Thankful Thursday - 175

Had a thrifty week so far! Easy to be grateful when you're cheap ;).
This week I'm thankful for...

1. GOOD DEALS! I went to Talize twice this week. Once with Emilia, and then once to return something with Dave, where we did some more shopping. We made some SERIOUS steals. I literally felt bad about one thing and mentioned at the till that I think they mis-priced it. We got everything listed below for under $100... Honestly, if you're willing to spend the time, you can get such amazing deals and it feels so good!

Finally got Dom some sunglasses!

Disney Bambi sleeper for Emilia.

A spring shirt, Hyba sweater, and brand new strapless bra for me (for $3...)

A GAP Darth Vader long sleeve (pictured below), three hoodies and a Children's Place sweater for Dom.

Nike shorts and a brand new Columbia jacked for Dave

Three pairs of shoes for Dom, two pairs for Emilia (handy now that she's walking...), and a pair of Nike Free Run 4.0 Fly Knit runners for me!

These shoes are almost too small, but they are too cute to pass up. They can be his church shoes until he really outgrows them :)

These shoes... I went looking for cute Spring shoes for myself, and stumbled across this pair of Nikes (not cute spring shoes, but oh well). I slipped them on my feet for fun and they fit like. a. glove. I checked the price and they were $9.99. Dave is the shoe expert so I asked him to take a look and he could not believe it! These shoes are $160 brand new, and there was no damage to them at all. They're perfectly usable runners! I threw them in the wash when we got home, and they came out looking brand new basically. WIN!!!

100% bribed him with extra blueberries to get this photo.

2. A flower! The last year or two my tulips and daffodils haven't actually bloomed. The greens come up, but either something ate the flowers or they just didn't bloom. This year I have one daffodil so far, and I can see a couple other flowers waiting to open up!

3. Dom being brave. I took Dom and Sherlock to Noel Booth this week so Sherlock could go swimming. Dom was throwing rocks in the water and said he wanted to go swimming with the puppy. He has always hated water, so I just said, "Go ahead." He actually went and dipped his toes (shoes and all) in the water, which I praised him for, for being so brave. Then he backed up, and I thought he was going to get another rock to throw, but before I know it he goes RUNNING into the water, up to his knees and then falls on his butt. He cried. I laughed so hard. I scooped him up and congratulated him on being so brave and for going swimming! I was not counting on him getting wet, so did not have a change of clothes or anything. I stripped him down, stuck him in the stroller and wrapped him in my scarf. He was pretty pleased with himself on the walk back to the car, talking about how he went swimming. I changed his diaper when we got to the car and he rode home naked in the car seat. Glad I was feeling flexible and he could be brave and have a little adventure haha!

Action shot of him as he started running in. I wish I could have taken a photo of him sitting in the water, but I had to act quick so he wasn't traumatized by the experience haha!

We noticed Sherlock is starting to put on a little weight (probably from all the extra food Emilia is feeding him...), so we're trying to commit to taking him swimming more often! Burns so much energy for him, and he LOVES it. It's his #1 favorite activity. #2 would be chasing the ball on dry land haha.

4. She's walking. Dom started taking steps around his first birthday. She's only 10.5 months! AND she just started standing independently two days ago... She took no time at all to start walking. She figured it out after about 15 minutes of taking one step, two steps, and then all of a sudden 8 steps! Whaaaaa?!

My heart hurts a little to see her growing up so fast, but I also don't have baby fever, so that's great! Feeling busy enough at this point with the two of them.

Thankful Thursday - 174

Feeling thankful is a little easier this week :)
Thankful for...

You guessed it!
1. Time as a couple. It was so nice to rejuvenate our relationship and spend some uninterrupted time together to just be. Here's my post about our weekend away in case you missed it, but want to read :).

You had to know this one was coming!
2. The sun!!! This is my absolute favorite season. So full of hope, the days get longer, the weather gets warmer. It's the perfect temperature and I have 100x more energy than in the winter. 

Yay! Go outside! Play! I'll just stay in here and power clean the kitchen...

I put cheerios in the ice cube tray. Kept her and Sherlock busy for quite a while! Good for her fine motor skills too :)

Love having a seating area on both sides of our house. Upstairs for morning sun, and in the yard for the afternoon sun! Or the opposite if we want shade in the summer.

This boy is such a snuggler.

3. New recipes. Along with this new energy comes motivation to cook good meals! This week I made some Greek marinaded chicken and vegetable skewers with pitas and tzatziki. I used the grill for the first time ever! The next day I made this Mexican Lentil Soup from the Yum & Yummer book. It was/is definitely yummy! Then tonight or tomorrow I plan to make some Butter Chicken Naan-Bread Pizzas, also from the Yum & Yummer book. I'm drooling just thinking about them. Now if only the kids would eat this stuff *insert eye-roll emoji*.

