"ARE YOU FILIPINA?" were the words I heard when I answered the phone.

Me: Well, yes. Sort of. My Mom's from the Philippines.

Telemarketer: (giggles) Well, that's great. So you are Filipina.

Me: (not wanting to go through my entire family tree, but my Dad's not Filipino. He's Chinese from the Caribbean. That makes me not 100% Filipina. Plus, I was born in Toronto and have lived most of my life in Montreal. I consider myself Canadian. Well, Filipina-Chinese-Canadian, I guess!) Umm...Who am I speaking with?

Telemarketer: Oh, yes. I'm sorry. I'm (I didn't catch her name) and I'm with (insert name of overseas phone company).

The lady continues on in Tagalog (my Mom's first language).

Me: Oh! Sorry, I don't speak Tagalog! I understand it, but I don't speak it.

Telemarketer: (speaking in half Tagalog and half English) Do you make many long distance phone calls, Mam? We'd like to offer you a great deal. You can call the Philippines for only 3 cents a minute! That is a great deal! You're in Canada, right Mam? You can make phone calls anywhere in Canada for only 2 cents a minute.

Me: Thank you so much. However, I'm not interested right now.

The conversation dragged on for another few minutes, despite me saying "I'm not interested" several times. I totally understand that being a telemarketer is her job. Where on earth did she get my phone number? How on earth did she know I had a Filipina background?

I realize people have jobs to do, but please, please, PLEASE don't call me. If I want your services, I'll call you. Oh, and stop calling to tell me that I have "won a dream vacation". I don't have any issues with my credit cards. I don't have any outstanding loans to worry about. I don't know where you are getting my phone number and information, but please stop calling me.

I'm not the type of person to rudely hang up on others. Unfortunately for me, I'll sit there and listen to you on the phone while politely telling you that I'm not interested and please stop calling. Please don't make me resort to hanging up. I would hate to do that, so please stop being so persistent...and sometimes pushy!

Just to let you know, if you call my house and I don't answer, I'm A) Out, B) Unavailable at the moment, or C) Screening my phone calls!!!

I've been pretty fortunate to have a baby who is generally happy, good tempered, and easy going. I have been lucky that I'm able to take her everywhere I go. It is also my belief (probably my very naive belief!) that if I teach Little One that we go out to movies, plays, concerts and church, she'll learn that this is what we do and she'll learn how to act in those kinds of social settings. Maybe I'm a fool to believe that it's sort of like a self-fulfilling prophecy. If I think or stress out about her freaking out in public, then she will. If I calmly show her that this is what we do and this is natural and normal for us, she will sit there calmly on my lap and enjoy the sights and sounds. Of course, she's a baby and I know she will not always sit quietly or have the patience and fortitude to sit through an entire church service without "talking" (or singing). I know she may not always want to sit in one place when we're at the movies or a play.

When my friend Gadget Girl and I took my two older nieces and Little One to see Harry Potter last summer, Little One slept through the entire movie. I was thinking that she would do the same with New Moon. HA! The joke was on me!

I do realize that Little One was still a "baby" baby when we saw Harry Potter. She's now twelve months old and is ALWAYS awake! She was awake for the entire movie. Good thing she's a good girlie, because it could have been ugly.

One of the movie attendants/ushers came up to me during the previews and knelt beside me. I was sitting at the end row in an aisle seat so that if Little One did happen to fuss, I could make a quick exit. Anyway, this is what happened:

Movie Attendant: (very politely) Mam, if your daughter fusses, would it be possible for you to just take her out of the theater until she stops fussing?

Me: Sure! Of course!

Movie Attendant: It's just that in the past we have had complaints about babies crying and making noise in the movie theater.

Me: Oh, yes. I understand completely. Not a problem.

We both exchanged smiles and the feature presentation began.

First things first. I'm not an idiot. I wouldn't ever bring my baby to a place where she would disrupt the enjoyment of a film, play, or concert. If in event she did get cranky, obviously I would quietly step out with her. I'm not inconsiderate. If I were a patron paying for a show, I'd expect the same courtesy from others.

