Night night, sleep tight.

Wow, am I ever exhausted. Weekends can be so tiring sometimes, and this is one of those times. I'm thinking a book, my bed and ... sometime super soon (alliteration.. squeal!) would be perfect. Hopefully my weakness/lightheadedness/headache/tummy ache is only from being spent rather than anything else. Crossing my fingers.

My friend Tanya took the boys for a playdate today so they wouldn't have to tag along to Campbellford with us for the Family Two Step tournament that Rhianna and my Mum were in. It was nice not to have to worry about them while we cheered the bowlers on, and I know the boys loved every minute of it. Thanks again, Tanya! Mum and Rhianna had a really fun time, and bowled really well, but didn't leave with a medal this time. They had some pretty serious competition out there since all these kids were bowling with parents/grandparents/uncles/aunts etc, and in some cases these people were good. I would not want to face off against them, that's for sure! These two really held their own, though, and I'm proud of them. What a great memory for Rhianna to have. :)

For dinner tonight I made a rice dish that I used to make all the time a few years back. It's great because you can just stick it in the slow cooker, so there wasn't much preparing for me to do after we got home. I was going to make lentil burgers with it, but changed my mind last minute since we got home later than I expected and I didn't have time to soak the lentils for 2 hours. So, I went with another burger recipe I had on my menu for another day - Jamaican veggie burgers. This was my first time making them, and for me they were very ehhhh. Edible. Decent. But not my favourite. Kyle and the kids raved about them, though. Maybe I felt there was too much rice at dinner? I'm not sure. I just wasn't as much a fan as everyone else. These burgers were also pretty crumbly which drives me bananas. I did enjoy the bite the jalapeno gave, though. I also served the same salad as yesterday with the same leftover honey ginger dressing. Dessert was leftover apple crisp, also from yesterday.

Jamaican Veggie Burgers

2 tbsp olive oil

2 onions, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 jalapeno, chopped

1 1/2 tbsp grated ginger root

1 tsp salt

3/4 tsp nutmeg

3/4 tsp allspice

2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed

2 cups cooked long grain brown rice

2 1/2 cups bread crumbs

Heat oil in skillet. Cook onion and garlic for a few minutes. Add the jalapeno, and cook until tender. Add to a large bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients, and stir to combine.

Wet hands and form into patties.

Cook on a large indoor grill until browned (the original recipe called for frying in oil... maybe that would have turned out better).

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Wild Rice Casserole

2 onions, chopped

3 stalks celery, thinly sliced

2-6oz packages of dry instant long grain and wild rice mix

2 1/2 cups water

1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup

1/2 cup butter

1 cup cheddar cheese, grated

1/2 lb sliced mushrooms

Add everything to a slowcooker. Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours, or high for 2-4 hours.

So much blue.

Another weekend has come and passed all too quickly. Our Saturday was busier than usual, but the timing was perfect so it left us enough time between activities that we weren't too rushed. At the kids' bowling league they had a competition for the Family Two Step. Each of the kids gets to bring a parent/grandparent/uncle/aunt etc to bowl with them as a team. One pairing goes on to a zone tournament for each level. Kyle and Tiernan bowled together and did a wonderful job, even bowling a 198 game! Avery bowled with my Dad, his Pa, and they also had great games. Neither of them won their age groups, but Rhianna and her Nana (my Mum) won at their level by 1 pin! There are only two Peewees at our bowling alley so it was either them or Rhianna & Nana. They both seem pretty excited to be going on to the zone levels next weekend. Way to go, Rhianna and Mum! What a cool tournament to have won.

The rest of Saturday was a whirlwind of lunch, soccer drills, dance practice for the hospice Rhianna is in, a soccer game, home for dinner (nothing special - we went with easy since I didn't have time to start the slow cooker after bowling as planned), and then... DATE NIGHT IN! Kyle and I watched half of The Tourist before I told him I was falling asleep. How pathetic am I? Haha. We didn't even make and eat the dip I was going to make for date night since we were so full from our filling dinner. It's okay, though.. I made it today instead. Yum!

