I Love the feeling of being productive !!

( Chocolate Chip Flax Cookies)

( Pumpkin Bread  & Oatmeal Wholewheat Blueberry Flax Muffins )

( Apple Raspberry Blueberry Crisp )

( Pumpkin Muffins)

( Lasagna )

Up & Down, Up & Down

Well, today's the first home day in several weeks.  Over the last week & a half we've made two trips down island for dental appointments.  Ana still has one more to go in a few weeks.  Ana like many little ones I know with poor prenatal care, has very weak enamel on her baby teeth.  Despite eating really well, brushing her teeth & on going dental care..her poor little teeth just rot !  In the last week & a half she has had three of her upper teeth removed & several fillings.  Her next appointment she will be having an upper spacing appliance installed.  She was so brave and with the help of a little sedation she did amazingly well !!

While my girl & I were in Nanaimo the rest of the clan was hanging with the amazing Nana Val in Comox. On this last trip I had planned a little fun family time.  After dropping Piper off at the kennel & checking into our motel we heading to Shamrock Farm's to stock up on sweet pumpkins.

This morning I started on my Christmas baking.  I have stacks of recipies ready to go and really not a lot of time to get it started.  I'm a little worried that maybe I've over committed myself.....oh well !  If need be I'll modify my plans as I go if necessary.  Today it's....snowballs & some of the cookie doughs that require being chilled & are happy to sit in the fridge until I can get to them !!!

Things are.....

 .....improving day by day...met with our new ped. psychiatrist yesterday.  Prior to meeting her I had only received glowing recommendations....which I can now see why.  At the end of our 2 hours session, she informed me that she feels that I have a very impressive handle on all the ins & out of whats going on with my kids and that she feels no need to make any big recommendation with the exception of a small med tweeking for Ana.  She went on to applaud my plans to transition into our being a home school family. ( Which means that the kids entire medical team is backing my decision)  It's always nice to receive positive feedback from people in the know !!!

The cold that has been making it's way through the house seem to be finishing up.

I've am happy to report that the fire & I are now on friendly terms.....a huge improvement from last Fall !

I'm back in my school kitchen with all the kids at Cheslakeese.  The Kindie and I made applesauce yesterday.  Their so sweet and eager.  I just love it !

My Ana & I had a peaceful non-confrontational 40 minutes this morning making double chocolate chip cookies...actually our whole day was really peaceful !

So it appears that things are on an upswing finally...well until next week when Ana has her dental surgery...here's hoping everything goes smoothly and she's not to traumatized ....

Garden goodness

Last night I happened to walk by the garden and noticed these lovelies !!!  The garden has been so hoe hum this year that I had stopped checking it lately.  To my pleasant surprise the scarlet runner beans had decided to finally be productive.....

Hiding.....

Sometime the world is an unfriendly place to be.......sometimes we " Shepley's" just need to hole up at home and ignore the outside world......

" I can do it "

I'm so glad to say despite being dealt so many hurdles that " YES you can" and OH ! so much more !!

Productive

Part of that great appliance shopping spree that I went on a couple of weeks ago was a new front loading washer & dryer.  Sadly the washer was faulty.  One of the downsides to living a few hours away from any kind of urban center is that it takes time to get these kinds of situation handled.  Surprisingly it has only taken a week to have a replacement delivered.  So today's mission was to get a handle on the crazy piles that were taking over the TV/laundry room.

Today we have done 4 loads of clothes & 3 loads of bedding.  This would have taken days with the old much smaller machines. These new front loaders are so efficient ......I like LOVE efficient !!!  I'm starting to see so much more time to do what I don't know...I'm sure I come up with something !!!

Some days just call for a large bowl of Vanilla Chocolate Ripple....

I wish that my girls had the ability to go with the flow......the reality is that moving the furniture, painting a wall a different color & pulling out the school supplies was just way to much change in one day !  Everyone is sleeping now, the last coat of paint is drying and I'm looking forward to meeting with our Danielle ( child & youth mental health support worker) tomorrow afternoon , it's been a little over a month!  The boys are looking forward to having activities tomorrow...a little time away from their sisters......which in turn will give the girls more space......maybe we'll pull out the art supplies......this usually brings them some degree of peace.


Here's hoping....tomorrow's a new day...anythings possible.....right?

Fi Fy Fo Fum.....

Can you guess where my little boy is ?

Once upon a time....

there was a momma who lived in a mish mash of a little house with.....

walls to be painted.......

floors to be cleaned & repaired.....

cupboards to be sorted.......

stuff to be organized.......

space to be found.......

Then one day she stumbled across a great appliance sale !!! With dreams of a organized, uncluttered finished home with coordinated walls & trim.....she set to work.....

to be continued......

Boys redo part 2 / Port McNeill, B.C.

....well the boys room is slowly coming along.  On our last trip down island I was able to pick up the new dresser I had ordered.  We have also organized everything completely.  My big boy Anthony doesn't really see the point !  However, because he truly wants to please his Momma he went along with my plan.

We are still planning on painting the walls, door & trim.  While Papa was here, he started on the floor molding.  I'm hoping to finish it up.  Papa decided he could leave his prized miter saw, compressor & nailer with his " favorite oldest daughter".  Ha ha that has always cracked me up....he thinks he's so cleaver.....I Love him sooo.

Real Food for my Babes.....

I love being able to prepare real healthy food for my family.  It's important to me that their bodies get the absolute best foods I can provide.  We do our best not to eat commercial food additives/colors & preservatives.  There is absolutely no reason why manufacturers need to continue to add red food coloring to raspberry jam or tomato soup.  Bread should not still be all soft & mold free 2 weeks later !

 This afternoon I made these freezer friendly recipes...not that much will actually make it there !

Mixed Berry Crisp ( made with honey, whole oats & flax seeds),  Whole grain Banana Breads & muffins & Chewy Ginger Cookies.

The girls rooms - reno part 1

         Papa Tom (my dad), Grandma Heather, Aunty Cheryl & cousin Jared came to stay with us for the past 5 days.  Papa was eager to help us with some of the many " House Projects".  At the top of the list was to remove the disgusting carpet from one of the girls rooms.  Papa came prepared to cut and install new floor molding.  Once the rooms were stripped down, We decided to take advantage and patch and paint the walls & trim.

( Papa removing the carpet )

( Liam helping remove the hundreds of staples & nails from the floor )

 ( Ana's new room)

 ( Ana's moved in...)

( Keisha's room still needs organizing....but it's coming along)

 ( Papa getting ready to replace that sad, ugly broken light fixture....)

 ( He's such a great Dad !!!)

( I'm really pleased....it's so nice to finally have quality lighting !)

It wasn't all work & no play.....we found lots of time to just be with each other !

( Jared & the boys enjoyed "diggin" in the empty garden beds)

( Jared & Keish share a passion for making puzzles)

 ( Teaching each other)

( watching almost the whole " Harry Potter" series together, Papa & Grandma were watching them for the first time and were totally hooked)

( blanket forts are so much fun...no matter your age )

( We spent lots of time cooking with each other.....Keisha's our salad pro ! )

It was a great visit.  I wish the weather had cooperated for us to spend more time outside.  It's amazing how many project we were able to get through.  It's would have taken me so much more time to get through them on my own.  It was also cool to watch the cousins hang with each other.  We're looking forward to visiting both of my sister's and their families this summer.  Thanks again for everything !! Love you !!