PlainLJayne

Her Name Scarcely Fits on a Name Tag...

2012-02-16T18:09:00.000-08:00

I think this little ruffle romper is the first spring wardrobe purchase I've made this year. Now that Zoe is a size 5 (aka, end of the baby world in fashion), I have to jump quickly if I want a particular outfit. I wasn't sure about the colour of this one 'cause I thought it might be a little dull, but it looks so cute on, and I admired it all afternoon. I asked Zoe not to wear it 'cause it's not exactly Spring. (And if you live here, you'll know how not exactly I mean). But I guess any kid that can coordinate a headband to an outfit this well is bound to want a head start on fashion for the upcoming season.

Awesome parenting?

Zoe's current reading love, "Chrysanthemum." Try saying it five times in a row. She doesn't need Dave to read it to her, I guess. She's pretty much got it memorized. My favourite part is hearing her read the heading of this post.

Valentine's Day Portraits

2012-02-14T07:23:00.000-08:00

I tried to take Valentine's day themed pics of the kids. It didn't go so well. (Note Zoe's face. A little dramatic, don't you think?) The picture of the two of them is the only picture I took with both of them in it. So we'll try again next year. Reese was pretty cooperative, but my pictures still didn't turn out as planned. And Zoe's, while not as I'd envisioned, quickly became some of my new favs 'cause I think they are pretty funny. But please don't let Zoe fool you into thinking I was torturing them. If they'll give me the time of day, it will be done in less than 10 minutes. Is that really so bad?! Yeah, I guess so, if you ask a four year old!

Sunday Pics

2012-02-13T09:01:00.000-08:00

I am taking advantage and composing collages for the next couple months until Picnik closes. Sniff. This is one of the other things I used Picnik for 'cause I have no idea how to make a collage in Lightroom, but I've tried, using an online tutorial and I think my version isn't current enough. I pulled my camera out yesterday and took lots of pics for the first time in a while. We went to a birthday party and I always like the practice of photographing an event. See how I have coordinated the blue squares in the collage to match the colour of Reese's shirt? That takes skill. (I kid.) It was just luck that they had a nice matchy background colour. (ps. don't mind spell check 'cause matchy is so a word). Have you ever noticed how much cuter words sound with an "e" sound on the end? Try it. It works. That's why I call my oldest Reesey and my youngest is Zoe.

Lifestyle vs Formal Portraits

2012-02-12T18:01:00.000-08:00

I read an article online the other day about infant photography. I think baby photos are some of the few pics that can look great posed. That's because infants don't pose. I mean, yeah, we pose them in cute, unnatural baby poses where the hands need to be edited out afterwords, but they don't smile on command, in that unnatural over-smile form, that a four or five year old might do. But anyway, I digress. The article was about doing lifestyle photography with infants, and I liked the idea, and I think I will try that out sometime (get ready for auntie, little Cohen.) I also like the fact that infants can't protest having their photo taken like older children. But maybe that's cruel of me to take advantage? Nah, they'll thank us later, right? Anyway, here is a lifestyle pic I took today, and it's one of my favs because I was able to capture a natural smile on my little Zo's face, while daddy painted her nails.

Bye Bye Picnik

2012-02-09T17:49:00.000-08:00

Picnik is closing in April. I don't use Picnik often, but seeing how not-so-tech-savvy I am, I like to use it for textures. Looks like I'll have to learn me some skillz elsewhere.

Disclaimer: Only the second photo shown here has been edited using Picnik. The first one is just for dramatic effect. You know, to illustrate my feelings about Picnik closing and all.

Birthday Card

2012-02-08T13:34:00.000-08:00

Zoe made a birthday card for her dad today. (His birthday is on Friday). Unfortunately she wouldn't let me take a picture of it. It's top secret.

Proud Pet Owners

2012-02-06T18:19:00.000-08:00

The girls have new little friends- Heidi and Goldie, guinea pigs. Zoe insisted that the new girls join them while they watched Annie last night- so here they are.

I suspect the novelty of caring for their new pets will wear off, but right now the girls are very eager. Last night Reese cleaned out their poo pellets at least five times. Clearly these gals poo a lot.

Typical Tea Party on a Beer Blanket, complete with Hand Cuffs

2012-02-02T10:07:00.000-08:00

She insisted on the beer blanket 'cause it's the softest. And in case you were wondering, the handcuffs are part of Reese's "Nancy Drew" sleuthing kit. I don't know how they became a part of the party though...?

The Barn

2012-02-01T08:09:00.000-08:00

I was putting Reese to bed last night around 8 o'clock. We were reading Trixie Belden in bed when I heard sirens. This is pretty typical, but there were a lot of sirens so I eventually rose from the bed and peeked out the back window. My heart sank at the sight. There was so much fire, and it looked so close. I thought that at 8 o'clock at night that whoever lived in that house, or worse, houses, would likely be home. Dave went outside to check it out and it turns out that it wasn't quite as close as we'd thought. (We thought it was coming from the street beside us, but it was a farm at the end of that street, and over a little path). It was coming from this barn, which the animals were thankful not in, and no one was injured. I think the fact that I even had a picture of it already on my blog, proves that I pretty much photograph everything.

The view from Reese's window.

The Barn

Relationships

2012-01-29T18:04:00.000-08:00

I love snapping pics of Dave and Zo. She looks so cute all snuggled up with her daddy. Unfortunately I rarely have my camera nearby during such moments.

Saturday Night. A Party in My Kitchen. (Or Not.)

2012-01-28T19:51:00.000-08:00

Apron and PJs, the perfect baking gear.

I'd leave y'all the link to this cookie recipe, but to be honest, I've had better and I don't want to lead my readers astray into the world of so-so cookie recipes. ;)

Repin, repin, repin...

2012-01-24T18:18:00.000-08:00

Pinterest has been a real inspiration to me in the kitchen lately. I've taken my Playbook to the kitchen counter for the last two evenings to make dinner. I just look up the "pin" of choice, click on the link, and follow away while I make dinner. These are S'mores pancakes I made last week. I have to say I have pinned way more dessert recipes than I ever intend to make it this lifetime. There are certainly a lot of dessert inspirations out their, but seriously, how many dessert recipes does one really need?

2012-01-23T18:19:00.000-08:00

Good news, friends. Spring is right around the corner. I'm pretty sure of it. If you think I'm wrong, you best not tell me, while I sit here in my happy bubble, dreaming of warmer places- "places" like May or June. You should totally try the happy bubble. It's nice in here.

In the meantime, here are some random indoorsy pictures.

Dave in a cute vest.

The children, refusing to be photographed by their adoring mother. Brats? I think so!

Pictures obviously taken at a different (possibly more cooperative) time than the "talk to our hands" photo above.

Loveable Labels Outdoor Bin Label Review and Giveaway

2012-01-19T11:10:00.000-08:00

So here's a story for you. Several months back, one of my recycling bins went missing. We recycle a lot in this house so that was slightly inconvenient. Eventually my husband found the bin again- the neighbour was using it. The bin was labelled in black magic marker with our house number and street. But I can't really blame my neighbour for her lack of observation skills. I'm like that too. Boring isn't so catchy for me. So when Lovable Labels offered me a choice of their organizational household labels to review for the new year, I jumped at the chance to pick the Bin labels. What's the solution to the neighbour "borrowing" your recycling bins? Eye catching labels that you can't miss! (The ones with the little house on them are my favourite.)

