Blessings

It has been soooo long since I have last blogged! 

What's new in the Jagger world you ask? Well, I now have no appendix and I am 5 months pregnant with baby #4! It has been an eventful few months, that's for sure. 

Now that things are settling down I wanted to return to the world of blogging by sharing a quote that I found that I love so much...

"My greatest blessings in this life call me Mom!"

Nolan's Birdfeeder

This morning Nolan made a birdfeeder...

Here's how:

• Find a pinecone. In the winter they are wet and kind of sad looking but once they dry out in the house, they open up and look normal again.
• Buy some birdseed. We bought a big bag at the dollarstore.
• Tie a string to the top of the pinecone. We used yarn. Make sure it is long enough to tie to a tree branch. 
• Coat the pinecone with peanut butter. I found it didnt have to be very thick.
• Sprinkle birdseed onto peanutbutter. We did this but then rolled the pinecone in a small pile of birdseed to get any places we missed. You may have to push the birdseed into the peanut butter to make sure it sticks well. 
• Hang outside for the birds!

Recipe Marathon

We were invited out to a friends for supper last week. I happened to notice this nice, organized recipe binder on my friends counter. All her recipes were printed up on nice paper and the binder was organized into sections based on what the recipes made. I decided that evening that I was going to make one of those myself...


Though I have great intentions I quickly realized what a big task this would be. Besides my dozen or so recipe books, I have a recipe box. In this recipe box are recipes that I have been handwriting on recipe cards since I was... oh... twelve maybe! 

The box contains a recipe, or two, for just about any dish/drink/dessert under the sun. The problem is that I have maybe actually made FIVE of these recipes over the last two decades... and typing them up would be a VERY BIG job when I don't even know if they are any good!

As a solution to this problem, this week I have started my Recipe Marathon! My rule is that in order for a recipe to make it into my typed, fancy recipe binder I need to cook it first for my family and we actually have to LIKE it! 

This week I have made Mashed Potato and Ham Casserole and Chunky Beef and Pork Chili. The first made the cut, the later not so much. It may be a long road to the finished product but we will get to try lots of new dishes along the way!

Valentines Day

In the past we have not really cared to celebrate Valentines Day.

We have felt that it is an over-commercialized day 

centered around love when we should show the ones

we care about how much we love them every day.

This year, however, we have been making it a goal to teach our children

more family-centered values. How important it is to spend time together, 

to celebrate together, to go through life together. We have also been looking

at how what we do as parents will directly influence the future values

 that our boys will instill into their own families some day.

Our youth pastor, Jon Dixon, said it perfectly: 

"Dads: Valentines Day may be just another day, but think about it this way... use the day [and everyday!] to show your boys how they should treat women as they watch how you treat their mom; and to show your girls how guys should treat them as they watch how you treat their mom and how you treat them!"

So this year we chose to celebrate Valentines Day!

Liam, our self proclaimed Valentines Day King!

Heart shaped toast for breakfast.

Ephriam was very excited about the toast!

Nolan with his Valentines Day mail box.

Ephriam's Valentine.

Joyful (and Busy) January!

January was a very busy month for the Jagger family. I had been thinking this but then I realized it even more so when I looked at my last post and it was dated nearly a month ago. Yikes!

Three out of four weekends in January were packed full. 

January 14th and 15th we went to Yarmouth. It was such a great weekend (and I forgot my camera). Lots of family and friends to catch up with as we had not been home in awhile.

January 21st was our ~Housewarming Party~. There is nothing I love more than a house full of friends, laughter, food and conversation.

For our guest book I had pieces of card stock and asked everyone to write their names on it, plus any comments they wished (best wishes only!). I also took family photos of all the guests in attendance. Some day (when I have free time again) I will make a New Home scrapbook and the "guest book" with the photos and the comments will be part of it.

Finally, on January 28th we had a Belated Surprise Birthday Party for Liam (7)and Nolan (5). Their birthdays are Boxing Day and Christmas Eve which is an impossibe time for a birthday party. They thought we had forgotten about them and that they weren't going to get a party but SURPRISE!!! They were thrilled (though Liam was in shock for a good half of the party).

I really enjoyed busy January and am looking forward to the adventures that February will bring for our family!

Fridge Madness

One wise piece of advice I have read about is cleaning out the fridge the day before you get groceries. This allows you to throw out the old and make room for the new and it prevents food from sitting in your fridge unused and decomposing forever. I do not practice this organization technique but after meal planning for the week and knowing groceries are in the near future I decided today was the day to start!

