Planner Supplies - Dollar Tree

Recently this video popped up in my subscription box on YouTube.  I was in love with this planner from the moment I saw it, but I'll get into why I wanted a planner in another post when I show you my planner when I receive it!  I have been obsessing over my planner since the moment I ordered it.  So much so that I think John is starting to get sick of listening to me talk about it.  I decided to put my excitement to good use and take a trip to Dollar Tree and pick up some decorating supplies for my planner.  Here is what I found!

The first thing I wanted to look for was washi tape.  I have seen it at Wal Mart but I didn't want to pay $3 for one roll.  I want a pretty planner but I want it to be affordable!  I was surprised to find that I had hit the mother load of inexpensive washi tape!  They had a few packages of three different washi tapes and I picked up two of those, one with owls and the other with cupcakes, bunting and stars.  $1.25 for three washi tapes, how could I not!?  Then I saw the glitter and metallic washi tapes and it was game on.  I managed to control myself to just a few rolls but I have a feeling I will be back there soon to add to my collection.

 

 

Now these may look like headbands, which they are, but I plan to use them to hold my planner shut so the pages don't get mangled while it crashes around in my purse with all of Roman's snacks!  I'm sure at least one will end up being used as a headband though.

 

Of course you can't decorate a planner without stickers!  I will admit I didn't have high hopes for nice stickers from Dollar Tree because anytime I have stopped to look at the stickers they always seemed to be more for kids than adults.  Maybe that's because stickers are usually made for kids.... anywho, I was pleasantly surprised that I found a few sets that I really liked!  The long stickers will be great for making borders or highlighting special sections, and bows make everything pretty and girly so why not!



 

I had to do some hunting to find the next item but I did eventually find it on an isle end.  These oval stickers are actually chalk board stickers!  I thought they would be fun to cut down into different shapes and use in my planner.  I also picked up a pink chalk board marker to go with it, although they did have a variety of different colors.  Apparently you can even use these markers on glass and windows which is pretty neat.  I love a dual purpose product!  The clear pouch came in a package of two for $1.25 and I plan on using one for my smaller sheets of sticks, just to keep them a little more organized in my caddy (which I also picked up at Dollar Tree!).  These aren't the greatest quality and were already starting to fall apart when I took them out of the package.  Not a big deal for me.  Sometimes you get what you pay for at dollar stores.

 



 

So that is what I found on my recent trip to Dollar Tree!  If you've had luck finding some awesome planning supplies I'd love to know where you found yours!

Potty Training - Week 1

Can we please just take a moment to mourn the loss of Roman's babyhood?  I mean obviously it was gone a long time ago and I've been living in denial, but there is no denying it now.  Four days ago, while I was getting ready in the morning, Roman started yelling "buddy" from the other bathroom.  "Buddy" is the word he uses when he doesn't know the word for what he wants.  I was a little surprised to discover that he was pointing at his potty seat.  I thought it was odd, but I pulled off his pants and his diaper and sat him down on the seat.  He sat there for a few minutes stuffing pieces of toilet paper into the toilet and then was done with it.  Interesting choice of morning activity?

Be darned if the next morning the same thing didn't happen!  I was even more surprised that it happened again the day after that!  I might be slow some days but even I can take that hint.  This boy clearly wanted to learn to use the potty.  I was not prepared for this at all!  I've always heard that boys are harder to potty train and they usually don't start as early as girls, so I figured I had another 6 months to a year at least before I had to worry about it.  So yesterday while I was picking up groceries I grabbed a small potty and some Pull-Ups.  Roman was quite excited about the Pull-Ups because they have his most recent obsession on them, Thomas the Tankengine!  As soon as he saw them his eyes lit up and all I heard from the cart for the rest of the shopping trip was "choo-choo".

When I thought about potty training, long before Roman was even ready, I always thought I would use the method of keeping diapers off Roman for a few days and banging it out.  It would be a crazy few days but we'd hopefully get it mastered.  Luckily Trellyn has already gone through this whole process and she suggested getting a potty to reduce the distance between Roman and the toilet, so that is why I picked up a potty when I already had a potty seat at home.  However, with Roman deciding so early that he wants to learn, I've decided to go with a different method for now.

To prevent scaring Roman off of potty training I've decided to take a more laid back approach.  The first day we started this new adventure I tried taking him to the potty every half hour, but Roman was not into it.  After the second trip he started to get mad and throw a fit when I asked if he had to go.  Again, I may be slow but I can take a hint.  He wanted to do this so we are going to move at his pace.  I stretched it out to every hour and he seemed to be happy with that.  Nothing happened while he was on the potty but I take a positive experience with the whole thing as a win!

