Quinoa Burgers

I do not have a great relationship with meatless Friday suppers. Its not that I mind not eating meat, but my husband is a meat lover to the extreme. So it is not exactly the most pleasant and heart warming experience to slave over a meal only to have him come home and moan and groan about the lovely "Friday supper". I guess its my fault, since I am not a huge fan of fish, and rarely buy it, even though every time I do we all enjoy it. So most of the time its pasta with tomatoes, or tuna melts. I guess I can't blame the guy for complaining...haha. Tonight I decided to try something different, although I was fairly certain it would not get a raving review from the husband. Anything "meatless" or "healthy" immediately has him very skeptical. But I tried anyway, and guess what he said?! "They're ok...." I'll take it! I even got his permission to make them again!

Quinoa Burgers
1 cup water
1/2 cup quinoa
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup diced onion
1 teaspoon minced garlic
3/4 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1 large egg
2/3 cup cheddar cheese
1/3 cup rolled oats
1 tablespoon soy sauce

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease a baking sheet.

Combine water and quinoa in a medium sauce pan. Bring to boil, reduce to simmer, cover and cook for 15 min. Remove from heat and let sit, covered for 10 min. Fluff with fork and set aside to cool.

Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions and cook about 5 min. Add the garlic, marjoram and oregano, set aside to cool.

In a medium bowl, beat the egg. Add the quinoa, onion mixture, cheese, oats and soy sauce. Scoop 1/2 cup portions of the mixture onto the baking sheet and shape into 8 or 9 patties. Bake for 25 min, or until slightly browned and crispy.

I did it!

I made it! Driving 22 hours with three kids and no husband was a huge feat for me! The first leg of the journey was from Halifax to Fredericton (4 hours). The kids were SO good for me, and I only had to stop once. The trick was they each had their own backpack filled with a pad for drawing and crayons/markers, and LOTS of snacks. The next day we drove to Ottawa (11 hours). This time my sister was in the car with me, along with her son, and Maria drove with my dad, who we were following. What a LONG day! I think it was almost harder following someone else, because we kept stopping when William was sleeping or all the kids were ok......and wasting all their good behaviour at rest stops! So it took more like 15 hours to get there....horrible horrible dayyyyyyyy! We then stayed at my sister's in Ottawa for a couple days, before heading to Orillia (6.5 hours). This time I was driving alone and following my sister and her family. Ten minutes into the trip, her kids were feeling sick and throwing up, so I decided to keep driving on my own while my kids were doing ok....thank goodness for my GPS! Half way through the trip Maria started feeling sick...she had a fever.........so I made a million stops and she sobbed for a couple hours......another horrible day! But I made it! And survived a whole week without my husband! I had to do so many jobs that are usually reserved for Shane......packing/unpacking the car, gassing up, fixing the car (ok all I did was replace a fuse haha), AND take care of three kids by myself day and night....boy was I glad to see him when he flew in the night before the wedding!

Leibster Award!

You know how it is when you haven't blogged all summer, except for a a few lame posts, so that it makes it harder to post because you don't even know where to start? Well that was me until Christy nominated me for this Leibster Award...(thanks Christy!) which will hopefully be the perfect thing to get this blog rolling again!
  SO...I guess I'm supposed to say 11 random things about myself, and then answer 11 questions...so here goes!
1. I love ice cream, so much so that when I was pregnant with my oldest, I gained 50 pounds because I ate it every single day in copious amounts! It took me a whole year to lose that weight, and so since then I rarely allow myself to eat ice cream...it sucks but I never want to go through that again..haha.
2. I love organization, but I'm just not good at it...so I go through cycles of organizing my house, then it becomes chaotic and I just have to do all it again. I wish I just had the ability to keep in organized...I'm working on it.
3. I love the summer, and I am quite depressed that it is overrrrrrrr.
4. I was homeschooled for grades 10-12.....and I hated every second of it. So ....
5. I find it insane that I am now homeschooling ( or will be when I get my act together) my daughter. For me, this is not the ideal situation, although we shall see how it goes! Maybe we'll love it so much we'll want to do it forever?!
6. I was a book worm growing up, but actually haven't read a book in ages...I hate this but I feel like the first book I pick up has to be the perfect one...and so I just keep holding out..
7. There are 7 girls in our family and right now, no two live in the same city. That sucks.
8. I love a good summer rain.
9. I am so proud of myself for successfully growing tomatoes and lettuce in our garden this year! My thumb is definitely not green....but I am trying!
10. I am excited by the fact that my son may start crawling in as little as a month, but dreading the fact that I will have to baby proof this house again...let's hope he is like his sisters and doesn't get into anything!
11. I secretly wish that I did one thing really well...like sewing, photography, playing an instrument or sport or cooking...instead of mildly trying and mildly succeeding at a bunch of things...

