A photo post catch up!

What have we been up to since my computer cord died? Well, here are some photos to catch you up. :)

My little Scooter cat (on the right) has had some pretty rough days. She's been having strokes, losing feeling in her legs, falling against walls, throwing up regularly and even went to the bathroom on the middle of the floor. This is so heartbreaking. I've been pretty heartbroken about her and getting to the point where I know I need to make that horrible decision.. but then she'll turn around and have a bunch of really good days - like right now. This is so hard. She is so happy when she's not having a bad moment and honestly doesn't seem to be in any pain at all. Being a furbaby parent is not easy. I've had her for 15 years and I really don't want to say goodbye yet. I adore this picture of her and Mirri (the rather chunky kitty in the photo) because Scooter never lets the other cats cuddle her anymore. She's very bone-y and I assume it isn't terribly comfortable for her at this point. That evening she let Mirri rest her head on her bum and I could have melted. Awww.

We have had a double whammy of sick furbabies in our house. Tiernan's rat, Ratatta, has mycoplasma (very common among rats) which is a lung illness. She had what's called a "mycro flair up" and it had me crying for days. I didn't like seeing her in pain like that. She was wheezing, coughing, sneezing.. and not just gently. The poor little girl was so defenseless. She would have trouble eating because she wasn't able to breathe (but did eat, which is a good sign!), she slept a LOT, and she would look at me with those gentle little eyes asking for help. The worst was when she stuck her little paw down her throat to try and open up her lungs. Heart wrenching! I spent a lot of time holding her while she slept, giving her extra vitamins A & C and little bits of dark chocolate. I'm happy to report that the flair up is over now, and although she's still not "normal" again, she is much, much better!

Aww, look at Rhi's little nose peeking out from a hole in their hammock! Adorable! Poor Rhi felt lost when Ratatta was sick, too. Usually they cuddle together all day, everyday. When Ratatta was sick she made sure to leave her alone when she was sleeping. Ratties are so smart!

While we're on the topic of pets, November 2nd was Mystic's birthday. Mystic was our border collie cross who we had from the time Avery was 8 months old, and who we had to say farewell to back in February of 2009. She was a beautiful dog, full of life and spunk. She was a runner and loved to herd the kids around when they were little. She was a talker, could get a bit grumpy when kids crawled on her (she had back/hip/leg problems from before she was a year), and had the most amazing brown eyes. She was my buddy, my foot warmer and I miss her each and every day. Mystic loved ice cream cones and we took her over to a local burger joint to get her a doggie cone and she would literally dance across the street after she had one. Before we said farewell to her, we took her to DQ for a cone. Every November 2nd is Mystic Day and we have an ice cream in her memory. The sting from her loss is still there, and I am certain it always will be. My Mickey-Tickey, my love. I'm certain that she was the one who brought Tibby into our lives. I still remember talking about her with Kyle while doing the dishes one morning and just bursting into tears. One of us suggested going to the Quinte Humane Society to walk some dogs (something we did from time to time) so we headed out there that Sunday afternoon. We walked a few dogs, and then I saw him. Tibbs was sitting in his kennel, keeping completely quiet and just watching me. I was drawn to him like nothing I'd ever experienced before. We took him out and knew right then and there we couldn't leave without him. I truly believe Mystic was with me that day and helped me find this boy we have now.

I am a firm believer that sometimes we need down time. That goes for my kids, too. Rhianna was feeling really under the weather and was barely eating, so I suggested she stay home for a day to recoup and rest. It was apparently just what the doctor ordered because she felt 100% better by the evening and was back to her normal self - jumping out of bed the next morning with a bounce in her step, ready to take on the day!

Rhianna's birthday is back in July, but it's nearly impossible to organize a birthday party with her friends for summertime. Instead, we wait until the Fall to celebrate. This year we went out to the movies to watch Puss n' Boots with her brothers and six of her friends from dance and school. Unfortunately, one other friend of hers was unable to make it (the poor girl has been super sick.. we're thinking about you, Kayla!). Since the party was at the theatre we decided to make some popcorn cupcakes! Rhianna just loved them!

