I have a confession. Since moving to the frozen north, I have cooked every single meal from scratch. No joke. Every single meal.

Now, for some people this may not seem like a big deal. But, those who know me best know that, while I love to cook, I also love to eat out! Despite that we have sworn off eating out until our first payday at the end of the month, so homemade meals have been taken to new heights.

Here are a few things I've made to eat this month:

1. Pierogies from scratch (I made the dough and the filling)

2. Chicken and dumplings (I made the broth using a stewing hen and biscuits from scratch)

3. Fresh Pasta and sauce

4. Southwestern noodle bowls,

5. Sweet potato hash with mortadella

On top of making dinner totally from scratch, I'm also making bread twice a week to feed the masses of my clan. I'm already on my second bag of flour and will probably need to buy a third during our next trip to the grocery store.

The effort of all of this has been worth it. Food has never tasted so good. Maybe that's because we pay for it all ourselves now, but I hope that it's because everyday I'm feeding my family with food that comes from the heart.

What's your favorite home-cooked meal?

On the menu tonight: Tandoori Chicken with homemade Chapati bread and Raita

Now I know how Superman feels when he visits Krypton...

Our own version of Krypton

Woke up this morning to a clear bright sky, beautiful sunrise and freezing temperatures. At 7:30 when I was making the Chiefs lunch the actual temperature was -25 C with a wind chill temperature of -36 C. Now for those of you that can't do the conversion to Farenheit, don't feel bad neither can I. The Brain kindly told me that in USA speak the actual temperature was -18 F with a wind chill of -32 F. I'm not sure how that works out, but he's a math genius so I'm taking his word for it.

Anyway, we laughed to ourselves as we read online that despite the fact that bus routes may be delayed or cancelled due to inclement weather conditions, school would still be in session. In fact, I get the distinct impression that they don't cancel school around here....ever.

Maybe for the Stanley Cup, but it would have to be two Canadian teams in the finals.

So, despite the freezing cold temperatures, we suited everyone up and trudged our way to school this morning. And oddly enough, I kind of liked it. There's something about the cold winter air coming off Lake Ontario. It's refreshing. It's invigorating. I enjoyed the walk to school so much, I came home, grabbed my camera, and headed out to take a few photos.

Now, this sign seems rather ridiculous to me. I mean, who in their right mind would try to drive over to Wolfe Island? Are people really that stupid? In fairness, I hear they actually did allow trucks to drive across the ice a while back, but banned the practice after they lost a couple of trucks to the bottom of the Lake. Call me chicken...I would never do it whether it was allowed or not.

All in all, I have to say that I've actually enjoyed winter in Kingston so far. I would have never thought it was possible, considering how much I hated it in Michigan. To all my friends back in the States, I suggest putting on some long underwear and warm mittens and heading out in the cold. You just might enjoy it more than you think.

Our very own winter wonderland...

I'm happy to report the kids survived their first day of school. Much to my surprise the Chief even enjoyed his French class. Both decided they would go back today, although Beaker was reluctant as usual. Nice to know that moving to Canada hasn't changed her opinion of school.

This is what we woke up to this morning:

Despite the swirling snow, the temperature is more bearable today than it was yesterday. The walk to school was kind of slow, but we still made it in time for the bell. Now I just have to motivate myself to go get milk and eggs. Why do we always run out on the days I don't want to leave the house?

A New Year...a New Adventure

Well, it's been months since my last post and reasonably so. In the fall, we started to anticipate the end of our time in Ann Arbor. The Brain worked endlessly to finish his dissertation, so he could take a postdoc fellowship at Queens University in Kingston, Ontario. The kids played as much as they could with their friends in Northwood V and I began organizing, cleaning, and packing boxes. Months of hard work have finally come to an end. After a chaotic move from Michigan to Kingston during blizzard conditions, we have enjoyed the holidays with family and survived the trip back to Canada. We've been in our new apartment less than a week, but everyone seems to be adjusting well.

