The key is not the will to win… everybody has that. It is the will to prepare to win that is important.
Bobby Knight
Wow!
Did that just happen?
Last week was a fabulous week full of learning, fun and memory making!
It was so busy that on Monday we were laying in bed at 8:45 relaxing, taking in the silence, knowing that it was our only free night… When our phones buzzed??
We had missed our last BC Winter Games Security meeting!!! I had just made an itinerary for the week and in my mind I thought Monday was the only night free so I didn’t actually check my calendar! LOL
Regardless, everything went off without a hitch and the Games were an AMAZING success!
On Wednesday Ninja and I took SBean to Koba’s Great Big Show featuring Mike the Knight, Franklin and Friends, Max & Ruby and The Backyardigans. If you don’t know who they are… you don’t have kids! 🙂
It was a great night! SBean had a BLAST!
The next day… well Let the games begin! It was a busy day to be sure! I was up super early with cramps and of course Aunt Flo decided to join me for the games lol. I packed us all up for a FULL day of fun! First I got the girls to SBean’s swimming lesson. Dad and Ninja had shifts that morning and Dad and I were switching off with the girls.
That left Dad getting HBear to Broadway, dinner and to the Opening Ceremonies that night. Ninja and his parents were pretty much working at headquarters for the entire weekend so we popped by often to bring lunch, snacks and kisses.
Day 1
The Opening Ceremonies
The Opening Ceremonies
Day 2
HBear made me spreadsheet with all the events she wanted to watch. Complete with times and locations! She is definitely my daughter!! We were up every day early and left the house with water bottles, lunches, snacks and extra clothes.
Girl’s Gymnastics
Boy’s Diving
Ringette
Girl’s Diving
Lunch with Daddy
Judo
Karate
Day 3
Badminton
Archery
Lunch at Dairy Queen!
Boy’s Gymnastics
The weather was GORGEOUS! Our only snow was what the zamboni made 🙂
Figure Skating
Speed Skating
Rhythmic Gymnastics
Day 4
The last day! I was sad but also relieved. I really hadn’t seen Ninja in days and my head cold started to get worse by this point. I was barely holding on LOL I had a security meeting in the morning so we missed Curling. HBear may NEVER let me live that down 🙁 I promised her I would take her to see curling in the future. She is still getting over the fact that we didn’t have time to go up to Apex to see all the sking events! Jeeze! She has been making a Winter Games book. She writes a little about each event that she liked/disliked and illustrates it with a nice picture. She is taking it in for sharing on Friday 🙂
We did get a chance to do some stuff though 🙂
Karate Championships
Closing Ceremonies
After the ceremonies, I had my last volunteer shift so my Dad took the girl’s to the Twins Leap Year Birthday party!!!! Then he dropped HBear off back at the pool where I was waiting to get her to her swimming lessons.
Today is Tuesday and I have not left my bed since Sunday night! I have not stopped coughing, sleeping and sweating. Both girls crawled in last night with high fevers too. HBear is home from school today and Ninja is looking after the house and us. 🙁 I did manage to get all the laundry done in between events and the bathrooms cleaned so at least that is all done. We also managed to get in a little reward time too! Every day HBear marks off her chores on her chore chart. At the end of the week if she has kept up with it and done everything to the best of her abilities she gets a sticker. After 5 weeks she gets a reward. This month she picked out of the reward bag and got Fresh Baked Cookies! So we baked her favourite cookies 🙂 These are quick and easy and taste delicious. I haven’t checked but I bet they are all gone or close to lol.
Thank you Penticton for hosting such an amazing event! We had so much fun cheering on the athletes and seeing all that handwork payoff for so many! The girls learned a lot and had a fantastic time in the process! I am so proud of our city and take great pride in the community around me and the people who make it such a wonderful place to live and raise kids. PENTICTON’S GOT GAME!
M&M Cookies
Adapted from Rachel Cooks
2 cups flour
1 tablespoon cornstarch
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 12-ounce package of M&Ms
In a bowl, mix together flour, cornstarch, salt and baking soda. Set aside.
In the bowl of your standing mixer, cream butter and both sugars on medium speed until light and fluffy (2-3 minutes).
With the mixer on low, add in egg and vanilla. Return mixer to medium and mix until incorporated. Scraping sides.
With the mixer back on low, add dry ingredient mixture gradually.
Stir in M&Ms by hand.
Refrigerate dough for at least 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat and set aside.
Form balls with about 1 tablespoon of dough. Bake for 9-11 minutes or until edges are just barely golden.
Remove from oven and let cool for a couple of minutes on baking sheet before removing and placing on wire rack to finish cool.
0 thoughts on “Winter Games and Rewarding M&M Cookies”
These cookies look like they are sure to a bit hit with those kiddos! Thanks for sharing at Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop!