for points. These points allow you to "mooch" books from other people. So far I have sent 2 books (one to Italy and one to the US) and it didn't cost me too much. I have already recieved the Time Traveller's Wife which I am so anxious to read and am waiting on another book for a Christmas gift. Whoever came up with this site was a genious! Now I just need to find the time to read them and get them back on my list to give so I can recieve some more good reads!

Brendan got a box full of kids books from his cousins. I have decided I will read every book in the box to him between now and Christmas. There have to be some that he likes. Right now he is far to busy to be interested in reading with me but I'm going to read them to him regardless, even if he just plays while I read. This morning I made and canned homemade applesauce from the apples Brendan and I picked a couple weeks ago. It felt really nice to get back to cooking and baking. We have been eating too much convenience food lately which has left me feeling less than healthy and energetic and my eczema rediculously worse. So my fall resolutions... back to the basics..more me time.. get organized for Christmas

Getting Back in the Groove

I realize that I haven't posted on here in oh so long. We've been so incredibly busy since the wedding but I'm BACK!

Re-cap of September:

- My first month back home not working. Yay!

- Our first month trying for baby #2..unsuccessfully but fun anyway :)

- The long weekend we went 5 hours north to the family cottage. Brendan wore his life-jacket that we got him from a yard sale for $2 this summer the whole weekend and loved it!

- Brendan's first haircut (see below!) we went to a kids chain called Melonheads - what a great first time experience! He sat in an airplane shaped bucket seat and played with toys and bubbles, there was a tv on the wall playing cartoons, the hair dresser cut away at his hair while he played, at the end he got a free ride on their resident rocking horse and a certificate with his picture and first lock of hair.

Yeah.... my kid wouldn't wear the cape!

- I joined a local mom and baby group on Facebook and did a mall outing and met lots of other moms and babies. Mostly boys and mostly younger than Brendan. This made me realize that there really aren't too many stay at home moms out there. After talking to many of the ladies I came to the conclusion most really don't want to go back to work, some dreading it but really don't feel that they have any option otherwise. I feel incredibly priviledged to be able to stay home with Brendan and that it is a choice. For whatever reason, I still always feel the need to mention to other women who inquire about my decision to stay home that I do have a university degree..unfortunately they are always surprised to hear this. I hope that in the next few years there will be a shift in thinking and that the stigma now associated with women who stay home to care for their children as being less educated or lazy might be put to rest. Dr. Phil the other day had a show on Stay at Home Moms vs. Working Moms and concluded that working moms have better socialized and rounded children?! I do understand the benefits of daycares for social interaction but what about the stay at home mothers who go out and do activities with their children and teach them manners and other important socialization skills one on one? Apparently in Dr.Phil's books that counts for nothing. sigh.

Wedding Day! (mixed up)

T-Minus 1 day!

Sooo my big wedding is tomorrow. Lately I've been going a little crazy with the planning and find myself wishing that the wedding was just over - as awful as that sounds. All of the plans I had in the beginning...most of them I put into action but many of the final details have just been decided by me going with whatever was easiest. A decision I do not think I will regret. Man this wedding planning is hard work! Exciting news on the food front. I have been harvesting a lot from my garden these days. 1 summer squash (another on the way), a handful of grape tomatoes, spring greens, radish, calendula, and herbs. YUM. My CSA food share has been more than filling in the rest of our fruit and veggies and Ryan's meat from last fall's hunt is just about finished.

Ryan picked up our tree favours earlier this week and they turned out far better than I had expected. We ended up paying a little extra but the farm wrapped each tree very nicely in a burlap sack and tied a dark purple ribbon around the top. Just have to finish printing out our instructions for the trees. I am hoping to get a final budget for our wedding posted after the wedding a la 2000 dollar wedding blog style.

