To say that Brad is a Patriots fan would be an understatement. A huge understatement. So when they come from New England to play in Seattle once every four years, we go. Simple as that. Last time, we were living in Kuwait and managed to swing a stop in Seattle on the way home for Christmas vacation… And this time we got to take our little girl to her first ever football game.
Being that the game started at 1:00 and we needed to arrive at noon, I knew it wouldn’t be an easy outing for Miss G. With her normal lunch time being just before noon and her usual nap time being between noon and 1:00, we were pushing it to say the least. Since Grae was born, we’ve always put her sleep ahead of outings and events, so skipping a nap or sleeping while out and about just aren’t things she’s used to. But…. If you can’t delay nap time for a live Patriots game, then what can you delay one for then, right? ☺
We came armed with the Ergo, a yummy lunch, tons of special treats (roasted cashews, apple chips, just fruit fruit snacks, and wholewheat bunny crackers), a pair of Baby Banz Earmuffs, and a few little activities to keep her busy and hoped for the best.
It was an awesome game, and despite the fact that the Pats were ahead by quite a bit for most of it, it was one of those games where you just knew anything could happen.
Despite the great game, Grae was more interested in eating, climbing on and off chairs, watching the neighbouring fans, and the ‘dancing pink ladies’ (the cheerleaders with pink boots) than anything else. She did fairly well considering the circumstances, but I’d be lying if I said it was easy to wrangle an overtired, squirmy two year old without a seat of her own for a three hour game during her normal nap time. All I have to say is thank goodness for Grandma Charlotte’s purse full of goodies during the last quarter… A package of Band-Aids quickly became our best friend.
Sadly, the Patriots weren’t playing their best, and in the {crazy} last minute and a half of play, the Seahawks got control of the ball, scored a touchdown, and won the game by one point. Ugh. Not what we were hoping for, but what can you do?
On the plus side, Grae fell asleep almost immediately once we started walking out of the stadium and caught up on a few much needed moments of sleep.
Next time we attend a Patriots game, Gracen will be in Grade One… How crazy is that?!
Until next time, Patriots…
♥
Sunnies: Joe / Heart long sleeve: Baby Gap / Purple belt: H&M / Denim skinnies: Levi’s / Glittered Flats: Payless
Sunnies: Joe / Denim shirt: Joe / Pink dragonfly leggings: / Multicoloured sandals: Joe
Sunnies: Joe / Flower scarf: Handmade by a friend / Bodysuit: Capezio / Red tutu skirt: Baby Gap / Black leggings: H&M / Glittered flats: Payless
Striped jersey blazer: Target / Bodysuit: Capezio Black leggings: H&M / Glittered flats: Payless
Scarf: H&M (stolen from Mama’s closet) / White sweater: Ralph Lauren / Blue leggings: Joe / Glittered flats: Payless
Floral sunnies: Joe / Bodysuit: Capezio / Classic-style tutu: Handmade by Mama / Striped leggings: Baby Gap / Glittered flats: Payless 
Hat: Gertex / Knitted tube scarf: 
Floral sunnies: Joe / Chambray dress: Joe / Tights: H&M / Boots: Joe
Heart long sleeve: Baby Gap / Skinny jeans: H&M / Gold woven belt: H&M (stolen from Mama’s closet because “Gold hearts, gold bet… It matches!” – obviously ☺) / Glittered flats: Payless
Flower scarf: Handmade by a friend / Striped baby doll dress: Old Navy / Tights: Baby Gap / Boots: Joe
Quilted jacket: Baby Gap / Poppy print long sleeve: Old Navy / Denim skinnies: Levi’s / Boots: Joe
Breakfast // Plain organic whole milk yogurt with diced apples and a generous sprinkle of cinnamon.
Breakfast // Peanut butter and apple salad (chopped apples, grapes, and bananas topped with all-natural peanut butter/plain yogurt/vanilla ‘dressing’ and peanuts).
Breakfast // Organic whole grain low-sugar cereal with raw walnuts, frozen blueberries, and organic whole milk.
Breakfast // Overnight coconut chia pudding (coconut milk, chia seeds, and vanilla stored overnight in the fridge and topped with almonds in the morning – adding mango is delicious too!)
Snack // Local pears.
Snack // 
Snacks & Lunch {on the go} // Apple and orange slices. Marble cheese cubes. Wholewheat flax blueberry muffin. Shredded chicken. Garden peas. Cottage cheese.
Lunch {on the go} // Tofu cubes. Apple chunks. Orange slices. Baby cucumber. Almond butter roll-up. Red pepper slices.
Lunch // Wholewheat veggie mac and cheese (the sauce is made of all-natural sharp cheddar, carrots, zucchini, squash, onion, and herbs).
Lunch // Veggies and jalapeño humus. Leftover 
Lunch // Wholewheat red lentil mac and cheese. Roasted rainbow carrots. Steamed beets.
Lunch {on the go} // Raw almonds. Chicken and Israeli couscous salad. Freeze-dried bananas and berries. Ice water. Fresh peaches.
