A little happy news from us...

Make it full screen and turn up your volume..some cute little kids have something they want to tell you.





Happy Wednesday everyone!!
Erica xo

Peanut butter/banana muffins packed full of veggies...and I swear they're delicious!

I've been on a search for a while now for a muffin recipe that makes me feel like I'm eating a decadent treat, but that is actually stuffed full of hidden veggies.

My friends...I've found it.

I promise you, it tastes like the most delicious peanut butter/banana muffin you will ever taste...but it secretly has TONS of pureed cauliflower and carrots hidden inside. You'd never even know it as it is so moist and delicious.

My kids love muffins and although I've always made healthy ones in the past, I thought that I could bump it up a notch and see if I could get even sneakier and add even more healthy goodness to this beloved snack. So what's better than feeding your kids something that they love and sneaking some extra veggies into every bite that they take?  I promise, they'll never know.



My mother-in-law was over the other day and she took a bite of one of them, having no idea what kind of muffins they were, and her response was "Wow, are these peanut butter muffins? They're SO good!". Little did she know she was biting into a ton of carrots and cauliflower as well.

Muffin test = passed with flying colours.

So I whipped up a triple batch of these suckers one night when the kids were in bed, making regular sized ones for Terry and I (and of course I added tons of chocolate chips to ours--cause, really...the chocolate chips are probably canceled out completely by the amount of veggies that are stuffed into these suckers. At least that's what I'll keep telling myself).

And I made bite-size ones for the kids, which is the perfect size for their little hands--and I only put one little chocolate chip on top (none inside), to give them the illusion of a chocolate chip muffin--which they totally fall for every single time.

These have become a household favourite and a recipe that I will be making over and over again, because they're really THAT good. No one needs to know that they're so healthy. I certainly won't tell. 

So if you want to get you or your kids eating more veggies, give these a try. I promise you'll love them. Especially if you add the chocolate chips---cause remember, they're totally canceled out. Add as many as you want and ENJOY! 

Peanut Butter and Banana Muffins:

You will need:

-nonstick cooking spray

-1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

-1/2 cup natural peanut butter

-1/2 cup carrot or cauliflower puree (just boil veggies in a pot of water until soft, then throw in food blender with a bit of water until completely smooth)

-1/2 cup banana puree

-1 large egg white

-1 cup whole-wheat flour

-1 teaspoon baking powder

-1 teaspoon baking soda

-1/2 teaspoon salt

1) Preheat oven to 350F. Coat muffin tin with cooking spray.

2) In large mixing bowl, mix 1/2 cup of the brown sugar with the peanut butter, the veggie and banana purees and the egg white, using a wooden spoon. 

3) Put the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl and stir. Add to the bowl with the peanut butter mixture and stir just to combine (do not over mix--batter should be a bit lumpy). Add the remaining 1/2 cup of brown sugar and stir once or twice. 

4) Divide the batter among the muffin cups and bake until the muffins are lightly browned and toothpick comes out clean when inserted into middle, 15-20mins. 

5) Let cool and store in an airtight container (or, pop them in the freezer and they'll last for approx one month--and you can just pull one out and defrost it whenever you want one!). 

Enjoy!! 

Erica xo

*Recipe: Jessica Seinfeld's "Deceptively Delicous" 

One-On-One

I still remember when I got the call. When I heard my name come over the PA system at my elementary school, asking me to please come to the office.

I remember walking down the hall thrilled. My little seven year old self, so excited. Bouncing with every step that I took, smile spread straight across my little cheeks, knowing that this was special...knowing that it was just for me.

I passed other kids in the hallway and grinned at them, wanting so badly for them to know exactly what was about to happen. Knowing that as I turned that corner towards the office I'd see him...my dad.

He was smiling as I ran up to him and I took his hand as he lead me out to the car. It was lunch time, and he left work that day to take me out to lunch. ONLY me. Just my dad and I, going to McDonald's (a real treat in our family). I couldn't have been happier.

