Top 5 Favourite Educational Kids Movies

We don't have cable TV. So basically we watch all our stuff online or we rent from the library. The best part, its all free! Yay! My kid's have their favourites that I definitely don't mind them watching, and I kinda like them too. Here's our current top 5!

The Wiggles!!

Word World! So cute.



Leap Frog!

Super Why!



Bubble Guppies!

Verse of the week

Well, as I said in my previous post, I've been working midnights and also, 40 hours. I don't think I've ever worked 40 hours in a week. And I know I've never done midnights. So this has been a hard couple of weeks.

But, God knows every possible trouble we may encounter and His Word is there, filled with words of wisdom and encouragement and guidance to keep us going. I chose Matthew 11:28 this week.

In the wee hours of the morning when my eyes are feeling heavy, my mind clouded and my body aching for my bed, I'm hoping this verse will give me the encouragement and strength I need, and an energy boost too would be lovely (please and thank you, God!)

Hope you all have a safe and great weekend! It's freezing cold here, and I would just love to spend it wrapped up under blankies in my bed with coffee and movies and my husband next to me.

Ha, yeah, right. Maybe when we're retired. lol

Dear Lord, Thank you for your unconditional love and support. Please remind me, when I need it, to seek your strength that you generously offer. Please give me rest and renew me for the week ahead. Amen.

365 Photos: week 7

I've been so busy this last week, working the midnight shift, so I'm a couple days late with my 7 photos. But better late then never right?

 

 

 

 

 

43. driving buddies.

44. watching minion movies on daddy's phone has to be on his list of his top 3 favorite things.

45. the book I just finished reading. And honestly? Eleven stars. Holy whoa.

46. sour cream and onion chippy face.

47. I felt like a hippy and the sun was shining, so, selfie.

48. chubby snowflakes

49. sweet slumbering babe

Perogie, Bacon and Sausage Casserole

Yum, yum, yummy!! This was totally random and totally delicious. Some night, okay - a lot of nights I have no idea what to make for supper. I just can't decide. Something (mostly) healthy, and something the kids will eat. It can be hard for us. Leah is so picky, and James is getting picky too. Both kids loved so many different things at one point and then BAM, picky-eaters. I was a picky eater too. So I have hope and faith that one day they wont be pick any longer. One day they'll eat veggies.

Anyways, in a bout of frustration and motivation and randomness, I whipped up a totally unique and randomly delicious dinner.

Here's what I used:

• one pack of perogies
• half a pack of bacon
• 8 mini sausages
• 1 onion
• 3 cloves of garlic
• snow peas (but any other veggies you like as well)
• brick cheese
• ranch dressing

So as my perogies were unthawing, I chopped my sausage and fried it up, then fried the bacon and set it aside.
Next I tossed in my snow peas and onions and garlic and sautéed that just how we like it and set that aside.
As I cooked the perogies in the frying pan , I grated my cheese (enough to cover the top of my baking dish)
Once everything was mostly cooked I transferred it all into my baking dish and started layering it up!

• first, a small layer of the fried veggies
• second, all the perogies
• next, I tossed the fried sausages over and just let them fall wherever
• another layer of the rest of the friend veggies
• and then the bacon! Mmmm.....
• And last of all, I topped it with the grated cheese!

I baked it at 350F for about 20 minutes, until the cheese was nice and melted.

Once you serve it up, drizzle with ranch dressing and ENJOY! It was SO good. Both kids and husband loved it!!

14 Days of Love: completed!!

We did it! It's finally done! Okay, so as it turns out, 14 days was a long time. A lot of clues. A lot of thinking. Especially when we were both working full time hours. But together, with me hiding them and him finding them (not always on time) we managed to get to Valentine's day feeling extra loved and accomplished! At least me, anyways.

The Dollar Store was a great place for me to get all of my little knick-knacks and treats. Most days when he found his clue, there would be a treat or little gift. Although, there were a couple days where he didn't find it, merely because he forgot to look. And other days he started to look before I had a chance to hide it! haha. Oh well, it was fun and unique.

On Valentine's Day he had to find his 14th clue. The last clue that would lead him to his valentines gift. I had it locked up in his gun locker.

 

I think next year, if I do this sort of thing again, I'll probably only do 7 days. And I might do it for Leah next year rather than Matt. She would colour pictures for him and hide them, expecting him to find them. Sweet girl.

 

And since it's still February, I'll leave you with a cute little quote I found and really liked.

 

Leah's First Haircut!!

BEFORE

DURING...

 

AFTER!!

 I wanted her to go about a half inch shorter, but oh well. I love it. And so does Leah. She was playing with it all evening! Maybe we'll go shorter for the summer!

A Dairy Sensitivity

I think James was probably only 2-3 months old when I figured he had some eczema on his back. Like Leah, he too got a bad bout of "newborn acne". Those annoying little red bumps covering their beautifully sweet and new baby faces. It bugged us, not them. And it really felt like, for both children, that it seemed to last a lot longer than what the "estimated time" was.

He's now almost 17 months old and although "newborn acne" is 14-15 months in his past, we've still been battling extremely dry skin, mainly on his back and shoulders and backs of the arms, and occasionally lower legs too. I thought maybe it was worse because of the dry winter weather. I used so many different types of creams. And none worked. I mentioned it to my doctor and she didn't prescribe anything other than just to "moisturize more". Well, I was.

Anyways, my very good friend who also happens to be Holistic Nutritionist told me that the most common cause for eczema was dairy.

James can drink 3 sippy cups of milk a day. We go through almost 4L of milk in a week. Plus he had a yogurt or two each day along with cheese as well. Basically, my 16 month old was a walking little dairy product. I would say 85% of his diet was dairy.

She recommended goat's milk as a substitution. At first I bought 2%, and he took to it immediately, not even noticing a difference. Then my husband bought the 3.25% for the fat content. Obviously James didn't argue. The kid loves milk. Actually, I like it too! I find it tastes cleaner somehow, and creamier. Leah drank it too without hesitation. Until her father asked if she liked the goat's milk mommy bought. Ha!

So, yeah, apparently goat's milk is actually the closest thing to human milk out there! It's almost 3X the price that I was paying for 4L of regular cow's milk, but it's worth it. Because his eczema? It's still there, still "dry feeling" but its improved incredibly! It's like magic!!

Today I went to pick up another 4L (haha!) and while I was there I also picked up a container of goat's milk plain yogurt. I am not fan of that. It's sour tasting and I think probably an acquired taste. But I defrosted some strawberries and added a small amount of sugar and mixed it all together and it was a hit with James!

I'm actually excited to see how well his skin is doing within the next couple of months!