travels!

Empanadas were awesome! The flan flopped, but it tasted really yummy. Hard to go wrong with that much milk and sugar. The following week we went to Germany with a favorite of Hubby and mine: mashed potatoes with a creamy mushroom and sauerkraut gravy and bratwurst. AND I made a nearly authentic Black Forest cake! (I didn't soak the cherries in Kirsch, but I had the coffee in the middle layer frosting) and it was AMAZING!! The following week we went to Saudi Arabia (Monkey chose it because it was pink on our little globe...) and we made Kapsa (chicken and rice) and Basboosa which was all delicious too. We've been pretty lucky so far in the meals we've prepared. Added fun is when friends are able to join us in our travels. Good friends from our time in Calgary way back when there were only two little Macintyres running around our house were in the area that weekend and came for an afternoon visit and joined us for that particular destination.

Last weekend Smarty didn't want to go to a new country, but visit another area from within our own wonderful mosaic of culture in Canada. He decided that poutine was needed to explore Quebec, and I found a tarte au sucre recipe that was so yummy. In my excitement and haste, I didn't thicken the gravy quite enough, but I made that adjustment before we had the leftovers for lunch a couple days later. The tarte au sucre was absolutely delicious (again, hard to go wrong with sugar and eggs!). Next up is apparently New Zealand.

Aside from broadening our tastes and experiences, this activity we are doing is making the children aware of what they are eating and creating an excitement in them that I'm very happy to see! I made up Parmesan breaded pork chops last week just because, and Sergeant asked what country that recipe came from. They are looking at the ingredients, seeing how they are put together, what foods create which tastes, and an eagerness to choose the next country.

Monkey and Smarty got sick the week we went to Germany. Smarty came home from school  one day and stayed home the following two. Monkey was worse when she got it. There was lethargy, sore throats, coughing, and headaches. She spent a full week in pajamas, not eating much but we supplemented her with meal replacement shakes. And seriously pushed the fluids. She has now gotten into the habit of sleeping with her water bottle tucked in beside her in bed and cuddling it like she would a stuffed animal! Thankfully the other two more or less avoided it. Sergeant got the cough really bad but not the rest. Girlie developed a sore throat a week later but it only lasted a day or two. Very grateful for antibiotics!

Hubby was able to get away to Canmore a couple weeks ago for the pastor's study conference and I was very glad he did! It was good for him to reconnect with friends and colleagues from civilian ministry and feed that part of him. He missed most of the snow on his travel days too, so that was fortunate.

Sergeant has the opportunity to learn archery this spring! He is pretty excited and his after school practices start tomorrow, running for the next two months with a couple of competitions in there as well. I think it is so cool that there's a chance to learn this skill! After seeing him with Hubby's pellet gun over the Christmas break, I think he's really going to enjoy it and do well too.

That'll be all for now, I think. Busy times have past, busy times ahead. Looking forward to more yummy food, crafting, and school. I will be starting a medical transcription program in the next few weeks that I'm pretty excited about. So it'll be school for the kids and myself for the next while! And registering Monkey for Kindergarten. Yikes! Time moves too quickly!

Zoom, there goes the time!

It was a very busy holiday season with just the right amount of downtime. I was able to get the crafting done that I needed to (a cross stitch for Hubby's office wall and a couple other things for assorted extended family members) , the school session ended well.  I took the kids out of school an afternoon early so they could build a gingerbread house to kick off the vacation. Turned out to be quite structurally unsound, so it was demolished and consumed quite quickly.

It was an odd Christmas Eve for us this year, the first in years that Hubby wasn't leading a service in the evening. So we shovelled snow and went sledding. Attended the late service at the congregation here in town, and spent some time looking at lights. We watched the live nativity pageant at the LDS church a few days prior to that and we all enjoyed that evening. It brought back some fum memories of participating in it as a youth when I was a teen and we talked with the children about the story and different interpretations of it.

Christmas day was early (naturally) and we played Sequence as a family, Kerplunk, Trouble, and did some painting, Lego building, food eating, and then went to the base chapel for a Christmas morning service that Hubby was leading. Came home, did more of the same, napped, and bundled off to Edmonton to have supper with some extended family on Hubby's mom's side.  It is so nice to connect with family again! And getting to know better some of the extra cousins floating around the family tree.

Travel time saw us heading down to Vulcan for a few days to see Amma, connect with a good friend and her dog that we hadn't seen since last new years, and Uncle K and Aunt C. Then off farther south for my family visits, cards in Lethbridge at Uncle K and Aunt C's to bring in the New Year with another friend we hadn't seen in even longer. I think we figured out that Sergeant might have been a baby/toddler when we last saw him... way too long.

Taught some family members a few new games and learned some others. We learned a game called Chicken Foot that is hilarious, so we ended up buying a box of dominoes so we could play it at home. We have been playing lots of family games since our return too. 313 (which is a favourite that Hubby and his brother and sister in law taught me way back in the first year or so we were together), Sequence, Chicken foot. Hubby was brushing up on Cribbage and taught me, so we taught Smarty. He does well with it too. He loaded the game onto his phone and plays it a lot.

Last week I made pollo al ajillo for our trip to Spain. Wow, garlic! And wine! The recipe called for both sherry and port, and suggested serving it with French bread.  So we did. It. Was. Delicious. And tomorrow we are going to Chile. I conversed with my youngest brother, who lived there for two years while serving a mission for his church, to get some suggestions for something authentic and I'm pretty excited. I've never made empanadas before. And I'll make a flan for dessert, which I've never done before either. Win or fail, I'll let you know either way!

Swimming lessons are in full swing. Monkey is going two mornings a week while the others are in school, team brown (brown eyes so Smarty and Girlie) are on Thursdays after school, and Sergeant is on Saturday mornings. It is fun watching them learn and gain confidence, especially Monkey since she is really still just starting to learn it all. We went for a family swim last Saturday and everyone had their new goggles and I think she spent most of her time with her face in the pool! "Mommy! I can see the floor!"

It is difficult to believe it's already nearly February. Thinking ahead to kindergarten registration for Monkey, grades 6, 4, and 2  for the others... where does the time go? Soon we'll start the birthdays again, and we've given explicit orders that there will be none this year. No one is allowed to age. They must stay the same size and age for a little bit longer. They just laugh and say they can't. That it's nature and science that makes it just happen. Sigh. !

Full few weeks!

Well, we've been to the Ukraine and to Tanzania. We've had Hubby come home from his course in Ontario, and a plunge into deep winter. Hubby's last full day on course the temperature was 12 C, and two days after he got home we were having -20 C and below! A few "Extreme cold warnings" from Environment Canada, but still not much more snow on the ground. There have been work Christmas parties, class seasonal celebrations, and perog making.  Yum

I forgot to take pictures of our food from the Ukraine, but we had borscht and perogies that I fried in bacon grease. OMG So yummy! I have made borscht before this one was way better. and it made a ton! definitely will either half it next time or freeze a bunch. Dessert was apple and poppy seed pie, as suggested by some of the European visitors on the course with Hubby.

Monkey had her preschool Christmas concert and activity day. They sang a couple adorable songs, decorated cookies, made magic reindeer food, and played pin the red nose on Rudolph.

She sang so loudly and did all the actions in a very big way! Completely just like her personality :) On the way to this, we heard the Chipmunks Christmas song on the radio, her for the very first time. The comments I heard from her throughout the song were hilarious! "Mom, why do they sound like that?" "Are they the mice from Cinderella??" "I only like human songs. I don't like those voices"

The next afternoon was Girlie's concert and Sergeant was able to duck out of class so he could watch it too! Girlie was so excited,she carefully planned out her outfit and made sure she brought her sparkly shoes to wear as well for it. 

They did hand movements with coloured plastic plates to the Nutcracker, sang "I saw Three Ships Come Sailing in", and a few more. It was two grade one classes and then half way through two Kindergarten classes joined in. 

Sergeant was part of a play about Santa wanting to join the NHL and slowing toy production to practice. Our Sergeant had a few lines as the NHL hockey player that was idolized by Santa and comes to play a game with him. They all did a great job.

Smarty didn't have a concert or production this year, but his school did put on a "Snowed in" activity night the same night as Sergeant's play, so we headed over there for a bit  after it was done. So they all decorated a cookie and ate it, drank some hot chocolate, shot some hoops in the gym (and were surprised that mommy got a few in too!). 

