Summertime before Winters end

 
This week has been the most fabulous week, in terms of the weather.  Once we all got over the flu, we could not help but take advantage of the +25 degree temperatures.  Monday Mike dug out the bikes and trailer, grabbed our little neighbour and set off on a bike ride.  We decided to go to the beach and play at the park there, and test out the water.  Because the snow and ice melted so quickly the water level was the highest I have ever seem it, and it was C-O-L-D!!!  Xander had a lot of fun climbing on and playing around the small play structure.  He could have kept playing for hours.  After a while of playing and swinging on the swings, we decided it was the perfect night for ice cream.  We didn't want to go too far as we had Tyler with us, so we ended up at Macs and got some cones there.  Xander LOVED the ice cream, and was not happy that Tyler wouldn't share his.
 
Thursday morning, I decided that I was confident enough to be able to attach the bike trailer to my bike and go for a small bike ride and met my friend Karrie at the park.  The kids played in the sand, played on the swings, and drew with chalk! 

It was so nice to have the summer like temperatures in March.  We all needed to get out and get some much needed vitamin D.  Our moods are higher and now we move onto vacation!

The week the flu broke in

This week started off innocently enough. Monday and Tuesday passed without incident. Then Wednesday happened. It started well. I had decided to take a cake decorating class, because I want to learn more techniques and master the ones that I do now. On the way home from signing up for the course I started to feel very ill. Once we got home it was official...the flu had finally made it into the house. I have not had the flu for as long as I can remember. I honestly didn't think that I had ever had it, until I was informed otherwise from my parents. We did everything in our power to keep it away from Xander. I washed my hands more frequently, I disinfected, I didn't share cutlery, but come Saturday morning 4am, it was clear, Xander had his first case of the flu. I had to change his bedding, his clothes, then my clothes. I wish there was a way for a mother to take the flu away from their little ones and take it for themselves. But I think just about every mother feels that way. He seemed better during the day, so we were able to go outside to enjoy the beautiful day, but we kept it close to home. Seeing it was St. Patrick's Day, we figured we should get a picture of him to commemorate the day. No crazy celebrations for us this year, but it had it's fun moments. Now Mike seems to have it. Hopefully now that we have all had it, it will go away and not come back. I am glad this week is over, and looking forward to the next one!

Perfect day to play outside and make a cake

This week has been a pretty slow week in respect to us doing anything worth writing about, until today. Today the temperature was B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L!! We had plans to visit our good friend Shannon, who recently had a baby boy, then to my parents. Shannon is sick, so we decided to head to my parents early so Xander could take advantage of playing outside. Xander had SO much fun. We brought a little ride on toy to keep at Grandma and Grandpa's, and he had a blast riding it, but seemed to enjoy making us chase him and splashing in every possible puddle much more. It was wonderful to watch him experience these things for the first time. After Xander went down for his nap, my mom and I started the cake for my husband Mike's birthday(which is tomorrow). I have been wanting to try fondant decorating for awhile, but I am apprehensive about making it myself, so we decided to go to Michael's craft store to see what they had in terms of pre made fondant, and accessories. The cost of the store bought fondant BLEW my mind even with the 40% discount coupon, so we decided to to butter cream icing for the cake, and do just the decorations with fondant. I bought a multi colour pack, and a couple of shape cutters, and started. I am actually very happy with how it turned out, however I think I really do want to try to make it to see how it turns out. Xander is now having a TWO night sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa's. It's going to be a quiet and relaxing couple of nights! Today was a perfect day all around. Happy early Birthday handsome. I love you!

Here we go!

Seeing as my commitment to keeping up with this weekly started last night, I don't have much to write about, but here goes...

Baking. I love baking. I am not much of a cook, although I am getting better, and experimenting more. But baking is a passion of mine. I find it relaxing, fun, and totally relieves my stress. I am completely obsessed with Pinterest, and was looking at health snack options for Xander, when I came across a couple that seemed easy enough to do tonight. I made my usual Banana chocolate chip muffins to start, then while they were in the oven I made Chocolate peanut butter oatmeal bars. Seriously, they took me 3 minutes. I can't believe how easy they are, and that they are relatively good for you! I highly recommend them. I am going to be making them a lot!

http://www.loveveggiesandyoga.com/2011/01/microwave-chocolate-peanut-butter-oat-snack-bars.html

Once those were done and my first batch of muffins were done, I moved onto Apple cinnamon oatmeal muffins. The website said they were easy so I figured why not start another kind! There were more ingredients than my regular muffins, and I messed up by adding some wet ingredients into the dry ingredient bowl because I just wasn't paying enough attention. But despite my mistake, they turned out fabulous too!

http://cathlincooks.blogspot.com/2009/03/apple-cinnamon-oatmeal-muffins.html

I am excited to find more recipes like this to keep my baking changing and growing!

Commitment to myself

I have been making commitments to myself lately. Eating better, getting into better shape, and now I am commiting to Blog at least once a week. Sunday night will be my Blog night so that I can keep you updated on the weekly happenings in our lives. It could be about health, recipes, crafts, couponing, or just living life with a 1 year old boy. Hope you find it fun and interesting!

Face Painting and beach fun!

This past weekend my friend came out for a night. We decided it would be fun to go to the Bridge Street Bazaar for a little walk and check out the vendors and have some lunch, and when we got there we saw that they had face painting booths. Once we found the one we liked best, we had the kids faces painted. They both sat very still and were so good that the lady was excited to paint them both. She wanted to do something little on Alexander's arm, but I convinced her that he would sit still if she did his face. I was very happy that she took my words for it because his face was ADORABLE! She is a GREAT face painter. I wish I had thought to get her card! We found a little vendor and had some lunch, and Mackenzie saw the bouncy castles, so off she and Jill went to go play. She loved bouncing and sliding! I was also lucky enough to find a few perfect presents for my parents for Christmas! YES I have officially started Christmas shopping! 2 down, a zillion to go!

After a rest at home so Alexander could nap, we went to the beach. Unfortunately, the swimming was warned against due to bacteria, but with 2 splash pads, 2 play structures, and the beach to play on, the kids had a great time anyways!

Cottage playdate #1

My niece and nephew were up at my parents cottage for a week so I figured it would be a great time to have Alexander's first cottage playdate that week. Jill, and Shannon were in for the playdate as it's relaxing for them too, so everything was set! We headed out in the morning and got there just in time for a swim. The kids LOVED playing in the water. Of course this year again, Shannon and Jill didn't get all the way in the water, so I was the only playing, but it was fun. We got the moms a little wet with water guns and had them on the run for a little. After a short swim, we had a wonderful lunch provided by my mom the consisted of sandwiches, fruit, veggies, deviled eggs, chips, and cheezies. It was DELISH! When everyone was sufficiently satisfied, I decided Alexander was in a good enough mood to go for a short boat ride before he had to go for his nap. This year the girls were brave enough to drive the boat and seemed to think it was neat. They also liked to look out the back and see the wake that the boat left. When we got back, Alexander when down for his nap and the girls and I went for another swim. While we were swimming, my parents set up the tube that gets towed behind the boat, so the kids could have a quick ride. Mackenzie is still too young so Lilly and Rhiannon got to go together and had a blast! I went with Tanner and it was so much fun! After the tube rides, we all got dressed and my mom had a surprise for the girls, S'MORES!!! I have not have s'mores since I was at Girl Guide camp so it was a YUMMY treat! Last but not least we celebrated Alexander's 8th Monthday with his cupcake. Seeing as he is not yet allowed to eat his cupcake, Lilly and Mackenzie got to share it. It was a great day spent with wonderful friends!