love a good weekend

we had a great weekend.

we got to go out for breakfast on saturday, i got pampered and chopped off my hair, got to spend 3 precious hours alone downtown, had alot of laughs, a sticker fight, coloring, good food, a nice walk at beaver lake and some good old fashioned snuggling accompanied by many episodes of season 1 of brothers and sisters. all in all it was a fabulous weekend - thanks jer.

while i was out whacking off my hair jer took mackie out on an adventure. i thought i would post a few pics of them below as they turned out soooo cute.

oh and yes, more on the chopping of the hair. it felt great. i have been needing a new look and of course, being a hairdresser it was killing me to go around town everyday looking like sheat with my hair in a ponytail (totally unflattering). i had tried 2 hairsalons since moving to vic and have not been happy with either or my cuts. so the other week i found myself desperately bothering a girl in line at the local starbucks and asking her to please tell me who cuts her hair. i knew from the cut that the stylist was good. she gave me the name and thank god i remembered it. my hairdresser from vancouver, whom i love, is no longer working and so i thought why not give this girl in town a shot. upon meeting my new fave hairdresser we realized what a small world it is and that we both know mandy (my old hairdresser) and the receptionist is mandy's best friend. i knew it was fate. this is a perfect example to me to always follow my gut. it was embarrassing to bother a perfect stranger, but it paid off in the end because i am in LOVE with my hair. if you live in town and need a wicked stylist please check out ashley at the fix on johnston street. she kicks hairdresser ass and i am picky picky picky.

while they were off gallivanting around victoria i was also luxuriating in a few home decor stores and then found myself in value village for a good hour rummaging. it was great fun. here are a few pics of some of my goodies:

a set of four bowls and four small plates to go with my new white set that i picked up the other week.

new flour and sugar canisters that i fell in love with (sorry for the bad photo)

ballerina

i love halloween.

it was so much fun to become a kid again and experience trick or treating and all the fun of halloween all over again.

mack looked so cute as a ballerina and she was super excited all day to go out trick or treating. we headed first to meet jen, aaron and ava at the mall for "malloween". jer and i quickly realized this mall version of halloween sucked so we took off and headed for the streets for old style trick or treating!

we started off rough as poor little mack thought after she said trick or treat she got to go in the house. she grabbed some candy and then proceeded to go inside and take off her shoes. it was priceless! she had a big tantrum when we told her she couldn't stay...poor thing. it was hilarious. good thing she is a quick learner. after the 2nd house she was a pro with stellar door knocking, great vocals of "trick or treat", "thank you", "good night" etc...and she showed no fear - that is until the last house. the 2nd to last pic on here depicts her fear (or start of it). the house was over the top and freaked me out, never mind the crazy old guy who was giving out the candy. so we headed for home and as soon as we started walking, poof, our pretty little ballerina passed right out with exhaustion from all the fun. love it.

i can't wait until we have our own house. i am going to be the crazy lady on the street who goes all out with decorations and has the best candy! jer is humiliated already...haha.

slippers for those cute little toes

i think i may have to splurge and get mackenzie a pair of these gorgeous slippers from Satch & Sol



the slippers are handmade in mongolia by a fair trade artisan cooperative for Satch & Sol and they are to die for! they have a creative collection of handmade goodies for our little ones.

i finally got it!

i have been waiting for ages and ages to get this book from the library! i am super excited. i am an avid reader of her blog (http://www.soulemama.typepad.com/) and have to admit that i am envious of her lifestyle and only dream of spending my days crafting and knitting with my kids and living life as simply as possible. her photography is gorgeous as well.

as soon as mackie goes to bed tonight i know what i am reading....how many more hours till bedtime???

halloween is almost here.....

we've had a busy week or so and i have found myself with little time to stay on top of my blogging, so here is a whack load of pics of what we have been up to:

http://s344.photobucket.com/albums/p330/shannonandjeremy/pumpkin%20patch/?albumview=slideshow

we went to visit the michell's farm on the weekend and scored some great pumpkins! a baby, mommy and daddy size pumpkin and then found some great templates online to print out and use to put cool faces on our pumpkins. mack was a bit freaked out of the insides of the pumpkins when jer was carving but she had a hoot regardless. we roasted some yummy pumpkin seeds that i was scared weren't going to turn out but they did and they sure are delicious.

