No food, only photos.

We enjoyed our very last beach day of the summer! We're trying to jam pack as much fun as we can into this weekend (aside from my working all day tomorrow!), and we started out really well.. minus a couple of mishaps. We met up with some friends of ours at North Beach and the kids had a blast playing in the water and sand. We barely saw them at all... except for my poor fair skinned, light haired, Irish Tiernan. Halfway through our beach visit he started to melt. He went from happy and having fun making sandcastles to lying in the sand beside me whimpering about how hot and cold (how contradictory!) he was. Eventually I had to cut the fun for the rest of the group and get him out of the sun. Our family just doesn't handle the heat and sun well - especially Tiernan. We weren't made for this kind of weather! Oh well, we still had a lot of fun while it lasted. Halfway to Slickers in Bloomfield (best ice cream, ever!), Tiernan was feeling almost 100% better. Phew!

Guess what I get to do tomorrow? I get to go to work looking like a tomato. Classy, yes? Apparently, I never learn. Typically, I wear sunscreen. Today I decided it was overcast and nearing Fall and surely it wouldn't be all that warm. Wrong. We got to the beach and it was bright and sunny with the bluest of skies. The humidex was just under 40C. Whoops. Wear your sunscreen, friends! More than an SPF of 4, too (*coughKellycough*)! Haha! But then again, you may be one of those lucky tanning type people. If you are I am sticking my tongue out at you in pure green faced jealousy!

All in all, it was a good start to the weekend. Looking forward to more fun crammed into the next few days - rain or shine! :)

One of these days things will slow down.

August 2011 is officially nearing it's end. It has felt like a lifetime, and yet, a quick moment at the same time. It never ceases to amaze me how that can happen. Throughout the month, in my complete exhaustion, I felt it would never end. Closing Night for Oz felt like months or years away. Rhianna's dance camp that lasted every night of the first two weeks of August felt like it happened 3 months ago. But, when Closing Night was finally upon us, I was sad. Why did it have to come and go so quickly? Why did the journey have to be over so soon? I felt like I hadn't had the chance to truly enjoy it yet. The last show was incredible. Tiernan really grew into his characters as the weeks passed, and we were blown away. The whole cast was even more amazing than Opening Night and I found myself getting more than a little weepy on multiple occasions. At the end, when the entire room stood up at the very start of the final bow, I had to choke back real tears. As we waited around the back of the theatre for all the munchkins, we parents agreed that it felt like a minute, and a year. We all agreed that we were looking forward to the week of down time before school starts up again, but that it was sad to say farewell to Oz, and all the people who helped make it such a magical experience.

I waited a bit anxiously for my boy to come out for the last time. Would he feel sad and disappointed that it was over? But the minute I saw him trip up the stairs (literally!) from the dressing room and I saw the sparkle in his eyes, my heart was at ease again. He was so completely happy. He came out of there hooting and hollering, saying that this experience he had just lived through was incredible! He ran into the green room to say goodbye to the professional actors and the wonderful behind the scenes crew. He danced up and down the streets with such a lightness about him. He felt on top of the world! I am so proud of this Tiernan-guy of mine. ♥

My poor blog has been quite ignored this summer. I feel so neglectful. I'm sure things will become much more regular once our September routine rolls around. I worked Friday straight through to Tuesday, so Kyle was left to make dinner for us on Saturday and Sunday. My folks took it upon themselves to make a delicious veggie lasagna and a crazy fresh garden salad with apple crisp for dessert for Monday. Saturday was closing night, so it was an easy dinner of caesar salad and grilled cheese with smoked maple tempeh bacon. Sunday my husband made a very yummy Fiorentina Baked Pasta from 101 Vegetarian Dishes that I had been dying to try. He had it ready for when I got home (talk about role reversal!) and I appreciated it so much! That night we had our Date Night In with some sinful Mushroom Canapes (which started out from Simply Appetizers, but I changed a fair bit) and more episodes of LOST. We are so predictable! :) Tonight I made a Pesto Pasta Bake from Half Baked Gourmet Pasta that was unbelievably good! So good I ate two helpings.

