So, little Miss. Growly Bear has been talking like crazy! Her speech seems to be developing at lightening speed. You can have a complete conversation with her, and she knows exactly what you are saying, and usually responds with 3-4 word sentences. She also has a crazy memory, and loves to tell you all about things she's said and done. Like "Pooking (puking) in da tub, in da baf'room (bathroom) blaaah!" We are still talking about that one, 3 weeks later!
I have to keep reminding myself I now need to be reeeeeally careful what I say around her! Chances are, it will be repeated.
The other night was the perfect example.
She came up behind me with a putty spreader while I was working in the kitchen, and was laughing and said "Mommy! Is'a punking stick!"
I said "A what baby?"
She said "a punking stick!" *giggle*giggle*
I said, "I'm sorry sweetie, I don't know what that means?"
She moved around behind me and starting tapping my butt with it, laughing, saying "Punk! Punk! Punk!" with each tap.
I said, "OH! A SPANKING stick?"
She said, "Yeah! A punking stick!" *more giggles*
This is clearly her bad daddy's doing becasue she's certainly never been spanked with a "punking stick". He likes to playfully "spank" me with spoons, spatulas, books, whatever, on his way by me if he has something in his had. So this one is on him.
When she burst out saying she'd "sharted" the other night though, that one was possibly my fault just a little...
Yeah, for sure need to be much more careful now!
Love and Hugs

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I got to go out with some crazy awesome ladies this weekend. I need it! It was good for me. Not so good for my head the next morning, but good for my soul.
I don't go out very often for Girls Night anymore, and when I do go out, the lead up always leaves me with mixed feelings.
I'm excited to get the hell outta the house on a Saturday night. But I also always feel a little guilty for leaving Growly Bear. Especially seeing as I've always just worked and been away from her for the past 3 days.
My hubby is awesome though, and assured me they would be perfectly fine, and to go have some fun. So I did!
I have no idea why things always seem so "cool" in the moment, but after a few drinks and laughs, we decided our night would not be complete without finger mustaches. And we rocked those 'stashes all the way to the bar, and for the entire night.
Pretty sure we thought we were a lot funnier then the rest of the people around us, but we were having and awesome time, and that's all that matters!
Hopefully you all have some fun ladies you can go out and get cray-cray with! Cuz sometimes, it's necessary to blow off a little steam!
Love and Hugs

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I've mentioned before that I seem to have created a little foodie. As her language develops, so do her food demands. Nine time out of ten she will tell me exactly what she wants to eat, and lucky for me, it's usually pretty darn healthy.
Yesterday however, wasn't one of those times. She came racing into the living room where I was, and demanded "Chair pease! Cook cookies, with butter!"
Seeing as we are still recovering from the Cookie, Brownie, Oreo Squares, I opted out of more baking, and we made a tasty new dinner recipe instead.
My girlfriend made us something similar when we went to their house for dinner a few weeks ago, and it was delicious! She was worried it was too "red-neck" to serve to dinner guests, which is funny, cuz we're pretty red-neck.
We decided though that the addition of bacon actually made it pretty classy, and so, it was a completely guest worthy dish.
Here's Growly Bear and my version. I served them it with gravy, and my Scalloped Sweet Potatoes and Carrots au Grautin. Enjoy!
Love and Hugs

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Happy St. Paddy's Day everyone! Hope everyone has had their fill of green beer and... well, I really don't know what else goes with St. Patrick's Day... I always just concentrate on the beer.
Today, Growly Bear and I decided to hide out from the crazy weather, and spend a little time in our favorite room in the house, our kitchen, and we created an insanely incredible dessert.
You may have all seen a similar recipe floating around on Facebook. However, that recipe contained box mixes and other pre-made ingredients. And as you all know, I don't like to cook like that. I like the real deal!
So, here is our version. And it's crazy good! Like in the top 10 list of the best things I've ever made, ever! It's that good!
ENJOY!
Love and Hugs

***Grease a 9x13 baking dish, line with parchment paper, and grease again, and set aside***
-Preheat oven to 350

Chocolate Cookie Bottom Layer Ingredients:
1 Batch of my Best Big, Fat, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
  
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 cup butter melted
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups good quality, mini semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

• Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
• In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, and sugars until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, and eggs until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon.
• Using hands, press into prepared  baking dish, making sure dough is flat and evenly distributed.

Middle Layer:

• 1 bag of Double Stuffed Oreos (you probably won't use the entire bag)

Directions:
Place a single layer of Oreos over cookie dough, fitting in as many as you can by placing them closely together.

