37/52 - Wooden Shoes + Sunglasses + A Little Under the weather

The other day the Lil Man decided he wanted to walk around the living room with some shades on ... I guess it was a little bright in the house.

 

 

Things have been a little busy around here and I have not had much time to blog lately. I meant to post this photo last week but never had a chance so I decided to include it this week. Last week Hugo decided he was going to try walking around his room in his wooden shoes. He did not get very far but he was very persistent and comical to watch.

The Lil Man has some molars breaking through and as a result he has not been feeling the greatest. Usually, these three things (his blanket, Teddy & his soother, which is behind his teddy) stay in bed until naptime or bed time but when he is not feeling well it sure is hard to take them away from him. He just loves his Teddy so much. My cousin gave Hugo this Teddy the first day he came home. Once we realized it was his favourite, I went out and bought a second one (which I now switch back and forth between the two and you almost can not tell which one was the original one he received).  He is so cute with Teddy, he will give him a hug and a kiss, it's adorable.

 

 

Labour Day Weekend

Hope everyone had a good weekend and Labour Day. Our long weekend was busy. I must apologize in advance as this post is going to be a long one, plus I had to back date it as I did not get a chance to finish it off early enough. Things have been a wee bit busy around here so I am just getting around to posting this.

Last year my sister in-law suggested a new tradition for us to start  - before she goes back to school to start a new school year (she's a teacher) we have a family dinner. Last year the dinner was at our place but I can not remember what we had (I think we had pizza but I am not positive). This labour day weekend the tradition continued, however, we had dinner at my in-laws and they ordered in some pizza (Hugo's favourite). For dessert this year we did something different, we went for ice cream from the original Paisley Lorna Doon in Wasaga. Since we had not gone there yet for our yearly summer treat, Byron thought it would be a nice way to end the summer. It was on our to do list for the weekend, so it worked out that we were able to cross it off the list on Saturday and enjoy a wonderful dessert!

 

This was Hugo's first taste of the original Lorna Doon's Banana Split (Byron asked them to leave the coconut out so Hugo could share it with him).

 

 

 

The Lil man enjoyed his banana split.

 

 

I had a Brownie Sunday. Every time I have one of these it reminds me of the time I was pregnant with Hugo. The first time I had one while I was pregnant with the Little Man he moved around a lot in my belly (probably from the sugar overload). Towards the end of my pregnancy there was a day that he just seemed to have stopped moving which made me quite concerned as he usually moved around a lot. Byron and I went to the original Lorna Doon's and I had a Brownie Sundae in hopes that it would get him moving around, but it did not do the trick and we ended up going to the Hospital to get monitored and everything was fine. I guess he just wanted to rest more that particular day.

On Sunday and Monday I was a busy lady in the kitchen! 

 

To my surprise I was able to get some canning done. I was able to convince Byron to look after Hugo before he went riding. Sunday morning before Byron left for biking I made pizza sauce and we processed it once he returned.

On Monday, I tried a new salsa recipe (I did not make a big batch like I normally do because it was a new recipe and I was not sure if we would like it). I've been canning for the past 4 or 5 years. (I didn't can the year I was expecting Hugo because Byron did not think it would be a good idea). In past years I've had Byron's help with all the prep but this year I did it solo as he was looking after the Lil Man for me.

 

 

We found another use for the burner that came with the deep fryer last year! I was able to process the jars outside which is so nice because it reduces the heat in the house, plus it was a lot quicker to get the water boiling.

I am not going to lie, it is ALOT of work canning but the end product is so worth it! Knowing exactly what you are eating is wonderful, especial when a lot of the ingredients are right from your garden.  

On Sunday evening after dinner Byron suggested we go for a drive and a DQ treat. Another fabulous idea from my awesome Hubby!

 

We brought our treats home to enjoy - I had a vanilla cone which I shared with the Lil Man and since Byron had shared his past two treats with Hugo he had the Peanut Buster Parfait all to himself minus a spoonful.

It's a good thing we had the ice cream earlier in the weekend because the weather sure did cool down by the end of Monday. It felt so cool and crisp out. Definitely back to school fall weather. I can not believe summer is over. It sure did go by fast!

 

36/52 - Elmo + Lil Mr. = Big Smiles

I just love these pearly whites and this smile ... it sure is contagious ...

 

On a side note - the Lil Man just loves Roxy's black blanket. It seems every time I turn around to grab something, he pulls it off her chair and is laying on it on the floor. The other night I was looking all over the living room/ kitchen for Roxy and could not find her on any of her mats. Since it was a bit dark in the house and with her being black it made it a bit difficult to locate her. Then I spotted her ...

 

I guess she figures since the Lil Man can steal her blanket she was going to steal his blanket and couch. It is slowly becoming her favourite spot.

