Friday, March 31, 2017

Friday Favourites

Linking up with AndreaErika and Narci for Friday Favourites.


I saw Beauty and the Beast on Monday and I thought it was fabulous.  The animated version is my all time favourite Disney movie and I thought this stayed true to the original but gave us so much more - more songs, more storyline, more character development. I can't wait to see it again!  This was my date for the show.  We haven't been to the movie for a few weeks so I wasn't sure how he would do, but he fell asleep and then sat quietly on my lap. 

I dug out our Baby Bullet that we had used to make E's baby food.  I whipped up some food for Q this week and I was reminded about how easy it is to make my own food.  You can use any blender really, but I do like the little storage containers that come with it.  


I made this risotto for supper on Wednesday and it was so tasty.  I make risotto fairly often and this was pretty close to my usual recipe, but this one had added wine and butter, and I will be incorporating these ingredients into my regular recipe since they really take it to the next level. 

This little guy is getting more active. He likes rolling around and being on his stomach.  I'm sure crawling is just around the corner.  

On Wednesday I posted about my favourite spring piece being my Cole Haan flats.  On that same day I wore them downtown and walked around quite a bit and they did not hurt my feet. 


We have been working with E on his reading, and although it can be very frustrating challenging, he is getting the hang of it.  In his class the students are encouraged to read a story to the class (in English or French) and he is bringing Meet Tracker (a Paw Patrol book) to read.  He read it to us earlier this week and he did really well.  He may be memorizing some of it, but eventually it will all come together. 

For those fans of the Serial podcast who have not checked out the new podcast S-Town yet, get on it! It's pretty good!

Thanks for stopping by!  Hope you all have good weather for the weekend. 




Thursday, March 30, 2017

Monthly Goals



My goals for March were:

Stick to my Lent activities.  I have done some of these but almost as predicted, I have not done them everyday.  As Easter draws near, I will choose a few more to complete.

Clean out kitchen cupboards and introduce some jars for bulk food.  Done.  I love throwing things out, and the expired date on some food makes it okay to pitch it.  There were a few things I was holding on to thinking we would eat them eventually, but I finally got rid of them.  We had tons of big jars from pasta sauce and now they house pasta, rice, popcorn, nuts, and yes, some candy.

Start Q on solid foods.  Done.  We've tried sweet potato and pear so far (and cereal of course).  Next up, carrots, peas and apples.  Although overwhelming, it is exciting to introduce these new flavours to Q.

Decorate for Easter.  I've done half of our decorations, but I need to find an Easter tree for the rest.  This weekend I will be on the hunt for one.  We got rid of the plant that I had decorated last year.

Make dentist appointment for E and me.  Done.  Actually E already had an appointment scheduled for May.  I have to go back tomorrow for some fillings :(

Make eye appointments for Q and E.  Done.  They said I didn't need to bring Q in until next year, unless I was worried about something.


My goals for April are:

1. Clean the inside of the car and get all of the winter dirt out.
2. Pay my library fines.  It's only about $6, but I still want it done.
3. Get my hair cut.
4. Go to Ikea.  We need a few things there like a new cutting board and some plastic kid bowls.
5. Try a new restaurant in Toronto, preferably with a patio.
6. Do some more outdoor exercise.

Wednesday, March 29, 2017

What's up Wednesday

Linking up with ShaySheaffer and Mel for...

What we're eating this week...
Sunday - Lasagna, caesar salad, garlic bread
Monday - Baked Beans on Toast (from Jamie Oliver's Comfort Food cookbook, they were so tasty!)
Friday - Hamburgers (maybe on the BBQ, fingers crossed)
Saturday - not sure yet

What I'm reminiscing about...
Yesterday's post had me reminiscing about all those fun times (and others, although their photos didn't make the cut). 

What I'm loving...
The light in the evenings.  The time change was hard on us but it is worth it.  (I say hard on us, but really it was fine.  The week after the change, it was March Break so we all just slept in until 8:00 each day, no big deal).   This was about 6:30 pm last weekend. 


What we've been up to...
Trying to get outside.  If we are finished dinner before 6:00, then it will be my goal to go for a walk around the block.  I'd also like to walk to pick up E from school more often.  

