Just Dropping In....

We have a whiteboard on our fridge that I use as a to-do list holder and a blog idea gathering place. Ideas that I want to capture and write about in this space are quickly jotted down in the midst of the hustle, as so often the best ideas emerge in a moment of domestic grace. The white-board is now overflowing with borders full of stories and thoughts I want to share and yet.....our summer has been so full, so blessed, so challenging....basically we have really been living and this poor space has remained neglected. Alas! C'est la vie! We are blessed!

Still, I don't want  to forget the glory of these days in all of their simplicity. I don't want to forget the wonder of my children at these specific ages and stag
es, nor the way I've marvelled at our marriage and what it is now after these 5 years that passed in a blink.

Liliana Joy, our eldest, our tenacious and feisty darling, our emotionally perceptive and incredibly imaginative daughter. What a summer this has been for you! You've grown like a sweet little weed, both physically and intellectually. I stand watching you sleep and marvel over this tall little girl with pierced ears who was once my 6.5 lb peanut. Similarly I marvel at you when you stomp away and yell that "I don't like you, I don't want you," or embarrass me in public with your crossed arms and pout.  'They' warned me the day would come when your daddy and I weren't all you needed in the world, but I didn't want to hear it. You start school this September. Again, I cannot imagine such a day has come. This summer you have absolutely amazed us with your athleticism. Whether it has been tenaciously hiking up mountains, running around our golf course, or morphing into a little fish during your swimming lessons, I shake my head and my heart swells with joy to see you SO HAPPY and so challenged.  You are such a good big sister to Judah, so tender and so deliberate in your inclusion of him. He literally worships the ground you walk on! 

You have a sweet love for Jesus and just now I am starting to search a little harder for resources to teach you more about our faith. You have a very real devotion to St. Michael the Archangel and find much comfort at night from faith in his protection. I smile to see the faith of a child, for whom Jesus is just so real and the concept of faith is so natural. We yearn to foster a faith and a deep love in you of what is good, true, and beautiful. I wonder aloud to your daddy how we will accomplish this as we send you off to school. I worry (because I worry always) about all that you'll be exposed to, but your solid-as-a-rock father reminds me that we work very hard to prepare you to be a light.  Oh how we love you!

Canmore, a perfect place for a hiking fairy princess church-goer....

Such a sweet sister, a tender moment captured

***melt***

I love capturing these moments when they don't know I see them....look at those beautiful earrings :)

Judah David, you are so, so darling! You are our incredibly determined, intelligent, musical, temper-filled, sensual and affectionate sweetheart. Because the many months after your birth were so difficult for me and such a blur, I look at you now and just want to snatch you to my heart. Something about a sweet boy's love for his mama, you just love me so much. You have had such a happy summer. You fell in love with your Nonna and Papa who were visiting from Texas and are at the perfect age to remember them with much nostalgia. You just loved every moment with them! You are at that magical age where you are simultaneously a little boy and baby, both so so needy and so desiring independence. I just weaned you which was very sad for me and very dramatic for you, but you were truly addicted and I never got any sleep with your acrobatic nursing so, alas, another chapter closes. However, with each chapter closing a new one opens and new for you is that your daddy is the coolest person in the whole world. You are absolutely OBSESSED with motorcycles, helicopters, and balls of any sort. You've developed so much over this summer, from your vocabulary explosion, to your physical ability, to your overnight self-toilet-training! There was something magical about watching you learn how to jump on the trampoline. One day you couldn't leave the ground, and the next you were flying. Hearing you laugh as you took in the new experience made my heart want to explode. Your daddy and I face the challenge of balancing your extreme attachment to me with our need to be united and your need to learn that you aren't the centre of the universe. We will get there, I hope! You absolutely adore your sister. She is quite literally foremost on your mind at all times. We melt over the fact that whenever we offer you anything your first concern is that Liliana is also considered and taken care of. What a little gentleman you already are. Oh, how we love you!

Look at that tall slender little boy! 

His first haircut, which he was very solemn for!
I was afraid his curls would disappear but thank goodness they are still here!

Playing "house"...best buds!

 (singing for mama in a whisper at the optometrist)

I have much to write about my Love Joseph and the celebration of our 5th wedding anniversary, complete with stomach flu on the airplane and how the reality with all of its messiness is so much better than the fantasy. 

