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! ;)

Date nights, appetizers, breakfast for supper, birthday lunches and decorating cupcakes!

This weekend, like most weekends, has been busy. It's been worth it, though. I live for weekends! Having our whole family together... exploring, visiting, playing, or just doing nothing.

Friday night found Rhianna and I on our own since Kyle took the boys to Goodsell Collectibles to play some Friday Night Magic. Originally Rhi and I were just going to hang out at home, but then I read (on Facebook - what did we ever do without Facebook??) that the Kelly's Irish Dancers were performing at the Waterfront and Ethnic Festival. Awesome! We got there as quickly as we could and headed over to the pavillion just in time. We bumped into Tiernan's teacher from the past year which was a nice surprise - I adore her! The kids dancing were incredible. I love, love, love Irish dancing. I also love Celtic music... it's so comforting for me. Rhianna really wanted to join this dance school on top of the dancing she's already doing with Angela Maracle Studios, but the lessons clash with her Acro class so it's a no-go for now. Maybe next year. She took some Irish dancing when she was super small and was complimented back then for her toe points so I'd like to see how she'd do now. :)

After the Irish dancers finished we wandered around the rest of the festival together. I had told the kids there would be no rides this year because the wrist bands are way too much money when you have three kids. Buuuuuuuttttt.... since Rhianna and I were on a date and it was her birthday weekend.... ;) I bought her enough tickets to go on two rides. We fleeted from ride to ride, measuring to see which ones she was tall enough for this year. She was happy to find out she was tall enough to go on almost all of the rides of her own (except for that darn hang-glider that she has so desperately wanted to go on for two years now! She is *so* close, too.). She chose Zero Gravity (as seen in this picture.. that's her with the yellow shirt and striped skirt) and a Cobra roller coaster. Seeing that smile on her face was so worthwhile! She gave me many hugs and thank yous and told her this birthday weekend was the best ever. Awww. She bought herself some mini donuts and I treated her to a game where she was guaranteed prize. After we got home we cuddled together with a glass of rootbeer, a big blanket and some game shows. It was a perfect date night!

Saturday was mostly a get things done sort of day. We've been having some issues with tiny little ants coming into the house so we needed to deep clean our kitchen (where they were coming in). As per the advice of a friend, we moved all of the food out of our kitchen and it's now in boxes in our basement. Convenient? No. But necessary? Yes. Luckily they hadn't spoiled any of our food! We found a few on the outside of our clover honey, but that's all they touched in our pantry. Under the pantry, though... we found a red sucker... in a package... half eaten by the ants! There was probably a good 20 or so ants stuck in the package! It was so gross. Since clearing that out, along with the rest of our food, we've had far fewer ants in the house. I have my fingers crossed that this is going to work. After our de-ant-ing, we cleaned the house, bathed the dog and then I settled in to watch 'The Blue Butterfly' with the kids while Kyle took a much needed nap.

For dinner I made waffles, mango smoothies and chocolate waffles. The kids were delighted! What kids don't love breakfast for dinner? :) I got the recipe for the waffles from The Garden of Vegan years back, and we like them so much we don't really try other recipes. I did, however, decide to try a new recipe that I found in my September 2010 edition of Vegetarian Times magazine. Dessert waffles! I found them a bit too sweet - I can't handle anything that's too chocolatey (weird, I know!). The kids sure enjoyed them, though! The boys pretty much wolfed them down the minute they hit their plates. How the heck are we going to feed them as they continue to grow? Ahhh!

Nummy Yummy Waffles

1 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup flour

1 1/4 cups soy milk

1 tbsp olive oil

2 tsp maple syrup

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

Grind the oat flakes in a food processor until coarse. Add remaining ingredients and blend until smooth. Spoon into a well oiled, hot waffle iron. Repeat until the batter is gone.

