it's my girls' world

Sunday, October 25, 2020

Welcome Home, Toby!

We did it... introducing the newest member of our family... Mr. Toby Milo Wigglesworth!! A big name for our little guy.

We have been looking for a dog, like many, many families since earlier this year. No puppies to be found and also breeders have been infuriatingly over-inflating their prices. We also had some restrictions. We needed a hypoallergenic dog, preferred a male, and we wanted a small to mid-sized puppy.

After many different searches and putting our names on different breeder waiting lists, we told the girls to hang on for a bit, next year might be our year to get the pup that was meant for us. However, my Instagram friend Corey was constantly putting pictures of dogs that she was fostering for our local animal hospital. When I spoke to her in August, she took note of all our preferences and told me not to worry, she'd find me a pup.

I was so surprised when on our Thanksgiving weekend, on Friday, she emailed me with pictures of our sweet boy. He didn't fit in with the rest of the litter so he was given up for adoption. I didn't tell the girls but we fell in love as soon as we saw the pics and decided to meet him just to make sure allergies weren't going to run amok.

Excited doesn't begin to describe our emotions.

Yep, he has a favourite. The lady who spends all the time with him.

A week later, we went to collect him after we bought everything for him...

An hour after we brought him home.

Boy has this week been hard work. We are in the throes of potty training, crate training, working on his biting and not picking on the runt of our litter, A. D's allergies have also been acting up some... We are doing puppy classes and homework at home, chatting with other puppy owners, spending lots of time outside, watching youtube videos and Cesar Milan videos as well as reading lots of literature. He is responding so well though. He is much calmer, responding well to his training, loving his routine and at least peeing on a pee pad for now... Just like kid parenting, I will take the little wins in puppy parenting. Overwhelming but there is a light at the end of this puppy tunnel and I'm seeing it in the future.

Welcome home, Toby boy! We are so smitten....Here's to many life adventures ahead!!

Friday, October 16, 2020

Friday Favourites--- our Canadian Thanksgiving

Hip-hip hooray for Friday! This weekend is going to be especially epic--- pictures to follow soon. In the meantime, here are pictures from our low key, (nuclear) family filled, soul restoring Thanksgiving

When I find napkins with my favourite autumn hashtag, you can bet I'm getting it #fallyall

We baked treats and gave them to our favourite neighbours- apple crumb muffins and pumpkin loaf. It brought us (and them) so much joy!

We hadn't ordered pizza since Covid started so my kids asked for a special treat on Friday evening.

All ready for Thanksgiving dinner- a mixture of succulents, eucalyptus garlands, mums and white pumpkins.

Apple cider cocktails and mocktails for the win.

All that awesome food.

We love lots of variety for Thanksgiving.... Pictured here in this wonderful hodge podge: dry brined turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes (C made them), cornbread (C), maple glazed turkey bacon brussel sprouts, buttered green beans, fresh herbed corn, sweet potato kale mash, gravy, feta beet salad and cranberry pear chutney.

A walk around our awesome hood to burn off some of that tryptophan

I left them at the swings and went a bit longer by myself

And back home for dessert....

Have a most wonderful weekend, friends!!!

Linking up with Andrea.

Tuesday, October 13, 2020

Books Lately- October 2020

Once again- this month has been an overuse of library card kind of month. Here are some of the awesome books I read:

The Things We Cannot Say- Kelly Rimmer

in 1942, Europe remains in the relentless grip of war. Just beyond the tents of the Russian refugee camp she calls home, a young woman speaks her wedding vows. It’s a decision that will alter her destiny…and it’s a lie that will remain buried until the next century. Juxtaposed against the modern day story, it was a page turner.

I loved this book so much. It was grippingly beautiful. It spoke of the horror of WW2 and the heinous crimes committed against both the Jews and other innocent bystanders. But it also spoke of the power of humanity, the different trials and tribulations of different times and the strength of the human spirit.

