Little Balls of Chaos

From the very moment I found out I was expecting for the first time my head was kept spinning day in and day out. Even then before Sophia was born, I really had no idea just how things would change. Over the years hubby and I look back at our life before kids and see the fascinating changes that have taken place. Life has become more amusing, more joyous and let's face it, a bit more hectic too.

Last week after a comical home inspection my husband referred to the kids as little balls of chaos and made no apologies for what we have come to accept and even love about our two munchkins. As part of the deal for the house, the owners reluctantly agreed to a home inspection, something that was a must have for us and we didn't see as being 'that big of a deal'. Apparently to the current owners it was and they insisted on being home and following around my husband and the inspector.

The kids were with me and were relatively occupied in my charge, save for a few moments when Caleb decided to run circles around the senior home owners. Kids will be kids and had the owners not been there I doubt I would have said anything to him. Because they were there and we were 'guests' I felt I needed to keep them in relative control. These people made a fuss about opening the windows, every window as our inspector insisted must be done. They didn't want the dish washer turned on even after our inspector said, "If it comes with the house we have to check it." They did not want us going in the attic. I don't think they were trying to be devious. They were just control freaks and a tad over bearing.

The best part of the night came when Caleb pressed his body against the sliding glass door to the backyard. Looking out the window, he began rubbing his hands and face all over the glass leaving numerous smudges and marks on the otherwise perfectly clean glass. It took all my strength not the laugh since this little act of chaos was very much Caleb. Wherever he goes, he leaves a trail of destruction only akin to pig pen. The lady homeowner was perturbed. She said "You're going to come back tomorrow and clean that with Windex." I knew we wouldn't have to come back, she was such a neat freak that she'd have all the windows in the house clear of our fingerprints within 20 minutes after we left. She really did make me feel like my presence was a stain on her existence. She kept saying she doesn't need to sell and that she didn't know we'd be ripping her house apart.

My husband and I had to laugh. She had been child-free for so many years perhaps she forgot the delight in having them around. "Kids are little balls of chaos," my husband said, and I have to agree. Here at home my kids are comfortable. The house gets messed up during the day and sometimes it even gets put back to rights before bed.... sometimes. It doesn't matter. I know one day they will be gone and I will miss picking up after them. I will miss their jelly-smudged faces and their dirty finger prints on the walls. Today I don't care about the chaos or the disapproving stares of people who think we should be better put together. I love my little balls of chaos, they are a million times better than perfectly washed windows.

** In other news, husband and I have backed out of that home that we adored. A few things came up in the inspection that gave the house a fail and the home owners were not willing to make the necessary fixes. We were even less inclined to spend the money to have the fixes done ourselves. To make a long and crazy story short, we are back to the drawing board as far as house hunting goes. Sigh. It was a lovely house though.

Pizza Purses

Pizza is quick, easy and usually a family favourite. About a year ago I wanted to find a way to make those frozen pizza foods found in the grocer's freezer. I wanted to make them ahead of time and freeze them so my husband could take them to work for lunches or the kids and I could have a quick but home cooked midday meal.

Pizza Dough

1 cup of warm water
3 tsp of yeast
2 tbsp of olive or vegetable oil

Set aside.

In a bowl add 1 3/4 cup of flour, 1/2 tsp of salt and 1 tbsp of sugar.

Add water/yeast to flour and mix until it forms a dough like bread dough. It will be slightly more wet than bread dough. Place in a warm draft free place (off oven with light on works wonders) and let rise for 1 hour 30 minutes.



Assemble ingredients, tomato sauce, cheese, meats (if using) and lots of veggies. Cut dough into fist sized portions and roll out into circles. Fill one side of dough with toppings and then fold over the other side. Pinch the edges together to form a purse or pocket shape.



Bake at 375 degrees until golden brown, about 20 minutes. If you plan to freeze them, bake until just turning brown (10 to 15 mins), remove from oven, let cool and freeze. When you want to cook the frozen pizza purses, place on a cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes or use a microwave.

For a large batch, you may want to double the above recipe. When I make these I usually plan to have them for dinner and make sure there are about 6 or more left over for freezing.

Kirstie's Handmade Home

I love all things Britian including the laid back yet professional approach they take to television shows. Kirstie Allsop is one of my favourite hosts and I enjoy her and Phil's funny banter on Location, Location, Location. It's a property hunter show which airs here in Canada and I often watch at HGTV.ca. I have also recently discovered another show featuring Kirstie, called Kirstie's Homemade Home.

In it she travels from Antique shop to artisan studio to road side dump looking for things she can create or reclaim. She is trying to restore an old cottage that hasn't been lived in for 40 years. I must say, her vision astounds me. She is not one of those classic, chic designers who goes ga-ga for everything new and coordinated. She truly is unique in her approach to home decor, at least to me here in Canada. Her sense of eclectic style and home grown design is a complete departure from the very rigid and formal expectations that are rampant here. I like her style and I really like this program.

Now that I am getting ready for my first 'real' home I find myself drawn to different decorating shows and this one has simply stolen my heart. Kirstie makes the task of decorating and making a house into a home so much easier than I anticipated. She really does preach that if you like it, it works. And decorating shouldn't be much more than that. It's the personal stamp on a house that makes it a home.

We're Packing!

We signed papers Friday for our dream house. The agreement was reached only after some nail biting negotiations. I almost thought it would never happen. The house of my dreams seemed so close yet just out of reach. The home was hugely overpriced and I felt it would be a struggle to get the sellers realize that the market just isn't what it use to be. With winter fast approaching and the real estate market near a deep freeze in this area, our offer may just have been the only one they got for a long while.



It's a beautiful home and I understand why they didn't want to sell it. We found out they HAD to...it's what my realtor calls a 'marriage realignment' aka divorce. No one wins in that scenario except family lawyers and listing agents. For this reason I can understand their trepidation to accept a cheeky offer, even if it was the only offer they had seen since listing their home.

Now, the fact that we had walked away from the negotiating table once only to be called back again with a very tempting counter offer, means this whole journey has not been smooth. And it's not over yet. We still have inspections to pass and there is a 7 day window when either party can rip the contract to shreds. Let's hope it doesn't come to that.

Putting all that aside, it's safe to say now that we have bought ourselves our very first home! There is 1.5 acres with trees and hopefully enough area to plant a sizable organic veggie garden. I may need to resign myself to chopping down some trees to do this. I hate to do it so for the first summer I will plant sparingly and see where the sunlight is in the yard to find the best place for vegetables. I will only chop trees in the most advantageous of spots.

We did have an opportunity to purchase a large 33 acre hobby farm. The house needed tonnes of work and to be honest the land intimidated me. This is our first home and we have little to no experience with renovations and maintenance. Given all the work we could see, I could only image the work needed once we ripped everything up. We decided the smaller piece of land would be better for us in the long run.

Less really is more

This house spoke to me and I was grinning from ear to ear after viewing it. This house reminds me of the colonial homes we saw in Salem, Massachusetts and other parts of New England and Maritime Canada. One of my daydreams during these last few years of recovery has been to move to Prince Edward Island. However, my husband wanted to stay here in this area to pursue his career. In some ways this house represents my dreams of going out east. I will bloom where I am planted, which won't be hard at all now that I have found my dream home.




The day after hearing that our offer was accepted, my daughter and I went to a local Christmas Craft Show for the day and I found this lovely mini "portrait" of our new home. There are sheep in the foreground and the saying, It's Good to be Home. And I couldn't agree more. This will be my mantra for the foreseeable future. It IS good to be home and I wouldn't have it any other way.