signs of Spring...

here is some more photos from our weekend adventures at Scout Island...lots of trees budding out...signs of a beaver... and an expecting momma deer...and of course curious children exploring all the sights!

{week 41} trio

after Carrigan's birthday I realized we didn't capture a picture of the trio! So we quickly posed for a shot on Carrigan's rock at home! The sun was shining and everyone was mostly happy!~ enjoy the outtakes too!

I do not take responsibility for Grady's finger pointing...he has learned that from his father!:)

Happy Mother's Day

 How did you spend your mothers day? I spent it with my lovely 3....tis spring planting season so Kent is busy busy making sure it's all done right. We are all feeling a little cabin feverish...so thought we'd try and get in a park day between the rain. Lots of signs of spring to be had...(we did get a little rain at the end of our hike!)
I love love the image of Grady... he looks like he's really thinking while he marches up the "big hill". He loved going to Scout Island...although on the way there he wanted to go to the "purple park" I quess he didn't remember Scout island from last year. Scout Island is an amazing place to go. A large array of trails and animals to spot along the way through. We noted that some new trails were built from last year.  In the car Grady said he "loved this park" and could we come again?

{friday favourites} The Happiness Project

What if you could change your life-without changing your life!?

This is the start of the book I just picked up the other day while checking out our local bookstore while buying a gift for a friend.  The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. "Each month, she pursued a different set of resolutions; go to sleep earlier, quit nagging, forget about results, or take time to be silly. Bit by bit, she began to appreciate and amplify the happiness that already existed in her life. Written with humour and insight. Gretchen's story will inspire you to start your own happiness project" (from the back of book)

Well I'm already a 1/4 of the way through the book and find lots of great stories and insight. Love the 1 minute rule...if you can do it in a minute do it...don't leave for later. This book is broke into months of a year. Starting in January; Boost Energy (I can relate) steps, go to sleep earlier, exercise better, toss, restore, organize, tackle a nagging task, act more energetic.

So to start we needed to tackle our basement clutter/mess (known as the drop zone!) Grady was helping today by playing the fun game of tossing all the crayons around:( I don't know why boys love to throw everything. I spent the morning de-cluttering and then washed the floors and dusted....ahhhh my creative space is back. I just want to sit and enjoy it!~ I also cleaned out my "mailbox" which consists of a potato box that the girls use to put their art to me into. I went through and filed away my favourites and then purged the rest. 

I won't give away the rest of the book; I do suggest for a great read...Do you feel grateful for your ordinary day? Everyone deserves to enjoy happiness~ 

Our family of 5 for 12...

okay I missed april....but it was a cold month...so bring on sunny may!

I was able to prop my camera on a log and use some old bark to prop up the heavy lens I had attached...self timer, grab tired little Grady and catch this quick shot. After a long fun day in the sunshine, playing soccer, tennis, riding bikes, bbq on deck, and to finish the evening with a campfire and marshmallows~starting to feel a wee bit like summer! this is us at the end of a great day...just heading off for bath time and bedtime!

{week 40} soccer time

soccer time for Grady....while the girls practice riding down the driveway!:) he loves loves kicking the ball...he's pretty good at dribbling; even in his way too small "lightening"(mcqueen!) sandles...

{Happy Birthday to Carrigan} Station House Gallery

Here are a few quick shots of our set-up of our creative space for our art party. The best part is that we had our great friend and photographer Leslie Rowse capture the party. I can't wait to see what she came up with. SEE SLIDESHOW HERE!I also can't wait to capture her daughters birthday this summer (Yay! more party planning!)

Last summer, my girls did a week long art class in this space ( The Station House Gallery)...Mmmmm I thought I would love to use this space for an art party of our own. This is the first time we've done a party outside our house besides at the pool. It was fun to decorate this area~ a blank canvas to use. I love party planning...Carrigan has had some great parties...with most of the same few girls that were here today. She has had a pinata party, pool party, princess party, tea party and hippy party. 

Details: I love love details....Carrigan helped me craft most of the items for her party. Above is the items she chose for her party...ie: pink lemonade...Carrigan decorated them all and wrote everyone's names on the jars.(I LOVE that she even wrote my name on one!) We made caramel popcorn, fruit skewers, and yummy sushi candy. (sushi candy: fruit roll up;rolled out flat and place rice krispy squares on it and then roll like sushi; cut into pieces! A big hit!)

The ART: I put my camera away for the rest of the party. I taught the art project! The girls did a great job! I'm sure Leslie captured their unique project.

Thank you to Miss Maya,Miss Olivia G, Miss Grace, and Miss Olivia R.,  for joining Carrigan in her special day! xo

Below is a post party picture of her...this is such a perfect natural picture of her looking so pleased!

