Easter? So what?!

Am I a bad parent for skipping Easter celebrations this year? For starters, I hate Easter! Really. As a non-religious person I find it completely pointless. I hate pastel colours and milk chocolate and bunnies. Seriously! A big, scary white bunny bringing baskets of candy is nowhere near as adorable as a fat man in a red suit coming down your chimney to bring you gifts. I mean really. All the Easter Bunny does is hop. And there's nothing very fun about that now is there? I can hope. Enough said. Anyway, not only do I hate Easter but my sweet hubby Turkey Butt was on base the entire long weekend (Thursday til whenever we pick him up today - Monday). Where's the fun in celebrating a holiday when the only person to appreciate it can't even be here. The guy is missing enough, I don't need him calling home and me being like, Oh hey hun, you missed it, we had this big super awesome easter celebration without you. Oh, and did I mention that Elodie is only 5.5 months old and couldn't given a crap if she has a basket full of goodies outside her bedroom door?

Considering all of these things, why is it then that I feel like a bad parent for not celebrating her first Easter? I'm also feeling a little bad for not celebrating her first St. Patrick's Day but again, hubby was away, I don't drink and we're not Irish! You know where my guilt comes from? It comes from following the blogs of these perfect little mama's and their perfect little newborns. I have two in mind in which the babies are younger than Elodie, the Mama's look better than I did before I ever got pregnant, and they have adorable little outfits for every damn holiday. As adorable as it is, it's kind of annoying too. I have a newborn so I know that looking perfect and well-rested and getting a baby (no matter how good natured) to sit still long enough to get a perfect photo of them is hard. I just wish they'd be a little more honest and admit that. Show the photo of the baby spitting up all over their perfect little First Easter outfit. Maybe then I won't have to feel so damn guilty about my lack of holiday parenting, my messy house, my unwashed hair, and the spit up stains on my daughter's onesie. That is all. This is my life.

So Much Going On Right Now!

I keep meaning to update this regularly and I keep failing miserably. In my defense, it has been very busy around here. Some of you may or may not have known that when Turkey Butt was assigned to his BMQ his civilian job fired him (such a big no-no). That meant that for awhile, his only income was from his 3 days a week on base. After searching and searching for another civilian job - he was offered two and opted to start work last week at a Cheese Factory in a town that is about a 20 minute drive away. For me, this meant that he was not only on base all weekend, but he would leave for work each weekday at 7:20am and not get home until 5pm. By the time Turkey Butt arrived home, it was pretty much time to start Elodie's bedtime routine. Needless to say, it has been hectic around here.

Did I mention that I recently got accepted into the Business Administration program at the local Community College? Well I did. Which should be great. Except I kept flip flopping about whether or not I should do it. On one hand, I'd love a career change and am planning to open my own business in the Fall so the practical knowledge would be great. On the other hand, can we afford for me to not be working for the next two years? Do I want to put off trying for Baby # 2 for at least two or three years while I finish school and get settled into a job in my field? So many what if's... And if you know me, you know that I hate to make a decision.

And this is where Friday comes into play. Friday afternoon I get a text from Turkey Butt. It was something along the lines of,

Hey, I got paid $### by the military.

And guess what? That the amount he got paid was a whole $700 less than I was expecting it to be! First off he was misinformed about how much he would be receiving as a day's pay, and secondly they only paid him for the first two weeks of this month instead of for the entire month. Seriously? It was bad enough when they decided not to pay him on the 15th, but I was then expecting he'd just get twice the money on the 30th. But no. Course not. Anyway, cut to later on that afternoon when I got my usual post- work day phone call from Turkey Butt. It went something like this...

Hey, the factory just went out of business and we all got laid off.

Yup. This is what we're dealing with around here. It's enough to make me pull my hair out to be honest. Especially since we just spent more money than usual on frivolous items to celebrate our 2nd anniversary thinking we were getting a big cheque from the military and a weekly cheque from the Cheese Factory. Ohhhhh boy are we just barely scraping by. But I guess there's one good(?) thing to come out of this - my mind has definitely been made for me on this school situation. We don't even have the money for me to reserve my seat so I'm thinking we definitely won't be able to afford for me to not be working for two years. Oh well. I can always try again in a few years when/if we're more financially stable.

On another note I might start looking after a sweet little one year old boy a few days a week. I'm enjoying doing a little baby proofing/ rearranging to make our house better suited for two busy little ones to play! If I can manage to get it finished today I will try to add some pictures of the play area I've created in our Dining Room. Oh fun, fun, fun! This is my life!

Love Notes

I am the kind of person who requires a lot of affection or else I worry that I'm not loved anymore. Turkey Butt is the kind of guy who isn't openly affectionate or quick to tell me how much he loves me or that he thinks I'm beautiful. I know he loves me but it's easy to get doubtful when he's gone so much and so busy when he's home. We're working on it.

One way that he has always been good at expressing his feelings is through his writing. So, while he's away this weekend and I am missing him desperately I will read and re-read passages from his little love notes to me, like this one:

"You have given me all that I could ever ask for and more than I could ever want!" - from his Valentine's Day card to me from this year.