The labels are designed to withstand the elements. They are also 100% waterproof and UV-resistant. For $19.95 your package contains 8 labels- 2 Large House Bin Labels, 2 Large Recycling Labels, 2 Rectangle House Bin Labels, 2 Rectangle Recycling Bin Labels- enough to cover all your bins!
I am loving these bin labels, (and my recycling and garbage bins are now the cutest bins on the block).

Lovable Labels has generously supplied an "Outdoor Bin Label Pack " for one lucky winner! Thanks, Lovable Labels!

To Enter: Go to the Lovable Labels website and leave me a comment below (one per day only, please) sharing which one of their amazing product is your fav! Once you’ve entered by leaving a comment, you can gain additional entries:

Follow @mylovablelabels and @PlainlJayne on Twitter and tweet "WIN Outdoor Bin Label Pack " from @mylovablelabels @PlainlJayne http://plainljayne.blogspot.com/ leave us the link for extra daily entries.
‘Like’ Lovable Labels on Facebook for one extra entry and write below that you are a new fan.
Mention this giveaway on your blog and leave us the link for one extra entry.

For each entry, please leave a separate comment below (such as, "I liked Lovable Labels on FB). Thank you.

This giveaway ends on January 31 at 11:59 pm. The winner will be selected by random draw and will have 48 hours to respond to my email before another winner is selected.

This giveaway is open to Canadian and US residents only.

Baking...or not Baking...

2012-01-16T13:26:00.000-08:00

Zoe and I were going to bake muffins this afternoon. One of us made muffins. The other one just wore the apron and played video games.

Friday

2012-01-13T11:27:00.000-08:00

Yesterday my flash arrived. Yay! Unfortunately it has no manual. I can easily download that, but then I'll have to actually read it. Anyway, it's clear I have a lot of learning to do, but I'm already in love and see all the potential in this little (giant) baby.

I am trying to get in twenty minute runs on the treadmill while Zoe is at school, hence the picture of my running shoes and (awesome) headphones. Reese has a pair of those headphones too, but in pink. Actually, they aren't that great to be honest, but they look pretty awesome (if you ask me).

Two Princesses

2012-01-12T10:04:00.000-08:00

We let Reese stay home from school today. The new frog she received for Christmas was unfortunately not well and passed two weeks to the day he came home. She handled it well, but she did not handle it well when the new frog passed on his illness to Marco (her existing frog) and he passed in the night. We knew he was ill yesterday, and by the time illness is visible in a frog, it's usually too late. What the pet store salesperson failed to tell Santa was that a new frog should always be quarantined for two months before joining the existing frogs. Reese is doing well now, but I feel so sad for her because she loved Marco so much. When she found out he was sick, she desperately started researching a cure in her frog book, but we knew it was too late for little Marco. :( I think we will take a break from pet frogs for now. This year she will be getting an electric scooter for her birthday.

Zoe's "Project"

2012-01-10T11:31:00.000-08:00

I was working on my Flickr project today, and while I was doing so, Zoe was creating one of her own. I asked her what it was and she replied "it's my project." I guess I'm teaching creativity?

Funny Stuff

2012-01-08T17:54:00.000-08:00

My youngest has been rather trying this week. We are not too outdoorsy in the winter months so it understandably becomes boring when you have a break from school and extra curricular activities. Alas, on Saturday she finally provided me with some "relief." Dave took Zoe to skating while Reese and I stayed home for some peace. When she returned home, the girls played nicely together for the remainder of the day, and topped it off with a sleepover. They are just funny kids though. Before bed, Reese had to decorate their faces. And then they wore eye masks to bed. Here they are, sleeping atop their GIANT pillow pets. (I hate those things!) Fortunately my camera was nearby because you just have to snap pics of these moments for future use. You know, to share with their boyfriends or for slideshows at their weddings.;) If you can't see the pic very well, and you're wondering, "is that a mustache she's sporting?" Why yes it is. And a beard. Her sister is an artiste.

Necklaces

2012-01-06T06:33:00.000-08:00

The holidays are quickly coming to an end. Zoe is excited to go back to school on Monday, and guess what? I am excited too! ;)

These necklaces were made from leftover beads from other crafts.

The Story of My New Coffee Table

2012-01-05T08:08:00.000-08:00

So this is how I got my new coffee table. I found this one at Ikea. I was planning on buying it, but I was a bit hesitant to pay $250 plus tax for a coffee table containing fiberboard.
Dave also preferred an oval table. So one day, while browsing a secondhand store, I found a solid wood coffee table for...$10. And it was oval. It was too big for me to carry and put in the car though. (I think I had Zoe with me that day.) So when Dave came home for lunch, I asked him to pick it up after work if it was still there. He told me he didn't think he had time, but he would go another day. So I sulked because by then it would be gone. Then he sang some tune about how he couldn't always be my knight and shining armor. WHHHAT?! Why not? So he left for work and we went about the rest of the day. Well, later in the evening I think I sulked some more, and then guess what he pulls out of the garage? My table. Aw. He later spray painted it gray to match the colour table I had wanted from Ikea. The end. :)

The Wedding, Take Two

2012-01-03T06:01:00.000-08:00

I am sorry I can't share more these photos. I am trying to protect the identity of the groom. ;) It's too bad 'cause there are some really funny ones. (Sorry, I know that's a tease!) If you recall the post about Zoe's previous wedding, it's the same groom. For festive reasons, the groom is wearing a Santa hat this round.

Project 52

2012-01-02T07:39:00.000-08:00

I am pretty excited about starting a new photo project this year. Instead of project 365, I will be doing project 52 this year. I am doing this as a Flickr stream as opposed to a blog. As my blog is largely about my family life, I thought the Flickr stream would be good to focus solely on the photography. If you would like to check out my Flickr stream you can see it here. Feel free to comment on the pics to give me the illusion of popularity. ;)

Here are my children having lunch with their new Build a Bears. As some of you may know, I am not a fan of the Build a Bear concept, but as the children wanted to go, and my mother in law wanted to give them a physical gift, I thought this would be perfect. Unfortunately we met up with them at the mall just as she was paying the bill for Zoe's. I was traumatized. Yes, the children are also wearing hair towels that they received from their great aunt. I think it's a fashion statement. We'll go with that.

Part Deux

2011-12-29T19:47:00.000-08:00

Here are a few more pics of from our Christmas holidays. Reese was thrilled to pose in some of her new Christmas things. Usually Reese and thrilled to pose do not go together. Sometimes I'm lucky.

Mario vs Luigi. This has been going on for a few days. It creates some drastic highs and lows from "She stole my flower power!!! Wahhhh!" (Zoe). To "Do you want to have a sleepover?" (Reese) ."Can we?! Is it a school night?" (Zoe).

My sweet baby nephew- isn't he cute?!

Christmas Vacation

2011-12-29T18:53:00.001-08:00

Reese received some suspenders in her Christmas stocking. Now she's hooked, and she's got little sis hooked too. If they appear to be wearing lipstick, it's because they pretty much are. It started off as a clear lip gloss. It's "mood" lip gloss. I am sure you can imagine how delighted they were when their "moods" both instantly turned it bright pink/red. At bedtime I asked Reese if she had brushed her teeth. She replied, "yes." So apparently she had reapplied the "fabulous" lip gloss before going to sleep. So awesome, and so very necessary, right?
Tonight I finally "won" a flash on Ebay. You know when you bid and bid and bid and say you lose SEVEN different auctions, and finally with great determination and willpower, you say I WILL WIN THIS. And you do 'cause you paid for it. Yup. That was me. The real point is that I'm a winner. Finally. Or a loser, I guess. It depends how you look at it. ;)

Zoe's Mirror

2011-12-22T13:20:00.000-08:00

Check this out. This is Zoe's new mirror. We put it at her height so she could see herself when she's getting dressed and stuff. I am pretty happy with how it turned out. I picked this up second hand. It was pretty hideous, mostly due to its gold colour, but I saw potential in it. It's kind of neat and old fashioned looking, and I think the pink colour gives it some modern flare. The tiny little flower mirrors below it are 99 cent pocket mirrors from Pier 1. I painted stems on them and a tree beside it to match Zoe's bedding.