April 30, 2005 our Carrigan quickly arrived in the early morning...she has always been my unique girl full of spunk. 6 years old~

{friday favourites} dessert breakfast

http://www.fairholmemanor.com   click on BAKED Rasberry French Toast

Mmmmm...I finally tried this yummy recipe that Brent made me for my birthday in March. Of course I never follow the recipe exactly. This is my alterations...I used Rasberries/blueberries in it. I used very grainy buns from Save-on bakery...sliced these and spread the cream cheese on each piece. (Carrigan my assistant did this!) I used a 9x13" pan and 2 cups milk and 7 eggs...baked 400 degrees for an hour. I made the lemon as is...Mmmmm the best part! And for the fruit I used strawberries, rasberries, and blueberries.
Kent thought we were serving dessert for breakfast....very good!:)

{wild hogs}

This one is for you Dad!!!  

he lives his life with no regrets....even if my mom isn't a fan!~check out my dad's newest ride! it reminds me of the movie "wild hogs" if you haven't seen you must...I laughed so hard. Watch out for my folks cruisin' around...and sharing milkshakes at our local DQ!

Spring....bike riding

finally she's got it! Makenna isn't the bravest girl when it comes to trying new things...she had it last year then she wiped out!~so finally she has gained the confidence to ride! Here she is showing off for Grandpa, Great Gramie, and Uncle... josh even found a little "princess bike" for Grady to try!

Carrigan is sooo close to doing it all the time too! 

4 more sleeps and my little beauty will be turning 6! she is sooo excited to have her party! we've been party planning for months. Stayed tuned next week for pictures of her "Art party"

a quick casual shot while playing outside this past weekend at Nana/grandpa's house...this is the only not goofy smiley one from Makenna...Grady's not looking but can't catch them all.

Happy Easter

grady was thrilled this year with painting eggs...I even bought some white ones so the colors would be more vivid. We did some wax resist on them then dipped away! The kids were excited that Uncle was here to join in on the fun.
Happy Easter to you all. I hope your enjoying a day with those you love the most....

A day at the ranch...Fraser River Ranch

do you ever wonder where your food comes from...well I'm here to show you part of the process!

~branding day at Fraser River Ranch. Our friends Mike & Monica Altwasser run this ranch along with the help of others...today lots of friends showed up for their first day of branding. Wow! high production!  They hoped to get 350 calves done today~ 199 were completed by lunch time.
 The cowboys first wrangle up the calves,,,and pull them to the two volunteers who flip them over and pin them down. One guy holds the leg and the other with his knees on the shoulders....then a series of afflictions are set in motion; various shots, another ear tag, more shots, castrations, (I had to ask what this was...), Branding, horn removal.....poor calf doesn't know what hit him! I tried my hand at the ear tagging....ahhhh! I'm definately not a rancher...I secretly apologized to each calf after I did it. Boy did they squirm for that...Kent thought I should try my hand at holding a calf.  I passed! ~ I appreciate that there are people that can do this job~it isn't me!

On a side note! My kids will never get a tattoo! I told them this is how it's done...with a hot poker!

{favourite's friday} Vietnamese Food...

WE love Ethnic food...from mexican, thai, greek, indian, japanese, and lately Vietnamese. Living in a small town we don't have the luxury to go out for most of these food choices! Good thing I love to cook. This dish is not too spicy...I avoided the thai chilies since the kids DO not like really spicy things. I served it with those vermicelli little rice noodles in the asian section...I'm sure rice would be great too! I eat it just on it's own and add extra spinach for mine. Here is  the recipe how it should be made...of course I altered things to suit us. Tonight we didn't have mango...so I used a can of my okangan canned peaches. Very good.
Vietnamese Spicy Chicken with mango and herbs
2 boneless chicken breast cut into cubes.
4 tsp cornstarch
1 tbsp soya sauce (i use tamari sauce)
1 tsp grnd corinader
2 tsp fresh ginger minced
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/3 cup chicken stock
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp lime juice
1 1/2 tsp sugar
3 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup sliced shallots ( i used onions too!)
3 gloves of garlic minced
1 firm mango peeled and cut into bite size pieces
fresh basil
1 green onion
(oh yah! not on the recipe is red peppers...I seem to add these to everything!~ we love them~ also added fresh spinach at the end of cooking)
1. Toss chicken with cornstarch, 1 tbsp water, soy sauce, ginger, ground coriander, and pepper. Let stand 10-15 minutes.
2. separate bowl; stock, fish sauce, lime juice, and sugar.
3. In wok with oil stir fry chicken until golden on outside, about 3 minutes. Remove with slotted spoon.
4.reduce heat and add remaining oil, fry shallots scraping up sticky bits until golden, about 2 minutes. Add red pepper, chilies, garlic; stir fry 1 minute. Add mango. then add stock mixture.
5. Increase heat bring to boil. Return chicken mixture to wok. Add fresh herbs, spinach and green onion. Serves 4. 288 calories per serving.
 A quick delicious meal!