Even her loot bags were theatre themed! Everything you need to curl up and watch a movie. ;)

Halloween was a lot of fun this year. We had a dance-a-thon for the dance studio the weekend before Halloween and I had a blast dancing around with the kids. :) I sent some snackies into school with the kids (these are the kitty cupcakes I sent with Rhianna), I made some Halloween themed food (but was in such a rush I only took pictures of one thing!), and the kids went out trick-or-treating with friends for the first time ever. I followed Rhianna around with some of my friends (mothers of Rhianna's friends) and admittedly felt a little strange without my boys! Guess I need to get used to this whole independence thing.

Here is the one photo I took - our candy corn pudding dessert. Cute, yes?

Avery dressed up as Charlie Brown's ghost from 'It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!'... not as the holy ghost as my friend Laura thinks! Haha.

Tiernan went as Link from Legend of Zelda!

And Rhianna went as Pippi Longstocking!

My lovely little crew before everyone dispersed for the night. Kyle dressed as a Wizard that night (I was a witch, as per every single Halloween). Even Tibby dressed up in Mystic's old hippy costume. :D I love them, oh yes I do!

How cute is Tiernan's Jack Skellington? ♥

So that about sums up our lives for the past couple of weeks. Add into this a whole lot of visits to the dance studio, a first visit to Brownies, lots of exciting soccer games for Avery (good grief, this level is intense!), plenty of soccer practices and development training, working for both Kyle and I, a tummy bug that has hit only Kyle and myself... and I think that may be it. Phew! ;)

Birthdays and Chili Mac!

Happy birthday to our beautiful Mirri cat. She turned 8 today, and is back to being the same age as Rhianna. Mirri is an interesting character. She's afraid of strangers and ends up hiding a lot when people are over. She's rather... round... so we like to call her fluffy. :) She's pretty quirky, but we love her to pieces. Mirri has the most beautiful big golden eyes, and is the most loving towards the kids. At night time you will always find her in bed with one of them. We sure love our Mirri-Smirri!

I made yet another pasta dish for dinner tonight! This time I planned on making this Italian/Mexican Mac, but changed it up a bit. It had a real bite to it, was enjoyed by most and eaten by all! I'll share my version with you.

Chili Mac

1/2 large bag penne

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 large white onion, chopped finely

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp red chilies

1 1/2 tsp chili powder

freshly ground black pepper, to taste

28 oz can crushed tomatoes

28oz can water

1 block pepper jack cheese, grated

In a large pot, heat the oil. Add the onion and garlic and cook 3-5 minutes until tender. Add the chilies, chili powder and black pepper and cook for another 2 minutes. Add the uncooked pasta and cook 3 minutes, stirring constantly.

Add the crushed tomatoes and water, and cook another 10 minutes until the pasta has cooked. Add the grated cheese and stir for a minute until it has melted.

Back to school and some yummy grub!

Farewell, Summer 2011. You've been good to us (if not a tad bit too warm .. hehe), and we appreciate all you did for us.

The kids headed back to school this morning a ball of nerves and excitement. Avery started grade 7, and when I remember how I was in grade seven, I start to panic a little. Ha! He has the same teacher he had last year and is super pumped about it. Last year he was in a split class, so all of the kids in his sixth grade class are in the same class again this year. Pretty cool for him. This evening he came out to run a couple of errands with me, and it was just the two of us. I caught myself just standing there watching him at times. His maturity level is astounding to me. He offers me help without being asked, he has conversations with me that make me realize he sees things from a more grown up view point. He's spent a lot of time lately talking about his plans for the future - where he wants to go to University, what he wants to study, what kind of life he wants to lead. My Cheeky Charlie is growing up! Sniff, sniff.

Tiernan started grade five today. Five! Even Avery is having a hard time wrapping his head around his little brother being in grade five. Tiernan has a supply teacher right now because his teacher was held up in Africa where she's been building schools over the summer. He enjoyed his supply teacher, loves that most of his closest friends are in his class this year, and can't wait to hear the stories his teacher is sure to bring back with her. He's in a grade 5/6 split which I think will be really good for him because he's a smart cookie, that one. :) I was a bit worried he wouldn't enjoy this year because he had a fantastic teacher last year and really wished he could stay in her class forever, but so far so good. I have my fingers crossed that it will continue being a good year.

