Park 1 - Bella Vista Park

We decided to start our challenge close to home.  Bella Vista Park is located just around the corner from our apartments.  We walked there once or twice last summer, but Zoey was really too young to play yet.

But not this year!  Sadly, my picture of the small play structure disappeared, but she loved it.

Lily enjoyed playing on the bigger structure as well...

But she moves to fast to be in pictures, usually.

This is a small park, with just the two play structures and a huge field of grass.  It's great because it's close to home, but could do with some updating as the wood is weathered and the girls were done playing quickly.

The Great Park Challenge - Vancouver Style

Inspired by my good friend, Reanna, in her quest to explore all the parks in Bend this spring/summer with her family, I decided we would do the same and visit all the parks in Vancouver by the time school starts again in September. Not only will this keep us on our toes, but we'll never get bored with going to the same old park.  Plus, what a great way to get to see parts of Vancouver we still haven't seen in the almost 10 months since we moved here!

So, here's the list we'll be following, in no particular order:

http://www.cityofvancouver.us/parksites?keys=&neighborhood=All&amenities=96

66 Parks in  22 weeks.  Wish us luck!

20 Costco Meals for $150

I decided to write this more as a journal entry than a flowing "article", so sorry if it feels choppy. I'm copying my "in the moment" thoughts from Facebook, so they might be familiar to some people...  


1/12/14
Ok, we did it. We bought the stuff for the 20 Costco meals for $150. Had to get a few things at Grocery Outlet, and next time will probably go there first to save a little more, but I meal planned it out and that will give us dinners through February 1. Probably longer cause some days we do other stuff for dinner...

In prepping to make it all, I'm finding it's not as organized or clear as I'd like. But once I go through it all once I'll figure it all out. I'm thinking I'm going to make a spreadsheet with my actual costs as a lot of the Costco prices she has differ from ours (she's in TX). The biggest was mangoes. She has them for like $6 for a box and they were like $11 at our Costco. I ended up getting 5 at Safeway for $1 each (the list says you need 8-9, but I figure we will just use a little less since some of them are as sides).

One meal is quinoa with corn and beans, and Josh doesn't like quinoa or beans, so I'm doing rice and hominy instead. But, without the quinoa it doesn't have protein, so I will have to add something...  

1/13/14
PHEW! Just over an hour and I have prepped 9 meals, including dinner for tonight in the crockpot. There are 6 of the meals (grilled chicken & mango salsa, Potato & egg breakfast tacos, & Quinoa with corn & black beans) that you can't really do much prep for. But I'm going to try to at least pre-chop stuff for them this evening...

It's really about finding the flow and a system within the sort of chaos of her blog. They're all super basic recipes, too. And that's nice for the less adventurous in my family... So here's what I did today:

I started with Italian Chicken.  
I froze one and we had one for dinner.

I used my trifle bowl to hold 

the baggies as I filled them.

Next I did the Beef Stew. 
It was very similar to the Italian Chicken...

 I don't like touching raw meat, so 

I used a sandwich baggie as a glove.

I did the beef stirfry next since I was using the stew meat.  I cut the cubes into slices (which isn't mentioned in the recipe).

Her recipe calls for frozen broccoli, julienned baby carrots and sliced onions.  We couldn't find the broccoli, so we bought this.  It has the carrots and onions (and other veggies in it) and cost the same.  I have 1/2 a bag left, too.

I had about 1lb of stew meat left after making the 2 Beef Stews and 2 Beef Stirfry, so I split it up and will use it with the "quinoa" meal I mentioned earlier.

Then, I moved on to the ground beef.  I made a double batch of the spaghetti sauce and froze them both (in bags).  I didn't take a picture, cause it's spaghetti sauce.  I made 2 batches of meatballs and froze them as well.  The meatballs stick to the pans a bit when you flash freeze them, so next time I'll use parchment.

There was a little more than a lb of ground beef left, so I made 5 patties.  We'll use those for hamburger and gravy with mashed potatoes I'm going to make and freeze tomorrow.

I prepped the Chicken Parmesan next.  She says to freeze it with the sauce, but that seems like it would get soggy, so I'm not doing that.

