If you have nothing to say, say nothing.
Mark Twain
Sorry for last week. Sorry for going radio silent. Last week was the US Election.
My Mom always told me… if you have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything at all.
So I didn’t.
Instead I will tell you a horribly embarrassing story about,
ME.
On Remembrance Day we had a family exploring day! We talked about how the soldiers died so we could have the freedom to do things like vote, live in this incredible FREE country and have the ability to go out and explore our land without fear of war or persecution.
First we started off at the cemetery. We placed a Poppy on my Poppy’s resting place and a flower on my Nana’s. Her 84th birthday would have been on Saturday. Of course we stopped and saw the rest of the family too. 💛
After our visit we headed out to do some Geocaching. We had a great day! I mean, 20 minutes in and the Girl’s were whining and being absolute Snots so I freaked out, called them each on their shit and we had no issues after that. 😜
It wasn’t cold out but it was grey. Didn’t stop us from hiking along Trout Creek picking up new treasures along the way.
We also stopped at the old Train bridge in Summerland. As we got out of the van I saw 3 boys with huge backpacks walking. As they crossed the bridge I could picture the movie Stand By Me 😊.
I stopped the Dad who dropped them off and asked, “where are they going?”
Camping.
“How old are they?”
12 and 14.
😳
I must have actually made that face because he cracked up at me and said, “It’s OK Mama. They’ve done it before and they will be great.”
I still wasn’t buying it so he showed me pictures of the Boy’s last solo camping trip. They looked like they had a blast! They set up their tents, made a fire and cooked for themselves. The Dad meets them up there around 10pm and camps out next to the fire. Amazing!
Of course Ninja bought me a delicious Starbucks drink and between the Grande Latte and the cool weather, I had to pee. I had to pee so bad I used an outhouse! 😳 Right now my Sis just yelled, “what??!?!” LOL I was desperate!
When we pulled into the driveway I had to pee sooooo badly but of course there is still the task of getting the kids out of the van and bringing in all the trash from the day. By the time I ran into the bathroom I already had my belt undone and my pants unbuttoned!
I sat down and let out a sigh of relief. My relief quickly turned into confusion though. Something didn’t feel right.
When I was done I stood up and WHOOSH!
I had forgotten to take off my underwear!
When I stood up a puddle of pee escaped from my thong and went all over my legs and drenched my jeans, socks and floor.
BAHAHAHAHA
On a completely different note… HBear.
She does and says and HEARS the most interesting things. I remember last week when she got out of bed for the 14th time saying Ales was cold. I told her to deal with it and get back into bed! This week I was changing linens and I saw Ales Hemsky (my teddy bear lol) in HBear’s bed. Apparently she dealt with it. 😂
On a completely different note… HBear.
She does and says and HEARS the most interesting things. I remember last week when she got out of bed for the 14th time saying Ales was cold. I told her to deal with it and get back into bed! This week I was changing linens and I saw Ales Hemsky (my teddy bear lol) in HBear’s bed. Apparently she dealt with it. 😂
I asked her to put my scarf on my bed and later that night I walked in and saw his on my bed. 💛
Dad, HBear and I go to the Christmas Craft Fair together every year. This year HBear had a purpose. She wanted to buy SBean a birthday present. A specific present. A knitted hat. She went to many booths searching for the perfect one. She finally picked a turquoise toque with a red felt robin stitched on the side. 😊 It was $25!!! I thought of the HUGE bin of yarn I had sitting in my closet and I looked at HBear’s eager eyes wanting so bad to please her little Sister and I doled out the money. LOL
Later that night I got into bed and I heard jingling? I reached under my pillow and found a ziplock with $17 in it.
The next day, without her knowing I put the money back in the save section of her piggy bank. 😊
She completely blew my freaking mind with her comprehension of the US election. The next day she asked who won and when I told her she was visibly upset. Of course this is probably because she has heard us talking so much. After school I asked her if the election was brought up and she told me that EVERYONE was talking about how Donald Trump is the next President and how mad everyone is. I asked her why? She said because he hates women! I sighed a big sigh and then started to explain…
“Sweetie he doesn’t hate women. Hate is a very strong word. He just doesn’t respect women because he doesn’t think we are equal. But we are and 1 day a woman WILL be President. Heck, 1 day we might have a woman Prime Minister! Maybe it will be you!”
She was staring out the window of the van and I saw a spark in her eye as she mumbled, “maybe.”
I then said, “Elections are special because it allows everyone the chance to have their say in the leader that represents them. Although I think they made an error in judgment, we have to respect the fact that that is what the country chose. That’s why he won.”
She harrumphed and said, “well he didn’t win the popular vote so that’s just not true!”
