Frogs (no bake cookies)

You will need:

2 cups white sugar

½ cup butter

½  cup milk

Pinch of salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup coconut shredded

1\2 cup cocoa

3 cups rolled oats

Directions:

1) in a pot on top of stove on medium heat bring to a boil sugar, butter, milk and salt

2) in a bowl mix coconut cocoa and rolled oats

3) pour heated mixture+ over top of the dry ingredients in bowl

4) stir mixture  well

5) then on a cookie sheet  you can line it with wax paper  if you want drop spoon full of mixture  spaced apart

6) let cool in fridge for 1 hour  till they Harden 

7) take off cookie sheet place in a container or enjoy 

peanut butter chocolate chip cookies

You will need:

1 cup butter

1 1\2 cups peanut butter

2 eggs

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 1\2 cups flour

 1\2 teaspoon salt

1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

1) heat oven to 350f

2) beat butter peanut butter and sugar in a medium bowl until creamy

3)  add in eggs and vanilla beat well

4) stir together  flour , salt  and baking soda

5) add dry ingredients to bowl of wet mixture blend well

6) add chocolate chips and stir

7) drop dough into balls on cookie sheet and press them down

8)bake 8-12 minutes or until golden brown around edge

9) centres will be pale and slightly soft

10)let cool on cookie sheet 3 mints then move to wire rack to finish cooling

11) serve and enjoy

my newest addiction Scentsy

 well as many of my close friends and family know I have been hosting or going to scentsy parties every month. so I figured I should tell you about my newest addiction back in December I had received 2 scentsy burners for Christmas a cupcake shaped one and a burnt orange knitted sweater like one in which I love eloise also received the tiara  one. I only used them once and was hooked on them this is what started my addiction.

  Here is a little bit about Scentsy for anyone that has not tried one yet. Scentsy warmers melt a a special kind of wax with a low watt  light bulb heating element. When heated the wax gives off a awesome scent with out a flame smoke or soot it also has no led in it as it does not have to be melted and burned with a wick. They have two different size warmers one is premium other is deluxe warmer they aslo have plug in warmers kinda like a night light. They also sell  scentsy buddies which I'm a huge fan of and so is Eloise she has hedgie the hedgehog which is a discontinued buddy  their are others available but they only sell 40,000 of each one then bring out new ones they also have cause ones that money from them go towards charity's. scentsy other products are room sprays travel tins you can carry in your purse bags cars. You can buy sent circles for your car, other products are hand loitions hand sanitizer and lip balm they also have bath products soap shower gel bath tablets body spray and body lotion. Scentsy also came out with dryer disks and washer whiffs which is a scent you add in for extra scents in your laundry.

        It also has a Awesome Host rewards when you host a qualifying party what I mean by that is if you host a in home on line or basket party  and you make over $200 in sales you earn 1 half price item and 10 % of your sales to use towards fee product. Then at $300 you get 2 half price items.I love hosting party's for the rewards but it does not stop there  if you have someone book a party off your party when you go to their scentsy party if they have a qualifying party you receive one item for half price so it its a awesome company to host party's for I personally do not work for them so I am not going write about working for Scentsy as I do not know exactly everything about being a consultant I know a little but if you are interested just look it up on line where you could find everything you would like to know.  Scentsy has package deals which help you save and get the most from the scentsy system. Here are some of the deals 6 scentsy bars for $30 this equals out to buy 5 get one free as they are $6 a bar the bar has 9 cubes in each bar you only need one cube per warmer but I sometimes use 2 in my bigger warmers. There is a buy 3 bars for $17 which you save a dollar. or the combine and save deals which if you host a party your best bet is to get one of these deals as your half off to earn the most from your scentsy party. here are the deals  6 bars your choice  and 2 plug in  warmers for $72 save $12 . 2 element warmers plus 6 bars  $82 . deluxe 2 warmers plus 6 bars for $90  or combined package 1 premium warmer one deluxe and 6 bars for $96 save $18 .2  premium  warmers and 6 bars for $102 save $18.  and the other two deals are the companion system which is any 3 scent bars with 1 deluxe warmer and a plug in for $66 save $12 or one plug in and a premium warmer for $72 save $12. with all that being said when you host a party you can get one of these packages for half price if you use the package as your half price item to get the most from your party and you save a lot more this way.

