Thursday 16 February 2023

Thankful Thursday - Kids Growing Up/Family Time/Superbowl/V-Day/JARS Reunion

It has been a LONG time since I've done a Thankful Thursday! My weekly updates were getting a little boring for me, so I figure maybe I should give it another try.

This week I am thankful for...

1. The sneaks of Spring. Definitely not spring yet as it's still freezing cold, but we're getting the odd sunny day and it's still light out right through dinner time which is a game changer! The kids are a bit older so while I prep dinner they can go outside on a nice day and play. This is always my favorite. I say it every year. I LOVE Spring when the kids (and Dave) are all outside and I have the house to myself for a little bit to prep dinner, tidy, maybe have a sip of wine, etc. all while the sun is pouring in through the kitchen windows. It's the best time for me to take a deeeep breath. 

Look at her go on her two-wheeler!! Amazing.



Breathe...



The 4 Musketeers. Next year there will be another one running around with these 4! (No, not mine)

All the pink <3. Clearly this was Valentine's Day


2. Toy rotation. The big kids found our Littlest Pet Shop toys in the top of Dom's closet the other day so that kept them busy for a good long while. I try to do a toy rotation, but often forget to actually rotate them and it just ends up being "toys put in storage until they're randomly discovered someday".


3. Nostalgic finds. I worm-holed into a box of old planners, journals and notes passed in high school. I then stumbled upon this gem from back in the Quibble/Creekside days!

4. An actual relaxing time at the library. Typically a trip to the library is me chasing Eva down trying to get her to stop yelling and running and ripping all the books off the shelves. I brought just the girls the other day and I lost Eva for a second and found her sitting calmly beside Emilia reading a book and singing Happy Birthday. 



5. Kids in Cornerstone. This has been a game changer. This week in church The big kids sped off to Cornerstone excitedly, and I sent Dave to nursery with Eva as it was a Dad's Club in there that day. That meant I got to sit in church alone and have a hot coffee and listen to the sermon. AMAZING!! I remember when all the kids were little dreaming of these days, though I also miss sitting with all the girls breastfeeding our babies and chatting in the lobby. Dave brought Eva back in for the last couple songs and she went nutso. She was dancing on the chairs behind us and drawing all the attention possible to her. 


I love the way she writes her name. The L is almost always either upside down or backwards and she always colours in the top of her A's, no matter where she writes them.

6. Spontaneous lunch. After church I was thinking about what the heck we were going to do for lunch when Jeff texted and asked if anyone wanted to come over for soup and grilled cheese. YES! It was a really nice spontaneous lunch and is maybe something we could do more often! (?)

Eva's outfit <3



Eva checking Aunty Marta's heart "bum bum. bum bum. bum bum."

7. Superbowl Party. Just kidding... mostly. We had Scott, Ashleigh and Phoebe over for the Rihanna concert, I mean Superbowl, on Sunday afternoon. They brought all sorts of snacks and appetizers and we provided the drinks. It was a really lovely afternoon and felt very relaxing and normal. We even got to watch some Marble Races which brought me right back to the early COVID days with the Quaranteam.









Emilia painted her own nails, Aunty Ashleigh's nails and even Phoebe's nails. Very special day in Miss E's world <3

8. Aunty Lasagna. Aunty Sonya swung by on Monday morning for a visit and to bring the girls some goodies. She's been working on a Lion King animal collection for Emilia and it's amazing! Every so often some show up at our door or she brings some over. Emilia (all the kids really) is loving it! She also brought over these gorgeous matching dresses for the girls. Emilia wears hers every day now and Eva also asks to wear it constantly just to sing and dance to Frozen songs. They're so fancy <3. 




These toys will last forever! 

9. Random nature in our backyard. I went on a walk with Sherlock the other day when it was so beautiful out and as I was walking along Fraser Highway I heard running water in the ditch. I looked over and saw a little waterfall which was odd. I wondered if what was causing it was a beaver dam, but I thought that was even more odd of an idea. A few meters farther up I saw a tree that had clearly been chomped down by a beaver, and further down found some more! I am a geek and I love investigating these sorts of things. It's just such a random place for a beaver dam. Right at Fraser Highway and 176 across from the Honeybee Centre. 

This picture is pretty nothing, but you can sort of see the change in water levels and the pile of sticks there. 

The real evidence

10. Valentine's Day. Dave and I never celebrate Valentine's Day formally. He did get me a giant bag of Mini Eggs, so that's a win! Having the kids in school means they get to make and deliver (and receive) Valentine's cards and goodies. I like that they can write their own now, but I don't love the sugar rush and crash that comes after they receive their goody bags from school haha. 

Dom meticulously writing out all his classmates' names and Emilia helping him seal them up.


She thought this Valentine from her teachers was hilarious!

11. Eva's first rice bucket. I sort of forgot about our rainbow rice as I put it away a while ago not wanting Eva to get into it. I pulled it out this week and supervised her very closely and set clear guidelines. She was in heaven. It went way better than I expected. Once the rules are very clear to her I bet she can play independently at a rice bucket for long periods of time so I can relax or get some other things done! 


We iterated and reiterated that "the rice stays in the bucket." When she dropped some she promptly got down to the floor and tried picking up each grain of rice. It's all good babe. I expect some mess haha!

12. Random preschool moments. I downloaded some pictures from the preschool app and they've been trying to get more of Emilia so I can see how she's doing/engaging in class. Love to see it. She's made a little friend and is getting a bit better with the transition from being with me to being in class. She looks forward to class more and has been telling me more about her days. All good things!



She loves drawing cartoony faces, so she drew the eyes and a funny mouth and tongue between them and then stuck the carrot nose on after. I just love that the mouth is above the nose haha.



13. JARS Reunion. Adam was back in town from Toronto after they moved there (temporarily) at the end of December. Jeff, Scott and I made the trek out from Surrey to meet him in Vancouver. We went to Bartholomew and had some delicious cocktail, charcuterie and wine! We realized after that we almost exactly recreated the scene from the last time we went there. 

Cute Valentine's Display in Yaletown

This place is so cool and funky


"Who's the happiest guy in this restaurant?" Adam, with his "Guatamala Negroni" from the Negroni Tour. Cacao nib infused ron zacapa 23, coffee infused campari, creme de banana, treasure chest. It was served in a smoke box and was indeed, very smoky. 

My "BC Negroni" from the Negroni Tour. Marshmallow infused SOV vodka, the woods amaro, esquimalt bianco vermouth, orange air.

Scott's "Oaxaca Negroni" (pronounced wa-ha-ka). barrel-aged: mezcal, amaro, montenegro, campari, sweet vermouth, torched anis.

The butchers board. I would try to give a tour of what was included here but there was so much I don't remember! What's important is that it was delicious. 

Last night
Best part, I was home and in bed by 10!

Previous time at Bartholomew

14. Art work by the kids. 

Yesterday's watercolour by Emilia. This one's a keeper <3

Dom has recently decided he is an "expert at drawing Pokemons" :)

Eva's first watercolour painting. The rest of it ended up on the back of her hand.


RANDOM PICTURES:
Like Father like Daughter. Both lounging on the couch reading

The girls checking out the school construction

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