Monday, May 26, 2014

And we continue


I will recap the rest of the winter much faster!

It snowed!  That pretty much sums it up.  It snowed!

All the time, it snowed, we had 12 storm days and only one or two of those were the extra cautious doesn't really turn out to be bad storm days!  Like 10 were legitimate!  AND that didn't include the storms that happened on the weekends!!

It was crazy!  We had to really enjoy the winter activities because there were no other choices!

Happy New Years!!  Our friends the Lenihan's decided we needed mistletoe pictures!
 

Sometimes the snow was just too much so we had to go to Kingswood!

 
Bouncy castles to enjoy in the middle of winter!
 
 
Everyone loves a tunnel and a snow hill!
 
The boys really learned to ski this year.  I was so fun and such a great family sport!
 

 This little man's first time on the chair lift....big day!
 
Liam was part of the Kings this year and had a great season!  He learned so much.
 
Park structures are still fun in the winter!

Winterfest in Fredericton was very fun!!

 
 Who doesn't love Mexi's nachos!!  The boys love it!

 
Rhys loved doing Gymnastics this year.  He was really good at it!

 
Since we don't have a lot of pink shirts around, I made them pink shirts to wear around their necks for anti-bullying day!!
 

That about sums things up until we went to Florida and I think Florida deserves it's own post!! 
 
Until next time!
 
 

Thursday, May 22, 2014

Back in the Saddle


I used to have horses so the title seems appropriate. 

I have been gone awhile and I think I am ready to be back for awhile.  I have some plans and I think they should be fun!  We will see how well they turn out.  Actually I am hoping that at least someone checks out the blog to actually see if it does turn out!

I think I will start with a recap of the past several months.

Christmas was around the last time that I posted, so Christmas came and went, it was a fun time and I love every minute of it!


 We never managed to get organized for family pictures for our Christmas cards (and I love Christmas cards!!)  So I dressed the boys up and put them on the deck in Hartland!
 
thumbs up mom, we are still digging photo taking!
Sometimes they are just too funny


Funny boys, trying to look cool
 
Then we thought (let's face it, I thought) we needed to Christmas it up!  So out came the lights and then came the antics!
These kids!
 

This is how we get the star on the tree!!  I am hoping someday Joel let's me put the star up!! haha!

Christmas concert fun and this guy gives the wink!!!
 

 
The snow arrived and didn't stop!!!  Until May!!

 
I loved this photo - Hartland, NB

Backyard snow fun

 
Christmas Eve with our Christmas PJ's!
 
Love them!
 

Leaving cookies for Santa!

 
I am sure I had photos from Christmas morning but I don't think they were any good!
 
Smile it's Christmas
 
 
We love to build lego and I was so proud of my 6 year old for building this all by himself!!
 
 
Since that was super long, I will continue another day!!
 
I am back!

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

strawberry jam

 
It's been awhile and perhaps seems strange to come back with a jam recipe, especially since in New Brunswick it's not strawberry season yet.   But it will be soon enough and I want everyone to be prepared!!
 
Homemade strawberry jam is my absolute favourite jam.  This easy easy recipe is my favourite.  When I was 14 my dad was diagnosed with diabetes.  He didn't have the self control to not eat the things he loved so we had to start making the changes in our house.  That helped him and in turn probably made me a much healthier person.
 
So the old jam recipe with 4 cups of sugar had to go out the window!!!!
 
I most often use Garden Fare and it has the recipe on it but I thought I would share it anyways!
 
 


This is no cook freezer jam and uses 40% less sugar than regular packages.

Once you have picked and I am sure eaten a few beautiful strawberries.

Rinse all the bugs and dirt off them.
 
 
Next hull the greens off and cut into smaller pieces.

 
Next stir in 1 cup of sugar (my mother uses 1 cup of spenda)
The package says 1 1/2 cups but I always make mine with 1 and it still takes great.


Allow to stand for 15 minutes
 
 
Then sprinkle in gelling powder a little at a time while stirring for 3 minutes.
 
All to stand for 5 minutes
 

 
Stir for 1 minute
 

 
 
Then since I like it really smooth with no lumps of fruit (if you like your jam like that) then at this point put it in the blender and blend until smooth. (if not skip this step)
 
Then place them in your containers, label and freeze.  Make sure to keep several containers out because you are going to want to eat it with everything!
 
I use mine obviously for toast and bagels but also on top of cheesecake and ice cream too!
 
 
I hope you enjoy this!