Fiorentina Baked Pasta

1 tbsp olive oil

1 lb mushrooms, sliced

3 cloves garlic, minced

salt and pepper, to taste

10 oz spinach and cheese dip (we used a simple recipe - to follow)

1 cup milk

3 oz parmesan cheese, grated

10 oz orzo pasta

Heat oven to 350.

Heat oil in a wok and add the mushrooms. Cook for about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook another minute. Season with salt and pepper, and place in a shallow ovenproof dish sprayed with cooking spray.

Mix spinach dip, milk, half the parmesan cheese and the pasta in a bowl. Stir and season with pepper. Pour over the mushrooms in the container. Top with the remaining parmesan cheese.

Bake 45 minutes until pasta is tender and most of the liquid is absorbed.

Spinach Dip

(leaves lots left over for snacking)

10 oz package of chopped frozen spinach, thawed

16 oz sour cream

1 cup mayonnaise

1 package of Knorr vegetable soup mix

Mix it all together, and chill for a few hours.

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Mushroom Canapes

30 cremini mushrooms, finely chopped

2 tbsp olive oil

2-3 garlic cloves

1/2 cup mayonnaise

3 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

white pepper, to taste

1/2 cup asiago cheese, grated

butter crackers (we used Ritz)

Saute the mushrooms in oil until tender and liquid has cooked off. Put them in a bowl and combine with the rest of the ingredients. Mix well and serve warm.

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Pesto Pasta Bake

1 large bag of rigatoni (900 g)

1 batch of Jill's super fabulous yummy pesto sauce

1 1/2 cups whipping cream

salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1 ball of fresh mozzarella, diced in small cubes (important to use the good stuff!)

2 cups parmesan cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 350.

First make a batch of pesto.

Cook rigatoni according to package directions, until al dente. Drain well and place pasta in a large lasagna pan.

In a separate bowl, mix together the pesto, whipping cream, salt, and pepper until well combine. Pour over the pasta and stir well. Top with the fresh mozza and parmesan cheeses.

Bake 10-15 minutes until brown and bubbling. I broiled mine for a couple of minutes to brown.

Consider yourself updated! ;)

Coming into the month of August, I knew it was going to be a doozy. What I didn't really realize was just how exhausted it would make me. I feel like I'm constantly on the go! Tiernan is busy with rehearsals, Rhianna is busy with her dance camp, Avery's busy wrapping up his soccer season and delivering papers, I'm busy with cleaning the dance studio, chauffering kids, running errands, and working, Kyle's busy with his work, his contract work and his podcast editing, and on the rare day that we don't have anything we make sure to go out as a family and do something fun, relaxing and memorable. It's not as bad as I'm making it sound since I really enjoy being busy, but I do admit to sleeping in until 10:30am once!

On Sunday we found ourselves with no rehearsals, no work for me, no dance camp, and no papers to deliver. I looked at the calendar and saw this blank white space. It was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen! We decided to jump in the van and take a drive out to Presqu'ile Provincial Park for a picnic of cheese buns, coleslaw, yogurt and brownies. We found ourselves a picnic table near the lake and settled in. The weather was incredible! There are finally some cooler days this week and that day was gorgeous! The skies were very overcast and the air was warm, but not kill-me-now-hot, and you could hear the roar of thunder throughout the whole time we were there.. There were storms going on all around us, but where we sat at the picnic table there was no rain at all. It was like the rain held out until we were finished eating, exploring the water and lounging. When we finally decided it was time to go, the skies opened up and dumped buckets upon buckets of rain onto our van. I love the sound of the raindrops hitting the metal roof. So beautiful!

After visiting the Park, we headed off to pop in at my parents' house for a surprise visit. Luckily they were at home and we settled in for a while watching home movies from just before and just after Rhianna was born. It was great! This coming Sunday is another blank slate for our family. I can't wait for our family time. I am so blessed with these kids of mine and my loving and supportive husband. No matter where our path takes us, I know we'll be just fine because we'll be together.

