Keenan licking his plate clean after finishing a piece of his early birthday cake last night!
It is always hard saying goodbye to my brother, sister-in-law and niece. Every time they leave, I always have tears in my eyes, no matter if I’ll see them next month or 3 months from now; I just hate goodbyes! My husband just took them to the airport, to fly back home to Montreal. Thank goodness for skype, because it would be hard to not see my niece for a while! Fortunately, we will see them in September, since my cousin is getting married. Knowing that we will seem them in little over a month, makes saying goodbye a little easier this time. We had a great time with them this past month and Keenan and his cousin had SO much fun! They played so well together and shared lots of laughs. We called them “Ooga and Booga,” because they were always so silly together!
Last night, we had one last family dinner together (Mexican food from our favorite taqueria) and my brother and sister-in-law surprised Keenan with an early birthday cake and gift (since they won’t be here for his birthday on Aug. 20th). It was so sweet and Keenan was excited, but he didn’t really know what to do. He was mesmerized by the candles, so my niece and I helped him blow them out. They got an ice cream cake (a perfect choice, since Keenan is infatuated with ice cream cones these days!), so Keenan devoured his slice and ate some of my mom’s cake, too! They got him a set of balls: soccer, basketball and football, as well as a Play Doh ice cream maker set. Keenan was thrilled!
This morning, after we all finished a simple breakfast of Kashi Go Lean Crunch cereal, Fage yogurt, nectarines and blueberries (lattes, of course!), we opened the ice cream maker set and Keenan and his cousin had a blast making different kinds of ice cream cones. As they were playing and Play Doh was flying everywhere, onto our rug and in the crevices of our coffee table, it made me realize how little space we have, especially as Keenan is getting older and accumulating more toys (and bigger ones). So, as his birthday approaches, I need to start thinking about making more room, i.e. purging and reorganizing (which my husband loves…not really!). We want to get Keenan a little table to use for art projects and playing with Play Doh, but the question is “where do we put it?” Before I was pregnant, my husband and I always said we didn’t want our house to be overrun by our children. We wanted it to still look like our home, but with a small play area for our kids. We have to think creatively in finding more space, so it doesn’t become overrun with Keenan’s things. I can only imagine what it will be like when we have another child! Do you have the same issues with space and finding room for your child’s toys? Does your house feel overrun with your child’s or children’s toys? How do you make room for all of your child’s or children’s things?
Speaking of Keenan’s upcoming birthday, call me old fashion, but I like traditional mailed invitations. I know evites are the new thing, which are much easier and most importantly, environmentally friendly, but I just like receiving an old fashion invitation in the mail. I enjoy making cards, thank you notes and invitations, so I look at it as a fun project to make his birthday invites. I know most people might think that making your own invites takes too much time and since I’m at home with Keenan everyday, I have plenty of time to do them. Creating your own invitations doesn’t take much time at all. I made Keenan’s 1st birthday invites last year when I was working. You can make them as simple or as intricate as you like. For his 2nd birthday invitations that I just completed and mailed, I purchased cream colored card stock (already cut in a A6 size) from Cutcardstock. They are very reasonably priced, about 10% cheaper than purchasing a package at Michaels or Office Depot. I formatted the invitation in Microsoft Word, added Keenan’s picture and wording. Since I didn’t have as much time as I would have liked (since we are getting ready to leave for Alaska), I made them very simple, but cute. We are going with a theme of “Keenan’s Favorites” for his birthday this year, so the invite was geared to some of his favorite foods, which we will have at his party. It should be fun!
This afternoon, we are heading back to CrossFit for another awesome workout and then home for dinner. Yesterday’s workout was brutal for our first day back after a week off! It was a partner WOD, consisting of rope climbs, box jumps, over-the-bar burpees and deadlifts (women weight: 205/men weight: 325). The workout was 2 rounds for time and my partner and I completed 1 round and 23 reps at 175 pounds for our deadlifts. It was tough! I could definitely tell that my lack of working out last week and not eating as I usually do, affected my performance. When we are in Alaska, my husband and I are making sure to at least workout every other day, so we don’t feel like this after being gone for two weeks!
On the menu for tonight is sauteed Kale with a torpedo onion (diced), sun dried tomatoes and chicken sausages over whole wheat couscous. It should be yummy! I will make sure to take pictures and post the recipe tomorrow! Have a great rest of your afternoon!