Rhianna, like Avery, has the same teacher she had last year. This is a good thing! A very good thing! She has the absolute best teacher my kids have ever had (and they've had some pretty darn good teachers!). At the end of grade 2 (she's in grade 3 now!), he pulled me aside to ask if it was okay for her to be in his class for a second year in a row because he doesn't normally do that and I practically yelled "YES"! He helps her feel excited and happy with school. He's taught her so much - above and beyond the typical school things. I have no doubt in my mind that this will be as great for her as last year was.

Our back to school dinner was deeee-licious! I actually didn't expect it to be because it was sort of an easy meal, but ohhhh my. YUM. I even saved some leftovers for myself. I never do that. Ever! (Okay, only potato dishes... which this is... and lasagna.) I made a potato casserole with cheese and mushrooms (which doesn't look like much, but is so good!), a two cheese salad with homemade croutons, some tofu marinated in Kobe Tamari Garlic sauce and some leftover lemon poppy seed bread that we made in the bread maker yesterday. Mmm mm mmmmm!

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Potato Casserole with Cheese and Mushrooms

3 large baking potatoes, peeled and sliced thinly

1 tsp salt

3 tbsp olive oil

2 cups sliced mushrooms

3/4 cup parmesan cheese

1 onion, thinly sliced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

2 cups shredded mozzarella (or more)

Preheat the oven to 350.

Toss the sliced potatoes with half of the olive oil and half of the salt.

In a separate bowl, toss the mushrooms with the parmesan cheese, onion, garlic, thyme and black pepper and remaining salt.

Grease a casserole dish and layer 1/3 of the potatoes over the bottom of the dish. Top with half of the mushroom mixture and 1/3 of the mozzarella cheese. Repeat with potatoes, mushroom mixture and mozzarella. Top with the last of the potatoes, the last of the mozzarella cheese and the remaining parmesan cheese. Drizzle with the remaining olive oil.

Bake for 40-45 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

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Two Cheese Salad with Croutons

3 thick slices of Texas bread

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp garlic powder

2 tbsp olive oil

1 large romaine lettuce, ripped into bite sized pieces

1 ripe avacado, cut into small pieces

2 tbsp juice from a lemon

freshly ground black pepper, to taste

lots of feta cheese

lots of parmesan cheese

balsamic vinegar

olive oil

Preheat oven to 400.

Cut the bread into cubes, and put them on a baking sheet. Drizzle them with olive oil, and sprinkle them with paprika and garlic powder. Bake 7-8 minutes until crisp.

Toss the avocado with the lemon juice and black pepper. Toss it together with the romaine lettuce, feta cheese, parmesan cheese, and croutons.

Make some basic balsamic vinegar dressing using the ratio of 3 parts olive oil to 1 part balsamic vinegar. Mix well and drizzle over the salad.

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And for a bit of cuteness... awww. These two are best buddies!

A delicious meal made by my man!

Apparently my kids are ready for back to school. While I was at work, Kyle was doing the stay-at-home-dad thing, and the kids gave him a run for his money. It was a busy errand running day, and our lovely children were on edge and arguing over silly little things. By the time I got home, I think Kyle was D-O-N-E! They've since calmed down after eating a big meal, doing the dinner dishes and sitting down in their jammies to watch a show with me. Hopefully the rest of the weekend is smooth sailing. Especially now that it looks like we won't be able to do the things we had planned due to weather.

Look who got a haircut! However, contrary to how it looks, he is not strangling our Mirri cat. :)

Kyle had our dinner mostly done by the time I got off work, and it was very yummy! He made the Chickpea Sensation Patties, Potato Squashers, Thick & Rich Gravy (all from Eat, Drink, Be Vegan) and a caesar salad (Surprise! We love caesar salads around here.). Mmm.

