October 22, 2012

YOUNG COUPLE

 
This weekend the kids went to grandma and grandpa's house!

Usually when the boys back up their little suitcases with looks of excitement and joy washing over their tiny faces, I tend to feel an itch of what I call the I-miss-my-babies blues, however, I was so ready to have a solid weekend of alone time with my husband that I was so frigging excited. Oddly I feel guilty for admitting that, as if as a mother we are never suppose to feel excitement when you kids leave you, but I know I can't be the only one out there that feels this way from time to time, especially since the last date you had been on with your husband was when you went to see The Dark Knight Rises.

 Aaron and I got to act like a young couple again, we were carefree (for the most part) and spontanious, no checking in with babysitters or any of that nonsense, we were young. Sometimes we forget how young we really are. When I am juggling two kids, homework, parent teacher meetings, work, bills and all that grown up stuff our age get's lost in all of that. We are probably the youngest parents out of all of the parents in Joshua's class, but that is a whole other blog post!

On Saturday the boys went with the grandparents. Aaron and I got some "oh my dayum" good Five Guys burgers. We watched Paranormal Activity 4, against the advice of critics and indecisive public reviews, I say it was aight! After that we enjoyed dinner at an all you can eat Sushi restaurant. What I didnt realize is that for ever leftover piece of sushi on your plate you get charges $2!! Aaron and I shoveled down salmon and white fish down our throats! We were stuffed.

Sunday the husband and I left the city!

 

We ventured off to Niagara Falls which we have dubbed as "Our Place".


 


This is definitely our "go to" destination because there is just so much to do here. I must also mention that the fall colours were absolutely amazing here!


 

Apart from viewing the falls, we stoppin off at the Hersey store where I got some peanut butter chocolate fudge! the aroma coming from that place was abolutely heavenly. We also picked up a gift for the boys so that they would know that we were thinking about them on our time away.


Clifton Hill is amazing. It reminds me of The Shore, yes the Jersey Shore that I use to frequent when I was living at home. There are games, rides, haunted houses, gift shops..and yes a t-shirt shop!


Not to mention that every where you look, there is a spectacular view of something.

 

After that we drove back to the Toronto area and went to the movies again but this time we watch something that was adored by both critics and fans, we watched Argo (I highly recommend it). We grabbed a drink and some wings at a local restaurant and sat in the bar section, you know the section where Aaron and I would never bring the little ones? Yea! we sat there!

The great thing about having a whole weekend to ourselves was that we got to focus on only "us" again and remind each other why we got married in the first place, cause lets face it...marriage isn't always rainbows and unicorns.

Today  Aaron and I were both give the day off from work so we slept in, then grabbed some lunch at the new PF Changs that opened in our area. Yes I know, this place has been around in the States for a while but this is the first one in Ontario and probably all of Canada for that matter.


After that we did a little grocery shopping sans kids. It's funny how it feels going up and down the isles, searching, looking, comparing things without feeling the urge to rush through it all because someone is poking someone else.

However I found that not having them there meant that we took twice as long to get out, plus we ended up forgetting things. I guess the kids kept us organized! On the car ride home, I broke into a box of cupcakes and endulged. It was a great way to end out time alone! 

October 7, 2012

TRADITION




a little background: Thanksgiving for us Canadians takes place this Monday October 8th. 

Last year I started a tradition with my family that I call Mini Thanksgiving (MT)! Normally we would have held MT a week before Thanksgiving weekend, however since Aaron has been working weekends for the last month or so, yesterday was the only day we were able to have our dinner. I have a large extended family and whenever we get together it's great, we have a blast laughing and reminiscing about "the good ole days" but sometimes I long for a holiday celebration with the boys, Aaron and I. For me "stillness" are moments that I thrive on; moments when the house is quiet but everyone is awake and we are all enjoy each others company over a wonderfully prepared dinner. Sometimes I just want to enjoy the 4 of us.


I spend a good week or so planning what I would prepare. I thought that I wanted to do something fancy; less traditional but I ended go with the same meal as last time, a roasted chicken, candied yams, mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, and a salad. For a roasted chicken I always use Ina Gartens recipe because comes out perfect every single time. Usually I leave out the fennel because but this time I tried it and it was lovely!


A head of garlic, a wedge or two of lemon and a bunch of thyme goes up the bird...this step must not be skipped!


I wish I had the chance to take more pictures, but I started on this right as I got home from work and I was so busy that really I would forget to take more during the process. I admit that not all my meals are blog worthy, but MT was pretty good and the boys thought so too!



HAPPY CANADIAN THANKSGIVING!


October 1, 2012

HOW I HANDLE SICKNESS


School and work, these are the two places plagued with colds and viruses. I cannot tell you the amount of ear infections and cases of pink eye that have run through our home since my kids initially started daycare. It seemed like every week it was the same thing over and over, taking a sick kid to the doctor just to be once again told it was an ear infection. Joshua had developed a horrendous cough, that seemingly never ended. By the time their stint in daycare was over (temporarily over) Aaron and I could have passed the board with the amount of time's we've seen the doctor. Another bonus of me being a stay at home mom was that things got a whole lot better for my kids health wise. They never got sick.
Now that they are back in daycare and I am at work, I have seemed to develop something, causing me to feel slightly under the weather. Not too sick to stay at home but definitely lousy enough to wish I were at home, or at least had a fold out in my cubical where I could do my work from a reclined position. One thing you should know about me is that I never take medication. Unless I am dying or so infectious that it’s order by a doctor. I usually tough it out and try my various home remedies to cure any ailments. This is what I typically do when I come down with a cold or flu.

1. I take a shot of whiskey/Rum/Scotch. The moment I realize that a cold is coming on I take a shot of something hard and strong! For me it's usually rum or whiskey because that's usually what I have on hand. I have no idea where this old wives tale comes from but it does work for me. Why am I sick, you ask? I am plum out of liquor!
 
2. Drink a lot of citrus blend. So, we have all heard about drinking orange juice to get your vitamin C, however I have found that a blend is more effective. Apparently lemons are good for detoxing the body which will help to cleanse you of those sickies.
 
3. Drink some Ginger Tea. Sweeten with honey and squeeze a wedge of lemon in for an added punch. Ginger is loaded with a whole bunch of goodness that helps to alleviate pain from sore throats, helps with nausea, and clears those sinuses. I have had bad luck with this tea up until now! A co-worker recently gave me Ann Instant GingerTea which is pre-sweetened. All you do is add hot water. It was so good. I can drink this when I'm healthy!
 
4. Chicken soup is good for the soul and your body! I try not to drink the ones that are overly salty, they make me sick, I don't know about anyone else. I do however put a little hot sauce in my bowl! I think the spice clears my stuffiness and a pick a broth soups over anything creamy which personally cause me to feel worse.

 
 

5. Fresh air. So after being cooped up in the viral office today I stepped out into the fresh air when and by the time I got home I felt slightly better. Make sure you are nice an bundled so that you don't catch a chill!
 
After coming home I started to feel better. It seems to come and go in waves which I am grateful for. Now that the kids are in bed I can just lay on the couch and relax and watch mindless television...an maybe a scary movie to kick off the start of Halloween season!