Update Sept 2011

I know I haven't posted very frequently this summer. But that doesn't mean we haven't done anything. We've been doing the ordinary things, and I haven't posted about them yet. So here's a quick-and-dirty summary of some recent events:

The dog got a haircut. I took him to the doggie salon and he was washed, blowed, trimmed, clipped, spritzed and shined. He came out looking very handsome, but it cost an arm and a leg! I stayed to watch what they did to him the whole time so now I know what to do at home.
IronMan Canada took over our town once again. We enjoyed celebrating the festivities with the locals and athletes for this amazing event. Friday night there was a street dance where we were treated to music, dancing, crafts, and crowds. Saturday was the fun run when Kent participated in the 5k race - and achieved a new PR! And Kai participated in his first race ever, the 1k kids' race - go, Kai, go!The next day was the actual Ironman race, and Craig, Eleana, and the cousins joined us to cheer for the athletes. What an awe inspiring event!

Kai turned 7 and we celebrated his birthday with surprises and treats. He chose an Ogo cake this year (a cake made from globs of ice cream, sauce, and crushed candy). We had just a small affair with Grandma and Ken joining us because we are saving the big party until after school starts so he can invited some kids from his new class. Caylie's first soccer lesson was this week. Kai had played soccer in the spring, and the season resumes for a month in the fall. Caylie thought she'd like to try it out this fall too for the rest of the season, so we geared up this Saturday for both of them. They had fun chasing the ball around the field while we cheered!





We have also done lots of trips to the beaches, playgrounds, dog parks, and ice cream shops. We have collected and stocked up on produce, including 48lbs of blueberries, 16lbs of peaches, and several meals worth of corn. We've visited the farmers' market, ridden bikes, had swimming lessons, and began this season of Tae Kwon Do. Whew! Thanks to all our people for a great summer, looking forward to a busy and fun fall season.

Open your heart and believe

The world is talking to us. Everything in it has a story to tell. All we have to do is sit quietly and listen.
- Kate Klimo


My three children are at a beautiful age. The mundane, ordinary, even tedious world that we see is special, wondrous, magical, and mysterious to them.

One of our dog-walks includes a dusty path up a hill. Along the path are several large boulders and rocks, a few of which display graffiti "tags" done in magic marker. Kai is convinced the markings are ancient dragon runes conveying magical messages - if only we could decipher them!

Madison gathers collections of flowers, pretty paper, stickers, leaves -anything she feels is pleasing - and leaves them as offerings for the local fairies. She builds a little display with these gifts, and then checks regularly until they disappear.

The front yard fosters fungus. A wide circle of mushrooms is continuing to flourish despite every effort to remove it. Though it is an annoyance to us, to Caylie it is a magic circle where spells can be cast and powers can be wielded - if only we knew how to conjure them!

Moroccan Chicken and Almond Pie

This is what I made for dinner tonight and it was pretty good. Kids ate everything but the peaches, and it looked pretty on the plate.

Pies:

2 tbsp butter
2 (or more) cups cooked, diced, chicken
1 onion (diced)
1/4 head green cabbage (or any other favourite vegetable)
1/2 cup toasted slivered almonds
2 eggs (beaten)
several shakes each: ground ginger, cloves, tumeric, coriander, salt
splash chicken broth
12 sheets filo pastry

Sauce:
1 red pepper
2 peaches
several shakes: mustard powder, garlic powder, salt
handful of chopped parsley


Sautee onion and cabbage in butter. Add chicken, spices, almonds (pre-toasted), and cook in a bit of broth. Beat eggs and add to hot pan, stirring quickly until eggs scramble into mixture. Spoon into prepared filo sheets, spraying each with cooking spray and rolling into logs. Bake in oven at 350 for 20-30 minutes until crispy and browned.

Slice pepper julienne, slice peaches off the pit (skins optional). Drizzle with olive oil on medium heat in a frying pan and sprinkle with spices. Cook hot for a short while - pepper will still be semi-crisp.

Prepare whole wheat couscous according to directions. Serve one or two filo rolls over a bed of couscous with peach and pepper sauce and carrot strips on the side.

Summer Visit

We are home after a week visiting on the coast. While we were staying in Mission with my mom we made excursions to visit family and friends all over the lower mainland. Everyone was in good spirits, had summer plans and stories to recount, and we had fun playing with little cousins and friends.

Kent, Kai and I made a special trip to Victoria while the girls and dog stayed with my mom. Victoria was in usual form of tourist mecca, and was beautiful this week. We stayed at a very fancy B&B where we were served a 3 course breakfast on fine china in a formal dining room. Our room was draped in all sorts of finery, and Kai thought the whole place must be a palace!

While we were there, we learned that Mom was having a challenging time taking care of two girls and a puppy - and that Revy was having a challenging time behaving. Uh-oh!

