P90X Yoga is the bomb

Ok so my bf is doing the P90X program He's on day 43 and doing AMAZING! Part of the program is an almost 2 hr yoga X (X for extreme of course) dvd. On his yoga days I usually join in and the kids often do too. This program KICKS my ASS every time! It's SO good for you!! So right now I'm doing that 1-2 times a week as well as the hot yoga 5-7 times a week, and home yoga for an hour or so about twice a week. I can feel shape taking place under my skin. I feel myself walking taller, feeling more at home in my body even though its changing daily. I feel definition at every curve. When I flex my arms at work, people don't believe that all I do is yoga....and they think I'm crazy to do so much yoga-I work the best shifts next week (11-3) so I can drop my bf at work, go to the 9am 90 minute hot yoga class, shower, work, then go to the 60 minute hot yoga class at 3:30, and be done by the time he's finished work at 5. (His studio is above the hot yoga studio). What do you consider "too much" yoga? Is there such a thing? Now...how do I get rid of this last stubborn 20ish pounds??

Kids Grounded Yoga

My 8yr old son is enrolled in a kids yoga program called Go Grounded and in the fall I am going to Vancouver for the teacher trainer to be able to run the program. I am friends with his current teacher and with her inspiration and guidance am excited to move into a teacher position. You can visit her website here: Marcia Wilson Yoga This morning I was her assistant and really loved the way the kids respond to yoga! Go Grounded is such a great program, I highly recommend it to all kids and teens! It reinforced to me that this is what I want to do, I want to lead others to be their best yogi! Noah has his red bandana and is working on his orange, and 3 students tested for their red today and all three passed! Over the summer they will work on developing a flow from their pose chart and be able to teach it to their fellow students. So exciting!

Todays lunch was a vegan pizza panini and a wasabi arugula salad with a raspberry vinaigrette; check it out!

So delish!

Back to blogging....

It's been a while since I bloggered. Blogged? Either way, it's been a long time. I wont bore you with the details of why, but lets start with where I am right now. I'm 31. Live with my boyfriend of 2 years and my boys (15 and 8). Getting divorced if I can ever track down my ex husband. We have a cat. We often work crazy hours and sometimes only see each other for 5 minutes at a time. I currently work in a Supermarket and have for 5 years and hate it so much right now. I think of us often as a typical suburban family. We work, play, transport kids here and there, wish we had more time to take vacations, and can't stand to be apart. I never knew true love until I met my wonderful man. I'm so grateful to have him in mine and my children's lives!

Right now; I'm currently into a fairly intense weight loss challenge for myself; ultimately I'd love to lose another 20 pounds to be 100% at my "correct" weight for my height, but I'm at the point right now where that's all hard hard work and I have to struggle for each and every pound but thats ok and I'm up for it! But it takes time. I have a regular yoga practice for close to a year now, and regularly attend hot yoga classes. In October I am going for the Go Grounded kids yoga teacher training. I am hoping to carry on and train to teach all age groups and eventually open my own yoga studio. My 8 yr old loves yoga and takes regular classes as well, and my boyfriend and oldest son also do yoga. We truly believe it is the fountain of youth. I also go through spurts of running a lot, and then not at all.

We are eating mostly vegetarian these days, and from time to time I may share photos and or recipes of what we're eating. Some of my inlaw-family is vegan/allergy issues so we do often cook and bake that way as well. We work around all of our allergies and try not to run into bad allergic reactions! So I welcome you all on this journey back to blogging as a "new" person :)

Cake-mania!! Princess Castle cake

It's a known fact that I procrastinate. Alot. I work better under pressure as a result (or because of) that fact. So when I knew I had a major cake coming up, I prepared in advance. Purchased all supplies at least a week before the cake was due. It was due today, Saturday, so I baked and wrapped the cakes Thursday morning.

Friday, well, I didn't want to be done "too" early...so I wasted alot of time, even went to wash my car (and sat in line for 25 minutes before we could even get INTO the carwash!)
Thursday evening I torted and filled the cakes

Yikes that top torted layer is crooked!

Slapped on a quick crumb coat

I needed to make more icing, but ended up babysitting for a couple hours Friday night...no biggie, I can do it Saturday morning right?
First thing Saturday morning I mixed another batch of icing, and got a good coat on, let it crust and then ran a roller sponge over it to smooth. I also cut the notches for the turrets at this point.

Did some shell borders

Added vines, door and windows

Flowers

Added turrets and painted door & window frames. Also added flowers to window boxes. Turret tops are covered in fondant and painted with vodka to add sheen, then sprinkled with colored sugar.

