Thai Chicken Wraps Recipe & How to Bottle Pickles

Thursday morning started off different then a normal end of summer morning. 

Mom came over at 7:30 am, everyone was still fast asleep, she came in and let me know that Grandma Chipman had past away the night before. She needed me to drive her to Raymond to be with Dad and help with the arrangements. I made a quick call and Lauren agreed to watch the kids for me so they didn't have to sit in the van for 4 hours.... Thanks again.

I got home just after 12:30 and the kids really really wanted to go swimming. I figured it was better to keep them busy, they were sad this morning about Grandma and I still needed time to process. So we spent a quiet 2 hours swimming. Enjoying one of the few free afternoons before school started in a few days.

We swung by Laura's office on the way home to see if she wanted to stop at the Farmers Market for a few things. She did, so we headed over at about 4:30. Annaliesse got to go the Radio!! She said her name, what grade she was going in, what her favourite thing she did this summer (💖spend lots of time with her family 💖) and what her favourite subject at school was (math). I picked up some picking cucumbers and jalapeños for Red Pepper Jelly.

For dinner I made Thai Chicken Wraps for dinner. Which I LOVE and 3/6 of my family does NOT. Justin ate a bite, Barker would NOT even try it and Remy was mad her's was so big. Kalia and Annaliesse just ate it and enjoyed it. I took some over for Mom and Dad for dinner and they enjoyed it too!  It looks WAAAAY more appetizing when you use shredded chicken.

Im gonna post the recipe here, cause I keep losing it!!

Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps

So fast to make for summer, 15 minutes start to finish.

1 lb ground chicken (use shredded chicken)
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp red curry paste
1 tbsp ginger minced
4 cloves garlic minced
1 red bell pepper thinly sliced
4 green onions chopped
1 cup shredded cabbage or coleslaw mix
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
salt and pepper to taste
5 basil leaves chopped (I don't use these)
Lettuce.

1. Add olive oil to skillet. Heat up until oil is very hot. Add ground chicken and cook until no longer pink. Break up as its cooking, takes about 3-4 minutes.
2. Add red curry paste, ginger, garlic, peppers, coleslaw mix and stir fry for 3 minutes. Add hoisin sauce and green onions and toss. Remove from heat and add basil.
3. Serve by placing spoonfuls of chicken into pieces of lettuce. Like small tacos.

After dinner Kalia and I got busy and bottled pickles for the first time :)

For pickles I used Kim's formula

Dill Pickles

Brine:

3 quarts (12 cups) water

1 quart (4 cups) vinegar

1 cup coarse salt

1 clove garlic per jar (whole or minced)

Dill as desired

Wash and sterilize jars. Heat lids in hot water. 

Mix brine ingredients together and bring to a boil.

Fill each jar with 1 clove peeled garlic. Add desired amount of dill. (I like lots.)

Pack cucumbers into jars.

Fill packed jars with brine leaving 1/2" headspace. Wipe rim with clean towel or fingers dipped in fresh water. Place hot lid on jar and twist to secure. Place in canner, fill with water to cover jars 1" and process in boiling water bath for 10 minutes. Remove jars from the water and allow to cool. Listen for the seal. Place those that don't seal in the fridge. (I canned in the oven at 310F for 10 minutes)

Arlie, Dentist and Harry Potter

I was super worried this last week before school was going to crawl by. So far it has been rather pleasant!

Tuesday morning Remy had a dentist appointment at 9 am (more about that later) and Sherilyn watched the oldest 3 for me! The paediatric dentist always takes a long time and we didn't get back to Sherilyn's till 11:20! Annaliesse wanted to stay and play for the day so I left her there and Barker and Remy were invited for a afternoon play date at Lauren's. Kalia and I hung out at home, I blogged and cleaned my room until I left for a hair cut. Mom picked up the 3 kids for me and headed into the city for Arlie's first birthday party!! I headed in just after them, picked up Annaliesse and met them there. We had a lovely evening celebrating Arlie!! She is so darling and Lindsay put on a lovely party.