the house is looking ready for halloween, what with the pumpkins, some new fall foilage we scored on sale at michael's for 90% off and mack and i's wonderful halloween crafts we made and colored for the glass patio doors. she walks by them and says "boo" to the kleenex ghosts and "trick or treat" to the cat and witches we made. it's too cute and we had a lot of fun making them a week or so ago.

mackenzie finished her last bout of swim lessons and passed with a great report card again. she can now go into the third level once she is 2 in the spring. she is really confident in the water and seems to love it. this one has no fear i tell ya. i am thinking she may have caught the swim bug from my mom and grandpa.

i have been busy compiling christmas craft ideas and fun activities to do with mackenzie over the holidays. we think we got our "xmas card picture" for our annual photo card but we aren't telling which one it is...tee hee. i love the holidays and can't wait to start with all the fun festivities.

houseguest

sorry it's been a bit since i last posted.
we have had a houseguest since sunday and i have been quite busy taking care of the boys. it's been fun spoiling our friend tymon (and of course jer) with yummy meals and alot of beer (and some halloween candy, ok, a fair amount of halloween candy) accompanied by some serious wii time. man that game is fun.
mack is gonna miss her buddy and i am gonna miss the company during the daytime.
thought the pic below was adorable but i am not too sure if tymon enjoyed mackie's 7am wakeups as much as she did...tee hee.

will post more in the next few days....i have a nice, cold, granville island winter ale calling my name right now...yum, you know winter is coming when this fave beer of mine comes out. i just can't get enough of that vanilla in my beer.

love you

she's got his eyes

how can you tell she loves her daddy?

gobble, gobble

we had a great time over the "gobble, gobble" weekend so i thought i would inundate you with pics of our trip.

it was amazing to see how much mackie loved quadra island. we took a nice stroll before the turkey dinner on rebecca spit and she went wild! she ran the whole way. it was hilarious to see. she was captivated and invigorated. she is definitely an island girl. she got to have some fun time with grandma and we also got some great pics of all of us. i can only post so many on here before you all get sick of looking at our cute faces. if you do want to see more you can check out our photobucket page at:

http://photobucket.com/thecooks

we had a great dinner and it was nice to enjoy the peace and quiet of the island at jer's folks b&b. for anyone heading out that way their b&b can be found here. Nanci's paintings can also be found at her online gallery - http://www.firesignartanddesign.com/Gallery.htm.

thanks for the great print of your painting tracy! mackenzie loves it and we framed and hung it in her room. she makes a seal sound and says grandpa whenever she looks at it! too cute.

the drive home was filled with alot of rain and wind but we made it. we even got to stop at the superstore and i was super excited for that. i scored and hit a big clearance sale and got some new white vases, some neat glass pillar candle holders for the mantel and a new set of white dishes for a steal! i think my best deal was the set of drinking glasses for $1.98! you gotta love superstore.

i am stocking up for xmas. jer and i have decided to have all the xmas festivities at our house this year as we aren't going up to kitimat for the holidays. it was the only way i can keep from becoming depressed and phoning my family every hour bawling. instead i will cook and start some new traditions here for the baby. should be fun! i am already starting to plan the menu....mmmm..yummy!

many faces of mackenzie

i caught these pics of mackenzie as we waited in the car for dad on our road trip on the weekend.

rain, rain, come again

i cannot believe i have been living in victoria since december and hadn't gotten a waterproof jacket until monday.



i never seem to be able to bring myself to spend the money on the coat and myself. but finally, after a few weeks of conjoling and jer telling me to do it, we got me a coat. it's my new baby.

with all the walking, running and biking i am doing outside i am no longer going to come home drowning in my own clothes.

i did a bit of research beforehand and decided to go with northface. jer has one as does my sis and his sis. they are all happy with their jackets.

i went with the W Venture Parka, in of course, brown! what a surprise! another part of the reason i had never purchased a waterproof jacket before is that they were the most unflattering coat on me. because of my boobage, they made me look like a big long sausage. yuck! so when i saw the above coat on their website and noticed it actually had a waist i was sold. i can adjust the waist and bottom cinching, the hood size (which is a plus cause i have a small head) and it has pit zips, so when i am running i can let the air flow under my arms. perfect. it was monsooning here on monday night when i biked home from pilates and thought i may drown in it, but low and behold, my upper body stayed perfectly dry which is alot more than i can say for my rain soaked booty.

