Happy Birthday, Willow!

Willow turned eight years old on Thursday (and how on earth did that happen?!?), and we celebrated today with a birthday party at the movie theatre to see 'Ramona and Beezus.'

My friend and co-worker, Stephanie, made the cupcakes - a medley of chocolate and yellow cupcakes with pink and yellow icing. Here's a picture of the birthday girl with her sweets:



Let's get a close up - everyone needs a close up of cupcakes!



And my favourite - yellow cupcake with yellow icing (in fact, I may have eaten this exact one...):



Trust me when I say these cupcakes were beyond delicious. Steph makes them for different work events, and they always get gobbled up. My father-in-law liked them, too (he loves birthday cakes).

And here is Willow with her friends for the party - Andrew (the boy on the right) got his fair share of estrogen with this party, but he was a great sport about it. Some of Willow's other male friends were supposed to come, but were not able to make it due to family commitments. The movie was pretty good, too - for not being an overly comedic, 3D action, or a cartoon - the kids enjoyed it immensely. And I found it highly amusing that the 'euwed' when the adults were kissing, but not when the teenagers kissed!

Because My Dad Is Unrelenting

Here I am, in my 13th week of pregnancy, falling asleep at the drop of a hat, and my Dad still bugs me to update my blog. I haven't taken many pictures lately - I really need to get back in the habit of carrying my camera around with me. In the meantime, please enjoy some recent pictures of Willow and Mattie:



Dogpile on Willow!



Here I look pretty...



And here I look crazy!



I disapprove of all the dog-picture-taking. You may now carry me to the store to get noms.

I'm so crafty, I make people!

Omigod - you don't know how hard this was to keep to myself! I have to start telling people now because I will be needing maternity pants in very short order. I'm 11w1d today, and as Andrew puts it, due in the bleakest midwinter - 2/1/11.

This scan was taken yesterday - ignore the fact that it says 10w3d - the baby was very interested in the ultrasound scanner. It didn't matter how the midwife moved the scanner, the baby turned to face it and we couldn't get a profile pic so she could measure the top-to-tail to get the gestational age - it kept on coming up with everything from 10w to 11w. The baby was dancing around and doing somersaults - it was very amusing because I couldn't feel a thing!

Keep your fingers crossed for us - for all of Willow being a surprise and easy pregnancy - we have not had much luck with other pregnancies past Willow. Willow is over the moon - she so wants to be a big sister and keeps telling us that she wants a baby brother.

Perfect Summer Meal: Chicken Pesto Pasta with Cherry Tomatoes

Isn't it pretty? Here's a close up:



I've probably talked about this before - hell, I may have even blogged about this before, but it is one of my all-time favourite summer dinners. And with this heat (101'F when I was running errands at noon), it's amazing that I would want to go anywhere near a stove right now.

Chicken Pesto Pasta with Cherry Tomatoes - 4 servings

Pesto Sauce:
2 cups washed basil leaves
1/3c. Kraft Grated Parmesan
2/3c. Kraft Light Zesty Italian dressing

Everything Else:
8oz. uncooked whole wheat pasta
1 cooked chicken breast, diced
2c. cherry tomatoes, quartered
Some extra grated parmesan for garnish

Take the pesto ingredients and puree them (I use my Braun hand blender), then put the sauce in the fridge while you make everything else. Cook the noodles as instructed on package, drain. Pour noodles back in the cooking pot, then add in pesto sauce, diced chicken breast, and quartered cherry tomatoes. Mix everything together, and top with a bit more parmesan, and serve.

***

What I really like about this dish is:

1) It is beyond simple.
2) The pesto sauce freezes really well - sometimes I will make big batches and freeze it for when good, fresh basil isn't so readily available in markets.
3) It is open for variation - for example, above I used lemon basil from my local farmers' market, half red grape tomatoes, half yellow cherry tomatoes (from my garden!). There are so many types of basil, and all will lend a different flavour - try different tomatoes, different pastas - I have even used grilled shrimp instead of chicken - and sometimes with no meat at all - it's all good.
4) While Willow may turn her nose up at the tomatoes (infidel!) she gobbles up everything else on her plate.

Enjoy!

Sometimes I'm just too good...

I've had some health concerns lately that have required some bedrest, so I have been working from home for the last week. Lucky has been my constant companion while I am working, so much so that I have a pile of silver grey fur on my white comforter. I went downstairs looking for the pet hair roller, and just what do I find in the roller's normal resting spot?

This:



I had to laugh out loud. This is something I bought for Andrew's Christmas stocking - and I have a very vivid memory of stashing it in the cupboard under the microwave where the telephone books, pet hair roller, candlesticks, and various other stuff we have no clue where to put live. Apparently that memory was not quite so vivid enough for me to remember in time for last Christmas!

No matter. Andrew is happy to eat them now.

I still don't know where the pet hair roller is, however.