On Feeling Festive

This year I was feeling like the Grinch. I was not looking forward to setting the Christmas tree up. Our schedule is jam packed all the time and decorating for Christmas just seemed like one more thing on the list of never ending things to do. Not to mention that every thing we put up has to come down in a month creating another thing for the future to do list.  I'm not sure if it is the lack of snow or the unseasonably warm November we had, I just wasn't feeling it.

I had penciled in this past Saturday as the day we put up the tree.  I literally put it in my calendar to make sure I didn't forget.  If it makes it into the calendar it somehow gets done.  I'm a creature of habit...  the tree goes up the last weekend of November since I insist on taking it down before the 31st. I like to start the new year with a clean house.  On a side note, I also finish all my Christmas shopping by Dec 1 so I can sit in front of the tree and wrap while watching trashy TV.

This particular Saturday, Grady had hockey at 7:15 am and Cooper didn't have his game until noon.  I figured that in between ice times, James and I would work at getting the tree up and the bins ready and then after Cooper's game we would tackle the decorating.

To my surprise as I brought the bins up the kids started digging through them.  Grady, in particular, insisted he wanted to decorate the tree that exact moment. No waiting.  I sat there in my pajamas and with my bed head and decided to go with it.  Grady's enthusiasm was contagious, we put on the Christmas tunes and started decorated just the way we were.    Even if some of us were still in our underwear and other were wearing sweaty long johns.

You see, we don't have a fancy tree.  We have a tree full of memories.  Some we bought on vacation, some were purchased just because, some are even homemade.  The homemade ornaments are becoming more and more apparent on our tree as the kids get older.

James' job is always to put on the star. We decorate the tree with the lights off.  When the tree is fully decorated, we make a wish and turn on the tree.  It has come to my attention that this may not be normal, just how I did it growing up.

Cooper was such a ham.  Not only was he in his underwear, but he stopped to pose with a goofy face for each action shot I tried to take.  This is just totally him.  A big goof ball.

And another one....

There was also some risk taking going on while making sure that our tree was evenly decorated all the way around.

It is amazing how quickly I turned from the Grinch to an elf.  Watching the kids embrace a tradition that I value so much made my heart grow 3 sizes.  I couldn't help looking at James and mouthing that I was so happy.  For each ornament that they squealed about my smile got bigger.  Each time they squealed that they remember buying the ornament it reminded me that it is worth every penny.  While James gives me a hard time when I make him look for ornaments on vacation I am sure that he loves pulling them out of the box as much as I do.  So in the matter of hours I went from  to being ready to fully embrace Christmas and all the holiday season has to offer.

And the final product....

Bring on Christmas!

Progressive Dinner: A Tasty Salad

Today I am participating in a blog hop all about food and recipes.  All of those hopping over from the blended blog, welcome! We start here with a salad, then Leslie will be providing our main course, Andrea is on dessert and finally Katie will be preparing the adult bevies.  

I am the first to admit that I am not a master chef. I don't do complicated or make recipes that have obscure ingredients that I've never heard of, but I do select recipes that are simple but tasty.   When choosing a recipe I must have all or most of the ingredients on hand on a regular basis, nothing with a weird name or with items I can't buy at the local market.   Also, I prefer recipes that are health conscious.   While I aim for simple, I am still a sucker for taste.  I like to eat good tasting, healthy food.  Trust me, it is possible.

When the gals at TBB suggested this series I felt self conscious about how I could participate.  Salad sounded like a safe bet since I make one every day for lunch.  While I make a full sized lunch salad, it can also be modified into a great starter salad for dinner.

Ingredients:

Spinach

Goat cheese

Avocado (optional)

Apple

Pumpkin Seeds

Dressing:

3 tbsp Olive Oil

3 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar

2 tbsp Honey

2 tsp Dijon Mustard

1 tbsp Balsamic Vinegar (optional)

Salt and Pepper to taste

The salad ingredients are easy, just add the amounts that you want.  Throw the spinach in the bowl and start adding in the toppings to your liking.  You like avocado?  Great, add in extra.  You aren't big on goat cheese?  You can skip it all together.  I've also substituted apple for Strawberries and walnuts for pumpkin seeds.  All the ingredients are interchangeable with what you like and can we switched as you wish.

