Summer lovin'

Dave is putting in a work day at the school today, and the kids are playing nicely with each other on the floor.  Janna and Jesse are building a lego tower and Robyn is sitting close by mesmerized by it all.   Dave has 4 papers to write for the course he took a few weeks back, and so he is working on paper 3 today.

I was thinking this morning that 2 of 6 vacation weeks are now complete!  It’s been so much fun doing things with the whole family and really trying to take advantage of the beautiful weather in the mornings, and then once we’re good and tired having more relaxed afternoons and evenings.  This morning Dave had the kids out to the park and splash pad shortly after 7:30 to get out some energy and have some fun.  The basement was in dire need of a clean- so I cleaned that, and got my kitchen work out of the way for the day.  It’s gonna be a real hot one again today!

With much more personal time on my hands than during the school year, there are a few things I have been really enjoying the past couple of weeks that I wanted to blog about.   

The first thing has been getting out for a run every morning around 7.  I’m not really a runner. I usually work my way up to 3k and then feel bored with it.  But, I decided to do interval training over the summer.  With such gorgeous weather, I decided just to go with interval running.  So, I SPRINT like a mad woman for a minute, then walk for one.  Then repeat this combo 9 more times.  It’s said to be the most effective in fat burning to rev up the heart and metabolism like mad, then bring it right down- over and over.  And I am quite enjoying it.  I get sort of bored of jogging or running after 5 minutes.  So, it’s fun to blast off as fast as I can until I feel like I’m gonna die, and then get a break.  It’s sort of like labor! You get these little rest times to mentally prepare you for the next contraction- and make it through each contraction knowing a break is right around the corner.  Except at the end of labor when they just don’t really stop- that part sucks.   And of course labor is MUCH more painful than just running...maybe not the best comparison... Anyways,    the temperature is perfect early in the morning.  The neighborhood is so green and quiet. And Dave made me a great (worship sort of?) running mix I can listen to if I want, that gets my heart started off in a thankful and joyful direction.

Having more time on my hands, I have also had more of a chance search out new and interesting recipes I want to try and meal plan accordingly.  Yesterday we had the most refreshing quesadillas for lunch! They had your traditional cheese, onion, garlic, and peppers in them.  But, they were stuffed full of shrimp and nectarines and chili flakes with some lime juice as well.  They were SOOOO yummy!  I love cooking, but during the year it sometimes feels like a chore with kids hanging off my legs and crunched for time at the end of a tiring Day.  But, having Dave home to watch the kids while I disappear in the kitchen for a while, makes it a totally different experience.  Later this weekend on the menu I have a peach, prosciutto and mozza salad.  A lemon seared TBone with a spicy kale and redpepper sauté.  And early into next week I am pumped to try out a curried quinoa and collard green wrap.  Chatelaine this month, had lots of recipes I wanted to try that were all seasonal, and so I have had NO problem finding most of the ingredients on sale somewhere.

The other day, Robyn needed breastfed, and I was trying to get supper on the table. I asked Dave if he could finish up the Cesar salad.  I had the lettuce all prepped, and the sauce/parm/lemon/bacon all together on the counter.  Anyways, he just about had a melt down from stress trying to “make the salad”  and after some poking fun of him, he declared that he needed to learn to cook.  He told me that next summer he is going to do ALL the cooking all summer long.  I don’t know how I feel about that, as I really enjoy cooking, ESPECIALLY in the summer, but I submitted to his authority and said ok.  It’s probably a useful skill, eh?

Thirdly, I have been scrapbooking again!  I have just a few pages left to go to finish my 2012 scrapbook.  I’m hoping to get it finished off before we leave for the East Coast in 10 days!!!  We have been taking it fairly easy thus far, but this coming week looks like it may be a bit busier.  We have a few bigger projects to get done this summer that I think we’ll tackle this coming week.  The living room is getting painted a new color.  The bedroom is getting an accent wall.   The storage room is getting a good purging and sorting through.  The dog needs a haircut.  On top of visitng my new niece in Toronto on Monday, and packing up for our trip to New Brunswick next weekend, we will be good and ready to hit the road!  It’s always so delightful (to not only catch up with our parents and family) but get a couple weeks off from house cleaning.  AND getting a bit of a cutback from the normal making of 3 full meals plus a couple of snacks each day. 

Speaking of snacks, we have cut snacking out of the kids diet!   We were having a super hard time getting Janna to eat any lunch or supper.  So, we cut back their usual LARGE morning snack to just the tiniest little thing.  And cut out their afternoon snack entirely.  And guess what? Janna is eating her supper!  Vegetables! Grains, and she even ate a whole bunch of chicken for the first time in like a year the other night!  We felt quite victorious.

Anyways, the kids probably won’t be playing too nicely together, for too much longer, so I should be on my way! Thanks for reading! I’m out.