Elf Poo

2011-12-21T17:46:00.000-08:00

Zoe was colouring, and me, I was just a source of irritation with a camera at the other end of the table. This photo evolved from a story of elf poo on her father's pillow. Ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

Dog biscuit reindeer, by Reese
(A gift for Oma's dogs)

The Witches

2011-12-20T08:58:00.000-08:00

I just find these too funny not to share. Last night the girls were dressed up as "witches." This is of course a rather creative take on witches 'cause I don't know too many that wear reindeer antlers and butterfly wings.

Witches flying on their broomstick.

Happy Holidays

2011-12-19T18:02:00.000-08:00

Yesterday my Christmas vacation officially started. Today I ran around with Zoe, like an obvious crazy person, getting a few last minute errands done. And yes, I felt like I was pretty much a super hero doing all this stuff with a single four year old in tow. Unless you've taken out my four year old on errands, you probably shouldn't judge. ;) Today she was pretty good though. I'll admit that she had some difficulty keeping her hands off the tic tacs and gift cards at the check outs though. And she practically mouthed a few packages of candy, but anyway, it wasn't so bad. I had promised her a "grow big" type toy a while ago so I thought I would get her one after dragging her around on all these boring errands. Do not step into a Dollarama until after Christmas, let me tell you. That line up was the worst. But Zoe showed remarkable (shocking!) patience waiting in line for that grow big and I'm sure it will be worth the wait when he hatches tomorrow. Want to hear an awesome story? No? Oh well. Anyway... When I was a child they had grow bigs in Flinstones cereal. I wanted one really badly. I promised my mom I'd eat the cereal, but I knew I wouldn't. That stuff is disgusting. So she bought it for me and I loved that grow big and I didn't eat the gross cereal. And then I wanted another grow big so I promised her again that I would eat it. Here's what we got: Two grow bigs AND two boxes of uneaten cereal! Oh mom, I love you. xoxo

I made these Chocolate covered Oreo snowman pops today for some of our friends' kids. The ribbons are "scarves." Unfortunately this brilliant idea was not my own, and if you inspired to do some Oreo pops, visit www.idearoom.net.
The chocolate covered honey pretzels are a quick treat I made for a gathering at Zoe's school tomorrow. I don't know if they'll be any good, but it's something kind of different. They were inspired by some I found on Pinterest.
Just so y'all know, the key to using Wilton chocolates is to microwave for just 20 seconds at a time and then stir and repeat. Hopefully that will save someone else who can't be bothered to read instructions some grief.

Oh Christmas Tree...

2011-12-15T18:03:00.000-08:00

Here is a fun photo of my Christmas tree. I'd hate for anyone to think I didn't blog all week. ;)

Okay Dried Up, Neglected Blog...

2011-12-08T19:05:00.000-08:00

Today is the first day all week that I have given my sad little blog a chance to thrive- and well, not much of one, really. It's getting cold out and I am ready to hibernate for the winter. I have hardly picked up my lovely camera, and I'm hoping for some inspiration soon. What I'm most looking forward to right now though is two weeks from now, a lovely two weekend holiday from my dreaded weekend midnight shifts.

Advent goody: magnetic earrings. They work really well, but much like clip-ons, they aren't so comfortable. So after a short while of being all big with her first pair of earrings, they repurposed themselves into fridge magnets...temporarily? We'll see.

Okay, enough paparazzi for one day.

Christmas Pics

2011-12-01T17:14:00.000-08:00

Grandma bought the girls some sweet little Christmas dresses. Typically I'm not really into traditional Christmas dresses, but every now and then it's nice. I am so desperate to order my new flash. Trying to take these indoor pics was a good reminder. I have almost enough saved up.
Dave put up the Christmas lights tonight! (I love that boy). I nagged him lots and lots about how December first was coming, and oh look, it's tomorrow. 'Til finally last night he threatened that it would take longer, due to my incessant nagging. But he came through. :) He and Zoe went out nice and early last Friday to pick me up some cute lit up Christmas trees in urns that were 75% off at Canadian Tire. So we have those new lights to add this year, plus some new candy cane lights so it's looking pretty festive. :)

Gingerbread House

2011-11-29T13:29:00.000-08:00

I had fun plans for the girls yesterday after school. We started with smoothies with whip cream and little umbrellas. Did you know whip cream and little umbrellas make little girls very happy? Then we decorated a gingerbread house and that also made them very happy (and giddy).
Often I am cranky mother, but if you pick up your bath towels, listen to me, and don't ask me for something I've already said no to a million times, I am kind of nice. Neat, eh?

Some Christmas Crafting

2011-11-27T18:45:00.000-08:00

I made these button trees while I watched 48 hours Mystery last night. Bliss. This totally makes up for the lack of Dateline on Friday night. (I'm fun like that). Did I mention I love buttons? 'Cause I do. If you have any ideas for buttons, send 'em my way. After these trees though, I need to replenish. I think I have one brown button left. These are really easy to make. I could have had the kids make them, but sometimes I just like to relax and craft. I used cardstock to make the cone trees and some tape/staples, white glue, and lots of buttons of various colours- done!

I did buy some Christmas crafts supplies just for the kids though. They get so excited about them. We make candy cane reindeer and styrofoam snowmen.

Muffin Tin Advent Calendars- Take Two

2011-11-24T17:05:00.000-08:00

Last year I made mini muffin tin Advent calendars for the girls. After Christmas, I put the magnet tops away in Ziploc bags and I decided to be practical and use the muffin tins to make mini muffins during their "off" season. Smart thinking? Not so much. I have searched everywhere for those magnet tops that I spent hours cutting, handstamping, and painting. I have no idea where I put them and I came to the conclusion that hunting for them was actually far more stressful than making more so that's what I did. They were a quicker, cheaper version of the original tops, but they'll do just fine. I couldn't wait to fill them so after I made the new magnet fronts, I started filling. After day 10, I wondered if the little treasures were starting to become boring and repetitive so Dave and I brainstromed and started thinking outside the muffin tin. For a couple, I will put a note with a message of where to find their little gifts for the day, and that way I won't have to confine everything to this tiny hole. And I think that will keep it interesting too. We are also thinking of a dinner out or a movie for another. Dave suggested we use the Palassad coins that are worth 10 tokens and put one of those in for a night out. I think it should be fun! The little Snoopy magnet packs were a sweet Michaels find, at less than a penny a magnet (for real!) I bought the packs all for the awesome magnets that read: This has been a good day.

My sweet girls were so excited to decorate the tree. I have to admit, I wanted it done, but didn't really want to do it so I was kind of relieved when they wanted to do it all by themselves. They decorated while I cooked dinner. That worked out pretty well, I'd say!

Zoe looks like she's in workout mode with the weights in the background. (I just had to shove those out of the corner so I could get the tree up.)

These are our favourite ornaments- blown glass Care Bears.

