December Via Filter

Between Instagram and My365, I filter a lot of pictures.  December is all about the holiday season which means too much junk food, rotten teeth (yes, I eat too much sugar), the fireplace channel, presents and visiting with friends and family.  We headed south this year as it was Mr.Loonie's year.  We alternate every year between our families; they were the lucky ones this year since it was Penny's first Christmas.  She was nothing short of adorable either.  She loved ripping the paper off her gifts to eat.  That's the way it went.  Rip off a big piece, put it in the mouth, mommy take it away and repeat. Pretty much everything was in the mouth this month because of the arrival of two little chicklets on the bottom. The days and nights were rough because of it but I think she is finally over the initial pain as they are half up now and so cute! I love her little toothy smile, so grown up!
Surpisingly Pen Pen didn't cry for Santa! She even smiled a little bit.  Christmas visiting was a little different.  The frequent change of location was hard on her especially since she is in the height of separation anxiety.  It took almost a whole day for her to get used to the new faces which left only a short happy visit before moving on to the next place.  I don't know who was more upset though, Aunties and Grandmas or Penny! All they wanted to do was hug her to pieces but she wasn't having it! (for very long anyway).

Penny's First Christmas

December also saw the completion of Penny's first swimming lessons.  The first picture in her little snow suit and swimming bag was right after a lesson and she was exhausted. All she wanted was a little boob and bed!   Travelling for the holidays means that we have to drive the dreaded highway 63.  Luckily the roads were dry and clear, even Penny drove for a bit (kidding!).  What else....

• I got a mom hair cut - from past the shoulders to well...short
• We finished the bathroom reno! I will dedicate a whole post to it soon.  I 'm so proud of Mr.Loonie, he did an awesome job on the wainscoting.
• We started baby-led solids which means we are skipping purees and Penny feeds herself chunks or wedges of food.
• My MIL was up visiting and I actually got to have a couple of drinks....cranberry mojitos!
• We are still in sleep hell.
• Penny is on the go....trying desperatley to crawl and pulling herself up on everything.

Also, the cold snap finally broke in December after months of consistent below -20°C weather.  We set anything colder than -20°C as too cold for Penny and her sensitive baby skin so on days Mr.Loonie was working, Stryker was stuck moping around the house.  When the milder weather finally came, we broke out our second hand 80's coloured chariot and hit the Hangingstone river.  I was amazed at how well the big tires rolled on the path marked by snowmobiles on the river.  I even bushwhacked with it through some treed side paths, surprisingly it can plow through shin deep snow pretty damn good. Good thing there is a seat belt and a plastic windshield which snaps down and protects Penny from the wind and any branches...oh and Stryker licks too.  She usually falls asleep in the little cocoon pretty quick probably because she is so warm with 2 layers of clothes underneath her snow suit and 2 blankets.

Hope everyone had a great holiday season! From the Loonie family with love. :)

No-Brainer: G.O.G

I saw this idea on Steven and Chris (Canadian talk show - my daily vice) a few days back and I had one of those "DUH, Why didn't I think of that??" moments.  It's just TOO simple that's why and I love to over complicate things! It's no secret that I'm kinda a cheapskate so the idea of buying minced garlic or ginger in the jar is out of question.  They are seriously way too expensive and most of the time lacking flavor and strength these aromatics possess.  When you make your own mixture, prepare to have your socks blown off or maybe burnt off by your dragon breath (Whoa oh..your socks are on fire!).  Holy Shitballs, it is strong. When Mr.Loonie came home last night from work and saw the concoction he had to have a try...he was a little surprised at G.O.G's power.  What's even funnier is Penny stuck her tongue in her daddy's mouth soon after and broke out into tears, maybe a little too strong for her tastes! The french kiss is her new thing...you try and give her a little smooch and she tries to slip ya the tongue.  Freaky lil' girl she is...takes after her mama I guess. ;)

So the recipe is simple, the chef on the show recommended 40/20/40:Ginger/Onion/Garlic but you could do it anyway you like.  With or without any of the three.  With all three it is the perfect combo and starting point for any Asian and Indian recipe.  As for the method, there is nothing to it.  All you need is a food processor or blender to puree your combo to whatever consistency you desire.  I didn't have to add any liquid but you may need to add a tablespoon or so just to get it all going.  You could use water, lemon/lime juice or maybe a vinegar   Another good thing to note is this mixture can be stored in the fridge in a non-reactive container such as glass for weeks without any worry of bacteria growth for a long time.  If you add oil, be careful as the storage time decreases significantly.

So stop wasting your money and make your own jar!!

Chalkboard Paint Everything!!

As any smart girl would do, I did whatever Ryan Gosling told me to (Isn't he the sexiest guy ever?  What is it about this guy?! He just oozes smooth).  No one has to tell me twice to chalk board paint something.  It has been quite a craze for awhile and I don't question why.  It is seriously the perfect solution for organizing and even without anything drawn on, it is the perfect shade of matte black 

My new chalk pens which were in my stocking this year also inspired me to get crafty.  They are awesome! They look like a paint pen and wipe off chalkboard super easy.  No more chalk dust, smudges and dry fingers.  And, finally we won't have to worry about rubbing the chalkboard wall at our back door, our jackets are always covered in pink and purple chalk....Mr.Loonie loves it. :/

So on a Monday night when Pen Pen was in bed, it was Mommy time to do some evening crafting.  I first covered a ceramic "biscotti" jar I received for Christmas.  Not exactly sure what I will use it for but it needed a makeover.  Maybe flour?

Next was a old digital frame gifted to all the employees at a company Christmas party, it had the company's logo stamped on the bottom...yuck.  Now I can write something cheesy like, "Memories".  We'll see....

**Ended up in the garbage! Haha Turned out it wasn't working**

Finally I covered a few mason jar lids just for labeling purposes.  We store our ground up beans and other essentials in a mason jars and keep them out in the open so I thought it would be cute.

What do you Chalkboard paint?