A staple, but not a staple, a granola

So, I have been making a great granola recipe for about a month now and keep meaning to share it, but haven't had a moment. I don't actually have a moment right now, I am at that point in the semester where every minute counts, and every minute not used reading, or thinking, or thinking about reading is wasted.

But my eyes are ready to fall out of my head and roll around the floor, if that conveys that I am tired. My typing babbling will convey that I am tired if my really horrible description of my eyes doesn't.

Here is the fat free granola recipe I found. I was over the top excited because I hate all the oil in granola. I just won't do it. But we love granola, dave, Corrina and I, so I had to find something.

The recipe is from here, but I will type it out again, and add my thoughts. You should go to the other website because they have pictures, where as I am too tired to press the on button on the camera and take a picture of my fresh granola. I will now turn and look at it on your behalf, but that's all your getting tonight.

So, recipe:

450ml rolled oats (quick cooking, but not instant... as least quick cooking as you can find, maybe normal even.. they say quick cooking leaves a startchy taste when baked into granola, and I actualy found this to be true)

60 ml sun flower seeds (not deshelled from your mouth and than spat out)

120 ml sesame seeds

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ginger

100 ml brown sugar (I use splenda brown sugar blend because, because I do...)

150ml of almond slivers

100 ml hazelnuts chopped (I just add more almonds)

1 tsp salt

*option: I add about 1/4-1/2 c. of wheat germ

*mix all that in a bowl! Yippy*

Now mix this in another bowl, or if you're a cheater like me just mix it all together in your glass pyrex cup

175 ml apple sauce

120 ml corn syrup (I hate that this is in here, and usualy try to take some out. Seems to work fine with a little less, maybe 100 ml instead. Any ideas for alternatives?)

4 Tbsp runny honey (I didn't have any tonight and the batch came out great, so skip this is you are cutting our excess sugar.. or keep this in and take out more corn syrup)

*mix all this into the dry, plop it on a baking sheet, nice and flat. You can even squish it a little with your spatula. Kinda fun.

Now bake it in a 350 oven, for 30-40 minutes, stirring every ten minutes. Make sure you work the edge bits into the middle, so they don't get scorched.

For me this is enough to fill only one cookie sheet, but if you fill two, or double the batch than switch the cookie sheets around with the stirring.

Watch the granola closely and when it starts to brown all over just leave it out of the oven. it may look a little wet still, but it gets very crunchy once it sits. So many lovely clusters too!

Once it's cooled, stir in about a cup of raisins, or crasins, whichever you like. Or you could do chopped dried apricots. I think I'll do that next week!

Seriously, I am never buying store bought again, or making any granola with oil in it. This stuff is amazing.

In other news, Dave is putting together a brand new bed frame we found at a thrift store. We had to do some piecing, but for the most part it looks great! I have never had a bed frame before. We've been sleeping on a mattress on the floor for a year, no box spring, no joke! The spring doesn't fit up our stairs. I can't wait to be up off the dang floor! I should go supervise now...

I am thinking about changing our blog template, but don't know where to find something neat to switch to. Any ideas?

Corrina's 3rd Birthday Party

Happy Birthday Corrina!

I can't believe that you are three!

Today we celebrated Corrina's Third birthday with her first birthday party! Here are a few pictures and videos:
The cake recipe is from here, the icing is from the back of the bag, and the shapes are Starbursts rolled out and cut into shapes, which I learned about from here. Hmmm, I can taste it now! Delicious!

House Tour: Installment One

Installment One: Corrina's Craft Corner

I have neglected to provide a real house tour since we moved into our place almost a year ago. I have always meant to, but felt that things were never really decorated and in place. Slowly we have been getting there, so here is a mini series I will be doing. It won't be a once a week guaranteed post. Rather, it will follow a schedule of rooms that are clean and I have time to photograph!

I am just so thrilled about this new space I created for Corrina so I thought I would start my tour with Corrina's Craft Corner

Here is a link note: You can also see this craft corner development here, at Flickr.

Otherwise, let the tour begin.

This is Corrina's new little craft corner/space! The table and chairs, as well as the white shelf are from Ikea. I've been hoping for a space like this for about 10 years, either for myself, or my child. I finally had the time and energy to put it together tonight, but it has taken a lot of forethought. I bought the white shelf about 2 years ago. We do not live near an ikea so our trips to ikea are very premeditated. I loved this shelf the minute I saw it in the catalog, picked it up when we were at the store, and stuck it in my basement until I had the perfect spot for it. Originally it was to be used for organizing deskish things by out computer, but as soon as our daughter became interested in crafting I instantly reallocated it's use to her space. It's perfect!


The "Corner"
I surprised myself when I found that we did not even have enough displayable craft items (that we wanted at Corrina's reach) to fill the shelves! I like it this way though.
Some orange juice containers covered in wrapping paper, are helping corral felt pens (markers, I am told), and glue sticks. The top shelf has some foam beads that we string and string again, and of course pencil crayons for those days when fat markers are just too cumbersome.

