Thankful Thursday - 229

This week I am thankful for...

1. Being intentional and making memories. One benefit to working a lot more, is that I am trying to be more intentional with my time with the kids. That doesn't necessarily mean I sit and play with them all the time, but because I have other things to do, I'll set up an activity for them, or take 5 minutes to read a book, take an hour in the evening to "go on an adventure" as Dom calls it, etc. 

Hilarious father-son water fight on the balcony while we all sat with our feet in a bucket of ice water.

Making memories - first freezies!

It was a scorcher on Monday, so right after dinner I took the kids to the water park in Clayton. It was not nearly as busy as I was expecting! Dom didn't go in the water (not surprising), and Emilia came through with me carrying her, but had fun! They spent most of the time on the toddler playground.

Dom "making honey"

She says she's mopping. We get morning and late afternoon shade in front of our house (from 1130-330 or so it's mostly sun), so we try to get out there to play in the shade when it's a tolerable temperature.

Sit-ervising (in front of the neighbour's garage because that's where the sun was)

This kid plays garbage truck all day long. With all sorts of different things that aren't garbage trucks. The wagon with buckets of paper/toys, his toy screws and plyers, the buggie and a bucket of anything, his dump truck, etc. etc.

Always have to "go one time around the complex!"

Very slowly making her way up the "hill" in our complex, but very determined to do it on her own. "Emilia, do you want some help?" "No, me got it."

2. Mom being on vacation. Mom has helped out a lot lately, and came to watch the kids for a few hours yesterday morning so I could go into the Spartan Foundation to get some work done. She'll do that every so often so I can practice juggling two jobs before the fall when everyone's lives pick back up!

3. Fresh ingredients. A few weeks back I picked up a basil plant from Costco, and as it turns out it is MASSIVE! Lucky for me basil is resilient, so it's still kicking (I kill all the plants). This week I made a batch of pesto and it was so delicious - I liked it better than store bought! I just happened to have all the ingredients in the house and it took literally 5 minutes. 

Recipe for pesto and pesto pasta below :)

4. Hot weather cooking solutions. So hot lately (super not complaining, I like hot better than cold!), which makes cooking tough. I refuse to turn on the oven, but remembered we have a toaster oven! It's out on our deck and I used it to make some philly cheese steak sandwiches, and roasted some vegetables for our pesto pasta dinner using the aforementioned homemade pesto! Sooo good. It's a made up recipe, but I'll include the ingredients for the pasta below. 

I suggested we eat lunch outside one day. Best idea ever! So nice on our back patio <3

We eat a lot of veggies lately! Also, these sandwiches... I had herbs and cheese sub buns, so I put garlic butter on and toasted them, then spread some pesto, and added roast beef and cheddar cheese. I toasted them again in the toaster oven and OMG. So delicious!

5. Air conditioners. We have two air conditioners, and we've had them in the kids' rooms because they get the evening sun, and otherwise get over 30 degrees at bedtime. Well David spontaneously made the choice Tuesday night to move Emilia into Dom's room on the "bottom bunk" so we could steal her A/C. I had low expectations, but by some miracle they were both asleep by 8, and Emilia was awake quietly at 7:15 so Dave got her. I had to WAKE DOM UP! at 8:15 since my mom was coming over and I had to get to work. Never ever has that happened before, but it happened again today! He slept in til 8. He's always up at 6 yelling for us to come get him. Magic! Also, Emilia had zero issue being in a new bed. She's so easy sometimes.

No pictures of AC because that would be boring, so here's a few of Dom playing in the sprinkler!

6. Figuring out a routine. We're working on adjusting our lives to a new routine and schedule with all these huge changes we've made lately. I get up at 6, and Dave is up between 5 and 630 depending on the day. I have my coffee, breakfast, and watch the news. Then at 7, Dave gets the kids and does breakfast, while I take the dog for a walk (since it's so hot out). Dave then heads down to his office and works pretty much the whole day either on his computer or out at shoots. I have started working out, so I'll try to do a 20 minute workout in the morning before it gets too hot. I've been finding my mind wanders a lot during yoga lately, so I need something a little more intense for a bit! I work when I can while the kids are up, but I'm "on kid duty" most of the morning. Then around 3 Dave is done work, and we spend some family time together before dinner, eat dinner, and have free time until bedtime. After they go down to bed, we catch up on our days, and have grown-up time! (We started watching the Sherlock BBC series again - so good!)