Mango Smoothies

(enough to feed my family of five)

1 bag frozen mangoes

milk - read for amounts

4 tbsp yogurt

2 tbsp honey

3 tbsp flax seed

Empty the bag of frozen mangoes into a blender. Add milk until you reach the 750 ml mark. Add the yogurt, honey and flax seed. Blend until smooth. If it's still to thick, add a bit more milk. Continue until the desired consistency is reached.

Double Chocolate Waffles

chocolate sauce:

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 cup maple syrup

2 tbsp unsweetened soy milk

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

waffles:

1 1/3 cups all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

2/3 cup unsweetened soy milk

1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar

5 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

3 tbsp vegan chocolate chips

1/3 cup dark brown sugar

1/4 cup canola oil

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

icing sugar, for dusting

To make the sauce, whisk together the cocoa powder, maple syrup, soy milk and vanilla in a saucepan over medium heat until smooth. Lower heat, but keep warm.

Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl and set aside. Whisk together the soy milk and apple cider vinegar in a glass measuring cup. Let it stand for 10 minutes.

Combine cocoa powder and chocolate chips in a bowl. Whisk in a 1/4 cup of boiling water into the mixture, and blend until smooth. Whisk soy milk mixture into the chocolate mixture. Whisk in brown sugar, oil and vanilla. Whisk in the flour mixture.

Cook on a pre-heated, well oiled waffle iron. Once they are cooked, top with a tbsp of the chocolate sauce and dust it with icing sugar.

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Saturday night also brought us an unexpected date night in. Our internet connection has been terrible and sketchy lately. We're going to have to call Bell to come out and make a house call because I'm pretty sure our router is on its last limbs. Oh well, looking on the bright side is always a good idea - Kyle couldn't do any of his contract work OR his podcast. Instead we feasted on some spinach and artichoke cups that I got from my 3 in 1 Vegetarian cookbook (and altered slightly) and watched many episodes of Lost together. So addicted! Kyle really liked the appetizer that I made, but I was a bit iffy. I loved the inside of it, but would have preferred it without the wonton shells. I just ate them by dipping some pretzels in and leaving the shells. Ha!

Spinach-Artichoke Party Cups

non-stick cooking spray

24 3-inch wonton wrappers

1 jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped

5 oz baby spinach, wilted in a pan

1 cup grated monterey jack cheese

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

1/2 cup mayonnaise

2 cloves garlic, minced

Preheat oven to 300. Spray the cups of a mini muffin tin lightly with cooking spray. Press 1 wonton wrapper into each mini cup, and lightly spray with oil. Cook for about 9 minutes, or until lightly golden brown. Remove the shells from the pan and place on a rack to cool.

Combine the artichoke hearts, spinach, cheeses, mayo, and garlic in a medium bowl and mix well.

Fill each wonton cup with the cheese mixture. Place the filled cups onto a baking sheet. Bake about 7 minutes until heated through. Serve immediately.

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Today my beautiful Rhianna turned eight years old! I still remember very vividly when Avery turned eight and I couldn't believe I had a child who was already eight years old. And now here I am with my baby at eight! How did this happen? She's an incredible little girl, though. She never ceases to amaze me with her determination and capabilities. Everyone who meets her falls in love with her. The more you get to know her - the more you'll fall in love! Her smile lights up the world. Her laugh makes my heart sing. I don't even know what life was like before her. I love that little girl so much!

We headed out to visit my parents and hold her family birthday out there. Rhianna had requested a barbeque for her birthday and seeing as we don't have one, we opted to use theirs. :) Lunch was delicious, the cupcakes she requested were a hit (and perfect for a BBQ!) and she felt like the princess she should feel like on her birthday. She got some great gifts, and we had fun testing out her new karaoke machine!

Lunch at Rhianna's request consisted of portobello mushroom burgers (altered from the July/August 2009 edition of Vegetarian Times), BBQd potatoes (a la Kyle - baked in the microwave until soft, sliced in half, butter spread on, and sprinkled with Montreal steak spice and seasoning salt and then BBQd), corn on the cob and fruit salad with all of Rhianna's favourite fruits.