And now its question time!
1. If you could ask God one question right now, what would it be? Um, the question I ask every day: "Could I please have more patience?!"
2. If you could tell your five year old self one thing, what would it be? Enjoy your easy care free life!3. Why did you start a blog? Just as a place to write things down mostly that I can look back on..
4. If you only had one store to shop at for the rest of your life what would it be? Winners. Actually the American equivalent of TJ MAxx or Marshalls because they are better. 5. What make believe world out of a book would you love to travel to? Avonlea.
6. What do you order at Starbucks? I'm usually just a tall latte kind of girl, but if I want something cold I go for a coffee frappuccino.
7. What's your favourite time of day? evening....such a relaxing time that I get to spend with my husband...its something I look forward to after a crazy or hard day..sometimes the only thing that gets me through!

And now I'm going to make a couple of nominations:
 Jenna at Last Things First, a good friend and wonderful mama of two adorable little boys! 
 Ana at Time Flies When You're Having Babies who writes a cute and funny blog, with two cute little girls and another on the way!

Whew! That took awhile...now its time to go check to make sure all the kids are still alive.....

A few pics of all the summer fun we've been having......

We have been busy with non-stop company for three weeks! 

Birthday party for Maria

Beach time with the cousins

Tall Ships with Heather!

Snuggling with Grandma

Its been fun, but I'm tired now! This week I have to get ready for our road trip to Ontario for my little sister's wedding. The kids and I are making this journey on our own, which seems completely insane to me and I don't know how we are going to do it. I've only ever driven four hours by myself, and that was with another adult in the car to placate the children. Now I'm supposed to drive 15 hours BY MYSELF.....with no one to give the kids their snacks, books, etc. And I don't even have a dvd player. The girls are pretty good travelers, and probably the worst thing they do is get soooo silly and loud and it drives my absolutely nuts...and William is just always good so let's hope for the best?! Prayers would be greatly appreciated!

6 years!

Today is the our 6th anniversary! I can't believe how fast the time has flown by! But, its been the best 6 years of my life!! Thank you Shane for being my rock. You are always there for me, and I know I can always depend on you. You are my best friend, and I am so grateful that I get to spend every day with you. Here's to many more blissful years of marriage!

Lazy Summer Days

For the past two weeks we've been trekking to the lake every day for swimming lessons! It's about a half hour walk...on the way there it is all down hill, so on the way back I get quite the workout, with Will in my carrier and the girls in the stroller. 

Felicity has been dying to take swimming lessons, and was so excited when she turned three that she could finally do it!! So I signed her up. Both girls ended up being the only kids in their classes, so it was like private lessons...not sure if this was better or worse for Felicity. For the first week she refused to set foot in the water with the teacher. Wouldn't do a thing. No matter what I did. No bribery works on this girl. So ridiculously stubborn. Finally, by week 2 I went in the water with her, leaving Willy sleeping on the beach ( at a safe distance from me, of course) and that did it! Success!!!!

She loved it. 

Little Willy catching some shut-eye.

Can I tell you how much I love summer?! 

Five Years Too Old

My little girl turned 5 on Saturday. For some reason this seems SO old to me. I'm not sure I'm ready to be the mom of a 5 year old! 

Maria sure was excited though! And we had the best day. It stared out with a new dress to put on, birthday waffles and smoothies,

then she opened a few presents, including her very own guitar.

She received so many phone calls from her aunts, uncles, grandparents, and cousins.

In the afternoon we went to a wildlife park where we saw lots of animals! Maria's favourite was the cute little baby bunny. 

Then we came home and had chili for supper (per Maria's request) and cake! 

Gosh I love this kid! She was sooo happy all day...I absolutely love the delight that she takes in every little thing. She is the sweetest five year old - the best helper to me, and the best big sister. I love her imagination which entertains the two girls all day long, and her creativity that shines through in her love of all things crafty.  Although she looks more like her daddy, she has more of her mama's personality, which creates a special bond between us because I feel like I always know what she's thinking and can predict her every move. This also means I feel her pain when she's having a hard time. 

 Although it makes me so sad that she's not so little anymore, I am of course so excited to see her grow and learn so many new things this year! I pray that I will be given the graces to be a good mother to her, and to face all the new challenges that lay ahead. I love you Maria!