Wonderland Round Up -- Week of July 17th

Well, we've been home for a week now, so I guess that it is finally time to admit that vacation is over and get back to work.  Here goes ...

Goals for the Week:

Two of the boys are taking swimming lessons for the next two weeks so we'll add that to our regular soccer nights and a couple of get togethers with friends.  I had promised the boys some painting time last week that didn't happen, so the rainy days this week will be the perfect time to do that -- I've got an idea that will either be great or blow up in my face -- should be interesting!  Oh, and I should probably start working on my report for the department of education -- hmmm, let's see, what did my kids learn this year?

Recipe that we have tried or want to try:

We haven't had anything note worthy this week -- post vacation laziness again, so this week we should have to do double right?  Well, I have just the thing.  I have recently been given an old recipe box that used to belong to my grandmother.  After flipping through it today, I'm thinking that we should pick something from this new collection to try.  There are some interesting ones to choose from:  Brown Betty and Fruit Betty both sound good, but what are Canadian Palettes?  Then there is Squirrel Cake -- I think that catching them would be the hard part! -- and my personal favourite, the card titled:  "Butter Scotch Pie & Omelet"!  Should make for some interesting meals around here.

Book(s) I am Reading:

Organized Simplicity: The Clutter-Free Approach to Intentional Living by Tsh Oxenreider. I have almost finished this book and the fact that I haven't actually finished a book in quite some time should speak volumes about how much I am enjoying this one!  Yes, it's about cleaning your house -- that's not really the most interesting part, although it is infinitely more interesting to read about than it is to do!  I love that it encourages you to create a Family Purpose Statement and then arrange all parts of your life (your time, your money, your home) so that they are all in line with this statement.  Brilliant!  How often have you bought something, or done something, or even held onto to something, not because it was meaningful to you, but because you felt that you should?  Guilty!  So, yes it is about organizing and de-cluttering you home (something that I really need help with), but with a very specific purpose -- to make it work better for you. 


Website or Blog Discovery:

I discovered "The Lucas Adventures" this morning after reading an article in the paper entitled:  "With four kids under seven, life is hectic, amazing".   A fellow Nova Scotian with 4 kids who keeps getting the comment:  "you must be really busy" which really means:  "wow, you're really crazy!" -- I can totally relate to this, I thought!  I'm looking forward to finding more commonalities, and maybe some commiseration, as I following along with the Lucases.


Kid Saying of the Week:

We were visiting with some friends last week who have a 13 year old exchange student staying with them from France (how cool is that? I am so jealous!). While sitting around and snacking, we got talking about food. There was cheddar cheese among our snacks to which our new friend (in all his 13 years of wisdom) responded: "That is not cheese". Knowing that the french take their cheese very seriously, I asked what was different about it. "Everything!" he said. We all had a good laugh, but what struck me even funnier was my friend's comment in return: "We have good cheese, we just don't eat it!"


Finally, a favourite picture from the week:

Isaac running after the soccer ball at this weekend's tournament.