Our girlie these days...Jan 26, 2013

Here isa  little video I took tonight. She really performed. Check out at the end when she opens her books. She very purposefully, crosses her ankles. She does this all the time. It cracks us up. Enjoy!

Look Mom, I know how to navigate your Ipad. It sure doesn't take long for these little ones to figure out how to use it. It's called "Cause and Effect".

Hanna sits in her chair and reads her new story from G. Aunty Ginny - "I Love Saskatchewan". 

A few updates - Jan 18, 2013

Hello friends and family who like to keep up-to-date on what we are up to.

Let's go back to last weekend. We left Thursday morning for Whitefish, Montana for a ski/snowboard vacation for a few days with friends Kal and Jessica, and Darryl and Annette and Keaston. We drove in a snowstorm most of the way which was a little stressful at times but we were thankful that there wasn't much traffic to contend with. Hanna did pretty good on the 5 or so hour trip. We made it there around supper time...enough time to drop our stuff off and go out for supper in the town.

 Here's our little group. Keaston looks happy to be here.

 It was a quaint little restaurant.

We were really impressed with the food. Smoked meats (pork) was their speciality. I recommend this place if you are ever in Whitefish. We finished off our Thursday night by doing a big grocery shop for the weekend as we ate most meals at the condo. What an economical way to do a holiday. Especially since American prices are cheaper than Canada's.

We had a great snowboarding day on Friday. I snowboarded with the boys which was pretty good. I was pretty sore by the end of the day. My legs were giving out on me.

Here are the guys on the hill. Shawn is on the left with the red backpack, Darryl in the middle and Kalvin on the right.

Annette kindly watched Hanna so that I could get some snowboarding in, so on Saturday, I decided to stick to the condo with her and spend some time with the kids. It was a lovely day...lots of snow falling with sunny breaks in between. This is the view from the deck off the living room. It looks down on a parking lot. Just down from that was the main lodge. Perfect location.

 We loved the accommodation. It was spacious and we all had our own space. It was well furnished and was beautifully decorated.

Well, that's actually all the pictures I took. The rest are in the form of video which are wittingly narrated by moi! I am trying to load them and format them (pain!).

 One more thing for those who didn't hear...Hanna took her first steps while we were down there. I have it on video and it was very exciting for us. She had been doing pretty good at standing on her own before we left and was getting braver so it was no surprise. So little by little, she's getting there.

On a side note...I am back into the swing of things at work. I'm as busy as ever with all my students crammed into my morning. But I'm enjoying it and I think/hope they are too. I have wonderful friends were are available to help out with childcare this week as it was bit of a unique week. Thanks Jess and Annette! You're the best. I'm so lucky to have friends like these girls.

Over and out.

Hanna shows us how it's done.

Well, I don't know if it's because I love music so much and constantly expose Hanna to music or if it's "in" her. Whatever it is, Hanna seems to enjoy the piano. So here are a couple of cute videos taken by Daddy just a few minutes ago. I thought I'd share. Hope everyone is having a nice January so far.

I had a wonderful day today...mainly because I finalized plans to go to Maui at the end of March. Tickets are booked, car is rented and the accommodations are in place. A few more plans to make and we'll be relaxing on the beach catching some rays. I'm so excited... obviously because I've never been to Hawaii and who knows when I will ever get the chance to go again. We are looking forward to spending time together as a little family. Perhaps we will "re-honeymoon" (if you can consider it a honeymoon having a toddler around) it since the first honeymoon rendered us both sick.

Happy New Year from S and J Radom

As most of you know, we don't exactly plan things that far in advance (I think it's from years of living with a farm family who are exactly that way as well). It sure has taught us to be flexible, I can say that.

So when we thought about New Years, we did so the day before. Between Joey and Graham and our house, we invited a couple other couples over and we had a turkey dinner and lots of games and laughs after. We ended the night with rich conversation that left us feeling blessed.