We couldn't find the chicken she was talking about, plus we wanted organic, so we only got 1/2 of the chicken the list calls for.  I had 1lb of frozen chicken left (from before), so that's defrosting to make this for dinner tomorrow.  I'll get the other 2lbs of chicken later this week for the grilled chicken.

 

The last thing I did was bag up the dinner rolls and labeled them by meal.  It calls for 36 rolls, but we actually ended up 4 short based on which meals she said they go with, but I figure we'll just buy a fresh loaf of bread or do something else as a side to make it up when the time comes.

Anyway, it was a lot easier to prep everything by meat type.  As I finished one package of meat I moved on to the next.  It really didn't take that long.  I had to buy Italian Seasoning (you use a lot) and breadcrumbs and I was missing garlic for a couple recipes.  I marked on the bag how much garlic to add when I cook it.  I figure that's easy enough to add in at the last minute.

I'll add reviews of the recipes as we eat them (tonight's will be up tomorrow)....

When Life Takes Over

It's two weeks until Christmas, and my how our lives have changed since my last post. I finished my degree a year and a half ago and opened my own preschool. Two goals in 2 short months. BAM! Then, shortly after graduating, I decided it was time for another baby. I got the hubby on board and 2 months later we were pregnant. BAM! The next 10 months were a blur. I worked 25 hours a week at the preschool, Lily was in full time kindergarten and I was pregnant. I felt sick a lot, I had heartburn, Braxton-Hicks, dizzy spells, you name it. I was due July 3, and my doctor was concerned that our second little girl would be bigger than Lily was (9lbs). So, the decision was made to induce me a week early. Tuesday, June 26 was chosen because I would be exactly 39 weeks and it was her on-call day. I agreed, and scheduled the appointment with her nurse for the 26th at noon. I was instructed to call the Family Birthing Center the night before and check-in. When I called on Monday, they bumped my time up to 9am. 6am on Tuesday, we woke up and started our day. Finished packing our bags, and went out to breakfast. We got to the hospital right at 9 and started the admit process. 40 minutes later we were all checked in. Then we got word that Dr. Ahmed had to do an emergency c-section, so we just waited…and waited…and waited… At 12:47, Dr. Ahmed arrived to break my water. 1 quick poke and a LARGE gush and we were on our way! I sat for about an hour with monitors on, and was then allowed to walk for 15 minutes, be monitored, walk for 15, etc. About 5pm Dr. Ahmed returned to check my cervix. I had dilated to about 3.5, so she said she’d give me 2 more hours and then if there was little progress we would start Pitocin. 7pm, she came in and did my check, I was about 3.5-4, so she said we’d start the Pitocin but first she wanted to do a quick ultrasound to check Zoey’s position. Low and behold in the two hours that had elapsed, Zoey had turned sideways and was now transverse. I would need a c-section. The efficiency and speed the OR team worked at was nothing short of precise. By 7:38 we were in the OR and I was being prepped for surgery. I was given a spinal block and morphine. My blood pressure dropped, so the anesthesiologist lowered my head and gave me something to perk it back up. I felt better within minutes. My mom and Josh were lead in and they started. I was numbed from about the chest down, which was a very weird sensation to say the least. I was laying on a gurney with my arms outstretched on each side, loosely strapped down to remind me not to “try to help”. I felt nothing but pressure and tugging. At some points it felt like I was being pushed through the gurney. Finally, at 7:55, Zoey was pulled out. Josh stood up, and took about a half dozen pictures of her coming out. I was given a sedative and passed out. A short while later I jolted awake, still in the OR and realized I had been asleep. I was then wheeled back into the birthing room where my mom, Josh, Lily and Josh’s grandma were waiting with Zoey. She was measured while I was being stitched up, and weighed in at a nice 8lbs 4oz (about 1/2lb less than Lily) and 21.5” long (the same as Lily). Almost 6 months later, I feel like I'm finally out of the fog of the last year. It's amazing the difference 6 years makes when it comes to being pregnant. I felt like all of my creativity and energy had been drained out of me and it's finally coming back. I have ideas flooding back in my head and I have big plans for my preschool and the energy to follow through! Another plan is to pick this back up. It's nice to have a creative outlet.

