Megan's turns TEN!

So those of you who know Megan, know that her birthday was actually late in June. This might lead you to thinking I am losing my mind - lol - but I am not; I am still sane, at least I think I am! It's just that I have finally found some time to reflect and write on my adorable Megan, which is important because Megan continually reminds me that I never wrote a "TOP TEN" list for her, like I did for her brother Matthew when he turned ten and that is "not fair".

So in honour of my AMAZING MEGAN, here is her TOP TEN list!

1. Megan is a FUNNY kid!  She knows how to have a good time and makes others laugh without trying.  She makes faces, does crazy things with her body, and sometimes snorts when she laughs. She is a lot of FUN to be around. 
2. Megan is a highly CREATIVE person. She can make the most amazing origami, rainbow loom designs, pottery, paintings, cupcake and cookie designs, movies on her iPad, and illustrations.  She regularly can be found watching YouTube "how-to" videos and teaches herself all sorts of neat things. She also writes moving little stories and chapter books. 
3. Megan is CARING.  She will think of others and how their day was, and is wonderful with our dog Buddy, talking him for walks, brushing his hair, and making time to play with him.   
4. Megan is FIESTY. She speaks her mind and will argue her points. She takes on her older brother Matthew without fear. She is not scared of anything - except maybe spiders. 
5. She is an ATHLETE. Megan is good at anything she tries. She is a great dancer and soccer player! 
6. Megan seeks FAIRNESS in all areas of her life.  I wonder how this will play out in her later years.  Will she seek a career in something connected to social justice?  A lawyer? 
7. Megan is INDEPENDENT. She does things for herself and by herself.  Don't get me wrong, she works well with others, but on her own she is very capable. 
8. She is SAVVY!  Megan is clever, a critical thinker and witty. 
9. Megan is a good FRIEND. She enjoys spending time with her friends and is very loyal. 
10. She is LOVING. Megan loves to hug and asks for cuddles all the the time.

Megan is not perfect - no child is.  On occasions she can be persistent (a.k.a. annoying) and can screech and yell and act like a two-year old but we all have our moments. Overall though, Megan is a delight to be with. 

Similar to my comments on Matthew's tenth birthday, I am blown away by how fast ten years has gone by. I look at her and I just want to stop time and keep her as she is. I am so grateful and honoured to be her mom and love the time we spend together. 

Tonight I can't wait to cuddle up beside her and show her this post and read her the book I Wish You More by Amy Krouse Rosenthal.  My hopes, dreams, and love for her is limitless.

Spring Break STAY-CATION!

Loving our Spring Break STAY-cation!

Monday       - Playdome - hours and hours of fun for only $24 a kid - Highly
                      recommend.  Thx Lisa Schwartz​ for this idea
Tuesday      - Indoor rock climbing with cousins
Wednesday - Spaghetti Factory lunch and off to Michaels for crafts - Perler
                      beads are all the rage in our house right now
Thursday     - Cinderella movie with Grandma and Dairy Queen for dessert  
                      with a cousin sleepover.
Friday          - McDonalds lunch with Chuck E Cheese in the afternoon
                      (great coupons online for tokens) and then Mario's Kitchen
                     dinner with another family!
Saturday     - bike riding with friends to 7-11!
Sunday       - chillin at home and then walking the dog at the off-leash park!

Looking forward to our second week!  The kids are at such great ages.  Who needs Mexico? LOL

Please share any great ideas you have for having fun with kids!

Matthew turns 11

I can barely believe it but just a few short weeks ago, Matthew had his 11th birthday!  I did some "research" this year, as I wanted to make his day as special as it could be.  I found a great some great "pins" that shared some unique ways to make a child's birthday even more special.  I decided to have a little fun with his lunch and had Scott sneak out a buy Matt his favourite sandwich from Subway and I wrapped it up.  When Matthew came home, he said that "It was the best birthday ever!"  I was so pleased that we had succeeded at making him feel special.

Matthew had some friends over to play soccer and then have pizza, cake, treats and a movie.  Honestly, I was very impressed with how well behaved the boys were and their manners were amazing.

As for my guy, I just love him so much and was glad to be able to make his day so special.  Matthew is one of the most loving, passionate, enthusiastic, happy, and outgoing people I know. He is an absolute JOY to be around.  I am proud to be his Mom and want him to know just how much he is loved!

Welcome SUMMER!

Since Summer has arrived early here on the West Coast, my kids and I decided it was time to create our yearly Summer "To-Do" list.  Now don't get me wrong, I do not plan to entertain my children every day, taking them here there and everywhere at their demands!  My kids will have many hours at home this summer.  And I will hear the dreaded "I'm bored!"  In these times, I will not be quick to jump in with an idea but instead will encourage them to be creative.  In fact, today we spend most of the day at home prior to Matthew's final 3-on-3 hockey and both kids made awesome StopMotion Animation videos, which I will try to post later.