What better way to organize and ikea shelf than with Ikea plastic bins! There are little pads of paper slid in beside a tub of crayons and a tub of foam & Dora stickers. The tops shelf has an unopened christmas present and a christmas tag (aka I had nothing to put here).
Why the heck is there an unopened Christmas present still linger around? For Christmas I did a craft supplies stocking and this little parcel just got skipped over in the enamorement with glitter!
I love jars. Always have, always will. Corrina will also love them by the time I am done with her! Inside: googly eyes, star and circle sequins, a glitter shapes shaker, and of course buttons!
Above I've hidden some small things away in tins: pompoms, glitter containers, mini clothes pegs, and stick on jewels. There is also a little box of beads with elastic string and pipe cleaners, for those jewelry making days when Corrina just has to have a new necklace to go with her dress-up outfit.
The smallest jars I have ever seen came from an English hotel Grandma and Grandpa stayed at. These were the jams for the morning breakfast. I think Grandma shoved a few extra's in her pocket knowing we would all love them!
I love that in North America we get plastic jam packets, and in England they get real little glass jars. I think I'm moving!
I found child sized ripply/zig-zag/wavy/scalloped (whatever the decorative ones are called) scissors at the dollar store. Corrina can actually cut with them, whereas I can hardly shut my adult sized ones sometimes. Maybe I need some new ones...
Scissors are out of her reach here because I am all about prevention: prevention of hair cuts, random re upholstery, baby doll surgery, wall carvings, manicures, and purposeless cutting up of fun foam, the most likely to actually occur.
It's about prevention people.
I love how easy it was to use wrapping paper to glue around this recycled orange juice container. The paper was already curled up from living around a tube, so it naturally conformed!
Nothing new here really, just age old reuse and beautifying!

It's just so pretty I can't stop looking, although you're most likely thinking "I can!!" Tough Toast.


We use the space around shelf to hang up art from home, daycare, and other activities. You can't see it very well here, but the paper on the very right wall is a "seasons" mural Corrina and I paint together each season. It's a great way to teach Corrina some must-know vocabulary, show her letters and words, teach her things that go together, learn about weather, and inspire our other art projects. The list is endless really.

We painted this boring, white, press board shelf red when were first married. Actually, I was pregnant, and Dave was using tremclad because the lovely lady at the hardware store said that this would really be the only paint that would stick to a press board, melamine coated shelf. This was the worst painting experience ever. The priming sucked, the painting was awful and gooey, the clean up was horrific, and I had to stay out of the picture, in the bedroom, the entire time so as not to poison our unborn child with fumes.
This shelf started as my craft cupboard, transitioned into a pantry in our second apartment, and has regained it's original purpose of holding all things craft related.

Yes, I know, everything is red. I had a red organizing theme in our last place. This handy little basket hold alot of fun foam, some papers, and a few coloring books. Corrina is oblivious to it for the most part, until the scissors come out. She is a cutting maniac. This is not the best way to store this stuff, but it's working for now!
The craft corner exists within our dinning room. Such an odd little nook just needed to be filled with a place to create.
This is the little crafter herself. Of course, she is not crafting in this photo!

Or in this one.
Or in this one.
Or this one.
Like I could leave these adorable photos out!
This is how she feels about not crafting! Actually, this was her pulling a fake frown for the picture. The other similar picture of her above is the joy she experienced after pulling a fake frown!

Okay, here is a photo of the space in use.


Well, that is one little section of our house! Tour completed! I hope you are inspired, or at least in awe of me. Either is fine. Don't you think I should be included on this website? I do! Maybe they will discover me!

A Christmas of the Muppety Kind

Hope you enjoy 'em! To be continued...

A snippet of so many different things

Lots going on here! We've had a busy last few weeks, with paper writing (thank goodness it's over, for at least 2 more weeks), decorating for Christmas, attending events, and having good friends over. Corrina's language is continuing to develop at a rapid pace. She has most of her Christmas words down, and is able to share her imagination and daily thoughts with us using language now.
Here is a little conversation with Corrina:


Oh, FYI, the glasses are lens-less! Just for looks!

Today Dave got up with Corrina, leaving me to dream about selling my house (which I was very pleased to learn was just a dream when I woke up... often I get confused and it takes minute to return to reality and shake the emotions from the dreams. When I awoke it was to footsteps coming up the stairs. I turned to the clock, saw it was 9am, and thought "oh no, I'm in for a lecture about sleeping in too late..." and jumped out from under the covers. And then Dave began, but with words I did not expect AT ALL: "Get back in bed!" He practically barked it! Anyway, I can forgive him his yelling when the sight that follows is a tray of breakfast and Corrina carrying a little flower. This is the third breakfast in bed I have ever had. It was divine.

Speaking of bed, that is where I am heading again. Tomorrow I intend to begin my day with some major iron pumping at the gym, followed by some intense present selecting. I hope to get it ALL done tomorrow. You see, the truth is that I haven't begun at all. It has taken me a week to shed the stress of writing papers, but now that I have my creative mind back I can get down to giving (for, they say, it is, after all, better than receiving!)