This morning we woke to the brightest sun shining, so we took the kids and Tibbs down to the waterfront trails for a walk. We love these trails, and go as often as we can. With our busy schedule these days it hasn't been nearly enough. I love looking out onto Quinte Bay (part of Lake Ontario), watching the birds swim around and looking for fish near the shores. There were lots of people there today. There were people on roller blades, running, riding bicycles, walking their dogs, or just casually strolling. The water was so blue, as was the sky... and the best part... I wore my birk sandals for the first time this year! How liberating! I hope this weather is here to stay. I know everyone is dreading our rainy upcoming week, but I'm totally and completely okay with that. Rain makes this mama very happy. Bring it on! Rain or shine, I don't care as long as it isn't snow.

There's a little area of rocks that you can climb across to get further out into the water, and we absolutely cannot ever walk past this spot without heading out there. The kids love to push the boundries (Mummy, can we go a little further? Mummy... that rock has a feather, can I go there? Just a few more rocks out, Mummy?), and the dog always stops for a drink. Typically there are lots of birds sitting on the end of the rocks, but today there was one lone gull.

♥

We had a full house this afternoon since all three kids invited a friend over. They mostly played outside - basketball, hockey, Beyblades, skipping, swinging and climbing trees. They polished off an entire watermelon, and spent some time fleeting from one toy to another in the house. During this time Kyle worked on taking the wallpaper off Tiernan's ceiling (UGGHHHHH) and I played around in the kitchen. I threw what I had planned for yesterday's dinner into the slow cooker for tonight, and then made the dip I was supposed to make for Date Night.

After dinner we headed out to Dairy Queen for some ice cream! My favourite ice cream store isn't open for the season, yet, so DQ just had to cut it. Big disappointment since they didn't even have any waffle cones OR bowls! Both Rhianna and I were pretty sad. I love Tiernan's BRAIN FREEZE look in this picture. He cracks me up, the ham.

One other picture I just have to share before getting into the whole dinner/recipe part of this entry...



Two more reasons I love my husband: 1) he will jump in to play a random game of Twister with our kids while I update my blog and 2) just after this photo was taken he said "Uh oh" and farted. Hahaha. I am such a child because I find this hilarious. :)

And now for dinner today...

I made a slow cooked enchilada casserole and served it simply with some spinach and pumpkin seeds. I had been searching for some recipes like this one online a while back and found a few (meat) recipes so I took my favourite parts of those to make the following recipe. The kids enjoy this recipe a lot - it's a "Mexican Lasagna" according to my kids. :) So, today was a Slow Cooker Sunday... and as Tiernan put it, that's not as strange as Soup Sundays! Ha... love that boy.

I'll also include the recipe for our Afternoon Date Dip. ;) I found this artichoke dip (and only altered it slightly) in a cookbook called Rose Reisman's Light Vegetarian Cooking. My sister got this cookbook for me for our Thrifty Crafty Christmas last year, and everything I've tried in it has been delicious! We had made this dip before, and decided it was a definite keeper.

Enchilada Casserole

12-14 flour tortillas, cut into thirds

1 tbsp olive oil

2 onions, chopped

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp cumin

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 tall jar salsa

1/2 of a 28oz can enchilada sauce

1 bag Tex Mex cheese (Kraft.. I use the bigger bag)

First put some olive oil in a skillet and fry the chopped onion until soft. Add the seasonings and stir to coat. Remove from heat.

Spray your crock pot down with some cooking spray and line the bottom with flour tortillas.

Next, spread 1/3 of the black beans, 1/3 of the kidney beans, 1/3 of the cooked onion, 1/3 of the salsa and enough enchilada sauce to cover the top. Then sprinkle the layer with 1/4 of the Tex Mex cheese. Repeat with two more layers done the same way. End with another layer of tortillas. Spread some enchilada sauce (cover the tortillas) and the remaining cheese.

Cook on low for about 4-6 hours.

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Three Cheese Artichoke Dill Dip

14 oz can artichoke hearts, drained and halved

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1/3 cup shredded swiss cheese

1 tsp dried dill

1/4 cup light sour cream

3 tbsp light mayonnaise

1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

3 cloves garlic, minced

pinch cayenne pepper

grated parmesan, to cover the top

Preheat oven to 350.

In a food processor, combine all the ingredients except for the parmesan cheese. Process on and off until just combined, but still chunky. Place in a small casserole dish and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

Bake uncovered for 10 minutes. Broil for 3-5 minutes until top is browned.

Our very long, but very good day!

