a hippie with a minivan

It might not be summer…

but it sure is feeling like it….

I have been trying to stay away from the computer which of course means that my blog will be a bit willfully neglected for the next few weeks, though I do plan on writing once in a while… Living in Quebec means having to live with weather extremes and the though we may complain of the hot humid summer weather, it is very much welcomed after months of winter with ice and snow and the temperature being way below 0…. So being outside and soaking it up feels like such an important thing to do and computer time feels like such a waste of beautiful weather and family time…

So, the pool is ready for swimming and has been swam in numerous times, bugs are out and biting and trips and adventures are being planned.

Khéna and bugs don’t seem to mix…

After many years of wanting to go camping with the family but not having the gear, we finally bit the bullet and bought a tent, a camp stove a few other needed camping accessories and are planning on going for our first family camping trip at the end of the month and meeting up with some friends in the Maritimes…

We set the tent up in the yard on the weekend to make sure that the size was right for our family and though it may be tight in a few years, we will have no problem fitting into a 6 person tent…

So here’s to summer and all of the adventures that await!

Today, after more than two years…

My period is back…

So is the bloating, cramping and lack of energy and the overall feeling of Blah….

For 10 years now, on and off, I have been following my cycle, charting days and taking temps, or I have been pregnant or in the limbo of the post partum phase…. this next phase feels like the close to all of that.

We knew that Wilhelmina would be our last child and last year decided to finalize that decision with Simon getting the big V… I went through the slight tang of wondering if we were doing the right thing but having my period back now makes me realize that it is done. I am now out of my last limbo phase after the birth of my last child and I am now leaving the “maternity” phase completely.

There will be no more pregnancies, no more babies, no more little kick and sweet smelling newborn heads… Each phase that Wilhelmina is going through will be the last time I see one one my own children pass though the same. There will be no more breaks until my body decides to stop on its own.

There are no regrets in these words… just realization…

My family is done expanding, now the focus is on maturing.

Beef and Broccoli

This is a quick supper and has so much flavour…

First you will need:

1 lb thin cut of beef sliced across the grain into strips
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tsp raw sugar
1 tsp tamari
1 tbsp water
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp baking soda

I found the most amazing tip somewhere on the internet a while back. I usually don’t like beef strips because they often turn out tough and chewy, however, adding a tsp of basking soda to the marinade makes all of the difference. The beef is tender, soft and absolutely perfect! However, very important.. don’t leave it in the marinade for more than 30 min!!

While the beef is marinating, make the sauce and prepare 4-5 cups of broccoli florets.

For the sauce

4 tbsp hoisin sauce
1 tsp fish sauce
3 tbsp Tamari
1 tbsp minced ginger
2 tbsp water

Add an 1-2 inches of oil to your wok for deep frying, and in batches, deep fry the beef for about a minute until golden brown and set aside.

When the beef is done, pour all but about 2 tsp of oil out of the wok and heat back up…

To the hot wok add 3-4 cloves of garlic, minced and one chopped onion and stir fry until the onion is translucent.

Add the brocoli and cook until it has changed colour but is still has crunch to it.

Add the sauce to the broccoli and cook down for a min or two and then thicken the sauce with a mix of 2 tsp of cornstarch and 2 tbsp of water…

Add the beef and you are done…

You can serve this on rice, as I believe most people do, but we like it on its own…

The "My Carry Potty"…

When I bought the Vital ID bracelets that I mentioned on the last post I saw this cool little potty on the website and had to get it.

One of the big components of EC is having a routine, which means that we potty Wilhelmina before and after getting her in/out of her car seat when we are out. Pottying on the go can sometimes get messy especially when you are somewhere that you can’t umm… dispose of the contents…

A cheap tupperware container with a soaker at the bottom has been what we have been using the most but now that Wilhelmina is bigger and is getting picky about her elimination location, it just hasn’t been working out as well so we have been needing to bring the potty… It is not always the ideal situation!

I know of a lot of people that use the “potette” system, but I kept on holding off as you need think of and buy bags and then dispose of them which doesn’t make sense to me when I want to put less in the landfills and honestly with 4 kids, I don’t want to have to think of yet another thing when leaving the house.

So when I saw the “My Carry Potty” I had to get it!

The idea is brilliant…

A portable potty that closes and seals and can be easily carried around…

From the outside it looks like a little suitcase with a handle and Wilhelmina loves carrying it around…

One the inside, it is a potty on one side and the seal the other…

The size is perfect and I can definitely see that it will be utilized by older siblings at times also…

The greatest part of course, is that if you can’t dispose of the contents right away, you can just close it up and do it when you can…

Nothing is getting through the seal and there is just enough resistance when opening it so that no “accidents” can happen with kids accidentally opening it.

You don’t really need much for EC, but there are somethings that make just a little easier…

Steps toward independence…

I love the idea of Free Range kids but I can clearly see that my kids do not have as much independence as I did at the same ages.

I am not a hovering helicopter parent, but my kids are usually not very far away from us…

The boys play outside around the house when they want, and Xavier often goes around the block on his bike and has started to go to the park by himself.

Colin is not going anywhere on his own yet but I am pretty sure that he will be by the end of the summer.

The first time that Xavier went to the park by himself, I have to admit that I was beyond nervous so I reflected on what made it so hard for me and I realized that it wasn’t that I was scared of strangers or anything like that, but I was scared that he might take a wrong turn and get lost or he might get hurt and not be able to get home. I was scared that something might happen and he might not be able to give his information. So I found a solution… Vital ID bracelets... (I bought mine here)

I had seen these online and had thought that it was a great idea for when we are in crowded places in case someone gets lost. The bracelets are simple, come in cool colours and have a small waterproof ID card slipped inside that you write their information with a permanent marker. You can write as little or as much information as you want including allergies etc.. I decided to put their names, medicare # and our contact numbers.

It is small thing, but since we bought them. they have really helped me let go of my fears and give the kids a bit more of the independence I believe they deserve and lets us to move onto other steps that are necessary on their climb to independence.