Little Fish

My happy little swimmer just finished up his salamander level with his first attempt. He had never had anything but practice lessons on spring break before, and he loved it!

Cuzzies....

We have 3 little cuzzies (as we call them) in town for the next few months! So exciting! We celebrated Ava's 6th birthday today...so really started off their stay with a bang!

Happy birthday Ava!!

We love our cuzzies!!

Fitness update

Well, I've been going slow and steady. I have kept up my walking 5km at the rink on Tues/Thurs. I eventually tried running jogging on the ends of the loops, but it was pretty rare. Then I was watching The Biggest Loser and watching these huge people running a mile. So I tried jogging a mile (8 laps) during the course of my 5Km. Then I brought it up to 2km (10 laps), then 3km (15 laps) and now I'm up to 4km (20 laps)in 36 minutes (including 1 km of walking)! I am quite sure I could jog 5km soon, and that was my goal to do by the end of this year. I am quite surprised that I am nearly at that goal! To go from not even jogging one lap, to jogging 20 is pretty impressive for me, a total non-jogger type. I still am quite anxious about my back flaking out on me, and my knees are pretty fragile as well, so I'm trying to be cautious. But I am not using it as an excuse to not jog though. I'm sure I will only ever get up to the 5km and be content with that. I also still do my Jillian Michaels DVD at least 2x a week. I notice the difference in my tone for sure. Sadly, I'm not down too much in weight because I still enjoy eating too much! But I will keep working at it!

So pretty....

in case you're feeling sad....

....this baby should cheer you up!

It's me....

I'm still here!

Magnolias!

pretty things

Sometimes the best things around you are free!
It's always good to have pretty things around you in the house.
To enjoy. To inspire you. To encourage creativity. To become photo subjects.

Here is Liam's art from school. I put it in a huge frame and intend to keep it forever. I think it is so pretty. I will definitely try to recreate something similar, but I think the rawness of a 7 year old's hand will outdo my stiff attempt.



And these pussy willows were tossed out by someone else and have found their place in my living room. They do remind you of tiny little kitties when you hold a fuzzy little bud in your hand!


What little things do you have sitting around that make you happy?

Happy Easter

Today was a beautiful sunny Sunday in Salmon Arm!
We had fun at our church service and then my family came over for lunch and a huge egg hunt. We vegged out all afternoon in our t-shirts on lawnchairs in the sun.

And here is my family...all smiling in one picture for ya!
Happy Easter!

LEMON

My mom used to get me to make lemon pudding (from scratch) back in the day when I still lived at home. It was her favorite.
I haven't made it in a long time, and I had these tart shells kicking around, so mini lemon meringue pies it was.



Yumm.

Recipe:
1 1/3 cups sugar
1/2 cups boiling water
3 lightly beaten egg yolks
1 Tbsp grated lemon peel
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
3 Tbsp. butter

Blend sugar and cornstarch.
Stir into boiling water.
Heat until clear.
Add a bit of the hot mixture to the egg yolks, then add it all to the pot.
Heat again.
Add butter, rind and juice.
Stir and cool.

Finally got up skiing!

So I've been averaging once a year skiing since I had kids. It was time to get that "once-a-year" quota in before the snow is gone. I joined Greg and our older two, who have gone up a few times this year, along with my two nieces, who have never gone, for a night ski.

Claire loved it! (It's not obvious at all.)


The girls cross country ski like crazy, so they both caught on to downhill skiing no problem. It was great fun.




It has become tradition to end the night with Subway for a late dinner. We were soaked to our undies, but still smiling!