Anyway, Little One was fine. I did miss one part of the movie when I had to step out to change her diaper. To answer some questions, no she wasn't quiet the entire movie. She did giggle and talk to the big screen. She was also bouncing on my knee for the entire two hours. I should point out that practically every woman, teenage girl or tween in the theater gasped, giggled, laughed, sighed or made some kind of comment (ummm...when Jacob had his shirt off!) throughout the movie. There was one guy sitting next to Gadget Girl who kind of seemed annoyed that there was a baby sitting four seats away from him. This said, he also didn't seem to want to be there in the first place. I'm thinking he just went because his girlfriend dragged him.

Oh, one weird thing happened when I was changing Little One's diaper in the washroom. There were no change tables. Big clue that this movie theater wasn't very baby-friendly. Anyway, I had to change Little One on the counter where the sinks were. She was happily looking around and smiling. There was a woman who came out of one of the stalls and said, "Oh! Can I take a photo of your baby?!"

Ummm. WEIRD! Ummm. No, you can't take a photo of my baby being changed! I didn't tell her that, but I was thinking it. Then she pointed at Little One's shirt that read: TEAM EDWARD.Lady in the Bathroom: She's probably the youngest New Moon fan in the entire theater! I need to take a photo of her! She's so cute!

No, she didn't get a photo of Little One. I very quickly changed Little One's diaper and politely excused myself. I said something about not wanting to miss any more of the movie.

Each year, around Christmas time I bake lots and lots of cookies to give to friends and family as part of their Christmas present. Last week, I blogged about trying out a new cookie recipe. I think this one will be included in this year's Christmas cookie batch! Usually, I make about six different types of cookies. I was surprised that an overwhelming number of people e-mailed me for the recipe. Here it is! Enjoy!Chocolate Peanut Butter-Filled Cookies

Chocolate cookie batter
1 1/2 c flour
1/2 c cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 c softened butter
1/2 c granulated sugar
1/2 c brown sugar
1 egg
1 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla

Peanut Butter Filling
3/4 c confectioners' sugar
1/2 c peanut butter

**You will also need some granulated sugar to dip a glass into and then press the cookie balls to flatten them**

Preheat oven to 350

Sift together the flour, cocoa powder and baking soda in a medium bowl.

In a large bowl beat together butter, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, brown sugar and 1/4 cup peanut butter until well combined. Add egg, milk and vanilla. Beat well. Gently mix in the flour mixture about 1/3 at a time until incorporated. Form the chocolate dough into 32 balls.

For the filling

Combine confectioners' sugar and 1/2 cup peanut butter in a mixing bowl and beat until smooth. Form into 32 balls.

On parchment paper, gently flatten each chocolate ball. Top with peanut butter ball. Carefully fold chocolate dough over the peanut butter ball and seal the edges. Roll dough into a ball.

Place balls on a parchment lined baking sheet. Lightly flatten with the bottom of a glass dipped in granulated sugar. I decorated the cookies with three chocolate chips placed in the center of each cookie. I used some white chocolate chips, some dark chocolate, and some milk chocolate. This was how the cookies were presented at my friend's house, so I tried to reproduce the cookies the exact same way. I think it was a successful attempt! :)

Bake cookies for about 8 minutes,until the surface begins to slightly crack. Let cool on cookie sheet. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Wow. I knew it was too good to be true. I really have to stop boasting about how my baby sleeps from 9PM to 9AM. Really.

A few nights ago, she was up ALL NIGHT. I kid you not. ALL NIGHT!

She was sleeping in her crib in her room and Hubby and I were in our room up in the loft and down the hall from her. I could hear her making noise and crying, so I waited. I figured she'd stop crying and put herself back to sleep. Still crying. I waited a bit more and then went downstairs and down the hall to check in on her.

She was flailing around, thrashing her body, kicking, screaming, and crying. The tears are what got me though. Real, full-on tears! Poor girl! Funny how one temporarily forgets about exhaustion and lack of sleep when baby is in need of comforting. I picked her up and gave her a cuddle. I decided to just sleep in her room with her because it didn't look like she was going to just succumb to sleep. Hubby has to get up super early for work, so I didn't want to disturb his sleep.

