Swim Time and Banff Trip

I'm playing catch up, Elias just finished swimming at the end of November. This was his 1st time in lessons and he loved every minute of it. There were only 4 of them in the class, so he got to know the other kids pretty good and received a lot of one on one attention. We spend much of our summers enjoying the lake at the cabin so Elias was very much used to jumping and playing in the water. He had no fear jumping off the ledge into the water and was always the 1st one to dive down and get the rings and bring them back up.. they even took them in the deep end with water noodles, overall a great time for him.

typical Elias

Nixon insisted on having a picture too!

We also got to go to Banff at the start of December with friends. I knew i wanted to go somewhere to celebrate Jeremy turning the big 30! So i decided Banff would be a fun time, I had never been there and it would make a good weekend, not too far and i knew Jeremy had been dying to get in some much needed snowboarding after all those winters living in Saskatoon and not being close to the mountains. Me and Jeremy left a day early, and that was sure nice. Just the two of us, I can't recall the last time we ever stayed overnight somewhere with just the two of us. The next morning we took the gondola ride up the mountain, enjoyed some hot drinks and beautiful views, but food at the top was oh soo nasty. 

view from the top..

We also did some fun shopping, Jer got new snowboard boots, happy birthday Babe, and then we met everyone for dinner. My friend Karen's parents had a timeshare in Canmore a 1/2hr away from Banff. It worked out great, much cheaper than staying in Banff and some great memories were had. I'll never forget walking the Longest hallways ever in exsistence to our rooms, haha and trying to enjoy the hot tub and outdoor pools while being not so entertained by some very annoying and interesting people, some very drunk and some in their undies. yes, Dont ask... Hey its Banff, right. But besides all that, there were some nights of incredible food eaten, some fun shopping, late chats and game nights.. oh man. and some much anticipated snowboarding for all.. even though i think i broke my tailbone.. maybe the spa next time.

sorry these two were emailed pics, blurry but you get the drift.. loads of fun!

It was a great weekend, so happy to spend it with Jeremy especially, happy big 30 babe, I love you

Delicous Dinner Recipes!! yummo

Okay so i had to post these two recipes that i have made in the last few weeks. I am big on changing things up in our dinner routine and i use food blogs a lot, you know they will most likely always be good if someone is blogging about them.

Anyhow here they are, Enjoy!!

French Dip Sandwiches.. seriously soooo good! I just kept wanting more! 

Jer and my parents both said this was the BEST beef dip they had ever eaten.. make sure to serve with delicous fresh buns and a good piece of white cheese.. 

This recipe comes from the tried and true food blog Our best bites . Check it out all their stuff is awesome.

Chicken Tikka Masala ( similar to butter chicken)

We LOVE Indian food around here and so do my kids. I usually add a little less spice than recipes call for, so its not too spicy for them.. And this one did not dissapoint! It was seriously Awesome, probably the best recipe i have found. Even if you think you dont like Indian food you will like this. Nixon just kept on asking for more and more.

The recipe calls for a jalapeno pepper and 2 tsp of cayenne, but like the girl from the food blog i cut out the pepper completely and the cayenne down to 1/2tsp.. yummo, i could have some more right now.

Jer said he would have thought the cook was East Indian it was soo good! Hope you like it. Here's the recipe from another  tried and true food blog, Mels Kitchen Cafe.. always good stuff over there too!
Oh and if possible serve with Naan bread, makes all the difference. If you have never tried it, its the bomb..haha really though. Its a Indian bread.. usually beside the pita bread. Just pop it in your  oven on broiler for a minute to get warm and eat with the rice and sauce..so yummy soaking it all up!

Elias Turns 4!

Elias turned 4 a few weeks ago and since he is really into dragons and loves the movie "How to Train your Dragon" I did a party for him with a dragon theme. It seems like this party was bound to never happen, due to weather and other annoyances.. but it did finally happen and it was alot of fun for him and all his little friends. We played lots of games, Pin the Tail on the dragon, dragon egg races, and the parachute was a HUGE hit!! I had the cutest little viking party hats and a cupcake dragon cake to top it off.. overall lots of fun and yes lots of work. Elias got a ton of fun presents and has been playing with for the past couple weeks.. we also got him 1 gift a Playmobile Dragon Castle.. its seriously the sweetest thing ever.. so much detail and such cool stuff.. i actually enjoy playing with him. I remember playing with Playmobile sets as a kid and loved them, so it was fun to get him his own. $$ for sure, but so well made and lots of fun for years to come.

do you think he was excited?

all his little buddies

His cousin Joel helping him out

Nixon pounding a cupcake

all the loot, someone's spoiled!

