HoneyBears & SydneyBeans

The journey is never ending. There's always gonna be growth, improvement, adversity; you just gotta take it all in and do what's right, continue to grow, continue to live in the moment.

Antonio Brown

What a busy week! The end of school is always a whirlwind of activities, events, and emotions. Every year I get the kid’s teachers to sign Oh the Places You’ll Go by Dr. Seuss! When they graduate grade 12 I will give them their books with all the beautiful memories from all the people that got them to that pivotal moment. Amazon has it on sale right now! If you would like to start this tradition you can buy the book HERE!

This year we allowed both the kids to each have end-of-the-year sleepover "parties"! Thank goodness for less COVID restrictions this year! SBean invited 4 of her besties from her split class over. All of them are in grade 5 and are moving up to middle school next year. SBean is going to miss them all so much and wanted to celebrate with them. We made homemade orange Julius, Jell-O jigglers, and played the flour game! I love that game! My Mom used to make "flour cakes" for all our parties! Ninja packed down a whole bowl flour, we flipped it upside down and the kids had to cut a slice until the candy on top fell. SBean collapsed it and had to pick the candy out with her mouth 😂. HBear invited 3 friends over but unfortunately 1 wasn’t feeling well so we took precautions and only 2 were able to come. They played video games, Dungeons and Dragons, ate pizza and finished off the night with a Monty Python marathon.

Both of the kids also had their end-of-the-year field trips! SBean had 2 but unfortunately 1 was cancelled due to rain. However, they enjoyed the day at Skaha Lake beach rotating between the nature park, the beach, the waterpark, and the climbing park! HBear what is bust was bussed out to Kelowna to the Myra Canyon Adventure Park to do some zip lining and rope courses! They had a blast!

On Tuesday night was HBear’s grade 8 farewell dinner and dance! I am so proud of this amazing kid! I promised as soon as dance was done, she could cut her hair and boy did she ever! It looks AMAZING!!! She wanted to wear a tux for the dinner/dance and I found the perfect one on AMAZON! Click the affiliated link to purchase 😊. I am SO proud of this amazing human being. HBear you continue to be YOU my Love and the world will be your oyster. Walk into your High School years with as much confidence and poise as you are leaving Middle School and you will kick butt in whatever direction you choose. Congratulations on making it through the WEIRDEST Middle School years in the history of public education 😂.

HBear had the BEST time at the dance and got an amazing feedback on her new look! That makes me SO happy as you never know how people will react to something new and to be honest, I was having stomach issues all day thinking about how cruel kids can be BUT it was all for not! On Wednesday the kids got ready for their LAST day of school!!! I am in awe of the kid's resilience and perseverance! Looking out over all those Grade 8 students I realized that their ENTIRE Middle School experience was overshadowed by the pandemic. When they went into that school they were little grade 6ers, HBear was just 10 years old!! Now they are full fledged teenagers, moving onto high school next year. I am just SO proud to be these 2 amazing kid's Mom 💛.

Check out How Was Your Week, Honey? Episode #282: We’re Just Not Talking About It HERE! This week, we try to avoid discussing what’s happening to the South of us. Topics: sickness, lunches, field trips, truth or dare, new hair, Crankshaft, evil gifts, Mean Girls & pendulum.

Last week Ninja BBQ'ed some yummy New York strips for dinner. We had a TON left over, my kids hate leftovers. They never want the same flavour twice in a row and frankly, I don't blame them! So, I made an easy 1 pot dinner using up the leftovers but giving it a new spin! This has a bit of an Asian twist to it and you can control the heat by adding less or more pepper! The kids didn't even realize they were eating leftovers until they finished and asked for more 😂.

One Pan Pepper Steak
Adapted from Craving Home Cooked

1 pound cooked steak, cut into 1/4 inch thick strips
2 tablespoons peanut oil
2 bell peppers, julienned
1 cup mushrooms, halved
2 tablespoons chives, chopped
¼ cup soy sauce low sodium
2 tablespoon cornstarch
⅓ cup red wine
⅓ cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 teaspoon black pepper
2 cloves garlic minced
1 tablespoon ginger, minced

Whisk soy sauce, red wine, broth, sesame oil, brown sugar pepper, garlic, cornstarch and ginger together and set aside.

Add the peanut oil to a wok and heat over high heat. Add the peppers and mushrooms and cook for about 3 minutes until the vegetables start to soften a bit. Add the beef to the hot wok.

Pour the sauce over the beef and veggies and cook for another 30 seconds to 1 minute until the sauce thickens. Garnish with chives and serve over cooked rice.

Not only did we have sleepovers, field trips, and the last week of school… We also had haircuts, yoga, and dancing at See You Later Ranch! I got to hang out with my niece, CabbagePatch for the day, we took in the Beach City Cruise, Cherry on Top, and the new Mexican restaurant at the Skaha Marina, Hugos on the Beach! SBean had a fantastic weekend celebrating SweetPea's birthday at a museum mystery party! HBear and I went to the Rolling Pride Parade on Sunday with our friends, got nails done on Monday and enjoyed the Grade 8 Grad Dance on Tuesday 💛. Wednesday was the LAST DAY OF SCHOOL and HBear's Middle School Farewell ceremony. Congratulations To my beautiful children. I am beyond proud of each of your in your unique and individual ways. Let the summer BEGIN!