Smoky Portobello Burgers

9 small portobello mushrooms, stems removed

olive oil

1/4 cup light brown sugar

5 tbsp sweet paprika

2 tbsp freshly ground black pepper

2 tbsp coarse sea salt

3 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp celery seed

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

2 medium vidalia onions, thinly sliced

1/2 tsp rosemary

1/2 tsp thyme

1/2 cup prepared bbq sauce

1 cup shredded smoked cheddar cheese

hamburger buns

Toss mushrooms in a bowl with some olive oil (enough to coat) and the brown sugar, paprika, black pepper, sea salt, garlic powder, celery seed and cayenne pepper. Let it sit for a while.

Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a frying pan and add the onions, rosemary and thyme. Cook, slowly, for 30 minutes until onions have caramelized and are golden, soft and sweet. Remove from heat.

Heat the BBQ and coat the grill with oil. Cook the mushrooms, stem side down, and brush the tops with BBQ sauce. Cook 3 minutes until tender. Flip and grill another 3 minutes. Add the smoked cheese to the centre of each mushroom and cook for another 30 seconds.

Toast the buns on the BBQ, put some barbeque sauce on the bottom bun, add a mushroom, some caramelized onions and the top bun. Enjoy!

A delicious fruit salad of Rhianna's favourites - watermelon, canteloupe, honeydew melon, Bing cherries and purple grapes. :)

These are the cupcakes that I whipped as per Rhianna's request! Corn on the cob! :) How perfect are these for a BBQ birthday? They looked so cute and were so simple to make - bonus! :)

A few more photos because I just can't help myself...

Candles all lit - eight little candles, and a number 8 for good luck!

I hope all your wishes come true, baby girl. Now and always.

First attempt at decorating cupcakes!

Sooooo. I spent all day baking cupcakes, cooling cupcakes and icing cupcakes. I bake cupcakes all the time for the kids birthdays, but I've never tried making anything special. My boys are having a birthday party tomorrow at a laser tag place in Kingston. This is Avery's late 11th birthday (Dec), and Tiernan's early 10th birthday (May) . Each of them invited three friends, and Rhianna was also allowed to invite a friend along. I let each boy pick a cupcake design from the 'Hello, Cupcake' book, and I told them I'd give it a try. Avery picked some bowling pin cupcakes and Tiernan chose some werewolf cupcakes. Both were done completely differently, and I learned a lot from my day in the kitchen. They aren't perfect... they aren't even close to perfect... but the kids love them. And really, that's all that matters. :)

Without further ado... (don't laugh.. too much ;))

Ten Pin Bowling!

Easiest cupcake decorating, everrrr! Haha.

These were a lot of fun to make. Balancing the tower of cakes was a bit difficult, but I made it through.

Tiernan's werewolf cupcakes! I need to fix the teeth in the morning. My icing got too warm so it wouldn't pipe properly. And right now I'm too knackered to finish. They're cute anyway. :)

I know the photos are a bit dark, but it was nearing midnight when I took them. I'll get better pictures tomorrow.

Aoooooooooooooooooohh!

So there you have it. My first try at cupcake decorating. I really enjoyed it, I got very, very messy (OMG MESSY!), and I think I'll do it again. There are a few more kitchen/decorating tools I need before I give it another go, though.

Fun Food Friday was easy tonight. We ate poutine. It's easy and delicious, and I really didn't have time to make the pretzel bites (veggie dogs wrapped in pretzels) that I had on the menu. I also have a very sick husband. I have my fingers crossed that he's better by tomorrow. It could be a difficult day for him. At least he can rest when we get home from the party? Poor guy. Both my parents are sick, too. Seems there is something going around. Hopefully none of them caught pneumonia. My parents haven't been exposed to Tiernan at all, but that doesn't mean they couldn't get it elsewhere.

I should get some sleep since tomorrow is a big day. I can't wait!