Important Banana Shrinky Dink Corduroy Bliss!

Important: Last night we received a letter in the mail stating that MB will pay for Corrina's second implant! She will hear with both ears! Thank you Lord, we are grateful! Isn't that the most wonderful pot/cooking dish you have ever seen?! Candace gave it to me for my birthday! It's the heaviest and wildest pot/dish I have ever seen! thanks love. As well, my friend Heather gave me a cupcake tree that holds sweet little cupcakes on delicious display! I am blessed!

Banana:

I found this Banana Cake recipe online and chose this one from the many posted because it only had 1/4 cup butter. That's pretty good for cake/cupcakes!

Banana Cake

This recipe is taken from an old, unidentified newspaper clipping, circa 1915.

One cup granulated sugar, 1/4 cup butter, 2 eggs (1 white kept for icing), 1/4 cup sour milk, 1 teaspoon soda, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 2 cups flour, a little salt, 3 very ripe bananas. Cream sugar, butter and egg yolks. Mash and beat the bananas until smooth and add to the mixture. Add the sour milk and soda then the flour, into which the baking powder and salt have been sifted. Lastly, fold in the well-beaten egg white. Bake in a fairly deep pan about 10 inches by 10 inches in a moderate oven for 25 minutes. --M. C. J.

I put my oven on 350 degrees and this seemed to work well. I believe I baked for about 20 minutes. I didn't actually set the timer, so do keep your eye on these if you bake them.

Shrinky Dink:
I spoke in the very last post (did you read it?) about a craft night I had with a girlfriend, Allison. She is a perfect crafting companion! We found inspiration in this book/website and then went from there (oh, the book is called Craftivity and I highly suggest you check it out from your local library!). I had trouble getting a good photo of it, but this is what we created.

Corduroy:
I had some red and designish corduroy fabric lying around and I just happened to buy this wonderful new sewing book so I had to try a few projects out! I made this tote bag
And this Heidi Headband. I love them both, but have much to learn about sewing straight!

So, that's the last of my craftiness for about 2 months!

A treat

I cannot claim ingenuity on this one, many mothers before me have discovered the wonder of the blender indeed, but Corrina and I experienced it on a NEW level tonight! You know how evenings are, tiring, long, messy.... after bath time comes snack time which I usually rush through because it is followed by bedtime... while Corrina ran around the house in her daip-er (funny little way I say it sometimes) I began to brainstorm snack time.. we like variety in our house, and tonight I had settled on a little milk, a little yogurt, and a little banana... protein calcium fiber potassium here we come! Well, I quickly realized that we didn't have any fresh bananas, only frozen ones (yeah, you can see where this is going), so i dumped it all in the blender and we shared the most delicious smoothies! Corrina thought she had died and gone to dessert heaven, and I was just happy to suck back something that tasted sweet but lacked the sugar (I really have been trying to have less sugary, empty calories.. its HARD!). I guess because the bananas were so ripe when I froze them they had a powerful, delicious flavor in the drink. Snack time made happy!

I have done three crafty &/or sewing projects in the last week! I will share them very soon, I promise, and you will love them, i know!! School has been very demanding lately and is just starting to pick up even more. I have a number of major papers and assignments (videos of me practicing counselling skills... yikes!) due very soon. I am so excited to delve in and start my research, but it also means fewer evenings filled with creative things. However, when the daytime rolls around and I encounter different people in different ways throughout the day I am so thankful for the moments when I did sit down and study (social work, therapy skills, theories of counseling, human behavior, and theology too!) because I feel empowered, I feel helpful, I feel able to understand the world to a better degree than if I had spent the night with fabric in hand. So, from here on in I believe that sewing and crafting will become my reward for diligent studies, and not the other way around as it has been! Off to book land I go (I should have dave draw a picture of bookland for me that I can hang around the house for inspiration!!! See, i just can't get crafting/creativity out of my head!).
Lots of love to all my readers, near and far

I'm thankful for YOU

Our potluck was amazing. The food brought by friends filled our home with warm, sweet smells. An assortment of desserts were enjoyed by all with many happy "MmmmMmmm's" filling the room! There was more than enough food for everyone, and amazingly very few leftovers! Just the way it should be! I will make soup from the turkey carcass to make every little bit count! Here are the pictures of friends sharing delicious and sentimental moments together. I was so busy with dinner prep that I forgot to take pictures until after everyone had filled their plates, so the bowls look a little empty, but you get the idea of the feast!
My house was spic and span by the time everyone left. Actualy, they all took dish washing shifts. I think EVERYONE except Dave and I washed, dried or put away! Thanks Friends
Sarah!
A Happy Dave!
A wonderful Allison

Our leafy-o-natural decorations
Bre and Tricia
Corrina was the perfect little hostest-with-the-mostest... she handed cookies out to everyone, over and over again. Eventually someone told her no more cookies, than she started going around to everyone and wagging her finger at them, trying to tell them no more cookies! Instead of handing out cookies at this point she started eating them all herself!
Dig in: Allison, Bre, Edythe
Happy thanksgiving to you too Tricia! She means well!