Well now that I have explained all about scentsy  I will share with you my favourite scents

happy birthday- smells like candy sugar whipped cream and vanilla
honeymoon hideaway-its a mixture of dew kissed lily kiwi and coconut palm
Newborn nursery- fresh clean small and baby powder
coconut lemon-grass - creamy coconut and lemon grass
sugar cookie- sweet blend of butter sugar and vanilla
mochadoodle-coffee beans cocoa balanced with sugar caramel and cream
 if you use a cube of sugar cookie and one of mochadoodle it smells like chocolate chip cookies.
welcome home-cinnamon and spices
blueberry cheesecake-rich new York cheesecake Graham cracker crust with blue berry's
sticky cinnamon bun-cinnamon and icing
Caramel pear crisp- ripe pear brown sugar crust and caramel cream scent
simply lime,Simply lemon,simply cinnamon,simply vanilla
Havana cabana - pineapples oranges bananas and berries( reminds me of being in Cuba)
Rosemary mint- soothing mint tea tree and rosemary
Peppermint dreams,cinnamon bear,cinnamon vanilla,frosted ginger cookie
Skinny dippin-apples melons and pears
lilacs & violets-lilacs violets and the smell of spring
cherry limeaid-key lime cherry juicy berry
Jump in jelly bean-pear apple lemon and sugar
white out, pumpkin marshmallow, silver bells,honey pear cider, Iced pine,Christmas cottage, French toast, Cozy fireside,Autumn sunset
Central park pralines, snowberry, clove & cinnamon,apple press, Eskimo kiss, pumpkin roll, 
my Favourite men's scent is Echo and  Hendrix

Others that I like from the bring back my bar selection which is in July every year they bring back scents that were discontinued are:
Cutiepie cupcake, banana nut bread, cranberry mango, orange dreamcicle, German chocolate, Cookie dough, lily of the valley, French kiss, fresh cut grass,cherry almond pie, almond cookie, hazelnut latte,watermelon patch, fried ice cream,grandmas kitchen, oatmeal cookie

  You can sometimes get these scents if returned in July or through some consultants they buy extras and keep in stock or use as prizes at the partys which is how I have got some of these scents

Here are my warmers I have ordered more and I have yet to order a plug in that is my next order




here are my two very first warmers that started my crazy addiction in which i have passed onto a few friends and family members the cupcake for my kitchen and the sweater like one.

this is Eloise's burner
 for her room. and her scentsy buddy hedgie the hedge hog he is 5 months old and his scent pack still has the small the packs are $8 to replace

this is my lace burner I got free when I ordered the 10 year anniversary gallery frame burner they gave out a extra burner that was a surprise.

this is my 10 year anniversary burner with the gallery frame which you can change out so here is 3 different frames I have so far and what they look like one I did order another frame.









here is a picture of my order when I ordered the Easter egg burner and some scents I do not have a picture of it lit up and its packed away till next Easter. to the right is my mustash burner  I'm going to use during movember. In my order that is on its way I ordered the Canada day burner I cant wait for it to arrive.


Well I hope you enjoyed my blog on scentsy and if your not already a fan of it I hope that I got you interested in this amazing product. It is kid safe the wax doesn't get hot like most so if you put your hands in it you do not get burnt which is a great thing with my toddler running around who loves to put her hands in it also the wax if you spill it just let it harden and scrap it off or wipe it up if still melted with paper towel to change the scent cube just pour it out in garbage or back into package or you can soak it up and wipe your burner out with paper towel. this is a awesome product that leaves your house smelling amazing even if it looks like a tornado went through it.

Eloise's Birth Story

My name is Miranda. I am 27 years old and  mom to Eloise who is now 3 1/2 years old. The past 3 years have gone by fast. I have this blog. Where I blog about many things but mostly life with Eloise and recipes that I love. I live in New Brunswick Canada where I work in a nursing home. I love being a mom to this amazing spirited little girl who is full of energy and loves life. I am thrilled to get to tell Eloise's birth story

The arrival of Eloise I cant believe it was three years ago, It still feels like yesterday as I sit here and start to type up this memorable life event. Well it all begins on Sunday march 25 2012 at 8 am I had a little bit of cramping that was keeping me from getting comfy. It was a big day ahead of me so I thought it was just nerves as I was going to be modelling for belly beautiful maternity at the baby and toddler expo some of their new clothes  I was going to be doing two runs which meant I had to walk the stage more then once. I was 38 weeks pregnant and feeling it. We had been going to weekly fetal assessments since we found out we were expecting so I was also excited that the next morning id get to see my baby girl one last time in my belly before she was due. I got up early that morning and called my mom who was coming over to do my hair for the show and we went to breakfast while waiting to be served I decided to pace a bit to help calm my nerves. After eating we then went to the salon to braid my bangs and curl my hair I was so excited to get pampered that day I did not notice my contractions were getting stronger.