Now, what I'm about to post was part of the many exciting games and laughs we had. To give you a bit of background...Michelle posted a link on her Facebook last week something to the effect of "19 people who are having a worse day than you". One video clip was of a boy who took the "cinnamon challenge". The reaction that boy had was priceless. To view the whole thing, click here:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/daves4/people-who-are-having-a-worse-day-than-you


Of course, Shawn had to bring that up last night and the challenge was set forth. Now, I warn you, we did not look up the health risks of this challenge because if we did, most would not have done it. Click here to read an article about it. Oops.

http://healthland.time.com/2012/03/30/cinnamon-challenge-popular-with-teens-proves-risky/

Well, there was no harm done last night but definitely lots of laughing. I was told I should post this by those we were with last night so I think I have their permission.

Christmas 2012

We had a nice time at Rodey and Coral's this Christmas, with marvellous meal at A. Heather and U Trevor's on Xmas day. The sad thing is, I have no pictures of Xmas day. Here are just a few I took on my phone. We had a sick baby this Christmas which resulted in Momma and Papa getting very little sleep. I blame the lack of pictures on my foggy brain.

 The night before Xmas and all through the house...the grandparents were smiling because the precious grandkids are all together.

 Gma gives some cuddles to Teija.

 Uncle Braden sharing his orange with the nieces. Gpa Ken looks.

Tiara laughs at her U Shawn because it took him about 3 hours to accomplish this game (a little metal ball that you have to roll through a series of challenging places without the ball falling to the bottom).

All the kids (can't believe how grown up my nieces are) together before we dispersed after Xmas.

Potato Buns thanks to my Mom and Gma.

 Well, these were my holiday contribution this year for the family dinner. I had never made them (even though I have had the recipe for a long time), and when I was told that I should bring buns for Christmas dinner, I just HAD to get the recipe out.

Then surprisingly enough, we got invited for another turkey dinner (tonight) so what did I offer to make? Buns! And so batch #2 is in the oven as I type.

For anyone who doesn't have this recipe, you must print it off and keep it for your next potluck/family dinner.

1pkg of active dry yeast - 2 Tbsp yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1 cup milk
3/4 cup melted margerine/butter or shortening
1 - 1 1/4 cup mashed potatoes
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp salt
5-6 cups of flour (divided)
2 eggs beaten

1) dissolve yeast in warm water and set aside
2) combine milk, melted margerine, potatoes and blend in the blender
3) put blended mixture in a large bowl and add sugar, salt, and 2 cups of flour as well as the yeast.
4) add eggs and mix well
5) cover loosely and let stand for 2 hours (will be spongy looking)
6) Stir in remaining flour to make a soft dough and knead well. Only use the recommended amt of flour as a guideline. Use the sticky test. It should not stick to your fingers anymore but should also not be too dry and tough feeling.
7) put in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top.
8) Cover for 1 hour.
9) punch down and divide into 4 sections (3 if you want larger buns)
10) form into a bowl and roll out on a floured surface - 12 inch circle
11) cut each circle into 12 pie-shaped wedges.
12) Beginning at the wide end, roll them up and put pointed side down about 2 inches apart.
13) cover and rise until double

Bake at 375 for about 12-15 mins. Watch carefully as each oven is a bit different.

I have to admit, my first batch didn't look quite this nice...plus I wasn't thinking about taking pictures because I was in too much of a hurry.

MMM....nothing smells better than fresh bread out of the oven.

A wee update

Hi friends and family,

I keep forgetting who I have told and who I haven't told but for those that don't know, I accepted a part time job at my old school. My principal/boss called me at home to tell me about this position he wanted to create. It will be Monday-Thursday mornings. I will be doing reading intervention and resource support to students - individual or small group.
I start tomorrow and and the position will only be until the end of June.
I took a while to make the decision but think it will be good for both Hanna and I for 7 months. It will be good for me because it'll give me more of a structure in the morning and will be good for Hanna as she gets a little older. Raelyn Morton will be watching her and she'll be in good hands. Raelyn also looks after a little girl that is a year older than Hanna. Hanna loves being around other kids and perhaps it'll help push her to take some risks.

So in preparing for my job, I did something that I found on Pinterest. See this link for details: http://www.mamaandbabylove.com/2011/04/05/freezer-cooking-with-slow-cooker-recipes/

I cut up all the available veggies in my fridge, combined them with meat and spices and threw them in the freezer. How exciting it will be to dump them in the slow cooker and have dinner ready without a moment's thought.

We are currently hanging out in the basement because Daddy has to work on paperwork a lot lately and so we hang out where he is.