Next up you make the dressing.  I wish someone would have told me years ago how easy it is to make your own dressing.  It is so much healthier and tastes better than any dressing you can buy at the store.  I've discovered through trial and error that I enjoy dressing with apple cider vinegar to give it that tangy taste and the contrast with the sweetness of the honey is splendid.  This is my go-to dressing for all my salads.  Put all ingredients in a container and shake it up.  Then poor over our bowl with the spinach and mix.  Voila, the salad is complete.

Now that you've enjoyed my easy and tasty salad, let's see what Leslie is cooking for dinner!

Two Big Hockey Games

Overall, our hockey schedule over last weekend was pretty manageable with only 3 games all weekend and no ice time at all on Friday.  Score.  The ice times we did have were pretty important ones for both our kids.

1)  Cooper's first official game of the season 

You see in Timbits, a big part of the season is development, so they actually aren't allowed to play a game for more than 25% or each practice.  So while they have been scrimmaging each ice time, this was the first official game that lasted an hour.  They used the entire ice and had a time keeper. They don't keep score at this level but trust me the they all know the score. Interestingly enough, each kid will give you a different final score and 99% of the time our team won, even when it was clear we didn't.

Unfortunately for Cooper, this game is what we call a wake up game at our house, aka a game where we have to wake Cooper up to go.  While Grady is eager and hops out of bed with a smile, Cooper generally rolls over, pulls the blankets up over this shoulders and says he hates hockey.  Not exactly a morning person.  With an 8am puck drop we woke him up at 7:15 and we was not in the best of moods and it showed in the his game.  He was tired, lazy, and recovering from the flu.  It may not have been his best performance but it is still an important moment in the season.

2) Grady played his first game as goalie this season.

One night last week Grady told me he couldn't wait to go to bed that night.   This was odd since Grady never wants to go to bed and is the king or procrastination when it comes to bed time.  When I asked him why, he told me it was because when he woke up, it would be the day that he got to to goalie at practice.  If that isn't enthusiasm, I don't know what it.  The kid loves playing net and has used his own money to purchase his own set of pads for the outdoor rink.  Last year he played twice and did OK but this year, he killed it.  He saved a breakaway shot and just did a great job.  I even rang my bell on one of his best saves.  He played a great game.

When he got off the ice I was so excited to see him and thought he'd be super excited about all his good saves. Instead he doesn't look good at all.  James whispers that he doesn't feel good.  After having just gone through with Cooper we knew it was time to get the young lad home.  Before we had time to get him to the car, he threw up in the arena lobby.  James quickly steered him towards the bathroom but he threw up on himself before he got there where he emptied the rest of his stomach.  Poor guy caught the stomach bug from Cooper after all.  Grateful he had a chance to play the game before the flu surfaced but sad he didn't get to celebrate in a game well played.

Then James and I got it and all 3 of us did nothing on Monday but lie on the couch in our PJs.  Cooper healthily and happily played on the computer all afternoon and no one made a peep about him getting off which he enjoyed.

To say that I hope we are through with the flu at our house this season is a huge understatement!

My Favorite Kitchen Tools

I am the first to admit that I am not a master chef.  I think I would enjoy cooking more if I had the time, but right now we are at a stage in our lives where time is not an option.  We generally choose which meal we cook based on how much time we have and what activities we have going on that day.  With that being said, I still spend enough time in the kitchen to have accumulated some gadgets that make my life easier.

1.  Wine opener

This is by far the best kitchen gadget I own.  If you don't have one and you like wine, you should have one.  First, you use the little guy to remove the foil around the top of the bottle, but if you are really pressed for time you can skip that step.  Next, you put the top of the bottle between the 2 side handles. Finally, you crank the top handle up and down and your wine is ready to consume.  Best. Gadget. Ever.