Introducing {Tia Berry}

 I love this photo of our new pet Lovebird: Miss Tia Berry is a delight to have...entering this shot above in iheartfaces weekly contest.

from cats, dogs, hamsters (not!), fish to finally deciding on a Lovebird...we have a pet. After years of not having any pets! We decided (or I and the girls)  that we would love to have a pet. Isn't she a pretty little thing..she is about 10 weeks old. The one cage shot is her parents with the peach faces and her sibling. She still doesn't have all her coloring or yellow beak yet.
The name....well we have a long sheet of options. The girls thought over it all night and day...Makenna likes Tia...and Carrigan likes Berry and oh yes...Grady he wanted to call her Stanley (after a train!)...we decided on Tia Berry. Sweet and Cute.


www.iheartfaces.com

my Grady

my Grady...he loves his trains. I now understand when people warned me boys were boys. Grady is all boy...from toe jam, boogers to farts...these are just a few of the things he finds interesting. He has become quite the chatty little man. He loves trains, race cars, hockey...but don't get me wrong he won't pass up barbies with Carrigan! He waits everyday for "his girls" to come through the door. He is going to love summer holidays this year with them.
Wrestling...Kent has wrestled with all the kids...Grady is the only one who asks his daddy to go wrestle!~

“A little boy is the only thing God can use to make a man.”

–Unknown.

My hope is that I will raise Grady to  grow up to be an amazing man like his father...I will have to get some tips from Kent's amazing momma! aka Gramma!~

{week 38} Hurry up spring...

as I sit here looking out my window at the grey grey sky wishing for sunshine...I can't wait for summer to get arrive. My kids don't care...they are just happy to be outside. Here is their newest little "fort" they have raked under my lilac bush and decorated it with flagging tape... {also our extra kids...Miss O}
Here's to a sunny Easter long weekend for all!

{friday favourites} KOBO

my birthday gift from Kent....I LOVE to read.
On our past trip to AZ I took 7 books. But they sure weigh a lot with weight restrictions. the solution... A KOBO! I love love mine. Just like reading a book but lighter. Easy and cheap to download new books. Your books are stored in a library so you can have many on the go if you'd like. You can also change the size of the font. It's not like reading a computer. It's not lit up at all. Looks just like it is in the photos. I have a little re-chargeable light that clips on the top so that I can read at night and not bother Kent.  a great solution if space is a issue at your home.
I finally finished this series of three books by Larsson... the first one was really hard to get into....the end was good. The second was a better read...but I love the last one (below) great from start to finish.

{mexican cooking} Enchiladas

Part 2 of my mexican recipes....I think these are my fav....I didn't add the chipotle chiles or stewed tomatoes to this recipe but did use a can of green chiles and sour cream to the chicken mixture for the centre. 

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 pounds skinless boneless chicken breast
• Salt and pepper
• 2 teaspoons cumin powder
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon Mexican Spice Blend
• 1 red onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup frozen corn, thawed
• 5 canned whole green chiles, seeded and coarsely chopped
• 4 canned chipotle chiles, seeded and minced
• 1 (28-ounce) can stewed tomatoes
• 1/2 teaspoon all-purpose flour
• 16 corn tortillas
• 1 1/2 cups enchilada sauce, canned
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar and Jack cheeses
• Garnish: chopped cilantro leaves, chopped scallions, sour cream, chopped tomatoes

Directions

Coat large saute pan with oil. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Brown chicken over medium heat, allow 7 minutes each side or until no longer pink. Sprinkle chicken with cumin, garlic powder and Mexican spices before turning. Remove chicken to a platter, allow to cool.

Saute onion and garlic in chicken drippings until tender. Add corn and chiles. Stir well to combine. Add canned tomatoes, saute 1 minute.

Pull chicken breasts apart by hand into shredded strips. Add shredded chicken to saute pan, combine with vegetables. Dust the mixture with flour to help set.

Microwave tortillas on high for 30 seconds. This softens them and makes them more pliable. Coat the bottom of 2 (13 by 9-inch) pans with a ladle of enchilada sauce. Using a large shallow bowl, dip each tortilla in enchilada sauce to lightly coat. Spoon 1/4 cup chicken mixture in each tortilla. Fold over filling, place 8 enchiladas in each pan with seam side down. Top with remaining enchilada sauce and cheese.

Bake for 15 minutes in a preheated 350 degree F oven until cheese melts. Garnish with cilantro, scallion, sour cream and chopped tomatoes before serving. Serve with Spanish rice and beans.