My Christmas Wreath, and Christmas Cards

2011-11-23T12:58:00.000-08:00

We are starting to decorate for Christmas...slowly! I finished up this Christmas wreath the other day. I didn't want something that looked too Christmas-y. So I think this works. I also worked on my Christmas cards this past weekend. They are almost done. I am not quite on top of things though. I ordered some inexpensive photobooks as gifts and the layout got messed up so now I need to suck it up and pay more to have some made locally so they'll (hopefully) be ready in time. If these don't work out, I'm going to throw a tantrum. The end.

Ballet is very competitive stuff...

2011-11-17T18:12:00.000-08:00

Zoe had her last ballet class on Monday. It was so cute watching her dance around, but equally cute seeing her in this last shot- she was not happy that she had been head of the dance line and some other girl butted her first place. It's rough being a dancer.

A Christmas Card, by Zoe

2011-11-15T18:13:00.000-08:00

I decided the other day that I would take up contesting in my spare time. We'll see how long that one lasts. I tried it once before, and gave up quickly when I wasn't becoming a "winner" fast enough. But round two, contesting, here it goes. I go to enter a contest, and realize I need to include not just a craft or recipe, but also a picture. Seriously? Does contesting need to be so complicated? Can't it just be me: Laura; lives at; email address. Blah. Done. So since I was already in the thick of it, I got little Zoe started on the craft for that picture I needed. I sure wasn't going to let a silly picture stand in the way of me and my contesting. Dedication, I tell you. I'll let you know how this contesting thing goes (or how quickly I get sick of it).

An Attempt at Family Christmas Card Photos

2011-11-13T15:12:00.000-08:00

I think next year I will make my attempts a bit earlier in the season. I had to sleep today because I worked last night, and then it was much too dark out to take photos, and I just wasn't happy with the results. Dave says we might still have some more nice days to try again. My mom got the girls some new Christmas dresses so after we get those, I'll be able to try some pics of them. I can't wait, but I'm not sure about a backdrop yet. Maybe I'll get lucky and we can take them outside! These pics were taken on campus just off a parking lot. I walk past this area regularly and I scouted this little area that I just love for pictures. It's nice, you know, after you clean up a couple of beer bottles and other student junk. I think it will be a better spot when there is some sun shining though- maybe Spring time!

A practice shot- Dave looks a little stunned, but handsome nonetheless. ;)

It Finally Arrived...

2011-11-10T17:00:00.000-08:00

Yesterday my new chip card came for my new camera. So I can finally use it. Learning to use a new camera is never the funnest part, as everything is a bit different on each body, even within the same brand, but I'm already loving the upsides- that I can use a higher iso without huge amounts of grain (400 was pretty much the max I could use on my previous camera), and of course the full frame sensor. As a portrait lens lover, I was always annoyed by the cropped shots, but no more. :) Don't expect to see any amazing difference in my photos though. ;) I still have the same old lenses. Next up on my list is a flash. My dear, sweet hubby has been Kijijing for my cause. We are slowly, but surely, building up the funds.
Now let's talk Christmas. Every year I fail to plan adequately to have everything ready in time. Surely this year will be no different. But this year, I hope not to be producing some last minute attempt at a Christmas card/photo. Now I know I will never have something ready in time to mail out Christmas cards. That is a tradition I gave up on long ago, you know, like pretty much after year one in our new home. But I at least hope to take the picture in the near future. The problem is I am working every weekend this month, which leaves little time for composing a family picture. (Weekdays obviously don't work because Dave is at work and Reese is at school.) Wish me luck!

Happy about the arrival of my new camera card?! (Probably not.)

Zoe creates some adorable artwork with pastels.

Christmas Gifts for My Girls

2011-11-09T07:21:00.000-08:00

I have a necklace similar to these, which I love. I decided I would order some for my girls for Christmas. The wait for these was longer than I have ever waited for a custom order (at nearly three months), but it was well worth it and I also received a bonus necklace with a little snowflake, which I will add to Reese's Christmas goodies. I think they will love them. :)

The Show Stealer

2011-11-04T17:07:00.001-07:00

You know how I can't make a post without a picture? It would just be so boring for me. In a sad and desperate move to keep my poor little dying blog alive, I searched through my files for a pic to play with because I hadn't really taken pics this week. This one made me laugh. Someone couldn't stand not being included in the pics of her new baby cousin. I hope my sister in law doesn't mind me sharing this pic. I tried my best to crop her out of the background, and clearly someone else is the star of this show. I haven't had much to blog about this week, and I'm working all weekend, but I like to update regularly because no one likes a "dead" blog, right? Hopefully this pic will amuse someone out there as much as it amuses me. Or close, anyway. ;) Have a great weekend!

Oh Halloween...

2011-10-31T10:34:00.001-07:00

I would like to start this post by pointing out how much I love Halloween. We all do around here. We love Halloween parties, Halloween movies, the candy, the costumes, the decorations... But sometimes Halloween is not all that good to us, it seems. I woke up this morning with an immediate gratitude for my wonderful father, who had a heart attack on Halloween four years ago. Although that was some time ago now, I think of that sometimes because it is a reminder of how lucky we are to still have our "bubba." I can not imagine life without him.
And then today Halloween took another unlucky twist. Okay, to some people it might not seem like a big deal, but when Reese gets home from school we'll have one little frog lover with a broken heart, and it just crushes me to have to tell her that, Frisky or Marco (I can't tell them apart), has passed away. I found the little guy, her present for seventh birthday, belly up in his tank when I went to make her bed. These guys are really still a lot of times and I think they look dead, but this time I knew. Belly up- never a good sign for a fish or a frog. I thought this pic was kind of fitting for this post. I have a close friend coming to visit tonight. I know we'll still have a good Halloween, but I am sad for my girl. Frisky and Marco were her first pets that are all her own.

Party Time

2011-10-30T19:57:00.001-07:00

We had our Halloween party tonight. It went well. We tried pumpkin carving this year. I am not sure if we will do the pumpkin carving again, but I guess I'll have to get some feedback from the kids. Usually we do Halloween crafts and cookie decorating. We did the carving in smaller groups while some of the others watched Halloween movies. I am thankful we did it this way because it would have been a disaster trying to get all ten kids carving at once. Some of the older kids could do it completely on their own so I would definitely consider carving again in a few years, when everyone is able to do it independently.

Costumes!

2011-10-30T07:25:00.000-07:00

Last night we did the first test run of the Halloween costumes. We went frugal this year. And I would be quite happy to go frugal again. Zoe's costume was made by my mother for Reese. I am not big on doing the same costumes for them, but this one was special because it was made by Grandma. :) I made Reese's Pippi Longstocking costume out of a t-shirt, some extra material, and a little monkey I purchased at Ikea for just over a dollar. The greatest part though was seeing the absolute joy on her face when she saw herself all done up. She clearly was quite happy with how it turned out and was all smiles as we pulled them in a wagon on the way to a family Halloween party last night. Awesome.
Dave carved a "Chucky" pumpkin this year. He's done Chucky before, but he did it again, for Reese. Reese wants to buy herself a Chucky mask to scare the big kids. Dave is going to take her out today to see what they can find for a reasonable price.

Lunch- Halloween Themed

2011-10-27T17:42:00.000-07:00

I became a little involved in making Halloween themed lunches for the girls for school. It started with me making these marshmallow pops and moved along from there. The marshmallow pops are just Wilton coloured chocolates on marshmallows and sticks. This week I've been on a Lunchbot kick. Zoe has two snacks and one lunch break and she doesn't have time to eat everything in her Planet Box so I've cut back. So far so good- she came home the other day with an empty Lunchbot. The pretzels are "bats and jacks." I cut out cheese and lunch meat in bat shapes and put a tiny dot of the black Wilton cake colouring for the eyes. I didn't have any of those edible markers, but I figured this would do the trick. The fruit snack is a combo of clementines and kiwi "skulls."