Elias at 4 yrs old is in prechool and swimming lessons this year. He loves both and is really into being creative and playing by himself now.. thankyou! he loves dragons (of course), superheros, army guys and tanks, anything he can build and Loves any kind of board game, we play a lot these days. He is really so sweet, always giving me compliments, whether its thanking me for being a "good cooker'(his words) haha or telling me how cute the house looks or how beautiful i look.. its all the time, its so cute. And Elias and Nixon are getting better at playing together and its fun to watch him help his brother or teach him a cool new trick. Nixon adores Elias and well we couldn't agree more.

 I love you sweet boy, Happy 4th birthday!

Snow Days and a curious little boy

Ever since all the snow in the last 2 weeks we have been playing inside a lot, but despite the cold weather Elias has been able to enjoy the abundance of snow we have. He loves shoveling the snow with Jeremy, (his shovel one of the best purchases ever) every night when he gets home from work and loves jumping in the huge piles we have in our front yard.  Despite the cold weather, hey at least i'm not in saskatoon winters anymore..haha sorry guys. and with all this white its sure feeling like Christmas around here. Which i love. i love his froggy touque, he insisted on having the googly eyes. what's playing in the snow without a warm cup of cocoa?? This was Nixon the other night, (and the next night and the next)when i checked on him before bed, notice his diaper up by his head.. of course it was so funny, him being in the nude, but not so funny waking him up to wash him down, changing his peed sheets and clothes. For the last week Nixon has been driving us crazy with taking his pj's off at night and inevitably his diaper. For the last week at bedtime and even naps we have gone in to find him with his clothes and diaper off and yes pee and even poo in his crib.. and him sound alseep ..ARGGG, after about 4 days of never ending washing his sheets and clothes, I  remembered my friend having the same problem with her little girl.. and how they had to put her pajamas on backwards. well we tried it and problem solved, no more waking up to soiled sheets and clothes thank goodness. What a little stinker eh?

Superheroes and Nixon's Favorite

if anyone knows my boys well, they know that they are very active and love to run and jump constantly.. therefore in our house running and jumping around in their capes and masks is the ultimate. Elias and Nixon are starting to play a lot better with each other.. and superheroes is one of their faves.. it's my go to game for them when i am making supper.. because they try to out jump and out run each other and i can cheer them on while keeping busy.

This one makes me laugh so hard.. nixon's face is too funny.

I would never think 2 little steps would be so entertaining for my boys, but every since we moved here they are constantly using these steps to jump over, roll down and play with cars and trains on; despite the nasty pink shag.. we love them.

and also if you know my Nixon, you know how very loud he can be.. he loves to yell.. whether its just for fun, or to drive mom crazy in the car or especially when he wants something he will let you know!! We call him our little drama queen.. good thing he is so cute because sometimes i swear..

Nixon Yelling, his Favorite thing to do. from Rachelle Cooper on Vimeo.

i LOVE this video of him it so depicts what i hear from him on a daily basis.. and i love that he is just in  shirt and socks.. too cute.

we love Halloween.

my fave pic, too cute.

i thought it was about time to do an update.. and what better than to post about Halloween, one of my favorite holidays.. not only for my kids, but for me and Jer too. We love halloween at our house and this year was our best yet! It was the first time we have ever had a house since we've been married, always lived in a condo. So we've never been able to have trick or treaters or decorate a yard and have a real party since we never had the space.. so it was a fun time this year. The boys all craved pumpkins and again this was a first for our family.. and the boys loved it.. especially Jer, he was VERY picky about getting his pumpkin just right, and it seemed to take forever, but did look pretty sweet in the end.

Jer's finished product.. it looked pretty cool at night

We also had an adult halloween party.. it was alot of work, but soo fun. I loved getting the house all decorated and it was so fun to dress up. Me and Jer were both Vampires and Jer even bought me red contact lenses and made me REAL fangs at his office.. he had alot of fun with that and it really added to the costume. We then had to go into his office at 1:00am that night to drill them off.. oh well it was worth it for Jer anyways. Everyone else's costume were pretty sweet too, i was laughing all night at Karen and her awesome hair piece.. and we played some intense games of Werewolf too.. overall such fun, a must repeat.

you can't even really tell i had in red contacts.. they looked rad up close

Here are my fangs, that pic doesnt do it justice, you can barely tell, but they were awesome!

The crew.. sorry i missed out on Jeff and Raegan and Candice and Brandon, they left earlier.
and could i be laughing any harder??

Elias and Nixon had a lot of fun trick or treating.. this was Nixon's first time and he was the cutest little monkey EVER! I just loved watching him waddle down the street in his monkey costume carrying his little pumpkin bag like such a big boy.. we only made it to about 7 houses before he was done.. all he wanted to do was open the candy he got from each house so it was taking forever with the 2 boys and me.

Elias was a Ninja this year.. he kept on changing his mind but finally we agreed on this costume once he knew he could carry knifes and a sword.. he loved it and was pretty good at keeping his mask on too.
Once we dropped Nixon off with Jer, just the two of us went out on the town.. it was the Perfect night for trick or treating and the perfect halloween.. until next year.