Good-bye Dear Canada

Our movers will be here tomorrow! We fly home in 11 days. I'll be on a blogging break as the computer gets packed up and moved. Please pray we clear customs and get our things quickly, coming here it took 2 and a half weeks til we got our things. Happy Holidays to everyone!

Dear Canada,
When I first moved here I wasn’t sure what I had gotten myself into. I have really enjoyed getting to know you. What can I say but I will miss you dearly. You have been our home for almost the last 2 years. We have enjoyed your wonderful seasons and climate. Autumn was by far our favorite, the colors were breath-taking! We have loved traveling and discovering your beautiful country. Oh and don't get me started on your maple syrup! We definitely plan to come back and visit you again. We have enjoyed your wonderful foods and people of many varied cultures here. We have made many wonderful friends and have really enjoyed our time here. We started this family blog shortly after setting up residence here and aptly named it Traveling Longhorns, to chronicle our travels here. Now as we travel back home to Texas we will continue to record our tavels and adventures along the way.

I heart you Canada.
Yours Truly,
Jennifer

Family Pictures

I just have to warn you there are lots of pictures today. I also have to warn you pregnant hormonal woman got sappy when hearing "I'll be home for Christmas"! Because we will be going home to our beloved Texas.

Every year we do a photo Christmas card and this year I asked my Hubby for my wedding anniversary present to get portraits done outside. I love fall and wanted to capture the memory of our time here in Canada. Also special to me is the knowledge there is a third child in my womb, when we took these pictures!

I love how they turned out and am having a hard time picking out what to do for the card.

Crayon Roll

Helloooo, this has been on my radar for awhile to keep the kiddos busy when on the go. And now seemed like the perfect time to whip these up with our flight returning to Austin! I thrifted an IKEA placemat at Value Village for .99 cents. Cut it in half and added adorable trim then folded up and made a quick seam. Next I sewed spacers for the crayons and wa-lah instant happiness for our travels.

I like to find shortcuts and be crafty clever that way! You could do the whole thing from scratch but I like the thickness of the placemat as opposed to regular fabric.

These would make a great gift for a birthday present. In fact I whipped this one up for a Christmas hamper our Bible study is putting together for a single Mum with a 3 year old. This one is made from a place mat at the dollar store!

I love how cute it looks a bundled up and ready for action!

Baby Babble

If I were to categorize myself in primitive terms, I am a hunter gatherer. I am in the aquisition phase of baby stuff! I couldn't help myself the reindeer shoes are too cute and next year at Christmas the baby will be around 7 months! I figure they are unisex enough. Ah, but here is where I got into trouble 50% off at Old Navy and I couldn't resist this newborn hat and shoes. So I am likely jinxing myself and my husband already thinks this one is a girl and he seems to guess correctly for every one's pregnancies. At least it will make a cute gift for another Mom if we don't need it and besides it was on sale right?


So I am 16 weeks pregnant and here is my baby bump, this is just after a full meal at the end of the day when I get more swollen. I cannot believe I have 26 weeks more to grow...into a blimp. And I do, I get huge!

Sunday Verse

Joshua 24:15

Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, but as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."

Happy Thanksgiving

Hi All, So I have been MIA on my blog and for visiting others and likely will be this way due to our upcoming move. We will have the movers here in 11 days and we fly home in 21 days! So once the computer gets packed up it will be awhile before I get back online.
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In the meantime please enjoy your Thanksgiving celebrations and have some extra food for me as we are missing the holiday. It's the first time I've ever missed having a Thanksgiving meal and am kinda bummed. I love me a good holiday meal with all the trimmings.... mmm.... stuffing, green bean casserole, sweet potatoe casserole, pumpkin and pecan pie. I think we will try to still have a nice meal somewhere but it won't be the same as hanging with family and stuffing ourselves like pigs and watching Macy's parade and the football games.
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Here is a bento lunch I did last year and I thought I'd repost the picture of Mr. Turkey. Gobble Gobble!

Nutty Tex-i-Can

Okay fellow bloggers get yer aprons on. I'm passing along a tried and true holiday goodie. I'm kicking it Pioneer Woman style to boot, so lets get cooking shall we?

Cast of Characters:

2 cups each pecan, walnut, almonds

1/4 cup maple syrup

2 TBSP olive oil

2 TBSP minced herbs rosemary, sage, savory, thyme

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Originally this recipe was from a friend who got it from a Gourmet magazine or some other epicurean source and it was called wine bar snack boring! So I am renaming it the "Nutty Tex-i-Can"!

