Minneapolis Trip - Part I

Since I get so many questions about our recent trip to Minneapolis, I thought I would share it with all of you. I will break it down into 3 parts so as to not overwhelm you (or the blog) with too much information or pictures.
So, day one saw us travelling. Really, with the bags of fun activities and the portable DVD player, they travelled really well. I was a little miffed when they pulled us over at the border to do a more complete inspection. Except they didn't. See, you go through customs, answer the normal questions, and, if all goes as planned, you are on your way. NOOO. They wanted us to pull over to really big garage door number 1 and wait. Once they indicated we were to come in, we drove in and turned off the vehicle. They asked us to exit the vehicle, taking our purse and wallet with us. Usually all occupants are supposed to exit so they can search every little corner for . . . stuff. I asked if all the kids had to get out too. They asked how many. We said 5. She then said, in a voice of complete surprise and disbelief, "John, they have 5 kids in there!" Uh, ya, that's what we said when we came. That's why you are holding 5 birth certificates in your hand! Then John, in all his wisdom, asks if they are all buckled in. Ummm. No. We don't use safety measures like seat belts. Their lives aren't that precious to us. Duhhhh! Of course they are buckled in! So, they said they could stay. They opened the side door just so the kids could see us and not freak out. They asked Jay to empty his pockets and asked to look into my purse. They did not. Not once. Look in the van. The van that was packed full. They did not open the back of the van. They did not look in the car top carrier. I ask you - WHAT WAS THE POINT????? If I was going to smuggle something, would I do it in my purse??!! So, after about a 15 minute delay of sheer nonsense, we were on our way. I was a little ticked. What a complete waste of time! The drive down (which is about a 7ish hour drive without kids) was uneventful. We made sure to stop frequently to stretch legs, to eat, and to ensure no potty accidents happened. We arrived at the hotel at about 6:30pm, unpacked, then headed out for supper. It was good to finally arrive at the hotel, turn on the TV and just veg!

Day 2 - Tuesday.

After eating breakfast, we headed to the Underwater Adventures Aquarium at the Mall of America. (One little tip for you travellers - if you know what places you want to go to ahead of time, take the time to search the web for coupons! I found many great coupons that saved us well over $50! Also, don't just take the first coupon you find as they are not all the same!) The kids loved seeing all the swimming creatures including sharks and rays, jelly fish, turtles, sea horses and all kinds of other colorful fish! You walk through this tunnel and the fish are on both sides of you and above you so you get to see all different angles of them. Really cool to see the underside of a ray!!

See that creature in the corner? It is a really, really huge old turtle! He was massive! His name is Brutus and he is an Alligator Snapping Turtle.

I love this picture of Ali pointing! It was so fun to see them look at everything. They really loved being there!

The jelly fish are super cool to watch. I first saw a jelly fish exhibit at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California a number years ago so I knew the kids would love it! I love this photo of them!

Sea horses! So. Cool. I love the crazy cool fact that male sea horses give birth to the babies! Our Creator God makes such wonderful creatures!

After the aquarium, we waited FOREVER to get in at the Rainforest Cafe in the mall. We were told to eat there (and I had a coupon) so we did. It was a fun environment but the kids weren't too keen on the fake thunder and lightning storms. RJ is really sensitive to actual storms, calling the thunder and lightning "blinks and booms" so she was especially scared. But, when we explained someone was flicking the lights and it was just fake thunder, she was okay. By the third "storm" she completely ignored it (I wish it would have cured her fear of real storms - alas, it has not!).

After the meal, we wandered a very little bit in the mall checking out Lego Land. The boys love lego so this was especially for them!

Then it was back to the hotel for some sleep for the little ones and swimming for the bigger ones. Since I was not allowed to do any shopping at the mall earlier in the day, Jay took us back there after naps so I could do some shopping in stores that appealed to me! I bought a cute necklace at Francesca's then some "boudoir wear" (wink, wink) at Frederick's of Hollywood. I love lingerie and lingerie stores! And Jay is totally supportive of me shopping at them! 'Nuff said!

Finally, we ate a late supper at IHOP! I would encourage you, if you have young children, to check out mykidseatfree.com where you can find different restaurants that have a "Kids Eat Free" night. I was sure to do this before our vacation so I knew which restaurants to go to on which night. I always love a good breakfast and the kids love pancakes so this restaurant was really loved by all of us. And, the kids ate free!