Having a sister meant that my parents had to split their time with both of us, like most families with more than one child have to do. And so this was a big deal. It was a big deal because my dad made it a big deal. He talked about how he was going to leave work that day (at that time, a half hour drive to my school from his office)...he let me pick whatever restaurant I wanted...he told me that I could pick anything that I wanted off of the menu...he told me that I could choose whatever table I wanted to sit at...he told me how excited he was about being able to see me in the middle of the day--and he also let me know that he'd be doing the same with Jen another day. Because, fair is fair.  

I've never forgotten those moments from my childhood. Those moments where mom and dad specifically took time with both Jen and I to spent quality one-on-one time with each of us. To make a big deal out of something seemingly simple--to build up a special day to be perhaps even bigger than it was...but it worked. Because we felt that it was a big deal. We felt important. We felt like it was our special time where all of the attention was on us, individually.

So I want to do the same for my kids.

When I chose to only go back to work for 3.5 days a week after recently coming off of maternity leave with Carter, it meant that I was thankfully given the luxury of time with my kids. So I marked my calendar, and excitedly told Mya that we were going to have a "Mommy and Mya day". A day where we'd drop Carter off at daycare and wave to all of Mya's daycare teachers as she held my hand, proudly announcing to all of them that it was "Me and mommy's special day--ONLY me and mommy", with the biggest grin ever as she'd prance off to the door.  

She was so excited.

  

And even though this little girl woke up in a funk that very morning...that very morning that I had all of these plans in place, hoping for this perfect little day...it was still a great day and I would do it over and over again in a heartbeat. Because she felt that feeling. That feeling of being important. That the whole day was about her. That she was my number one priority all day long. And she loved it.

So we started our day by stopping off at the store and I told her that she could pick any treat that she wanted.

And you know what she picked?

Juice boxes.

That's all she wanted. A pack of juice boxes "with the straws, mommy". So that's what she got. And she was thrilled. We don't typically buy juice boxes, so this to her was a big treat apparently. So I showed her the special 'hold the wings' trick so that she wouldn't squeeze the juice out of the straw the moment that she took hold of that little box, and she was on her way to juice heaven.

And lunch time? Well, Terry left work that afternoon and met us at McDonald's to surprise her. And her other favourite person in the world showed up too for her special lunch...

her cousin Oliver -- who was just as thrilled about the juice boxes as Mya was.

The first thing that she told me when we bought those juice boxes was that she wanted to "save one for Oliver and one for Carter". So I packed them in my purse and snuck them in.

And when our lunch guests left, Mya and I spent the rest of the day playing with play doh that I had secretly made the night before, playing dolls and snuggling on the couch for an afternoon nap. It wasn't necessarily a fancy day--but all that mattered to her was that I was hers all day long.

And Carter? Well, he got his day the following week.

So we dropped Mya off at daycare and she smiled as she proudly told her daycare teachers "Carter's not staying at daycare--he's having a Carter and mommy day". As if she was an expert on the subject now...because she was. She knew what it meant. She knew that it was Carter's turn and she was surprisingly very accepting of the fact that I was taking Carter and not her. She wanted it for him too.

So we found a program where little ones could tear around a gym on bikes, cars and scooters...and where toys were at every corner.

Which he absolutely loved.

And his surprise guest was the same beloved surprise guest that Mya got.

He was thrilled to see Oliver.

And wasn't afraid to show it.

Thanks Oliver for always graciously accepting his big slobbery kisses. 

And the rest of our day was filled with blowing bubbles in the house together, racing cars down the dining room floor, napping in my arms and tearing all of the couch cushions off of our furniture once again to create the best climbing gym that a little boy could ever ask for.

Sometimes it's the smallest gestures that our kids will remember the most. The build up to a special day full of simple things like juice boxes, plastic bikes, play doh and car races is something that ultimately made these two feel special. Like it was all about them.

Because it was.

Happy March break everyone!
Erica xo

Puppy Chow mid-week treat

You want a delicious little mid-week treat? Here you go:

I promise you'll thank me. Because it's not only delicious...it's super easy to make. You've probably heard of it before, but if you haven't, let me introduce the food that you won't be able to stop eating after you take just one bite. So you've now been officially warned...