Disclaimer: You do not have to have real maple syrup. I have used the fake stuff and it turned out fine. I am just spoiled now having lived in the land of liquid amber and will never be able to partake in the fake stuff again!

Okay the next part is simple mix up all the liquids and spices and poor over those nuts, drown em!

Then taste it! I added brown sugar last year and thought it gave it a nice zing, so I added a few good heaping spoonfuls again and made a note on my recipe of the modification. This year I also decided some sea salt would balance out the whole shabang. Note: You do not have to have a thrifted tupperware for your brown sugar, but if you do it will make your skirt fly up to have a darling gem like this in your kitchen. (Go thrifting now!)

Spread your lovely goodies on a baking sheet and for goodness sake don't put too much on like I did. I had to use another 9x13 glass baking dish and transfer some over. This is because we didn't move too many kitchen items with us. Oh yeah, back to the point make a thin layer so they bake up real nice and purty at 325 for 2o minutes and stir occasionally.

Now bag them up and store for up to two weeks in an airtight container. That is if you can keep from eating them before then! These make an awesome holiday gift for friends and neighbors. Nice for a holiday buffet or spread. I hope you try them and you enjoy! Oh yeah, the bag on the left was a new experiment some bbq glazed ones based on a recipe from Tasty Kitchen, they turned out kinda bleh, but at least Hubby is still eating them. I may just pour some maple syrup and brown sugar back over them and cook some more to see if I can improve them some!

Computer fun

So the other day I was looking around my computer folders for a picture of my house in Texas. No such luck. But I stumbled across a picture of my girlfriends wedding day. I helped some with her flowers and decorations which I sadly don't have pictures of. In fact this is the only picture I seem to have. My batteries must have died. :(

Anyhow it gave me an idea to try my hand at editing with photoshop. I had seen a tutorial and was inspired to give it a try. Somehow I never could figure out how to get the image darkened to black but I like seeing them with just the pop of purple. It reminds me of warhol pop art. Now remember I am a computer-tard so if I can do this you can too, trust me.

Here's the final result. I chose her favorite color, purple! And it was printed at costco on 5x7 matte for a whopping .33 cents. Not a bad present for her upcoming birthday once framed and wrapped up in a pretty presentation! Hope she doesn't read this post but if so Happy Birthday early JC! Now I have plans to make ones of my kids as well. And this would make a great present for Grandparents with Christmas right around the corner.

Weekend Fun

Over the weekend we went to a Birthday party for two brothers a year and a month apart. They had a joint Birthday at Chuck E Cheese. My kids were in heaven, what kid doesn't love the Cheese of the Chuck?


I made the boys shirts for their birthday the Mom requested matching. I put a matchbox racecar in with each shirt. The 3 year old was really excited about the car especially. What is it about having something that is just the right size to carry in little hands that is so gratifying for kids? Anyhow I was pleased with how the shirts turned out.
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Yesterday morning the kids both had upset stomachs for about half the morning and no other symptoms. I was grateful it didn't last long since Hubs is out of town on a business trip. Could be a slight reaction to flu vaccine or a leftover present from Germy Cheese er I mean Chuck E Cheese. Anyhow all is well that ends well.

Sunday Verse

Matthew 5: 14-16

“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

Bump

Today I had an ultrasound and got to see my sweet babe and it's heart beating. Up until this point it has felt surreal. Getting to see the baby helps it to be more tangible. It's amazing that there is this tiny little being growing inside of me with tiny little fingers and toes. I am 13 weeks and 3 days and am due May 17, 2010. We have decided not to find out the gender of this baby until we meet him or her!

Toast to 7 Years!

I'd like to raise a glass and toast the wonderful man in my life and to our 7 year wedding anniversary today! If you had asked me to imagine where we'd be in 7 years I would never have imagined in Canada and expecting our 3rd child this Spring! What a wonderful journey it has been. I truly Love him and look forward to many more years of happiness and joy!

This is one of my favorite wedding pictures and it happened by random chance. It was fun to look back at the pictures and remember the day. It was a beautiful autumn day and we couldn't have asked for better weather. We got married in a little country church in beautiful Texas Hill Country.

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I love the symbolism of henna and decided to incorporate it into my wedding day for adorning myself as an expression of joy. It was a fun way to have a temporary tatoo and be a wild child. Some of our wedding guests, conservative older Texans were a little shocked by it... but that's okay. It wasn't for them anyhow, it was for me.

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And if you ask me the henna suited the fall colors perfectly. All my bridesmaids wore a ginger spice colored dress that they selected of their favorite style so they could match yet wear a dress they liked. I had fall colors for the flowers and loved it. I could go on and on, there are just so many details about the day that made it so personal and so perfect. After the wedding ceremony and food reception both at the church we had guests drive 10 minutes over to a winery and we had a cake and wine reception. It was divine. When we left it was past sunset and we lit sparklers with all the guests for our big send off as we ran off towards our happily ever after!