Alas, reality calls and dinner must be prepared. It is meet the teacher night at Liliana's preschool (GULP!). As always, with prayers and much love,

Our Own Lil' Puppy Dog

Because I don't want to forget....

He is in the most darling phase where he absolutely adores his big sister. The days have been so hot he spends most of them in his underwear, walking around the house calling out "Weeedeeee" (Lily) or "Ryyyyyraaaa" (Lyla). Truly, truly he is like the world's most adorable little puppy dog, 2 steps behind his big sister and imitating everything she does.

Conversely, she is so caring! I stumbled upon them yesterday planting flowers. She had equipped them both with sand shovels. They had picked flowers from my pots and killed them by transplanted them into the dirt. There he was, crouched next to her, imitating her every move. There they were, covered in dirt from head to toe and so satisfied with their good work. I couldn't be angry, I could only melt and praise their beautiful gardening.

An oldie but goodie, she cares so much for him!

"Take me with you, Ryra!"

A scene from yesterday's play...
"don't bother us mama! We are having a slumber party!"

Judah thinks that everything Liliana does is so wonderful and so funny! He would follow her to the moon if he could. These are the little things that fill my hear to overflowing. How blessed we are!

With love on this Monday,

In Our Kitchen

Hello Friends!

Is your Monday evening as hot and sticky as ours? I've already been in to comfort and resettle our littlest one twice since he has been to sleep (in one hour!) because we northerners are simply not used to such hot June nights. That said, we are not complaining! Seldom can my children play in our shady backyard in their bathing suits but today they frolicked gleefully!

Speaking of frolicking gleefully....

A fun Sunday trip to Nanny's land in Turner Valley...
heaven for little one's with imaginations! (note that L
had turned herself into a monkey by covering her body with mud) I LOVE her!

It has been a couple of weeks since resolution gratitude and joy, and as tends to happen with all sincere resolutions life has seemed challenging! Each day has had it's own particular challenge exacerbated by a teething toddler who nurses all.night.long but certainly my temptation has been to dissolve into the doldrums or dissolve my sorrows in a very large glass of prosecco. For the most part I've been able to avoid both and find a small victory in the fact that I've remembered to make a conscience act of gratitude several times each day. I've also managed to intentionally turn several mundane tasks into gifts of love for my family and for God. Onwards and upwards!

On a night as hot and sticky as this it is hard to want to spend time over a hot stove, but with luck I've discovered a dish that takes little effort, makes minimal mess, is healthy disguised by de-e-liciousness, and my dearlings devour. I thought for something different I'd share with you just how easy Vietnamese spring rolls are!

Typically I just use any veggies I have in my fridge, but the essential element for us is mint. Anything else is easily substituted for. I cook chicken at the beginning of each week for my handsome man to have whenever he needs a snack, so I just use the chicken, wash the veggies, and cook the rice vermicelli noodles (which take 4 minutes!).

I lay everything out (usually on the clean tea-towel I had used to dry the lettuce) and then very quickly dip the rice wrap in water for 5 seconds, place it next to my assembly line, and pile up all the healthy goodness onto it. The key is, for me, to make sure the rice wrap is still a little bit hard when I pull it out of the water. This gives me time to assemble all of the ingredients and not have it falling apart in my hand when it comes time to wrap it. (disclaimer! I am not a food blogger or a photographer just a simple mama trying to show you one of our favourites!)

The counter is also clean :)

I quickly whisk together a peanut satay sauce using a tried and true recipe that we so enjoy! It is a little bit spicy so the kids usually dip their wraps into hoisin sauce, although they always want a taste.

Soooo yummy!

This is how Judah starts with his spring rolls

And there you have it, the most delicious and quite nutritious dinner for a hot night. Follow with a watermelon and mint smoothie, and (in my children's opinion) you've just eaten like a king!

This is how Judah finishes with his spring rolls -
so in his case he probably eats more like the king of the wild things!

Here is a more detailed description of how to make Vietnamese spring rolls (with much nicer photos!). If you try to make them, I hope your family loves them as much as ours does!

Do you have any go-to summer recipes that are time, budget, and kid friendly? I'd love to hear them!

Love and blessings to you on this night,