i am looking forward to trying it out this weekend on Quadra Island when we are there for thanksgiving. we haven't been there since last thanksgiving and i am excited to let mack run wild with nature now that she is old enough. last time we were there she wasn't walking yet. it should be lots of fun and we are looking forward to staying with char/tymon for a few nights in campbell river as well. we haven't seem them since our wedding.

if i don't post for a few days happy gobble, gobble to you all! i hope you gobble yourself silly on all the yummy turkey and potatoes, enjoy the post meal pant unzip (don't act like you don't know what i am talking about, you all know you do it) and give thanks for all of your blessings.

if my family in kitimat is reading this post, i miss you all tons and tons and would kill to have some of nana's delicous turkey dinner this year. i wish we were there to celebrate with you, but since i won't be, i give thanks for all the wonderful, tummy filling, sleep inducing meals you have provided me with over my lifetime. i love you all and oh, if you play a game after dinner, make sure dad doesn't cheat...haha.

i love breakfast

we love breakfast in our house.


i love going out for breakfast more than any other meal. i miss all the great little diners in vancouver that jer and i used to haunt every saturday morning for a lazy breakfast and lots of coffee. you could get a huge, stuff your face, good, old style diner breakfast plus coffee for $4.99. you cannot find that here in victoria.


don't get me wrong, there are some damn good breakfast places here in town. but they are bit more expensive and for me to be able to convince jer to go out every weekend for breakfast cheaper is better. only thing is we still want good quality for a low price. it's proving hard to find.


some of our fave places to go in victoria so far are (and it has taken me a damn long time to compile this list):


The Blue Fox Cafe

John's Place

Floyd's Diner

Shine


usually a breakfast will go for around $7 and up without coffee. they are delicious though and all of them provide a fun atmosphere to have breakfast. we love to go to floyd's when the baby is with us as it's loud and bustling with activity so babies go unnoticed. something every parent strives to find in a dining venue. last thing you want is to irritate all the hung over breakfast crowd..haha.


my personal fave is the blue fox. i could eat there every day. i drag jer there for our once a month dates if i can. i pig out there...haha. i cannot resist their pan fried potatoes. they are mouthwatering and so delicious. only drawback is it is small in there and very, very busy for breakfast and lunch. be prepared to stand in a long line and strollers will not fit. because of that we tend to not go there with mackenzie.


i try to not get too irritated with lineups though. that is a good sign that it's yummy inside and worth the wait. it has been hard moving to a new city and trying to find all the good places to eat. we still haven't found good sushi yet. we miss vancouver sushi so bad and if we go to van in november the first thing we are doing is going to all you can eat sushi, something vancouver island doesn't seem to have yet.


since i am currently not working and trying to prolong my "stay at home" mommy status as long as possible we can't afford to go out for the pricier breakies every weekend so jer and i take turns cooking them at home. this past saturday we had some yummy muffins i whipped up. they are the "super lemon blueberry muffins" from the "the best of bridge: the best of the best and more" cookbook. you can find the recipe here and the book here. mackenzie loved them! i didn't have enough blueberries kicking around in my fridge, so i did equal parts organic blueberries and dried cranberries and they were delicious. the hint of lemon is my fave. i love lemon in baked goods. i also always throw some ground flax seed in my baking.


who needs a restaurant when you have a mommy right?

kiss my skin

fall is here which means winter is right around the corner.

that scares the crap out of my skin. it seems that as soon as that delicious crispness is in the air my skin goes AWOL.

i knew i needed backup and of course, turned to my fave kiss my face products. i needed some lotion for my body and my hands. you would not believe how dry my hands are. mostly my fingers. i wash my hands a gazillion times a day and go through cream like crazy. so when i saw the huge jumbo size moisturizers on sale that i had been eyeing, i bought them up. i love them and of course they work great. no greasy residue. one for my bathroom and one for the kitchen. i couldn't decide which scent i liked better so i splurged and bought them both.