Park

2011-10-25T09:08:00.000-07:00

This morning we took a little trip to the park. I took my camera with me because fall is so beautiful. And pictures, for the most part, can be what you want them to be. Reality- child falls off pole. Twice. Skins knee, and then gets back on pole and cries harder 'cause she fell on same knee again. We got over that pretty quickly, but then she was too cold. And she didn't want to have her picture taken. And she didn't want to stop so I could take pictures of berries. And she didn't want to sit on the log. It was dirty. It had spiders on it. Okay, she'd stand on it. But that was it! It was all very amusing. Fall is good.

Fall Leaf Study (Part One?)

2011-10-21T12:37:00.001-07:00

I haven't gotten out to take many photos of the beautiful autumn leaves, and now they are slowly dying off, and it is so cold out that I have an earache. Remember the Thanksgiving weekend, just a few weeks ago, and how hot it was? Long gone! These pics are a bit on the "sunny" side. Sometimes I don't think it works, but I really like sunny tones for Fall pics.

Halloween House Decorating

2011-10-18T07:41:00.000-07:00

The girls were super excited to decorate the house for Halloween. Hopefully one day we'll be able to get more decorations. We've seen so many great ones. Seven years later, we've finally purchased new cobwebs for the house. I think it was time to freshen those up. We also added some blood splatters with razor blades to the front door. I like those. They have quite the dramatic effect.

Tombstone, bloody knife, some severed limbs

Cobwebs

Cheesey Halloween faces. Too bad you can't see the blood splatters better in this pic.

The Cranky Girl

2011-10-13T17:43:00.001-07:00

This little girl was some serious kind of cranky today. I wasn't really sure why. She had a major meltdown over at Hello Kitty doll that we refused to buy for her at H & M. It was one of the worst tantrums I have ever seen from her. It was kind of unusual, and very dramatic, and then it all came to light when she oddly fell asleep on the car ride home. Then later in her room she told me she didn't want the Hello Kitty doll anymore. Sigh.
On a brighter note, they had some really cute old school fabrics at H & M, and I got a couple awesome dresses for Reese. It is much harder to find cute stuff for your kids when they get "old" like Reese. So I considered myself lucky to find these great dresses. I also scored a cute little dress for Zoe, and that one happened to be on sale for $2. Big score! And since I have obviously fallen back into my tiny-people-clothing-shopping-addiction, I also bought this cute dress for Zoe at Old Navy the other day. I couldn't pass it up because it was about $6. It would have been silly to walk away, right?

The World's Fattiest Cupcake

2011-10-12T15:01:00.000-07:00

I made these cookie dough cupcakes today. They have a ball of cookie dough in the middle. You can find various recipes all over Pinterest. I think all the versions of this recipe are pretty full of lard, but I was seriously disgusted by the amount in this recipe. It was too late though. I already had myself set on trying it. Altogether, 24 cupcakes contain EIGHT sticks of butter. EWWY EWW EWW. I froze half the recipe after observing the ingredient list. I didn't bother applesaucing it, but I would if I ever considered it again. I honestly don't know why I didn't because I almost always trying to cut massive amounts of butter stick in half with some applesauce. I guess I was too distracted, drowning in sugar and butter, and all. Dave ate one and pretty much thought they were the heaviest cupcakes in the world and didn't think I should feed them to the children. I let Reese have one anyway. ;) It's mean to taunt children with fatty cupcakes and not offer them up, you know.

Brantwood Farms

2011-10-09T06:25:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we went and had some fall fun. We didn't squeeze in apple picking though. :( I really wish we'd done that. I guess there is still time, but either way, I think this should be a fun month. Halloween is coming up, and I love Halloween. My children, particularly the oldest, are not cooperative subjects. They don't even want to give me a half second of their time, and it is hard enough getting pictures in full sun. I watched other kids pose sweetly for some farm pics, while I eventually resorted to bribing with cotton candy, just to get a couple pics, and this momma had to snap them- fast! Oh SLRs, how I love thee and thy fast shutter speed.

Landyn & Cohen

2011-10-08T19:00:00.000-07:00

I got to meet my new baby nephew today! It was a gorgeous day out so we took him outside to get some photos. Unfortunately he wasn't a huge fan of us playing around with him while he was sleeping, but who can blame him, right? I don't like being bothered when I'm trying to sleep either. ;)

Made From Pinterest, Craft Two

2011-10-06T18:02:00.001-07:00

If you can't tell, I'm really loving these instant inspirations for crafts. I found this craft this morning on Pinterest, and lucky for me, I also found one canvas left with my craft supplies. Zoe was really into this one, and could do almost everything herself, which was great. She helped me pick out the scrapbooking paper for the flowers, and we've already put it up in her room. :)
The other picture I just had to add because it's kind of funny. She was just posing for the camera.

Made From Pinterest

2011-10-05T15:27:00.001-07:00

If you aren't a Pinterest member yet, you might want to rethink that! Well, it suits my tastes, that's for sure. Yesterday Zoe and I made this quick craft, using pencil erasers and ink. She was loving it. Oh, that's totally my artwork, by the way, not Zoe's. ;) She spilled some water on hers and made it a bit more JK-like.

2011-10-04T06:11:00.000-07:00

Wow, I feel so engrossed in my own life lately that I have no inclination to blog. And that's kind of funny because this blog is about my life. First things first, I have a new nephew. I haven't met him yet, but I will on the weekend, and hopefully I'll be able to get some pictures of him. Secondly, I've been growing impatient lately. I hate putting life on hold for the right opportunity. So I have purchased myself a new camera to start. So what the hey, I am going to start putting some of my little ideas in to action and start my own little photo business. I will need quite a few more things and lots of practice, but the camera is my starting off point and then I'll be on my way to the possibility of doing what I love. I found out my nephew was born a few hours after I ordered my new camera, but guess what? He was born two weeks early and the camera is on back order. So it looks like it won't be here in time for that.
In other news, it has been 7.5 years, and I have finally found a new running partner. She is 7.5 years old. ;) Dave and I used to be running partners. But as many of you know, two parents can't really go running together and leave their young children at home. I am really impressed with my new partner. We went out for our first jog the other night, and she did the whole thing. Then last night she wanted to try one of my full routes, and she did it, without stopping. She wants to do a longer one tonight. This mommas going to be tired. She'll be a much better runner than me, no doubt. I have known this since she was only a few years old though.
Since I had no pictures, I randomly selected some that I've never even looked at from my files. That's fun sometimes too. I have tons of pictures that I may never look at.

2011-09-30T10:25:00.000-07:00

Painting a living room causes a bit of chaos. That's what we are working on right now. It's consuming me right now, but after the first two walls are done, we'll take a little break and get things back in order. Reese says she doesn't care that the furniture is all over the place, as long as she can still see the t.v. Ah, priorities.

Zoe posing before gymnastics. I love this t-shirt. She's never been interested in wearing it before, but she watched Garfield on t.v. the other day, and now she was good to wear it.