2.  Starfrit Fry Cutter

My newest, and almost equally cool, gadget is this fry cutter.  I got it at Canadian Tire, but you can also find them at Walmart and other large retailers.  I love making homemade fries to go with burgers or sausages or anything really. I throw the fries in a bag of oil and top them with Hy's seasoning salt and throw them in the oven for at least 45 minutes.  Yummy!

3.  Garlic Press

This is one of my oldest kitchen gadgets purchased from Ikea more than a decade ago.  Since then, I purchased and tried other garlic presses and this is by far my favorite.  Simple, but it works!

4.  Cheese Grater

While you are at Ikea, don't forget to pick up my cheese grater.  The grater slides right on a plastic container with grippers on the bottom so it doesn't' slide.  It comes with 2 types of graters and a lid that fits on the container (not shown) so you can store it in the same container.  This grater is almost the same age as my garlic press and one of my most used gadgets.

5. Pot scrubber

These pot scrubbers are used in our house daily.  I'm not sure about you, but I don't put my pots and pans in the dishwasher, instead I wash them with these scrubbers.  They work great for non stick frying pans and get all the cooked on guck off.  You can buy them at any kitchen store.  Every time I see them I buy a few, when you use them as much as I do you go through them equally fast.

There you have it, my favorite 5 gadgets!  Some honorable mentions are found below:

1.  Silicone kitchen utensils.  I only have the spoon so far but it is by far my favorite.

2.  Wine stoppers

3.  Bag clippies

4.  Lemon juicers

Now that you have read about my faves, let's hop over to Sarah's blog to see what she uses in the kitchen!

Flames Intermission Skate

Last Monday about 4pm my cell phone rang as I was leaving lunch with a friend so I let it go to voicemail.  When I listened to to the voicemail when I got home I nearly dropped the phone, I won a contest to have Cooper's team skate on the ice at Intermission of the Flames game!  After entering in a daily contest over 60 times, I won, I finally won!  It turns out there was a cancellation for the game on Wednesday only 2 sleeps away.  I was a little concerned about getting the minimum 10 players on the ice for an 8pm game where the kids wouldn't get on the ice until 8:45!  It turned out I had nothing to worry about!  We had 14 out of 16 players show up at the Saddledome ready to skate!

Once all the players had arrive they brought us to our 'dressing room' for the evening where they fed us pizza and drinks, but unfortunately, no beer!

Next, we were escorted to the front row to watch the flames warm up.  The boys were rowdy and excited at this point.  Can you tell?

After the warm up we were ushered back to our dressing room to watch the game on the TV finish up our pizza and to gear up for the game.  It proves to take a little more time when you have 14 six year old kids and only 8 adults!  So we divided and conquered and got all our players ready to go.  The energy in the air was high.

With only 10 minutes to go, the flames guy gathered all the players and coaches around a clip board to explain how it was going to go down.  Essentially, tell them what net to shoot on.

After being at the Saddledome for almost 2 hours, it was finally time for the kids 3 minutes of fame.

It amazes me how all of the kids went on the ice like it was just any other practice.  The announcers were calling them out by name.

In the end, the red team won 1-0.

The little guy that got the goal was interviewed by the flames guy after.

It was a HUGE success.

As we were walking off the ice and to the dressing room a young guys stopped me and asked if I was by chance Christy.  The odds were good since there were only 2 Moms with the team.  He told me that my perseverance had paid off and when there was a cancellation he chose my team to get the opportunity because I had been so persistent at entering every darn day.  I thanked him and I meant it.  The kids may never appreciate how hard I worked to have them selected but I certainly know how hard I worked!

I think the parents actually got more excited than the kids.  I was bouncing off the walls when I found out we won and when I told Cooper I'm not sure he even understood what I was talking about.  Grady still remembers doing the obstacle course at the flames game 2 years ago and I hope that they both remember it forever.  Maybe one day down in the future they will be able to share this experience with their own children.