What I'm dreading...
Yard work.  Well I'm not really dreading it since I love being outside, but it is always a challenge to clean out the dead things, and then try to plant some nice things that will thrive in our yard.  We have lived here for a couple of years now, and we spend a good amount of money of Plant World each year and yet we're still trying to figure out what we are doing.  I want to keep it simple without spending too much money, but I still want things to look nice (isn't that always the conundrum?).  We will be getting some baskets for the front step, and they always last for the whole season.

What I'm working on...
Introducing solid foods to Q.  He's had rice cereal and sweet potato so far.  It can be overwhelming with deciding what he should have first and then trying to fit it into the day along with breastfeeding, napping and playing. 

What I'm excited about...
Spring!  It is here, and it always seems like a nice long season here in Southern Ontario.  I remember many evenings in May, shivering on a patio somewhere in Halifax (like the Split Crow on a Thursday), but I think we will be enjoying true patio weather soon here. Or who am I kidding, not patio, but playground/bike ride weather :)


What I'm watching/reading...
We are watching Big Little Lies, Anne the Series, Girls, Mr. Selfridge, Workin' Moms, and all the Raptors games. 


I just finished Mike Birbiglia's book, "Sleepwalk With Me".  I picked up a couple of new books from the library.  Next week I'll write about our book club book, "When Breath Becomes Air".  Spoiler alert, it was amazing. 


What I'm listening to...
A new podcast from This American Life came out yesterday, called S-Town, so I'm downloading it all to listen to.  I'm also listening to the podcast of Canada Reads (our national "game show" for best book that we should all be reading). 

What I'm wearing...
My old sneakers.  I cleaned them up with Oxyclean and they look pretty good so I decided I didn't need to buy a new pair yet. 

What I'm doing this weekend...
The weather looks good, so hopefully we can get outside.  I'm hoping we can catch up with some friends we haven't seen for awhile too. 

What I'm looking forward to next month...
Q's swimming "lessons", Easter, Blue Jays opening weekend, visitors - Dave's parents, my mom, and our friend Cindy. 
(this is last year's Jays opening weekend)


What else is new...
We love our new high chair that we got second hand from our neighbours.  It's a Peg Perego Siesta and has so many neat features.  The one we had for E was just one that strapped onto a regular chair; it worked in our old house where we had a high bar height table and chair set and not a lot of space.   It was gross and not really appropriate for us anymore, so we pitched it. If you're in the market for a high chair, I would recommend this one.  Plus it was used by our neighbours for their two boys and looks like new so it is durable!

My favourite spring wardrobe piece...
I have three pairs of Cole Haan flats and they have to be my favourite thing to throw on my feet in the spring.  I wear them year round when I'm at work, but I haven't worn them at all this winter since I've been home, and sandals will be appropriate footwear when summer comes around.  The flats though are nice for running out to do errands.  I have silver, nude and black. 

Thanks for stopping by!




Tuesday, March 28, 2017

Show and Tell Tuesday

Linking up with Andrea to share my top five favourite photos of all time.


It is difficult to narrow down moments caught on camera down to five, especially since it's not like I can just flip through a couple of photo albums to find these pictures.   Some of these are ones where I like the photo itself and others are because of the memories or the people in the photos.  

I think I am about 3 here, we are celebrating my Nana's 60th birthday at their house in Essex, Ontario. 

From our wedding reception, lots of laughter

From our Machu Picchu trip.  This was a long day of hiking and this descent into the fog was a cool shot.  I remember being so cold when we got into camp, but I changed all of the clothes and then went to the warm dining tent for popcorn and tea.

Our trip to Lake Placid, NY, in 2015. We were bundled up and embracing the cold and snow. 

Our friend Gavin took this photo of Dave and E at a party when E was about 6 weeks old.

We took this photo on our honeymoon during our stop in Venice.  I love it because it captures lots of colour and action in the canals.  It was a beautiful day.

I took this on my trip to Iqaluit in 2008.  Such an iconic image of our country and I got to see it in person.

I took this in Ireland; I made Dave pull the car over so I could snap this. I love that the sheep is staring at me, posing perfectly.

This is in Barcelona, and I love the joy on E's face.

This sums of E's love of his brother.  He is still as enamoured with Q as he was on the day Q was born.


I love the colours in this photo and how small Q is in his carseat.  It was unseasonably warm on this day in early October and breezy.  I remember he wasn't sure what to think of the wind on his face.


Okay, so I cheated, this is more than 5, but it's my blog ;). I of course have many other lovely memories and photos but these are the ones I could find and that stood out as I scrolled through photos. 