Chickpea Sensation Patties

2 tsp olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1 cup celery, chopped

1/8 tsp salt

freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1 can chickpeas, drained & rinsed

2 cloves garlic, quartered

2 tbsp worcestershire sauce (vegetarian friendly)

2 tbsp soy sauce

3/4 tsp dried thyme

1/8 tsp salt

2 cups cooked short grain brown rice

3/4 cup + 1 tbsp oats

Saute the onion, celery, salt and pepper in oil for 7-10 minutes, until soft. Meanwhile, in a food processor, puree the chickpeas, garlic, worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, thyme and salt until well blended. Add sauteed veggies and puree some more. Add 1 cup rice and puree. Add the second cup of rice, and pulse a bit, leaving a good texture.

Transfer to a bowl and add the oats. Mix well, cover, and chill for 30 minutes to firm it up. Form into patties with moist hands and cook on an indoor grill until browned. (The recipe suggested frying them in some olive oil, which we opted against. In retrospect, it might have been better that way because they were a bit too dry done on the grill.)

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Potato Squashers

5-7 medium sized red or Yukon gold potatoes

olive oil

coarse sea salt

Preheat oven to 400. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Pierce potatoes with a knife, place on the baking sheet and bake for 45-60 minutes until tender when pierced with a fork. Remove from oven and increase heat to 450. Squash each potato with a wooden spoon making each into an uneven round. Drizzle with a bit of olive oil and sprinkle with the coarse salt. Cook for 10-12 minutes, remove from oven, flip them, and drizzle the other side with some olive oil. Return to oven and cook another 12-15 minutes.

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Thick and Rich Gravy

1 cup vegetable broth

1/4 cup nutritional yeast

1 tbsp mild miso

1 tbsp soy sauce

2 cloves garlic, sliced

2 tsp onion powder

1 tbsp arrowroot powder

2 tbsp tahini

1 1/2 tbsp red wine vinegar

1 1/2 tsp black strap molasses

1/2-3/4 tsp agave nectar

2 tbsp olive oil

Place all of the ingredients into a pot, and, using an immersion blender, puree together. Heat the gravy to a boil, reduce the heat and cook for 2-3 minutes to thicken. Taste and add more vinegar if needed.

This week is brought to you by the food: Rice!

This is a big week for my little dancers! Recital is this coming Sunday, so we spent Monday and Tuesday in Stirling for dress rehearsals. I took many photos and videos since there are no cameras allowed at recital itself. The kids are all amazing, and it was great for my two to get the opportunity to watch the other (and mostly older) kids do their numbers. If you're interested in any of the videos I took, they're up on my youtube channel.

Yesterday my oldest kitty turned 15 years old. Scooter is the sweetest, most Zen cat you will ever meet. I think back on our 15 years together and I can only think of once when I got annoyed with her - she pulled a cold glass of water down onto a sleeping me! Even then, she wasn't intentionally trying to irritate me. She just wanted a drink. My other two cats will actually try to get in trouble because they want something (typically food). So, my Scootie Wootie is my little Princess. She loves anything pink, she has the strangest hoarse cry unless she's hunting her toy mice, she still plays like a kitten, she's recently deaf, she loves drinking water and she always has to knead the air when you pet her. I couldn't ask for a better cat than my Pumpkin Eater. LOVE her so much.

Scooter had a little stroke last week. She started walking funny, lost balance, leaned into the wall, and looked dazed. I picked her up and she leaned her head over my shoulder and pressed in as hard as she could while breathing very heavily. It broke my heart, but she recovered just fine. She's back to her normal self, so now I will just keep my fingers crossed that she still has lots of life left in her. In the meantime, I enjoy every day I have with her. ♥ We made her a kitty cake last night (soft cat food with some cheese on top) and sang her happy birthday (kind of ironic since she's deaf). It's our little family tradition.

Keeping with the birthday theme, I made all the humans in our family a chocolate zucchini cake to celebrate. Oh yes, I did! I don't even remember where I got this recipe, but I've been making it for years now! It's definitely a family favourite.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup milk with 1 tsp lemon juice added (let it sit for a few minutes)

2 3/4 cup flour

4 tbsp cocoa

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground cloves

2 cups grated zucchini

1 cup mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325.

Mix butter, vegetable oil, and sugar together. Add the eggs, vanilla and milk. Combine well. Add the dry ingredients and beat until smooth. Stir in zucchini.

Grease a 9x13 pan. Pour in the batter. Top with mini chocolate chips.

