We're alive and well!

I have been such a terrible blogger! June is typically a whirlwind, and this year is no different. It's been all wonderful though, so I'm not complaining.

So what exactly have we been up to? Well...

There has been canoeing on the Bay of Quinte!

There have been cousins visiting from Northern Ireland!

There was Dance Recital day for my two youngest kiddos.

There have been long walks along the trails and on the docks at the marina to drool over the boats.

There was Summer Solstice and all of the traditions it brings us!

And there was lots of crazy family antics!

This was only to name some of the fun. There was also a few different birthday parties, Father's Day, some soccer games for the biggest boy, watching of So You Think You Can Dance & SYTYCDCanada and more stops at playgrounds. This makes me even more excited for the adventures that await us this summer! Only three more days of school left. It's hard to believe.

Yes, we have also been eating delicious food. I admit to quite a few repeat dinners - ones that are pretty easy to throw together, along with some BBQs at my parents' house. I have made a few blog worthy items and I plan on writing a new entry tonight to include those. For now, I'm going to do some dishes and then maybe head out for a bike ride since it's not raining (yet!). They've been promising rain all week, but so far we haven't had much at all.

Enjoy the last few drops of your weekend, friends!

Nature, lentil loaves and pasta salad.

I've really been enjoying this month so far, and I feel as if the rest of the month will be just as fulfilling. There have been long walks with Tibbs, photo days at the dance studio, bike rides to the dance studio, bike rides to the North Shore Trails, sunshine, friends, family, wildlife, laughter and love. I couldn't ask for more!

I took a long bike ride this morning after getting the kids off to school. I headed down to the trails as far as the marina. I climbed off my bike and sat on one of the benches for a while, gazing out at the water and dreaming of owning one of the incredible houseboats that were docked there. The bay was very peaceful; barely any ripples. I spoke to a man who was fishing off the end of the boardwalk and had many stories of the abundance of fish he caught on the weekend.

I saw so many beautiful creatures on my adventures this morning. There were ducks guarding their nest. There was a blue heron soaring above the water with the most amazing wing span. There was a family of swans bathing themselves near the rocks in the middle of the Bay of Quinte. There were snapping turtles sunning themselves on logs. There were red winged black birds and robins flying out in front of my bike every few minutes.

The one thing that always has me marveling down by the water is just how happy everyone seems. The smiles are easy and I couldn't even count how many times I heard "good morning!" today. People go down to the trails for different reasons. Some go to sit on a bench and reflect, some go to rollerblade or bike, some run or walk their dogs or their kids. Being by the water definitely lifts your spirits. You can't help but feel so blessed in life. I live in such a beautiful place.

I have a couple of recipes to share from the past couple of days. No meals to share from the weekend, though. Fun Food Friday was a repeat dinner that we love - paninis! Saturday after photo day, we headed out to a birthday party for Tiernan's best friend. This friend of Tiernan's lives in the most serene location, wow! We had a great time there, and enjoyed some veggie dogs and a great vegetable spread. On Sunday we watched a two hour episode of 'So You Think You Can Dance' that we had downloaded from the previous Wednesday, and ate a pasta salad and a big bowl of popcorn! I love popcorn dinners. Yesterday I made a curried lentil loaf from the Vegetarian Meat and Potatoes Cookbook (which I got from my lovely friend, Jill, for my birthday years ago) that was OMG SO GOOD, but... really not terribly loaf like. More like slop. Haha! I looked up some reviews online and apparently I'm not the only one with this issue. I think when I make it again (and I will! It's so crazy tasty!) I'll cook it in a more shallow dish and crisp it up more. With the loaf I made some quesadillas and some sliced cucumber with a splash of apple cider vinegar.

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Pasta Salad

2 cups small noodles

3 cups broccoli, cut into bite sized pieces

1 cup medium cheddar cheese, cut into small cubes

1 cup monterey jack cheese, cut into small cubes

1 cup thinly sliced mushrooms

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

2 tsp mustard

4 tsp liquid honey

1 tsp garlic powder

3 tsp soy sauce

Cook the noodles according to package directions. Drain and place in a large bowl.

Add the broccoli, cheddar cheese, monterey jack cheese and mushrooms. Stir to combine.

Mix the red wine vinegar, mustard, honey, garlic powder and soy sauce together and pour over the pasta salad. Mix well.

