28in28 - Four Months In

I'm a third of my way through my 28th year, so I thought I'd revisit my 'to-do list' for the year. Many are a work in progress but I'm happy report to I have actually completed a few.

8. Make bread (sans machine), pretzels, bagels, croissants, challah bread and crumpets. - 2 of the 6 done!





I've actually made oodles of bread since July. The braided pumpkin bread is what I'm most proud of; I braided bread!


They weren't pretty, but they were tasty.

9. Make pulled pork sandwiches from scratch - done!
Our family enjoyed slow cooker pulled pork a couple of weeks ago atop buttermilk buns and apple slaw and it was so awesome! We used the leftovers to make pulled pork pizza; something that I recommend everyone try at some point in their life. Thank you again Kristin for recipe!

10. Make pasta from scratch - done!
With the exception of shaped pasta (rigatoni, penne etc), I don't buy pasta at all anymore. It's all homemade henceforth. So yummy.

19. Take Ember to the Vancouver Aquarium - done!


I am in the process of learning to sew, perfecting the craft of knitting, accomplishing 1o ran kilometres, swimming 600 metres, staying on top of photo/hard drive organization, completing Ember's baby book and, compiling our family's favourite recipes into a book. Oh and learning the extensive rules of rugby.

I am still in the pursuit of the perfect concealer and marinara sauce.

I have more or less failed #1 - Take a photo a day for 365 days to act as a journal of our family. Bind in book at end of year. ... There's always my 29in29 for that one.

APB: I Need A Good Concealer

Okay ladies, I need you.

I'm tired, sleep deprived and it shows. Annnd, it's not going to change anytime soon. I'm ever the optimist, huh?

Please let me know what your favourite concealer is. The goal is to have people assume that Ember is a great sleeper because I look so effortlessly rested and radiant, okay? A lot of pressure and expectation, yes. But I believe the product is out there.

Hmph, maybe I am an optimist after all. Or maybe I'm delusional.

A Week in Photos: July 21st - July 27th

July 21st:
Today, Ember earned the name Doogie. She just seems to be acting beyond her 7 months. When we picked up Andrew from work this evening, she stretched her legs on the front seat and reached for my coffee. She took off her tank top tonight while getting her jammies on and nodded when asked a question, I swear! Pride and admiration pours out of me for that girl ... even though she is in a ridiculous hurry to grow up.

July 22nd:
This morning Ember and Hugo made huge strides in their relationship. Hugo the cat has been disdainful since our girl arrived in December - she took all of our attention and redefined his territory. Over the last couple of months, Ember has become very interested in the cat and he has had zero tolerance in indulging her curiosity. Now that she's mobile and can chase after him, he's been slow to forge a friendship. That changed today though, when Ember pulled herself up on his basket. Hugo didn't run away or dodge her touch. Today, Ember made contact.

July 23rd:
Playing in the light of the morning. She's beginning to look like such a little girl, isn't she? Oh, my heart.

July 24th:
Another Saturday, another rugby pitch. Ember happily plays on the blanket while the game plays out behind her. She was so interested in the family beside us and the little boys playing with their dog. If she were able, she would have walked over and joined in the activity. No matter how she studied the play, she couldn't get any further than this in being upright.

July 25th:
I spent the bulk of the afternoon making jam. During one of my breaks, I came into the family room to find Ember had pulled herself up to standing on the basket. I made such a fuss over the accomplishment that she got distracted and plunked down on her bottom. She tried to get herself back up but couldn't manage it while hamming it up for the camera.

July 26th:
Funny girl shoved the smallest of her stacking cups in her mouth and sucked on it for several minutes. She is such a goof! I couldn't help but giggle at her. She would start to giggle back, but the cup would slip out of her mouth prompting her to slurp it back in.

July 27th:
Lunchtime today. Ember had fresh pureed apricots. She seems to like them because she opens her mouth for spoonfuls several times over but her face doesn't sell it that way. With each bite, she winces, kicks, her hands clench into fists and tears form. Does this look like a happy girl?! This is the only food that garners this reaction. I'm such a mean mummy for feeding it to her over and over again, aren't I?

Because I Can, Can

On Saturday morning, our family took its ritual walk down to the town's Farmer's Market. We usually just wing it, buy whatever veggies look beautiful and I plan our week's meals around our purchases. This past Saturday however, I went with a list. Being that it is the height of berry season, I needed to take advantage so I could tackle #23 on my 28 in 28 list - make jam with BC berries. So I headed out with quantities in mind so I would have just the right amount of fruit to achieve the proper fruit to sugar to pectin ratios. Going in, I wasn't too sure what jam concoctions I was going to create, but I wanted options. I came home with various juicy berry gems as well as a bag of peaches for good measure.

Despite the glorious weather, I took Sunday off to jam. I chose to make freezer jam since this was my first time jamming. As I ladled my first concoction into jars, I felt such accomplishment ... though it's so easy! Puree/mash fruit, stir in pectin and sugar, continue stirring for a few minutes and ladle into prepared jars.


A significant amount of freezer real estate has been taken over.

I managed to make three different kinds - strawberry honey, peach raspberry and straspberry (1/2 strawberry, 1/2 raspberry) - and they are all so good. There will be no more store bought jam in our future!