But on those days when Scott is off or we are ALL looking for something to do, that is when we will turn to our handy list for ideas.  I feel very lucky to have my summers off and as someone who likes to be active, I take great enjoyment out of doing things with my kids.  Occasionally someone will have a cranky moment, but for the most part I find my kids are almost always better behaved when we go out for at least part of the day and are quick to share their appreciation and say thank you.  In doing these activities, I love that I get to re-visit many of the fun things I did as a kid.  Also, as the kids get older each year, I know that time is fleeting and I need to cherish these special years where they love hanging out with Scott and I, as much as being with friends.

SUMMER TO-DO LIST:

Enjoying Ice Cream At La Casa

• La Casa Gelato Ice Cream (They have 218 flavours at all times!)
• Ride doubles bikes around Stanley Park 
• Include the kids in creating many photo books on Shutterfly
• Walks to the look out by our house
• Have the kids assist me in completing some "Random Acts of Kindness" I committed to earlier in the year. 
• Go to Queen Elizabeth Park and roll down the hills
• See a Vancouver Canadians Game
• Pick strawberries at Emma Lea farm and have a Strawberry Sundae
• Have a picnic at Pajo's at Garry Point
• Have numerous picnics at Centennial Beach
• Splashdown Waterpark
• Cultas Lake Waterpark
• Make Sprite and Gummy Bear popsicles
• Zone Bowling
• Chuck E Cheese on a rainy day
• Mini-golf at West Richmond Community Centre
• Swim at South Arm Pool 
• Take the Big Bus around Vancouver 
• Stanley Park Horse Ride (in the Entertainment book)
• Playland
• Capilano Suspension Bridge
• The Vancouver Zoo or the Seattle Zoo if we go to Seattle
• Ride the Ducks of Seattle
• Have lunch with Daddy at work (Scott)
• Take the Skytrain and Seabus to Lonsdale Quay
• Granville Island - kids market, water park and lunch 
• Keep up a walk/run schedule so that the whole family can run the 5km "Colour Me Rad" Run in August

  

  Chuck E Cheese

• See the Million Dollar Arm with Matthew
• See Blended with Megan
• Stay up late on the trampoline and watch for falling stars and place glow sticks in water to make a path
• Get up really early and see a sunrise
• Go to the Symphony of Fireworks
• Paint rocks that we collect
• Let Matthew drive a Go-Kart with me (Jen) as his passenger
• Swim at Kitsilano Pool

ANNUAL EVENTS:

• Camping with the Mommy Group 
• Canada Day at the McNeil's
• July 4th at the Satos cabin
• Osoyoos with the Nakagawas
• Whitecaps Afternoon Soccer Camp

Megan and Whitecaps player, Darren Mattocks at a FREE Soccer event in Ladner

Celebrating Family

What a wonderful long Family Day weekend my family had!

Friday night began with Scott and I taking the kids to the Lego movie.  This is a fantastic show with a terrific lesson.  I enjoyed watching the story unfold and had some quiet giggles to myself as I connected with the bad guy "Mr. Business".  I don't want to stay too much in case you plan to see the movie, but Mr. Business wants to use glue to keep certain lego pieces together... and it wasn't that long ago that I took some crazy glue to a few of Matthew's StarWars Lego ships.  Needless to say I felt like the movie was speaking to me directly!

Saturday Scott took the kids for a bike ride while I did homework.  Yes, I am enrolled in another course but this time for fun!  I am taking a Math course and really enjoying learning about the history and theory behind the subject for which I have grown so fond.  In the afternoon/evening we visited with one of Scott's friends, his spouse, and two twin girls.  We had lots of fun playing many games with the kids.  I have a new found favourite - Spot It! and plan to pick this up for a Valentine's Day present for M & M.  We have an adapted version of this game with NHL team logos but I like the original version better.

Sunday we had hoped to go skiing but the weather was a bit too cold.  Instead we went to the mall and searched for new ski gloves and snow pants for Matthew and learned that you should never wait until February to buy winter clothes as they have moved on to Spring!  Matt played a hockey game in the early evening and Scott and I watching The Help for the first time later in the night.  Although it was good, I felt the book was much better.

But the best part of the weekend was today when my entire family came together to celebrate my Mom's 70th birthday, which is tomorrow.  This year I have witnessed a few of my friends go through the loss of a parent.  Understanding that life is fragile, I wanted to convey to mom just how special she is to all of us, her family.  So together with my siblings, our spouses, and our kids we created a list of the 70 things that make my Mom so special.  My sister printed this list on nice paper and we framed it.  She loved this homemade gift, as well as the plate and bowl my kids made her.  As I watched her blow out the candles, surrounded my whole family, I could not have envisioned a more perfect end to Family Day.

To understand and know JOY

Every January it seems many of us reflect on our own lives and seek to improve ourselves by committing to an act.  For some it is going to the gym, losing weight, attending church on a regular basis, and so on.  Personally I have never found myself to be very good at maintaining the resolutions I impose on myself.  For the past few years, inspired by a couple of friend’s I have instead chose to focus on a word of the year.  They began this tradition inspired by Ali Edwards, who facilitates the One Little Word Workshop.  Edwards writes

Having a single word to focus on each year has made a difference in my life. In 2006 I began a tradition of choosing one word for myself each January – a word that I can focus on, mediate on, and reflect upon as I go about my daily life. My words have included play, peace, vitality, nurture, story, light, up and open. These words have each become a part of my life in one way or another. They’ve been imbedded into who I am, and into who I’m becoming. They’ve been what I’ve needed (and didn’t know I needed). They’ve helped me to breathe deeper, to see clearer, and to grow.

