Summer Food: Guacamole

Revelation: I had never eaten guacamole until I met Simon.

Here's my favourite recipe. It's too easy and tasty:

-4 or 5 avocados. Mash them up with a fork.

-add juice of half a fresh lime. 

-add a pinch of cilantro and a pinch of pepper (optional)

-serve with plain tortilla chips.

Best as: before dinner snack or 8pm evening snack.
It's easy. It's fast. And it's delicious. Nothing fancy. All fresh. Enjoy!

Being a Parent - Part 2

After thoughts on education and "raising" children, I realized that perhaps now is the time to start. Margot now understands simple orders "ramasse tes pellures d'oranges et mets-les dans la poubelle brune" and is able to communicate her needs and wants. She's also at an age where she is becoming quite observant of the world in which she lives in.
About a month ago, I chose a myriad of parenting books (mostly aimed at toddlers) on the library website and put them on reserved. A few days later, I had a dozen books ready for pickup. Some of them were rubbish and were put back in the "return bag" almost immediately after flipping through them.
But some of them were actually not so bad...

The Idle Parent: Why Less Means More When Raising Kids by Tom Hodgkinson. Check out the book cover!

Top 8 suggestions I retained (in no particular order)
-Be cheerful and satisfied with life. We teach by example, not with authority. A whining child has a whining parent.
-Children teach us to live in the present. Embrace that instead of focusing on the past  (i.e. "How was daycare? What did you do today? ) or the future (i.e. "Are you excited for our summer plans?").
-Do less. Passive parenting is responsible parenting.
-Say "yes".
-Fill your children's lives with variety, creativity and autonomy.
-Stop saying "Careful!". We are conditioned into living in fear. By shrieking "careful!/attention!", we remove their confidence.
-Stop giving them options. Water for dinner.
-Children remember "made up" stories more than read ones. Revive the art of storytelling! They will also be more captivated.

And here's Margot serving dried apples:

Happy Mother's Day!

Today is Mother's Day and I wish a lovely day to all my friends who are mothers.
I hope you had a few moments of relaxation, drinking tea and reading.

I apologize to all my readers that I haven't been posting recently. I need to find a "direction" to my blog. And I think I might have an idea... stay tuned ;)

This is what Margot looked like at the end of our "hike" this morning

Earth Day!

We celebrated the Earth by going for a "hike" this morning. "Hike" isn't the right word. It was more like: "meandering on a Gatineau Park intermediate trail for half-an-hour". Which made it even more special!

Taking those moments to listen to the bird,  pick up sticks and double-track has become our reality.

This path was lovely (number 30 on the map) as it was really wide (and also really hilly) and there were no crazy mountain bikes allowed. The trees were big and the woods felt friendly.

Margot's hands were cold, so I gave her my arm warmers.

Life is so big at a child's eye-view.

I decided to have an "Earth Day" resolution this year. Why not? Mine is to be even more conscious of the everyday products I  use and buy (shampoo, soap, cleaning products, etc.) I am already aware of certain chemicals that I need to avoid and most of the hygiene products I buy are free of animal testing and do not contain chemicals. But I want to make that extra effort (even if it means splurging an extra 2 dollars) so that the products in my bathroom and under my sink don't have a list of ingredients that I can't pronounce.

Simon said that his Earth Day resolution is not to eat as much meat. I can live with that.

A New Year

My 35th Birthday was on a Monday this year. A pretty average day. I don't consider 35 to be a milestone, perhaps because I already feel in my mid-30's. And it feels like a good spot to be.
So, I have no crazy stories to share. No baby grand piano. No surprise trip to Jackson Hole Wyoming (to be a student on Yoga Today, of course!)  or weekend in San Fran.
34 was a good year. One word to describe it: stability. No huge changes, no big crisis, not a lot of "movement". Sometimes it's good to have years like that.

Things that make me happy these days:
-letters from friends.
-tea.
-just sitting in my garden and enjoying the sunshine.
-knitting.
-Margot quietly playing in a corner.

A Weekend of Easter

The Easter Bunny came for a visit in Newmarket while Margot was quietly playing:

There was dancing:

And music:

And also serious egg sorting.

We stumbled upon an Easter Hunt while on a Sunday morning stroll to a nearby Conservation Area:

But the lil' elf much preferred picking up twigs along the way:

Welcome April!

It feels good to begin a new month.
After a "yo-yo weather" March, it's reassuring to be back in the "right" month of April. Today, it rained...charming...

Yesterday, it was nippy, but we enjoyed the sunny afternoon by hanging out in our nearby park Brébeuf. We didn't cover a lot of distance. We rarely do with Margot. It's not about walking as much as we can and as quickly as possible. No. It's about meandering about (sometimes in circles), sitting on the ground,  picking up pinecones, pointing at dogs, soaking in the spring air and the sunshine, kicking the soccer ball, and having tickle sessions. Life moves at a different pace now, but we still have fun!