♥ My two men. ♥

Dinners have been made for the past week, they just haven't been blogged about. Some of the dinners have been repeats. When I worked all day on Saturday, Kyle was in charge of dinner, so I had planned on him making some vegetarian reubens and a caesar salad using creamy garlic dressing. He did a fantastic job and we all gobbled it up! This is one of those times that I am so thankful that I have this blog - it allows my husband to just look recipes up instead of me trying to find the recipes for him in cookbooks, or my own notebooks. :) Another night we had Make Your Own Grilled Cheese night which was a total hit for our kids! I put out a few different cheeses - old cheddar, mozzarella and smoked cheddar, along with some thinly sliced apples, ketchup (for my ketchup loving daughter!), and then I whipped up some aioli sauce and some pesto sauce. It was a lot of fun! On our free day, the kids treated our whole little family to dinner at Montana's! Aww, they are the sweetest. And it was delicious! In the meantime, here are some of the recipes we had this month so far...

I know it's a terrible picture - I was too lazy to get my flash that night! ;) This is the aioli sauce I made on Make Your Own Grilled Cheese night. Tiernan LOVED this, and couldn't get enough of it.

Aioli Sauce

1/2 cup mayonnaise

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp Dijon mustard

1 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp lime juice

1 tsp olive oil

salt and pepper, to taste

Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl, and chill for at least 15 minutes.

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For Make Your Own Grilled Cheese night, I also made a quick pesto sauce which we all spread on our bread before grilling them. It was a huge hit since everyone enjoyed the pesto!

Pesto

1/2 cup fresh basil leaves

1/4 cup walnuts

2 cloves garlic

1/8 cup parmesan cheese

1/6 cup olive oil

salt and pepper, to taste

Put all of the ingredients into a food processor and blend until smooth.

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I got this white bean burger recipe from my friend Jill's blog. I altered it very slightly, and although they were good, none of my kids liked them. :/ I may try them again with red kidney beans instead, but we'll see. I served these with our family's favourite potatoes. Here's my version of the burgers.

White Kidney Bean Burgers

3 tbsps butter

2 onions, sliced

1 head of garlic, roasted

2 cans white kidney beans, drained and rinsed

2 tbsp fresh sage leaves, torn

1 tsp thyme

2 tbsp ground flax seed + 2 tbsp water, mixed into a paste

1 cup seasoned bread crumbs

salt and pepper, to taste

juice from 1/2 lemon

Caramelize the sliced onions in the butter for about 30 minutes or more.

Once the onions are cooked, pulse together the onions, garlic, spices, flax paste and half the kidney beans. Mix the bean paste mixture with the rest of the beans in a large bowl. Add the bread, lemon juice and mix well. Season with salt and pepper.

Cook on an indoor grill until crispy on the outside and heated through.

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Date Night In food was positively scrumptious! One of the perks of my job is that when it's slow, I can read the books in the store. This means I get to read cookbooks if I want. I come prepared and bring in a notepad to copy down any recipes that catch my attention. This recipe is one of the ones I jotted down at work. :) It's from the book Grazing, and it's a definite keeper! And yes, it's not the exact recipe - did a bit of tweaking.

Cheesy Black Bean Dip

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

2 tsp canola oil

1 small onion, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup salsa

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/2 lime, juiced

1 1/4 cups Tex Mex cheese

Mash the beans until chunky. Heat the oil, and saute the onion for 3-5 minutes. Add the garlic, saute 30 seconds. Add the beans, salsa, cumin and chili. Cook 5 more minutes. Remove from the heat. Stir in lime juice and cheese and stir until the cheese is melted. Serve warm.

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Last night I made a yummy spaghetti and meatball dinner with some cheddar swirl bread (recipe to follow). Avery, as he sat down at the table, exclaimed, "THANK YOU for making the best meal EVER in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD!" Haha, that boy. The sauce was basically the same as this one, with a few changes.

Spaghetti and Meatballs Sauce

4 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, chopped

5 cloves garlic, minced

28oz can crushed tomatoes

large can tomato paste

1 cup sherry

4 tbsp chopped, fresh parsley

2 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp dried basil

1/2 tsp dried chopped red chilies

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 tbsp brown sugar

1 package frozen veggie "meatballs"

Cook the onion in the oil for about 5 minutes until tender. Add the garlic and parsley and cook another minute. Add the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, the sherry and the spices, salt, pepper and brown sugar. Mix well, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the "meatballs" and cook another 15-20 minutes until the "meatballs" are well heated.