   Well it all begins now when I arrived at the baby show I was shown a room to slip into my first outfit I met 3 other moms who were expecting one was a month after me and then rest were a few months later but I was happy I still had two more weeks little did I know she had other plans. I was so nervous to model I've never done modeling in front of a huge crowd before especially when I was as huge as I was, Sure I know what your thinking your a cheerleader you flip around in front of huge crowds but I have a team I am not alone with all eyes on me and being a whole 165 lbs I was scared to be judge on my size the way the outfits made my belly look huge or small and biggest fear was outfits might not fit right now that I had gained over 20 lbs from when I was fitted. It all worked out it was time to walk as I approached the door I felt a strong cramp that lasted a little bit then a few minutes later another when I was on my second walk as I reached the stage,  I was about to stop and do a turn  when I realized I was having actual labor contractions I finished modelling then politely told her I had to leave and that I was sorry I had to go but I need to go to the hospital as I was in labor.

We went home and I got changed into comfy clothes then went to hospital we checked in and then it was time to get checked I was in labor I was 3 cm dilated they were going to let me go home as there were so many moms in labor that night my friend was in room beside us in labor with her son.  my blood pressure so high that we had to be monitored and then Eloise's heart rate was dropping then going high finally at 1 am they released us to go home the nurse said ill see you soon  your in active labor but its going to be awhile. We went home to bed I was happy to get into my own bed even with my contractions I was happy to not be in the hospital as it was freaking me out knowing that I was going to be delivering my baby girl any time. Thankfully I got to sleep with my contractions as they gave me some Tylenol before I left hospital and Travis gave me a my heating pad. I had a fetal assessment at noon.

 On the 26 we got up I had a half a watermelon and went to our appointment . When we got there my favorite Dr was on shift so she came in we listened to her heart beat. I was 38 weeks pregnant to the day, the morning of my prenatal appointment. I had told the doctor I was having light contractions through out the night  and had gone to hospital the night before but was sent home as I was only 3 cm dilated and water had not broken yet. Then they had stopped at a hour apart. She measured my belly then weighted me. I was surprised my weight was 165, one pound more then Travis. She started to ask about my birth plan if anything changed then asked if I wanted to be checked since my membrane sweep was the Thursday that just passed. I agreed to be checked but I said "you know I still have two weeks" while she was checking me her face changed to surprised. Then she started to tell me that I was 6 cm dilated and should be on way to hospital. I was shocked but then said "I am not ready, I still need to pack my hospital bag".  So she advised me to go do that and go right up to labor and delivery. Unfortunately my prenatal appointment was at the hospital that did not accommodate deliveries so I had to go home and pack and head right up to our other hospital.

    Once home I started to pack my bags, and go over hospital list. While doing so I became hungry so got out a mixing bowl a box of rice crispys and 3 bananas with some milk and ate that massive bowl to hold me over since I was not sure if id be fed at hospital. Then we headed to Travis parents house for a bit as my contractions were not that close yet and water still had not broken. His parents live a 5 min drive away so we were close. At about 4 pm we watched a movie and I told his dad I was craving a cheeseburger. He made me 2 and some potatoes on the BBQ then at about 530 we headed up to the hospital to get checked again. They admitted me admittedly.

   The nurses hooked me up to the IV. They tried to at least, after completely missing my vain twice I refused that nurse to do it and they brought in another nurse and used a butterfly. As many friends and family know I'm terrified of needles so I rarely did my blood work but since I had low fluids and was being monitored by the fetal assessment machine, they knew everything was fine and did not bother me for all my blood work. After that the doctor  came in and talked to me about my birth plan and asked if I wanted something for the pain?  I told her I did not want anything at this point because  my contractions were only 12 minutes apart.

   We asked the nurse to check me. She said I was still 6 cm and to try bouncing on the birthing ball.  I got up off the bed and when walking to the birthing ball told them I had to pee. They escorted me to the bathroom. When I got there I said it feels like she was coming. The nurse told me not to push and to try the shower to relax.Then the nurse left the room and said she would be back in a moment. As soon as she left I felt this sharp pain and screamed "Shes coming" So then got on my knees and told Travis to help since the nurse did not think she was coming. Right them my mom ran out to the nurses station and told them to come quick. They got me onto my bed, called doctor in and they checked me and said your 9 cm now it could be hours or minutes.