Lily on Ice

Last Friday night was my last Older Girl's Night Out for Girl Scouts. I decided I need a break; some time to collect my thoughts and focus on me for a while. The event last week was SO much fun! We went ice skating at 7th Mountain Resort (formerly known as Inn of the 7th Mountain).

Since it was Friday, Lily was with me at work, so she came with me ice skating. It was her first time, and she was so excited! We picked out her skates, got a helmet and headed to the ice.
It was really slick since they had just "zambonied" it, and I had no idea how to begin to teach her how to skate, so we struggled at first. After going around at a snails pace with her holding either me or the wall, another GS leader showed me how she taught her son to skate. Hold one hand in yours (either their left in your left, or their right in your right). Use your other hand to hold under that armpit (so holding her left hand in mine, my right hand is in her left armpit). She then puts her right arm out for balance. We went around the rink once more like this, and she was off on her own!

It took some convincing before she would stay away from the wall for any period of time, but by the time her dad came to pick her up around 8:30, she was doing great! She fell a few times, but never really got hurt (of course she is only 3.5' tall, so much closer to the ground), and she never got frustrated with herself or me!
We went back Tuesday night with some friends, and she had so much fun showing off her skills. She was timid at first, and tried hugging the wall, but quickly remembered that she knew what she was doing.

The best part of all this? The price! Admission is free for kids under 5, so the first time it cost us $5 for her skates. Tuesday is 1/2 price night, so she was FREE! I want to try to go on Tuesdays as often as we can, I mean what else can we do as a family for $12?!

So, it's been awhile...

You know how it is, life as a mom gets in the way and the blog you committed to gets moved to the back burner. Since my last post, I've had a few changes in my life. Two new bosses at work, one not-so-nice, the second INCREDIBLE. She inspires me and challenges me and is just a sweet, kind person besides! Also, I went back to school. I'm only taking 2 classes this term, but I think it's a good start after a 4 year break. Oh, and we got 2 cats!

Speaking of 4 years ago, 4 years ago tonight I went into labor. What follows is my birth story.

I was due on January 12, 2006. I was working in a child care center at the time, and figured to make things easier, I would have my last day be the end of 2005. So, the end of December came and went and I was home, alone. I had also made arrangements to take the entire month off of Girl Scouts, so I was utterly bored! I actually ended up going to work a couple times a week just to visit and kill some time! January 12 came and went and I was only 1-1 ½cm dilated. Then, on January 17, I decided to clean the bath tub to take what I figured would be my last bubble bath for a very long time. After my bath, I went to bed as usual.
I woke up at 3:45am with contractions, this was not the first time, so I decided not to wake Josh up until I was sure we needed to call the hospital. For 2 hours, I sat in the dark, timing and writing down my contractions. Then, at 5:45, I woke Josh up and told him I think we should call. My contractions were about 4 minutes apart at this point. We called the hospital and headed out.
Now, I had been told to eat before I got to the hospital because they would not let me once I was admitted, so I reminded Josh of this and we stopped at McDonald's. I could only eat a hash brown and my orange juice (I am not a breakfast person) and I remember the speed bumps were quite uncomfortable. We arrived at the hospital just before 7am. They put me in a triage room and started monitoring me. My contractions were about 2-3 minutes apart, but I was still just at 2cm.
Being that I was 6 days late, they decided to keep me and make it happen. I made all my phone calls to people I knew wouldn't mind a 7:30am phone call and was assigned a room. As friends and family arrived, my contractions all but stopped. They had me walking laps in the hospital until after lunch. When I complained about starving to death, the nurse let me drink some broth (yippee!) and we all sat and waited.


