Five Questions Friday

School starts on Wednesday.

Yikes!!!!

I've headed back to school this week.

I got my new iPad

yeah me

and in our iPad training

I learnt two new apps

which I'm excited to try out with my students.

Today I started arranging my classroom.

It's starting to take shape.

Meanwhile,

today is Friday,

which means,

after a long absence,

I'm rejoining

Five Questions Friday.

1) Thunderstorms - Love them or hate them?

Can I be undecided?

I don't seem to recall liking them as a child.

I do recall being a little afraid.

Now, after months of heat

I love them.

However, 

after a raining season

you can tend to get fed up of them.

Ethan's not a fan.

And often a thunderstorm

means the power will go off

which sucks.

But generally,

I'm neutral.

2) Do you get your kids back to school clothes.

Decent clothes for Ethan

are hard to find here.

He's tall and slim

so we need to make sure they are not too short

and yet can adjust to fit his waist.

So trips home

include shopping.

If we're home,

or even travel,

during the summer months,

we I shop.

But it's not necessarily back to school clothes.

It's just clothes.

Which he may wear when he goes back to school.

3) Do you golf? Do you watch it?

No!

'nuff said!

4) Showers or baths?

Both.

Everyday is a shower.

It's faster

and better for the environment,

but every once in a while,

a nice, relaxing bath

does the trick.

5) What's the strangest meal you've ever had?

Hmmmm....

gotta think on that.

A few years ago,

we went to the St Andrew's ball

(Scottish ball).

Haggis was on the menu.

Can't say I've ever had it.

Not sure I will again.

Well now,

after a day of fun iPads

and moving classroom furniture,

I think I'm going to take a bath.

Happy weekend.

Writer's Workshop - Chocolate

5) Do you have a sweet tooth? List your top five candies.

Do I have a sweet tooth?

Oh boy do I ever!

I'm not a big candy fan,

but I love chocolate.

It's one of my weaknesses.

So here are my top five 

all time favourite chocolates.

1) Rease Peanut Butter Cups.

Pop the minis in the freezer, and OMG!

2) Caramilk

Ethan and I devoured these this past summer.

3) Crunchie

I have recently rediscovered these.

4) M&M

Plain, peanut, peanut butter, mint, oh my!

5) Lindt Lindor Truffles

Dark chocolate is my favourite.

Well....

now I'm craving some chocolate.

I do believe I have some Lindors

at home.

52 Weeks of Happiness - Week 22

I'm back at work tomorrow.

Summer vacation has officially ended.

And with Scott in Kitwe,

this year will be super busy

with me doing the single mum thing.

So, while Ethan has been at music camp,

I got one final Me-Day time.

Happiness is a Me-Day pedicure.

Banana Ice Cream

A few days before we returned to Zambia,

Ethan was outside with his Grandpa.

He (Ethan) walks into the house,

looks at me

pats my belly and says

I think we're having a boy!

I come home,

and my housekeeper has a big smile on her face

and tells me I've put on some weight.

YES people,

I enjoyed my summer vacation.

The ice cream,

the ice caps,

the Timbits.

Yes I've put on some weight.

But now I'm home

and it's time to start getting back in shape.

However,

I have a weakness.

Ice cream.

What's worse,

whenever Scott travels

I tend to feast on ice cream.

And he's now away.

A lot.

Now you all know

I know nothing about the kitchen.

I am the undomesticated goddess.

So when I heard you could 

freeze bananas, mash them up

and voila

have ice cream,

well I had to try it.

However,

I'm not about just the banana ice cream.

So I made two kinds

thanks to Real Mom Kitchen.

Strawberry banana ice cream

Ethan gave this one

two thumbs up!

One of my favourite ice creams

is Ben & Jerry's

Chunky Monkey.

My own Chunky Monkey

I forgot to pick up some walnuts

but will definitely add them next time.

I was sceptical 

that I would actually like it,

but OMG

it's fantastic.

So now I can have my ice cream

and loose weight too!

Bonded - Nicky Charles

I love my vampires.

You all know that.

Werewolves have never held the same interest for me.

That was until last year,

when I read Nicky Charles'

Law of the Lycans series.

I gobbled up the entire trilogy.

So imagine my delight to have found this.

Bonded is a prequel to The Mating.

We are introduced to a tough Enforcer

with the Lycan Link,

Reno.

He's a rogue wolf.

No ties. No pack.

Brandi is beginning her career

as a Disaster Control officer.

She's been in love with Reno for a year.

The book covers 3 years.

Yes it takes them 3 years to finally mate.

But it's more than that.

Nicky Charles takes us inside the Lycan Link.

The group that keeps the Lycan in order.

Their law.

Bonded is the story of purists

and how they are trying to rid of half breeds.

Reno and Brandi are there to protect them.

To help their families join new packs.

If only they could see their need for a pack

and their need to be a family.

Writer's Workshop - Best Part of Summer

4) Ask your child what their favourite part of Summer has been and then blog about it.

Me - Ethan, what did you like most about this summer?

Ethan - Going to Toronto.

Me - Yes, we went to Toronto, but what was your favourite part?

Ethan - Seeing Lucas.

Lucas is Scott's 11 year old nephew

whom, as you can guess,

Ethan adores. 

Every year, 

Ethan looks forward to a trip home

so he can see Lucas.

The kids were busy this summer,

so we didn't see them as much as we'd have liked,

but Ethan still got to spend time

with his favourite cousin.

Lucas at his baseball game.

With Ethan and his birthday cake.

Playing the guitar.

The Nisbet Band

Hanging out

With Brickman

Cousins

Golden Lies - Barbara Freethy

With Scott in Kitwe

my nights are a little lonely,

so what better thing to do,

than to curl up with a book.

Golden Lies is an easy read. 

It's a fun book,

filled with love and mystery.

Riley McAllister helps his grandmother

clean out the attic.

They find a Chinese dragon and take it

to those Antique Roadshows type shows

where it's estimated to be from ancient times.

Paige Hathaway is a princess.

Ok, not a real princess,

but she's filthy rich.

Her family owns The House of Hathaway

and her father, an expert in Chinese antiquities,

 is interested in the dragon.

Riley and his grandmother leave the dragon there.

David takes it to show a mate in 

Chinatown.

He is mugged and left in a coma.

The dragon is nowhere to be found.

And thus begins the mystery.

Riley and Paige work together.

He wants to find the dragon

and she wants to find out who attacked her father.

Together,

they learn the secrets of their parents

and grandparents

and of course,

fall in love.

Just the type of book you need

on a quiet Wednesday night.