After the big skate, the equipment had to be taken back to the cars and then we had to make it to our seats. They were the highest of nose bleed seats available!  By the time we made it up there we watched 10 minutes of the second period and called it a night.  It was after 10pm at this point and it was time to take the little monsters home.

We had barely walked in the door when Cooper said he wasn't feeling good and I heard him gag.  We got him to the toilet before he started to throw up.  I hoped it was from all the pizza and excitement that the night had brought, but in the end he threw up all night long.  At least he didn't miss out on the intermission skate, because that would have been a big bummer.

All in all a great night (minus the vomit).

5 Things I Learned While Registering for the 2017 Seawheeze

November 16th, 2016 at exactly 10:00 PST me and approximately 15,000 other runners sat by our computers waiting for the Lululemon Seawheeze half marathon registration to open.  This was my first time attempting registration and I learned a few things.....

{one} Your heart rate can soar above it's resting rate of 58 bpm while just sitting at your desk.

The last time I looked before the registration went live my heart rate was at 93.  I was a ball of nerves leading up to the registration going live at 11:00 am Calgary time.  Although not being sure I actually wanted to do it initially, but the time 11am rolled around today I knew I was going to be very disappointed if I didn't get in.

{two}  Getting into the waiting room does not guarantee a spot.  I got into the 'waiting room' quite quickly on 2 screens and after about 5 minutes I booted out and it said the tickets were unavailable due to ticket sales.  Sold out, I assumed.  I was surprised at how devastated I felt.

{three}  When the waiting list tells you that tickets are no longer available they may not be sold out. I was planning to go with 2 other Moms and we were on a group text.  I said I was out, just an another texted she just got in the waiting room.  So I continued to refresh until the 'unavailable' turned into 'purchase'... back in the waiting room.  Finally, I got to the screen to input my information and was going to quickly that I just prayed I didn't make a mistake. Thank God for auto populate!

{four} Watching the processing wheel spin after you've entered your payment information will seem like an eternity.  I watched the stupid wheel spin and spin before it finally showed the glorious confirmation screen.

{five}  Seeing your confirmation screen means you can finally relax.

Running a half marathon has always been something I've wanted to do but never imagined I'd actually do it. I'm a runner, but always short distances. Last year I ran my first 10k and I loved it. Now I have to refocus, run slower, and train properly. My pore knee is prone to injury and I don't want anything to stand in between me and finishing that darn 1/2. After all, my goal is just to finish without injury. Fingers crossed I make it happen.

Fall Favorite Finds: the Puffer Jacket

Today I am linking up with the ladies of TBB to talk about favorite fall finds.  We have been having the most glorious November considering we had snow in early October.  During this fall heat wave I noticed a huge gap in my wardrobe, an 'in-between' jacket.  James would argue that I have so many jackets that it would impossible to say that I needed a new one.  I am about to prove him wrong.

You see, I have a few light fall jackets and some wool winter jackets.  In a usual year we would jump right from early fall to winter.  The light fall last approximately 4 weeks then it is so cold that we bring out the winter jackets right away.  This year the fall just seems to be going on and on, and trust me, I am not complaining!  The trouble is, the day starts chilly and ends in the mid teens, I can't possibly wear my current fall jackets in the morning or my winter jacket in the afternoons.  Enter my new puffer jacket.

Things I like about it:

It is long.  I hate when I have a long sweater on and my jacket doesn't cover it.

It has thumb holes. It keeps my hands mostly warm on chilly mornings.

It doesn't have fur.  I feel like fur around the hood makes it too wintery and I wanted it for fall.

It is versatile.  I can dress it up for work or dress it down to go to spin.

It rolls into a pouch. Makes it easy to take travelling.  Like when we went to San Fran and I froze my butt off. Now I would just throw this in my bag because it rolls so tiny.

It isn't too shiny.   Some puffers have this shiny look to them.  I prefer the more matte look.

Here I am wearing it to walk the kids to school feeling toasty warm.

I highly recommend a light weight puffer jacket.  I've already gotten my money worth.  Definitely a favorite!

Oh and despite needed to wear a  light weight down on my upper body, I still wear bare feet in my shoes.  Ha!

