Surviving Winter: February Fun

January felt like a looong month. It always does, but in particular, this winter has been brutally cold. Our dog is depressed, our girls have cabin fever, and we're drooling over vacation catalogues. Alas, no warm vacation for us this year, as we blew that budget in 2013. So 2014 will be a stay-cation kind of year, with a week of family camping thrown in for fun.

Camping in August is a long way off, though, so I'm trying to come up with ways to make February a Fantabulous Month! Here are some ideas we have for making it through until March:

1. Create an indoor "park" - we'll set up cushions to make slides, and our rocking chair will serve as a swing. We might get really brave and create an indoor sand box!

2. Make homemade pina coladas (virgin for the wee ones, but a splash of rum for the adults!), and decorate them with fun drink umbrellas. Play Bob Marley while drinking the coladas.

3. Build a quinzee! Find the courage to sleep in there overnight? (highly unlikely)

4. Take part in all things Winterlude, and eat a copious amount of Beaver Tails.

5. Indulge in a warm, comforting meal with my partner to celebrate Valentine's Day - we're thinking tacos at El Camino!

6. Pull out the seed catalogues, and make 2014 garden plans. Can't wait to try new vegetables we've never grown before, including potatoes, onions and strawberries.

7. Welcome family guests to come check out the Capital in full winter swing! Which means extra play partners for the girls, and a chance for hubby and I to  escape for #5.

8. Declare Family Day to be annual Stay-cation day. Acting like tourists in our own town, we will head out to see Parliament, take in one of our kid-friendly museums and catch a bite to eat.

9. Put some of my New Year's resolutions into effect, and participate in a Wellness Program. I'm excited to cut back on processed foods, and meet some of my fitness goals....which leads me to:

10. The Olympics! Not only will we take in some of the Olympics as couch potatoes, but I also plan to involve my girls in fitness goals, and create our own Family Olympics.

What are you going to do to make February a Fantabulous Month?

Farm Fresh Eggs

Here in Ottawa there is a by-law in place to prevent urban/suburban dwellers from owning and raising chickens. If you're anything like me - suburb born and raised - you probably don't know the first thing about chickens. But we all know about EGGS. Delicious, versatile eggs. My go-to meals during the week if we're rushed are quiche, frittata or omlette. And don't forget Sunday breakfasts of fried or scrambled eggs, bacon and toast. As a family, we go through a lot of eggs!

We're lucky to have a big backyard, and our vegetable patch has grown considerably since we moved here 3 years ago. But I still dream of a little chicken coop out in the back corner by the fence, where my 3 little hens lay their eggs every day.

Some Ottawans are fighting to have the by-law changed, but while I wait for the chicken politics to play out, I must find my farm fresh eggs elsewhere. If you've never tried an egg from a chicken raised in its natural environment (space to move, preen and roost), you're definitely missing out! I swear I can taste the difference from the eggs we used to buy in the grocery store.

Luckily I have a co-worker who lives outside the Capital, and has agreed to share some eggs with me. He's also shared these adorable pictures of his chickens - my girls have a great time chatting about where our dinner came from :)

(if you want to know more about raising chickens, I love this article from Lee Valley Tools)

Minimalist Parenting

January is a messy time of year. And no, it's not just the slush, ice or freezing rain. And it's not the leftover boxes or bags from Christmas presents. It's all the STUFF. With resolutions in the forefront of my mind, I tend to see my house through the eyes of a minimalist. And let me tell ya, we're not doing too well.

Minimalist parents suggest we simplify our lives. Kids don't need a lot of toys; they don't need constant stimulation; and we all know they're much happier just playing with a cardboard box. Too many toys = mess = disorganization = unhappiness (a totally unscientific theory, but that's my reasoning).

And so, as we head into February, I'm taking the cardboard box away from the toddler, and I'm filling it with toys we no longer use. My goal is to get rid of half of the "stuff" our girls own (by recycling or donating - let's be environmental about it).

Anyone want to join me in this challenge?