Wiskey Ribs

I can not believe it is the end of August {insert sad face}. Where did this month honestly go. I can not believe the school year is already starting next week. It sure is true when they say time flies when you are having fun.  An item on my to do list for this summer was to make ribs from scratch. I was starting to think I was not going to get around to crossing this item off my list, but the other week we finally made ribs from scratch. We are usually short on time and just make the store bought ones that you just pop in the oven or throw on the BBQ - they are quick, easy and taste ok. We find ribs are quite time consuming to make from scratch.  I must admit I am glad I gave them a try.

The recipe I decided to try was from the Canadian Living magazine - June 2013 issue - Whiskey Glazed Ribs. Overall these ribs turned out nice. The sauce was a bit to sweet for our personal liking, but they were enjoyable!

 

Here's the recipe if you want to give it a try. Would love to know your thoughts on this recipe.

Whiskey Glazed Ribs

Ingredients

4lb(1.8 kg) pork side ribs

1-1/3 cups (325 mL) sodium-reduced beef broth
1 sweet onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 bay leaves
1/4 tsp (1 mL) salt
1/4 tsp (1 mL) pepper

 

Whisky Glaze:

2 cups (500 mL) rye whisky or bourbon
1/2 cup (125 mL) maple syrup
1/4 cup (60 mL) packed brown sugar
2 tbsp. (30 mL) sodium-reduced soy sauce
1/4 tsp (1 mL) pepper
1 pinch salt

In a large pot, stir together ribs, broth, onion, garlic, bay leaves, salt and pepper; bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until meat is tender, about 1 hour; drain.

Meanwhile, in saucepan, stir together whisky, maple syrup, sugar, soy sauce, pepper and salt over medium heat; boil gently, stirring occasionally, until reduced and thickened enough to coat back of spoon, 10 to 12 minutes.

Place ribs on greased grill over medium heat; close lid and grill, turning and brushing with glaze, until coated and sticky, about 5 minutes.

Enjoy!

 

35/52 - A Visit to the Zoo & Mr. Norm's

Today the Lil Man is 22 months. I can't believe it, two more months and he will be two years old (no more counting his age in months)! This past weekend we went on a little zoo adventure to the Elmvale Jungle Zoo. It is not a big zoo with a wide assortment of animals, but it was still a wonderful adventure to go on as a family. The Lil Man had a great time checking out all the animals!

 

This is one of my favourite parts about the Elmavale zoo - the goats. The Lil Man really enjoyed the feeding the goats ...

 

... and petting them ...

 

 

When we reached the lions and he saw what was behind the fence he started to say "ROAR". Too bad they were sleeping.

 

 The giraffes are another favourite.

 

This year the Lil Man was a wee bit to small to feed them but he really enjoyed watching the other kids feed them.

 

 

The Lil Man had fun feeding Peppa the pig. It was really cute watching him and listening to him make the piggy sounds ...

He wasn't too sure about the noises this guy was making at first but he liked watching him.

 

We really enjoyed visiting the Elmvale zoo again this year. It is nice supporting local places!

 

On our way home from the zoo we stopped at Mr. Norm's for lunch - frozen yogurt is a good lunch option, right? It is one of our favourite places for frozen yogurt. If you are visiting Wasaga, you need to pop into this place for a nice summer treat.  This was Hugo's first Blueberry yogurt treat!

 

That was our mini staycation we had this weekend. It was a wonderful weekend!! Some times you need to take some time and enjoy a couple of the things that your area has to offer!

Bacon Wrapped Pork Tenderloin

Before I begin I must say that this is one of Byron's ideas. It is however, a completely new recipe at our house that we decided to try -- Bacon Wrapped Pork Tenderloin.

Byron seasoned the pork with oregano, basil, chives, parsley, garlic powder, little salt and pepper  then wrapped the tenderloin with bacon. He put it on the BBQ for about an hour.  The time however depends on the size of your tenderloin. Ours was small so it did not take very long.

We also did some herbed potatoe cubes wrapped in tin foil on the BBQ and grilled some peppers. It was an entire dinner prepared on the BBQ {my favorite}.

The end result was delicious. The pork was very flavourful and super moist the way we like it!!

Everything seems to taste so much better when it has bacon don't you think?

 

34/52 - I Spy with my Little Eye ... Dad`s Guitar

Our spare bedroom has become somewhat of a storage room. Currently it is filled with totes of clothing Hugo has outgrown. It is sure crazy how much clothing a little guy goes through and needs. Some days we go through a couple outfit changes as he can get quite dirty when we are outside playing. But this is not were I was heading with this post. The Lil Man loves going into the spare room to investigate. He always seems to find things that capture his attention. This week he finally discovered dad's guitar.

He was very fascinated with it.

 

 

He really enjoyed playing it and making some noise ...

 

I think the little man is going to learn how to play the guitar before Dad (I think this guitar has gotten more use over the past couple days than it has over the past 4 years) lol!

I snapped this photo with my iPod late last week ... these two have come a long way!!The Lil Man is sporting some crazy hair ... it's becoming the norm around here.

 

 

Happy Monday!!