Christmas has come and gone

We survived another Christmas with flu's and colds but it's over now and we are all on the mend. Yesterday we managed to get out of the house for some fresh air a day of ice fishing and sliding we had lot's of fun. Hopefully the weather is nice for new years eve so we can go sliding and enjoy a bonfire.

Christmas is on it's way

I can't believe November has come & gone and soon it will be Christmas. The twins will have their first Christmas concert and my daughter will finish her first semester of college, with awesome grades too boot, very proud of her.

We've had a tonne of snow here and the snowfort in our backyard is huge already! Erik has strep but is doing well on antibiotics, Matthew has a nasty cough and I hope it doesn't turn into croup, I'm also sick, my throat is raw and I have a hard time speaking, I have to wisper for the most part, on the positive side we should be feeling fine by Christmas.

Our tree is up and the house is decorated, I just have to hang my wreath on the front door and put up the outdoor lights(Andrew will do that), I also need to start making my ice candles. So exciting this time of year, we also have a visitor, Dobbie Santa's Elf he's arrived and the kids know he leaves each night to report back to Santa, in the morning the hunt is on to find where he is, since he moves around to different places in the house.

Christmas cards are written and will be mailed tommorow, our cookie exchange at work is tommorow which I love since it cuts down on how much I need to bake. There are 6 of us participating this year so I will be bringing home 5 dozen treats! I made Chocolate truffles for my treat to give.






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Halloween

Halloween was awesome, had a great time carving pumpkins on gate night and then the cousins took the twins trick or treating.

Pumpkin carving

Thanksgiving is over and halloween approaching

thanksgiving was very busy, we had 3 dinners to attend, Andrew went hunting friday & saturday came home sunday. Saturday was our nephews b-day then my mother in laws turkey dinner, sunday turkey dinner at granny's, monday turkey dinner at our house. Now it will soon be halloween, time is going by very fast. The kids are enjoying school and I've only had a few phone calls home, I think they are starting to settle in. Had a bumpy start with Erik being mean to the other kids. Went to my first school council meeting, I like that our school is small. The older cousins have offered to take the twins trick or treating which I'm thrilled about since I really like handing out candy. Lot's of exciting things happening in our life, more to come.

Back to school

The twins have entered school, we had a bumpy start with bussing issues and some miscommunication between the teacher & us but....it's all sorted out now. Cold season is upon us and both the kids missed school this week. It's been a busy september with school and bbq's etc. We said goodbye to Andrew's Aunt & Uncle they are leaving for Bermuda to work for 3yrs, exciting! Maybe within the next 3 yrs me & Andrew will go visit them :)

A night apart

Hunting season is fast aproaching so Andrew has taken Matthew and the camper and headed off to hunting camp to help set up, I have Erik for the night. Today we went to see a friend who is watching her brothers animals. The kids had fun jumping on the trampoline, feeding the chickens, looking at the horses and then we went for a walk, we got off the beaten path and found a few old abandoned cars, really cool.

Railroad Daze

This is only the 2nd time our town has celebrated this and it was our 1st time going, lot's of fun and we hope to do it every year. Lot's of trainsets to see and the real engine and caboose were open. We hope to go on an actual train ride someday when the boys are older.

Peach Blueberry Crumble Pie

I've been busy baking, I did a peach/berry pie, and last night a blueberry pie(no pic) We are having my family here for a bbq today so hopefully I will be back later to post some pics.

Fall is coming :)

I've been gone for a little bit, life has been busy. I have most of the twins school stuff bought, indoor shoes, outdoor shoes, fall/rain jackets, clothing, backpacks, lunch bags etc.....Recieved their bussing schedule will need to adjust the location of their pickup once winter hits but for now it's doable.

I'm really looking forward to fall, today it's really windy and cool feels like September already :)

The hubby picked a HUGE cuke out of garden yesterday it was gigantic I've never seen a cuke that big, I should have taken a pic but I didn't :(

Tried some new recipes last night although I didn't take any pics I should have because it turned out good and the twins even ate it!

