My Little Artist

I had Griffin's piece of art framed and we just recently picked it up.  I am so very proud of my little artist.  Griffin loves to be creative, and draw and colour.  He did a fabulous job on this piece he completed at Montessori school. Each year the school has an art gallery where each student's piece of art is displayed for all the parents to come and see. 
Love it!

10th Anniversary Cruise

Tony and I celebrated our 10th anniversary on July 27th by taking a Southern Caribbean Cruise. 

We sailed out of San Juan, Puerto Rico to St. Thomas, Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Kitts, and St. Marteen.

If you could imagine paradise, we were there.  The Caribbean is absolutely beautiful.  The islands and the people are wonderful.  Our favourite ports were St. Lucia and St. Marteen.  In St. Marteen we rented a jeep (Tony's favourite) and toured the island.  The islands are relatively small and you can drive around them in less than two hours.  

We hit two beaches including the one at the airport.  If you haven't checked it out before you can go on you tube and see the planes fly in just over your head and land on the other side of the beach.  It is fantastic to be in the ocean with the plane flying what seems a foot or two above you.  There is a beach bar right there with a surf board listing the arrival times for the day.  On top of this, the beach is one of my favourites!  So blue!

The cruise itself was great.  The ship was huge and had a great line up of activities and entertainment.  We made some friends along the way, which is one of the greatest parts of a cruise. We're giving a shout out to Dave and Kristin, Tom and Laurie and Barb and Ernie (who might just stop in for a visit to my blog).

As much fun as we had, it is always great to come home to our two little boys, that we both missed dearly.   

10 Years of Wedded Bliss!

Tomorrow we are leaving on a cruise to celebrate our 10th anniversary!

It is hard to believe that 10 years have already passed us by, but not without leaving behind a trail of wonderful memories.

The last 1o years have been the happiest of my life.  Tony and I have shared wonderful memories.  

Together we make a great team, partnership and friendship.  

Pinterest Pin Ups

Ice Cream Sandwiches

This week I tried three different ideas from Pinterest. 

I made these yummy ice cream sandwiches for a dinner we hosted on Tuesday.  They were a complete hit!  

I made chocolate chip cookies, let them cool and then added a scoop of vanilla ice cream to them.  I rolled a few of them in sprinkles and smarties for the kids.  

Add caption

Here is the chocolate chip cookie recipe I use:
2 1/4 cups of all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup of butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips


Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla extract in a larger bowl until creamy. Ads eggs one at a time, beating well. Gradually beat flour mixture in. Stir in chocolate chips. Bake at 375 for 9 to 11 minutes. (9 if you want them gooey!).

Rainbow of Fruit

I also made this cute rainbow of fruit to bring to a pool party we went to at Monika's house.  

This was really easy to make and a huge hit with the kids.  I added the chocolate coins to make it look like a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow!  

The kids loved this!  They gobbled it up as fast as I set it down.

 

Zucchini Boats

I also made these zucchini boats for dinner this week!  Owen hates zucchini, so I thought this would be a great way to make zucchini fun! 

Just cut a zucchini in half lengthwise and trim a little off the bottom so it sit still in a baking dish*** Scoop out the center where the seeds are with a spoon*** Brush the surface with a mixture of crushed garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper*** Arrange halved grape tomatoes into the grooves, sprinkle with bread crumbs and bake in a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes*** Remove and place diced fontina or mozzarella in between the tomatoes, place them back in, but now under the broiler til golden and bubbling***Remove and drizzle with olive oil and a sprinkling of grated parmesan. You will love this as a side dish!

The recipe can be found on this blog with lots of other great recipes:

zucchini boats

Craft Monday

The boy and I are going to be crafting this Monday!  I know they are going to love making these cute cardboard roll snakes.  

You will need:

• tp or paper towel rolls

• wrapping paper roll

• paints + paintbrushes

• googly-eyes

• skewer or end of paintbrush

• scissors

• glue

 Directions:

 

• If you're using paper towel rolls, cut them into thirds first. Otherwise, get to painting!

• Do the insides and out. 

• Let dry.

• Starting at one end, cut the tube all the way around (in a coil) to the other end.

• Place your snake onto a wrapping paper roll and decorate. We made the polka dots with the blunt end of the skewer. You can also use the end of a paintbrush. 

To read more go here: 

 Snake to Make

Bingo Fun

Owen completing a journal

Every summer, I keep the boys reading, writing and practicing math.  This summer I came up with an idea to make it fun for the boys.  I created bingo cards for them to complete each week and if they get it done by Friday they earn a $5.00 allowance.  


I wasn't sure how it would go but the first morning I introduced the activity to the boys, Owen wouldn't put it down.  He completed activity after activity.  He was really motivated, and actually finished his entire card on the first day.

bingo card

I kept the activities really simple, including activities like writing a journal, making their bed, clearing their dishes, playing an educational ipod game and reading a book.  I quickly learned that I need to be more specific, and changed the bingo cards the next week to have Owen write a 2 sentence journal and to do it on a specific day of the week so that he wouldn't complete the entire card in one day.   I also added try a new food.  Owen tried mushrooms, and Griffin tried ceasar salad!


My Friend Monika tried this idea with her boys the very next week, and after years of trying to get her son to eat meat, she was able to get him to try eating meat over and over again!  


This week the boys are going to draw a fire escape route, and memorize their phone number.

Summer Vacation

We stated our vacation off right with a stop to Ben and Jerry's in Vermont for a Factory Tour.  We got to sample a new ice cream and well as take a tour to see just how ice cream is made.  We also enjoyed an ice cream cone before we left!

Sampling

Next we went to North Conway, New Hampshire to stay for a couple of days and visit both Story Land and Santa's Village.  The boys absolutely loved both of the parks. The are age appropriate and really great!

Ben and Jerry's Tour

Tony and I love Santa's Village.  If you haven't been, check it out here:  http://www.santasvillage.com/  It is completely in the middle of no where, but so worth the drive!

The Boys and Cinderella's Carriage

Owen and Cinderella

As you can see Griffin is not in the photo with Owen and Cinderella.  He absolutely refused to be anywhere near Cinderella!!  Princesses are dumb!!

Swan Ride

Story Land New Hampshire

Santa's Village

The boys loved getting to visit Santa Claus in the summer! 

Old Town Montreal

Old Town Montreal

Owen having his picture drawn

We arrived in Montreal on our last night of our trip.  We headed down to Old Town Montreal for dinner and then to see the Buskers on the main street.  Griffin just had to have a balloon monkey made and the long wait was worth it, the smile on his face says it all.




The next morning, we headed back down to Old Town Montreal and headed to the IMAX and Science Centre.  The boys really enjoyed the movie and exploring the science centre. 

Griffin and his balloon monkey

Afterwards we headed down town for lunch and for Owen to have his portrait drawn.  He really wanted to have his picture done, but wasn't too happy with the result.