At 2pm they started the petocin. I started to have more, quicker contractions, but made barely more than a moan the whole time. The nurses were giving me a hard time for being too quiet! The doctor broke my water around 3 (I think) Then, about 4, transition started and I got louder. I was going to try to go natural, but I was getting so tired from the pain that I asked for some pain meds. Once those kicked in I was much better and able to rest for about an hour. About 5, the meds were not working anymore and I had my epidural. It ended up not working, and I felt the whole thing, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I had feared!
Shortly after, while I was in my trance, moaning and sweating like a pig, my good friend Katie stopped by to visit. Josh ended up sending her away (I didn't even know she was there), and we headed to the home stretch. During this process I was so hot that Josh, my mom and his mom had an assembly line going of cold washcloths back and worth to the sink. Nothing has EVER felt so relaxing in my life!
About 7, I started to push (incidentally during my Girl Scout troop meeting). I only remember pushing about 4 or 5 times, and Lily was born at 7:44pm. She weighed exactly 9 pounds and was 21 ½ inches tall with a think head of black hair. Around 9, my brother did a dinner run for us. I was so hungry, and I remember that Taco Bell tasting so good!



Looking back, had I known my epidural wasn't going to work, I would not have gotten it. I also laugh at all the extra stuff I did to prepare (like I learned in Lamaze) that I didn't even think to use. Things like music and lighting. Once I was there, I didn't care what it looked or sounded like, I was in such a trance I wouldn't have known anyway! Now, my little baby is turning 4!

Trick or Treat!

Ah, Halloween, my favorite day of the year! From the cute costumes, to the spooky house decor, to the CANDY, I LOVE it all! This year was especially fun because Lily finally gets it! She picked out her costume on her own, knocked on doors by herself, and got a lesson or two in sharing.

She decided completely on her own to be Little Bo Peep. This worked out well since she had a tutu from her June dance recital that looked the part (and we paid a pretty penny for), so we were half way there! I found matching fabric to make bloomers and a hat out of, and managed to make a matching loot bag out of leftovers, too! She wore a white turtle neck and tights underneath for warmth (and it added to the look, I think), and white patent leather Mary Janes.

Our first stop was the Shops at the Old Mill on the west side of town. We walked from store to store, sometimes having to direct her to the correct person to ask for candy from, for about an hour. Many of the stores were giving out small bags of popchips potato chips instead of candy. We had to get a shopping bag from one of the stores to put them in because they were filling her loot bag too fast! Anyway, by the time we left she had the idea.

Next stop, the Factory Outlet Mall. This one went much faster, maybe a half hour, and she was a pro by now! They had had a Halloween Festival earlier in the day we didn't make it to, but there were no telltale signs to upset her, so we were safe!

We went home for a bit (it was only 5:00), but on the way stopped at Papa Murphy's for a Jack-o-Lantern pizza. It's supposed to be mainly cheese, with an outline and a face made from pepperoni, but Josh asked for all pepperoni, so our Jack, was just a pumpkin (much like our pumpkins we never got around to carving).

After dinner, we got Lily back into her costume (no eating pizza in that baby!), and headed out for some door to door fun. First stop, the new neighbors across the street, who we happen to know from Kiddoz. Then it was over to Great Grandma's where Lily got a pack of Red Vines. Then we drove over to my parents and picked up a goody bag. Our next stop was going to be a good friends, but we detoured and stopped at another friends' first, then another. That friend had an awesome, busy neighborhood, so we decided to trick or treat around there for a bit.

Last stop, our friend, Cohen's. He still had his Batman costume on and was so excited for our visit! We chatted for a minute and then headed home. Lily got ready for bed shortly after while we handed out candy to kids at our house (Josh stayed home to man the candy bowl while we trick or treated). After Lily was in bed, the sitter came over and Josh and I went to the Rocky Horror Picture Show at the Tower Theatre.

This was my first time seeing the movie, EVER. It was so much fun! I only wish we had brought cash with us. They had "Show Survival Kits" for $5 each which included all the props you would need for the movie. Things like rice and confetti and toast to throw, and newspaper, and a party hat to wear at key point in the movie. There was a costume contest for the best look-alike costumes, and there were actors acting out what was going on on the screen. Then there were the fans who knew exactly what to yell at exactly the right time. And of course, we all did the Time Warp. It was an adventure I can't believe I've never had, and one I can't wait to do again next year!

So, our Halloween was an eventful, candy filled, transvestite Transylvanian laced night and I hope yours was as good as ours!