Midweek Break

 

 
Sydney was home from preschool today for Yom Kippur.  We took full advantage of having a little midweek break and had a pajama day, mellow and easy and oh so lovely smack dab in the middle of the week!

First thing this morning, before my eyes were even fully opened I decided to clean out my fridge.  It's one of those jobs that I really hate doing and rarely get around to, so the inside of my fridge hadn't had any attention in longer than I care to admit!  I painstakingly pulled everything out of the fridge, sorting through and chucking out old food and wiped down every nook and cranny.

It was gleaming and so organized in the end, it made me so happy!  I have literally smiled every time I've opened the fridge since.  Long overdue but brought me so much joy!

Sydney and I also took some time this morning to finish up our fall art project with the leaves that we collected on our nature walk on Sunday.  I had pressed them in books for a couple of days and today we took the pressed leaves, covered them in both sides with clear adhesive contact paper and hung them in the branches that we collected.

The pictures really don't do it justice, it looks so amazing!  A very cool fall craft!  Even Paul marvelled at how awesome it looked!  I absolutely love it!

I am fully embracing the fall theme around our house these days!  Yesterday when we were in Stanley Park at the aquarium, I picked up some humungous leaves off the ground that had fallen from a huge tree and put them in a vase in my kitchen window today.

I decided to try a new recipe today that I had found online a while back for Zucchini Hummus.  It was super simple and really delicious!  Tasted healthy and fresh and had a distinct green tinge to it which looked very cool!  Here's the recipe if you want to give it a try!

Zucchini Hummus

1 medium-large zucchini, cut into chunks
1 cup chickpeas, drained
1/4 cup tahini
2 garlic cloves, peeled
Juice of one lemon
2 TBSP olive oil
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt

Whiz everything in a food processor until relatively smooth.  Taste and adjust seasonings to your liking.  Serve right away or refrigerate for up to 4 days.  Makes about 2 cups.

Sydney had swimming lessons this afternoon, her first one of the season with her friend Emma who is just back from holidays.  The girls were the only two in class today, which was so great, they had a blast together playing and splashing in the water with their instructor Kaori.

After swimming lessons Sydney and I stopped quickly on Dunbar and ended up going on a massive chestnut search after she found a few under a tree.  It quickly spurred a hunt and we collected as many as we could find!  Sydney is obsessed with finding them suddenly, she asked me if we could go on a nature walk tomorrow to look for more chestnuts!

I just learned today that the chestnuts are inside this prickly looking pod that falls off the trees this time of year.  If you step on the prickly pod the chestnut pops out!  It's very cool!  Thank you to our Dunbar neighbor who enlightened us today!

When we got home we piled our precious chestnuts into a special crystal dish and displayed them in Sydney's bathroom upstairs, just where she wanted them!  They are so beautiful!  Each one has a wood grain look to the outside, visions of the trees that they would become if they were left to germinate!

It reminded me of Sydney's first birthday party which was a giraffe theme.  I thought the chestnuts looked like giraffe spots, so I collected millions of them and had them in vases all over the house for her party!  It was very cool!

What a treat today was, a day together at home to relax and have fun and enjoy the fall.  I treasure these days all the more now that they are less frequent!  What a blessing!