Mehhhh...I don't need that much sleep anyway, right? *groan*

Nope. She didn't succumb. In fact, she cried SCREAMED for almost the entire night. I ended up putting her in bed with me. I put a bed in her room across from her crib just in case something like this happened. I didn't think I'd actually have to resort to using it! Anyway, even with Mom's cuddles and caresses, she was still inconsolable.

I have no idea if she was having a bad dream, if she was gassy, or if she was teething. All I know is that she was soooo crabby! Here I was, thinking how lucky I was that my baby slept through the night. Then she had to decide that it was a good idea to stay up all night and finally go to bed at 8:51 AM. Gahhhh!



I don't know why I've got Zombie by The Cranberries stuck in my head all of a sudden. I remember going to one of their concerts when I was in university. This was one of my favourite songs.

My sister-in-law, my two year old nephew and my nine month old twin nieces spent a week on the farm with us. After having a house full of little ones for a week, I'm suffering from withdrawal now that they're gone!

We had a busy and fun week.Of course, the cattle were out again! I tried to push them back since we didn't have a gate up by the house. It didn't work and they were just not cooperating. I made a makeshift fence out of some boards that were laying around and said, "ARGH! Forget it! Hubby will have to worry about this when he gets back to the farm!" Grrrrr! Those girls are soooo bad!

These two deer were in front of the house every morning. They were eating the apples that were still on the apple tree. My little nephew kept saying, "Ohhhh! Big horsies!!" :)
My two year old nephew and I baked cookies...
and went apple picking on our farm...

and made apple sauce for the babies with the apples we picked!

"Ohhh! What's that?!?"
Mmmm! Apple sauce!


I really miss my sister-in-law, nephew and twin nieces! :( Now the house is quiet and Little One has no playmates to hang out with every day. She has learned a few new tricks from her cousins though!

Why? Because I could have slept in yesterday, but since Hubby was up and out for work at almost 6 in the morning, I decided to get out of bed too. Ridiculous, since the baby doesn't get up until 9AM!

What does one get accomplished at such an early hour? One does laundry, cleans the kitchen, pays bills, cleans the living room and dining room, and bakes three dozen cookies...of course!
We had supper at a friend's house the other night and after supper, she served a tray of cookies, squares, and butter tarts. *groan* I think we all gained 30 lbs in just one evening! Anyway, there were these AMAZING chocolate peanut butter-filled cookies sitting on the tray in front of me. They were THE MOST DELICIOUS cookies EVER!

I savoured each and every morsel of the cookie and tried to mentally dissect it so I could reproduce it when I got home. I'm a freak like that. I'll go somewhere and if I really love something I've tried, I try to reproduce it in my own kitchen. It's a challenge sometimes, but it's something I enjoy doing. It's fun trying to see if I get the recipe right!

I'm not sure if you can see in the photo above, but there's one cookie that I cut in half so you can see the peanut butter filling.

I baked chocolate peanut butter-filled cookies and chocolate chip cookies. I made some for a pregnant friend of mine and I'll be bringing some to a friend's dinner party tonight, along with a salad to accompany the leg of lamb she's making. I've never had lamb before. I've been told it's good, but I can't get my mind to separate Mary Had a Little Lamb from the actual dish. *sigh* I'm such a weirdo sometimes. For this very same reason, I can't eat rabbit (I think of Thumper from Bambi)and I can't eat deer (Hello!? Bambi!!). I even have to mentally prepare myself when I eat chicken, fish, pork, beef...or any "meat". It's a struggle I face every time I eat. I know it sounds crazy. I guess this is why I was vegetarian for over seven years! The thought of meat grosses me out. I know. I've got some serious issues! I gag just thinking about flesh, blood, tendons, fat, gristle...GAH! I'd better stop now! Funny how I ended up marrying a beef farmer! Gah!

Sometimes I think I take things for granted. When I should be thinking about how fortunate and blessed we are, I think about how we need so much work done on our old farm house or how I would really love to buy myself a dishwasher because I'm sick of always having so many dishes to do by hand. I think of how I need a new vehicle. My vehicle has served me well and I love it, but having a baby and having so much baby gear means a van would be more practical. My vehicle is great for a couple or a single person.

I think about how it's taking forever to get our deck done. We started it before summer and it's almost winter and it's still not finished. I think about how I'm forever dusting and cleaning...and there are always flies and spider webs! It just never ends. I suppose that's just life on the farm. There will always be flies and spiders.

