What's Up Wednesday: May 2017

Once again, I'm linking up with What's Up Wednesday. As I've said before, I LOVE reading these random posts, so you should play along too :)

 

image from here

What we're eating this week... Last week I was a part of hosting a volunteer appreciation night and I offered to bring two desserts. I love any excuse to make Earl Grey Tea Cake and then I searched Pinterest and found these delicious Raspberry Lemon Bars. But I couldn't just serve a new recipe so we had to test them out. And the Earl Grey Tea Cake icing always makes enough for two cakes so I made an extra one to split with Tim and Janice. Janice always lets me borrow her round pans to make this cake and I try to repay her in cake. So we've been eating lots of sweets (which is unusual).

Also, yay for Pinterest where is where I found these two recipes. I always okay, often get great ideas from there.

What I'm reminiscing about... Well, I'm super excited to see these friends again (in Kenya, for those of you who might be visiting or not caught up on our lives), so I've been reminiscing a lot about three years ago, when Sam, Aaron, Ella, and Rachel were more a part of each other's lives.

May 2014

What I'm loving... I'm loving that all our activities are winding down. I love how much Rachel loves dance, how much Sam loves piano, and how much both kids love Logos (our weekly church night), but I also love how not having so many activities means we get to spend more time at home or doing what we want. (And by September's What's Up Wednesday I'll be loving how all the activities are ramping up again. Ha!)

What we've been up to... Watching grass grow. Literally. You can read all about our hedge transformation here, and it was super exciting to come home on Saturday and see the mist of green. Whoo hooo!!!

 left: our weed patch; right: our weed patch one week later

What I'm dreading... Will I sound like a spoiled brat if I say "jet lag?" I realize it is such a privilege to travel but oh, the jet lag. With kids. Yuck.

What I'm working on... Trying to catch up on work. My whole family was sick a few weeks ago and I got behind at work and am still trying to catch up. I'm also working on teaching myself to be a bit more of a morning person because my summer work schedule necessitates me working for an hour early each morning (ideally before the kids get up around 7), so they don't have to spend the whole summer in camps. We'll see how that goes... (Also, how many times can I use some form of the word "work" in one paragraph?!?!)

What I'm excited about... There are so many things I'm excited about right now!!! School is almost out for the summer (only fifteen days left for us!!!), and I'm looking forward to the lazy days of summer! Rachel is turning six in a few weeks and her excitement is contagious!!! And we're going to Kenya in three weeks!!! Life is just exciting these days :)

What I'm watching/reading... I'm not reading anything particularly exciting right now but I did love this book and highly recommend it.

 

image from here

As for watching, well, we've been watching grass grow, as I mentioned above. Ha!

What I'm listening to... Right now, I'm practicing getting up early, so it's really quiet as I write this. I think my favourite sound this month has been listening to the kids play outside together. (I hope you weren't planning on reading this for advice on good shows to watch or good music to listen to, because now you're sorely disappointed!)

What I'm wearing... I've loved being able to pull out my capris this month. I've also traded in my flannel pajamas for a sleep tank and shorts. It's exciting to reconnect with my summer clothes again.

What I'm doing this weekend... Maybe going swimming??? Our pool opens for the season on Friday night and if it's warm enough I'd love to spend some time doing this again:

What I'm looking forward to next month... Rachel turns six on the 17th and then five days later we're going to Kenya! There's a lot to look forward to in June! Plus the kids will be done school so school lunch packing will be finished. Whoooo hoooo!!!!!

What else is new... I can't think of anything else right now.

Bonus question: What is your favourite vacation spot?

Asking me this is like asking me to pick a favourite child, or a favourite book. They're all my favourites! However, I am partial to New York City. I'm not a big city person but New York is one place I could visit over and over again and never get tired of it. I'm fortunate in that Dave has family living just outside the city so we've been able to visit it quite often in the past few years. There's always something new to discover. Or something old to meet up with again!

Us on The High Line, left: October 2012, right: October 2016

You can read about (more) about my love of New York City here, and here, and here.