I remember the day my Sister moved away. My little Sister went from living with my Mom and Dad, to moving out with me, to picking up and moving to Korea.
It was the worst day.
It was December 26, 2006. I remember the whole family dropping her off at the airport in Kelowna. My Mom and my Aunt took me shopping and out for lunch so we could all get our minds off of it. I was silent. I mean, I didn’t say more than 3 words the entire day. My heart felt like it had shattered in 1 million pieces.
I had lived with her every day for 24 out of my 27 years! We had lived, just the 2 of us, together for 3 of those years. When Mom and Dad moved to BC it was her and I.
It was the first time Ninja saw my family completely FREAKED out lol. The silence. The fighting lol!!! Sis wasn’t able to contact us for a few days after landing and we were on pins and needles for days until we heard from her. It was stressful and tense to say the least.
I can’t say it gets any easier. Now she only lives in Cochrane but every time she leaves… It might as well be Korea.
Sis, my BIL, and SweetPea left 12 hours ago, as I write this. I have already cried 3 times.
I know I will see her again in 4 months… WTF?
4 months!!!!
I see my Brother even less, only once a year. It is a punch in the gut every time I drop him off at the airport.
This Easter/Spring Break was a wonderful holiday for the cousins! HBear is a little bit older than the younger 3 but she loved to play with them and she was tickled pink that JQ and SweetPea would give her cuddles 🙂
The kids played so well together. It reminds me of us so long ago. HBear and SweetPea are cut from the same cloth. They get each other LOL and SBean and JQ are bad to the bone together… oh the stories those 2 will provide!
I was the oldest cousin, well, my Brother was older but he never came out to BC in the summer with all the rest of the cousins. I did. I have wonderful memories and some not so great memories.
I remember adoring little eyes looking up at me as I told another fantastical story.
I remember all the young girls staring at me as I shaved my legs and sang Let’s Talk About Sex… like I was the coolest person they had ever laid eyes on.
I also remember having to take all of the little ones to the park. Babysitting Playing with the kids. Getting my meat cut for me? Half glasses of Kool-Aid! Having to sit at the little kids table, and having to go to bed at the same time as the rest of them.
Now that I’m older and I can look back at all the wonderful summers I spent with my cousins, those little things don’t mean very much any more.
I am hoping HBear will see it that way as well. Perhaps my experience with being the oldest will help her. But that would be like telling someone to buy a minivan, simply because I have experienced all of the benefits of having an active family of 4 on the go in a minivan.
I hope I can figure out a way to guide her in the future because she is always going to be older than them and cousins are your first best friends, the first people to tell you like it really is, and the people that will always have your back.
Always.
The first night we made Baked Sweet & Sour Chicken, Stir fry Veggies, and Asian Noodle Salad… My Sis was watching the garlic sizzle when it popped and hit her in the eye. I reached across the stove and got sizzled too 🙁 This picture was taken 9 days later.
Nights were rough. SBean was up twice with night terrors and SweetPea wasn’t used to sleeping with others in the room and had trouble settling down. It all worked in the end though 🙂
We all went on a Kettle Valley Steam Train ride. The Easter Bunny even came with treats for the kids!
My Sis dipped eggs with all 4 kids and made a beautiful centrepiece with them.
The Easter Bunny came to our house!
And we had a SUPER turkey dinner at my In-Law’s Easter Sunday. My SIL got all the kids new dress-up clothes 🙂
The Girls enjoyed decorating their Easter Bunny cakes.
On Easter Monday we went to LocoLanding for their annual Easter Egg Hunt!
Then we had dinner at our house!
We played at the park,
hung out with Uncle while my Sis took me for a mani/pedi for my birthday :),
and had a pizza party with Papa! My Dad bought the 4 of us a Groupon for a nice dinner out at Bogners and offered to watch the kids for us! AWESOME!
and bowled!
Then we had to say goodbye to Sis, BIL and SPea 🙁
SBean went to G & G’s while I did Hot Lunch.
Over the past week we had so many great dinners! This is one of my favourites from a few weeks ago. Actually I make it quite often because it tastes soooooo good and is easy to prepare. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!
Happy Easter to all my Friends! Let the Spring Sun Shine!
Baked Sesame Chicken
Adapted from Creme de la Crumb
4 chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces
1/2 cup corn starch
6 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup ketchup
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 tablespoons white vinegar
3 tablespoons soy sauce
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon oil
1 tablespoon cold water + 2 tablespoons corn starch
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
3 green onions, chopped
Preheat oven to 375 and spray a 9×13 inch baking dish with cooking spray.
In a bowl, whisk together honey, ketchup, sugars, vinegar, soy sauce, salt, garlic powder, set aside.
Pat chicken dry and add it and 1/2 cup corn starch to a large ziplock bag. Seal and shake to coat chicken.
Add coated chicken to a hot pan with oil and brown over medium high heat for about 4 minutes.
Add prepared sauce to chicken and transfer to baking dish. Bake for 20-25 minutes until chicken is cooked through.
Top with sesame seeds and green onions.