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Smoked Cheddar Swirl Bread

I made a delicious smoked cheddar swirl bread to go with the spaghetti last night. There is nothing quite like fresh bread, let me tell you! If I had time I'd make fresh bread every single day! I used the recipe for Cheddar-Sriracha Swirl bread and followed it to a tee, aside from changing the Sriracha sauce and cheddar for some smoked cheddar. I see many ways I could change this recipe up to have different tastes... mmm mm mmmmm!

Lazy Butternut Squash and Escarole Lasagna

The kids and I went on a picnic at lunch time today to get out of Kyle's hair. He had a contract project to finish up, and a podcast to edit, so I thought he'd work better without us around. We went to my favourite spot in Zwicks park. It's sort of out of the way, and is not travelled by too many people - even on the busiest summer days. Mostly just some people who go out there to catch a fish or two for dinner. We set a blanket down and feasted on sandwiches, juice, grapes, nuts and Crispy Minis in the sunshine. The waves were lapping against the rocks behind us, and it was so peaceful. I can't wait to take a dinner out there when the sun is low in the sky. I love that last light of the day. It puts a beautiful glow on everything.

We went over to the playground after lunch, but it was so hot out that the kids didn't have much energy. They spent most of the time sitting on a bench under a tree in the shade. Instead of hanging around any longer we headed out to the air conditioned mall to buy a gift for a friend of Rhianna's who had her birthday party this evening.

I just love this picture because it's completely candid. The smile on Rhianna's face warms my heart. It's also hilarious because in the next picture I took, Tiernan was kissing Avery on the cheek - and Avery was trying to get away! ;)

Avery turned the camera around on me for a change. He took about a dozen photos one right after the other. I think he enjoyed getting me back - especially after I started sticking my tongue out at the camera. Haha.

The kids were delighted when we got home because Kyle had turned the sprinkler on to try to help our browning grass. It's been so hot and dry, and our grass is really feeling it! Even with the incredible thunderstorm that we had last night (Kyle and I stood outside at 1:30am while the sky lit up with lightening.. it was awesome!), it's wilting. Tiernan and Rhianna ran in to grab their bathing suits and headed out for some fun. It really helped cool them off, too. Excellent!



Dinner tonight was a huge hit. I'm not sure if Rhianna would have loved it since she was at her friend's birthday party, but she's the pickiest of the bunch anyway. I'll make it again sometime (as per request by my family), so we'll see. At any rate, 4 out of 5 family members loved it! It was a lazy butternut squash and escarole lasagna that I got from watching Rachael Ray (love her!). There are not many of her recipes that I've tried and not enjoyed. This one is one of my favourites. I served it with some garlicky cheese biscuits.

Lazy Butternut Squash and Escarole Lasagna

1 box whole wheat lasagna noodles, broken into random pieces

2 cups butternut squash cut into bite sized pieces

olive oil

5 cloves garlic, minced

salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1 medium head escarole, chopped

1 cup vegetable stock

300g ricotta cheese

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

a handful of sage leaves, torn

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp flour

2 cups whole milk

freshly ground nutmeg, to taste

2 cups mozzarella cheese (or more, depending on the size of your casserole dish) (RR used fontina cheese, but mozza worked!)

First, place your chopped butternut squash on a baking tray and sprinkle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast in a 350 degree oven for 35-45 minutes until it's tender and has golden edges.

Cook the pasta according to package directions until almost al dente. Once it's cooked to almost al dente, drain and place it in the pot again.

While the pasta is cooking, heat 2 tbsp of olive oil in a frying pan. Cook the garlic for 30 seconds. Add the chopped escarole, and cook until wilted. Once it's wilted add the vegetable stock and simmer until it's needed.

Mix together the ricotta, parmesan and sage in a small bowl. Stir well.

Once the pasta is cooked and drained, mix the noodles, cheese mixture, escarole and butternut squash together. Place in a lightly oiled casserole dish.

In a small saucepan, melt the butter. Add the flour and cook for 1 minute. Whisk in the 2 cups of whole milk. Season with nutmeg, salt and pepper. Stir frequently until the sauce is thickened. Pour the white sauce over the lasagna mixture in the casserole dish. Mix lightly.