Today was day two of potty training and we definitely made some progress!  As soon as I took Roman out of his crib this morning he screamed "choo-choo" and made a beeline for the change table and ripped a pair of Pull-Ups out of the bag!  Thank heavens, I didn't scar him for life yesterday!  He was having no part of going straight onto the potty so I didn't push and let him continue on with his normal routine.  After breakfast I changed him into his Pull-Ups and started the 30 minute timer on my phone.  This time Roman was totally cool with the timing so I decided to continue it while we were at play group.  Luckily they have a potty seat there so it wasn't a difficult transition.  Actually, Roman seemed to prefer using the potty there.  I think it did something for his ego to be one of the only kids in the room using the potty.  Apparently a man's ego starts building early (kidding!). 

At around 5:00pm I was beginning to wonder if all this works as for not since I hadn't managed to catch him at the right time.  Well obviously his subconscious heard my subconscious because on that next potty trip at 5:36pm on February 20, 2015, Roman Giuliano peed on the potty for the first time!!!  It was the tiniest of tinkles but I exploded into song and dance so fast you would have thought he'd just won the Noble Peace Prize!  I don't think Roman even knew what he did, but when he saw how excited I was he went along with it.  To help him understand why I was so excited I explain to him that he went pee and showed him that his penis was wet.  This fact alone seemed to puzzle him, like he had no idea why it was wet.  So we high fived and trotted out of the bathroom proud as peacocks.  Of course I proceeded to text all the important people and plaster this fact all over Facebook.  I'm sure he'll thank me for that in 10 years.  If Facebook is still around then.

6:30pm was going to be the last potty trip for the night so John decided to take him.  I don't think Roman's butt had barely touch the seat before I heard John erupt with praise over another tiny tinkle!  Now I know Roman catches on to things fast, but I was convinced it had to be some kind of coincidence.  John however swears he saw Roman actually try to push something out, so maybe he is getting the hang of it?  It was definitely a great way to end day two of potty training!

For me one of the trickiest parts of this potty training business is keeping Roman busy and entertained while he's on the toilet so he will stay there.  Enter, the iPhone.  Roman loves trains so sometimes we'll watch a Thomas video from YouTube or we'll play his First Word game.  He also likes watching videos of himself, or as I recently discovered, he likes to watch dog shows.  Who knew?  Now I'm not sure if it's recommended to distract a kid when trying to potty train them because they aren't really focusing on what they are doing.  My theory is they can't do anything on the toilet if you can't get them to stay on the toilet!

On day three Roman and I were at home all day because I had a bunch of things to get done for a Steeped Tea tasting the next day.  Plus it was Saturday so there was no play group.  We stuck to the 30 minute routine and it actually got to the point that when Roman heard the alarm on my phone go off he stopped what he was doing, and headed to the bathroom.  I started making a big deal over the alarm and we danced all the way to the bathroom.  Why not make it fun!?  Well it ended up being a good idea because Roman had a whopping 4 pees and 1 poop!  A couple of the pees were really good streams and he actually got to see himself peeing which was a huge bonus.  Now I think he understands a bit more what pee is.  After he saw it the first time, he now grabs and inspects his penis trying to figure out how to get the pee out.  Hilarious and cute at the same time.  I have no explanation for the poop because I didn't even know he had done it until I took him of the toilet.  I guess we were both really interested in those tractor videos.  He thought it was pretty neat that there was a poop in the toilet, and I thought it was pretty neat that I didn't have to deal with a poopy diaper!

Day four was a bit of a flop because Roman and John were out of the house a lot that day, so there wasn't as much of an opportunity for Roman to go.  He did however to sneak in one pee just before supper when I got home!

Hopefully Roman's potty training adventures will be helpful if you are trying to potty train, and if not, maybe they'll just give you a good laugh!  I'll try to stay up to date with them one week at a time!

Valentine's Day

February 14th is usually just another day in the Giuliano house because I don't feel like I need a specific day to tell my family that I love them, and I don't feel the need to plaster it all over social media, or this blog for that matter.  So this is how we spent our Valentine's Day, minus all the mush.