Day 3 - Wednesday

Ah, Wednesday. The day of the Minnesota Zoo. I think we picked the hottest day of the week to go, it was so very hot! But we were really looking forward to all the animals we would see! And we were not disappointed! It was nice to go from the hot outdoors to air conditioned comfort inside when needed and still find plenty of animals to view. Some of our favorite things to see:

Camels swimming. This just seemed wierd to me. Shouldn't they be trudging through a desert?

A bird show with various different birds.

Seeing the baby dolphin that was born just 4 days earlier! (Photo courtesy of Minnesota Zoo)

More large underwater creatures.

A beaver who seemed to love the attention (Ali really loved the beaver!)

A baby who tried so hard to fight sleep but eventually succumbed!

And a big beautiful bald eagle.

This day really wore us out due to the heat so we spent the rest of the day at the hotel either sleeping or swimming. So, that was the first three days!

GrandStay Residential Suites Hotel in Apple Valley, MN - A Review

We made it back home after 8 days and 7 nights at the GrandStay Residential Suites Hotel in Apple Valley, MN and what a grand stay it was! Upon arrival at the hotel, the staff was friendly and helpful in getting us checked in. We loaded up our luggage, took the elevator up to the 3rd floor and found 313 - our home for the next week. When we opened the door we were pleasantly surprised at the amount of space a 2 bedroom queen suite afforded us. And this was after knowing the floor plan of the room ahead of time!

The one bedroom was quite large and had plenty of space for a play pen. Actually, it would have space for at least 2 playpens in addition to the queen bed that was already there, the flat panel TV and the chest of drawers. Admittedly, the TV was a bit small but we are no TV snobs and it was just fine for us. This became the girl's room. It was bright and sunny thanks to the 2 windows but was nice and dark at night given the room darkening curtains.


The other bedroom with queen bed was much smaller, had the same flat panel TV and chest of drawers, and was perfect for the two of us. After all, how much room do we really need? It also had a window and the same room darkening curtains.


The "great room", as they call it, had a sleeper sofa, a wingback chair, a larger TV and DVD player in an armoire, a closet, the full fridge with freezer (which has an ice maker), a dishwasher, a two-burner stove, a small table/desk with two chairs, dinnerware for 4 including large and small plates, mugs, tumblers and silverware, a can opener, a bottle opener, a glass measuring cup, a long handled plastic lifter and spoon, a medium-sized plastic bowl, a medium-sized pot and pan, hot pads, tea towel and dish cloth, soap for both washing dishes by hand and in the dishwasher, paper towels, a two-slice toaster and a coffee maker plus plenty of cupboard space to hold all the dishes plus any food you need to store.


The sleeper sofa was the boy's bed for the week. This room also had a window with room darkening curtains so the whole suite was bright and sunny. The bathroom was a little larger than other hotels I have visited and came with the typical tub/shower, toilet, and sink on a large vanity plus the promised Bath & Body Works products!


Usually I find hotel rooms hot and dry thanks to inadequate heating/cooling needs. This one was not like that at all. The suite came with its own furnace/AC system so controlling the temperature was easy, effective and very quiet. It sounded just like the system at home and we were able to sleep in cool comfort. The complimentary breakfast served from 6am-10am daily was large and afforded a nice selection. There were various cereals in self-serve bowls, bagels and bread, pastries and donuts, muffins, batter to make waffles on the two waffle makers, hardboiled eggs ready to eat (no peeling shells), yogourt, fresh fruit, and biscuits with egg and sausage. Apple juice, orange juice, milk, coffee and tea were the beverages available. A couple of highchairs and booster seats were available for use and though we couldn't always sit together at a table for breakfast (the largest tables seat 4 people), we were always able to sit somewhere in the large breakfast area that including a couch, some side chairs, a coffee table, and a large flat panel TV on the wall. I read from others that the pool was small and they were correct. It is quite small with a maximum capacity of 17 people and the hot tub is listed as holding 3 (we obviously ignored that!). But, for us, smaller is better. It is so much easier to keep an eye on the kids if they are close by. We could always see them no matter where they went in the pool area and with 5 kids, aged 1-7, that is very important to us! Overall, the hotel was excellent, a five star rating in my opinion. It was clean, quiet, the staff were friendly and helpful, the hotel is fairly new and completely non-smoking! It is located just minutes away from lots of shopping possibilities like Super Target, Bed, Bath and Beyond, Kohl's, Menards and Home Depot, about 10 miles from the Mall of America and Ikea and about 10 miles from the Minnesota Zoo. There are plenty of restaurants close by to choose from including one right in the hotel. For being so close to so many things, it is very quiet with no street traffic noise. Would we recommend this hotel to others? Absolutely! Would we stay at this hotel again? Most definately! So if you are contemplating visiting the Minneapolis area, check out the GrandStay Residential Suites Hotel in Apple Valley - you will not be disappointed!

