One of our weekend "exploration trips". Last weekend we went to a Bald Eagle watch. I was really, really wishing for a better camera :-( It was amazing. We saw around 100 eagles that day.

Anna-Christina was determined to make an apple cake without help. She actually peeled and chopped 6 cups of apples! (I convinced her to let me core just a few of them for her)

Before going out to see the eagles, the community puts on a pancake breakfast. It featured local blueberries, maple syrup, sausage, flour for the pancakes and cold apple cider. Yum! I think she like the blueberries, what do you think?

Have I Mentioned...

...that my hair doesn't like living here. It's rebelling. I'm officially PonyTail Girl of the Year.

...how much I like CBC radio? Daryl got me listening to it when we first got married, and I'm kind of attached. I was very happy to hear that the hosts here are very pleasant to listen to (since sometimes their replacements are not).

...that I have tickets to go see the Rankin Family?

...that we've eaten close to 20 lbs of oranges since we live here (that's not including travel time), and on Saturday, Daryl bought 20 lbs of apples at the farmer's market, and they're half gone. And by the way, that's not a boast about eating healthy...since a lot of those apples were consumed in apple crisp with ice cream :-) And I'm going to make another one.
I'm just amazed at the way my kids eat these days.

...that I love having my washer and dryer on the main floor. Even though I have to go upstairs to put laundry away, I do it much faster since I can listen for the loads to be done and switch them around when they are.
And by the way, I am seriously grateful for those wonderful appliances.

...that milk is $7.53/4 litre here? Okay, I guess I did mention that. I just can't get over it. I bought some powdered milk to use for baking, etc. Not sure yet if it's worth it or not.

...that I love the skylight in the upstairs hall/office area? It's so sunny and bright up here.

...that we can buy seafood on the street corner? I like seeing the people who are actually catching the fish, and supporting them. We also saw homemade apple pies being sold out of a van! I wonder what else they'll sell when it gets warmer outside.

My Review

A couple posts ago, I mentioned a book called Have a New Kid by Friday by Dr. Kevin Leman.
The point of the title is that for each day you read a chapter, you incorporate something into your life/your kids lives, whether it's just taking notes on things you're doing/saying, changing your attitude, etc. On "Friday", you put all the author's strategies into play and apparently your kids will be changed.

Dr. Leman's claim is that everyone who has gone full-throttle into this mode really has seen dramatic changes in their child's behaviour and attitude.
His whole concept is that you let reality be their teacher. For example, if you tell them once to put their lunch kit into their backpack, and they don't, you don't remind them. They just go without lunch. They'll never forget again.
Here is his theory: Say it once (whatever you're asking of them), turn your back and walk away. In 2 or 3 hours when they ask you to take them to the library as you promised, you say no. Walk away and get busy doing something else. After they throw their little fit, the teachable moment will come when you can simply, and without lecturing, tell them why you're not going to take them to the library. "A doesn't happen until B is complete" is the motto.

I like a lot of his ideas, but I think it would work better with teenagers. (Although hopefully you're not trying desperately to change your child's behaviour by then.)
I also appreciate the way he made me look at my own life and attitude and check out how it might be affecting my kids. For example, if I can yell at them when I'm upset, why do they get punished for yelling at me?
Also, he pointed out that there really is no point in getting angry at your kids. I mean, after all, they are kids. Sure they do things that tick you off, but it's your choice if you're going to stand and argue with a 5 year old, or give them a simple punishment and save yourself the emotional stress.

Last night the girls were asked to set the table for dinner. They know very well that this includes plates, glasses, cutlery, pouring water and putting hot pads on the table. They walked away after they had set the plates and glasses. Instead of yelling into the other room and nagging them to get back and finish the job, I just set cutlery for Daryl, Adrienne and I, and poured water into only our glasses. When they got to the table they were appalled to not have forks or water. I just shrugged and told them someone didn't finish setting the table. They smiled and sheepishly got up and got what they needed.
1)I think they learned
2)I didn't have to nag, which I get sick of doing
3)No one got angry

Okay, so overall, I would recommend this book. But like all books about disciplining your children, use what works for you.

Tell me if you get tired of seeing pictures like this...
I think I will always be in awe of the ocean. We stopped here the other day on our way home (this spot is about 5 min from our house), and we couldn't leave. The waves were amazing and every time a new one rolled in we had to wait to see it crash against the rocks.

We found a hiking trail beside a frog pond. It was a nice easy hike for the girls and the weather was perfect (about +5C). It's not often we've been out when there's no wind!

Soda Farls

Now, to satisfy all of your inquiring minds. You can rest easy tonight. Although the other night when I made them, I didn't think of taking a picture. Sorry :-) Here's what Soda Farls are:

I got this recipe from our family cookbook. My cousin Tina submitted it. My other cousin Wendell (her brother) lives in Ireland and gave them this Irish recipe. I'm wondering if anyone that lives here in our new city will know what they are since there is a strong Irish heritage here.
Anyway, a couple notes about them...
1) Last time, I made them with whole grain soft wheat, but if you don't have whole grain pie and pastry flour, I would suggest just using white. I think they would be too heavy with store bought whole wheat flour. And you can justify using all white flour if you serve them with something fibrous, like a nice lentil and vegetable soup. :-)
2)Make enough that you can have leftovers for breakfast the next day. Split them open, toast them, slather them with butter and jam (or honey), and you will have a happy day.
3)They will remind you a bit of bannock, but yet so different...

