This was a great weekend! We had wonderful, co-operative and happy children all weekend. This doesn't happen too often so we soaked up every moment of it. My husband, being the amazing man he is, took our happy kids out to run errands all morning the one day leaving me with the house to myself. I buckled down and did nothing but enjoy my coffee, the silence and a magazine. It was fantastic and so is my husband. The best result of this however is the absolute joy the kids get of having special quality time with daddy. They are over the moon when they get back, they talk of how much fun they had, the treats they scored and the places they went. They enjoy that time with him so much, he is a wonderful father and that makes my heart melt. That also got me thinking about my own father. I loved having that special time with my dad too. We use to hit the arcades, the ice cream shops, the comic book stores, he would ride the roller coasters with me and do just about anything for me. In fact this weekend my parents were over for a BBQ dinner when my father heard the ice cream truck...he looked at me a said "let's go!"....so here I am, a grown woman with my father running down the street to catch the ice cream truck! It was great. It really was a happy weekend and I am reminded of how blessed I am to have such a great father in my life and how blessed I am to have such a wonderful husband but even more so a great father for my own children. Although Father's day isn't here yet, I think they deserve to be celebrated early. So thank-you to my Father and my husband....you are great men and I love you both. The kids and I are now making our plans to spoil their daddy on Father's day....what are you plans?
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A while ago I was watching my children play dress up. My daughter was covered head to toe in pink, gold, purple, diamonds, pearls, clashing stripped leggings, sparkly shoes, heart shaped glasses and a wand. My son had a tie, vest, work gloves, hard hat and a shopping cart (quite a sight). They were having such a great time. I finally asked "who" they were pretending to be and their answer was the most amazing and inspiring answer...my daughter said they were themselves, they didn't like to be anyone else because they liked who they were, they were just a little different but that was ok! I know they are just toddlers but as a mother it was wonderful to hear. I certainly hope that I can that nurture that thought, that concept of loving who you are, of being yourself even if you are different. It was a small moment but certainly a wonderful moment. What was your recent moment of wonderful? Everyday I pick up the kids from their preschool and scramble about to make a meal that is semi healthy, sort of balanced and maybe even slightly tasty. This is challenging for me mostly because I don't enjoy cooking and quite frankly, I am not a great cook. My food isn't bad but my menu is limited and I have on occasion burnt a thing or two. There isn't too much that makes weekday cooking exciting for me but yesterday was different. I was making spaghetti with meat balls (which my daughter "looooves" unless it's made be me) and since the kids were playing so well with each other, I decided not to entertain myself by playing with them. Instead I checked my email while I stirred the pasta and what do I see in my inbox? I see that I had won a Blog giveaway! I truthfully don't participate in lot of these but I am particular fan of this site and her product. "Her" is Laura Clempson from www.cupcakesforclara.com and she makes the cutest paper dolls, awesome stationery, sewing kits and even toys. What I like about her line from a creative perspective is her branding, her humour and how she has successfully given her characters personalities. As a mother of a young and very girlie girl, I love the idea of paper dolls, the simplicity, the portability and the opportunity to have free, creative, unplugged play. I entered the giveaway more as a way to support a product that I like and plan to buy but then I also ended up winning! I didn't win the grand prize (it was a good one too) but I did win the Runners Up prize of her Colin Gift Set which you see above and can check out here in more detail. It'll be a few days before we get him but I am eager for my daughter to have some new old school fun. In the little burst of excitement of finding out I won, sending Laura some info and showing my daughter her whole line of dolls...I forgot what I was suppose to be doing, oops! So although my spaghetti was a little overcooked and the meatballs a little browner then intended, it still tasted pretty good - even my daughter ate all of it. Perhaps I was just in a good mood of winning something, perhaps my daughter was in a good mood from the promise of a new doll or maybe my cooking is getting better? Pretty sure it wasn't the latter but either way, it made cooking much more exciting for me.