I hate to play favourites, but strawberry-honey is my favourite. yum!

I hope your weekend was a fruitful one. Ohhh. Bad pun; sorry!!

A Week in Photos: July 14th - July 20th

The number one item on my 28 in 28 is to take a photo a day for 365 days. (Inspired by Wendolonia.) That alone isn't too much a challenge for me. However to take a photo to act as a journal for our family and actually document it the moment properly ... a wee bit trickier. Alas, I'm off to a good start and feeling good about the organization system I've created to succeed at the project.

Here are the photos from the past week.

July 14th:
My 28th birthday. I had a fantastic day with my family. I thought it fair to skip my morning run and laze away until Ember woke up. It just so happened to be 10 am when I woke up to Ember 'la la la-ing'. Though I like to think she was singing Happy Birthday to me. We stumbled out of the bedroom to find a birthday banner hanging on the wall and a note left by Andrew wishing me a wonderful day. What a nice surprise! After dinner we enjoyed a white chocolate mousse icebox cake which I couldn't resist having a family picture with.

July 15th:
While getting Ember ready for bed, I spotted dirt all over her piggies from her adventures from throughout the day. When Andrew began wiping her feet with a wet cloth, Ember erupted in giggles that came straight from her belly. Being that baby belly laughs are more contagious than chicken pox, all three of us laughed until we cried.

July 16th:
These bouquet of beauties arrived from my mother-in-law today as a belated birthday surprise. Aren't they lovely? Ember and I were battling over nap time and my patience was running dangerously low when the deliveryman rapped at the door. My mood was restored upon seeing these and I looked at Ember and said, "Nana just saved the day."

July 17th:
Andrew joined rugby late in the season this year. As he hasn't played for a couple of years, due to life and injury, he committed to third division. After playing just three games, the first division coach recruited him to come out and play with the premier boys. Saturday marked a big game for the club, against the only team to have beaten our first division boys this season; there was a lot of pressure on the team to win. It was a real nail biter of a game but our boys pulled it off - they won 18-16!! This photo was taken immediately post game.

July 18th:
Our trio was over at my father-in-law's for a belated birthday dinner. Very suddenly, the skies opened and rain poured down. It was a lovely downpour as the heat of the day remained. Ember just loves walking while hanging on to our hands for support. So it's not surprising that when I took her out to see and smell the rain, she gestured to get down and dip her tootsies in the small puddles. We did a dozen laps of the deck, or more, while raindrops fell on our faces.

July 19th:
Ember freaking loves rice rusks. It is pure, unadulterated love. I'd kept them in hiding for several days as I want her to learn to love fruits and veggies with the same passion. Today, I decided to let her have a treat after eating some applesauce. Just upon hearing that package, she began to vibrate. Check out the focus and desire on that face.

July 20th:
I wish I could have seen the look on her face when Ember realized that she could reach the top of the coffee table and pull herself up. My fear of the tumble that could take place, had me stay right behind her. She got right up on her feet and she giggled with pride. I giggled in response. But more so because her right pant leg was stuck under her left foot and as soon as she shot up, her pants drooped a bit.

Twenty Eighth Year

Now, more than ever, a mental list is compiling of things I'd like to achieve in a somewhat timely fashion and of course, it's harder than ever to effectively get things done for myself.

So, as this is my first birthday since becoming a mummy, I feel it's paramount to set the tone of prioritizing me from time to time. Without returning to work, I fear that I may get lost in the shuffle and become too much of a mum and quit working on me. In the efforts of prioritizing me, I've created a list of 28 things I'd like to accomplish in my 28th year.

I have 365 days to:

1. Take a photo a day for 365 days to act as a journal of our family. Bind in book at end of year. Inspired by Wendolonia's Project 365.
2. Properly learn to knit. Complete a lace scarf.
3. Catch up and complete Ember's baby book.
4. Learn to sew and sew myself a skirt, a dress for Ember, and re-usable grocery & produce bags.
5. Run 10 kilometres.
6. Swim 600 metres in 15 minutes
7. Make ricotta, yogurt, mayonnaise, sour cream
8. Bake bread (sans machine), pretzels, bagels, croissants, challah bread and crumpets.
9. Make pulled pork sandwiches from scratch.
10. Make pasta from scratch
11. Find the perfect concealer
12. Snowshoe in Jasper National Park with my family.
13. Make authentic marinara sauce - my current sauce just isn't cutting it.
14. Colour my hair for the first time EVER - just highlights and/or lowlights.
15. Start a new tradition as a family.
16. Paint the kitchen.
17. Start planters on the balcony.
18. Make ice cream and create a new flavour.
19. Take Ember to the Vancouver Aquarium.
20. Learn how to tie a tie.
21. Learn how to fold a fitted sheet.
22. Organize all the photos on my hard drive and back them up weekly!
23. Make jam with BC berries.
24. Begin compiling (handwritten) our family's favourite recipes in a notebook.
25. Re-purpose old sheets and clothes - sew cloth napkins and rags. Stop buying paper towels.
26. Create a budget and stick to it.
27. Go away with Andrew for a night.
28. Learn the rules of my man's sport, rugby.