The kids began school today with nervous anticipation. Here they are all ready to go:

It was short walk across City Park to take the kids to school. From there, I walked the Brain to his office building which is a block from the school and headed back to the apartment for my first morning alone....ever. It's been a little to quiet for my taste, but I'm sure I'll get used to it.

Here's a few photos of our new place:

The white walls go on forever thanks to our 10 foot ceilings, so something will have to be done about that as well as the terrible 1970s curtains. But you certainly can't beat the view.

The house looking thing is the Kingston Yacht Club building which you can see from our balcony. The other view is from our front windows. That's Lake Ontario and Wolfe Island. It's beautiful and if I'm up early enough I can watch the sunrise.

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. We really enjoyed our time with family in Michigan, but we're happy to be home and moving forward with our new adventure in Canada. We miss all our friends terribly, so I'm certain we'll be in touch with everyone soon.

Free time for mom....finally!

Well, school has been in session for several weeks now, and I'm happily enjoying the first few hours of free time I've had in years. Monday through Thursday I have the afternoon to myself to do whatever I want to do - no waiting on children constantly, no putting things off till later because I'm following the kids around. It has been amazing. I've been working a lot on the story that's been stuck in my head for over a year. It may actually get written in its entirety which would be an awesome accomplishment for me. Other than that, the house remains cleaner than it has been in years and laundry gets done regularly. It's a potent thing free time. I recommend it to anyone feeling a bit run down. Unfortunately, that's easier said than done sometimes.

In other news, both the Chief and Beaker are enjoying school this year. I'm amazed at how much Beaker has learned already. Just a few weeks ago I couldn't even get her to consider writing her letters. Now she writes her name beautifully. It's not perfect, but at least I can tell what it says. Anyway, we are really pleased with how the kids are doing. Here they are ready for the bus to come.

Sometimes it hard to believe that we've come this far in our life as a family - both kids in school, dissertation almost finished. I'm so blessed to have an amazing family. Furthermore, I've been blessed with so many wonderful, supportive people in my life - family and friends. I can't thank you enough.

Cheers to all!

Beaker - the Biker

Beaker has learned a new trick....riding without training wheels. It's pretty awesome if I ignore the fact that she seems to think you can only ride at one speed - FAST! We've had a couple of spills that have produced a fair number of bumps, bruises, and band-aids. But, she always gets back on ready for her next hit of adrenaline. Needless to say, a helmet is a must for her.

Check her out:



In other news, we're getting ready to head back to school. The Chief is heading into second grade and Beaker will be starting preschool. Just the thought of a few child-free hours has my eyes glazing over at the endless possibilities of projects to finish! I'm sure I'll find my time used up quickly with volunteering at school and keeping the house in order, but I can't help but feel giddy at the chance to have some "me" time after 7+ years of "me+kids" time.

Any suggestions of how use your free time when the kids are gone?

The Annual Summer Camping Trip

This year's camping trip took us to Muskallonge Lake State Park in Deer Park, MI - which sits blissfully in between Muskallonge Lake and Lake Superior.

The campground was wonderful. There were lots of people, but it never felt overcrowded or noisy. (Nothing like my summers working at Holland State Park, where the park is always full to bursting during the summer) There was even a man who brought his wood lathe and was making yo-yos for the kids.

We spent a couple days swimming in the warmer water of Muskallonge Lake and rock hunting on the shore of Lake Superior. The other two days were spent adventuring to nearby Tahquamenon Falls and Pictured Rocks.

After camping, we spent a night in St. Ignace before taking a morning ferry over to Mackinac Island for the day.

Our trip ended, with an out of the way jaunt to Cross Village, MI for dinner at the one and only Leggs Inn. (If you've never been there...go.)

It was a great trip and as always we loved having Grandma and Grandpa with us. It's been about a week since we got back and the kids seem to be readjusting to city life just fine. Now, I can't speak for the Brain, but I would rather be back up north enjoying the peaceful shores of Lake Superior.