Lemonade Stands

Jules must be in the kitchen for I hear the sound of kitchen cupboard doors being slammed and I wonder, "What is she up to now?"  Do I really want to know?"  Probably not!  I am often amazed at the creative juices this little girl of ours possesses.  When things get a little stale, she'll come up with some idea to liven things up.  The other day she watched an episode of Curious George and there must have been a scene in it where George has a lemonade stand for lo and behold, after completing the episode, she was all set to have a lemonade stand set up.  I caught her man-handling the little white table she has in her playroom.  There was a heroic attempt to get the thing out the playroom, through the kitchen to the front door.
"Jules, what are you doing?"
"It's a lemonade stand."
"Jules, it's the middle of winter.  No one will buy lemonade in the middle of winter.  In fact, I don't have lemonade in the house."
"Well, can't I sell something???"
This was a problem.  Did I really want Jules selling "something/anything" at the end of our driveway in the middle of winter?  No, not really.  So I got busy selling her on the idea of having a little stand in our own house.  She could "sell" stuff to her mom and dad.  That settled it.  A sign had to be made, the table set up along with a chair, a tea towel to cover the table, and the last little detail of what to sell.  After some thought, it became "Juliet's Coffee Stand".  Later she made a new sign to switch at night for when Mike came home from work..."Get your free, juicy, tasty beer here!!!" (Jules's idea, not mine!).  Don't you just love what kids come up with?
p.s.  she was a little offended that I pretended to pay her for the cookies I "bought" from her stand - cookies I had baked the day before!  "What, no real money, Mom?!!!

Christmas Cards

Here are a two family pictures we had done this past autumn.  One of them made it to my Christmas card this year, but just in case you missed it, here's the picture.  I think I make the same mistake every year of not printing enough Christmas cards.  Then as we get closer and closer to Christmas and I keep receiving cards in the mail, ACK! I realize I've only one card left!!!  Then it's off to dig around in my card box to look for some blank Christmas cards.  Come on, I'm not the only one who does that, right?  All I know is, next year I have to print more than 55 cards!

New Year's Resolutions

New Year's Resolutions?  Yep, I make them every year and this year is no exception.  Of course, my resolution usually revolves around losing weight and this year is no difference (at least I am consistent, right?).  Anyway, one of my goals this year is to cook a vegetarian meal once a week.  This has nothing to do with the conversation I had with a young man who began talking to me last week while I was putting my groceries into the trunk.  He was a dedicated vegetarian who was trying to convince me that animals had a soul.  Don't worry, I didn't fall for it, and we had a nice conversation about the purpose of life, what our beliefs were, etc.  Anyway, I did get a free book from him on vegetarian living, and needless to say, Mike was a little worried when he saw me reading it!  (I think he saw his steak dinners flying out the window!!!).  Though the book hasn't convinced me that it is wrong to eat animals, I do think a vegetarian meal once a week would be healthy, don't you?  So this week I made a delicious asparagus soup that Mike and Jules enjoyed (my sister Lora also makes this somewhat regularly, I think).  This recipe came from the NRCS cookbook -a worthwhile investment, if you are looking for good recipes.  If you like asparagus, make this soup some night and serve it with a crusty piece of bread and garnish it with a crumble of bacon and a dollop of sour cream.  Bon Appetit!

CREAM OF ASPARAGUS SOUP
1 lb. of fresh asparagus                 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
2 T. butter                                      2 T. flour
4 C. chicken broth                         1/2 C. whipping cream (I used half and half)
Salt and pepper, to taste

Wash asparagus carefully to remove sand. Remove bottom "woody"part of asparagus stems.  Cut asparagus into 2" lengths.  Saute onion in hot butter for 3 minutes until softened.  Stir in flour and add chicken broth.  Add asparagus.  Cover and simmer 20 minutes.  Put soup in blender and puree until smooth.  Strain soup into a clean saucepan, add whipping cream and heat until hot.  Taste soup and add salt and pepper, to taste.

Winter 2014 - Around the House

 In November we had a large snowfall.  Juliet had such fun building a snowman on her own.

                             And then Dad came home and helped her build a huge one!

                                                                    Pudd and Me

                                           

 Sunday afternoons are WAY more fun with a cousin to keep you occupied (and get into mischief)!

                            After bath cuteness...  Chubby doesn't begin to describe this baby...

Driesse Christmas 2014

                                                                    Mrs. Clause

                                                           All the cousins together!

                                       Henry's first christmas - busy checking out his new chair.

Christmas at Home 2014

                                                          Brimming with excitement...

                                                         Jules with her new Elsa doll...

                                          A new photo frame for me from Mike and Jules.

                                                        Mike with his new steak knives.

  This is what happens when hubby goes to the toy store to "get a little something" for his girl....

Christmas in Canada 2014

First time meeting my new little nephew!  Jesse is one month older than Henry (on the right)!

At Nana and Grandpa's house for presents.  Nana sewed a doll dress for Juliet's doll.

                                                 Making snowflakes with Aunty Ange.

                                               What's a trip to Canada without Timmies?

                                   

What is more fun than hide and go seek with a bunch of cousins?  Hide and go seek using walky talkies!!!

                                    Four new grandkids for my parents this year (all boys!)

                                                             Mike with the babies...

           Can't have Christmas without Josh and Ange's famous eggnog made from scratch...

                         Games, games, and games.  Every year a new one gets pulled out...

Another tradition is going to the Windmill for coffee and pastries...  YUM!  (Check out the sign above Dan's head!)

                                                                This is for Nana D.

                         Jules and Annika checking out the merchandise at the Windmill...

                            Who's cuter?  That's one way of transporting a baby in the cold!

         Leave kids alone long enough in the basement, and this is what happens.  Dress-up!

                                           Icecream with Mom's canned peaches.  Delish!

                        So the kids wanted to do a craft and made one up themselves.  Hurray!

                                                           Now that's a scary lion...

      On Monday we went to the Royal Botanical Gardens where they had an indoor train display.

                         The whole display was made of natural materials.  It was pretty neat!

                                                   Recognize the parliament building?

                                                             Henry (a.k.a "Pudd")

                               You can't have a trip to Canada without iceskating, can you?

                                                                        Game night!

                                   Time for goodbye's in the early morning.  Sniff!  Jules had such a great time with all of her cousins!

                                               A sunrise on the QEW as we left for home.