After School #MeTime, While The Kids Where Home?!!

My son’s new after school routine (within the last month and a half or so) is to get out of the car, run to the driveway of our neighbour 3 doors down, run back, play with his shadow, and then hang out on another neighbour’s porch for a while. Some days, he can be there for a good hour or so. If those neighbours are outside, and needing to go in and out of their front door, they just say hi, move around him and head inside.  They even asked after we moved in late last summer how to communicate with him!  How awesome are our neighbours?!

 

Until now, this after school routine has been a bit difficult for me, trying to keep an eye on him while my daughter is going in and out of our home, and honestly, trying to find somewhere comfortable for me to be for the hour or so he takes for this routine…especially when it’s raining (and the couple of days it snowed). A couple of days ago however, my man’s parents gave us some new-to-us lawn chairs and table (they’re even my favourite colour: green!).  While my son did his routine last night, I was able to bring backpacks and everything inside, get the kids an after school snack, and make myself a chai. I then sat down in our new chairs on the front porch with my feet up, reading my book (shocking that it’s about Autism!), drinking my chai and still being able to keep an eye on my son.

A bonus too, is the view of and lovely fragrance resulting from the bush in my front yard:

Not a bad routine to have to “endure” each and every day!

Chai Break at Home

An at-home chai break with delicious banana bread with ExtremeCouponingMom‘s banana bread recipe (except I used butterscotch chips instead of chocolate chips).

Wordless Wednesday – Lunch of Champions

…for those of us who are sick.

30 Days of Me: Day 15 – Facts About Me

Day 15 – Write 15 interesting facts about yourself

I don’t know how interesting they are but here we go, and in no particular order…

1. I’m a proud redhead
2. I have always answered the statement “carrot top” with “carrot tops are green” – go check.
3. I’m trained in classical ballet
4. I’m sarcastic
5. I’m verbally fluent in English and French, and know some statements in Greek and Japanese…and they aren’t swear words!
6. My favourite colour is green – shocking, I know…a redhead who likes the colour green.
7. I grew up working on a land survey crew
8. I don’t like cooking unless it’s to share with someone else
9. I love baking
10. I have worn glasses to read since I was 16, and because of the “fashion” of having large lens back then, my first pair of glasses were bifocals. Sexy, I know.  Thankfully, the style now is smaller so I just look over the top of them if I have to see far away.
11. I have half a university degree, 2 college diplomas, and 1 business school certification.
12. I can drive a four-wheeler
13. I’m a chai “addict” (but if you read my blog frequently, you already knew that!)
14. I have been doing yoga off and on for 15 years
15. I love being a mom!!!

 

30 Days of Me – Day 5: Comfort Foods

Day 5 – Your favourite comfort foods and why

My favourite comfort foods depends on my mood. My daily “retreat” is a nice cup of chai – Starbucks chai latte, lactose-free, no water is the best, in my humble opinion. 

 

My go-to comfort food when stressed is Jalapeno Cheddar Doritos. When that craving gets too out of control though, I switch to carrots and spicy hummus.

 

My go-to comfort food that takes me back to my childhood is an old family recipe called “Elsie’s casserole”.  My great, great aunt “created” the recipe, from a time when measurements were in lbs…lbs of ground beef, lbs of sausage, lbs of spaghetti.  A whole bunch of yummy.

 

My go-to comfort food during the winter is a nice warm bowl of home-made veggie soup with garlic bread.

 

I think the comfort food that my kids will remember from their childhood is pumpkin loaf.  I have made it for them their entire lives, and whenever it’s baking, it feels like “home”.

What are your comfort foods?

 

Fill In The Blank Friday – 09-02

Time for Fill in the Blank Friday…and the best one, seeing as it’s the Friday before the long weekend AND my son just gave me “butterfly kisses” with his lips for the first time!  It’s a GREAT day!

1.  One thing that is completely superfluous, but that I could never give up is chai. A few cups a day keep me (relatively) sane.  It’s my form of daily “me time” and it’s even portable to take to the park, Early Years Centre, appointments, or just in the car during long drives.  Pocket book and taste buds disagree between made-at-home-Tetley-chai and Starbucks chai latte. Tetley is an acceptable substitute though.

 

2.       Confrontation      makes me feel awkward and uncomfortable. It’s a trait us Librans are not comfortable with at all.  Experience has made it even worse for me.

 

3.  I can’t live without, my kids. Does this really need clarification?

 

4.  Jalapeno Cheddar Doritos is my favorite snack.  When I realize I’m going through too many each day (and feeling it in my clothes…grrr), carrots with spicy humus is a very good substitute, and healthier too.

 

5.  Lately I’ve been a bit stressed with Back to School, but now that I’ve seen my son’s school bus, met the bus driver and written the Social Story for him, I’m feeling quite a bit better.

 

6.  If at first you don’t succeed try, try again. The old saying is true for everything.  If you can’t figure out why the microwave isn’t working, make sure the door is completely closed.  If you can’t figure out why the room is smelling, check all diapers in the vicinity, then look for the hidden rotting peach core.  If you can’t get the damn kids DVD to work when you are going to pull your hair out, put a different favourite in…they’ll only complain for a few minutes.  If you don’t get marriage right the first time, keep looking for the one who accepts you and your children for who you are (no 2^nd marriage for me though!).

 

7.  Fall is almost here. The colours, the beauty, the harvest, fresh vegetables, kids are back in school, the cooler days that aren’t 40 degrees Celsius and higher…ahhh.  Unfortunately, winter comes quickly…grrrr.