Our day started at the lovely hour of 3:50am. I don't know if you know this about me, but I don't like mornings. I really, really, really don't like mornings. Today, however, we had to be out of the house and on our way just after 4am. Rhianna and one of her best friends, Madison, had placed a spot in the PeeWee Bowling Provincials as a team in the High Low competition. It was being held in Chatham, Ontario... which is a good 5 or more hours from us in Belleville. Our two choices were to leave yesterday and stay a night in a hotel, or leave this morning. We didn't want to miss Maple in the County, or Avery's soccer game yesterday, so we chose the more difficult choice. Ha! We wanted to make sure we gave ourselves enough time for any unforeseen issues on the 401 (any Canadian knows how dreadful the highway 401 can be near Toronto!). Luckily, this morning there were none!

This is what I do in the van at 5 am when I'm trying to pass time on the road in the dark.

Kyle and I had woken all three kids (actually two... Tiernan woke up on his own before our alarm went off, the nut!) up to use the washroom before we left, but let them climb into the van in their pjs. We wrapped them up in blankets and luckily, they all fell back asleep for a couple of hours. Phew, crisis averted! Once we were on the other side of the GTA we decided to stop for some breakfast.. and what's a mini road trip without a stop at McDonald's in your pjs?? Haha. We so rarely eat there... I don't even remember the last time we did.. but I still have a soft spot for their hotcakes at 6am before the sun comes up when we're on a highway and it's at a rest stop! Everyone gobbled their food up (except for Rhianna who was having some butterflies in her tummy... and eats like a bird on the best of days!), changed into day time clothes, brushed teeth and then we were on our way again!

We got to the bowling alley at the exact same time as Madison and her parents. We got the very last spot in the parking lot and settled in to the jam packed alley. The girls were anxious and excited to start their games, and eventually, it was time. They both bowled incredibly well for the entire day! Even if they placed dead last, I would have been so proud of them because they were so good natured and bowled so hard. They bowled a total of three games, and after the first game they were quite a bit behind in 4th place. After the second game they were bumped up to second place. We all refused to tell the girls what position they were in because we didn't want them to be thrown in either direction. I'm really glad we didn't because it kept their excitement pretty high! In the end, they came in first with 231 pins above their average!! Wow. Rhianna and Madison are currently the Provincial champs for Ontario and will have their scores from today put into the Inter Provincial standings... a sort of National competition. We should find out how they stacked up against the other winners from other provinces next month sometime!

WAY TO GO, GIRLS!

One other cute story... :) While we were out at Maple in the County yesterday, Rhianna lost one of her top front teeth. She was very happy since it had really been hanging in there. As it turned out, last night when Rhianna put her tooth under her pillow for the Tooth Fairy, she also wrote a note that asked the Tooth Fairy if it was possible for her to leave her some luck for her bowling tournament. The Tooth Fairy came through and left her a little note and a lucky penny! Rhianna was so delighted at 4am this morning when she checked and found it. She kept that penny in her pocket today, pulling it out between frames and rubbing it ever so carefully in her hands. It was the sweetest thing to watch. Everyone should lose a tooth before a big event! ;)

After the plaques were awarded the kids (and we!) were starving so we headed next door to Pizza Hut for a Celebratory Lupper (what else do you call a big meal at 2:30pm?) with Madison and her parents, Tanya and Patrick. The food was yummy (I ate too much!), the company was lovely, and the kids were punchy from the high of winning and the lack of sleep! All in all, a great way to finish off the day in Chatham.

Tiernan loves lemons, but apparently these ones were far more bitter than what he's used to... hahaha!

Our drive home was fairly uneventful, aside from many cop cars pulling people over for speeding (thankfully not us!), and one traffic jam around Toronto. We sort of expected it since we were driving past the city at 6pm on a Sunday. We stopped in to pick our Tibby guy up from my parents' place, and got home at a perfectly decent hour. We thought for sure we wouldn't be home until 10pm, but we got in just after 8pm. It was a long day in the car... hello 10 hours, at least.. but also a very worthwhile day. It was so good to see how happy those two little girls were! What an adventure!

This is how I keep myself awake when I'm dead tired on a road trip. Hadn't had one of these since I was pregnant with Avery in Wales! How time flies.

What a busy past couple of weekends. Satisfying, good, but busy. It's been pretty rough, food wise. Looking forward to some real food again tomorrow!