This is REIL fun: February 2013

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Ice Marbles

Len discovered this cool winter science experiment online.

Fill balloons with water, add food coloring, and freeze.

They make pretty little (well, big actually) marbles!

We didn't venture out to Winterlude this year, but we didn't need to. We have wintery works of art in our front yard. Well, we did they're currently buried under another mountain of snow.

During the night while the balloons were freezing several of them ripped open and spilled all over our porch. Not to worry though the next snow storm washed it all clean!

My middle name is Lynn, but I'm thinking of changing it to Lindor. In honor of Lindt's Lindor Truffles. I so adore them! I had to take Kaleb to another appointment at CHEO and afterwards I decided it was time for me to visit the enchanted world of a Lindt boutique. It just happened to be the day before Valentine's Day and they just happened to be having a sale of 100 truffles for only $30 (over 50% off). Kaleb convinced me that we needed the splurge! We grabbed handfuls of milk, dark, extra dark, white, stracciatella (AKA cookies & cream), hazelnut, irish cream, and the special holiday ones that have a milk chocolate shell with a white chocolate center. We passed on the coffee ones, but I was so bummed that they didn't have any peanut butter, coconut, caramel, mint, dark peppermint, orange, raspberry, almond, vanilla, or cinnamon ones. If any of you find those flavors somewhere, please Please PLEASE let me know where so I can got get them!!

For those of you that are not fans of chocolate (mom) you really need to try these, you will change your mind! Lindt knows what they are doing. They're Swiss, they've been around since 1845, and they have 4 subsidiaries, one of which is Ghirardelli, go figure.

Sweet Treats

This year our Valentine's Day decor had to share the spotlight with our Chinese New Year decorations since the holidays fell only 4 days apart. I always like to keep our Christmas/Chinese New Year cards up until the Lunar New Year as well, so our house was a little cluttered with sprinklings from 3 holidays around.

We had a Mommy-Primary children activity up at the church. The kids made these cute candy trains, wrote home made cards, decorated sugar cookies, colored pages, and had an inspiring lesson on serving others.

My 3 big kids had a fun time. Teague was invited to attend, but as he was sick he had to stay home with Daddy and Hiram, he was so sad. His siblings shared their sugary goodness with him though and that made up for it!

Every year I see cute homemade Valentine's cards on blogs and Pinterest...

...that I want to make with my kids, but...

...every year we end up just using the store bought ones. Someday?

I made up some cupcakes for Len's seminary students and for our dear neighbor (who is a widower).

I love strawberries year-round, but their luscious color make them my favorite for Valentine's Day.

I tried a new recipe from pinterest with them- fresh strawberry cake with fresh strawberry frosting. It was a hit and my favorite (right now)! I also got the kiddos these mini teddy bears.

Serious yum! I also got a game for Leonard and he wrote me a poem. Happy Valentine's Day!

CNY Feast & Fortunes

We welcomed the year of the snake with a sumptuous feast of- lemon chicken, black pepper beef, vegetable lo mein, fried rice, chicken dumplings, mini spring rolls, oriental style chicken balls, and of course fortune cookies.

These were our fortunes:

Leonard- You will gain admiration from your peers.

Jennifer- You have a captivating style all your own.

Kaleb- You will be called to fill a position of high honor and responsibility.

Noé- You outdistance all competitors.

Gavin- You have a keen sense of humor and bring out the best in others.

Teague- Your ability for accomplishment will follow with success.

Hiram- Others find your charm irresistible.

All dressed up for TRASH?

During the holiday season, Leonard and guest (that's me) were invited to attend a reception at The Netherland's Official Residence (home to their Ambassador). I respectfully declined (as I'd rather not pay a babysitter to go and rub elbows with people I don't know) and Len went solo.

He came back home with some yummy chocolate, some alcohol (he then gave to a fellow co-worker), and this darling "windmill" ornament.

Flash forward to February- Len calls me up from work one day and asks if I'd like to go see a modern dance performance at the NAC- tickets compliments of The Netherlands' Embassy.

This is more up my alley. I love dance, I get to dress up in the dreary winter, I get a night out with my honey, and I don't have to rub elbows with any strangers. So of course, I said YES!

The dance company is from The Netherlands (obviously) and their name is T.R.A.S.H. I have no idea what it stands for, but well the name kind of fit? Don't get me wrong, these two were AMAZING dancers, but the two stories they told (The Enchanted Room and T + Bernadette) were just sad, angry, depressing, almost violent. I enjoy dance that is more of the uplifting variety. The music on the other hand was crazy good. During the first dance, 4 performers came out on stage. After watching the above 2 dance for a few minutes I clued in to the fact that the other 2 were singing the music they were dancing to. The second number had an additional performer on stage as well, this time a cellist who played the most hauntingly beautiful music I've ever heard. I am always impressed with people who have fostered and developed their talents to such levels. However, I wish they would then use those talents to enlighten and uplift!

*And in the end I rubbed elbows with strangers. I got to meet the Ambassador from The Netherlands and his lovely wife, Len's colleagues at their Embassy, some of Len's colleagues from DFAIT, as well as the TRASH company. I still feel awkward about this, but it was pretty cool. The cellist was super humble, love that!

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Belgian Chocolates

Len went to the BeNeLux countries for work back in January. I really want to post his adventures on here, but as I need him to help me with that it may take a while. So I'm going to get caught up on what else has been going on in our lives.

First of all, Len did well in bringing back this delightful box of Leonidas chocolate from Belgium for our family...

...well for the two of us. We gave the kids some chocolate we had on hand (it was still good- Lindor truffles). We figured their young palates wouldn't appreciate these fine chocolates as well as ours. We shared each piece and ate it all in one sitting. Yep, we are gluttonous when it comes to delicious chocolate!