Bre and Edythe
Karl (good friend from high school) and Dave (good husband from College!!!)
Candace, Tricia and Bre goofing around!

In other news I made Corrina a darling pom-pom hat for winter!

I'm not thankful yet

It is 1:30 on thanks giving monday and later today we are having a BIG potluck. Alot of people are coming to our house to eat and laugh. So, I will be thankful later today. As for now, I have a turkey to put in the oven! Lively, thankful pictures coming soon!

A productive morning

Autumn, if I haven't already said this, is my very favorite season of the year! I love the smell in the natural air, I love the smell of cinnamon and nutmeg in my house, I adore the way the trees naturally turn bright, bold hues of brown, yellow and red, and I prefer to put on cozy clothes, scarfs and hats over a swimsuit any day, but above all I love the versatility of pumpkins and squash. You can find the recipe for the healthy living Pumpkin Cream Cheese loaf pictured here. Your loaf will be even better if you happen to have a toddler in your house. Go ahead and let them add way too much cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg!
If you're like me you just can't wait for the loaf to cool before sampling the first piece. While the piece may not look nice on the plate it will taste delicious fresh from the oven!

studying

I am home studying for a counseling role playing video (I wish it were drama!) i have to record tomorrow. Dave is at a Church Alpha night, and he brought Corrina so I could have time to read. I thought if i took a picture of the ordeal and posted it on the blog that I might feel more motivated. If I don't stop getting distracted than I am lying to everyone about studying. Now that I have said I am studying I have to be studying. Our calculator is a funny little man with number buttons for a body. I am counting how many times the word angry is used in my text book. That's a lie.
Dave bought me this beautiful olive serving platter for my birthday. It will be used at our upcoming thanks givin' potluck with friends. The lovely candle is from him too, the candle holder is a little silver tray spray painted white (bought and given by my friend Allison).

The past month

Here I am at the computer equipped with words to write about the past month.
Our month began with a family reunion in Winnipeg at our small apartment! Mom and Dad Colvin arrived before everyone else and helped us with some much needed apartment improvements, as well as basic cleaning and prep for the arrival of the rest of the Colvin's!
Here are some photo's highlighting the time we had together!





Dave had the brilliant idea of having an all-Holidays dinner with the a Turkey and all the works, including decorations:




I don't have a picture of the outing but the all the girls set out one afternoon to paint ceramics! It was neat to sit together and see the creativity come out of my family members! Everything turned out beautifully (the girls haven't seen their pieces yet so they will have to trust me on this one)! I think while we were painting the guys were racing cars and I heard it rumored that Dad actually got up to the highest speed (correct me if i'm wrong)!




It was really great to play, bake, eat, talk, laugh, and shop! We also had family photos done, which I am very excited to pick up in a day or two!

Thanks everyone for your visit with us. Claire, I hope your new place is coming together in a new and fresh way. Mark and Rachel, we hope you are feeling more settled and making new connections daily. Mom and Dad, we hope you are still finding time to relax together with you new busy schedules. As for us, Corrina and I are sick, Dave is so busy with his art class, youth group, and other church responsibilities, and everyone keeps asking if Corrina got a hair cut. She didn't!

This is turning into a LONG post, so I better get some good comments!
My birthday also passed last week! Thanks to friends and family for making it a special day/weekend. Dave and I went square dancing at Bre's church's Annual square dance! It was a hoot. I wish I could join a square dancing troop without being mercilessly mocked! Dave gave me some fabulous presents for my birthday: a lovely serving tray (picture to come), candles, some delicious liquor (bailey's, and melond liquer), an itunes cd, a gift card for a book store, and a Mystery science 3000 movie! I also had a very meaningful lunch with my friend Allison and enjoyed our time together dinning, shopping and talking!

And lastly, we went to look at another north end housing project house, on a very lovely street (although the surrounding neighbors hoods are quite scary), with a big yard! The house has three bedrooms, a drywalled basement with no cracks or problems, an open concept kitchen and living room (well, there is a halfwall between the two so one can see the living room from the kitchen), a small dinning area, a big bathroom upstairs, and a half bathroom on the main floor. The kitchen is a great shape and size, the living room is a little less than we have now, but there is potential for doing more with the basement! The house has a high efficiency furnace, new windows, new electrical (very nice light fixtures), and is very modern looking! We are currently trying to decide if we want to make an offer to purchase.

