Who Am I (link up)

Today I'm taking part in a linkup from Neely at A Complete Waste of Makeup





Hi! My name is Angela.

I am mother to two amazing little ones. Monkey (my son) is three years old and keeps me on my toes. Grace (my daughter) is 3 months old and she keeps the peace in my life

I've been married for 4.5 years to an amazing man named Ben

I started writing Adventures of Chef Mom to talk about making my way through culinary school while trying to take care of my son. I graduated in May of 2011 (4.5 months pregnant with my daughter) so I wasn't able to take over the culinary world, but I hope to work from home making other peoples lives sweeter one dessert at a time...

I write about anything and everything that has to do with our lives (food, family, holidays, crafting, funny things the kids do or say)

I adore baking anything sweet, especially cupcakes and pastries (in culinary school, one of my teachers called me the pastry queen)

I'm blessed to be able to stay home with my two little ones while my Hubby works. We live in Ontario (Canada) between Toronto and Ottawa.

I love NCIS, Bones, and the Biggest Loser

I love Earl Grey tea, cottage cheese, and homemade pizza.

I love road trips, camping, and experiencing the world by bicycle. We've got 2 kids bike seats, so this summer we'll be able to take both kids with us.

I love singing, playing piano, and watching silly movies like Robin Hood Men in Tights.

I love learning about different countries and travelling. The first 8 months of marriage, Hubby and I lived in Sweden, so that country has a huge soft spot in my heart.

I am a big fan of coupons, free stuff, and clearance sales at Old Navy.

I joined Weight Watchers back in December (right before Christmas. Am I crazy?) and so far I've lost 10 lbs. I've got a ways to go until I'm back to pre-baby #1 weight, but I'll get there.

Thanks for letting me share about me!

~A

For my best sister.

Happy Birthday Emily!
I can't believe it's been 15 years already since I finally had a sister. I am so thankful that you're here and that I'm not alone among all the boys. You have matured into a beautiful, sensitive, and thoughtful woman.
I'm glad for your sense of humor, your personal style, your modesty, and your faith. I know you will do great things.

This weekend we celebrated 15 years of YOU, and I got to make dinner and cupcakes.

Listening to the giggling of 5 teenage girls made me smile and brought me back to my high school years. I'm so glad you are close with your classmates, and I hope you can all grow together in faith and in strong, encouraging friendship.

Emily, you are so loved, and I hope that this year is filled with amazing blessing.

Love you.
~A

Holiday Challenge: Day Seven

Today with Amber and Neely, the challenge topic is How Do You Celebrate the Holidays (Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanzaa...)

My family celebrates Christmas. We celebrate the birth of Jesus and think that Christmas cannot exist without the Christ child.

We don't do Santa, and I've never believed in him, but I have told my son about him. Not the whole "He'll give you everything you ask for" Santa, but the story of St. Nicholas about giving gifts to the poor.

One story about Santa in my house growing up was that he always forgot our house so he had to come while we were in church. Of course we all knew that the person sneaking those presents under the tree was my mom, but I still joke that Santa came to our house after everyone else.

We always put up the tree, and put up the stockings (which were the only things in the house we could open on Christmas morning).

The past few years my siblings and husband and I have been drawing names to decide who buys gifts for who. The names start out as secrets, but they can never stay that way.

Hubby's family has three different parts:

1. Hubby's Mom celebrates Christmas with the great big French Catholic family, and since we live far away, we do that Christmas every other year. Lots of food, lots of drinking, lots of french.... it's loud and happy.

2. Hubby's dad and his wife live close to my parents (45 minutes away) so we visit them in their apartment and open gifts. It's a quiet get together with just Hubby, myself, and the kids.

3. Hubby's Aunt and Uncle live in the same town as Mother-in-Law, and we have gone over there for an afternoon (because their house is more geared for adults). They have taken us out for dinner before as well.

We have the tendency to stay the longest with my parents because their house is the most child-proof, and they have enough room for all of us to sleep.

I love the holidays, and I love my family. I can't wait to celebrate with them this year!

-A

Holiday Challenge: Favourite Holiday Tradition

Today in the Holiday Challenge with Amber and Neely, the topic is my favourite holiday tradition new or old.
This year is the first time we're not going to be making a crazy sport of travelling all over the province to see every family member at Christmas, and I'm really looking forward to having a quiet(er) holiday season.

That being said, since I've got a large extended family, I've got a lot of traditions.

My immediate family (siblings and parents) has a tradition of going to church Christmas day, and opening presents after we got back and ate lunch. As a child, I hated the waiting, but now I really like that we were forced to remember the real point of the day, and I think I'm going to continue this tradition, but with a slight change. Since hubby and I go to a church that doesn't do Christmas Day services, we're hoping to read the Christmas story from Luke to the kids in the morning, and then open presents after having a really great meal.

My extended family always gets together the day after Christmas (boxing day here in Canada) and since we're so large, we've had to rent a school for the past few years to host the event. This is the one time of the year that we ALL get together. There is a camping trip in the summer, but lately more and more people have had to miss it for many different reasons. At this Christmas get-together, we have a giant meal, we play games and sports (since there is a gym) and we watch the little ones open presents. It's an awesome day of family, fun and food, and I don't think it would feel like Christmas without it.

There are other traditions I've missed, especially the ones from hubby's family, but I'll save those for next week when I get to talk about how we celebrate the holiday season.

~A