Wordless Wednesday

Back in the 'Peg

Harvest is done.

Thanksgiving was great.

Back in the Peg.

Owner of house installed hot tub while we were away...

So not a lot of time to blog tonight!!! lol!

:D

Christmas came early!

Christmas came early

for one lucky little boy.

Thank you Grandpa and Baba!!

reusable baby wipes

I think I've mentioned once or twice that we're avid cloth diaperers ;) but did you know we are cloth wiperers as well?

If you're doing diaper laundry anyway, then using cloth wipes is a natural extension of cloth diapering.

This is what's working for us:

• A few packs of cheapo baby washcloths from Walmart (three $4 packs of 12, I believe). Baby washcloths work well because one side is soft for wiping and drying, and the other side is a bit rougher for cleaning up messes.
  
• Homemade wipe solution: 2c water, 2 tbsp baby shampoo, 2 tbsp sweet almond oil, and a few drops of tea tree oil. Pour all ingredients into a refillable squeeze bottle (we use a cleaned out used shampoo bottle) and shake well to mix. I also keep some in a small peri bottle for the diaper bag for traveling. One 'batch' will last well over a month.
  

At diaper changes, simply give the bottle a little shake, squeeze some solution out onto the corner or one side of a washcloth, wipe baby clean, then dry the area using the rest of the washcloth. Toss washcloth in with diaper laundry. Wash. Reuse. The initial $20 investment has given us over 7 months of wipes so far, and we're still going strong.

I've found the homemade solution to be a great for cleaning baby's bottom without drying out sensitive skin. Nor do we need to routinely use diaper creams, which I'm definitely not a fan of. We've doing this since birth (aside from a few trips when we decided to go the disposable route) and we've only now had our first diaper rash (and I'm pretty sure that has more to do with dietary change than anything).

So there you have it! Another eco-, budget-, baby- friendly alternative in the cloth diapering world that has really been working for us. And believe me when I tell you, it's way easier to do than you think!

fall means new beginnings

I've always loved fall. The colours, the crisp nights, the crunchy leaves, the sent of harvest in the air. And, of course, the new beginnings.

Fall always brought with it great anticipation.

The impending school year.
My departure for university.
And then, eventually, my upcoming wedding.

Being the farmer's daughter I am, fall also meant many hours of solitude on the combine to contemplate these changes.

Who was I going to be this year at school?
What will it really be like moving away from home?
How am I ever going to hack it as a wife?

So this year it is so suiting to be here, on the combine, again contemplating the future with great anticipation.

hearty harvest pasta

While the fam was out hard at work this afternoon, I whipped some homemade pasta sauce from my mom's garden vegetables (plus some straggler veggies in the fridge). I quartered the tomatoes, chopped up some onion, red and green pepper, and threw in a few cloves of hearty homegrown garlic - basted with olive oil, sprinkled with a few spices, and roasted it all in the oven for about an hour.

I had two baking pan worth of veggies - one I blended (yes, I'm traveling everywhere with my beloved blender) until liquid, the second I only put in for about 3 seconds to add some chunky texture. Simmered it in a pot with roasted venison garlic sausage and dinner was made! (Along with whole wheat pasta and garlic toast, of course).

Okay, I admit it, that isn't an actual picture of mine.

I forgot to take one.

But thought this post would be even dried without one ;)

7 Months

About a week late,

Jay and I headed out this afternoon

to capture him at 7 months old

Note to self: 7 month old are fascinated with leaves.

So much so,

the camera no longer matters.

The only thing that matters

is how leaves taste

When we had about as much leaf consumption as mommy could handle,

we switched locations.

Oh yeah and, umm...

Had a wardrobe change.

Sweet baby Jonathan, you are such a character!

I love you more than words can explain

and am so honoured to be your mommy.

Happy 7 months, kiddo.

Self-conscious about my Bloggy-self

I usually have great blog posts drafted in my head; only the fairly neutral ones make it to print.

Sometimes I wish I could be bolder in the blog world. My friend Tiffany is an awesome blogger. She doesn't shy from including a little opinion in her posts, but does so with such style and wit that no one's offended. (No pressure on today's post Tiffany! ;)

I'm always too concerned with offending someone and it hanging there in the eternity of the internet for them to stew over. Honestly, I could probably last all through Blogtober just by hitting publish on posts I've drafted but never published because they weren't neutral enough. I won't, of course. But on the other hand, wouldn't that liven things up around here? lol!

I've also noticed I blog about sunshine and roses a lot. Have you noticed that too? I wonder, how is that helpful to anyone? I guess I'm concerned readers may judge me based on blog content alone because we live a few provinces away from most and they have little else to go on. But really, if they want to judge, won't they anyway? I was sure nut butter wouldn't offend, but apparently it was enough to judge. Maybe I like dwelling on the positive (or neutral) things happening in my life instead of spending valuable time and keystrokes on negatives?

{Side note: I read this blog, the author is fantastic at keeping it real.}

Or maybe it's because it takes me a while to sort through things and my opinions morph over time. No need to hit publish on a thought that's not fully developed yet... Or maybe more like no need to have a strong opinion published in case it shifts over time, then I'd contradict myself on my own blog. Maybe that's it? Or maybe I just suck at articulating my thoughts... This post is proof of just that.

Looks like I'll be sticking to stories, facts, and pictures for now I guess.

Am I the only one that gets self-conscious about their bloggy-self?

Workin' it

As some of you know I started back at work. Well, not at work, but I am workin' it. I'm blessed with a workplace that allows me to work from a far, which makes things like traveling across the country with your family that much easier. I'm not working a lot, only about 10 hours a week or so right now, but none the less I'm working. To be honest, I've been working for a few months now since Johnny was born. I've had (and have) mixed emotions about it, but as long as they respect my desire to keep it to a minimum and realize that my family comes absolutely first, then this relationship may, ummm, work.