This year was a little different in that I picked up a couple small things for John and Roman.  Well I guess they aren't exactly small, coming in at almost 2.5 feet tall, but because they were from Dollarama they count as small.  John was confused as to what could possibly be in such a giant envelope, but Roman was in love with the giant puppy on the card.  I think we listened to "puppy, puppy, puppy" for 10 minutes after he opened it.  We have the cards sitting on top of the entertainment centre in the living room and Roman will still point at it and say "puppy".  Clearly the best Valentine's Day gift ever!  John and Roman also snuck out of the house and picked me up a beautiful bouquet of flowers!  I'm happy to say they are still in tact and that the cat hasn't eaten them all!

It was a standard lunch today, leftovers actually, but I thought Roman would like a hearted shaped brownie for dessert.  He nibbled on it a bit but he enjoyed feeding it to John much better.  Of course I couldn't expect John to eat it all himself so I snagged a couple pieces for myself.

Roman has been napping from 12:30-2pm lately so after his nap we made a batch of Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Waffles for the freezer.  I have totally spoiled this child because as soon as he sees Martin (my mixer, and yes I've named him) he gets super excited.  He absolutely loves to eat the whipped egg whites and of course I can't say no to just a couple fingers full. 

John really wanted to go out for supper, but because Roman wasn't feeling very good we were a little hesitant to take him out.  We ended up biting the bullet and taking Roman out to Boston Pizza with us.  John ordered a salad and a spicy pasta dish which I, for the life of me, can't remember what it was called.  I went with my old stand by and had chicken parmesan with spaghetti bolognaise.  Both of these meals I forgot to take pictures of, so you only get to see Roman's "Bug's & Cheese" and veggies.  It's really just pasta with alfredo sauce but the pasta are in the shapes of bugs.  Roman didn't end up eating much but he had a good time waving at the older fellow that was sitting behind us.  Towards the end of our meal Roman started to fall apart, so we shoveled in the last few bites and headed for home.

Once Roman was asleep, John and I settled in to watch "The Wolf of Wall St." and drink some tea!  It was a great Valentine's Day spent with my family and I couldn't have asked for more.  Although now that I'm typing this I'm just remembering that Tutti Frutti usually has B1G1 frozen yogurt on Valentine's Day.  Definitely dropped the ball on that one...

It's My Blog-iversary!

I can't believe it has already been a year since I published my first post!  I knew my blog-iversary was coming up, but was a little surprised to realize that it was so soon!  When I mentioned it to John he was even more surprised because he thought it seemed like I had only been working on my blog for a few months.

Looking back on some of my earlier posts I can absolutely see that I have grown and evolved as a writer (I use that term loosely).  Not only has it become easier for me but now my posts seem much less robotic.  I have noticed as time has gone on that it can sometimes be difficult to find inspiration for posts, but I also embrace the challenge of trying to come up with new and interesting topics.  My blog has been a great way for me to document the changes in Roman as well as family events.  Follow Us Friday posts have filled my computer to the brim with photos of Roman, which will make for a killer photo album if I ever get that far.

Probably most importantly, this blog has given me a creative outlet when I don't have time for a large craft project, or even a small one for that matter.  I get to keep my mind busy and the juices flowing, hopefully warding off Alzheimer's, and it's all because you stop by to read my posts!  Thank you for taking time out of your busy day to see what one zany person decides to post on the internet.  I hope this coming year is just as exciting and interesting for the both of us!

Keeping toddlers busy without breaking the bank!

Staying home with Roman full time has been challenging in a lot of different ways, but the most common problems I have is trying to find ways to keep him entertained and busy without spending a ton of money.  Living in the prairies I've had to adjust my activities with the seasons since being outside, which is free and fun, isn't always an option, especially in the winter.  Here are a few of Roman's favorite activities that are inexpensive or absolutely free!

YMCA Play Groups
This is by far one of our favorite activities.  I feel most cities have a YMCA/YWCA and they likely have programming similar to us here in Moose Jaw.  This play group is an excellent opportunity for Roman to get to interact with other kids and work on his playing/sharing/communication/negotiation skills.  Plus I get to visit with other moms and dads which is critical in keeping your sanity when you spend 95% of your day alone with someone who can only say 20 words.  I also love these play groups because they are offered every day of the week and they are absolutely free!

If you live in a smaller centre without a centre that puts on play groups, head to Facebook!  It seems like every town has a mommy Facebook page these days and this is a great resource to find other moms and organize your own play groups!

