Like, Totally For Sure!

Noé and Kaleb went to an 80's themed dance.  Noé won second place for best costume, and Kaleb won second place for best dancing.  Good job you two!!

I LOVED growing up in the 80's!  I'm happy to share my love of neon, crimped hair, and leg warmers.  Alas, I don't think big bangs are coming back anytime soon.

Run Away to the Circus

I was working in the basement, and Macy was playing on the floor just around the corner.

I went to check on her and couldn't find her for a minute.  Then I saw that she had wiggled into the tent.

Of course, I had to run upstairs and grab my camera.

By the time I got back downstairs, she had fallen asleep.

I must admit- it's not a bad spot for a nap!

Noé at the Mumbai Masala Grill

Noé chose for us to take her to the new Mumbai Masala Grill for her birthday dinner.  Oh. my. goodness. it was SO good!!!  It was definitely the best Indian food we have had since we moved back from India.  They brought us Papadams with Chutney while we perused the menu.  We started off enjoying Aloo Tikki Chaat as our appetizer and would have been satisfied just with that!  We splurged for dinner and ordered Tandoori Chicken, Tandoori Paneer and Veggies, Dal Makhani, Chicken Coconut Curry, Saffron Rice, and Garlic Naans.  For dessert, Noé chose for us to share some Gulab Jamun, and a slice of Mango Cheesecake- which the house gave to us complimentary!  We all can't wait to go back (but I think next time we'll have to just have the buffet)!

Noé also got cards with money from us and her grandparents.  We also opened a bank account for her and offered to take her shopping.  All she wanted was some new scrunchies, so off to Claire's we went where she bought at least a dozen of them.  The thing is- she wears them more as bracelets than hair accessories, go figure!

Kaleb at the Mandarin

For Kaleb's birthday celebration, he chose for us to take him out to dinner at the Mandarin buffet.  We had delicious Chinese food and fabulous desserts.

He got cards with money from both sets of grandparents and from us this year.  We took him to the bank to open his own account.  We also offered to take him shopping with his new monetary gifts, but he decided he just wants to save it for now.  Sounds good to me!

Wearing Green and Eating Rainbows

Our St. Patrick's Day was pretty low key this year.  We all wore some green to church...

...and then after church I made a vanilla cake with fresh whip cream and a rainbow of fruit on top- strawberries, mandarin oranges, pineapple, kiwis, blueberries, and the funkiest-looking grapes I've ever seen.  Yum!

Len in Austria

Leonard went to Vienna, Austria to work for a week.  Here are some of my favorite pictures that he took with his captions.

Hofsburg Palace ("Castle of the Court") is where I spent half of my time in Vienna.

It's the former principal imperial palace of the Habsburg dynasty rulers and is now the official residence and workplace of the President of Austria.

It's also where the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has its headquarters, which is why I was there.

Started in the 1200s, it's a pretty massive, and impressive complex.

This is a back door- not the main entrance.

Subtle.

You can see the OSCE flags.

Now this is part of the main entrance, with some rocking statues of Hercules.

Vienna - where it feels like half the city-centre is palaces.

Okay, maybe not palaces, but the blocks were still pretty intense. And this is leaving out the obvious fancy buildings like the opera house, city hall, parliament, etc. Just the random buildings I walked by.

St. Stephen's Cathedral is a masterpiece, and the colourful tile roof - put on after a fire at the end of World War II - is just striking.

The cathedral was almost destroyed during the war. As the German army retreated from the city, the commandant ordered the church to be shelled and left as debris, but an army captain disregarded the order.

Found myself taking some time for contemplation inside.

Closeup of the tiles on St. Stephen's Cathedral. 

When I saw it the first day, I didn't see the imperial eagle.

Half of the organ, inside another church.

Signs.

One thing I really loved in Vienna were these old-school restaurant signs. This one is my favourite.

Out chopping wood? Searching for truffles? Taking Porky out to the lower 40 to meet his fate? So much one can read into it.

If they ever make a statue of me, this pose looks about right...

The top of a theatre behind my hotel in Vienna.

My first morning in Vienna, I knew I had come to the right place.

I mean, seriously. This was at my hotel's breakfast.