Hmmmm...perhaps this can be the start of a new trend, Colin today...lottery tomorrow! Hellooo personal chef! What is the last thing you won and what would you outsource? I hope all the mothers out there had a great Mothers Day weekend. It was so great to see families out on walks or bike rides, fathers with kids buying flowers and patio's filled with mom's getting a break from cooking. I too was spoiled this weekend, starting with sleeping in...that alone was wonderful (funny how extra sleep is like winning the lottery)! We had so much fun over the weekend and I felt so appreciated. Spent some time with my own mother too which is always great and yummy (she's such a good cook).
Amongst all this fun, we also had some tears, battles and tantrums...my kids are 4 and almost 3, so that just seems to be a norm for us right now. Although I sometimes want to hide in the closet...I am blessed to have them and blessed to have an amazing husband. Parenthood isn't easy but the wonderful moments are what fill my heart and my memories. So thank-you to my husband and kids for a great weekend and for all the wonderful new memories. Today however, I have a sick and cranky boy on my hands so if you can't find me...just look in the closet ;) What are your new memories from this weekend or are you hiding in the closet too? My husband and I were remembering a time when we were married with no kids. Oh the days of sleeping in, going anywhere, doing anything, no restrictions, no boundaries except for our wallets and imaginations. I remember watching families back then, chasing after their children, wiping noses, smelling or peeking into diapers and it did not call to me. I enjoyed spending time with kids, playing, laughing…who wouldn’t like that? However, I liked our life and I had no longing to have children of my own. Then one day my nephew was born. I had held a few newborns prior to him, even his two older sisters. Just as with him, I coo’d over them, I wanted to snuggle with them and bite their little toes {In a good way} but something had changed. That night I was downloading the pictures I had taken of him when I realized what had happened. I wanted a baby! {How could this be?} I knew what that meant, our carefree life would change or perhaps even disappear but I wanted a baby! {Was this madness?} My husband had always been open to the idea of having children someday so my proclamation was met with love and excitement. Despite our efforts, it was many years later when we finally had our first child. Two weeks after she took her first steps, we welcomed our second child into this world. It has been a whirl wind ever since. I was now chasing children, wiping noses, smelling or peeking into diapers. {How could this be?} They are wonderful, sweet, funny, smart, argumentative, stubborn, agile and noisy. {Is this madness?} But they are mine. They are his. They are ours. They make us laugh, they make me cry {Not in a good way}, they make interesting dinner conversation, they make me wonder why I bother to sweep the floor at all, they make me wonder how they can have so much energy on so little sleep, they make us want to be better people, they make us cringe and they make us feel an indescribable love. It's easy to not see the positives amongst the chaos sometimes. This is what inspired my latest print. Something that helps me remember the inspiring moments, the beautiful moments and perhaps even laugh at some of the more challenging moments {No? Too soon?} It helps to brighten my day, lift my spirit and perhaps it will do the same for someone else too. It seems everywhere you look there is reminder that Valentine’s Day is coming, which brought back a memory of picking flowers and playing the “He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not” game. Oh the anticipation of getting “He Loves Me”, perhaps picking two petals at once to ensure the outcome was in your favor or realizing that, what was left from your attempts to find the right flower, was a pile of picked over sad looking stems. Seems like the perfect metaphor for some of us in our journey to find the love of our lives! The coming day of love and this memory inspired my newest print. Although my daughter is still a toddler, my greatest hope is that as she grows, I can help her develop strength in character and self-worth. With that in mind, I created this positive and empowering version of the traditional “He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not” – pleasing to the eye with a positive message. Right now she sees “flowers” but as we all know it isn’t about the flowers, the “loves me” or the “loves me not”. In the end it’s about loving who you are. Being the mother of two wonderful toddlers, I often find myself wondering about all the interests, talents and whims our children will have down the road. Right now it's ballet and swimming but who knows what it will be next, will it cost an