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Curried Lentil Loaf/Slop

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 large carrot, grated

1 medium sized yellow onion, grated

1 large potato, peeled and grated

1 small red bell pepper, minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 ripe plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped finely

1 tbsp tomato paste

1 tbsp curry powder

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

salt, to taste

2 cups cooked lentils, drained and mashed

2 tbsp creamy natural peanut butter

1/4 - 1/2 cup dry bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the carrot, onion, potato, red pepper and garlic. Cover and cook, stirring a few times until the vegetables begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, tomato paste, curry powder, cayenne pepper and salt. Stir to combine well. Cook, covered, for another 10 minutes until the veggies are soft. Remove from heat. Add the lentils.

In a food processor, combine the peanut butter with 1 cup of the lentil mixture until smooth. Put it back in with the rest of the lentil/vegetable mixture. Add the bread crumbs, and combine well. Transfer to a lightly oiled 9x5 loaf pan.

Bake until firm - about 30-40 minutes. Let it sit at least 15 minutes before slicing.

Dance filled weekend.

What a weekend!

We've been waiting for this weekend for months, and it's hard to believe it's come and gone now. It was everything we had hoped it would be and more. Rhianna had been invited by her dance studio to perform during the Kingston Hospice Charity event. The entire night was very impressive! They had some really great numbers from many different dance studios, but my favourites were definitely the two from Angela Maracle Studios. I'm a little biased, though. Hehe. First they performed an Avatar dance they were doing for comp (and now I wish I had that on video, too.. the kids were awesome!). The costumes and make up were so intricate for Avatar. You can see some pictures of the kids in costume on the Angela Maracle Studios blog. Then the school performed a version of Wizard of Oz called 'Trapped in Oz'. This was the one Rhianna was in, as a munchkin. She was a tad nervous going in, but I'm proud of how well she handled herself. She danced her heart out just like the rest of the AMS dancers! Here are a few pictures of my girl at home before we left. She wanted to go NOW! :)

Once that costume was on I could not keep her still. Who am I kidding.. she's never still anyway! ;)

My pretty little munchkin. ♥

She had her toes pointed perfectly, but I missed it by a few seconds!

A little while after these pictures were taken we took the hour long drive into Kingston. For the first half of the show Rhianna got to sit with Kyle, myself, my friend and fellow dance mum Leanne, and then a few other dancers. She was mesmerized through the entire half... I almost wonder if she blinked.

During intermission Leanne and I ran the five girls down to the change room to get make up and last minute costume changes done. Then the two of us headed back to our seats where we had butterflies in our tummies and our hearts were pounding because we were so nervous for our girls (who are the youngest of the group at 6 and 7 years old). In the end we had nothing to be worried about - they were both so awesome! We traded our butterflies and heart pounding for pride and tears of happiness.

I uploaded the video I took onto my YouTube channel... so if you want to watch it, feel free! Here it is! Rhianna is the second munchkin to enter from the left side. She cartwheels in, and then runs back out to grab another "brick" for the yellow brick road and cartwheels back in again.

After the show I managed to get a couple of pictures with her crazy make up on (and looking rather tired!). A big thank you to my friend Laura for doing the make up and false eyelashes for this newbie dance mum! ;)

Back home, clean faced, and crazy haired. This is what a can of hair spray and a bottle of gel looks like. ;)

Kyle said she looked like Shirley Temple. This made me smile since my Gramma loved Shirley Temple. It's been almost 17 years since we lost her, and I often wish she could have been here to meet my kids. Hearing Kyle say that made me feel like my Gramma was here with us. She would have been so proud.

This morning Tiernan, Rhianna and I headed back into Kingston again for a Hip Hop workshop being held by the Kingston Hospice Charity. The best part was who the teacher was - Jonathan Arsenault from So You Think You Can Dance Canada! We watch SYTYCDC as a family, so this was a huge deal for my kids. What a cool experience. I had a little chat with him, and he's a really great guy. He is so down to earth and passionate about dance. He worked the kids really hard and they were all exhausted by the time the class was over. My two did really well. I loved that Tiernan stuck super close to Jonathan (idol!) and tried his hardest. Rhianna had her swagger on, and shook those hips with all her power. ;)

Here's most of the AMS dancers who came for the Hip Hop workshop (minus two who showed up late).

Showing off their swagger stance. ;)

No pictures taken with Jonathan from my camera, but when I get a picture emailed to me, I'll post it, too.

As for dinners - they were nothing special on Friday or Saturday! Certainly nothing worth blogging about. Tonight, though... that's a different story. No recipe for this picture... this is mostly to make my friends and family jealous...

Kyle's cheese crepes! Those who have had his crepes know why this would make you jealous. As for those who haven't had them - we need to make dinner plans! YUM.

Funky Cold Medina!

(Don't ask.. it's playing as I type this out... getting my own swagger on!)