Misty Pratt is a mother of two girls, 1 and 4 years old. In her spare time she is a doula and childbirth educator. Follow her on Facebook or find out about her services here.

Easy Peasy Sufganyiyot for Chanukah

Tonight is the first night of Chanukah, the 8-day Jewish Festival of lights.  Chanukah commemorates the victory of a small band of Jews called Maccabees over the pagan Syrian-Greeks who ruled over Israel. After regaining control of their temple, the Jews went inside to find it dirty and destroyed so the began to to clean it and rededicate it to G-d (in Hebrew, Chanukah means to dedicate). In the Temple, there was an eternal flame that had to stay lit all the time. But when the Jews came into the Temple to light the flame, there was only enough oil to keep it burning for one day. After they lit it, however, a second miracle occurred — the lamp remained lit for eight days until the new oil arrived. This is how Hanukkah became known as the "Festival of Lights." To commemorate this miracle, during Hanukkah Jews light the menorah. We light one candle each night of Hanukkah and give thanks for the miracle of the oil. And we also eat lots of stuff fried in oil.

One of my favorite things to eat are little fried donuts called Sufganyiot. They're yummy to eat but can be tricky to make. I found an easy recipe that's great to do with kids.

Ingredients

• One roll of store-bought biscuit dough
• Canola oil for frying
• A small bowl of sugar, white or powdered
• About 1/2 cup of any red jam 

Step-by-step:

1. Let dough sit at room temperature for 20 minutes so that it's easy to roll out.
2. On a floured surface, roll out dough until it's 1/2-inch thick. Cut out 2 1/2- or 3-inch circles.
3. Fill a pot with 2 inches of oil and heat it to 360-375 degrees so it's nice and hot.
4. Fry the dough until each side is a deep brown. test one to make sure they're not doughy in the middle.
5. Transfer donuts to a paper towel, pat off any excess grease, and then coat with sugar.
6. Fill with jam using a squeeze bottle. If the jam is being difficult, warm it for 30 seconds in the microwave.

That's it. Eat up and Happy Chanukah!

Talking to Your Kids About Death

This past week was a tough one for my family. Just after we celebrated her 90th birthday, my grandmother passed away. While she was elderly, it was a bit unexpected to loose her so fast. and of course, as with any similar situation, there were lots of arrangements that had to be made in a short time. This was the first time that my girls had experienced the death of  a close relative. I'm not sure what they expected but they did have lots of questions. At 11 and 13, they were able to understand the concept of death and they were both affected in different ways and had lots of questions. My niece and nephew are younger, 3 and 6, and while they also had lots of questions, I'm not sure they fully understood what was going on.

After the initial shock, there was the question of the funeral. My family had decided on a small graveside service. Then there was the question of having the kids at the service. Both my girls wanted to be there to say good-bye and after much discussion,  it was decided that my nice and nephew would attend too.

In the course of the discussions, I did a bit of research about the different ways young kids understand death. Here's what I found out:

• Young kids are very literal in their understanding of death so it's important to talk about death in very concrete terms, like the body wasn't working anymore and the doctors couldn't fix it.
• Kids may need lots of reminders that death is permanent and that the person won't be coming back.
• Avoid using euphemisms like passed away or "lost" - kids won't understand and may fear getting "lost" themselves.
• Remember that kids have magical thinking and may need lots or reminders that the death wasn't their fault.
• Children process grief in bite-sized chunks, not all at once. And many delay grieving until they feel it's safe to let those feelings out — a process that could take months or even years, depending on how close they were to the one who died.
• Reassure your child that they are safe and talk about ways to stay safe.
• The best way to answer questions to give accurate, simple, clear, and honest explanations about what happened.

In the end, it was helpful, both for the kids in our family and for my parents to have all the kids at the graveside, both young and old. It was a good reminder of the circle of life and it was helpful for my girls to be able to say good-bye. And while my nice and nephew didn't fully understand everything that was going on, they were able to be their typical joyful selves and help those in mourning grieve.

Have you talked to your kids about death? What helped them understand what was going on?