a hippie with a minivan

1000 posts and a giveaway!!

Just one month shy of my 6 year anniversary of starting this blog…

This, is my 1000th post.

It might not be that much compared to others, as it shows that I don’t post every day, but it also shows that there has been a lot of time and a lot of myself invested here.

When I started out… these were my kids…

(Xavier ~ 2.5y and Colin ~ 7 months)

and now… a thousand posts later…

I am mom to these amazing kids…

We, as a family, have all grown with this blog.

In a thousand posts I have shared the good and the bad, my worries, my joys, my hopes and dreams. I’ve gotten advice, given advice, worked through problems and ranted. It has been a both a place to share and an outlet. I have shared two unassisted pregnancies and births and many adventures. I have shared recipes and crafts and my favourite things…

I want to thank you all for reading and taking part…

To show my gratitude and to mark this occasion I am giving away this hand made by me mini-quilt/table runner made with many of my favourite fabrics…

(I am going to leave this open for the weekend and pick a winner at the beginning of next week)

To participate… tell me what makes you smile…

Dungeons & Dragons

Xavier’s interest in Dungeons and Dragons was sparked a few years ago…

(From March 2009)

He found Simon’s old Monster Manual and started looking at it and memorizing all of the monsters and creatures. We bought him the new edition and we started to realize that he could read when he could name all of the monsters and tell us details about them that he could only know through reading. It was D&D that led him to reading at the level he can read now , playing D&D based games on the computer and reading the Monster Manuals and other related books. (to those who don’t understand how unschooling can work and how kids can learn to read by themselves… this is a prime example)

His interest soon went into the original role playing game (RPG) and both boys along with Simon started on their adventure.

(June 2009)

Last month Khéna joined in the adventure and to our surprise, his attention span can at times can outlast that of his brothers…

If you know how D&D works, it is not a fast paced game. Each move is calculated and thought out. There is adventure, imagination, strategy a need for patience.

Simon has been journaling their adventure here on a Blog called Kaleth’s Journal

This blog, in the form of a character journal, is a quickly-written summary of the D&D 4e campaign (in a customized version of the Forgotten Realms) I started with my two sons in 2009, and which my 3rd son joined in 2011. It’s compiled for their future enjoyment. Simon (35 years old) is the DM and plays a level 3 human wizard; Xavier (8 years old) plays a level 3 dragonborn fighter; Colin (6 years old) plays a level 3 eladrin ranger; Khéna (4 years old) plays a level 1 eladrin swordmage.

With the family growing and time with Simon is somewhat limited, Playing D&D is a great way for the boys to connect and I love hearing their adventures as they play…

Anyone else a D&D fan?

Cabane à Sucre 2011

On thursday we headed to the Sugar Shack for our anual Sugar rush…

We go in the week when we can get a table left over from a group. There are not always all the activities, but the kids have the playground more to themselves, there are less people in line to eat and there are no crowds…

It was a beautiful Spring day and the Sap is running strong at the moment so keeping the sugar boiling is nearly a 24h/ day task…

(see those barrels of syrup there…. yummmmm)

(Sap boiling with a wood stove and the steam rises through a hole in the roof)

Every year the meal stays the same… so you can see the older pics here…

After the meal we head outside for some playing, seeing the animals and the anticipated “Tire sur Neige” or maple taffy, which is made from hot syrup being poured onto clean snow….

(That stuff is seriously dangerous… I know you can make it at home, but I would rather remain ignorant to that fact)

What a fun day and it is definitely something we all look forward to every year!

Ankles…

Week 2 of running brought on sore ankles… It started near the end of one session and then two days later I went out again not thinking much of it and after doing one walk/run interval my body shouted NO MORE. and I limped home… It was one ankle that was hurting the most and I put Ice on it and put my legs up and wished it away… my wish didn’t come true…

Over the next days I decided to ignore it, and hope that it would go away that way….it didn’t… and it didn’t even get better but actually worsened and both ankles were in pain, same problem, both sides.

I read a few things, iced it and tried to stay off my feet, but I have things to do, meals to make, kids to corral and a 14 month old that gets into everything. I tried taking some ibuprofen and it just made me feel very loopy and didn’t help with the pain much. Last tuesday, more than a week after the pain started, I had enough and called the family doc. I got in because of a cancelation yesterday and so I headed into Montreal yesterday morning.

The doctor was not very happy that I hadn’t been there in nearly 6 years and it was actually a fluke that my file hadn’t been thrown out. However, the fact that I had not seen anyone else in those in those 6 years, gave me the advantage and he will be keeping me as a patient as long as I go in for a check up in the fall…

He said that if it would have been only one of my ankles, with the amount of swelling and pain, he would have thought it was fractured, but because it was both, it is most likely either the tendons of the ligaments that are giving me problems and his suggestions are basically what I have been doing (or trying to do)… restand ice, oh and stronger anti-inflammatory’s and he also gave me a referral for physiotherapy.

(It’s hard to take a pic of swelling, but I think you can see it there… it the same on both sides)

*sigh*

So… I am in pain… and the minute I seem a bit better I get a bit too ahead of myself and tend to overdo things and then I am in more pain…

I think running is going to have to wait a while… my Vibrams will be great for walking… and I think I am going to get back into the pool routine again…

double *sigh*

Choco-coconut date bars…

yumm…

that was my first impression of these bars…

These are “Lara” type bars… great for energy and full of good for you things without the preservatives or the high price.

The following recipe is just a guideline and you can add or substitute anything you wish, that is a great thing….

How about dried apples and cinnamon, cranberries and dark chocolate chips, pumpkin and spices… so many options!

Also, my food processor can handle the 4 cups of dates, but my old one couldn’t have, so you might want to start by halving the recipe to see what your food processor can handle.

This makes 18 good sized bars… and here is what you need: