HBear is 12 PLUS Bacon Fettuccine Alfredo, Snickerdoodle Bread & Olaf Hot Vanilla Milk

Growing up happens in a heartbeat. One day you’re in diapers; the next day you’re gone. But the memories of childhood stay with you for the long haul.

The Wonder Years

HoneyBear is 12!

What a crazy year! This was a big one for HoneyBear as she left the safety of her elementary school of 6 years and moved onto middle school! not only was she in a new school but she challenged herself by going into French immersion. On top of learning a new language she also joined band and began learning how to play trombone.

HBear’s love for dance grew throughout the year as she enjoyed her 7 dance classes! She was also proud to be working on a contemporary solo to Yellow for Nana.

Enter COVID-19.

HBear was moving along nicely when she entered spring break. Unfortunately, after spring break the schools were closed and so was dance. Although she enjoyed homeschooling and Teams meetings with her classes as well as Zoom dance classes, she was very sad to miss competitions and the dance finale. However, she adjusted well to being home and I enjoyed spending time with her to get to know the tween HBear 😂. The lockdown happened at the same time we got the keys to our new home. HBear instantly fell in love with our new space. Unlike her little Sister, she LOVES having her own room!

She is also enjoying grade 7 and is adjusting to an always changing schedule due to COVID. Social distancing has been tough on her as she is an outgoing person that enjoys spending time with her friends. This year her best friend was put in a different cohort and her heart was broken. Fortunately, she has been able to stay connected with her GiftedBesty and reconnect with some old friends that she is loving getting to know again! She loves watching Dawson’s Creek with Mommy and The Mandalorian with her Daddy. She is a true Star Wars fan and she loves Rey and Princess Leia. She also is really into art. She loves to paint and draw and her desk is littered with brushes and paint splots 😆.

Rowyn is smart and confident. She loves to laugh and has a wonderful sense of humour. She struggles with communicating but shows her love with ease. She loves to cuddle and loves to give hugs and kisses to her family. She has courage and likes to try new things. She is adventurous but still cautious and logical. She loves to paint and read and has an extensive graphic novel collection as well as her favourite series The Lost Children, Wings of Fire and The Mysterious Benedict Society.

Most of all Rowyn loves dancing. She does ballet, jazz, contemporary, hip hop, musical theatre, her contemporary solo and her pointe solo. She also takes acting, stretch and strength and assistant teaches in her little Sis’s ballet class. She is very dedicated to her passion. She also trains with her ballet teacher for the Royal Academy of Dance. She is working towards her exams which will be high school credits later on. She wanted to try out for the Royal Winnipeg Ballet summer program this year, so she did! She has been over the moon happy and excited for the opportunity when we found out a week later that she had made it!

We are so very proud of the intelligent, talented, generous, funny and beautiful young lady HBear has become. Happy Birthday Sweetie!

❤️ Mom and Dad

Check out How Was Your Week, Honey? Episode #201 No Santa in Dystopia HERE!

This week we discuss how our kids are growing up in the current state of the world. Topics: Xmas would you rather, errands, light shopping, parking lot fight, Santa, 2020 in review & the AP news.

Every year the Girls are allowed to pick out their birthday dinner! Sometimes HBear picks something out of the ordinary like lobster LOL but most times she picks her favourite, white sauce spaghetti with tiny lobsters AKA fettuccine Alfredo with tiger prawns 😆. This year she switched it up a bit by asking for the prawns on the side and bacon in her jarred Alfredo sauce, oh and she wanted rotini instead of fettucine noodles. However, last year she asked for homemade fettucine Alfredo with bacon and I obliged. In honour of HBear’s birthday here is that recipe that has been sitting in my draft folder folder for a year now!

I am also sharing a new recipe, Snickerdoodle bread! I love snickerdoodles! I love cinnamon and sugar, especially on toast! This quick bread is light, tasty, and delicious! This would make a perfect brunch item or an after school snack or dessert OR as I like it, as breakfast!

Fettuccine Alfredo with Bacon

Adapted from Erren’s Kitchen

1 pound fresh fettuccine
2 cups heavy cream
2 cloves garlic, peeled and left whole
1 stick salted butter, softened
1 pinch nutmeg
¾ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
Salt and black pepper, to taste
Chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, for garnish
1/2 lb of good quality bacon

Cook bacon until crispy. Set aside bacon and wipe out pan.