It's called Puppy Chow. What a terrible name for something that tastes SO darn good.

I like to make it at Christmas since it's a great little treat to put out in bowls around the house for people to nibble on. But it's also perfect any other time of year--and if you have kids, they will LOVE it (and love helping you make it too--if you're brave enough to handle the icing sugar mess).

You only need 4 ingredients.

Peanut butter, icing sugar, chocolate chips and Chex cereal.

9 cups Chex cereal
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 cup chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups icing sugar

Here is how you make it--it will only take a few minutes, I promise!

In a sauce pan, over low heat, melt the chocolate chips and peanut butter together. Mix frequently until smooth.

Remove from heat and stir in the Chex cereal until completely coated.

Pour small amount of coated cereal into a large ziplock bag, then pour a small amount of icing sugar over top.

Seal the bag and give it a shake (kids love doing this part!). Continue to add more cereal and more icing sugar until all of your cereal is coated. 

Place on cookie sheet until dry, then store in an airtight container. 

And enjoy!!!

Have a great rest of your week,
Erica xo

The truth behind the letters--don't tell Mya

One day I might tell her the truth. 

I might tell her one day when she's holding the little hand of her own son or daughter. 

Perhaps during a time when she feels like she has it all together and has everything under control--or perhaps during a moment when she feels like she's drowning in motherhood, just surviving some days and wondering if she will ever feel like herself again. 

On a day when she'll look at me and ask me how I did it--how I survived the sleepless nights, how I managed to get through those days when both of my little ones clung to my legs every moment of the day, endlessly needing every last bit of me. And I'll take her hand and tell her that sometimes it was those moments in motherhood when I would step back for a moment--step back and take a minute to purposely do something great to make my children happy--do something that they would remember and do something that would bring them ultimate joy. Do something to break up the ordinary days and make some amazing ones. Because through our children's happiness will come our happiness. 

Then I'll tell her the truth about what I did for her when she was little. 

I'll tell her what I did behind her back, without her knowing, which consequently brought so much joy to her that she literally jumped up and down each and every day. 

I sent out an email. That's it. 

This is what I wrote:

Hi family, 

    I just thought I'd send you a quick message to ask you a little favour on behalf of Mya--who has no idea that I'm sending this out. Every single day Mya goes to our mailbox to check for mail--it's the first thing that she does when she gets home--and she looks through every single piece of mail trying to find her name on something..anything (hoping that she has gotten a piece of mail delivered to her). Unfortunately though the majority of mail that she finds is either junk mail or mail for Terry and I and so she is always disappointed. So I started writing her name on pieces of mail when she wasn't looking and it worked for a while (and thrilled her), but she has caught onto me now so I'm at a loss. So, I just thought I'd let you know that if you'd like to make a little girls day, she would LOVE to get a piece of mail from you, with her name on it, especially for her. It doesn't even matter what you send her--a card, a couple stickers, anything really...all that she cares about is that a piece of mail has her name on it and she can open it and find out what is inside. She would just be beyond excited. 

      I know that everyone is super busy so I certainly understand if you just don't have time, but I just thought I'd ask in case anyone still likes to send out snail mail these days :). 

        Thanks so much!

Love Erica xox

The response was overwhelming. Overwhelming and thrilling. For all of us. 

Each day as she opened the mailbox to find a piece of mail with her name on it she literally jumped up and down, squealing, smiling...so excited. 

"M..Y..A..it says!!" she would yell as she pointed to each letter of her name and discovered another card sent just for her.  

"It says it's for ME! M...Y..A !!"

 She would then quickly try to break into that glorious little envelope and listen carefully as I read each and every wonderful little word that it said.

She was thrilled.

Absolutely thrilled.

 And with one little email I made some ordinary days into extraordinary ones--all because of the wonderful people who played into my pleas and took some time to send this little girl some mail.