Today, Wednesday it is +34 outside! To hot to do anything!! So we are spending the day hiding in the basement having a Harry Potter Movie Marathon. This morning we watched #1 and the kids were enthralled. No one moved the entire movie.  Right now we are on #2, eating popcorn and the Bennett kids came over to join us for this one. I am also getting Laundry done like a boss. The girls cleaned their room this morning after getting in massive trouble last night. Justin found play makeup ALL OVER the carpet in their room. 

Back to the dentist yesterday- Remy got a tooth infection last week. She had been complaining about a sore tooth for a few days, then she got a fever and then it was no longer just whining, it was crying constantly and no eating with out pain meds. I took her to the dentist in town and she had a infection in the front tooth we have been trying to save for the last 16 months!! She started antibiotics and was on them for 6 days before we could get into to see the specialist. So Remy and I go in Tuesday and after waiting for 45 mins she finally gets called in. I explain to the assistant what has been happening and she heads to the back. 10 minutes later calling me back to talk to the DR. To which he informs me nothing is wrong. Her gums look a little irritated but that's it. We then had a conversation about her pain, not eating , fever and constantly telling me her tooth hurts. He then asked if we ate popcorn and sometimes popcorn gets caught in there. I insisted it was more then that and he said a option was to go in and cut the nerve. But he wasn't sure if it was needed. Again I insisted she needed something done because this constant pain was not normal. He finally agreed to look at the nerve and I headed back to the waiting room. Another 40 minutes later and out comes Remy and the assistant. The assistant then tells me, it's a good thing we looked at that nerve it was almost completely rotted away! I jus looked at her and said, good thing you looked. 

After trying to save this tooth for a year and a half we are really hoping this is then end of it. She is still in a bit of pain from all the irritation and the infection, so we will finish the antibiotics and hope things settle down. 

Don't mess with this Momma Bear. 

OTHER then the dentis this last week is going great. 

PS. We watched the first 3 Harry Potters today. Started at 10:30 am. We took breaks durning and between but the big girls LOVED it. Barker and Remy enjoyed the first movie but couldn't sit still or concentrate for the last 2. 

Cat Creek/Extreme Air

Monday morning I woke up with energy to do SOMETHING. 3 things came to mind- 1 Waterton 2 Cat Creek Falls or 3 make red pepper jelly

It was waaaay to hot to make red pepper jelly by 10 am. That left the hike or Waterton, and the drive down and back to Waterton really didn't appeal to me so we opted for Cat Creek. We left at like 9:45 am and got stuck behind a house being moved. The kids had all sorts of questions and got pretty annoyed with it all- it brought a ton of memories flooding back for me.

This year the kids pretty much ran all the way. They had to keep stopping and waiting for me! Remy didn't run, she skipped. LOL. It took us 20 minutes to get to the falls... last year it was quite a bit longer :)

We brought swim suits too- the kids climbed around and played in the FREEZING COLD FALLS for just over half a hour. They had so much fun.

It was the prefect little morning activity. Its a easy little 3 km hike that is great for kids. Here is the link for it if your interested!

We saw Mountian Goats on the way home! 4 different sets!

I really wanted to make red pepper jelly still, but the house was flaming hot. Instead I cleaned all my pennies for our craft night in October... (cough dork)

We had planned to swim at Southland this evening! Kalia packed the bags, Annaliesse unloaded the dishwasher, Barker got in the way and Remy whined. I pulled up to Southland at 5:15 pm and realized I left the boys swim bag at home!! We got all the way there with 1/2 our swim stuff... :( 

A called Justin and he laughed, luckily, cause the kids were NOT laughing. He suggested the trampoline park or picking up swim suits from Walmart for him and Barker. We decided Extreme Air- the kids have been begging to go. Like all the time! I tricked them and didn't tell them where we were going- until we pulled up and the screaming started. The kids had a glorious hour jumping and doing flips into the foam pit. I had a great time watching :) 

A pretty good start to the last week of summer.

Saturday Boating and Roofing

Saturday Morning Remy and I went boating for YW/YM and Justin and the other 3 went to Grandma Moxleys and roofed all day.

Remy's BirthDAY

We had a great day celebrating Remy!!