My New Toy

2011-09-28T06:05:00.001-07:00

I bought this fun "toy" a few weeks ago at Younkers in Fort Gratiot, MI. It was on sale and cost just under $20 with tax because there was some lucky additional discount at the counter. (It's still on sale for $20 if you want one and happen to be near a Younkers.) I've had to cut down on my baking because we've reduced Zoe's sugar intake. And that hurts (ME!) After she ate her cake pop, she was a cranky pants and that really reaffirmed the unfortunate cutbacks. I made red velvet cake pops with Wilton chocolate icing. I would like to give lemon cake pops a try. The recipes come with this lovely machine. Have you ever tried making cake pops without one? I have heard it is rather time consuming and not fun. Well, let me tell you, this little machine is easy AND fun. Yay for cake pop makers! These are just simple ones, but I will give some more interesting ideas ideas a try later. We are going to have cake pops for our annual Halloween party. I also have plans for Reese's birthday- in March! We have already been running through ideas for the party. We all know how important birthdays are to kids. ;)

Apples

2011-09-25T11:05:00.000-07:00

(This is the original photo followed by two edits. The vignetting was created by the filter I made. It's just how it worked out, but I like it.)

I am thinking of having Dave take me on an apple picking date to "woo" me 'cause that would be fun, right? I think he thought that was a weird date idea, but he said yes. We shall see though. I don't really want the kids to miss out on apple picking. They just loved strawberry, raspberry and pea picking in the summer. I wasn't completely happy with the heart "bokeh" in these pics. I think it looks a bit overdone, but you never know unless you try.

Hot Air Balloon

2011-09-23T13:49:00.001-07:00

I have nothing much to write about, but for the sake of keeping my blog up to date, I figured I'd post an entry anyway. Here is a pic I played around with that took of a hot air balloon the other day. It was so close that I had to run in and get the camera. Here's some advertising for ya, EZ Rock.
I haven't been doing much lately, other than various workouts (thanks to JK and my new found free time), cleaning, and painting. I have enough painting to do around here to last me until at least Christmas.
Have a great weekend!

Ballet Babies

2011-09-20T08:21:00.001-07:00

Zoe had her first "ballet babies" class yesterday. She was super excited. That pretty much sums it up.

The True Tale of a Rotary Phone

2011-09-19T06:25:00.000-07:00

A few months ago I found this rotary phone. I immediately coveted, but could not afford one. So I decided that I would either look for a coloured rotary phone, or find a beige one to paint, as has been done for the Anthropologie model. My dad, an avid yard saler, (which is so obviously a word, spell checker), helped me with my search. It didn't take him long to stumble upon a table with not one, but two, beige rotary phones. He asked the man if he had any coloured ones, and sure enough, he had this green one inside. So my dad walked away with this beauty for me for $12.
It just so happened that my grandma, (his mother), was also having a yard sale that day. When he stopped by at grandma's sale, he told her about the phone. Well, it turns out grandma had sold a green rotary phone to a man for $3. When my dad looked at my "new" phone, there was grandma's number in the centre, where I have now place the little picture of the bird. So that is the story of how I got my (grandma's) rotary phone. It has a cool ring, and a good story, if you ask me.

Back at it

2011-09-15T09:49:00.000-07:00

For the first little while during the school year, and whenever we have lots of groceries and lunch items to choose from, lunch making is fun. Here's Zoe's lunch for tomorrow. She has two snack breaks, in which her snack must be in a labelled container (hence the apple bag), and one lunch break. I couldn't find the small stainless steel container for her Planetbox. So instead I used a small stainless steel container from Dollarama. It doesn't have a lid though so I used the metal top of an orange juice container to cover it before I shut the lid. This avoids the moisture from her Tabbouleh sliding around on the top of the compartment and soggy-ing up the sandwiches. That's my tip of the day. ;) Also tabbouleh is great with feta. Zoe and I both agree on that.The cheese crisps (middle compartment) are available in a huge bag at Costco for $8. The multigrain alphabet pretzels are President's Choice. Dave and Zoe spelled words at lunch with these. It was cute. :)

Western Fair

2011-09-13T07:00:00.000-07:00

Things have been really good around here. We had a fun day in the U.S. on Sunday, the kids are nicely settled into school, and yesterday we enjoyed an evening out at the Western Fair. After our first ride, it poured. Thankfully, that was pretty brief, and after that it was just a matter of a few wet seats. We did the Western Fair as economically as we could- $46 to be exact. When the kids are older, we might do wristbands and spend a Saturday there. Unfortunately Zoe can't go on quite as many rides as Reese yet so it's tough when they need a partner to ride with. Dave went on one of the bigger rides with Reese, and I went on two. Next year, it's just going to be me doing those rides with Reese. Someone's belly can't quite handle it anymore. ;)

Chalk Art

2011-09-10T18:15:00.000-07:00

We drew outside with chalk this morning. Zoe was really just waiting outside for friends to come out. That's all she wanted to do was play with friends. So that's pretty much what she did all day. Dave and Reese did well at the garage sale/lemonade stand in Burford. Good day all in all. :)

"Back to School" Photo Shoot

2011-09-09T15:07:00.001-07:00

I am so lucky that this kid plays along with my ideas... sometimes. Technically Reese is the only kid going "back" to school, but I guess Zoe did go to preschool last year. Unfortunately Reese could not participate in this photo shoot because she is off to sell cupcakes and lemonade at the Burford yard sale tomorrow. We are instilling a little entrepreneurial skills in the girl.

Zoe's First Day of JK

2011-09-08T18:40:00.000-07:00

We sent two kids off to school today. Dave has had the week off, which has been nice since it's the girl's first week back to school. We spend the day out the house and being not-so-productive. We ran some errands and went out for lunch, and that was about all there was time for before we had to pick the girls up. Zoe enjoyed her first day of school. She was quite happy that she finally got to play in what she calls "the castle," a piece of play equipment she has long been eager to try out.

As most of you know, Zoe is a big time accessory girl. I made her take of the necklace before school. It was a *bit* long.

I don't know why "I'm" getting this look. Maybe I should be afraid?

Back-to-School, The Reese Version

2011-09-06T05:45:00.000-07:00

I blame the lack of sharpness in these photos on the sleep blur in my eyes. It has happened for the last few years. I wake up just in time to snap a few pics before she and Dave head out for the bus. This year I decided to use auto focus to try to correct the problem, but it didn't entirely correct the problem. This is when "good enough!" will do. Reese was super excited. I just gave her a hair cut last night so I don't think that side braid will stay in for too long. Reese says it's a new hairstyle for a new year of school. :)
P.S. Isn't this Polaroid shirt awesome? It was a $5 score from Old Navy.

Our Family Photos, by Me

2011-09-05T17:47:00.001-07:00

We haven't had a family photo taken since shortly before Zoe's first birthday. It was cool out today, and not too sunny, and so I came up with this idea that we would go for family photos. Everyone played along, which was good. I decided to try taking some using my $10 tripod and the self timer on our camera. While they are not as sharp as I'd like, I am pretty satisfied. It is much better than having no family pics, and I still had control over the settings, AND it was far less stressful than all the experiences we've had inside those little Walmart or Superstore portrait studios. No one every seems to enjoy getting those ones taken. ;) The kids played in the park after the pictures, and then we went out for a family dinner at one of our favourites- East Side Marios. It was a bit cool out so the girls just kept their jackets on for the pictures, but I like the jackets so it's all good. We are going to attempt some more family portraits soon, given how un-painful this experience was.

A Random Pic

2011-09-03T11:27:00.001-07:00

I haven't dumped the pics off of my memory card in a few days so I just picked this random picture of Reese for today's blog post. I bought this cute little hat for her from Heartsy (discounted Etsy)
I am a bit of a Heartsy addict, and a hat addict too.
This is our last weekend before back to school. Crazy how quickly life flies by, eh? My little Zoe starts JK this week, and Reese will be in grade two.