Yesterday we went to Tanzania for dinner. During the day Monkey helped me make a Tanzanian spice cake, and we had a "fragrant pilau" with fish for the meal. So much cinnamon and cloves were used!I thought it smelled and tasted delicious, the whole thing. And even though no one asked for seconds, they all cleaned their plates of the rice. Naturally, the dessert will be a repeat. This crew loves spice cake!

Grated chocolate in the cake, whipped egg whites folded into the batter. When I was separating the eggs, one of them had a double yolk, so of course I called Monkey from her crafting to see.  She was appropriately amazed ;)

Hubby cooked up some bacon and onions and I did two batches of sweet dough this week so we could have our yearly fix of perogs that the boys have been bugging us for since the middle of October! Right now Hubby is doing up another slab so we can make more. I promise to share more of these next ones. Lol.

And of course, as I tend to do when I have some left over sweet dough, I made a pan of cinnamon buns! Baking is one of my happy places and I sure spent time there this week!

Sorry for the longer post, but it's been a full few weeks!

Two for ONE!

Two for one post!!

Okay, so we have gone to two different countries since the last post. Last week we explored Latvia, going through parts of my own family's history. And tonight Smarty decided we should go to Greece.

We made Sklandrausis and schnitzel for last week. A rye dough crust filled with mashed potatoes and mashed carrots (with sour cream). They were delicious! And dessert was manna. A cream of wheat custard type pudding.

I got a text from our good friends right before we were starting cooking asking if we wanted a play date and to combine suppers. So we shared delicious food, combining our Latvian cuisine with their enchiladas :)

The next night I was going out for a conversation night and I brought red wine hot chocolate. I had never made it before, but WOW! I am so glad I tried it!

And tonight we did Greece. Smarty chose spanakopita and finikia, so I worked with phyllo pastry for the first time. Fresh spinach and feta.  Yummy!

I really wanted to take pictures while putting it together, but I had to work fast. 

The children enjoyed eating the filling and being able to peel the layers away. Sergeant enjoyed eating the pastry.  A lot. 

These are the finikia. An orange, cinnamon cookie dipped in a cinnamon syrup. Girlie says she enjoyed them perhaps a little too much. Lol

That's all for travelling for now. Last weekend we dug out our Christmas boxes and decorated the house. We set up the tree and started playing our Christmas music, which has been in the CD player ever since, occasionally changing the CDs but keeping with the theme :)

Have a great weekend, everyone! 

Baby Bear

So, Hubby is off and away again. This time on course in Ontario. We all were able to drive him to the airport and see him off on Monday, for which I'm grateful. The kids enjoy getting those last hugs before seeing him go off into the building.

Monday morning was nice and slow. Didn't have to drop anyone off at school, no rushing around anywhere. We were able to drink our coffee together, sort through what might be missing from his bags , and have some low key time.

Monkey was worried that her daddy would be lonely. She has these two bears. One is smaller than the other, but their colouring is very similar, so she calls them mommy bear and baby bear. She walked very sombrely up to Hubby as he was zippering up his back pack that last time with baby bear in her hands.

"Daddy, baby bear is worried you might need company. You can take him with you if you want." (Imagine those big blue eyes...)

"But won't you miss baby bear, Buddy? Maybe baby bear wants to stay with you."

"Dad, it's okay. You take him with you. So you won't be lonely."

So Hubby tucks the bear into his bag, asks if that was okay with Monkey, and then we all went off.

For our countdown this time away we have four little jars, filled with Hershey's hugs, with a label on each written "A hug from Dad for ___" and that first night they were so excited to get their hugs from Dad.

The next morning the first thing Monkey asked was "Mommy, I wonder how baby bear is doing?" So I texted that to Hubby along with a picture of Monkey and mommy bear. They first words Girlie said were "When can we set up the Christmas tree?" but that got other thoughts of mine going. Where will we put it, how will we move things to make space for it, things like that.

But, back to the bears, Hubby brought the little guy with him to the course. He took a picture and sent it so she could see him keeping her company. And today the little guy was all over the place! Nearly eaten by another hungry padre! All cuddled up with another. There are some chaplains from a European country there with our Canadian ones for the course and some of them took pictures of the wee bear and sent them back to their homes far far away! It looks and sounds as though baby bear is having quite the adventures!

Remembrance Day

Lest we forget

Yesterday was difficult for me. Remembrance Day usually is. I have always felt immense pride and gratitude for the service of our military, and Remembrance Day is an amazing way to stop and reflect on the sacrifices that have been made and are daily made.