Now you've seen my favorite fall find, what is YOURS?

An InLinkz Link-up

Weekend Tidbits

The biggest thing that happened this weekend was that I finally finished all 7 seasons of Gilmore Girls.  I loved the ending.  I am not a crier but I felt myself tearing up in the last few minutes.  It tied together all the important ends and left it open, which leaves me wondering what will happen when they start season 8 in a few short weeks, 9 years after the show actually ended.

We spent our normal couple hours at the rink this weekend. I think this is Cooper's team but truthfully I can't be 100% sure.  The kids always have my phone at the rink making it hard to take any photos.    Cooper's team had an actual 'game like' scrimmage lasting 30 minutes.  Apparently, Cooper had a break away and scored a great goal.  I had already moved on to Grady's dressing room as they played back to back at the same rink which most would think is a bonus but it becomes really rushed and hectic.

One of the other hockey moms had a party to attend and had a shortage of fancy shoes to wear.  I on the other hand have no shortage!  I sent her this photo of all my heels and she chose the gold glittery ones.  Great choice!  I have a matching purse for those shoes so I threw those in.  James just shakes his head.

Second Cup Christmas drinks are out and the candy cane latte is my favorite.  While running errands I stopped and grabbed one and it made me very happy.  I went in planning to get a small but I walked out with a Medium!

We attended a Remembrance Day ceremony at Battalion Park which is a short walk from our place.   It has certainly grew since the last time we strolled by while there were a mere 50 people in attendance.  It was packed this year.  Thankfully there were 100s of lady bugs in the field we were sitting in that occupied the kids.

It was great to have 4 days off this weekend.  Do you ever feel like the longer you are off the harder it is to go back?  I certainly do.  I will be spending my last day off today by running some errands and having lunch with one of Cooper friends and his mom.  As always, we will end Monday with a date spin class.  Another week in the books!

Celebrating 6 years of Cooper

I warned you... it is all about Cooper, the newest 6 year old this week!  On Sunday we celebrated Cooper's birthday party with his 19 closest friends, and survived.  No, we did not host this one at our house.  After Grady's wild party in June where part of it took place in our house, we quickly told Cooper that you had to be 8 to have the video game truck!

What I've learned over the years is that you should always take pictures with the cake before the party.  During the party the chaos factor is high and the photos never get taken.  As always, our cake was made with love by Nana.

Nana's cake was perfect, likely because she made the same cake 18 months ago for Grady's 7th birthday!

With the introduction of Pokemon Go! this year the Pokemon party supplies were cleared out on the shelf so I had to order online. Obviously a popular choice!

We hosted a gym jam party at the local recreation center.  While this is Cooper's first gym party, Grady has had a few here and they are always a hit with the boys.

In total we had 17 boys and 3 girls.  I foresee that this will be the last year we invite girls to the party.  They just don't want to do the same thing as the boys and get bored.

As the photos show, the party was a blur of active sweaty kids.

Let me try to get a better shot.  Nope, still blurry, must be the camera...

Quick, quick, there goes Cooper.  Shoot, still blurry.

Cooper!!! This way, stop running, look at the camera!  Finally.... a clear shot.

The real fun begins when we are done in the gym and we enter the party room where WE are responsible for the kids.  In the gym they have 2 leaders that run the party and we get to happily stand at the sidelines watching THEM man the 20 kids.

This is what 20 kids looks like, let me remind you, it is mostly BOYS!

I also was reminded that at the end of the day, kids really prefer cheese pizza. I ordered 2 cheese, 1 pepperoni and 1 Hawaiian.  It was like we were forcing the kids to eat Hawaiian as they all just wanted cheese.  For the record, I ordered 4 large pizzas and there was only 1 piece left compared to the 1 pizza left when I've ordered in the past. Score!

This face made it all worth while.

Ironically, he had 3 candles still lit after his first blow and 3 little girls at his party.  Coincidence, I think not.

It was loud. It was crazy. It was out of control.  It was totally worth it.

Happy Birthday Cooper!