Then my husband told me this morning, "We are so lucky. We have such a good, full life. We have a beautiful, healthy, smart daughter. I've got you, babe". All of a sudden, I was reminded of how sweet life really is.

Photo by PhotoCaptiva. More photos from our family photo shoot to come when we receive the pics!

I remember watching the original mini series on TV when I was a kid.
I anxiously awaited the new series just to see how it compared to the original.

You know the plot. Aliens, referred to as "The Visitors" arrive on Earth and extend their friendship. They say that they come in peace and need the help of humans so that they can help their ailing world. In exchange for the humans' help, the Visitors say that they will share their highly advanced technology with humankind.

Are the aliens as benevolent as they claim to be? Or do they have a sinister plan?

In the original 1983 mini series, the V turned out to be carnivorous reptiles. I remember being a little afraid of the V, but looked forward to watching each episode. Glutton for punishment, I guess. We were still very young when the series came out and my parents let us watch the show with them. I was 8 years old and my brother was 6.

I remember after one of the episodes, my Dad went to the kitchen and poured ketchup all over his face and did this scary thing with his eyes. He pretended to rip away at his face and said he was a V. My brother, being really young got scared. For some reason, though I don't recall details of the original show, my Dad pouring ketchup on his face and pretending he was a Visitor is what remains etched in my mind.

Hubby and I caught one episode of the show and so far it looks interesting. Let's see how the rest of the series turns out.

When I look at my newly twelve month old daughter, I am reminded of how fearless young children can be.

Little One has been taking baths in the "big" bath tub for the past few weeks. I've retired her baby bath tub because she's getting too big for it. She just LOVES swimming in the big bath tub! I was shocked to see her just embrace the whole experience. The smiles, laughs and grins she gave when swimming in the tub were just adorable. She tries to catch her bath toys as they float away from her. She scoots from one end of the tub to the other. My baby is growing up.

I took her swimming in a pool for the first time yesterday, and she seemed so "at home" in the water. She didn't flinch, cry, wince or anything. All she wanted to do was swim and play in the water.

It made me think of a friend of mine who is afraid of the water. I remember when we were kids, we tried to get him to swim with us, but he screamed, cried, and threw a fit. He had a life jacket AND arm floaters on and still freaked out.

Little One is also fearless when it comes to the animals on our farm. She plays with the dog and the cats and watches the cattle with curiosity. Some of my friends who are adults are afraid of the cats, the dog and the cattle. It amazes me to see that babies can be so daring and brave. I guess it's because they don't know what fear is yet.

When Little One pulls herself up on her toys and on the couch and lets go, I get so nervous and worried that she'll lose balance and hit her head on the floor when she falls. She doesn't seem to mind and lets go anyway. I don't want to be one of those moms who "hover". I know Little One needs to learn things on her own. It's just hard sometimes. I don't know which is harder...letting her learn that she sometimes needs to fall and get a few scrapes and scratches or letting her go and be an independent person. This Mommy business isn't an easy thing!

My lovely friend, J and her 15 month old daughter decided it would be fun if Little One and I accompanied them to swimming today. The rec center that we went to is off-island, but it makes for a great day trip. Swimming with the babies, lunch and shopping!

I was hoping Little One would love the pool. She's a water baby and loves swimming in the bath tub. She also loves the beach! Let me rephrase that. She loves the water at the beach, but not the sand. She looks at me with a disgusted expression on her face. Kind of like, "Ewww! Mommy! What is this gross stuff between my fingers and toes!?!"

I love, love, love swimming and really hoped Little One would love swimming too. To my surprise, she took to it so naturally. She was so cute when she put her head under water and kicked her little feet! She had so much fun! I loved that the babies got to swim in a heated salt water pool. The salt water was much better than the harsh chlorine I grew up swimming in at our local pool when I was a kid.

I have a feeling that Monday is going to be my favourite day of the week now! Some of the other moms and their babies from our play group were there too. Fun times!


On a totally different topic, this song played on the drive home. I don't know why, but whenever I hear Sass Jordan's "I Want To Believe" I get this bittersweet feeling in my heart.