The Rosie Project- Graeme Simsion

Don Tillman, professor of genetics, has never been on a second date. He is a man who can count all his friends on the fingers of one hand, whose lifelong difficulty with social rituals has convinced him that he is simply not wired for romance. So when an acquaintance informs him that he would make a "wonderful" husband, his first reaction is shock. Yet he must concede to the statistical probability that there is someone for everyone, and he embarks upon The Wife Project. In the orderly, evidence-based manner with which he approaches all things, Don sets out to find the perfect partner. She will be punctual and logical - most definitely not a barmaid, a smoker, a drinker, or a late-arriver.

Yet Rosie Jarman is all these things. She is also beguiling, fiery, intelligent - and on a quest of her own. She is looking for her biological father, a search that a certain DNA expert might be able to help her with. Don's Wife Project takes a back burner to the Father Project and an unlikely relationship blooms, forcing the scientifically minded geneticist to confront the spontaneous whirlwind that is Rosie - and the realization that love is not always what looks good on paper.

The Rosie Project is a moving and hilarious novel for anyone who has ever tenaciously gone after life or love in the face of overwhelming challenges.

Both funny and cringe-worthy at times, I loved Don and his quirks, rooted for him and wanted to shake him at different moments. It was a different, light but well-written read.

The Favourite Half Night Stand- Christina Lauren

With a world-famous speaker at their university, Millie Morris and her four woefully single male colleagues make a pact that they’ll all find dates. Unfortunately, Millie has more success helping them make matches online than she does navigating the onslaught of lewd pics in her own feed. But when she creates a fictional name for a new account, Millie finds herself vying for the online attention of a man she sees every day in the flesh.

I've read a couple of Christina Lauren's books previously and I've thought them cute and a fun read. However, I found this one a little pedantic and predictable, It was just meh...

The Two Lives of Lydia Bird- Josie Silver

Lydia and Freddie. Freddie and Lydia. They’d been together for more than a decade and Lydia thought their love was indestructible. But she was wrong. On Lydia’s 28th birthday, Freddie died in a car accident.So now it’s just Lydia, and all she wants is to hide indoors and sob until her eyes fall out. But Lydia knows that Freddie would want her to try to live fully, happily, even without him. So, enlisting the help of his best friend, Jonah, and her sister, Elle, she takes her first tentative steps into the world, open to life - and perhaps even love - again.But then something inexplicable happens that gives her another chance at her old life with Freddie. A life where none of the tragic events of the past few months have happened.Lydia is pulled again and again through the doorway to her past, living two lives, impossibly, at once. But there’s an emotional toll to returning to a world where Freddie, alive, still owns her heart. Because there’s someone in her new life, her real life, who wants her to stay.

I thought this was going to be a meet cute. Then it was a hard, sad, devastating read that took such a twist but a wonderfully written one. At one point it dragged on a bit but ended really well. I saw the protagonist grow , make mistakes and really come into her own through it all.

The American Royals

What if America had a royal family? If you can't get enough of Harry and Meghan or Kate and William, meet American princesses Beatrice and Samantha. Crazy Rich Asians meets The Crown.

I didn't realise that this was a YA novel when I borrowed it. It was a fun cast of characters though that you'd love and love to hate. I got to read the second novel as well and it was also light and fun. It was very soap opera but sometimes we all need a little soap opera and saga in our lives.

What have you been reading lately?

Linking up with Steph for Show Us Your Books.

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Friday, October 9, 2020

Friday Favourites- Apple Picking Adventures

Happy Friday before a long weekend to us North Americans! This weekend's Canadian Thanksgiving is one of my most favourite holidays as it sets off so much fall goodness!

We managed to go apple picking last Saturday at the Brantwood Apple Farms. The kids have been going there for the past seven years. It is not as busy as many other apple farms, there's tons to do (though due to COVID, we skipped the fall fest area this year) and it's such a beautiful drive there with lots of fall foliage on the way. Also, apple cider donuts are life.

This year, true to 2020 form, as soon as we went it started to lightly rain and as soon as we left it stopped. It didn't stop us from smiling, apple sampling, grumbling and taking way too many pictures.

The summer hat prevented him from getting too wet, ha!

Have the most wonderful Thanksgiving, Canada! It's an odd year that's for sure, but we have so much to be grateful for. May your bellies and hearts be full.