Volcano

2011-08-31T06:08:00.000-07:00

We made a volcano the other day. I've never done a "science" volcano, and I really didn't know what I was doing, but it turned out well. I mixed up some flour (unnecessary ingredient), baking soda, and vinegar for it. First we put the baking soda in our volcano (made from a 2L pop bottle and covered with tin foil for structural purposes), and then I dumped in the vinegar. The kids loved making the volcano "angry."

Electrical Tape Painting

2011-08-30T07:57:00.000-07:00

The girls did some painting yesterday. The lines were created using electrical tape. The tape can be left on afterwords, or removed, depending on the effect you want. This would work better on canvas. I think we'll do that next time because I don't care for "curling" paper.

Looking for a Giveaway Today?

2011-08-29T13:32:00.000-07:00

Check out my friend's blog for a chance to win a $20 Amazon gift card!

2011-08-29T05:41:00.000-07:00

I needed to feel inspired yesterday so Zoe and I went for a walk in the evening. It was brief because Zoe fell in the mud. Reese didn't want to come because she was busy writing her book. It's getting harder to find interesting places to walk around here, as more and more houses are popping up. This fall a trail is supposed to go up, but I won't hold my breath. Apparently it was supposed to go up last fall.

Hello Kitty Gets a Ride

2011-08-28T17:47:00.000-07:00

I was trying to get the kids to come in for their bedtime snack. Reese was writing a book on the front lawn, Dave was tidying the garage, and here is Zoe. She waves, "hi mom!" and smiles. She had her snow sled dragging behind her jeep and was taking Hello Kitty for a ride. It actually worked pretty well. What a kid.

Today is not my day...

2011-08-24T11:50:00.001-07:00

I would like to throw a tantrum right now. I am having a not-so-good day. In the meantime, here is a picture of the lovely Orchids my darling husband bought me at Costco. Just in case you are jealous of his wooing skills, I should add that I asked him to pick them up for me. There is no point in beating around the bush. Boys like you to straight up tell them what you want, apparently. ;)

Kitchen

2011-08-22T07:21:00.001-07:00

These pics are for my mom, who wanted to see my new kitchen colour. The colour looks slightly different in real life. Either way, I love it. This went like many of my little house projects go. I start it, Dave finishes it. My mom also made this dress for Zoe. I love it, particularly the "skirt" of the dress. I ordered that fabric from Etsy. It's called "french girls" and is of some sweet little girls looking out their windows.

I love this picture, just because. My dad got this cool picnic basket at a yard sale. It will be a sweet prop.

Some Quick Photo Fun

2011-08-20T16:07:00.000-07:00

After too many falls off the wall, the "glass" in this picture frame was all cracked along the bottom. I've decided to save it like a hoarder for a while. I figured I could have some fun with it. And the kids did have fun getting their pics taken "in" it before dinner. Reese even expressed slight disappointment when we stopped for dinner. I guess we just need to jazz up the picture taking.

Kitchen Cupboard Clean Out Craft

2011-08-20T09:11:00.000-07:00

I really needed to get rid of this (disgusting) brown Minute Rice, and these last few stragglers of whole wheat penne. Unfortunately Minute Rice can be very messy if it's not glued well so everyone but Reese's went straight to the garbage. No one really appreciates little pieces of rice all over the house, right? ;)

My Current Obsession

2011-08-18T05:45:00.000-07:00

Aprons. I love them. I added two new aprons to my collection for my birthday. My mom made this one for Reese. It is super cute. This is Reese helping chop vegetables for dinner. I usually don't have the kids help me with dinner (because to be honest it slows me down), but I did that night and she was pretty excited to do some choppin.'

A Little Restoration/Repurposing Project- Part 1

2011-08-16T17:47:00.000-07:00

I bought an ugly old painting for this project. It was really ugly. I was almost embarrassed to carry the thing out of Goodwill. I had big plans for it though. Unfortunately I didn't take any before pics of it. It's still in the works, but I've selected a few photos to string in the frame. I found the cute little mini clothes pegs at Dollar Giant.

The P Girls

2011-08-13T12:03:00.000-07:00

It kind of bothers me that I never appear in any pictures. It's certainly not because I'm egocentric (because I'm really not). I am really big on preserving memories through photos and I don't want my children to feel like I wasn't part of those memories. So last night I thought I'd ask We went out to dinner at the Mandarin last night. I wanted to do something special for the children as a family. I was just going to rush out the door in my grubs and then when I glanced in the mirror I was like "whoa." It was pretty bad so I cleaned myself up before we went out. I love that the girls like to get all fancied up before we go out to dinner or a movie. They make a big deal about picking out their outfits and prettying their hair, and I think that's kind of cool. I think it's nice to recognize a special occasion and take a little extra time to make yourself feel good. So I asked Dave to take our picture because I actually brushed my hair and stuff. ;) So there ya go. I now appear in pictures.

A Tea Party for Four Princesses

2011-08-12T11:36:00.000-07:00

Yesterday the girls had two tea parties. Dave insisted I sleep in (love that boy) so he got the girls started with their first party, with orange juice "tea" and cucumbers. I had planned a tea party too so we had that in the afternoon. I have new ice cream sandwiches presses that I couldn't wait to use so I baked up some low fat chocolate sugar cookies and used vanilla frozen yogurt for the ice cream. They were great. I had wanted these presses since I spotted them at Homesense, and now that it's end of season and they were on clearance, I had to get them. obviously. ;) I am going to try making larger batches and freezing them for future enjoyment. I baked the chocolate zucchini muffins using a giant zucchini grown in my garden. This thing was so big that I was able to make battered zucchini with it too. I will definitely be growing zucchini again next year.

Sunflowers

2011-08-10T19:09:00.000-07:00

One of my favourite things about these is how I got the seeds! I got a free package of seeds when I bought two bags of Krispy Kernels Sunflower Seeds at the convenience store. They were for the buyer to "give back to the earth." I guess I was half expecting they wouldn't grow- surprise! Apparently sunflowers are pretty easy to grow.

Paper Mache

2011-08-09T11:50:00.000-07:00

This was our craft for yesterday.... Unfortunately I put them outside to dry and then it rained. They may need some repairs! We weren't done anyway, we still need to make them into something. I ripped up strips of scrapbooking paper and made the "glue" by mixing flour and water. There is no right measurements really, just to get it to a consistency you can work with.

Party Pics

2011-08-07T19:46:00.000-07:00

This is my last post of Zoe's party pics- really! I just didn't have time for anything else today because we got home at 10 o'clock at night. Dave was an awesome clown in his retro clown costume, which I purchased months ago from Buy Costumes, with this party in mind. He made some really great balloon animals. My favourite was the snake, but in all the excitement, I forgot to snap pics! But I did get a pic of one of his flowers a few days before the party. The boy is a good sport, I tell you. :)

Too Funny Not to Share

2011-08-06T06:39:00.001-07:00

Seriously, how can one not love the overdone- two headband, hair clip, necklace, and fashion glasses- look? She looks so serious too, eh?

Reese is at her Oma's for a couple days. Zoe and I had a special day together yesterday. We went to playgroup, went downtown to see the Smurfs, and went to McDonald's for a Smurf Happy Meal. In the evening we went to Claire's because they had their 10 for $10 sale on and she had a GC from her birthday. (We scored big this time!) She insisted on getting more sunglasses-that-look-like-glasses. Okay, I had to indulge her once I saw them on.