i just need to find a small size one to keep in my purse and i am all set. kiss my face, my hair and kiss my skin! if you haven't tried there stuff yet, i dare ya! just be warned, you'll be hooked. but don't worry, that's a good thing. i could use some fellow addictees...hee hee.

not another accountant..haha

i think we may have another accountant on our hands.

caught this pic of mack sitting on her potty copying daddy. she is reading his tax law book. a book that nobody could pay me enough to even look at. the only time i would like to hear anything out of that book is for jer to read me some of it to put me to friggin sleep...haha.

i thought it was a cute pic and any other ladies out there whose husbands read while, ahem, doing there business in the bathroom would get a kick out of it.

let the apron making begin!

i am finally posting pics of the material i am using (or reusing) to make my apron from.


i fell head over heels in love with this pattern and color on these pillowcases i found buried under dishcloths at the dollar giant. they cost a buck each and i just couldn't pass them up. i have 4 of the brown and 2 of the light blue. i figured it was a great way to get my hands on some practice material to make my apron from. i am going to rip the seams out and then voila! a big amount of fabric. the material isn't the softest to the touch (which is why they were in the dollar store), i sure wouldn't sleep on them, but they will make great apron material.


i am going to use the brown for the bottom half and light blue on the top. i am going to make the pocket on the brown out of light blue and depending on how adventurous i get, i may trim the whole thing in light blue as well. we'll see how i do. it's a vision i have in my lil ol head of what i want it to look like. i am also using a smock my nana sewed for me a few years ago as a sizing reference and the pocket patterns from "bend the rules sewing".


after i complete mine, (hopefully - cross your fingers for me) i am going to make another one for mack. i found another pillowcase there yesterday, surprise, surprise and thought it would be cute for her. it's light blue with kitchen stuff on it. why anyone would want that on bedding is beyond me but there it was, begging to be an apron for a little girl. i am going to look for some other material to put with it to add a bit more girliness to it. it should be fun. it is going to be part of her xmas presents this year.




now that i have found the pillowcases my eyes are darting all over the place looking for new material recyclables. jer just donated a whole whack load of dress shirts and i just may keep some to use for bits of accents or pocket material. hmmmmm, seems like so many options!


i am having fun with this sewing stuff. i picked up some supplies on the weekend and now feel like i am able to get going. i now only need to find the energy and suppress my guilt for ignoring my ever beckoning knitting pile. i still love you, my babies, momma just needs to do a few things and then poof, my "hills hat" is gonna be sittin on my head keeping my noggin warm this winter and i'll be wearing my "tofino" shawl around my neck.

on the hunt

mack and i went on a hunt for a naturopath clinic yesterday.

i have been having phone consultations with my naturopathic doctor since moving to victoria from van but it hadn't sunk in to me that i needed to find somewhere to buy my meds from in town. so i found myself on monday morning realizing i needed to buy one of them that day. silly me.

i phoned to about 5-6 naturopath clinics until i found one that had what i needed. what a pain in the butt. especially since i don't have a car i needed to only find clinics in the area. why do they always put naturopathic clinics in the boondocks????




the clinic i went to (i won't name names) was a bit freaky and involved me walking into a house (or a business) i really couldn't tell until i opened the door and prayed it wasn't someones home and then climbed the oldest and steepest set of stairs while carrying mack in my arms and her umbrella stroller over my head to meet some receptionist who yelled down to me from the end of the hall. weird.

i had a very big sense of sadness and longing for my old clinic. anyone looking for an exceptional naturopath clinic please visit the sage clinic here. they are voted year after year the best clinic in vancouver and i swear by them. if i had never gone to see dr. polinsky i would never have been able to have mackenzie. so when this lady in the weird attic naturopath clinic asked me to become a patient there i politely declined and said i was staying with my current doc. i then proceeded to leave the dark, hot house all the while daydreaming of the sage clinic with it's water sounds, yummy organic teas and relaxing environment.




i think i'll stick with my phone consultations and be more organized (or attempt to) next time i need medicine.

rain rain go away

i cannot believe it's fall already.

the rain has started and i am not prepared. i don't own a waterproof jacket and it rains all winter here. i don't have a car so i am exposed to the elements whenever i am outside which is everyday whether i am biking or running or walking. needless to say i need a waterproof coat. i must move that up on my to do list.

