easter bunny dialogue

our egg-art for the year

Easter egg hunt was good this year but I think this is the last year Chaeli believes in The Bunny dude.

A couple of nights before easter, Doug was tucking Chaeli in for the night. She said, “Daddy, I don’t know if there’s such a thing as the Easter Bunny.”

Doug is thinking, ‘Oh crap! I just spent $50 on chocolate!’ (And when he told me this part, I was like, “Oh crap! $50??? I asked you to help me this year, not empty the bank!” I usually spend about half that much – I think he was compensating for the first Easter Sunday he has to work.)

He played along with little miss and said, “Why do you say that?”

“Dad… It’s a RABBIT!” But you have to picture this 8 year old girl, going on 25, like she was saying, “Dude… Come on. How the hell can a rabbit, one TINY rabbit, do all that?”

pausing to inspect her loot

The morning of the egg hunt, she paused for a moment and asked, “Mommy… Is this from the Easter Bunny? Or from you and daddy?”

Yup, she’s totally onto us.

she wasn't able to reach this high last year

xmas 2012 loot

as usual, we made out pretty darn good this year.

Doug’s loot (left to right):

1. The Pacific – DVD TV Miniseries: This is something Doug has been wanting for years now. It was a gift from me. I would have bought him the blu ray version but the price was still a bit on the high side.
2. Spaghetti Western: There’s 20 classic spaghetti western movies on this one DVD. It’s one of Doug’s guilty pleasures so I made sure Santa had this in his stocking.
3. Moroccan Tagine: Another item that’s been on his list for a few years now. The problem was that it was really tough finding a place to buy from where the tagine was authentic and didn’t cost an arm and a leg. There are a lot of modern ones that boasts that it can be used both in the oven and in the stove but the cost is about 3 times the amount. I sent the link from Amazon to my PIL who have a drop off place just south of the border which they go to often (for their store). It was shipped there and so was a gift from his parents.
4. Pirates of the Caribbean – On Stranger Tides: My aunt and uncle bought him the fourth Pirates of the Carribean on blu ray. We have the first three – Doug loves anything with sword fights and adventure.
5. Stories of Survival from the Front Lines of Firefighting: Another stocking stuffer I made sure Santa would bring for Doug. He hasn’t put it down since Christmas day.
6. Beer and Stein Gift Set from LCBO: When I saw this in the store, I really didn’t realize how big both the beer can and stein was until Doug took it out of the box. The can itself is probably around 2 pints or 3 regular beer bottles.

Doug also got a very nice Canadian Team Olympic apparel hoodie from his sister and BIL. Chaeli got him some animal crackers in a box shaped like a fire truck. He also got a slew of shaving lotion, cream and some dipping oil & vinaigrette.

Chaeli’s loot (left to right):

1. Crystal Making Science Kit: A gift from Doug and I. Yes, it’s educational but it was actually one of the things on her wishlist. We haven’t cracked it open yet because I’m saving it for a rainy day.
2. Squishy Squinkies: My parents bought this for Chaeli. And if I never had Chaeli, believe me, I would not know what a Squinky is, let alone a Squishy Squinky. They bought her the gum ball set (since all Squinkies come in these clear, plastic balls that open down the middle) as well as extra Squinkies to kick start her collection.
3. Captain Underpants #5-7: A present from Santa – to feed her obsession with the dude that wears nothing but a cape and underpants.
4. LalaLoopsy Silly Hair Doll: Here’s another item of which I wouldn’t have known about if I hadn’t become a parent. Chaeli loves styling the hair which bends sort of like a continuous crazy straw. This was a present from my aunt and uncle.
5. UNO: There’s nothing more in the word that Chaeli wanted from Santa then the classic UNO game. We’ve played it so much during the holidays that I’m ready to enter any UNO tournament out there. If such a tournament actually exists.
6. My Farm Around the World – for Nintendo DS: Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without a couple of DS games. Here’s one that was a stocking stuffer.
7. Operation: A present from my SIL and BIL which I’m happy to say is like the retro, classic game. When I did some window shopping here, all I could find was the Pixar Car’s Mator version. Not that that wouldn’t have been cool – but there’s something about the retro style that just can’t be beat.

Chaeli also got some other cool gifts, like the Phineas and Ferb books, Star Wars Life Saber lip gloss (the lip glass lights up), a Hello Kitty digicam from her godparents and Jenga from Hobbes.

