Showing posts with label reading. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reading. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

The Summer of 2010 - Week #1

Week #1 of our summer has come and gone, and we had a fantastic, relaxing, unplanned week full of fun.

On Monday, Jaymi got her hair cut (wanted shorter bangs and had her hair trimmed quite a bit).





She also had her optometrist appointment and as you know, came out of that with a prescription for glasses, which we picked up on Wednesday.


On Tuesday, Jaymi did her own nails (one hand - I helped with the other), 

we went shopping and splurged on a new outfit from a Please Mum sale (to match her new glasses, of course, LOL), complete with new shoes, peace earrings, and fun, coloured hair extensions.




I signed her up for the annual summer reading club, which she always loves.  They give each child a card to fill out (when you read every day) and every week you come back to get the weekly prize (prizes get better and better every week), a sticker, and there are also lots of free programs to sign up for.


We had a Purdy's ice cream at the mall, after our shopping was finished - yum!


Jaymi chose a meal to cook for us last week (pasta with Alfredo sauce and garlic toast, and kiwis), shopped for the ingredients and later in the week, cooked it (with my help for the hot stove and toaster oven).


We went geocaching together.

We watched the Flintstones, stayed up late, hung out with the neighbours, and Mark ended up rescuing Jaymi's brand new stuffed Webkinz Chinchilla (which she accidentally dropped over the edge of our deck, right into the neighbour's thorny blackberry bushes halfway down a cliff), then promptly tossed it to her, accidentally tossing it into our pool.  She was furious at him, and he ended the night by apologizing to her and blow-drying the Chinchilla ... even sprinkled it with baby powder to make it smell nice. :D


On Wednesday, Jaymi treated us to yet another tap dancing show (she does a lot of these lately), read a book about a bunny and decided to a "Bunny Day" (which I will blog about later).


We did some gardening, had a picnic, made a cheesecake, and watched some more Flintstones.

On Thursday, I made homemade "Starbucks" drinks (a caramel macchiato for myself and Mark, and a steamed milk with sprinkles for Jaymi), we met up with friends at Playzone,




and we celebrated Canada Day at home this year, with a fantastic BBQ rib dinner (that Mark made) and a yummy dessert.



On Saturday, we did our 2nd Saturday in a row of garage saling and found some awesome treasures (and only spent about $6).  Jaymi found 2 books, a beautiful white satin dress, a big stuffed sea otter backpack, a little stuffed cat that meows, a bigger stuffed cat pillow, a bracelet, a tiny mirror, a Littlest Pet Shop hamster wheel, a real pair of tap shoes (for $2!), and we bought 2 cupcakes for a cancer charity.


We also went to London Drugs to get a free razor (handing in an old one first - that was a deal they had on), and went to Toys R Us to show a report card, after which they gave us a $5 gift card (which Jaymi spent on a sale-priced Lil' Kinz which ended up after everything, costing us a total of $0.34!).
We played our made-up game of "Wall Ball" (which consists of throwing a ball against a wall in all sorts of different ways - one bounce then catch...spin around and catch before it hits the ground.....clap your hands before it comes back to you....etc.).







She also designed and made her own hairband.


We also went for a family walk after dinner - something we are hoping to continue a few times a week.



On Sunday we did lots of work on a puzzle, Jaymi and Mark played badminton in the backyard and had a campfire together, she did cartwheels and tap dancing, and we had hot dogs, marshmallows, and fruit for dinner.


Tuesday, May 25, 2010

A weekend of playdates!

Jaymi had a full and fun long weekend.

Friday - after school, we went to the library to return her last 10 books and borrow some more.  She read one in the library while I looked for books for myself, and as usual, she read one on the way home in the car as well.

I have to make a comment on her chosen outfit for earlier that day, too.  She wanted to wear a gymnastics/dance bodysuit with leggings, but no skirt over top, and a cropped sweater.  There was nothing really wrong with the outfit...it just looks a bit strange.  To me.  Not to her.  Ah well...I figure on those days, there is no way that anyone is assuming that we picked out her outfit, right? ;)


Saturday - ballet followed by a playdate with Gareth and Kaytlyn (long time friends since preschool).  Beautiful sunny day with lots of outdoor playing.

Sunday - off to the store with Daddy, then a playdate with Shayla, including fun at the park.

Monday - a trip to Rona with Daddy, followed by a trip to Dairy Queen for a chocolate-dipped ice cream cone, and then lots of outdoor fun at home playing pretend, finishing a puzzle, playing Velcro Ball (among other games) with Colton (our neighbour),

and finishing off the day watching the hockey game together and eating a yummy dinner.


Here is the recipe for our dinner and our dessert.  Mmmmmm :) !!

Slow-Cooker Corned Beef and Cabbage Dinner:
3-4 pounds corned beef brisket, packaged with spices
water, to cover
1 pound baby carrots
1 small head cabbage, cut into wedges
potatoes
hot mustard

Cut the brisket and add to slow cooker, along with included spices. Cover meat with water and cook on low 7 hours.
In the last hour, add the carrots.
Steam or boil cabbage separately.
Serve with hot mustard and mashed potatoes.


Clean Eating Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp:
2 stalks rhubarb, sliced
18-21 fresh strawberries, sliced
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp honey
1/2 lemon, juice only
3 tbsp flour, spelt
TOPPING
1 cup oats, old-fashioned
1/4 cup Sucanet (or sugar, if you don't have Sucanet)
1/4 cup coconut oil (or vegetable oil)
2 tbsp flour, spelt
2 tbsp flaxseed, ground
1 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350F.
In an 8 x 8-inch baking pan, combine rhubarb, strawberries, 1 tsp cinnamon, honey and lemon juice. Sprinkle with 3 tbsp flour and gently toss to coat.
Prepare topping: In a medium bowl, add all topping ingredients. Mix until well combined, then spread over fruit mixture in baking pan.
Place pan in oven and bake 25-35 minutes, until topping is golden brown.