Top the casserole dish with the mozzarella cheese.

Place in a 350 oven and cook for 10 minutes. Then turn it to broil and cook for about 4 minutes until the cheese is starting to brown.

How I spent much of my Canada Day long weekend - and some really sinful pasta!

Summer vacation may have just begun, but already we've been enjoying it to the fullest. It's been a busy start to the Canada Day long weekend, and I've loved everything about it (Except maybe all the mosquitoes! Still nothing like Manitoba (my original home), though, so I shouldn't complain.). I got a teeny sunburn both days, but it happily turned into a tan by the next morning.

On Friday we headed out to Bon Echo Provincial Park and hiked the High Pines trail. We got out there early enough that it wasn't too hot yet, so the hike was great. If only there hadn't been so many pesky bugs! Last year we did the same hike, but there were so few black flies, horse flies, deer flies and mosquitoes. Maybe because we went in the middle of August last time. Mental note - go back again in August and September!

At Bon Echo there's also a dog beach, which we absolutely LOVE. Eventhough Tibbs is part Lab (the other part is Sharpei), he just doesn't like the water. We brought him here last year and he hated every minute of it. This year he was a little bit better, but still not a huge fan. He likes to stand in the water, but doesn't appreciate it when we pull him in deep enough that he has to swim. I thought maybe watching the other dogs swim would convince him, but no, he's too stubborn! Either way, the picnic and beach fun was a nice way to cool off after the hike. The scenery is nothing to sneeze at, either!

Around mid-afternoon, we headed over to visit a friend of mine at her trailer park. Rhianna had spent the night at the trailer for my friend's daughter's birthday party. When we got there they were in the middle of the park's Canada Day celebrations. They had sundaes, face painting, tattoos, and rides on the fire truck.

Beach number 2 for the weekend! The trailer park has it's own little man made lake that's spring fed and well maintained. It used to be a quarry. There are no motors on the lake, which I love. It was nice to sit with my friend and chat while we watched the kids swim out to the floating dock. Rhianna was having so much fun she didn't want to leave at all. :P

Once we eventually got her to leave, we ate dinner in the van on the way home. I had made some chickpea salad sandwiches that morning and packed them up to go, so it was as easy as getting them out of the cooler and handing them out. Gotta love that!

Back in Belleville (and after a quick nap for Kyle and I), we headed down to the marina to watch the fireworks going on at Zwicks Park. There was lots of crazy antics, as per usual. I love my family so! Happy Birthday, Canada! 144 years old! Of course the kids had to calculate how old they're going to be for Canada's 150th, and we realized that Avery will have just graduated high school. *Gasp!*

The fireworks were impressive! This was the first time we got to see the Canada Day fireworks here since we were camping at Bonnechere last year. They were great, and there were multiple times that we said, "Oh, this must be the finale!", and it wasn't. Haha.

During the evening, once the kids were asleep, Kyle and I started watching Season 1 of 'Lost' that I got from the library. We hadn't watched the show when it was on TV, so this is our first time seeing it. Can you say creepy? I have so many questions that I want answered NOW. So far, it's great!

Saturday brought us a sleep in - um.. a real big sleep in ... 11:30! Eeep! After we got up and ate some breakfast, we headed out to North Beach in Prince Edward County. We love this beach and were hoping for waves, but none were found. So sad! Either way, we love the beach and plan on spending a whole lot of time there over the summer. :)

When we got home I ran out to get some groceries and then whipped up an easy dinner of Creamy Asparagus Pasta and a Greek Salad. Oh my, it was sinful. Mmm mmm mmmmm.

Creamy Asparagus Pasta

1 box fettucine noodles

2 tbsp butter

2 cups chopped asparagus (about 1 inch pieces)

5 cloves garlic, minced

freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup vegetable stock

1 cup whipping cream

200g grated parmesan cheese

Cook pasta according to package directions.

Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the asparagus, garlic and black pepper and cook for about 3 minutes. Add the vegetable stock, and cook another 3 minutes. Add the whipping cream and cook for another 3 minutes until the asparagus is tender.