Top Brownie Layer Ingredients:
1 batch of my Best in the West Ooey Gooey Brownies

• 1 cup butter melted
  
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons real vanilla extract
• 4 tblsp prepared strong coffee, cooled
  
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup good quality cocoa powder
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup semi sweet chocolate chip

Directions:

• Cream butter, sugar, vanilla and coffee. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well with whisk after each addition. Add cocoa and beat until well blended. Add flour, baking powder and salt, beat well. Stir in chocolate chips.
• Pour batter over Oreo cookies.

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It's 9:30 on Saturday night, and you wanna know where I am?
In bed.
Drinking tea.
Watching "Friends" re-runs.
I know you may read that and pity me, but don't! I'm not exactly sure when I turned 102, but I actually really like it!
My hubby went out to see a buddy, my baby girl is peacefully sleeping, and I have "me" time! That NEVER happens!
I'm suppose to be studying, and I did for a while, but I got side tracked looking at house plans, and fattening recipes, and doing a little online shopping.
Apparently there is a dance tonight in town... I'm so completely out of the loop I didn't even know about it. Apparently it's in celebration of St. Patrick's day. (Is that this weekend?) Apparently my girlfriends just assumed I would want to go with them. Apparently they were dead wrong!
No offense to my girls, whom I love more then life it's self, but there is nothing I would like to do less at this moment then go to a crowded hall with a bunch of drunk people and get caught up in the music and the tequila shots and get home as the sun is coming up and need to sleep the next 2 days away to recover. Trust me, I've done my fair share of that in the past!
Plus, all that would require a bra. And I'm just not into anything requiring a bra past 8:00pm!
So for now, I'm going to enjoy my big, cozy, fresh bed (at least until Growly Bear decides she needs to come join me in here in a few hours), and my quiet house, and my wicked TV viewing, and my favorite Winnie the Pooh mug of tea, and I'm going to veg.
I hope you all are having fantastic Friday nights as well!
Love and Hugs

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Daylight savings time is stupid. I hate it. It's the most ridiculous thing ever enforced.  I've always thought so, but I think so even more now that I have a small child who is on a pretty strict schedule (that works!) and I have to get her used to the new time over a couple of days.
Being the ever thinking mom that I am, I figured I had the perfect plan! We would get out of the house for the day! Go on an adventure! Visit some friends who were staying at their cabin for the weekend. I figured a day of fresh air, lots of activity, and a minimal nap would make her good and exhausted by the time the new "earlier" 8:00pm rolled around, and bedtime would be a breeze.
I couldn't have been more wrong!
Last night was by far the worst bedtime we've ever had. Ever! It was basically 2 hours of hell that involved many long crying stints, vomit, more crying, requests for stories, water, food, and bottles, cuddles, racing around the house like a crazed person, and finally one last cry, and then a dead to the world pass out.
She woke up this morning with a yucky cold, so I guess that the insanity was the lead up to her getting sick, but it still seems like an odd coincidence, and I still blame the stupid time change!
Today was a quiet day for her, and cooking always seems to make her feel better, so this afternoon, we made the famous Great Canadian Ketchup cake. For those of you who are friends with me on Facebook, you will have seen all the mixed reactions to such a cake last week when I did a shout out about it.
I, of course, being the Ketchup lover that I am, and always feeling the need to try weird sounding things, just had to make it.
It was actually really good! Kinda like a nice, buttery spice cake. Even my hubby who was SUPER skeptical about it liked it. So I say, try it!
Love and Hugs

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
  
• 2 tsp baking powder
  
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  
• 1 tsp baking soda
  
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
  
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
  
• 1/2 cup Heinz Tomato Ketchup
  
• 1/2 cup water
  
• 2 tblsp red food colouring 
• 1 tblsp good quality vanilla
  

• 3/4 cup butter, softened
  
• 1 cup packed dark brown sugar 
• 1/2 cup white sugar
  
• 2 eggs
  

Frosting

• 6 ounces brick-style cream cheese, softened
  
• 3/4 cup butter, softened
  
• 1 blsp vanilla extract
  
• 4 cups icing sugar
  

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two 9-inch round cake pans. Stir the flour with the baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg and ginger into a bowl. Stir the ketchup, water and colouring in a separate bowl. Set aside.
2. Beat the butter and blend in the sugar and vanilla in a large bowl until smooth. Beat in the eggs. Add the flour mixture and ketchup mixture. Beat on low, scraping down the bowl as needed, until combined. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat for 1 minute. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans. Bake for 30 minutes or until the centre springs back when touched lightly. Cool the cakes for 15 minutes before turning onto a rack to cool completely.
3. Frosting: Beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla on medium speed for 2 minutes or until smooth. Gradually beat in the sugar on low, scraping the bowl as needed. Beat on high until fluffy. Frost between the cake layers and over the sides and top of the cake. Makes 12 servings.