Bake for 45-50 minutes.

Let it cool completely before icing. (I make a margarine, icing sugar, milk, cocoa powder icing that I've been making for as long as I can remember. I even remember making a little bowl of it for myself (or me and a friend) when I was living on my own because I was craving sugar. Haha!... bring back memories, Sarah?!)

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Dinners have been easy, repeats and not always blog worthy this week. They've also been full of rice. I'll share the recipe for the carrot feta risotto (can you tell I love risotto?) because it's not a new one, and you know if you revisit a recipe it's pretty good. The Hawaiian beans I made with them are not blog worthy though. Won't be making them again. They were edible.. but.. no one loved them. Both recipes came from Moosewood Cooks at Home.

Carrot Feta Risotto

5 cups vegetable stock

4 carrots, chopped into semi circles or into matchsticks

1 small onion, diced

1 tbsp olive oil

1 1/2 cups arborio rice

1 tbsp chopped fresh dill (you can use 1 tsp dried in a pinch)

juice of 1 lemon

1 cup crumbled feta cheese

Bring the stock to a boil in a covered pot. Ease the carrots into the stock and lower the heat to very gently simmer.

In a large saucepan, saute the onions in oil for about 5 minutes until softened. Add the rice, and stir gently to coat in the oil. Add the dill. Ladle 1 cup of carrots and stock into the rice. Stir until the liquid is absorbed. Continue to do so with the remaining stock until it's all absorbed. Remove the rice from the heat, add the feta and lemon juice and stir to combine. Serve immediately.

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Tonight I made even more rice. This time I made a fried rice with this vegetable stir fry recipe I blogged about before. I had originally planned on making my friend Jill's vegetable spring rolls, but forgot to take the filo pastry out early enough. Instead I'll make them tomorrow for Fun Food Friday - with homemade pizza! Interesting combo, but it'll be delicious, I'm sure. My fried rice really doesn't have a recipe because it's so easy. I heat some toasted sesame oil in a pan and add my mushrooms (about 6 fairly big cremini mushrooms). Once they're cooked I remove the mushrooms and add a bit more sesame oil. I add my already cooked rice (I cook it the morning of so it's nice and cool by the time I need it.. freezing also works) and coat it in oil.. cook for a little bit. Add a bunch of Braggs (or soy sauce) until it looks right. Stir it up, cook for a bit. Add the mushrooms and a couple of handfuls of frozen peas and heat it through. Voila, easy rice!

Chili Burgers, Tex Mex Spuds and Thunderstorms.

My cat, Solange, turned twelve years old today! Solange is a our "middle cat". She is super loving, very snuggly, completely feline-like (sounds strange since she's, well... a cat, but she's the most typical of our cats), and she's a bit of a brat. We sung Happy Birthday to her numerous times, and she enjoyed a lovely salmon "cake". Yes, really. We're crazy animal folks around here! ;)

In other news, we had a beautiful thunderstorm this evening. Our family has a deep love for these storms, and within an instant we're all out on the covered porch to listen to the rain and thunder, as well as feel the crisp wind on our faces. The forecast calls for another thunderstorm tonight, and another tomorrow as well. We can only hope. I love the rain more than most, but lately it's been too much... even for me! However, give me a powerful thunderstorm and I'm back to happy again.

I had dinner put together by noon today. I love when that happens. I made the Creamy Feta salad dressing before taking Rhianna and Avery to the bus stop this morning. I didn't much like the dressing, though, so no sharing that recipe! After I got back I made the Tex Mex Stuffed Potatoes (a recipe I got originally from my friend Cara), and the Chili Burgers (from Moosewood's Low Fat cookbook). I'm a huge kidney bean fan, so these were high up there on my favourites. I admit that I still like the Black Bean Burger recipe more, though.

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Chili Burgers

2 tsp olive oil

1 onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup grated carrot

1 1/2 tsp chili powder

1 tsp cumin

2 15-oz cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed

2 tbsp Dijon mustard

2 tbsp ketchup

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 1/2 cups rolled oats

salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste

Saute the onions and garlic in oil on med-low for about 5 minutes until soft. Add carrots, chili powder and cumin, and cook on low for 5 minutes.