The Birthday Girl

2011-08-05T17:49:00.000-07:00

The circus party was a success. Nothing ever goes off exactly as planned (of course), but I think everyone was pretty happy. Two of the balloons popped within minutes of entering the house (and those polka dot guys were a splurge for me), we forgot to bring out the ice cream and the Cheesies, but it was good. :) I love this darling dress that Zoe wore for her second birthday pics and now for her fourth birthday party. I pulled it out because it has a cute little elephant, which goes nicely with the circus theme, and then I paired it with some leggings 'cause it doesn't fit the same at four as it did at two.
Here's a funny thing that made me feel a little bit guilty- Zoe requested we sing the "smell like a monkey" version of the birthday song at her party, but as we were singing it, and I was snapping pictures, her expression kind of suggested that she wasn't so sure about that anymore. But it was all good, it's just one of those things you can see from behind the lens- and in the pics afterwords- that expression kind of changing like, "hey wait a minute, I smell like a monkey?" 'Cause maybe she didn't think that one through. She likes to sing that for everyone else's birthday.

The Cake

2011-08-03T17:59:00.001-07:00

I'm pretty tired from baking. Tomorrow is Zoe's 4th birthday, and her party. We're having a circus theme so I made a clown cake and some cupcakes (for variety). I think I'm bored of cakes, and maybe next year I'll just do cupcakes. We'll see!

These cute little pinwheels are from Dollar Giant.

I made these little toppers using cardstock, a toothpick, and stickers from our theme.

Zoe, one day away from four!

No Sew Birthday Banner

2011-08-02T11:12:00.000-07:00

This is the banner I made for Zoe's birthday party. It's a tad wrinkly 'cause I threw it in the closet and it sat there for a few weeks after I made it. Oops. I used pinking shears for these, some leftover fabric from the as-is section at Ikea, some cheap ribbon from Michaels, and some brads to attach the fabric. Easy peasy. Birthday Banner.

Happy Long Weekend

2011-07-30T12:28:00.000-07:00

My O drive is full on my computer. It looks like I need to clear some space. As a result, I am running out of places to put my pics. So I have taken a picture taking break for now. I don't suspect that will last for more than a couple days. Here is a random pic of Reese looking cute in some seashell earrings and a robe, while eating her bedtime snack. We are having a pretty good long weekend so far. I Hope everyone else is enjoying the long weekend!
P.S. If you look in the background of this pic, you can see that I have not finished painting my kitchen yet. Note the brown streaks on the wall. That's the new colour. Maybe it should be a goal for this week...or next...

Plate Wall

2011-07-28T11:53:00.000-07:00

Between the lighting and the awkward placement off the stairs, it was rather tricky to try and get a pic of my new plate wall, but here are a couple. Dave hung these up last night. These are all random plates from Pier 1 Imports. I really would have liked to collect some second hand plates, but I wanted this done now so I didn't want to take the time to collect. I really liked these plates so I thought they'd be a fit.

DIY Sidewalk Paint

2011-07-26T15:31:00.000-07:00

Here's a much more economical sidewalk paint than the Crayola version: mix equal parts corn starch and water and add desired amount of food colouring. Mix. Done!

I Love Sundays

2011-07-24T17:06:00.000-07:00

I love Sundays (most of the time). I find them so much more relaxed than Saturdays. It's not that I want to sit around all day, but it's nice not to have to do things. In the summer, soccer games are usually our have-to-dos on Saturday. We hosted no play dates today, and the girls just played together. I ran errands by myself. Running errands without kids is pretty blissful.

Having a picnic on the trampoline.

Feeding each other Goldfish crackers.

This photo is hilarious because you can see the sneaky smile on Reese's face in the background as she steals goldfish crackers from Zoe's bowl while she poses for the camera.

Up. Down.

2011-07-22T08:18:00.000-07:00

I really liked this pic so I tried it a few ways.

I woke up this morning to a teary Reese, whose new tree frog, Limey, whom we had raised since tadpole-hood, passed in the night. We have tried very hard to raise these little guys, and there is a definite learning curve here. Despite his unusually busy work schedule yesterday, Dave managed to get to the pet store in the city that carries 1/4 inch crickets, and we are now raising those for our frogs-to-be. To make a long story short, we didn't want the crickets to drown (as tree frogs like them live) so we tried keeping Limey in the cricket hut over night, and he dehydrated fast. It was really horrible. (The hut was indoors, of course. It was crazy hot outside.) Just yesterday Reese had been in tears because she was scared Limey would pass without his crickets. Then she was overjoyed when Dave called to let us know he had picked them up (as our other car is in the shop). There are lots of ups and downs when raising tadpoles, apparently. Anyway, I took quite a few pics of Limey in his short life as a frog, but now I just can't share them. So here are a bunch of pics of my girls instead.
I took the random pic in left hand corner at the top because it's just one of those memories I'll want to be reminded of one day. It brings me great joy to watch the girls play with the dollhouse we made for them a couple Christmases ago. They've been playing with it in the mornings and it is so cute to watch. Dave spent a lot of time working on it, but it's a bit of a fragile model. The girls love it though. They've been wearing Dave's tank tops to bed and they look like sloppy little dresses, which you can see in the pic. That makes me smile. It is just kind of funny and cute looking.

2011-07-21T12:44:00.000-07:00

This week feels so long. Like, it should definitely be Friday today, not Thursday. I think the weekend is going to be pretty long too because Dave has to work all weekend.
The middle pic (above) displays my new bathroom accent wallpaper. I'm in love with it. My parents came to visit on Monday and my mom put it up for me. (Thanks mom!) The picture doesn't do it justice though. Reese is wearing her new skirt in the pics. She got it in the mail yesterday. We were anxiously checking the mail every day, but the package seemed to take forever because it was stopped at Canadian customs (boo). Dave thinks I am the only person that cares about the $8.50 handling fee that customs charges. My argument is that I never asked them to touch the package so why should I have to pay? Ha. ;)

The Best Kind of Pillowcase...

2011-07-20T09:56:00.000-07:00

...Is a dress! My awesome mom made this pillowcase dress for Reese. It is practical, perfect for summer, and has plenty of room for growth. I like it best with a belt. It's a nice touch to add shape. I love the little details and trim that my mom added to the dress too.

Toy

2011-07-17T09:44:00.000-07:00

So this is my thrift store find from the other day. I practically choked (and so did Dave) to pay $10 for a dirty, old, plastic toy, but I'd seen one of these on a blog recently and I really loved it. I don't think you'll see many of them around so I consider myself lucky. I can only find the model with the white front online. There is a little rip on mine so I can't see the year, but the other model with the white front is from 1967. The kids fought over the toy for the whole car ride home so I guess it was a good purchase.

Just Another Reason to Love my Hubby...

2011-07-16T17:47:00.000-07:00

My husband indulges me. He lets me buy ridiculous things that he doesn't actually agree with purchasing. In some cases, like this one, he doesn't even like the item. I just happened to find myself in a thrift store while I was waiting for Dave and Zoe to get back from a drink at the water fountain. I found this chair that I thought was funky and had a vintage fabric. Dave hated it, but here it sits in my house, waiting for a good steam clean. After we purchased this, I spotted another treasure hiding behind the counter...and I went home with that ridiculous item too. I will post pictures of that toy tomorrow, I think.

Recycled Paper Puzzles

2011-07-15T09:31:00.000-07:00

Reese got this kit to make recycled paper puzzles for her birthday. It is definitely one of the best birthday gifts the kids have received. I love that it's crafty, eco-friendly, and reusable. Unfortunately it's a bit time consuming to use. So we just did four piece puzzles.

This is Zoe's puzzle. I am loving her paintings these days because they are always so colourful. I love colour. Reese's is pretty great too. Hers is about world peace, but I didn't get a pic of it finished yet.