Back?

We are back in a normal (some may say boring) routine of life, school, daycare, work, therapy, cleaning, baking, singing, laughing, yelling, tantruming, creating, eating, and making playdoh.
We had such fun with our family visit last week. I have photos to upload and will blog about the time soon!

My thoughts for the day: if only life were as easy as making playdoh:
mix:
1 c. flour
1/4 c. salt
2 tbsp cream of tartar

combine and add:
1 c. water
2 tsp food coloring
1 tbsp oil

stir while heating on medium heat in pot on stove. it will appear all lumpy and funny and you will think it isn't working out, but it is! Soon, 2-5 minutes, a ball/lump will form in the center. Work the spoon around the pot to combine most of the dough, then dump it out onto a lightly floured surface and kneed it! it will be wonderful, smooth and colorful. Remember to let it cool a few minutes before little fingers squish into the fun.

I know this playdoh post merits a picture, but Corrina was 'washing' dishes (or the floor!) and I didn't have the camera at hand. Trust me though, excellent recipe!

To do:
Bake muffins
take out garbage
charge ipod

And all in prep for my visit to Ikea! I am happy as a clam (are they happy? I have just heard the saying.. maybe it was happy as a yam) I am happy as a yam!

I cut my own bangs this morning because they were making me go crazy! CRAZZZZIIIIYYYEEEEEE

So yes, Dave, Corrina, Bre and I will be driving tonight so pray for us if you think of it. I will be in Ikea tomorrow, so pray for me to shop smart and find deals, if you think of it! Our house sitter will keep our place clean and shiny and feed our cats and we will shop! Good deal. Bre is weird in cars so I am doing some mediational preparation for the trip. But, I am weirder, so she might want to get prepared as well! I think I will drink coffee all day that way when we leave at dinner time I will be so hyper that they will hate me, then I will promise to be good if they let me spend 5 hours in IKEA! Manipulative!!! Wahh. Yes, I am excited to get this ONE things from ikea (at least for sure)
Our Noodle bowls are all shiny now: take a look! Corrina wanted in on the fun of eating with chops sticks.

She did a fairly decent job I think!

And we all know that the real and only way to eat with chop sticks is to actually eat with you fingers!

So until our return from many wonderful American materialistic adventure we sign off!

Vacation:

Wonderful Things I've did on my Vacation:

Attended Islendingadagurinn, the icelantic festival in Gimli Manitoba, where we spoke to ancient Icelanders and learned to play a

Helped setup and attended a friend's wedding

Swam in the wadding pool with Corrina

Ordered a Krabby Patty! The burger was alright, but just saying the words was FANTASTIC!

Played MANY Board Games, including kicking BUTT at Seafarers of the City and Knights of Catan! (Then got MY butt kicked at Pirates of the Spanish Main)

Painted Pottery

Saw the Simpsons Movie

Advocated for our daughter's hearing

Went to the ZOO

Operated on a Human Heart (via Wii)

and FINALLY saw Casablanca for the first time, which was FANTASTIC. NOW I can see what all the fuss is about!

I'm sure there was more, but still that's a pretty good list!

Many thanks to my wonderful family for the good times,
-Dave

Sneak Peak

I know Corrina is up from her nap, but she hasn't made a peep yet so I will take time for a normal post.
Dave and I went on a date last week, and this week to do an activity for our third anniversary. Yesterday I remembered to take pictures of our project at the ceramic painting place Brushfire:



We both painted noodle bowls, which in the pictures are not fired yet of course (they will be shiny and bright next week!), so this is a sneak peak. We painted VERY different scenes: flowers vs. autronaunts saving Tokyo. This place is incredibly fun and I am hoping to take the mom and sisters-in-law here to paint when they visit in September (mom, rachel, claire: details to follow in an email soon!) This place is comfortable, inspiring, cute and holds alot of artistic fun. Even polkadots turn out amazing!

Last night I went bowling and had coffee with some good friends. We had fun playing with the camera at the coffee shop!

Monday night we had our good friend Allison and her visiting parents and sister over for dessert! I baked and Dave decorated with berries and icing. Delicious!

Dave is back at work, life is normal again and I miss having him around. But, we do have lots of plans for visiting and activities in the next few weeks and then before we know it school will be starting and youth group will be picking back up!