Monday, March 27, 2017

Weekend Recap

On Friday morning I made it back to the gym.  We did a lot of leg work so I was sore for the rest of the weekend!! After lunch, Dave and I walked up to look at some bike stores on Bloor and got some food for supper.  I bought some rapini and then asked my uncle for some tips on how to cook it.  I think I did pretty well with the ginger, garlic, lemon juice and toasted almonds.  I like buying different vegetables so I want to try doing it more often.


After feeding Q and putting him to bed, I jumped on the subway to meet up with some friends from high school.  Janna lives here, but Katie was visiting from Nova Scotia. We went to Momofuku Noodle Bar and although I had already eaten supper, I enjoyed a pork bun and some drinks. 

On Saturday morning, Q played with some of E's toys before his nap.

It was raining so we went to the library. Our usual branch is closed for renovations so we visited the Annette branch.  E read some books and then picked out some to bring home.

After the library and lunch, I went to the grocery store.  I spotted this robin in our yard, a sign of spring!

I made lasagna, caesar salad and garlic bread for supper, one of our favourites.  

Then I convinced everyone to go for a little walk after supper.  It was chilly but nice to be outside.

After the boys went to bed, Dave and I watched the Raptor game and then the Dave Chappelle special on Netflix. 

On Sunday morning, we did our usual routine of a run for Dave and church for the rest of us.  Then E had some friends over to play.  I made cranberry muffins and took some down for them to snack on.  I was going to take a photo of all of them, but the other boys decided to eat their muffins in the tent.  They had fun and they didn't make too big of a mess.

We ended our evening with leftover lasagna for supper and our Sunday night shows. 


Friday, March 24, 2017

Friday Favourites

Linking up with AndreaErika and Narci for Friday Favourites.



Signs of spring are my favourites.  These little snowdrops popped up in our garden on Tuesday when it was +12 degrees (Celsius) but then it dropped to -12 on Wednesday and I don't think they were too happy about that. 

We watched the first episode of Anne: the Series on CBC this week (Anne of Green Gables, the novel by Lucy Maud Montgomery).  It is so good; I cannot recommend it enough.  Of course I remember the original one starring Meagan Follows, but this one does not disappoint.  It stays true to the original but offers much more.  I can't wait to keep watching. CBC has really been hitting it out of the park lately with this, Workin' Moms and Kim's Convenience. 

We celebrated our favourite dad's birthday on Monday.

I have a renewed love to Sandra Boynton books.  I thought they were okay when we had them for E, but now that I'm reading them to Q, I appreciate the bright colours, fun sounds, and easy words.  I'm hoping these will be something that E will be able to read to Q soon enough. 

I wrote about our weekend ski trip to Blue Mountain here.  We had a fun time!

Thanks for stopping by!



Thursday, March 23, 2017

Three Things...

Three things going on with each of us at the moment:

Q (5 and half months)
1. Two bottom teeth.  The poor thing has been teething for a couple of months and now he's got two teeth to show for it.  I'm sure more will follow shortly.
2. Rolling over.  He's finally figured out rolling back to front and front to back.  He can no longer be left alone on the floor for too long now. 
3. Eating solids.  We started him on some rice cereal this week.  He seems to like it and grabs for the spoon as it reaches his mouth. 



E
1. Reading some new words.  He is doing better at actually reading rather than just memorizing words.  When we were skiing, he pointed out the trail "Happy Valley" and could read "Happy".
2. Growing imagination.  All day long E is fighting bad guys, being a spy, and pretending to be a superhero (some made up).  We are constantly amazed at what he comes up with.
3. Watching Storybots on Netflix. Although he has watched the episodes multiple times, he still enjoys them.  They include catchy tunes and jokes the parents can appreciate. 


Dave
1. He's signed up for the Ottawa Race Weekend again this year so the running will continue with a race to train for. 
2. Another year older.  Dave's birthday was on Monday, and we kept the celebration going with the Raptors game on Tuesday night (big overtime win!). 

(note little Q, exhausted after eating his cereal)



3. Working on deals.  Anyone in sales knows "ABC" - Always Be Closing.  That's Dave!

Me
1. Rewatching Downton Abbey on Netflix.  It's just as good the second time, if not better since I know more about the characters now.
2. Filing our taxes.  We finished our tax returns this week and sent them off.  I'm no accountant but we don't have anything too complicated to deal with. 
3. Thinking about Easter and what to serve and what the Easter Bunny may be bringing with him for our baskets.