Mash the kidney beans in a large bowl. Add the sauteed vegetables, mustard, ketchup, soy sauce, oats, salt & pepper. Combine well.

With moist hands, form into burger patties. Add a bit of oil to a heavy skillet. Cook the patties on each side for 6-8 minutes, until browned.

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Tex Mex Spuds

6 russet potatoes

1/4 cup Ranch dressing

5 green onions, chopped

1 1/2 cups Tex Mex cheese

1 red pepper, chopped

extra Tex Mex cheese for the tops

Pierce potatoes with a fork and microwave on high for 4 minutes per potato.

Preheat oven to 350.

Cut each potatoes lengthwise, scoop out centres and leave the shells 1/4 inch thick. Mash potatoes with dressing, green onions and Tex Mex cheese. Fill shells with mixture. Top with some chopped red peppers and some more cheese.

Bake for 15 minutes, or until heated through.

The Case Of The Missing Butter!

Seeing as today was the first real day off of Spring Break, I had planned on something super simple to prepare and quick to clean up. Since we don't have a dishwasher, dishes are a huge pain. One day I will remodel my kitchen and you'd better be sure there will be a dishwasher. I've been without one for the last decade, so you'd think I would be used to it by now... but no. Still loathe dishes! It's Soup Mondays (hello, theme days!), so I chose a Taco Soup recipe that I got years ago from my good friend, Amy. My daughter Rhianna isn't a fan of tomatoes, so this really isn't her favourite meal, but at least I can get her to eat half of her dish. Eventually, I know she'll eat the whole bowl just like her brother Tiernan (who also dislikes tomato pieces). I serve this soup with some cheddar cheese grated on top, and a few tortillas to scoop it up.

Taco Soup

1 medium onion, chopped

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 litre of vegetable broth

1 can diced green chilies

2 large cans of diced tomatoes

1 pack taco seasoning

freshly ground pepper, to taste

Saute onion in vegetable oil in a large pot until soft. Add broth, tomatoes (with juice) and chilies. Add taco seasoning and pepper. Bring to a boil and then simmer, covered for at least 20 minutes.

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You see that picture of butter? Yeah. I have a little story to tell about that butter. On Saturday I took it out of the fridge to soften for the mushroom turnovers while we headed out to take the kids to their bowling league. I left it at the back of the counter and when we came home, it was gone. No where to be found. We did find a small piece of the foil wrapper on the living room floor, and that seemed like a clear clue pointing at our dog, Tibbs. Boy, was I upset with him. He was put into my bad books for the next few days. No snacks or leftovers or special cuddles. I had to teach him that he just could not go around grabbing things off the counter. He's done it before - with pies! Do not, EVER, leave a pie unattended with Tibby nearby. He is a pie FREAK. Apple, Maple or Veggie - he's not picky. He's gone after all three. All his good dog habits go missing when pies are around.

The point to that ramble is that we blamed our dog. Who else would it be? It was gone! No one else is going to eat a pound of butter AND the foil wrapper. Only Tibbs would be goofy enough to do that. Except... this morning I had the kids clean under their beds and Avery found The Missing Butter! Now, if Tibbs had been the culprit, that butter would be long gone. There would be no hiding the butter for later; I can guarantee that! Our cats, on the other hand? That's a different story. Cats don't eat until the food is gone, they eat what they need. Also, our cat Mirri used to steal Robin's Eggs (similar to Timmies Timbits, or other doughnut holes) and hide them all around the basement for either her or I to find later. This had to be her doing! The only thing is... she could never jump on the counter because she's too... plump. :) So that makes me think it's Solange since she is very spry, and there's no way my old Scooter puss was jumping up there! Does this mean it was Solange AND Mirri? Oh, the mysterious answer to this question is enough to drive me mad. My husband's theory is that the dog took it down off the counter (because it appears that there are teeth marks from both canine and feline species!), and the cats stole it from him. I guess we'll never know! The only thing I know is that I gave Tibbs a dog biscuit out of guilt.

The weather today was downright Spring-like! Above zero, sun shining down all day, snow melting, green grass patches all around, and so many birds singing. It was such a welcome feeling. I officially have Spring Fever and have so many plans lined up to make my little nest an even happier place to live. I am finally coming out of hibernation!