Shy’s loot (from left to right):

1. Body Shop Hemp Gift Set: This set contains hemp cream for my hands, body and feet. And it does the trick! My hands are ultra dry during the winter so I usually need some serious moisturizer but without that greasy, oily residue. The hemp hand cream really gets absorbed into the skin. The scent is a little stronger then I would like but because it is on the musky side, I don’t mind. I’m not a fan of the flowery and fruity (except coconut or citrus) scents. Santa Doug bought this for me.
2. Sims 3 on PS3: A gift from my sweet Chaeli (with help from Doug, of course). I’m sad to say that I have had no time to play this game. Can’t wait, though!
3. National Geographic – The Photographs: A great coffee book with all the significant and influential photographs capturing both culture and history around the world. This was a gift from Doug.
4. Anthony Bourdain’s Medium Raw: A stocking stuffer that will be well worth the read, I’m sure! It’s a softer side of Bourdain now that he’s got an adorable little girl and is settling down into family life. But the softer side of Bourdain, I would imagine, is still edgier then most people’s hard side.
5. Horrible Bosses: I got this from my SIL and BIL. What a great gift! I love this movie and can’t wait to watch it again and again.
6. Snow Shoes: Santa (Doug) got a pair for both Chaeli and I. Doug’s pair is back in T-Bay so we’ll have to get that shipped over soon so the three of us can enjoy it.

I also got a $50 gift card for Reitman’s from my PIL. They inserted it in one of these beautiful, hand-painted wine goblets (Doug got one too to make it a set). I also got season 1 and 2 of The Cosby Shoe from my aunt and uncle. And a DVD remote control from my parents for our PS3 system.

there’s just not enough hours in a weekend

i don’t want to say that there’s not enough hours in a day. because that would mean that i would just end up spending even more of my daytime at work.

but hours in a weekend? yes, please. at least leading up to christmas.

i can’t believe the “biggest and best holiday of the year” (according to my 7 year old) is less than two weeks away.

TWO WEEKS!

thankfully, shopping has been done but now the dreaded part awaits – the wrapping. and i really wanted to start this past weekend but it was hard enough to fit time in to decorate the tree.

we did it though – i mean, we had to get pizza delivery just to get it done in time without a late bedtime for chaeli… but we did it.

we also kicked start the season with Stuart McLean’s Vinyl Cafe Christmas Show this past saturday. we went with new friends, p. & l. this year, something p. and i floated around as an idea last year.

a good idea it was! we met up for some yummy pub food at a local irish pub. the difference with this pub’s food is that it’s a bit more upscale without the upscale price.

then after the show, we went to another bar for some midnight snacking and beverages.

i can’t remember the last time doug and i stayed out until midnight. this is exactly why babysitting is required every now and then. i need to remember that!

it was such a fun night. and while the show was superb, my favourite times were more just the talking, laughing and general good merriment experienced by all.

deep fried turkey, high park and a humidex

it’s the last surge of an indian summer with the humidex hitting 29 celsius this weekend.

gorgeous and glorious! i do pray for one more weekend like this before  the cold hits us – at least one more.

we had a wonderful feast at my parents’ place. everything was perfect! that turkey was deep fried and doug and i did an amazing job on the mashed potatoes and bread stuffing. my mom also prepared some honey-glazed yams which were a perfect addition to the rest of the food. plus, the pumpkin pies turned out great, too.

i was so full by the end of our meal and yet it was easy to nibble a little bit more here and there.

yesterday, the good weather continued with even more warmth and sunshine.

we spent the first half of yesterday at highpark – mostly at the off-leash walkway/trail and some of it at the zoo and playground. it was a last minute decision. i literally woke up and had to get everyone ready because i knew the park would fill up fast.

first, a quick stop at alternative grounds to get some organize and fair trade coffee beans (tasts better and is actually cheaper then starbucks). then a brunch at butler’s pantry.

both chaeli and hobbes had a blast!

a little creek under a bridge

chaeli climbing the playground castle

perspective from below

i believe this is a heron

happy kid - happy day

i spend the rest of the sunday doing what i enjoy most – lazying about and most importantly, getting a very well-deserved, long overdue, afternoon snooze.

the day after halloween

so another halloween has come and gone.

as usual, the day after leaves me tired and glad, as fun as it was, that it is over for another year.

give me a day or two to process before i post photos…

day 3 – gobble, gobble time

so it’s the 3rd day of my personal vacation. and while there’s not as much solitude in store for me today, i am looking forward to our canadian, thanksgiving feast!