    Well Travis took that as a Que he still had time. So he said I'm going for pizza and walked out the door. The nurse said your contractions are 7 minutes apart and I said she is coming again, but this time she went to get doctor and as she did that my mom started calling Travis's cell . The doctor came in and said its time to push shes crowning. At that point Travis had just walking back into my room and  him and the nurse grabbed a leg.  My mom was at my head telling me how strong I am and that she couldn't believe how I was doing it all natural and not even making a noise after 15 minutes of pushing she was here my contractions were still 7 minutes apart so I was pushing trough no contractions just to get her out. If I waited she would go back in so I tried with all my might she was taken to be cleaned off, Travis was allowed to cut her cord. Eloise weighted 7 lbs 11 ounces and was only 17 cm long. which was short for me and Travis as we both were 21 cm long when born. After that they gave me her to hold and do skin to skin  but all I really wanted to do was shower so I switched with Travis to do skin on skin and bond while I showered. 

    While in the shower Travis parents came in and his mom had my special caramel squares I had asked for  a double batch while in labor at her house so she surprised me with them. I was so happy when I got out of the shower to those. My best friend showed up to meet Eloise too while I showered . After I got out of the shower I was allowed to go into my private room and have visitors. Which was awesome because Eloise was only a half hour old and I was a natural at giving birth after that workout I was so hungry that I had Travis order Chinese. When my nurses changed shifts  the new nurse was impressed with me on how I was sitting in the bed Indian style eating Chinese only a hour after giving birth all natural and it was my first so its not like I had done all this before. We wanted to breastfeed so I was a little nervous the first time but Eloise was a pro she latched perfect the first time.  she was a latching natural and every time after that but she did favor the left boob for the first week a little more then the right.  We had tons of visitors. which kept us busy while in the hospital the two nights.

 I was excited to see nanny Thomas the next morning she had brought in banana bread she had baked me and some cookies and where it was a week away from Easter a gift for Eloise that was really cute bunny slippers and ears and lots of chocolate for me to enjoy. It was great to have everyone visit where I don't have to clean up after. When we got home we asked that no one visit for first few days except my mom came everyday and cleaned up and helped watch Eloise so that I could relax in the bath or eat. While Travis was at work he only got to spend the two night at hospital and one night home before heading back to work.

Adventure with Eloise at the Animal Land sculpture and nature park

I recently went on a drive to Sussex, New Brunswick with my best friend Cheyenne and Eloise. We were driving past Animaland sculpture and nature park and decided to stop and check it out. As a kid I always wished we could stop and see the park but it was closed. It's an abandoned park off the old highway now that the Trans Canada highway was rerouted back in the 1990's, it closed shortly after. I as a child never got to go but my mother has pics of her as a kid enjoying it, my mom, my aunt and Nana would go every summer.  After spending the afternoon in Sussex and it was still nice, we decided to stop by on way back. Our idea was to just take pics from the side of the fence on the highway. Well that did not last long. There was a trail beside the abandoned park, that is open to public, when eloise darted off under the fence. She wanted to see all the animals. Cheyenne and I decided why not jump the fence and enjoy this old park and take some photos. It was a very nice warm sunny day that we had no plans for the rest of the day so we took our time walking through and even took a few turns going down the slides that are sculptures one is a huge lobster and the other is octopus we did not go to far in or close to the buildings so we did not get to see the whole park or what is left of it but what we did see we enjoyed and got pictures of. I know what your thinking you took your two year old to break rules and trespass  but what is life without breaking some rules and having fun. Eloise very much enjoyed walking around seeing the sculptures and the slides she loved them had to do them more then once. Do not worry Cheyenne and I looked the slide over and tried them before we let eloise on or near them. This was an afternoon that I will remember, it was nice to see some of New Brunswick history. Who knows how long it will be around for, it could be torn down by next summer for all we know. I am very grateful to have been able to experience seeing and walking through this park, even if it is run down and abandoned.  Here are our pictures we took while exploring.

This is the sign well what is left of it.

 These two pictures taken from the other side of the fence it is what you see when driving past.

This next picture is the elephant you can see from the street when driving by and this big mushroom is hidden you can not see it from the street as there is a huge tree in front of it.

                                  

                    The octopus slide that Ellie enjoyed. You have to climb up in the middle of the structure their are holes to place your feet to climb up inside this cylinder to come out where the hole of the face is to be able to slide down. This slide worked well, if someone had the money to buy this place it could be fixed up and I bet people would go there eloise loved this slide she kept saying again and trying to climb up.

