Backwoods Wife

Emma loves Bach!

I have a tiny person who is a huge Bach fan!

5 hours!

Hooray!  The baby slept for 6 hours straight in her crib last night, 5 of which I was also asleep.  SO. HAPPY.  I don't think she's slept for that many hours straight in a couple of months now with all the teething, stomach bug, and cold/cough we've had around here.  I hope this is the start of a trend.  I even remember dreaming last night.  The dreaming wasn't particularly wonderful but it wasn't nightmares either.  I was woken up several times during those 5 hours by another kiddo but I didn't actually have to get out of bed.  It's so much easier to function with decent amounts of sleep!

"To infinity, and beyond!"

I'm pretty sure that there are no longer any blankets or pillows on either of Riley or Abby's beds. Clue: the girls were up stairs shouting "To infinity, and beyond!" and there were no major thudding sounds on the floor. :) Ah, Buzz Lightyear...

{pretty, happy, funny, real} - sunshine, homemade bread, & paper clutter!

 

{pretty}

sunshine on the tree tops  

I am starting to wish for spring.  I need to try to enjoy this winter a bit more before spring arrives though.  not to worry, we have about 3 more months to go!

 

{happy & funny}

finally trying out a bread recipe I've been wanted to try for ages after finally getting a replacement paddle for the bread machine.  it was SO YUMMY!  I don't have a picture.  My kitchen is a disaster, it is dark and the bread is almost gone! 

funny thing, I never really thought bread machine bread counted as homemade bread.  sure the ingredients were the same but to me the format was all wrong.  that square-ish shape and all that crust?  it just didn't seem right.  now that I have children, I've revised my thinking.  I still prefer kneading bread by hand and seeing those more traditional bread loaf shapes, but I've decided that healthier bread made in the bread machine is still probably a lot better than buying store-bought.  it's not an more economical for us though at the moment as I have to run my generator the entire time.  Hrmn.  Maybe in the summer once the solar power set up is in place.  That would save my kitchen from overheating in the summer as well.  Next time I will try making the dough in the machine and bake it in the oven.  Then, I'll really go wild and make the dough by hand and bake it in the oven.  Haha!

 

{real}

 

this mess!  it really is getting better.  it may not look it, but I sure feel the difference!

 

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Paper jumble

 

The kind of paperwork I'd rather be doing - drawing with Riley in the woods.

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Ugh.  I don't know why I have such an issue dealing with paperwork.  The bills get paid on time and important correspondence is attended to, it's just the filing part afterward that I seem to have a problem with.  I have stacks of paper.  I have boxes filled with stacks of paper.  I even have boxes filled with filed papers.  Most of it is probably no longer relevant or more valuable than firestarter.  However, I can't actually know that until I look at each paper, file, and box.  Sigh.  Time to get it done.  I have been sorting and throwing away papers a bit this week and have been amazed at the energy returning to me.  I'm not sure if it is the dealing with the papers themselves that is so freeing or that I am finally acting on that which has been nagging me for so long.  In any case, the resulting feelings are good ones.

 

Normal winter weather is coming!

 

 

I just had a look at our local forecast for the next week or so.  "Real" winter temperatures are finally on their way.  We've had it so mild, relatively speaking, for the last couple of months and I knew it could only last so long.  I guess it's time for me to find my snow pants and my big 40 below boots!

I know I'm going to whine like a wimp for those first few days in the minus thirties.  After that though, anything about -25C is going to feel balmy!  Haha!  Amazing what the body can get used to.  We have temperature variance of approximately 70 degrees in any given year.  Normals are anywhere between  minus 40 Celsius and plus 30 Celsius, give or take a few degrees in either direction.  

We'll have to be sure to spend some good amounts of time outdoors in the next couple of days as we may not have the opportunity to be outside for any length of time depending on the temperature and wind conditions.  We've got to try to keep cabin fever at bay!  3 months to go...

 

Sleep is good!

 

This happy little munchkin has been teething and/or sick for what seems like months now!  She is very chipper in the day, but not so happy at night.  I don't blame her.  Teething can't be fun and not being able to breathe easily is not pleasant for anyone.  That being said, I will be so appreciative of a 5 or 6 hour sleep without being woken, and in my own bed.  We've spent more than a few nights in Dwayne's recliner as it's easier for her to breathe when not laying flat.  

Look at this face!  And those sweet hands and feet!  And wild hair!  How can you mind being woken?  Can you imagine her happier?  I think she will be downright giddy once we are all sleeping well again.  (So might I, actually...)

 

 

 

Haha! I love this...

 

“The quickest way for a parent to get a child’s attention is to sit down and look comfortable.” 

-Lane Olinghouse

{pretty, happy, funny, real}

 

{pretty}

 

The kids were the chief tree decorators this year. Normally I am a bit more particular about where the ornaments go, but this year I decided to let them do whatever they wished. I put the lights on and they did the rest. The ornaments were moved around the tree on an almost daily basis, and the girls continued to come up with creations of their own to hang on the tree.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

{happy}

A certain small someone recently got her very own sippy cup.

Inspecting the cup after eating a large quantity of sweet potato.

 

Very entertained by the new addition to her mealtime.

 

Delighted to be joining everyone else in cup-sipping!

 

 

{funny}

 

Our tree toppers! Yes, there are three. We had a request for an angel and two stars. I wasn't sure how we were going to accommodate that tall order but lo, and behold! Dwayne came home with a Christmas tree that just happened to have three little branches up top. Each of the older children was boosted up by Mommy or Daddy to put their topper of choice on the tree. (Quick story behind the little gold star - when Hendrik was little he was determined that we have a gold star for the top of the tree, nothing else would do. I searched all over town, there was not a gold star to be found. I ended up making this one out of the padding from inside a box of chocolates and the gold paper from a Caramilk chocolate bar. What allows it to sit on the tree is an icing coupler! It is still requested each year despite it been a bit shabby around the edges now.)

 

{real}

 

What our living room looked like for much of the Christmas festivities. Laundry doesn't go away over Christmas holidays for some reason...

 

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12 Days of Christmas

 

 

Do any of you celebrate the 12 Days of Christmas?  My understanding is that they begin Christmas Day as the time of preparation for Christmas is Advent.  That would make today the 11th day of Christmas I believe.  I'm not quite ready to be done with Christmas just yet.  With our family being sick in the week and a half or so before Christmas, I feel like I missed out on a lot of the things I had hoped we could do together as a family.  Next year, I will prepare everything well in advance so that even if we end up ill over the Christmas break, we can still have maximum Christmas cheer!  I plan to take photos of our decorations and make a list of our Christmas books, music, and DVDs to keep in a folder on our computer so I can have that information at the ready all year without having to go hunting through storage bins.  I have added a few things this week to our collection (hooray for sales!) and plan on continuing to decorate this week before taking everything down on Saturday.  The kids and I are planning on doing some crafting this week as well as we didn't get to do that in the week before Christmas.  I know I've been mostly talking about Christmas decor and creating a Christmas mood here, but I would be very interested to find out if, and how, any of you celebrate the 12 Days of Christmas.  Please share any comments or links you might have!