Here they are:

Soda Farls
3 C flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cream of tartar
2 C buttermilk

Measure dry ingredients. Sift twice for lighter farls. Make a well in the centre and add enough buttermilk to make them easy to handle (soft, but not too wet). Knead gently. Divide dough in half. Pat into 1" thick rounds. Cut each into 6 pieces. Cook each on griddle (I like using cast iron) over medium low heat. Be sure not to cook them too fast or they will be very doughy in the middle. Nice and slow, about 10 minutes on each side. Split and butter to serve.

Looking Up

Apparently my last post was a little drab. :-) I got a few emails from people who commented on how discouraged I sounded. But I'm okay with that. Don't want to paint a rosy picture if things aren't rosy! I guess I was a little overwhelmed with life at the moment.

I'm learning to let "school" go. Don't worry, I'm not totally letting it go. But I know there are a lot of ways my kids can be learning, other than sitting at the table doing bookwork. I feel like that's how I can teach best, since then I can be sure I'm not missing important things. But I'm trying to stick to the important stuff that I won't think to teach otherwise, like Math and Handwriting.
We try and read some science stuff in the afternoon when the littles are napping, and of course there's always a good dose of home-ec. thrown in. :-) (Today I plan to teach them to properly scrub floors. Hey, I take teachable moments when I see them.)

I would appreciate prayers sent up on Emilie's behalf. We've noticed that she develops asthma when she gets a cough. (For some reason I didn't think my kids would get asthma...don't ask me why.) This morning her chest was so tight and fast I could hear her exhale without even straining my ear. Anyway, I think she may be a little better today than she was yesterday, but I'd love not to have to give her the inhalers.

I am working on grinding flour today, so for those of you who had been asking about it, I'll keep you posted. The last time I made bread with the hard wheat it was pretty heavy. So I have some experimenting to do. I made whole-grain soda farls the other night and they rocked.
I'm going to try cookies with the soft wheat and see how that goes.

Anyway, it's "quiet time" right now, and quiet it is not. Better check on thing downstairs...

Random

This is Karla's (and Kirk's!) Mayah. Is she not precious?

Grandpa helping Anna-Christina figure out the craft string

I liked this peaceful shot of Grandma and Annika. I let my kids take most of the pictures at Grandma's, and to be honest, people will be annoyed at me if I post them. :-)

Pappy showing me a proper square knot

Best buds

Adie is 2 and Pappy is 82 (get it?)

Getting acquainted with Granny

Granny taught us to knot a comforter and these girls stuck with it until the end!

This is from the top of "our" hill, right before you turn onto our street.

Our house is across from here

Making Ourselves at Home

A Virtual Tour

Going, Going....Gone

The girls missing the dining room table

Like the pattern? Girl, Boy, Girl, Boy, etc. And by February they will be (from L to R) 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1! This was discovered by Colby. We miss you guys!!!

Heather can thank me for not posting the "nasty" picture of her and I :-)

Odds and Ends

- We are slowly getting settled in. And I mean slowly. The extent of our bedroom furniture is one dresser and a desk (for all 3 rooms) so there is nothing to unpack into. I am going to start praying for a bedroom suite. Yesterday I emptied boxes onto the floor in the girls' room and then refilled them in an orderly fashion...somewhat.

- When we were in the states I bought a bag of Ghiradelli 60% cocoa chocolate chips for $1.25. I keep the bag open, hiding behind my canisters on the counter. I have eaten a lot of them.

- The previous owners of this house left a clock in the kitchen. It is running, but always about 1/2 hr behind. So the batteries are just slow, but not dead. I feel like that clock.

- We got the propane stove working, finally. It throws off a lot of heat and is so cozy that I'm hoping we can somehow move it from the dining room into the living room.

- I wonder how long it will be before we stop yelling "Ship!" when we see one entering or leaving the harbour.

- Homeschooling is...well...interesting. I'm not a natural-born teacher and it's really scary to me to think that I'm responsible for making sure my kids learn something other than Bible, Music and home-ec.

- I am happy that my kitchen/dining room windows face East. I love seeing the sunrise every morning over the water. I don't think I'll be able to see it in the summer (since the trees will be full of leaves), but then maybe I can be out walking to see it then.

-Emilie is into everything. Have I mentioned that before? Yesterday she was dipping tiny pieces of toilet paper into the pee that was left in the toilet and putting them in her mouth.

- I'm so anxious for the weather to improve. Today there is a freezing rain warning. I'll take rain over -40 though, that's for sure! I'm really hoping to get out onto a hiking trail this weekend.

-Daryl and I are reading Have a New Kid by Friday by Kevin Leman. I'm slowly trying to incorporate his plan of action into our lives. Awhile back I had written about how frustrated I get with having to tell my kids to do something over and over. His theory is to say it once, turn your back and walk away. Let reality be the teacher. Anyway, at this point I would recommend it. I'll let you know how it plays out in real life :-)

-We had fresh salmon fillets for supper the other night. Were they ever good! Brain food. :-)

- I'm hoping to get out alone tonight. :-)