This is the lobster slide which was higher and harder to climb to get to the top to go down the slide and the slide was way steeper but it was so much fun eloise enjoyed climbing to get to the top.

This picture above is eloise sitting on top of  Blowhard ( the broken down race horse) this is the sculpture that is by the Animaland sign to attract guest. made in 1967 

Here is some info on the late Winston Bronnum was a prolific artist who created some of the more impressive community monuments in Canada.  His studio was called Animaland and was located near the Timberline Motor Inn and Restaurant in Sussex, NB. The Statue Blowhard  stood at the entrance of Animaland. He was largely self-taught and in his younger years worked on bridges and  hydro dams  the self taught apprentice advanced from little models of natural that progressed to life size reinforced in steel re-bar and wire meshed concrete, which this  allowed him to create his large community monuments. 

Winston passed away on September 10, 1991, in Sussex, NB. He was born and raised in New Denmark, NB. Winston in his early years would whittle horses and art into his wooden desk tops before leaving school in Grade 3 and returning to his family farm and the woods. He then upgraded his pen and knife to quality treasured wood carving chisels, in which he carved many different things.

So far, six have been identified. here are pictures taken off the internet of 5 of the  identified sculptures he made. besides blowhard who's picture is above with eloise sitting on him. I did not take these  last 5 pictures I found them on-line on a few different sites. Now we hope to visit some of these other monuments.

Potato

Maugerville, NB 1969

                                                                       Horse
                                                           St. John, NB 1967

Lobster

Shediac, NB 1991

Jumbo

St. Thomas, ON 1985

                                                                     Moose

                                                             Cow Bay, NS 1959

Tattoo

Well as most of you know recently I finally got a tattoo of my daughters name. It's been two years in the making I have been trying to decide what to get or how to get it I thought a graffiti type of lettering but I wanted it to be meaningful and have exactly Eloise's life/ personality. So with lots of thought I wrote down exactly what I wanted to be in her her name tattoo and called 4 different shops to set up an appointment to have them draw up a sketch. After going to my first appointment with heath at Pitbull Tattoos and piercing I told him what I was thinking and he said give me a couple days to come up with a sketch well then next afternoon got the call to come see it and  fell in love with it. It is exactly what I wanted it represents Eloise life fully. That day I booked my appointment for the following week on Friday  June the 13. I know what your thinking you booked a tattoo for Friday the 13 but its actually a good day for me I always have awesome luck when it comes to that day. So it was the big day I got eloise a babysitter at the last minute as plans fell through with her dad taking her and I was bound and determined I was going that day and would get my long awaited tattoo. My best friend Cheyenne drove me there It was a bunch of emotions running through my head  as I sat down and waited for heath to set everything up pick out colours and to get the stencil ready and in place. I was ecstatic to see the drawing one last time before it was permanently on my body. I was so anxious, overjoyed and appreciative that I was getting this tattoo finally and by a very good approachable guy that is an awesome artist. Here is a picture of my tattoo and I will explain the meaning of each letter as I have been asked many times since I got my tattoo what each letter stands for.

E- Done in puzzle pieces to represent that  Eloise has autism.


L- has flowers as eloise is known as our flower child

O- Is the breastfeeding sign eloise has been breastfeed since 5 minutes old and still going at 26 months old so that had to be in the tattoo I am very proud that I could do this and give her what is best.

I- Has music notes which stand for her love of music. The dot to the I is the Applecheeks symbol as you all know my love for this brand of cloth diapers, it was only right to have that in this tattoo, as eloise has spent most of her 26 months wearing this brand and spreading her love for the brand even when potty trained.

S- Done in the rainbow as some family members refer to her as my rainbow child

E- Puzzle pieces in the same colours as the autism awareness symbol

no mess sensory Painting

 This is a awesome sensory activity for kids  I found this on Pinterest and it works awesome. This activity kept my daughter occupied for hours / days. I left ours up for 3 weeks on my screen door so Eloise could use it when ever she wanted . It is also a great colour learning activity if you start off with primary colours then make more then one with two primary colours so one red and blue one, one red and yellow and one blue and yellow when children play with it they learn while its mixing that they make another colour. This is an activity that isn't messy unless your child rips open the bag.

What you will need:

Paint washable
 a zip lock bag your choice in size
duck tape

Instructions:

1)pour your choice of paint colour/colours into zip lock bag

2)seal zip lock bag

3)find a window or screen door low enough for your child

4) tape zip lock bag that is sealed to window or door with duck tape

5)let your child play with his or her hands to mix the paint and make a picture with her fingers