Wordless Wednesday

Grow, Grow, Grow

That's what we want to happen in our humble outdoor container garden.  Cayden had been expressing interest in growing vegetables and I have been thinking about it for awhile, but didn't want to take an area away from our grassy backyard where the children play and we host BBQ's and get-together's, so my husband suggested purchasing a garden box.  This seemed like a great idea.  We even have a little corner of the backyard that is "wasted space" that would be the perfect spot.  It turned out that we were able to get some great planters at no cost, so this past weekend my husband set them up, took the boys shopping and got some soil and a few plants.

With Cayden's input, we planted peppers, cucumber, parsley basil...

...carrots, chives, tomatoes and beans.

We're hoping that our little Cayden has a green thumb and we'll have some yummy fresh vegetables to harvest this summer!

It's been 2 months...

Yes, 2 months have passed since our newest addition joined our family.  It's been a busy 2 months, though in many ways it feels like he has been here forever.  Our family has adapted nicely and we're feeling pretty comfortable as a family of five.

I was really looking forward to bringing Benjamin home and getting pictures of all my boys together.  I soon realized that this was not likely to happen.  Once they were all in the same location together, the middle one would take off, or the baby would start crying, or the oldest would get this "great" idea of what else needed to be included in the picture: his hockey stick, a certain toy... you get the picture!  So managing to get all three of them in a picture together at all is a challenge, let alone having it result in a nice picture!

I peeked at the recent pictures on my camera today to see what we had captured.  Here are the two "gems" with all three together at once.

The three boys together in a picture!  Haha!

Even Mom made it into a picture with all three!  Benjamin is sleeping, Cole had just woken up from sleeping on the couch, and Cayden popped into the background, very "Wilson" style from Home Improvement!  :)

This just goes to show that we have some more work to do in the picture department!  Think I'll have to let the professionals capture my boys together.  My boys tend to be shy, so they may actually stay still in front of a stranger!

In the Kitchen - Slow Cooker Pork Chops

Making supper.  I love the idea of cooking, but usually I'm so tired by supper time that my interest in cooking has faded.  Plus it's like some magic time that signals meltdowns in children, or neediness.   My oldest son isn't so difficult to distract at that time, because helping with supper is something he enjoys doing.  Buy my one year old is "done" by then.  Seems to be regardless of whether or not I have given a snack, or set him up with something fun to do, he's just not that happy.  And of course, the baby usually needs to be nursed, or changed or cuddled...  So yes, while I like the idea of cooking, I'm usually pulling my hair out by supper time.

I hear many people saying the slow cooker is their best friend for this reason.  I have been known to make use of it, especially when working full time.  I tend to stick to sauces, soups, stews, roasts...the usual.  After a long weekend of hot weather and yummy barbeque, thanks so my husband, I decided to try a different slow cooker meal today.  

I had taken boneless pork chops and wanted something saucy.  With the help of this recipe, this is what I came up with.

Slow Cooker Pork Chops with Broccoli and Carrots on Rice

Adapted from: allrecipes.com

In the slow cooker mix:

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup soya sauce

1/2 cup ketchup

2 cloves chopped garlic

pepper to taste

Place the boneless pork chops in the sauce and put on low for about 3 hours.  (This really depends on how thick your chops are.  Mine were thin.  Add time for thicker chops.)

An hour before serving, toss in 1 cup of broccoli and 1 cup of carrots.

Serve with rice.

My family seemed to enjoy it.  It's a simple, easy meal with lots of flavour.  I think the sauce would also pair well with chicken.


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The Things That Happen In A Year.....

It's been over a year since I posted.  Just as I started this blog, I let it go.  I hope to get back on it now, though with a house full of boys, I'm not sure what exactly my goal should be!

Since I last posted a lot has happened.  We did have a successful fire truck birthday party.  It was a great time.  We visited the local fire hall, learned about fire safety, checked out the fire truck and all the special tools on it, and then we came back to the house for food and a fire truck cake!

Shortly after that we took a big trip to Alaska.  I hope to make a blog post to share some highlights in pictures.

In September I returned to work, so my down time decreased greatly!

The new year brought a 1st birthday celebration.

And at the end of March, we welcomed our newest addition, another sweet little boy, into our family.

It's been a whirlwind to say the least!  I'm home again on maternity leave, and my days are full!  But I'm back to needing to take a few minutes for myself each day.  That's what reminded me to come back here and try to get back to posting!

I look forward to sharing more on here soon!