Pool Time

One of my favorite activities to do with our boys is let them explore in the wadding pool. They throw in rocks, make soup in buckets, play with toy boats and trucks. My oldest j particularly likes to turn on and off the hose learning the saying "lefty loosey righty tighty." J also learnt how when the hose is bend nothing comes out. It is a great way to spend the afternoon of course with multiple applications of sunscreen, they have a great adventure and I treasure the gift of watching the expression of joy on their faces.

 Here are a few pictures form our adventure.

L not sure if he wants to get in but likes to play with the boats.

Splashing each other

L out of the way as J splashes

Look I can splash too

J jumps in

L finally gets in the pool

Gratitude

continuation of our gratitude journal

#8 brothers playing cars together
#9 text messages saying thank-you
#10 a dinner that everyone loves Pizza Rolls
#11 an urban trail ride with my kids.

more to come

Pizza Rolls

Pizza Rolls

 I was at a scrap-booking event a few weeks ago and we had a potluck, one woman brought pizza rolls which were absolutely amazing. They were small like muffins and she had made them the night before and reheated them for the event. I thought that the would be great for the boys lunches and easy to make.  She gave me verbal run down of the recipe and I couldn't find one online but I think I nailed it, my hubby and the boys love them huge success!





Pizza rolls are made with a similar technique to cinnamon buns but with pizza dough and pizza fillings.You start by making pizza dough, I use a simple quick rise yeast dough

2 1/2 cups  flour
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp Yeast
2 tsp sugar
1 cup warm water (not boiling you will kill the yeast)
1/4 oil

First mix dry ingredients together in a large bowl to allow for doubling in size with the rise.  Then mix the water and oil together and add to the dry ingredients. Mix together just untill all the flour is mixed in.  Cover with a dish towel and let the yeast work for 20 min.  The dough should double in size. Squish out the air and roll out a rectangular pizza

Bellow are a mix of pictures using a whole wheat dough I got at Deluca's Italian grocery store in Winnipeg, and some using my dough.

I liked the consistence in size I got rolling the dough with a rolling pin you could do it with you hands

You need the dough rectangle to be about 8 inches wide then length doesn't mater as it just determines how many rolls you get. you want the dough to be 1/2 cm thick (I am Canadian). with half the dough recipie I can get mine the length of a standard cookie sheet.

next step is to get you favorite pizza topping ready, I used PC 4 cheese pasta sauce, chorizo sausage, smoked turkey and yellow orange and red peppers so J & L get there veggies, topped with mozzarella cheese.

My toppings

spreading sauce

next comes the meat

roll the pizza

Then peppers and cheese.

Slice 2 1/2 cm thick 

The slicing part gets a little messy as you slice you transfer the rolls in to a muffin tin, after a bit of experimenting I find that the individual silicon muffin cups on a cookie sheet work best (I don't have a picture showing this) if you use a metal muffin tin make sure it is not stick or well greased, I used Wilton cake release and it worked wonderful..  Remember it is OK if some of the filling comes off just put what fell off on top of the roll and when the cheese bubbles up it you will never know.
Bake at 425F for 25 min. or until golden on top.

Rolls in a silicon muffin tin.

Finished product

Hope your family enjoys this recipe as much as mine did!

Gratitude journal

We are starting a gratitude journal inspired by Ann Voskamp's book:  One thousand gifts: a dare to live fully right where you are. I first red this book last summer when I need a little more pep in my step, and started a gratitude journal as a result. That journal turned out to be a very helpful tool to overcoming a hard time in my life being thankful and expressing that both in word and out loud made me respect life in a different way, I  found that it was very inspiring.

So I challenged my husband to Ann's Joy Dare,"because saying thank you can change the world". We are going to find at least three things to be thankful for for the rest of the year in the aim to get to one Thousand gifts.

So here is the Hill family's gratitude journal,

Thank you 

#1 the satisfaction of finishing hard jobs at work
#2 the shadows of friends on a summers day walk





































#3 images of a father and son playing hockey upon arriving home
#4 "playing hockey with daddy" J age 4.5
#5 slow cookers and the smell of  southwest chicken filling the house
#6 the joy shared in sharing baby names at birth
#7 special moments shared with co-workers

stay tuned for more.

Intro

My Name is Jessica and I am a mother of two wonderful amazing boys!  J my oldest, age 4.5 and L my youngest age 1.5. We live in Winnipeg Manitoba Canada and our hometown is nicknamed "Winterpeg" for its cold and snowy winters. I am a part time Maternity/Child Nurse and stay at home mom. This is my first blog to share my journey in parenting, time management and the ongoing adventures of life raising boys .

a nice family pic

family fun camping may long