A sigh of relief, and some tears...

Here is Julia all dressed up and ready for her second day of school. Yes, her second day. On her first day, my camera batteries were dead! A scrapbooking mom's worst nightmare! ;) Her first day went well other than that. No tears on her part, just mine. This morning (second day) she clung to me and didn't want me to leave, didn't want to stay, but a sweet little girl in her class sat next to her and seemed to change her mind. I guess it will take time, and it will get easier for both of us.

The Dog

Julia with Duchess, our 2 year old Jack Russell Terrier.
Fun-loving and energetic! Here she is catching bubbles. She ate so many bubbles this summer, I'm surprised she doesn't fart bubbles.
A close up that Julia took.

Heart of my home

This post is just some pictures of my kitchen as it is now. I do love my kitchen; it's my favourite room of the house. But of course, there are some changes I'd love to make!!


Standing in the entrance to the living room, looking into kitchen. On the left is the front entrance; the door straight ahead is to the back porch; the window over the sink opens to the back porch (can you say odd? At least there is another window somewhat in-line with it so I can see out into the yard!); the eating area is to the right. The cupboard above the microwave I would love to remove and add open shelving there instead. The dresser thingy with basket drawers is where we keep hats, mitts, sunscreen, -whatever the season dictates!


The stairs lead up to the loft (someday we would like to make the loft the master bedroom); the doorway leads to the bathroom; my new fridge (that actually matches my stove!! -very exciting!) Hm, I really need a stainless steel garbage can... but really, it is very hard to justify spending money on a garbage can, no matter how much better it would look!

The door on the left leads to a teeny tiny 'porch' (hardly big enough to change your mind in! but it is a good security feature against the dog accidentally getting out! it is also where the dog sleeps) and the front door.

Julia's New Shoes :)

First Time Out in the Canoe

Finally, finally we got out in our new (to us) canoe!
Here's proof. :)

A short walk down the street to the river...

Paddled to DQ, which happens to be right on the river...

Ryan & Julia in the canoe, while I pick wild raspberries on the bank...

Pretty Paper Flowers

I recently saw this picture as I was web-surfing and thought I haven't made tissue paper flowers in years, but wouldn't that be lovely for Julia's bedroom? I have been disliking Julia's room since we moved in because it is green. I thought that my little princess' room should be pink. FINALLY it dawned on me that pink and green go together fabulously, and I could make that work! http://www.academichic.com/2009/05/26/how-to-make-tissue-paper-flowers/

I made flowers in various sizes and colour combinations with two shades of pink and one green.
I just used white thread and thumbtacks in the ceiling to put them up. They are hanging 'randomly' at various heights.
The pictures don't do it justice; they look way better in real life, and seem to fill up the room more. I love laying on her bed gazing up at them...
Hmm... I wonder what Ryan would say if I made some for the master bedroom??

Yellow Weeds

I do not take after my mother when it comes to colour preference. My mom hates most things yellow. Me, I love yellow. It's such a vibrant, happy colour.
I don't take after my father when it comes to gardening. I'm sure weeds of any kind are not on his list of favourite things. Me, I adore dandelions. They are so pretty, they smell like summer, they are free and abundant, and my daughter loves to bring them to me.
Bring on the yellow weeds! :)

Let there be... pretty lights!

When we moved into this house, we soon found out all the little oddities that one finds in a new place. This house turned out to be lacking in the lighting department. Like, most of the rooms don't have any! The previous owner was kind enough to leave the ugly swag lights so we didn't have to stumble around in the dark, but they have been an irritant to my sense of esthetics since day one. But unfortunately, low on the priority list for change since beauty is not a requirement for functionality.

This smoked glass beauty was over the table in the dining area. Hard to believe anything could make it even uglier, but the energy saving bulb seemed to do just that!

This one graced the corner in Julia's bedroom.
Poor little girl!

And this one was in the living room. One of the first things that draws the eye when you come into the house. Ugh!

Now, on my own, I never would have had a clue what to do with these other than scour garage sales until I found lamps to replace them. But I do like the idea of swags rather than table or floor lamps... they're just a great space saver, and they are up and out of the way of the rambunctious 3 year old. So thank goodness my friend Griz has recently been posting all kinds of redecorating ideas! Here is the one that inspired me.

And here are the results of that inspiration!

This big blanc beauty is now in Julia's room. Someday when I redo her room, I might add some flowers or butterflies or something to this shade...
This long two-tone one shines down on the dining table.
Love it!!

And this square one is proudly catching eyes in the living room. I used an old linen-type material bag I had to make a cover for the ugly cord & chain. I adore this treatment!


So what do you think?
Love 'em or hate 'em?

Happy Mother's Day

Just some pictures of me and my sweet little peanut.
I love being her mom.

Orange Love

I recently received some serious love in the mail from one of my favourite people. She sent me a huge basket of goodies from The Body Shop - and I mean HUGE! So naturally, Julia and I had to try it out RIGHT AWAY. And it had to be more than a bath, it had to be a complete experience. So we decided to go with the Satsuma (orange) theme. We had the soap, the scrub, the shower gel ( of which I used a squirt for bubble bath), the body butter... and I made us some fruity, frothy, delicious orange smoothies. It was a complete experience, and it was delicious. There's nothing like a morning spent pampering to make these gals feel relaxed, happy and beautiful. :)


Thank you, thank you so much, Lovey! (you know who you are!)

Budding Gardener

We have sooo much work to do in our yard! Julia is our big helper. She was absolutely thrilled when I bought her her very own pair of gardening gloves!

Easter

Happy Easter, everyone!
Julia is at an age where she loves to do anything crafty. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree at all! So this Easter we had fun doing several decorative things.

Stained "glass" window decorations


An Easter tree with decorated paper eggs

Dyed eggs, and this beautiful spoon holder. Thanks, Griz, for sharing the link for this idea!