cheapest sacred date ever

Michael had this great idea to have our supper picnic style at the Leg (pronounced like ledge if you're from Winnipeg). So, that's what we did. Then we headed over to the Bay Downtown:

We went to the 6th floor to check out an art exhibit where one of our friends had stuff on display. Totally cool.

Then we explored all the other floors, looked at china, furniture, etc. I happened upon this nice silicone spatula with a bamboo handle. Michael offered to buy it, I said forget it, thinking it would be seriously over priced.

Nope, it was $4!

Awesome! The whole date cost $4 and I had a great time and something to remember it by! Sweet!

Easter in Austin

The Easter Hunt.

Playing with our new toys.

Blowing Bubbles.

Taking pictures up each other's noses.

Loading up the quads to go home.

Speed World

*this is Esther: Michael planned another event for the men at our church. Indoor go carting. It was a huge success with the best attendance they've had at any event. The first picture is Michael. He created a team event complete with pit stops and prizes.

using the meat grinder attachment & making jam

As many of you know, raw meat is not my favourite thing to work with. We have a lot of stew meat in our freezer left from our last bulk beef purchase. Everything else is gone. I don't use stew meat all the often, especially now as summer approaches. So, since I have a meat grinder attachment for my kitchen aid, I decided we should try it. Michael was a great sport and joined me so I wouldn't have to do the disgusting parts (ie: touch the meat).

Ew, look at that hand digging into that raw meat!

We ended up grinding a little more than I wanted to cook, so we put it into containers and into the freezer (with the chopped onions on top). Next time I want ground beef I just dump it into the pan! Awesome!

I also set about using some of the frozen BC fruit in my freezer (thanks again Dad for doing that!). I made raspberry jelly (only the second time I've ever made jelly). It turned out quite nicely, and is so worth it (I hate raspberry seeds stuck in my teeth when I eat my toast, don't you?).

Coloring Easter Eggs

Once again, I borrowed a friend's child and invited Katrina to come over and colour Easter eggs with me. I just couldn't bring myself to do it alone and Jenn (my previous Easter egg colouring buddy) was just too far away to make it happen.

While I got things set up, she played with the wooden train set (yes that is pretty much the only toy we have in our house, except for teddy bears).

The set up.

Katrina helping me by putting the raw eggs into the pot to cook them.

The colouring begins!

We had one little accident and knocked over one cup. Katrina wasn't too keen on wearing her soggy shirt, so I ran around trying to figure out what to do. The only thing I could come up with was one of my T-shirts with several hair elastics holding it in place.

Here she is admiring the finished product. She was quite disappointed when I told her there were no more eggs to colour and as you can see we did almost three dozen. I have to say, if you can find them in your area, pee wee eggs are the best for colouring. Here, I can get them at Price Chopper for a buck a dozen and because they are so small the bowl looks that much more colourful.

See what I mean?

We also baked cookies, but of course there's no pictures of that. When I asked Katrina what she wanted, chocolate chip or raisin, she chose raisin in an instant. I was surprised, but Michael was thrilled because he got oatmeal raisin cookies, which I don't make very often.