😂
That’s what is so great about this whole election! Kids finding that spark, that love of politics and making a difference. I bet there are a ton of children and teens out there that will remember this election for the rest of their lives, perhaps some of them will strive to make a change in the world directly because of it! See silver linings! 😜
I love Asian take out! I like Japanese, Chinese, Viaetimese, basically everything… except Korean lol I’m just not down with kimchi 😜
This week I made a super easy beef dish that tasted just like take out! It was crazy easy and requires NO marinating! Score! SBean kept on shouting, “Yummy in my tummy!!!” LOL. We had the crispy and saucy beef with rice and some sautéed peppers and mushrooms. Delish!
Easy Mongolian Beef
Adapted from Scrambled Chefs
Adapted from Scrambled Chefs
1.5 lbs stewing beef
½ cup cornstarch
oil
For the Sauce
2 tablespoons cooking oil
1 tablespoon ginger, shredded
1 tablespoon garlic, pressed
½ cup soy sauce
½ cup rice vinegar
½ cup water
1 teaspoon hoisin sauce
½ cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cornstarch, diluted in 3 tsp water (slurry)
½ cup green onion, chopped into 1 inch pieces
Toss the beef strips in 1/2 cup of cornstarch. Make sure the strips are coated evenly. I did mine in batches.
Fry the beef strips in about 1/4 cup of oil for 4-5 mins, drain the oil and set aside.
In a saucepan, heat 2 tablespoons of oil on high. Add in the ginger and garlic. Stir quickly for 10 seconds.
Add the soy sauce, water, rice vinegar and hoisin sauce. Bring the sauce to a quick boil.
Add the brown sugar and cornstarch slurry. Mix thoroughly.
Add the beef strips and let cook for 2 minutes.
Add the green onions and cook for an additional minute.
One of the best things about living with my Dad is this…
💛
Last week an old friend from elementary school was in town for a few days and he brought his new girlfriend over for a drink! She was great and it was wonderful to catch up!
SBean has a few more music classes left. She loves free dance!
After class we went in for a haircut. I wasn’t happy with her last cut. I took her to Chatters this time and I was very honest with the stylist. I explained that I completely understood that some hairdressers look at her like a 3 year old and just use a razor and give her a whatever cut but she likes going to the salon and she likes style. I asked her to please cut her hair like she was an adult LOL. She completely agreed! She took her time and blended it all so it lays flat and all looks nice. 😊 She loves it and I love it! At the end the stylist asked if she could add a little temporary colour… she LOVED it! I bought her, HBear and SPea some for Christmas!
My SBesty held a Ladies Night In last weekend! Awesome time! She had Jamberry, Epicure and Scentsy there while we ate, mingled and drank. 😜 I apparently didn’t take 1 picture of the fun… but I managed to snap all the foodie delights LOL.
Soccer is going well.
This weekend was still pretty nice out… for November. The Girls enjoyed getting outside and taking in what is left of fall.
Ninja’s parents celebrated their Anniversary this past week 💛. We had them over and made my ultimate Caramelized Onion Lasagna with Caesar Salad and French Bread!
Sadly… I came in 2nd AGAIN in my step challenge 😢.
So the next week my BCBesty and I went for a good walk! It was an absolute beautiful morning where we caught up with each other’s lives and briskly walked 7.2kms in 1 hour!
On Thursday HBear had a ProD Day. She came with us to SBean’s music class! SBean LOVED it! She was singing and just felt more comfortable with HBear there. It was awesome!
Even though it was a grey day, the weather was still warmish lol so we took advantage of the day off and went for a walk at the park.
Remembrance Day was a day of geocaching in our backyard. BC is so beautiful. We are so lucky to live in Canada. I am very proud to be Canadian and love to explore this gorgeous land. I am so happy that my family does too. 💛
On Saturday night we took a limo/bus out to Peachland with a large group for my PrairieBesty’s birthday. We went to the Gasthaus for a medieval feast! Yum!!! It was awesome! We all got tunics and hats. We ate off of pewter plates and the service was amazing! We started with fresh bread out of the oven. Next was a huge pot of potato bacon and cheddar soup. So good! 2 chefs brought out a 150lb cast iron skillet FULL of cabbage, potatoes, dumplings, roast beef, duck, bratwurst, rosemary chicken, hammock, ham, schnitzel, and spätzle. For the 3rd course they brought us 2 deep fried apple fritters with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream! It was a fabulous night!
The next morning Ninja and HBear started making crystals to form a nightlight and SBean worked on some play dough.
We spent the afternoon at my in-laws watching the Bombers lose 😞 BUT HBear learned how to knit, SBean played lego and dinner was delicious homemade stew!
ANNNNNND….
I did it! I finally won the stop challenge!!!!
Woot Woot!!!