Honey Mustard Chicken
6 Chicken breasts(boneless/skinless)
8tbsp dijon mustard
6 tbsp honey
Bread crumbs

Mix honey and mustard together dip chicken in this mixture coat in breadcrumbs and cook in pan with margarine or butter till juices run clear.

Parmesan Bread
1 1/2 cups Bisquick mix
1 egg(beaton)
1/4 cup parmesan cheese(shredded)
1 cup Mottza Cheese(shredded)
1/2 cup milk
2tbsp melted butter
2tbsp paremsan cheese

Mix ingrediants together(except butter) pour into greased round baking pan, drizzle melted butter on top and sprinkle extra parmesan on top. Bake at 400 F for 20min

Blueberry Buckle

Blueberry Buckle
Turned out awesome and very simple to make
Preheat oven 350F
INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup butter
1 egg
1/2 tsp banilla
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup milk
3 cups fresh blueberries
TOPPING
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp butter
PREPARATION:
In bowl, cream together granulated sugar with butter;beat in egg and vanilla. Stir together flour,baking powder and salt. Stir half of the flour mixture into butter mixture; blend in milk and reamaining flour mixture to make stiff batter.

Spread batter in greased 8-inch square cake pan. Cover evenly with blueberries.

TOPPING: In small bowl, stir together brown sugar,flour and cinnamon. Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. Sprinkly evenly over blueberries. Bake in 350 F oven until crisp and browned on top and knife inserted in center comes out clean, about 40 min.

Top with icecream, whip cream or whateve you like, I put vanilla yogurt on my piece pictured below.

It's midnight...

I can't sleep, hubby is snoring and I'm wide awake, but I'm going to post this and then try again to fall asleep. Today was a good day me and my sister in law (hubby had to work) took the boys to the beach it was a beautiful day perfect for being at the beach, me and hubby took them to the lake the day before.

We have spent a tonne of time at/in the lake this year so awesome! We are going to camp again this w/e which will be great for us as a family, as long as the weather is nice, nothing worse than being stuck in a cabin with cranky kids during icky weather.

Well I'm off to bed now.
Goodnight to anyone who dropped by my blog.

Ordered pictures

I ordered some pics of pics that I love, I did through the walmart site, I made all the photo's black and white can't wait to see how they turned out, next step will be to find frames for them. I have a large wall with nothing on it so I thought a collage would look good.

We will be going to camp again next w/e I can't believe it's the long w/e already this summer is flying by, it's been such beautiful weather :)

Hubby went blueberry picking last night so now we have about 6 gallons of blueberry's. We have frozen most of them for the winter since it's always a treat to have blueberry pancakes.

blew it last night

Started off really good yesterday for ww points but the domino's pizza threw me wayyyyy off, well at least this time I journaled it because normally I would leave that day a blank. Oh well today is another day.

Yesterday me and Andrew went blueberry picking that is hard work! We picked about 4 gallons of blueberry's, it's been a long time since I've seen the berry's this good. My mother in law kept the kids overnight so me and Andrew didn't have to rush home. It was nice to have an evening with just the two of us. When we got home from picking we did our yard work, he weed wacked and I mowed the grass, by the time we went in I was done, exhausted! I'm hoping some of my activities will counter act my overeating at dinner time.


Erik's teddy showed up it was under Matthew's bed, I googled his teddy to see how much it would cost to replace him, $70, WOW!!!

It's only tuesday...

Tonight is one of those nights that I'm glad 7:30 is here and the twins are in bed, PEACE, finally! Sometimes the bugging and fighting just drives me crazy, hubby is on nights so he's here till 6pm and then leaves for work, good thing, I was able to grab 1/2 hr alone time and I got to watch Giada At Home, one of my fave cooking shows that I NEVER get to watch.


Yesterday I bought them the Hungry Hippo game, they LOVE it :) but....and there is always a but in our house one of my twins is becoming a sore loser. I'm trying to make him understand that he can't WIN them all, it's not like I can let him win since it's his brother who beats him, it's the beginning of competition between them. I've never been one of those moms who let's her kids win anyways, I let them win sometimes so they enjoy playing games but they also need to learn how to LOSE. Very important lesson in life is learning to lose gracefully & winning graciously.

They also have a new toy a power wheels jeep it was given to us by a cousin who outgrew it, we've had it since the boys were about one, we've stored it in our basement for 3yrs waiting till they could share and be big enough to ride it. This week was that week, hubby put it together and charged the battery and they take 5min turns each. When I say "Time's up" whoever doesn't stop right away and exit and let the other one on misses a turn, I know I'm mean but how else will they learn? After a few missed turns Matthew has learned to exit immediately(it was usually him who would good around and not let his brother on).

Now my day is done, the house is clean the kids are almost asleep I think......It's quiet in their bedroom at least. Erik has lost his teddy that he sleeps with a bit of a crisis here for a moment but he's sleeping with a stuffed moose for tonight, he thinks his teddy got thrown in the garbage(his worst fear to date) but I told him it's around somewhere not to worry I would never toss his teddy in the garbage, usually it would take him a longggggggggg time to settle after that kind of trauma......but it didn't, sometimes he surprises me :)

This is Erik's Teddy, I do have a spare it's at Granny's if I can't find his, otherwise the world may implode if I don't! Matthew has a moose he sleeps with(have a spare at Granny's for him too) they don't get to take their stuffy's out of the house, they are for bedtime only. I'm sure Teddy will show up, I hope!

Camping Trip

Camp was great, not good for the food and ww situation but loads of fun! I think I've gained all my losses back but....I will get back on track again. We did lot's of swimming, quading(the twins fave thing to do) fishing, boating, skeet shooting, cards and my all time fave READING! It's ritual I must read a book whenever I go to camp, I always buy a book from the only store around(The Silver Dollar) for .50cents I read a Dean Koontz book this time Relentless he's always a fast read and now I'm hooked on the Frankenstein series after reading a preview at the end of Relentless. Soooooo camp was great, good weather, good people & good times! Here are some pics from our vacation.

Kyra Skeet shooting(she's a much better shot than me)

Me Skeet Shooting

Hubby Skeet shootin me throwing the skeets

Turtle chasing hubby's minnow

Me & Erik on the Pontoon boat

Kyra and her Boyfriend

Me & Kyra(daughter)

Kyra & Matthew

Our Dog Jasper on the Left

Me, Hubby, Erik(swimming) & Matthew(raft)

Vacation

Tommorow we leave for camp so I won't be returning to my blog until next wednesday/thursday, following ww is going to be tough but I've bought many healthy snacks for me to munch on while there. Cherries, Strawberries, popcorn etc. So far following the ww points has been difficult but managable, I actually turned down pie this morning at work, and anyone who knows me knows I love pie!

One day at a time right? I didn't become overweight overnight so I'm not going to lose it all overnight, I have to think long haul and not short run. I have to be determined. I can do this!

Wt Loss

I'm 36 and I've decided I need to lose some wt, it's been a battle for me since around age 24 a late bloomer I guess, I was tiny through school size 3 105lbs(I'm 5ft 2in) and healthy, however college and 3 kids later I've bloomed to 169, I've been yo yoing badly for the past 4 yrs, since my twins were born, but I'm not getting any younger so this is going to be a blog about my journey to healthier me. I don't want this to be just a weight loss journey so I've titled my blog Jan's Nuthouse.This will be a blog about my life and how it affects my journey to a healthier me. We all know work, kids, marriage and life in general is stressful which can make "dieting" hard, I know it shouldn't be a diet but a lifestyle change, something I will work on.

I tossed all my weight watchers stuff in the garbage not long ago, thinking I would never do it again, I've been doing ww on and off for 9 yrs, more off than on, soooooooo this summer when we purged our basement for a yard sale I was startled to find an entire package of ww stuff, the points finder, books wk 1-4 and the food points book. So here I am, I figure it was fate that I found a second set, so I have started on the points system again! I'm hungry I won't lie, evenings are horrible for me and I really want to eat but........I'm going to resist, I quit smoking 5 1/2 yrs ago and if I can conquor that nasty habit then this should be a piece of cake, lol, pardon the pun :)

So here I go, my journey to a changing life, so many exciting things are happening this year, my daughter is starting college & my twins are starting kindergarten, talk about an age gap! However I'm looking forward to a bit more "me" time!