Museums
Now you might think that kids Roman's age (18 months) are a little young for a museum, and I would probably agree with you, at least depending on the content of the museum.  In Moose Jaw we are lucky enough to have the Western Development Museum that is dedicated to transportation, perfect for the boy who is obsessed with cars, trucks, buses, tires and any other vehicle that moves basically.  In our museum they have all kinds of classic cars, planes, watercraft, and even a full size train!  They also have a model train that Roman can turn on and off which he absolutely loves!  The Snowbird exhibit also gets two thumbs up from Roman because they have a cockpit that Roman can climb up into and steer the plane himself.  The museum is perfect for the afternoons when Roman just needs to get out of the house but it's too cold to go outside.

Roman's admission to the museum is free but it's $10 per adult to go, which can get very expensive.  Solution?  Get a family membership!  We purchased a family membership for $60 for the YEAR and we can visit any of the four Western Development Museums in Saskatchewan!

McDonalds!
Whether you're okay with your toddler enjoying a happy meal or not, McDonalds is actually a great resource for a cold or rainy day.  Why?  Because they have a play place!  Sure it's loud, and usually smells a little odd, but when you're in a pinch and need a place for your toddler to burn off some steam it's a great place to go.  Again, completely free!

Dollar Store Crafts
I don't like to spend too much on craft supplies for Roman because he doesn't exactly have the patience for crafts just yet.  He does seem to enjoy painting/coloring/gluing but when he gets bored with it things end up on the floor or in his mouth.  The dollar store is the perfect place to buy supplies because you can get a wide variety of items very inexpensively, plus they always have cute themed items for all of the holidays!

Crafts with little ones can really take a toll on your sanity so here are some tips for survival:
1. Under no circumstances should you ever, EVER, give a toddler glitter.  You're just asking for it.
2. When painting, put them in the tub.  This makes clean up so much easier.
3. Avoid liquid glue if possible, but if you can't then try to apply the glue for them and allow them to 
    stick the items together.
4. Assume it's going to be a disaster.  If it is you won't be so surprised because you expected it.  If it's
     not, then you can enjoy the shock and awe.

Winter can be a tricky time when you're trying to keep a toddler entertained and cabin fever can set in quickly.  Save you sanity and your money and try out some of these ideas before winter leaves us and summer moves in!  I think I'm being a little optimistic with that...

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Waffles

Enough said right?  What more could you possibly want for breakfast than a warm, heaping stack of banana bread waffles?  Chocolate chip banana bread waffles of course! 

Roman loves to have waffles for breakfast and I like them because I can make a big batch and stick them in the freezer.  Today I knew I wanted to make a different type of waffle for Roman to mix it up a bit.  If you read my recent post about organizing my freezers then you know I have at least a double whack of bananas in my freezer.  **Interesting Fact: A whack is exactly 6; at least according to Mr. Kossmann, my high school physics teacher.**  I knew I wanted to make a banana waffles and when you think of frozen bananas you immediately think of banana bread.  So why not make a banana bread waffle?!

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Waffles
2 cups flour
3t baking powder
1/2t salt
3 egg yolks
1 3/4 cups milk
4T melted butter
1t vanilla
3 egg whites
3T sugar
1 cup chocolate chips

Stir together flour, baking powder and salt.  In a separate bowl whisk egg yolks, milk, butter and vanilla.  Combine the wet and dry ingredients and mix until well combined.  Using a mixer (or a whisk if you have forearms of steel), beat egg whites until they form stiff peaks.  Add sugar to egg whites while beating continually.  Fold the flour mixture and chocolate chips into the egg whites.  Scoop 1/2 cup of the batter onto a well oiled waffle iron and cook for 3-4 minutes until waffle is golden brown.

To Freeze: Prepare waffles as directed.  Allow them to cool then wrap in plastic wrap and freeze in a freezer bag.
To Serve:  Reheat them in the microwave or the toaster.

These waffles are amazing!  Even when they were in the waffle iron I was salivating just waiting for them to come out.  Don't limit these delicious morsels to just breakfast!  They would make an amazing dessert waffle topped with ice cream and chocolate sauce!  What I wouldn't give to have some vanilla ice cream in this house right now!  Anyone willing to deliver?

French Macarons

I think macarons come across as a very intimidating item to bake.  When I first decided I wanted to attempt these a few years back I prepared myself for the battle of a lifetime.  Turns out I had nothing to worry about.  If you can use a stand mixer you can make these cookies!

