On The Move!

Here we come Petawawa!

Our flight out of Calgary to Ottawa is booked for April 29th. We are so excited!
There is so much happening before then. This blog post is kind of a reminder for any family or friends wondering how this move will work and when. And I may use it for my own reference too! lol

The first big event happening is Chad flying into Calgary 5 days from today! April 20th. Atticus is really looking forward to daddy coming home but I think I told him a little bit too soon. He has been looking out the window and asking where daddy is about 10 times every day. I started a countdown on the Calendar with him. I don't think he quite understands it though. Oh well, I guess it will come soon enough!

I think I am in shock still. I just cannot believe that very soon we will be living as a family UNIT.

This relocation company that we're working with seems so disorganized. It's a real pain. I' ve been on the phone all morning with various people and companies trying to get some answers. As well as with hotels, car rental companies, phone, cable and internet companies too. It's alot of work. I'm exhausted already! It's not even 11AM yet!

So the schedule looks like this right now:
Our stuff is being packed on the 26th. Our appliances arrive that day too. And we can check into our hotel that day. (Still looking into a hotel room that can accommodate all of us! Help! lol) Our van will be picked up that day too. And we will need to go pick up our rental van.
The truck will be loaded on the 27th.
We are hiring a cleaning company who will come in and clean our rental on the 28th. We also do the walk through with our landlord that day.
Our flight leaves for Ottawa at 10AM on the 29th. I think we will stay in Ottawa for a few days And then attempt the drive to Petawawa another day. The plane ride will be enough for all of us that day.

So that's it so far. The bottom line? It's all very exciting!

"Walkaroni"

We had this for lunch last week and it was a huge hit with all three kids. Actually I really enjoyed it too. And I just have to share. I saw the recipe when the Galloping Gourmet, Graham Kerr (who is hilarious by the way!) Was on the Rachael Ray show. I was intrigued! So we finally tried the sauce on Elbow Macaroni noodles rather than cauliflower and it was actually really good! Atticus had no idea it wasn't "Walkaroni" and cheese and the twins gobbled up two bowls each. Here's the recipe! (click to see the whole recipe.)

Carrot Cheese Sauce

• 3 carrots, peeled and sliced into ½-inch rounds (yield 1 ½ cups)
• 1/2 cup evaporated skim milk
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Pinch cayenne
• Pinch cumin
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• Dusting of smoked paprika 

Cook the carrots in the evaporated milk and water, covered, in a medium saucepan, 10-15 minutes or until very soft. Place the carrots and cooking liquid, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and lemon juice in a blender, and whiz for 2-3 minutes or until smooth and glossy. Add the salt, cayenne, and cumin, and whiz to mix. 

Place the cauliflower in a small baking dish. Spoon the carrot sauce over the cauliflower and scatter the Parmesan cheese over the top. Brown under a preheated broiler 4 inches from heat and serve, garnished with a dusting of smoked paprika.  

It was very creamy, smooth and rich. Really good. The pictures say it all!!

A Twincess Party

It has been a very long time since my last post and for that, I apologize. Our life has been extremely chaotic lately. But nothing exciting enough to write about.

Today had been a very big day in two ways.

Number One: My Baby girls turned one today. At 5:55 and 6:10 PM.
It has been a year full of exciting milestones, growth and definitely challenges.
I took a few minutes this morning before the kids got up to reflect a little. Remembering where I was a year ago today and how excited I was to meet my girls. I'm still in disbelief. Where did the time go?

We celebrated their Birthday on Sunday. We had tons of friends and family come down to the community hall despite the huge snowfall in the days before the party. There was lots of great food and treats and conversation. The kids kept entertained with bubbles and balloons. It was great fun and very hectic at the same time. It was a 'pink and yellow twincess' party.

The Invitation

 

Pretty girls all dressed up and ready to go to their party.

The monthly banner.

Food table and banner (That fell.)

Avah-Lynn and Grandpa.

Grandpa and his grandkids.

Cake table

Hadley waiting for cake.

Avah-Lynn after she hit her head

 

A huge Thank You to my sister who took some wonderful pictures while I ran around like a crazy person...

As you can tell, they were completely spoiled. Even Atticus!

On their Birthday, we celebrated first thing with the traditional Banana Pancakes.

Avah-Lynn impatiently waiting for breakfast.

All done!

And big brother being goofy.

We spent the morning at our class, Little Wonders. And my sister and her kids came over for dinner. It was a fun day!



AND


Number two: We received an offer for a DND rental unit!!!!

I was SO excited to see that offer sitting in my inbox this morning!! Essentially, this means that if we accept the offer, we will be moving to Petawawa very shortly. I will be able to live with my husband again!!! I'm really looking forward to it. So here is some info about the offer:

It is a 4 bedroom 1 bathroom row house.

 

 The living room and kitchen are on the main floor and there are 4 bedrooms and a bathroom on the 2nd floor. There is also an unfinished basement with laundry hookups. This place is quite a bit bigger than the place we're in now. 

The only things about this place that aren't good are that it's on the southside of the base and I've heard so many bad things about it. The other thing is that they only allow 3 animals. We have 4 cats.

In spite of those things, we accepted the offer!!!!!!!!!!!! 

It is more important to be together as a family than it is to wait for the perfect place to live. It has been long enough!

The possession date is April 28th which is very soon! I'm really looking forward to what's in store for our family in the next month.