I took every single thing out of the fridge, shelves included. I scrubbed the shelves and the interior of the fridge with hot soapy water that I had added a bit of baking soda to.

These are all of the things that were on the shelves of fridge (notice the three BBQ sauce):

This is what I chose to throw out:

That sure is a lot of unnecessary stuff cluttering my fridge (and some of it was nasty).

I had put of the task for far too long but now I am thrilled to have it done.

Clutter equals visual chaos, fridge included!!!

Here are the clean fridge pictures:

Next, the freezer...

Nursery: Before and After

Our first "Before and After" pictures of our home at 99 Minas Crescent.

This room was originally coined "The Sponge Bob Room" when we first moved in:

Now it is Ephriam's beautiful nursery:

Cabbage Roll Casserole

2 lbs ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
1 680 ml can Hunts tomato sauce
1/2 head of cabbage
2 cups uncooked instant rice
1 900 ml box Campbells beef broth


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Bring a pot of water to a boil and submerge cabbage. As the cabbage cooks, the leaves soften. Peel them off using a fork. (I boil the cabbage until the outer half of the leaves has softened and come off). 
3. Chop the softened cabbage leaves.
4. In a large skillet, cook ground beef and chopped onion until there is no red left in the ground beef.
5. Mix the tomato sauce, beef and onion, beef broth and uncooked rice in a bowl. At this time I also add a bit of nutmeg, garlic powder, salt and pepper (about a tsp of each).
6. Put in baking dishes. This recipe fills a 9x13 and an 8x8 pan.
7. Cook for 1 hour covered. Uncover, stir then cook uncovered for another 15-30 minutes (keep an eye on it so it doesn't dry out).


Enjoy!

My Motivation

As part of being INTENTIONAL in 2012 I am starting the year off by working through the book:  31 Days to Clean: Having a Mary House the Martha Way (Sarah Mae)

Seeing as I am bound to fail doing a chapter a day (because my life definitely doesn't have room for that) I am tacking about two chapters a week.

The first chapter reflects on WHY you want a clean home. It states that if you can name your purpose then you will be able to remind yourself day in and day out WHY you are  spending time on the mundane things that never seem to stay accomplished.

The first task of the book is to write a mission statement that you can reflect upon and that will become your motivation. My mission statement, which will be displayed above my stove, consists of a quote and a bible verse.

I am thankful for a lawn that needs mowing, 

windows that need cleaning, and gutters

that need fixing because it means I have a home...

I am thankful for the piles of laundry and ironing

because it means that my loved ones are nearby.

"Young women are to be self-controlled and pure,

be busy at home, be kind, and to be subject to their 

husbands so that no one will malign the word of God."

Titus 2:5

This is my motivation! What is yours? 

2012: 30 Things To Do the Year I Turn 30

My "word" for this year is INTENTIONAL. I want to be intentional in how I raise my children and contribute to my marriage. I want to be intentional about making healthy lifestyle changes for both me and my family. I want to be intentional about living life to the best of my ability, not just getting by day to day. I want to be intentional in my relationship with Jesus.

I also happen to be turning the big 3-0 this year. So 2012 is a mixture of the last year of my 20's and the first year of my 30's. In keeping with my "living intentionally" theme, I have decided to compose a list...

30 Things to Do the Year I Turn 30 

1. Run a 5 km race.

2. Read 12 books - one a month. 

3. Make all of the Christmas gifts for my extended family.

4. Volunteer in a soup kitchen.

5. Learn how to bake a pie from scratch.

6. Go white water rafting.

7. Go to Toronto.

8. Take Liam on a "Mommy and Me" mini vacation.

9. Same with Nolan.

10. And Ephriam.

11. Attend a Christian Women's Retreat.

12. Visit Bristol, New Brunswick - where I spent my grade 12 year.

13. Learn how to crochet.

14. Hike Cape Split.

15. Volunteer at the SPCA (with Liam!).

16. Go horseback riding.

17. Fly a kite.

18. Go to a Neptune Theatre performance.

19. Give blood.

20. Organize and participate in a progressive dinner.

21. Go for one month (or longer!) without eating at a restaurant.

22. Plant a vegetable garden.

23. Donate my hair to Locks of Love.

24. Go fishing.

25. Go to an IMAX movie.

26. Learn to play chess.

27. Take my family to a 'Family Camp'.

28. Get a manicure and pedicure.

29. Learn to make Rappie Pie.

30. Read the New Testament.

Let the goal-reaching begin!