As much as life is crazy and busy and stressful sometimes, I am very grateful for this life we have!


Tuesday's Pesto Pasta Recipe:

- Red & Yellow Pepper (halved, seeded & roasted)
- Red Onion (halved and roasted)
- 1/2 Large Yellow Onion (halved and roasted)
- Small Yellow Squash (sliced and roasted)
- Mushrooms (sliced and sauteed)
- Italian Sausage (cooked in frying pan)
- Sun-dried Tomatoes (chopped)
- Feta Cheese (crumbled)
- Pesto
- Noodles (I used bowtie, but any would work. I like rotini b/c pesto sticks well to it)

I roasted all the vegetables earlier in the day, so just cooked up the sausage and added all other vegetables to it while the noodles cooked. After noodles are cooked and drained, add pesto and mix. Add the veggie/sausage mix, and then add the feta cheese and stir it up! So simple, relatively low fat, and delicious! 

Basil Pesto Recipe:

- 2 cups basil (I did 1.5 cups basil and 0.5 cups spinach to make more vibrant green colour)
- 1/3 cup pine nuts (I used walnuts)
- 3 tsp minced garlic
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1/8 tsp. pepper

In food processor, chop up basil and pine nuts. Add garlic and parmesan and blend again. Drizzle in olive oil. Stir in salt and pepper.
So easy!

Lately

Still feeling stressed about this decision to take on a second job. So much unknown in the future. Normally I'm an excellent sleeper (like 0 minutes to fall asleep and stay asleep all night), but the stress has started affecting that. It's one of those things where so much is out of my control, but also parts of this are very in my control and I just don't know what to do.

Working from home has its perks and challenges. :)

*Edited to add.. I completely forgot about this because I forgot to take pictures. This is why I need to take pictures! Haha*
Last Wednesday the girls and I got together at Katrina's for another fire. Such a lovely way to spend the evening catching up, snacking, drinking, and laughing together. Love this open, caring, no-judgement, supportive group of women. 

Lately we've just been busy, and HOT! Haven't done any huge things. On Friday morning I worked, and then Mom took the kids after naptime for a couple hours, and Dave and I joined them at their house for dinner. While the kids were out, we relaxed, and took the dog for a long walk with just the two of us - no other distractions. Little luxuries we don't normally get!

Beautiful spread for our "burger salad". Perfect hot weather, low carb (except for the focaccia... and beer) meal.

On Saturday morning we went to Mundy Park in Coquitlam with S&A and let the dogs run off-leash around a 4km loop. That park has some paths that are off-leash until 10am, which is genius! Well worth the 25 minute drive. 

Waiting for us after sprinting up a hill

After the walk I went to Costco, and Dave started cleaning the garage. Before we knew it, we'd reorganized most of the garage, piled stuff to give away, thrown out a bunch of garbage, and cleared more space for David's workout stuff. The outdoor toys are organized, Emilia's clothes are organized (when I was doing this, I found a bunch of 2T stuff from Janine I had stored away after I was looking for 2T earlier in the year. So cute!), and I packed away a whole box of books so we can rotate them out more often. Feels SO good to be productive and organized. Earlier that day I told Dave I just needed to rest, and almost bailed on the walk. Well so much for that idea. Productivity around the house was just what I needed. Then we sat down together and watched Star Wars Episode 9 together in the theatre!