i’m actually at my parents place right now, re-united with my daughter, who has had the time of her life here, as she’s allowed to watch as much TV and play as much video games as she wants.

surprisingly, she did go for a walk with my mother the other day and has started to study the words for her next spelling test (of which contains one word i’m totally annoyed is on the list – “vertices” -even i had to look that one up! *grrr*).

doug an i woke up around 7am – once again, thanks to hobbes. we had to be at my parents place around noon-ish so we had a lot to do. actually, it was probably good that we didn’t sleep in much more.

i did the laundry, baked the pumpkin pies and doug washed the dishes and made us some brunch.

now? turkey with stuffing AND sticky-rice stuffing (a la chinese style – hmm… can i say ‘a la’ in the same description of chinese food? sounds odd), cresent rolls, mashed potatos, stir-fried mixed veggies, corn and cranberry sauce.

we’re just waiting for the other guests to arrive.

here we go again

it’s that time of year again – facing the daily grind after labour day weekend.

while i’m ready for a change of season, i’m slightly saddened to see summer end.

having said that, i have plans for the fall. or more to the point, the fall weekends. we have a very short autumn season here. the leaves change into beautiful shades of red, orange, and yellow. but… with a blink of an eye, theses colours seem to go as fast as they come. so, for about five to six weeks, it’s important to plan our weekends well.

i do plan on a couple of hiking trips. we always seem to get one in – this year, we’re aiming for two. with a possible 2-night stay over the weekend up in the northern penensula of bruce trail. another hike will probably be close to the niagara area. and of course, here is always some local trails nearby.

as usual, we’ll head out to the green belt to visit a farm (usually to pick a pumpkin for halloween). this will normally be our last fall adventure.

to start, we’ve got chaeli’s first week in grade one this week, followed by a smoked meat bbq party we’ll be hosting this saturday.

i’m sure, before we know it, christmas will be just around the bend.

half vacation – half staycation

we planned our camping trip to only take part for half of the week on purpose – it allowed us to have somewhat of a staycation. of course, when it comes to camping, you do need a day or two to unpack, re-store equipment, do loads of laundry… there’s somewhat more work.

still – in between all the work, it’s been nice to go at a slower pace and to not have a routine for a couple of days.

in fact, i regret not doing a staycation earlier this summer – just a week where we can do just this. it’s somewhat surreal for me but also extremely relaxing. i would say that it’s even more relaxing then any vacation because no planning and organizing is involved.

i’ve got a 3 more days before going back to work. aside from a house warming party with good friends, we don’t have anything planned this weekend.

so… i’ll get to do a bodypump class. and some yoga and/or a bodyflow class.

and watch some movies on dvd.

reading… definitely some reading as well.

ah summer. you’ve been good to us. it’s definitely hard to let you go so soon.

canada day at darlington park

doug normally does not get a holiday off – unless he books the entire week off for vacation. which sucks – it totally cuts in on our family days of summer.

but miraculously, because they needed a special favour from him, they gave him today off. which meant we finally got a chance to have a holiday together.

we wasted no time in planning. without much effort, we found a close-by provincial park to check out for the day. it was only 30 minutes away and we may book a night or two of fall camping (it's so close – it would be easy to just head there after the end of friday's workday and stay until sunday morning).

i woke up at my regular 5:30 am time to do an hour and a half of yoga (p90x yoga-x). not too long after i finished, everyone else woke up. we were out the door by 9 am.

we spent the morning hiking a couple of the trails and then found a nice shady area for a picnic lunch. after some leisure rest time, we headed over to the beach and remained there until it was time to pack up and head back home.

i got in a nice nap on the beach. can't beat that!

happy canada day!

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food! recipes! yum!

okay, as per request, i have some recipes to share from our easter feast.

Smoked Salmon and a lemon-caper cream cheese spread, wrapped around bread sticks
- i only used the zest from one lemon and felt it was enough.

Fig, Prosciutto, Fresh Mozzarella, and Baby Spinach with a lemon-honey vinaigrette
- we did not use the purple basil since we had basil already in another appetizer.
- we did, however, throw this mixture on top of a pile of baby spinach as the dressing went well with it.

Grilled, marinated herbed & garlic Leg of Lamb
- the only thing we didn't use was the glass of white wine… because if you read the recipe, it doesn't explain where it's being used. maybe we're suppose to sip it while we cook? sounds good to me! anyway, we didn't feel it was needed.
- doug also likes to make incisions into the meat and stick cloves of garlic in there.

hope these recipes help!

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