Harvest

Today we spent the day driving out to Dauphin. Upon arrival Tom threw on his farmin' clothes, jumped in the grain tuck and headed towards the field my parents were working on to go help out. I love that he loves farming! We are both looking forward to when Johnny is old enough to be excited about it too.

It's such a late harvest this year, but we are so thankful that we could be here to help and that the weather is holding out. Here's to a great week of harvesting!

I'm going nuts

Making nut butters!

Today's creations:

Smooth Honey-Nut butter & Crunchy Cashew Peanut

I must say, both are delicious!

What I'm lovin' right now

1. Autumn. Warm days, crisp nights, beautiful leaves, bountiful harvest. Seriously, what's not to love?
2. Double-stuffed Oreos. So delicious and surprisingly dairy free.
   
3. My 7 month old. Yes, Jay is 7 months today!
   
4. Tom home on parental leave. There are no words to explain how awesome this is!!
   
5. House-sitting in Winnipeg. Close to family, but in our own space.
   
6. Soy cappuccinos. I have one every day.
   
7. Traveling. I think this one is obvious.
8. Macro photography. I had the opportunity to take some shots of a bearded dragon's eye last night. I kid you not. Will share soon.
   
9. My iPhone. It's the only access to the internet we have while at the house. We'd be lost without it.
   
10. Blogtober. I can't believe it's been a year already! If you'd like to join me, Tiffany, Sonya, Pamela, Ange, and others in the fun and challenge of blogging every day for the month of October, get on board now because we start today! Also, be sure to let one of us know you're joining so we can link up and follow each others' posts this month! Happy blogging!
    

We've arrived!

Yesterday afternoon, after a 3,656 kilometers, we arrived!

We sure had a lot of fun on the road, but we were happy to have 'arrived' at the same time. Now it's time to settle in and plan the next few weeks.

To be honest we don't have a departure date yet (probably some time late November?), nor do we know where we will be when over the next while. We are taking things as they come, planning when needed, and going with the flow... Really trying to fight planning every last day like we usually have to when visiting Manitoba :)

{During this visit we are house-sitting for someone, so it's kind of cool that we'll have our own place... It also makes it possible to host a blogger get-together without having to balance the child and bedtime at someone else' house ;) Let me know if you'd be willing to get together in the city this time!}

Overall it's great to be here. It's great to have this time to share with family and have some time to just relax. I love having Tom 'home'. What an amazing gift it's been! We sure have a lot to think and pray about, and that's a really great thing.

Minneapolis :)

Yay for the Mall of America!

Also, yay for passing through Quebec, Ontario, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and now Minnesota! Tonight we're heading to North Dakota and then... Oh then... It's Manitoba time!!

kilometer 2387

And the kid is still traveling well.

I'm impressed.

The Windy City

Elkhart was very, very interesting and definitely gives us even more to think about!

After Tom spent yesterday morning at the technology center with the crew that run the place and all 3 of us going for lunch with the director, we said our goodbyes and headed in to Chicago.

Wow, what a beautiful city!

We spent the night there last night and toured more of the city this morning. Baby Jay doesn't quite get the concept of time zones so we had a nice early start this morning ;)

We are now on the road again, headed towards Minneapolis. Thanks to my techy hubby we have phone and Internet access again (without costing a few limbs). I'm lovin' it. Can't tether to the computer though, so picture posts are out until we get 'real' access.

Hope you are all doing well and we'll see you SOON!

Detour!

We're back on the road today, leaving after a wonderful 4 day stay in Cambridge, Ontario.

We spent our time there checking out Cambridge, Kitchener, Waterloo and surrounding areas. We toured the HCJB Global Canadian head office (HCJB is the organization we served with in Ecuador and went through missionary training with in Colorado Springs a little over a year ago).



We looked up MLS listings for houses to get a feel for the cost of living, checked out local parks, and, of course, frequented coffee shops ;)



Now that we're back on the road, our route has changed. Tonight we are still aiming for Ann Arbor (just past Detroit), but instead of continuing on to Chicago tomorrow as originally planned, we're heading to Elkhart, Indiana.

Where, you say?
Where? is what I said.

It's here:


View Larger Map

It's also where the technology development centre is for HCJB. They do all sorts of cool things there and Tom is most interested in taking a look at what they're up to... So off to Indiana we go. But first, Detroit, again.

Off to Cambridge

Spent the night in Oshawa Ontario.

{We love Hotwire, decent hotels at discount prices, which comes in handy when a relative you planned to stay with comes down with a nasty cold she doesn't want to share with your little one. Thankyouverymuch}

Slept in, enjoyed the free continental breaky, and headed back out on the road. The drive through Toronto was easy and we made our way to a fantastic vegan restaurant in Burlington. Restaurants like this are golden when you're off dairy.

Lunch was fantastic.

Dessert by the waterfront was even better.

Traveling with my two favoritest people in the world?

The absolute best.

Kingston was fabulous, next up: Toronto

Spent a beautiful Friday afternoon in Kingston on Queen's University campus.



Met up with my cousin (L) and our friend (P) to have a picnic by Lake Ontario. Gorgeous weather! P and L are both settling in for the new school year. Can't say I miss university yet. :P



Jay slept all the way from Montreal to Kingston this morning, that was glorious! And now that we're back in the car he's sound asleep again. We're trying to make it as close to, or to, or past (?!) Toronto tonight.

So far we're 323km in to this adventure and couldn't be happier.

AAAAND... They're off!!

Left a little behind schedule (surprise!) but we're on our way!








First stop: Kingston, Ontario.