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Lately, I know I haven't been writing as often because I've just been enjoying my time with my crazy and fun family. And that's not to say we haven't been doing projects, because we have! From gardening to pouring footings, our yard has gone from clean to messy to clean, and now we are back to messy again! But the things we all do to our houses are to make our homes happier, healthier and more "user friendly". Sometimes it's overwhelming, but I look forward to sharing some more of some ongoing projects. It may take a while, but at least it's progress into how we want our homes to be. I won't show you my blistered hands, but I will give you a sneak peak into some of the projects we've been working on. Any guesses on what we are up to??
Now that it's officially summer, what are some projects you are about to dive into? Happy Summer Days! xo Jena Fall is upon us. With that comes the harvest of our crops and the crops of others. We got given a 10 pound box of apples, and what better thing to make than apple sauce. I could have made some apple pies, but I decided to go with a liquid version of the dessert. Adam and I pealed until our hands hurt. It's a different generation we are in now. I know old ladies who peeled potatoes, carrots, apples, etc. until their hands bled, and it wasn't from cutting themselves! At least that's what their stories claimed. I'm thinking that I need to toughen up and suck it up... Then, we threw the apples into a big pot and boiled them down. I added 1/4 cup of water just to cover the bottom of the pot at the beginning. The juices from the apples are more than enough to keep them from burning. Then came the good stuff. Cinnamon and nutmeg permeated the house. The thought crossed my mind to start decorating the house for Christmas at that point. Maybe, just maybe, that's a little premature to get started on that task... To top it all off, I added some good old Canadian maple syrup. I don't think you could have a better combination of flavours, as that. Just as I thought it would be, I had liquid apple pie. I don't think those jars of apple sauce are going to be around for long. Next year, we will have to go for 50 pounds of apples. As long as we have an electric apple peeler. It is the 10's after all. That just doesn't have the same ring as the 1900's, where they had to peel everything by hand. On the note of apple pie flavour, Canadian Thanksgiving is this weekend. I love Thanksgiving. I am a very thankful person, and I have A LOT to be thankful for. Maybe it's cliche to say family and friends, but seriously. I have an amazing family, and some wonderful friends. I moved around a lot in my younger years, so to have a solid set of friends is really special to me. My family is the best family one could have. I also am thankful for food. We are so lucky to have a plethora of it, and I am really excited to share a weekend of feasting with both friends and family. Wine, pie and turkey. Can't ask for much more! Items above can be found at
I'm back! After a two or three week break from writing, I couldn't hold back any longer. Honestly, I don't have too much to say tonight, but I will say that I missed writing, and I can't wait to share some stories about the projects I've been working on the past few weeks. Life gets so busy, and now that I'm back to work, I've been trying to focus on my family and friend when I am home from work. And as much as I enjoy writing, it takes up a lot of time! I feel that my time has been well spent the past few weeks with the things that matter the most to me.
Now I'm not totally OCD when it comes to parenting, if the little man falls, I pretend like I didn't see and he carries on. Inside, of course, I'm heart-broken. No mother wants to see their children get hurt. But that's how they learn, and man, do they learn a lot! Our house is fairly baby proofed. We have one baby gate where his landing would be on concrete and the other stairs (only five stair) do not have a baby gate. He's pretty awesome at stairs now, and we have not had one falling-down-stairs incident to date. One thing that does stress me out though is electricity. Because that can really hurt a child. I need to be protecting my baby from serious danger. I have baby proofed every single electrical socket in my house. Maybe I am a little OCD about that one.
I did decide to keep it in a journal, though, where I would tell him about all the crazy things that happened throughout the year in his life. I figured that I could add pictures and drawings and whatever I feel like. There are so many moments this year that I can think of to write about. Like what a little dare devil he has become, or how much he loves his favorite green "Shrek" shoes. Both conveniently shown in the picture below. I love my little boy, and I don't want to forget a memory with him. Maybe this is my way of helping myself remember them all too!
Happy Memory Making! Jena xo
Lay it out for your potential employer. I did, and it was a seriously liberating feeling. As much as I scored an interview with this one particular company, it went both ways. What do I want out of this job? It was not as much an interview, as it was a conversation. And there are some important questions that you, as a potential employee, need to ask. Is the company worth my time to go back to work? Are they flexible in my hours? Raising my son is 100% priority, and if a company doesn't allow an employee to put family first, their values are not the same as mine. Thus, that would not be a good match. Does the company interest me? Do I like their long term and short term goals? Would I be excited to explain to someone what I do for work? Working hard at something you believe in and enjoy makes work purposeful and well, enjoyable. Who doesn't want to enjoy their job? Am I a good match for the company? Be honest with yourself, and if it's a job that is just going to put bread and butter on your table, and you're not passionate about it, maybe the next person in line is a better match than you. Passion is what makes you happy with your career anyways, so without it, it's not your perfect job. If you answered yes to all of these questions, you'd better put your best foot forward going in! Chances are, if you are a good match, an employer will see that. On that lovely note, I hope you all have a great day at work. Good news! It is almost the long weekend, and I know I'll need it. I'll be tired from my new job, which I am VERY excited about! More of that later!
