Addictive Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

A very seriously addictive and sugar-filled cookie. You can always omit one full cup of granulated sugar if you need to.

Addictive Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• ½ tsp. salt
• ½ cup butter or margarine
• ½ cup shortening
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 ½ tsp. vanilla extract
• 12-oz. package (2 cups) semisweet choc. Pieces
• 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

In a med. bowl, stir together flour, soda, salt and set aside.

In a large bowl, mix on med. speed with mixer, butter/margarine and shortening for 30 sec. Add brown sugar and granulated sugar and beat till fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Add dry ingredients to beaten mixture, beating till well blended. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts. Drop from a tsp. 2 in. apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake in a 375° oven for 8-10 min. Remove; cool.

Makes about 48 cookies (4-doz.)

Painter's Tape Stencil & Chalkboard Paint Label

After my first chalkboard paint project as seen here was complete, I had lots of paint left over and wanted to try something else with it. The old wooden caddy I found at a yard sale and knew my garden tools would fit perfectly. Since chalk is non-permanent, I won't take this outside but instead use the caddy to store the tools inside.

Here's how I did it:

Painter's Tape Stencil:

What you need:

1. A space to paint or something to cover your space with.

2. Chalkboard paint (see this post for details); painter's tape; Xacto knife; paint brush; stir stick and paint can opener. You'll also need a pencil.

3. (Optional) Hammer to close paint can; scissors.

4. A label template (see number 5); something to cut on that is transparent (I used the glass from a broken picture frame)

5. The template: I found this on Pinterest and picked one I liked.

Then I cropped it:

And stretched it in photo editing software because the caddy front is rectangular:

TIP: I used the editing software that came with my computer to stretch the image. There are lots of free websites you can use to accomplish this too.

The Steps:

1. Cover the glass with painter's tape:

Tape the template to the back so it can be traced onto the painter's tape:

2. Trace the template:

3. Cut out the template with your Xacto knife. I found holding it like a pencil worked for accuracy around the curves.

4. You could save the piece you cut out for something else. I threw mine away.

5. Square off the edges of the stencil.

6. VERY CAREFULLY peel the stencil off the glass, trying not to stretch the tape or it won't lay flat on what you're painting. Make sure the edges of the stencil are flat against the surface or paint will get behind the tape.

Chalkboard Paint Label:

1. Paint with you chalkboard paint and wait for it to dry. I waited until it was tacky for this particular item because I didn't want the tape to sit for too long and peel paint with removal. The tape did peel off some of the old paint on the caddy anyway.

2. You can save the stencil by sticking it to some wax paper and rolling it up. I held the roll together with a paperclip.

3. To write on the label, I made and printed this off of PicMonkey:

4. Lay a piece if chalk on its side and cover the back of the paper with chalk.

5. Trace with your pencil and fill in the letters if you like. There is also a product called Liquid Chalk Markers which gives a cleaner look.

The Five Year Age Gap

My kids are five years apart in age. They don't nap together (which would be adorable); they don't play together (ok, sometimes); and they don't colour together (yes, maybe sometimes). Usually when interactions happen between them, things go horribly wrong. For instance, at this moment they are playing in the living room and all I can see and hear is running around, yelling and toys flying. Jenna tries to help Jacob or has an idea about how to play with a toy, and the result is always yelling from someone who isn't cooperating with the other. Actually when I think of it, they get along better if they're apart from each other.

When Jacob was born, Jenna was already starting Sr. Kindergarten. Actually, about the day after I got home from the hospital with Jacob, she started school. That was a big upside at the time. It was like having one kid again (throughout the day anyway). But they never really had that chance to bond and spend time together. Jenna is away for most of the day for 9 months out of the year for school. And now that summer holidays are here, we're all having a rough time adjusting to each other's company.

Jenna was super interested in Jacob until he got mobile. Then he wanted her toys, and now he asks to play with her toys and usually just takes them. We still keep the actual "toy room" gated off because of all of those lovely Polly Pockets and Lego and My Little Pony Accessories. Jacob on occasion, still likes to taste non-edible things. Which reminds me of the time Jenna was almost 3 years old. A button had fallen off a dress and I made the mistake of leaving it laying around somewhere. Well, she swallowed it and it took 5 days to pass through. And I sewed it back on after. She wore the dress on her 3rd birthday. I still have the dress.

Jenna was mostly completely independent when Jacob was a newborn, which made looking after two kids so much easier. She would dress herself for bed while I got myself ready as well. I remember a time she dressed herself three nights in a row; I get the kids to change into clean socks and underwear before bed (less work in the morning). Jenna just put a new pair of socks over her old pair three nights in a row. I think it was winter time, so at least her feet were warm. Never a dull moment.

So because of their difference in age, they also have different agendas and different skill levels, which understandably makes play very difficult. Most of their play involves running and jumping around, rather than sitting quietly playing with toys, ie. active and exuberant kids. And they do obviously have different interests in toys; Jenna likes horses and Jacob likes tractors. Trying to meld the two interests together I've found doesn't always work.

So maybe having two kids with a big age gap isn't all that bad. Maybe I've made it out to be worse than it seems. For us, it wasn't planned that way at all - it would have been about three years difference if I hadn't had a traumatic miscarriage; and then another one after that plus there was the added mental and physical healing time after losing two pregnancies.

It can be rough at times, no matter if you have one child or four (!) or if they're 18 months apart (like me and my younger sister) or 12 years apart (like me and my younger brother). I still think though that if they were closer in age, they would be closer friends and get along better. But obviously there's no changing the way things have already turned out. Jacob will forever look up to his big sister and Jenna will always want to look out for her little brother, that I know for certain.

