birthday.

lazy morning opening presents and drinking coffe, a birthday bike ride by the water, working only a few hours and a delicious dinner at Nimbus with my favorite date. just wonderful.

thanksgiving chuckle

Aiden's list...

he brought this little Thanksgiving project home from school:

I am thankful for:
my famale
my techer
my scol
my frens
my kosins
my self (I love this one!)
my dad and mom
my isos (?sister)
my hos
my cas fish (class fish)
my desc at scol

thankful for...

this little girl. You've surprised me since the moment you were born. You've proved anything worth having is worth working hard for. You've taught me to be more patient but rewarded me with your unabashed admiration and affection. You've shown me glimpses into the rewarding but sometimes complex mother/daughter relationship. I'm thankful to have you as my little girl.

thankful for...

this boy. He made me a Mama for the first time. He's always made being a Mom easy. I love his sweetness and thoughtfulness for others. He opened my eyes to everything boy in this world and I am thankful for that.

thankful for...

this guy. He's fiercely loyal. Always puts family first. Is an amazing Dad that loves to spend time with his kids. Hard worker. Always has to finish what he's started. One of the biggest goals in his life is to make me happy. I'm thankful he chose me.

amelia's lunch:

mandarin orange pieces dipped in mustard.

cuteness captured.

Amelia loves to have flowers in her room. She had sweet talked me out of one from my bouquet. I found her in her room playing with her friends (Bear Bear and Miss Flower) {It will be a sad day when she no longer drags these 'friends' around constantly} I love her choice with her vase!

knitwits.

My Mom came down this past week end. Amelia and her had a little bonding/knitting session.

big brother of the year award

Yesterday I heard Amelia ask Aiden to 'dance like a princess with me?' And he did. Major brownie points with the parents.

snowboarding 101

Dale took Aiden to Baker on Saturday for the first time. This was Aiden's first time snowboarding and he 'mastered the rope tow!' Looking so forward to the next few years when we can start going as a family. I think I will be the lone skier. I can't imagine snowboarding myself but we'll see.

meal plan monday

monday:jambalaya and broccoli slaw
tuesday: meatloaf, garlic mashed potatoes, peas and carrots
wednesday: maple walnut chicken, couscous, salad
thursday: pork satay, stir fry vegetables
friday: steak souvlaki, greek salad, tzatziki and pita bread
saturday: chicken fajitas, Pioneer Woman's mexican rice
sunday:??

thanksgiving kids ideas

I was surfing the web for kids placecard ideas for Turkey day and came across this and this. But this made me laugh out loud.

grateful...

for this lady. This picture makes me smile. When I was a kid my Grandma always let me play with her hair. I would comb and try to style her short grey hair (it never really looked that different after many styling attempts) but she was patient and unvain. Never caring if I messed her hair up. Now I get the privilege of watching her play with my kids the same way. This picture was taken last week in the lobby after the Remembrance Day ceremony. She is still the same. My Grandma was always willing to sit in the back seat with the grand kids, listen to our stories and play imaginary games. Just this past Thanksgiving I found her and Amelia under the computer desk at my parents hiding from 'scary monsters.' I am so grateful for my Grandma.

baking with my baby

Amelia loves to help in the kitchen. I love to cook by myself but I'm learning to love her help. I do look forward to the amount of bonding time we will have over the years. I will especially cherish her help because she is the only person in the family interested in helping out in the kitchen.

holiday to do list

It really isn't too early to think about the holiday season!
-decorate for Christmas
-send out Christmas cards
-drive around and look at Christmas lights
-see the Nutcracker
-kids Christmas program at church
-listen to Christmas music
-sit in the dark and look at our Christmas tree in the dark
-pick one thing to make for Christmas baking
-decorate a gingerbread house ( we usually buy the kit from Costco)
-our annual Christmas brunch
-the Lights of Christmas at Warm Beach
-holiday port festival
-not do a december daily album but still take a picture each day to capture the season
-the Peak of Christmas at Grouse Mountain
-find a way to make some one in need holiday wishes come true
-most importantly spend time with family and friends!
-*can I tell you how stinking happy I am that I finally figured out how to link!
*photo via Real Simple
oh yea I almost forgot...
-Lynden lighted parade
-pictures with Mall Santa

tree huggers

We decided to take advantage of our rain free Sunday and toddle down to Elizabeth Park. Brrr. The kids 'climbed' (rather Dale placed them in the trees) and we played tag. A quick play at the playground and we were ready to head back to our warm house.

pink, please.