Tonight we are hosting our rehearsal dinner at our house. On the menu:
BBQ Chicken
Baked Potato
Corn on the Cob
Homegrown tossed salad
Caesar Salad
Key Lime and Lemon Meringue Pie
Strawberries from our foodshare

I'm really looking forward to relaxing on that beach now...

And He's Up and Walking!

Finally... Brendan has been making fairly successful attempts at walking for the past week. He is almost 16 months old now. Ryan walked around 16 months and I walked around 13 months so he's bang on given his genes! His walking is resembling more of a run. He has learned if he goes slowly he is more likely to fall before reaching his goal. We keep on encouraging him. :). He has also made some attempts to use a spoon to eat his food.

The last two nights we have made some pretty healthy meals that Brendan has happily eaten. The first night I made some sticky rice (we found that this is the best rice for him to eat with his hands as it clumps when he grabs it) with black beans, peppers, and onion. I am going to add tofu to it next time, I think. He ate it up. Last night I made my own version of the maceroni and cheese from Deceptively Delicious by using brown rice pasta, 1/4 cup of pumpkin puree (very healthy!) instead of squash or cauliflower puree and adding the left over black beans from the night before. Brendan, Ryan and I all enjoyed it. The best part was it only took 15 minutes to make, including prep time and cleaning up after myself as I went. I like many of the recipes in this book and am always looking for ways to add nutritional content to foods that Brendan enjoys. I am delighted to report that he absolutely loves veggie pizza!

Sewing Project for the Wedding

I am thinking about making my own napkins or table cloths for the wedding...but I do not have a sewing machine. I actually know very little about sewing machines and want to buy a fairly basic machine that will be good for small projects. I know that some good quality ones can be upward of $600. Clearly I don't have this kind of money...

Anyone have any suggestions on where to get one at a fairly good price? Brand name suggestions would also be greatly appreciated!!!

Honeymooning in Bruce

In the midst of wedding planning we have also managed to plan a wonderful 4-night 5 day honeymoon in the Bruce Peninsula. When I was younger my parents used to rent a cottage in Sauble Beach on Lake Huron nearly every summer. I loved going there. I haven't been in quite a few years though and Ryan has never been. His one criteria for a honeymoon was a beach... mine was staying local and saving money while having a romantic experience. As you can see above. Sauble Beach has one of the top ten sunsets in the world!...truly amazing. I don't even feel bad in the slightest that we will not be going to some far off grand destination for our honeymoon. Ontario can be quite beautiful and it is all about spending time alone with eachother. Best of all... we're supporting Ontario tourism in this economic recession. I love it!

We are staying at bed and breakfasts for the 4 nights. The first two will be spent the closest to Sauble Beach so we can unwind from the wedding and sit on the beach. This B&B is the most private but also has a nice area outside for a nightly fire where guests can mingle (see below!) The other two B&B's will be further up the peninsula and are eco-friendly! The first one is an Edwardian style home (Same as ours - only much much larger) and we'll have a whirlpool tub and our own private balcony. The last B&B we'll stay at is a farm house that serves local and organic food :) For our meals, breakfast will be covered, we'll have a light lunch - maybe some picnics on the beach or wherever we are and then splurge for some fancy dinners. We usually do this sort of thing on all our vacations.. breakfast in the hotel..pack a lunch and have a very nice dinner. It will definitely be nice just the two of us.

So far our list of activities includes:

- Sunbathing on Sauble Beach

- Golfing

- Hiking the Bruce Trail (we plan on seeing the grotto). Likely we'll do outdoor activities every morning. We usually do when we vacation.

- Touring various historical light houses

- Taking a boat out to see the shipwrecks off Tobermory

- Visiting the Southampton Market

- Going to a drive-in movie (something we always used to do before Brendan)

- Buying some local artwork - a tradition my parents used to do on their anniversaries from Niagara-on-the-Lake or various places they travelled. This is something I'd really love to do with Ryan.

- Finding a live band to enjoy

SUGGESTIONS ARE WELCOME!