Yard Sale Flip

If you're lucky enough to find something at a yard sale that you already have an idea for, and one that is easy to work with, then you're already a step ahead. I was lucky this time. I found this galvanized pail at a yard sale and it had a design on one side, but nothing on the other side.
Lots of potential!

Here's my great find! (I'm in Canada and don't really have ties to the U.S.)

And the other side only had colour - no design.

You'll need to find, or make, a template for your stencil. I found this one here.

Cut out your template. You'll need some double sided tape and spray paint. I used Tremclad rust paint in flat black.

The tape needs to be as close to the edges as possible so the template sticks completely flat to the object you're painting, You may also have to find a substitute for double sided tape if what you're painting is delicate. I didn't find it too aggressive though. You could also try "de-sticking"? the tape by applying and removing the template to some clothing a few times.

Apply the template and smooth flat, making sure there are no air bubbles.

The spray paint covered very good. This Tremclad paint had primer in it too.

You should wait until it dries before removing the template. I sprayed too close the first time and I knew some paint dripped behind the template, so I wanted to remove it before it dried to try to fix it. Remember to not spray too close to start so you can get a feel for how the paint sprays out.

So it's not perfect and there is some smudging, but that's no big deal. To fix the paint that dripped behind the template, I scraped it with an Exacto knife. And because that scraped the original paint off too, I just made it part of the design all the way around.

And that's it. I'll probably leave it outside to use as a planter. If it rusts a little, it will just add to the look of the design.

When Your Child Can't Communicate

About a year ago Jacob was diagnosed with a speech delay. He was a little more than 2 years old at the time, and it was no surprise to me. I could have diagnosed him myself even before that. But I kept telling myself "He'll grow out of it. He's still learning....." and brushed it off. But daily life was one big horrible mess of a struggle. The frustration I could see in his face was enough to make me cry. And after putting all my energy into trying to figure out what he wanted, I would literally put my hands up and walk away. He would slump down on the floor with his head down. And I'll admit - I did a lot of yelling. Something else I'll admit - I gave him (and still give him) what he wanted (to a certain point). Because, when your child is almost 3 and he's still hitting speech and language milestones, and after you've exhausted yourself trying to figure out what he wants but he is finally able to "tell" you, you give it to him.

So when I brought this issue of a speech delay to my doctors attention, it was no surprise I was given a referral. A referral for a referral actually. Although I waited six months to finally start speech therapy (not really long from what I heard), there was me making phone calls and getting no return back, I had to attend an orientation session before I could even get Jacob's name on the list, and I found out that within my public health unit agency, a referral isn't necessary to start speech therapy. If a parent believes their child needs therapy, they only have to call and get on the waiting list. Jacob was born tongue tied, and I was told that was a warning sign of a speech delay and its recommended that parents start the process of speech therapy at birth. Another warning sign is premature birth or birth via emergency C-section. And the need for speech therapy has increased drastically over the years.

But I wonder why? Why are children speech delayed more than they used to be? I never really read to Jacob much when he was smaller (I do now because he uses it as a bedtime stall tactic!) But is that it? Parents just don't have time to sit and read to their children and instead sit them in front of the TV? When Jenna was little, I read to her all the time. She would get her board books out and look through them, that was her thing to do. Now she's one little chatter box and reads through small chapter books. It's a huge challenge to deal with one child who talks way, way too much, and one child where it's a fight to figure out what he wants. Don't get me wrong, Jacob is making leaps and bounds with his speech, but I am dealing with the extremes of two speech and language issues - one on either end of the spectrum. And it never fails, Jacob wants something and I'm trying to figure it out when Jenna comes in and starts telling me about a new idea she just got. Sometimes I feel like I'm in the middle of a room where a bomb just went off and there's just chaos but I still have the ringing in my ears - I can see what's going on but I can't process the sounds.

So back to speech therapy - complete waste of time. We actually missed the first four classes out of six for various reasons. And I know the kid is only 2, but if I wanted to play games with him to help him talk, I would do that at home, or take him somewhere where I can do that with him - and not wait six months to do so. And this was a totally new world to me; after having a first child with no speech issues, I didn't know where to start or what to do with Jacob. So what did I find that helped us with improving Jacob's speech? Music Together. Both my kids have always loved music (as most kids do), and Music Together has been such a wonderful experience for both of us and has helped Jacob's speech improve drastically. The instructors are educated in speech and language development. Music Together believes children teach themselves through imitation and play, through being immersed in their environment, and through every interaction with adults and older children. Here's the website. I am lucky enough that we have a local person that has a class close to our home that I can go to. Children newborn up to kindergarten can attend and most classes are filled with an assortment of children in those age groups. Jacob is active and does a lot of running around, and as long as the kids aren't going to hurt themselves, there's absolutely no requirement for the children to sit and sing the songs. But I have to say that by the end of the 10 week session, Jacob had his favourite songs that he would attempt to sing and do the actions to at home. Cutest thing ever.

Moving forward, we'll continue with Music Together in the Fall and I'll try to practice that thing called patience. Jacob is almost 3 and we are still proud and praising him for the new words he says. It's still like when you hear your 10 month old babble "Da Da" or "Ma Ma." You're so excited and go to grab the baby book to write it down. I can make the baby book last to age 3. Wait, I haven't even started Jacob's baby book yet........Sigh.