{Picnic} Lunch {for two} // Raw almonds. Apple slices and peach chunks. Veggies and roasted red paper humus. Fruit and veggie bars. Turkey and avocado roll-ups.
Dinner // Turkey tortellini with homemade veggie-packed tomato sauce.
Dinner // Turkey, spinach, and pasta soup.
Dinner // Roasted carrots and green beans. Lemon and dill salmon. Smashed potatoes.
Dinner // 
Dinner {on a ‘our house is too hot to actually cook’ night} // Curried pea and almond salad. Turkey, spinach, and feta Israeli couscous salad.
Dinner // Baked chicken tender. Homemade honey mustard sauce. Corn on the cob. Veggie mac and cheese.
Dinner // Broccoli, green bean, and almond Israeli couscous salad with grilled chicken.
Dessert // 
Dessert // Strawberries and 
‘Tis the season for all things pumpkin, so today Grae and I decided to experiment with making a healthy, but delicious, pumpkin treat. I must say, we were definitely ‘winging it’, but our version of pumpkin spice muffins turned out great! They’re soft and moist inside, full of flavour, and perfectly sweet. Not to mention, they contain no white flour, butter/margarine, or refined sugar. Yay for that.
Here’s our line up of ingredients… Wholewheat flour, organic old-fashioned oats, ground flax seed, walnuts, pecans, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, pure organic pumpkin puree, grapeseed oil, organic eggs, pure maple syrup, and pure vanilla.
Of course, having a sweet little wispy haired sous chef helps too.
Start by putting the flour into a large mixing bowl.
Add the oats and ground flax.
Be sure to cram as many oats into your mouth as possible when no one’s looking.
Next up, add the baking powder, baking soda, and spices.
Give everything a good stir.
In a separate bowl, pour in the pureed pumpkin.
Add the maple syrup and vanilla…
The grapeseed oil…
And the eggs.
Then give everything a good mix.
Next, add the dry mixture into the wet one.
Mix until just combined.
Then add the nuts…
And gently fold them into the batter.
Prepare a muffin tin by lining it with silicone baking cups or a light layer of grapeseed oil.
Fill the muffin cups almost to the top, but not quite, then pop them in the oven.
Take them out once the tops are cracked and a toothpick comes out clean.
Let them cool for a couple of minutes and serve to your very excited and very silly little munchkin.
In all honesty, I very rarely ever wish that my time with Gracen would pass more quickly. Today, however, was just one of those days. Despite a couple of really enjoyable activities, by the end of the day, I was feeling a little exhausted. My solution to ‘just one of those days’? Forgetting about the nightly ‘making dinner / cleaning up the mess / doing dishes afterwards’ routine and heading out to share a bento box with my little lady instead. A perfect end to a tough day.
Over the course of the last week, Gracen has been very into collecting “autumn sings (things)”. At first, I thought we’d use the items to make a couple of art projects and a sensory bin (which we did), but the collection grew so quickly and became so diverse that I decided a special area to display and admire her beautiful nature items was needed.
So this morning, we started out by taking down Grae’s 
Grae and I started emptying our bags and filling up the shelves (being the little organizer she is, she of course wanted all similar items together, so I was very lucky to be granted permission to split up the apples/corn/pinecones into a couple of different areas). As she started to try and stand her tree branches upright along the wall, I realized that Great Great Grandma Amy’s vintage mason jars would display them beautifully.
Our items came from a variety of spots… Most of the leaves, branches, and twigs were found while walking around visiting parks in our neighbourhood in Vancouver. The baby pumpkin and dried corn were found on our 
When we were all done emptying and arranging, the end result was a cute little autumn-inspired corner in G’s room where she is free to explore nature at any time.
So far, she seems to enjoy rearranging her items and reading in front of the shelf most.
She gardened and went on walks with Grandma Charlotte…
And watched Karmin videos and read ‘the crab book’ {about one million times} with Poppop.
So much to be thankful for this year…
When I told Gracen that we would be headed to the Okanagan for the weekend, she immediately exclaimed that she was excited and started listing off all of the things she wanted to do while there, one of which was “Old MacDonald’s Farm”. Confused, I asked her what she meant. Her response? “Old MacDonald’s Farm – apple treat drink!” Such a funny little thing. With that, I knew she actually meant 
Grae chose to use our alphabet cutters, so to have a manageable number of cutters to work with, we picked out just the letters in her name. We lined the tray of her beautiful easel (a special Christmas present from her Uncle Gary) with foil, mixed up some paint in colours of her choosing, and pulled down some paper for her to stamp.
She knew exactly what do to, and got to work dipping and stamping her letters right away.
She worked on the bottom half of her art piece for a while, then requested a chair so she could stamp the top half of her paper too.
This is her masterpiece once declared finished.
The other bonus? Clean up was a breeze. I filled a sink full of warm, soapy water, Grae walked each cutter to the kitchen and plopped them in, I crumpled up the foil, and we left the painting on the easel to dry. 