Mix the cooked (and drained) pasta with the cream/asparagus mixture and the parmesan cheese. Toss to coat well and serve immediately.

The evening found us over at the house of some friends of ours with a bonfire, good company and more mosquitoes. There's nothing quite like ending a day with hair that smells of a bonfire. At home afterwards - two more episodes of Lost! We're addicted already. :)

Happy Canada Day weekend, Canadian friends!

Sometimes you just need melty peanut butter.

Have you ever had one of those days where things go wrong all stinkin' day long? Not really, terrible, horrible things, but little things that keep piling up until you decide to just do nothing for the rest of the day. That was yesterday for me. Because of that, this picture shows you what was for supper last night. Kyle made the kids fried egg bagel sandwiches and I sat down, on my own, and ate an everything bagel smothered in melty peanut butter. And you know what? It was delicious and just what I wanted. Now why was yesterday so bad, you ask.... well.. lemme tell you in bullet form...

*I had to drag my kids out of bed for the last day of school. (I know, you're thinking no big deal.. but this should have been an indicator of the day to come.)

*Before school I had to bake cookies for both Avery and Rhianna's classes at school. They had both asked me the night before, but I hadn't had time or energy after our busy evening. I'm quite the cookie baker and have it down to a fine art, so I knew it wouldn't take me long to get it done in the morning. And it didn't. EXCEPT.. apparently, I should not double my Skor Bit cookie recipe because the cookies were a big ol' FAIL! Puffy and thick and practically bread like. So much for my "expert cookie baking abilities"! (I almost wonder if I wasn't awake enough when I made them and miscounted my flour?) So, I tossed two whole batches of cookies. Not only that, but I also ran out of flour, brown sugar, cane sugar AND vanilla. This meant I couldn't make any more cookies until after I visited a grocery store.

*Sometimes, if my kids (mostly the boys - Rhi isn't interested) have finished their morning chores and have some time before the bus comes, I let them play some DS. The rule is that they can't play any games that are unable to shut down in an instant. They know this. For some reason, though, Tiernan decided to play a Pokemon game and enter a battle just as we were about to head off to the bus. And when I called them to go to the bus that morning it wasn't an "oh, we're leaving for the bus in five minutes" call, it was a "we need to go to the bus right freaking now!" call. I told him he didn't have a choice, he had to shut it down right then and he lost it. Completely freaked out yelling and telling me he just couldn't. Okay, no. No, no, no. This just wasn't the morning to pick a fight with me. I had a terrible Mummy moment with absolutely zero patience. The DS is now hidden in the garage and Tiernan was left in tears because he lost everything he did on his game that day. The good news is, we got to the bus in time.... but I was left feeling horrible Mummy guilt for giving the kids a bad start to their last day of the school year.

*After taking Tibbs for a walk, I headed out to get some ingredients for the cookie baking I still had to do. Only... wait a minute, where are my keys? I looked high and low. They were not in any of the places I would ever put them. They were also not in any of the places I wouldn't put them. They just weren't in the house. I retraced my steps from the previous night and was positive I locked them in the van. I had to call Kyle at work to ride his bike home to unlock the van to see if they were in there. Of course he had a super busy day, too. That figures, right? Anyway, he was my hero, as always, and we did indeed find the keys in the van between the two front seats.

*Once I finally get to the store and gather up the ingredients, I go to stand in a very long line up. It seemed like everything was going wrong for the cashier, too. Must have been one of those days for more than just me. As time is ticking, I start to panic. I realize I don't have much time to bake the stinking cookies so I do something I rarely do.... I put the ingredients back and go find some store bought goodies. In this process I clumsily knock down a bunch of Chips Ahoy cookie bags. Sigh.

*By this time I have an incredible migraine. My head is throbbing, and I'm super sensitive to both light and sound. I tried everything, and nothing made it go away until much later in the day when the skies cleared... pretty sure it was air pressure related. Or possibly stress!