Mexican Lentil Soup. Mine even looked that good when it was done!

So looking forward to this *DROOL*

We Escaped! - Cove Lakeside Resort

This past weekend Dave and I escaped to the Cove Lakeside Resort in West Kelowna for two nights. It was our first time leaving both the kids, and we split them up between our parents. Leading up to the trip I was nervous that it would take me a full day to relax and stop thinking about the kids. I was wrong. It took no time at all. I'm a little embarrassed to admit that I did not miss them haha!

I (we) had the most amazing time. I haven't felt that relaxed, selfish, or like myself (instead of Mom) in probably three years. I had complete freedom! It felt like a honeymoon. A 48 hour honeymoon haha!

We drove in to Kelowna, but had a couple hours before check-in at the hotel. We went to Volcanic Hills for some wine tasting and a bite to eat, and then to Mt. Boucherie which was right there for some more wine tasting. Volcanic Hills was David's first ever wine-tasting experience. We had fun, but it's definitely more fun when you don't have to worry about driving :).

Total mish-mash of phone photos and camera photos; the good ones are camera photos ;)

Scrumptious flatbread!

Silly me. I gave up alcohol for Lent, except for this weekend which was planned way before I made that decision. Now I have to wait to drink all these yummy wines we bought!

On to check-in at our hotel. The room we booked (1-bedroom suite with garden view) "required some extra maintenance", so we were upgraded to a lake-view suite! I am so incredibly grateful for this. I am quite sure this made our weekend what it was. Our room overlooked the pool and lake. It was so peaceful and beautiful. Our balcony was huge and it got sunlight from 8am-6pm every day. Heaven. I had all these plans to go out and do fun things the whole weekend, but I quickly changed my mind and wanted to spend as much time at the hotel as possible. 

Enjoyed some perks of your husband being a photographer

We got some food from Save-On Foods up the road and ate dinner in the sun, and spent the evening playing games, and just being. Just us. Such a needed break!

I made the most amazing comeback i this game of Crib Wars

Our first morning I woke up at 6:59 am. About the exact same as every day at home. I didn't expect to sleep in, and I'm a morning person anyway, so suited me just fine! We spent the morning at the hotel, had a quite bite to eat at the Bonfire restaurant downstairs, went for a walk, played some games and then got ready for more wine tasting!

I've seen worse views

First stop, the Hatch. Super rustic and unique. Our sommelier was most definitely stoned, but very knowledgable. We bought two bottles of wine there, and then it was off to Quail's Gate! Quails Gate and the Hatch are complete opposites. Quail's Gate is posh, fancy, clean and snobby. Our sommelier here was awesome though, and we had a great experience. I also really loved their wines! 

This ceiling was made from 1920's pressed aluminum from some factory or something. Moral of the story, it was really cool!

On to Quail's Gate. The sun was SO bright.

A trip to the Two Eagles Golf Course for a DELICIOUS lunch (we went back the next day, too), and then off to Mission Hill Winery. What a gorgeous place. Wow. On top of a hill, a huge expansive venue with really cool architecture. David could have spent all day here taking pictures, but I wanted to get back to the hotel to sit on the balcony!

Lunch at the golf course

Capturing the photographer capturing the next photograph :)

Chips. Guacamole. Margaritas. Nap.

Not much to report about the rest of the trip. The drive was quick and smooth, the weather was beautiful and warmish (in the sun), we had an amazing time together and I was not ready to go home! I may have cried a little realizing all the responsibility we were returning to. 

That being said, we were excited to see the kids and hear about their weekends. Dom was at David's parents' (Mama & Papa). He had a BLAST! Didn't care at all that we showed up, "Hi Mommy, Hi Daddy. Okay Papa, sandbox!" He got to to go the airport in Richmond and see the big jet planes, played in the sun in the backyard, made banana cake with Mama, played cars, and rode in Papa's big truck! 

Emilia was with my parents and she also was great all weekend. She attached herself to my mom right away, so she didn't miss me at all. She was actually rather wary and confused when we came to get her. Wait a minute... who is this? Took her a solid five minutes of one-on-one time before she smiled at me! Now she's as clingy as ever though. (why'd we have to come home again?)!


I honestly woke up Sunday morning, walked out onto the balcony looking at the view and said, "I'm just SO happy." It was the perfect weekend. I wish we could do it more often. I think we will try to make it a priority to get away for a weekend as a couple once per year. Marriage maintenance. SO important!