(And, no, I was not paid to write this - I just thought you would like to know!!)

Kids Quotes

Heard as I was on my way out the door for a meeting:

RJ: Mom, I want to come with you!
Me: I am sorry, honey, you can't. This meeting is only for adults.
RJ: You are not an adult.
Me: I am not an adult?
Jay: No, she's a foxy lady!
RJ: No, you are just a mom!

Well, now I know!

Messenger Bags in Shades of Pink and Brown

I have about a million things to do before we leave next week for our Minneapolis vacation. Some of those things include cleaning (so the kind neighbour checking in on the place doesn't die from a heart attack at the mess that ensues around here), laundry (so we actually have clean clothes to wear while we are gone), making jam (yeah, not related to the trip but 27 jars is quite a feast - Bluebarb, Triple Berry and Carmine Jewel Cherry Jelly with some Raspberry to go), making cheesecake (for our homeschool co-op meeting tomorrow), cleaning out the van, packing, paperwork, attending my 10 year college reunion this weekend, having a photo shoot for a farming magazine, etc, etc, etc. While I was making this never ending list of things that need to be completed, I decided to add some sewing in there! By now you should know that I like to keep busy. Maybe a little too busy! Anyhow, here are the messenger bags I made for the girls. They needed a trip bag, a bag full of new (at least to them), fun and wonderful things to keep them entertained on the 7-8 hour van ride. I bought a kit a long time ago, sometime last year, and the kit contained all the fabric needed to make these two bags (or a wall hanging, a mini quilt or a pillow cover). I love how they turned out! Which one is your favorite? I am still trying to figure out mine!

Happy Birthday, My Love!

Yesterday we celebrated the 34th birthday of the love of my life, my constant and steady love, my dearest husband, Jason! I am so thankful the Lord chose to make him and that He chose to bring him into my life! Jason is the steady and constant one in this crazy family. (You may not know it but I am the emotional up and down energetic one! When we were engaged, my mom said he was the piece of wood that I would bounce up and down on!) Some of the things that I love so much about him:

• the way he can be content with so little


• the way he can walk up to a complete stranger, engage them in a conversation and make them feel like they are important


• the way he makes me feel beautiful no matter how ugly I feel


• his gorgeous smile


• the way he makes us laugh


• the way he loves our kids and plays with them


• the way he loves me

I could go on and on but . . . well, you get the point! I asked him if he wanted to go out or have me make one of his favorite meals - he opted to stay in so I made curried chicken, something he loves! And, for dessert, I made this beauty - White Chocolate Strawberry Cheesecake. Jay loves fruit and white chocolate and cheesecake so this was the perfect combination. (Recipe at end of post).

Finally, though it was Jay's birthday, he bought me a gift. Okay, so I might have indicated in a very subtle way that I would really like this but the fact is that he bought it! It will look splendid in the new house but we are enjoying it just the same here. The kids have spent hours on it and when they allow it, I enjoy it too! And, no, this picture is not of my house (though I really do like that zebra rug!).

WHITE CHOCOLATE STRAWBERRY CHEESECAKE

5/8 cup graham cracker crumbs

1/3 cup butter, melted

1/4 cup ground almonds

3 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, softened

1 (14 oz, 300mL) sweetened condensed milk

3 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

6 squares white chocolate, melted

1 cup strawberry puree

1. Preheat oven to 300F. Combine crumbs, ground almonds and melted butter and press into the bottom of a 9" springform pan. Set aside.
2. With mixer, beat cream cheese in large bowl until fluffy. Gradually beat in sweetened condensed milk until smooth. Add eggs one at a time, add vanilla; mix well. Add melted white chocolate and mix again. Divide the batter equally in two separate bowls. Stir the strawberry puree in one of them. Pour a little amount of the white chocolate batter over prepared crust, followed by the strawberry batter. Keep repeating this step till both batters are finished. With table knife or metal spatula, gently swirl strawberry batter through white chocolate batter to marble.
3. Wrap the pan with foil paper and bake in a water bath for 1 hour 20 minutes or until set. Turn off oven. Cool in oven with door ajar. Chill at least 3 hours or overnight. Garnish as desired. Store leftovers covered in refrigerator.

