Mum

A beautiful woman was laid to rest on Oct 18th. I have a hard time thinking about blogging about this but I also want people to see how simple and beautiful her interment was. 

It was just my brother and I on a crisp and foggy morning in Vancouver. It was really odd to walk up and see my dad's plot look any different than it had looked in 39 years. But it was such a comfort to know they could be placed together and I am so grateful for that. 

We had a small posy of red roses that I had put with the kids there the day after she passed away and a gorgeous arrangement from Dama's parents.

It was so simple and peaceful, just as she would have wanted. There was no big fuss which aligned with her wishes. Half of her ashes were placed here and the other half will go to Scotland next year.

I love you Mum. You were the greatest. I miss you so much.

Thank you friends for all the beautiful cards (my mantle in covered!!), the meals, the flowers, the love, the warm blankets, the hugs, the phone calls....and for showing me that though she is gone I am never alone in this world!

What's Cooking?

Since I've been so busy going back and forth to Canada, home cooked meals have suffered. But I am back to cooking meals for the family and I have a couple of great recipes to share.

The first one I like is a roast chicken that is really simple and incredibly tasty. You can use this recipe for a whole chicken or chicken pieces. It's delicious both ways. Friends have asked me before how to roast a whole chicken. It is really one of the simplest meals you can make and it's healthy and has leftovers!

Roast Chicken with Lemon and Parsley

I am always on the look out for easy and fast recipes that taste great, especially for soccer nights. Something I can prep beforehand and then finish when the kids get home. One of the recipes I go to many times is a korean flavored ground beef recipe. Its simple and delicious and once you get the hang of this dish, I can make it with my eyes closed.

Korean Beef

Just a tip: I buy fresh ginger, peel it and cut it into portion sizes and then freeze.
Let me know if you try these 2 recipes!

Halloween 2013: iPod and Nerd

Halloween was a lot of fun this year. It seems like this may be one of the last ones where we do our own neighborhood, just that small loop with all the kids, just that small bag of candy.

This year, there were a lot of requests from the kids' friends to join in their trick or treating fun. We ended up having one friend each come by our hood and then we went to visit other friends throughout the evening. Elise ended up with 9 1/2 pounds of candy from a trunk or treat on the 30th and Halloween combined. Sheer teeth rotting craziness!!

Lucas asked to be an iPod 2 days before Halloween. Thanks, buddy. This is not something you can order online or find in a store so I set off to make it. It actually was not too difficult to do.

Here's what I used:

-black display board with the wings cut off
-white cord
-2 cardboard tubes (I used the tubes that glowsticks come in)
-styrofoam ball
-silver spray paint
-glue gun

I printed the icons from the internet. I found a zip file online with some of them but the results were better with these steps:

1. I google imaged "angry birds app icon" (and whatever other icons I wanted)and saved the highest def one I could find
2. Opened it in Picasa
3. Set my print settings to 8x10 paper size, shrink to fit, and shrink to 65%
4. Print on white cardstock!

The ear buds were the fun part. I cut a foam ball in 2, hot glued the tubes onto the ball halves, then glued the cord with LOTS of hot glue into the tubes. I attached the cord onto the back of the board with a stronger glue that needed to dry overnight.

Ellie was the cutest nerd ever. Her costume was easy and was a combination of Goodwill, costume store and what we had on hand. Her friend came as a nerd too. These girls had a bast together!