I really miss Leonard when he travels and I always wish I could go with him!  He always brings us back yummy chocolates though.  These "Mozart" ones were pretty popular he said.

(One time I did travel with him back in 2011, when he had to go to England and Ireland.  We've been lucky and able to travel on three continents together, but now he's been to 8 countries and 1 continent without me!  Someday we'll be back!)

Notice how these chocolates are called Salzburgers as they are from Salzburg.  Here's what Len had to say:

Most important thing that I learned by going to Vienna?

That weiners are just like hamburgers and frankfurters. They are a place name.

I've known for a long time that Vienna's name in German was Wein.

But only when being in Vienna, and seeing the word "Weiner" everywhere, not just about sausages, did it click - it's a Wein-er....

Love it!  And now I'm thinking about the Vienna sausages that were a staple on every road trip I took with my dad in my childhood.  Some day Vienna, I will meet you!

Kaleb and Noé's #17

For Kaleb and Noé's birthday, we had a simple celebration at home.  Kaleb made dinner that night of delicious homemade meatballs with a lemony-garlic pasta.

I made a fresh berry cake with berry buttercream.

Leonard was out of the country for work that week, so we celebrated again after he got home.

These two first called me mom and they started this crazy crew.  I sure love them and am so happy they are mine!

Happy Birthday Kaleb and Noé!  Remember, from here on out on all of your birthdays you will stay seventeen forever!!

Full Moon

I was driving home on the night of February's full moon and I couldn't believe how bright the sky was.

As soon as I got home, I ran inside to get my camera.  When I was a little girl I wanted to be an astronaut and visit the moon.  Now, I think I'd rather just say hello earth-side.  It sure is majestic though!

Piggies heart groundhog families!

These pictures are from Google as I forgot to take our own pictures, but on the day after Valentine's day we celebrated four holidays in one!  We started off celebrating the Year of the Pig with delicious store-bought Chinese food.

I made a fresh strawberry cake in honor of Valentine's day to have for dessert.

 

We weren't able to watch this movie on the actual Groundhog day, so we watched it this night instead (still one of my faves!).

The kids had school off for Family day as it's a Provincial holiday.  However, Leonard is a federal employee, so he had to work.  We still celebrated though by reading one of our favorite books- Our Heavenly Family, Our Earthly Families.

Life is too busy sometimes, but I love when I can celebrate in even small ways with my family!

Cards, Flowers, and Candy

Kids writing cards for their school Valentine's parties makes my heart happy!  I can't believe only Hiram and Ali had parties on Valentine's day this year.

Hiram gave out Super Hero cards.

Ali gave out animal cards.

Teague's class was tubing on Valentine's day, so their teacher tried to have her class party the day before.  That day turned out to be a snow day where the schools were shut down!  This was a first for us!  Our kids have been in school for nine years here and all the previous snow days just meant the buses weren't running, while the schools remained open.  This time the schools were even shut down.  Ottawa really wanted its citizens to stay inside that day.  After Valentine's day the kids had a PD day, followed by the weekend, followed by Family day.  So, five days after Valentine's day Teague's class finally had their party.  Teague gave out foodie cards.

Gavin's class was also tubing on Valentine's day, so his teacher didn't host a party for the holiday.  Gavin still got a Valentine though.  His friend, Camy gave him a card that said, "If you were a triangle you'd be acute one."  Inside it said, "Will you be my Valentine?? please -Camy."  She also gave him a jar of jelly beans labeled "every flavour beans," but luckily it only had yummy tasting jelly beans inside.  Gavin's class has email, so he emailed Camy back saying, "Sure, I'll be your Valentine."  She wrote back, "OMG!" (Which I read as Oh My Goodness.)  And that was the end of it, ha ha!

I finally got around to taking a picture of all the cute cards the kids brought home from school...

...and Hiram's darling Valentine bag!

Leonard came home from work with this lovely flower arrangement for me.

I wrote out little cards for each of my family members...

...as well as got everyone Hershey's bars- either Almond, Cookies 'n Creme, or Gold.

I may have picked out my own card, but Leonard is the one who signed it, ha ha!

This photo is just a place marker until I take a picture of ALL the Valentine's cards the kids brought home from school.

I'm glad we have a special day to celebrate love!