And Everything in it`s Place

Never has the old saying A place for everything and everything in it`s place made more sense to me. As I am on the journey to organising my house I have learned a lot of nuggets of good information; tips for cleaning, Ideas of how to store things, ways to plans what needs to be done. If I had to sum up the whole process in one line however, this would be it! Really it is what it is all about isn't it? So simple and I have always know this too! I cannot even remember the first time I heard this phrase! Through Flylady I learned that before I brought anything in the house of when I decluttered to ask myself "Do I need this?" " Do I love this?," " Do I have one already?"." I now ask myself "Do I have a place for it?" By doing this I have eliminated several ignitions of my hotspots. This is really big because the hotspots were a huge deal here. Mess would just be shoved from spot to spot until we were overwhelmed with it. So there you have it! One of my new mantras: A place for everything and everything in it`s place!

HAPPY FAMILY DAY!!!!!!!

A day off to hang out with the people you love! What could be better? Nothing I tell you! We are going to start ours off with a big breakfast of fruit salad, omelets and bacon orange juice and coffee. Then we are going pull on our long-johns, extra pants sweaters, snow-pants double knit mitts and toques (and take them off and put them on again because someone needs the bathroom), grab our skates and head to the rink for some fun. When we are done we will come home for hot chocolate, chicken soup and home made beavertails! Then I hope to spend the afternoon engaged in a rousing game of Cranium. I think I will find a good crock-pot meal so that I can play too. Then after the kids are bathed and pajamaed, we will tuck in for a bed time story. Then mom and dad will cuddle on the couch and likely pass out from our fun day with our little bundles of endless joy and energy. I love Family day!

I know some of my readers are from Ontario. Tell what will/did you do for Family 2009?

My Poor Little Sickies

My children are all at various stages of a nasty flu. It is heart breaking to see my babies so miserable. The menu on days like this is. chicken soup, tea and popsicles.

I make my soup from scratch. I save all the bones from the roast chickens and when I have at least 3 carcasses I put them in the crock-pot with 3 washed onions that have their tops and bottoms cut off but the skins left on. Next I add a head of garlic, a bunch of carrots and 6 ribs of celery treated the same way as the onions. I put my bouquet de garni (usually tarragon, savory, sage and parsley) in a tea diffuser and place it on top of the mountain of food goodness. Then I cover the lot with cold water and a splash of vinegar, turn the crock on low and let it go about 24 hours. When it is done I strain it. If the patient is experiencing tummy issue then I will serve as is in mug but if sustenance is require I will add chopped chicken and fresh peeled and chopped veggies and rice or noodles. I will often make a loaf of bread to go with it. I swear you can see the colour return to their little faces!

Fun Things to do in Cold Weather

Winter is getting me down! Especially with how cold it has been! We are back to -30C (-22F) Needless to say playing outside isn't always an option. I have decide to list some of the things we do to cope. I hope those reading this will list any ideas they have too. As you can imagine we ae starting to get bored with what we do. So here they are:

Have a Pajama Day!

Usually only possible on weekends. We do not get dressed we stay in our jammies. Yummy snack food and hot chocolate is a must and so is a stack of favourite movies. In heavy rotation currently, Alvin and the Chipmunk, Arthur and the Invisibles, kung Fu Panda, The First Star Wars trilogy

Games, Games and More Games!

Again yummy snacks are needed but they cannot be the type that make your fingers messy, We have a huge stack of games we can choose from - Monopoly, Connect 4, Battleship, Snakes and Ladders, Checkers, Chess, Trivial Pursuit, Cribbage, etc.etc. Our favourite thee days is Cranium! We have so much fun!

Arts and Crafts

This is usually reserved for when Hubby has to work. I will usually have an idea but really I just dump supplies in the middle of the table fire up the glue guns and let the children have at`er!


For those days when we might get a reprieve or we just cannot take another day inside...

Skating on the Canal

Long johns, snow pants, balaclavas and warm mitts and skates are required. We are so lucky to live in Ottawa where we have the amazing Rideau Canal lined with wonderful shacks that contain the delicious treat we call a beavertails