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Here is my strike a pose shot with my henna. This was orchestrated by my brother who likes to take a zillion photos. I'm glad he did, we didn't really remember to take many more. The day went by so fast I was glad we had lots of cameras and videos to capture all the memories of it.

I took the job of posing for him quite seriously. I love that he got this picture as well!


One last memory to share if you should decide to do henna. Plan to have a person with you to drive you home. It takes 6 plus hours for the paste to cure. I was told to wear mine overnight, I got up in the middle of the night and had to peel the paste off, it was getting too dry and itchy! Thank goodness the pigment worked quickly on my fair skin. So as I mentioned before have someone drive you. I forgot this detail and had to call one of my bridesmaids to come shuttle me home, duh...you can't use your hands afterwards. Eating dinner was difficult that night. Also as the henna artist was working on me I realized I needed to use the potty, again my girlfriend helped me twice with this dilemma (At the henna appointment and after she took me home). Did I mention she is a true friend??? That's what friends are for!

Sunday Verse

1 John 4:8

Whoever does not love does not know God,

because God is love.

(My son learned this verse at church today! God is Love. 1st John 4:8)

Hormones

Would somebody turn off my hormones? Seriously, I am getting all emotional when I see a Johnson and Johnson Baby commercial, or a holiday commercial where the family is all happy and celebrating. It makes me just wanna bawl, but in a happy way......cause it's so darn sweet. What is it with pregnancy that makes you so emotional?

Enough of that rant on to the next one. I've been very tired and thought the nausea was done but it is still lingering. I think the difference this time is being busy with two little ones. Nuff said.

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Anyhow this picture is a way for me to document or record what I am doing to eat healthy. Like I said I have been tired and also feel like the stress has been high with the move preparations. Not only that but the house we are renting is being showed to prospective new renters it seems like every other day. I have times where my heart kinda races or palpitates quickly. I know that your blood circulation increases to accomodate the baby. Still it is hard when you feel crappy and don't want to do anything but lie down because you feel faint.

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I noticed I had a craving for greens, you know the Southern greens with vinegar. Around the same time I started wanting grapefruit. So I did some research on iron. Turns out the palpitations might be because iron is low and heart is trying to pump faster to get blood circulating.

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So now I am trying to find foods high in iron and my Mom has been worried if I am getting enough protein. So almost daily now I fix a salad with spinach. Today's salad is particularly healthy in my opinion and I thought I'd take a picture to remember. This salad has raw kale and spinach greens, avocado, strawberry, mandarin oranges, shelled hemp seed, and natural pumpkin seeds or pepita and is topped off with italian dressing.

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The raw greens are full of vitamins, we all know how our Mom's would say eat your greens. The fruit is a good source of vitamin C. Avocados are full of beneficial protein. The hemp seed is something my girlfriend used on another raw kale salad recipe I have and like and is a good source of protein, 11 grams for 2 TBSP which is 20% iron. The pumpkin seeds are a powerhouse as 1/4 a cup has 18 grams of protein and 30% iron.

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Another side note vitamin C is beneficial to help you absorb iron. Which a glass of ruby red grapefruit juice has 2 servings of fruit and 100% of vitamin C. Funny how my body knew what was deficient and automatically craved it.

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One last note, I discovered cream of wheat is also high in iron one serving has 30% of iron. And it's yummier with butter and brown sugar!

Wonderland

Last Saturday Daddy had big plans to spend the day with the Master at Canada's Wonderland amusement park. It was the last day of the season and was kinda chilly so it wasn't crowded and I think they had a great day.

There were lots of characters which is always a big hit with my kids. I cannot stand SpongeBob and don't let my kids view it. But when we are at the library my son always asks if he can get the "Cheese Guy" video. I guess he looks like cheese, what do you think?


He got to ride a bunch of rides. Over and over per his Father's report!

A nice picture with Boots!

This ended up being his favorite ride. The Scooby Ghoster Coaster. He was afraid to go at first and Daddy convinced him. Master said, "Okay I trust you." Then they proceeded to ride it 20 more times!

I think that is a big roller coaster for a 4 year old!

Cool pose with Diego.

He was thrilled to see Scooby.

Even though we've never really seen this show.

He was also The Big Bad Wolf for a show that they saw.

He's still walking around saying, "I'll huff and puff and blow your house down!"

I think they had a pretty good time.

Hooray for special one on one time with Dad!