Stories aren’t the icing on the cake;
they are the cake!
Peter Guber
Family.
Families are our roots. It is where we come from. No matter how far apart you live from each other or how long it has been, there is a certain amount of comfort just being with them.
It is crazy how much we are all alike. While in Cochrane my Uncle, Aunt and 2 cousins came over for a visit and a glass of wine… Or 4 bottles. Lol
They are my peeps. They get me. I get them. It went from hello to family in depth conversation in 4.6 seconds. My family is a family that loves hard, fights hard and has many secrets but we can tell each other anything. Lol
I love being with them all.
When we are all together I tend to drink waaaaaaay too much lol after everybody left and we went to bed, every single time I thought of something I said that may have hurt someone’s feelings, I had to run to the bathroom to throw up. The next day my sister got a text saying how much fun everyone had!
My family rocks.
It was so worth the scary as hell drive through the passes. At one point we were on ice with 9 semis all stopped around us and 1 headed straight for us… I thought this is it.
It took us close to 11 hours but it really was beautiful. I have never driven through the mountains with all the snow. It was absolutely stunning!
When we got to My Sis’s, her and my BIL had homemade Chinese food ready for us! It was awesome!
On Saturday after the kids played in the sprinkle of light snow, we went Christmas shopping!
Making crafts with my Aunt and my cousin’s BF.
On Sunday we had high hopes of going for a swim… but I was HUNG OVER lol so we played all day at home! The kids played so well, no fights, sharing and laughter! Cousins are so important, they are our first friends and they will have your back your entire life 🙂
And then Monday we drove home. The roads were MUCH better and the sun was shining 🙂 It was a great visit, too short but wonderful just the same.
Speaking of family…
I cannot believe my baby is going to be 3 tomorrow. SBean is such a character. Almost daily she sets me on my ass laughing. Like when she talks nonstop about Oupee Dupee. Who is Oupee Dupee? Well, R2-D2 of course! LOL
She says the funniest things. Like a while back when we are out walking and she realized that she had a blister on her toe. I don’t know how she saw it through all of the mud and dirt of her the little flip-flopped feet but she saw it and she was upset. “Mommy will you kiss it better?” Oh SBean I would love to kiss your dirty little toe better lol “okay do it” so I got down on my knees in the middle of the sidewalk and kissed her dirty grubby toe and she said “okay all better, Mommy stand up tall now and let’s go you are wasting my time”
She is getting to that age where she just can’t express her feelings in an appropriate way. If she is frustrated sometimes she can’t even get the scream out, she just opens her mouth and bares her teeth. Ninja says she would make a fantastic ape. LOL
A few more Syd-isms:
- She loves pressing the handicap button on all doors. If the door is already open she will wait until it closes to press the button.
- She can bow her head, flutter her eyelashes and say “pretty pretty pretty please” better than anyone I have ever met.
- Her favorite TV show is Paw Patrol. She went through a Toopy and Binoo phase, and then Julius and now Paw Patrol. We have had to limit it to a lunchtime picnic with one episode. She is a huge TV freak, if you let her she would watch TV 24/7.
- She has a very distinct fashion style. She loves dresses and pink but she is not girly at all.
- People think she is a mute. She becomes very shy in front of people and hides behind my leg. She barely speaks when we are around strangers or even people she knows! Until she is at home and then she lets loose LOL
- She has the memory of an elephant. If you tell her she can have something after nap, before she even opens her eyes she is
askingdemanding it. Which leads me to explain how persistent she is! If she wants something she won’t forget and will keep on asking until she wears you down lol I now say “Mommy has made up her mind and it is not changing.” EVERY time she asks I say the same thing :).
- Her favorite songs this year were, Roar by Katy Perry although she calls it Tiger. (There is a tiger in the video), Shake It Off by Taylor Swift (actually any Taylor Swift LOL even when we hear it in the grocery store quietly she starts yelling “Taylor Swift! Mommy it’s Taylor Swift!”), I Bet My Life by the Imagine Dragons (we play it really loud and have a dance party at Mom’s resting place) and Sugar by Maroon 5 (OMG we listened to that on repeat this summer).
- She cannot take a compliment. After a haircut she will go up to you and point to her hair (her way if asking “do you like my haircut?”)If you don’t say something she will pout if you do, she will flip her hair and walk away.
- She loves getting dirty. No matter how hard I try I cannot keep this girl clean. She cannot wear white, she cannot keep her hair done, and her fingers are always sticky!
- She expresses… Everything! When she is happy she is over the moon and when she is mad… Putin would be scared.
- As soon as we start driving towards Kelowna she starts crying “No not this way! I don’t want to drive this way!” LOL she knows wherever we are driving to is going to a long drive when we head out that way. LOL
- She loves letters. Every day she makes me draw the alphabet on the whiteboard so she can draw them too. Phonics are her best friend 🙂 even when Netflix comes on she spells it out and sounds out each letter LOL
- She will do anything for ‘ert (desert). She will ask “how many bites to get me ‘ert?” and even if she hates dinner, she will choke it down to get ‘ert.
- She will only go poop on the potty if you spray “poop spray” and turn on the fan.
- She loves snacks. Her favorite snacks are fruit gummies (especially Star Wars ones which she calls Stirs Gummies), cheese strings, oranges, marshmallows and carrots.
- She still naps. She sleeps for about 2 hours every afternoon. Her bedtime is 7pm and she gets up by 7am at least lol every morning.
- She loves shower time after diner but would prefer a hot tub or as she calls it a “tubby” any day.
- She loves going to the park and has NO fear. She will climb anything and slide head first down the slide. She attempts things that HBear wouldn’t even think about trying at 6 lol
- She is a terrible loser. She always wants to win. She will sing “I’m gonna beat you, I’m gonna wiiiiIN” It is not pleasant and when we tell her that nobody wants to play with little girls that say those things she shrugs her little shoulders and looks directly in your eye and says “I’m going to beat you anyway!”
- When she is happy she lets you and everyone else know! She showers you in kisses and screams “I love you! I VERY love you so much love!” LOL It makes your heart almost burst.
For her birthday party we are keeping it small and quiet. Tomorrow, Grandma and Grandpa are joining us and Papa and we are going to open gifts, have dinner (her pick, French toast with strawberries and whip cream), have ‘Ert (funfetti cupcakes by request with vanilla fwosting lol) and then we are all going to see her very 1st movie, The Peanuts Movie!
Every year I put together a slideshow of all of her best moments… it can run a bit long LOL My Uncle Dave jokes that he has to take 3 bathroom breaks to get through it! Here it is, the year that SydneyBean was 2! Enjoy, I know we sure did!
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| Happy Birthday My Love I can’t wait to see you ROCK being 3! You make Mommy so proud and you make everyone you meet smile 🙂 L.O.V.E |
I promised to share this AH-MAZING chicken dish with you and here it is! I honestly just wanted to use up the extra honey mustard I had brought home from hot lunch the other week so this is what I did! It was soooooo good! You NEED to try this recipe, I hate breading chicken because of how dirty my hands get lol but I promise, this 1 is worth it!
Bacon Gouda Chicken
Adapted from Made from Pinterest
4 chicken breasts
1 egg
½ cup Parmesan cheese, grated
½ cup panko
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoon dried parsley
2 tablespoons oil
6 slices of bacon, cooked.
1/2 cup honey mustard
1/2 cup honey mustard
1 to 1½ cups shredded Gouda Cheese
Preheat oven to 350.
Pound your chicken between 2 pieces of plastic wrap.
In a shallow bowl, beat your egg.
In another shallow bowl, mix together the parmesan, panko, parsley, salt and garlic powder.
Dip your chicken breasts into the egg and then into the parmesan/panko mixture and coat well.
Add oil to hot pan and fry chicken until they are golden brown.
Cover a cookie sheet with foil and place a wire cookie rack on top.
Place your fried chicken breasts on top of the rack and cook until the juice runs clear, 15-30 minutes.
Dollop on the honey mustard and sprinkle the shredded Gouda cheese and the bacon on top and broil for a few minutes to melt the cheese.
Garlic & Cremini Mushroom Quinoa
Adapted from Damn Delicious
1 cup quinoa
1 tablespoon oil
1 pound cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced
5 cloves garlic, pressed
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan
In a large saucepan of 2 cups water, cook quinoa according to package instructions; set aside.
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add mushrooms, garlic and thyme, and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 3-4 minutes; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Stir in quinoa until well combined.
Garnish with Parmesan.