Wednesday evening, Hubby got out his black kit and rag. We sat in the kitchen, him on the stool with a shoe in one hand and a soft rag in the other, I sat on a kitchen chair, and we talked as the reflection in the black began to shine. The motions of the rag rubbing and polishing and the smell of the polish itself is so familiar. Talking about the household, the kids, the outcome of the election we witnessed to the south of us, plans for the week and the school services the next day.

I can remember in snippets and images seeing my father do the same when he was in the service. Seeing the blackened soft rag amongst his shoes in the closet when my sisters and I would go through and try mom's shoes on (didn't last too many years for me as my feet are nearly twice her size now). I recall wanting to wear his hat too, and smile every time our crazy crew gets Daddy's hat from him to carry into the house and they wear it and grin.

Last week when we went to visit family I learned some really neat and interesting things as my parents and I went through tons of old pictures. I knew some of the history about when my grandfathers served in the second world war. I knew that my mom's dad was Canadian and fought with the Allies. I knew that my dad's father was in Latvia and fought over there. How it was originally explained to me, eons ago, was that they fought for whichever side served their country's interest. So I knew that the Russians and the Germans both occupied that country and that some likely fought on both sides. My grandfather fought under German command. And did what he needed to do. My father said that his dad never spoke of what happened, didn't keep pictures of that time, and let it lay buried deep. You do what you have to do.

In a world where there is the talk of black and white, and "bad guys vs good guys" it's incredibly important to remember the grey. After getting back from the service yesterday I spoke with the kids about what they saw and heard, what they know, and what is important to remember. They have their father, who proudly wears a uniform. Many good friends who wear a uniform, and not only military. We've seen a lot of the red serge of the RCMP this week, including some very close friends. I reminded them that one of their grandfathers used to be a serving member. That all four of their great grandfathers were in the service during WW2, three for the Allies, one for the Reich. Then I had to answer questions from the four year old about why one of her great grandfathers was one of the "bad guys".

Lots and lots of feels. Watching some amazing advertisements that highlight the service and unlimited liability that comes with it. There's a Guinness commercial that brings out the all the emotions (here it is). Hubby showed it to my dad when we were there and they shared a moment.

As we started during our Halifax posting, Hubby and I went out with another service couple (RCMP) last night. Lots of fun, some serious conversation, some light hearted, very needed. Our server was an American, was in the Marines for four years and came up to Canada for school and her husband. Really neat to hear her experience and the mutual respect among uniformed members across borders.

On the edge of our table we had a drink for those who have fallen. In loving memory of the sacrifices made and are daily made, of every day putting that uniform on and feeling the weight of the past generations, the weight both supporting and guiding. We will remember them

another little trip

This week last week was a really good one. We had Halloween (and I totally didn't take any pictures!! So sorry for anyone who was looking for some), Smarty had his last French cooking class (chocolate mousse. YUMMY), Monkey had her first preschool field trip (to the public library), and we took the kids out of school the last two days of the week to go visit family down in the southern part of the province. My maternal grandmother has been having some health issues and we wanted to go visit. 

As we were planning out the time we'd be away, I realised that we could either postpone our trip to Peru for next week, or we could take my parents to South America with us. I am glad we went ahead and did our kitchen travels! Since Hubby has been to Peru, he helped Monkey make the choice for the meal and he prepared it. I made the dessert. We had Lomo Saltado, a beef stir fry served with rice and french fries.  Dessert was Turron de chocolate (it was a toss up between that and Tres Leches). Big hit, both of them.

Work and school again tomorrow, though. And Hubby leaves again for a few weeks starting next Monday. This week we prepare for Remembrance Day. Sergeant is so excited. He came home from school one day and was talking about how his class was in charge of doing the Remembrance Day assembly at school and he hoped he would be chosen to MC because he volunteered for it. Then he brought home, a couple days later, a copy of the Act of Remembrance that he will be saying part of during the program. He's been practising, Daddy is going to be there and speak for a few minutes to the students, and possibly later in Smarty's class as well. 

As part of a tradition we started in Halifax, the evening of the 11th is a date night. We have a sitter booked, we'll be going out with another service couple (he's RCMP). And, of course, we will attend a service during the day. Hubby is leading one in the city and we will be there.