In a large pot, cook the Fettuccine until just undercooked. It will finish cooking in the sauce.

While the pasta is cooking, in same pan as you cooked the bacon, heat the cream and garlic over low-medium heat.

Add butter and whisk gently until melted. Remove and discard the garlic. Mix in the nutmeg and cheese. Season with freshly grated black pepper.

Drain, reserving 2 cups pasta cooking liquid. Add it to the pan, gently toss the pasta to coat in the Alfredo sauce (adding some of the pasta water if needed to loosen).

Top with more grated cheese, bacon and chopped parsley.

Snickerdoodle Bread
Adapted from Oh Sweet Basil

1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup oil
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup buttermilk
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2/3 cup cinnamon sugar

Preheat oven to 350.

In a bowl, whisk together the butter, oil and sugar. Add the eggs and buttermilk and combine until smooth.

Pour in the flour, baking soda and salt and fold until combined.

Grease a loaf pan. Add 1/3 of the batter and sprinkle 1/3 of the cinnamon sugar.

Add another 1/3 of batter and 1/3 of cinnamon sugar. Repeat one last time, but before sprinkling the cinnamon sugar take a knife and swirl through the bread. Top with cinnamon sugar and bake for 55-60 minutes.

Allow to cool for 10 minutes and then remove from the pan to cool on a cooling rack.

This week was a sad one for me, it was the last week my baby girl was 11. When she woke up she was 12 and her buddy Maynard the Elf had returned! As she was unable to have her 2 Besties sleepover for her birthday, they so kindly dropped off gifts for her to open on her birthday morning! We decorated with gold and silver for a “mature look” 😆 She was incredibly grateful to be able to share her birthday dinner with family. It was a delicious dinner with Grandma’s homemade poppyseed cake and lots of thoughtful gifts from family ❤️.

And just like that she woke up the next day and she was, 12! This week I also did something I haven’t done in 8 months, I went to Kelowna. I ordered a gift online and it came in the wrong size! They wouldn’t take it back through the mail and I had to go into the store for the exchange! I wasn’t impressed but at least I got to stop at the beach and take a stunning photo of this gorgeous place I am so fortunate enough to call home. I’m also fortunate for my husband, Ninja the coffee fairy who popped by my work this week and delivered me a yummy hot Christmas beverage!

This month for my Facebook fitness group challenge I have decided to forgo the fitness and focus on creating some holiday spirit! This week started with an advent calendar. The other challenges were build a fort, donate at our local food drive, send a card, take a family selfie photo shoot, write to Santa, and research holidays in another country! I incorporated our research with our dinner plans! A friend of mine has family in Holland who have been hit very very hard by Covid this past month. It has broken my heart. It made me want to look up some of the traditions in Holland! In my research I found gourmetten It reminded me of fondue or raclette. So, I read the family the traditions of gourmetten and we tried our version by having a fun family raclette for dinner! We finished it off with Olaf hot vanilla milk (recipe below), and a family movie (Klaus SO good). We also opened up a beautiful new home ornament from my Sis. It was a wonderful evening!

On Saturday we did a little baking! It started off with all of us Girls but then later HBear had a play date at the park with her friend… that is a boy… 😳😂 he is very very nice boy and we adore his family but holy smokes, turning 12 has hit this Mama hard 😂 While she was out SBean and I made snickerdoodle bread, salt dough for a craft we’re doing next week, made the dough for a recipe that I will share with you next week, and our favourite Peanut Butter Marshmallow Squares! On Sunday following the Christmas spirit challenge we got dressed up and went up to Chute Lake for a family selfie! While we were getting ready I gave HBear’s her first make up tutorial! Ninja and I gave her an Ipsy subscription for her birthday and a make up/tool advent calendar. She is getting a wonderful collection of all types of make up so she can figure out what looks good on her, how to use these items, and what she does or doesn’t like. I explained that it takes a while to get good at make up so for now we’re just going to practice at home but I had a ton of fun and she did great and looked beautiful 😍. We had such a nice time up at Chute Lake and enjoyed a delicious lunch and some stunning views! Just 7 days into December but I am certainly feeling the Christmas spirit!