As soon as we returned home, Kai found a tupperware container and picked some flowers from the garden. He was really impressed with the fancy flower arrangements all over the B&B (even in the bathrooms) and he thought he'd class up this joint.

Caylie's Birthday

The actual anniversary of the day she was born is not until Monday. But I planned her party five days early in the hope that more people would not be out of town for the weekend. Summer birthdays are tricky because the usual schedules do not apply, and it's harder to hand out invitations when the guests won't be seeing each other regularly at school.

We delivered invitations last week that were covered in sparkly stars, and heralded the upcoming festivities. Right off the bat two of the girls' moms said they would be away this week and couldn't make it. Oh no! So I invited one more girl from Caylie's class, and hoped the rest would be able to attend.

We set up tables in the park, and laid out some snacks. The guests all arrived (most of them brought siblings), and even one family who we hadn't invited but came to celebrate with us anyway. First the kids decorated home-made jet packs with stickers - some of the siblings had to share jet packs because there were more kids than I had planned! Then they zoomed around with jet power to catch the coloured bubbles Kent blew for them.

Once we'd had enough of the bubbles, they sat down at the table again to decorate cookies. I had made sugar cookies in the shapes of rockets, stars, and moons and I set out lots of icing, candies and sprinkles for them to adorn them. This was a popular activity and they kept at it quite a while. When the first child was done his cookies, I led him over to my "moon rock" station where he took a moon rock (a ball of baking soda with a small toy hidden inside), and dropped it into a jar of vinegar. Then we watched the fizzling, bubbling jar until the toy floated up to the top, and he fished it out with the tongs.

When everyone had had a turn fizzling a moon rock, we uncovered the food and had snack time. Then I turned them loose on the water park and the parents had a breather for a few minutes while they ran around. At this point some of the kids had to leave soon, so I rounded them up and they sat down for cake. I had made a cake with different coloured cake balls around a yellow sun, and the kids had fun ordering what planet they'd like to eat.

As usual, we had specified for the guests not to bring gifts, but that we were collecting donations for the Penticton Food Bank. The guests brought lots of donations, and Caylie will proudly deliver them to the Food Bank this afternoon.

My youngest child proclaimed her party a success, and is satisfied with this eagerly awaited event. Hooray!

TKD news

In the recent world of Tae Kwon Do, the kids have some exciting news. Madison has successfully completed her test for green stripe! Not only that, but her test was in Summerland in front of a HUGE panel of judges and lots of spectators. Good for her! Kai and Caylie were not ready to test in so intimidating a venue, so they are waiting until fall to have their patterns better memorized and work on their kicks a bit more.

Madison and Kai have also participated in their first tournament. Madison earned a gold medal for her pattern (against 3 other competitors - aged 9-12). Kai earned a silver for his pattern against one other boy - both boys forgot their patterns and didn't complete them in the competition, but were awarded medals anyway.

Madison was reluctant to spar in the tourney, but she did anyway and did great! Her opponent was an enormous 12 year old boy who had just creamed his first match. At the end of the first round, Madison was ahead! But he kicked her in the neck and she was hurt - she sucked it up and finished the match anyway very bravely but she lost a little steam, and the boy realized he had to step up his game. She ended up losing the match with a final score of 11-16. She was shaky at first afterward, but as time wore on she was really proud of how she did and pretty impressed that she'd scored 11 points on the guy! Kai also sparred and is proud of how he did.

I think we may try another tournament after the summer break.

New Member of the Family


We have adopted an adorable new puppy. His name is Revy (for Revelstoke), and he is an English Cream Golden Doodle. This means he is lean and athletic like a Poodle, and sweet natured like a Golden Retriever. His coat is white and wavy, but he will not shed or cause allergic reactions. What a score!

So far Revy is a very calm, gentle puppy. He learns some things very quickly and much of his training was already in place when he arrived. He could already follow the commands for "sit", "down," "come," "take it", and "leave it." He was already sleeping through the night in his crate, and was waiting to go outside to relieve himself. He is 15 weeks old.

Revy's first night at our house. Getting to know his new bed.

Tired puppy napping in the hallway to keep cool on a warm evening.
Out for a walk at the park.
Hanging out with Kent watching the kids in the playground.
Handsome pup!

I have never had a dog before, so there is lots to get used to. There are some things we're trying to train him about that are proving challenging: Walking on the leash without pulling; Not chewing furniture, shoes, toys; Showing affection without jumping up on people and furniture; Not barking or chasing when he sees another dog. These things will take time, and he is improving already, so we just need to be consistent.

There are some things about dogs that are new to me but I find entertaining. He likes to take short naps in succession; he will sleep for 20 minutes under the table, and then get up and flop down across the room for another nap in the hallway before finishing up with yet another nap by the fireplace. Another quirk of his happens when he catches sight of a bird; all efforts to follow commands or please us fly out of his head and he can only think of one thing: Get that bird!