My Life as a Mom

Kale Sausage Soup I absolutely love soup, especially as it starts to get cold out. There's just something comforting about sitting down to a hot bowl of soup in the evening. It's even better with fresh buns, which I did not have tonight, but it's still great without. Tonight's soup was a hit even with my picky boys, they both ate up and asked for more! Mom win! This is by far the best soup that I have ever made without following a recipe! Lucky for you, I kept track of what I put in so that I can share the recipe! I've decided that I need to reduce my carbs again, not going full keto, just low carbs, so I made this recipe basically keto friendly. I did add vermicelli noodles to mine, but it's easy to leave them out and make it totally keto friendly.  Having freeze dried ingredients always on hand make soup so much easier! Tonight we had back to back hockey practices which put us at home late for dinner with two starving boys. I made this while one was ...

Yogurt Bites It's no secret that yogurt bites are one of the best snacks ever! My family eats them constantly,  we snack on them, put them in smoothies, make trail mixes and more. The options are endless! Recently we even made chocolate bark with them, and it was AMAZING! (I'll post on that later) Yogurt bites are a great food for infants and toddlers because they melt in the mouth and don't pose a chocking hazard!  Perfect for when toddlers are just learning to pick up things and feed themselves. Did you know that having toddlers pick up tiny things is important for the development of fine motor skills?  Open family can of pomegranate yogurt bites Yogurt bites come in three sizes, snackies bags (available in pomegranate and vanilla), pantry cans (available in pomegranate, strawberry, vanilla, blueberry, passionfruit, cherry and greek) or family cans (same flavours as pantry cans). My favourite way to buy them is in a six pack of pantry cans that comes wit...

Hey there! Today I want to talk about something I've become passionate about: Freeze Dried Food I know it sounds crazy and sounds like it's "moon food", but let me tell you, my family LOVES it! We use freeze dried food every day for snacks, meals and baking. But with freeze drying becoming one of the latest buzz words in the food industry, the question I get asked the most, is what IS freeze dried food? Freeze Drying is a process where food is flash frozen and then the moisture is removed through sublimation (sounds all sciencey doesn't it? Bet you never thought those junior high science classes would be handy!) For those of use that don't remember junior high science, sublimation is the process where (in our case water) is moved directly from a solid to a gas without passing through the liquid phase.  Kinda cool. OK, so what?? Why does that matter??  Think of your ice cube tray, have you ever left in in the freezer and just forgot about it? What happe...

So I had a dear friend point out to me that I apple season is upon us.  I told her that I didn't feel like doing anything with the apples on my tree this year because they are small and by the time you peel and core them, there is basically nothing left.Her eyes began to sparkle and she told me she had a better way... So I got to work and picked all the apples that I could reach off our tree, with a little bit of help...  I was quite pleased with the haul that I got.  I washed the apples, cut them in half and boiled them, seeds and all. Then put them in this nifty strainer thing that my dear friend borrowed from her mother in law (inlaws can be so handy sometimes) and mashed them through to create apple sauce!! I'm thrilled! It was really quick and  really easy. I added cinamon (and a little sugar cause my apples aren't super sweet) to the mashed apples, boiled them, put them in jars and processed them. Fast, easy, great smelling and yummy!! Now I'm listen...

I just love the way that my boys love each other. They really are best friends. David wants Zac to be happy and feels bad if he gets left out of anything. Zac thinks that David is the greatest person alive (after his mommy of course!) I'm so glad that I thought to grab my camera when I saw the two of them snuggled up on the couch together. Just quietly playing with a couple toys, but mostly enjoying the sunlight and each other. I decided that it was time to me to set a better schedule for myself. I've been finding that my mornings and my evenings are really good, but my afternoons are difficult. I feel unsure of what to do with myself and my boys seem to get cranky and then I feel unproductive and sad. It's a bitter cycle, and I decided it was time that I ended it. So I wrote down a plan for a new routine and I've been trying it for the last couple of days. I absolutely LOVE it. It works for me. I have designated time for each child, for cleaning, for crafting...

When everything else is stripped away, when all our obsessions are gone and our lives come in to focus, what is it that matters? What is it that makes me get out of bed in the morning? Why do I get on my knees and pray? At the end of the day, it's for this: And this: Because I want a whole lot more of this:   At the end of the day, I want my children's happiness. I want them to have the best possible life that they can have. I want them to be happy and feel free to do what they want to do. I want to see them smile, because when they are smiling, my life feels complete. My efforts seem valid. Everything makes sense and all the trouble is worth it.   I love being a mom. It's the one thing that I always dreamed of. It makes everything else, less important.

My how life changes. This summer has been an interesting one. Full of twists and turns and changes. I don't know that I'm brave enough to really talk about all of them yet, but I will say that it has led me to a lot of self discovery. I have found myself questioning every decision and wondering about everything. Because of what I have been through this summer though, I have learned some improtant things. I have learned what is really important to me, what I REALLY want out of life. I have learned who my real friends are, and that I truly can count on them. I have gained more respect for my mom than I ever thought was possible. I have learned that life is HARD. So very hard, and there are no easy passes, no get out of jail free cards. Life is just hard and how we handle those challenges, makes us who we are. I have learned that beyond a shadow of a doubt, I am where I am for a reason. God put me in this family, with these people, for a purpose. My upbringing was not ...