Yesterday I sabbathed. 100%. Dave was at church in the morning (as per usual), so the kids and I watched from home. We sat and read and played, I worked out (I started an actual workout instead of just yoga sometimes; I've done it three times and my legs are SORE!), and then I spent a couple hours going through photos on my computer and updated our Chromecast album (photos that scroll through on our TV all day - I love that). Dave and I both also napped while the kids had their quiet/nap time. As often happens on the weekends, our family had an impromptu dinner gathering. Whoever happens to be free gets together. We rarely have plans other than family dinners, so we're almost always free! We went to mom and dad's with Adam and Aly, and had baby potatoes (I boiled, then wrapped in foil with Italian Seasoning and butter, then we reheated on the BBQ), roasted vegetables, and meat. Red meat. Ribeye and filet mignon. Droooool. We never eat red meat because $$$, so it was a delicious special treat! 

Because the meal was almost entirely done on the BBQ, mom was able to sit down and read with the kids - whether she liked it or not haha! A little hot for cuddling, but cute nonetheless. 

Today I worked for a bit in the morning, worked out, and then it was too hot to do anything :). I took the kids to the veggie market and to pick up groceries, then we had lunch and went outside to play. Dom insisted on driving the BMW around the complex, and finally I convinced them to come in with a special treat. Their first freezie! PC has these little mini fruit-juice freezies. Healthier (ish?) and much less messy than a popsicle! 

I had to help her push the freezie up every time she took a bite

He, on the other hand, figured it out quite quickly!

Lately - Sunshine, Parks, Beaches and Pancakes!

Finally it feels like summer is here! Happy heat wave everyone! Summer is my second favorite season (after spring), so I'm definitely enjoying the long, warm days. So are Dom & Em since we get outside a whole lot more! (Fair-weather mother over here!)

Last week was Rebecca's second birthday. On Saturday Rachel & Kyle planned a BBQ picnic birthday party at a park in Burnaby. While it may have been at a park to allow for COVID distancing, it was probably the perfect way to celebrate! Shade and food for the adults, playground for the kids!

I love having an excuse that forces me to break out my lettering stuff. Otherwise I just don't have the time for it lately. Too  much going on!

Little accessorizer is getting park ready!

Instead of buying sunglasses for Dom, he's just using my old scratched up ones. Looking spiffy dude.

We showed Dom how to use this digger at the park and he spent a lot of time there just moving sand around. He loved it, and was actually strong enough for it which surprised me!

Rebecca decked out in her summer birthday outfit! (her hat is the same as the one Emilia was wearing this day)

Slightly less graceful than her big brother. You may notice my kids are both in bare feet. Ya... parents of the year over here! We forgot their shoes at home! I saw them at the bottom of the stairs and thought, "Oh, no way we'll forget those!" and then promptly forgot about them. Oops... Glad no one stepped on a bee!

This little one always steals my lip chap, and it's that medicated blistex stuff. Finally I bought her a watermelon lip smackers. She was over the moon. Had to go find a little purse to put it in, and now asks for it all the time. I have to budget her lip chap time though. Otherwise I catch her sucking on it or digging it out to eat it... too bad it tastes so delicious! Haha

The cousins played SO well together. Especially Dom and Rebecca. It is super sweet to see them playing together instead of just parallel playing. 

Closest I could get to a cute shot with their matching hats.

Our family's area

Opening some gifts! She got lots of bubbles :)

Sunday after naptime we packed up again and went to Rocky Point Park in Port Moody. We parked at Jeff & Marta's, and then walked down there. What a lovely place to live!

Everyone except Adam & Aly could make it

Played some spike ball, which Dom was probably better than me at.

Playing with ice cubes - good hot day activity!

Mom & Dad walked the littles to the pier, and Emilia held onto her hat the whole time so it wouldn't blow off. 

J&M brought ladder ball too! Great lawn games

S&A brought bocce. I'm not good at sports of any kind haha. But I have a good attitude at least!

This morning Gramma invited us over for brunch. We got there and played outside for a while before going in to make pancakes! It's been such beautiful weather, and they have a great backyard with shady and sunny spots to hang out.

Dom even got to cut up a banana with a knife! He had great knife-handling skills for never using one before. Hooray for play food!