What do you do with this one little word?  You live with it. You invite it into you life. You let it speak to you. You might even follow where it leads. There are so many possibilities.  http://aliedwards.com/shop/one-little-word-2014

This year my word came to me early.  Having recently finished my Masters, during the fall I found myself a bit lost. I had spent the majority of the previous two years outside of teaching and keeping my family fed and happy, immersed in reading and writing, and online discussions.  When faced with an abundance of time, I had almost forgotten who I used to be and what used to bring me pleasure.  It was then that I knew my word for 2014 must be JOY!  I had to rediscover that which brought me happiness.

The recent holiday season brought many joyous moments... watching the kids open presents Christmas morning, baking with them, parties, time with friends, getting together with family, movies, spending a night at a hotel for New Year's Eve with the kids (thanks to Lisa for that great idea!), and so on!  It truly was a wonderful holiday.

We spent the last few days of the holiday watching Matthew play hockey in the South Delta "Party in Da House" tournament.  This is such a fun event for everyone involved.  Unlike regular season games, there is music, raffle tickets, and far more spectators. Additionally, this is the one time in the season that the Delta teams get to play each other rather than teams from other cities.  Matthew, like most of the other players, really looks forward to playing many of his friends' teams.  His team played terrible the first game.  It was evident that they had not practiced for over three weeks.  But during the second game and those that followed, the team played really well!  As Matthew's team continued to advance, we were all caught a bit by surprise, having never gone this far in this tournament before.  

Sunday morning I stayed home with Megan as she had a friend over for a sleepover and didn't want to go to yet another hockey game.  Matt and Scott left for the game.  This one was important, as the winner would move ahead to the final game of the tournament.  Scott kept his parents and I updated with the events of the game via texts.  It was a very close game that went to a shoot out.  As a parent of the goalie, shootouts can be very stressful!  Matt's team won and everyone could not have been happier!  Matthew was quick to place calls to all the family to ensure they would be in attendance at the final game!

The final game began at 3 p.m.  It started out well.  We were up by 2 goals but the other team soon caught up.  We went to the second period tied but by the end the other team was up by two goals. Matt's team played hard but it just was not meant to be.  They were defeated and for the first time in Matthew's life I saw him fill with sorrow in a way I had not seen before.   Scott and I watched from behind the glass as Matthew seemed to fall over... not to the ice but his upper body lowered with his head hovering over his knees.  He stayed there for several moments.  Scott and I both looked at each other and without saying anything, we knew exactly what Matt was feeling.  He was overcome with extreme disappointment.  

As I watched unable to say anything to him, I remembered a page in a favourite book I gave Megan called Someday by Alison McGee.  It this moving book, McGee details her wishes for her daughter's life... wishes for her to experience great joys, to stretch, to grow, and do all the things possible in life so that she lives it to the fullest.

Later Sunday night as I tucked Matthew in to bed he and I talked about the game and how he was feeling.  Understanding the loss, but without tears, he commented "We were so close... so close".

As I went off to sleep, I was comforted by the fact that Matthew was able to endure such disappointment.  In life I believe we cannot truly come to know and understand JOY without knowing sorrow and disappointment and although what he experienced was difficult, in the end Scott and I know he will be a better person because of it.    

Christmas Fun

The decorations have been hung on the tree with care

And Rachoo, our Elf has returned with a flair

Christmas baking has begun, this year Gluten free

Despite no wheat flour, our treats bring glee!

SKOR BARS GLUTEN-FREE

Base:
Mix together the dry ingredients and cut in butter until it is crumbly.  Empty into 8 x 11 greased glass dish and pat down evenly with your fingers.

• 2 1/2 cups of Gluten-free flour (We used Cup for Cup - just make sure yours has xanthan gum or you'll need to add it)  *For those who don't need to do GF - use 1 1/2 cups of regular flour
• 3/4 cup of packed brown sugar
• 3/4 cup of softened butter

Bake the dish in the oven at 350 degrees for 15 - 20 minutes or until golden brown.

First Layer:

While you base is baking, heat one can of sweetened condensed milk with 2 Tbsp of butter over medium heat.  Stir frequently until thickened.  Usually about 8 - 10 minutes. 

• 1 can of Sweetened Condensed Milk
• 2 Tbsp of butter

Pour the topping over the baked crust bottom and then place back into the oven for another 10 - 12 minutes until the next layer is bubbly.

Last Layers:

Pour a bag and bit of chocolate chips evenly over the top.  Place the dish back in the oven for 2 minutes or until the chocolate chips are shiny.  Use a spatula to smooth melted chocolate evenly.  Then add a bag and a bit of Skor bits (they sell these in the baking aisle at most grocery stores - in the States they are called Heath bits).  I usually press these down lightly so they stick.

Enjoy!