When I started thinking of fun things to make for Valentine's Day, one of the first things that came to mind were macarons.  There is something so fancy about these beautiful little cookies.  In the spirit of the special day I decided to color the macarons pink and fill them with buttercream frosting.  A red macaron filled with a chocolate ganache would also make a stunning cookie.  These macarons have just the right amount of snap on the outside but are still gooey and delicious on the inside. 

French Macarons
1 cup icing sugar
3/4 cup almond flour*
2 large egg whites
1/4 cup sugar

*If you can't find almond flour you can use ground almonds and force them through a fine mesh strainer to break it down into a flour like consistency.

Sift together icing use and almond flour.  Preheat oven to 325°.  Using a mixer whisk egg whites on medium speed until they start to form soft peaks.  Add in sugar and whisk on high speed until spiff peaks form.  Fold icing sugar and almond flour into the egg whites.  If you want to color your macarons this is the time to add a gel color, folding the color in until it is evenly distributed throughout the batter.

Transfer better to a pastry bag and with a round tip pipe 2 inch rounds 1 inch apart on a parchment lined baking sheet.  Lightly drop the baking sheets on the counter to release any air bubbles from the cookies.  Let the cookies stand at room temperature for 15 minutes.  Reduce the oven temperature to 325° and bake one sheet at a time for 10 minutes, rotating the tray half way through.  Allow cookies to cool on the baking trays for 2-3 minutes then transfer to a wire cooling rack.  Once the cookies are completely cooled, pipe or spread filling onto the bottom of one cookie and sandwich with another.

Believe it or not, macarons are extremely freezer friendly!  I would suggest baking the cookies and then freezing them before filling them.  Then thaw and fill when they are needed.  Just make sure to store them in a solid container in the freezer as they will crush if something is set on top of them.

Heart Shaped Valentine's Day Brownies

I am the first to admit that Valentine's Day is just another day in the Giuliano house.  I've never been big on Valentine's Day, except in elementary/high school when friends could send each other chocolate because that's obviously amazing.  Flowers are expensive and get eaten by the cat and chocolate makes me fat so John and I usually skip the gifts altogether.  Blasphemous to some I'm sure but it works for us.  Or at least it did until Roman came around. 

For some reason the little turkey makes me want to celebrate even the smallest of "holidays" just for his sake.  On a recent Mom only shopping day I came across some super cute heart shaped tins at Dollarama.  At the time I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with them but I knew I wanted to make something for Valentine's Day.  The other day it finally hit me, brownies!!!  Who doesn't love brownies?!

Brownies
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1t vanilla
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup flour
1/4t salt
1/4t baking powder

Preheat oven to 350° and grease heart shaped tins.  Melt butter in a sauce pan over medium heat.  Remove pan from heat a whisk in sugar, eggs and vanilla.  Mix in cocoa powder, flour, salt and baking powder until well combined.  Pour batter into tins and bake at 350° for 15-20 minutes, do not over bake.  You want some of the batter to stick to a toothpick when inserted into the centre.  This way you'll have a delicious gooey brownie!

If you don't have or can't find the heart shaped pans you would also bake this recipe in an 8x8 baking dish, lined with parchment paper, and use cookie cutters to cut shapes from the brownie.  The best part of this option?  You can eat all the "leftover" bits!

I decided to amp up the yum factor a bit with a little bit of buttercream icing but the brownies are delicious even without it.  Hopefully this will be the only brownie I eat from the batch since I'm still recovering from the Christmas food gorging.  I plan to pop the rest of these ad boys into the freezer where they will wait for me until I need a chocolate fix.  So probably later tonight...

Spontaneously Creative's 2014 Cookbook!

It's a little later than I expected but the cookbook is done!

I had originally planned on publishing it through Kobo since I thought that would be easiest.  Turns out it's a lot more fuss than I expected so I decided to upload it to Google Docs and post it live here! 

Long story short this means that you can now have a printable, portable, concise version of all the recipes posted to the blog in 2014 for FREE!!!

Follow this link to get your very own copy!

*Just a heads up with the link.  I've noticed that it doesn't always work the first time you try to load it, so if that happens to you just give it another shot and it should work.

I feel like this should be a longer post but I really have nothing else to talk about.  I guess I could tell you about my day but it really wasn't anything exciting.  Just some grocery shopping, hanging out with John and Roman, blogging and cooking.  You know standard procedure. 

Anywho, thanks for supporting my little blog and I hope you find this cookbook useful!