Thank you family for making her day and for bringing such joy to not only Mya, but all of us as we watched her experience this excitement each time that she read her name on the envelopes stacked in our mailbox. 

Who knew that one little email could have such a big impact on one little girl.

Thank you again!! 

Erica xo

p.s. If anyone else would like to send her a piece of mail she would be thrilled as she still checks the mailbox each and every day for something with her name on it--let me know and I will send you our address! :) 

Just one little photo please

"If you could send in a family photo of all of you for our family photo wall that would be great", said Mya's daycare teachers to me when I picked her up one afternoon. 

"Ok, sure...no problem" I told her.

...Well...no problem until you get home and look through your millions of pictures and realize that you have no recent pictures of all four of us together--not even one. I have no idea how this is even possible with the amount of pictures that are taken each day, but somehow it's the truth. So, let's just get a quick picture of all of us when we're at mom and dad's house next, I figured. 

So, here you go. 

Don't we look all happy and relaxed???    

Come on three year old and one year old, let's take a lovely family picture together!...

Well, it's apparently easier said than done. I thought that you'd get a kick out of our mission for one little family photo. The picture above is NOT reality...

but THIS certainly is....  

welcome to us trying to get just one picture of the four of us together:

Look! We did it. 

You're welcome daycare. You're welcome.

Happy Thursday everyone,

Erica xo

Growing up and tears

As a parent you spend so much of the first few years of your kids life providing snuggles, kissing cheeks, wiping faces, teaching patience, setting boundaries, kissing scraped knees, tucking little bodies in at night, wiping tears (including your own), learning new ways to survive sleep deprivation, holding little hands, making mistakes, then getting it right, and all the while making memories that you hope will last forever. But then, just when you think that you're at the finish line...just when the sleep deprivation begins to ease up and the two-year old meltdowns at the grocery store become distant memories you look at your little girl and realize that this is it. You've done as much as you can, but it's time to help that little bird ease her way out of the nest and step into the big, unknown, complicated, wonderful world. A world that will bring both joy and heartache. A world where mom and dad will say goodbye and watch as the school doors close behind her, and just hope that she is okay. Hope that we've done enough. Taught her enough about being kind, loving and caring. Taught her enough about standing up for herself and being brave. Taught her enough about sharing and helping and about numbers and letters. Taught her enough about what she is about to walk into--taught her to be herself.

We registered Mya for Kindergarten this morning.

I wasn't prepared for the emotions that would sweep through me today. As I positioned her Valentine's day headband just so this morning, and hung up Valentine's day decorations with the last of our tape, I felt myself pretending that it was just like any other typical day.

But after asking Terry to do something and he said he couldn't right then, I all of a sudden had tears rolling down my face. He looked at me in shock and quickly tried to backtrack.

"Okay, okay..no problem..no problem", he said as he tried to hug me.

It wasn't about him. I knew that right away. It was like the accumulation of three years all of a sudden hit me in that very moment. Three years of love and hugs and memories that I want to bottle up and keep forever. Three years of trying to figure out how to be a mother, how to ease toddler emotions and wondering some days if I might just be doing this whole parenting thing completely wrong. Three years of your life completely changing and wishing some days that you could just be alone to have just a minute or two of peace...but then walking out the door to just get groceries and missing those two little souls so much that it hurts. Three years of loving someone so much that you'd give your life for them without even thinking about it and three years of feeling the breaking of your own heart through their little tears.

So as I wiped my tears away and got myself together, I put a smile on for our girl and told her how exciting it would be to meet some of her teachers today and visit her school for the first time.

She was ready.

Terry had taken a half day vacation day in order to come with Mya and I, so we piled into the car and drove off to this new stage in her little life. This new adventure for all of us that will be both wonderful and difficult. Both exciting and nerve racking.

So I'll snuggle her a bit tighter tonight, remember that she is as prepared as she can be and remind myself that growing pains are inevitable and will ultimately help her (and I) grow, learn and bring us to amazing places in this lifetime.

Our girl is growing up. And I kind of love it.

Happy love day everyone!
Erica xo