*After I made the deliveries to the school I headed home and decided to sit on the couch and do nothing. Except, I can't really do nothing. I figure a couple of loads of laundry can't hurt. What can go wrong with laundry? I marched into the laundry room, put a load in the washer and sat down on the couch. I usually sit with my legs curled off to the side and this was no exception. My calf got itchy so I started rubbing my calf with my foot. I then felt something wet and assumed it was a few drops of water from the washing machine. I kept rubbing my feet and legs together until I realized that something just didn't feel right. I pulled back the blanket I had on me and found that my legs and feet were covered in cat crap. I'm not kidding. Oh, how I wish I was kidding. Alas, no joking around for me. I had smeared a piece of crap that I assume was left out of the litterbox (which is right next to my laundry detergent) and was then stuck to my arch. I know it must have been the arch because there was no sign of it on the floor, at all. It also must have been fresh and warm because I sure didn't feel it. And let me tell you - it wreaked! Oh wow. That was unbelievable. I cried in the shower. I felt so defeated.

*You know what I did until my kids got home? NOTHING. This time I really didn't do anything. I left the laundry in the machine and didn't move. I wrote out my next two week menu, watched some TV and puttered about on the computer.

*And then my kids got home. My kids have the best bus driver in the world, and she gave them each a jumbo freezee to celebrate the last day of school. Naturally, both boys were finished eating theirs, but my slow poke daughter still had her melty orange one in her hands when she got home. It was probably over half full. So, we are all talking about our days. Theirs went really well, and I told them about my horrible day. They laughed at my cat crap story and told me I should play some Wii to relax (haha). That's when Rhianna's freezee decided to flip itself over and empty itself all over my lap and my favourite spot on the couch! Yes, really. Orange on everything. My shirt, my capris, my couch. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Tiernan ran and got a towel to clean everything up, and Rhianna ran and got me a new outfit to change into.

*Luckily, aside from some tired, whining kids, the day did not get any worse. Thank goodness. Don't know how much more I could have handled.

Today has been a brand new day and was one million times better than yesterday! The first day of summer holidays was filled with blue skies, trips to two different libraries, a few drives out into the country, and a bit of shopping. It was busy, but also nice. I love having my kids home with me. They truly are the best company I could ask for. They are so smart, so funny and they teach me little things on a daily basis. Rhianna is off at a birthday party sleep over with a friend at her trailer. It's so strange not having her here. I miss her a lot! This is the first time she's slept at a house of someone who wasn't family. It's a big deal! I know her friend's mother is taking really good care of her, and we are looking forward to spending time with them tomorrow at the lake.

Tonight I was on my own for the first time in a very long time. I started the evening out with a walk on the trails with my pupperoo. It's the perfect time of day for it. The air is cooler, the sun lights everything up in this perfect brilliant hue, and the people are all smiling. Tibbs mingled with some dogs and I mingled with some humans. :) The funniest moment was when I took the picture on the left.. I had it on self timer (obviously) and it was flashing and beeping. As we were walking away a guy on a motorized chair comes over in a big panic thinking I was settling off a bomb. Hahahah! Yup, that's me. I look like such a threat. ;)

At one point during our walk, we sat down at this bench in silence, enjoying the view. Tibbs lay down and seemed to taking it all in. The geese with their babies. The boats on the Bay. The breeze in the air. I sure love that doggle of mine. ♥ When we came home I got some stuff ready for our Canada Day adventures and sat down to watch SYTYCD and 16 & Pregnant. All in all, a good evening. No complaints here after my day yesterday! ;)

Pretty.

That is one happy dog!

I will never tire of this view.

Nothing exciting to report for dinner today. We had some mushroom, monterey jack cheese and salsa stuffed quesadillas with a side of steamed broccoli covered in a scrumptious cheese sauce! Who doesn't love broccoli... especially covered in cheese sauce!? Unfortunately I really like it and had two large helpings of it... and now my stomach is paying for it. You know what they say about broccoli.. especially for those of us who are physically unable to burp! Eep!

Cheese Sauce

3 tbsp butter

3 tbsp flour

1/2 tsp salt

heavy sprinkling of freshly ground black pepper

1 1/2 cups milk

1 cup grated cheese (tonight I used a combination of monterey and cheddar.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Remove from heat and add the flour, salt and pepper. Stir well to combine. Add the milk and put it back on the heat. Stir continuously for about 5 minutes, until the sauce has thickened. Remove from the heat and add the cheese. Stir until smooth and then serve immediately.