More Time for Play (Doh)

I have blogged about Play Doh before...how it still smells the same as it did when I was a kid.  Check it out yourself the next time your near some Play Doh.  Pop the lid and take a big sniff...it really is the smell of childhood!

Anyway, Miss Naomi and I were hard at work last night creating some spectacular art.  I was thinking to myself, this must be how Barbara Reid got her start.  (If you are unsure just who Barbara Reid is, here is a link to her website - she is the most awesome plasticine artist.)

http://www.barbarareid.ca/home.html

Back to my story...well, my story is best told by showing the photos of our work:

The Artist hard at work

A Girl in a Boat

The Tree of Life

And while we were hard at work creating these beautiful pieces...Mr. Benjamin was sneaking Tim Bits and hiding from the camera!

Keep smiling!

It's All Patience and Love

Well, we bought ourselves an ice cream maker.  Yep.  In the middle of winter - and the coldest week so far here in Ontario...and you know what?  It's awesome!   I should tell you though, that ice cream is all about patience and love.  It doesn't just happen in a few minutes...it takes time.  Isn't that a metaphor for all the best things in life?

The kids were mildly disappointed that we had to 1)chill the bowl for 24 hours prior to using and 2) chill the ice cream mixture for 2 hours before pouring it into the icy bowl.  Other than that, it's all gone well.  We have made chocolate and strawberry - both rival our good ol' favourite Kawartha Dairy.  That's right. Kawartha Dairy ice cream has been the top of our list for years...now it's going to be Adventure Mommy Ice Cream.

The patience part we tackled... and the love part?  That's easy!  That's one great recipe for deliciously awesome home made ice cream!

Keep smiling!

The Ice Rink

Yipee!  Our ice rink is finally skate-able!  And we had a bunch of kids out this aft to test it out.  I just love love love these perfectly wintery, wonder-filled days. Sitting by the fire, glass of wine in hand...perfectly perfect.  It's these days that I really feel so blessed.  I can look out and see everything snow covered and be in awe.

This is what its all about...

Keep smiling!

What's Your Fancy?

Today was manicure day at the retirement home...and it's always a hoot with these ladies.  We always have these big laughs and I come away from there feeling happy and rejuvenated...and thankful.

I was working on some beautiful hands today - although the lady thought that she was "old" and said her hands were awful.  That everything about her was awful.  I said no - that's not true.  Your hands are beautiful (which they were) and she was lovely.  So onto the final step of our manicure...nail polish.  I stood up and was digging through our bin (which has about 85 bottles of colour) and asked the lady "What's your fancy"?  She replied "Well, I'd like him to be 6'2", with eyes of blue".  We all started laughing!  God, it was so funny.  We kept her laughing after that and she seemed a bit more upbeat...well, if she can still fancy a man, she can't be that old!!!

Keep smiling!

A Quiet Moment (because no one's up yet!)

Sometimes I truly love being the only one awake in the house in the wee morning hours.  There's something almost magical about the early morning - still dark outside, everyone sleeping (even the dog) and me, just puttering around, tiptoeing because I really want to enjoy this moment in time for as long as possible. I don't even think about making the coffee yet -
Ahhh, then the alarm goes off in someone's room and the day bursts in!

Hope you can find a quiet moment, just for yourself moment, time to do what you want moment, today.

Keep smiling!

More Shopping Adventures

The other day I was shopping at my favourite grocery store - Fresh Co. - when a woman was coming toward me down an aisle.  Now, I have blogged before about being in the grocery store and convincing another customer to purchase something.  I can be fairly persuasive - and chatty.  A good combination. But this woman got me!  She walked up to me, and started going on about the merits of this all natural brown sugar - and it was on sale.  It's a 10lb bag of natural sugar! Not refined.  It's great in tea, coffee, you can sub it in for baking - everything! Well, I picked up that bag (from her cart), checked it out, she followed me to where it was in the store and voila!  I bought a bag.  I had a chuckle to myself in the checkout line...I was upsold.  Me!  Imagine.  What is this world coming to?  I better get back on my game.  LOL!

Keep smiling!

Published!

Adventure Mommy has officially been published.  I found a website that took all my blog entries including pics and printed it, bound it and shipped it to my door. I so love technology!  And when I received my book, I was in awe.  Seriously.  Not to toot my own horn too loudly, but sometimes you do have to do a bit of tooting. No pun intended!  I read my book from cover to cover - and some of the entries made me cry, some made me laugh (like the Window Washing entry) but mostly I was just amazed.  Wow.  I wrote this.  That's pretty awe-se-mazing!

My mom has been the only other person (so far) to read my book.  She borrowed it over the holidays.  When she returned it to me, she told me that some of the entries made her cry too.  That's how I write.  That is why I write.  To evoke emotion.  I know when I've got a good entry - because when I read it back to myself, I either laugh, cry or say Ah-haa!!  That was a beauty!

Keep smiling!  And thanks for sharing my journey.

Crossword Confusion

I love to do the daily crossword.  I tell myself that it will keep my mind sharp - and who doesn't want that?
I'm working on the crossword today - which seems exceptionally difficult - maybe because it's January 1st and we enjoyed a great evening celebrating with our friends (aka too much drink!)  For sure this is the case today for the Yes Man...

Crossword clue: Cold War pres. 3 letters

Adventure Mommy to Yes Man: Cold War pres.
Yes Man - lowering his glasses: J. Edgar Hoover
Adventure Mommy: What??  He was the head of the CIA
Yes Man: Kennedy
Yes Man: Nixon
Adventure Mommy: No, it was the guy in the wheelchair
Yes Man: Speedy

I am still cracking up over that!!  I love Sunday mornings with the paper and the Yes Man.  And I know it's Tuesday - but whatever!  I love Tuesday mornings too!

They say that how you spend January 1st sets a precedent for the rest of the year. Bring it on!

Keep smiling!