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I've never really been good at the budget thing. Neither has my husband. Our motto is mostly pay the bills, throw some in savings, and spend the rest!
Responsible? No.
Fun? Yes!
We are working on being smarter about our spending. We've done some little things. Cut back on the booze budget, trying to be smarter with the groceries by shopping during the big sales, cutting back on eating out, working on being more energy efficient to cut down on the hydro. We downsized our satellite TV package and got rid of our landline, which we hardly used anyway! It might not be much, but hopefully we will find that it's helping.
It's been going well, and we've been sticking to the new plan pretty much completely. I'm not going to lie! I feel deprived! I wanna go shopping! I want to buy new pretty things!
As I sat doing a little online banking this afternoon, I couldn’t help but notice that Growly Bears savings account was considerably fuller then ours.
The thought crossed my mind that I could wipe the sucker out and she wouldn’t even know! I could go on a little online shopping spree - purchasing items that were on sale only of course!
One day, way way down the road, when she asks me why we can’t afford to send her to college, I will just tell her that mommy spent her education fund on shoes and wine! And I’ll explain to her that her childhood was undeniably happier because I did so!
So really, she should thank me!
Don't worry. I didn't touch the account (yet!) I'm being the new responsible me!
Wish me luck!
Love and Hugs

Thanks for all the votes everyone! Please keep 'em coming!

We got in on a sale that had fantastic, huge, juicy strawberries on the weekend. My fridge has been full of them and all their deliciousness, and Growly Bear has been asking for "Da-burries" with every single meal!
I decided my fridge full was the perfect excuse to make Strawberry Shortcake, which believe it or not, I've never made before! My girlfriend has made them for me a few times, and I love that she makes individual servings, rather then one big cake! So I knew I wanted to do the same.
For a first attempt, they completely rocked, and will for sure be added to my list of tried and true recipes! Growly Bear showed her approval with lots of finger licks and lip smacking "Mmmmmm!"s.
Hope you enjoy them too!
Love and Hugs
P.S. For all you waiting for the Ketchup cake recipe, I plan to make it this weekend. So, stay tuned!

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First of all, just want to send a big Thank You shout out to everyone who voted over the past 48 hours! We've jumped 7 spots and are officially in the 20's! Wooo-hoo! You guys rock!
Secondly, I'm pretty excited to announce that it seems that Spring is here! And just in time seeing as Growly Bear wants to be outside pretty much constantly. She's been enjoying her nice new sandbox that her creative daddy made for her out of a  bobcat track! Pretty cool if you ask me.

Also, for those of you who are friends with me on Facbook, you will know we are working on potty training. Half the people I talk to tell me she's the perfect age. And the other half seem to think she's way too young and I'm nuts for trying it so soon.
Honestly though... I'm sick of paying $55 for a box of diapers ($45 if I'm lucky and catch them on sale) so I figure it's worth a shot!
It's actually going quite well! We are very gently easing into it. We've been slowly working on it got about 2 weeks, just trying a few naked hours here and there, and she seems to be getting the hang of it.
She pretty funny about anything wet she spots on the floor now (aka: leaked sippy cup contents, puppy slobber, splashed puddles in the kitchen or bathroom., etc.) She exclaims with extreme worry, "Oh no mommy! Whas-thaaaaa!" abd points with a horrified look on her face. Poor little thing has no idea if its a legitimate puddle, or a leak from her. She is getting much better at recognizing her own leaks though.
In fact, this morning, I set her little potty up in front of the TV (yes, there we go with yet another Mommy Confession - I occasionally, as in quite frequently, use the TV as a distraction or a bribe, depending on the situation!). She wasn't really into TV this morning, so we read about 102 books while she sat on there instead. She got bored after a while, and decided to play with her toys instead.
Next thing I know, she walks passed me, picks up her potty, and carries it out into the kitchen. She sat her cute little naked but down, and proceeded to pee! All on her own! No coaxing from me! We celebrated with hugs and kisses and a crazy pee-pee dance and some chocolate. She acted like it was no big deal, and like she's been doing it for months.
I most certainly feel like we are on the right track.
On a different note, I've included my version of that tasty, extremely fattening looking, brownie recipe with all the layers that we've all seen floating around Facebook all week. My bossy friend insisted that I make for last nights dinner. So I did. And it kinda rocked a little!
Love and Hugs

Please keep up the votes! Your support is awesome!