Chantelle's notes:

* The original recipe had some of the measurements as cups and some as grams. I made the appropriate conversions where necessary.

* I made my own strawberry puree by taking fresh strawberries and pureeing them in a blender, adding a little water for ease of mixing, then straining out the seeds. I also added a couple of drops of strawberry extract to up the strawberry flavor. Next time I would add a couple drops of red food coloring to up the pink color.

* The original recipe called for 100 grams of white chocolate. I upped that to 6 squares (1 box) as indicated in the recipe.

* I never wrap my pans in foil or bake them in a water bath. My cheesecakes still turn out wonderfully. It is your choice.

Potty Training Success!

On June 22 (2 weeks ago), I decided it was time to potty train almost 3 year-old Ali. I had actually thought about doing it way earlier, like in winter, but decided summer was a better time with dresses and shorts and she could comfortable run around in underwear if necessary. I was trying to cut down on all the laundry I would have to do when she would frequently wet herself. Turns out, I need not have worried. That little lady was a big girl in hiding! On day one, she wet herself once, day two she wet herself once. I think she has been dry every day since! By day three, I was no longer using a timer and she was coming in from playing outside on her own to use the bathroom. Unbelievable! None of my other kids were that easy to train! Not only has she been dry during the day, she is waking up dry at night. Not once, ever, did she wake up with a dry diaper previous to this. Now she is dry at night! However, her being dry at night is causing a lot of tears on the part of big sister RJ because she is still not consistently dry at night. Actually, before training Ali, RJ was always wet at night. Now she will be dry for a couple of nights, then wet a couple, etc. I am really hoping that when we go to Minneapolis in about 2 weeks, I will only have to bring diapers along for baby girl Ari.

So, what is our technique for potty training success? Well, I have used the same method for all the kids and this is what works for me.

• First, you put out the potty a long while before you are planning to train. Get them used to it. Let them sit on it whenever they want. If they pee in it, great! If not, no big deal. You are just getting them used to it and letting them explore it. Our potty has sat out for a long while already and she would come and pee on it every once in a while. We weren't pushing anything.


• Pick a day when you are going to start the training and tell the little trainee all about it. Let him/her know what day it will be and make a big deal of it. Choose a day when you will be home all day. Ideally, choose a weekend when you will be home all weekend. Training a child to use a washroom while you are busy running around from here to there is asking for trouble! I usually wait until the child is at least 2 years old (obviously with Ali I waited longer than that - I didn't feel like training her when she turned 2) because success requires a little less work.


• Gather your supplies. You will need training underwear (it is thicker and contains pees a little better than normal underwear), a timer, a potty chart, lots of fun stickers, a basket of books and some Smarties.

On the morning of the first day of training, put underwear on the child, take them to the potty and let them sit for no more than 5 minutes. You don't want them to hate the potty by banishing them to it all day! Read a book to them from the book basket. If they are successful in peeing, whoop and holler, clap your hands and make a big production about how great it is they peed in the potty! Allow them to choose a sticker to put on the chart. Set the timer for 30 minutes. When the timer beeps, repeat the process. If they do a larger job in the potty, whoop and holler, make a big celebration, give them a sticker and 3 Smarties. Set the timer and repeat the process.

Now, about the timer. Some children have larger bladders and pee less frequently. You know your child - adjust the timer accordingly. Some of my kids went pee every 15 minutes when they were training. Ali could go at least an hour, if not more.

If the child wets themselves, don't punish them. Don't get mad at them. Just clean it up. They feel bad already - don't make them feel worse. Most certainly don't call them a bad child for wetting themselves. They are just learning and their self-worth should not be tied to whether or not they can pee on the toilet (this is speaking from experience!). Remember, some days will be better, some will be worse. If you wait until the child is a little older, like I did with Ali (she will be 3 in August), the training will be that much easier. So, you can either fight the battle when they are younger or wait a bit longer and see how much easier it is. Your choice!