Side view

I wasn't worried so much about "making" the cake, I knew it would work out..what I was most worried about was transporting it across town in my car. In the end, I placed a large scrap of fabric inside a milk crate, slipped the cake on top of that, and then wrapped another fabric scrap around the bottom of the base of the cake to prevent it from moving around. Thankfully I got it there all in one piece, with nothing breaking off! I did have an emergency cake repair kit in my bag though! The party started at 1pm...and was 15 minutes across the city....I finished this cake at 12:45 and made it just in time!

The party was in a local McDonalds, and even as I crossed the parking lot with the cake, I was getting compliments. As soon as I walked in (McDonalds on a Saturday afternoon, sooooooo busy!!) I was practically mobbed by people wanting to see! Everyone wanted to know who made it, etc. Of course, I was in such a rush, I forgot my business cards (for my other business) at home! I did get a name & number for one woman who wants a castle cake at the end of the month! In the end, the cake was awesome, everyone loved it, and the Birthday Girl couldn't have been happier!!
The End.

More food.....

I made some last minute cupcakes today .....I was at a loss for what to do, but this is what I came up with:

They are Devil's chocolate with cherry red buttercream frosting, topped with hand cut chocolate heart toppers.


And for dinner, I tried something I saw over on Mennonite girls can cook (my grandparents were mennonite and I can make pretty much anything they blog over there from scratch & memory and I do love seeing how others make it!) Check out what we had for dinner; Cinnamon raisin french toast waffles!

Valentine's cookies!

While I've done quite a few cakes in the past couple of years, I suddenly decided to try cookies as well. More specifically, cookies on a stick. So I went to Cake Central and did some research, was overwhelmed by the beautiful work (I've been reading there for a while, since I started cakes)
In the end, this is what I ended up with: 25 heart shaped cookies on a stick, with Royal Icing, each the the name of a student in Noah's kindergarden class, plus his 2 teachers & principal. I'll be dropping it off tomorrow after they go skating, so hopefully it goes over well!

"The talk"

It started innocently enough. Steven walked by just out of the shower tonight smacking gum. I made him spit it out, scolded him for chewing gum in the shower, and asked him to bring me his gum. He reached into the pocket of the jeans he was carrying and produced a nearly full pack of gum that just yesterday I told him he didn't need to buy.....when I asked him where he got it, he told me he "stopped at the store after school".....um WHAT? He takes the city bus home from school and is to come straight home always unless prior arrangements have been made!

So I asked him why the felt the need to stop there (especially since it's the store I work at and someone would have told me they saw him!) to buy a pack of gum I had previously told him he couldn't have. He confessed that he stopped in to buy a teddy bear for "Jessica". Apparently she told him she will be away the rest of the week and wanted her Valentines day present tomorrow....

Just to clarify: this girl is NOT his girlfriend. In fact, earlier this year she turned him down when he asked her out, stating he was "too short" This girl is so spoiled...her parents hired a limo for her and 15 friends for her birthday for a 2 hr drive, then a movie for everyone, then another hour drive around in the limo...for her THIRTEENTH BIRTHDAY!!??

I've explained to him that any girl that won't date him but demands gifts is a user and will continue to use him as long as he lets her. About how next time he should just laugh at her and tell her to get him something first. How bad he would feel if she took it tomorrow and laughed at him. This led to an hour long talk between him and I about how to tell who your true friends are. As in, if Jessica was going to jump off a bridge, and you wanted to too, think first: Would Jessica jump because you were? If not, she's not your friend! He of course think's we're full of S$*T like all teenage boys think of their parents, but I was sure I got through to him about it....and when he came to give me a hug before he went to bed he said "So....should I still give it to her?" Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrg!!!!!!!!

Parents, what do YOU do in a situation like this?

Let them eat cake!

As promised, some pictures of cakes I have made in the last couple of years :) Feel free to comment with your thoughts!

For Noah's 4th birthday (my first real attempt at a cake):

Halloween cake '08

Friends baby shower:

My nephew's first birthday:

For my step-dad's surprise 60th birthday:

For Noah's 5th birthday:

I love you like a fat kid loves cake!

Ahhhhhh cake, who doesn't love a good cake? I've been (almost) overwhelmed by cake & cookie talk lately...Last week I made this cake for a friends son's 10th birthday



Oh look.....dishes in the sink, what a shocker. I did add his name with the #10 underneath since it was his 10th birthday and also added a black star border around the bottom, but since I work so well under pressure (ha!) I finished just minutes before his mom came to pick the cake up and I didn't get a final pic :( She also tipped me an extra $5 so that's always nice...she said it was worth more than any sheet cake she could have ever ordered for the same price or more!
This week I've promised Noah's kindergarden class a "Valentines day surprise" which will be a cookie bouquet, plus I have a princess cake for the 21st, and am still in planning stages with my July 4th bride.

