THE HORSE

The 15 day celebration of Chinese new year starts today, with the first new moon of the calendar year. The day marks the end of the year of the water snake and welcomes the start of the year of the wooden horse. Happy Chinese New Year. 

THE FREEZE

I live in one of the coldest provinces in Canada. It's all new to me. I was brought up in Victoria, I'm a delicate flower so not used to these arctic temperatures. But we live here now and we can't hibernate for the entire winter.

 Last weekend we were at the Governor General's open house and tasted some wonderful food provided by the embassies & waited in line for a chance to try out dog-sledding. I had a small mention in the Ottawa Citizen the next day. Brrr.. Thank goodness there was plenty of warm drinks to go around.

Winterlude starts tomorrow.  There are plenty of family activities to get involved with and one of our favorites is the skating either at City Hall or on the Rideau Canal.  I think we will make our way over to Jacques Cartier Park in downtown Gatineau with the kids; they have a Snowflake Kingdom there which is titled North America's biggest snow playground.

2013 Ice Slide-wordpress

PUPPY LOVE

Budweiser- Puppy Love.

WW- YELLOW BISGAARD

Welly Wednesday. Gorgeous! Love these rain boots and love this company.

http://www.bisgaardsko.dk/kollektion/

SECOND CHANCE

A lot of people know that just the mention of kale runs shivers up my spine. I wrote about it during my organic delivery days in Bristol. It made many people chuckle and send me a whack of recipes I wasn't interested in.   My Mom bought some last week while at the grocery store with Steve. I opened up my fridge that afternoon to a massive heap of thick curly green kale- I yelped "YUCK!" Mom ate kale once and very kindly left the rest in the fridge for us. At dinner time last night, I opened the fridge and wondered what I could do with it. There was only one option; I had already subjected Husband to it once, he was as thrilled with it as I was. I would feed it to the kids! I steamed a bunch for Romilly and froze it in ice cube trays. The rest was used to make Euan and Romilly a Green Monster Smoothie at lunch today ( water, apple, kale and plain yogurt ) They love it! I tasted it too- turns out kale isn't as vile as I first thought. Thanks to The Magic Bullet & my Mom for giving me the tools to give kale a second chance. It's funny, kale was one of the only vegetables that I've had that I truly didn't like, so I'm glad I gave it a second chance.

BYE BYE NANNA

My Mom left very early this morning to fly back to Victoria. For me, three weeks went by way too quickly. When you are sharing your visit with an entire family time gets lost. Winter is a hard time to have company. Although the canal is frozen and we have plenty of snow, the conditions need to be kind to go outside. We did our best to get out when we could and I am he appy knowing Mom had some great days in this winter wonderland. Now to relax for a few days before we hit February. Thanks for coming Mom we appreciate you more then you know! Xo

HANDLED

LATE NIGHT

I stayed up well past my bedtime last night, watching Shawn and Catherine's wedding and The Grammy awards.

The Bachelor wedding was long but the vows were beautiful and so worth the wait! It was definitely "Grown Sexy" just what the bride requested. Since my Mom has been here I've not missed one Bachelor episode, it has been nice to watch it together. For our big TV night last night Husband made arancini balls stuffed with marble cheese and some marinara sauce on the side. So much work goes into them but whooooo... they were delicious, so delicious that I did a little thank you dance. *laugh out loud*  It was no Beyonce Grammy dance, but it was pretty darn close- ha, ha!

After the wedding Husband yawned and headed for bed and Mom and I stayed up to watch the prerecorded Grammy's. I was in music heaven for two hours.  Beyonce & Hubby, Pink, Legend, Katy, Swifty and so many others made up the perfect remedy for staying up past my bed time.

Epic Sunday night!

BURNS NIGHT

Date night- We are going to the officers mess tonight for Robbie Burns night. Mom is watching the kids, Whoop!

ODD & IMPERFECT

FRIED BACON

The Works is one of Ottawa's favourite burger joints. Steve and I snuck out for a little date yesterday while Mom watched Euan and we ended up there for an early supper. They have a new bacon menu, with a lot of delicious items for the bacon lover. I convinced Steve to order the bacon milkshake while I played it safe and went for their peanut butter oreo shake. They also had fried bacon which we were not brave enough to try but if they are still offer the bacon menu come spring, I know the perfect guy for the bacon tasting job- Connor! He would fry up his arm and eat it, that boy loves fried anything. *chuckle*

Steve stepped out after we ordered to drive Romilly around the parking lot in hopes of lulling her to sleep, it worked and we were able to have some great conversation. While he was gone the waitress dropped off our shakes and I couldn't wait for Steve to get back. I tried both right away and the were delicious. Now, if only I could get lucky on the burgers, I always seem to choose the wrong one. Maybe it's because I make the best beef burgers in town!  *wink*

Thanks to  The Works for a great date!

WW- JOULES

This is one of my favourite welly outfits. When I lived in Bristol, I went into the Joules store quite often to drool over their rain boots and clothes. They have the best tweed coats! I often look at boot warmers for my hunters but the socks I bought a fishing shop in the Lake District are keeping me toasty warm this winter. If they ever get a hole in them I might find something cute on ETSY to buy.

FOR L

KEEP CALM

A girl I went to school with posted this on FB and I thought it described me well! I'm pretty sure my kids have our Scottish blood running through them too!