arm a leg, will I be able to help them, coach them? Oh to wonder. While I wonder about these things, my parents home (my childhood home) has been going through some renovations. As I watch that happen, I find myself remembering all the “projects” I took on while I was there all those years ago. As a wee one, it was obvious that I liked to paint and draw. As I got older I would try to create odd things, tackle bigger projects and even taught myself new skills (carpentry/welding…sheesh). One of my projects that was still in their house was my old bedroom door. I was a fan of the movie “Mulan”, naturally I decided to paint it on my door. I didn't ask if they would mind me doing this, I just did it...for fun. God bless my parents, they have always nurtured my creativity…even when it ended up on a door! So thank-you mom & dad, you guys always encouraged me, supported me and even today you do the same. Also, I would like to apologize for some other things... 1. Painting my room trim and doors black. I know that was a lot of work to re-do after I moved out. *love you* 2. The trunk I helped build for your blankets you always wanted. It turned out fantastic…only it was a little too big for the living room. It was nicked named “the coffin” and oddly enough it was on the moving truck when I moved out (actually looks great where I have it now). 3. Putting shelves around the top perimeter of my first old bedroom room. I hope you never take those down…there are four holes per shelf and about 20 shelves *looove you* 4. Being my most creative at 2 in the morning. 5. Getting oil paints on every carpet that was ever in my room *really love you* Seriously, I love you both. I hope that I will be as supportive, understanding and encouraging with my kids as you were with me. Oh and thanks for saving my door. This weekend we celebrated our son’s birthday. He is completely fascinated with trucks, any kind of truck and he is simply over the moon if we pass by a construction site. Naturally, we went with a construction theme for his party. We did the classic signs everywhere (even on the bathroom doors), pylons, hard hats and tool boxes for all the kids (work gloves, CAT remote truck, tools, whistles, reflectors, flashlights, etc). We put together a ‘Mining’ station which was a bin full of sand and giant jewels for the kids to dig for, as well as a water table, a craft table and of course the non-themed related but traditional piñata. Both our families brought some great food, including a traditional Guatemalan dish and of course my homemade ice cream cake (which turned out great, phew)! It was a great day, the kids loved going through their tool boxes, eating the cake and our little guy was HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY, all day even without his nap. We’re so proud of him…we love him.
We recently we took a trip out to the Niagara Parks Butterfly Conservatory. What a great place to visit if you are in the area. We were blessed with a beautiful sunny day and two incredibly well behaved children, which made the trip out there even better. The grounds were just large enough that you could explore most of it in a day trip but after doing so, we did suffer from a little landscape envy which may cause us some problems later since we are about to landscape our own backyard. Everything was so well kept, colourful, and just plain pretty. There were a few wedding groups having their photos taken there and we even caught a glimpse of a stretched Hummer being driven by an Elvis impersonator, very odd.
The main attraction was of course the conservatory. My daughter who is a big fan of Tinkerbell, Fairies and anything else with wings, was just in awe of all the butterflies fluttering about her. It was a contained climate (a very humid climate), had a waterfall and feeders everywhere. The butterflies would just land on you and you could tell which women used “fruity” shampoo as their hair would be covered in butterflies. We spent quite some time in there just watching the butterflies, taking photos and trying to get a butterfly to land on our daughter (which did finally happen). The other great thing was that the conservatory was very accessible. We had our son in a stroller and we were not limited to where we could go. Overall, we had a great time checking out the butterflies, the beautiful grounds and we finished the day with an ice cream cone. Actually, we ended the day with two barefoot children, covered in ice cream from head to toe, pockets full of rocks and tulip petals (whoops) and heavy eyelids! The ride back to our accommodations was a very peaceful one. So we recently celebrate our oldests 3rd birthday. We went with a Tinkerbell/Fairy theme. From invites, birthday T-Shirt, fairy outfit, decorations and to cake. I was happy with how it all turned out but more importantly, she was over the moon with it!
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