Amelia moved into a big girl bed last week. Besides the cessation of naps it's gone smoothly. We decided to make her room a bit more 'Amelia' by painting it pink! She loves it.

meal plan monday

sunday: ham, roasted sweet potatoes, broccoli bake,
monday: Swiss steak (thanks Mary) baked potatoes, salad
tuesday:(I work) ham leftovers
wednesday: tuna burgers, coleslaw, carrots and hummus
thursday: (I work) maple walnut chicken, couscous, green beans
friday: (I work and bb practice) corn dog muffins(recipe on blog), veggies and dip
saturday& sunday: boys week end in Eastern Washington.

maple glazed stuffed pork roast

Sounds a lil fancy but it was easy! I ripped this off from the Kraft website (you can sub pear for the apple and add nuts if you're into that type of thing. Dale and I are into that type of thing but the kids are not and this was a kid pleaser meal. The sacrifices we makes as parents!)

2 Tbsp. butter
1 apple, chopped
1-1/2 cups hot water
1 pkg. (6 oz.) STOVE TOP Stuffing Mix for Chicken
1 pork loin (2 lb), butterflied
2 Tbsp. maple-flavored or pancake syrup
2 Tbsp. GREY POUPON Hearty Spicy Brown Mustard
1 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary

HEAT oven to 350ºF.

MELT butter in large skillet on medium heat. Add apples; cook and stir 3 min. or until crisp-tender. Add water and stuffing mix; cover. Let stand 5 min,; mix lightly.

SPOON stuffing mixture onto cut-side of meat to within 1/2 inch of edge. Roll up, jelly-roll fashion, starting at one of the short ends. Place seam-side down, in roasting pan sprayed with cooking spray.

BAKE 1 hour. Mix syrup, mustard and rosemary; spread over meat. Bake 20 min. or until meat is done (160°F). Let stand 15 min. before slicing to serve.

c.r.a.z.y.

Yesterday was not a great day day. It started before school when I was trying to reach something on the top shelf of the garage and I spilled a container of paint all over. All over the floor, my new freezer, a few splashes on my car. Awesome. Cleaning up paint is just smearing paint. I was frantically trying to clean the mess up before driving the carpool to school, drop Amelia at a friend's and return to the school to help in Aiden's class. I like helping in Aiden's class but yesterday was a bit overwhelming. I was working with three kids that require so much help that either them or the rest of the class is going to suffer this year. It made realize we are going to have to work so much harder with Aiden at home if we want him to be as successful as he can be. Then when I returned home and was trying to make dinner before work I spilled an entire bag of brown rice all over the kitchen. I could have got the shop vac out of the garage but I was trying to forget the giant paint mess that was still there. Dale called right then to let me know he is going to require some incredibly expensive dental work. Great. Work just seems to be an added stress these days. And to keep with the theme of my day I was at work until 2am. This morning I lay in bed and counted my blessings (there are a ton) before getting up and facing the day. It's going to be so much better!

meal plan monday

monday: leftover potato burritos and salad
tuesday: teriyaki meatballs over brown rice, stir fry veggies
wednesday: lasagna, salad
thursday: stuffed pork loin, roasted vegetables and sweet potatoes
friday: Dale and the kids fun night, I'll be fine dining at the cardiac conference
saturday: chicken fajitas
sunday: BBQ steak, twice baked potatoes, green beans and carrots

trick or treat

Halloween we had a little pre funk with friends and then let the kids loose in the neighborhood. I love to watch the kids trick or treat while it's still light out. It was a bonus that it wasn't raining. Our neighbor and Amelia both were dressed as Snow White.Amelia did our street and then joined me inside to hand out candy. We didn't get many kids this year but I was impressed with the ones that did come. Their costumes were fabulous and every single one had great manners.