We went to the Zoo in the morning with Grandma- Remy wanted to go there with Grandma and this is the first time Grandma has been able to go in years! Also we wanted to see the new Lemurs!! They were sooooo cute.

On our way home from the Zoo we stopped at the Toy store for Remy to pick out a toy from Grandma and Grandpa- she picked some sort of hatch it toy and a princess dress.

We had a impromptu party that evening at our house! First we had to give Remy her present from us, a dolly, lip gloss and .... something else. See my great wrapping job?!? Poor Remy

We celebrated with Grandma and Grandpa, Lieshmens, Miguels and Grandma Moxley. Pizza and Ice Cream Cake. All I have to say for myself is.... this SUMMER has been exhausting.  Pizza and Ice Cream cake was that was in me.

We ended the party picking crab apples from the neighbours so she could make fruit leather too!

Then after everyone left Justin and the kids jumped on the trampoline- Barker and Kalia learned how to do a back flip AND land it durning Remy's party. Those goons. While Justin kept them busy I cleaned up the party, blanched peaches for smoothies and got some fruit leather going.

A good day all in all.

Happy 4th Birthday REMY

Remy is 4 today!

Remy's favorite food is granola bars and fruit snacks.

She also loves apples, noodles and sauce and pizza.

Eating isn't really her thing tho, she snacks rather then eats.

She weighs 38 lbs and is still in her 5 point harness carseat.

Wearing 4T pants and 3T shirts with size 12 shoes.

She loves her doll house, hates playing in the basement and loves Lego. She even hides it in her purses. Lippy stuff is her fav thing to seal from her sisters.

Her sun hat is her go to accessory. 

She eats Rice Crispys for breakfast and a Nutella sandwich for lunch.

Remy rides a trike and likes her 3 wheeled scooter.

She is a sweetheart through and through.

1 year ago: August 2016. Remy with her metals at the Moxley Olympics. She had such a fun day with her cousins!

11 months ago: September 2016. We took the kids into Calgary to meet cousin Arlie for the first time! Remy loves Arlie something fierce and still calls her Baby Arlie. 

10 months ago. October 2016. I took the kids into the Telus Science Centre on a PD day. As always we spent lots of time at the water table! Passes to this place were totally worth it!

9 months ago. November 2016. Remy went through a phase of taking her shirt off or just wearing it around the house like a scarf. I constantly had to say put your shirt back on!!

8 months ago. December 2016. Remy has Daddy wrapped around her little finger. He is painting the little finger he is wrapped around.

7 months ago. January 2017. Grandma and Remy comparing purses.

6 months ago. February 2017. As you can see.... Remy isn't really learning this skating thing very well.... 😂

5 months ago. March 2017. Remy spent a bit of time sick this month. Mommy also took up a new hobby this month and made her a hat. She LOVED this hat... even if it didn't last long and became unravelled. 

4 months ago. April 2017. Remy and Annaliesse at the Moxley Easter Egg Catapult Rolling. It was freezing and Remy was so darling with her eggs!! He catapulted them time and time and time again. They took forever to break and she loved it.

3 months ago. May 2017. She loves this hat and her flip flops. Or as she says flick flocks. :) May weather was so nice this year!! We spent a ton of time outside!!

2 months ago. June 2017. She is a bike riding fool! She either rocks the training wheels or the tag along. The sunglasses are also the darlingist thing.

last month. July 2017. Remy was sooo good on our trip to the coast. She was probably the easiest kid the entire trip. Here she is with her Best Friend Ray. We are at Foggerty Creek enjoying the day.

21/08/17 eclipse

Spent the morning looking at the Solar Eclipse Monday with friends at the Skatepark. It worked out really well, boys could scooter and kids could run around and pause every so often to look at the eclipse.

I wasn't gonna take the time to do it with the kids, cause we couldn't find eye protection but luck shined on us. Andy Court had some welding protection shield glass thing he let us borrow. Then between Tania and Lauren and I we had enough gear for family pics all around.

Not sure the kids will remember they saw the 2017 eclipse..... well they will now because of the blog book. Lauren brought some stuff to make a shadow of it!