Teeny weeny update

We've not been up to anything profound recently.
Taking the time to put up a few Christmas decorations. I love white twinkle lights. They are everywhere in our house!
This is probably the most accurate image of what we've been up to. I have been trying to work on some huge papers, with little success, and Dave has been working hard to putting together a stunning Christmas Muppet Diorama. I can't wait to be finished for the semester, something that seems like it is never going to happen. Even more so, I can't wait to see what Dave is going to come up with this year. This would be a really great place to link to diorama's past, but I don't have that kind of energy right now.
We've been eating food, and looking cute.
And wearing adorable clothing (thanks mark and rachel, last year! Corrina is really into these right now, and often chooses them over other clothes!)

Here is the music I am most likely listening to while I try to focus on my paper

** Disclaimer: I don't like the naughty word in the second song.**
Otherwise, enjoy

Winter is upon us

The first snow of the season, in our first house, with our wonderful international volunteer exchange program (IVEPer) person experiencing snow for the very first time!

Kristianna (IVEPer) really wanted to eat snow!  And she did.  Corrina really wanted to copy her!  We told her the rule about yellow snow, and brown snow, and any snow that has been at all touched by anything, human or animal or machine.  She is just going to stick to eating fresh snow off of trees!  She wants to make snow cones with juice and sugar.  It is so neat to re-experience snow!

The other gal in the photos is another IVEPer also from Indonesia.  Kris and her get along very well.  We all played together.  And the man in the picture below is not Dave, it is Hardy, the IVEP coordinator for MCC.  He has children our age, but is a fun, goofy person!

Thanksgiving to Halloween

I have photos!

And here are all my words to accompany them. We have a fabulous thanksgiving visit with Claire. Her photos are excellent, please do go look if you haven't already. I really wish we lived closer to our family. It is just wonderful to sit down for a cup of tea and conversation with people who have always just been there. It is comfortable.
Thank you Claire for treating us to your time and friendship, and for the gifts you brought, and the gifts you gave! We couldn't have asked for a better thanksgiving (well, maybe it would have been nice if Corrina was well so we could all sit at the table together... but otherwise!)

Corrina had a cold for about three weeks. I always suspect an ear infection after the first week or so, but I just hate all the antibiotics she has become immune to over the years (all 2.5 yrs!) so I try to wait as long as I can in hopes that it will clear up on its own. Never does... but now she is feeling better. Dave was also sick, and then I became sick. Of course, all these illnesses had to wait until a week before I had a paper due, and the worst for me had to hit the night before my paper was due! I am thankful that I have understanding professors who grant extensions. Unfortunately this means I have to write quality papers so they continue to see the worth in giving me extensions.

On to Halloween. It is rather interesting to explain Halloween to a person who has never celebrated it, but has heard all the bad things about it. Kris was more than willing to participate in the childish aspects of Halloween, like carving pumpkins, creating costumes, and of course enjoying the candy (way too much candy...)!





Corrina spent the day in this adorable pumpkin dress. One of the youth from church, whom this dress belonged to when she was 4, lent it to us for Corrina to enjoy. She went around the entire day saying "Pumpkin dress" excitedly. She has wanted to wear it every single day since Halloween. I had to tell her it was dirty so she would part with it for church today. It was partial truth!
With illness, and papers, and general stress and overload we just decided to dress Corrina as little red riding hood! She loved wearing her cap and carrying a little basket around!

When Corrina first received her implants it took her about three months to learn a new word. This was with multiple repetition and games. Of course so much time has passed since then, her hearing is more refined, and her cognitive ability for syllable, sound, and word recognition has developed overtime. At the beginning of the month we were amazed that she learned the word pumpkin within one week. So, we were blown away when within about 3 hours she learned the phrase (two words!) Trick or Treat! We talked about the phrase all day long, and we showed her that when she went to a house and said Trick or Treat, she would get Candy. She was very excited and did her best to emulate the sounds, but her attempts in the beginning sounded nothing like the phrase... however, with enough positive reinforcement (CANDY) she was announcing "Trick or Treat" loud and clear at each open of a door! While that is the amazing part, the bit that makes me feel oh so proud is the fact that she said thank-you to so many people without me even needing to prompt her!
So, while I don't really love the gory side of Halloween the actions sure to boost a little deaf girls opportunities for learning new words! We really do have to take every opportunity to teach her what we can!
Oh yes, a comment on the photo above: Dave carved an excellent Tiki Pumpkin with such great teeth. Take a closer look! It's so neat!
Just this morning we had the lovely experience of finding our pumpkins smashed on our sidewalk. A rather interesting experience for a little gal who was so proud of her baby pumpkin! Oh well, another opportunity to drive home the word "sad". She recovered just fine and even helped to pick up all the pieces!
I don't know why but this photo (yes, a little blurry) kinda reminds me of....
...this photo. A 2.5 year follow-up. I think it's just the layout and visible height difference. Neat to see though!