The kids headed over to their friends' house this afternoon to play, so I had some time to myself. I'm not even sure what I did with myself other than walk the dog, do some laundry, chat on the phone and prepare for dinner (which really didn't have much preparing involved!). Either way, it was lovely. Tomorrow we're going to make the most of our beautiful Spring weather (+7C and sunny!) and head out to Kingston for the day. I wish every day was Spring Break.

And for good measure, this is the best picture I've been able to get of my Scootie Wootie Pumpkin Eater. She's my old girl at almost 15 years old and is constantly moving which makes clear photographs an impossibility! She just never sits still. Scooter is the most Zen cat you could ever meet. She's so patient and loving and sweet. I can't even express how beautiful her little soul is. She's beautiful.

Those who know me know I'm an avid photographer. I've always had a camera within arms reach. Even as a child, I took a lot of pictures with my little point and shoot film camera. When I had my first child, Avery, I was given my Dad's Pentax SLR, and I loved that camera fully and completely. I have some really great photos of my son.. like the pictures of him lying naked on his tummy on the floor with his Winnie the Pooh toys. I won't put those up on here since he's 11 years old now and wouldn't talk to me for weeks if I did, but trust me when I say they are adorable! A few years later I was introduced to digital cameras and I was hooked. I bought myself a Canon Powershot and took as many photos as I could. As much as I loved the fact that I could take a thousand photos and only print the ones I loved, I still missed the versatility of my SLR. When my husband bought me a Canon Rebel xt back in 2005, I was in heaven. I got the best of both worlds... SLR and digital? Oh yes! I literally took thousands of pictures a month until I finally laid it to rest in the summer of 2010. This left me with no DSLR and no means to buy myself a new one. My very generous children lent me their point and shoot digital cameras to get me by, and I really appreciated it (and even got a few great shots!).... it just wasn't quite the same.

It's embarrassing to admit this, but I became lost without my Rebel. I felt depressed. I felt like a huge part of me was missing and I was no longer myself. What that says about me, I'm not sure. And I'm certainly not sure I like that! However, it's the truth. I literally look at the world through the eye of my camera. I don't sit in the van watching out the window thinking, 'Wow, that's beautiful!'. I think, 'Wow, that would make a beautiful photo!'. There have been so many moments that my husband has had to endure my sighing and sadness over a lost photo opportunity. There have been many times that I've just passed those opportunities right by without bothering to try with my kids' cameras.

But today, that sadness is gone. Do you know what I did? After the encouragement of my husband, I went out and bought myself a new DSLR! Originally I had wanted to switch to a Nikon, but after taking the lenses and accessories that I already had into consideration, I settled on another Canon (t1i, incase you were wondering!). There is not one bit of me that's disappointed by that, either. I went out this morning and picked it up, and I've barely set it down since! I also picked up a macro lens (I already have a telephoto), some filters and an external flash. So many goodies, so little time!

I've been spending a lot of time trying to capture the personalities of my furbabies on camera now. They were all getting annoyed with me when I finally decided to call it quits for a little while. We have many furry friends in our house. Two ratties, Ratatta and Rhi. Ratatta (brown/grey) has been sick with a chest infection lately, and although the wheezing and sneezing went away while she was on two types on antibiotics, it seems to be back again (not even a week later). I have been trying to get some good pictures of her since she is my son Tiernan's rat and I know how heart broken he'll be when she eventually passes. They just don't live long enough, these ratties. Today, I finally got some good shots of both rats! That way my daughter Rhianna will have some good shots of Rhi for her own photo album. We also have three cats - Mirri (the plump cat in the photo on the left), Solange (the other cat in the photo on the left) and Scooter (who is an old girl and has been sleeping in the dimly lit corner in the basement all afternoon so no good pictures of her), and one dog - Tibbs, our Sharpei-Lab cross.

Expect lots more photos of my kids, my husband, my furbabies, our adventures and our food! Be warned! Hehe.

No photos of food today, though, sorry. I was planning on making sushi, but didn't have enough rice. We're going to grab some food out tonight.. something we so rarely do these days.