Happy Career Searching and Finding! Jena xo The little man has been a little under the weather the past week or so, and I can officially say, I'm not scared of snot anymore. I'm turning into one of those hardcore moms that just pulls boogies right out of their kids noses, so that the dreaded Kleenex episode can be avoided. I don't understand why every kid is so terrified of a simple snot napkin. Each to their own. I'm pretty sure I've overcome my snot fear thanks to this deep love I've got for this little kid. He melts my heart every day, the least I can do for is wipe his nose and butt and face, and rarely, tears. Thankfully!
That leads me to talk specifically about wiping butts. Very deep topic, I know! Before he was born, I decided on cloth diapering. A lot of people questioned me and told me how hard it would be, but I went with my favourite motto: oblivion is bliss. It's my first child, so I didn't really know one way or the other. I have to change butts anyways, so why not reduce my impact on the environment? It totally has similarities to snot wiping, basically that both are nasty, but you've gotta do it anyways.
This I have to share, in case anyone else uses cloth diapers and bleaches the shit, literally, out of them. Apparently, I am the worst at reading directions, and they say right on the tag "DO NOT BLEACH". I bleached them. When all of a sudden, they started leaking, I freaked out, thinking I had wrecked them all, which I probably had. Then I had one of those moments when you actually think of the best idea ever. We had a bunch of this soft shell stuff by Nikwax, which is really meant for our snowboard coats to get them all water-proofed again. I used it on the diaper shells, since it's pretty close to the same material. Thankfully, that stuff totally worked. So if you are like me and have this problem or you just want to give them that extra protection again, this stuff is the solution. I've never tried BumGenius! Biodegradable Baby Odor Remover for Cloth Diapers, but I would like to try it! No one like a stink butt.
If you do decide to commit and go to cloth diapers, I'd definitely recommend buying a set. I use a Grovia Live set, and they have been awesome. They are not like the cloth diapers back in the day, that's for sure. They are actually cute now, too! Happy Butt Wiping! Jena xo
As busy as we keep ourselves with work and house projects, we need some "us time" too. We started looking for a bike seat for Keenan at the beginning of summer and found this awesome front seater at Canadian Tire. Best purchase. Ever since we got the baby bike seat, we've been pretty good about using it. The dog loves it because he actually gets to run, and we love that because he could be mistaken for a moderate energy dog. Bicycle Match Co. Pillow by Koko Company from: Burke Decor LLC Bespoke Doormat by Danica Studio (Default) - $38.00 from: Burke Decor LLC It's so fun hanging out with my little family. I sure love them, and enjoying the times we have, whatever we are doing! What's your favorite family activity?
Happy family time! Jena xo Long weekends are the governments' gift to mankind. I really appreciate them, especially August Long, as that is always right near my birthday, so I am pretty much guaranteed a good time. This long weekend was no exception to the norm. Family reunion time! While it wasn't my side of the family getting together (we had our get together this summer too), it was Adam's side, which means a lot more family than I've got. We're talking triple digits, where I am barely hitting double digits when it comes to our family census. Which means crazier and louder and lots to do! We were a little worried about the motor home getting us there, but Adam tuned her up really good, and we made it there without a problem. I grew up camping in tents, which I can appreciate then, but now that I've grown accustomed to RV camping, I can also say I really appreciate that. It is so nice to have everything you need right there, from pots and a stove to your rain gear and a roof, if you happen to need it! We got lucky and only had a few raindrops, even though the weather was calling for thunder showers. It was the water balloons you had to watch out for! I know that I've said this before, but I really love family. Coming from such a small family myself into this extra large family, I have to say, it's quadrupling the fun! From a horse shoe tournament, which my sister-in-law totally won, and a thrilling round of bean bag tossing, which I happened to do oddly well at and won, to pot luck dinners and pancake breakfasts. Not to mention the talented entertainment. Wow. This family's got talent! Look out reality TV for this real life episode!
They even had tapes of previous generations rocking out. Hopefully no tapes of this year though, because the last night I know I was definitely belting out the tunes. No need to hear that in the years to come! Eeek! Although we were singing some pretty good tunes... The hall where the reunion was held was pretty awesome, too. The main room was called: The Antler Room. With all the deer running around the area, you can see why! The cousins at one point were on a search for deer, only for the deer to come right up to us. Get the look!Medium Elk Wall Mount design by Twos Company from: Burke Decor LLC I hope y'all have an awesome family like I do
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