Some people give their trainees a lot to drink to encourage the peeing - never worked for me. Some people give the trainee special underwear, like Buzz Lightyear or Princess, as incentive for staying dry. Never worked for me. Some people use pull-ups during the day instead of underwear so there is less to clean up in the case of an accident. Just so you know, kids are smart. They see it is a glorified diaper and peeing in it makes no difference to them. Skip the pull-ups and use the underwear. It works better (in my opinion). Actually, the same is true at night. My oldest son, when he was training, kept calling the pull-up a diaper. We decided to go straight to underwear at night (which meant washing wet sheets) and after 2 wet nights, he stayed dry. I guess I should try the same thing with RJ!! Some people make the child use a potty seat on the toilet instead of a potty on the floor - your choice but my kids couldn't get down from the seat afterwards. So, for us it is a potty on the floor.

Now you know how I have successfully trained 4 of my kids (yikes, that means only one left in diapers! Yippee! Though that makes me a little sad because I do so love those itty bitty babies!). Best of luck to you! And remember this, they will eventually learn how to use a toilet - all successful business men and women, all mothers and fathers, know how to use the bathroom. And your little one will learn,too!

I Installed a "New" Toilet & Sink

Remember at our new country property there is a house trailer? Well, it is not in the greatest condition and I find it a bit gross. Creepy. We haven't had the water hooked up until last week so everything was getting dirtier and everything that was dirty had yet to be cleaned. Now, we have no intention of living in the house trailer. Not that I am opposed to house trailers - my parents lived in one for 6 years when they managed a Bible Camp down in Minnesota and I lived with them for 1 year. However, this house trailer is in need of a lot of loving and there is no way 7 of us could fit in there! Anyway, the bathroom is used often everytime we go out there to do some work. It was a gross bathroom. I told the kids not to touch anything as I was afraid they would get sick. Granted a lot of bleach might have made it somewhat more acceptable. However, the float in the toilet was broken so it ran all the time and the tap in the tub never turns off so it is always running water. The sink was rusty. I wanted new fixtures so I got new fixtures. Well, new to me. We bought a sink ($10) and a toilet ($25) at the local MCC store and I was determined to replace them myself. I googled how to do it (check out this link, this link, and this one) gathered my supplies and set about the job. I figured if something went wrong it wasn't such a big deal. No one was needing the bathroom for a few days!

Here is what the toilet looked like before. A beauty, isn't she? I just love the green and turquoise combination! (Check out that wallpaper and vinyl flooring!)

I removed the tank

then the toilet bowl!

I replaced the bowl with a "new" white one

and a matching white tank!

Isn't she so pretty (check out that fantastic silicone job at the base of it!) Now, truth be told, I have taken off and replaced that tank about 8 times. And I have to do it one more time. It kept leaking! Just a little note: if you are replacing a toilet with another used toilet, be sure to buy a new spud gasket and new tank-to-bowl bolts rather than reusing the old. It will make a world of a difference, you won't be mopping up water continually and nothing will leak. I bought a new spud gasket (in case you are wondering, it is the large "washer" that goes between the tank and the bowl) but apparently I should have chosen a different kind. After talking with my dad (who, incidentally, is a plumber!) I know which gasket to buy to solve the very minor leaking that occurs only when the toilet is flushed. You may be wondering why I didn't get my dad to do this job. Well, he is extremely busy for starters but come on! Not much of a DIY project if my dad does it, now is it? :) If you know me at all, you know I love to do things by myself! I wanted to figure it out and I did! I am extremely proud of myself (and, contrary to some of the tutorials, it most certainly does not take 5-6 hours - maybe 1 1/2 hours!). While I was at it, I also replaced the bathroom sink with a "new" white one that already had a shiny set of taps on it! I didn't bring the camera with me so no pictures of it. Just know that the green sink and green toilet were a match! I had to replace the pop-up drain assembly on the "new" sink, take out the old sink and put in the new. It all worked on the first try! So, with a coat of paint that I bought at MCC as well for the walls and the vanity, the bathroom will go from green and gross to quite acceptable. And I learned how to install a toilet and sink in the process (which, by the way, is very easy! If you can follow simple instructions, you can do it, too!)