This is my life!

Overheard in the Tub

Turkey Butt to Little Miss Elle: "The rubber ducky is floating because he's buoyant. Remember we learned about buoyancy?!"

Love.

This is my life.

What's That? Another Recipe?!

I know, I know.. Another recipe. I swear that all I do lately is bake - well aside from the usual bum changing and baby feeding. I just had to share this recipe with you though. I am sitting here with a cinnamon-y scented house and wanted to share the love. Believe me, if I could somehow attach this scent to this blog post, I totally would.

Oatmeal Raisin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Original recipe found in "1,000 Vegetarian Recipes" cookbook by Carol Gelles

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp of salt (optional)

               2 cups rolled oats (old-fashioned oatmeal) I used quick oats

                  1 cup raisins I used 1 cup of a raisin/semi-sweet chocolate chip mixture

1/2 cup butter or margarine (softened)

1 cup white sugar

1 egg

2 Tbsp water

                                     1 tsp vanilla extract I love me some vanilla and always use a generous splash!

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Thoroughly grease (I use the paper that once covered my margarine square and rub it around the cookie sheets) 2 large baking sheets.

2. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Stir in oats and raisins (and chocolate chips); set aside.

3. In a large bowl (I throw it in my mixer), cream the butter or margarine. Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, water, and vanilla. Beat in dry ingredients until completely combined.

4. Drop by rounded tablespoons (onto the cookie sheets - obvious but I do like to state the obvious when others don't), leaving about 1 1/2 inches between cookies. Press with fork to flatten slightly (for a chewier consistency I don't flatten them with a fork).

5. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until browned on bottom. Cool on racks.

Variation: For crispier cookies, reduce water to 1 Tbsp and use quick-cooking oats (not instant) instead of rolled oats.

So there you have it! If you ever get around to making these cookies, please enjoy! And, take some advice from me and do yourself a favor, whip up a batch without the egg for cookie dough devouring purposes! Yum! This is my life!

Baby Items To Save For.

There are a few items that I really wish I had of had for Little Miss Elle. Hopefully I'll be able to get them for any future Little Misses or Misters that we may have. And, just so I don't forget what they are, I'm going to list them here:

Ergo Carrier - $125 at Spoil Me Rotten. Gasp.

A Bumbo - $59.95 at Spoil Me Rotten, tray not included.

Sleep sheep - $39.99 at Toys R Us

Exersaucer Jump & Leanr - $139.99 at Toys R Us

A convertable car seat with a high weight limit instead of the dumb ols bucket style. This one from safety First is $199.99 at Toys R Us.

And there are more things which I will add at a later time because the Little Miss has woken up from her nap and is SO not a happy camper. This is my life.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffin Recipe

If you know me, you know how much I love chocolate! I have to get my fix every day or I feel like something is missing from my life. Sometimes I have a hard time finding something and resort to eating a handful of semi-sweet chocolate chips. Sometimes I have a secret stash of chocolate bars from days passed when Turkey Butt was feeling chocolate bar generous. You see, I don't necessarily need a lot of chocolate each day - just enough to satisfy my craving. So if my sweet hubby comes home with a handful of Wunderbar's for me, I may eat one then and stash the rest for another time.

Lately I have been a baking machine so Turkey Butt is sure to keep my pantry stocked with chocolate (and other baking supplies) so that he can eat some baked goodness too. Today I dug into a bag of Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (I always bake with these and never milk chocolate chips - but that's just me) and whipped up some Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies! Here's the recipe that I use:

Mama's Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/2 cup margarine

1 cup white sugar

1 egg, beaten

1 tsp baking soda

4 tsp milk

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups flour

2 or 3 bananas, mashed

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Cream sugar and butter together. Add beaten egg and mix until fluffy. Add mashed bananas, milk and vanilla - beat until well mixed. Sift the baking soda, salt and flour together. Add to the banana mixture and beat only until dry ingredients are moistened. Stir in chocolate chips.  Grease, spray, or put muffin papers into muffin tins. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 18 to 20 minutes. Makes 12.

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Yup, that's my recipe! Super easy and super delicious. This time around I used 2 and a half bananas because that was what I had. In the past I've done it with 3 bananas and with 1 and a half bananas. It really doesn't seem to make much of a difference. This time around I also used muffin papers - I sure do hate the clean up afterwords if I don't - and I find that it makes more muffins that way. I got 16 muffins when I made it today. They come out soft, warm and gooey in the centre with a crisp top. And they are so good. But don't take my word for it - after sending the following text message to Turkey Butt (he was on the third floor working out):

Wait, what's that? Banana chocolate chip muffins, warm out of the oven? You don't say!

I immediately heard a thump thump thump as he came running down the two flights of stairs and straight to our kitchen! This is my life!

P.S. Just for fun...

Turkey Butt runs on the treadmill in his tactical vest (which is full of 30lbs of weights from his gym) while wearing his gas mask. He's a little nervous because he has to spend 6 hours in a gas hut during his birthday weekend. Poor guy!