Mind Your Peas and Cous

I love this recipe as a summer salad, and even though it has all the key ingredients that my husband hates, I still make it anyways! :) A friend recently asked for this, so I thought I'd post it here. So good!

Dressing:
1/2 cup low fat italian dressing
2 TBSP sun-dried tomato pesto
1 TBSP balsamic vinegar
1 TBSP lemon juice
2 TSP grated lemon zest
1 TSP sugar

Salad:
2 cups cooked whole wheat couscous (I just throw in a box of it)
1 can chickpeas, drained
1 cup diced cucumber
1 cup diced orange and yellow pepper
1 cup quartered cherry tomatoes (I just use any ole' tomato)
3/4 cup chopped green onions
1/2 cup light feta cheese (I usually throw in more of the feta!)
1/4 cup each fresh dill and parsley (I just do a couple teaspoons of dried herbs)
1/4 cup black olives (I never put this in)
pepper to taste

1. Whisk dressing together and refrigerate until the rest of the salad is prepared.

2. Cook the couscous according to the package directions, omitting butter and salt.

3. Toss the cooled couscous with the rest of the ingredients, add the dressing and mix well. Refrigerate for at least two hours and toss before serving.


You should try it. It's so worth it!

backyard photos

Asher and I played outside the other day with his 2 cousins who live next door. They have play equipment that we use, including a little playhouse. Asher loves going in and out the door, pressing the doorbell and playing peek-a-boo in the windows. I have a feeling with all the girl stuff around, playing "house" with them will be quite normal for him.

So here's those photos:

Is that not the cutest bum EVER!?!?!

the cult jacket

I finally got the Running Room jacket (aka: the cult jacket). Here I am trying to demonstrate how cool I look whilst running in it...

(Except I'm trying to demonstrate in my kitchen, and I can't really run there and take a picture at the same time. And I don't look very cool, but you get the picture.)

You've seen this jacket on runners right? It's pretty funny looking, but technically speaking, it's perfect for running. I decided to cave and buy it because I JUST JOINED THE 10K CLINIC!!!! I can't believe I'm training to run 10K. That's over an hour of running! I have a lot of hard training to do to be able to run 10K yet, but I'm excited to give it a shot.

And let's be honest here, I'm excited to wear my new jacket. How bad can that motivation be? (I totally sound like a shopaholic in the making but I swear I'm not running just so I could buy the jacket! I needed that jacket so I could run. It's true. Just watch. I'll finish that 10K clinic and prove it to you!) (Can you tell I've had this conversation in my house lately?) (And I like using brackets to indicate my random aside after thoughts.) (Whatever.) (Ha!)

A little of this, a little of that

A few random updates from the past 2 weeks...

Asher, Greg and I went to visit a local (-ish) Buffalo Safari. I think Asher enjoyed the tractor pull the most. The buffalo were pretty cool. And pretty huge. And pretty stinky (especially in the sweltering 35 degree Celsius heat). Greg pointed out that every question I asked the guide had to do with baby buffalo, or the makings of a baby buffalo. (I don't know what he's talking about). But then I was like "Hellllll-o! Babies are my life right now." Obviously.

We saw some pretty cool things; baby buffalo nursing their mama's and 3-week old babies that were all soft and fuzzy. And we also saw some pretty gross things; like a boy buffalo putting his face in a girl buffalo's pee mid-stream as she was peeing. Sick. Apparently this has something to do with it being mating season.

Here's some photos of the day (don't worry, the buffalo porn has been edited out):

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Asher also has been practicing his walking. A lot. He actually is walking most of the time, I'd say. He is getting quite good at it too, but has had a few falls and bumps, which led to a few of these along the way.

Ouch.

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Asher enjoyed his first trip to a local splash park. There's a new one, within walking distance from my mom's place. Score.

He was pretty tired out after all that excitement and passed out in the middle of the living room.

Rest assured, there will be more splash park visits coming up!

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We also had a scary incident with Asher a couple weeks ago as well. Since Asher was very little, he has held his breath when he cries. It usually freaks most people out because he holds it for quite some time, but we've just gotten so used to it that we don't even think about it anymore. We have certainly done our research and talked to our doctor about his breath-holding spells but nothing has ever come of it. Until a couple weeks ago. Asher held his breath during a cry for so long that he turned blue and passed out. It was the scariest feeling in the whole world... holding your blue, unconscious baby. Thankfully it only lasted for about 5-10 seconds, and he was totally fine after he regained consciousness. Don't worry, it's OK that this happened, and there's no damage or anything like that. Asher fainting was just his body's way of making sure he got oxygen again. There haven't been any more incidents since this first one, but I have a feeling more may be on there way, especially now that the boy is starting to have temper tantrums. (Oh joy).

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We've also been spending some time with this guy lately.

That's Marek, and he'll be spending 2-days a week with us starting in September. I think it'll be great for Asher to have another little guy around to play with regularly. Marek is very cute, and very fun and, well, so far, so good!

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And remember this friend from our beach vacation post?

That's my dear friend Erin, and she has just left the country for 2 years to go pursue her Master's Degree in Professional Counselling. We've been busy enjoying her company before she left (that's what she said, right Erin?). Our family will miss her lots, that's for sure. Good luck, Erin, and we can't wait to see you when you come home at Christmas!

I think that's all the random updates for now. Thanks for checking in!

Simple things

Holiness comes wrapped in the ordinary. There are burning bushes all around you. Every tree is full of angels. Hidden beauty is waiting in every crumb.

Macrina Wiederkehr

This quote is a good reminder for me, especially when I'm feeling far from receiving His blessings. Enjoy your day, friends, and may you find joy in the simple things.

I guess I really meant what I said!

Remember the last post I wrote on Thursday how I said that I thought Asher would be walking "just around the corner"? I guess I really meant it! We went to an awesome lake on Saturday where some of Greg's relatives have a home, and Asher started walking on the beach! Like officially started walking, walking! It was so cool! He has taken a few steps here and there in the past few weeks, but this weekend he took hundreds of steps in a row before stopping. He was a bit slow to warm up yesterday, but once he was ready, the walking fun continued. I think we did about 25 laps inside a local restaurant on Sunday afternoon, with hardly any falls, and no help at all. He even turns around on his own and stops and stands still (but not for too long, mind you)!

Here's a video of one of Asher's first big walks from Saturday. Enjoy!

Controlled Lowering Through Standing

That is the technical term for what you see Asher doing in this picture. It's a new-ish skill for him, probably mastered it within the past 4-6 weeks.

Asher's Physiotherapist came on Monday and was very impressed with the progress Asher has made since she saw him last, a little over a month ago. She actually pulled out an assessment, the Alberta Infant Motor Scale (AIMS), and we did it on him. The results were very interesting, and encouraging.

When Asher started Physiotherapy and Chiropractic care, he was 13 months old. At that point in time Asher was not even on the charts for motor skills in his age group. He was actually performing the motor skills of the average 8 month old, which meant he was about 5 months behind schedule. I knew he had a bit of a delay, but boy, it was a bit shocking to learn he was 5 months behind (thankfully the Physiotherapist didn't tell me this until yesterday, or I would have been devastated. And remember, I had to push for a referral from my Family Doctor to even get services started!)

Asher is now 15 months old and is performing the average motor skills of a 12 month old, and he is actually just below the 5th percentile for his age group! In less than 2 months of therapy, he has gained over 4 months in motor skills! I'm very proud and the Physiotherapist said he is making amazing progress. He is still a bit behind, but, once we got that pelvis issue fixed up, he is catching up fast!

Way to go Asher! Walking really is just around the corner.