Did some research again today about opening a commercial bakery, as there is nowhere in this city (that I know of) that you can buy a 3-d cake or cookie bouquet...and while we do have a second kitchen in our un-rented basement suite, the amount of renovation it would take to get it up to code for a commercial kitchen is in the neighborhood of $20000, and that just isn't feasible. So for now, I'm just doing cakes and cookie bouquets for friends and family and by referral .More cake pics to come soon! Maybe even tonight if I can find them all!

Picky eaters

I need help from all you parents out there in Bloggy land. My 5yr old is the pickiest eater in the universe. Seriously. I take 100% of the blame, when he was younger it was easier to just give in and give him something I knew he would eat....as a baby he would eat anything you put in front of him, but when he was around 18 months or so he started pushing away certain things, I admit I gave in, and now his diet is so limited I am starting to panic and frankly I'm getting tired of cooking 2 meals. I have tried only giving him what we have for dinner, and he will just refuse to eat. I've tried force feeding him, only to frustrate us both. He eats a "normal" breakfast (cereal with milk or eggs and toast) and lunch (sandwich usually) but come dinner time he stalls unless he's given something he "likes"
Here is a list of everything he will eat:
Breaded chicken nuggets or strips (he's even watched me make them from scratch and KNOWS there are made from "regular" chicken but still won't eat "regular" chicken)
potatoes in any form
broccoli
red and green peppers
yogurt
crackers
bananas, strawberries, oranges, pineapple, grapes, apples
bread/buns
jam & peanut butter
pancakes/waffles/french toast
eggs any style
empty taco shells w/sour cream
Froot Loops

Now I've tried and tried to get him to try new things, and just today we had a talk about how it can be scary to try new things because you never know if you will like it or not, and how it's ok not to like it as long as you actually TRY new things....but he won't budge! How do you get picky kids to start trying new things??
Things I've tried recently:
Pasta
rice
ham
carrots
corn
peas
hot dogs
bacon
soup
oatmeal

I need help!!!!!!!

(I am scheduling an appt with his pediatrician next week, he is on track growth-wise and always has been, that isn't an issue, I just need to learn how to get him to eat properly!!)

Why does it feel like there are more Mondays than Fridays?

~Sigh~
Why are Mondays bad? Because we expect them to be? Why, when having a bad day does someone say they are having "A Monday"?
Mondays are always chaotic in our house. We've normally slept in on the weekend and have a hard time getting motivated on Mondays. We get up at 6:30, nag kids to eat, get them breakfast, nag them to get dressed, tell kids what they are wearing is inappropriate/dirty, redress kids, pack snacks and lunches, find scattered backpack items, send Steven off to the city bus stop at 7:40, walk Noah to school (2 blocks away) at 8:15. At this point I either a)take myself to work or b)go home to tackle the daily needs (or, sit on facebook for 2 hours).

Sometimes I have to work later in the day, and Andrea (daycare lady) picks Noah up from school. He's out at 11am because he's in kindergarden, and Steven is in high school and doesn't get home till 3:30. Which means, on my days off, I have a precious few hours to myself and the last thing I want to do is clean!

My children are just like yours.
~They leave their laundry on their bedroom floors, or better yet on the floor in the laundry room in front of the hamper.
~They don't pick up their millions of toys until I wave a black garbage bag like a flag of defeat.
~They would rather play/draw/do homework in the living room than anywhere else in the house.
~If I ever want to know where they are all I have to do is be on the phone and they magically appear asking millions of questions.
~They fart and laugh, like hyenas.
~They always think they can get away with hiding candy in the rooms even though they have both been busted before.
~They tattle, tease, scare, wrestle with, beat on, and annoy eachother and I remind them that one day they will appreciate having a brother.
They are not perfect and that's ok, because perfect is boring!

2 funny quotes of the day, both from Noah (age 5)
~*me knocking on bathroom door* "What are you doing? Unlock the door! Am I going to be scraping toothpaste off the ceiling again?"
*Noah* "Mom get lost I'm takin a crap"
*Me* "Ooooooooook, enough hanging out at the shop with your dad!"

And then:
"Mom, Open Season 2 comes out tomorrow right?"
"Yes, it sure does"
"Ok"
20 minutes later
"Mom, it's Chinese New Year today right?"
"Yup"
"And it's already tomorrow in China right?"
"Yup"
"So they have already seen Open Season 2 in China right mom?"
"Oh I suppose......"