CABBAGE ROLLS

Euan and I sat on our supervisor stools today and watched my Mom make cabbage rolls. Mmmmmm! I had two at supper and two before bed. My Mom makes the best cabbage rolls. I ask her to make them every time she comes. I need to watch her make them a few more times before I have a go myself. 

A CUP OF TEA

I took a picture of this sweet tea cup at Chapters today. I think I might have to go back and get it tomorrow. I'm in love. Happy Thursday! xo

COLD NIGHT

THE FRIEND

“The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing... not healing, not curing... that is a friend who cares.” - Henri Nouwen

MISS ROSE

Romilly had her first play date today. It was so sweet to watch my baby girl play with her little friend who is just six weeks older. We sat back and watched the girls chat, roll and tug on each other. It was a really special day for me.  I don't get many hours alone with just Romilly.

Steve and I are going on a little date tonight to Aperitivo suggested by friends M & C It's the place I usually go before my movie dates with Dawn. Small plates and great wine. I can't wait to have the Calamari and tapenade. Maybe if we make it through dinner without a yawn we'll try to see a movie too. It's certainly hard these days to find the time and energy for date nights but with Mom here we have to try!

 

SUNBEAMS

If you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely. - Roald Dahl

 

 

 

JUAN PABLO!

Mom and I will be watching the Bachelor tonight. I got her hooked on her last visit.

NORDIK

For one of my Christmas presents, Steve arranged for me to go to the Nordik-Spa- Nature in Chelsea with my friend Dawn. We did 3-4 cycles of hydrotherapy before going for lunch in the main restaurant and we ended the day with relaxation massages.

The Nordik website says this about the benefits: " In addition to causing immediate feelings of well being and relaxation hydrotherapy helps eliminate toxins, relax muscles, improve sleep quality, boost the immune system and increase the bodies oxygen. Purifying the body and mind." and this about the technique: "Warm your body in a sauna or steam bath for 10-15 minutes, Move quickly under the Nordic waterfall or immerse yourself in a few seconds ice bath or in the thermostatic bath. Sit fifteen minutes in one of the relaxation rooms or areas outside or inside. Repeat this ritual three or four times and finally immerse yourself in the one of the hot tubs for a moment of relaxation."

Sunday was a beautiful day for this, snowy and mild. It was so pretty in Chelsea.

VALUE

BACK TO THE UK

We had a lovely morning with Steve's cousins and Aunt & Uncle. They were in town visiting Kelly and suggested they bring breakfast to ours. What an unexpected and sweet gesture. I wish I'd taken a few pictures but I was too busy corralling Euan from mischief! 

The boys went to get poutine for lunch at the chip truck outside Canadian Tire- no thanks! Connor has been wanting to try it since he missed out in Quebec last week, opting for a beaver tail for lunch instead. We were going to make it for supper tonight but the grocery stores were out of cheese curds- maybe a popular food around the holidays? 

We will have time for one last cruise around the ice before our C goes back to England tonight. It's always sad saying good-bye. It is bitter sweet for Connor. He is excited to go home and see his Mom and friends who I know he's missed loads over the holiday, but it is also hard for him to leave his family here. It's been so nice having him for the entire winter break. We've been able to dust of the cobwebs and grow closer. Connor told us two weeks ago he had a girlfriend! he asked her out on the Friday before leaving for holidays.  I was exploding inside- surely he's much too young for a relationship. Eeek! Is this the age where you only have girlfriends for a week? I hope so. I'm  not ready for C to break any hearts or worse have his broken! 

Our time has gone too fast..... Thank goodness his next visit is just a short while away. We will miss you son! xoxo

Christmas Holidays 2013

Christmas Video 2013 

http://replayapp.com/v/5uOgeYAzzo/?autoplay=1 

MADHOUSE

I live in a madhouse ruled by a tiny army I made myself- Pinterest 

LONG DAYS, SHORT YEARS

I met a beautiful lady & mother while on vacation at Tremblant. We were both having tea at the Fairmont and watching the hill for a glimpse of our families. I saw her again the next day at the skating rink and she shared with me an amazing quote. She said it got her through the tough days with her babies. Euan was having a moment. She said remember "Long days, short years" I almost burst into tears, it rang so true. I have two babies under two; days are long, but the years have gone by in a flash.

I don't have a list of resolutions this year I just want to try very hard to remember **LONG DAYS, SHORT YEARS** every day.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS INDEED

We skated we sledded & we built a wee snowman.  We finished our visit off this morning with some village shopping.

I mentioned to Steve today how easy and  how lovely it was being in such a small space with all three kids. Steve, Euan, Romilly and I shared a bedroom and they gave us no trouble. This trip has made me a believer in shared rooms- yes I've said it Steve!

We bathed and put the babies to bed last night and Steve and little C went to the mountain to take advantage of the Innertubing that Intrawest offered us free with our room. They had a great evening together, but said the lines were HUGE! I'm glad we went up Wednesday and the boys went snowboarding Thursday- great planning on our part to beat the crowds.

It was the perfect little after Christmas getaway but we are all happy to be back in our own beds and have all the comforts of home at arms length again. I'm off to make Steve and Connor turkey nachos while they play a few hands of cribbage.

Happy Holidays! xo

NEW YEAR NEW RULES

HAPPY NEW YEAR!