Thursday, March 31, 2016

April Goals



Here were my goals for March.  As per my usual custom, I didn't do much.

1. Read two books this month.  Our book club selection and the book I got for Christmas.
I read our book club book but instead of moving onto that other book, I started reading my next book club book instead. 

2. Organize my clothes.  
I did not do this again but with the change in season I am definitely going to do it this month!

3. Decorate for Easter and try an Easter craft with E.
We did decorate for Easter and we dyed eggs.  E also did some non-Eater related crafts last week.



4. Ski at least two more times before the season is over.
We skied once more, but then it really warmed up so we decided our season was over.

5. Find a children's bible to give E for Easter.
Done. I found this one on Amazon and the pictures are lovely along with the narrative that is written in a child friendly way but still tells the story. 




Okay, April, here we go:

1. Organize my clothes! (This will happen!)

2. Put away our winter coats and boots and clean out the front closet.

3. Go through our cupboards and throw out expired and old food.

4. Spend some time helping E to learn how to ride his bike.


5. Schedule a hair appointment and a mani/pedi. 

6. Make a healthy snack to bring to work.  Something like energy balls, granola bars, or roasted nuts.


Wednesday, March 30, 2016

What's up Wednesday


It's another instalment of What's Up Wednesday!

What we're eating this week...
Sunday - Easter Dinner (ham, scalloped potatoes, corn, sweet potatoes)

Monday - Lamb Kebabs
Tuesday - Penne with asparagus, snow peas, shrimp and feta
Wednesday - Pork Chops
Thursday - leftover Easter dinner
Friday - not sure yet

What I'm reminiscing about...
Seeing everyone go away for March Break had me remembering past trips we have taken.  Also my parents are going to Barcelona for a couple of days in a few weeks so I have been thinking about that trip too.
  
Mexico in June 2011

Barcelona in October 2015

What I'm loving...
The new collection from Stella and Dot. I was browsing their new items and liked so many things. 



What we've been up to...
Painting the basement.  We chose a grey colour for all of the walls (bedroom, bathroom and laundry area/landing) and white for the ceiling of course.  The basement is surprisingly bright and so a light colour should still look okay.  We need to pick out tile for the bathroom and for the floors.  It is a work in progress, but Dave is keeping everything on track and it will be done before too long, and it will be so nice when it is finished.

What I'm dreading...
We are actually supposed to get some snow in the next couple of weeks, nothing major but I don't want to put my boots and coat back on.  I wanted to put everything away on the weekend, but the Weather Network actually had a note that said "Don't put away your winter things yet", so I haven't.

What I'm working on...
I had a huge transaction at work that closed on March 18, since that time I've been trying to catch up on all of other work that I had to ignore while working on that one file.

What I'm excited about...
Summer! I love summer so much and with the days getting longer, and the temperature warming up (slowly but surely), we are getting closer to my favourite time of year. 

What I'm watching/reading...
We finished House of Cards, so good! Now that we have finished that, we will try to catch up on Vinyl and then go back to The Wire.  We also watched the final Hunger Games movie.  I love those movies, I will have to try out the books sometime.


I am reading our next book club selection, Requiem by Frances Itani.  It's good so far. 


What I'm listening to...
I'm finishing up the Canada Reads podcast.  I wrote about this last week on Friday Favourites.  I'm also listening to the radio, including the newest Justin Beiber song that I love (I can't get enough), Company.

What I'm wearing...
Nothing too exciting, I'm tired of my winter clothes but it isn't quite warm enough for spring clothes yet.  

What I'm doing this weekend...
We are going to a birthday party on Saturday afternoon and then Dave has his big run on Sunday.  It is the 30K Hamilton Around the Bay race.  This will be the longest distance race he's ever done but he has run all winter and should do well.  Hopefully the weather will be somewhat nice for the runners.

What I'm looking forward to next month...
Birthday parties, wedding showers, the start of the Blue Jays' season, NBA playoffs (Go Raps!), and a work event where our firm is hosting lawyers from around the world.

(I know this is football, but I still love it)

What else is new...
As I said in a previous post, we finally got some new rugs for our house.  Here is the one in our bedroom. 


What is your favourite spring cleaning tip...
This isn't really for spring cleaning because I don't really have an organized spring cleaning schedule but something I find works well on the kitchen sink is baking powder.  I just sprinkle it around and let it sit for a couple of minutes and then wet it slightly and scrub it with the same scrubber we use for the dishes.  It shines up really nicely and you don't need to wear gloves or worry about heavy chemicals in the kitchen.


Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Weekend Recap

We had a super sized weekend with both Friday and Monday off, two short weeks back to back, I love it!

On Friday morning, Dave and I did some painting downstairs while E watched some TV.  Then we coloured some eggs.  I hadn't decorated eggs since I was little, but we got some tips from friends and figured out what to do.  It was fun and they turned out nicely.





These are my eggs.  The one with the cross says "He is Risen" on the back. 

These are Dave's.  The red one was supposed to be a Raptor egg but he used red crayon and then used red dye so it didn't work out as well.  Plans will be improved for next year.


E of course picked orange for two of his. 

In the afternoon, we made Rice Krispie squares, cherry pie and supper.  Roasted vegetables on the bbq with grilled chicken over some mixed greens.

My favourite pie

On Saturday I got up and went down the street for some errands and then got back in time for Dave to go for his run.  Then E and I went to a birthday party.  The kids did some singing and dancing, along with a parachute, and then we had pizza and cupcakes.  A nice relaxing Saturday morning. 



After the party, E and I made some cupcakes.  And then we headed up north to have dinner with my cousins.  They had quite the ice storm and most of them were still without power, fortunately we had power where we were going. It was a big group, and we managed to get a photo before we ate.  We were happy to see everyone!




The kids played with some sparklers before we got in the car and headed back home.  E quickly fell asleep.



Despite our late night on Saturday, we were all up before 7:30 to see what the Easter Bunny had left for us.  E was really excited about hunting for the eggs.





He also got a big boy bike, although he was more excited about the eggs that were on the seat. 


Our Easter breakfast spread


After church and lunch and some house cleaning, we went for a walk by the river to try out E's new bike.  He has had a balance bike for a couple of years (the ones without pedals that he just pushed along with his feet) and so our thinking is that he doesn't need to bother with training wheels and will learn how to ride this bike right away.  He did pretty well but mostly Dave held onto the back letting go only a few times.  The hardest part is that the trail is so full of people that we always have to look out for bikers, dogs and runners and can't totally concentrate on what E is doing.  More practice will help.

Signs of spring along the way. 



"Fixing" his bike with sticks (the collection of said sticks I then had to carry home)

I'm here too!

The traditional Easter cake


Our ham, scalloped potatoes, sweet potatoes and creamed corn.  One of my favourite meals!


I took the day off on Monday and we spent the morning watching some shows, doing laundry and relaxing.  Then we headed out to pick up groceries and a few other things.

Lunch at the counter with this kid.

In the afternoon, E worked on some crafts we had picked up at Michael's.  After supper Dave and I did some painting and then watched some more House of Cards. 



A busy weekend!