mack and i got a bit wet this week, or i should say i got drenched keeping her dry...haha. the weather was miserable and we were out in it all week.

we braved the moody bus drivers, rude patrons on the bus who don't get up for babies or elders (what the hell is wrong with them*&#*), and that stinky, stuffy rain smell that fills the air on the bus on those rainy, grey days to get out of the house. i am pondering how and how to complain to about the lack of respect on public transit and the worst part is the bus drivers are part of the problem. i am sure i am going to post a big rant one of these days so i will apologize in advance. we had fun regardless and enjoyed ourselves.

my mommy retired the other week and i have been loving our daily phone chats at 10am every morning. it helps make my day go by better and more cheerfully now that i have another "adult" to talk to during the day. i don't have to call jer at work 3 times a day now to just say hi.

my mom and i are both working on a project together. we are both putting together recipe binders. i am excited about all the fun, endless possibilites this binder can have. each day we have new tips and ideas for our potential binders!!! if anyone out there has some great ideas, please comment.

right now i am just starting, but i have my index layed out and have downloaded a cute recipe card template from microsoft office online for typing out my handwritten recipes. we also both decided to use images for all of our recipes. if the original recipe doesn't have an image, we will photograph the item once cooked. so fun! i love this project and can't wait to really find some time to get it going! the possibilities seem endless! we will post some pics when they are all done.

in the meantime i am on the hunt for a some new cookbooks to use. anyone have any suggestions? i am running out of cookbooks available at the library. i tend to search bestseller lists/recommendations and then request them through the library but lately have been getting stumped. i love books with photos and recipes that are yummy/healthy but easy.

we are looking forward to a nice relaxing weekend and hopefully not too much homework for jeremy. if you get a chance to spend some time online please go check out how about orange. this blog is full with wonderful ideas to craft, decorate, you name it. she also has some new fabrics out that are to die for. i can seriously get lost on this blog. lot's of fun, especially now that the holidays are coming up i am on the hunt for great gift ideas.

here are some pics of mack goofing around the house the other morning that i thought were too cute not to post.

Who said hockey pools were only for boys?

i joined a hockey pool last night.

i am gonna win...i think..haha. i have a good feeling about it. i will be happy as long as i beat jeremy.

he started a pool at his work and i got to go out for a few hours babyless, it felt great. i don't remember the last time i got to wear my ipod and listen to music by myself. it was worth it just for the 10 minutes i was on the bus.

i am already daydreaming about how i am gonna spend my winnings.

here are my players:

Evgoni Malkin (PIT)
Derek Roy (BUF)
Daniel Briere (PHI)
Scott Gomez (NYR)
Kristian Huselius (CGY)
Andrew Brunette (COL)
Christopher Higgins (MTL)
David Booth (FLA)
Taylor Pyatt (VAN)
Alex Burrows (VAN)
Ryan Whitney (PIT)
John Michael Liles (COL)

the only player i was sad i didn't get (besides sidney crosby of course) is ryan kesler. i have a good feeling about the him and the canucks this year. wish me luck!!!!

while we are on the subject of hockey jer and mackenzie had a fun night on monday without mommy. jer suited mack up in her canucks jersey and they watched the preseason game on tv. i thought the pics were cute of the two of them.

guess who's excited about halloween???

we're baking again

mack and i made muffins today.

yummy carrot muffins with cream cheese icing. they turned out great.

not sure why i was craving carrot muffins, maybe due to the ever looming fall that i think starts today, but i needed to eat some carrots.

mack loves them and i thought it was a great way to sneak in some veggies for her in a quick snack/breakfast. i made some with icing and some without.

if you too are in the mood for a little carrot, get your shredder out and get baking. you can find the recipe here.

inspired

i finally dragged the sewing machine out of the closet.

i worked my little butt off during mackenzie's naptime and bedtime to get my throw pillows done - finally! i thinked they turned out great! jer is a bit confused by the whole "decorative pillow" thing on the bed though, i find that too cute and very male.

thanks to the book "bend the rules sewing" by the fantastically creative amy karol, i managed to get so inspired by the possibility that i just may be able to sew some of the fantastic stuff she has on her blog and in the book. i can't wait to make some of the cute bags, purses and other great ideas she has in there. love it!